Archive for the 'Baby Boomer Trivia' Category

The Aeronautic Cowboy

Sky King - one of my favorite Saturday morning shows as a kid. It premiered on September 16, 1951 and last aired on March 8, 1959 and was about a former military pilot who, in this western adventure series, used his airplane ( a Cessna 310B called the Songbird)  to patrol the skies over his Flying Crown Ranch and wherever he was needed to rescue those in distress. Out of the clear blue of the western sky comes -  Sky King! He and his niece Penny had many adventures chasing the bad guys in the Songbird and I often wondered as I got older - how many of us boomers became pilots as a result of watching this show?

But did you know?

A lot of boomers remember seeing this show in the 60's (I was one of them) because while the show ended in 1959 it was shown in reruns for years later. Sadly, Kirby Grant, the actor that played Sky King, died in a 1985 automobile accident while on his way to Cape Canaveral to be honored by the shuttle astronauts for his achievements in encouraging aviation and space flight. He was also coming to watch the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Isn't life cruel sometimes? Here is a man that inspired millions of kids to become interested in aviation - who dies in a stupid car wreck - and a year later the Challenger blows up. Thank God the poor man didn't live to see that!

I may have been a little young at the time "Sheena" Queen of the Jungle came along on TV in 1955-56, to appreciate  the curvy frame of former pin-up model, Irish McCalla, the blond bombshell that portrayed the Jungle Queen. But I do remember, as a wide-eyed 7 year old, relishing every single one of the 25 episodes made, spell-bound by the daring escapades of the "Jungle Queen" Set, of course, in the deepest, darkest heart of Africa! (They were actually filmed in Mexico but back then I didn't care about those kinds of minor details even if I had known about them) Or ask myself stupid questions like some would today - being the politically correct society that we are; how could a barely legal, half naked gal, barefoot, no less, be allowed to expose herself in that manner? Where were her parents when all this was going on and did they know she dressed like this in public? The only question that would have been on my mind was, just how does one get to hang out with this Sheena - she is the coolest!

Even a boy as young as I could appreciate her physical prowess, along with her blue-eyed innocence as she swung from the trees righting the jungle's wrongs. Too young to recognize the emotion of envy, I never debased the idea of a girl being able to do these things but rather I remember feeling like I did when a friend of mine got a new bike or went to Disneyland on vacation. I was happy for them but why couldn't I have a new bike? Why couldn't I go to Disneyland? Regardless, I admired her strength, her independence and Sheena became my first female role model. If Sheena could face all of the demons in the jungle including giant alligators and pythons, I could sure do with my old bike until I could earn a better one.

I understand that she did all of her own stunts until she slammed into a tree swinging from an unsecured vine and broke her arm. Those in the business of producing such shows felt that Irish McCalla gave more than a credible portrayal of Sheena that was totally true to the character from the comic book. The stories which featured Sheena and hunter guide Bob Rayburn fighting all sorts of bad guys in the jungle are largely reminiscent of "B" movies, produced cheaply and with little supporting cast (about 17 of 26 episodes can be found on video with Amazon) but I loved every one of them!  

But did you know?  McCalla, formerly a Varga Girl model for pinup girl artist Alberto Vargas was born in in Pawnee City, Nebraska. She was one of eight children to father Lloyd, a butcher, and mother Nettie McCalla. The family moved often and at 17 she found work as a waitress in Southern California. It was actually on a beach in Malibu that she was "discovered" by a Nassour Studios Rep. What was she doing to attract their attention - why, throwing a bamboo spear, of course! Impressed by her athletic, 5'10" frame, they knew right away they had found their "Sheena", Queen of the Jungle.

In 1951, she married and had two sons with insurance salesman Patrick McIntyre. Her popularity as a pin-up model soared and by  1952 she and some other models were appearing in a film called River Goddesses, which was basically a bunch of sexy, young, scantily clad (for those days) babes frolicking in the Grand Canyon. Following the disappointment of a one-season Sheena, McCalla appeared in five films from 1958 to 1962, with guest roles on the TV series Have Gun — Will Travel and Route 66. She didn't think much of herself as an actress proclaiming of her role as Sheena, "I couldn't act, but I could swing through the trees". McCalla  divorced in 1957, and the following year was married to British actor and James Joyce/Sherlock Holmes scholar Patrick Horgan.

