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The Bone Orchard
E through H
at Brian's Drive-In Theater
Updated 4/13/2009.
Navigate through the Bone Orchard pages using the alphabet links below. These pages are alphabetized by last name:
A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z E-Mail
Penny Edwards (1928-1998)
Pretty Penny Edwards began her film career at age 18 in the Shirley Temple film That Hagen Girl (1947; with Ronald Reagan). She made a few more screen appearances, usually in bit parts, until she signed with Republic in 1950. There, she often starred in low-budget westerns, such as Sunset in the West (1950) and Utah Wagon Train (1951). Edwards married in 1952 and called a halt to her film career to focus on raising a family. In 1957, she came out of retirement for three films, including Ride a Violent Mile, and she took guest roles in popular TV programs, such as The Alaskans and Perry Mason through the early 1960s. Edwards passed away at age 70 from lung cancer in 1998.
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Visit the Vince Edwards page.
Visit the Richard Egan page.
Visit the Anthony Eisley page.
Jack Elam (1918-2003)
Character actor Jack Elam broke into films as an accountant; while doing the books for Hopalong Cassidy Productions, he also appeared in small roles in William Boyd's films. Soon, he left accounting behind and began working steadily as an actor, often in westerns such as Ride Clear of Diablo (1954; with Audie Murphy) and The Night of the Grizzly (1966; with Clint Walker). While known primarily for appearing in westerns, Elam acted in a variety of film genres, including the noirish Kansas City Confidential (1952; with John Payne), the actioner Tarzan's Hidden Jungle (1955; with Gordon Scott), and the juvenile delinquent flick The Girl in Lovers Lane (1959; with Brett Halsey). Elam retired from acting in the early 1990s and passed away in October 2003 at the age of 84.
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Faye Emerson (1917-1983)
Beautiful Faye Emerson was a Warner Bros. contract player in the 1940s, where she acted in a number of B movies. But by the late 1940s, Emerson set her sights on television, where she served as an actress, hostess, and game show panelist. In the early 1960s, she cooled her career. Emerson passed away in 1983 from cancer at the age of 65. Among Emerson's husbands were Elliott Roosevelt (the son of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt), to whom she was married from 1942 through 1950, and Skitch Henderson, to whom she was married from 1950 through 1957.
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Dale Evans (1912-2001)
Born in Texas in 1912, Dale Evans suffered two early, unhappy marriages before beginning her career on radio in the early 1930s, after she moved to Kentucky and became a locally popular singer. Her radio career eventually escalated to the point where movie executives began to take notice of the pretty young singer, and in 1942 she was signed by 20th Century Fox. Her first film role was a small part in Orchestra Wives (1942). Fox dropped her option soon afterward, but Evans then signed with Republic Pictures in 1943. Republic immediately cast her in a string of westerns, in which Evans proved to be popular. In 1944, Evans first appeared with Roy Rogers in The Yellow Rose of Texas, and the on-screen chemistry between the two led Republic to cast them in a string of films. Rogers' wife passed away in 1946; Evans divorced her third husband in 1945, and soon Dale Evans and Roy Rogers became an off-screen item as well, marrying in 1947. The couple later starred in their TV series The Roy Rogers Show from 1951 through 1957. Afterward, with their growing business interests, they retired from the screen, making only occasional appearances in their later years. Rogers passed away in 1998, and Evans died in 2001 at the age of 88.
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Native New Yorker Jason Evers was born in January 1922. Using his real name Herbert Evers, he started acting while in his teens and worked his way up to Broadway productions quickly in the early 1940s. Service during World War II interrupted Evers' career, which didn't gain further momentum until the early 1960s. A lucky break for Evers came in 1959 when he was cast in the low-budget horror flick The Brain that Wouldn't Die (1962; with Virginia Leith). Although the cult-classic film sat on the shelf for three years before its 1962 release, it's arguably the picture that Evers is best known for. For the remainder of his career, he acted in films on occasion, such as Tarzan's Jungle Rebellion (1967; with Ron Ely), The Green Berets (1968; with John Wayne and Aldo Ray), and The Illustrated Man (1969; with Rod Steiger). Additionally, Evers logged many hours on television, working on his own series and appearing as a guest star on many others, including Star Trek, Mannix, and Mission: Impossible, from the early 1960s through the late 1980s. He more or less retired from acting in the 1980s, with the exception of Basket Case II (1990; with Kevin Van Hentenryck). Sadly, Jason Evers passed away in March 2005 at the age of 83. The above photo is from The Brain that Wouldn't Die.
