Fun Fact(s) Friday: They All Laughed

While watching an interview with Fred Astaire on The Dick Cavett Show, I was struck by the number of Ohioans mentioned in the Gershwin tune 'They All Laughed', which Astaire performed upon request. Although the only state mentioned in the lyrics is Missouri, at least five of the nine influential people cited have some connection to Ohio.  While I would love to count Fred Astaire as an Ohioan, he (like Dick Cavett) was born in Nebraska.  (Yet, it's now known that Cavett has a closer connection to Ohio than his work with Jack Paar and that's because he's married to Ohioan Martha Rogers.) Now, back to the song, the following names dropped do all bear some connection to Ohio:

Christopher Columbus:  Yea, yea, yea, I know he's an Italian that sailed for the crown of Spain, 'discovered' America and contributed to the spread of syphilis but he's also the namesake for Ohio's capital.   The world's most authentic and museum-quality replica of the flagship Santa Maria is docked in Columbus, Ohio.
(Ohio tree that predated 1492 falls)

Thomas A. Edison:  The man responsible for the phonograph, kinetoscope and the home-friendly light bulb was born in Milan, Ohio.

Orville & Wilbur Wright:  The brothers that taught the world to fly, owned a bicycle shop and lived nearly their entire lives in Dayton, Ohio.
Aviators:  The Wright Brothers by Bill Gates

Rockefeller Center is named after the philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who was born in Cleveland, Ohio.

Update:  Was pleasantly surprised to hear this exact version of 'They All Laughed' played in a cafe in Islington last week.

The brooding, sensitive Freddie

How often does Luke Perry come up in conversation?!?!?  Not very.  So after two mentions of the James Dean look-a-like came up (with reference to BtVS film and the original Beverly Hills, 90210 series) in discussions yesterday with my friend Lauren, I thought I should dedicate a few words to the Ohio native.  This will be a bit telling of my age but the original cast of 90210 were supposed to be the same age as myself and their fictional class also graduated from high school and went off to college in 1993.  The character Dylan McKay, a brooding and sensitive rich boy managed to hit the right note for me as I was going through a James Dean and Laurence Olivier's Heathcliff phase at the time (to be completely honest, perhaps it was just the beginning).  Well, to get back to Perry, he was born in Mansfield, which is about 30 miles from my hometown, and grew up in Fredericktown.  It's been stated in interviews that Perry likes to return to Fredericktown annually for their Tomato Show.

Baseball 90210  

Fun Fact Friday: 15 Down

In the most recent 'The Guardian Weekend' (17 September 2011, pg. 93), the clue for 15 Down in the General Knowledge Crossword was:  City of Ohio where agreement was reached in 1995 to end the war in Bosnia (6).

Answer?:  Dayton

Ziggy's Legacy

Although Ziggy may not be my favorite comic (and yes, it also has an important Ohio connection), I do have fond childhood memories of the sweet down-trodden guy, who is now know the world over. It is therefore very sad news to hear that the funny little everyman's creator passed away on Friday.  Tom Wilson was born in West Virginia and raised in Pennsylvania but spent the majority of his adult life in Ohio with secondary homes in Hollywood and New York.  His son, who graduated from my alma mater and now lives in Loveland (a northern Cincinnati suburb), has been drawing the comic strip since 1987.

Scooby Dooby Doo

Scooby-Doo has been popping up in my life quite a bit recently and although I sometimes find myself saying 'Ruh-roh', I was never a big fan of the canine capers.  Yet, I do recall always preferring those episodes that starred legendary comedic geniuses like Jonathan Winters, Tim Conway and Phyllis Diller, all of whom as you may know or are capable of guessing, are Ohioans.

Winters grew up around Dayton, attended Kenyon College and was a central Ohio radio personality before hitting the American comedy circuit.  

