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The North Avenue Irregulars
''The North Avenue Irregulars'' is a 1979 American comedy crime film produced by Walt Disney Productions, distributed by Buena Vista Distribution Company, and starring Edward Herrmann, Barbara Harris, Karen Valentine and Susan Clark. Don Tait wrote the screenplay, which was loosely based on the Rev. Albert Fay Hill's memoir of fighting the mob in New Rochelle, New York in the 1960s. The film was released as ''Hill's Angels'' in the United Kingdom. Plot Reverend Michael Hill (Edward Herrmann) and his two children arrive in the fictional California town, New Campton. He is there to serve as the new minister at the North Avenue Presbyterian Church. The secretary/music director for the church, Anne ( Susan Clark), is wary of the changes Hill intends to implement. Hill wants to get people involved, and asks Mrs. Rose Rafferty ( Patsy Kelly, in her final movie role) to handle the church's sinking fund, which consisted of $1,206 ($4,967 in 2022 dollars). It turns out being an awful m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruce Bilson
Bruce Bilson (born May 19, 1928) is an American film director and television director. He is most notable for his work as a regular director on the spy spoof ''Get Smart''. He won the 1967–1968 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the third season ''Get Smart'' episode "Maxwell Smart, Private Eye". Life and career Bilson was born in Brooklyn to Jewish parents. His mother, Hattie Bilson (née Dratwa; 1907-2004), was an American screenwriter, and his father, George Bilson (1902–1981), was a British producer/writer/director of Ashkenazi Jewish descent who was born in Leeds, England. His brother, Malcolm is a fortepianist and professor of piano at Cornell University. Bilson graduated from UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 1950. Family Bilson married Mona Weichman on August 31, 1955; they divorced in 1976. They had two children, Danny Bilson (born 1956), a film and video game writer/producer and father of Rachel Bilson, and Julie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang. Although the name "Rotten Tomatoes" connects to the practice of audiences throwing rotten tomatoes in disapproval of a poor stage performance, the original inspiration comes from a scene featuring tomatoes in the Canadian film ''Léolo'' (1992). Since January 2010, Rotten Tomatoes has been owned by Flixster, which was in turn acquired by Warner Bros in 2011. In February 2016, Rotten Tomatoes and its parent site Flixster were sold to Comcast's Fandango. Warner Bros. retained a minority stake in the merged entities, including Fandango. History Rotten Tomatoes was launched on August 12, 1998, as a spare-time project by Senh Duong. His objective in creating Rotten Tomatoes was "to create a site where people can get access to reviews fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melora Hardin
Melora Hardin (born June 29, 1967) is an American actress, known for her roles as Jan Levinson on NBC's ''The Office'' and Trudy Monk on USA Network's ''Monk'', and Tammy Cashman on Amazon Prime Video's '' Transparent'', for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Hardin starred as magazine editor-in-chief Jacqueline Carlyle on the Freeform comedy-drama '' The Bold Type'', which aired from June 2017 to June 2021. Early life Hardin was born in Houston, Texas, the daughter of acting manager, coach, and retired actress Diane (née Hill) and actor Jerry Hardin. She is the sister of former Flock CEO Shawn Hardin. She moved to San Francisco, California at age five and later attended middle and high school in the San Fernando Valley at Patrick Henry Junior High School and Ulysses S. Grant High School, respectively. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College. Career 1976–1999 Hardin started her acting career as the young star of the television series ''Thunder'' (1977 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marjorie Bennett
Marjorie Bennett (15 January 1896 – 14 June 1982) was an Australian actress who worked mainly in the United Kingdom and the United States. She began her acting career during the silent film era. Career Bennett was born in York in Western Australia. Her sisters Enid (1893–1969) and Catherine (1901–1978) were also Hollywood film actresses. Bennett began acting in films in 1917 and later made the transition to talking pictures with bit roles in ''Monsieur Verdoux'' (1947), '' Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff'' (1949), and ''Washington Story'' (1952). In 1952, she appeared as Charlie Chaplin's landlady in the film ''Limelight'' and later had guest roles on '' The Great Gildersleeve'', ''Four Star Playhouse'', '' Sergeant Preston of the Yukon'', '' I Love Lucy'', '' Schlitz Playhouse of Stars'', and '' December Bride''. Between 1958 and 1961, she appeared as Amanda Comstock in three episodes of ABC's ''The Real McCoys'', starring Walter Brennan. From 1959 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louisa Moritz
Louisa Moritz (born Luisa Cira Castro Netto; September 25, 1936 – January 4, 2019) was a Cuban-American actress and lawyer. After arriving in New York from Cuba, she became a film and television actress, then earned a law degree. She is best known for her roles in '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest'' and the television show ''Love, American Style''. Early life Moritz was born in Havana, where she worked as an accountant. Owing to the political upheaval of the late 1950s she left Cuba and moved to New York, arriving on July 15, 1960, aged 23. She later shaved 10 years off her true age, adopting 1946 as her year of birth. To avoid association with Fidel Castro, to whom she was distantly related, she adopted the last name Moritz after seeing the Hotel St. Moritz in New York City. Professional life Unable to speak English when she first moved to the United States in 1960, Moritz started acting in commercials in the 1960s. Her first film was ''The Man from O.R.G.Y.'' in 1970. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ivor Francis
