Donster

Morning all. 48F under cloudy skies. Will remain cloudy today with rain moving into the area later this morning and falling thru the evening hours. High today of 57F.

Bendix Aviation Ad - March 1943 1940: U-boats sink seven neutral ships. 1942: Late in the afternoon after an unsuccessful Italian torpedo-aircraft attack, Admiral Iachino's squadron engages the British convoy. This protected itself with a smokescreen, but the cruiser HMS Cleopatra was damaged. Admiral Philip Vian, commanding the British escorts, now sent his destroyers in a torpedo attack on the Italian battleship Littorio. However, by now it was getting dark and so Admiral Iachino turned away from the British convoy and sailed for home. *June Haver 1942: A Polish newspaper editor is beheaded for listening to the BBC, as German terror continues in Poland. 1942: Japanese aircraft attack Darwin. June Haver 1943: German troops recapture Belgorod. 1943: Newly built gas chamber/crematory IV opens at Auschwitz. June Haver 1944: Alexander halts the frontal attacks on Cassino. 1944: British tanks rout a Japanese tank force at Tamu in India. June Haver 1945: The U.S. First Army's bridgehead at Remagen is now 30 miles long. Units of the US Third Army cross the Rhine at Oppenheim south of Mainz against minimal German resistance. 1945: The Japanese, facing food shortages at home and among their troops, launch a 60,000-man offensive to seize the wheat crop in central China near Hankow. June Haver *June Haver was born on June 10, 1926, in Rock Island, Illinois, with the birth name of June Stovenour. Her parents divorced at an early age and she was adopted by Bert Haver, her stepfather. Her mother and new father moved to Cincinnati, where she appeared on the stage for the first time at the age of six in a local theater production of "Midnight in a Toyshop". Very soon after, June was winning musical contests around the Queen City. By 1936, little June and her mother had returned to the city of her birth, after a film screen test the year before. It was here that she blossomed even further with her singing, appearing on local radio. Later, while touring with various musical bands, June and her mother found their way to sunny California, in the entertainment mecca of Los Angeles. While in high school, she played in various secondary productions. In 1942, at the age of 16, June joined Fox Studios as a fringe actress. Dropped because the studio thought she was too young, they signed her the following year to appear in "The Gang's All Here" (1943). It was an uncredited part, but a start in the film world, nonetheless. Unless one looked hard, she would have been easy to miss in the film. Her next one with Fox was in 1944's "Home in Indiana" (1944). But it was her next film where she was able to showcase her acting talent in "Irish Eyes Are Smiling" (1944). In 1945, she appeared in "Where Do We Go from Here?" (1945) with her future husband, Fred MacMurray, who she wed in 1954. It was the only film the two of them would be in together. In 1946, at the age of 20, June got top billing for the first time in "Three Little Girls in Blue" (1946). Her only other film that year was "Wake Up and Dream" (1946). After only one film in 1947, June resurfaced the next year in the utterly forgettable "Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!" (1948). This was one of the starting vehicle's for a rising talent named Marilyn Monroe. In 1949, June was in two productions. They were "Look for the Silver Lining" (1949) and "Oh, You Beautiful Doll" (1949). By now, it was obvious that she was being groomed to take over the Fox throne held by Betty Grable. It was not to be, because June was about to leave films, altogether. The filming of 1953's "The Girl Next Door" (1953) proved to be her last silver screen appearance. She had announced, the year before, that she would become a nun after her contract ran out. She had been engaged to studio dentist, John Duzik when he died unexpectedly from complications from surgery. Shortly afterward, in February of 1953, true to her word, she joined a convent in Xavier, Kansas with the intention of becoming a nun. Was happy there until a serious illness forced her to leave and return to California in September 1953. Although she had planned to return to the convent after her recovery, she never did. It was after she left the convent that she was seen with Fred MacMurray. After they were wed, the couple adopted twin girls. June's last foray into the glare of the camera lights was when she played herself in the television production of "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" (1957). She died of respiratory failure in Brentwood, California on July 6, 2005. June Haver TRIVIA: Measurements: 34-23-35 Her sisters followed her to Hollywood and served as her stand-ins, while her mother was Haver's personal secretary. First husband, Jimmy Zito, was a trumpeter whom she met while performing as a teenage "big band" singer. The marriage lasted barely a year (1947-1948). Nicknamed the "pocket Grable," she was making $3,500 a week at 20th Century Fox when she said goodbye to it all and became a novice nun in the Sisters of Charity convent. In 1996 she sold her and her late husband's 1,500-acre Healdsburg ranch to the Gallo family. She maintained a home in Brentwood. She died in her Brentwood estate in 2005. Evans Products Company Ad - March 1944

Congrats to Savannah! 👍

Morning all. 41F under clear skies. Warmest day of the year so far predicted. Windy too with gust up to 40 MPH. High of 65F.

