EDDIE ALBERT

-

  Anybody my age will remember Eddie Albert as the character Oliver Wendell Douglas in the popular television show Green Acres. He was born Eddie Albert Heimberger in 1906 and died at the age of 99 in 2005. He was taunted by his schoolmates in World War I for having a German sounding last name. He tried a business career but failed in that because of the stock market crash of 1929. After this he got into acting on Broadway, the movies and the very early television programs. Before World War II he performed in a Circus Act in Mexico but was really a spy working for the U.S. Army. He took pictures of German U Boats in Mexican waters. On September 9, 1942 he enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve. During the brutal Pacific battle of Tarawa in November 1943 he helped rescue 46 wounded Marines with his boat while under heavy Japanese fire. Forty-two of these men survived earning Albert the Bronze Star with a V for Valor
.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE DEATH OF JAYNE MANSFIELD

-
Image
Jayne Mansfield   Jayne Mansfield died way too young on June 29, 1967 at the age of 34 in a gruesome car wreck, She was killed instantly but contrary to urban legend she was not decapitated. Jayne was called the poor man's Marilyn Monroe. She had enjoyed about a four year stint of popularity on Broadway and in Hollywood from 1954 until 1958. Her career was in decline in the late 50's and early 60's but she was still popular in Europe and on the nightclub circuit. She took her last name from her high school sweetheart Paul Mansfield when she married him at the age of seventeen. Her second husband was a former Mr. Universe named Mickey Hargitay who was from Norway. The third and last husband was Matt Cimber. Mansfield was highly educated, attending Southern Methodist University, the University of Texas and U.C.L.A. She supposedly had an IQ of 163 and was called the smartest dumb blonde ever. Of course she couldn't be too smart. In 1966, a year before her death, while
Read more

NASHVILLE AND JESSE JAMES

-
Image
The James brothers with their mother Zerelda James   Most everyone has heard of the notorious outlaws Jesse and Frank James, however; did you know that they lived in Nashville from 1875 until March 1881? Jesse's oldest son Jesse James Jr. was born in Nashville along with his sister Mary. Jesse Jr. was born at 606 Boscobel Street on August 31, 1875. Mary was born on West Hamilton Road in Bordeaux on July 17, 1879. Jesse Jr. went by the name Tim and as far as he knew his last name was Howard. He and his sister would not know their real last names until after Jesse was killed in 1882. Jesse and his wife Zerelda would also lose two male twins in infancy.  Jesse's brother Frank lived on Clarksville Pike. While living there he and his wife Annie Ralston James gave birth to a son named Robert Franklin on February 6, 1877. For a time he would be dressed as a girl and go by the name of Mary. Why his parents did this I do not know.  The brothers were on the run. Nashville was
Read more

CHARLIE PARKHURST

-
Image
  Charlie Parkhurst aka One-eyed Charlie, Cockeyed Charlie, or Six Horse Charlie was born in 1812 in Vermont. Eventually he made his way out west to California where he became a teamster and one of the most skilled stagecoach drivers in history. He was small in stature but tough. Shortly after becoming a stagecoach driver for the California Stage Company he was kicked in the face by a horse and blinded in one eye. Charlie began his reputation as a tough driver when a robber named "Sugarfoot" held up his stage one day. Taken by surprise his only option was to give up his strong box. Six months later the Sugarfoot hit him again but Charlie was prepared this time. He blew him away with a shotgun at point blank range. Without blinking his good eye he rode off at a full gallop leaving the robber dead in the road.   He was an expert shot and an expert with a bull whip. Charlie could cut a cigar in half at fifteen paces while a man held it in his mouth. On one occasion he rolle
Read more