DownGoesFrazier
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Posts posted by DownGoesFrazier
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COLLINS!!!
Jett!
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Tootsie
Terri Garr
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Marilyn and Charles
Hint: Both of these people are out of the norm.
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was my hero.
I had never really been into sports but with his outragiousness and larger-than-life personality and accomplishments both inside and outside the boxing ring, Muhmmad Ali galvanized me as a young man, and I became a devoted follower of all that he did.
I have so many Ali memories, some funny, some tearful, many of them inspirational.
Of all the Ali fights that I saw none made so much of an impression upon me as when I attended the live closed circuit presentation of his Rumble in the Jungle with George Foreman at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens in 1974. I went to the fight afraid of what I might see because the undefeated Foreman seemed so indestructible. I had bet my money on Ali, even though I really thought he would lose that night, because if my hero was going to lose, I wanted to go down with him.
Of course, Ali proved me and the entire world wrong that night when he fought a brilliant strategy fight (the "rope-a-dope" as it later became known), fooling even his own corner who would were not expecting him to try to let the young champion punch himself out that way, and knocked out Foreman.
It wasn't until the fifth round that I realized that Ali was going to win. My heart was in my mouth for the first four rounds, with Foreman pummeling away on Ali's body (Ali making a point to cover his face and chin). Foreman did land some thundering blows on Muhammad but, his body in perhaps the best cast iron condition of his career, he took those shots in a manner that Foreman's previous opponents (including Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, both knocked out in two rounds each) had not been able to.
Then came the fifth. This was a round in which Ali lay almost exclusively on the ropes as Foreman stood in front of him and wailed away on Ali's rib cage and arms with roundhouse blows that could have felled a tree. And yet, in the last thirty seconds of that round, Ali suddenly moved away from the ropes, almost floating, and landed a perfect combination of shots on Foreman's head, snapping that head back as he did so.
Foreman lunged forward, Ali catching his head under an arm and, as he did so, Muhammad stuck his tongue out at a ringside observer.
As I saw him stick that tongue out in defiance I then KNEW (!!!) that I was watching history, that he was about to win the fight. That it was Ali, not the seemingly awesome Foreman, that was in control. And at that moment I leaped to my feet in Maple Leaf Gardens and started hysterically screaming, "ALI'S GONNA WIN! ALI'S GONNA WIN!"
And, of course, three rounds later Foreman was knocked out, and the joyous crowds surged the ring with Muhammad being carried by his fans and admirers in triumph. The Great Man had done it, defying all his critics once again, just as he had done ten years before when he had defeated that "Big Ugly Bear" Sonny Liston.
And a year later came the Thrilla in Manila, perhaps Muhammad's greatest performance in the ring, when he finally stopped Joe Frazier after 14 rounds of brutality which Ali would later call "the closest I ever came to death."
He was, at that moment, in the eyes of so many, a true Superman.
In retrospect, it would have been best if Ali had retired then, but it's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback. Ali loved the limelight too much to quit so he hung on to the championship for three more years, during which he was slowing and his skills obviously declining. He was particularly stunned by a cannonball shot that landed on his jaw by Earnie Shavers in the second round of their fight. Somehow Ali didn't go down (he always had a great jaw) and he went on to win the fight, but his fight doctor, Ferdy Pacheco, quit his corner after that fight, fearful of what the sport was doing to Ali and his slowing reflexes.
Ali would lose to Leon Spinks then beat him in a rematch to become a three time champ, then he retired. He made a terrible decision at a comeback a couple of years later against Larry Holmes. I went to that fight, cried later after what I had seen because, as a fighter, he had nothing left except chutzpah. And chutzpah just wasn't enough for an athlete who suddenly seemed so old against the young Holmes, a former sparring partner of Muhammad's, then in his prime. Soon after that he was gone from the ring for good with a record of 56-5, possibly the greatest athlete in the history of sports, certainly an athlete whose accomplishments can stand next to that of any other.
And what figure in sports was more of a natural showman and promoter, or rose to become a prominent figure of civil rights, as well as charities. Ali was so much more than just a sports figure. And he was philosophical about the parkinson's disease, his most savage and relentless opponent in life, saying that it was God's way of testing him.
But what a tragedy that that disease finally robbed Ali of his ability to speak. And, oh, how he could talk!
BUT he never lost his spirit! And we saw that at the opening Olympics ceremony in Atlanta in 1996 when Ali surprised the world once again. There he was, with the whole world watching, as, with shaking arms, he lit the Olympic torch!
Behind the scenes Olympics officials were holding their breath, afraid that with his physical affictions Ali might do something to embarrass himself and the Olympics. But it didn't happen, as Ali kept a steady gaze on that flame, fought his shaking limbs, and lit that torch.
There, for all the world to see, was Muhammad Ali saying, in essence, what he could no longer verbalize, "I AM A PROUD OLYMPIAN!"
It's impossible for me to express my multitude of emotions now with today's sad news.
RIP Champ. Both inside and outside the ring, you really were the greatest.
With my user name, it's obvious that he was right in my wheelhouse during the '60s and '70s. He, Babe Ruth, and Michael Jordan were the greatest athletic figures of the 20th Century.
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Hint: 40s with Joan.
Joan who?Crawford? Bennett? Fontaine?
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They haven't updated anything for the month of June. Wondering if the Inner Circle webpage will be discontinued soon...?
TCM Inner Circle and TCM Backlot memorabilia available at a substantial discounr. Make an offer.
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No, the movie and the scandal were much earlier. The movie is from the mid-30's and the scandal happened a few years before that. Remember, the star of the film had a scandal in her life, too.
Is this Jean Harlow, and the scandal was the Paul Bern "suicide"?
