Was One of the Stunts in the Fall Guy Opening Not Even Performed by a Stuntman?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about TV and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the TV urban legends featured so far.

TV URBAN LEGEND: One of the stunt shots in the beginning of the Fall Guy was not even done by a stuntman.

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The theme song to Lee Majors’ TV series, The Fall Guy, about a Hollywood stuntman, was titled “The Unknown Stuntman,” and had lyrics such as:

I might fall from a tall building,
I might roll a brand new car.
‘Cause I’m the unknown stuntman that made Redford such a star.

I never spend much time in school
But I taught ladies plenty.
It’s true I hire my body out for pay, Hey Hey.

and

I might jump an open drawbridge,
Or Tarzan from a vine.
‘Cause I’m the unknown stuntman that makes Eastwood look so fine.

The opening credits for the series always had a number of notable film and TV stunt shots.

Amazingly enough, one of the more prominent stunts (it appeared in the opening credits the whole run of the show, unlike most of the other stunts, which were cycled out over the years) was actually NOT performed by a stuntman, but by the actual actor from the film!!!

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July 25th, 2012 | Posted in TV Legends Revealed | 10 Comments

Did One of TV’s Friends Have a Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about TV and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the TV urban legends featured so far.

TV URBAN LEGEND: One of TV’s Friends had a painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Friends was one of TV’s most popular sitcoms, playing on Thursday nights for NBC from 1994 until 2003, for a total of ten seasons. The finale in 2003 was the fourth most-watched series finale in television history.

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But was one of the actors who played the “friends” an artist?

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July 25th, 2012 | Posted in TV Legends Revealed | 1 Comment

Did Spike Milligan Wear a Shirt That Said “Hashish” When He Was On the Muppet Show?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about TV and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the TV urban legends featured so far.

TV URBAN LEGEND: Spike Milligan wore a shirt that said “Hashish” on it when he was on the Muppet Show.

Spike Milligan (1918-2002) was one of England’s leading comedians from his days with The Goon Show in the 1950s (along with Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe)

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to his days with Q during the 1970s (and lots of projects in between over the many, many years he was a performer – he was performing and especially writing right up to his death in 2002).

In 1978, Milligan hosted the third season of The Muppet Show, for an episode about international good will, etc.

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At one point during the show, Milligan is wearing a T-Shirt with Arabic lettering on it…

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For years, it has been said that Milligan’s shirt translated to “hashish,” and this was a sly opportunity by Milligan to sneak a drug reference into the show (hashish is a preparation of cannabis). As the story goes, no one noticed what he was doing until the episode had already aired.

Is it true?

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July 25th, 2012 | Posted in TV Legends Revealed | 1 Comment

Did Cole Porter Work On Song Lyrics While Lying Crushed Under a Horse?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about musicals and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the musical urban legends featured so far.

MUSICAL URBAN LEGEND: Cole Porter worked on song lyrics while lying crushed underneath a horse.

Cole Porter is one of the all-time great songwriters, known for such classic songs as “Night and Day”, “I Get a Kick out of You” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” as well as the smash Broadway musicals Anything Goes and Kiss Me, Kate.

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Porter was especially noteworthy in the sense that he was one of the few Tin Pan Alley songwriters to write the music AND the lyrics to his tunes.

Although he is a legendary music figure now, and certainly was a popular songwriter at the time, as well, Porter was not without his share of bombs. In fact, Porter (who was born in 1891)’s first two musicals in the late 1910s were both bombs. It was not until 1928 that he had a successful show on Broadway (the musical Paris, with the practically scandalous for its time hit song, “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall In Love)”).

Even after having his most popular musical, Anything Goes, in 1934, Porter followed with a string of lackluster musicals (until finally having a comeback of sorts in 1948, with Kiss Me, Kate).

One of those lackluster musicals was called You Never Know. While the musical as a whole was not one of his best, it did include one of the last GREAT songs written by Porter, the subtle and beautiful love song, “At Long Last Love.”

If Porter ever had a built-in excuse for a lackluster musical, You Never Know was it. While working on the musical in late October, 1937, Porter went horseback riding. During the ride, he was thrown from the horse. The horse then proceeded to roll over on to Porter, crushing both of his legs. Doctors first thought that he would need at least one leg amputated, but luckily, Porter was wealthy enough to get the best surgeons available, and after a ghastly THIRTY surgeries on his legs, they were able to be saved, but he would be in agonizing pain for the rest of his life. Ultimately, a few years before his death in 1964, the legs WERE amputated.

