Felix Silla, Who Played Cousin Itt In 'The Addams Family,' Was Also Twiki In 'Battlestar Galactica'
A peek behind the scenes or an untold story can reveal so much more about our favorite shows and movies. Why did Mary Tyler Moore wear that silly wig on her new show, and who were those Hanson brothers in Slap Shot? These are the mysteries of the screen (big and small) that stay with us for years, seemingly never to be solved. But there are explanations and anecdotes -- everything has some back story or secret origin. What was in the bottle before Barbara Eden (Jeannie) moved in? What's George Harrison doing in that Monty Python movie? And what is up with the mask that Michael Myers wears -- is it really a Star Trek thing? Take a moment to dig deeper and you might find the fact or tale that makes you enjoy a series or film even more.
Source: Ain't It Cool News
Top actors of short stature often get the chance to play numerous memorable roles, though you don't always see their faces. Warwick Davis, for example, played the hero of Willow, but his first movie role was as the Ewok Wicket in Return of the Jedi. Kenny Baker, who played Fidget in Time Bandits, has a massive legacy as the man inside the R2D2 suit in six Star Wars movies. But do you know Felix Silla?
You know Felix Silla, even if you don't recognize him. Born in Italy and trained as a circus performer, Silla attained TV immortality by playing Cousin Itt on The Addams Family. A couple of years after that series ended, he played the young gorilla in Planet of the Apes. But Silla really hit the double TV sci-fi jackpot in 1978. That's the year he started playing Lucifer on Battlestar Galactica. Shortly thereafter he got the call to play Twiki on the related-but-different show Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (both Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers were produced by Glen Larson). And if you're a fan of really bad sequels, you saw Silla in Meatballs Part II as Meathead the Alien.
The 'L' Was Penny Marshall's Trick To Remind Viewers Of Laverne's Name
Source: IMDBYou could depend on audiences to know (or at least guess) that a show called Laverne & Shirley would be about two women, one named Laverne and the other Shirley. But would they remember, week-to-week, which one was Laverne and which was Shirley? Arguably not -- and when this is a concern, writers often will work a character's name into the opening lines of a show to establish who's who.
It's a clumsy bit of exposition, and actress Penny Marshall felt there had to be a better way. She decided upon a visual clue: Laverne's famous "L" monogram. Just as Batman doesn't really need to say "I'm Batman" (although, for some reason, he does) because he has a big bat icon on his chest, Laverne never needed to remind the audience that she was Laverne -- it was always right there in that flowing script "L."
Yvonne Craig Did Her Own Fight Scenes On 'Batman,' Unlike Adam West And Burt Ward
Source: LA Times
Yvonne Craig joined the Batman TV series in its third season, playing the dual role of Barbara Gordon and Batgirl -- and the new blood was just what the show needed, as its popularity had begun to flag. Craig was a dynamic presence on screen, and not just because she was drop-dead gorgeous. She brought a physicality to her performance that was years in the making.
Craig had studied ballet since she was 10 years old, and had been very successful at it, attending the School of American Ballet in New York. At just 17 years of age, Craig was the youngest member of the touring Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. She ditched ballet for acting, doing guest spots on TV shows and appearing in two Elvis movies before getting the Batman gig.
Working on the show was physically taxing, and while Adam West and Burt Ward had stunt doubles for the run of the series, Craig insisted that she do her own stunts. Her ballet training was integral to her work on the show, and it’s one of the reasons that she was able to convince the producers to let her jump around on camera.
TV Batman Adam West Had A Super Love Life (So Did Robin)
Source: Reddit
His character was a virtuous do-gooder, but TV's Batman, Adam West, had a love life that viewers could hardly have imagined. It turns out that when he wasn’t performing as a saintly hero fighting dastardly villains, just like in the comic books -- a medium for children, especially back then -- he was engaging in free love and reaping the benefits of being a Hollywood star in the Swinging Sixties.
