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1-18 of 18
- Actor
- Soundtrack
The name may not be familiar but for one brief shining moment in the 1960s, this handsome, firm-jawed, sober-looking actor had his "15 minutes--plus" on TV and film.
Ralph Adolph Taeger was born of German-speaking parents on July 30, 1936 in Richmond Hill, New York. Very shy as a youngster, he took public speaking to try and overcome his social handicap. He went so far as to pursue acting roles in college plays and in summer stock. An aspiring pro baseball player, he stayed for a time on a Dodger farm team but knee injuries forced him to rethink his future plans.
He enrolled instead at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, attending classes and finding work as a male model on the sly. He migrated to the West Coast where a stage performance at the Beverly Hills Playhouse caught the eye of an MGM talent scout. Signed briefly, he made an uncredited appearance in the film It Started with a Kiss (1959) before he was let go.
He found himself freelancing on TV, finding the small screen more productive and accepting medium. Showing potential as a strong but silent, clean-cut, adventurous type, he gravitated toward crime and western series including "Highway Patrol," "Manhunt", "Tombstone Territory" and "Sea Hunt." His first series lead was as rugged Mike Halliday in Klondike (1960), an action show that took place during the Alaskan gold rush of 1897. It co-starred James Coburn and barely lasted half the season. He and Coburn seemed to have some chemistry, however, so they simply changed the locale, updated the time to present-day Mexico and called their new adventure series Acapulco (1961). This time he played studly Patrick Malone, a former Korean War vet-turned-beachcomber assigned to protect a criminal lawyer from rampant gangsters. This show did even worse and died after only two months on the air.
Taeger earned a last chance at TV stardom with the title role in Hondo (1967), which was based on the 1953 John Wayne western. As cavalry scout Hondo Lane, Taeger experienced a more interesting character, a lonely, embittered man whose Indian bride was slain during an army massacre. Though he and it showed definite potential, it didn't arouse enough of an audience and dissolved after only three months.
Despite a lead role in the feature film X-15 (1961) co-starring Mary Tyler Moore and support parts in Stage to Thunder Rock (1964), A House Is Not a Home (1964) and the glossy George Peppard/Carroll Baker starrer The Carpetbaggers (1964), he was pretty much finished in Hollywood. It didn't help that he had also gained a reputation for being difficult on the set. He left the screen altogether after filming guest appearances on such shows as "Quincy" in 1982 and "Father Murphy" in 1983.
Selling cars and working as a tennis pro at one point, he married Linda Jarrett in 1967 and the couple had one son, Richard. As a wholesaler of firewood, the family operated Taeger's Firewood Company in northern Placerville, California and appeared in local theater productions every now and then. He died at age 78 on March 11, 2015, following an extended illness.- A fetching, full-faced American general purpose actress whose assertive two-decade career on stage, radio, TV and films did not lead to outright stardom. Born Jewell Jean Lain on August 9, 1931, in Indianapolis, Indiana, her father, a former teacher, founded the Lain Business College which had locations in Evansville, Fort Wayne and Indianpolis, Indiana. She has two younger sisters and one younger brother. A one-time child model, she made her debut while quite young (age 8) in "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew" at the Civic Theater and also took ballet lessons.
Following high school, Jewell moved to New York and was accepted as a student at the American Academy of Dramatic Art and studied with Charles Jehlinger. She made ends meet as a Conover Agency model and at one point was promoted as "Miss Television Film" for the number of TV shorts she did for NBC and CBS. Besides finding radio work, she also appeared on stage. Jewell toured in the comedy "Time Out for Ginger" playing Steve McQueen's girlfriend and played Stella opposite Grant Williams and Iris Whitney in a production of "A Streetcar Named Desire". She also made an appearance on TV's "The Colgate Comedy Hour" that showcased Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
In Los Angeles from 1955, the lovely blonde first appeared on stage in "Fifth Season" with Gene Raymond and Angela Greene, which later moved to San Francisco. She also worked with Marsha Hunt in the play "Rooms". She broke into films with a bit part as a cashier in Death of a Scoundrel (1956) starring George Sanders and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Along with Barbara Eden and Fay Spain, she was further promoted as a "Wampas Baby Star of 1956". She later earned a co-star role in the lowbudget Suicide Battalion (1958) opposite Mike Connors and Bing Russell and also had a featured roles as a flight attendant in Crash Landing (1958) starring Gary Merrill and Nancy Reagan while sharing love interest scenes with Roger Smith, and in Three Blondes in His Life (1961) starring Jock Mahoney and Greta Thyssen. She had an unbilled part in the film Red Line 7000 (1965).
