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- Born in 1956 in New Orleans, LA, Kim McGuire was an actress, best known for playing Mona "Hatchet-Face" Malnorowski in John Waters' Cry-Baby (1990). Her other films include Disturbed (1990) and Acting on Impulse (1993). In 1997, after passing the State Bar exam, she began working as an attorney in Los Angeles, CA. She passed away on September 14th, 2016 of an undisclosed illness.
- Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
Donna Summer rocketed to international super-stardom in the mid-1970s when her groundbreaking merger of R&B, soul, pop, funk, rock, disco and avant-garde electronica catapulted underground dance music out of the clubs of Europe to the pinnacles of sales and radio charts around the world.
Maintaining an unbroken string of hits throughout the 70s and 80s, most of which she wrote, Donna holds the record for most consecutive double albums to hit #1 on the Billboard charts (3) and first female to have four #1 singles in a 12 month period; 3 as a solo artist and one as a duo with Barbra Streisand.
A five-time Grammy winner, Donna Summer was the first artist to win the Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female (1979, "Hot Stuff") as well as the first-ever recipient of the Grammy for Best Dance Recording (1997, "Carry On"). In 2004, she became one of the first inductees, as both an Artist Inductee and a Record Inductee (for 1977's "I Feel Love") into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in New York City.
Born Donna Gaines on New Year's Eve to a large family in Boston, she developed an early interest in music. From the age of eight, Summer sang in church choirs and city-wide choruses, and by her early twenties, was performing in musical theatre in Germany, winning parts in such highly-acclaimed shows as "Hair," "Showboat," "Godspell," and "Porgy and Bess" as well as performing with the Viennese Folk Opera. She released her first single, a cover of the Jaynett's girl group classic, "Sally Go Round The Roses," in 1971. While singing backup, she met producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte who produced her first single, "Hostage," which became a hit in the Netherlands, France and Belgium.
In 1975, Moroder and Bellotte produced the international hit, "Love to Love You Baby," which rose to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and triggered Summer's triumphant return to the United States as a key figure of the then-emerging disco genre. "Love To Love You Baby" paved the way for such international hits as "MacArthur Park," "Bad Girls," "Hot Stuff," "Dim All The Lights," "On The Radio," and "Enough Is Enough," as well as the Grammy and Academy award winning theme song "Last Dance," from the film "Thank God It's Friday," which remains a milestone in Donna's career.
In 1980, Summer became the first artist to sign with David Geffen's new label, Geffen Records, leaving her disco days behind and moving into the next phase of her career ." In the years that followed, Summer collaborated with writers and producers such as Quincy Jones, Michael Omartian and England's dance-pop production compound Stock Aitken Waterman and produced a steady stream of hits from "State of Independence," featuring Michael Jackson on backing vocals, to the abiding feminist anthem "She Works Hard For The Money," one of the most-played songs of all-time, and the infectious "This Time I Know It's For Real."
In 1994, she released "Endless Summer," a greatest hits retrospective containing a new song, "Melody of Love," which became Billboard's #1 Dance Record of the Year. She also released the critically acclaimed gem "Christmas Spirit," a collection of Summer's original songs and holiday standards recorded with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Summer spent the '90s continuing to tour, performing to sold-out audiences worldwide.
In 1997, when the new "Best Dance Recording" Category was created at the Grammy Awards, Donna Summer was the first winner with her fifth career Grammy award for "Carry On." In 1999, Sony/Epic Records released "VH1 Presents Donna Summer: Live & More - Encore!," an album and DVD of Summer's critically acclaimed VH1 broadcast taped at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom. The show premiered on VH1 as one of the network's highest rated shows to date and featured live performances of Summer's top hits.
In addition to her five Grammy Awards, Summer has won six American Music Awards, three consecutive #1 platinum double albums (she's the only solo artist, male or female, ever to accomplish this), 11 gold albums, four #1 singles on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart, 3 platinum singles, and 12 gold singles.
