Jaime Alfonso Escalante Gutierrez (December 31, 1930 – March 30, 2010) was a Bolivian educator known for teaching students calculus from 1974 to 1991 at Garfield High School, East Los Angeles, California. Escalante was the subject of the 1988 film Stand and Deliver, in which he is portrayed by Edward James Olmos.
In 1993, the asteroid 5095 Escalante was named after him.[2]
Career
Escalante was born to two teachers of Aymara ancestry [3][4] on December 31, 1930 in La Paz, Bolivia. He was proud of his Aymara heritage and as an adult would proudly proclaim "The Aymara knew math before the Greeks and Egyptians."[5] He taught mathematics and physics for 12 years in his mother country before immigrating to the USA.[4] After immigrating, "he had to work many odd jobs, teach himself English and earn another college degree before he could return to the classroom."[6] In 1974, he began teaching at Garfield High School. Escalante eventually changed his mind about returning to work when he found 12 students willing to take an algebra class.[7]
Shortly after Escalante came to Garfield High, its accreditation became threatened. Instead of gearing classes to poorly performing students, Escalante offered AP Calculus. He had already earned the criticism of an administrator who disapproved of his requiring the students to answer a homework question before being allowed into the classroom. "He told me to just get them inside," Escalante reported, "but I said, there is no teaching, no learning going on."
Determined to change the status quo, Escalante had to persuade the first few students who would listen to him that they could control their futures with the right education. He promised them that the jobs would be in engineering, electronics and computers but they would have to learn math to succeed. He said to his students "I'll teach you math and that's your language. With that you're going to make it. You're going to college and sit in the first row, not the back, because you're going to know more than anybody."
The school administration opposed Escalante frequently during his first few years. He was threatened with dismissal by an assistant principal because he was coming in too early, leaving too late, and failing to get administrative permission to raise funds to pay for his students' Advanced Placement tests. This opposition changed with arrival of a new principal, Henry Gradillas. Aside from allowing Escalante to stay as a math teacher, Gradillas overhauled the academic curriculum at Garfield, reducing the number of basic math classes and requiring those taking basic math to concurrently take algebra. He denied extracurricular activities to students who failed to maintain a C average and new students who failed basic skills tests. One of Escalante's students remarked about him, "If he wants to teach us that bad, we can learn."
Escalante continued to teach at Garfield, but it was not until 1978 that Escalante would instruct his first calculus class. He hoped that it could provide the leverage to improve lower-level math courses. To this end, Escalante recruited fellow teacher Ben Jiménez and taught calculus to five students, two of whom passed the AP calculus test. The following year, the class size increased to nine students, seven of whom passed the AP calculus test. By 1981, the class had increased to 15 students, 14 of whom passed. Escalante placed a high priority on pressuring his students to pass their math classes, particularly calculus. He rejected the common practice of ranking students from first to last and instead frequently told his students to press themselves as hard as possible in their assignments.[7]
National attention
In 1982, Escalante came into the national spotlight when 18 of his students passed the challenging Advanced Placement Calculus exam. The Educational Testing Service found these scores to be suspicious, because all of the students made exactly the same math error on problem #6, and also used the same unusual variable names. Fourteen of those who passed were asked to take the exam again. Twelve of the fourteen agreed to retake the test and all twelve did well enough to have their scores reinstated. In 1983, the number of students enrolling and passing the A.P. calculus test more than doubled. That year 33 students took the exam and 30 passed. That year Escalante also started teaching calculus at East Los Angeles College. By 1987, 73 students passed the A.P. calculus AB exam and another 12 passed the BC version of the test. This was the peak for the calculus program. The same year Gradillas went on sabbatical to finish his doctorate with hopes that he could be reinstated as principal at Garfield or a similar school with similar programs upon his return.
In 1988 a book Escalante: The Best Teacher in America by Jay Mathews and a movie Stand and Deliver were released detailing the events of 1982. During this time teachers and other interested observers asked to sit in on his classes. He shared with them: "The key to my success with youngsters is a very simple and time-honored tradition: hard work for teacher and student alike". Escalante received visits from political leaders and celebrities, including then-President Ronald Reagan and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.[8]
Escalante has described the film as "90% truth, 10% drama." He stated that several points were left out of the film:
It took him several years to achieve the kind of success shown in the film.
In no case was a student who didn't know multiplication tables or fractions taught calculus in a single year.
Escalante suffered inflammation of the gall bladder, not a heart attack.
Over the next few years Escalante's calculus program continued to grow but not without its own price. Tensions that surfaced when his career began at Garfield escalated. In his final years at Garfield, Escalante received threats and hate mail from various individuals.[9] By 1990, he had lost the math department chairmanship. At this point Escalante's math enrichment program had grown to 400+ students. His class sizes had increased to over 50 students in some cases. This was far beyond the 35 student limit set by the teachers' union, which in turn increased criticism of Escalante's work. In 1991, the number of Garfield students taking advanced placement examinations in math and other subjects jumped to 570. That same year, citing faculty politics and petty jealousies, Escalante and Jiménez left Garfield. Escalante found new employment at Hiram W. Johnson High School in Sacramento, California. At the height of Escalante's influence, Garfield graduates were entering the University of Southern California in such great numbers that they outnumbered all the other high schools in the working-class East Los Angeles region combined.[10] Even students who failed the AP went on to become star students at California State University, Los Angeles in large numbers.[9]
Angelo Villavicencio took the reins of the program after their departure and taught the remaining 107 AP students in two classes for the next year. Sixty-seven of Villavicencio's students went on to take the AP exam and forty-seven passed. Villavicencio's request for a third class due to class size was denied and the following spring he followed Escalante and quit Garfield. The math program's decline at Garfield became apparent following the departure of Escalante and other teachers associated with its inception and development. In just a few years, the number of AP calculus students at Garfield who passed their exams dropped by more than 80 percent. In 1996, Villavicencio contacted Garfield's new principal, Tony Garcia, and offered to come back to help revive the dying calculus program. His offer was rejected.[9]
Later life and death
During the mid-1990s, Escalante became a strong supporter of "English-only" education efforts. In 1997, he joined the "English for Children" initiative, which was a campaign against bilingual education in local California schools.
