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Wiretapper
''Wiretapper'' is a 1955 crime drama biopic directed by Dick Ross, written by John O'Dea, and starring Bill Williams, Georgia Lee and Douglas Kennedy. The scenario of the film was based on a true story of Jim Vaus Jr. Plot Jim Vaus returns from the war and marries Alice. He struggles to make a living. He was hired by Charles Rumsden to fix a doorbell, and realizes that his client is a mob boss. Alice discovers the source of Jim's income and their relationship was expired and strained to the breaking point. She forces Jim to attend a Billy Graham's Los Angeles Crusade, in her attempt to save their marriage and Jim's soul. Scenario During the late 1940s, Jim Vaus Jr. worked for the police and for mobster Mickey Cohen. The story of Jim Vaus was described in magazines: ''Time'', ''Life'' and ''Reader’s Digest''. Jim Vaus described his own story in his autobiography ''Why I Quit Syndicated Crime'' (1951). This autobiography was used by John O'Dea for a film scenario. In 2007 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Conte (actor)
Steve Conte (January 16, 1920 – April 28, 1997) was an Italian-born American actor who immigrated with his family to the United States in the early 1920s. He often played henchmen, thugs, and criminal types, besides playing ethnicities. His career lasted nearly thirty-seven years in both film and television. He appeared in approximately fifty different television series and more than thirty films. He worked at least a half dozen times with B Grade director Jerry Warren. Background Conte was born in Gagliato, Italy. He came with his family via boat to New York. His adolescent years were spent in New York as well. During World War II, he was based in Europe as part of the United States Army Air Corps, the forerunner of the United States Air Force. After the war, he married his wife Shirley, by whom he had two children. Their marriage lasted until their divorce in the 1950s. In 1992, he was reunited with his son Steve, who was born in 1960 and placed for adoption. He died o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Benedict
Richard "Pepe" Benedict (born Riccardo Benedetto, January 8, 1920 – April 25, 1984) was an Italian-American television and film actor and director. He was born in Palermo, Italy. He appeared in dozens of television programs and movies from the 1940s to the 1960s, most notably ''Ace in the Hole (1951 film), Ace in the Hole'' (1951), directed by Billy Wilder. Benedict appeared with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack in the 1960 movie ''Ocean's 11 (1960 film), Ocean's 11'' as one of the 11 men who rob five Las Vegas casinos on the same night. He also played the commander of the Mars rescue ship in the 1958 B sci-fi movie ''It! The Terror from Beyond Space''. Benedict's television appearances included ''Adventures of Superman (TV series), Adventures of Superman'', ''The Lone Ranger (TV series), The Lone Ranger'', ''Perry Mason (1957 TV series), Perry Mason'', ''Zorro (1957 TV series), Zorro'', ''Dragnet (series), Dragnet'', ''Peter Gunn'' and ''Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series), Hawaii ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas Kennedy (actor)
Douglas Richards Kennedy (September 14, 1915 – August 10, 1973) was an American supporting actor originally from New York City who appeared in more than 190 films between 1935 and 1973. Early years Kennedy was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Dion W. Kennedy. He attended Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and afterwards graduated from Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He served in the U. S. Army from 1940 to 1945. Career Kennedy was a character player and occasional leading man in Hollywood. Making his debut in 1935, he played a significant number of supporting roles and was able to secure contract-player status, first at Paramount Pictures and later at Warner Brothers. His acting career was interrupted by World War II service as a major in the Signal Corps with the Office of Strategic Services and Army Intelligence. After that, he returned to films and played character roles, often western villains or territorial marshals, as well as isolated leads i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Los Angeles Crusade (1949)
The Los Angeles Crusade of 1949 was the first great evangelistic revival meeting, campaign of Billy Graham. It was organized by the Christian group Christ for Greater Los Angeles.Into the Big Tent: Billy Graham and the 1949 Los Angeles Campaign Billy Graham Center Archives The campaign was scheduled for three weeks, but it was extended to eight weeks. During the campaign Graham spoke to 350,000 people, by the end, 3,000 of them decided to convert to Christianity. It was subsequently described as the greatest revival since the time of Billy Sunday. After this crusade Graham became a national figure in the United States. Preparation The Christ for Greater Los Angeles' committee scheduled a series ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phil Tead
Phillips Tead (September 29, 1893 – June 9, 1974) was an American character actor in film and television, sometimes billed as Phil Tead. Biography Born in Somerville, Massachusetts, in 1893, among his many roles, Tead might be best remembered as the semi-recurring character "Professor Pepperwinkle," an eccentric inventor, in several of the color episodes of the 1950s TV series '' Adventures of Superman.'' His appearances included the final episode, "All That Glitters." His first appearance had been as a shopkeeper named Mr. Willy, a similarly eccentric character. A visible early role is his appearance in ''Horse Feathers'', the 1932 Marx Brothers comedy, in which he plays a radio play-by-play announcer at the film's climactic college football game. His film career began in silent pictures in 1914 and ran some 40 years. In the early 1950s he turned his attention primarily to television, appearing in various western series as well as ''Superman''. Phil Tead starred in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stanley Clements
