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1-14 of 14
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Debonair, dark-haired, exceedingly handsome Roger LaVerne Smith was born in South Gate, California to Dallas and Leone Smith on December 18, 1932. At age 6, his parents enrolled him at a professional school for singing, elocution and dancing lessons. By age 12, the family moved to Nogales, Arizona, a small town on the Mexican border where he appeared in high school theater productions, was made president of the school's acting club and became a star linebacker for his high school football team.
While studying at the University of Arizona in Tucson on a football scholarship, Roger entered and won several amateur talent prizes as a singer and guitarist which led to a TV appearance with Ted Mack and his Ted Mack & the Original Amateur Hour (1948) program. Stationed in Hawaii at a Naval Reserve, Roger had a chance meeting with film legend James Cagney. Cagney, impressed with the boy's clean-cut good looks and appeal, encouraged Roger to give Hollywood a try. Roger did so and it didn't take long for Columbia Pictures to snap him up 1957.
While there, young Roger gained experience on such TV anthologies as "Damon Runyon Theatre," "Celebrity Playhouse," "Ford Television Theatre" and "George Sanders Mystery Theatre" and made such films as No Time to Be Young (1957), Operation Mad Ball (1957) and Crash Landing (1958). He also played the older "Patrick Dennis" role in the madcap Rosalind Russell farce Auntie Mame (1958). Roger reconnected with Cagney around this time who not only hired him to play his son, "Lon Jr.", in the Lon Chaney biopic Man of a Thousand Faces (1957), but made him his co-star in the musical comedy-drama Never Steal Anything Small (1959).
In a successful move to the Warner Bros. studio, Roger won the role of wisecracking private detective "Jeff Spencer" in the hip TV series 77 Sunset Strip (1958). He also wrote several of the show's episodes and played the detective character in rollover episodes of "Surf Side Six" and "Hawaiian Eye." In 1962, the actor was hospitalized after falling down at home and losing consciousness. He was diagnosed two days later with a blood clot on the brain. Although he had recovered post-surgery), it forced him to leave the series temporarily and slowed down his career considerably to the point he almost quit.
Wed to budding Australian-born actress Victoria Shaw in 1956, they had three children. A Warner Bros. contractee, she appeared in an episode of his popular series. The marriage crumbled, however, and they divorced in 1965. He next met singer-actress Ann-Margret and they married in 1967. This marriage lasted 50 years, until his death.
Roger's health continued to to be a mysterious issue following his title role in the Warner Bros. short-lived TV series Mister Roberts (1965) and it forced an early retirement when he was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a degenerative muscle/nerve disorder. He would last star as the title detective in the low-budget A.C. Lyles production of Rogue's Gallery (1968). In the meantime, he appeared on talk shows with his wife and delved into producing and writing -- with The First Time (1969) and C.C. & Company (1970).
Instead, Roger remained in the background and focused instead on managing, producing and nurturing his wife's musical career. In the 1970s, he proved instrumental in her successful Vegas comeback in Vegas (he produced her stage shows). He also helped to break her "sex kitten" image with critical acclaimed films and produced several of her 1970's TV musical specials.
Roger died of complications from his long-term illness on June 4, 2017, at age 84, and was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.- Actor
- Producer
Raised in South Gate, California, just 20 miles southeast of Hollywood, Walter Perez was always eager to express himself artistically. In his earlier years, he often directed and played the lead character in several homemade movies where he mimicked his movie idols such as Charlie Chaplin. His working-class parents were unable to afford him the resources he needed to gain access to the industry. It wasn't until he heard about Colors United, a performing arts group aimed at inner-city high school students that he really got the chance to show others his talents. For three years he honed his acting, singing and dancing skills with the group.
Since high school, Walter has juggled auditions and a full-time schedule at Cal State Fullerton. During college, he has booked several commercials and various guest star spots on prime time television shows.
Most recently, Walter's guest appearances include "CSI: Miami", "The Closer" and "Free Radio" as well as a five episode arc on "Friday Night Lights". His feature film credits include HBO's "Walkout" and winner of the John Cassavetes award "August Evening". He just completed the title role in "Emilio" and worked on "Run For Your Life" alongside Dermot Mulroney and Diane Kruger.- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Jazmin Aguilar is a Mexican American director/writer from Los Angeles. Her short film The Letter played at numerous Academy Award/BAFTA qualifying festivals. HBO licensed the short in 2020. She directed her first theatre play The Fruit Flies at the NBC Short + Sweet Hollywood competition. She won Best Director at the Young Entertainer Awards at Warner Brothers. She is an alumnus of the HBO Tomorrow's Filmmakers Today Fellowship. Jazmin was granted funds by McDonald's Spotlight Dorado for her short film Kid Ugly.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Dava Hulsey was born in South Gate, California as Dava Lynn Spotts. She is best known for her work in "Christmas with the Krank's (2004) when she played Amanda Frohmeyer opposite Dan Aykroyd's Vic Frohmeyer. In 2005, "Something Came over Them" was an award winning short where she romped with the pastor. Her work in "Discovering Jacob" resulted in a nomination for Best Actress from Stay Tuned TV in the documentary category which won Best Director for Michael Goldsmith. She has been married to James Hulsey since August, 1969. They have two children and two grandchildren.- Clifton Wells was born on 28 July 1937 in South Gate, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Castle in the Sky (1986), Dragon Ball (1986) and Dragon Ball (1989). He died on 29 April 2000 in Long Beach, California, USA.
