King for a Night

Robert DeNiro, a mafia movie icon thanks to roles in Casino, Goodfellas, and The Godfather, Part II, played against type in the early 1980s dark comedy film King of Comedy.  He turns 180 degrees in his portrayal of Rupert Pupkin, a nebbishy, aspiring, and ineffective...

From Gentleman Farmer to Nasty Warden

Today is Earth Day, so designated on April 22nd to honor a pioneer in the environmental movement.  April 22nd is Eddie Albert’s birthday.  The first Earth Day occurred in 1970. Albert is perhaps best known for playing Oliver Wendell Douglas, a successful New...

The Height Plight of Warren Coolidge

A lesson about being thankful for individuality is embodied in BMOC, an episode of The White Shadow.  The episode’s title is, of course, an acronym for the phrase Big Man on Campus.  It accurately describes Warren Coolidge, the star center for the Carver High...

Jim Rockford, Meet Richie Brockelman

Some television spinoffs do very well. Frasier. Laverne & Shirley. The Jeffersons. Others, not so much. Joey. Models Inc. Richie Brockelman, Private Eye. A spinoff of NBC’s The Rockford Files starring James Garner, Richie Brockelman, Private Eye starred...

Cesar Romero

In the 1989 movie Batman, Jack Nicholson brought his trademark sarcasm to the role of the Joker, perhaps Batman’s greatest foe.  Nearly 20 years later, Heath Ledger inhabited the role, giving a performance of a diabolical, insane, delusional villain....