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Jinx Falkenburg (1919-2003)
Exotic beauty Jinx Falkenburg was a top model before making a splash in films in the 1940s in such films as Two Latins from Manhattan (1941) and The Gay Senorita (1945). However, after just a few years of appearing in films, Falkenburg married and retired from the screen. She did, however, pop up on TV game shows from time to time in the 1950s and 1960s. Falkenburg passed away in August 2003 at the age of 84, just one month after her husband Tex McCrary died.
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Visit the Eric Fleming page.
Visit the Sean Flynn page.
While avid soap opera watchers recognize Constance Ford from her role on NBC's Another World on which she appeared for 25 years, she starred in a number of B movies and served in supporting roles in A pictures in the 1950s and 1960s. Among other pictures, Ford acted in Bailout at 43,000 (1957; with John Payne), A Summer Place (1959; with Richard Egan and Troy Donahue), The Cabinet of Caligari (1962; with Glynis Johns), and The Caretakers (1963; with Robert Stack and Van Williams). Ford's film career began to slow down in the 1960s, yet she found work in television, where she had guest starred on numerous programs since the early 1950s. In 1967, she signed on to portray Ada Lucas on NBC's long-running Another World. Ford stayed with the role until 1992, and she passed away in early 1993 at age 69, after a bout with cancer. The above photo is from House of Women (1962; with Barbara Nichols).
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Coleman Francis (1919-1973)
Actor-director-producer Coleman Francis acted in and directed a handful of extremely low-budget films in the late 1950s through the late 1960s. On about the same level as the so-bad-they're-good films of Edward D. Wood Jr., Francis's films were cheaply made and mostly terrible, yet loads of fun to watch. Of his three directorial efforts, The Skydivers (1963) is his best film, and all three---The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961; with Tor Johnson, The Skydivers, and Red Zone Cuba (1966)---aired on Mystery Science Theater 3000 in the earlier days of the series. He also acted in other films directed by such B-movie legends as Russ Meyer and Ray Dennis Steckler, including Motor Psycho (1965) and Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters (1965). Francis was found dead in the back of a car in Hollywood at the age of 53.
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Character actor Arthur Franz was born in New Jersey in February 1920. Developing a taste for acting as a teenager, his intended career was interrupted when he entered the armed services during World War II. Following the war, he resumed his acting career and had quite a bit of success on stage and in radio but did not act in his first film until the 1948 drama Jungle Patrol, in which he has a sizeable role. From there his film career took off, with Franz starring in numerous B movies and being cast in strong supporting roles in big-budget films. Today, he's best remembered in such B's as Invaders from Mars (1953; with Hillary Brooke), Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956; with Dana Andrews), Back from the Dead (1957; with Peggie Castle), and The Atomic Submarine (1959; with Brett Halsey and Joi Lansing). His work in television began in the early 1950s, where he was a frequent guest starr on such popular programs as Climax! and Perry Mason. His television appearances increased in number in the 1960s, while his film output dwindled. After more than three decades as a busy character actor in films and television, he called it a day after the release of That Championship Season (1982; with Bruce Dern and Robert Mitchum. Married four times, his most famous wife was actress Doreen Lang, to whom he was married from 1957 until her death in 1999. Sadly, Arthur Franz passed away in June 2006 at the age of 86; he was survived by his fourth wife, two daughters, and a son. The above photo is from Battle Taxi (1955; with Sterling Hayden and Marshall Thompson).
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Jane Frazee (1918-1985)
By the age of six, Jane Frazee was appearing in a vaudeville act with her sister. Eventually, the act had great success on radio, and this landed Frazee and her sister screen tests at Universal. Production executives immediately signed the talented girl but rejected her sister. Although Frazee was blessed with a good singing voice, acting talent, and beauty, she never really found the success in films she deserved. In the early 1940s, Frazee married silent screen actor Glenn Tryon, who was nearly 30 years her senior, but the married quickly dissolved. Frazee went into real estate in the 1950s and eventually left the film industry. After suffering a stroke, she passed away in 1985 at the age of 67.
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Lance Fuller (1928-2001)
Lance Fuller began his acting career as a teenager, taking bit parts in such films as To Have and Have Not (1944) and Song of Scheherazade (1947). In the early 1950s, he signed with Universal-International and acted in a string of films through the late 1950s. His best-known films include This Island Earth (1954; with Faith Domergue and Rex Reason); Slightly Scarlet (1956; with John Payne and Rhonda Fleming); and The She-Creature (1956; with Marla English). In the late 1950s, Universal dumped nearly all its contract players, leaving Fuller to contend with lesser scripts in films such as The Bride and the Beast (1958; written by Edward D. Wood Jr.) and Saint of Devil's Island (1961). Fuller retired from acting in the early 1960s. He passed away at the age of 73 in December 2001. Fuller's first wife was bombshell Joi Lansing.