According to a story published soon after his death, West reportedly slept with as many as eight women a night and even had quickies between scenes on the set of Batman. He wasn’t the only one. Just as many women were eager to sleep with Burt Ward, who played Batman’s sidekick, Robin. The Dynamic Duo, according to the stories, did much of their extracurricular work while still wearing their iconic Batman and Robin costumes.
Mary Tyler Moore Was Elvis Presley's Leading Lady In The King's Final Fil
in fact, his success as a movie star overshadowed his music in the '60s, so much so that he needed a "comeback" special in 1968 at the age of 33. Sharing the screen with Elvis in his peak cinematic years was a good move for many actresses, including Carolyn Jones (in King Creole, 1958), Juliet Prowse (in G.I. Blues, 1960), Stella Stevens (in Girls! Girls! Girls!, 1962), Ann-Margret (in Viva Las Vegas, 1964) and Donna Douglas (in Frankie and Johnny, 1966). 
Source: Reddit
In the last film Presley made as an actor, the very forgettable Change of Habit, he was teamed with a sitcom actress who would be arguably the biggest star out of all his leading ladies (with the possible exception of Ann-Margret). Mary Tyler Moore was famous for playing Laura Petrie when Change of Habit opened in 1969. She became much more famous the following year, when The Mary Tyler Moore Show premiered to instant success. In fact, TV success kept Moore so busy that she didn't make another theatrical movie until 1980's Ordinary People.
Years After 'Partridge Family' Ended, Susan Dey And David Cassidy Had A Regrettable Relationship
Susan Dey and David Cassidy played brother and sister on but Dey secretly longed to be in a relationship with Cassidy. At that time, he was one of the leading teen idols in entertainment, with hordes of adoring young female fans. Cassidy was well aware of Dey's crush, but he viewed her as the sister he never had -- and not as a romantic interest, at all.
Source: Pinterest
In fact, Cassidy was notably insensitive to Dey's feelings, hooking up with groupies and often parading the flavor of the week in front of a crushed Dey. But hope springs eternal -- and after The Partridge Family had stopped taping, they did get together for a single night of passion. Cassidy later wrote about the tryst in a memoir, and said that he regretted it, which further hurt Dey. Although the pair had managed to become friendly, they reportedly never spoke again after Cassidy spilled the beans.
Chevy Chase Was Tricked Out Of Being In 'Animal House'
Animal House, the ultimate college comedy, was envisioned as a cast of many quirky characters (kind of like a frat house) with no leading man. With John Belushi and others on board, that plan seemed to be viable -- but then Universal Pictures weighed in. They wanted Belushi's old Saturday Night Live co-star Chevy Chase, a headliner who would have changed the entire dynamic of the story. Chase was considering making a movie called Foul Play alongside Goldie Hawn, but he was intrigued by the Animal House prospect, and agreed to a lunch meeting.
Source: IMDB
Over lunch, director John Landis used reverse psychology:
I said, ‘Listen, Chevy, our picture is an ensemble, a collaborative group effort like Saturday Night Live. You’d fit right in, whereas in Foul Play, that’s like being Cary Grant or Paul Newman, a real movie-star part. Don’t you think you’d be better off surrounded by really gifted comedians?’
Of course, that was exactly what Chase didn't want. He wanted to be a big star. He told Landis he'd be making Foul Play with Goldie Hawn, not Animal House.
The Gopher Was A Controversial Last-Minute Addition To 'Caddyshack'
For such a beloved movie, it doesn't have the cleanest narrative arc. The two most interesting characters, Ty Webb (Chevy Chase) and Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield) are fun to watch but there's nothing at stake for either of them. Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe) has something at stake in that he is poor and wishes he weren't, but he's not an interesting character. What is this movie really about?
Puppeteer Pat Brymer with the Caddyshack gopher. Source: Legacy.com
Wrong. Caddyshack is the story of a groundskeeper who is vexed by a gopher.
