Lundon Calling   156th Show 2/22/12 – Season Four

Guest Co-Host: Donny Winter

Special Guest: Sam Borelli

This week’s Sponsor’s are: Diversity Rules Magazine – Eclectic Resources Network – A Warm Wind

There is no doubt of course that the Marines wanted to ask questions of all the beautiful women we had on the Shows … but, they also wanted answers from the wonderful guest star men on the Show.  As I watched this process over the seven years, I often wondered about how many times in ones lifetime might a young American male have the opportunity to actually question a Hollywood star.  I felt good knowing we could supply this experience for the scores who asked the stars questions. 

Bill Williams (Kit Carson) and Barbara Hale (Della on Perry Mason) made a number of trips to be on the Shows.  Randy Boone was a regular.  Johnny Grant made it for a number of Shows also. 

Here I share with you a few more of our stars of film, TV, radio and Stage …..

A Navy vet and star of “Battle Cry” and “We’re No Angels”, ALDO RAY was a leading man and one of the “Hollywood Hunks” in the 1950′s.  His forty year career lasted from ’51 to ’91.  ALDO made more than one guesting on the Show.  Next to BILL WILLIAMS on one of the Hollywood Panels was the very-popular-with-the-men Ms ANN B. DAVIS who started acting in Tent Shows and on to co-starring on “The Bob Cummings Show” and the loveable but bossy “Alice” on THE BRADY BUNCH.  CLU GULAGER was a 1st cousin of Will Rogers, a Marine from ’46 to ’48, and was “Billy The Kid” in TV’s THE TALL MAN series with Barry Sullivan.  He was also “Burt” in the 1985 cult classic “The Return Of The Living Dead”.  He brought his actress wife MIRIAM BYRD-NETHERY to the Show with him. They called her “The 1st Lady of Radio” and LURENE TUTTLE was a respected acting coach and teacher for that time for so many Hollywood stars.  She was a character actress who ent from Vaudeville, to radio, to films and TV.  Here she and Jean share a moment with a script backstage.  The wonderful actress, singer, radio personality, VIRGINIA O’BRIEN, known for her comedic roles  was a big hit with the audience.  She and LUCY were close girlfriends for many years and Virginia also picked up the monikers of “Miss Deadpan” and “Miss Frozen Face”.  The two former South Dakotans … JEAN and DAVID SOUL chat backstage before Show.  David started out as a folk singer, the son of the Rev. Dr. Richard Solberg, Prof & Lutheran minister with labors in Chicago and Sioux Falls, SD.  He became a TV star in STARSKY & HUTCH.  His daughter, CHINA SOUL, has followed her Dad into Show Business. WILLIAM LUNDIGAN was a Marine who became a motion picture star and he loved being a part of the Shows.  His films began with “Dodge City” in 1939.  The wonderful “Pinky” in ’49 and “The House On Telegraph Hill” in ’51 with Marilyn Monroe.  His TV series “Men Into Space” was only a one season show and in ’53, he also was one of the stars in “Inferno”.  And I have no idea what BILL LUNDIGAN was trying to show Jean in this photo taken backstage.  I do know the women on the Show thought he was pretty “smooth”.  Ha!  Here is TV’s “Dennis The Menace”, JAY NORTH, in some Marine’s outfit posing for pics for the men with a French actress (whose name I cannot remember at this moment) who wanted to be on the show to honor the military men of America. 

Lundon Calling   155th Show 2/15/12 – Season Four

Guest Co-Host: Donny Winter

This week’s Sponsor’s are: Diversity Rules Magazine – Eclectic Resources Network – A Warm Wind

One thing we learned for sure was how wonderful it was over the 7 years to work with the old PROS in Show Biz …. god!  What a pleasure!  Our younger “stars” so appreciated and learned from the oldie’s.  When a person knows what they’re doing, what they’re capable of doing, and feels comfortable in their own skin …. it shows!  It was enjoyable watching how there was such camaraderie between our Show regulars and our guest “Name” stars.  Real people rock!! 

the so-called “old time movie stars” had such a charismatic glamor and had been trained not only in acting, but also dancing, singing, fencing, horseback riding, shooting guns and other Art forms. 

RHONDA FLEMMING was a motion picture star with striking natural beauty; who was at home not only before the camera but also Night Club stages and the Broadway stage.  Over the 7 years of Shows, inclement weather would sometimes make it impossible to be at the San Onofre Outdoor Theater … this happened when RHONDA was our guest and we would then have the Shows in the Base Indoor Theater.  It seated 4,000 and that day it was a rain-splattered full house. 