Two Ohioans (Jack Paar & JW) in England

JW and Dean Martin...'it's a regular Ohio cigarette'
Certifiably Jonathan

Tim Conway was born in Willoughby, grew up in Chagrin Falls, attended Bowling Green State University, worked for a Cleveland radio station and continued to appear on Cleveland television shows after becoming famous.
Tim Conway Remembers
Dentist Sketch - The Carol Burnett Show
'Dorf' with Johnny Carson

Phyllis Diller grew up in Lima, attended Bluffton College with Hugh Downs and worked in radio in California, not Ohio, before making the big-time.
Ms. Distinctive on 'What's My Line?'
Still fab at 90 on 'Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me'
Still Cackling



Alright, now how bizarre is this, it also turns out that the hometown of Mystery Inc. is Coolsville, Ohio (not to be confused with the real Coolville, Ohio).  That's right, Scooby and the gang are all Ohioans too!!

'Scooby-Doo Theme Song' performed by the bubblegum pop group Ohio Express.

Ohio Impromptu

I first stumbled upon this Samuel Beckett playlet months ago when I was gathering ideas for entries centered around poetry, which was suggested by my friend Jessica and cousin Eric.  These two have degrees in writing and literature while I, a biologist, recall being terrified by the prospect of presenting an analysis of Heinrich Heine's poetry for a German Literature class full of writing/literature majors in college.  I still would like to know whose brilliant idea it was to have the only science major in the entire class attempt that task when, to this day, the only poetry that actually 'speaks' to me is that of William Blake and Shel Silverstein.  So before I attempt more scary tasks in the realm of poetry, I'm going to go with something I feel a bit more at home with: prose, especially of the morose and existential variety.  
        

And now seems a more appropriate time than any to tackle this entry  as I look at the books belonging to the young man from whom I'm subletting.  This young German student has an apparent penchant for Beckett as three of the 12 volumes on his shelf are either about or by the Irish playwright.
         

The playlet 'Ohio Impromptu' was written in 1980 as a favor for S.E. Gontarski, who requested a dramatic piece to be performed at an academic symposium in Columbus, Ohio in honor of Beckett's seventy-fifth birthday.  While the location of the symposium most likely factored in the title, it has also been suggested that the title is very important in understanding the play (see Kesim):  

"Ohio" is the answer of an American children's riddle which goes "what is high in the middle
and round at the ends or high in the middle and nothing at the ends". The answer to both
versions is "Ohio". This gives the central theme of Beckett' s play: "two voids or "nothings"-birth and death- and between the high of life, the double inhalation and exhalation of breath that sandwich life" (Ben-Zvi, 175)

Yet, I always think it's best for people to experience and decide such things on their own so here is the playlet, in its entirety (approximately 10 minutes), performed by the amazing Jeremy Irons:   Ohio Impromptu

Fun Fact Friday: Bueller? .....Bueller?

I had such high hopes for Without A Clue, a comedy with Ben Kingsley and Michael Caine that's an alternate representation of Sherlock Holmes as a fictional concoction of Dr. Watson, but it just wasn't that funny or engaging.  Yet, it did have Jeffrey Jones as Inspector Lestrade, which reminded me of an important John Hughes film, Ferris Bueller's Day Off (well to be fair, Ferris has also come up in many conversations recently).  Jones is probably best known for his role as Ed Rooney, the principal determined to track down the charming and elusive truant Ferris.  This was one of those seminal films in my adolescence and was in a constant viewing rotation with The Goonies and The Lost Boys.  It may be set in Chi-town but it wouldn't have been much of anything without Ohio.  Well, at the very least, some of the most memorable characters would perhaps be quite different in our minds today if Ohio wasn't a factor:

1.  Alan Ruck (Cameron Frye) was born in Cleveland and attended high school in Parma.
2.  Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller) is married to Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the City fame), who was born in Nelsonville, Ohio and later moved to Cincinnati, Ohio before moving to New York to further her career as a child actor.  SJP attended The School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) when her family was based in Cincinnati.
3.  Jennifer Grey's (Jeannie Bueller) father is Joel Grey, who is perhaps best known as the Master of Ceremonies in the film version of Cabaret.  Joel grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and began his career as a child actor in the Cleveland Playhouse.
4.  Charlie Sheen's (Boy in Police Station) dad, Martin Sheen, grew up in Dayton, Ohio

FBDO Trailer
Cameron Montage
Broderick interview with focus on FBDO
Charlie Sheen and Jennifer Grey in FBDO
Obama campaign ad Ferris Bueller-style

Fun Fact Friday: The Endearing Ted Mosby

Alright, I may never become a fan of How I Met Your Mother despite finding all of the characters endearing, especially the main character, Ted Mosby.  Yet, I do quite like the fact that such a quirky and romantically optimistic male lead is an Ohioan. While the character Ted hails from Shaker Heights, Ohio and is a graduate of Wesleyan University, the actor that plays Ted, Josh Radnor, is originally from Bexley, Ohio and graduated from Kenyon College, where he won the Paul Newman Award.

