I know this is afew months over due, but, well, honestly i wanted to sit down and truly thing about this before I wrote it, i wanted to choose my words carefully, and make sure I express things in the proper way before anything is misconstrued. After all, most know my dealings with, and thoughts on the late Roger Ebert weren't exactly what one would call favorable most of the time, and the last thing i would wish would be for anyone to believe I am one to kick dog shit in a person's grave as its being covered in dirt.
I would like to first state, that though we never truly agreed on things on a personal and professional level, I always had respect for Roger, after all, with out him and those early trailblazers that took movie reviewing from a novelty much akin to early weather forecasting, into a legit form of news, he gave it credibility, dignity, and he proved that with a simple extending of the thumb up or downwards was as powerful as any marketing and promotional department could ever dream of being. He proved that with just afew lines, the opinion and ideas of an entire nation could swing for or away from any film, truly proving that the power really does lie with the people's general opinion.
I always jokingly knocked Roger for his writing the screenplay to Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls, which though most might not believe it to be, is truly one of my favorite grindhouse films ever made, its got everything that makes a film truly grindhouse; drugs, naked women, free love, and one of the greatest soundtracks ever created for a film. Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls was one of my first encounters with grindhouse, long before i ever knew there was a genre, and even longer before I knew the word or its meaning, in sense, had that film never been made, I might have never gone down my path that led me to where i am now, maybe i'd have gone on to be a race car driver or a cowboy astronaut fireman playboy millionaire superhero or something, instead of what i am, a guy who was able to take his escape from being anti-social and turn it into a pretty fun time reviewing movies. i'll always thank Roger for that, even though i'd never say it to him personally lol.
i want it to be known, though I always critically bashed Roger in his later years, I always respected him for all he has done up to the last few years, when, I felt he had lost his way, though to be fair, I honestly think after Gene Siskle died, he truly started to stop caring as much as he did, and it would eventually trickle down more and more until he started to do sloppy work, hating a movie for the sake of hating a movie or because you dislike the genre is one thing, we all do that at times, but when you mis up characters and scenes that you are using as examples of why you dislike a film, thats just sloppy first day on the job stuff, and i always felt Roger was better then that sort of mistakes or errors. See I wasn't ever angry or mad at him, as a person, it was angry at what he was becoming, instead of the man he is, and had been for decades before, the man that inspired three generations to express their passion for moving film, and to explore the world of film outside of just what hollywood tosses at you, shouldn't be remembered for mistakes that an amateur would make, it was kind of like when you're a kid and you find out Mickey Mouse at Disneyland is just a guy in a bad smelling foam rubber suit, or when you discover that your favorite race car driver is boring as hell in person, if any of that makes sense.
So in the end, I'm gonna do what i think all of the rest of you should do, remember Roger however you wish too, hopefully back when he was healthy and vibrant and would excitedly yell at Gene Siskle for giving away the twist in The Crying Game, or any of the other hilariously passionate arguments the two of them had over the years. Thats when he was in his prime, and thats when i choose to remember Roger.
On April 13th, 2012, a Friday the thirteenth for those wondering, the world quietly lost one of its truly great actors, and one of its truly great people, for you see this was the day the great Jonathan Frid, star of stage and screen, passed away of natural causes in a hospital room in Hamilton Ontario Canada, his hometown, only afew months after filming his last role, a cameo in the soon to be released Dark Shadows, a film ment to be a darkly comedic but still horrific take on the television series in which Frid first came to fame playing the role of vampire, and saver of the series from cancellation, Barnabas Collins, a vampire who was freed from his crypt by a grave robber looking to loot his tomb, this would be the third and final time Frid would do such a cameo as a nod to the original series, Frid appeared in the 1991 Dark Shadows revival series, as well as the failed 2004 pilot for a relaunch series as-well, in all three cases he appears as an old man who converses with one of the key members of the new cast for only afew brief moments. But i'll get more into Dark Shadows and the mark it and Frid left in abit, but first i'd like to give you a short history of the man himself.
