As I was running errands this morning, I heard a radio ad announcing that Richard Marx was going to be in concert. I had been a fan back in the day and I even tried to snap a picture of him with my Canon camera.

Richard Marx was born September 16, 1983 in Chicago, Illinois. He started singing jingles that his father wrote when he was just five years old. When he was 17, Lionel Richie heard one of his demo tapes and told Richard he could make it big. Richard move to Los Angeles after graduating from high school.

Richard’s first album, Richard Marx, was released in 1987 and included four hit singles: “Don’t Mean Nothing”, “Should’ve Known Better”, “Endless Summer Nights” and “Hold on to the Nights”.

Marx released 9 more albums over the years and while his popularity has diminished over the years, his work is still great.

Marx married Cynthia Rhodes and has three sons. They reside in Illinois.

I remember this Russian comedian and wondered what happened to him. Well, if you book a Branson vacation package you will be sure to see him there! He has daily shows in Branson.

Smirnoff was born Yakov Naumovich Pokhis on January 24, 1951 in the Ukraine. In Odessa, Ukraine, he was an art teacher. He came to the United States in 1977 where he worked as a bartender in New York. He started acting and comedy routines and has appeared in “Moscow on the Hudson” with Robin Williams, “Brewster’s Millions” with Richard Pryor, “The Money Pit” with Tom Hanks and “Heartburn” with Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. On television he appeared in his own series called “What a Country.”

Smirnoff is proud to be an American citizen and continues to paint, often featuring the Statue of Liberty (where is was sworn in as a citizen) in his paintings. After 911, Smirnoff created the painting “America’s Heart.” He did not sign the painting but included this message:

“The human spirit is not measured by the size of the act, but by the size of the heart.”

The mural was included at Ground Zero until wind damaged forced the removal. Parts of the mural can be seen in Branson. Smirnoff said about his American citizenry in his book “America On Six Rubles A Day”:

July 4, 1986, is a date I’ll never forget. It was then that the Statue of Liberty ceremonies were held at Ellis Island and I was sworn in as an American citizen. Now, no matter what date you become a citizen, it will be a thrill like none you’ve ever had before. It was a double thrill for me because I was chosen to represent California at that ceremony. Then came the unveiling of the newly renovated Statue of Liberty. Like a lot of you, I hoped that they hadn’t modernized her too much. But my worries were for nothing. She was as beautiful as ever, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I was oblivious to everything around me; it was like I was in a trance.

My daughter is taking American History at the High School, so I am relearning a lot about our history. One thing I came across was the Liberty Party.

The Liberty Party was formed in the 1840s and was an early advocate of the abolitionist cause. Their first presidential candidate was James G. Birney from Kentucky (he was a former slaveholder) in 1840 and 1844. In 1840, Birney received only 6,797 votes, but in the 1844 election he received 62,103 votes (2.3% of the popular vote).

Salmon Chase. Obviously they did not have shampoo for hair loss in those days!

In 1848, the Liberty Party met with others and ended up forming the Free Soil Party which later merged with the Republican party in 1854. In 1849, Salmon P. Chase was nominated from the Free Soil Party as a Senate candidate from Ohio and won that seat. In 1855, he won the governorship of Ohio.

Recently, Andrew Koenig, an American actor has been reported as missing. Andrew’s father, Walter Koenig who played Chekov in the originally Star Trek series, is hoping for his safe return.

Andrew Koenig was born August 17, 1968. Koenig is best know for his portrayal of Richard “Boner” Stabone in the television series Growing Pains. I remember that the character was into building muscle before there ever was the mention of natural muscle builders or bsn cell mass. Here is a sample of dialogue from the program:

Eddie: Uhh umm uh, what’s your dad’s name bone ?
Richard ‘Boner’ Stabone: Sylvester.
Mike: Wait a minute… Your dad’s name is Sylvester Stabone?
Richard ‘Boner’ Stabone: Who knew!

Here is a clip about him being missing:

Celebrity Fit Club on VH1 is now in its seventh season. This season, celebrities include Bobby Brown, Shar Jackson, Jay McCarroll, Nicole Eggert, Sebastian Bach, KayCee Stroh, Kevin Federline, and Tanisha Thomas. It doesn’t look like any of these celebrities have invested in a natural fat burner lately, but the boot camp style of this season is sure putting them through the workout! You can watch Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp on Mondays at 9:00pm on VH1.

