"Star Trek IV" Actress Viola Kates Stimpson 2008 Westwood Village Cemetery

Viola Kates Stimpson (October 25, 1906 - January 14, 2008) was an actress, known for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000) and Graduation Day (1981).

THE ALCHEMIST (1983)

Born in Brookly, New York, Stimpson started her career in the 1920's as a chorus girl and dancer and then became an actress. In 1951, she returned to college and became a LAUSD classroom teacher. After she retired in 1971, she resumed her acting career in stage, film, and television.

STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME (1986)

Stimpson was the first "Star Trek" cast member to reach the age of 100.

Viola Kates Stimpson died on January 14, 2008 in Tarzana, California. She is interred beside her husband, California realtor Robert P. Stimpson, at Westwood Village Cemetery.

"The Story of Temple Drake" Actor Jack La Rue 1984 Holy Cross Cemetery

Jack La Rue (May 3, 1902 in New York City, New York – January 11, 1984 in Santa Monica, California) was an American film and stage actor.[1]

Early years

La Rue was born Gaspere Biondolillo[1] in New York City.[2]

Stage

La Rue went from high school to his first acting job, in Otis Skinner's road company production of Blood and Sand.[2] He performed in Broadway plays from around 1923 to 1931. According to La Rue, while appearing in Mae West's play Diamond Lil, he was spotted by Howard Hawks, who offered him a part in the film Scarface (1932), starring Paul Muni.[3]

Film

He moved to Hollywood, where he appeared in numerous films. However, Scarface was not one of them. La Rue stated in a newspaper article that, after four days, Hawks had to replace him with George Raft because La Rue was taller than Muni and had a more powerful voice.[3] Later, however, Raft turned down the role of the despicable villain in The Story of Temple Drake (1933), fearing it would damage his screen image, so the part went to La Rue. 

Sometimes mistaken for Humphrey Bogart, he played thugs and gangsters for the most part. However, director Frank Borzage atypically cast him as a priest in the 1932 version of A Farewell to Arms simply because, according to newspaper columnist Hubbard Keavy, he was "tired of seeing conventional characters."[2] La Rue stated he turned down a role in The Godfather (1972) and many parts in the television series The Untouchables because of the way they portrayed Italian-Americans.[3]

Personal life

He was married three times.[1] La Rue married Los Angeles socialite Constance Deighton Simpson on September 22, 1938, in London.[4] She obtained a divorce on December 17, 1946, charging him with mental cruelty.[4] In 1955, he obtained an annulment from former Baroness Violet Edith von Rosenberg after six years of marriage, claiming she had only married him to obtain American citizenship and that they separated after less than two months.[5] He married Anne Giordano on August 12, 1962; she obtained an annulment in 1967.[6] Jack La Rue had no children.

Death

La Rue died of a heart attack at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California,[7] at the age of 81. He was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California.

Partial filmography

The Lucky Devil (1925) as Prizefight Attendant (uncredited)
The King on Main Street (1925) as Member of King's Retinue in Paris Hotel Lobby (uncredited)
Fine Manners (1926) as New Year's Eve Celebrant (uncredited)
East Side, West Side (1927) as Dining Extra (uncredited)
The House of Terror (1928)
Follow the Leader (1930) as A Gangster
Night World (1932) as Henchman (uncredited)
The Mouthpiece (1932) as Joe Garland (uncredited)
While Paris Sleeps (1932) as Julot
Radio Patrol (1932) as Slick (uncredited)
Blessed Event (1932) as Louis De Marco (uncredited)
The All American (1932) as Joe Fiore
Virtue (1932) as Toots
Three on a Match (1932) as Ace's Henchman (uncredited)
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) as Ackerman (uncredited)
Man Against Woman (1932) as Alberti
A Farewell to Arms (1932) as The Priest
Lawyer Man (1932) as Spike Murphy (uncredited)
The Woman Accused (1933) as Little Maxie
42nd Street (1933) as Mug with Murphy (uncredited)
Christopher Strong (1933) as Carlo
Terror Aboard (1933) as Gregory Cordoff
The Story of Temple Drake (1933) as Trigger
The Girl in 419 (1933) as Sammy

Gambling Ship (1933) as Pete Manning

Headline Shooter (1933) as Ricci

To the Last Man (1933) as Jim Daggs
The Kennel Murder Case (1933) as Eduardo Grassi
Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen (1934) as Bert
Good Dame (1934) as Bluch Brown