Summer is also the first female artist to have a #1 single and #1 album on the Billboard charts simultaneously ("Live & More;" "MacArthur Park" 1978) a feat she also repeated six months later ("Bad Girls" & "Hot Stuff" in 1979). She has charted 33 Top Ten hits on the combined Billboard Disco/Dance/Dance Club/Play charts over a period of 37 years with 18 reaching the #1 spot solidifying her as the undisputed Queen of Dance.
In addition to her recording and performing career, Summer is an accomplished visual artist whose work has been shown at exhibitions worldwide including Steven Spielberg's "Starbright Foundation Tour of Japan" and The Whitney Museum as well as a prestigious engagement at Sotheby's in New York. Since 1989, she has sold over 1.7 million dollars in original art - with her highest piece going for $150,000. In 2003, Random House published her autobiography "Ordinary Girl," co-authored with Marc Eliot. Also that year, Universal released "The Journey," containing all of her original hits, as well as two new songs.
In 2008, celebrating four decades of milestones, Summer adds another accomplishment to her list with the success of her new album "Crayons." The album debuted at #17 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart making it Summer's highest debuting album ever. It also debuted at #5 on the Billboard R&B chart - another personal best. "Crayons" is Summer's first album of all new studio material in 17 years and is her highest charting album since "She Works Hard For The Money" in 1983. To date, the album has spawned three #1 Dance hits "I'm A Fire," "Stamp Your Feet" and "Fame (The Game)."
It is estimated that Summer has sold more than 130 million records worldwide.
Ranked #24 on Billboard Magazines 50th Anniversary issue's "Hot 100 Artists of All Time," Donna Summer was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame on April 18, 2013 in Los Angeles.- Writer
- Actress
- Producer
In 2002 Mary Higgins Clark published her memoir "Kitchen Privileges". The book describes her upbringing, first marriage and how she became such a famous author. Meanwhile 36 movies have been made that are based on Mary Higgins Clark's thrillers. For a while Mary Higgins Clark and her daughter published their own magazine.- Actor
- Cinematographer
- Additional Crew
Peter Thomas is the son of a Welsh minister and an English school teacher. He learned communication, projection, and enunciation in the United States and from his parents. In his college, Peter would read stories a loud to his family, which he preferred.
Dedication landed a then 13 year old Peter Thomas his first radio job in a drama. After graduating from high school, he joined the United States Army and was one of 28 replacements sent to Omaha Beach the day after D-Day. Peter served this country proudly in World War 2 with the First Infantry Division in Europe. The life altering experience gave him a deeper appreciation for American soldiers, his country, other Americans and also freedom.
He returned to radio after World War 2 and attended a American college as an adult through the American GI Bill. He also married his high school sweetheart, Stella Thomas. He eventually left the new college for a job with CBS television in New York. 13 years later, Peter left to pursue freelance narration and documentary work full time in the United States.
Peter Thomas worked time and dedicated himself to improving the community through charitable work with Stella Thomas and the United States. He was devoted to veterans, serving as a board member for the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, contributing to the MIA Society and the Veterans Council, and organizing the 50th Anniversary Veterans of the Naples Parade.- One of Hollywood's staple child actors during the 30s and 40s, Mickey Kuhn played alongside many a top Hollywood star from Leslie Howard and Conrad Nagel's son to playing Dick Tracy's ward. Once he reached the "awkward teens" stage, however, he found himself primarily unemployed or in unbilled parts and looked elsewhere for career satisfaction.
Born Theodore Matthew Michael Kuhn, Jr. on September 21, 1932 in Waukegan, Illinois, he was the younger of two children born to Theodore Sr. and the former Pearl Hicks. The family moved to Hollywood during the Depression where his father found reliable work as a meat cutter. Mickey added to the family income at age 2 when, by chance, he was cast by Fox Studios for the movie Change of Heart (1934) starring the preeminent movie couple at the time, Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. Attending kindergarten at the Mark-Ken School for professional children, he returned to films as a 5-year-old in A Doctor's Diary (1937) made by Paramount. His devoted mother oversaw and protected him throughout most of his young career. 1939 was a banner year for Mickey as it was for Hollywood itself, appearing as Crown Prince Augustin in the "A" picture Juarez (1939) starring Paul Muni and Bette Davis, and as Ashley Wilkes' son Beau in the Civil War classic Gone with the Wind (1939).
