Did you know....
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Charles Chaplin's remains were stolen and held for ransom?
Claim: The mortal remains of Charlie Chaplin were abducted and held for ransom.
Origins: Even in death Charlie Chaplin had little peace. Such was the price of his celebrity that his remains were dug up and ransomed back to the family.
Chaplin died on 25 December 1977, in Switzerland. He was 88 years old.
On 2 March 1978, his coffin (with him in it) was dug up and spirited away. His remains were recovered by Swiss police on 17 May 1978. Two Eastern European political refugees confessed to the crime. They described how they took Chaplin's oak coffin from the village cemetery at Corsier-sur-Vevey and buried it in a shallow hole in the cornfield near Villeneive, about 10 miles away at the eastern tip of Lake Geneva.
According to a 1978 news report on the crime:
As police tell the story, the Chaplin family began receiving ransom demands by phone several weeks after the coffin was taken. The caller had a Slavic accent.
Although the family had received many false calls asking for exorbitant sums, this time the demand was backed up with a photograph, sent by the alleged coffin just before its reburial in the cornpatch.
Chaplin's widow, Oona, refused to consider ransom. But in order to cooperate with police, the family, through its lawyer, Jean-Felix Paschoud, bargained with the alleged grave robbers over a tapped telephone. By the time the demand had dropped from $600,000 to $250,000, the police had figured out that the ransom calls were coming from a public pay telephone.
Two earlier traps set for the alleged grave robbers did not succeed but a dragnet of 100 policemen keeping an eye on all of Lausanne's more than 200 pay public telephones proved too difficult to elude for a 24-year-old Polish auto mechanic, until recently unemployed.
The two accused men face seven-and-a-half years in prison for extortion and for "disturbing the peace of the dead."
Chaplin's family has not disclosed what it plans to do with his recovered coffin.
Sources:
Rollow, Jonathan. "Swiss Police Recover Body of Chaplin."
The Washington Post. 18 May 1978
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Charlie Chaplin once lost a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest?
Claim: Charlie Chaplin once lost a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest.
Origins: As "Chaplinitis" swept across American around 1915, Charlie Chaplin look-alike contests became a popular form of entertainment. (Actually, the competitions were really contests to see who could imitate the "tramp" character popularized by Chaplin, as few people would have recognized Chaplin himself without his familiar costume, moustache, and makeup.) A rising young actor/comedian named Bob Hope took first prize in one such contest in Cleveland.
Legend has it that Chaplin himself once entered -- and lost -- one of these competitions. It is usually said the contest was held in Monte Carlo or Switzerland, and that he came in second or third. (Some versions claim that Chaplin's brother Syd was judged the winner.) Chaplin did indeed fare poorly in a Chaplin look-alike contest, but the competition took place in a San Francisco theater. His final standing is not recorded, although it was noted that he "failed even to make the finals." Chaplin told a reporter at this time that he was "tempted to give lessons in the Chaplin walk, out of pity as well as in the desire to see the thing done correctly."
Sources:
Milton, Joyce. Tramp: The Life of Charlie Chaplin.
New York: HarperCollins, 1996. ISBN 0-06-017052-2 (pp. 92-93).
Chicago Herald.
15 July 1915. -
The woman Jack Nicholson thought to be his sister turned out to be his mother?
Claim: At age 37 Jack Nicholson discovered that the woman he'd always thought his sister was actually his mother.
Origins: He's a superstar of the screen and a bad boy extraordinaire, so it's hard to imagine the details of Jack Nicholson's life could be any more complicated than his celebrity and style of living made them. Yet they are, for 37 years into his life, he discovered the woman he'd been calling "sis" was actually his mother.
In June 1974 the mystery of Jack's birth came to light, just as his movie Chinatown was scheduled to open in theaters. In preparation for a cover story on Nicholson, a Time magazine reporter phoned Nicholson to check on the extraordinary information that had been unearthed: Jack's "sister" June was in fact Jack's mother, and a man claiming to be his father was alive and well in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. The news about Nicholson's parentage turned out to be true: Jack, born on 22 April 1937, had been the illegitimate child of 17-year-old June Nicholson. Nicholson had spent his life up to age 37 assuming that his biological mother, June, was his sister, and that his maternal grandmother, Ethel May, was his mother. Even on their deathbeds, neither June nor Ethel May had offered up the truth.
His reaction to the news? The Glasgow Herald reported:
It was in 1975 soon after June died. I was making The Fortune for Mike Nichols and someone called me on the phone and told me. Ultimately I got official verification from June's sister, Lorraine. I was stunned.
[Note: Nicholson is clearly misremembering here. His mother June had been dead for about ten years by 1975.]
Oddly enough, Nicholson's experience mirrored that of another Hollywood figure, singer Bobby Darin. In 1968 the then-32-year-old Darin discovered the woman he'd been calling sis all those years was actually his mother. Darin had been contemplating a career in politics, which prompted his "sister" to come clean about the circumstances of his birth.
