February 21 Birthday Wishes

Charles King [1899 - 1983]

Monte Rawlins [1907 - 1988]

Zachary Scott [1914 - 1965]

Sam Peckinpah [1925 - 1984]

Larry Pennel [1928 - ]

Gary Lockwood [1937 - ]

Charles King was one of the top bad guys of the B-westerns, working opposite heroes like Bob Steele & Buster Crabbe. Was always fun watching him do his mischief in these old movies.
Zachary Scott was one of my favorites, working opposite Randolph Scott (Colt 45), Joel McCrea (South of St. Louis) & Sterling Hayden (Shotgun). He also worked in TV on shows like Rawhide. A class A actor,

Howdy Pards!!

Larry Pennel was always one of my favorite supporting actors. Because of his good looks, he most often played good guys. He had a good part in Midway, with Henry Fonda and Charleton Heston and he has appeared on just about every western series ever on t.v.. He also appeared on at least 2 soap operas, General Hospital and Days Of Our Lives. I last watched him in a weird comedy titled Bubba Ho Tep, with Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis, in which he played Kemo-Sabey!!

What can I say about Sam Peckinpah?? Schooled in the 50's t.v. westerns like The Westerner and The Rifleman, he both wrote and directed for these series. Then onto Hollywood and The Wild Bunch, Pat Garrett And Billy The The Kid, Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia, where he brought all the things he had learned to bear on the big screen. Although he didn't live long enough to match the number of films that John Ford, Henry Hathaway and other great directors managed to do, he will always rank in the very elite of western directors to western fans.

I first saw Gary Lockwood in the 2nd pilot for the original Star Trek series, titled Where No Man Has Gone Before with Sally Kellerman. He played a 1st Lieutenant, who acquired GOD like powers, because of contact with an alien. With the debut of 2001, A Space Odyssey, it appeared Lockwood was on his way to becoming a major box office star, but it was not to be. I next saw him in the western Fire Creek with Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, Morgan Woodward, Jack Elam and James Best along with the beautiful Inger Stevens. Although I'm sure he has had a successful career, he never reclaimed the star status of his movie debut.

Ed

I came to the conclusion, based on his fates in Star Trek and 2001, that Gary Lockwood didn't belong in space! He also had the leading role another Gene Roddenberry series called The Lieutenant as Lt. William Rice, a Marine Corps officer at Camp Pendleton. He made a lot of guest appearances on TV series up into the late 1990s.

I could post in this category practically every day, paying tribute to people living and dead who've contributed so much to the movies and shows we've enjoyed, but I haven't done so till now. I had to wish "Bloody Sam" a happy birthday, and hope he's living it up in that tequila joint up yonder. I'll raise a glass of Wild Cherry Diet Pepsi to you, Sammy -- it's been years since I've partaken of the substances you enjoyed in your earthly existence, but it's the thought that counts, isn't it? As Chain says, he's in the very top echelon of Western directors.

Birthday Greetings also to Mr. Scott, Mr. Pennel, Mr. King & Mr. Rollins. Not to forget Mr. Lockwood, who starred in Model Shop, a film I wanted to see for years and, when I finally did, kind of wished I hadn't. It was written & directed by Jacques Demy, who made the earlier The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, which I love (yes! a French movie with dialogue that's sung instead of spoken!) but Model Shop has almost none of the same magic.