Jon grew up in Hamilton Ontario Canada, were he lived until he went to serve in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War 2, after which he returned home to Hamilton and went to university, until he was accepted to the royal academy of dramatic arts in London, England. From there Jon moved to London to study and work, and after graduating from there, he would move to New Haven Conn. where he would continue to learn and study, and eventually get a degree in directing from the Yale School of Drama, it was on his work there, that he started to use the stage name Jonathan Frid instead of his real name John H. Frid. During this time Jon also spent alot of time helping to start the Williamstown Theater in Williamstown Massachusetts, he would stay in the until 1962, when he would move to new york and continue his stage work, in 1966 while doing this, he would get a call, while preparing to move to the west coast to teach acting that Jon would get a call that changed his life, figuring it would be a short gig that would give him the extra money he needed to move and have abit saved up, he was informed he had been picked to play a enigmatic character named Barnabas Collins on a new to the air and struggling day time soap opera called Dark Shadows. This would be the call that changed Jon's life forever. Jon was amazed at how his arrival on the series not only saved it from cancellation but made him a household name almost overnight, Jon scrapped his plans to teach acting and stayed in new york through out the run of Dark Shadows, where he would take stage acting work when he wasn't filming for the series, sometimes juggling both stage and television work if the stage work was good enough.
After his time in the spotlight was over, Jon would travel mostly between both coasts and Hamilton Ontario, doing stage work and one man plays, until he officially retiring in 1994, returning back home to Hamilton for good, where he would entrench himself in the theater scene and produce, direct, and sometimes if he felt the need to do so, star in many a local production or self written one man plays. This is where Jon would spend the rest of his days until his health was to bad for him to continue to preform, though he delighted in being recognized for either his short career in the limelight, or for his acting around Hamilton. He, unlike many "classically trained actors" who took rolls on television, Jon never turned his back on his most noted role, he often would say some of the best time of his life was playing the vampire who defined television vampires until Buffy would redux the archetype in the late 1990s, he never missed the yearly Dark Shadows Festival in his last few years alive, and between 2008 to 2010 he would return to the character of Barnabas Collins in a series of Dark Shadows audio books, which reunited most of the still living original cast, and would keep the living members of the old show's cast closer knit then they were before their return to working together, and they would stay this way even in Frid's death. Frid died of natural causes in a Hamilton hospital on April 14th, 2012, he was surrounded by family and loved ones when he died, he was 87.
Now, this is is sad on its own, when a true legend and a humble man dies, but Jon's passing, much like Jim Henson's or Maila Nurmi's, hits a note with me, you see, among my prized belongings were two letters written by hand from Jon Frid to me personally, along with afew signed bits of memorabilia, all signed to me from Jon himself. Jon was asked to write and sign those things for me by cast member Laura Parker, whom I had the honor of meeting and interviewing about her offshoot of the Dark Shadows books called "The Salem Branch" which starred her iconic character, the beautiful witch Angelique. She and I had become friendly and after hearing my Dark Shadows related stories, and connection to the show, and how I got the nickname of Barnabus Collins, she mentioned she was going to see the soon to be final one man stage show and offered to not only get afew things signed for me from the surviving cast, but also afew things by Frid himself, I was elated beyond words, and afew weeks later, when a package arrived from Hamilton Ontario I was awe stuck to find signed pictures, a script from the show, and of his one man play, and a letter written to me, by Jon himself stating his thanks for being such a devoted fan, and being raised a fan. I wrote him back thanking him for what he had sent and his kind words, and he again wrote me back thanking me once more for being such a lovely and devoted fan, it was a highlight of my life for sure.
I never got to know Jon outside of the two letters he wrote me and the stories told to me by Laura Parker, and by his work I've seen on television, but with him and his ironic role playing a big part in my life, i will miss him, so good bye Jon, may you rest in peace, or rest for another 200 years in your coffin, like we all know you're really doing....
and just for the love of things... the introduction of Barnabas Collins from "Enter The Vampire"
I've never hidden the fact that I grew up a fan of the british sci fi series Doctor Who, i've always been rather vocal about my fanship, my likes, my dislikes, all of that fun stuff. I can remember sitting on the floor of the living room on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons watching the reruns of the classic series on both PBS stations in the area, Boston's fabled WGBH channel 2 and New Hampshire's WENH (More commonly called NHPTV), both aired two episodes per day on the weekends, back to back, at different times, and always different ones, so I got a rather good amount of Who in my life growing up, which really isn't all that surprising, given how many people I know that claim my personality is an almost exact copy of The Doctor himself.
