In Memorandum

Wow. Talk about making a lasting impression. I never realized it until I loooked into it this morning, but Eartha Kitt was actually in only 3 Batman episodes:

• Catwoman’s Dressed to Kill (1967)
• The Funny Feline Felonies (1967)
• The Joke’s on Catwoman (1968)

It seems like her beautiful face and remarkable voice were around for a lot more. That’s the beauty of syndication.. multiplication.

Sadly, Eartha Kitt passed away yesterday - on Christmas Day.

The 5′ 4″ beauty was born in South Carolina. Her birth was the result of a white plantation owner raping a sharecropper mother of African-American and Cherokee Native American descent. I wasn’t going to include that bit of ugliness in this article, but the fact that Eartha came from such unremarkable beginnings, yet ended her life known the world over strikes me as spectacular!

I also wanted to be clear about why her mother would even think about giving her baby girl away - which she did. By the age of 9, Eartha was living in Harlem. She dropped out of school by the age of 15. Eartha was too busy just trying to survive - school didn’t rank up there with finding a place to sleep and something to eat. During this time, she slept at friends houses and on the subway.

While Eartha Kitt was born with a lot of burdens to bear, she was also born with a lot of talent. She literally sang and danced her way to a better life. Eartha performed with the Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe on a European tour, and she performed as a solist at a Paris night club, where she became a very big deal. Get this, the infamous Orson Welles called her “the most exciting girl in the world.”

Eartha Kitt never shied away from speaking her mind. I guess when you’ve already seen life’s ugliest, you throw caution aside - sort of like, “What do I need with you?!” She was all but booted from the country after making anti-war statements during a White House luncheon with Lady Bird Johnson in 1968. It wasn’t until 1977, under Jimmy Carter’s administration, that she was welcomed back to the White House.

Eartha Kitt Quotes:
“I have a great need for affection from an audience. I don’t know whether this is because I had such a tough life when I was a child.”

At the White House, 1968: “I am a mother and I know the feeling of having a baby come out of my gut. I have a baby and then you send him off to war. No wonder the kids rebel and take pot.”

“I don’t carry myself as a black person, but as a woman that belongs to everybody”

“Jamie and I were like brother and sister. He told me in fact he thought of me as a sister. Our relationship was strictly platonic and spiritual.” (About her friendship with James Dean.)

Eartha Kitt was 81 when she passed away, but (again) thanks to syndication, she’ll forever live on just as we remembered her.

Rest in Purrrrrrrrfect Peace, Eartha.

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Bettie Page passed away on December 11, from a heart attack. She was 85 years young.

Born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1923, Bettie was known for her sexy poses and her short bangs. In fact, in the 1950’s, she was considered quite scandalous!

In high school, lovely Bettie was a straight A student and took part in several school plays. Her Hollywood career never quite measured up to her pin up career, but her pictures will live on forever. And beautifully, at that.

Rest in peace, Bettie.

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In honor of Paul Newman, who we all lost on September 26th, TCM (Turner Classic Movies) is honoring the actor with today’s programming.

Sunday, October 12 Program for TCM
6:00 AM The Rack
8:00 AM Until They Sail
10:00 AM Torn Curtain
12:15 PM Exodus
3:45 PM Sweet Bird of Youth
6:00 PM Hud
8:00 PM Somebody Up There Likes Me
10:00 PM Cool Hand Luke
12:15 AM Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
2:15 AM Rachel, Rachel
4:00 AM The Outrage

Get your popcorn, get your coke, and by all means - get comfortable!

Paul Newman died in his home in Westport, Connecticut yesterday (Friday, September 27) from cancer. Paul Newman was one of the few people in this world who’s class and personal character defined him. Who he was was larger than what he did for a living. Whenever I think of the word Paul Newman, I think of an individual who devoted the majority of their life to helping children who needed, desperately, for someone to care.

I also think of a devoted and loving husband. He was married to Joanne Woodward in 1958 and neither ever saw fit to untie the union. When asked about his faithfulness to his wife, Paul Newman once said, “Why would I go out for a hamburger when (I) have steak at home?”

Paul Newman, one of the greatest “method actors” ever, starred in classics such as “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Exodus,” “The Hustler,” “Cool Hand Luke,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Sting” and “The Verdict.” In 1986, on his eighth try, he won an oscar for “The Color of Money.”

Paul Newman always did the unexpected. Playing a race car driver in the 1969 movie “Winning” led to him actually competing in races. In fact, he loved it! When he was 70 years young, he participated in the 24 Hours of Daytona and he was still racing at age 80.

