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- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Annette Joanne Funicello achieved teenage popularity starting in October 1955 after she debuted as a Mouseketeer. Born on October 22, 1942 in Utica, New York, the family had moved to California when she was still young. Walt Disney himself saw her performing the lead role in "Swan Lake" at her ballet school's year-end recital in Burbank and decided to have her audition along with two hundred other children. Annette became the last Mouseketeer of the twenty-four that was picked. By the run-through in 1958 of The Mickey Mouse Club (1955) in which she appeared in her own multi-segmented series entitled "Annette", she had become the most popular Mousketeer of them all and the only one kept under contract by Walt Disney after he canceled the show. Her popularity was such that by the late 1950s, she was simply known as "Annette" -- America's sweetheart and the first "crush" for many a teenage baby boomer. Whenever anyone spoke of Annette, no last name was ever needed as everyone knew who you were talking about.
The popular teenager became synonymous with wholesome entertainment and was borrowed by Danny Thomas in 1959 to play Gina, a foreign exchange student, on The Danny Thomas Show (1953) (aka "The Danny Thomas Show") and also that same year had a recurring role on the Disney television series Zorro (1957). She made her well as other Disney film vehicles for several years, including The Shaggy Dog (1959), Babes in Toyland (1961) and The Monkey's Uncle (1965). During this time, the modest young singer had a couple of hit singles on the "Hot 100" charts, notably, "Tall Paul", and as a result, traveled with Dick Clark's caravan on singing tours around the country. At one point, she and teen idol Paul Anka became an item and he wrote both "Puppy Love" and "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" with her in mind. Their busy careers led to them parting ways.
During the early 1960s, American International Films wanted to use her in a fun-on-the-beach movie. They presented the idea to "Mr. Disney", as Annette always called him and with whom she was still under contract. To everyone's surprise, he gave his consent, with the only condition being that she make sure her navel was completely covered by a one piece bathing suit. The first movie, aptly titled Beach Party (1963) starred Robert Cummings and Dorothy Malone as the older generation who explore the younger set represented by Annette (as "Dee Dee") and her love interest Frankie Avalon (as "Frankie"). The "teenage" couple (actually she was 20 and he 23) proved so popular in this that they were whisked into a number of sand-and-surf romps (Muscle Beach Party (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)) that showcased the actors engaging in harmless fun while singing and dancing in the sand, and falling into silly slapstick.
After the surfing craze died out in 1965, Annette married Jack Gilardi, Paul Anka's agent, and became the mother of his three children -- Gina, Jack Jr. and Jason. While appearing in a few other movies that did nothing to further her career, including Fireball 500 (1966), Thunder Alley (1967) and Head (1968), she appeared as a guest on shows and, most famously, became the spokesperson for Skippy Peanut Butter in a host of commercials. But she phased out her career in favor of family.
She and Gilardi divorced in 1983. Three years later, she married Glen Holt, a harness racing horse breeder/trainer. Within a year into her second marriage, Annette was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She hid her condition for five years before making a formal announcement (in 1992) for fear that her uncontrollable movements might be characterized as drunkenness. She became the most famous spokesperson for the disease. Annette's life was filmed as a television movie with A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story (1995) co-starring her good friend, Shelley Fabares. Receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1993, Annette was eventually wheelchair-ridden and went into complete seclusion.
Following a tragic March 2011 incident in which their Los Angeles house burnt to the ground and both Annette and husband Glen were hospitalized with smoke inhalation, the couple moved to Bakersfield, California. A little more than a year later, and over 25 years after she was diagnosed with this long and painful illness, Annette passed away on April 8, 2013 from complications at age 70. To the present, her foundation continues to raise money to help find cures for this and other debilitating disorders, including Lou Gehrig's disease.- Actor
- Music Department
- Producer
Charles Napier was born in the tiny community of Mt. Union, near Scottsville, Allen County, Kentucky, to Linus Pitts Napier, a tobacco farmer and postman, and his wife, Sara, on April 12, 1936. He attended public school in Scottsville. After graduating high school, he enlisted in the Army in 1954. He rose to the rank of E-5 (Sgt.) while serving as company clerk with Company A 511th Airborne Infantry, 11th Airborne Division. He was a lively character actor who usually played edgy military types and menacing bad guys. His film debut was in Russ Meyer's Cherry, Harry & Raquel! (1969).