Pennsylvania Railroad Ad - March 1943 1940: Paul Reynaud becomes Prime Minister of France, with Edouard Daladier being made Minister of Defence and War. 1941: The last Italian post in East Libya, North Africa, falls to the British. *Arlene Dahl 1942: In a repeat of Force H's mission on the 7th March 1942. Sixteen more Spitfires are delivered to Malta. The Axis, now aware of the large British supply convoy sailing towards Malta, dispatch Admiral Iachino from Taranto with the Battleship Littorio and 4 destroyers. Admiral Parona also sets sail from Messina with 3 cruisers and 4 destroyers. 1943: Hitler breaks his four-month silence with a Hero's Day speech in Berlin. He admits to his audience that the German army has lost nearly half a million men in the Soviet campaign, but he assures the crowd that the Russian front is now "stable." Arlene Dahl 1945: The US 8th Air Force launches a major attack (650 bombers) against Hamburg. 1945: Units of the U.S. First Army advances from the Remagen bridgehead toward Siegburg. Arlene Dahl 1945: The Russians captures Stuhlweissenburg in Hungary. Arlene Dahl *Dahl was born on August 11, 1928 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the daughter of Idelle (née Swan) and Rudolph S. Dahl, a Ford motor dealer and executive. She is of Norwegian descent. After graduating from Washburn High School, she held various jobs, including performing in a local drama group and briefly working as a model for department stores. Dahl's mother was involved in the theater. As a child she took elocution and dancing lessons and acted in local amateur theater. She was active in theatrical events at Margaret Fuller Elementary School, Ramsey Junior High School and Washburn Senior High School. Dahl briefly attended the University of Minnesota. Dahl was voted the Rheingold Beer Girl of 1946. The Rheingold ad campaign was one of the most famous campaigns of one of the most popular beers in New York from the 1940s through the 1950s. There was a Miss Rheingold contest each year, and by the early 1950s, more than 25 million votes were cast annually. The winner received a cash payment as well as a modeling contract and many other opportunities. The first winner, Jinx Falkenburg, had a long career on radio. Other winners were Tippi Hedren, Hope Lange and Grace Kelly. She began her acting career in 1947. She reached the peak of her popularity and success in the 1950s. Some of her best films include: "Reign of Terror" (1949), "Three Little Words" (1950), "Woman's World" (1954), "Slightly Scarlet" (1956), and "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (1959). Arlene Dahl Dahl met actor Lex Barker in the early 1950s, and on April 16, 1951, Dahl and Barker wed. A year later she and Barker divorced, and Dahl would go on to marry another matinee idol, Fernando Lamas. Barker went on to marry Lana Turner. In 1958 Dahl and Lamas had their only son, Lorenzo Lamas. Shortly after giving birth to Lorenzo, Dahl slowed and eventually ended her career as an actress, although she still appeared in movies and on television occasionally. Dahl would go on to work as a beauty columnist and as a writer. Dahl and Lamas divorced in 1960, and Dahl later remarried. Aside from Lorenzo Lamas, Dahl has two other children: a daughter Christina (born August 3, 1961) by third husband Christian R. Holmes, and a second son, Rousevelle Andreas (born December 8, 1970), by her fifth husband Rousevelle W. Schaum. She has 6 grandchildren and divides her time between New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida. Arlene Dahl was both a mystery guest and a panelist on the TV Game show "What's My Line". She appeared on the ABC television network's soap opera "One Life to Live" as Lucinda Schenck Wilson from 1981 to 1984. Lucinda was planned to be a short-termed role, but she was later offered a one-year contract to appear on the show. The last film in which she appeared, which followed a hiatus of more than 20 years, was the 1991 film, "Night of the Warrior", which starred her son, Lorenzo Lamas. TRIVIA: Measurements: 35-22 1/2-35 (starlet 1950), 38-25-37 (as a self-proclaimed "Size 10" in 1976) (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine) Height: 5' 6" (1.68 m) Spouse: Marc Rosen (30 July 1984 - present) Rounsevelle W. Schaum (7 December 1969 - 1976) (divorced) 1 child Alexis Lichine (23 December 1964 - 1969) (divorced) Chris Holmes (15 October 1960 - 13 October 1964) (divorced) 1 child Fernando Lamas (25 June 1954 - 1960) (divorced) 1 child Lex Barker (16 April 1951 - 15 October 1952) (divorced) Pennsylvania Railroad Ad - March 1944

Morning all. 31F under clear blue skies. A nice spring day in store with sunny skies and a temp of 56F. Old Buckethead's weather machine must still be on the fritz. Like if ever worked in the first place.