In 2001, after many years of preparing teenagers for the AP calculus exam, Escalante returned to his native Bolivia. He lived in his wife's hometown, Cochabamba, and taught at Universidad Privada del Valle.[11] He returned to the United States frequently to visit his children.
As of March 2010, he faced financial difficulties from the cost of his cancer treatment. Cast members from Stand and Deliver, including Edward James Olmos, and some of Escalante's former pupils, raised funds to help pay for his medical bills.
Jaime Escalante moved to Sacramento, California, to live with his son in the city of Rancho Cordova. He taught at Hiram Johnson High School, a school very similar to Garfield High School.[12] He died on March 30, 2010, aged 79, at his son's home while undergoing treatment for bladder cancer.[13][14]
On Thursday April 1, 2010 a memorial service honoring Escalante was held at the Garfield High School where he taught from 1974 to 1991. Students observed a moment of silence on the front steps of the campus.[15]
Another tribute to Escalante occurred in Portland, OR, where an unnamed artist replaced real street signs with fake ones as a prank, including "N Jaime Escalante Ave."[16]
A wake was held on April 17, 2010 in the classroom at Garfield High School where he taught calculus.[17]
On Saturday, May 22, 2010, the California State University, Los Angeles chapter of Golden Key International Honour Society (GKIHS) honored Jaime Escalante by awarding him honorary membership at the New Member Recognition Ceremony. The award was accepted on behalf of the Escalante family by actress Vanessa Marquez, who appeared in the film Stand and Deliver, and LAUSD educator Elsa Bolado, who was a member of that first calculus class.
Escalante is buried in an unmarked grave at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier Lakeside Gardens, Burial Section 18, Burial lot 3914, Grave 3, entrance 10.
Education
Unspecified Year: Escuela Normal Simón Bolivar, School Teacher Degree
1955: University Mayor de San Andres, Licentiate in Mathematics
1969: Associate of Arts, Pasadena City College
1973: Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics, California State University, Los Angeles
1977: Standard teaching credential, California State University, Los Angeles
1982: Standard teaching credential, California State University, Los Angeles.
1984: Standard teaching credential, Florida State University, Florida
Awards
1988 – Presidential Medal for Excellence in Education, awarded by President Ronald Reagan [18]
1988 – Hispanic Heritage Awards Honoree
1989 – Honorary Doctor of Science – University of Massachusetts Boston [19]
1990 – Honorary Doctor of Humanities – California State University, Los Angeles [20]
1990 – Honorary Doctor of Education – Concordia University, Montreal [21]
1990 – Honorary Doctor of Laws – University of Northern Colorado [22]
1990 – Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.[23]
1998 – Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters – Wittenberg University [24]
1998 – Free Spirit Award, from the Freedom Forum
1998 – Andrés Bello prize, from the Organization of American States
1999 – Inductee National Teachers Hall of Fame [25]
2002 – Member, President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans [26]
2005 – The Highest Office Award – Center for Youth Citizenship
2005 – Best teacher in North America – Freedom Forum
2014 – Foundational Award Winner, posthumously given to Fabiola Escalante – Escalante–Gradillas Best in Education Prize [27]
References
1. Woo, Elaine (March 31, 2010). "Jaime Escalante dies at 79; math teacher who challenged East L.A. students to 'Stand and Deliver'". Los Angeles Times.
2. Michigan State University Newsroom – MSU spring commencement speakers reflect dedication to education
3. Anne E. Schraff , Jaime Escalante: Inspirational Math Teacher (ISBN 978-0766029675), p. 12-13
4. "Jaime Escalante Bio". The Futures Channel.
5. Anne E. Schraff , Jaime Escalante: Inspirational Math Teacher (ISBN 978-0766029675), p. 12
6. "Jaime Escalante biography". A+E Television Networks, LLC.
7. Mathews
8. Jay Mathews, Escalante: The Best Teacher in America (ISBN 0-8050-1195-1), p. 210
9. Jesness, Jerry (July 2002). "Stand and Deliver Revisited". Reason. (Archive)
10. Mathews, p. 297
11. "Más de 400 alumnos rindieron homenaje al profesor Jaime Escalante". Gobierno Autonomo Departamental Santa Cruz.
12. Bates, Karen Grigsby (March 9, 2010). "Students 'Stand And Deliver' For Former Teacher". All Things Considered. NPR.
13. Raquel Maria Dillon, Associated Press (2010-03-30). "Teacher Who Inspired 'Stand and Deliver' Film Dies". ABC News.
14. Bermudez, Esmeralda (February 2010). "From his sickbed, Garfield High legend is still delivering". Los Angeles Times.
15. Garfield High pays tribute to Jaime Escalante
16. http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2010/04/01/prank-renames-interstate-ave-to-tonya-harding-ave
17. Honoring a legendary teacher and his legacy
18. "Schwarzenegger Convenes Education Summit". September 10, 2003.
