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1-18 of 18
- Writer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Joseph Ranft was an American writer, voice actor, animator, storyboard artist and magician. He worked for Disney and Pixar. He worked on The Lion King, The Brave Little Toaster, Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Cars, Monsters, Inc and Finding Nemo. He voiced in the many films he worked on, notably as Heimlich the Caterpillar from A Bug's Life and the outtakes of Toy Story 2. He passed away in August 2005.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Colorado-born leading lady Julie Bishop, who also acted under her birth name of Jacqueline Wells and the stage name Diane Duval, started off as a silent movie child actress, working with such legends as Clara Bow and Mary Pickford.
The daughter of a wealthy banker and oilman, she was raised in Texas and, eventually Los Angeles, following her parents' divorce. She was signed by Warner Bros in 1940 and played a dutiful sweethearts opposite filmdom's top male stars, notably Errol Flynn in Northern Pursuit (1943), Humphrey Bogart in Action in the North Atlantic (1943), John Wayne in both Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and The High and the Mighty (1954), and Alan Ladd in The Big Land (1957), her last picture. But, for the most part, she was never given anything challenging enough to become a top-flight star.
She also appeared on stage in "Hamlet" and "The Merchant of Venice". A licensed private pilot, Julie painted still lifes and staged several exhibitions in her post-career years. She died at age 87, on her birthday.- He was married to Margo Farrar (April 5, 194 - August 14, 2006) a radio and stage actor. They moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles, where they both worked in radio, and he also appeared as a character actor in films and television shows. They had three children, Paul, Michael, and Christopher. After 30 years in the industry, they retired and moved to the town of Mendocino, California, where they became active members of the local artistic and dramatic community. Stanley died of a heart attack while on stage in a play in Mendocino, California.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Kay Marvis was born on 29 August 1923 in New Jersey, USA. She was an actress, known for Copacabana (1947), Kid Dynamite (1943) and Block Busters (1944). She was married to Groucho Marx and Leo Gorcey. She died on 9 April 2000 in Mendocino County, California, USA.- Like Charles Chaplin's sidekick, Eric Campbell, Harold Lloyd needed his own giant when casting Why Worry? (1923) in 1922. Lloyd first had his eyes on George Auger (Cardiff Giant) who worked at Ringling Brothers sideshow as a giant. But Auger died before the film started, and a search went out for a replacement. The producer Hal Roach heard of a shoemaker who was constructing a pair of shoes for a "Norwegian living in Minnesota", and his name was John Aasen. His mother was Kristi Danielsen (b. 1868) from Numedal, Norway. She emigrated to the US via Liverpool during spring of 1887. It is not 100% certain who Aasen's father was, but while working in Eggedal, Norway, Kristi Danielsen met the Swedish Nils Jansson Bokke who reached a prominent 244 cm (8 ft) in height. It had to have been "The clash of the Titans" when the couple met, as Aasen's mother had her own merit with the height of 220 cm (7 ft 2½ in). But the passenger list on board D/S "Rollo" listed Kristi Danielsen as single. Later that year Aasen was born and it can only be speculated if his father was the Swede. Some sources lists him as 273 cm (nearly 9 ft) tall and with a weight of 251 kilos (553 lbs). Nearly 8 meters (8¾ yds) of material was needed to make him a suit. In other words; impressive! The annual Nummedalslagets yearbook of 1925 wrote: "Apparently the world's tallest human (in the civilized world) with a loving and sympathetic personality who always appears courteous and modest. In Harold Lloyd's film classic, Why Worry? (1923), Aasen plays "Colosso". He is suffering from a toothache and stuck in jail with other prisoners of a revolution in Chile. Lloyd is Harold von Pelham as the rich hypochondriac who ends up in the same prison as Colosso and cures his toothache. Forever grateful, Colosso aids van Palham in his adventures as escapees from the prison. With a cannon on his back and bullets hanging from his neck, the pair become an unusual couple who create comic mayhem. The film became one of the largest box-office attractions of 1923. Aasen was a great success in his first film and appeared in several others, but not with the same impact. It is said he mastered Norwegian fluently and for many years performed as a "Sideshow" attraction for C.A. Wortham Shows. He died on the 1st August 1938 in Mendocino, California.
- Joe Miksak was born on 16 April 1913 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Escape from Alcatraz (1979), American Graffiti (1973) and Captain Z-Ro (1955). He was married to Florence Keen. He died on 17 July 2004 in Mendocino, California, USA.
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
- Cinematographer
Richmond L. Aguilar was born on 27 June 1931 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor and cinematographer, known for Ghostbusters (1984), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) and Multiplicity (1996). He died on 12 February 2022 in Mendocino, California, USA.- Sound Department
Harry Lindgren was born on 9 January 1899 in San Francisco, California, USA. He is known for The War of the Worlds (1953), Rear Window (1954) and Sunset Blvd. (1950). He died on 25 August 1982 in Mendocino, California, USA.- Composer
- Sound Department
- Music Department
Michael Hedges was born on 31 December 1953 in Sacramento, California, USA. He was a composer, known for August Rush (2007), Chances Are (1989) and Bones (2005). He died on 2 December 1997 in Mendocino County, California, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Walter De Palma was born on 20 April 1902 in Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for You Only Live Once (1937), Hollywood Cowboy (1937) and Rhythm of the Saddle (1938). He died on 2 March 1991 in Mendocino, California, USA.- Editor
- Production Designer
- Actor
Richard Beck-Meyer (also known as Rick, Rich, Ricko and Rikko) was raised in Burbank, California and graduated from Burbank High School in 1947. He studied painting at California College of Arts and Crafts getting his master's in fine arts at San Jose State.