Radnor:  Not your average TV Star
Interview with first question about coming from Ohio

Fun Fact Friday: The Shawshank Redemption



"Like something out of a Robert Frost poem"

While working in the office of Spitalfields City Farm the other day, I overheard a cameraman (yes, quite a few come to the farm; in fact, the other week a whole film crew came to shoot a scene for Whitechapel. . .go figure) on the telephone mention The Shawshank Redemption.  I have no idea what the mention was in reference to but it took a tremendous amount of energy on my part to not pipe up with 'Hey, that film was shot in locations near my hometown!!'.  So I'm now sharing this information with those out there that may actually give a damn (well, who knows, maybe that guy would have too).

Weird Coincidence:  The 'Shawshank Tree' (see above photo) where Andy leaves buried money for Red is actually a tree across the road from Malabar Farm State Park but is meant to be in Buxton, Maine in the film.  What's the address of Spitalfields City Farm?!?!?  Yep,  Buxton Street.  Could this be a connection to that cameraman's discussion on the phone?

Filming Location Video
NPR's 'On Location:  Mansfield, Ohio 'Shawshank' Industry'
List of Filming Locations for 'The Shawshank Redemption'
Fan travels along the Shawshank Trail as part of his Bucket List

Perhaps the Devil IS from Akron

Max von Sydow as Leland Gaunt
in Needful Things (1993)

In the 1993 movie "Needful Things," Leland Gaunt (Max Von Sydow) proves to be something far more dangerous than the shop owner he claims to be when he arrives in the Maine town of Castle Rock, which isn't surprising due to it being based on a Stephen King tale.   What's surprising is that Gaunt claims to be an Ohioan, despite his obvious European (Swedish) accent.  Brian Rusk (Shane Meier), a kid who meets Gaunt early in the movie, wonders and asks about his background:

BRIAN: Are you from overseas somewhere?
GAUNT: I'm from Akron.
BRIAN: Where's that? England?
GAUNT: That's in Ohio.

Ray Wise as Satan in Reaper

Ray Wise, who may be best known as Leland Palmer, Laura Palmer's father, in the iconic Twin Peaks, also gave a chilling and comical portrayal of Satan in one of my favorite series, Reaper.  Wise is from Akron, Ohio.

From Lucky Slob to "The King of Hollywood" and Glamour God

Flip through any free newspaper in London now and you'll see the advertisement to the left for a photo exhibition in the National Portrait Gallery.  It still amazes me how influential Ohioans were in Old Hollywood especially since we're not typically considered synonymous with glamour nowadays despite being the home of Victoria's Secret.  Many of the early movie moguls and stars came from Ohio roots, which undoubtedly includes 'The King of Hollywood'  Mr. Clark Gable.  I have always cringed when I hear lines from Gone with the Wind being recited and because of that I was reluctant to appreciate 'The King'.  Yet, if you ever catch It Happened One Night, for which he won an Oscar, you'll find a whole different creature, a witty and charming fellow, who apparently was much like Gable himself.

Born in Cadiz, Ohio, on February 1, 1901, William Clark Gable lived and attended school in Hopedale from 1903 to 1917.  After several years as a stage actor, he went to Hollywood, where he made sixty-seven movies in a remarkable career that spanned four decades.  In 1942, following his wife Carole Lombard's death, he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and was off the screen for three years while flying combat missions in Europe.  Although he was forever changed by the loss of Lombard, he always remained the man that women wanted to be with and the man that other men wanted to be.....incredibly masculine and utterly charming.