19. Reid, Alexander (June 2, 1991). "UMass Speaker Stresses Need for Science, Technology Education". The Boston Globe. p. 42.
20. "History of Cal State L.A.". California State University, Los Angeles. CSU/CSLA honorary doctorate awarded to alumnus Jaime Escalante '73, '77, '82 at 43rd Commencement.
21. [1] Archived August 21, 2006 at the Wayback Machine
22. "University of Northern Colorado Honorary Degrees Conferred" (PDF). University of Northern Colorado.
23. http://www.jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national
24. "'Hero' Teacher Escalante Addresses Students At Wittenberg Commencement May 9". Wittenberg University. April 13, 2004.
25. "Jaime Escalante: 1999 Inductee". National Teachers Hall of Fame.
26. "Presidential Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans". White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.
27. "Escalante-Gradillas $20,000 Prize for Best in Education". The Best Schools.
James Francis "Jim" Thorpe (Sac and Fox (Sauk): Wa-Tho-Huk, translated as "Bright Path"; May 22, 1887 – March 28, 1953) was a Sac and Fox athlete of Native American and European ancestry. Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won Olympic gold medals in the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon, played American football (collegiate and professional), and also played professional baseball and basketball. He lost his Olympic titles after it was found he was paid for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics, thus violating the amateurism rules that were then in place. In 1983, 30 years after his death, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) restored his Olympic medals.
Thorpe grew up in the Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma. He played as part of several all American Indian teams throughout his career, and "barnstormed" as a professional basketball player with a team composed entirely of American Indians.
From 1920 to 1921, Thorpe was nominally the first president of the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which would become the National Football League (NFL) in 1922.
He played professional sports until age 41, the end of his sports career coinciding with the start of the Great Depression. Thorpe struggled to earn a living after that, working several odd jobs. Thorpe suffered from alcoholism, and lived his last years in failing health and poverty.
In a poll of sports fans conducted by ABC Sports, Thorpe was voted the Greatest Athlete of the Twentieth Century out of 15 other athletes including Muhammad Ali, Babe Ruth, Jesse Owens, Wayne Gretzky, Jack Nicklaus, and Michael Jordan.
Thorpe was memorialized in the Warner Bros. film Jim Thorpe – All-American (1951) starring Burt Lancaster, with Billy Gray performing as Thorpe as a child. The film was directed by Michael Curtiz. Although there were rumors that Thorpe received no money, he was paid $15,000 by Warner Bros. plus a $2,500 donation toward an annuity for him by the studio head of publicity.
Death
In early 1953, Thorpe went into heart failure for the third time while dining with Patricia in their home in a Lomita, California trailer park. He was briefly revived by artificial respiration and spoke to those around him, but lost consciousness shortly afterward and died on March 28 at the age of 65.
Thorpe's body was lying in state at Fairview Cemetery in Shawnee, Oklahoma, after citizens had paid to have it moved there by train from California. The people were in a fund raising effort to erect a permanent monument and burial place for Thorpe at the town's Athletic Park. Local officials had asked the state legislature for funding but were turned down so they doubled their efforts to raise the money on their own. Meanwhile, Thorpe's third wife, unbeknownst to the rest of his family, "stole" Thorpe's body and had it shipped to Pennsylvania when she heard that the small Pennsylvania towns of Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk were seeking to attract business. She made a deal with officials which, according to Thorpe's son Jack, was done by Patricia for monetary considerations. The towns bought Thorpe's remains, erected a monument to him, merged, and renamed the newly united town in his honor Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania even though Thorpe had never been there. The monument site contains his tomb, two statues of him in athletic poses, and historical markers describing his life story.
Richard Arlen (September 1, 1899[1] – March 28, 1976) was an American actor of film and television.
Biography
Born Sylvanus Richard Van Mattimore in St. Paul, Minnesota, he attended the University of Pennsylvania. He served in Canada as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. His first job after the war was with St. Paul's Athletic Club. Then he went to the oilfields of Texas and Oklahoma and found work as a tool boy. He was thereafter a messenger and sporting editor of a newspaper before going to Los Angeles to star in films, but no producer wanted him. He was a delivery boy for a film laboratory when the motorcycle which he was riding landed him a broken leg outside the Paramount Pictures lot. A sympathetic film director gave him his start as an extra. He appeared at first in silent films before making the transition to talkies. His first important film role was in Vengeance of the Deep (1923).
He took time out from his Hollywood career to teach as a United States Army Air Forces flight instructor in World War II.
Arlen is best known for his role as a pilot in the Academy Award-winning Wings (1927) with Clara Bow, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Gary Cooper, El Brendel, and his first wife, Jobyna Ralston, whom he married in 1927. He was among the more famous residents of the celebrity enclave, Toluca Lake, California.[2]
In the 1950s and early 1960s, Arlen was active in television, having guest starred in several anthology series, including Playhouse 90, The Loretta Young Show, The 20th Century Fox Hour, and in three episodes of the series about clergymen, Crossroads.[3]
In 1968, he appeared on Petticoat Junction...playing himself. The episode was called "Wings" and it was in direct reference to the 1927 silent movie Wings.
Arlen appeared in westerns, such as Lawman, Branded, Bat Masterson, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Wagon Train, and Yancy Derringer, and in such drama/adventure programs like Ripcord, Whirlybirds, Perry Mason, The New Breed, Coronado 9, and Michael Shayne.[3]
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Richard Arlen has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6753 Hollywood Blvd.