Bell Aircraft Ad - March 1943 1940: The British Royal Air Force conducts an all-night air raid on the Nazi airbase at Sylt, Germany. 1941: The Berbera force and elements of the 11th African Division meet at Hargeisa inside British Somaliland. 1941: Four Yugoslav ministers resign rather than accept German terms. *Dorothy Lamour 1942: About 1000 schoolteachers are arrested in Norway. 1942: The Red Army offensive at Kerch in the Crimea is defeated with heavy losses to the Russians. Dorothy Lamour 1942: In what was to become known as the 2nd Battle of Sirte, 4 freighters, escorted by 3 cruisers, 1 anti-aircraft cruiser and 17 destroyers leave Alexandria bound for Malta. This force would later be strengthened by the cruiser Penelope and a destroyer from Force K. 1942: Kesselring launches an intensified air offensive against Malta, which by the end of March had racked up 4,927 sorties for the Luftwaffe, as opposed to 2.497 during February. Dorothy Lamour 1942: Japanese troops, reinforced by the 18th and 56th Division which had arrived by sea at Rangoon a few days earlier, attack the 6th Chinese Army near Toungoo in Burma. 1943: The Eighth Army continues its attacks against the Mareth line in southern Tunisia. Ethyl Corporation Ad - March 1944 1944: The Russians recapture Vinnitsa in the Ukraine, the site of Hitler's Headquarters during in 1943. 1945: The U.S. Seventh Army takes Saarbrücken. Dorothy Lamour 1945: German troops of Army Group Weichsel evacuate their bridgehead across the Oder at Stettin. The Russians capture Braunsberg, 40 miles South of Königsberg. 1945: The British 19th Indian Division completes the capture of Mandalay. Dorothy Lamour *Dorothy Lamour was born with the birth name of Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton on December 10, 1914, in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was a beautiful child who turned heads as a teenager with her long dark hair. However, her dream was to become a professional singer not actress. After she won a beauty contest as Miss New Orleans in 1931, she headed to Chicago to find her work as a singer. For a time, Dorothy worked as an elevator operator in a department store before going on to become a vocalist in the Herbie Kay band. Kay became her first husband in 1935, but the marriage only lasted four years. In addition to the band, Dorothy also sang on a Chicago radio program. Besides Kay, she performed with Rudy Vallee and Eddie Duchin. 1933 found Dorothy in Hollywood where she landed an uncredited bit part as a chorus girl in the musical "Footlight Parade" (1933). She didn't appear in films again until 1936 when she landed a part as a coed in "College Holiday" (1936). Later in 1936, Dorothy got the part of Ulah in "The Jungle Princess" (1936) produced by E. Lloyd Sheldon and filmed at Paramount. This film was a tremendous moneymaker as Dorothy stole the show in her wrap-around sarong. Dorothy became an instant star as the child of nature/female Tarzan, raised with a pet tiger among the tropical natives. Ray Milland starred opposite her as the man from civilization who woos and wins her. The scene where Milland is trying to teach her the word kiss is touching yet humorous. When he kisses her and tells her that is a kiss she runs away. She went on to play similar parts in the sarong in productions including "The Hurricane" (1937), "Typhoon" (1940), "Beyond the Blue Horizon" (1942) and her final big-screen sarong feature, "Donovan's Reef" (1963). Although Dorothy actually only wore a sarong in six of her 59 pictures, it defined her career. The sarong stayed with her in the Bob Hope / Bing Crosby "Road" pictures for Paramount. The trio starred in "Road to Singapore" (1940), "Road to Zanzibar" (1941), "Road to Morocco" (1942), "Road to Utopia" (1946) and "Road to Bali" (1952). A final "Road" picture, "Road to the Fountain of Youth" was in the works in 1977, until Bing Crosby's sudden death. The final completed "Road" picture, "The Road to Hong Kong" (1962), had Hope and Crosby in their usual roles, but no Dorothy this time - Joan Collins had the female lead in it. Dorothy was a great actress with roles in "Disputed Passage" (1939), "Dixie" (1943) and "On Our Merry Way" (1948). She could show great range in both comic and dramatic roles. After making three films in 1949, her career began to trail off. She only made ten films between 1951 and 1987. That last one was "Creepshow 2" (1987) where she played a housewife who gets murdered, a long way from the "Road" pictures and movies such as "Johnny Apollo" (1940) and "A Medal for Benny" (1945). Dorothy Lamour During World War II, she toured the country, selling in excess of $300 million worth of war bonds. Lamour's good humor and lack of pretension allowed her to have a remarkably long career in show business for someone best known as a glamour girl. She was a popular draw on the dinner theatre circuit of the 1970s. In the 1960s and 1970s, she lived with her longtime husband William Ross Howard III (whom she married in 1943), in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, Maryland. He died in 1978. Lamour published her autobiography "My Side of the Road" in 1980, revived her nightclub act, and performed in plays and television shows such as "Hart to Hart", "Crazy Like a Fox", and "Murder, She Wrote". During the 1990s, she made only a handful of professional appearances but she remained a popular interview subject for publications and TV talk and news programs. In 1995, the musical "Swinging on a Star", a revue of songs written by Johnny Burke opened on Broadway and ran for three months; Lamour was credited as a "special advisor". Burke wrote many of the most famous "Road to..." movie songs as well as the score to Lamour's "And the Angels Sing". The musical was nominated for the Best Musical Tony Award and the actress playing "Dorothy Lamour" in the Road movie segment, Kathy Fitzgerald, was also nominated. Lamour died on September 22, 1996 at her home in North Hollywood, California at the age of 81 from a heart attack. TRIVIA: Nickname: The beautiful one The Sarong Girl Dottie Height: 5' 5" (1.65 m) Spouse: William Ross Howard III (7 April 1943 - 15 February 1978) (his death) 2 children Herbie Kaye (10 May 1935 - 21 April 1939) (divorced) Ethyl Corporation Ad - March 1945

