In December 2006, Monica Lewinsky graduated with a master’s degree in social psychology from the London School of Economics. Her thesis was “In Search of the Impartial Juror: An Exploration of the Third-Person effect and Pre-Trial Publicity.”
For the film Broadway Danny Rose, Woody Allen cast Borscht Belt comedians Sandy Baron, Corbett Monica, Morty Gunty,* Sandy Baron, and Jackie Gale as themselves as they told the story of Danny Rose.
*Who missed out on fame when he was replaced by Morey Amsterdam when the Dick Van Dyke Show was cast.
Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, who did not get along very well, led the band of patriot militiamen who captured a poorly-guarded Ft. Ticonderoga from the British in the early days of the American Revolution.
Ethan Hawke lists Reds (1981) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) as his favorite movies.
Edith Wharton wrote the first version of her suicidally-depressing novel Ethan Frome in French, as a composition exercise for language classes she was taking in Paris.
On All in the Family, Edith Bunker’s maiden name was Baines.
A “bunker” is another name for the menhaden, a fish that was a big part of the fishing industry of the Atlantic coast until the middle of the 20th century. The fish are inedible – too many bones with oily flesh that starts to rot by the time it gets to the docks – but were used for fertilizer and fish oil.
The Hot Chili Peppers original CD single of their hit “Fortune Faded” had two previously unreleased songs: Eskimo and Bunker Hill.
Small-time mobster and aspiring movie mogul Chili Palmer was the protagonist of Elmore Leonard’s novel Get Shorty.
Leonard Cohen’s “Greatest Hits” collection was voted the most depressing album ever in a poll by England’s PA News.
In Canadian election law, a poll does not need to be granted if only one person has been nominated by the close of nominations.
Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman refused to be considered for the Presidency in 1884, saying “I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected.” A century later, Democratic Congressman Mo Udall of Arizona was asked if he would run in the 1984 election. Udall responded, “If nominated, I shall run to Mexico. If elected, I shall fight extradition.”
William Shatner’s version of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was voted as the worst massacre of a Beatles song ever, in May 2003.
There are persistent rumours that William Shatner once attended high school in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, but it appears to be an urban legend.
But William Shatner did earn a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.
(Jesus Christ, he’s 82 years old now??!? :eek:)
There was an proposal on the internet to petition the Prime Minister to name Shatner as Governor General of Canada, but Shatner graciously advised the internet that he did not think he was qualified for the post.
The only country outside the Commonwealth to use the title Governor General is Iran, where the name refers to the head of a provincial government appointed by the Minister of the Interior.
(Shatner has the energy of a 50 year old - what’s his secret?)
“Nick of Time” and “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” are the two episodes of Twilight Zone in which William Shatner appeared.
Rod Serling consulted with his brother, aviation journalist Robert Serling (who also wrote the novel The President’s Plane is Missing), in writing the scripts for the TZ episodes “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” and “The Odyssey of Flight 33”.
In a short address to the nation after being sworn in, President Ford commented that “our long national nightmare is over.”