Harold Ramis's directorial debut had clocked in at four and a half hours, which was way too long. An editor cut the film down to an acceptable length, but also cut out much of the coherent story involving Danny and his girlfriend and their fellow caddies. Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and Rodney Dangerfield were not intended to be the main story of the movie, but they were better than the main story, and something had to be sacrificed. Feeling like the movie was a collection of funny vignettes without enough connective tissue, Ramis agreed to make the gopher an impish character who gets the last laugh.
The Oompa-Loompas Were Originally African Pygmies
from Roald Dahl's book Charlie And The Chocolate Factory weren't originally conceived as we saw them in the film Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory. To refresh your memory: the movie creatures were mischievous natives of Loompaland, in the region of Loompa, which was represented to be a small, isolated island in the Hangdoodles. Willy Wonka discovered them and realized that they were being mistreated by the Whangdoodles, Hornswogglers and Snozzwangers. Wonka took them home to work in his factory and to give them a better life, making his Gobstoppers and other sugary treats.
Source: IMDB
But that's not how they were originally described in Roald Dahl's book. In the first edition, published in 1964, the Oompa Loompas weren't fantastic or supernatural beings; they were slave laborers imported from Africa. According to Dahl's biographer, the Oompa Loompas in that edition were "a tribe of 3,000 amiable black pygmies who have been imported by Mr. Willy Wonka from 'the very deepest and darkest part of the African jungle where no white man had been before.'" Dahl revised the description of the Oompa Loompas, making them merry hippies from a made-up land, but only after the movie came out.
His Herman Munster Getup Made Fred Gwynne Sweat Like Crazy
You didn't just stroll on to and shoot your scenes -- hours of makeup application, for the cast members, was required for each episode. Herman Munster’s costume was extremely bulky and unbearably hot. In order to keep him cool enough for his health and comfort… and to keep his heavy makeup from melting, a stagehand would use an air compressor to shoot cool air into his costume in between scenes. Despite all of their efforts, the actor consistently lost weight due to excessive sweating.
Source: IMDB
Actress Yvonne De Carlo had her own hot-and-heavy struggle: her wig reportedly weighed about 20 pounds. Her transformation to Lily Munster required two hours in the makeup chair, and the results were horrifying -- to her, at least. The first time she saw herself made up as Lily, the veteran actress broke down crying, asking "So it's come to this?" The shock wore off, though, and over time, she came to understand the show better, and to love it.
Mary Tyler Moore Wore A Wig To Distance Herself From Her Old Characte
before she got her own groundbreaking show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. American viewers knew her as Laura Petrie, a role she had played in all 158 episodes before getting her own program. Moore's character on her new show was Mary Richards, not Laura Petrie.
Source: IMDB
Spinoff shows had become common, with shows such as The Andy Griffith Show and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. giving us characters who went on to have their own series (Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., respectively). The producers of The Mary Tyler Moore Show were legitimately concerned that confused audiences would assume the character was Laura Petrie, so Moore started the new show wearing a large, dark wig. The wig disappeared after the first season, and nobody said anything.
Which Is Which? Anne Francis And Her 'Twilight Zone' Mannequin Double
The story of a statue that comes to life goes back to ancient times, when Pygmalion fell in love with his sculpture Galatea and Aphrodite brought her to life. There have been reboots and variations over the years, including the story of Pinocchio -- you know how it is, statues and toys are always coming to life, and everyone's happy about it. The inversion of the story, in which a person is turned into a statue, is not so happy.
Source: IMDB
This terrible fate befell the character played by Anne Francis on a 1960 episode of about a woman who goes into a department store and ends up becoming a mannequin. To shoot the story, the show needed the real woman (Ms. Francis) and a mannequin that looked just like her -- but was clearly a mannequin if you look closely. In this picture, we see the prop and the actress side-by-side, and the resemblance is uncanny. Actor James Millhollin seems at a loss to tell which is which (hint: look at the eyes and the hands).