Richard was an exceptional watercolor artist, teacher, and member of both the California Watercolor Society and the Carmel Art Association. He exhibited in the Monterey/Carmel area throughout the 1950s. Richard was active in local theater designing sets for productions at the Golden Bough Circle Theatre and the Forest Theatre. His sets for Shaw's "Caesar & Cleopatra" (1964) and "Teahouse of the August Moon" (1965) were notable for their bold use of color and shape to enhance the dramatic impact of the plays. Later in the 1960s he decided to try his hand at film and used his Huntington Hartford Fellowship to attend film school at UCLA. Rick's professional credits include film editor and production designer for "The Wild Angels" (1966), "The Born Losers" (1967), "The Vendors" (1970), and "How Come Nobody's on Our Side" (1975).
Not satisfied with two art careers, Richard used the GI Bill (he had served as a Mandarin translator for the Army during the Korean War) to obtain a marriage and family therapy degree from Azusa Pacific University. Due to ever escalating licensing hours, Richard never got his license to pursue private practice, but he put his counseling skills to good use as the Special Education Coordinator for Head Start in Lake and Mendocino Counties. It gave him great pleasure to be an advocate for Special Ed students as their families negotiated with schools to obtain the best and least restrictive educational environment each district could provide for each student.
Richard spent the last 20 years of his working life wearing many hats at Community Action Agencies such as North Coast Opportunities in Lake and Mendocino Counties, Redwood Community Action Agency in Humboldt County, and the Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County. In 1985 he retired and moved to San Francisco where he worked on an English translation of "Journey to the West" for television, original film treatments, poems, short stories, and researching his magnum opus, a book still waiting to be committed to paper. In January of 2016 Richard returned to Mendocino County, living in a lovely cottage just east of Fort Bragg on Highway 20.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Editor
Dudley Blanchard was born on 20 July 1891 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an assistant director and editor, known for Oliver Twist (1916), The Jackeroo of Coolabong (1920) and The Lash (1916). He died on 10 January 1965 in Mendocino, California, USA.- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mildred Duncan was born on 10 June 1892 in South Dakota, USA. She died on 2 December 1986 in Mendocino, California, USA.- Albert Van Antwerp was born on 1 January 1897 in Denver, Colorado, USA. He was an actor, known for The Chechahcos (1923), Just a Wife (1920) and Jack London (1943). He died on 30 October 1946 in Mendocino County, California, USA.
- Cinematographer
Earl M. Ellis was born on 15 June 1895 in Missouri, USA. He was a cinematographer, known for Desperate Youth (1921), Rich Girl, Poor Girl (1921) and The Trouper (1922). He died on 22 May 1962 in Mendocino, California, USA.- Milton Lasell Humason was an American astronomer who worked with Edwin Hubble on the survey of galactic redshifts that led to the discovery of the expanding universe.
Having dropped out of school, he became a mule driver for the pack-trains that traveled the trail between the Sierra Madre and Mount Wilson during construction work on the Observatory. In 1911 he married the daughter of the Observatory's engineer and became a foreman on a relative's range in La Verne, but in 1917 he joined the staff of Mount Wilson Observatory as a janitor and was soon promoted to night assistant.
In 1919 George Hale, the observatory's director, recognized Humason's unusual ability as an observer and appointed him to the scientific staff. He became involved with Hubble's study of galaxies and personally developed a technique for determining the exposures and plate measurements.
Between 1930 until his retirement in 1957, Humason measured the redshifts of 620 galaxies, first using the 100-in (2.5-m) telescope at Mount Wilson and then the 200-in (5-m) reflector at Palomar. He also applied the techniques he developed for recording spectra of faint objects to the study of supernovae, old novae that were well past peak brightness, and faint blue stars (including white dwarfs). During his studies on galaxies he also discovered comet 1961e, notable for its large perihelion distance.
Humason was also the inspiration for the Big Dipper song "Humason," which appeared on the Boston group's 1987 album Heavens. - Producer
Jim Hay was born in 1931 in Pennsylvania, USA. He was a producer, known for Miracle on Ice (1981) and The First Time (1982). He was married to Suzanne. He died on 31 May 2022 in Mendocino, California, USA.- Margo Farrar was primarily a radio and stage actor who appeared for several years in various roles on the Lux Radio Theater. She was married to the radio, stage, and film actor Stanley Farrar. Born in Oakland, California, she moved with her husband to Hollywood, where they lived and worked for three decades. The couple had three sons, Paul, Michael, and Christopher. Upon retirement, the couple moved to the arts community of Mendocino, California. After her husband;s death in 1974, she continued to be active in the local dramatic productions. Her grandson is the actor Adam Farrar.