On his death from emphysema in 1976, Arlen was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
References
1. Although Arlen's birthplace is often listed as Charlottesville, Virginia and his birth name as Cornelius Richard Van Mattimore, other non-Hollywood information is different. The "Van" is likely a shorten version of Sylvanus, not an additional name. The 1 June 1900 census data says Arlen's father, James Mattimore lived in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1900 with five children, the youngest of whom is Sylvanus, who was born in Minnesota (city unspecified) in September 1899 and was also listed as 8/12 years of age. Sylvanus was also listed in the 1 April 1910 census as being 10 years old. On Arlen's 12 September 1918 draft card, his name given as Van Mattimore, a member of the Royal Flying Corps of the British Army, based in Toronto, his nearest relative is listed as his father James Mattimore. The 1918 draft card's date of birth is given as 1 Sept 1900, and it would appear that the writer started to put the year of birth as 18 and then wrote over the 8 with a 9, so it appears as 1900. The Social Security Administration notes Richard Arlen was born on 1 Sept 1899 and died in March 1976. The census of 1930 lists Van Mattimore, Richard age 29. It says that he and both parents were born in Minnesota. According to the 1900 and 1910 census, his father was born in Ireland.
2. History of Toluca Lake from TolucaLakeChamber.com
3. "Richard Arlen". Internet Movie Data Base.
Abby Mann (December 1, 1927 – March 25, 2008) was an American film writer and producer.[1]
Life and career
Born to a Jewish family[2] as Abraham Goodman in Philadelphia, he grew up in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants. He was best known for his work on controversial subjects and social drama. His best known work is the screenplay for Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), which was initially a television drama which aired in 1959. Stanley Kramer directed the film adaptation, for which Mann received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. In his acceptance speech, he said:
"A writer worth his salt at all has an obligation not only to entertain but to comment on the world in which he lives."[3]
Mann later adapted the play for a 2001 production on Broadway, which featured Maximilian Schell from the 1961 film in a different role.[4] In the introduction to the printed script, Mann credited a conversation with Abraham Pomerantz, U.S. Chief Deputy Counsel, for giving him the initial interest in Nuremberg.[5] Mann and Kramer also collaborated on the film A Child is Waiting (1963).
Working for television, he created the television series Kojak, starring Telly Savalas. Mann was executive producer, but was credited as a writer also on many episodes.[6] His other writing credits include the screenplays for the television films The Marcus-Nelson Murders, The Atlanta Child Murders,[7] Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story,[8] and Indictment: The McMartin Trial,[9] as well as the film War and Love.[10] He also directed the 1978 NBC TV miniseries King.
He died of heart failure in Beverly Hills, California on March 25, 2008, aged 80.[11][12] He died one day after Richard Widmark, one of the stars of Judgment at Nuremberg.
His stepson is former Israeli Special Forces operative Aaron Cohen.[13]
Mann is interred in Culver City's Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery.
Selected filmography
Port of Escape (1956)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
A Child Is Waiting (1963)
The Detective (1968)
The Marcus-Nelson Murders (1973)
King (1978, also director)
The Atlanta Child Murders (1985)
Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story (1992)
References
1. RON WERTHEIMERPublished: February 23, 2002 (2002-02-23). "Ron Wertheimer, "The Sleeping Car Porter Who Won the Last Round". ''The New York Times'', February 23, 2002". New York Times.
2. Erens, Patricia (1998). The Jew in American Cinema. Indiana University Press. p. 392. ISBN 978-0-253-20493-6.
3. "Ron Weiskind and Barbara Vancheri, "Pittsburgh goes to the Oscars". ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', March 9, 2003". Post-gazette.com. 2003-03-09.
4. Bruce Weber, "On Evil and the Citizen, No Answers Are Easy". The New York Times, March 27, 2001.
5. Mann, Abby. Judgment at Nuremberg - A play. New Directions. pp. ix.
6. "'Kojak' (1973)". Internet Movie Database
7. Bedell, Sally (1985-02-09). "Sally Bedell Smith, "CBS Turning Cameras on its Decision-Makers". ''The New York Times'', February 9, 1985". New York Times.
8. JOHN J. O'CONNORPublished: September 11, 1992 (1992-09-11). "John J. O'Connor, "Corruption, Love and Murder, All From Real Life". ''The New York Times'', September 11, 1992". New York Times.
9. JOHN J. O'CONNORPublished: May 19, 1995 (1995-05-19). "John J. O'Connor, "The Horrors Behind The McMartin Trial". ''The New York Times'', May 19, 1995". New York Times.
10. Vincent Canby, "Screen: War and Love". The New York Times, September 13, 1985.
11. Saperstein, Pat (2008-03-26). "Obituary". Variety. Retrieved 2012-09-04.
12. Obituary - Los Angeles Times Archived May 12, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
13. Obituary - New York Times
Robert Martin Culp (August 16, 1930 – March 24, 2010) was an American actor, screenwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television.[1] Culp earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy (1965–1968), the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents. Prior to that, he starred in the CBS/Four Star western series, Trackdown as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman from 1957-1959.
The 1980s brought him back to television. He starred as FBI Agent Bill Maxwell on The Greatest American Hero and also had a recurring role as Warren Whelan on Everybody Loves Raymond.[2] In all, Culp gave hundreds of performances in a career spanning more than 50 years.
Early life
Culp was born on August 16, 1930 in Oakland, California, to Crozier Cordell Culp, an attorney, and his wife, Bethel Martin (née Collins) Culp. He graduated from Berkeley High School,[3] where he was a pole vaulter and took second place at the 1947 CIF California State Meet.[4]
He attended the College of the Pacific, Washington University in St. Louis, San Francisco State College, and the University of Washington School of Drama but never completed an academic degree.
