Some Trivia From The Cinema

WELCOME
I have decided to concentrate on my best trivia subject, baseball.
 I now have a seperate blog in which I am writing my book
"1001 Baseball Trivia Facts".  Please come see it.
http://www1001baseballtriviafacts.blogspot.com/2011/10/1001-baseball-trivia-facts-part-1-1-50.html


A HORSE STORY
In the 1938 Movie "The Adventures Of Robin Hood"  Olivia de
Havilland played Maid Marion and rode on a horse named
"Golden Cloud"  After the movie the horse was sold to Roy
Rogers and he renamed it Trigger.


AN EXPENSIVE WORD
The Producers of the movie "Gone With The Wind" were fined
$5,000 for using the word  "Damn"


SOME TRIVIA FROM BEDFORD FALLS
The two characters on Sesame Street, Bert and Ernie, were
named after the cop and the taxi driver in the movie  "It's
A Wonderful Life"


PLAY BALL !!
The Character  Archibald "Moonlight" Graham, played by
Burt Lancaster  in the movie "Field Of Dreams", actually
existed.  As in the movie, he only played in one game.  It was
on June 29, 1905.  He was sent in to play right field for the New
Yotk Giants in the bottom of the 8th inning and was scheduled
to bat 4th in the top of the 9th.  Three quick outs, however,
left him in the on deck circle.  He never batted.  He never
played again.  He went to the University Of Maryland medical
school and, just like the movie, was a small town doctor in
Chisholm, Minnesota for 50 years.  Doc Graham died in
in Chisholm in 1965.



BIG BUCKS
"Big"(1988) starring Tom Hanks was the first movie in history
to gross over 100 million dollars that was directed by a woman. 
It was directed by Penny Marshall.


HELLO, MY NAME IS
Here is a list of famous actors and their real names:
............Lauren Bacall.............................Betty Joan Perske
...........Charles Bronson.........................Charles Puchinski
...........Kirk Douglas...............................Issur Danielovitch
...........Sally Field...................................Sally Mahoney
..........Cheryl Ladd.................................Cheryl Stoppelmoor
...........Karl Malden................................Mladen Sekulovich
...........Walter Mathau............................Walter Matuschanskayask
...........Edward G. Robinson...................Emmanual Goldenberg
...........Gene Wilder................................Jerome Silberman
...........Moe.............................................Moses Horowitz
...........Larry...........................................Larry Fienberg
...........Curly...........................................Jerome Horowitz


FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD
Actor Frank Morgan played five different roles in the movie  "The
Wizard Of Oz".  He played the carnival huckster (Professor Marvel),
the gatekeeper of Emerald City, the driver of the carriage drawn
by the horse of a different color, the armed guard leading to the
wizard's hall  and of course the Wizard himself.   The role was
originally meant for W.C.Fields.

A Little Music !!!

WELCOME !!
Here are a  few trivia notes about one of my favorite subjects, pop
music !!



LIKE A RHINESTONE COWBOY !!
Though best know for his own hits, Glen Campbell also left his mark
as a guitarist during his years as a session musician.   He played on
albums that ran the gamut from Pat Boone to Jefferson Airplane.  
Here are my top seven songs that Glen played guitar on.

............Strangers in The Night.....................Frank Sinatra
............You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling......Righteous Brothers
............I'm A Believer..................................The Monkees
............Viva Las Vegas.................................Elvis Presley
............Good Vibrations................................Beach Boys
............Surf City............................................Jan & Dean
............The Sounds Of Silence...................Simon & Garfunkle



THE LOCOMOTION
The above song, written by the husband and wife team of Gerry
Goffin and Carol King, is the only song in the History of the
Billboard charts to make it into the top five by three different
artists. Little Eva in 1962(#1), Grand Funk Railroad 1974(#1) and
by Kylie Minogue(#3) in 1988,  It became only the 2nd song to
make it to number one by two different artists.  The first one was 
"Go Away Little Girl" which made it to the top of the charts in
1962 by Steve Lawrence then peaked at number one again in 1971
by Donny Osmond.  Strangely enough that was also written by
Gerry Goffin and Carole King.