The Fighting Rookie (1934) as Patrolman Jim Trent

Straight Is the Way (1934) as Monk
Take the Stand (1934) as George Gaylord

No Ransom (1934) as Larry Romero

Secret of the Chateau (1934) as Lucien Vonaire

Calling All Cars (1935) as Jerry Kennedy
Times Square Lady (1935) as Jack Kramer
Men of the Hour (1935) as Nick Thomas

The Headline Woman (1935) as Phil Zarias

Under the Pampas Moon (1935) as Bazan
The Daring Young Man (1935) as Cubby
After the Dance (1935) as Mitch
Little Big Shot (1935) as Doré
Special Agent (1935) as Jake Andrews
His Night Out (1935) as Joe Ferranza
Waterfront Lady (1935) as Tom Braden
The Spanish Cape Mystery (1935) as Gardner
Hot Off the Press (1935) as Bill Jeffrey
Remember Last Night? (1935) as Baptiste
Strike Me Pink (1936) as Mr. Thrust
The Bridge of Sighs (1936) as Packy Lacy
In Paris, A.W.O.L. (1936) as Soldier

Dancing Pirate (1936) as Lt. Chago (Baltazar's Aide)

It Couldn't Have Happened – But It Did (1936) as Smiley Clark
Born to Fight (1936) as Smoothy Morgan
A Tenderfoot Goes West (1936) as James Killer Madden
Ellis Island (1936) as Dude
Yellow Cargo (1936) as Al Perrelli
Go West, Young Man (1936) as Rico in 'Drifting Lady'
Mind Your Own Business (1936) as Cruger
Her Husband Lies (1937) as 'Trigger, ' Gunman
That I May Live (1937) as Charlie
Captains Courageous (1937) as Priest
Dangerous Holiday (1937) as Gollenger
Trapped by G-Men (1937) as Fred Drake
Arson Gang Busters (1938) as Bud Morgan
Under the Big Top (1938) as Ricardo Le Grande
Valley of the Giants (1938) as Ed Morrell
I Demand Payment (1938) as Smiles Badolio
Murder in Soho (1939) as Steve Marco
The Gang's All Here (1939) as Alberni
Big Town Czar (1939) as Mike Luger
In Old Caliente (1939) as Sujarno
Charlie Chan in Panama (1940) as Manolo
Forgotten Girls (1940) as Eddie Nolan
Enemy Agent (1940) as Alex
The Sea Hawk (1940) as Lt. Ortega
Fugitive from a Prison Camp (1940) as Red Nelson
East of the River (1940) as Frank 'Frisco' Scarfi
Footsteps in the Dark (1941) as Ace Vernon
Paper Bullets (1941) as Mickey Roman
Ringside Maisie (1941) as Ricky Du Prez
Gentleman from Dixie (1941) as Thad Terrill

Hard Guy (1941) as Vic Monroe

Swamp Woman (1941) as Pete Oliver / Pierre Pertinax Pontineau Briand Broussicourt d'Olivier

A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen (1942) as Tommy Gould
Pardon My Sarong (1942) as Tabor (uncredited)
Highways by Night (1942) as Johnny Lieber, Gangster

X Marks the Spot (1942) as Marty Clark

The Payoff (1942) as John Angus
American Empire (1942) as Pierre- Beauchard Henchman
You Can't Beat the Law (1943) as Cain
A Gentle Gangster (1943) as Hugo
Secret Service in Darkest Africa (1943) as Hassan [Ch. 6] (uncredited)
The Law Rides Again (1943) as Duke Dillon
The Girl from Monterrey (1943) as Al Johnson
A Scream in the Dark (1943) as Det. Lt. Cross
Never a Dull Moment (1943) as Joey
Pistol Packin' Mama (1943) as Johnny Rossi
The Sultan's Daughter (1943) as Rata
Smart Guy (1943) as Matt Taylor
The Desert Song (1943) as Lieutenant Bertin
Follow the Leader (1944) as Larry
Machine Gun Mama (1944) as Jose
Leave It to the Irish (1944) as Rockwell
The Last Ride (1944) as Joe Genna

Dangerous Passage (1944) as Mike Zomano

Steppin' in Society (1945) as Bow Tie
The Spanish Main (1945) as Lt. Escobar
Road to Utopia (1945) as LeBec
Cornered (1945) as Diego, Hotel Valet
Dakota (1945) as Suade
Murder in the Music Hall (1946) as Bruce Wilton
In Old Sacramento (1946) as Laramie
Santa Fe Uprising (1946) as Bruce Jackson
My Favorite Brunette (1947) as Tony

