September 21 Birthday Wishes

Rand Brooks [1918 - 2003]
Gail Russell [1924 - 1961]
Fred Beir [1927 - 1980]

Howdy Manco!!

Rand Brooks got his start in film, in 1938, with an uncredited part in a Mickey Rooney film, Andy Hardy Finds Love. He must have gotten someone's attention, because he snagged the role of Olivia De Haviland's brother in the classic Gone With The Wind in 1939. He appeared in several westerns and dozens of films through the 40's and 50's, like The Sombrero Kid, Northwest Passage, Wyoming Bandit and Cowboy Serenade. During the 50's, he began to appear in many of the ole t.v. westerns, like his role of Lucky Jenkins in the Hopalong Cassidy series, The Adventures Of Kit Carson and The Cisco Kid, right on through the 60's and 70's, with appearances on Emergency, Laramie and other popular shows of the day. He continued acting though 1974, at which time he started an ambulance service, which grew into one of the largest in California. Brooks passed away in 2003 at the age of 84.

Gail Russell began her acting career in 1943 and Paramount studios spotted her right away. She was cast with stars like Joel McCrea and Alan Ladd. She hit it big in 1947, when she was cast with John Wayne in, The Angel And The Badman. She next appeared in Song Of India, Wake Of The Red Witch, El Paso, The Lawless and appeared to be on her way to a long career in Hollywood. BUT, Gail had a major problem with shyness and began to drink to steady her nerves. She was arrested for driving under the influence and Paramount dropped her contract because of fear of bad publicity. She disappeared for about 5 years and next showed up with Randolph Scott in Seven Men From Now and The Tattered Dress and again disappeared for 2 years. She reappeared in 1960 in Manhunt and The Rebel, but her drinking problem was out of control. Her last film was The Silent Call and In August of 1961 at the young age of 36, she was found dead, surrounded by empty whiskey bottles. Her death was attributed to an alcohol induced heart attack.

I had to pull up a picture of Fred Beir, before I could place him. He was a handsome character actor, who spent almost his entire career appearing on t.v., from 1950-1980. He had roles on just about every t.v. series you can name, like The Deputy, The Rebel, The Virginian, Bonanza, The Mod Squad, The Big Valley, Kolchak, The Night Stalker and hundreds of others. He did appear in a couple of films, like Fort Courageous and The Organization. He will probably be best remembered as Larry Atwood on the 60's-70's daytime soap opera, Days Of Our Lives. Beir passed away at the young age of 52, in 1980.

Ed

Rand Brooks also spent several years playing Corporal Boone on the Rin Tin Tin television series.