Paul Newman was known for his liberal political views and was even on Richard Nixon’s enemies list - a distinction he called “..the highest single honor I’ve ever received.”

In 1982, Paul Newman and a friend (A.E. Hotchner) founded the now infamous Newman’s Own, which produces foods such as pasta sauces, salad dressings, chocolate chip cookies, etc. Remarkably and beautifully, this company donates all profits to charities. Newman once said, “The embarrassing thing is that the salad dressing is outgrossing my films.” So much so, that last checked - Newman’s Own has given away more than $200 million.

One of the charities aided by this money is one Newman, himself, founded: Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang. This camp was founded to help gravely ill children.

On a totally shallow note, I personally think Mr. Newman was one of the 3 most handsome actors ever (as a matter of fact, I’m having trouble at the moment thinking of who the other 2 would be). He was a looker! Before and after his hair went gray.  Actually, when it turned white, it brought even more attention to his beautiful eyes!

A few Did You Know’s about this remarkable man:

• Paul Newman was born in 1925 in Shaker Heights, Ohio (near Cleveland).
• He served three years in the Navy during WW II.
• He studied acting at Yale and at New York’s Actors’ Studio.
• Paul Newman’s first Hollywood film, “The Silver Chalice,”  bombed royally.  He would make jokes about this movie for rest of his life.  He actually even took out a newspaper ad to apologize for his performance.  Again, pretty unexpected.
• His performance as boxer Rocky Graziano in “Somebody Up There Likes Me” in 1956 ended his newspaper apologies.  This is probably the movie that made him a star.
• The movie “The Long, Hot Summer” (1958) would be even more important to him, however, since it’s when he met his soon-to-be beloved wife of a lifetime, Joanne Woodward.
• Paul Newman’s loss of son Scott to a drug overdose in 1978, understandably, hit him incredibly hard.

Paul Newman is survived by his wife, Joanne Woodward, and five children.  And his millions of fans - and children he has touched.

And the other 2 are…. Um… Nothing. Crickets in the silence.

Fred Crane passed away Thursday at the age of 90.  Unless you’re a die-hard Gone With the Wind fan, you probably don’t recognize the name. 

Fred portrayed one of the Tarleton twins and one of Scarlett’s beaux - Stuart Tarleton to be exact.  The other twin was played by none other than George Reeves (the twin Scarlett is throwing eyes at) who went on to stardom playing Superman in the television series.

Apparently, Fred Crane was the last living male actor with a credited role in Gone With the Wind.  

Fred (the twin on the right) actually had the distinction of saying the first line in GWTW. 

Stuart:  “What do we care if we were expelled from college, Scarlett? The war is going to start any day now, so we’d have left college anyhow.”

Scarlett:   “Fiddle-dee-dee. War, war, war. This war talk’s spoiling all the fun at every party this spring. I get so bored I could scream.”

Isaac Hayes defined cool. He was a gifted singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger, composer and actor. He was found dead in his home just outside Memphis, Tennessee early Sunday morning (August 10, 2008).

Isaac Hayes’ story was one of overcoming. He was born into poverty and grew up picking cotton in Covington, Tennessee. He had to drop out of high school, but was encouraged later by his former high school teachers to get his diploma, which he earned at the age of 21.

His much beloved stint as “Chef” on the TV series “South Park” was orignially supposed to be a one-time event. However, audience reaction was so positive, “Chef” became a regular character.

The movie Shaft earned Hayes an Academy Award for Best Original Song (the first Academy Award received by an African-American in a non-acting category) and two Grammy Awards.

In 2002, Hayes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2004, he was honored with Hollywood’s RockWalk (The picture above is from this time). He was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 9, 2005.

Bernard Jeffery McCullough, better known as Bernie Mac, died August 9, 2008 from “complications from pneumonia.” He was just 50 years old.

I remember him best from the Ocean’s movies and his stand up routines. When I think of the name Bernie Mac, I think of one of the biggest, brightest smiles I’ve ever seen.  You just can’t look at that smile without wanting to smile, yourself! 

I also think of a person who seemed to have a NEED to make people laugh.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he needed laughter as much as anyone. His mother died from breast cancer during his sophomore year of high school. He also lost his only two brothers. Bernie suffered from sarcoidosis, a tissue inflammation disease, since 1983.

On a happier note, Bernie enjoyed a rarity in the business - a long marriage. He has been married to Rhonda McCullough since 1977. They have one child. Another love of his life was apparently the Chicago White Sox - from what I’ve read, he was a very big fan!

He’ll be sorely missed on the comedy landscape. He was incredibly unique and genuine.