In any event, Porter claims that while he was lying there, crushed by the horse, he was in such shock that, presumably to keep his mind off of the situation, he actually began to come up with lyrics for “At Long Last Love.”

Is it true?

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July 25th, 2012 | Posted in Grab Bag Legends, Musical Legends Revealed | 1 Comment

Was “Edelweiss” Based on an Austrian Folk Song?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about musicals and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the musical urban legends featured so far.

MUSICAL URBAN LEGEND: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s song “Edelweiss” is based on an Austrian folk song.

“Edelweiss” was the last song that Oscar Hammerstein ever wrote. In fact, he was suffering from stomach cancer as he and his partner, Richard Rodgers, worked on the song, the final addition to their latest play at the time, The Sound of Music.

The pair were looking for a song that would express the feeling of loss surrounding Captain von Trapp having to leave his native Austria because of the Nazis. They wanted a song that could be performed as a folk song since the actor portraying von Trapp, Theodore Bikel, was an accomplished folk guitarist.

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July 25th, 2012 | Posted in Grab Bag Legends, Musical Legends Revealed | 9 Comments

Were the Kennedys First Called “Camelot” Because of the Musical Camelot?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about musicals and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the musical urban legends featured so far.

MUSICAL URBAN LEGEND: The Kennedys being referred to as “Camelot” came about directly because of the musical Camelot.

When John F. Kennedy was elected as the President of the United States in 1960, he was the youngest man ever elected President (he remains today the youngest man ever elected President). Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, and their two young children, Caroline and John Jr., were soon the most recognizable family in the United States.

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In 1956, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederic Loewe debuted their classic musical, My Fair Lady, which was one of the most successful musicals of all time (and remains one of the most popular musicals ever). So their follow-up project was one of the most anticipated musicals that you could imagine. They ultimately decided on adapting T.H. White’s take on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, The Once and Future King.

Titled Camelot, the musical starred Richard Burton as King Arthur, Julie Andrews as Queen Guenevere and a young Robert Goulet as Sir Lancelot. It opened in 1960, just one month after Kennedy was named the next President of the United States (the show’s run ended in January 1963).

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After a bit of a false start, it was buoyed by a performance of four of the songs from the musical on the Ed Sullivan Show, leading to Camelot also becoming a rousing success.

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For years, the Kennedys have been referred to as “Camelot.”

Was there a connection?

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July 25th, 2012 | Posted in Grab Bag Legends, Musical Legends Revealed | No Comments

Did J. Edgar Hoover Have Casting Control Over the Film The FBI Story?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about movies and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far.

MOVIE URBAN LEGEND: J. Edgar Hoover had casting say over the film The FBI Story.

The FBI Story was a 1956 history of the Federal Bureau of Investigation written by Don Whitehead, the Washington DC bureau chief of the New York Herald Tribune. Whitehead was carefully picked out before the FBI would allow him to write the authorized history of the FBI, although it should be noted that Whitehead did not (officially, at least) provide the text of the book to the FBI for approval before publication. Still, just knowing that the FBI would be willing to approve his book as the “official” history of the FBI was likely incentive enough for Whitehead to keep his book complimentary of the Bureau and its famous head, J. Edgar Hoover.

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The book was a massive smash, not only becoming one of the highest-selling books of 1956, but of 1957, as well!

In 1959, a film version was made, starring Jimmy Stewart.

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This time around, the film was not just APPROVED by the FBI, it was practically contolled/sanitized by Hoover, who overaw the film personally at times, but always had at least two FBI men with director Mervyn LeRoy.

Read on for more!

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July 25th, 2012 | Posted in Movie Legends Revealed | No Comments

Was George Reeves’ Role Reduced in From Here to Eternity Because Audiences Couldn’t Handle Seeing Superman in the Film?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about movies and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far.

MOVIE URBAN LEGEND: George Reeves had a number of scenes cut out of From Here to Eternity because test audiences were too jarred at seeing TV’s Superman in the film.

