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1-8 of 8
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Although this lovely, light brown-haired leading lady would wind up better known as one of Loretta Young's two elder acting sisters, Sally Blane nevertheless enjoyed a lively albeit modest "B" film career during the late 1920s and 1930s. The resemblance to her "A"-level sister was very strong -- the same graceful, elongated face and fawn-like, wide-set eyes. Unlike her younger sister, however, Sally lacked strong determination and ambition. Although she remained on the second or third Hollywood tier throughout her career, her film output was considerable if mostly routine.
Sally was born Elizabeth Jane Young in Salida, Colorado in 1910 while her mother was en route by train to the family home in Salt Lake City, Utah (the train actually had to make an unscheduled stop so that her mother could give birth). Her parents, Gladys and John, separated when she was five years old and her mother moved her four children to Hollywood where one of Gladys's sisters lived, later running a boarding house. All the children pitched in financially by becoming movie extras. Sally and her younger brother John R. Young (better known as Jack) both appeared uncredited in the silent film Sirens of the Sea (1917) starring Jack Mulhall, in which Sally played a sea nymph. Sally also had an unbilled part in Rudolph Valentino's smoldering classic The Sheik (1921).
Her beauty only heightened as she grew up. Director Wesley Ruggles noticed the teen dancing at the Café Montmartre (now known as Montmartre Lounge) and tested her for his "Collegian" film series. She was cast and soon signed by Paramount, which insisted on the new marquee name of Sally Blane. Around the same time, younger (by three years) sister Loretta (born Gretchen Young) signed with First National Pictures. During their early build-up both Sally and Loretta were dubbed "Wampas Baby Stars of 1929". Throughout this time their mother maintained a firm hand in the girls' personal and professional lives.
One of Sally's first leading roles was in the western Shootin' Irons (1927) and she went on to play a number of prairie flowers opposite Hollywood's top cowboys. She starred opposite Tom Mix in three pictures: Horseman of the Plains (1928), King Cowboy (1928), and Outlawed (1929). Her career peaked early, however, and Sally seemed content to freelance for such Poverty Row studios as Monogram, Excelsior, Chesterfield and Artclass in a variety of genres--crime thrillers, light comedies, mysteries, action adventures. She eventually developed a "nice girl" image.
A two-year lull occurred following the filming of Fox's This Is the Life (1935), and Sally never tried very hard to regain her momentum. Much of this had to do with her meeting of (in 1935) and marriage to (in 1937) director and one-time actor Norman Foster, who had once dated Loretta. Although Sally returned to films in 1937, she was already focused on her marriage and having a family. She and sisters Polly Ann Young and Georgiana Young, however, did make it a family affair at Loretta's insistence when they were given featured roles in Loretta's The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939). They all played, of course, Loretta's sisters and this was to be the only time all four girls ever appeared together. One of Sally's last pictures was in the whodunit Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939), directed by her husband. During WWII, the family, which now included a son and daughter, lived in Mexico where Foster was directing Spanish-language pictures. She appeared in one of them (La fuga (1944), with Ricardo Montalban). Later the family relocated to Beverly Hills and Sally officially ended her cinematic career with a small part in A Bullet for Joey (1955).
Comfortably retired for many decades, Foster died of cancer in 1976. Sally herself succumbed to the disease more than two decades later, on August 27, 1997. Cancer had claimed sister Polly just months earlier that same year. John R. Young also died in 1997, of undisclosed causes. Loretta would die of ovarian cancer in 2000. Sally was survived by her two children, Robert and Gretchen.- Steve Frazee worked in heavy construction and mining in his native Colorado and used that background in many of his stories. He began selling stories to the western and adventure pulp magazines in the late 1940s eventually graduated to better paying markets. His short story "My Brother Down There" won first place in the highly competitive annual story contest conducted by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. The short story was also selected for Martha Foley's "Best American Short Stories of the Year", a rare honor for a genre story. He expanded the story into the novel "Moving Target" and collaborated on the screenplay when it was filmed in 1957.
Best known for his western fiction, Frazee served as president of the Western Writers of America. He won the Western Heritage Award and was honored by the Cowboy Hall of Fame, both in 1961. He was also a popular writer of books for younger readers.
Writer/critic Bill Pronzini praised Frazee for his "...evocative, lyrical descriptions of wide-open spaces and of the awesome power of nature" as well as his "...flawless characterization...believable dialogue and the ability to create and sustain damp-palmed suspense." - Art Director
- Production Designer
George Patrick was born on 21 May 1905 in Salida, Colorado. He was an art director and production designer, known for Pickup on South Street (1953), Monkey Business (1952) and General Electric Theater (1953). He died on 10 January 1994 in Woodland Hills, California, USA.- Florence Fair was born on 14 December 1907 in Salida, Colorado, USA. She was an actress, known for The Love of Sunya (1927), The Firebird (1934) and In Caliente (1935). She was married to Shirley C. Burden. She died on 5 January 1969 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Leona Powers was born on 13 March 1896 in Salida, Colorado, USA. She was an actress, known for Robert Montgomery Presents (1950), Sweet Surrender (1935) and Deep Waters (1948). She was married to Howard Miller (actor). She died on 7 January 1970 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Jack Waltemeyer was born on 10 June 1883 in Salida, Colorado, USA. He was an actor, known for Perils of Thunder Mountain (1919), Dynamite Dan (1924) and The Iron Test (1918). He died on 12 January 1959 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Creator of unique characters for independent film. Started Possessed Hand Productions in 1999 and has been creating characters starting with Open Toed Mic (1999). A short film about the king of amateur karaoke. He has branched out into horror movies after years of comedy.
Started with a career in radio in 1993 while still at Ellicott High School. He worked his way to a morning show within a year and a half at KTSC-FM in Pueblo, Colorado. There he began creating morning show skits including "The Preachings of Father Franklin R Queens", "Secret Agent Harvey Markie", and "The Ramblings of Pyscho Mouse". He was the most awarded 19 year old in the history of radio in the Rocky Mountain Region. He continued as a morning show host as well as a broadcaster winning multiple awards, including awards for production. At one point he ran a radio commercial department that did radio spots for 50 stations across the country.
AJ started doing television in 1998 where his spoofs and skits lead him to the show "Wrapping with the Possessed" where the host would talk to various people and they would have possessed body parts attack her.- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Producer
Born in Buena Vista, Colorado, Aaron Stahlecker grew up in Woodland Park, Colorado. His parents, Joel Stahlecker, a veterinarian, and Lisa Stahlecker, an accountant, were always supportive of his love for the creative side of life, which he expressed through acting and music. In part due to his Lutheran upbringing, Aaron attended Valparaiso University in Indiana where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Theatre and Television Arts. After graduation, he moved to Chicago where he found work on set for independent films and commercials. During this time, he lived with his classmate from Valpo, Mike Green, and together they began writing the script for an independent film, Providence. He also began work at the prestigious Stagedoor Manor performing arts summer camp, which has seen the likes of Natalie Portman, Zach Braff, and Bryce Dallas Howard pass through it's ranks, where he teaches filmmaking and directs the students' film shorts. As of the Fall of 2007, he resides in Northwest Indiana and is developing upcoming film productions, including an adaptation of the novel Silence by Japanese author Shusaku Endo