Career
Television performances
Trackdown
Culp first came to national attention very early in his career as the star of the 1957–1959 Western television series Trackdown, in which he played Ranger Hoby Gilman, based in the fictional town of Porter, Texas, of which he is also the sheriff.[3] Trackdown is a spin-off of Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, which also aired on CBS. Culp's character was introduced in an episode titled "Badge of Honor." Culp later appeared in two other episodes of Zane Grey Theater — "Morning Incident" and "Calico Bait" (both 1960) playing different roles. Trackdown then had a CBS spin-off of its own: Wanted: Dead or Alive, with Steve McQueen as bounty hunter Josh Randall.[5]
After Trackdown ended in 1959 following two seasons on the air, Culp continued to work in television, including a guest-starring role as Stewart Douglas in the 1960 episode "So Dim the Light" of CBS's anthology series, The DuPont Show with June Allyson. In the summer of 1960, he guest starred on David McLean's NBC western series, Tate. He also played Clay Horne in the series finale, "Cave-In", of the CBS western Johnny Ringo, starring Don Durant. In 1961, Culp played the part of Craig Kern, a morphine addicted soldier, in the episode "Incident on Top of the World" in the CBS series Rawhide. About this time, Culp was cast on the NBC anthology series, The Barbara Stanwyck Show and in the NBC Civil War drama, The Americans.
Culp was cast as Captain Shark in a first season episode of NBC's The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964). Among his more memorable performances were in three episodes of the science-fiction anthology series on ABC The Outer Limits (1963–1965), including the classic "Demon with a Glass Hand," written by Harlan Ellison. In the 1961 season, he guest starred on the NBC's western Bonanza In the 1961–1962 season, he guest starred on ABC's crime drama Target: The Corruptors!. In the 1962–1963 season, he guest starred in NBC's modern Western series Empire starring Richard Egan. In 1965, he was cast as Frank Melo in "The Tender Twigs" of James Franciscus's NBC education drama series, Mr. Novak, guest starring along with the Crawford brothers, Johnny and Robert.
Culp then played secret agent Kelly Robinson, who operated undercover as a touring tennis professional, for three years on the hit NBC series I Spy (1965–1968), with co-star Bill Cosby. Culp wrote the scripts for seven episodes, one of which he also directed. One episode earned him an Emmy nomination for writing. For all three years of the series he was also nominated for an acting Emmy (Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series category), but lost each time to Cosby.
In 1968, Culp also made an uncredited cameo appearance as an inebriated Turkish waiter on Get Smart, the spy-spoof comedy series, in an I Spy parody episode titled "Die Spy." In this, secret agent Maxwell Smart played by Don Adams in effect assumes Culp's Kelly Robinson character as he pretends to be an international table-tennis champion. The episode faithfully recreates the I Spy theme music, montage graphics, and back-and-forth banter between Robinson and Scott—with actor/comedian Stu Gilliam imitating Cosby.
In 1971, Culp, Peter Falk, Robert Wagner, and Darren McGavin each stepped in to take turns with Anthony Franciosa's rotation of NBC's series The Name of the Game after Franciosa was fired, alternating a lead role of the lavish 90-minute show about the magazine business with Gene Barry and Robert Stack.
Culp is also remembered as the special guest murderer in three separate Columbo episodes (in 1971, 1972, and 1973) and also appeared in a 1990 episode, then as the father of one of two young murderers.
In 1973, Culp almost took the male lead in the sci-fi television series Space: 1999. During negotiations with creator and executive producer Gerry Anderson, Culp expressed himself to be not only an asset as an actor, but also as a director and producer for the proposed series. The part instead went to Martin Landau.[6]
Culp co-starred in The Greatest American Hero as tough veteran FBI Special Agent Bill Maxwell, who teams up with a high school teacher who receives superpowers from extraterrestrials. Culp wrote and directed the second season finale episode "Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell," with free rein to do the episode as he saw fit. The show lasted three years from 1981 to 1983.[3] He reprised the role in a voice-over on the stop-motion sketch comedy Robot Chicken.
In 1987, he reunited with Bill Cosby on The Cosby Show, playing Dr. Cliff Huxtable's old friend Scott Kelly. The name was a combination of their I Spy characters' names.
When contract negotiations with Larry Hagman over his character, J.R. Ewing, on the soap opera Dallas faltered, it was rumored that Culp was ready to step into the role. However, this turned out to be untrue. Culp said in interviews that he was never contacted by anyone from Dallas about the part. He was working on The Greatest American Hero at the time and stated that he would not have left his role as Maxwell even if it had been offered.
Culp also had a recurring role on Everybody Loves Raymond as Warren Whelan, the father of Debra Barone and father-in-law of Ray Barone. He appeared on episodes of other television programs including a 1961 season three episode of Bonanza titled "Broken Ballad," as well as The Golden Girls, The Nanny, The Girls Next Door and Wings. He was the voice of the character Halcyon Renard in the Disney adventure cartoon Gargoyles.
In I Spy Returns (1994), a nostalgic television movie, Culp and Cosby reprised their roles as Robinson and Scott for the first time since 1968. Culp and Cosby reunited one last time on the television show Cosby in an episode entitled "My Spy" (1999), in which Cosby's character, Hilton Lucas, dreams he is Alexander Scott on a mission with Kelly Robinson. Robert Culp also appeared on Walker, Texas Ranger as Lyle Pike on the episode "Trust No One" (February 18, 1995).