Ivor Francis (October 26, 1918 – October 22, 1986) was a Canadian-American character actor and acting teacher. He is the father of television soap opera actress Genie Francis. Life and career Francis was born in Toronto and began his acting career on the radio in Canada. He served in the Royal Air Force in the Second World War and then moved to the United States, where he played the son, Joe, in the radio program ''Ma Perkins''. Francis made several appearances on Broadway, in such plays as ''The Devil's Advocate'', ''Gideon'' and '' J.B.''. He performed frequently on television, including appearances in ''I Dream Of Jeannie'', '' The Odd Couple'', ''Barney Miller'' (as 4 different characters), a psychologist on ''Happy Days'', ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', ''Hart to Hart'', '' Benson'' , ''Hawaii Five-O'', ''Starsky & Hutch'', ''Dark Shadows'', ''Bright Promise'', ''Room 222'', ''Get Smart'', ''The Practice'', ''Little House on the Prairie'', ''The Six Million Dollar Man' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herb Voland
Herbert Maurice Voland (October 2, 1918 – April 26, 1981) was an American actor, best known for his various roles on the sitcom '' Bewitched'', as General Crandell Clayton on the sitcom '' M*A*S*H'' during seasons one and two, and the film ''Airplane!'' (1980). Career Voland was born in New Rochelle, New York and attended Columbia University. After graduating, he studied at the American Theatre Wing before beginning his professional acting career on the Broadway stage, where his credits include ''Farewell, Farewell Eugene'' (1960) and ''Someone Waiting'' (1955). After World War II, he began appearing on television during the medium's ''Golden Age'' and was a regular on such series as '' Omnibus'', ''The Philco Television Playhouse'' and '' Studio One''. Later, he became known for his prolific portrayal of characters on 1960s and 1970s television that were most commonly gruff executives, huff-and-puff military officers, or policemen, either in light sitcoms or crime dramas. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Campanella
Frank Campanella (March 12, 1919 – December 30, 2006) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous television series, as well as a few films and Broadway productions. Early life and career Campanella was born in New York City, the son of Philip and Mary O. Campanella, both born in Sicily. The family lived in the Washington Heights section of upper Manhattan. He was the older brother of actor Joseph Campanella, and Philip Campanella (who became a union plumber) and spoke mostly Italian growing up; this proved useful during World War II, when he worked as a civilian translator for the U.S. government. Campanella graduated from Manhattan College in 1940, where he studied drama. Campanella's first film role was as Mook, the Moon-Man in the 1949 science-fiction series ''Captain Video and His Video Rangers'' and went on to appear in more than 100 film and television episodes, usually playing the "tough guy". Campanella appeared as a bartender in Mel Brooks' '' The Producers'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Franken
Stephen Robert Franken (May 27, 1932 – August 24, 2012) was an American actor who worked in film and television for over fifty years. Career Franken, the son of a Hollywood press agent, was born in Brooklyn, New York and graduated from Cornell University in 1953. His first screen role was in 1958 as Willie in the episode "The Time of Your Life" on the anthology series ''Playhouse 90''. Another early role was as Bully in the 1961 episode "The Pit" of the series '' The Rebel'', starring Nick Adams. He played the lead guest-starring role in the 1961 episode "The Case of Willie Betterley" in '' Lock Up''. In 1962, he was cast as Dunc Tomilson in "The Yacht-Club Gang" on '' Checkmate''. He appeared as Jerry Allen in two episodes of the '' Mr. Novak''. In 1964, he appeared in ''The Time Travelers''. In 1965, he appeared in "Birth of a Salesman" on ''McHale's Navy'', and in "Tim and Tim Again" on ''My Favorite Martian''. Producer Rod Amateau saw him in a Los Angeles stage produ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Organized Crime
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a form of illegal business, some criminal organizations, such as terrorist groups, rebel forces, and separatists, are politically motivated. Many criminal organizations rely on fear or terror to achieve their goals or aims as well as to maintain control within the organization and may adopt tactics commonly used by authoritarian regimes to maintain power. Some forms of organized crime simply exist to cater towards demand of illegal goods in a state or to facilitate trade of goods and services that may have been banned by a state (such as illegal drugs or firearms). Sometimes, criminal organizations force people to do business with them, such as when a gang extorts money from shopkeepers for " protection". Street gangs may of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Hale, Jr
Alan Hale Jr. (born Alan Hale MacKahan; (March 8, 1921 - January 2, 1990) was an American actor and restaurateur. He was the son of actor Alan Hale Sr. His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his secondary lead role as Captain Jonas Grumby, better known as The Skipper, on the 1960s CBS comedy series ''Gilligan's Island'' (1964–1967), a role he reprised in three ''Gilligan's Island'' television films and two spin-off cartoon series. Hale appeared in more than 200 films and television roles from 1941. He appeared primarily in Westerns, portraying the Sundance Kid in ''The Three Outlaws'' (1956) opposite Neville Brand as Butch Cassidy, performing with Kirk Douglas in '' The Big Trees'' (1952), Audie Murphy in '' Destry'' (1954), Ray Milland in '' A Man Alone'' (1955), Robert Wagner in ''The True Story of Jesse James'' (1957), and Hugh Marlowe in '' The Long Rope'' (1961). He also appeared in musical comedies opposite Don DeFore in ''It Happened on F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carl Ballantine
Carl Ballantine (September 28, 1917 – November 4, 2009) was an American magician, comedian and actor. Billing himself as "The Great Ballantine", "The Amazing Ballantine" or "Ballantine: The World's Greatest Magician", his vaudeville-style comedy routine involved transparent or incompetent stage magic tricks, which tended to flop and go "hilariously awry" to the wisecracking Ballantine's mock chagrin. He has been credited with creating comedy magic and has influenced comedians and magicians alike. Early life and career Ballantine was born Meyer Kessler in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Israel Kessler (1884–1930) and Rose Cohen (1890–1974), both Jewish immigrants from Borshchiv, Ukraine, and Russian Poland (then part of the Austrian Empire and Second Polish Republic). Nicknamed the "Jipper," he was inspired at age 9 by his barber who would do magic tricks with thimbles while cutting his hair. His first job was working as a printer. In the 1930s, Kessler was doing professiona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