Bush Pilot (1947) as Paul Girard

Robin Hood of Monterey (1947) as Don Ricardo Gonzales

No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948) as Slim Grisson

For Heaven's Sake (1950) as Tony Clark
Ride the Man Down (1952) as Kennedy
Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1957) as Father Paul (uncredited)
40 Pounds of Trouble (1962) as Nick the Greek (uncredited)
For Those Who Think Young (1964) as Cronin's Business Associate
Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964) as Tomatoes
The Spy in the Green Hat (1967) as Federico 'Feet' Stilletto
Paesano: A Voice in the Night (1975) as Bartender
Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976) as Silent Film Villain (final film role)

References

1. "Jack LaRue, Actor, Is Dead; In 200 Films, Often as Villain". The New York Times. United Press International. January 13, 1984.
2. Hubbard Keavy (April 26, 1933). "Screen Life In Hollywood". Altoona Tribune. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com. open access publication – free to read
3. "Yesterday's Stars: La Rue doesn't like gangster stereotypes". The Mercury. Copley News Service. November 8, 1975. p. 40 – via Newspapers.com. open access publication – free to read
4. "Jack La Rue's Wife Is Divorced From Movie's [sic] Bad Man". Nevada State Journal. December 17, 1946. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com. open access publication – free to read
5. "Jack La Rue Marriage to Ex-Baroness Ended". The Bridgeport Post. Associated Press. May 13, 1955 – via Newspapers.com. open access publication – free to read
6. "Mrs. Jack La Rue Given Annulment". The Daily Mail. Associated Press. February 16, 1967. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com. open access publication – free to read
7. "Movie bad guy Jack LaRue dies". The Montreal Gazette. United Press International. January 12, 1984. p. D-9. 

"Stalag 17" Actor Harvey Lembeck 1982 Eden Cemetery

Harvey Lembeck (April 15, 1923 – January 5, 1982) was an American comedic actor best remembered for his role as Cpl. Rocco Barbella on The Phil Silvers Show (a.k.a. Sgt. Bilko) in the late 1950s, and as the stumbling, overconfident quasi-outlaw biker Eric Von Zipper in beach party movies during the 1960s. He also turned in noteworthy performances in both the stage and screen versions of Stalag 17. He was the father of actor and director Michael Lembeck and actress Helaine Lembeck.

Early life

Born in Brooklyn, Lembeck started his career right out of New Utrecht High School, as a dancer at the 1939/40 New York World's Fair. He was half of an exhibition dance team known as The Dancing Carrolls. His partner, Caroline Dubs, became his wife.[1]

The son of a Brooklyn button manufacturer, Lembeck yearned for a career as a radio sports announcer. Following his discharge from the United States Army at the end of World War II in 1945, he attended New York University, obtaining a degree in radio arts in 1947. However, he chose the stage as a career upon the advice of one of his instructors, Prof. Robert Emerson, who had seen him perform in college plays.[2]

Lembeck was Jewish.[3]

Career

Two weeks after graduation, Lembeck won the role of Sam Insigna in Mister Roberts, which he played on Broadway for nearly three years.

Lembeck made three movies for 20th Century Fox, You're in the Navy Now, Fourteen Hours, and The Frogmen, all released in the first half of 1951. 

He went back to Broadway as Sgt. Harry Shapiro in Stalag 17,[4] subsequently playing the same role in the film version directed by Billy Wilder, earning the Theater Owners of America's Laurel Award for outstanding comedy performance and best possibility for stardom. 

From 1952 to 1954 Lembeck also made nine other films, mostly playing military roles.

In 1954, he returned to Broadway, appearing in the play Wedding Breakfast.[4] That same year, he appeared with Skip Homeier in the episode "Eye for an Eye" of the NBC legal drama Justice, based on case studies of the Legal Aid Society of New York.[5] 

His stint with Phil Silvers' popular Sergeant Bilko series began in 1955. Lembeck played Bilko's sidekick, Corporal Rocco Barbella. The show ran for four years.

Lembeck also performed onstage in 1955 in the musical revue Phoenix '55, and from 1959-1961 was the standby for the role of Fiorello LaGuardia in the musical Fiorello!.[4]

1960s and 1970s

In the 1961-1962 television season, Lembeck played a theatrical agent, Jerry Roper, in the ABC sitcom The Hathaways, starring Peggy Cass and Jack Weston as "parents" to the performing Marquis Chimps. He appeared twice as "Al" in "Variations on a Theme" and "Music Hath Charms" (both 1961) on another ABC sitcom, The Donna Reed Show.