Napier went on appearing in other Meyer movies, including the homicidal Harry Sledge in Supervixens (1975) and also became a regular playing smaller roles for Jonathan Demme. His memorable portrayals of tough guys included the scheming intelligence officer in Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and the short-tempered front man in The Blues Brothers (1980).- Actor
- Stunts
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
American stuntman who also played minor roles in scores of movies. Son of Allie W. and Jannie Hamm Roberson. Raised on cattle ranches in Shannon, Texas, and Roswell, New Mexico, he left school at 13 to become a cowhand and oilfield roughneck. He married and took his wife and daughter to California, where he joined the Culver City Police Department and guarded the gate at MGM studios. Following army service in World War II, he returned to the police force. During duty at Warner Bros. studios during a labor strike, he met stuntman Fred Kennedy, who alerted him to a stunt job at Republic Pictures. Roberson got the job, due both to his expert horsemanship and his resemblance to John Carroll, whom Roberson doubled in his first picture, Wyoming (1947). His close physical resemblance to John Wayne led to nearly 30 years as Wayne's stunt double. He often played small roles and stunted in other roles in the same film, which frequently resulted in his "shooting" himself once the picture was cut together. He graduated to larger supporting roles in westerns for Wayne and John Ford, and to a parallel career as a second-unit director. At the time of his death, he was one of the most respected stunt men in Hollywood.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Charles Manson is one of the most notorious convicted murderers in American history, though ironically, there is no evidence that he ever killed anyone himself. In 1971, Los Angeles prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi used his "Helter Skelter" theory to successfully convict Manson and several of his female compatriots of seven murders: the Tate-LaBianca murders that shocked America and the world (the victims included heavily-pregnant movie star Sharon Tate). Manson was subsequently convicted of two other murders: Donald "Shorty" Shea, a hand at the Spahn Ranch where Manson and his cronies and female groupies congregated, who Charlie may have believed snitched on him to the police after the Tate-LaBianca murders; and the earlier murder of music teacher and small-time drug dealer Gary Hinman by Bobby Beausoleil.
Although Manson never did any of the actual murder, under the rules of accomplice liability, he was deemed as responsible for the murders as the actual perpetrators who caused the deaths of the nine people. Condemned to death upon conviction, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by the State of California after a 1972 Supreme Court decision struck down extant death penalties in the various states. On January 1, 2017, Manson was suffering from gastrointestinal bleeding at California State Prison in Corcoran when he was rushed to Mercy Hospital in downtown Bakersfield. On November 19, 2017, he died from cardiac arrest resulting from respiratory failure and colon cancer one week after his 83rd birthday. From the beginning of his notoriety, popular culture appeared around him, which he ultimately became an emblem of insanity, violence, and the macabre.- Actress
- Soundtrack
The daughter of husband-and-wife vaudevillians, Randy Stuart was born in southeastern Iola, Kansas and traveled throughout the South and Midwest with her itinerant parents before making her own stage debut with them at the ripe old age of three. The family eventually settled in California where Randy attended college, acted in school plays and caught the eye of Hollywood talent scouts; she enacted a scene from the play "The Women" in a screen test which impressed 20th Century-Fox executives enough to put her under contract. She made her film debut with an uncredited part in The Foxes of Harrow (1947) starring Maureen O'Hara (I) and Rex Harrison.
In 1950, the blonde, smoky-voiced actress made a brief impression as the calculating telephone roommate of Eve Harrington (played by Anne Baxter (I) in the classic backstage film All About Eve (1950). She then moved up front and center as the distaff part of a husband-and-wife spy team in "Biff Baker, U.S.A." (1952) which also starred Alan Hale Jr. (I). Randy later was given her best-remembered role in the cult sci-fi The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957). as Louise Carey, the concerned wife of tiny Scott Carey, played by Grant Williams (I).
