A-Z Challenge 2015: G is for Charles Gray!

I would like, if I may...



to take you on a strange journey...



I was vaguely aware as a very young man of the phenomenon known as The Rocky Horror Picture Show when my brother had a fling of enjoying it in his teen years - and I saw pictures from it - including the stern looking fellow who narrates the movie - but I didn't know who he was.

I would like....if I may...to take you on a strange journey...

Some years later I'd become a James Bond fan and was introduced to Charles Gray. Chronologically he'd first appeared in the series in 1967's You Only Live Twice - playing Henderson - a dryly funny contact for 007 who helps Bond work out who might be behind the hijacking of spacecraft right out of orbit. He doesn't last too long though, as someone shows up to silence him - sending Our Hero off on a chase.

"My name is Henderson..."

Four years later the Bond producers did something they have only done a few times - they brought Charles Gray back to play a different role in the next movie to produced in the series - and this time - he was the Bond Villain! Gray took over the role of Blofeld - previously played in shadow by various people and voiced by others in From Russia with Love and Thunderball - then shown in full form in the previously mentioned You Only Live Twice - where he was given marvelous menace by Donald Pleasence. I'm not sure why they recast - but Charles Gray got the job for Diamonds are Forever.

If the cutting remarks don't get you...
Ernst Stavro Blofeld - Diamonds Are Forever.

That's the timeline chronologically - but I'm not sure which order I saw the movies in - as I would watch whichever Bond movie ABC would show on their primetime movie nights - and grab up any 007 movies I found to rent when home video got going a couple of years later.

I do know my third time seeing Charles Gray was the role he's most known for in cult film circles - The Criminologist - the narrator of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. With that marvelous voice and his cigarette holder - Gray gets the movie off to a funny start - all serious intonation and foreboding. By the time he's on his desk wildly gyrating to the "Time Warp" a little later in the movie - Charles Gray has become iconic in the role.

The first time I went to a midnight showing of RHPS my friends and I dressed up - they were Transylvanians - but I went as the Criminologist - even graying my hair with some spray-on hair stuff. Sadly, no pictures were taken of that night. From the middle of high school into college - we'd go to the long running midnight show a few times a year - I wore the Criminologist outfit two or three times.

Willing to sacrifice it all in The Devil Rides Out.

Charles Gray was born in 1928 in Bournemouth, Dorset, England and started out in show business on stage in the early 50's. He appeared on British television in 1957, then his first feature film the next year. The IMDB lists him for 131 acting roles - and he was still acting up to the year of his passing in 2000. He appeared in all kinds of shows and movies - with several productions of Sherlock Holmes casting him - and he played Sherlock's brother Mycroft in not less than three different shows about the Great Detective.

The Holmes Boys - Charles Gray playing Mycroft to Jeremy Brett's Sherlock.

I love seeing Charles Gray pop up in anything I'm watching, and of course I revisit the Bond films and Rocky Horror often. You should check out some Charles Gray when you can - he's a terrific actor!

"It's just a jump...to the left..."

Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

A-Z Challenge 2015: F is for Frank Stallone!

I guess my introduction to Frank Stallone came with my cable viewing of Rocky - when he is with the guys singing "Take You Back" on the street corner when Mr. Balboa (Frank's brother Sylvester Stallone, if you weren't aware) comes sauntering by.

"Take You Back...doo doo nnn doo doo...Take You Back..."

After that, while continuing his own musical career - favoring big band crooning in the Sinatra style - Frank also carved out a side career as an actor and pop singer - often working with brother Sly. He provided the song "Far from Over" for the Saturday Night Fever sequel Staying Alive which was directed by his brother - and this song garnered Frank nominations for both a Golden Globe and Grammy.

Let's get his most famous song in here - here's the video of Far from Over - with Frank performing over footage from Staying Alive...

On the acting side he started out in his brother's movies - appearing in the first three Rocky movies and Paradise Alley - but also got his own jobs on TV shows like It's a Living and Walker: Texas Ranger and movies like Barfly, Outlaw Force, Terror in Beverly Hills, Tombstone, Hudson Hawk, and two Roller Blade Seven flicks.

He's got 70 acting jobs listed on the IMDB - and a lot of them are genre movies that are this blog's bread and butter. Frank has also released a couple of albums, and continues to tour with his musical act.