Film performances
Culp worked as an actor in many theatrical films, beginning with three in 1963: As naval officer John F. Kennedy's good friend Ensign George Ross in PT 109, as legendary gunslinger Wild Bill Hickok in The Raiders and as the debonair fiance of Jane Fonda in the romantic comedy Sunday in New York.
He went on to star in the provocative Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice in 1969, probably the height of his movie career.
Another memorable role came as another gunslinger, Thomas Luther Price, in Hannie Caulder (1971) opposite Raquel Welch.
A year later, Hickey and Boggs reunited him with Cosby for the first time since I Spy. Culp also directed this feature film, in which he and Cosby portray over-the-hill private eyes. In 1986, he had a primary role as General Woods in the comedy Combat Academy.
Culp played the U.S. President in Alan J. Pakula's 1993 murder mystery The Pelican Brief starring Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts.
Other appearances
Culp lent his voice to the digital character Doctor Breen, the prime antagonist in the 2004 computer game Half-Life 2. This was not his first video game role, however: he also appeared in the 1993 game Voyeur.
The video clip of "Guilty Conscience" features Culp as an erudite and detached narrator describing the scenes where Eminem and Dr. Dre rap lyrics against each other. He only appears in the music video. In the album version, the narrator is Mark Avery.
On November 9, 2007, on The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly interviewed Culp about the actor's career and awarded Culp with the distinction "TV Icon of the Week."
Culp played "Simon," Blanche's beau, in the episode "Like the Beep Beep Beep of My Tom Tom" when Blanche needs a pacemaker on The Golden Girls.
Personal life
Culp married five times and fathered three sons - Joshua (1958), Jason (1961), and Joseph (1963) - and two daughters - Rachel (1964) and Samantha (1982).[2] From 1967 to 1970, he was married to Eurasian (Vietnamese-French) actress France Nguyen (known as France Nuyen), whom he had met when she guest-starred on I Spy. She appeared in four episodes, two of them written by Culp himself. His grandson, Elmo Kennedy O'Connor, is a rapper and performs under the alias Bones.[7]
Culp wrote scripts for seven I Spy episodes, one of which he also directed.[which?] He would later write and direct two episodes of The Greatest American Hero.[which?] He also wrote scripts for other television series, including Trackdown, a two-part episode from The Rifleman, and Cain's Hundred.[8]
He was a friend of Hugh Hefner, with whom he often played poker and frequently visited at the Playboy Mansion.
Death
Culp took frequent walks in the Runyon Canyon, a park close to his apartment in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. On the morning of March 24, 2010, he left the apartment to go for a walk. Later, a jogger found him lying unconscious on the sidewalk (foot path) close to the lower entrance of the canyon. Police officers and paramedics were summoned quickly, but they were unable to revive him.
Culp was taken to Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, but all efforts at resuscitation were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at about 11:00 a.m. He was 79 years old. Although the first reports from the police suggested that Culp died from striking his head on the ground when he fell, it was later found that he had collapsed and died of a heart attack. Culp's only injury from his fall was a minor cut on his head.
On April 10, 2010, a memorial service for Culp was held at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles, with his family, friends, and some of his fans attending. At the time of his death, Culp had just completed the filming of a supporting role in the motion picture, The Assignment. Culp was also working on several screenplays at the time of his death. One of these screenplays, an adaptation of the story of Terry and the Pirates, had already been accepted for filming, and it was scheduled for the start of production in Hong Kong later in 2012, with Culp being the film director. Terry and the Pirates had been Culp's favorite comic strip as a boy, and it was his longtime wish to make a film based on it.[2][3][9]
Culp was buried in the Sunset View Cemetery in El Cerrito, California, located not far from his hometown of Oakland.
Filmography
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre (3 episodes, 1957-1960)
Trackdown as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman (70 episodes, 1957-1959)
Bonanza as Ed Pason (1959)
The Westerner as Shep Prescott in "Line Camp" (1960)
Outlaws as Sam Yadkin in "Thirty a Month" (1960)
Rawhide, Season 3 Episode 12. "Incident at The Top of The World" as Craig Kern (1961)
The Rifleman (2 episodes, 1960, 1962)
Hennesey as Dr. Steven Gray in "The Specialist" (1961)
The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor as Herbert Sanders in "Bad Apple" (1961)
Target: The Corruptors! as Meeker in "To Wear a Badge" (1961)
87th Precinct as Curt Donaldson in "The Floater" (1961)
Sammy the Way Out Seal as Chet Loomis (1962)
The Architects of Fear (TV - Outer Limits season 1 Episode 3 (1963)
"Corpus Earthling" (TV - Outer Limits season 1 Episode 9 (1963)
"Demon with a Glass Hand" ( TV - Outer Limits Season 2 Episode 5 (1964)
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (TV - The Shark Affair) (1964)
Rhino! (1964)
PT 109 (1963)
Sunday in New York (1963)
Empire as Jared Mace in "Where the Hawk Is Wheeling" (1963)
Gunsmoke (TV - 1 episode) (1964)