DOWN MEMORY LANE
In recent pop music history the "gospel" of the popularity of a song
was its position on Billboard Magazines Hot 100 charts.  They began
this list in 1958 and have been keeping it since.  After each year
they arrive at the "Song Of The Year" by using a method of  "chart
performance" which uses a combination of how many weeks it was
on the chart and its average weekly position.  Here are the results
of the first 15 years.

1958.......Volare(Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu).....(Domenic Modugno)
1959.......The Battle Of New Orleans.....(Johnny Horton)
1960.....Theme From A Sumnmer Place.....(Percy Faith)
1961.....Tossin' & Turnin'......(Bobby Lewis)
1962.....Stranger On The Shore.....(Mr Acker Bilk)
1963.....Sugar Shack....(Jimmy Gilmer)
1964......I Wanna Hold Your Hand...(The Beatles)
1965......Wooly Bully...(San The Sham and the Pharoes)
1966......The Ballad Of The Green Berets....(Sgt Barry Sadler)
1967......To Sir With Love....(Lulu)
1968......Hey Jude....(The Beatles)
1969......Sugar Sugar....(The Archies)
1970......Bridge Over Trouble Waters...(Simon & Garfunkel)
1971......Joy To The World...(Three Dog Night)
1972......The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face...(Roberta Flack)



THE KINGSTON TRIO
The great drinking song "Scotch & Soda" was discovered by the
Trio through the parents of baseball Hall Of Famer Tom Seaver
who had heard the song on their honeymoon in a piano lounge in
Phoenix, Arizona in 1932.   They liked it so much that the piano
player wrote down the lyrics for them which they kept over the 
 years.  One member of the trio (Dave Guard) was dating their
daughter (Tom's sister) Katie and heard the song while visiting
the Seaver home and recorded it.   Although the song is credited
to Dave Guard they never discovered the real songwriters name
although they tried to find him for years.  Guard also said that the
moneys from the song went to the Seavers.

More Baseball

WELCOME
I am back with my favorite trivia subject, baseball.   Here are twenty
trivia tidbits that I hope you will enjoy whether you are a baseball fan or not.



.....1.....
Nolan Ryan was one on baseball's greatest pitchers.   He won over 300
games, struck out more batters than anyone else in baseball history, threw an
unprecedented seven no-hitters but NEVER won the Cy Young Award.



.....2.....
Murray Dickson pitched for the St Louis Cardinals in the 5th game of the
1943 World Series while he was on furlough from the Army during World
War II.



.....3.....
Ron Wright played in only one MLB game in his career.  It was for the Seattle
Mariners in 2002.    He only batted three times.  He struck out, He hit into a
double play and hit into a triple play.



.....4.....
Perhaps the poorest season anyone ever had at the plate happened to pitcher
Bob Buhl in 1962 while with the Cubs.   During that year he went 0 for 70.  
He actually had more stolen bases(1) than hits.



.....5.....
Football quarterbacks Archie Manning, Joe Theisman, Steve Barkowski, Dan
Marino, John Elway, Curt Warner, Dan Pastorini, and Jay Schroeder are
among those drafted at one time by Major League Baseball. 



.....6.....
On April 16, 2005, Kenny Lofton of the New York Yankees grounded out for
the cycle.  In his five at bats he grounded to first base, second base, shortstop,
third base and then the pitcher.



.....7.....
There has only been one no-hitter pitched in the history of Coors Field in
Denver, it was by Hideo Nomo (1996).    There has only been one no-hitter
ever pitched at Camden Yards in Baltimore, it was by Hideo Nomo(2001).



.....8.....
Nolan Ryan pitched no hitters in three different decades while Hideo Nomo
pitched no hitters in two different centuries.



