Whatever Happened To…

people, places and things

Andrew Koenig

February24

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

February22

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.

James Mitchell

February9

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.

Rainbow Brite

February4

Do you remember Rainbow Brite? Well she is back (if you want a chance to win a demo CD, enter on my other blog). The animated television series was created by Woody Kling and introduced by Hallmark Cards in 1984. Rainbow Brite was popular throughout the 1980s.

The story is about an orphan girl who is taken to the Colorless World. She rescues the seven Color Kids (one for each color in the rainbow) and finds a Color Belt which she uses to bring color to the Colorless World. The Color Kids are:

* Red Butler (Romeo)
* Lala Orange (OJ)
* Canary Yellow (Spark)
* Patty O’Green (Lucky)
* Buddy Blue (Champ)
* Indigo (Hammy)
* Shy Violet (IQ)

The new Rainbow Brite has updated characters and themes. Here is a clip from the opening scene of the original cartoon:

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Supersize Vs. Super Skinny

January27

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.

Scary Clowns

January26

It seems that there are many people who have a fear of clowns. Walmart just came out with a commercial that plays on that scary clown theme. This clown certainly doesn’t need any hair loss vitamins, because the blue hair and makeup is a riot. I certainly feel the dad’s pain when he steps on the toy. I don’t know how many times I have stepped on a small toy and bruised up my foot!

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Peter Billingsley

December30

Have you watched the continuous reruns of A Christmas Story? I bet you are wondering whatever happened to the kid who played Ralphie?

Peter Billingsley was born April 16, 1971 in New York as Peter Michaelsen. He decided to use his mother’s maiden name for his stage name. Peter is one of five children and all five had acting careers when they were younger. Peter’s first acting role was when he was two in a Geritol commercial. He would eventually star in more than 120 television ads int he 70s and 80s.

He appeared in a few films before A Christmas Story and in television movies as well. In 1983, he starred as Ralphie, whose one dream for Christmas was to get a Red Ryder BB gun. After this movie, Billinglsey had a number of small roles in television and movies. He has done some writing and directing as well. He continues to act in small roles in movies.

Clint Walker

December10

Yesterday, I happened to catch the beginning of one of my favorite war movies – The Dirty Dozen. One of the prisoners, Posey, stands out because of his soft spoken nature and the fact that he is six foot six inches tall and very muscular. The character Posey, was played by Clint Walker.

Norman Eugene “Clint” Walker was born on May 30, 1927 in Hartford, Illinois and has a twin sister. He is one-quarter Cherokee Indian. He had many jobs at a young age including working in a factory and on a river boat. At 17 he joined the Merchant Marines during World War II. After the war, he worked odd jobs in Texas, Las Vegas and California. In California, several actors encouraged him to get into the movie business because of his good looks and stature. He was hired by Cecil B. DeMille to play a guard in The Ten Commandments. Warner Brothers then hired him as the lead in the television series Cheyenne. The series lasted for eight seasons.

After the series, Walker appeared in a number of movies, including The Dirty Dozen. In the 1970s he appeared in a number of western television shows and in 1998 he was the voice of Nick Nitro in the film Small Soldiers.

In 1974, Walker had a freak skiing accident and was pierced in the heart by a ski pole. He eventually recovered.

He has been married three time. First to Verna Garver in 1948, they divorced in 1968 and had one daughter. Then to Giselle Hennessy who is married in 1974. She passed away in 1994. He is currently married to Susan Cavallari.

Sesame Street Turns 40

November17

It was way back in 1969 that Sesame Street was first introduced on PBS. It is now the longest running children’s program on television. With funding from the Carnegie Institute, The Ford Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the federal government, a team was put together to come up with an educational program for children. Jim Henson, Mupper creator, was also involved early on.

The original format did not feature actors and muppets together, but this was changed after viewings by children found the actor only scenes not as appealing. The show was built around an inner-city street and was meant to attract inner-city viewers. The cast was very diverse with a mix of actors. Obviously, the format paid off! Sesame Street is here to stay.

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The Long Ranger

October1

Recently, I read about the death of John Hart, who appeared for two seasons on the television show The Long Ranger. Hart, replaced Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger when Moore demanded a higher salary. The producers, thinking that the audience would easily take to a replacement since the character was masked, turned out to be wrong. After two years, Moore was re-hired as the Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger ran from 1949-1957.

Clayton Moore and John Hart as The Lone Ranger:

The opening theme song:

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