This particular Show not only had inclement weather outdoors, but that weather also left us without a Band.  OMG!  And now an actual movie star who would have to sing a cappella!!!   For RHONDA, it was not a problem. 

I had met her in 1965 when my then-wife and I attended a meeting of the Hollywood Christian Group.  This Group was started a decade ago by JANE RUSSELL, CONNIE HAINES, BERYL DAVIS and RHONDA FLEMMING (who had taken Jane’s sisters place in the quarter).  I also met that night JOY EILERS, who became a regular for the 7 years of the Shows and she is still a strong friend of Rhonda to this day. 

So anyway … since I was the Director of the Show, I had to make some quick decisions and contacted Colonel McCain to get some help from the Lighting Booth Director of the Theater.  I decided, since we were in the indoor theater where the audience was in the dark, that we would go with a bit of Hollywood drama for effect with Rhonda’s appearance.  We had the stage lights go dark and Rhonda hit her mark on center stage … waiting for her to be introduced.  A ceiling pin spot would slowly reveal her … high-lighting her golden red hair … and she began singing … a cappella, as a body spot slowly revealed her in her glittering gown.  She was the movie star the audience had come to see!  The Base always had snacks for our entertainers.  Here Rhonda and Jean are catching a bite to eat before they get into their costumes.  Rhonda with JOY EILERS backstage …. Rhonda with BOB TIEDEMANN,  the “original Mr. Animation”, back stage. It was the 6th Anniversary of the Show and our Talent Coordinator, Mike Lansing, helped Jean make the first cut to share with all our cast of entertainers.

Backstage at any of the shows was always kinda interesting and here we see Kathryn Minner and Sara James – show regulars – kicking back with our guest, actor JODY McCREA … one of the Beach Party actors and the son of the legendary JOEL McCREA & FRANCES DEE. 

Lundon Calling   154th Show 2/08/12 – Season Four

Guest Co-Host: Donny Winter

Special Guest: Brett Edward Stout

This week’s Sponsor’s are: Diversity Rules Magazine – Eclectic Resources Network – A Warm Wind

Folks used to say it must be easy to book stars for the Show; which was the task for Mike Lansing and myself.  Oh sure!  Just give a call to say – Paul Lynde on the Hollywood Squares, and he would definitely want to help entertain our Military men fighting in Nam.  Guess again!  He was afraid to do the Show.  I knew what he was afraid of, but never told him.  And there were a number of stars who had fears of being before an all-male audience of maybe around 10,000 Marines (that turned out to be the average # per Show over the years). 

It took us a couple years to convince YVONNE DE CARLO to convince her that “those young men won’t know who I am”  …  I knew they would remember – well, maybe not her motion picture starring roles, but I knew they’d know her from her TV and when I introduced her to the audience as LILY MUNSTER, they went wild and she got a standing ovation which bowled her over seeing thousands of Marines going wild for her.  She was on our Hollywood Panel for that Show with (l.to r.) BARBARA HALE, BILL WILLIAMS, ANN B. DAVIS and TONI KELMAN – the great Children’s Agent who got young actors like JODIE FOSTER their early acting roles.

YVONNE answering the Marines questions as BARBARA HALE looks on.  YVONNE posed for this pic with JEAN and Hollywood’s one and only “Mayor”, JOHNNY GRANT. 

And then, there was TROY WALKER!  The #1 Night Club entertainer in L.A. year after year during that era.  He was like a combo of Cher, Liberace & Jerry Lee Lewis … Today, Gaga would have loved him!!  He knew how to turn on an audience for sure … but he was a little leery about performing before 1,000′s of Marines.  Flamboyant may be an understatement.  There was no doubt in my mind the audience would go nuts for his singing performance.  I told him to take his time making his entrance on stage, and since there was a 25′ distance to the mic, if he ambled on, the men would have a chance to whistle, laugh or boo.  He was costumed in a bright, multicolored floral jersey jump suit with flared leg bottoms.  A big feather boa and a wide-brimmed hat with a plume … AND … a foot-long Auntie Mame cigarette holder with an unlit cigarette.  QUITE A SIGHT! 

As he sauntered to the mic, the crowd went heckle wild, like they had just seen their first Drag Queen homo on the planet.  He stood silently at the mic, posing, waiting for the crowd to control themselves.  THEN, in his incredible basso profundo voice, he said: “What the fuck do you expect from Hollywood!?”  They loved it and he had them in the palm of his hand and sang them into standing ovation. 

Lundon Calling   153rd Show 2/01/12 – Season Four

Special Guest: Nathan Treanor

This week’s Sponsor’s are: Diversity Rules Magazine – Eclectic Resources Network – A Warm Wind