“All this ‘King’ stuff is pure bullshit. I eat and sleep and go to the bathroom just like anyone else. I’m just a lucky slob from Ohio who happened to be in the right place at the right time.”-- Clark Gable

Biography.com Article & Documentary

Better Blog Post about Clark Gable: The Lucky Slob from Ohio
The Man, the Myth, the Museum
Clark Gable - The Postal Service

Fun Fact Friday: Once a Buckeye, Always a Buckeye

This tidbit was brought to my attention by my sister-in-law, Julia:   Comedian Richard Lewis, who may now be better known as Larry David's friend in Curb Your Enthusiasm, graduated from The Ohio State University in 1969 with a degree in advertising.

Comedy Archive at Ohio State

Doris Von Kappelhoff: A Little piece of Ohio in Hackney, London

Albums displayed in case at V&A Museum of Childhood, May 2011

During my visit of the V&A Museum of Childhood last week, which was either prompted by my homesickness or my feeling a bit old lately, I was surprised to stumble upon at least two Ohio-related items.  One was part of a display that had interview snippets from Hackney residents about their family and childhood.  A resident mentioned that some of her happiest childhood memories was listening to the radio and to singers like Doris Day.

Doris Day was born 'Doris Mary Ann Von Kappelhoff' on April 3, 1924 in Evanston, Ohio (neighborhood of  Cincinnati).  Little Doris aspired to be a professional ballerina but an automobile accident dashed that dream by crushing her leg.  Fortunately, this setback led to the discovery of her gift for singing and after some lessons she began singing professionally at the age of 15 with the Les Brown Band.  After a screen test with Warner Bros (more Ohioans), she would become America's sweetheart and star in over 39 films in the 50s and 60s with the likes of Clark Gable (another Ohioan) and Rock Hudson. She is currently staging a musical comeback at the age of 87.

Talking about homesickness:  Doris Day singing 'Ohio'
Fun Doris Day Trivia

‎"I have found that when you are deeply troubled, there are things you get from the silent devoted companionship of a dog that you can get from no other source." -- Doris Day

The Lady of The Pixies. .. .She's kind of a big Deal.

While watching a great band, Bleech, at a rockin' birthday party last night, I was reminded how much I love female bassists and of my favorite female bassist, fellow Ohioan Kim Deal.  Deal is best known as the bassist for the Pixies, founder of the Breeders and being just plain cool.

Not My Job: Kim Deal
Fascinating Interviewee
It isn't easy being as cool as Kim Deal
Feel It

Not all Sheens are from Mars

Martin Sheen, Hollywood, 1996 by Paul Joyce

Ah, well, I had planned on posting this months back during the media frenzy surrounding Charlie Sheen, which although dissipating is still continuing, but a recent visit to the Whitechapel Gallery reminded me how much I enjoy Martin Sheen.  In the small theatre, a series of films played and the most engaging one was Dinh Q. Le's split-screen film simultaneously showing clips of Charlie Sheen in Platoon and Martin Sheen, in Apocalypse Now.  Amazingly to me, the film even included a clip that I didn't remember but found incredibly interesting and relevant:  Willard (Martin Sheen) states, “Fuck. You don’t get a chance to know what the fuck you are in some factory in Ohio.”  So, while Charlie Sheen is declaring himself a 'total freaking rock star from Mars' and the media is eating it up and following him like the train wreck that he is, I find myself wishing to hear more about my preferred member of the Sheen clan, Martin. Sheen the Elder (birth name: Ramon Gerardo Antonio Estevez) was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio by immigrant parents.  After leaving Ohio at the age of 18 with bus fare he borrowed from his parish priest, Sheen struggled to attain his acting dreams in New York and married a young Ohio art student (Janet Templeton) before landing a major breakout role in the play 'The Subject was Roses' and later his iconic role in 'Apocalypse Now'.  Despite his newfound fame and wealth, he like his son Charlie, had demons and addictions to battle.  Yet, he managed to surpass them and has maintained his marriage and a strong and ultimately happy family life.  In addition to all the work he has done on his own life based in Malibu, California, Sheen continues to visit Ohio to do good works and is involved in the development of his hometown and homestate community.