TV was also a viable medium for Jewell. She was featured on such 50s and 60s programs as "The Millionaire," "Line-Up," "The Texan," "My Sister Eileen," "Highway Patrol," "The Hathaways," "Bachelor Father," "The Rogues", "Dr. Kildare," "Ben Casey," I Dream of Jeannie," "Mannix" (reuniting with her film co-star Mike Connors), "Bewitched," and "The Bold Ones". She retired in the late 1960s and focused on her marriage to producer Berman Swarttz. They divorced a few years later but she didn't return for quite some time. Jewell recently made an effort to perform again and appeared in a couple of music videos in 2010. She is also working on her autobiography entitled "What? And Give Up Show Business!" - Julián Pacheco was an actor, known for El malvado Carabel (1962), El reportero (1968) and Dos gallos en palenque (1960). He died on 11 March 2015 in Caracas, Venezuela.
- Soundtrack
Carlo Rossi was born on 17 August 1958 in Munich, Bavaria, West Germany. He died on 11 March 2015 in Moncalieri, Piedmont, Italy.- Aubrey Phillips was born in 1933 in Bagillt, Flintshire, Wales, UK. He was an actor, known for Emmerdale Farm (1972), The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1991) and Coronation Street (1960). He died on 11 March 2015 in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, Wales, UK.
- Billy Block was born on 10 August 1955 in Miami, Florida, USA. He was an actor, known for Hearts of Fire (1987) and Sami Yaffa - Sound Tracker (2014). He was married to Jill Rochlitz. He died on 11 March 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
- Art Department
- Director
- Writer
Will Williams was born on 15 March 1922 in Bochum, Germany. He was a director and writer, known for Stopover in Hollywood (1963), Crossclub: The Legend of the Living Dead (1999) and Eckis Welt (2007). He was married to Rosita Serrano. He died on 11 March 2015 in Kassel, Germany.- Gerald Hurst was born in 1937 in Davis, Oklahoma, USA. He died on 11 March 2015 in Austin, Texas, USA.
- Actor
- Director
Eino Baskin was born on 17 June 1929 in Tallinn, Estonia. He was an actor and director, known for Kolm rubiini (1978), Tagahoovis (1957) and Juhuslik kohtumine (1961). He was married to Veera Tolliga, Galina Dõrdinaga and Ita Ever. He died on 11 March 2015 in Tallinn, Estonia.- Dell Williams was born on 5 August 1922 in Manhattan, New York, USA. She died on 11 March 2015 in Manhattan, New York, USA.
- Bill Badger was born on 14 March 1936 in Redfield, South Dakota, USA. He was married to Sallie M. Romberger. He died on 11 March 2015 in Tucson, Arizona, USA.
- Alli McCann was born on 9 January 1930 in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. He was an actor, known for The Secret of Kells (2009). He died on 11 March 2015 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Jerzy Wolen was born on 9 June 1926 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. He was a writer and director, known for Spacer (1972), Do góry nogami (1983) and The Illumination (1973). He died on 11 March 2015 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Keyboardist Jim Greenspoon was born on February 7, 1948 in Los Angeles, California. He began taking classical piano lessons at age seven. He attended both Beverly Hills High School and Hollywood Professional School. Greenspoon was a member of the early 1960s surf-rock band The New Dimensions. He not only studied music at the L.A. Conservatory of Music, but also with noted West Coast piano instructor Harry Fields. He was a founding member of the Sunset Strip rock groups The Eastside Kids and The Sound of the Seventh Sun. Greenspoon moved to Denver, Colorado in 1967. A year and a half later he moved back to Los Angeles. He joined the hugely successful rock band Three Dog Night in 1968 and remained a member of the group for over 40 years. Among the musical artists Greenspoon worked for are Linda Ronstadt, Chris Hillman, Jeff Beck, Shaun Cassidy, Lowell George, Donald Dunn (aka "Duck" Dunn), Steve Cropper, and Eric Clapton. Jim was forced to stop performing with Three Dog Night after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor in October, 2014. Greenspoon died from said brain tumor on March 11, 2015 at age 67 at his home in Gaithersberg, Maryland.- Gösta Ganner was born on 7 July 1923 in Lidingö, Sweden. He was an actor, known for Ungt blod (1943) and All jordens fröjd (1953). He died on 11 March 2015 in Stockholm, Sweden.
- Lutz Landers was born on 17 March 1927 in Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria. He was an actor, known for Where the Lark Sings (1956), Skandal in Ischl (1957) and Schlager - Express Wien - Berlin (1954). He died on 11 March 2015 in Austria.
- Judith Bustany was born on 6 July 1939 in New York City, New York, USA. She was a writer, known for Who's the Boss? (1984), Rocky Road (1985) and Small Wonder (1985). She was married to Donald Bustany. She died on 11 March 2015 in Studio City, California, USA.
- Tony Fenton was born on 25 March 1961 in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland. He died on 11 March 2015 in Dublin, Ireland.