While he did not rise to moppet stardom, the boy proved quite dependable and a fast learner, and was actively involved in a few prestigious pictures during the 1940s, including One Foot in Heaven (1941), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) and Red River (1948). He particularly enjoyed horses and participating in such action fare as S.O.S. Tidal Wave (1939), _Roaring Rangers (1946) and Broken Arrow (1950).
His attention also turned to the stage as a teenager, performing at the Pasadena Playhouse and other Los Angeles-based theaters in between film shoots. Fewer roles came his way, however, and in 1951 he decided to enlist in the Navy. After a four-year term of duty, he returned to films and TV in 1955 but without much fanfare. He married around this time and had two children. Preferring a steadier source of income, he attended L.A. Valley College and Cal State Northridge on his G.I. Bill majoring in Theater Arts while holding an assortment of odd jobs.
In 1965 he was hired by American Airlines and subsequently served as a supervisor to flight attendants. He later became an administrative manager at a Boston airport. Divorced, he remarried in 1984 and retired from the airlines in 1995. More recently he has spent his time conducting historical tours around and about the city of Boston and has appeared at various film festivals. He received the Golden Boot Award for his work in westerns in 2005. - Alice Frost was born on 1 August 1905 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She was an actress, known for The Twilight Zone (1959), The Alcoa Hour (1955) and The Magical World of Disney (1954). She was married to Willson Masters Tuttle and Robert Foulk. She died on 6 January 1998 in Naples, Florida, USA.
- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Robert Ludlum was born on 25 May 1927 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for The Bourne Supremacy (2004), The Bourne Identity (2002) and The Bourne Legacy (2012). He was married to Karen Dunn and Mary Patricia Ryducha. He died on 12 March 2001 in Naples, Florida, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
First of four brothers, he was discovered by Eduardo De Filippo when he was a post office clerk. In reality, according to the testimony of a former colleague still living, he was employed at the Military Hospital of Naples. Exponent of the Neapolitan theater, actor with ironic and comic verve, skilled character actor, he trod the stages together with Eduardo De Filippo and Aldo Giuffré.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Vittorio Caprioli was born on 15 August 1921 in Naples, Campania, Italy. He was an actor and writer, known for Le Magnifique (1973), A Leap in the Dark (1980) and I cuori infranti (1963). He was married to Franca Valeri. He died on 2 October 1989 in Naples, Campania, Italy.- US gangster and racketeer. Born Charles Salvadore Lucania in Sicily, he emigrated with his family to the US in 1906. In 1907 he started shoplifting. He was given his nickname by childhood friend and fellow gangster Meyer Lansky for his luck with betting on racehorses, but it also could have applied to the many times he avoided imprisonment and prosecution as a Mafia "godfather" who operated successfully and profitably in the 1920s and 1930s. Between 1928 and 1930 the Castellammarese War broke out between the gangs of Giuseppe Masseria (aka Joe the Boss) and Salvatore Maranzano. Maranzano sent some men to "rough up" Luciano, and when they caught him they not only beat and stabbed him, but addition severed the muscles of his right cheek, leaving him with a droop in his right eye. He was left for dead under the Brooklyn Bridge. However, he lived up to his nickname and survived. Recovering, he sided with Maranzano in the conflict. By 1931 Masseria had been assassinated and Maranzano had won. He named himself "boss of bosses" (capo di tuti capo), but that title proved to be short-lived. Luciano and Lansky's had their men visit Maranzano in his office, disguised as government agents, and assassinated him. Luciano followed that with anywhere from 40 to 90 additional murders during the series of killings that came to be called the "Night of the Sicilian Vespers". Luciano was now the undisputed boss of a "new" Mafia. His business included narcotics-peddling, extortion and, especially, prostitution, including everything from low-rent streetwalkers to high-priced call girls. Luciano, one of the most powerful figures in organized crime, was arrested 25 times between 1919 and 1936 but convicted only once. When three prostitutes finally agreed to give evidence against him, he was arrested (1936) and found guilty of compelling women to become prostitutes. Even from prison, he retained control of his Family, setting up the Crime Syndicate of Mafia Families. During World War II he helped U.S. military intelligence through his Mafia connections in Italy and was given a suspended sentence on condition that he leave the US. In 1946 he was released from prison and deported to Italy as an undesirable alien. He returned to Naples, Italy, where he lived out his life in luxury. Luciano died of a heart attack at Naples Airport. He was only posthumously allowed to return to the USA, where he was buried at St John's Cemetery in New York.