The next year she was cast as Nancy Dawson in the western film Man from God's Country (1958) opposite George Montgomery which was followed by a guest-star appearance in Montgomery's short-lived television western series "Cimarron City" (1958). She also had a one-season (1959-60) regular role on the western series "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" (1955).
After this she would remain focused on 1960s' TV, wherein she sporadically appeared in a number of popular series, mostly crime dramas and westerns, such as "Bonanza," "Maverick," "Peter Gunn," "Cheyenne" and "77 Sunset Strip." Retiring by the mid 1960s, she was spotted only a couple of times after that. In the series "Dragnet" she appeared a couple of times as co-star Harry Morgan (I)' and she made a single appearance in a mid 70s "Marcus Welby" episode.
She died in 1996 at age 71.- Actor
- Producer
Max Prado was born on 15 April 1992 in Bakersfield, California, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for The Benchwarmers (2006), Chuck (2007) and How I Met Your Mother (2005). He died on 13 March 2016 in Bakersfield, California, USA.- Actor
- Music Department
- Composer
Buck Owens is a true legend in country music. Along with fellow performers Merle Haggard and Wynn Stewart, Buck helped popularize the Bakersfield Sound, or honky-tonk infused with electric instrumentation and rock influences. Growing up in Arizona, Buck picked cotton and learned to play the mandolin, the guitar and horns. He had his first radio program at age 16 and a year later, worked with the Mac's Skillet Lickers, whose lead singer was Bonnie Campbell. Bonnie soon became the first Mrs. Buck Owens; together, they had a son, Buddy. Buck and his young family moved to Bakersfield, California, in the early 1950s, where he worked as a session guitarist and played for a band called the Orange Blossom Playboys. After a few years of recording rockabilly songs (as "Corky Jones"), Buck signed a contract with Capitol Records in 1957. His first recordings floundered, and it wasn't until the spring of 1959 when he hit with "Second Fiddle." That song only reached No. 24 on Billboard magazine's country singles chart, but it was the follow-up, "Under Your Spell Again" (which reached No. 4 in the fall of 1959) that Buck's future in country music was assured--and was it ever. After several top-five songs that flirted with the No. 1 spot (among them, "Above and Beyond," "Under the Influence of Love" and "Foolin' Around"), he finally hit the top of the charts in June 1963 with "Act Naturally." That song's four-week stay at No. 1 paled in comparison, though, to his incredible 16-week stay that fall with "Love's Gonna Live Here." Eighteen more No. 1 hits, all in the Bakersfield tradition, followed during the next nine years. Many of them featured Buck's chief guitarist, right-hand man and close confidant, Don Rich. Together, Owens and Rich (the leader of Buck's backing band, the Buckaroos) polished their sound, which graced AM radio throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. Buck parlayed his popularity on two country music TV shows: the syndicated "Buck Owens Ranch Show" and CBS' (and later syndicated) Hee Haw (1969). Through it all, he was an astute businessman, keeping control of his publishing rights and master tapes, purchasing several radio stations and forming a booking agency among them. He also recorded a live album in 1969 in London. Then, in 1974, Rich was killed in a motorcycle accident and Buck's life faltered. He recorded for Warner Bros. for a time in the mid- to late-1970s, but only one song, 1979's "Play Together Again, Again" (a duet with Emmylou Harris) was a substantial hit. Then, in 1988, he found renewed popularity when new country star Dwight Yoakam (whose own Bakersfield Sound was strongly influenced by Owens) asked him to duet on "Streets of Bakersfield," which soared to No. 1. He still performs occasional shows at his Crystal Palace, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996. Buck Owens remains one of country music's most respected (if not underrated) legends.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jane Nigh was born on 25 February 1925 in Hollywood, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Blue Grass of Kentucky (1950), Whistle Stop (1946) and Big Town (1950). She was married to Norman Davidson Jr., John Edwin Baker and Victor Cutler. She died on 5 October 1993 in Bakersfield, California, USA.- Mitzi McWhorter was born on 23 April 1935 in Skiatook, Oklahoma, USA. She was an actress, known for Deadline (1959), The Kaiser Aluminum Hour (1956) and Michael Shayne (1960). She was married to Gerald Connors and Wayne Rogers. She died on 20 January 2021 in Bakersfield, California, USA.
