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Dominique Dunne
Dominique Ellen Dunne (November 23, 1959 – November 4, 1982) was an American actress. Born and raised in Santa Monica, California, she made her on-screen debut with the television film '' Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker'' (1979) and played recurring roles in the drama series ''Family'' (1980) and the comedy series '' Breaking Away'' (1980–1981). Her breakthrough role was Dana Freeling in the blockbuster horror film ''Poltergeist'' (1982). Afterwards, she headlined the Western film ''The Shadow Riders'' and the crime series ''CHiPs'' (both 1982). On October 30, 1982, Dunne was strangled by her ex-boyfriend John Sweeney during an argument on the driveway of her West Hollywood home. She fell into a coma and died five days later on November 4, 1982. Early life and education Dunne was born in Santa Monica, California, the youngest child of Ellen Beatriz "Lenny" (née Griffin), a ranching heiress, and Dominick Dunne, a writer, producer, and actor. Dunne had Irish and ...
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Fame (1982 TV Series)
''Fame'' is an American musical drama television series based on the 1980 film of the same name. It followed the lives of the students and faculty at New York City's High School of Performing Arts. Most interior scenes were filmed in Hollywood, California. In all seasons except the third, the show filmed several exterior scenes on location in New York City. The popularity of the series around the world, most notably in the United Kingdom, led to several hit records and live concert tours by the cast. Despite its success, few of the actors maintained high-profile careers after the series was cancelled. Several of the cast members were seen again briefly in ''Bring Back...Fame'', a reunion special made for Channel 4 in the United Kingdom in 2008. Episodes Cast Cast timeline ;Cast notes Main cast *Debbie Allen as Lydia Grant, dance teacher and choreographer, reprising her role from the original film * Lee Curreri as Bruno Martelli (seasons 1–3; guest season 6), music ma ...
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Diary Of A Teenage Hitchhiker
''Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker'' is a 1979 ABC network television movie which aired on September 21, 1979. Plot In the fictional Southern California town of Port Kirby, almost 18 year old teenage Julie Thurston joins her friends Cathy, Francine, and Dana on a hitchhiking circuit that is popular among the teen girls in the town. It’s the summer after their high school graduation. While everyone is hanging at the beach Julie is seriously wondering about her future. She wants to be a sculptor, but her boyfriend Nick has other plans. Meanwhile, Francine has a good head on her shoulders, going to beauty college; Dana is a wild party girl who might want to be a spy; Cathy is pregnant from her boyfriend and only her best friends know. Whether they are headed towards the beach or to school or to a job, they view hitchhiking as their only way of getting around, against parental advice. Julie’s parents worry very much about their daughter particularly after there are rumors of a mani ...
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Sonora
Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 municipalities; the capital (and largest) city of which is Hermosillo, located in the center of the state. Other large cities include Ciudad Obregón, Nogales, Sonora, Nogales (on the Mexico–United States border, Mexico-United States border), San Luis Río Colorado, and Navojoa. Sonora is bordered by the states of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua to the east, Baja California to the west (of the north portion) and Sinaloa to the southeast. To the north, it shares a border with the United States, and on the southwest has a significant share of the coastline of the Gulf of California. Sonora's natural geography is divided into three parts: the Sierra Madre Occidental in the east of the state; plains and rolling hills in the center; and the co ...
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Irish Catholics
Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particularly in contexts of national identity, political history, and diaspora, from other Catholic populations globally. They constitute the majority population in the Republic of Ireland, where approximately 3.9 million people identified as Catholic in the 2022 census, and a significant minority in Northern Ireland, with around 820,000 adherents. The Irish diaspora has established Irish Catholic communities worldwide, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, where they have played a major role in shaping cultural, religious, and political landscapes. Historically, Irish Catholics experienced systemic discrimination, especially under British rule, through the imposition of Penal Laws in the 17th and 18th cen ...
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West Hollywood
West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood begin in the late-18th century with European colonization when the Portuguese explorer João Rodrigues Cabrilho traveled to and eventually laid claim on the region for Spain. Around 5,000 of the indigenous inhabitants from the Tongva Indian tribe canoed out to greet the ship. The Tongva tribe was a nation of hunter-gatherers known for their reverence for dance and courage. By 1771, these native people had been severely ravaged by the diseases brought in by the Europeans from across wide oceans. The Spanish mission system referred to the Tongva tribe as "Gabrielinos", in reference to the Mission de San Gabriel. Early in 1770 Gaspar de Portola's Mexican expeditionary force stopped just south of the Santa Monica Mountains near what would ...