Sheen Family Therapy
Augsberger/Estevez scholarship
For a pacifist, Martin Sheen plays a pretty good president
Martin Sheen on his own addictions and 'Apocalypse Now'
What Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez were doing during Charlie's media and mental frenzy

RIP "Macho Man" Randy Savage

After hearing the unfortunate news of "Macho Man" Randy Savage's death today, I stumbled upon the fact that he was actually born in Columbus, Ohio in 1952.  The professional wrestler, minor league outfielder, rapper, and Slim Jim spokesperson will always hold a special place in the hearts of many Americans of my generation.

'Macho Man' by The Village People

Fun Fact Friday: Zowie Bowie

If anyone recalls the Glee episode from a few week's back where Sue Sylvester disguises herself as David Bowie, it really isn't that strange of a costume at all when you consider that his first born (with first wife Mary Angela Barnett) chose to study in Ohio.  This was brought to my attention during my first bout of graduate school when one of my cohorts, who grew up and went to college in Wooster, mentioned that he saw David Bowie and Iman walking through the campus of the College of Wooster during his undergrad days. This struck me as quite odd and unbelievable but was corroborated years later by one of my best friends, who also attended the same university and had actually lived down the hall from Duncan Jones until he managed to find 'better' accommodation.  He apparently graduated after three years with a degree in Philosophy and later went to the London Film School and has subsequently directed two films:  Moon (2009) and Source Code (2011).

Alma Witherspoon of Geek Love

.
Speaking of Warren, the small town came up in one of the most unlikely places.  Namely, a novel that I was reading when back in the states entitled 'Geek Love' by Katherine Dunn.  The novel is is the story of a traveling carnival run by Aloysius "Al" Binewski and his wife "Crystal" Lil.  When the business begins to fail, the couple devise an idea to breed their own freak show, using various drugs and radioactive material to alter the genes of their children.  The story takes place in two periods:  the first deals with Binewski's children's constant struggle with each other through life.  The majority of this struggles deals with the Machiavellian Arty as he develops his own cult:  Arturism.  In this cult, Arty persuades people to have their limbs amputated so that they can be like Arty, the cult leader, in their search for the principle he calls PIP ("Peace, Isolation, Purity").  This is strangely where the small town of Ohio comes into play as the first devotee, Alma Witherspoon, is described as having originated in the small Ohio town (the following description is taken from page 180 of the book and is in the voice of Olympia, Arty's sister):  
I sat down next to her and watched the heat rash on the insides of her elbows and the backs of her knees and in the folds of her chins as she talked. She had got herself into a terrible jam, she said, and it had made her realize ... She was from Warren, Ohio, and her mother was a schoolteacher but had died last year. She took a photo album out of the shopping bag and showed me a picture of a fat old woman.


I have yet been able to find the importance of this Ohio town to the author but it's still a striking mention of detail that I feel is worth noting.


Freakery:  Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body

Walking After You

     I arrive in London and what do I see but  Dave Grohl staring back at me.  Perhaps this is the universe's way of saying that I should let go of my deep disdain for the Foo Fighters or that I should stop using it as a procrastination tactic in writing about the great Mr. Grohl.  After all, as I've said before to a friend, I can forgive the man's transgressions in forming such a band because he was once an integral member of Nirvana. . .plus, he's just a great drummer (he was crowned Godlike Genius by the Shockwaves NME Awards this year) and seems like a very nice guy (even heard a DJ say that the other day).
    All of those great things aside, what's important to this blog is that Grohl was born in Warren, OH on January 14th, 1969.  Although he grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, the northeastern Ohio town considers him a native and granted him a key to the city in 2009.  There's also a roadway in downtown Warren called "Dave Grohl Alley" which was dedicated to him with murals by local artists. 

Fun Fact Friday: Granny Snuffle

Granny Snuffle, the grandmother of Aloysius and Alice Snuffleupagus of Sesame Street, is a resident of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hmmmm, according to her wiki profile, she enjoys making spaghetti soup.  I thought that was more of a northern Ohio thing.

Cincinnati Woman Regains Voice After 35 Years

Heard this inspiring story on NPR while driving from Cincinnati to Columbus the other day.

So often a frame of reference. . ..

Ohio even figures into a pep talk from a sassy gay friend to Lady Macbeth.

Did They Mention The Music?