'Strange Brew' Is Based On Shakespeare's Hamlet
Bob and Doug McKenzie, played by are a pair of comedic characters developed on SCTV, a sketch show broadcasting out of Toronto and also carried in the United States. Because of different allocations for commercials, the Canadian version of the show ran two minutes longer than the American one. The producers asked Thomas and Moranis to fill the time with “Canadian content.” The duo bristled at the notion, but then came up with a rebellious solution -- if the producers want more Canadian content, they would give it to them in the form of ridiculous cultural stereotypes.
Source: Ain't It Cool News
The McKenzie brothers ended up being one of the most successful bits on SCTV, even getting its own movie. For the big screen, the comedians flirted with highbrow literature by borrowing their plot from Shakespeare. In Hamlet, a Danish prince returns home to Elsinore castle to find that his father has been murdered and his mother has shacked up with the culprit, his uncle. In Strange Brew, the Mackenzie brothers learn that the owner of their favorite brewery has been killed by an evil brewmaster, the owner's daughter is in cahoots, her uncle is trying to cover it up, etc. -- it's not an exact rip of the plot, but there are similarities. And Moranis and Thomas tipped their hand with the name of the company at the center of the story: the Elsinore Brewery.
Max Headroom Won An Award For High Tech Effects, But There Were None
The character Max Headroom, which was first developed for British TV and debuted in 1985, was supposed to be a disembodied consciousness manifested as a computer-generated TV host. He was a talking head made of pixels and polygons -- right? Well, that's the impression the show wanted you to get.
Source: The Verge
The secret of Max Headroom was that he wasn't computer generated at all. The character's look was achieved by encasing actor Matt Frewer in a stiff suit-and-tie shell and applying makeup to make his skin look all smooth and plasticky. Under the harsh lights, and set against a background of careening parallel lines (ok, that part was computer generated), Frewer did indeed look very artificial. TV critics didn't know how the effect was achieved, but they were impressed by what they assumed was some serious technology. In 1986, the show won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award for Graphics -- even though, apart from the lines in the background, the show didn't employ any graphic effects.
Richard Dreyfuss Spends Most Of 'American Graffiti' Trying To Find Suzanne Somers
In the high school graduate Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) glimpses a beautiful blonde woman driving a white Ford Thunderbird, and immediately becomes obsessed with her. His obsession isn't unjustified -- when he looks at her for that brief moment, she returns his friendly gaze and appears to mouth the words "I love you." For the rest of the film, he's on a quest to find her, although he is frequently distracted by side adventures, which tends to happen to teens cruising the strip on a Saturday night.
Source: IMDB
What viewers often don't know -- and indeed couldn't have known when the movie was released -- is that the briefly-glimpsed blonde was played by Suzanne Somers. Though Somers would soon become a big star thanks to Three's Company, she wasn't famous at all in 1973. In fact, "Blonde in T-Bird" was Somers' first credited screen role.
Bob 'Hogan' Crane Married Sigrid 'Hilda' Valdis And They Had A Son (Not Pictured)
was known to be a charmer -- or a masher, depending on your perspective. In 1965, he began an affair with one of his castmates, Cynthia Lynn, who played Col. Klink's secretary Helga. Lynn left the show after the first season, and Patricia Olson -- who performed under the stage name of Sigrid Valdis -- stepped in to play Helga's replacement Hilda. Crane followed along, redirecting his attention from Helga to Hilda.
Source: IMDB
"He was always hitting on me from day one," Patricia Crane recalled for ABC News. "But he would hit on any bimbo that would walk on that set. It didn't matter. I mean, that was just Bob." Though Crane is remembered for his sexual appetite and mysterious death (in 1978), he romanced Patricia and -- after divorcing his wife of 20 years, who was his high school sweetheart -- put a ring on it in 1970. Their son, Scott Crane, was born the following year. Jeannie Was Trapped In A Bottle That Originally Held Jim Beam Whisky
Sometimes the prop department works wonders -- other times they just repurpose an everyday object. The latter was the case on I Dream Of Jeannie when it came time to create the bottle in which Jeannie (Barbara Eden) lives. In fact, the bottle you see on TV was available in local stores -- well, as long as it was a liquor store.