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Christopher George (1929-1983)
Handsome Christopher George acted on stage, screen, and television during his acting career. Many fans will recall George as Sergeant Sam Troy from his 1966-1968 TV series The Rat Patrol, yet George made a number of low-budget films, including The Devil's 8 (1969; with Fabian), Grizzly (1976), and Pieces (1981; with Lynda Day George). Sadly, Christopher George passed away in November 1983 at the age of 54. From 1970 until the time of his death, he was married to beautiful Lynda Day George.
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Visit the Frances Gifford page.
Leo Gorcey (1917-1969)
Born to Vaudevillian parents in 1917, Leo Gorcey practically grew up onstage. As a teenager, he was spotted in a play by a talent scout. When the play, Dead End, was made into a movie a couple of years later, Gorcey went to Hollywood where he worked steadily, mostly in film series such as The Dead End Kids, The East Side Kids, finishing his career in The Bowery Boys comedies. He more or less retired from the screen in the late 1950s, taking on cameo roles from time to time. Gorcey passed away in June 1969, just one day shy of his 52nd birthday.
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Gloria Gordon (1937-1996)
Child actress Gloria Gordon made only a few films in the 1940s and 1950s before retiring from acting to marry and start a family. She passed away in 1996 at the age of 59.
Tom Graeff (1929-1970)
While Tom Graeff's name isn't known to most film enthusiasts, most 'B' movie fans have seen his lone film, the 1959 flick Teenagers From Outer Space, which Graeff wrote, produced, directed, and even acted in. (Graeff used the moniker 'Tom Lockyear' in his lone screen appearance---his full name was Thomas Lockyear Graeff.) Shot in 1957, Graeff's science fiction epic starred his lover, David Love. David Love (real name: Charles Robert Kaltenthaler) was born in Los Angeles in 1934. The film was once featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 as episode #404. Graeff worked only one other film; he served as editor for the 1965 science fiction film The Wizard of Mars. He passed away in San Diego, California, at the age of 41 in 1970. Love is rumored to have passed away as well, but I cannot find further information.
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Bonita Granville (1923-1988)
Petite Bonita Granville was born into a showbiz family and quickly became a child star. After a few years in films, she was given her own series in the form of the low-budget Nancy Drew mysteries produced by Warner Bros. in the late 1930s. Into the 1940s as Granville grew into a young woman, Granville was not able to carry her child-star status into adulthood. By the late 1940s, Granville walked away from acting, concentrating instead on her marriage, children, and role as producer of the Lassie TV series. Sadly, Granville died in 1988 at the age of 65 after a battle with cancer.
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Visit the Virginia Grey page.
Anne Gwynne (1918-2003)
Gorgeous Anne Gwynne rivaled Evelyn Ankers as the leading scream queen in 1940s Universal Studios horror flicks such as The Black Cat (1941; with Bela Lugosi), House of Frankenstein (1944; with John Carradine), and Weird Woman (1944; with Lon Chaney Jr. and Evelyn Ankers). Starting out as a swimsuit model, Gwynne was quickly noticed and signed to a long-term contract by the studio. During World War II, her cheesecake photos made her a favorite pin-up of GI's. Following the war, Gwynne married, and along with the decline in monster films, her film career slid. She then went into the then-new television medium, acting alongside John Howard in the 1947 DuMont series Public Prosecutor. By the late 1950s, Gwynne had retired from the screen. She passed away in March 2003 at the age of 84.
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Jean Hagen (1923-1977)
Pretty Jean Hagen's early career was quite successful; Hagen made a big splash in the film noir thriller The Asphalt Jungle (1950; with Sterling Hayden). She also starred in the MGM musical Singin' in the Rain (1952) as Lena LaMont, the hilariously talentless silent picture actress who is eventually upstaged by Debbie Reynolds. From there, she moved to TV as Danny Thomas' first wife in Make Room for Daddy (1953-1961). Unfortunately, Thomas and Hagen didn't see eye-to-eye, and she left the show in 1956. Hagen cooled her career afterward, taking time out to raise her son and daughter. On occasion she acted in such films as American International's Panic in Year Zero (1962; with Ray Milland and Frankie Avalon) and Dead Ringer (1964; with Bette Davis). She sporadically appeared in other films and TV shows until her death from throat cancer in 1977.