Morning all. 28F under partly cloudy skies. Skies clear this morning with light wind and a high of 50F.

Westinghouse Ad - March 1943 1940: The RAF retaliates against the Luftwaffe's bombing of Scapa Flow, by attacking the German seaplane base at Hornum on the island of Sylt with 50 bombers. Later photo reconnaissance reveals little damage to the target. 1941: Churchill forms the 'Battle of the Atlantic' committee in order to afford the highest level of co-ordination against the U-boat menace. 1941: German Naval staff complain to the Italians about their lack of effort to intercept British convoys to Greece. **Rita Johnson 1942: An offensive by Army Group North cuts off the Soviet 2nd Shock Army, commanded by General Vlasov, in a salient between Novgorod and Gruzino. Operation 'Munich' is launched. Joined by a new air detachment, German troops attack partisan bases around Yelnya and Dorogobuzh. Operation 'Bamberg' kicks off near Bobruisk, with SS Police troops attacking Russian villages. The German security forces burn many villages and kill 3,500 people, which only infuriate the Russian civilians more, which encourages many of them join the partisans, making the whole exercise very counter-productive. The 3rd Panzer Army diaries says "There are indications that the partisan movement in the region of Velikiye Luki, Vitebsk, Rudnya, Velizh, is now being organised on a large scale. The fighting strength of the partisans hitherto active, is being bolstered by individual units of regular red army troops." 1942: General Bill Slim is appointed as commander of the 1st Burma Corps, which covers all British, Indian and Burmese troops in Burma. This left General Alexander to concentrate on co-ordination with the Chinese. Rita Johnson 1943: The British Eighth Army begins its offensive against German and Italian defenders of the Mareth line. 1944: The RAF launch Operation Strangle, aimed at German communications in Italy. 1944: The German 352nd Infantry Division deploys along the coast of France. Rita Johnson 1944: In order to ensure Hungary's continued support as an axis partner, Hitler orders its occupation. Eleven German divisions cross the border from Austria into Hungary, encountering minimal resistance. 1944: Hungary's 750,000 Jews, which have so far remained unmolested by the Germans are about to endure a nightmare of mass deportation to the concentration camps as Eichmann arrives in Hungary with his "Special Section Commandos". 1945: The US 8th Air Force carries out another heavy attack (200 bombers and 700 fighters) against Berlin. Rita Johnson 1945: The U.S. Seventh Army take Worms, 60 miles to the Southeast of Koblenz. Hitler orders the demolition of all German industrial, utility and transport facilities in danger of falling into enemy hands; this order (Verbrannte Erde Scorched Earth) is sabotaged by armaments minister Speer and most local commanders. 1945: The Japanese evacuate Mandalay. 1945: The USN hit Kure naval base in the Inland Sea, Southwest of Tokyo. 1945: About 800 people were killed as Kamikaze planes attacked the U.S. carrier Franklin off Japan; the ship, however, was saved. *1936: The Soviet Union signs a pact of assistance with Mongolia against Japan. Rita Johnson **Rita Johnson was born Rita McSean on August 13, 1913 in Worcester, Massachusetts and attended the New England Conservatory of Music. A former pianist and radio actress, Rita Johnson was on Broadway from 1935 and in films from 1937. An extraordinarily versatile performer, Johnson managed to play virtually every sort of role open to an actress of above-average beauty and intelligence in the 1940s. Portraying standard heroines in such films as "Edison the Man" (1940) and "My Friend Flicka" (1943), Johnson brought far more warmth and humanity to the parts than the scripts provided. She was equally as persuasive as haughty murderess Julia Farnsworth in "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" (1941) and as the hissable "other woman" in films like "The Major and the Minor" (1944). It is positively criminal that no Academy Award came Johnson's way for her astonishing portrayal of the born-to-be-killed wife of unscrupulous Robert Young in 1947's "They Won't Believe Me". Johnson's film career came to a screeching halt after a 1948 accident when a hair dryer fell on her head that required delicate brain surgery; thereafter, her screen time was extremely limited, in keeping with her radically reduced mobility and powers of concentration. After a hair drier supposedly fell on her head and a doctor was called for her, the doctor noted that apart from her current injuries there were a number of old bruises on various parts of her body. Detectives investigating the injuries, however, reported nothing to indicate it was anything other than an accident. Rumors continued but were never confirmed that she was romantically involved with a gangster who had beaten her. Previous beatings, it was alleged, had caused the old bruises. She became an alcoholic after her accident. Fifty-three-year-old Rita Johnson died of a brain hemorrhage in her Hollywood home on October 31, 1965. An autopsy showed she suffered from liver disease and alcohol induced encephalitis. TRIVIA: Height: 5' 4 1/4" (1.63 m) Spouse: Edwin Hutzler (1943 - 1946) (divorced) Stanley Kahn (1940 - 1943) (divorced) Hamilton Watch Ad - March 1943