.....9.....
In 2004, while playing for the St Louis Cardinals, Reggie Sanders hit his 11th
home run of the season, hit his 11th double of the season and stole his 11th
base of the season all in the same game.  It was on June 11th !!




.....10.....
This has to play on your mind.  In 1982 catcher/outfielder Wayne Nordhagen
was traded five times, twice on  the same day, June 15th.



.....11.....
Talk about bat control !!  On September 23, 2006, Jay Gibbons of the
Baltimore Orioles hit a line drive foul ball into the stands and hit his wife,
Laura, causing minor bruises.



.....12.....
Pee Wee Reese played in 44 World Series Games.   All 44 were against the New York Yankees.



.....13.....
The largest attendance for a MLB game was 92,708 for the 5th game of the
1959 World Series in Los Angeles where Billy Pierce, of the White Sox,
out-dueled Sandy Koufax 1-0.   Compare that to the 1935 St Louis Browns
who drew 80,922 for the ENTIRE SEASON !! 



.....14.....
Talk about a late-bloomer.  Phil Niekro won ninety more games in his
forties(121)  than he did in his twenties(31).



.....15.....
If you like the underdog than March 30, 1993, had to be a glorious day.
That was the day that the talented pen of creator Charles Schultz allowed
Charlie Brown to hit his one and only game winning home run.



.....16.....
Bill Virdon was the New York Yankees manager for two seasons and never
won a game at Yankee Stadium.  Although he did win 142 games in 1975
and 1976 they played their home games at Shea Stadium while their house
was being remodeled.



.....17.....
Put this under the category of  "I've got your number".    In 1966 St Louis
Cardinals pitcher Larry Jaster threw five shutouts.  Oddly enough all five
were against the same team, the Los Angeles Dodgers.



.....18.....
On August 4, 1982, Joel Youngblood played in an afternoon game at Wrigley
Field for the New York Mets.  After the game he was traded to the Montreal
Expos whom he was able to join in time to  play for them that evening.
He was the first player to ever play for two different teams on the same day.



.....19.....
Moe Berg was a MLB catcher from 1923 to 1939 and left the game with a
modest .243 batting average.   Moe, however, was a little different.
He was a graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School.
After he left baseball he became a spy for the Office of Strategical Services
(OSS) during World War II and served his country well.  He was awarded
the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1945.



....20.....
The most runs ever scored in a single half-inning was17 by the Boston Red
Sox on June18, 1953.  It went something like this.   Sammy White singled,
Gene Stephens singled, Tommy Umphlett singled, Johnny Lipon struck out,
George Kell doubled, Billy Goodman walked, Jimmy Piersall singled, Dick
Gernert homered. Ellis Kinder singled, Sammy White walked, Gene Stephens
doubled, Tommy Umphlett walked, Johnny Lipon singled, George Kell lined
out.   Billy Goodman singled, Al Zarilla walked, Dick Gernert walked, Ellis
Kinder singled, Sammy White singled, Gene Stephens singled, Tommy
Umphlett singled scoring Sammy White for the 17th run. Johnny Lipon
walked then Kell flied out to left leaving the bases loaded.   The Red Sox
won 23-3.


All these can be found in my unpublished book "1001 Baseball Trivia Facts,
Oddities, Lists, Records And Other Vital Information You Can Use To
Impress Others"

This & That

WELCOME
This week we have a little bit of everything from Thomas Jefferson to Lucille
Ball. I hope you enjoy it.  Next week I'll be back with more of my favorite
subject, Baseball



OUR FOUNDING FATHERS
Here is a little American History that I find interesting.   Everyone knows that
the Declaration Of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776.   It is amazing
to note that it's principle author, our third President, Thomas Jefferson died
July 4th, 1826, exactly 50 years to the date of the signing.  Even more
amazing is that our second President, John Adams, died on the exact same
day. Jefferson was 83,  Adams was 90.


