Woody Harrelson’s father, Charles, was convicted of murdering a federal judge and was serving a life sentence when he died in 2007.
The three Jewish characters played by Charleton Heston? Two easy and one nobody can name:
Moses, Ben Hur, and Marine Maj. Matt Lewis in 55 Days at Peking: based on John Twiggs “Handsome Jack” Myers, son of Conferedate General Abraham Myers (after whom Fort Myers Florida is named), and who also inspired the character of Capt. Jerome in The Wind and the Lion
Steven Stills auditioned for a part in The Monkees, but was turned down because the producers felt he wouldn’t photograph well on camera. They asked Stills if he could suggest anyone else, and Stills mentioned a friend of his, Peter Tork.
Finance guru Suze Orman once shared an apartment with Judy Jacklin, who was dating (and later married) John Belushi.
Historical note: In 1888, approximately, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s parents visited the White House with their son, then about six years old. They met President Grover Cleveland, who faced his eventual successor and said, “My boy, I have a strange wish for you. It is that you will never be President of the United States.”
Little Franklin said, “Why, Mr. President?”
“Because it is a job that will make you very unhappy.”
The little boy looked up at the big, heavyset man and said, “But you don’t look unhappy, Mr. President.”
A very young Theodore Roosevelt watched Abraham Lincoln’s funeral procession as it passed through New York City.
(There’s a photo of this: Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln in the same photo – Pieces of History)
About the same time, a very young Woodrow Wilson watched Confederate President Jefferson Davis being marched to prison by Union guards in Augusta, GA.
Red Foxx’s real name was - Sanford. First name John. Who like Fred was also from St. Louis. And the woman who played Aunt Esther, Fred’s bible toting enemy, was played by LaWanda Page and her and John were actually best friends going back to high school.
Children’s author Roald Dahl, who wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was a pilot for the UK during WW2 but had to stop due to health issues. After that he was assigned to Washington DC where his job was to spy on the US government by seducing influential women.
Is that how he met Patricia Neal? :eek:
60’s supermodel Veruschka’s father was killed by the Nazis for his involvement in the July 20 Plot. She then spent the remainder of the war in a concentration camp. (An actual instance of the “skinny fashion model/concentration camp inmate” joke)
Somehow I think there’s a grain of truth in the notion that fashion models are so skinny because their prototype was a Holocaust survivor…
No he met her after the war when she was in London doing a play.
…that we know of…
Jackie Gleason tried to borrow $200 from a stranger in Tulsa to take a train back to NY. He told the guy he was an actor but the guy did not believe him. The guy only believed him after they went to a local theater and saw a movie with Gleason in it. Gleason paid the $200 back after he arrived in NYC.
Bob Hope once won a “Walk Like Charlie Chaplin” contest.
It’s long been stated that Charlie Chaplin himself once lost one, but this is likely apocryphal.
I was watching a series on ancient Rome and one of the presenters was Peter Weller, of Robocop fame. He recently earned a PHD in Italian Renaissance art history from UCLA, a masters from Syracuse, and has worked for the History Channel on several projects.
Graham Greene once came second in a ‘write a short story in the style of Graham Greene’ contest. His brother came first.
The “Captain” part wasn’t just some honorific title like say “Colonel” Sanders… Capt. von Trapp was a reasonably successful U-boat captain during World War One in the Mediterranean, sinking nearly 45,000 tons of shipping.
So does that technically make Michael Douglas “Michael (Mikhail?) Kirkovich Demsky”?
Chaplin came in third in a Charlie Chaplin * look-alike * contest.
No; I think Douglas’ father changed his name legally.