- Stacy Graham was born on 27 October 1931 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for One Step Beyond (1959), This Earth Is Mine (1959) and Harvey Middleman, Fireman (1965). She died on 24 June 2004 in Naples, Florida, USA.
- Director
- Writer
- Art Department
Aleksander Ford was born on 24 November 1908 in Kiev, Russian Empire [now Ukraine]. He was a director and writer, known for Five from Barska Street (1954), Knights of the Teutonic Order (1960) and The Eighth Day of the Week (1958). He was married to Eleanor Griswold, Olga Minska and Janina Wieczerzynska. He died on 4 April 1980 in Naples, Florida, USA.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Enrico Caruso (b. Errico Caruso) was born on February 25, 1873, in Naples, Italy. He was the third of seven children to a poor alcoholic father. He received little primary education and briefly studied music with conductor Vicenzo Lombardini. His early income was from singing serenades.
Caruso made his operatic debut on March 15, 1895 at a back street theatre in Naples. After a two-year stint on the South Italian circuit he auditioned for Giacomo Puccini in the summer of 1897. Puccini was looking for a leading tenor for a performance of 'La Boheme' in Livorno. Puccini was so impressed with the range and tone of the young Caruso's voice, that he reportedly mumbled in awe, "Who sent you to me? God himself?" After an unfriendly reception of his performance in Naples, Caruso vowed to never sing in Naples again, and he never did.
His first major role creations were in operas 'Il Voto', composed by Umberto Giordano, on November 10, 1897, and 'L'Arlesiana' by Francesco Cilea on November 27, 1897, at the Teatro Lirico di Milano. Next season Caruso started with a role creation in 'Fedora', composed by Umberto Giordano, performed on the same stage on November 17, 1898. His first recording contract was signed in 1902, in London, with the Gramophone and Typewriter Company for ten arias at the rate of 10 pounds per take. In May, 1902, Caruso debuted at the Covent Garden Opera in 'Rigoletto' by Giuseppe Verdi. With the help of the banker Pasquale Simonelli, he went to New York. There Caruso made his Metropolitan Opera debut in November 1903. He performed for the Met the next eighteen seasons, making 607 appearances in 37 different operatic productions.
Caruso was the first recording star in history, who sold more than a million records with his 1902 recording of 'Vesti le gubba' from 'Pagliacci' (Clowns) by 'Leoncavallo'. His voice had a combination of the full baritone-like character with the smooth and brilliant tenor qualities. His range was broadened into baritone at the expense of the higher tenor notes, Caruso never sang the high C, and often transposed in order to avoid it. He was a master of interpretation, having a rare gift of portamento and legato, and a superior command of phrasing. His legendary 1904 Victor recording of 'Una furtiva lagrima', by Gaetano Donizetti is used in many film soundtracks.