A LITTLE MORE HISTORY TRIVIA
I don't know how many counties we have in our 50 states combined but it
surprised me that four of our forty-four Presidents were born in the same
county.   John Adams, John Quincy Adams, John F Kennedy and  George
Herbert Walker Bush were all born in Norfolk County in Massachusetts.


THE BING BANG TRIBUTE
Sheldon Leonard was a great character actor in the 1940's and 1950's playing
the heavy in movies sich as "It's A Wonderful Life" and  "Guys And Dolls". 
He later went on to be a prolific TV producer putting together classic shows
such as"Make Room For Daddy", "The Andy Griffith Show", and "The Dick
Van Dyke Show" to name a few.  One of todays most prolific TV producers,
Chuck Lorre, with hits such as "Two and A Half Men" and "Mike and Molly"
admired his predecessor's work and as a tribute named the two main
characters in his hit series "The Big Bang Theory" Sheldon and Leonard.


WE LOVE LUCY
Last Week, August 6th, would have been the 100th birthday of Lucille Ball.
Her are a few trivia notes from that crazy redhead.
....She went to acting school with Bette Davis
....She appeared in Movies with the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges
....She auditioned for the role of Scarlet O'Hara
....She was on the cover of the very first issue of  TV Guide, 1953.
....Her last appearance was at the 1989 Oscars.  She died a month later.
....She started out as a Ziegfield Girl
....She was the first woman to own her own film sudio, "Desilu".
....That studio produced   "Star Trek" and "The Untouchables" among others.
....She is in the National Women's Hall Of Fame. 
....The only other TV personality in the above Hall is Oprah Winfrey.

Note: Rhett Butler to Scarlett O'Hara(Lucille Ball):
'Frankly my dear, you got some splainin to do"


THERE IS NO N.J.U.
Rutgers University is the offical state University of New Jersey making the
Garden State the only one of our fifty that does not have the name of its state
in its top academic facility.


IT'S HIS PARTY !!
If you saw the video from my last blog you know that one of my favorite
singers from that era was Leslie Gore.  She had a great run of Top 40 hits.  
It's interesting to note that her younger brother, Michael, also had great
success. He won an Oscar in 1980 for writing the score for the original
"Fame" and also other awards for music in movies like "Pretty In Pink",
"Terms Of Endearment", "Broadcast News" and others.


A PRESIDENTAL NO SHOW
On April 14, 1910, President Howard Taft threw a ceremonial opening
day pitch to baseball great Walter Johnson thus beginning a tradition that
has lasted over 100 years.  Every President since has honored the tradition
at least once while in office except for one, Jimmy Carter.  I guess he was
waiting for his second term.


Thanks Everyone

See You Next Week !!

Oldies But Goodies

WELCOME
Here are some trivia notes on popular music of days gone by.   I'll be
back next week with a little of  "This & That".  For those that are new
to this blog it is my first for the month of August.  Be sure to look to
the right and check out  the "archives" for my posts in July.



10 MUSICAL TRIVIA FACTS FROM OF OLDIES BUT GOODIES

----1----
Neils SedakaWas the Piano Player on Bobby Darin's million selling  record
"Dream Lover"


----2----
Singer Gene Pitney also wrote songs for other artists  They include  "Hello
Mary Lou" for Ricky Nelson, "He's a Rebel" by the Crystals and "Rubber
Ball" by Bobb Vee.


----3----
The Melody for Tommy Edward's Number 1 hit  "It's All In The Game"
in 1958 was actually written back in 1911 by a bank Vice-President named
Charles Dawes.  Mr Dawes later went on to become a Vice-President of the
United States under Calvin Coolidge.  


----4----
Billy Joel was the piano player for the 1963 Shranga-La's hit  "Leader Of The
Pack".