Anyway I'm writing about this because of some rather sad news that came down the news line today, the passing of Elisabeth Sladen, known to the world better as Sarah Jane Smith, one of the most beloved characters in the series, and the one to appear the most next to fan favorite Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney), who, sadly, also passed away not long ago as well. Sarah Jane also was the first character to break off and expand the Who Universe, being the star of the failed spin off K-9 and Company, where she and K-9 would have went around their small town in the countryside of England solving mysteries, possibly with a van. She was also one of the few members of the cast of the original show to make it into the relaunched series in 2005, appearing in a handful of episodes as well as her own spin off series The Sarah Jane Adventures, which this time around lasted four years before Elisabeth's death effectively canceled the program, how this will addressed, if at all, no one really is sure.
Though to say she'll be missed is an understatement as many who fans will tell you, most of us had our first exposure to Doctor Who during the three and a half years of Elisabeth's first run on the show, working with the two that most old fans argue over being the best to play the role of The Doctor, first working with John Pertwee and his successor, Tom Baker, the man most credit with taking Doctor Who from being a british sci fi series into the international cult series that its become, most people will tell you their first memories of Who involved Sarah Jane and K-9 to some degree, fortifying herself into Nerd Lore forever, where she shall forever stay. Because thats the joy of nerd lore, you're never forgotten.
So like many, I will be mourning the loss of one of the best loved sci fi characters of all time... Rest in peace Elisabeth, you've long sense earned it.
Yesterday, the world of stage and screen lost one of the last artifacts of old world Hollywood, one of the icons that defined what a starlet is, while Veronica Lake, Jane Mansfield, Diana Dors, Sophia Loren and Marilyn Monroe and their like were out there defining what a bombshell was, you had the more wholesome less in your face but still as beautiful types proving that women in hollywood could get work with out flaunting their bodies, holding up this front you had the likes of both Audrey and Katherine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Vivien Leigh, and ofcourse, the definition of wholesome early hollywood beauty, Elizabeth Taylor.
I've stated many times when Dame Liz Taylor's name came up in reference to classic film actresses, that anyone born after 1955 or so truly can't understand the impact this woman had on culture and film, we all just know of her from her many marriages and things that happened during the rise of the tabloid media as big budget business and her decline to roles on television and state around 1970 or so, sadly, that is all we know her as, the tabloid target of old world hollywood who rumors would dazzle us with insane headlines of marriage after marriage, and who knows what else the muckrackers would say, all she was to use was a relic who would stand up tall with a smile on her face and ignore the negativity of that medium, never once giving them much attention. Though in her later years she would be seen poking fun at her past, jokingly stating she could become a marriage counselor and things of that like, modern tabliod fodder could learn a thing or two from her life.
I often find myself envying those who were able to see her on the silver screen in her prime, for they got to see an amazing show everytime she stepped into scene. So many breathtaking roles and so many times she just stole scenes, it really makes me so envious of people that were able to see her liven the screen in films like "A Place In The Sun", "Butterfield 8", "Boom!", "Who's Afraid Of Virgina Wolfe?", and ofcourse, her defining role in "Cleopatra". Such amazing work, from such an amazing woman, who sadly, watched all of her peers slowly fade away and die, Liz knew she was of a dying breed, the first generation of Hollywood, the generation that not only invented Hollywood in the orange groves outside of Los Angeles, but defined what a star should be and should act like, even if modern stars have abandoned their lessons for the flash in the pan lifestyle were you are only as famous as your next big headline. The stars of today should learn a lesson or two from those like Liz Taylor, and maybe, if they're smart, they will.
May your soul finally rest Dame Elizabeth Taylor, you were one of the greatest there has ever been, and the greatest their ever will be, may you join the acting troop or heaven and be with all of those you've seen go before you... But always know, the path you forged will always be remembered... Rest In Peace dear lady.