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Killing Of Dominique Dunne
Dominique Dunne, an American actress, was strangled by her ex-boyfriend, John Thomas Sweeney, and fell into a coma and died on November 4, 1982. In a court case that gained significant media coverage, Sweeney was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Dunne's death, and served two and a half years in prison. Background Dominique Dunne was born in Santa Monica, California, the youngest child of Ellen Beatriz "Lenny" (née Griffin), a ranching heiress, and Dominick Dunne, a writer, producer, and actor. Dunne had Irish and Mexican ancestry, her father was born and raised in an Irish Catholic family with her maternal grandfather, an Irish-American and her maternal grandmother a Mexican who was from Sonora, Mexico. She embarked on an acting career which included roles in several television series and the horror film ''Poltergeist'' (1982), the latter being her best-known role. Dunne met John Thomas Sweeney, a sous-chef at the restaurant Ma Maison, at a party in 1981. After a few ...
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CHiPs
''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. After the final first-run telecast on NBC in May 1983, the series went into reruns on Sundays from May 8 to July 17, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The series ran for 139 episodes over six seasons, plus one reunion television film in October 1998. Overview ''CHiPs'' is an action crime drama in a standard hour-long time slot, which at the time required 48 minutes of actual programming. A signature of the show, especially in the later seasons, were frequent over-the-top freeway pileups. For filming, traffic on Los Angeles freeways that were yet to be opened was non-existent and most chase scenes were done on the back roads. The show was created by Rick Rosner, and starred Erik Estrada as macho, rambunctious Officer Francis ("Frank") Llewellyn "Ponch" Poncherello and L ...
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The Shadow Riders (film)
''The Shadow Riders'' is a 1982 American Western television film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring Tom Selleck, Sam Elliott, Dominique Dunne, and Katharine Ross. Based on the 1982 novel of the same name by Louis L'Amour, the film is about two brothers who meet up after fighting on opposite sides of the Civil War, and return home, only to find their siblings kidnapped by ruthless raiders. Together, they set out on an adventure to rescue their family. The film reunites actors Selleck, Elliot, and Jeff Osterhage, who also starred in the 1979 film '' The Sacketts''. ''The Shadow Riders'' first aired in the United States on Tuesday, September 28, 1982. Plot At the end of the Civil War, Confederate soldier Dal Traven (Sam Elliott) is about to be executed by a firing squad when he is rescued by a cavalry force led by Major Ashbury. Ashbury plans on continuing to fight the Union and invites Dal to join his group. Dal declines, deciding to go back to his home in Texas, instea ...
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Western Film
The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier between the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the closing of the frontier in 1890, the genre also includes many examples of stories set in locations outside the frontier – including Northern Mexico, the Northwestern United States, Alaska, and Western Canada – as well as stories that take place before 1849 and after 1890. Western films comprise part of the larger Western genre, which encompasses literature, music, television, and plastic arts. Western films derive from the Wild West shows that began in the 1870s. Originally referred to as "Wild West dramas", the shortened term "Western" came to describe the genre. Although other Western films were made earlier, '' The Great Train Robbery'' (1903) is often considered to mark the beginning of the gen ...
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Poltergeist (1982 Film)
''Poltergeist'' is a 1982 American supernatural horror film directed by Tobe Hooper and written by Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais, and Mark Victor from a story by Spielberg. It stars JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, and Beatrice Straight, and was produced by Spielberg and Frank Marshall. The film focuses on a suburban family whose home is invaded by malevolent ghosts that abduct their youngest daughter. As Spielberg was contractually unable to direct another film while he made '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,'' Hooper was selected based on his work on '' The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' and '' The Funhouse''. The origin of ''Poltergeist'' can be traced to '' Night Skies'', which Spielberg conceived as a horror sequel to his 1977 film '' Close Encounters of the Third Kind''; Hooper was less interested in the sci-fi elements and suggested they collaborate on a ghost story. Accounts differ as to the level of Spielberg's involvement, but it is clear that he was frequently on se ...
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Blockbuster (entertainment)
A blockbuster is a work of entertainment—typically used to describe a feature film produced by a major film studios, but also other media—that is highly popular and financially successful. The term has also come to refer to any large-budget production ''intended'' for "blockbuster" status, aimed at mass markets with associated merchandising, sometimes on a scale that meant the financial fortunes of a film studio or a distributor could depend on it. Etymology The term began to appear in the American press in the early 1940s, referring to the blockbuster bombs, aerial munitions capable of destroying a whole block of buildings. Its first known use in reference to films was in May 1943, when advertisements in '' Variety'' and '' Motion Picture Herald'' described the RKO film, '' Bombardier'', as "The block-buster of all action-thrill-service shows!" Another trade advertisement in 1944 boasted that the war documentary, '' With the Marines at Tarawa'', "hits the heart like a two t ...
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Poltergeist (franchise)
''Poltergeist'' is an American horror film franchise distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the 1980s. The original trilogy revolves around the members of the Freeling family, who are stalked and terrorized by a group of ghosts, led by a demon known as the Beast, that are attracted to the youngest daughter, Carol Anne. The original film was co-written and produced by Steven Spielberg. The ''Poltergeist'' films collected a total of approximately $132 million at the United States box office. Fox 2000 Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released a " revisionist" reboot of the series"MGM, Fox 2000 To Co-Finance & Distribute ‘Poltergeist’; Production To Start This Fall"
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