Biographies of the Authors
Gretchen Urnes Beito
Author of COYA COME HOME
This intimate biography of legendary Minnesota Congresswoman Coya Knutson tells the story
behind her infamous political defeat in 1958. Coya Knutson who died in October 1996 at age
82.
- Clothbound edition available: $19.95 ISBN: 0-938817-01-9
- First Trade Paper Edition available Winter 1998
- Motion Picture and Television rights have been sold to ColumbiaTriStar for an NBC-TV
movie-of-the-week
- The Tradepaper edition contains new photographs and reveals new material about the
notorious "Coya Come Home" letter.
A gripping account of political triumph--and betrayal. The only woman elected to Congress from
Minnesota, Coya Knutson served for just four years, but masterminded landmark legislation. Her
abusive husband signed a public letter, actually drafted by Knutson's political enemies, asking
her to "come home" instead of returning to Washington. She was beated by the Republican
candidate in a close election after the letter made headlines around the world.
Columnist Gretchen Urnes Beito has lectured extensively on the life of Coya Knutson. She lives
in Thief River Falls, MN.
James O. Kemm
Author of Rupert Hughes: A Hollywood Legend
James O. Kemm, a retired newspaperman and public relations executive who lives in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, has done extensive research for this book at the University of Southern California,
Yale, Princeton, the University of Iowa, and many other libraries throughout the country, and has
interviewed persons who knew Rupert Hughes. With carefully documented end notes, the
manuscript contains quotes from numerous unpublished letters Hughes wrote to leading literary
personalities and historians. The book is illustrated with a collection of Hughes family portraits
from private collections (many heretofore unpublished) and motion picture stills. James O.
Kemm is a past president of the Oklahoma Historical Society.
Mark Dawidziak
Author of The Night Stalker Companion
Mark Dawidziak, entertainment critic of the Akron Beacon Journal, is a syndicated
columnist for Knight-Ridder and a regular magazine contributor. The actor, comedian,
playwright, author and journalist is a two-time winner of the Cleveland Press Club's award for
entertainment writing and a five year member of the Television Critic's Association's board of
directors. He has written the liner notes for Columbia House Video Library's Collectors Editions
of Columbo and Kolchak: The Night Stalker. A journalism graduate of George
Washington University, he was born in Huntington, New York and now lives in Cuyahoga Falls,
Ohio.
His previous books include:
The Barter Theatre Story (Appalachian Consortium Press, 1982) 0-913239-03-8
The Columbo Phile: A Casebook (The Mysterious Press, 1989) 0-892963-76-X
Hardcover
Night Stalking (Image Publishing, 1991) 0-9627508-3-7
The Kolchak Papers: Grave Secrets (Cinemaker Press, 1994) 0-9627508-7-5
Mark My Words: Twain on Writing (St. Martin's Press, 1996) 0-312-14365-6
Leon Smith
Author of Following the Comedy Trail and
Hollywood goes on Location
Once a gang squad coordinator in Watts, Detective Leon Smith, a 29-year veteran of the
Los Angeles Police Department, uses his investigative skills off duty to track down vintage
movie locations. Now nearing retirement, the bulky six-foot-two Laurel and Hardy buff has
authored two books about movie locations, HOLLYWOOD GOES ON LOCATION and
FOLLOWING THE COMEDY TRAIL.
A native of Kansas City, Kansas, Smith joined the Los Angeles police force in the late
50s. One night the young patrolman happened to stumble on a movie set at 4th and Hill Streets
where Warner Brothers was shooting THE DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES, using a derelict
building as a doss house for winos. The burly veteran detective is transported to his rookie days
as he describes his wide-eyed wonder at watching the Warners crew dress the street corner for
filming.
"I remember the big blue water trucks with the Warners shield on the side...they were
hosing down the streets to make them look shiny. They brought their own neon signs that said
'bar' and 'hotel', and lit everything to look murky--and then here comes Jack Lemmon staggering
out of that building and it looked just like a movie. Right away I was hooked. I knew there had
to be a lot of other places I knew from the movies--just streets, buildings, parks, airfields--that
crews had turned into something else. It was all make believe and I just had to find those
places."
He likes finding them on his own. He knows he could call up the studio production
offices or make pals of location managers, but he likes tracking down locations by roaming the
streets of Los Angeles and focusing his keen detective's eye on scenes he recalls from the
movies. A life-long fan of the Hal Roach comedies, he found most of the Laurel and Hardy and
Our Gang locations by driving up and down the streets of Culver City.
"It's a wonder I didn't get thrown in jail out there. Imagine a guy cruising through back alleys
and side streets at five miles an hour with a notebook in his lap and staring into people's back
yards. But what a thrill it is to find something!"
That's how he found Spanky's house, seen in Our Gang's CANNED FISHING (1938).