I like the Stallone family - even mom Jackie has had her moments in the spotlight -  so I'm pleased Frank has managed to maintain an entertainment career out of his brother's shadow. Check out some Frank Stallone when you get the chance!

Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

A-Z Challenge 2015: E is for E.G. Daily!

As we hit the fifth post in this A-Z Challenge, I am E-lated to say that -

E is for E.G. Daily!

I think I first encountered Elizabeth "E.G." Daily in her musical appearance in Better Off Dead. I was captivated by her talent, her pixie like beauty, and her sheer 80's-ness.

Later, I caught up with Pee Wee's Big Adventure on VHS and was delighted by her performance as Dottie.

She got started in show business as a dancer in the obscure 1978 movie Disco Fever - then did a guest spot on Laverne and Shirley. More television and movies followed, with interesting genre flicks like Street Music, Wacko, One Dark Night, Valley Girl, Streets of Fire, Bad Dreams, and No Small Affair on her resume. She continued working before the cameras into the 90's - then discovered a new facet to her career as a voiceover artist on children's cartoons. Most famously, she was the voice of Tommy Pickles on Rugrats, which had a very healthy run on Nickelodeon throughout the 90's.

Since getting the voice work going - Elizabeth hasn't been in front of the cameras much - or at all. But we still have her 80's movies and shows to enjoy - and it's always fun to see her pop up! Check out some E.G. Daily next chance you get!

Until next post - tomorrow! - you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

A-Z Challenge 2015: D is for Judi Dench!

It should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with me or this blog that I first took notice of Judi Dench when she took over as James Bond's boss M in GoldenEye (1995).

I became a true fan a couple of years later. When Tomorrow Never Dies came out in 1997 - Dench returned as M and had a great adversarial relationship with Admiral Roebuck (Geoffrey Palmer) in the opening minutes of the movie.

Admiral Roebuck and M.

Some months later - my wondrous wife Suze and I were sitting down to a fine steak dinner - and we had kept the TV on in the background as we prepped and cooked. Imagine my surprise when a 90's British sitcom called As Time Goes By came on our local PBS station - and it starred Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer!

As Time Goes By - the early episodes.

As Time Goes By - near the end of the long run.

On the show they play a couple who'd had a torrid love affair in the 50's - then lost touch for more than 30 years. Now, both single after long marriages - they meet up again and start back to first friendship, then over the course of the series - love and marriage. The series was hugely popular in Great Britain, making their scenes together in Tomorrow Never Dies all the more awesome, as now I realize it's an in-joke - plus the fun of seeing the couple duking it out verbally in their Bond roles.




Judi Dench was born in York England December 9, 1934. She attended Mount School and studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She started acting on stage at an early age.

On stage in the 60's.

Her acting career covered every facet of show business - though I believe she'd tell you she is first and foremost a stage actress. But she also did television and movies - with several series over the years and small parts in different flicks - and for her work on stage and in television and films - she has won 10 (!) BAFTA Awards. (That's the combo Oscar/Emmy from Great Britain.) When she was cast as M it opened up her film career in a lot of ways. It helped her get a role in Shakespeare in Love as Queen Elizabeth I - and that role - only eight minutes onscreen - won Judi the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1999.

With husband Michael Williams - A Fine Romance.

One interesting series she did in the early 80's was called A Fine Romance. It lays out the beginnings of a relationship between two middle aged people that is uncomfortable and funny - uncomfortable due to their awkwardness with each other. What makes this show special is that her co-star was Michael Williams - her real life husband from the early 70's until his passing in 2001.



In 2012 she was diagnosed with macular degeneration - a gradual loss of eyesight. It was decided that Skyfall would be her last 007 movie as M - and she made a spectacular exit in the movie. However, it appears treatment has helped - as she is still acting - with The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel a recent release. I hope she keeps working for years to come - check out some Judi Dench every chance you get!

Until next post - roughly 24 hours from now - you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

A-Z Challenge 2015: C is for Connie Stevens!

I couldn't even tell you when I first encountered Connie Stevens - but I know I first took notice of her in whatever I saw after the advent of puberty in the early 80's - because she is an incredibly gorgeous woman - and my hormone charged eyes liked what they saw.