Source: IMDB
The bottle used on the show is a 1964 special edition Christmas decanter sold by Jim Beam -- for an estimated $5.99 at liquor stores of the day. The original bottle was smoke-green with a badge on it that said "Beam's Choice;" for the show it was painted with gold leaf accents and the badge was removed. Over the course of the series' five-season run, about 12 bottles were used.
The Xenomorph In 'Alien' Was Nigerian Actor Bolaji Badejo's Only Film Role
Bolaji Badejo was drinking in a pub in Soho, London, when he was spotted by director Ridley Scott's casting team. Badejo was hard to miss -- a slender 6'10", with very long legs, he was the perfect candidate to play the creature in Scott's Badejo took the job, and his performance as the menacing Xenomorph is one of the many elements that make Alien a masterpiece.
Badejo was an art student at the time. He was originally from Lagos, Nigeria, and had come to the UK to study graphic design after a stint in the United States. He never acted in another film again, and after returning to Nigeria opened an art gallery in 1983. Badejo died in 1992 of sickle cell anemia.
There's A Dead Actress In 'The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly'
In the ‘60s people were dying to be in Sergio Leone movies, well, they were appearing in them whether they were dead or not. In The , Tuco and Blondie come across a horse carriage full of corpses before finding out about the gold buried in the cemetery. One of the bodies in the shot wasn't a mannequin; it was a real corpse -- allegedly.
Source: United Artists
According to rumor one of the bodies belongs to a Spanish actress who wanted to act “even in death.” Not only is that commitment to the craft, but it’s a way to make the scene all the more real even if it is kind of gruesome. Or maybe this is just one of those cinematic rumors that’s gotten out of hand.
Barry White Wrote 'Doin' The Banana Split'
The Banana Splits were a band consisting of anthropomorphic animals -- actors in costumes -- who played pop music on their show . As the main characters were a band, music played a central role. The songs were written by professional songwriters, including N.B. Winkless Jr., a jingle writer for Kellogg’s, who reportedly wrote the theme song, and Barry White, who wrote “Doin’ the Banana Split.”
Although White wrote "Doin' The Bananan Split," he did not perform it -- it was sung by Drooper (a lion), with much of the lead vocal work done by Ricky Lancelotti, who was uncredited. “Doin the Banana Split" actually made it onto the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 96 on February 8, 1969. Other songs were performed by journeyman musicians and singers.
Bones, Kirk And Spock Pretend To Shave With Their Communicators Between Takes On 'Star Trek'
. Doesn't matter whether it's the original series, Next Generation or Voyager -- none of them have jokes. And that's a shame because there is much to laugh at.
Source: imgur
These guys are out there zooming around to different planets wearing goofy color-coded sweaters. Spock had pointy ears like an elf! Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand) had a hairdo that was woven like an Easter basket! And at some point, no matter how serious an actor you are, you realize that the communicator prop you're holding, which helps you communicate with the pretend spaceship that is orbiting the planet you're pretending to be on, looks a hell of a lot like an electric shaver. And you shave with it.
These guys are out there zooming around to different planets wearing goofy color-coded sweaters. Spock had pointy ears like an elf! Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand) had a hairdo that was woven like an Easter basket! And at some point, no matter how serious an actor you are, you realize that the communicator prop you're holding, which helps you communicate with the pretend spaceship that is orbiting the planet you're pretending to be on, looks a hell of a lot like an electric shaver. And you shave with it.
These guys are out there zooming around to different planets wearing goofy color-coded sweaters. Spock had pointy ears like an elf! Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand) had a hairdo that was woven like an Easter basket! And at some point, no matter how serious an actor you are, you realize that the communicator prop you're holding, which helps you communicate with the pretend spaceship that is orbiting the planet you're pretending to be on, looks a hell of a lot like an electric shaver. And you shave with it.