- Actress
- Additional Crew
Gloria Saunders was born on 29 September 1927 in Columbia, South Carolina, USA. She was an actress, known for Terry and the Pirates (1952), Red Snow (1952) and Crazy Over Horses (1951). She was married to Tommy Thompson and Roy J. Maier. She died on 4 June 1980 in Bakersfield, California, USA.- Glen Holt was born on 19 December 1930 in Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story (1995), Fame, Fortune and Romance (1986) and Biography (1987). He was married to Annette Funicello. He died on 12 February 2018 in Bakersfield, California, USA.
- Cynthia Ann Thompson was a lovely, spunky and appealing blonde actress with long curly hair, a cute face, a shapely figure, and a wonderfully vivacious personality who alas only acted in a handful of enjoyable low-budget Grade B pictures in the 80s. She was born on June 24, 1959 in Santa Maria, California. Her parents were Roy L. Thompson and Pat Rhoades. Thompson had two brothers named Michael and David. Cynthia gave a winningly sweet and vibrant performance as the innocent and enticing Eba in the amusing comedy romp Cavegirl (1985). She was funny as the vacuous Amanda in the entertainingly tacky Tomboy (1985) and likable as the cheery Cissy in the nifty backwoods slasher horror outing Body Count (1986). Thompson had small parts in Hollywood Harry (1985) and the campy 1988 Not of This Earth (1988) remake. Following her portrayal of feisty CIA agent Angel in the action opus Rescue Force (1990), Cynthia called it quits as an actress and married Gary Glum. She was the mother of two children named Knokos and Britannia. Thompson died at age 50 from cancer on October 10, 2009 in Bakersfield, California.
- Stunts
- Actor
A.J. Dunn was born on 27 May 1983 in Porterville, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Wedding Ringer (2015), The Muppets (2011) and Oz the Great and Powerful (2013). He died on 22 October 2019 in Bakersfield, California, USA.- Betty Jane Royale was born on 12 October 1946 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Cyborg 2087 (1966) and The Trouble with Angels (1966). She died on 29 September 2023 in Bakersfield, California, USA.
- Actress, born in northern Kentucky June 5, 1951 and 4th out of 5 children; daughter of Thomas and Martha Walsh and sister of actress Katherine Walsh. Susan studied to be an Olympic equestrian in KY until the tragic death of her father in an AA crash over the hills of northern KY in 1965. In 1967, the state of Kentucky informed Mrs. Walsh that their property was being seized via eminent domain. After having to leave their family home in 1969, her mother moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado and built a new home and life for her children. After her older sister Kathy's death in 1970, Susie decided to make a change. In 1971, at age 20, she moved to NYC where she studied at the illustrious American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Had first break on "All in the Family". Married in 1974 and gave birth to her daughter in May 1975. Moved to Los Angeles in 1975 with husband and infant daughter and gained momentum working on various TV shows and films, "Carter County" with Geech Kook, Elia Kazan's "The Last Tycoon" with Robert DeNiro, "The Amazing Howard Hughes" with Tommy Lee Jones, "CHiPs" with Robert Pine and Bruce Penhall, and so on. While in LA she was friends with Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, actress and mother to Angelina Jolie. Susie divorced in 1979 and remained in Los Angeles until her move back to NYC in 1985. In July of 1980 her beloved mother passed away.