Henry Mancini, arguably the best-known film composer of his time, was born April 16th, 1924 (today) in Cleveland, Ohio.  Some of his most well-known titles include:  Moon River, The Pink Panther Theme, Peter Gunn, Baby Elephant Walk, Two for the Road, Days of Wine and Roses, and Love Theme from Romeo & Juliet.

Henry Mancini Mix
Henry Mancini Website
NY Times Entry

Bogie & Bacall (and Malabar Farm)

I will freely admit that I am neither a Bogart nor a Bacall fan but the fact that their nuptials took place in Ohio is fascinating to me. It's strange yet charming to imagine these two movie stars in their glitzy heyday getting married on a farm very near to where I grew up in a most unobtrusive part of the Midwest.  The farm in question is Malabar Farm, which was established by Bogart's long-time friend and Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Louis Bromfield. After establishing himself as a writer in NYC and spending a decade in France with his family, the Renaissance Man Bromfield decided to return to his native Ohio to set up a farm implementing sustainable farming practices.  Bromfield has since come to be recognized as a pioneer in organic and sustainable farming in the United States.  He was awarded the Audubon Medal for Conservationism in 1952 and in 1980 was posthumously inducted into the Ohio Agricultural Hall of Fame.

"Ohio is the apothesis of Americanism. The middle west begins with Indiana, the east with Pennsylvania, the south with Kentucky, and, surrounded by these sits Ohio, one of the richest spots on earth. Its contribution to music, art, literature and the theatre is far greater than any two states in the nation."

—Louis Bromfield

"We eked out every last drop of Midwestern air and sky— of farm and cooking smells—boxer dogs." -- Lauren Bacall 

Bogie and Bacall, 65 years later in Ohio
To Have and Have Not:  Vanity Fair article with Bacall
Newsreel of Bromfield and Malabar Farm

First Fun Fact Friday

Portman with her parents, Avner and Shelley

I'm now dedicating Fridays to little factoids regarding Ohio, which require no elaboration.  First up, Natalie Portman's (the most recent best actress Oscar winner) parents met at a Jewish student center at The Ohio State University.  Her mother is a Cincinnati native.

Jewish Virtual Library Entry

I am the band

For whatever reason (let's leave that for my future psychoanalyst to uncover), I'm not a huge fan of female musicians but one of the few that I do enjoy and respect is the pretty, tough and confident rocker Liz Phair.  While listening to her music today, I decided to do a little research on her motivations and background and whaddya know, she spent a good deal of her formative years in Ohio.  

Liz Phair was born on April 17, 1967, adopted by John (physician and AIDS researcher) and Nancy (instructor at the Art Institute of Chicago) Phair and spent her early childhood in Ohio. In 1976 the family, which includes an older brother, relocated from Cincinnati to the posh Chicago suburb of Winnetka where Phair grew into a creative adolescent who wrote songs at the family piano but displayed a rebellious streak.  She left Winnetka to attend the quirky liberal Oberlin College in Ohio, where she studied art history and studio art. At Oberlin, she became fascinated with underground indie rock and eventually became friends with guitarist Chris Brokaw, who would later join the alt-rock outfit Come. 


The effect of Oberlin on Phair's music 
(from Contemporary Musicians | 2004 | Brennan, Carol; Gibner, Jason |
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning.) :  Oberlin, like other isolated outposts of middle-class intellectual rebellion, bred bands like other schools breed keg parties; Phair's art studies were supplemented by her informal education in the local music scene. "Oberlin is a really indie rock type of college," Phair told Annette Petruso of Detroit's Metro Times. "It was very much left of center, intellectual and scrawny. Those are the three really good markers of guyville. All of my boyfriends were guyville. They still sort of are." Her first album (Exile in Guyville) was full of songs inspired by this phase of her life. "I was really just trying to impress a bunch of guys," Phair noted of her early musical ambitions. "I am not the band wife. I am the band."  
Liz Phair revisits 'Guyville'In classic Phair fashion, Oberlin grad performs during Fall BreakLiz Phair on Tavis SmileyCinco de Mayo - Liz Phair

Soap Heartthrobs

As I continue my quest to catch up on all things '70s and have been viewing episodes of Soap on Netflix (thanks to Alycia's suggestion), I discovered that the two heartthrobs in this hilarious and sometimes poignant parody of daytime television were played by Ohioans.  Peter Campbell, the tennis pro that slept with every woman that entered the little Connecticut town's country club was played by 'Galahad with a gun' Robert Urich, who grew up in Toronto, Ohio.    Danny Dallas, the somewhat dim-witted but sweet and charming son of Mary Campbell who has gotten in too deep with the mob, was portrayed by Ted Wass of Lakewood, Ohio.  I doubt that either actor's upbringing had much bearing on their portrayals in this series but it did at least affect Urich's overall career.