'Gilligan's Island's Lagoon Was A Studio Lot Filled With Water
The relatively convincing lagoon of the fictional island where was set was wholly artificial. It was constructed at CBS Studio Center, in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles, and the water was only about 4 feet deep. Because the set was near a freeway, shooting often had to be stopped because of noisy rush hour traffic. Palm trees and other vegetation were strategically arranged to block buildings in the background, but sharp-eyed viewers can occasionally spot the structures.
Source: Closer Weekly
The water in the lagoon became famously filthy as it stagnated over the months of shooting. To prove its toxicity, Bob Denver (Gilligan) and Alan Hale Jr. (the Skipper) released a live fish in the water -- and the fish died. The network eventually agreed to change the water when the show's stars demanded executives go for a swim in the lagoon.
The Shark In 'Jaws' Was Named 'Bruce,' After Steven Spielberg's Lawyer
There was one major special effect in Jaws: the mechanical shark designed specifically for the film. It was a full-size, pneumatically powered creature measuring approximately 25 feet long and weighed thousands of pounds. And it was a nightmare to deal with, famously malfunctioning and breaking down -- in fact, the shark became an additional challenge for director Steven Spielberg, who had to rewrite scenes and shoot around the shark's shortcomings.
Source: IMDB
The shark -- actually, there were three of them -- was named Bruce after Steven Spielberg's lawyer, Bruce Ramer. All Bruces were destroyed, but a fourth Bruce was made from the original mold, and was hung at Universal Studios for park guests to take pictures with. In around 1990, that Bruce was taken down and sent to a junkyard to make way for more current attractions. The owner of the junkyard held on to Bruce, knowing he had a curio worth preserving. When the junkyard closed down in 2016, Bruce was donated to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
The Face Of Michael Myers In 'Halloween' Is William Shatner
, directed by John Carpenter, was a low-budget affair, costing just $300,000 to make. The actor who played killer Michael Myers, Nick Castle, was Carpenter’s film school friend and was only paid $25 per day. Jamie Lee Curtis was reportedly only paid $8,000, and bought her wardrobe for under $100 from JC Penney.
Source: Reddit
But the most famous bit of movie magic -- the mask worn by killer Michael Myers -- is truly among the most legendary low-budget shortcuts. It was actually a Captain Kirk mask -- yes, in its original form it was supposed to make the wearer look something like William Shatner -- and it cost just $1.29. Carpenter painted it white, and liked it because of its blank stare.
The 1966 Batmobile Was A Lincoln Concept Car From 1955
The 1955 Lincoln Futura was a one-off, a concept car that demonstrated Ford Motor Company's space-age imagination. It was hand built by Ghia in Turin, Italy at a cost of $250,000 or more than $2.3 million in 2019 dollars. The Futura made appearances at car shows as a car of the future, and after a few years was repurposed for the 1959 film It Started With a Kiss, although it was painted red for the movie because the original silvery color was not particularly photogenic.
After the film was over, car customizer George Barris bought the Futura for $1. In 1965, 20th Century Fox contracted Barris to create the car for a new television show based on the but Barris was tasked with producing a Batmobile in three weeks with a budget of just $15,000. He decided to work with the Futura, modifying it so that it could appear on the show. The modifications were simple: the fin was extended to the windshield, bat-details were added, and it was painted black with fluorescent cerise trim. The customizing crew also added gadgets, such as the “jet drive,” which was simply a butane tank, and the chain cutter that popped out of the car’s nose.
Jack Wild Seems Surprised That H.R. Pufnstuf Is An Average Joe
No one would ever accuse of making convincing costumes -- whether we're talking about the sea monster Sigmund or the Banana Splits, these big goofy characters are obviously just people wearing clunky suits. But that doesn't mean you want to see the people with their big foam heads off.
Source: Reddit
Young actor Jack Wild, who played Jimmy on H.R. Pufnstuf, quietly speaks for us all in this photo. Just feet away from him sits Roberto Gamonet wearing the H.R. Pufnstuf costume without the head, as well as Johnny Silver, who has removed the head from his Ludicrous Lion costume. Krofft-world bodies with human heads on them -- does anyone want to witness that? Talk about moments that'll ruin your childhood!