And now, as I do in cases like this, here are some images of this amazing woman..
gonna miss ya Liz.... Tell Micheal the world is sorry for what they did to him when you see him...
On February 4th, 2011, the world got alittle less awesome, for you see, the great Tura Satana passed away. Tura might not jump to mind right away for most, but to those of us in Grindhouse know her well. Tura Satana was, for those who aren't aware, the star of such films as "Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!" and "Astro-Zombie" and to fans of Rob Zombie's films, she was Varla in "The Haunted World of El Superbeasto". Tura was not really in many films, less then 15 total, but like my dear friend Maila Nurmi, it wasn't the amount of films you were in, it was the iconic presence you brought to the few films you were in.
I mention Tura Satana being alot like Maila Nurmi, and in an eerie sense she was, where Maila had a short but memorable career followed by life in the everyday world, which near the end embracing the cult fandom that deems them a goddess of film and culture. Serious, its weird, where Maila dated and almost married James Dean, Tura Satana dated Elvis Presley for along while and turned down his offer of marriage. Tura worked before acting as a Burlesque dancer, she had many cameos and short appearances in films as a dancer, as well as having a popular burlesque style show she did in Hollywood, gaining her, among other bits of acclaim, a mention by William Hanna (of Hanna-Barbara Cartoons) as his favorite "unclothed dancer of all time" where he wrote that her figure and facial features made her "the ultimate woman, who is well aware of how to use her body.", even while she was acting in films, Tura continued her dancing, claiming it was her real first love. Tura's acting career was tragically cut short though, while working on The Doll Squad in 1973, Tura was shot by a former, jealous, mentally unstable lover who had become obsessed with her and refused to let her go.
After that shot, Tura believed her acting career over. She still danced for awhile, but also took a job as a nurse at a hospital, which she kept for many years, she then would spend many years working as a dispatcher for the Los Angeles Police Department, where she she worked until 1981, when a car accident damaged her back and caused her to be in and out of hospitals for 2 years having two major surgeries and 15 minor ones, she also met her late husband while working there, they were married until her husband's death in 2000. It wasn't until around 2004 or so, that Tura realized, and then embraced the fact that film lovers on the internet were still raving about her and her small body of work, up until the day she died of heart failure last week, Tura spent alot of her time at grindhouse film festivals, and conventions like ComiCon and such where you find many a former star signing and interacting with the fans. Tura was said to state many times that once she was aware of her fanbase, she realized how much she was loved and how much impact her work and legacy had on the world of film. "I never dreamed that being a high class stripper who acted because Russ Meyer liked my tits would have gained me so many fans, even all these years later. Its an amazing feeling." she would say.
Tura Satana died of heart failure on Febuary 4th, in Reno Nevada, she was 72, and will be very missed... And now, as I tend to do, I'd like to give you all afew images of Tura in her hayday, as a tribute to a great person whom I will not soon forget... Whereever you end up Tura, be it heaven or hell, I know you'll be kicking ass and taking names. Rest in peace.
John Hughes, the man that defined the 1980s by making, or having a hand in almost every single hit movie from that decade, passed away suddenly today, while having a morning walk in Manhattan where he was visiting family, John suffered what would become a fatal heart attack, he was 59 years old.
Hughes is always be remembered for creating such iconic films as Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Weird Science, and many others that defined the cinema of the 1980s, after that time, Hughes stepped back, and semi retired, having made his money and his place in movie history, he tended to his farm and his family, and would come out to support independent film whenever he felt his presence was needed.
He will be remembered for his work, for his contributions to the world, and most of all, how he taught two entire generations that sometimes, being the odd one that stands out from the crowd is the one who really is the coolest person of all.
I'm gonna miss you John. May you find peace in that big movie lot in the sky.