I Spy as Kelly Robinson (1965-1968)
Get Smart (TV - Die, Spy) (1968)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV - Suspense as husband/accomplice (1968)
Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice (1969)
Married Alive (TV) (1969)
Columbo (TV - Death Lends a Hand) (1971)
Hannie Caulder (1971)
Columbo (TV - The Most Crucial Game) (1972)
Hickey and Boggs (1972)
What's My Line? (TV) (1972)
A Name for Evil (1973)
A Cold Night's Death (TV) (1973)
Outrage (TV) (1973) as Jim Kiler
Columbo (TV - Double Exposure) (1973)
Match Game (TV - 5 episodes) (1973)
The Castaway Cowboy as Calvin Bryson (1974)
Houston, We've Got a Problem as Steve Bell (1974)
Sky Riders (1976)
Flood! (1976 Irwin Allen Production) as Steve Brannigan
Spectre (TV) (1977)
The Dream Merchants (TV)
Killjoy (TV movie) (1981) as Lou Corbin
The Greatest American Hero (TV) (1981-1983) as Bill Maxwell
Turk 182 as The Mayor (1985)
The Gladiator as Lt. Frank Mason (1986)
"The Nanny" as Stewart Babcock (1993)
The Pelican Brief as the President of the United States (1993)
Xtro 3: Watch the Skies (1995)
Most Wanted (1997) as Donald Bickhart
Conan the Adventurer as King Vog (1 episode, 1998)
Holding the Baby (1 episode, 1998)
Everybody Loves Raymond (TV) (1998) (11 episodes) as Warren Whelan
Unconditional Love (1999) as Karl Thomassen
Wanted (1999/I) as Fr. Patrick
The Cosby Show as Scott Kelly (1 episode, 1987)
Dark Summer (2000) as Judge Winston
Chicago Hope as Benjamin Quinn (1 episode, 2000)
NewsBreak (2000) as Judge McNamara
Running Mates (2000) (TV) as Sen. Parker Gable
Eminem: E (2000) (V) as Narrator (segment "Guilty Conscience")
Hunger" (2001) as The Chief
Farewell, My Love (2001) as Michael Reilly
Blind Eye (2003) (V) as Isaac
The Dead Zone as Jeffrey Grissom (1 episode, 2003)
The Almost Guys (2004) as The Colonel
Half-Life 2 (2004) (VG) (voice) as Dr. Wallace Breen
Early Bird (2005) (TV)
Santa's Slay (2005) as Grandpa
Half-Life 2: Episode One (2006) (VG) (voice) as Dr. Wallace Breen
Robot Chicken as Bill Maxwell / Sheriff of Nottingham (1 episode, 2007)
References
1. Obituary The Times, April 5, 2010.
2. Grimes, William (March 24, 2010). "Robert Culp, Star in 'I Spy,' Dies at 79". The New York Times.
3. McLellan, Dennis (March 25, 2010). "Robert Culp dies at 79; actor starred in 'I Spy' TV series". Los Angeles Times.
4. "California State Meet Results-1915 to present". Hank Lawson.
5. Billy Hathorn, "Roy Bean, Temple Houston, Bill Longley, Ranald Mackenzie, Buffalo Bill, Jr., and the Texas Rangers: Depictions of West Texans in Series Television, 1955 to 1967", West Texas Historical Review, Vol. 89 (2013), pp. 103-106
6. Starburst issue 8 (April 1979)
7. "L.A. Rapper Bones Has Some of the Eeriest Videos in the Music Business, and a Sound All His Own". January 2014.
8. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0191685/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
9. T. Rees Shapiro (2010-03-25). "Robert Culp dead; actor conveyed charm and wit on TV's 'I Spy'". The Washington Post.
Joseph "Joe" Weider (November 29, 1920 – March 23, 2013) was a Canadian bodybuilder and entrepreneur who co-founded the International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB) alongside his brother Ben Weider. He was also the creator of the Mr. Olympia, the Ms. Olympia and the Masters Olympia bodybuilding contests. He was the publisher of several bodybuilding and fitness-related magazines, most notably Muscle and Fitness, Flex, Men's Fitness and Shape, and the manufacturer of a line of fitness equipment and fitness supplements.
Life and career
Weider was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to Louis and Anna Weider, Polish-Jewish immigrants from the town of Kurów, Poland. He published the first issue of Your Physique magazine as a teenager in 1936, and built a set of barbells out of car wheels and axles the same year out of the family garage on Coloniale Street in Montreal. He designed numerous training courses beginning in the 1950s, including the Weider System of Bodybuilding.
He married Hedwiges "Vicky" Uzar; together they had one child, Lydia Ross (mother to Weider's three grandchildren), and subsequently divorced in 1960.[1] During his marriage to Vicky Uzar he had met Betty Brosmer, who was then the highest paid pin-up girl in the U.S.[2]
In 1961 Joe and Betty married, and she began working alongside him as Betty Weider. Betty and Joe together authored books on bodybuilding.[3] Joe, Betty and Ben together were the co-founders of the International Federation of BodyBuilders.[4]
Nutritional products
The family founded Weider Nutrition in 1936, considered the first sports nutrition company. Now called Schiff Nutrition International, they were the creators of Tiger's Milk nutrition bars and related products, one of the earliest lines of sports foods.[5]
Fitness publications
In 1953, Your Physique was renamed Muscle Builder magazine. The name changed again to Muscle and Fitness in 1980. Other magazines published by Weider's publishing empire included Mr. America, Muscle Power, Shape magazine, Fit Pregnancy, Men's Fitness, Living Fit, Prime Health and Fitness, Cooks, Senior Golfer, and Flex, in addition to the more risque Jem Magazine and Monsieur. The last two publications caused at least two clashes with obscenity laws. Weider has written numerous books, including The Weider System of Bodybuilding (1981), and co-wrote the 2006 biography Brothers Of Iron with Ben Weider. In 1983, Weider was named "Publisher of the Year" by The Periodical and Book Association. In 2003, his publication company, Weider Publications, was sold to American Media.
