Author Archives: dcaligari

June 30, 1989 –The quasi-biographical drama film about Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire! directed by Jim McBride and starring Dennis Quaid, Winona Ryder, John Doe, Alec Baldwin, and Mojo Nixon opened in the US on this date. Jerry Lee Lewis hates the film and the book from which the film was based, butContinue reading “Great Balls of Fire! premiered”

Today is National Ice Cream Soda day. Remember to pour the soda over the ice cream (you get a thicker ice cream soda foam.) If you added a little Kahlua in first, even better. (Hey, everything ain’t for the kids.)

June 30, 1971 –Mike Michols’ very adult drama, Carnal Knowledge, written by Jules Feiffer and starring Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, Art Garfunkel, Ann-Margret, Rita Moreno, and Cynthia O’Neal, opened on this date. Mr. Jenkins, a theater manager in Albany, Georgia was convicted of obscenity-related charges in 1972 for showing the film in his establishment, dueContinue reading “Carnal Knowledge premiered”

June 3, 1971 –Paramount Pictures‘ musical, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, directed by Mel Stuart (and written by Roald Dahl, based on his novel), starring Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum, Roy Kinnear, Denise Nickerson, Leonard Stone, Julie Dawn Cole, Paris Themmen, and Dodo Denney, opened in the US, on this date. After readingContinue reading “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory premiered”

June 30, 1936 –It’s the 89th anniversary of publication of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind on this date. Despite spending 10 years of her life working on the tome, Mitchell didn’t really have much intention of publishing it. When a “friend” heard that she was considering writing a book (though in fact, it hadContinue reading “Gone With the Wind (the novel) went on sale”

June 29, 1984 –After a failed attempt shooting a studio video for Dancing In The Dark, Bruce Springsteen performs the song live at his concert in St. Paul, Minnesota, on this date. Directed by Brian DePalma, the video was filmed during Springsteen’s concert at the St. Paul Civic Center in Minnesota on June 29, 1984.Continue reading “So this is how we met Courteney”

June 29, 1940 –According to the Batman Canon: two gangsters working for Tony Zucco rubbed out a circus highwire team known as the Flying Graysons, leaving their son Dick (Robin) an orphan on this date. Lucky for Dick, a rugged virile older man, Bruce Wayne was there to give him the care and attention aContinue reading “Holy origin story, Batman!”

June 29, 1967 –Actress Jayne Mansfield may or may not have been decapitated in a car crash, when her convertible collides with a parked tractor-trailer. To downplay the supposed gruesome death, sources spread the falsehood that only her wig flew off in the accident. Her three children survived in the back seat of the 1966Continue reading “Vera Jayne Palmer”

June 29, 1988 –The John Landis blockbuster film, Coming To America, starring Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, John Amos and a plethora of stars in funny cameo roles, opened on this date. After the make-up and clothing was applied for the Jewish character Saul, Eddie Murphy wanted to test the make-up and costumeContinue reading “Prince Akeem traveled abroad”

June 29, 1995 –Ringo Starr appeared in his first-ever TV commercial (in the US), for Pizza Hut, (featuring the newly reformed Monkees, on this date. It seems like a strange product for Ringo to hawk; the rocker has been a vegetarian since 1965, and has allergies to onions, garlic, and several spices, which have preventedContinue reading “I can’t believe that he needed the money”