He contracted pneumonia and developed a complication in the form of pleural inflammation (plerisy), followed by abscesses in his lungs. After a series of unsuccessful surgeries Enrico Caruso died on August 2, 1921, in Naples, Italy. He was laid to rest in Naples, Italy.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Peggy Conklin was born on 2 November 1906 in Dobbs Ferry, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The DuPont Show of the Month (1957), The Philco Television Playhouse (1948) and The Elgin Hour (1954). She was married to James D. Thompson. She died on 18 March 2003 in Naples, Florida, USA.- Actor
- Composer
- Producer
One of the best singer-songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s, Denny played with most of the greats of the rock business. His bands were Denny Laine and the Diplomats (1962-64), The Moody Blues (1964-66), The Electric String Band (1967), Balls (1969-71), Wings (1971-80), Denny Laine Band (1980-81), Phoenix (mid-1980s), and World Classic Rockers (late-1990s). He also released approximately a dozen solo albums. Probably his greatest work was in Wings with Paul McCartney. They co-wrote the 1977 megahit "Mull of Kintyre".- Actress
- Soundtrack
Rosalind Marquis was born on 11 September 1915 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936), Talent Scout (1937) and Marked Woman (1937). She was married to William L Waller, Thomas E. Saxe Jr and Edwin Diamond Axton II. She died on 12 June 2006 in Naples, Florida, USA.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
- Cinematographer
Michael Collins (October 31, 1930 - April 28, 2021) was an American astronaut who flew the Apollo 11 command module Columbia around the Moon in 1969 while his crew-mates, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, made the first crewed landing on the surface. He was also a test pilot and major general in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.- Luciana Angiolillo was born on 22 December 1925 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. She was an actress, known for The Trojan Horse (1961), Hercules and the Captive Women (1961) and The Easy Life (1962). She was married to Mario Tellini and Gaetano Angiolillo. She died on 30 November 2014 in Naples, Italy.
- Elena Fiore was born on 29 July 1914 in Torre Annunziata, Naples, Italy. She was an actress, known for Seven Beauties (1975), Love & Anarchy (1973) and The Seduction of Mimi (1972). She died on 1 February 1983 in Torre Annunziata, Naples, Italy.
- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
- Additional Crew
Don Houghton was born on 2 February 1930 in Paris, France. He was a writer, known for Take the High Road (1980), Shatter (1974) and The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974). He was married to Pik Sen Lim. He died on 2 July 1991 in Naples, Florida, USA.- Antonio Pennarella was born on 27 May 1960 in Naples, Campania, Italy. He was an actor, known for Luna rossa (2001), Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy (2012) and Capri (2006). He died on 23 August 2018 in Naples, Campania, Italy.
- Nicholas Proffitt's novel "Gardens of Stone" was based on his service as a member of the 3rd U.S. Infantry detachment detailed to serve as the honor guard at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, D.C. After his military service, he graduated from the University of Arizona with a journalism degree and went to work for Newsweek as a reporter, subsequently working in Vietnam and Lebanon. He eventually rose to the position of Newsweek's Bureau Chief in London and, later, Nairobi; he retired in 1981 and devoted his time to writing book-length fiction and short stories.
- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Director
Trevor Bond was born on 5 February 1934 in Plaistow, London, England, UK. He was a producer and director, known for Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963) and The Great Riviera Bank Robbery (1979). He died on 11 February 2023 in Naples, Florida, USA.- Born in Elyria, Ohio to Archie and Marjorie (Saywell) Penfound. He attended Kenyon College, where he was a classmate of Paul Newman. He transferred to University of Denver to study broadcasting.
Began hosting the Captain Penny TV show on WEWS-TV in Cleveland, Ohio on March 2, 1955. The show featured Three Stooges and Little Rascals episodes for its 16-year run with live appearances of Captain Penny and guests. After an appearance by Chuck Connors,Penfound was given a walk-on role on Connors' show The Rifleman. - Tecla Scarano was born on 20 August 1894 in Naples, Italy. She was an actress, known for Marriage Italian Style (1964), Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963) and The Children Are Watching Us (1943). She was married to Franco Langella. She died on 22 December 1978 in Naples, Italy.