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Yes, it's Lee. You don't have to wait for confirmation in this thread, DGF. Just post the next names.
Marilyn and Charles
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Williams
Next: Billy, Mary, Michele, Brenda, and Bernard
Lee?
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This actress appeared in two rock and roll classic films, but nobody would say they were truly great movies.
However, her sister appeared in a legendary classic film that has been hailed as a perennial favorite on television.
We need the two sisters and one movie each.
Hint?
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Sounds like "Bad Company" by Bad Company?
Bingo. Your turn
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How did you get through the traffic jam here, Down?
Did you have a police escort?
I am a good friend of Quincy, M.E.
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Thanks!
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It's official, He ODd on opioids.
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Two drastically underappreciated songs by two drastically underappreciated '60s bands:
"Eagle Never Hunts the Fly" by the Music Machine
"Slip Inside This House" by the 13th Floor Elevators
Could someone please post them? Thanks.
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Charlton Heston was in The Greatest Show on Earth with Betty Hutton.
Hutton was in RED HOT AND BLUE with William Talman
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He probably made most of his money making live appearances, as the Three Stooges did.
But more than that, I don't understand why you feel the need to cr@p on a thread that is intended to pay tribute to the unsung character actors, without whom the films we supposedly gather here to celebrate would be far less worth celebrating. Many if not most of them did not receive the respect they were due during their careers -- perhaps we can show them a little respect now.
You kind of invited me to do another pun, and I did. Sorry. Didn't mean to disrespect the guy.
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Well he was in Hollywood movies for more than two decades, and worked with directors like George Stevens, Martin Ritt, Antonioni (!), and as I stated previously, John Cassavetes in several films. So you really should have thought of another way to work in your Dunn pun.
Well, since he had minor roles, he probably didn't earn much money, and might have had trouble paying his bills. He may have received a number of dunn-ing phone calls. How's that?
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I said "well-known". I have never heard of either of these songs. Can someone come up with one that most people know? It's from the '70s.
Hint: Hard rock band. The song was from '74, I believe.
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A few days ago I got to thinking about a character actor I'd seen in several '50s movies, but whose name I can never recall. I went to IMDb and IDed him through checking the cast lists of two films, Wake Me When It's Over and Away All Boats. The name they had in common was George Dunn.
Dunn was most familiar as a drawling Southerner in military comedies. In addition to the aforementioned, he was also in The Long Hot Summer and perhaps his best-remembered role, Operation Petticoat.
Researching him I learned that he started out as an Andy Griffithish nightclub performer.
Dunn doing his nightclub act:
Probably an ad Dunn placed in show biz trade publications:
He eventually got into straight acting, appearing off Broadway in The Rainmaker then moving on to Hollywood and service comedies. Curiously, he would go on to appear in several John Cassavetes films.
George Dunn's resume, 1970s:
Reading Dunn's bio I saw he'd been born in Brownwood Texas. That name rang a bell, and I remembered it as the hometown of Bob Denver. I'd only learned that fact recently -- Denver had never struck me as a Texan (and didn't he attend L.A's Loyola Marymount University with Dwayne Hickman? How'd he end up at LMU from Brownwood?). Checking up on Brownwood, I saw they've had a number of notables pass through:
-- Candy Barr, stripper, burlesque dancer
-- Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian, attended Howard Payne University and is buried in Greenleaf Memorial Cemetery in Brownwood
-- Paul & Paula, or Ray Hildebrand and Jill Jackson, singers, attended Howard Payne University in 1962; their song "Hey Paula" was a #1 hit.
-- Glenn Strange, who played Sam the Bartender on CBS's Gunsmoke from 1961 until his death in 1973, grew up in Brown County near Cross Cut.
-- Madylin, Sullivan,and Sawyer Sweeten played the Barone children on the television sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond [How is it that they're all blond? I suspect somebody got in there before Ray]
-- Clint Walker lived briefly in Brownwood prior to launching his acting career.
Not to mention the oldest bank robber in history (91 years old) and a Medal of Honor winner. If I included athletes, the list would easily double.
Not bad for town of less than 20K people.
So let's give a tip of the TCM hat to Brownwood, Texas -- and George Dunn.
Sah-LOOT!
Looks as if George's career was dunn very quickly.
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Iron Maiden by Iron Maiden (1980)
Kool & The Gang by Kool & The Gang (1969)
I said "well-known". I have never heard of either of these songs. Can someone come up with one that most people know? It's from the '70s.
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I'm not sure if this would qualify as a rock song. (It's actually R&
.Sweet Inspiration
(The more I think about it, this would not qualify since the singing group was The Sweet Inspirations .)
Coincidentally, Eugenia just mentioned "Talk Talk" by Talk Talk on another thread. But that was from the '80s. The one I'm thinking of was pre-1980.
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Terrific, DJ. Thanks for including Neal Schon, who I remember from the Santana III album. This thread is deservedly yours.
Name at least one well-known pre-1980 rock song in which the title and the name of the artist were exactly the same.
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Thanks, DJ.
I love music, so staying within the "classic rock" category, name three singer-songwriter musicians and composers with first name Neil in the fields of pop-rock, folk-rock, country, country-rock, soft rock and amplified rock who started their careers pre-1970. Feel free to name one song or more recorded by each "Neil". Since each of these "Neils" have had long careers, if you do name songs, they can be pre-1970 or after.
Neil Young----Southern Man
Neil Diamond----Solitary Man
Neil Sedaka--Happy Birthday Sweet 16
Neil Schon (Journey)--Separate Ways
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Muhammad Ali (1942-2016)
in General Discussions
Posted
With my user name, it's obvious that he was right in my wheelhouse during the '60s and '70s. He, Babe Ruth, and Michael Jordan were the greatest athletic figures of the 20th century.