Born in New York City August 8, 1938, Connie got started in show business on the musical side of things. While working with various vocal groups in the mid to late 50's she also appeared as an extra and in small roles in a few movies like Young and Dangerous (1957) and Dragstrip Riot (1958). Jerry Lewis gave her a boost by giving her a better role in Rock-a-Bye Baby (1958) - which led Warner Bros. to give her a contract. They promptly put her in their popular detective series Hawaiian Eye as Cricket Blake in 119 episodes. She continued working - but never achieved major stardom.

She tended to a very flowing and feminine look in the 70's and 80's - and certainly didn't skimp on the big hair or makeup. At some point I also took notice of her talent - she's wonderful in light comedy - and handles herself just fine in dramatic situations too. She also did a lot of game shows and talk shows during this period as well.

This is how she looked when I first took notice - always an eye for the older woman...

Even more notably - she appeared on Fantasy Island three times - and on The Love Boat eight times!

*sigh*

Connie Stevens is still working here and there - but her main business these days is as a tycoon - she developed a line of skin care products that she hawks on home shopping - and which seem to do very well. I suspect she might be putting in enough acting work to keep her Screen Actors' Guild insurance going - and I hope she keeps going for many years to come!

In recent times - still a gorgeous woman.

Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

A-Z Challenge 2015: B is for Bobby Ray Shafer!

I first saw Bobby Ray Shafer in a wonderfully goofy slasher movie called Psycho Cop in the early 90's - and thought he was pretty funny. He came back to that role a couple of years later in Psycho Cop Returns - which was also silly and fun.

Psycho Cop in action.

I kept seeing him in various series and movies in the years since, and really enjoyed him in the American version of The Office - where he played Bob Vance Vance Refrigeration - Dunder Mifflin's office neighbor and eventually husband to Phyllis - in 25 episodes.

"Bob Vance Vance Refrigeration."

Often now credited as Robert R. Shafer - he turns up all over the place - recently he's one of the poker players being annoyed by Kenny Rogers in a Geico Insurance commercial - and it turns out he's also a cousin of one of my favorite genre filmmakers - Fred Olen Ray - who was the R post in this challenge two years ago.

Mega Python vs Gatoroid

I thought I had heard that the two men had worked together and discovered their family connection when they discussed that they'd both come from West Virginia - but it turns out (and no surprise here) I'd not remembered the story correctly.

Thankfully, the man himself came by to set the record straight in a comment - and here's what he had to say:


"In the interest of historical accuracy, it was Fred's son, Chris Olen Ray that I ran into on the set of KNIFEPOINT in 2008. Chris is also a director and he and I have worked together several times; including a soon to be released comedy: THEY WANT DICK DICKSTER ( about an egomaniacal director running wild in Hollyweird). "


Thanks Mr. Shafer! Since this discovery in 2008 Mr. Shafer has worked with both Fred Olen Ray and Chris Olen Ray multiple times.

One of Fred Olen Ray's movies that Bobby Ray Shafer is in - you can see him sitting
in the second picture on the left hand side.

One of Fred's family films Bobby Ray is in.

I'm sure you've seen something with Bobby Ray Shafer - because he's been in a lot of shows - and I heartily recommend you watch some more - because he's always worth watching.









Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

A-Z Challenge 2015: A is for Ace Mask!

Here we go with another 26 entry postathon - every day in April except for Sundays - the fifth A-Z Blogging Challenge for this blog!


I'm going back to 2013's theme again this year - an alphabetical listing of 26 interesting people A-Z from pop culture.

And we'll kick the whole thing off by revealing...

A is for Ace Mask!

I first took notice of Ace Mask when I watched Jim Wynorski's wonderful 1988 remake of Not of This Earth. He is very funny in the movie as Dr. Rochelle.

As Dr. Rochelle in Not of This Earth (1988).

I then started to see him in other movies - usually directed by Jim Wynorski. Across 20 years - 1986-2006 - Ace Mask racked up 26 credits - initially in genre pictures like Return of Swamp Thing and Transylvania Twist, and eventually - under the name Wesley Mask - as a guest star on several TV series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Bold and the Beautiful.



I asked Jim Wynorski about working with him - here's what he had to say..,

"I loved working with Ace Mask on my early pictures. Whether he co-starred or was just featured, I could always count on Ace for a knockout performance."

I don't know much else about him - but I've always enjoyed his work and I hope to see him in a new project one of these days.







Until tomorrow - you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!