She was pretty much removed from the spotlight by 1963 when she moved from Malibu to Prescott, Arizona. Not much else is known about her from that period until in 1982, aged 73, Irish McCalla died of a stroke and complications from a brain tumor - her fourth. Carol Hatfield, author of The Realist may have said it best about the impact of the character she portrayed so well. "When I was eight years old, Sheena was the only female portrayed on TV who didn't conform to the fifties stereotype of women. Sheena was a  rugged individualist. Watching her struggle with a new adventure every week made me feel more capable at a time when everything was so unexplored. If she could handle the jungle, I felt sure that I could handle my world"

Fury - The black stallion owned by Joey Clark of the Broken Wheel Ranch on the TV series "Fury" This was a favorite show with us kids on Saturday mornings a million years ago, sandwiched between Sky King and right after Captain Midnight, remember Ovalteen?

But did you know? Fury, a contemporary western ran from 1955 -1960 with a 114 episodes. It was the story of Joey, an orphan boy befriended by Jim Newton (Peter Graves) a recently widowed horse rancher, who's wife and son were killed in an auto accident by a drunk driver. Joey was brought to court for breaking a window. Jim had seen the whole incident and went to court with Joey, he told the Judge that Joey was innocent, and convinced the Judge to let Joey come stay at the Broken Wheel. Jim had captured Fury a wild stallion after three years of trying, and Pete his foreman named him during a conversation where Pete said the horse was full of "Fire and Fury." Joey soon made friends with Fury, and was the only person who was able to ride him after saving his life. Later Fury was known to let others ride him, but only with Fury's permission. Each episode took Joey and Fury to new adventures, along with his two pals Pee Wee and Packy. The show ran in syndication from 1960 until 1966 under the name "Brave Stallion."

Bobby Diamond played Joey on the TV series "Fury", The story of a horse and a boy who loves him. Bobby later went on to do guest appearances on other TV shows while still a young boy and had a couple of other roles in TV series. He attended U.S. Grant High School, in Van Nuys, CA. 1964.

Courtesy: http://www.brokenwheelranch.com  

Judy Carne - the cute little red-head who made body paint sexy. Covered in graffiti and appearing in a bikini on the comedy sketch series, Laugh-In, she cheerfully invited her tormentors to "sock it to me!" Which they happily did with buckets of cold water, paint, beer and other substances, much to the delight of the studio audience and viewers at home.

The show ran on NBC for 140 episodes from 1968 to 1973 and was the creation of  comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin. Originating as a one-time special on September 9, 1967, it was such a hit that it was made into a series, replacing the once-popular spy spoof Man from U.N.C.L.E. on Mondays at 8pm on NBC.

Baby Boomer Bytes

Did you know? In 1969 Judy Carne decided not to renew her contract with Laugh-In. She wanted to do other things before she became so stereotyped as the "sock it to me" girl that she would not be able to do other roles. The regular Laugh In cast members wished her well and threw her a going away party but, alas, George Schlatter (the Laugh-In producer) blamed her for breaking up the family. In the days following "Laugh-In" she would hear people yell "Sock it to me!" and she would instinctively duck, having had popcorn, peanuts, water and beer all thrown at her.

Her first post-Laugh-In-job was in "Cabaret" playing Sally Bowles. The production was off Broadway in a theater in Westbury, Long Island. While in this production she was offered a part as a lead in a revival of "The Boyfriend" on Broadway. She portrayed Polly. In September of 1971 Judy was back on T.V. again. She was in a reunion of "Laugh-In." In October she appeared on "the Tonight Show" which was being hosted by Burt Reynolds. He had specially requested her. When she asked him why he told her that she was the first person that popped into his head.  

One of Judy's last T.V. appearances was on "Hollywood Squares." The show was taped 5 times in one day. One time when they took a dinner break, she had one too many cocktails. Once back on the set she went through a lull where no questions came her way and she began to doze off. When she became the secret square that night she jumped awake. The producer became upset and that was her last "Hollywood Squares" appearance.  

Courtesy: http://judycarne.com

Named "Our Gang" after MGM bought the rights from Hal Roach in 1938.

But did you know? The series, one of the best-known and most successful in cinema history, is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively natural way. While child actors are often groomed to imitate adult acting styles, steal scenes, or deliver "cute" performances, Hal Roach and original director Robert F. McGowan worked to film the unaffected, raw nuances apparent in regular kids. Our Gang also notably put boys, girls, whites, and blacks together in a group as equals, something that "broke new ground," according to film historian Leonard Maltin. Such a thing had never been done before in cinema, but was commonplace after the success of Our Gang.