- Bert Boeckmann was born on 21 August 1930 in South Gate, California, USA. He was a producer, known for Father/Son (1990), Break Even (2020) and Mistrust (2018). He died on 28 April 2023 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Bob Klein was born on 27 July 1947 in South Gate, California, USA. He is an actor, known for The NFL on CBS (1956), NFL Monday Night Football (1970) and The NFL on NBC (1965).
- Mike Battle was born on 9 July 1946 in South Gate, California, USA.
- Make-Up Department
- Actress
Leigh Mitchell was born on 17 June 1939 in South Gate, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Steel Magnolias (1989), L.A. Law (1986) and Jackson County Jail (1976). She was married to Ron Mitchell. She died on 11 March 2021 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Sound Department
- Music Department
Ryan Anthony Arakaki was born on 1 September 1987 in South Gate, California, USA. Ryan Anthony is known for Chosen (2013), Bad Blood (2015) and Red Sands (2009).- Doug Harvey was born on 13 March 1930 in South Gate, California, USA. He was an actor, known for A League of Their Own (1993), 1974 World Series (1974) and 1984 World Series (1984). He was married to Joy. He died on 13 January 2018 in Visalia, California, USA.
- Pete Rozelle ranks as the most successful executive in the history of American sports. Under Rozelle's management of commissioner, professional American football overtook baseball as America's past-time and television came to maturity as the prime conduit for sports entertainment.
When Rozelle took over the NFL as Commissioner in 1960, the league had only 12 teams and was facing competition from the upstart American Football League. The popularity of pro football was such that attendance at stadiums was lagging and some franchises were making as as $75,000 a season in TV rights. In the first decade under Rozelle, the NFL expanded and instituted the title game between the NFL and AFL that became known as the Super Bowl, preparatory to the 1970 merger of the two leagues under the NFL banner. Stadiums were packed and season tickets became such hard-to-come items that one had to inherit them or wait for the death of other holders before becoming part of the hallowed few with the treasured ducats. In the first decade of his commissionership, the value of a franchise increased dramatically.
Rozelle made the decision to televise games on all of the-then three national networks. In the 1960s, football flourished as it was the ideal sport to exploit the new technologies such as videotape. The popularity of the sport exploded and by the end of the decade it was the nation's #1 sport.
Rozelle also should be remembered for helping break down the barriers that limited opportunities for African American players, though the rival AFL showed the way in drafting black players from small, traditionally African American colleges ignored by the NFL.
Born in South Gate, California, on March 1, 1926, Alvin Ray Rozelle -- who had been nicknamed Pete as a child of five by his uncle -- grew up in the Los Angeles suburb Lynwood, California. He served a two-year hitch in the Navy tour, then attended Compton Junior College and the University of San Francisco, a Jesuit school, where he graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in 1950.
Rozelle worked as a public relations officer for USF's athletic-department while a student, and then was hired as USF's assistant athletic director after graduating, leading to a job with the Los Angeles Rams, which hired Rozelle as publicity director in 1952. In 1955, Rozelle left the NFL for corporate public relations, but the Rams appointed him as general manager in 1955.
Bert Bell, the serving NFL commissioner, had recommended Rozelle as his diplomatic skills would be useful in settling an ownership dispute among the Rams owners. It was his political skills rather than his skills as a sports franchise general manager that made his reputation. Although he was quite successful at marketing the franchise, pioneering the sale of souvenirs, he was less successful at trades and scouting.
When Commissioner Bell died on October 11, 1959, NFL Treasurer Austin Gunsel took over management of the League for the rest of the season. The 50-year old Gunsel was a former F.B.I. agent who had served as both J. Edgar Hoover's administrative assistant and as the head of the NFL's investigative department under Bell before being made League treasurer in 1956 (a post he would hold until his retirement in 1966).
Gunsel was the favorite to be appointed permanent commissioner. However, at the January 1960 NFL general meeting held after the season concluded, the NFL owners -- facing competition from the upstart AFL, which had completed its first season -- elected Rozelle of the Rams the new Commissioner after 23 ballots. Rozelle's diplomacy and intelligence, as well as his marketing skills, had won him the job. He was 34 years old.
Rozelle presided over the League for 29 years, until 1989. When he retired, the NFL was hurt by drug scandals, unresolved labor problems, and Rozelle's long-standing feud with Oakland Raiders coach-owner Al Davis, the former AFL Commissioner who had resigned over the merger with the NFL.
Rozelle died on December 6, 1996, in Rancho Santa Fe, California, from brain cancer. His name had been synonymous with football, as that of Judge Kenesaw M. Landis had been with baseball two generations earlier, during its reign as America's favorite (outdoor) sport. - Lorenzo Romar was born on 13 November 1958 in South Gate, California, USA.
- Doug Griffin was born on 4 June 1947 in South Gate, California, USA. He died on 27 July 2016 in Clovis, California, USA.