Shortly after her move to NYC in 1985, she fell gravely ill with one of the first diagnosed cases of Epstein Barr Syndrome (chronic fatigue) which no one knew much about. A few years later the media started reporting on the illness after it was found that Cher had suffered from the same ailment. After a long recovery, she started working again for HBO and NBC and has done various TV shows and movies. Susie still lives in NYC and misses her brother Timmy who passed away on July 5, 2010, without having a chance to say goodbye. She has written a feature-length script which chronicles the struggles of a woman who must overcome the pain of adversity and loss in her life or fall victim to it, entitled "Wasted Beauty." - Actress
- Writer
- Composer
Bonnie Owens was born on 1 October 1932 in Blanchard, Oklahoma, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for From Nashville with Music (1969), Killers Three (1968) and The Sapphires (2012). She was married to Fred D. McMillen, Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. She died on 24 April 2006 in Bakersfield, California, USA.- Actress
- Music Department
Mary Ruth was born on 30 July 1931 in Maypearl, Texas, USA. She was an actress, known for Riot Squad (1941), Gentleman from Dixie (1941) and Easy to Take (1936). She was married to Earle Murie. She died on 12 January 2018 in Bakersfield, California, USA.- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
George H. Plympton was born on 2 September 1889 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940), Scouts to the Rescue (1939) and The Lost Special (1932). He died on 11 April 1972 in Bakersfield, California, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Jimmy Rogers was born on 25 July 1915 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for False Colors (1943), Texas Masquerade (1944) and Jes' Call Me Jim (1920). He was married to Judith Braun and Marguerite Astrea Kemmler. He died on 28 April 2000 in Bakersfield, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Known by such nicknames as the Yodeling Blonde Bombshell, Westerns First Lady and the All-American Girl, Carolina Cotton came from humble beginnings and became a prolific entertainer in the Golden Era of Western Swing music and B movies, soundies, radio shows and early television. Her fun, lively "pretty little girl next door" personality made her a favorite with Western fans worldwide. She made numerous live appearances, including parades and rodeos. Her countless contributions at charity benefits had earned her the title of "Miss Good Samaritan". Most of all, she was known for her unique style of yodeling, and was considered a World Champion by many in the field.
Carolina Cotton was born Helen Hagstrom on October 20th, 1925 and raised on the family farm in her native town of Cash Arkansas. The family relocated to San Francisco by 1937. As a youngster she joined the O'Neille Sisters Kiddie Revue, and started performing at the Golden Gate Theater. She went on to sing, yodel and play a few instruments in Dude Martin's Roundup Gang, performing on Bay Area stations KPO and KYA. Martin encouraged her to change her name to "Carolina".
A chance meeting with Johnny Marvin in Los Angeles led to Carolina relocating to Hollywood in 1944, and joining the Spade Cooley Orchestra, where she was the featured female vocalist/yodeler. She was only known as "Carolina" at the time, and still needed a last name. Cooley's manager, Bobbie Bennett (who also later became Cotton's manager) held a contest to pick a last name for the Yodeling Blonde Bombshell, and Cotton was the winner. The band played regularly at LA's Riverside Rancho club, and appeared on the popular radio show "Hollywood Barn Dance", on local station KNX. That same year she appeared in the B Western films "Sing Neighbor Sing" for Republic Pictures (Roy Acuff), Universal's "The Singing Sheriff" (Bob Crosby) and PRC's "I'm From Arkansas" (Slim Summerville). In 1945 she signed with Columbia Pictures, filming "Outlaws of the Rockies", (one of 3 Durango Kid/Charles Starrett pictures), and "Texas Panhandle" At that time Carolina also made several film shorts and soundies with Cooley and Merle Travis.
After filming "Outlaws", Carolina realized she should learn to ride horses. Like anything else she did, she gave it her all, and soon became an Outstanding Horsewoman, and appeared in several equestrian events...rodeos, horse shows and parades. She often rode as Grand Marshalette.
In 1945 Carolina secretly married Cooley bassist Deuce Spriggins. The two left the band, and formed Deuce Spriggins Orchestra (several of Cooley's band members also migrated to this group). The new band also featured Andy Parker and the Plainsmen Trio. They performed nightly at Santa Monica Pier's Western Palisades Ballroom, one of the largest dance halls on the West Coast. Like the Spade Cooley Orchestra, they made soundies, shorts and appeared in 4 films: "Song of the Prairie", "That Texas Jamboree", "Cowboy Blues" and "Singing on the Trail"...all with Ken Curtis, and the Hoosier Hot Shots. They recorded 1 release for Mercury Records, "What's the Matter With You" / "I Been Down in Texas". But by 1946, Cotton and Spriggins had divorced, and the Spriggins Orchestra dissolved.