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George Reeves was already appearing as Superman in The Adventures of Superman when he appeared in the 1953 film, From Here to Eternity, as the character of Sergeant Maylon Stark.

In the 1952 James Jones novel that the film was based on, depicting the various troubles of servicemen stationed in Pearl Harbor in the months leading up to the sneak attack by the Japanese in December of 1941, Stark had a fairly sizable supporting role (below is the famous scene on the beach with leads Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr).

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In the film, however, he is a very minor character.

As many people know by now, George Reeves suffered great difficulties dealing with being typecast as Superman after the show ended, ultimately leading to his alleged suicide in 1959.

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Now, a legend sprung up regarding From Here to Eternity and the relatively small role of Reeves in the picture.

In his discussion of the film on the All Movie Guide, Hal Erickson pretty concisely describes the legend…

If you’re able to take your eyes off the principals for a moment or two, keep an eye out for George Reeves; his supporting role was shaved down when, during previews, audiences yelled “There’s Superman!” and began to laugh.

Read on to learn the truth…

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July 25th, 2012 | Posted in Movie Legends Revealed | 1 Comment

Were the Facial Features of the Little Mermaid Based on Alyssa Milano?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about movies and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far.

MOVIE URBAN LEGEND: Ariel from the Little Mermaid was based on the facial features of Alyssa Milano.

The Little Mermaid was, in a lot of ways, a return to the past successes of Disney animated films such as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.

For one, it was the first Disney fairy tale in decades and for another, it was animated with artists watching actors act out the scenes, so that the animators could see how various scenes would really look like (the way that Ariel’s hair floats underwater was supposedly based on videos of Sally Ride in outer space…

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if anyone knows otherwise regarding this Ride bit, let me know, that could be a future legend right there!).

Broadway actress Jodi Benson provided Ariel’s speaking and singing voice, but it was local comedy actress Sherri Lynn Stoner who was the basis for the animation of Ariel during the movie.

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Stoner later was the model for Belle in Beauty and the Beast.

So where does Alyssa Milano fit in?

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July 25th, 2012 | Posted in Movie Legends Revealed | No Comments

Did Bob Dylan Have to Re-Record “Hurricane” Because of Legal Threats?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about music and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the music urban legends featured so far.

MUSIC URBAN LEGEND: Bob Dylan had to re-record a song due to worries about slander/libel.

How could I make it past the start of Music Legends Revealed without featuring a legend about Bob Dylan?

“Hurricane” is one of Bob Dylan’s most famous songs from the 1970s.

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It was co-written by Jacques Levy, and tells the story about the false imprisonment of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter.

Carter was a boxer from New Jersey who was accused of committing a triple homicide in a bar in Paterson, New Jersey in 1966.

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Some time around 2am on June 17, two black men entered a bar and shot and killed the bartender and a customer, with a second customer also dying a month later from her wounds. A third customer survived the assault, even though he was shot in the head (and lost an eye).

A petty criminal, Alfred Bello, was the first man on the scene, followed by a woman named Patty Valentine (then Patty Graham). They described two black men driving off in a car.

Their descriptions led to the police pulling over Rubin Carter and a friend, John Artis, about a half hour later. In their car, the police found a live .32 caliber pistol round and a 12-gauge shotgun shell – they both matched the two calibers used in the shootings

Carter and Artis were released, but about a month later, Bello came forward with the fact that he was actually with a partner in crime that night, Arthur Dexter Bradley. The police re-questioned both men and they both independently identified Carter and Artis.

And that was really about it – the guns from the car stop and the testimony of Bello and Bradley. That kept Carter and Artist locked up in jail for over 20 years (for Carter) and 15 years (for Artis).

In any event, in the early 70s, there began to be a bit of a movement to try to get Carter freed.

One person who was intrigued by it all was Bob Dylan, who wrote the aforementioned song, Hurricane, in 1975, which appeared on his 1976 album, Desire.

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Right from the get go, Dylan did not exactly spend a whole lot of time getting the facts all the way correct. However, one specific line scared the suits at Dylan’s record company, Columbia (this actually was Dylan’s second album in a return to Columbia after a short-lived excursion with David Geffen’s Asylum Records for two albums), so much that they actually made him re-record the song!

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July 24th, 2012 | Posted in Music Legends Revealed | 4 Comments