Among those very few who remember who Maila Nurmi was, most of them remember her from the cult classic film "Plan 9 From Outer Space" where she took her famous alter ego, late 1950s Television host and original gothic girl Vampira, to the silver screen for that one and only time. Others know of her from the controversy surrounding Cassandra Peterson's rather blatant rip off Elvira. Or she's remembered as the seller of old hollywood memorabilia and did clothing making and design for some of the most famous people in hollywood through the 60s and 70s, But not me, I personally remember Maila as my friend, I was lucky enough, that via emails near the end of her life, become friends with Maila, an honor I never took lightly. She was amazed at my knowledge of her career, and of hollywood in general. I used to look forward to her emails telling me of times long past, when Hollywood didn't forget who she was, and of her behind the scenes life after her time in the spotlight was over. She was, and still is, the perfect woman.
Maila meeting fans on Hollywood Blvd. In 1955
Most don't know that Maila started out her life in Ohio, she eventually ended up in LA where she modeled while working many different jobs to make ends meet, she even acted when she could get stage roles, infact she was fired by Mae West from a stage show because West believed she would upstage her, she did many other plays, mostly what she called "horror themed midnight shows" in small theaters no one's probably ever heard of, mostly playing the sexy seductress witch or vampire, or often the beautiful dead too soon ghost that someone lusts for, she also spent most of the 1950s posing for pin up magazines, most of which are as pricey to own as those that Betty Page was in at that time.
Maila as Vampira in one of her more known and classic poses....
It was in the late 1950s that Maila discovered her alter ego Vampira, at a high profile costume ball that her agent had gotten the two of them into, Maila showed up dressed as Morticia Addams from the ever popular Addams Family comic strip that ran in The New Yorker by (my personal hero) the legendary Charles Addams. Maila worked the room as you do at a party of that nature, making friends introducing herself, getting business cards, the normal things you do in hollywood in the 50s, her unearthly beauty and unique style caught the eye of Hunt Stromberg, Jr., a man who at the time ran KABC-TV a Los Angeles Television station, he had the idea to do a show that aired horror and sci fi films, but he wanted something different for a host, someone unique and different, someone that could play a character who was just as sci fi and horror as the films they would be presenting, a concept that had never been done before on television, he saw one eye full of Maila and he knew he'd found what he was looking for, and after working to room abit to get her phone number from someone, Hunt got intouch with Maila, who made up the character of Vampira on the spot after hearing what she was being offered, and after fine tuning the character and working on some things she felt would be best suited for the character and the show, on April 30, 1954, at 11pm KABC-TV aired a preview show called "Dig Me Later, Vampira", which garnered incredible ratings for an early television program, and the next night, May 1st, 1954, KABC-TV aired the first episode of "The Vampira Show".
The classic opening to The Vampira Show, careful this gets LOUD
I can only imagine what it must have been like to see that, to see her float down that dark foggy walkway for the very first time, to let out that blood curling scream and then sexy little giggle as she did, just gives me chills thinking about it. You have to understand something at this point, the show that Maila did, that style, had at this point never been done before, there was never a television show that showed a movie of these kinds, with a character who would fit into them as the host, I know that outside of America and parts of Canada this is a completely foreign concept, but shows like Elvira's Movie Macabre and many others that followed the same format are all the children of The Vampira Show, she was the first, and many say, the greatest of a forgotten genre in American and Canadian television. After the intro, Vampira would then sit on her victorian style couch, encrusted with bones and skulls, where she would post seductively while introducing, and mocking the film she was about to show, she would also appear before and after commercial breaks, mostly mocking the film, or she would do a skit, reading fan letters from her mailbag and mostly making fun of them, and encouraging her fans to write for epitaphs, not autographs, nost of her jokes involved wordplay of that nature, switching a common word with a darker more scary word that sounds like it, it was brilliant for its time period, and would be emulated to this day, most noted in HBO's television series Tales From The Crypt, where The Crypt Keeper would speak in the exact same style.
