Bill Cosby got his Jell-O endorsement contract largely on the strength of a line from his old album “To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With”. He told a story about arguing over dessert portion sizes, climaxing with the line “Who told you … that you could be … the Jell-O Sheriff of the house?”
Jane Russell (who celebrated her 89th birthday yesterday) became a major movie star in her role in The Outlaw, directed by Howard Hughes. Hughes designed the first underwire bra to show off her most prominent assets, but Jane claimed it was too uncomfortable and quickly gave it up in favor of one of her own.
Harold Russell, a veteran who lost both hands and had been fitted for hooks, won an Academy Award for playing a disabled veteran in the 1946 drama, The Best Years of Our Lives, which co-starred Dana Andrews and Frederic March, and was directed by William Wyler. March and Wyler also won Oscars.
Harold Russell and Dr. Haing S. Ngor (The Killing Fields, about the Khmer Rouge holocaust in Cambodia) are the only two non-career actors to win Oscars. Russell was also the only actor to win 2 for the same performance.
While Charlie Chaplin was twice awarded honorary Oscars, he also won one in competition, for Best Original Score for Limelight in 1973. Limelight had been released in 1952, but because it never played in the Los Angeles area, it was not eligible for Oscar contention until twenty years later, when it was first screened in LA… That is the longest gap between a film being released and its winning any Oscar.
Henry Fonda (On Golden Pond) was the only actor ever to win a “real” Oscar after being given a take-pity “Lifetime Achievement” one.
While Henry Fonda (a liberal Democrat) and Jimmy Stewart (a conservative Republican) stopped discussing politics after a heated argument, they were able to put aside their differences enough to not only maintain a friendship, but to appear together in many productions. One of these was the 1948 comedy On Our Merry Way, which also featured two future stars of the sitcom My Three Sons – Fred MacMurray and William Demarest.
Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, served a single term as Governor of Georgia from 1971-75 before being elected President of the United States in 1976, defeating the incumbent, Republican Gerald R. Ford of Michigan. Ford, appointed Vice President under the terms of the 25th Amendment, had become President after the resignation of Richard M. Nixon of California in August 1974.
The 2nd G6 Summit, held in 1976 in Puerto Rico under the auspices of Gerald Ford, saw the addition of Canada to the group, thus forming the G7.
[del]Jimmy Carter was once, infamously, attacked by a rabbit. Even his staff found the incident unbelievable and a bit amusing.[/del]
The G6 was the last model manufactured by Pontiac prior to its 2009 discontinuation by General Motors. Other dead or doomed GM brands include Oldsmobile, Saab, Saturn, and Hummer.
The planet Saturn is a gas giant. Because of the large amounts of hydrogen and helium making up the planet, it’s average density is less than that of water.
Open a bottle of hydrogen next to an open flame and presto - instant water. It’s a very loud way to shower though.
The National Bottle Museum is in Ballston Spa, NY.
“Bottle of Wine,” a #9 hit in 1968 for The Fireballs, was written by folksinger Tom Paxton.
Singer Gary Paxton, bk4 the novelty hits Alley Oop and Monster Mash, was charged with engaging in an adulterous affair with Tami Faye Bakker during her divorce proceedings with her first husband Jim Bakker while he was in prison, though the affair had taken place several years before when he was producing her gospel albums.
The word “gospel” comes from the Old English “god spell”, or good news.
The musical Godspell, based on the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, opened off Broadway in 1971. The song “Day by Day” from the original cast album appeared on the Billboard pop singles chart in the summer of 1972.
Billboard Magazine, founded in 1894 as Billboard Advertising, began as a trade paper for the bill posting industry. It carried news of outdoor amusements, including circuses, carnivals, amusement parks, fairs, and many other events of the day.
New York’s Freedomland, briefly the largest amusement park in the United States, was torn down in the 1960s to make way for a housing project called Co-Op City.