Morning all. 36F under cloudy skies. Partly cloudy today and windy. Wind gusts up to 40 MPH. High today of 46F.

Vinco Ad - March 1944 1940: Russia assures Sweden of its safety after Finland's surrender. 1940: Mussolini and Hitler meet in the Brenner Pass in northern Italy, Mussolini agreeing to Italy's entry into the war "at an opportune moment". *Virginia Dale 1942: Lord Mountbatten is appointed Chief of Combined Operations. 1942: The third military draft begins in the United States. Virginia Dale 1942: Gen. MacArthur appointed commander of the Southwest Pacific Theater by President Roosevelt. 1942: US forces occupy the New Hebrides in order to help protect Australia's west coast from direct Japanese invasion. 1942: War Relocation Authority established in the U.S. which eventually will round up 120,000 Japanese-Americans and transport them to barb-wired relocation centers. Despite the internment, over 17,000 Japanese-Americans sign up and fight for the U.S. in World War II in Europe, including the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated unit in U.S. history. Virginia Dale 1943: Adolf Hitler calls off the offensive in the Caucasus. 1943: American forces take Gafsa in Tunisia. 1943: Chindit forces cross the Irrawaddy in Burma. Virginia Dale 1944: British drop 3000 tons of bombs during an air raid on Hamburg, Germany. 1944: A New Zealand tank attack on Monte Cassino is repulsed, with the loss of all 17 tanks. 1944: The Russians reach the Romanian border. Virginia Dale 1945: The US Third Army captures Boppard on the Rhine. 1945: Kolberg falls to the Polish 1st Army, of the 2nd Belorussian Front, although the Germans manage to evacuate 80,000 refugees and wounded first. Virginia Dale *Virginia Dale (born Virginia Paxton) on July 1, 1917 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Discovered by Daryl F. Zanuck, blonde, blue-eyed actress Virginia Dale appeared in films from the late '30s through the early '50s. She is perhaps best remembered for playing Fred Astaire's dance partner in "Holiday Inn" (1942). Before coming to Hollywood, Dale danced on stage in New York as part of the Paxton Sisters. She switched to television in the early years of TV, appearing on shows such as "Wyatt Earp" and "Playhouse 90". She left the movie business for almost three decades before returning to the silver screen for a few films in the 1980s. She died from complications of emphysema in Burbank, California on October 3, 1994. Packard Ad - March 1945

Morning all and Happy St. Patrick's Day. 34F under cloudy skies. Rain starts mid morning and will continue until late tonight. Gusty winds this afternoon. High of 37F.

