Jerry Maren (center) as a member of the Lollipop Guild (with Harry Doll and Jackie Gerlich) in 1939′s “The Wizard of Oz,” and below, seventy years later, as he appeared last night at the Hollywood Christmas Parade.
Jerry will be 90 in January.
Maren also played “Light-Fingered Lester,” a tiny thief in a baby carriage in the Our Gang comedy “Tiny Troubles,” and played Professor Atom in the Marx Brothers “At the Circus.” He also played Buster Brown in the shoe ads and in appearances. A professional wrestler in the early 1950s, he was billed as “Baby Face Maren” and “The Little Red Devil.” He also threw the confetti at the end of “The Gong Show.”
My imaginary daughter Amy, 6, spent most of Thanksgiving day with her mother, Carolyn, at a Motel 6 in Fresno. As you can see by Carolyn’s expression, she was none too happy about it.
They had been on their way to join Carolyn’s boyfriend Fahd’s cousin Haroosh in Stockton when Carolyn’s Daewoo broke down in a Denny’s parking lot. Amy sent the pic of their room, which Amy said “has pretty bedspreads, but you wouldn’t like them, Ricky.”
Carolyn managed to get a room with a kitchenette, where she prepared Swanson Hungry-Man dinners she found at a liquor store, where Amy said “she also bought the cutest little bottles of Dewar’s.” They had to wait for Fahd to recover from a hangover so he could drive down to Fresno to pick them up. Last year, Fahd’s attempt at Thanksgiving was highly combustible.
“I liked the stuffing and the mashed potatoes” said my optimistic angel, who has rarely encountered a carbohydrate that did not agree with her culinary tastes, especially when combined with 1,600 mgs. of sodium. Then she texted me asking why her ankles were swollen, as you can see in the below photo.
A crunky-looking Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, is chastised by a nursery school teacher after breaking a second chair.
HRH Camilla, wearing an outfit from a Liverpool High School production of “A Christmas Carol,” is now attending day school with the children of the new Rose Hill Westonbirt Preparatory School, who will help her paint on her makeup, as seen below.
Filipina Muslims gathered in Manila this weekend to pray on the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice, in which animals are killed to commemorate Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son.
American women gathered in California to take advantage of holiday discounts on purses at a Coach outlet store. Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images
It’s a bird, it’s a plane… it’s Superman! Jimmy: “I don’t want to get a ticket… I’m doing 35.”
From 1949, “King of the Rocket Men,” filmed in glamorous Studio City at Republic Studios.
What’s going on between Miss Jensen and Molly’s mother??
After watching the American Music Awards and thinking about how much it sucked, it made me want to hear some real singers… like Frank Sinatra, from his 1965 TV special “A Man and His Music.” No herky-jerky dancing, no horde of backup dancers, no crotch grabs or same-sex kissing. Just Frank singing with a kick-ass band. One of my favorites, “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me,” is included in this clip, and the definitive version of Cole Porter’s “I Get a Kick Out of You.”
"These are simple people. The common clay. The salt of the earth. You know... morons."
--Gene Wilder as "The Waco Kid" in Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles"
