Payne Johnson 2006
Thursday, January 11th, 2007
Babes In Toyland is one of the most treasured of Laurel and Hardy films. The timeless comedy of the boys combines with the sights and sounds of a magical land capable of wow-ing any kid seeing L&H for the first time. Ashleigh used to watch this film over and over again – and I mean like four times in one day. The characters in the film are based on nursery rhymes and children’s stories, and among them are the Three Little Pigs. Most of us had always assumed that these guys were actually all midgets – but the truth of the matter is that two were midgets and one was child actor Payne Johnson. Read the rest of this entry »
During the Summer of 1985, I became entranced by a number of shows that were being shown on CBN – the Christian Broadcasting Network. One of them was The George Burns-Gracie Allen Show, a very unique situation comedy in which Burns would often step out of character and address the audience. I enjoyed them so much that I began to record them nightly. He co-starred in this program with his real-life wife Gracie Allen, who protrayed one of the dizziest women ever to grace the screen. Even before this TV series from the 1950’s, Burns and Allen had had an illustrious career in radio and early film. 
You’ve heard me say it several times in this 1985 autograph trail, but I kept getting the ideas of whom to write and request autographs from Carl Ahlm, our Sons of the Desert Tent’s Grand Sheik. Ray Bolger was no exception. In fact he was the fifth person I wrote to in May of ’85 – but in this first case, I only sent a letter with a small self-addressed-stamped-envelope. Remarkably, I didn’t receive a response until an entire year later on May 16, 1986…and it wasn’t even from him. His wife answered my note saying that Mr. Bolger would be glad to sign an autograph if I sent along a large S.A.S.E. By the time I received her response, I had already done that – four times! 
It was sad to hear of President Gerald R. Ford’s passing yesterday at the age of 93 – just a month and a half after he surpassed Ronald Reagan’s record as the longest living President. Those not familiar with the history of the time period might assume that Ford did very little to advance the country – especially since he was the only President not to be elected to office. But during two visits to the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Lansing, Michigan, I learned otherwise.