Cary Grant’s character frequently referred to his girlfriend in the 1939 movie Only Angels Have Wings, and a year in the movie Bringing Up Baby during an argument with Katharine Hepburn’s character he said “Susan! Susan! Susan!”, but he never said “Judy! Judy! Judy!” in a movie even though it was perhaps the most famous line associated with him. There are theories how the line came into existence but it’s not known for certain, and he did come to say it many times in real life, usually on talk shows and for fans who begged him.
Cary Grant costarred with Rita Hayworth in the movie Only Angels Have Wings. Hayworth’s character was named “Judy” and he called her name many times in the film. Though he did not say it three times in a row, Grant thought that this was the obvious origin for his association with the phrase.
One of the many legends about the creation of the tequila-based margarita is that it was invented by a Tijuana bartender named Enrique Bastate Gutierrez for his regular customer, Hollywood beauty Rita Hayworth (real name Margarita Cansino).
The famous Hollywood sign was originally a real-estate promotional gimmick, and had the word “land” at the end.
In ads in Genie, the magazine for professional magicians, the part of the illusion that makes it seem like magic is the gimmick.
Those who do magic in Regency England in the Susanna Clarke novel Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell are referred to as “magicians,” but are closer to what most people today would consider wizards.
The NBA’s Washington Wizards were founded as the Chicago Packers, then renamed Chicago Zephyrs, then became the Baltimore Bullets, the Capital Bullets, then Washington Bullets (no relation to the political song “Washington Bullets” by the Clash from their album Sandinista!) before assuming the franchise’s current name.
One of NYC’s first “graffiti artists” goes by the nom de plume of Zephyr
The Lincoln Zephyr was conceived by Edsel Ford as a bridge between the Ford and Lincoln lines. The Zephyr was smalled than the standard Lincoln, but better appointed than a Ford. The Zephyr also included the Continental model, the first time that marque was used by Ford-Lincoln.
The first Oscar for Best Song went to “The Continental” from The Gay Divorcee.
Betty Grable, later famous as a pinup for World War II GI’s, appeared in The Gay Divorcee. Though billed simply as “Guest”, she did have a prominent role during the number titled “Let’s K-nock K-nees”.
Pro wrestler Judy Grable, active in the Fifties and Sixties, was known as “The Barefoot Contessa” for her refusal to wear shoes during her bouts. She was trained by The Fabulous Moolah, who later became her bitter rival. Grable never, however, became famous enough to prevent her from appearing on “What’s My Line?” in 1957.
The Fabulous Moolah, aka Mary Lillian Ellison, was the ring surrogate for Captain Lou Albano during his 1980’s feud with singer Cyndi Lauper.
Harlan Ellison, disgusted that his screenplay for a movie based on Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot was languishing in Development Hell, finally released it as a trade paperback.
Harlan Ellison uses the pen name “Cordwainer Bird” when he is unhappy with the way others interfered with his work. Ellison first used the name, a nod to SF great Cordwainer Smith, in one of his early produced TV scripts for Burke’s Law, where it was used as the name of a character. Sammy Davis, Jr. played the part.
After Anne Francis appeared on an episode of Burke’s Law, her character Honey West became the focus of a spinoff series.
As far as can be determined, the young Jewish diarist Anne Frank appears in only a few seconds of film, looking out a window at the wedding of a family friend before World War II.
The number of Americans killed during World War II was approximately…
4 times the number of Americans killed during World War I
7 times the number of Americans killed during the Vietnam War
100 times the number of Americans killed during the American Revolutionary War
One-fourth the number of Americans killed during the American Civil War.
George Washington held the rank of lieutenant general throughout the American Revolutionary War, from 1775-1783. He wore a blue-and-buff uniform with gold epaulets on each shoulder and a light-blue sash to symbolize his rank.
Mary Higgins Clark’s first published novel was a fictionalized tale of George & Martha Washington’s relationship. She titled it after George’s mother’s family motto “Aspired to the Heavens.” It was not a best seller and was quickly sent to the reduced stacks, but Clark saw it as a success that she could write a book and get it published.
Years later, the book would be retitled “Mount Vernon Love Story” and become a best seller.