Having spent a great deal of his adult life in uniform, Lembeck once again donned Navy togs in the 1962-1963 season to co-star with Dean Jones in the NBC sitcom Ensign O'Toole. He co-starred with Steve McQueen in Love with the Proper Stranger.

Harvey Lembeck spent part of the early 1960s playing the lovable bad guy malaprop Eric Von Zipper in seven American International beach party films, with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. (He did not appear in the second "beach" film, 1964's Muscle Beach Party.) The Von Zipper character, leader of the Rat Pack motorcycle gang, was a parody of Marlon Brando's role in The Wild One (Von Zipper reveals in Beach Blanket Bingo that one of his idols was "Marlo Brandon.") Among other things, Von Zipper pronounced his judgments on others by saying "Him, I like," or "Him, I do not like." 

In 1964 he also co-starred with Debbie Reynolds in The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

In 1964, Jack Kosslyn of the Mercury Theatre asked Lembeck to take over his actors' workshop. Lembeck took this opportunity to create his comedy workshop. Initially working with comedy scripts, he soon ran out of good comedy material and found that improv was a wonderful tool to teach and exercise comedy. He realized that the improv method, new in the early 1960s, was one of the best ways to develop actors' comedy instincts. 

Lembeck returned to the theatre to star as Sancho Panza in the first national company of Man of La Mancha. President Lyndon Johnson chose this company to give a command performance at the White House.

During the late 1960s and 1970s, Lembeck became a mainstay on television, making over 200 guest appearances, including Ben Casey, Mr. Novak, The Munsters, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Route 66, The Monkees, Night Gallery, It Takes a Thief, The Partridge Family, Chico and the Man, Vega$, All in the Family, Batman and Mork and Mindy.

Lembeck also directed the road companies of Stalag 17 and Mister Roberts, along with the revues A Night at the Mark in San Francisco and Flush in Las Vegas.

Death

Lembeck continued to perform and teach up until his death from a heart attack on January 5, 1982. He was performing in an episode of Mork and Mindy when he took ill, collapsed and died. In an interview taped shortly before his own death in 1985, Phil Silvers said he was shocked and saddened by the untimely death of his friend Lembeck, and missed him terribly.[6]

Harvey Lembeck is buried at Eden Cemetery in Mission Hills, California.

Theatrical appearances

Mister Roberts (2/18/48-1/6/1951, 1157 performances, at the Alvin Theatre) – Insigna (with Karl Lukas, Tige Andrews, Murray Hamilton, all from The Phil Silvers Show)
Stalag 17 (5/8/51-6/21/52, 472 performances, at the 48th Street Theatre) – Sgt. Harry Shapiro (with Robert Strauss, Allan Melvin, Bob Shawley, all from The Phil Silvers Show; Strauss and Lembeck appeared in the filmed version)
Wedding Breakfast (11/20/54-2/26/55, 113 performances, at the 48th Street Theatre) – Norman (with Lee Grant, and Tony Franciosa)
Phoenix '55 (5/23/55-7/17/55, 97 performances, at the Phoenix Theatre; with Nancy Walker)
Oklahoma! (3/19/58-3/30/58, 16 performances, at New York City Center) – Ali Hakim
Man of La Mancha – Sancho Panza (touring company, performed at the White House for President Lyndon B. Johnson)

Selected filmography

You're in the Navy Now (1951)
The Frogmen (1951)
Just Across the Street (1952)

Back at the Front, also known as Willie and Joe Back at the Front (1952)

Stalag 17 (1953)

Between Heaven and Hell (1956)
A View from the Bridge (1962)
The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961)
Love with the Proper Stranger (1963)

Beach Party (1963)

Bikini Beach (1964)

Pajama Party (1964)

The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)

Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)

Sergeant Deadhead (1965)

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966)

Fireball 500 (1966)
Hello Down There (1969)
There Is No 13 (1974)
Raid on Entebbe (1976) - Mr. Harvey
The Gong Show Movie (1980)

References

1. Staff (March 28, 2013) "Harvey Lembeck Stays Liked" Classic Film and TV Café
2. "Harvey Lembeck and the Ratz and Mice Cast Music of the Beach Party Movies" BeachPartyMovieMusic.com
3. Abramovitch, Ilana and Galvin, Seán (2002) Jews of Brooklyn Boston: Brandeis University Press.
4. "Harvey Lembeck" on the Internet Broadway Database
5. "Justice". The Classic TV Archive.
6. Interview taken from Sgt. Bilko - 50th Anniversary Edition (The Phil Silvers Show) DVD