September 9 Birthday Wishes

Cliff Robertson [1923 - 2011]
Jane Greer [1924 - 2001]
Nick Ramos [1929 - 2007]

Cliff Robertson's film career began in the lat 1940s, and he played in several films and TV series during the '50s, including the starring role on Rod Brown and the Rocket Rangers. He then got his biggest break as Lt. John F. Kennedy in PT 109. JFK picked Robertson for the role over Edd Byrnes, Warren Beatty, and Jeffrey Hunter. In 1968 he won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as a mentally disabled man in Charly. He also appeared as a villain on Batman, a desperado called Shame, a parody of Alan Ladd's Shane. His last role was as Peter Parker's Uncle Ben in the Spider-Man movies.

Jane Greer was a model who was spotted by Howard Hughes, who put her in the movies. She appeared in several movies and TV shows, most notably as Kathy Moffat in Out of the Past in 1947. In 1984, she played in Against All Odds, a remake of Out of the Past, as the mother of her character from the original. She then had recurring role on Falcon Crest and Twin Peaks.

Nick Ramos was a Native American actor who played Tioga on Disney's Kit Carson and the Mountain Men, as well as several TV shows, like Little House on the Prairie and The Chishloms, rcurring roles on Falcon Crest and Dr. Quinn, and many TV movies, including Son of the Morning Star as Red Cloud.

Also today:

Art LeFleur (1943-) is a palooka-like actor in the William Bendix mold. Not particularly a Western actor, he appeared as a gambler in Maverick (1994), and in episodes of The Young Riders and The Magnificent Seven.

Tom Wopat (1951-) is best know as Luke Duke from The Dukes of Hazzard, and is also a singer and stage actor. He starred in the Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun in the late 1990's. Recently he appeared in the movie Jonah Hex, and on an episode of the Western/mystery series Longmire.

Jim and I watched Art LaFleur perform on stage in a Maxwell Anderson play down in Los Angeles. A powerful actor. John Alvin, a friend, had invited us with comp tickets to attend the play as he was also in it. In the old days Alvin worked in many Warner Brothers movies including Errol Flynn's San Antonio.
We also met and talked with Nick Rams in Utah when we were visiting on the set of our brother Ray's screenplay of Windwalker in which Ramos was one of the stars. A nice guy.