Armour and Company Ad - March 1943 1941: The 11th African Division captures Jijiga in central Abyssinia, having advanced 744 miles up the Italian built Strada Imperiale in just seventeen days. *Martha Vickers 1942: The deportation of Jews from Lublin to Belzec begins. 1942: General MacArthur arrives in Australia from the Philippines. Martha Vickers 1943: Bulgaria states opposition to deportation of its Jews. 1943: The Japanese attack British positions in Arakan, western Burma. RCA Radio Ad - March 1944 1944: The U.S. Eighth Air Force bombs Vienna. 1944: New Zealand troops take Cassino railway station. 1944: The British blow up the Manipur bridge South of Imphal. Martha Vickers 1945: The U.S. Third Army takes Koblenz. The Ludendorff bridge at Remagen, seized by US troops on the 7th March, suddenly collapses, killing dozens of US Army engineers working to reinforce it. Martha Vickers *Lovely, auburn-haired Martha Vickers (nee Martha MacVicar) was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on May 28, 1925, the daughter of James S. and Frances MacVicar. After attending schools in various states - Florida, Texas and California - she and her family settled on the West Coast. A raving beauty, she broke into the entertainment field as a model for still photographer William Mortenson. This attracted the interest of David O. Selznick and she signed a starlet contract with him, but nothing came of it. Universal took over her contract where she was groomed in inauspicious bit parts such as her corpse/victim in "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" (1943), and in such low-level entries as "Captive Wild Woman" (1943) and "The Mummy's Ghost" (1944). In between assignments, Martha earned WWII pin-up exposure in such magazines as "Yank: The Army Weekly." RKO gave her some higher-level billing chances with "Marine Raiders" (1944) and "The Falcon in Mexico" (1944), but it was Warner Bros. that put her officially on the map. The enticing Martha earned celebrity status and a new stage moniker when she generated some real heat as Lauren Bacall's wild, thumb-sucking sister Carmen in the film noir classic "The Big Sleep" (1946), which also starred Humphrey Bogart, playing the teenage nymphet "bad girl" for all it was worth. This major success quickly led to other "B" roles and not necessarily all "bad girl" parts. Highly appealing as the second femme lead in the pleasant musical "The Time, the Place and the Girl" (1946), Martha looked radiant but was overlooked for bigger things. She continued on and disrupted the proceedings again in the atmospheric film noir "The Man I Love" (1947) with Ida Lupino and finally earned leading lady status in "That Way with Women" (1947) opposite Dane Clark. Martha Vickers Very much a part of the Hollywood dating scene, which included actor James Stewart and director Frederick De Cordova, Martha finally married producer A.C. Lyles in March of 1948, but the marriage was over within a couple of months. Post-war films included "Love and Learn" (1947), another film noir piece "Ruthless" (1948), and the melodrama "Bad Boy" (1949), which was Audie Murphy's first starring role. She ended the decade top-lining the "Poverty-Row" drama "Alimony" (1949). Surprisingly, Martha's high-profiled second marriage in 1949 to film star Mickey Rooney (she was his third wife) did not advance her career. In fact, Martha was not seen in films at all during this period. Despite the couple having a son, Teddy Rooney, the next year (1950), Rooney had already hit the nadir of his career and had turned excessively to the bottle. Her marriage to Rooney would be short-lived as well. Martha married a third time in 1954 to Chilean polo player-turned-actor Manuel Rojas, best known for his co-starring role in "The Magnificent Matador" (1955), and she finally returned to the screen in "The Big Bluff" (1955) co-starring with John Bromfield. The momentum, however, was gone and the movie did nothing to generate new interest. She did move, however, into TV and performed effectively in a number of dramatic showcases. She and Rojas had two children, Tina and Tessa. In 1960, Martha did her last filming with the western "Four Fast Guns" (1960) and after guesting on a couple of episodes of the TV series "The Rebel," ended her career. Not much was heard from this sultry beauty until her death from esophageal cancer in 1971 at age 46 in Hollywood, California. TRIVIA: Height - 5' 3 1/2" Spouse: Manuel Rojas (1 October 1954 - 5 May 1965) (divorced) 2 children Mickey Rooney (3 June 1949 - 25 September 1951) (divorced) 1 child A.C. Lyles (15 March 1948 - 27 May 1949) (divorced) Performed under her real name through 1944. Shick Electric Shaver Ad - March 1945

Everything Fick touches goes to hell in a handbasket. Just ask former President Trump.

Could be Fork. Or it never worked right in the first place.

Go look at today's "Good Morning" post Pruneface.

Morning all. 30F under cloudy skies. Yesterday's storm of 4-6 inches of snow turned into a nothing burger with just a 1/2 inch snow and some ice. Most has already melted off the streets and driveways. Helmet's weather machine is on the fritz. It will remain cloudy throughout the day with a high of 41F.