Before the wii was ever invented, we used to spend our afternoons watching soap operas. My favorite was All My Children. And who can forget the sometimes evil Palmer Cortlandt played by James Mitchell.

James Mitchell was born February 19, 1920 in Sacramento, California. Mitchell’s mother left the family in 1923 and Mitchell’s father, unable to run a farm and raise a son at the same time, “loaned” him out to a vaudeville act, George and Katherine King. Mitchell’s father eventually remarried and went back to live with his father. At the age of seventeen he left for Los Angeles.

Mitchell study acting at Los Angeles City College and became involved in modern dance. He danced with Leslie Horton’s dance company for four years. He auditioned for Oklahoma! as a dancer and danced and also assisted Agnes de Mille with choreography. He would work with de Mille on a number of projects for Broadway and film. He worked on stage in musicals and dramas until the late 1970s.

Mitchell had limited success in film and appeared in a few movies. In the 1950s and 60s he appeared in numerous television series and movies. In 1964, he took a role in The Edge of Night, his first soap opera role.

Mitchell’s performing career almost ended in 1974 and he went to college to get a BA and MFA so that he could teach at the college level. He taught at Juilliard, Yale University, and Drake University. In 1979, he was asked to play Palmer Cortlandt on the soap opera All My Children. He was hired for only one year, but the role was extended and he ended up playing Palmer for 30 years.

James Mitchell died on January 22, 2010 a few weeks before what would have been his 90th birthday.

No matter how many life insurance quotes you get or policies you hold, when it is your time to go, you pass on to hopefully a better place.

Deaths this year have included:

J.D. Salinger, famous author, wrote Catcher in the Rye
Justin Mentell, appeared in Boston Legal, 27 years old
Zelda Rubinstein, Poltergeist medium
Pernell Roberts, Bonanza and Trapper John, MD
James Mitchell, played Palmer Courtlandt in All My Children (I use to be a big fan!)
Jean Simmons, actress who appeared in The Robe and Guys and Dolls
Teddy Pendergrass, soul singer, age 59
Art Clokey, Gumby creator

I will be posting about some of the individuals in the future, so be on the look out!

You may not recognize the name, but I bet you will recognize the face. Zelda Rubenstein passed away on January 27,2010 she was 76 years old. Zelda was born on May 28, 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She stood only 4′3″ tall due to a deficiency in anterior pituitary gland which produces growth hormone. She lived in London for a few years and upon returning, at the age of 49, began her acting career.

She was cast as Tangina Barrons, the medium, in the movie Poltergeist. She also appeared in the two sequels and in a tv spin off. She appeared in Sixteen Candles, Cages, Teen Witch, The Wildcard, Southland Tales and National Lampoon’s Last Resorts. She also did voice over work and made numerous guest appearances.

Here is a clip from Poltergeist:

The UK has come up with another reality show – Supersize vs. Super Skinny. The show pairs together an overweight person and an underweight person and they have to eat each others daily meals. While one is obsessed with food, the other may be more obsessed with diet pill reviews. There is a clip from the show that shows how they compare what each person eats a day. Click here to view it.

I caught the tail end of the movie Force Ten from Navarone and started wondering whatever happened to Franco Nero. If you remember, Franco Nero played the handsome Lancelot in the movie musical Camelot (he didn’t actually sing in the movie).

Nero was born Francesco Sparanero on November 23, 1941, in San Prospero, Itay and grew up in Bedonia and Milan. He first studied Economy and Trade at the university before leaving to study acting.

His first films were Italian starting in 1964. In 1967, he starred in his first English speaking film, Camelot. There is met Vanessa Redgrave and they began a long term love affair. In 1969, they had a son Carlo Gabriel Sparanero (Carlo Nero) who is now a screenwriter and director. Nero and Redgrave separated for many years, but later reunited and were married on December 31, 2006. It was Nero who walked his step-daughter, Natasha Richardson, down the aisle when she wed Liam Neeson.

His roles were sometimes limited due to his lack of proficiency in English but he also appeared in several other American films including Die Hard 2. He has also appeared in many Italian films.