| July 11 |
| 1906 -- One of the most revered announcers in broadcast history, Harry von Zell, is born in Indianapolis. Not only did Harry reach the tops in radio but he also became a celebrity in his own right by playing himself as a character on 'Burns and Allen' and several others. Interestingly, Harry is often 'discredited' as the announcer who introduced radio listeners to President Herbert Hoover's inauguration speech with a somber 'Ladies and gentlemen, Hoobert Heever . . .' According to great myth de-bunking site snopes.com, Harry did make the error but at the end of a much less dramatic live documentary commemorating the president's birthday. The myth was apparently popularized by a nationally-sold 'bloopers' LP in the 1970s. Harry died of cancer on November 21, 1981, at age 75. 1934 -- the first appointments were made to the newly- created Federal Communications Commission (FCC). They were Eugene O. Sykes, Thadeus H. Brown, Paul A. Walker, Norman Case, Irvin Stewart, George Henry Paine and Hampson Gary. 1950 -- He helped MacGuyver build things up as Jack Simpson, which is only fair because he helped tear down Delta House -- actor Bruce Travis McGill is born this day in San Antonio. Although he had a small role in the previous year's 'Citizen's Band,' it was as the motorcycle-riding D-Day in his second film, 1978's 'Animal House,' that he gained fame. He reprised the role in the short-lived ABC comedy televisation 'Delta House' in 1979 and has worked steadily in the succeeding 30 years. Interestingly, the case can be made that at the time of 'Animal House's' release, the two least-known actors went on to have the longest-lasting careers: Bruce McGill and the Kevin ('Chip Dillon') Bacon. 1959 -- Joan Baez makes her first recording, a duet with Bob Gibson recorded live at the Newport Folk Festival. 1965 -- Ray Collins, best remembered as Lt. Tragg, right-hand man to District Attorney Hamilton burger on 'Perry Mason,' dies of emphysema in Santa Monica, California. He was 75 years of age. 1967 -- Just one day after they left The New Christy Minstrels, Kenny Rogers, Thelma Camacho, Mike Settle and Terry Williams form The First Edition (later to be called Kenny Rogers & The First Edition). Although they would receive their own syndicated half-hour music show in the Fall of 1971, they made their first national television appearance just seven on 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' on January 7, 1968. 1974 -- 'The Mac Davis Show' summer TV series premieres on CBS. 1976 -- The Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra, marries for the fourth and final time. Frank and Barbara Marx remain married until Frank's death in May of 1998. 1989 -- Acting great Sir Laurence Olivier, whose television connection included such mini-series as 'Brideshead Revisited,' 'The Last Days of Pompeii' and 'Jesus of Nazareth,' dies in West Sussex, England, of complications from a chronic muscle disorder. He was 82 years old at the time. 2006 -- Barnard Hughes, who starred on television in 'Doc,' 'Blossom' and 'The Cavanaughs,' dies'Doc (1975), Blossom, Guiding Light, As The World Turns, & The Secret Storm, dies in New York City just five days short of his 91st birthday. |
| A member of Orson Welles's 'Mercury Radio Theater Players' on radio, Ray's character in 'Citizen Kane,' politician James W. Gettys brought down the scandalous Charles Foster Kane. |
| Although still best-known for his music, laid-back Mac Davis also had a short but notable acting career, beginning with 1979's 'North Dallas Forty.' Starring as quarterback Seth Maxwell, Mac more than held his own with Nick Nolte, Steve Forrest and G.D. Spradlin |
| The same year that Barnard Hughes and Christine Ebersole (L) starred in NBC's 'The Cavanaughs' (1987), Barnard did a turn on film screens as the vampire fightin' grandpa in 'The Lost Boys.' |