Stanley Clements (born Stanislaw Klimowicz; July 16, 1926 – October 16, 1981) was an American actor and comedian, best known for portraying "Stash" in the East Side Kids film series, and group leader Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie in The Bowery Boys film series. Life and career Stanley Clements was born in Long Island, New York. Young "Stosh" (the Polish diminutive nickname for "Stanislau") realized that he wanted a show-business career while he was in grammar school, and after he graduated from Brooklyn's P.S. 49 in 1938, for the next two years he toured in vaudeville and found work in radio. He then joined the touring company of the ''Major Bowes Amateur Hour''. His career stalled in 1940, and Clements was reduced to panhandling for a time to survive. In 1941, he was signed to a contract by 20th Century-Fox and appeared in juvenile/teen roles in several B films for the studio. East Side Kids In 1942 he was loaned to Monogram Pictures. Among his friends he was known offscreen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ric Roman
Ric R. Roman (September 29, 1916 – August 11, 2000) was an American actor. He was perhaps best known for his roles in the films '' Lone Star'' (1952), ''Shadows of Tombstone'' (1953), ''Lizzie'' (1957) and '' The Wayward Girl'' (1957). He also appeared in a number of television series, notably ''Zorro'' (1957–1959) and ''Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...'' (year two, episodes 29 and 30). Filmography Film Television References Bibliography * Lentz, Robert. ''Gloria Grahame, Bad Girl of Film Noir: The Complete Career''. McFarland, 2011. External links * 1916 births 2000 deaths American male film actors American male television actors 20th-century American male actors {{US-actor-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Williams (actor)
William Herman Katt (born Herman August Wilhelm Katt; May 15, 1915 – September 21, 1992), known as Bill Williams, was an American television and film actor. He is best known for his starring role in the early Television program#series, television series ''The Adventures of Kit Carson'', which aired in Broadcast syndication, syndication from 1951 to 1955. Life and career Williams was born in Brooklyn, New York to German immigrant parents. He attended the Pratt Institute, and became a professional swimmer, performing in underwater shows. He landed a walk-on role as a theater usher in ''King Kong (1933 film), King Kong'' (1933). He enlisted in the United States Army during World War II, but was discharged before the end and became an actor. His credited debut was in ''Murder in the Blue Room'' in 1944, using the professional name Bill Williams. His first starring role was opposite Susan Hayward in ''Deadline at Dawn'' (1946). Williams appeared in ten films before he landed the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Picerni
Horacio Paul Picerni (December 1, 1922 – January 12, 2011) was an American actor in film and television, perhaps best known today in the role of Federal Agent Lee Hobson, second-in-command to Robert Stack's Eliot Ness, in the ABC hit television series, ''The Untouchables''. Early years Picerni was born in New York City to an Italian family. Raised in Corona, Queens, he was an Eagle Scout in his youth and adolescence. After high school, Picerni studied drama at Loyola University. Military service Picerni joined the United States Army Air Forces during World War II and served as a B-24 Liberator bombardier in the China-Burma-India Theater. He flew twenty-five combat missions with the 493rd Bomb Squadron of the 7th Bomb Group and received the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was part of a mission that attacked and destroyed the actual bridge made famous in the film ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' (1957). After the Japanese surrendered, Picerni became a Special Services offi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melinda Plowman
Melinda Ann Plowman (born May 13, 1941), also known as Melinda Ann Casey and Melinda Casey, is an American actress and associate director. She began her acting career at age 6 and appeared in feature films and television episodes through the 1960s. In the 1970s, she became a member of the Directors Guild of America and worked as an associate director through the 1990s. Early life Melinda Ann Plowman was born on May 13, 1941, in Abilene, Texas. Her parents, Homer Lee Plowman and Lura Frances Slaughter, had met and married in Abilene in 1934. She has one younger sister. Her second birthday party, hosted by her mother and grandmother, was reported in the ''Abilene Reporter-News''. The family moved to Los Angeles in 1942. Plowman was enrolled in a dance school at age 3. She was "discovered" at the age of 6 through the dancing school and was cast in a bit part in the 1949 film '' Little Women''. Career Acting Plowman acted in Hollywood films in the 1950s but primarily worked in te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1955 Films
The year 1955 in film involved some significant events. __TOC__ Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top-grossing hits of 1955 in the United States. Top-grossing films by country The highest-grossing 1955 films from countries outside of North America. Events * January 7 – U.K. release of the Halas and Batchelor film animation of George Orwell's ''Animal Farm'' (completed April 1954), the first full-length British-made animated feature on general theatrical release. *February 24 - 12th Golden Globe Awards announced: '' On The Waterfront'', Marlon Brando, & Judy Garland win * March 18 – The film adaptation of Evan Hunter's novel ''Blackboard Jungle'' previews in New York City, featuring the single " Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets over the opening credits, the first use of a rock and roll song in a major film. Teenagers jump from their seats to dance to it. * June 1 – Premiere of Billy Wilder's film of ''The Seven Year Itch'' featuring an iconic scene of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Films Directed By Dick Ross (director)
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere through the use of moving images. These images are generally accompanied by sound and, more rarely, other sensory stimulations. The word "cinema", short for cinematography, is often used to refer to filmmaking and the film industry, and to the art form that is the result of it. Recording and transmission of film The moving images of a film are created by photographing actual scenes with a motion-picture camera, by photographing drawings or miniature models using traditional animation techniques, by means of CGI and computer animation, or by a combination of some or all of these techniques, and other visual effects. Before the introduction of digital production, series of still images were recorded on a strip of chemically sensitize ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
