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The Great Bank Robbery
''The Great Bank Robbery'' is a 1969 Western comedy film from Warner Bros. directed by Hy Averback and written by William Peter Blatty, based on the novel by Frank O'Rourke. The movie had a soundtrack with songs by Jimmy Van Heusen. Plot Gold stolen by outlaws is stashed in the impenetrable bank of Friendly, a small town in Texas. A preacher, Rev. Pious Blue, is actually a thief. He and his associates, including partner Lyda Kebanov, plan to tunnel into the vault and blow it up with TNT, just as a Fourth of July celebration drowns out the noise. There are complications. A number of rival gangs (which include Mexican bandits and a gunfighter called Slade) are also after the loot. Then there is Ben Quick of the Texas Rangers, a lawman out to find evidence confirming the corruption of banker and mayor Kincaid that is also inside the vault. The reverend's band is successful, distracting the bank's guards by having Lyda pretend to be Lady Godiva, riding nude on a white horse, with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hy Averback
Hyman Jack Averback (October 21, 1920 – October 14, 1997) was an American radio, television, and film actor who eventually became a producer and director. Early years Born in Minneapolis, Averback moved to California with his family when he was nine years old. Averback graduated from the Edward Clark Academy Theater in 1938 and eventually got a job announcing at KMPC Beverly Hills before World War II. Career Radio During World War II, as part of the American Forces Network, Armed Forces Radio Service, he entertained troops in the Pacific with his program of comedy and music, where he created the character of Tokyo Mose, a lampoon of Japan's Tokyo Rose. After his discharge, his big break came when he was hired to announce the Jack Paar radio show, which replaced Jack Benny for the summer beginning June 1, 1947. He became the announcer for Bob Hope on NBC in September 1948 and announced for other NBC radio shows, ''The Sealtest Village Store'' and ''Let's Talk Hollywood'', as we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akim Tamiroff
Akim Mikhailovich Tamiroff (born Hovakim Tamiryants; October 29, 1899 – September 17, 1972) was an Armenian-American actor of film, stage, and television. One of the premier character actors of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tamiroff developed a prolific career despite his thick accent, appearing in at least 80 motion pictures over a span of 37 years. He was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in ''The General Died at Dawn'' (1936) and '' For Whom the Bell Tolls'' (1943), winning the first ever Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for the latter. Orson Welles, a friend and oft-collaborator, praised him as "the greatest of all screen actors." Early life and education Tamiroff was born Hovakim Tamiryants () to Armenian parents living in the Russian Empire. Different sources cite either Tiflis (in modern-day Georgia) or Baku (in modern-day Azerbaijan) as his places of birth. His father was an oil worker, and his mother a seamst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in 2000. He reviewed more than one thousand films during his tenure there. Early life Canby was born in Chicago, the son of Katharine Anne (née Vincent) and Lloyd Canby. He attended boarding school in Christchurch, Virginia, with novelist William Styron, and the two became friends. He introduced Styron to the works of E.B. White and Ernest Hemingway; the pair hitchhiked to Richmond to buy '' For Whom the Bell Tolls''. He became an ensign in the United States Navy Reserve on October 13, 1942, and reported aboard the Landing Ship, Tank 679 on July 15, 1944. He was promoted to lieutenant (junior grade) on January 1, 1946, while on LST 679 sailing near Japan. After the war, he returned to his alma mater Dartmouth College and graduated in 194 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuolumne County, California
Tuolumne County (), officially the County of Tuolumne, is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 55,620. The county seat and only incorporated city is Sonora, California, Sonora. Tuolumne County comprises the Sonora, CA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The county is in the Sierra Nevada region. The northern half of Yosemite National Park is located in the eastern part of the county. Etymology The name ''Tuolumne'' is of Native Americans in the United States, Native American origin and has been given different meanings, such as Many Stone Houses, The Land of Mountain Lions, and Straight Up Steep, the latter an interpretation of Chief William Fuller, William Fuller, a native Chief. Mariano Vallejo, in his report to the first California State Legislature, said that the word is "a corruption of the Native American word ''talmalamne'' which signifies 'cluster of stone wigwams.'" T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sierra Railroad
The Sierra Railroad Corporation is a privately owned common carrier. Its Sierra Northern Railway freight division handles all freight operations for all branches owned by the Sierra Railroad. The company's Mendocino Railway group operates the diesel- and steam-powered Sacramento RiverTrain (Woodland-Sacramento) and the Skunk Train (Fort Bragg-local). The company's Sierra Energy division is for energy projects. History The similarly named Sierra Railway Company of California was founded in 1897 to connect the California Central Valley to the Gold Country foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Its historic western terminus has always been in Oakdale where a junction was once formed with both the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway and the Southern Pacific. The Santa Fe's (now BNSF Railway) Oakdale Branch provided one freight outlet to the AT&SF Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Valley Division at Riverbank, California; the Southern Pacific Oakdale Branch from Stockton wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cool Hand Luke
''Cool Hand Luke'' is a 1967 American Prison film, prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Paul Newman and featuring George Kennedy in an Academy Awards, Oscar-winning performance. Newman stars in the title role as Luke, a prisoner in a Florida prison camp who refuses to submit to the system. Set in the early 1950s, it is based on Donn Pearce's 1965 novel ''Cool Hand Luke (novel), Cool Hand Luke''. Roger Ebert called ''Cool Hand Luke'' an anti-establishment film shot during emerging popular opposition to the Vietnam War. Filming took place within California's Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, San Joaquin River Delta region; the set, imitating a prison farm in the Deep South, was based on photographs and measurements made by a crew the filmmakers sent to a Road Prison in Gainesville, Florida. Upon its release, ''Cool Hand Luke'' received favorable reviews and was a box-office success. It cemented Newman's status as one of the era's top actors, and was calle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Fiedler
