Judith Exner is a big name in JFK conspiracy circles as she claimed to have been a lover of both JFK and Mafia boss Sam Giancana, both of whom she met through Frank Sinatra. She was the ex-wife of William Campbell, a character actor best known for playing “General Trelane, retired” in the Squire of Gothos episode of Star Trek. (The character was said to be a Q in some of the ST novels.)
William Campbell is the name of the supposed Paul McCartney double who took Paul’s place in The Beatles after the latter was killed in a car crash in 1966.
Of course, it’s all nonsense (though incredibly, some still believe it) – first conceived as a joke by college student Fred Labour in 1968 and then elaborated upon by many others, who found “clues” to Paul’s death in Beatles lyrics, album covers, etc.
Fred Labour went on to a different kind of fame as Too Slim, the stand-up bassist for the long-running country and western group Riders in the Sky. (Their fiddle player goes by the name of Woody Paul!)
Some solo singers for the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy were recorded at Abbey Road. The recording studio, associated with and eventually owned by the Beatles from 1962 through 1970, was actually founded in 1931, but re-christened Abbey Road in 1970.
J.R.R. Tolkien considered writing a sequel to The Lord of the Rings, to take place in the reign of Aragorn’s son and successor Eldarion, but abandoned The New Shadow after a few pages, deciding there was little point in writing something that would not match the epic scope of the original.
Daniel Defoe published two sequels to Robinson Crusoe that took place after he left the island. In The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe poor Friday is killed soon after Crusoe’s rescue, while Serious Reflections of Robinson Crusoe is a book of essays attributed to Crusoe.
One of a number of versions of Charles Lederer’s, Ben Hecht’s and Charles MacArthur’s play “The Front Page”, set in a newspaper office, was the 1940 film *His Girl Friday *with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Her character’s gender was changed to female in order to provide some sexual tension with Cary Grant (teeheehee).
Charles MacArthur was married to actress Helen Hayes, dubbed “First Lady of the American Theater” though she also appeared in many films. One of her memorable roles was Maria Feodorovna, the dowager Empress of Russia, mother of Tsar Nicholas II, and grandmother of the title character in the 1956 film Anastasia. Both fictional and real Maria Feodorovna’s fled Russia and survived the murder of the rest of the family and returned to Denmark, the land of her birth.
Helen Hayes starred with son James MacArthur in a 1968 episode of the Tarzan TV series. James is best known for his role of Danny Williams, better known by the nickname used by his boss, Steve McGarrett, when he ordered Williams to “Book 'em, Danno!”
President Harry S. Truman allegedly told biographer Merle Miller that he fired Gen. Douglas MacArthur “because of the damned insubordination of God’s right-hand man.” Miller was later accused of fabricating Truman quotations for his bestselling book Plain Speaking.
During his tenure as VP Truman had only one private meeting with FDR and during it they discussed nothing substantive. Upon becoming president he had no idea what the Manhattan Project was or what most other classified top secret projects FDR had been informed of or instrumental in and he had to be immediately briefed on them all, making for one of the steepest and most important learning curves ever for a new president.
The Truman Annex at Naval Air Station Key West is the building and surrounding land that President Truman used as the “Winter White House” during his tenure in office. The area around it was the landing site for many of the Cuban refugees who arrived in the 1980 Mariel Boatlift.
Honey West, starring Anne Francis, was the first TV series to feature a female private detective. Her trademark was her pet ocelot, Bruce.
In the movie Sunset Boulevard when Joe Gillis arrives at Norma’s mansion her car, a 1928 Isotta Fraschini limousine, is covered and has a 1932 tag, but Norma has it dusted off and restored to working order. The car has ocelot skin seat covers and gold plated car phones* and becomes the fulcrum for a major misunderstanding in the last third of the movie.
*Car phones in this case means the phone the passenger used to communicate with the chauffeur, not something that could call outside numbers.
(Not a play here: How do you titillate an ocelot? You oscillate its tits a lot.)
Norma McCorvey became famous as “Jane Roe” in the landmark 1973 abortion case Roe v. Wade (which did NOT refer to Dan Quayle wondering how to cross a river). She has since changed her views and now is an anti-abortion activist.
The movie Norma Rae is based on the real-life Crystal Lee Sutton, whose story was told in the 1975 book Crystal Lee, a Woman of Inheritance.
Tommy James and the Shondells had two number one hits – “Hanky Panky” and “Crimson and Clover” – and five other songs in the top ten: “I Think We’re Alone Now,” “Mony Mony,” “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” “Mirage,” and “Sweet Cherry Wine.”
Brenda Gail Webb’s stage name comes from alternate spellings of her middle name and of Krystal, a nickname given her by her sister Loretta Lynn after the hamburger chain (which for those not familiar is similar in style to White Castle). Gayle’s biggest hit was Don’t it Make My Brown Eyes Blue and her trademark was her floor length hair (which she has since cut due to back problems).
The House of Windsor, Great Britain’s Royal Family, takes its name from Windsor Castle, not far to the west of London. St. George’s Chapel, home of the Knights of the Garter, is there, as are the tombs of most recent British sovereigns. A massive fire in the castle, along with the marital woes of her children, led Queen Elizabeth II to dub 1992 an “annus horribilis.”
Top 40 radio fans of the 60s and 70s enjoyed tuning in CKLW, a clear channel station (please note lower case!) that broadcast at 800 on the AM dial out of Windsor, Ontario.
After passage of the so-called “Canadian Content” law in 1969, which mandated that 30 percent of all songs aired had to be by Canadian artists, U.S. listeners got to hear many great songs that were never played stateside.
Richard M. Nixon was inaugurated President of the United States on Jan. 20, 1969, at the U.S. Capitol. His predecessor, Lyndon B. Johnson, and the man he defeated the previous November, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, were both in attendance. The oath was administered by Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren, who had already signaled his retirement and whom Nixon would replace with the considerably more conservative Warren Burger that summer.