Legal issues
In 1972, Weider and his brother Ben found themselves a target of an investigation led by U.S. Postal Inspectors. The investigation involved the claims regarding their nutritional supplement Weider Formula No. 7. The product was a weight-gainer that featured a young Arnold Schwarzenegger on the label. The actual claim centered on consumers being able to "gain a pound per day" in mass. Following an appeal wherein Schwarzenegger testified, Weider was forced to alter his marketing and claims.[6][7] Also in 1972, Weider encountered legal problems for claims made in his booklet Be a Destructive Self-Defense Fighter in Just 12 Short Lessons.[8]
Weider was ordered to offer a refund to 100,000 customers of a "five-minute body shaper" that was claimed to offer significant weight loss after just minutes a day of use. The claims, along with misleading "before and after" photographs, were deemed false advertising by a Superior Court Judge in 1976.[9]
In the 1980s, Weider found himself answering charges levied by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In 1984, the FTC charged that ads for Weider's Anabolic Mega-Pak (containing amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and herbs) and Dynamic Life Essence (an amino acid product) had been misleading. The FTC complaint was settled in 1985 when Weider and his company agreed not to falsely claim that the products could help build muscles or be effective substitutes for anabolic steroids. They also agreed to pay a minimum of $400,000 in refunds or, if refunds did not reach this figure, to fund research on the relationship of nutrition to muscle development.[9]
In 2000, Weider Nutritional International settled another FTC complaint involving false claims made for alleged weight loss products. The settlement agreement called for $400,000 to be paid to the FTC and for a ban on making any unsubstantiated claims for any food, drug, dietary supplement, or program.[10]
Death
Weider died of heart failure on March 23, 2013 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California at the age of 92.[11][12] He is entombed at Westwood Village Cemetery.
Honours and accolades
On Labour Day 2006, California governor and seven times Mr. Olympia winner Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Weider protégé, presented him with the Venice Muscle Beach Hall of Fame's Lifetime Achievement award. Schwarzenegger credited Weider with inspiring him to enter bodybuilding and to come to the United States.[13][14] That same year Joe and Ben received the lifetime achievement award by the Young Men's Hebrew Association.[15]
Bibliography
Joe Weider; Bob Oskam (1 August 1958). The Olympians: The Story of the Mr. Olympia Contest. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-58428-3.
Joe Weider (November 1981). Bodybuilding, the Weider approach. Contemporary Books. ISBN 978-0-8092-5909-0.
Joe Weider; Weider (1982). Women's Weight Training and Bodybuilding Tips and Routines. Contemporary Books. ISBN 978-0-8092-5754-6.
Joe Weider; Bill Reynolds (31 May 1983). The Weider system of bodybuilding. Contemporary Books. ISBN 978-0-8092-5559-7.
Betty Weider; Joe Weider (1 October 1984). The Weider body book. Contemporary Books. ISBN 978-0-8092-5429-3.
Joe Weider (1990). The Best of Joe Weider's Flex Nutrition and Training Programs. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-8092-4118-7.
Joe Weider (1991). Joe Weider's Mr. Olympia Training Encyclopedia. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-8092-4040-1.
Joe Weider; Bill Reynolds (1999). Joe Weider's ultimate bodybuilding: the master blaster's principles of training and nutrition. Contemporary Books. ISBN 978-0-8092-9775-7.
Daniel Levesque (1 January 2004). The Weider Weight Training Log: Including a Daily Planner. Hushion House. ISBN 978-0-9684004-2-5.
Ben Weider; Joe Weider; Daniel Gastelu (2003). The Edge: Ben and Joe Weider's Guide to Ultimate Strength, Speed, and Stamina. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-58333-144-6.
References
1. McFadden, Robert D. (March 23, 2013). "Joe Weider, Founder of a Bodybuilding Empire, Dies at 93". The New York Times.
2. Mike Steere Brothers of Iron, p. 120, Sports Publishing LLC, 2006 ISBN 978-1-59670-124-3
3. The Weider Body Book, Joe and Betty Weider, Contemporary Books (1984) ISBN 0-8092-5429-8
4. "Betty Weider website". Bettyweider.com. Retrieved 2013-03-24.
5. "Weider Global Nutrition - History of Excellence". Weider Global Nutrition. 2010.
6. P.S. Docket No. 3/27 July 17, 1974
7. P.S. Docket No. 2/81 October 29, 1975.
8. Tom Heintjes. ""The Deadliest Ads Alive!", ''Hogan's Alley'' #11, 2007". Cartoonician.co.
9. W McGarry, T (1985-08-20). "Body-Building Firm to Pay $400,000 in Settlement of FTC Vitamin Case". Los Angeles Times (1886-Current File). pp. V_A6. ISSN 0458-3035.
10. AssociatedPress (2000-10-06). "FIRM TO PAY $400,000 FOR BAD ADVERTISING". The Post - Tribune. p. A.14. ISSN 8750-3492.
11. "Joe Weider Legendary Bodybuilding and Fitness Icon Dies at 93". MarketWatch.
12. Trounson, Rebecca. "Joe Weider dies at 93; bodybuilding pioneer and publisher". latimes.com.
13. Finnegan, Michael; Robert Salladay (September 5, 2006). "CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS; Angelides, Governor Work the Holiday; Schwarzenegger pays a nostalgic Labour Day visit to a bodybuilding event in Venice. His challenger seeks to shore up support among unions.". Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, Calif.). p. B.1.
14. "Muscle Beach Venice Bodybuilding Hall of Fame". Californiabeachbodybuilding.com.
15. "Awards". Joe Weider.
Further reading
Joe Weider; Ben Weider (15 September 2006). Brothers of Iron. Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 978-1-59670-124-3.