Carolina briefly performed with Hank Penny in '46 back at the Riverside Rancho, and soon signed with King Records. The session produced 2 of her self-penned signature songs, "Three Miles South of Cash in Arkansas", and "I Love to Yodel". She appeared on the Armed Forces Radio Service show "Ranch House Party" along with Ken Curtis, Cottonseed Clark and others. Carolina eventually guest starred on several radio and early television programs (some were her own shows).
In 1947, she toured with Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, and made another film, "Smoky River Serenade" (Hoosier Hot Shots). Among her radio appearances was on the long-running series "KMPC Westerners" (featuring Red Rowe, Pappy Cheshire, and the Plainsmen). 2 songs for Crystal Records were released, "You've Got Me Wrapped Around Your Finger" / "Chime Bells".
By 1948, Carolina went on the road with the Sons of the Pioneers. She became the only "daughter" of the group. "Smoky Mountain Melody" (Roy Acuff) was her next movie. She also became one of the first (possibly THE first) female disc jockeys in the country, spinning records on Long Beach station KGER. Carolina also guest starred on the KTLA-TV show "Sunset Ranch".
Carolina made another film in 1949 (briefly leaving Columbia for Astor Pictures), "Stallion Canyon" (Ken Curtis), and released 2 more records for Mastertone, including "Put Your Shoes On Lucy", "Hoosegow Serenade" and "The Old Square Dance is Back Again". She also made a picture back at Columbia with Eddy Arnold, "Feudin' Rhythm". She was a radio guest on the AFRS show "Redd Harper's Hollywood Roundup", and featured on KLAC-TV's Ranch Time.
By 1950, the Yodeling Blonde Bombshell a second film with Arnold, "Hoedown" (Jock Mahoney). A new recording contract with MGM Records produced several memorable songs, including "I Betcha I Getcha", "You're Gettin' a Good Girl" and the spectacular yodeling tune, "Nola". Plans were made for Carolina's own TV Western adventure series, "Queen of the Range". Unfortunately, it never materialized. By December, she was on her way overseas, to entertain at military bases in Europe. This was the first of many such tours, mostly with the USO, to Korea and the Far East. In Germany, Carolina received the title "Deputy Provost Marshal"...the only citizen to receive such an award.
Carolina made a wide variety of personal appearances over the years, including the Out Of This World Series (celebrity baseball game), St Mary's All Western Days fiestas in San Diego, the All-Palomino Horse Show in Ohio, the Helldorado celebrations in Nevada, and the Sheriff's Annual Rodeos at the LA Coliseum. One of her most unusual feats was in December 1951, when she helped place a real "pole" at the North Pole. As a publicity stunt for Alaskan Airlines, the candy striped pole was filled with letters to Santa Claus, and was to be flown over the North Pole, and dropped by Carolina and Alaskan DJ North Pole Nellie. A huge celebration was held in Fairbanks, but at the last minute, Carolina and Nellie were barred from the flight, as the crew had to refuel at a restricted all-male military base. As a tribute to the 2 girls who couldn't attend the historic event, the crew on the plane yodeled, as they dropped the Pole into position.
The Yodeling Blonde Bombshell recorded 4 more MGM songs in '51, with Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys: "You Always Keep Me in Hot Water", "Cause I'm In Love", "I'm All Alone" and a remake of her song "Three Miles South of Cash". She also guested on Hedda Hopper's radio program, among others.
Carolina co-starred in 3 films in 1952, coming into her own as a leading lady. In "Apache Country", she worked with Gene Autry and Pat Buttram, playing an adventurous cowgirl, much like the role she would have played in "Queen of the Range". She made another movie with Jock Mahoney, "Rough Tough West" (also featuring her long-time friend Smiley Burnette). Her final film was the Autry picture "Blue Canadian Rockies", playing opposite Gail Davis. This was also the year she made her last recordings for MGM, which included Yodel Yodel Yodel, from "Rockies".
