| July 8 |
| 1947 -- She was the daughter of The Dancing Zerbys and she once counted Jack Ruby among her babysitters (conspiracy theorists, start your silencers), but Deborah Zerby will always be best known for going toe-to-toe with John Wayne. Born in Los Angeles, Deborah, who took the stage name Kim Darby, was reportedly offered the role of Mattie Ross in 'True Grit' on the strength of a role on Ben Gazzara's 'Run for Your Life.' While her film career never topped that role-of-a-lifetime debut, Kim has two strong connections to television. She starred in the 1972 pilot of 'The Streets of San Francisco,' and the following year she starred in the still creepy telefilm 'Don't Be Afraid of the Dark,' which proved to be very bad advise for Kim. The Ruby connection? When her parents, Jon and Inge, were on stage at The Carousel Club in Dallas, her babysitter was the club's owner -- Jack Ruby. (Don't look now, but is that a grassy knoll up ahead?) 1950 -- Nat King Cole's still-classic 'Mona Lisa' hits Number One and stays there for eight weeks. Six years later, Nat will become the first African-American to host his own network television show. 1953 -- Notre Dame announces that the following five years of its football games would be shown in theatres over closed circuit TV. In 1991 the Fighting Irish set another precedent by signing an exclusive broadcast agreement with NBC. 1958 -- The first gold record album is presented by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for the soundtrack to 'Oklahoma!' for selling one million copies. The first gold single was issued earlier in the year to Perry Como for 'Catch a Falling Star.' 1970 -- 'The Everly Brothers Show' premieres on ABC as a summer replacement for Johnny Cash. 1979 -- John Reed King dies following a heart attack. He emceed 'Missus Goes A-Shopping,' 'It's a Gift,' 'Chance of a Lifetime,' 'Give & Take' and 'Beat the Clock.' John was just 64 years old. 1985 -- Phil Foster, best remembered as Laverne's dad in 'Laverne and Shirley,' dies of a heart attack in Rancho Mirage, California. Phil also had a memorable role as Coach Joe Jarros in the 1973 big-screen of 'Bang the Drum Slowly' in which Robert De Niro is dying baseball catcher Bruce Pearson. Frank was 72-years-old at his death. 1990 -- The final episode of 'Mr. Belvedere' airs on ABC. |
| Kim Darby, born this date in 1947, wasn't afraid of John Wayne in 'True Grit' but should've been 'Afraid of the Dark.' Today, she teaches acting. |
| Born in NYC, Phil Foster's birth name was Michael Feldman. |