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1-18 of 18
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Clifford Parker Robertson III became a fairly successful leading man through most of his career without ever becoming a major star. Following strong stage and television experience, he made an interesting film debut in a supporting role in Picnic (1955). He then played Joan Crawford's deranged young husband in Autumn Leaves (1956) and was given leads in films of fair quality such as The Naked and the Dead (1958), Gidget (1959) and The Big Show (1961).
He was born to Clifford Parker Robertson Jr. and Audrey Olga (nee Willingham) Robertson. Robertson Jr. was described as "the idle heir to a tidy sum of ranching money". They have divorced when he was a year old, and his mother died of peritonitis a year later in El Paso, Texas. Young Cliff was raised by his maternal grandmother, Mary Eleanor Willingham as well as an aunt and uncle.
He supplemented his somewhat unsatisfactory big-screen work with interesting appearances on television, including the lead role in Days of Wine and Roses (1958). Robertson was effective playing a chilling petty criminal obsessed with avenging his father in the B-feature Underworld U.S.A. (1961) or a pleasant doctor in the popular hospital melodrama The Interns (1962). However, significant public notice eluded him until he was picked by President John F. Kennedy to play the young JFK during the latter's World War II experience in PT 109 (1963).
Moving into slightly better pictures, Robertson gave some of his best performances: a ruthless presidential candidate in The Best Man (1964), a modern-day Mosca in an updated version of Ben Jonson's "Volpone", The Honey Pot (1967), and most memorably as a mentally retarded man in Charly (1968), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor. His critical success with Charly (1968) allowed him to continue starring in some good films in the 1970s, including Too Late the Hero (1970), The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972), and Obsession (1976).
He starred in, directed and co-produced the fine rodeo drama J W Coop (1971) and, less interestingly, The Pilot (1980). He remained active mostly in supporting roles, notably playing Hugh Hefner in Star 80 (1983). More recently, he had supporting parts in Escape from L.A. (1996) and Spider-Man (2002).
Robertson died on September 10, 2011, just one day after his 88th birthday in Stony Brook, New York.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Peter Turgeon was born on 25 December 1919 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Airport (1970), American Gigolo (1980) and Muscle Beach Party (1964). He was married to Virginia Wright Richardson Turgeon. He died on 6 October 2000 in Stony Brook, New York, USA.- Jack Youngerman was born on 25 March 1926 in Webster Groves, Missouri, USA. He was married to Delphine Seyrig and Hilary Helfant. He died on 19 February 2020 in Stony Brook, New York, USA.
- As a youngster his cute round face and red hair made him popular in his neighbourhood. A Paramount film executive suggested he could have a film career so his family moved to Hollywood where in 1929 he became the youngest actor ever put under contract, at the age of 4, to Paramount. Soon after he was given the stage name of Jerry Tucker and immediately became famous at the studio for his ability to recite his lines from memory. He appeared in Our Gang films until 1937 when his final appearance was in Glove Taps. In 1934 he was one of the Our Gang kids to appear with Laurel and Hardy in 'Babes in Toyland'. Outside of the Gang films he worked with Buster Keaton in 'Sidewalks of New York', Clark Gable in 'San Francisco' and Shirley Temple in 'Captain January'. In 1939 he and his mother moved to New York where he auditioned for a number of radio programmes. In 1942 he joined the navy and was wounded when a Japanese kamikaze plane hit the destroyer U.S.S, Sigsbee which he was on. In 1944 he married Myra Heino and had two daughters, Karen Beth and Renee Eve. After the war he studied electrical engineering at college and was employed as an engineer for RCA Global Communications retiring in 1981 and living on Long Island, New York.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Producer
Conductor, composer and songwriter, a music student of Frederick Converse and holder of an honorary Mus. D. from Dartmouth College and a Prix de Rome from The American Academy in Rome. He was associate conductor (with Arturo Toscanini) of the New York Philharmonic in 1934, and conducted symphony orchestras throughout the world. In 1940, he founded the Janssen Symphony in Los Angeles, which he conducted. He also conducted the Baltimore Symphony between 1937 and 1939, the Utah Symphony between 1946-1947, the Portland Symphony between 1947 and 1949, the San Diego Philharmonic between 1952 and 1954, the Symphony of the Air Orchestra in 1956, the Toronto Symphony in 1956 and 1957, and the Belgrade Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera Orchestra between 1959 and 1961. He was a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, and a Knight First Class of the Order White Rose in Finland. He also made many records. Joining ASCAP in 1922, his popular-song compositions include "Wisdom Tooth", "Without the One You Love", "At the Fireplace", and "Falling Leaves".- Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Donald Brooks, born in New Haven, Conn. in 1929, attended Parson's School Of Design. After graduating he made a name for himself by replacing the late legendary Clare McCardle at Townley Manufacturing and their business with him at the helm grew sevenfold. He became one of the first of the new "name" designers when he opened his own business in 1963. Though he was considered one of the top fashion designers in America, Mr.Brooks' first love was theatrical design and in 1963 he accomplished a feat all in the same year no designer before or since has rivaled. On Broadway he designed Richard Rodgers NO STRINGS!, winning a Tony Nomination, for motion pictures he designed Otto Preminger's THE CARDINAL, winning an Oscar Nomination and the same year Mr. Brooks won the first of his three Coty Awards.(The fashion industry's highest recognition.) His fashion clients would include Jacqueline Kennedy, Babe Paley, Princess Grace, Pamela Harriman, Barbra Striesand, Liza Minnelli, Lady Bird Johnson, Faye Dunaway and Diahann Carroll. In his free tme away from seventh avenue Brooks would design the costume for some 40 Broadway shows as well as numberous television and feature film projects. In 1974, he was awarded the Parson"s Gold Medal, the only other reciepients being Adrian and Norell. His work is in the perment collections of both the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Institute.- Costume and Wardrobe Department
China Machado was born on 25 December 1928 in Shanghai, China. She is known for Love at First Bite (1979), Citizen Hearst (2012) and About Face: Supermodels Then and Now (2012). She was married to Martin LaSalle and Riccardo Rosa. She died on 18 December 2016 in Stony Brook University Hospital, Stony Brook, New York, USA.- Writer
- Producer
Brooke Ellison was born on 20 October 1978 in Rockville Centre, New York, USA. She was a writer and producer, known for Hope Deferred (2009), The Brooke Ellison Story (2004) and Heart of a Hero: A Tribute to Christopher Reeve (2006). She died on 4 February 2024 in Stony Brook, New York, USA.- Aram Chowdhury was born on 19 June 1976 in West Islip, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1983). He died on 4 December 1994 in Stony Brook, New York, USA.