United States Steel Ad - March 1943 1939: Germany occupies the rest Czechoslovakia. 1940: The Luftwaffe attacks the British Fleets anchorage at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. This raid causes the death of a British civilian, the first of the war. **Elaine Shepard 1941: The Kriegsmarine loses two of its most successful U-boat commanders, Kretschmer (U-99) and Schepke (U-100) to British escorts from convoy HX112. 1941: British troops from Aden, land at and capture Berbera in Italian occupied British Somaliland. 1943: Wolfpack 'Raubgraf' attacks convoys HX-229 (37 ships) until the 19th March, sinking 12 ships for 86,326 gross tons damaging 4. Another wolfpack, named 'Stürmer', attacks SC122 and over a period of four days and nights sinking 11 ships (54,740 tons) for the loss of just one U-boat, U-384 (Oblt. von Rosenberg-Gruszinski). Elaine Shepard 1944: Oswald Job, a British subject, is hanged for spying at Pentonville Prison. 1944: The British Eighth Army continues to batter itself against Monte Cassino. U.S. Rubber Company Ad - March 1945 1944: A Japanese advance through Burma isolates the British garrison at Imphal. During the three-month siege, 150,000 men had to rely entirely on air supply for their survival. More than 400 tons of stores had to be flown daily into a heavily guarded valley, with only three squadrons of Spitfires available for air defence and six squadrons of Hurricanes for attack. 1944: The 'Chindit' 'White City' base at Mawla severs Japanese communications in northern Burma. Elaine Shepard 1945: The US 8th Air Force launches a massive attack (675 bombers) against the HQ complex of the OKH at Zossen 20 miles south of Berlin, but with minimal effect. 1945: The German Heavy Cruisers Schlesien and Prinz Eugen give supporting fire forces of Heeresgruppe Kurland in their defense of the Kurland pocket. Elaine Shepard 1945: Two fresh Soviet armies of the 3rd Ukrainian Front counter attack the German offensive towards Budapest. 1945: Iwo Jima is declared secure by U.S. forces although small pockets of Japanese resistance still exist. *1935: Adolf Hitler orders a German rearmament and violates the Versailles Treaty. Elaine Shepard **Elaine Shepard was born on April 2, 1913 in Olney, Illinois. She was a Broadway and film actress in the 1930s and '40s. She was also the author of "The Doom Pussy", a semi-fictional account of aviation in the Vietnam War. Shepard's first film appearance was in the 1936 Republic serial "Darkest Africa", in which she played Valerie Tremaine, the heroine of the film. This was followed with a series of leading roles in other minor films. She then had several minor roles in major films, including playing a secretary in "Topper" and uncredited roles in "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" and the 1946 "Ziegfeld Follies". A more prominent role came in "Seven Days Ashore", a musical in which she plays the principal love interest for the band of sailors on shore leave. Shepard also had some minor appearances on Broadway, including a part in the 1940 Cole Porter musical "Panama Hattie". Shepard abandoned acting and turned to freelance journalism. She is best known in this role for her Vietnam War coverage, which became the basis for her 1967 book "The Doom Pussy", recounting her experiences with aviators in the early part of the war. This book is commonly cited as originating the phrase "the whole nine yards", though it is likely the source is older. Her presence in the press party for a 1959 European tour with President Eisenhower provided the occasion for a libel suit against Dorothy Kilgallen. Kilgallen wrote that a female member of the press on the trip had had an affair with a member of the White House staff; Shepard, however, was widely known to be the only woman on the trip. The suit dragged on for years. Elaine Shepard died on September 6, 1998 (aged 85) in New York City, New York. U.S. Rubber Company Ad - March 1945

Morning all. 31F with light snow. Under a Winter Storm Warning until late this afternoon. 4-6 inches of snow possible. Had freezing rain overnight that has everything coated with a layer of ice. It has switched over to snow as of 7:40. Gusting wind up to 35 MPH. High today of 32F.

LIFE Magazine Hollywood Pinups - March 1943... 1939: Germany occupies Bohemia and Moravia, Czechoslovakia. 1941: Roosevelt broadcasts to the nation announcing 'the end of compromise with tyranny. YANK Magazine RKO Pictures Starlets 1941: The British 'Northern Force' having concentrated the 4th and 5th Indian Divisions begin their offensive for Italian fortress of Keren in Eritrea. 1942: U-503 is sunk near the Grand Banks, off Newfoundland, by another aircraft from the US squadron, VP-82. Elizabeth Daily 1943: Germans re-capture Kharkov. 1944: The heaviest RAF raid of war is made against Stuttgart, with 3,000 tons dropped from 863 bombers, for the loss of only 36 planes. Betty Reid 1944: The allies pound Cassino, dropping 1,250 tons of bombs dropped and firing 195,969 in 7 and a half hours, but the troops make slow headway. 1944: The Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front breaks through German defenses and reaches the Bug river, the starting point in 1941 for Operation 'Barbarossa'. Helen O'Hara 1944: The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division lands on Manus in the Admiralty Islands. 1944: The Japanese begin crossing the Chindwin for an advance against Kohima. Elaine Shepard 1945: Attacks by troops of the US First Army to expand the Remagen bridgehead further, meet with little success. 1945: The Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front begins an offensive in the Ratibor area of Upper Silesia. 1945: U.S. troops report slow progress on Luzon in the Philippines. *1935: Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda bans four Berlin newspapers. **1949: Almost four years after the end of World War II, clothes rationing in Great Britain ends. U.S. Army WAAC Recruiting Ad - March 1943

Morning all. 43F with rain. Showers this afternoon with a high of 50F. Snow moves in tonight with 2-5 inches expected.