Carolina continued her many personal appearances. She took over Doye O'Dell's kiddie amusement park in Compton, and renamed it "Carolina Cotton's Tiny Town". While on a USO return visit to Korea, Carolina was honored to have a tank named after her: Miss Carolina--The Cotton Special.
Between 1953-55, Carolina was still doing guest spots on radio and television. The AFRS aired "Carolina Cotton Calls", heard by Armed Forces personnel worldwide. She continued making guest appearances at rodeos and special events. And she made one last tour overseas in June 1956, to Johannesburg South Africa, to visit hospitals of children with cerebral palsy. It was then that Carolina told herself that if she ever left Show Biz, she would become involved in helping those with disabilities.
By the mid '50s, Western Swing and B Movies started becoming more and more of a thing of the past. In August 1956, Carolina had married Bill Ates, nephew of the character actor Roscoe Ates, with whom she did many shows over the years. She began concentrating on her home life and family, and had 2 children: son William, and daughter Sharon. But the marriage didn't endure into the 1960s, as Carolina and Bill divorced. Carolina remembered her promise to help disabled children...she became a teacher, and earned her Masters degree in Special Education, as well as traditional education.
Over the years, Miss Cotton taught at different schools. She moved to Bakersfield CA in the early 1970s, where she taught for many years at Mt Vernon Elementary School. Always the type to be "on the go", she took on another job at a local department store (Brocks, later renamed Gottschalks). After her kids were grown, Carolina began showing up at jam sessions at Bakersfield's local Grange Hall, making music with some of the pioneers of the Bakersfield Sound of country music, including Bill Woods.
Beginning in 1984, Carolina Cotton was a favorite Guest Speaker at several Western Film Festivals, most notably in Charlotte NC, Memphis TN and Little Rock AR. She enjoyed reminiscing with her friends from the good old' days of Show Biz, and loved connecting with fans old and new.
Sadly, in 1994, Carolina was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. In spite of enduring treatments, she carried on with a smile, and the same enthusiasm she was known for. She continued teaching and working at the department store, attended a Film Festival or two, and managed to enjoy summer visits to Europe. She retired from teaching in March 1997, and entered the hospital in April, where she passed away the morning of June 10th, 1997.
Carolina Cotton lives on in the legacy she left behind, and in the hearts of her fans. She is fondly remembered in her Western Swing recordings, B Western movies, radio and television shows which, luckily, still survive in one form or another. Like other Western stars of the era, Carolina's films and recordings are in the midst of restoration, much to the benefit of generations to come. Carolina Cotton's story is assured a future, as a pioneer in the Golden Age of Western Entertainment.- Editorial Department
Tom Kobayashi was born on 4 September 1916 in Seattle, Washington, USA. Tom is known for Howard the Duck (1986) and Powaqqatsi (1988). Tom died on 3 March 2020 in Bakersfield, California, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Charles Murphy was born on 12 December 1881 in Independence, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for The Jungle Stockade (1915), The Great Circus Mystery (1925) and Spell of the Circus (1930). He was married to Lillian L. Myrick. He died on 11 June 1942 in Bakersfield, California, USA.- Joyce Arleen was born on 20 May 1931 in New Jersey, USA. She was an actress, known for The Gay Sisters (1942), Kings Row (1942) and Our Neighbors - The Carters (1939). She was married to Al Baldock. She died on 17 February 2023 in Bakersfield, California, USA.
- Actor
- Casting Department
- Stunts
Dirty Denny was born on 5 January 1945 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Angels Hard as They Come (1971), Best Laid Plans (1999) and Hart to Hart (1979). He was married to Anne Smith. He died on 4 March 2024 in Bakersfield, California, USA.- Mike Lage was born on 20 February 1939 in Davenport, Iowa, USA. He died on 24 August 2014 in Bakersfield, California, USA.