In the 1995-1996 production of the musical A Christmas Carol, based on the Charles Dickens’s classic tale, the Ghost of Christmas Present was played by Ben Vereen.
The Chicago suburb of Carol Stream, Illinois is not named after a body of water, but after a person named Carol Stream, the daughter of town founder and developer Jay Stream. Carol Stream was originally going to be named Jacqueline Stream, but her parents changed her name to Carol when her due date fell near Christmas. She never lived in her namesake community but moved from Wheaton, Illinois to Arizona in 1957 following the end of her parents’ marriage. She still participates in municipal celebrations and rides in parades during anniversary celebrations of the municipality’s 1959 incorporation, and is frequently asked for autographs when she is in town.
Jacqueline Susann’s 1966 blockbuster The Valley of the Dolls was adapted into the 1967 film of the same name, starring Barbara Parkins as Anne, Patty Duke as Neely, Sharon Tate as Jennifer, and Susan Hayward as Helen Lawson, the aging Broadway legend. Of the four, only Perkins is still alive.
Blockbuster is the name of four fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first one was primarily a foe of Batman and Robin, while the second frequently fought Nightwing (formerly Robin). The latest Blockbuster first appeared in the pages of the series 52 wherein he is directed into battle against Lex Luthors team of superheroes, Infinity, Inc.
Blockbuster Video closed nearly all of its rental stores in 2013 after going bankrupt, but nine of them are still open. Six are in Alaska, where the high cost of internet and instant streaming makes video rentals economically viable.
On December 21, 1844, working class members of the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers opened their retail store in Rochdale, England. The store was met with prejudice and opposition, but its coming at a time of chronic unemployment, poverty, hunger and social inequality enabled it to form an enduring basis for the modern co-operative movement. The shop was very small and stocked just a handful of staples like butter, flour and sugar, but its business model fundamentally departed from traditional models.
Office supply chain Staples, Inc. created its successful business model under the guidance of board member and Bain Capital co-founder Mitt Romney.
Montpelier, Vermont, pop. 7855, is the smallest American state capital and the only one not to have a McDonald’s fast-food restaurant within city limits. It does, however, have a Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop.
Juneau, Alaska is the largest US state capital by area, covering 2,702.01 sq mi with a population of 31,276.
Juneau is the only state capital that cannot be reached by road.
The light cruiser USS Juneau was sunk off Guadalcanal by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo attack in November 1942. The five Sullivan brothers of Waterloo, Iowa, who all served aboard, were lost; the incident later helped inspire the film Saving Private Ryan. A plaque to the lost of the USS Juneau may be found today on the city’s wharf. There have been two U.S. Navy destroyers named after the brothers.
Erich Segal himself recommended Ryan O’Neal for the lead in Love Story, based on Segal’s novel and script, after working with him on the movie The Games. A number of actors had turned down the role including Beau Bridges and Jon Voight before it was offered to O’Neal. His fee was $25,000; he had an offer that paid five times as much to appear in a Jerry Lewis film but O’Neal knew that Love Story was the better prospect and selected that instead. Themovie turned out to be a box office phenomenon. It made O’Neal a star and earned him a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor, thought he was bitter he was never given a percentage of the profits, unlike co star Ali MacGraw.
Since 2000, American actor Jon Voight’s more notable movies have included Ali, Pearl Harbor, Tropic Thunder and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Jon Voight’s daughter is film actress Angelina Jolie Voight Miller Thornton Pitt. She has been married to Jonny Miller, Billy Bob Thornton, and Brad Pitt (for whose divorce from Jennifer Aniston she was responsible), and has been seriously involved with Jenny Shimizu and Timothy Hutton.
Timothy Hutton starred as Nathan “The Mastermind” Ford in Leverage, a television drama series. Leverage follows a five-person team: a thief, a grifter, a hacker, and a retrieval specialist, led by former Ford, who use their skills to fight corporate and governmental injustices inflicted on ordinary citizens.
The television series “The A-Team” (1983-1987) revived actor George Peppard’s flagging career and brought Mr. T widespread popularity. Peppard had accepted a lead role in the TV series Dynasty in 1980, but during the filming of the pilot he repeatedly clashed with the show’s producers, and was fired three weeks later, before filming was to begin on additional episodes.
Martha Washington burned all but three of her extensive lifelong collection of letters from her husband, George, shortly before her death at Mount Vernon in May 1802.
The lower deck of the George Washington Bridge, connecting New York City with Fort Lee, New Jersey, is sometimes nicknamed “Martha”.
Robert E. Lee’s wife, Mary Anna Custis, was a great-granddaughter of Martha Washington, through Martha Washington’s first marriage, to Daniel Parke Custis.
Martha Washington was known to her husband and friends as “Patsy.”