Kevin McCarthy

Actor Kevin McCarthy's most well-known role is probably that of Dr. Miles Bennell in the original 1956 version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Fans of the 1989 film "UHF" starring Weird Al Yankovic will remember McCarthy as R.J. Fletcher, head of the rival netwark station. He has been seen in over 200 films and television programs in his 60+ year career,and is STILL acting at nearly 96 years old.

I mailed this to him in 1997, and received it back 3 1/2 years later. It was well worth the wait, as besides signing the drawing he also sent me about 8 signed photos from various films he was in.

Bill and Earl Bolick, The Blue Sky Boys

Bill and Earl Bolick first performed on Radio in their native North Carolina in 1935. They were raised in Hickory NC, and grew up listening to the Hymns and Ballads sung throughout the region for generations. They recorded quite a number of songs throughout the 1930's and 40's, but by 1951 they had become so dissatisfied with the direction music was taking that they quit performing. They recorded albums a handfull of times in the 1960's and 70's, and even performed occasionally at Folk Festivals and on College Campuses, and in 1975 they made their last recordings. Earl passed away in 1998, and Bill in 2008 at age 90.
I wrote to Bill Bolick several times in the years before his passing, and he was always very appreciative that his music was still being enjoyed. He even gave me one of the old songbooks they published back in the 1940's, which are next to impossible to find anywhere.

Edmund Bacon, Philadelphia Icon, Father of Kevin

Edmund Bacon did more to transform Philadelphia PA into the city it is today probably more than anyone. His efforts beginning in the 1940's and 50's turned former blighted areas into what are today upscale neighborhoods. He famously led an unsuccessful effort to keep skyscrapers from being built in Philadelphia (There had always been a "Gentleman's Agreement" not to build any buildings higher than the William Penn statue that rests upon the tower of City Hall). People not familiar with him surely know his son, Actor Kevin Bacon.

Dom DiMaggio "The Little Professor"

Everyone knows "Joltin'" Joe Dimaggio, but his little brother Dominic is not the household name that Joe is. Dom's baseball career always seems to be overshadowed by that of his brother Joe, but his was just as impressive. His entire Major League career was spent with the Boston Red Sox, from 1940-1953. He passed away in 2009 at age 92, unfortunately not being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame during his lifetime. Someday Dom....