Until the day she died, Margaret Hamilton had children recognizing her and coming up to her to ask why she was so mean to Dorothy as the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (1939). She became very concerned about the role’s effect on children and finally did a guest spot on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood to explain that the witch was just a character in the film and not herself.
For Professor Marvel’s look in The Wizard of Oz, the director wanted a kind of seedy gentility, so the costume department went down to a second-hand store and picked out a bunch of coats. On set, actor Frank Morgan turned the coat pocket inside out. To his shock, “L. Frank Baum” was stitched on the inside. Later both Baum’s tailor and widow would confirm the jacket had belonged to the author.
Frank Capra studied electrical engineering at CalTech and only began working in films as a temporary summer job.
Austrian-American physicist Fritjof Capra is the author of several books attempting to link physics to Eastern mysticism, including The Tao of Physics (1975), The Turning Point (1982), Uncommon Wisdom (1988), *The Web of Life *(1996) and The Hidden Connections (2002).
Fritjof Capra’s brother Bernt Amadeus Capra directed Mindwalk, a movie in which characters played by Liv Ulmann, Sam Waterston, and John Heard discuss life, the universe, and everything while wondering around Mont St. Michel; it is based on a collaboration of the two brothers.
Gilda Radner’s last starring vehicle on Broadway (and the only book play she appeared in there) was Jean Kerr’s Lunch Hour, where she performed with Sam Waterston, David Rasche, Susan Kellerman, and David Rasche.
In Gilda (1946), when Gilda is brought back to Argentina by Tom, she slaps Johnny hard across both sides of his face. In reality, Rita Hayworth’s smacks broke two of Glenn Ford’s teeth. He held his place until the take was finished.
President Gerald Ford was one night locked out of the White House when he took his dog Liberty out onto the lawn to relieve itself. The Secret Service eventually realized what had happened and let him and the dog back in.
Harrison Ford was billed as Harrison J. Ford until 1970 for less confusion between him and silent-screen actor Harrison Ford. He actually has no middle name.
World B. Free actually does have a middle name. Bernard.
An 1895 New York Times report mentions a St. Bernard named Major F. measuring 8 feet 6 inches in length, who, if the claims are true, would be the longest dog in history. Another St. Bernard named Benedictine V Schwarzwald Hof, in Pierson, Michigan, reached 315 lb, which earned a place in the 1981 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the smallest dog living, in terms of height, is a female Chihuahua called Miracle Milly, who measured 9.65 cm (3.8 in) tall on 21 February 2013 and is owned by Vanesa Semler of Dorado, Puerto Rico.
The Miracle Mile in Los Angeles is actually a 1.5 mile stretch of Wilshire Boulevard between Fairfax and Highland Avenues, and some of the side streets off of it. Among other attractions, it is the site of the Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), A+D Museum, Craft and Folk Art Museum, and La Brea Tar Pits museums.
Tar pits can trap animals because the asphalt that seeps up from underground forms a bitumen pit thick enough to relentlessly grab even mammoths until they die of starvation or exhaustion of trying to escape.
Bob Dylan included the old folk song “House of the Rising Sun” on his 1961 debut album, a song that was a huge hit for The Animals in 1964. Dylan has stated that he loves the Animals version, but dropped it from his concerts after being accused of “plagiarizing” their hit.
Chi McBride, Jodi Benson, Christopher Meloni, and Carey Lowell were all born in 1961.
According to legend, Lowell George was a member of the Mothers of Invention when he played his song, “I’m Willing” to Frank Zappa. Zappa then fired him and told him to form his own band: he thought the song was good, but not for the Mothers. This has been disputed, but the common version do agree that Zappa did fire him soon after he played the song, though perhaps for other reasons.
One day a young man approached Arlo Guthrie in a Chicago bar called the Quiet Knight and told him that he’d written and recorded a song he thought would be perfect for Arlo, and asked him to listen to the tape. Guthrie replied "Buy me a beer and I’ll listen). The stranger complied, and after the tape was played asked him what he thought. Arlo said “Buy me another beer and I’ll record it.”
The stranger was Steve Goodman, and the song “City of New Orleans” became a monster hit for Arlo.
Arlo Guthrie’s daughter attended Oberlin College, and he gave her a shoutout when he performed at not-far-away Blossom Music Center in Bath, Ohio one summer night.
Beau Nash served as Master of Ceremonies at Bath for nearly 60 years, doing much to establish it as a social resort for Georgian England.