John Donald Fiedler (February 3, 1925 – June 25, 2005) was an American actor. Recognizable for his high, flutey voice, Fiedler's career lasted more than 55 years in stage, film, television and radio. Fiedler was typecast beginning early in his career for delicate, quiet, nerdy characters, although he also played sneaky villains. His roles include the meek Juror No. 2 in '' 12 Angry Men'' (1957); the seemingly benign gentleman who tries to prevent the Younger family from moving into a whites-only neighborhood in ''A Raisin in the Sun'' (1961); the voice of Piglet in Disney's ''Winnie the Pooh'' productions; Vinnie, one of Oscar's poker cronies, in the film '' The Odd Couple'' (1968); and Emil Peterson, the hen-pecked milquetoast husband on ''The Bob Newhart Show''. Early life Fiedler was born in Platteville, Wisconsin, a son of beer salesman Donald Fiedler and his wife Margaret (née Phelan). He was of German and Irish descent. His family moved to Shorewood, Wiscon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grady Sutton
Grady Harwell Sutton (April 5, 1906 – September 17, 1995) was an American film and television character actor from the 1920s to the 1970s. He appeared in more than 180 films. Early years Sutton was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the son of Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Sutton. Raised in Florida, he attended St. Petersburg High School, where he was a member of the swimming team. Career Sutton began his career during the silent film era and made the transition to sound films with the college themed shorts '' The Boy Friends''. He moved on to countless character roles, where he frequently played dimwitted country boys. His best-known roles were as Frank Dowling, Katharine Hepburn's dancing partner, in '' Alice Adams'' (1935) and as a foil to W.C. Fields in four films, '' The Pharmacist'' (1933), '' Man on the Flying Trapeze'' (1935), '' You Can't Cheat an Honest Man'' (1939), and '' The Bank Dick'' (1940). Film historian William J. Mann characterizes Sutton as a typical "Hollywood ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norman Alden
Norman Alden ( Adelberg; September 13, 1924 – July 27, 2012) was an American character actor who performed in television programs and motion pictures. He first appeared on television on '' The 20th Century Fox Hour'' in 1957. He provided the voice of Sir Kay in '' The Sword in the Stone'' (1963), and had a notable role in '' I Never Promised You a Rose Garden''. His acting career began in 1957 and lasted nearly 50 years. He is also known for playing Kranix in '' The Transformers: The Movie'' (1986). He retired from acting in 2006. He died on July 27, 2012, at the age of 87. Background Alden was born in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of Jewish parents Benjamin Adelberg and Esther ( Covinsky). He served in the United States Army during World War II and returned to Fort Worth to attend Texas Christian University under the GI Bill of Rights. Some of his acting ability was developed while at TCU with participation in the on-campus theater. He had two children. Career Alden appe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Whitney
Peter King Engle (May 24, 1916 – March 30, 1972), known professionally as Peter Whitney, was an American actor in film and television. Tall and heavyset, he played brutish villains in many Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, Hollywood films in the 1940s and 1950s. Early years Whitney grew up in California. His schools included the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. He studied drama at the Pasadena Playhouse. Career Whitney appeared in the films ''Destination Tokyo'' (1943), ''Action in the North Atlantic'' (1943), ''Mr. Skeffington'' (1944), ''Murder, He Says'' (1945) (in which he played a dual role), ''The Big Heat'' (1953), ''In the Heat of the Night (film), In the Heat of the Night'' (1967), ''The Ballad of Cable Hogue'' (1970), and others before becoming well known for his work in television. In the 1958–1959 season, Whitney had a co-starring role as Buck Sinclair, a former sergeant of the Union Army, in all 39 episodes of the ABC Western series ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Larch
John Larch (born Harold Aronin; October 4, 1914 – October 16, 2005; also credited Harry Larch) was an American radio, film, and television actor. Early life John Larch was born Harold Aronin"California County Marriages", marriage license and certificate of Harold Aronin to Vivi Janiss, March 26, 1955, Los Angeles, California; Bureau of Vital Statistics, California State Board of Health, Sacramento; digital image of original document, archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (CJCLDS), Salt Lake City, Utah. to Jewish parents in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1914. Nicknamed "Harry" in childhood, Larch was the younger of two children of Mitchell Aronin and Rose (née Larch) Aronin, both of whom immigrated to the United States from Russian-occupied areas of Poland prior to 1908. According to Massachusetts birth registries and federal census records, Mitchell supported his family as a "cutter" in shoemaking factories. By 1920, the Aronins had moved to New York Cit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruth Warrick
Ruth Elizabeth Warrick (June 29, 1916 – January 15, 2005) was an American singer, actress and political activist, best known for her role as Phoebe Tyler Wallingford on ''All My Children'', which she played regularly from 1970 until her death in 2005. She made her film debut in ''Citizen Kane'', and years later celebrated her 80th birthday by attending a special screening of the film. Early life and career Ruth Warrick was born June 29, 1916, in Saint Joseph, Missouri, to Frederick Roswell Warrick and Annie Louise Warrick, née Scott. By writing an essay in high school called "Prevention and Cure of Tuberculosis", Warrick won a contest to be Miss Jubilesta, Missouri's paid ambassador to New York City. There she began her career as a radio singer, and met her first husband Erik Rolf. Warrick's first big break was being hired by a young Orson Welles for ''Citizen Kane'' (1941), in which she played Emily Monroe Norton, niece of the President of the United States and Kane ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