From countless viewings of the vintage film, he recalled the scene where Spanky has been left to
baby sit while his mother goes to the market. "I turned down this alley--and there it was! The
wall! They'd added on to the back of the house, but the porch was still visible and so was the
row of garages across from the house.
"I started taking pictures and, of course, here comes the owner. In police work it always
happens when you go on a big case. It can be pouring rain, but the residents come out to hang up
the wash, sweep the sidewalk, just about anything to see what you're up to. So this owner came
out to pull up a weed, and I said 'hello' and told him he was living in Spanky's house. 'I didn't
know that,' he said, 'but I sure remember Our Gang.' Well, he wanted to know more and more
and while we got to talking, I took a few more pictures."
Smith decided to write a book when he realized how many other people were fascinated
by the locations he'd found and were eager to see his photographs. Also, it bothered him that
inaccurate neighborhood folklore about certain locations was becoming fact. Years ago several
people insisted that the famous long flight of stairs used by Laurel and Hardy to deliver a piano
in THE MUSIC BOX was located on the west side of Silver Lake; others directed him to a
partially demolished flight of stairs on the east side. Smith and his son photographed some steps,
but they looked too wide, not as he'd remembered them in the film and besides, where was the
old garage? He let himself be satisfied until a television documentary some months later
identified another location. "Sure enough, about two miles down the road I found the real ones,
and right next to them, the old garage exactly like it is in the movie. And that was that. People
have to know the truth, or the information gets lost. I had to do my book."
How does Smith verify his sites? "I count layers of bricks and sets of windows and then
match them to the buildings in old production stills, or talk to old-timers who were present
during the filming. Sometimes as I'm driving along I see a view--hills, railway tracks, a church
spire--that matches up perfectly with a scene I remember in a movie. A lot of it is just leg
work...good old police procedure...and digging through old Spanish land grant maps at the
Bureau of Engineering."
"Everyone thinks the airfield in CASABLANCA was shot at Burbank Airport, but of
course it was at Van Nuys, and it's not even part of the airport anymore. Now it's an industrial
park."
"SHERLOCK HOLMES IN WASHINGTON--that was shot at the old Grand Central
Airport in Glendale and they used it as the London Terminal of Transatlantic Airways. As the
airplane sits on the runway boarding passengers, you get a great view of a huge cocoa palm tree
swaying in the breeze--not a common sight in London."
"And FLYING DEUCES was shot at Van Nuys, too. The original control tower was
situated approximately one hundred yards west of the CASABLANCA hangar and has since
been demolished. A lot of Laurel and Hardy fans think it was shot at Glendale, but of course you
can tell from the windows in the control tower. The one at Glendale has two sets of windows
and the one in FLYING DEUCES has one set."
"I'll tell you something, though," Smith says. "I'm to the point where I can't enjoy a film
anymore. When I look at a movie, I'm looking at locations and I lose the whole context of the
story, who's in it, what's happening, everything. I'd like to get away from that."
But it's clear that Smith is still very much hooked on his hobby--and has a shopping list
of movie locations he'd still like to find.
Stacey Endres Behlmer and Robert Cushman
Authors of Hollywood at your Feet and Hollywood's Chinese Theatre
Author Stacey Endres Behlmer , Coordinator of Special Projects at the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Margaret Herrick Library, and co-author Robert
Cushman, Photograph Curator at the Library, have spent more than ten years assembling a
collection of over 400 photographs--exclusive to this book--and tracking down hundreds of
anecdotes about the hand and footprint ceremonies. Of special interest are the stories about the
hand and footprint squares that almost were and those that vanished.
Stacey Endres Behlmer was born in Santa Monica, California. She was graduated from Santa
Ana College in 1975 with an Associate Arts Degree in Library Technology. She then joined the
staff of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Margaret Herrick Library as a Library
Assistant in charge of the Biography files.
During her career at the Academy, she has been acknowledged for her assistance in the
researching and production of numerous books, articles, and events that deal with the subject of
motion picture history. In 1989 she was made the Coordinator of Special Projects and Research
Assistance, a newly-created position.
She lives in Studio City, California, with her husband, writer/producer/director Rudy Behlmer,
and their Golden Retriever, Elsa.
Robert Cushman was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He arrived in Los Angeles in 1965
to attend UCLA, where he majored in film, specializing in history, writing, and critical studies.
He was graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1969 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
He joined the staff of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Margaret Herrick
Library in 1972, in the then newly-created position of Coordinator of Photographic Services,
which over the years evolved to that of Photograph Curator/Photographic Services
Administrator. He is responsible for all aspects of the Library's photographic holdings of
approximately 6,000,000 individual items.
He lives in the Angeleno Heights section of Los Angeles in an 1895 Queen Anne/Greek Revival
style Victorian house.