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Alan Hale, Jr. (1918-1990)
Known to TV viewers as Skipper on Gilligan's Island (1964-1967), Hale made more than 100 films and dozens of TV appearances before his death from cancer at age 71. He acted in a number of films aired on Mystery Science Theater 3000, such as The Giant Spider Invasion (1975; with Barbara Hale), Angels Revenge (1979; with Susan Kiger), and The Crawling Hand (1963; with Allison Hayes and Peter Breck). In addition, he made other drive-in films such as Thunder in Carolina (1960; with Rory Calhoun) and starred in several TV series in the 1950s.
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Huntz Hall (1919-1999)
Although Huntz Hall made more than 80 Bowery Boys and East Side Kids films, his real life was little like the characters of Sach and Glimpy that he portrayed in films. Hall practically grew up in the theater and was classically trained. He got his first big break when he was discovered by Broadway actor Martin Gabel (the second husband of game show queen Arlene Francis) in the mid 1930s. But when the Bowery Boys series of films ended in 1958, Hall began running afoul of the law. He was arrested several times for brawling, drunk driving, and marijuana possession. He took up acting, on an occasional basis, again in the mid 1960s, and even did a stint in a stage show as a transvestite, which was highly successful. Hall managed his money very well and became wealthy from his investments. Sadly, Hall passed away in January 1999 at the age of 79. The above photo is from the 1955 film Dig That Uranium.
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Valda Hansen (1932-1993)
An attractive starlet with several film credits, Hansen appears in Ed Wood's Night of the Ghouls (1958; released in 1988) as well as a few other films, mostly released in the 1970s. Hansen passed away from cancer at the age of 60.
Visit the Mickey Hargitay page.
Herk Harvey (1924-1996)
Harold A. "Herk" Harvey, a director of educational and industrial films for Centron Productions in Lawrence, Kansas, produced only one feature film: the cult classic Carnival of Souls (1962; with Candace Hilligoss). In 1989, after the rediscovery of his film, Hilligoss approached Harvey and writer John Clifford about doing a sequel, and she even worked up a screen treatment. But the deal never gained momentum. Sadly, Harvey was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and passed away in 1996 at age 71. Harvey worked for Centron from 1949 through 1984. Those of you who attended public schools in the U.S. during the 1950s and 1960s no doubt sat through several of Harvey's educational films without realizing his contribution to horror films. For Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans, if you have a copy of episode 313, Earth vs. the Spider, the public speaking short at the beginning was made by Harvey at Centron Productions in Lawrence, Kansas. In addition, Frances Feist (who is the owner of the boarding house in Carnival of Souls) portrays a speaker at a women's garden club in this 1950 short.
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Rondo Hatton (1894-1946)
Rondo Hatton spent his formative years in Tampa, Florida. Upon graduating from high school, Hatton entered the military and eventually fought in World War I. He was gassed in 1917 and was given a medical discharge. His health ravaged, Hatton returned to Tampa and found work as a newspaper reporter. Tragically, the poison gas triggered a pituitary gland disease termed "acromegaly," which began to horribly disfigure Hatton. He was spotted for films in the mid 1930s, and soon Hatton and his wife left for Hollywood. By the early 1940s, Hatton was finding regular work in Universal horror films such as The Spider Woman Strikes Back and The Pearl of Death. But Hatton's disease was also progessing, and he passed away in early 1946 at the age of 51.
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Visit the Sterling Hayden page.
Visit the Allison Hayes page.
John Hodiak (1914-1955)
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, actor John Hodiak sold cars before finding his way to the silver screen. Unable to serve in the military during World War II due to a heart condition, Hodiak emerged as one of the most popular leading men in the 1940s, starring in such films as Lifeboat (1944; with Tallulah Bankhead), Somewhere in the Night (1946), and Battleground (1949). By the 1950s, however, Hodiak's star had fallen somewhat, though he was still quite popular in B films. His heart condition began to worsen, and he passed away in 1955 at the age of 41 from a heart attack. Hodiak was married to actress Anne Baxter from 1946 to 1953.
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Visit the Tim Holt page.
Visit the William Hopper page.
Visit the John Howard page.
Visit the Rock Hudson page.
Visit the Mary Beth Hughes page.
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Visit the Jeffrey Hunter page.
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This page premiered October 5, 2000.