Vampira on her trademark couch in 1955
Though the show became a massive hit, gaining huge ratings inspite of its late time slot, and even gaining Maila articles in Life Magazine as well as appearances on LA filmed television shows that went out across the ground, and Maila quickly gaining fame as the first macabre sex symbol, as well as being friends with such famous people as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and at separate times dated Orson Welles and James Dean, both of whom spoke of her in a mystical and magical way. Inspite of all of this, in 1955, after Maila refused to sell the rights to Vampira the character to ABC, for which they would then be able to broadcast the show nationally, KABC-TV canceled The Vampira Show, after only one year, it would later be revived briefly, its believed that from this revival period is when the only surviving episode of The Vampira Show was aired, the only episode having been restored using the same digital set up that restored such shows as Dark Shadows and other programs that went out live but at the time had no copies made for later airings. After a short while, and creative differences, Maila once again took her alter ego off the air, and quietly returned to life of an ordinary person living in Los Angeles, she was found working as a carpenter in 1961, and would also do plumbing and floor repair, a far cry from her years at the top of the world. Not long after that, Maila would open Vampira's Attic in a prime location on the just starting to come to life Melrose Blvd. where it would become an iconic location and must see destination when visiting Hollywood, Vampira's Attic would be an antique store specializing in hollywood memorabilia as well as selling art and clothing made by herself and other famous people who she knew from her time as a top billed sex symbol and cult icon, she worked there until she was too sick to continue, which she died shortly after, it is to my understanding the store is still open and run by her assistant, to whom she left it.
Another classic Vampira Pose, from which she would encourage people to write in
I met Maila in late 2006, when I sent and email request to do an email interview with her, expressing my fixation and love for Vampira and for her personally for all she's been able to do in life, from that moment on, we emailed back and forth, and became good friends, exchanging emails afew times a week, we would joke and complain about how hollywood has changed so drastically and she would tell me of her days at the top with the lights on bright, and the whole world looking at her, she'd tell me of some of the famous people she knew, in her life, and of how she missed them now that they were gone. She once said to me, "I truly am Vampira, because I am the walking dead, it hits me sometimes, when I hear an Elvis song or when I see Orson on Jimmy's movies on television, that they are gone, but I am still here. Thats a very sad through to hold onto, knowing all of your friends are dead, but you live on.". I never realized just how much she'd gone through till that point, I remember I replied back with "well, I'm not as famous as them, but, I'm still your friend", I remember she thanked me for that. I truly felt as if it made her day. I never did make it out there to see Maila and her store, and to get a tour of "Vampira's Hollywood" as she always told me she would give me, my schedule just never allowed for it, and though looking backI wished I had, but reflecting on that little over a year that I had gotten to know her, and become her friend, I was able to realize just how lucky I was, to touch a legend that time tried to sweep away into the sea of forgotten time, and for her to reach back and touch me as a thank you for giving an aging beauty a chance to relive her long ago time all over again. Maila died 12 days before my 30th Birthday, she had sent me an email afew days before teasing that she had a surprise for my birthday for me, and I would have to wait to see what it was. I never did get to find out what it was. Personally, I'm ok with that.
One of the more sexy poses from the Vampira promotion material
So again, I will say to you, as i did the day you died, good bye Maila Nurmi, my greatest obsession, my greatest teacher, and my greatest inspiration, you taught me that its ok to be darker then the others, and to want to sit in the shadows while the others play in the light, and that just because you are one that moves among the darkness, it doesn't mean you can't do good. So please, rest in peace Maila, I will miss you, and love you for all of time...
This is going to be a somewhat regular feature on here, where i ramble on about actors, actresses, directors, and the like who are dead, that I miss and feel were taken from us either too soon, or do to illness were forced to stop before they really should have, I think its a neat little segment idea and plan on keeping it going.... so with that explained, lets get into it shall we?
You know who I miss? Jim Henson
There are not many people who come into the world by means of fame and leave a footprint in the sand as big as the one Jim Henson made, the famed puppeteer and creator of the muppets, has literally left his mark on every human being on this planet, there is not a person alive that doesn't know Kermit the Frog if shown a picture of him, the same goes for countless other characters Henson brought into the world. But please, don't get the wrong idea here, I don't miss Jim Henson simply as a man that created dozens of beloved children's characters, though that is part of it, I miss Jim Henson more, because I feel when he passed on, the world changed. You see, Jim Henson always spoke from his heart, and always told us all to dream, to imagine and dream and if we truly believed in that dream, we could make it happen. And when he died tragically in 1990, I feel as if the world stopped dreaming, take a look at the 1990s, creativity, imagination, innovation, all stopped, and hollywood and all the places like Hollywood through out the world, started to just recycle what has been done before, plot and storytelling were replaced with explosions and graphic nudity, imagination and originality were replaced with recycled movie scripts and casting based on which star is hottest right now. Even Henson's creations, though going on with out him in his honor, seem somewhat less magical and amazing. In a sense, when Jim Henson died, the entertainment world stopped dreaming. Creativity and originality died on May 16, 1990, in New York City, in the state of New York, at 1:21 a.m.