This is...Ed Robertson
Author of This is Jim Rockford...The Rockford
Files, Maverick: Legend of the West, and
The Fugitive Recaptured
The Rockford Files is on the Top Ten Favorites list of just about every TV fan I've ever
known," says Ed Robertson, author of This is Jim Rockford... "Whether it's because of the show's
irreverent attitude, or the relationship between Rockford and his dad, or the funny phone
messages that began each episode, or the tremendous appeal of James Garner, The Rockford
Files is a show that millions of people enjoyed watching 20 years ago--and still remember fondly
today. I became particularly mindful of Rockford's impact as I researched this book--no matter
who I spoke with, once they learned I was writing about The Rockford Files, they would
inevitably say, "You know, that has always been my favorite show!"
Ed welcomed the opportunity to chronicle the fascinating history of TV's first whimsical
private eye series. "The character of Jim Rockford is deeply rooted in the character and attitudes
of Bret Maverick," he says. "Having just completed Maverick: Legend of the West (pomegranate
Press, 1994), there was a great deal about Rockford that I'd come to understand going into the
project. I think that readers will enjoy learning about how closely related the two series are."
Ed was born and raised in San Francisco as the tenth of eleven children (seven girls, four
boys). He once wanted to become a teacher. "When I was in high school (Sacred Heart), I was
greatly influenced by three charismatic people, all of whom were Christian Brothers," he says.
For three years, Ed lived in a semi-monastic Christian Brothers community on the campus of
Saint Mary's College (Moraga), where in addition to his regular studies as an English major, he
received training as a teacher and Christian Brother.
Eventually deciding that teaching and a monastic lifestyle were not for him, Ed began
developing his skills as a writer. While at Saint Mary's, he was fortunate enough to have studied
under current U.S. poet laureate Robert Hass (Praise, Field Guide, Twentieth Century Pleasures),
as well as noted Bay Area dramatist Carol Lashof (Frau Dora). He graduated magna cum laude
from Saint Mary's in 1987.
Ed enjoys writing about television. His first book, The Fugitive Recaptured, traced the
30-year history of the 1960s classic that inspired the blockbuster movie of 1993. Over the past
two years, he has also discussed his works on national television programs, and has made
personal appearances at several colleges and fan conventions across the country.
Ed is happily married and living north of San Francisco.
Susan Blu and Molly Ann Mullin
Authors of Word of Mouth: A Guide to Commercial
Voice-Over Excellence
Top female voice-over artist Susan Blu, with more than 60 recognizable
character and commercial voices to her credit, has co-authored (with Molly Ann Mullin) the
industry's number one guide to the business of voice-overs - WORD OF MOUTH: A GUIDE TO
COMMERCIAL VOICE-OVER EXCELLENCE. Written with humor and an insider's savvy,
this practical book serves the beginner as well as the professional voice-over artist.
Some of Susan's most famous and familiar voices bring life to animation's most popular
characters, including the Pillsbury Dough Girl, Pansy on the "The Smurfs," Stormer on "Gem,"
RC on "Transformers," Dreamchip Gemstone on "Flintstone Kids," Princess Paw Paw of the
"The Paw Paws" and Belfy the Bat, Jessica and Futura, all on "Ghostbusters."
Susan also created the voice of Reggie the Hedgehog for the ABC-TV live-action series
"Animal crackups," hosted by Alan Thicke. She's also the voices for Hiccup in "Little Clowns of
Happy Town" and Galadria for the syndicated animated series "Visionaries."
Susan's career took on an added dimension with her signing as voice-over sessions
director for "Ninja Turtle," a five-part animated mini-series for national syndication. Today,
Susan is in top demand as both a voice-over artist and animation director. She also teaches
voice-over seminars throughout the United States and Canada.
Molly Ann Mullin was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, where she currently
resides in smog-shrouded comfort with a borrowed cat. In 1969 she (Molly--not the cat)
graduated from Mount St. Mary's College with a degree in Humanities. After working as a
passenger service agent for the airlines as well as a personnel manager for private industry, she
decided to pursue a writing career full-time.
Molly Ann has written over twenty stage plays, screenplays, teleplays and radio plays. Her
one-act play, "Happy Birthday, Girl," was filmed for cable television and is currently in
world-wide distribution, having been seen locally on SelecTV and the Z-Channel. Two of her
radio plays were award winners in the American Radio Theatre's national scriptwriting
competitions. Molly Ann is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the American Community
Theatre Association and is President of the NBC Writers Workshop. She continues to enjoy a
blossoming career in commercial voice-overs.
Jim Pierson
Jim Pierson, author of Jim Pierson, author of Dark Shadows
Resurrected and Produced & Directed by Dan Curtis, as well as co-author of The Dark
Shadows Almanac, is a Los Angeles based television and video producer. Jim also coordinates the
annual Dark Shadows Festivals.
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