Dana Plato Was Training for the Olympics When Diff’rent Strokes Found Her
TLDR: Dana Plato played Kimberly Drummond on Diff’rent Strokes from 1978 until 1984, when she was written off the show after becoming pregnant. She died … Read more
Careers
Ron Masak Turned Down the White Sox to Become the King of Commercials
TLDR: Ron Masak was born in Chicago on July 1, 1936. Rogers Hornsby spotted him at 16 and the White Sox offered him $8,500 to … Read more
William Windom Won the Emmy, Played Commodore Decker and Became Jessica Fletcher’s Best Friend
TLDR: William Windom was born in Manhattan on September 28, 1923, served as a paratrooper in World War II, and made his Broadway debut in … Read more
What happened to Jerry Orbach from “Murder She Wrote”
TLDR: Jerry Orbach was born in the Bronx in 1935, originated Billy Flynn in Chicago on Broadway, played Harry McGraw on Murder, She Wrote, and … Read more
Tom Bosley Played America’s Dad for a Decade and Then Became Cabot Cove’s Sheriff
TLDR: Tom Bosley was born in Chicago on October 1, 1927, won a Tony Award for playing Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia on Broadway in 1960, and … Read more
Murder, She Wrote Cast: Angela Lansbury, Cabot Cove and the Show That Outlasted Everything
TLDR:Murder, She Wrote ran on CBS from September 30, 1984, to May 19, 1996, for 12 seasons and 264 episodes. Angela Lansbury played Jessica Fletcher … Read more
How Angela Lansbury Got Three Oscar Nominations, Five Tonys and Zero Emmys
TLDR: Angela Lansbury was born in London in 1925, fled the Blitz to America at fourteen, and built a career across eight decades in film, … Read more
Lorne Greene from Bonanza and the Life Before Ben Cartwright
TLDR: Lorne Greene was born Lyon Himan Green in Ottawa, Canada, on February 12, 1915. Before playing Ben Cartwright on Bonanza for 14 seasons, he … Read more
Michael Landon from Bonanza to Little House and the Life He Built from Trauma
TLDR: Michael Landon was born Eugene Maurice Orowitz on October 31, 1936, in Forest Hills, Queens. He played Little Joe Cartwright on Bonanza from 1959 … Read more
What Happened to the “Bonanza” Cast and the Cartwright Family
TLDR: Bonanza premiered on NBC on September 12, 1959, reached number one in the Nielsen ratings in 1964, and ran for 14 seasons and 431 … Read more
Keith Thibodeaux: The Last Surviving Cast Member of “I Love Lucy”
TLDR: Keith Thibodeaux was born in Lafayette, Louisiana in 1950, was touring nationally as a professional drummer at age three, and was cast as Little … Read more
William Frawley Was Washed Up and Nearly Unemployable When “I Love Lucy” Saved Him
TLDR: William Frawley spent forty years in vaudeville and Hollywood before alcoholism nearly destroyed his career entirely. At 64, virtually unemployable, he signed a strict … Read more
Lucie Arnaz Built Her Own Career While Guarding Her Parents’ Legacy
TLDR: Lucie Arnaz was born weeks before I Love Lucy made her parents household names, grew up navigating the private turbulence behind that public perfection, … Read more
Desi Arnaz Built the Business That Made “I Love Lucy” Immortal
TLDR: Desi Arnaz arrived in Miami at seventeen with no money, no English, and no future plan after a revolution burned down everything his family … Read more
Vivian Vance Was Too Good-Looking to Play Ethel Mertz and Too Talented to Be Forgotten
TLDR: Vivian Vance was a glamorous Broadway actress who suffered a nervous breakdown before landing the role of Ethel Mertz, spent years being deliberately made … Read more
Desi Arnaz Jr. Was a $50 Million Baby Who Spent Decades Trying to Become a Person
TLDR: Desi Arnaz Jr. was born into one of the most orchestrated media events in television history, grew up inside a household where everything was … Read more