I think my longevity has a lot to do with where I come from – a blue-collar town in Ohio – and how I was raised: to work hard and respect other folks. -- Robert Urich

Baby, I Love Your Way

Apparently, there's just something about Ohio women when it comes to English rock veterans. While Eric Clapton is raising his young family in a Columbus suburb, Peter Frampton (of Frampton Comes Alive) has been raising his in the affluent Cincinnati suburb Indian Hill.  Frampton grew up in Beckenham, Kent, England and attended Bromley Technical School where his father was an art teacher and David Bowie was a classmate (more about Bowie later since he too has ties to Ohio).  At the age of seven he taught himself to play the banjolele, by the age of ten he was in a band, at the age of 16 he was chosen 'The Face of 1968' by the UK Press, at 26 he was named Rolling Stone's 'Artist of the Year' for his biggest-selling live record in history and at the age of 60 he is still creating new music.

Frampton on living in Cincinnati (excerpted from Bankrate.com interview):

"My wife comes from Cincinnati. When all is said and done, I go off for two weeks and then I'm home for one week. I have a daughter at Kent State, I have a son who lives with his mother in Miami. I have a daughter at a local college. I have a 7-year-old with me. We made a family pact, that we would spend all 12 of her school years in one place. Also, I researched it: Cincinnati consistently has the top five school districts in the nation. I didn't go to boarding school. My wife didn't either -- we both went to public school. Now, when we lived in L.A., we had to put them in private school. You have to there, it's just too bad. I hope Arnold can fix that up!"

Show Me The Way

Peter Frampton official website

Thank You Mr Churchill album

Frampton Biography

Peter Frampton & Tina Elfers

Frampton's Frustration over Obama sign theft

The King of Cool

While driving from Schio (my comment on its similar spelling to Ohio greatly amused my friend Ilaria) to Vicenza to catch a train to Venice, my compatriots played American music such as CCR (I think to keep me comfortable) and old Italian ballads. One song that resulted in the whole car singing was Volare, which my friend's father (with his customary good-natured wicked little smile) said that all visitors to Italy must learn. I apparently experienced a moment of amnesia and didn't mention that it was an Ohioan that made this song popular in America. Evidently the song was originally named "Nel blu dipinto di blu" ("In the blue, painted blue"), was the signature song of Domenico Modugno and is the only foreign-language song to have been awarded Record and Song of the Year Grammys. Yet, most Americans are most familiar with the version sung by the King of Cool, Dean Martin. Martin was born Dino Paul Crocetti (June 7th, 1917) in Steubenville, Ohio to Italian immigrant parents. Little Dino only spoke Italian until he went to school, which he left in the 10th grade because he thought he was smarter than the teacher. Before becoming the world renowned crooner, comedian and Rat Packer that we know, he delivered bootleg liquor, was a speakeasy croupier, blackjack dealer, steelworker and welterweight boxer. For anyone who knows anything about the history of Ohio, none of those vocations should be a surprise.

I've never given the man a fair shake though due to his associations to a couple of my least favorite entertainers (Frank Sinatra and Jerry Lewis) but have been happily surprised recently by the wry humor displayed in his popular celebrity roasts and find it oddly satisfying that 'The King of Cool' hails from my home state.

Biography from All Movie Guide

Groovy Dean Martin website

Dean Martin's Volare

Dino and fellow Ohioan, Doris Day, singing 'Baby, It's Cold Outside'

Dean Martin Fan Center (Steubenville, Ohio)

Dean Martin Festival

Orson Welles roasting Dean Martin (with other Ohioans Bob Hope and Paul Lynde)