Henson started out in television in the late 1950s first doing puppet work for a short lived morning children's program called "The Junior Morning Show", of which the character "Pierre the French Rat" is recognized officially as the first of what would be called The Muppets, and then not long after its end, Henson was asked to create another television series, he called it "Sam and Friends" and it was about a young bald human puppet named Sam, and it also starred a character that some might know, by the same of Kermit the Frog, however Kermit wasn't called a frog at the time, he was called a lizard. Interestingly enough Sam and Friends was a late night "filler series", where it would literally be 5 minute episodes shown to bridge gaps in late night programing and fill advertizing gaps, the show was an early cult hit in Washington DC, the only city it was aired in, it gained so much fame there were articles and interviews and polls on character popularity, interestingly enough, Kermit came in third to last in the poll of favorite character on the show, kind of ironic given what he went on to become. The show ran for 6 years and evolved from basically just characters lip syncing to popular songs of the day, into full on skits, some of which would be used or expanded on later in other skits on various shows, Sam and Friends also served as the prototypes for many later characters, including Chicken Liver, a prototype for Sam The Eagle of the Muppet Show, and Professor Madcliffe, a prototype for Guy Smiley from Sesame Street and Mushmellon, a prototype of Oscar The Grouch. Sam and Friends also brought Jane Noble into Jim's life, Jane and Jim would later marry, and stay married and she would be with him until the day Jim died.
This is a shot of young Jim Henson with some of the cast of Sam and Friends, already you can see his favoritism toward Kermit even in the earliest stages of the character.
Though Sam and Friends brought many things into Jim's life, success, fame, his future wife and the attention of many, Jim still worked on other things, he did many television adds, and always had new characters and new skits for his public appearances, when Sam and Friends ended in 1961, Jim would continue his talk and variety show appearances, infact it was during this time when Jim appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, and from the exposure that gave him, Henson was able to earn enough money that he and Jane could move to New York City and form Muppet Inc, which would later become the Henson Workshop, in those early days, some of Jim's most famous works were made, "The Wheel Monster" which was a short film for IBM who's star went on to become Cookie Monster, and "The Cube" for NBC Saturday Afternoon Theater, the movie that inspired the cult classic sci fi film "The Cube" years later, this is also the period when Sesame Street was created. In his travels around the variety and talk show circuit he started to build what would become the core cast of The Muppets. He also met a man named Frank Oz, who would go on to be one of Henson's closest friends, the operator of Fozzie Bear among others, and would go on to become one of the most influential producers in television and films.
"A Boy and His Frog", Jim and Kermit in New York City in the late 1960s, shortly before the creation of Sesame Street, this image gives a look into the mind of Jim Henson
Through the 1970s Henson continued to do what he was doing, advertising, television appearances, television specials, A weekly Segment on the first season of "Saturday Night Live", eventually creating The Muppet Show, which ran for 5 years and many argue is one of the most entertaining television series ever made, from the muppet show, Henson decided to take things up a level, creating The Muppet Movie in the late 1970s, which has lead to many follow ups, the latest being in 2005, and more planned along the way. In the 1980s Henson created many shows, the ironic Fraggle Rock, The Jim Henson Hour and many others, he also created many Christmas specials, which to this day, though rarely seen are considered to be among the best specials ever in the genre of Christmas programing, he would continue in that manor until his death in 1990. Jim died of whats called "toxic shock" caused by a powerful infection, which Henson was told by many doctors was "just the flu", many say he could have been saved but, in his own words "I don't want to bother anyone with a simple infection, far sicker people then me could use their time..", a true giver all the way to the very end, Jim was brought into an ER when he began to vomit blood, he died shortly after.