----5----
The 1960 hit "Alley-Oop" was performed by the Hollwood Argyles which were
just two men (Kim Fowley and Gary Paxton).   It was recorded at the
American Recording Studio in  Los Angeles which was located at the corner
of Hollywood and Argyle, hence their name.


----6----
During 1973 / 74 all four of the Beatles had at least one number one hit as a
solo act and it was Ringo that led the way with two !!!
John.........Whatever Gets You Through the Night(74)
Paul..........My Love(73)
George.....Give Me Love(Give Me Peace On Earth)(73)
Ringo........Photograph(73), Your Sixteen(73)


----7----
The Classic 1963 song "Puff The Magic Dragon" by Peter, Paul and Mary
had been rumored to be about drugs, but quite the contrary.  The lyrics were
taken from a 1959 poem by Cornell University student Leonard Lipton.
Mr Lipton later went on an amazing versatile life which included producing
twenty-five films, writing four books and obtaining twenty-five patents.


----8----
Barry Manilow's Number 1 hit  "I Write The Songs" was actaully written by
Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys.


----9----
"The Twist" by Chubby Checker, which was written by 50's star Hank Ballard,
is the only song to reach number 1 on the Billboard charts twice.  It originally
hit the top spot on September 19, 1960 then resurfaced again as the number
one song in American on January 13, 1962.


----10----
The song "Bonnie Eloise",  recorded in 1960 by Mitch Miller,  never made the
charts .I only mention it because the song was written by my father, Guy
Harris. He used a melody form a Civil War song which was in public
domain. As I said the song was never a hit but Mr Miller put it in his
album of "Greatest Hits" as a favor and soon dad got royalties.  Even though
he passed away many years ago and the song is over 50 years old,
BMI never forgets me.  Earlier this year I got a check for $114.44,
Thanks Dad !!


AN EXTRA PERFORMANCE
Here is a great clip for you "Oldie But Goodie" Fans.  It's from a concert
circa 1999 featuring two of my favorite Singers Leslie Gore and Lou
Christie singing a duet of  two of my favorite "Oldies Classics".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfH5tdKqNh8&feature=related

See You Next Week

Richard

For Baseball Fans Only

WELCOME
Here we go with a Little Baseball Trivia this week.  Next Friday we
will focus on some trivia about "Oldies But Goodies".  What was
"Puff the Magic Dragon" really about ??




A SHORT CAREER
Larry Yount, older brother of Hall Of Famer Robin Yount, made his
MLB debut on September 17, 1971.   He was called into the game
for Houston to face the Atlanta Braves in the 9th inning but hurt his
shoulder while warming up.  He was immediately taken out of the game.
He never faced a batter.  He never got another chance in the Big
Leagues. 


DONNIE BASEBALL
In 1987 Don Mattingly got into the record books by hitting six grand
slams in one season.  A mark that still stands.  However, those were the
only ones he hit during his entire 14 year career.  In the other thirteen
seasons he hit none.


F.Y.I.
In 1982 Jackie Robinson became the first MLB Player to appear on a
postage stamp.


CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
In an era when a players lifetime statistics and milestones have become so
important it must have been frustrating for Joey Jay when he retired after a
fourteen year career with 99 wins and 999 strikeouts.


A LITTLE IRONY
Lefty O'Doul played MLB from 1919 to 1934 and was a two-time National
League batting champion.  During his career, and after he retired, he made
frequent trips to Japan as a Goodwill Ambassador for the game.  When the
Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, he was said to have
taken it as a personal affront that bothered him for the rest of his life.
Ironically he died in 1969, on DECEMBER 7TH !!


THE NAMES THE SAME
On September 17, 1984, Glen DAVIS of  the Houstom Astros hit a fly
ball off of pitcher Mark DAVIS that was caught by San Francisco Giants
outfielder Chili DAVIS.


