Drew Barrymore’s grandfather (John Barrymore), great-uncle (Lionel Barrymore) and great-aunt (Ethel Barrymore) starred together in only one film: Rasputin and the Empress in 1932.
The mind-controlling, power-mad IRS tax examiner played by Zach Galifianakis in the movie comedy Dinner for Schmucks (now playing at a theater near you, probably) has a framed portrait of Rasputin on his desk.
One of the many legends and rumors attached to Rasputin in his own lifetime was that he was brought to Siberia by the Tunguska Event in 1908, a massive explosion currently believed to have been caused by a comet fragment landing there. (In fact he was born there in January 1869, nowhere near Tunguska.)
An aristocratic cabal led by Prince Felix Youssoupov set out to assassinate Rasputin, and on the night of December 16-17, 1916, succeeded in luring him to Moika Palace, where Youssoupov fed him Madeira tea laced with cyanide and cakes. When the poison had no effect, a panicked Youssoupov shot him several times, which also apparently had little effect, so his co-conspirators dumped Rasputin into the River Neva to drown. Rasputin had prophecied the decline and fall of the Romanov empire if he was assassinated by the nobility, and the ultra-royalist desire for a renewed monarchy never materialized.
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The German disco group Boney M. had a hit in 1978 with the biographical “Rasputin”, off their album Nightflight to Venus. Although in English, the song was a hit in the Soviet Union as well as Western Europe.
Venus, the planet closest Earth, is similar in size and mass. However, the atmosphere of Venus is composed mainly of carbon dioxide, and also has thick clouds of sulphur dioxide. Due to the greenhouse effect, Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system. The surface of Venus was mapped by the Magellan Project.
The song “Venus” was a US #1 hit single for both girl bands Shocking Blue and Bananarama.
Siobhan Fahey, one of the original members of the British pop group Bananarama, was married to Dave Stewart, of the British duo Eurythmics, from 1987 until 1996.
Siobhán McKenna portrayed the Virgin Mary in the movie King of Kings which starred Jeffrey Hunter (best remembered today probably for his role as Christopher Pike in the Star Trek pilot) as Jesus.
On September 15, 1965, the San Francisco Giants had an all-Alou outfield as brothers Felipe, Matty, and Jesus played together. It was the first time three brothers played the together defensively. The three Alous also appeared in the same inning of a game as batters five days earlier.
The TV show My Three Sons has credited Disney’s movie The Shaggy Dog (1959) as as its inspiration, on account of they shared, according to producer Bill Walsh, “The same dog, the same kids and Fred MacMurray."
Lani O’Grady (Mary on Eight is Enough) was the sister of Don Grady, who played Robbie on My Three Sons. The family surname is actually Agrati.
Mark Hamill played the role of David Bradford in the pilot of Eight is Enough. He turned down the series to do Star Wars.
John Prine’s pro-marijuana song “Illegal Smile” was, for some reason, used as the theme song for the sitcom, The Texas Wheelers, about a group of boys dealing with their ne’er-do-well father and starring Jack Elam, Gary Busey, and Mark Hamill.
Wheeler, Texas is the hometown of astronaut Alan Bean.
Broadway actor and TV quiz show stalwart Orson Bean was a first cousin twice-removed of Calvin Coolidge.
Orson Bean is the father-in-law of Andrew Breitbart, a man much in the news because of his involvement with the ACORN scandal and more recently with the accusations of racism against Dept. of Agriculture employee Shirley Sherrod’s speech excerpt from the NAACP meeting.
Orson Bean has been married three times. His current wife, Alley Mills, is known for playing Mrs. Arnold on The Wonder Years. (Susie Breitbart is the daughter of Carolyn Maxwell, the second Mrs. Bean.)
Wonder Bread is a famous brand with a multicolored polka dot logo and whose freshness is the main thing stressed in advertisement. Each loaf of Wonder Bread has a color coded tie that tells what day of the week it was baked on.
The first breadslicing machine in America was put together by one Otto Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa in 1928. You know have a specific timeframe to gauge whether or not something is or isn’t “the greatest thing since sliced bread”. Use it well and remember : with great power comes a great way to kill a conversation that, up until this point, had been going well.