Jim with the cast of Fraggle Rock, the show most believe invisioned Jim's idea of what the world should be
My first encounter with Jim's work, like many was Sesame Street, followed by The Muppet Show, and Fraggle Rock, and though I loved The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, my first love was always Fraggle Rock, I just love the idea it puts forth and what it stands for. Its just so beautiful and lovely and full of imagination. I will never forget Jim and his life, they helped shape me and my life. I still miss Jim and I probably always will.
Today's been a pretty hard day on the entertainment industry, two big names, both taken way too soon, and yet, I find myself at a loss for what I can say about Farrah Fawcett, she was beautiful, she was charming, she never let anyone tell her she couldn't do anything, and though i'm sure today will be remembered for the day Micheal Jackson died, I don't want the world to forget Farrah, because it would be a shame.
I wanted this to be my first actual post, because, well it means something to me, this woman was my friend, a good friend, and here we are, over a year sense her death, and I still miss her greatly... so my first post here is gonna be in tribute to my dear friend...
Originally Written on 10 January 2008
When I found this out today, that the great Maila Nurmi had passed away, I sat down here at my PC and I cried, not only as a long time fan, or as someone that saw her as one of the most beautiful women ever in all of creation, but also, I cried because there will never be another Maila, just reworks and rip offs... on of the greatest forgotten stars of Hollywood has passed, and if you don't know who she was, you should.
As a child, I grew up sneaking my way into staying up late at night to watch the local UHF channels (thats this thing from before cable kiddies) showing various "midnight movie" shows, there were so many and I've written of them any times, most know of Count Floyd or Elvira, ok well most know of Elvira, I grew up wanting to be one of those types of tv show hosts, the sarcastic adult humor, the making fun of the most gawd awful movies as they aired on the show, it seemed like such a great job. I did something kind of like it in high school, though to be honest it was really me and some friends ripping off the MST3K take on the concept. but still, it fits, I've been asked afew times by two different local channels to do a show, but each time either they want more then they should for the money they're offering me, or they just can't work out a good sharing me with my current work, who would buy alot of add time, time table. But I still hold out some hope.
In my research toward my dream back in the mid 1990s, I discovered Maila, I had recognized her from my many times of watching Plan Nine From Outerspace in which her beloved character of Vampira has a starring role, and I remember her being played by Lisa Marie in the movie Ed Wood which was about the director and making of Plan Nine, but I had honestly thought she was just someone that Wood had randomly picked up and talked into starring in his movie, Ed Wood wasn't known for his sanity as anyone thats studied him will tell you. As I looked into her, and into her work, I began to see just how amazing this woman really was, and somewhere along the way, I realized just how amazing and how truly great Maila was. From my early teen years I worshipped this woman, I was even able to get ahold of copies of the very few bits of her show that at the time were floating around. Word is that the same people that restored The Ed Sullivan Show and my favorite Dark Shadows, has done what they could to recover and restore maila's series The Vampira Show to its former glory, with rumors of everything from TVLand, to Sci Fi Channel, to that horror network i can't remember the name of, all wanting to get the show and air it to some degree, if they've been able to restore all of the shows and prep for dvd release though, i'm not 100% sure on, I just know if they do, I'll be all over that box set.
See, Maila wasn't just another host, she was THE host, so much of her is left on everyone from Elvira to even The Crypt Keeper that its almost insultingly sad, how little people know of her work, and the field she blazed, as well as being the visual inspiration for ABC's The Addams Family's Mortica, ironically, comic strip Mortica was the inspiration for the dress that Maila wore as Vampira, kind of a neat full circle there. I could go on and on for hours about Maila and why I find her so awesome and so beautiful and such, just ask my soon to be wife, she has to hear it most of the time, so to save you all from that, I'll just end this here and now...
From who could be your biggest fan in the entire world, Maila, good bye, I will miss you, and thank you for all that you have done for not just me personally, but for the world around us.