Shell Research Ad - March 1942 *1936: Adolf Hitler tells a crowd of 300,000 that Germany's only judge is God and itself. 1939: The Nazis dissolve the republic of Czechoslovakia. 1942: US troops arrive in Australia in force. **Karin/Kay Booth 1943: The Germans armored forces recapture Kharkov. 1943: The Krakow Ghetto is liquidated. Karin/Kay Booth 1943: The Royal Navy Submarine Thetis, now renamed Thunderbolt is sunk by the Italian corvette Cicogna, off Sicily. 1944: The British are forced to withdraw towards Imphal in Assam, while fighting a bitter rearguard action. Shell Research Ad - March 1944 1945: RAF Bomber Command make its first use of the 22,000lb 'Grand Slam' bomb, wrecking the Bielefeld viaduct. 1945: The US 15th Air Force, taking off from Italian airfields, launches a heavy raid (500 bombers) against Regensburg, while the RAF attacks Wuppertal with 400 aircraft. Karin/Kay Booth 1945: The U.S. Third Army crosses the Moselle, Southwest of Koblenz. 1945: German counterattacks to recapture the oilfields near Lake Balaton come to an end. The Red Army cuts all communications between Königsberg and the German forces fighting in the Braunsberg pocket. Karin/Kay Booth 1945: U.S. troops begin mopping up on Iwo Jima and launch heavy attacks in the North of the island. Karin/Kay Booth **Karin Booth was born June Francis Hoffman on the 19th of June, 1916 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under the name of June Francis, she becomes a Hollywood photographers model, then in April 1941 is signed by Paramount. They change her name to Katharine Booth. She will go into the acting school at the studio. Moving to MGM in 1942, she changed her screen name to Karin Booth and was given the standard studio "star" build-up. On April 30th, 1942 is among the show people of the "Hollywood Victory Caravan" hosted by Eleanor Roosevelt at the White House, Washington, D.C. The others are Oliver Hardy, Joan Blondell, Charlotte Greenwood, Charles Boyer, Rise Stevens, Desi Arnaz, Frank McHugh, Matt Brooks, James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Juanita Stark, Alma Carroll, Merle Oberon, Eleanor Powell, Arleen Whelan, Marie McDonald, Fay McKenzie, Frances Gifford, Frances Langford, Elyse Knox, Cary Grant, Claudette Colbert, Bob Hope, Joan Bennett, Bert Lahr, Jack Rose, Stan Laurel, Jerry Colonna, and Groucho Marx. In April 1948 Booth announces plans to marry Allan P. Carlisle. Carlisle is one of three sons of socially prominent New Yorker Jay F. Carlisle, head of Wall Street brokers Carlisle, Mellick & Company, and his wife Mary P., and a grandson of the founder of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. In March 1932 he hit the news when the press learned that he married New York taxi-dance Cinderella Romaine Fleming against his family's wishes in December 1931. The marriage ended in Reno in November 1935. In September 1946, as Kay Booth, she's one of 12 "fortunate girls selected to appear as 'glorified girls,' in true Ziegfeld tradition," in the upcoming "Ziegfeld Follies". In May 1948 the exclusive social set of Palm Beach, Florida, is reported abuzz over her romance with Carlisle. "Carlisle, recently divorced, is a noted yachtsman. The 27-year-old actress will wed under her legal name, June Francis Hoffman." Karin/Kay Booth On June 1st, 1948 marries Allan Pinkerton Carlisle, sportsman of Palm Beach, Florida, and East Islip, New York, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Byron Ramsing in Palm Beach, Florida. He's 36; she's 32; the press gives her age as 27. Carlisle will sell the big yacht on which they honeymoon off Florida, and he will settle with Karen in Hollywood. She wants to continue her movie career. After acquitting herself nicely in MGM's "The Unfinished Dance" (1947) and "The Big City" (1948), Karin was dropped by the studio for reasons that remain unclear. Karin Booth continued working in films into the 1950s, usually in such lower-berth programmers as "The Cariboo Trail" (1950), "Tobor the Great" (1955) and "The World Was His Jury" (1958); she retired in 1959. As Karen Booth Carlisle, she dies on July 27th, 2003 at age 87 in Jupiter, Florida. The Hollywood Victory Caravan was a three-week railroad journey of 1942 that brought a number of famous performers across the United States to raise money for war bonds. Along the way there were numerous stops, which coincided with parades, performances, and other events. Some performers were present for the entire journey, others joined or left as their schedules permitted. Shell Aviation Fuel Ad - March 1944

I will eat all the beans and Taco Bell I want to keep you away from me Fick.

What 15 minute break? The Dude doesn't allow breaks. Except your head. Or legs, or kneecaps.

Morning all. 36F under clear skies. Quiet and pleasant weather today, with a mix of sun and clouds with gradually more cloud cover later in the day. Light SW winds at 5 MPH. High reaching 56F.