A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
The American Girls Professional Baseball League, featured in the above movie
starring Geena Davis, actually existed.  During the 1950's I grew up in Fort
Wayne, Indiana, which had one of the teams and I actually attended a
game or two.     Here are the final standings from the 1949 season.
...............................................................W........L
..................Rockford Peaches................75........36
..................South Bend Blue Sox.......... 75.......36
..................Grand Rapids Chicks...........57.......54
..................Kenosha Comets..................56.......56
..................Fort Wayne Daisies.............53.......57
..................Muskegon Lassies...............46.......66
..................Racine Belles.......................45.......65
..................Peoria Red Wings................36.......74

NOTE:  Rockford swept South Bend in the World Series 4 games to 0.


BASEBALL BEEN BERRY BERRY GOOD TO ME !!
Bob Uecker, Deion Sanders, Billy Martin and Derek Jeter are the four
MLB players to have hosted Saturday Night Live.  No, Chico Escuela
(Garrett Morris) does not count.




Please Note:   All of my baseball  notes are from my unpublished book
"1,001 Baseball Trivia Facts, Oddities, Lists, Records And Other Vital
Information You Can Use To Impress Others".

Thanks Again
Richard

Family Ties, Elvis, Bond, Charlie & Baseball

WELCOME
Here we go with a few more trivia facts and stories.  Today we have a
little bit of everything. Will be back On Friday (July 29) with the
next edition "For Baseball Fans Only".


BORN ON THE EXACT SAME DAY - THE KEATONS !!
In my last blog I used the above subject for the world of baseball, but it
also applies elsewhere.   Remember the 1980's TV Series "Family Ties"?
The actors that played  Steven (Michael Gross) and Elyse (Meredith
Baxter-Birney), the parents of Alex, Mallory, Jennifer and Andrew,
were born on the exact same day, June 22, 1947.  Here are a few
more members of the club.

President George W. Bush and Sylvester Stallone(July 6, 1946)
Coach Mike Ditka and Assassin Lee Harvey Oswald(October 18, 1939)
Hockey greats  Mario Lemieux and Patrick Roy (October 5, 1965)
Actors Edward Norton and Christian Slater (August 18, 1969)
Princess Diana and Olympian Carl Lewis(July 1, 1961)
Movie Critic Roger Ebert and Beatle Paul McCartney (June 18, 1942)



ELVIS AND THE COLONEL
During the entire time he lived in America Elvis Presley's manager,
"Colonel" Tom Parker, was an illegal alien.   He was born in 1909 as
Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk in The Netherlands.  He came to America
permanently at the age of 20 and never left and never obtained citizenship.
Although Elvis served in Germany while in the Army he never performed
overseas because Mr Parker would not be able to obtain a passport.
Elvis' only performance outside of the US were several concerts in Canada
back when a passport was not need to enter that country.  Until the day
he died in 1997 Andreas Cornelius feared deportation.


SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED
Ian Fleming, author of the entire James Bond series of novels, also wrote
the children's story "Chitty, Chitty Bang Bang".  Go Figure !!!


SURFIN'  U.S.A.
In 1969 the Beach Boys released their 20th Album and titled it 20/20.  If you
look at Side A you will see that the 2nd cut is a song titled "I Can Hear Music"
written by Phil Spector.   If you look at Side B you will see that the 4th cut is
a song titled "Never Learn Not To Love" written by Charles Manson.  Yes,
that Charles Manson.  It makes we wonder where they send the royalty
checks since both of these men are currently incarcarated for murder charges
in  California Penatentaries.


MY FAVORITE BASEBALL TRADE
During the 1962 season the New York Mets were in need of a catcher and
obtained Harry Chiti from the Cleveland Indians for the usual  "player to
be named later".  At the end of  the season the Mets honored their obligation
and sent the Indians the player they owed them.  They sent them Harry Chiti.
The man was traded for himself !!!


Please Note:   All of my baseball  notes are from my unpublished book
"1,001 Baseball Trivia Facts, Oddities, Lists, Records And Other Vital
Information You Can Use To Impress Others".

Thanks Again
Richard