Category Archives: Television

Classic Hollywood #189 – Andy Griffith & Wife Barbara

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Andy Griffith & Wife Barbara On The Set Of No Time For Sergeants

Star and Wife
Andy Griffith poses happily with his wife Barbara who joined him in Hollywood when he was starring in Warner Bros. film version of the Air Force comedy “No Time For Sergeants,” which Griffith also did on the stage. The Griffiths make their home on an island farm off the North Carolina coast. photo: Warner Bros. April 17, 1958

Andy Griffith as Sir Walter Raleigh with wife Barbara Griffith in The Lost Colony. photo: New York Daily News 1954

No Time For Sergeants was a huge Broadway success, running 796 performances from 1955 -1957. Griffith would leave the show after over 300 performances to begin his motion picture career.

North Carolinian, Barbara Bray Edwards was the first of Andy Griffith’s three wives. The pair met when they were both students at The University of North Carolina. Andy and Barbara married August 26,1949.

After being graduated in 1949, Andy would teach high school music in Goldsboro, N.C..

During his third year teaching Andy realized Continue reading →

Clint Eastwood Singing On His 1962 Album

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Go Ahead… Make My Song,

Clint Eastwood 1960s Crooner

When you say the name Clint Eastwood, the first thing that comes to your mind is usually not “singer.”

The actor, director and producer turned 95 on May 31, 2025. Eastwood has not appeared in a film since 2021’s Cry Macho, but he did direct Juror #2 in 2024. Next up for producer Eastwood, is a remake of The Gauntlet starring Tom Cruise and Scarlett Johansson, currently in pre-production.

Though Clint Eastwood has sung in many movies, few people associate, Eastwood, “The Man With No Name” and “Dirty Harry” as a vocalist.

But back when Eastwood Continue reading →

How To Properly Televise A Baseball Game – 1972

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Pure Baseball As Televised July 8, 1972

What is wrong with baseball telecasts today?

Just about everything.

Before cable television, baseball was usually televised only in your local broadcast area, if there was a major league team within your market. Otherwise you could tune into only one nationally broadcast game on Saturday, aptly named the “Game of the Week.” Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #167 – Betty Grable

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Betty Grable & Poodle – 1944

Pin-Up Queen Gets On The Ball
Hollywood, Calif. – Vivacious Betty Grable, a “Mamma” of five months, romps with this frisky poodle as she gets back in the groove on her return to the kleig lights. The famous Grable gams will dance their way through 20th Century-Fox’s Technicolor musical, “Diamond Horseshoe” now in production. photo: Acme 8/19/1944

Gams. Talk about 1940s jargon. I don’t think I’ve recently heard anyone refer to a woman’s legs as gams except in the movies.

Supposedly Grable’s legs were insured for $250,000 dollars by Lloyds of London. It was a publicity stunt, but an effective one at drawing attention. Continue reading →

James Caan’s First Wife Dee Jay & Yankees Manager Ralph Houk – 1962

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Ralph Houk & Dee Jay Mattis At Yankee Stadium – 1962

DIAMOND DOINGS
Dee Jay Mattis, dancer on Sing Along With Mitch over NBC-TV, shows manager Ralph Houk of the New York Yankees that in addition to dancing she can also swing a bat. Dee Jay has been named honorary mascot of the team. photo: July 5, 1962, Hazleton-Standard Speaker staff photo / Milburn McCarty Associates Public Relations

Dee Jay (Dorothy Jeanne) Mattis of Union, NJ main claim to fame is being the first wife of actor James Caan. The two married In Halifax, NC on July 8, 1961 when Dee Jay was 19.

Mattis quit Mitch Miller’s show in 1963 to join her husband in California as his acting career was getting busy with roles in television series such as Route 66, The Untouchables, Wide Country and  Dr. Kildare to name a few.

The pair had a daughter Tara Alisa in 1964. Caan described the marriage as turbulent. On January 16, 1966 Mattis and Caan divorced. Mattis said it was more important for Caan to go out with his friends than being with her or their year-old daughter. She also complained Caan swore at her, struck her several times and belittled her in the presence of his friends. Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #162 – Ricardo Montalban & Audrey Totter

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Ricardo Montalban and Audrey Totter Dine At Romanoff’s – 1951

INSIDE HOLLYWOOD by Nat Dallinger (week ending July 13 1951)
Audrey Totter is an attentive listener as Ricardo Montalban related a story during a dinner at Romanoff’s, in Beverly Hills. A radio actress before embarking on a screen career, Audrey once worked as a door-to-door saleslady for a wax concern. After a highly successful career in radio, she received offers from the New York stage and Hollywood. Selecting the latter, this blue-eyed blonde has won top starring roles for herself in numerous motion pictures. Romantically she is expected to become the bride of film producer Armand Deutsch. photo: Nat Dallinger for King Features Syndicate

Nat Dallinger would capture Hollywood celebrities in candid moments for his syndicated photo column Inside Hollywood.

Audrey Totter (1917-2013) never became a Hollywood star of the first magnitude but appeared steadily in films throughout the 1940s and early 50s. Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #156 – Mary Pickford & Buddy Rogers Get Engaged

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The Engagement Of Mary Pickford & Buddy Rogers – 1936

Mary Pickford Buddy Rogers photo Wide World“America’s Sweetheart” Formally Announces Engagement
Hollywood, Calif – Photo shows: Mary Pickford, “America’s Sweetheart” and Charles “Buddy” Rogers film actor and orchestra leader at the dinner party formally announcing their engagement. They expect to be married in the spring, in Hollywood. He must be in London for a film production January 4. She expects to go abroad, possibly with her niece, and Rogers’ mother in December. photo Wide World Photos 11/21/1936

Here is the Hollywood publicity machine Continue reading →

This AC/DC Demo Turned Into One Of Their Most Iconic Songs

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AC/DC Rejected Dirty Eyes, Instead Using The Same Riff For Whole Lotta Rosie

Plus The Only Known Photograph Of The Real Life “Rosie”

AC/DC’s singer / lyricist Bon Scott once described himself not as a poet, but more a bathroom graffiti writer.

Though Bon Scott was self effacing, he could look at his own work honestly to see if there was room for improvement. Scott would frequently write and rewrite lyrics in notebooks and record on portable tape recorder he carried with him.

In one case he took a good rock song and made it a great song by completely changing the lyrics. Continue reading →

1969 World Series – Mets Manager Gil Hodges Gets A Call Overturned

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No Instant Replay, But Mets Manager Gil Hodges Convinces Umpire Lou DiMuro To Overturn A Call In Game 5 Of The 1969 World Series

If Gil Hodges wasn’t considered an honest man, the Mets might not have won game five of the 1969 World Series. Continue reading →