- Producer
- Editor
- Additional Crew
Bernard Birnbaum was born on 18 October 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Bernard was a producer and editor, known for The American Parade (1984), CBS Reports (1959) and 1973: A Television Album (1973). Bernard was married to Ronnie Gutman. Bernard died on 26 November 2009 in Stony Brook, New York, USA.- Robert Loomis was born on 24 August 1926 in Conneaut, Ohio, USA. He was married to Hilary Mills and Gloria Colliani. He died on 19 April 2020 in Stony Brook, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Cinematographer
- Editor
Joseph Galizio Jr. was an actor and cinematographer, known for Long Island Volunteer (2017), Tom's Dilemma (2016) and Neighbourhood (2015). He died on 15 March 2018 in Stony Brook, New York, USA.- Lee E. Koppelman was born on 19 May 1927 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. He was married to Connie. He died on 21 March 2022 in Stony Brook, New York, USA.
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Joseph Durso was born on 22 June 1924 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story (1978), ESPN SportsCentury (1999) and ESPN 25: Who's #1? (2004). He was married to Elsie Durso and Margaret Durso. He died on 31 December 2004 in Stony Brook, New York, USA.- Robert Cushman Murphy was born on 29 April 1887 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He died on 19 March 1973 in Stony Brook, New York, USA.
- Writer
- Additional Crew
American novelist Pietro Di Donato was born in West Hoboken, NJ, to Italian immigrants. His most famous novel, "Christ in Concrete", is basically an autobiography, being an account of an immigrant growing up in a strange country. When he was 12 Di Donato's father, a bricklayer, was killed when the building he was working on collapsed. His mother died a few years later, leaving Pietro--the oldest of eight children--as the head of the family. He had to leave grammar school to support his new family, and took up his father's job as a bricklayer. Despite the hardships a 12-year-old in his circumstances encountered, he managed to attend night school classes and read anything he could lay his hands on, and took up writing himself. In 1937 he sold his first work, "Christ in Concrete", to "Esquire" magazine. He later expanded the story to become the first chapter in his novel of the same name. However, with the responsibilities he had to raise his siblings, it wasn't until 1938 that he could afford to take time off to finish the book, which was finally published in 1939. It was a sensation, with Di Donato being hailed by some critics as among the most important Italian-American writers of the 20th century (it was adapted into a movie, Give Us This Day (1949)).
In 1958 he wrote a sequel to the novel, "This Woman". In 1960 he came out with another book in the same vein, "Three Circles of Light". That same year he wrote "Immigrant Saint", a biography of Frances Cabrini, a nun who was the first American to be canonized a saint by the Catholic church. In 1961 he published another novel, "The Penitent". In 1976 he wrote an article for "Penthouse" magazine, "Christ in Plastic", about the kidnapping and murder of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro by the Red Brigades terrorist group. He later adapted the article into a play, "Moro".
Pietro Di Donato died of bone cancer in 1992 at Stony Brook, Long Island, NY.- Finley Hunt was born on 24 January 1928 in Palmyra, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Running Wild (1973). He died on 26 January 2008 in Stony Brook, New York, USA.
- Shirley Dinsdale grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. When she was a child, she was severely burned when a kettle tipped over on her and she spent a year in a hospital recovering. During that time a puppet named "Judy Splinters" kept her company. After she returned home, her father bartered for ventriloquist lessons and by the age of 14 was appearing on San Francisco radio shows. Soon she moved to Los Angeles and became a regular on Eddie Cantor's radio program. She also appeared in a number of local benefits for the war effort where she was spotted by a KTLA-TV staffer. In the new medium of television, Shirley, by then 17, started with a five minute daily program. Her renown spread and her program appeared as a daily evening broadcast on NBC during the summer of 1949 and a regular afternoon show for the 1949-1950 season.
In 1953, Shirley retired from show business, married and had two children. At the age of 40, she entered Stony Brook University in New York and graduated to become a cardiopulmonary therapist. She died in 1999 at the age of 71.