Tabatha On 'Bewitched' Was Played By Twin Actresses
two different "Richards," and Agnes Moorhead. But don't forget Tabitha, an important part, played by Erin Murphy. Or we should say, played mostly by Erin Murphy. Did you know she was a twin?
Source: Tumblr
Erin Murphy, the actress known for playing Tabatha, has a fraternal twin sister Diane, and for at least 18 episodes in 1966-67 the two of them shared the job of playing Samantha and Darrin's offspring. Erin eventually got the role all to herself, partially because, as fraternal (and not identical) twins, she and her sister began to look noticeably different from each other.
Groucho Marx's Guest Appearance On 'Welcome Back Kotter' Was Canceled
Comedy legend Groucho Marx (of the Marx Brothers) was booked to do a guest spot on . In the episode, "Sadie Hawkins Day," as originally written, series star Gabe Kaplan would break into a Groucho Marx impression, and then the show would cut to Marx himself reacting to it. The cameo was never filmed.
Source: IMDB
Marx was 86 at the time, and looked it. In fact, he was too feeble to perform the scene, so it was canceled. Marx shot a few publicity stills with the cast on set, but he wasn't in the episode. He died the following year.
The non-appearance was no doubt a disappointment for Kaplan, a Groucho Marx fan. You may detect occasional touches of Groucho in Kaplan's Kotter, but the actor went for the gusto in 1982 when he starred in Groucho, a one-man play written by Groucho Marx's son.
The Painting Seen On 'Good Times' Was Painted By A Former NFL Player
Jimmie Walker is most famous for playing J.J. Evans on and J.J.'s calling card was the interjection (all together now) "Dy-no-mite!" But his frequent clowning overshadows a serious side that the show's writers gave J.J.: he is a talented artist. J.J. Evans is often seen painting on the show, and the closing credits of many episodes roll over a scene that J.J. painted -- that was actually a canvas by artist Ernie Barnes.
Source: L.A. Times
Barnes' most famous work is "Sugar Shack," and appearing at the end of Good Times isn't its only claim to fame -- it was also used as cover art for Marvin Gaye's 1976 album I Want You. Barnes, who died in 2009, also supplied other paintings attributed to J.J. on the show, and his art can be found on covers of albums by Curtis Mayfield, The Crusaders and B.B. King.
Barnes has been recognized as an important 20th-century artist, although he might have painted less if he'd had better luck at football. Barnes was drafted out of college by the Baltimore Colts in 1959, and bounced to the New York Titans, San Diego Chargers, and Denver Broncos. Barnes was playing for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League in 1965 when he suffered a career-ending foot fracture. New York Jets owner Sonny Werblin soon hired Barnes not to play, but to paint, telling him "You have more value to the country as an artist than as a football player."
The Studio Didn't Think Spencer Tracy Would Live To Finish Shooting 'Guess Who's Coming To Dinner'
Guess Who's Coming To Dinner was an important film in 1967, asking audiences to contend with the idea of interracial marriage not in the abstract but in their own lives, through the eyes of characters played by Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Both actors felt the movie was very important to make, but only one of them was really in the shape to do it. Though he was just 67 years old, Tracy was thoroughly ill, suffering from heart disease, diabetes, high-blood pressure, respiratory disease and more.
New York Post
Tracy failed his insurance physical before shooting began. Both Hepburn and director Stanley Kramer put up their salaries as collateral in case of Tracy's death. But the precautions went further: Kramer, Hepburn, and co-stars Sidney Poitier and Katharine Houghton worked on extra footage from a second script that accounted for the possible loss of Tracy. Spencer Tracy would come to the set in the morning and film his scenes, then leave by midday to rest up -- and the rest of the cast and crew would continue working without him. Tracy died 17 days after shooting wrapped.