A teeth cleaning led to heart-patient Darin's death in 1973. He neglected to take antibiotics before the procedure.
Sources:
Burton, Tony. "Nicholson's 'Sister' Was His Mother."
Daily Mail. 2 March 1994 (p. 3).
Dieckmann, Katherine. "Brief Encounters."
The Village Voice. 6 September 1994 (Review and Essays; p. 7).
Thompson, Douglas. "Joker Who Just Loves to Laugh."
The [Glasgow] Herald. 1 March 1997 (p. 2).
Wloszczyna, Susan. "For a Star Couple's Son, A Mending of Aching Memories."
USA Today. 11 October 1994 (p. D
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Sylvester Stallone once starred in a porn film?
Claim: One of Sylvester Stallone's first screen efforts was a starring role in a porn film.
Origins: Sylvester Stallone did indeed get his first movie acting role in a porn movie, called Party at Kitty and Stud's. This movie came out in 1970, when Sly was but 24 years old, living in Hell's Kitchen, New York City, and working a variety of menial jobs (including cinema usher) while trying to break into the movies. At that time New York City was the hub of U.S. porn film making. Stallone is the leading man in this X film, and he later acknowledged in a Playboy interview that he was paid $200 for his role. Unlike his efforts in later films, Stallone seems to have had no part in directing or producing Party at Kitty and Stud's.
Stallone made the most of his break, quickly entering mainstream movies with a role in Woody Allen's Bananas the next year. He appeared in six more films before 1976's Rocky, the role that shot him right to the top. The canny Sicilian wrote the script for Rocky and sold it for a very low price, on the condition that he star in the movie and receive a share of the profits. Rocky went on to win three Oscars, including best picture. It made Stallone's movie career.
Whoever owned the rights to Party at Kitty and Stud's capitalized on Stallone's new-found fame by re-releasing it under the title The Italian Stallion (presumably a reference to the protagonist's nickname in Rocky). The credits show that the rights to this X film are owned by "Stallion Enterprises," so they took this theme all the way.
Party at Kitty and Stud's/The Italian Stallion started life as a genuine pornographic X film, though it has been brutally edited down -- probably at the time it was retitled and re-released. There is a new prologue where it is implied that they took out the really fun dirty bits for the re-release. It now completely lacks any semblance of a plot and all hard-core exhibitions, so it is somewhat hard to follow. For example, a large mastiff dog appears at one point, but disappears equally as rapidly, leaving the viewer confused about what was to happen next. Party at Kitty and Stud's seems hilariously dated in some ways, too, as it is rife with 60's slang.
At one point Kitty confides to one of her friends that Stud is "so far out" and "animalistic". At another point Sly enjoins Kitty to "be careful! You bit me last time." Kitty replies, "I'll be velvet-mouthed on your shank of love!" before dissolving into an unscripted fit of giggles only partially concealed by burying her head on Stallone's shank of love. Stallone's best scenes are the ones where he is naked (which is nearly all of them). The highpoint of the film is probably Stallone's helping three women, one after the other, although all the overt details are edited out, leaving just the moaning and groaning.
Sly-connoisseurs will note that he has a four-inch scar on his left thigh under his butt. Far from being a stallion, Sly is actually a man of quite ordinary, even modest, endowment. His muscular frame, lacking its customary coat of oil, is unimpressive. Some people claim to see undertones of Rocky in Party at Kitty and Stud's, but I couldn't detect any myself, unless they mean the scene where Sly lightly beats Kitty with his pants belt. Sly lacks his trademark sneer and talks normally in Party at Kitty and Stud's.
It is not unknown for a porn movie performer to cross over into mainstream cinema. Traci Lords has now renounced her porn film past, and can be seen in minor roles on television, such as a dental assistant on "Married With Children." -
i know chaplins had some sorta mental disorder.
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One of the women in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only used to be a guy?
Claim: One of the women in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only used to be a guy.
Origins: The 1981 film For Your Eyes Only was the twelfth in the James Bond series and marked the fifth appearance of Roger Moore as secret agent 007. Like all Bond offerings, the non-stop action was sprinkled with bodacious babes, about one of whom questions subsequently surfaced.
Caroline Cossey, one of the "Bond girls" appearing in that film was a transexual, a man who had undergone a sex change. Ms. Cossey began life in 1954 as Barry Cossey but later decided to live as a woman. She changed her name to Caroline in 1972, began taking hormone tablets, had breast augmentation surgery, and in 1974 underwent the final sex reassignment surgery (SRS) to transform her into a woman. From about 1979 to 1986 Caroline worked as a fashion model and actress under the name Tula, and she caught a break in 1980 when she was cast in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only. Shortly after the film's release in 1981, however, the UK tabloid News of the World "outed" her as a transsexual and disrupted her modeling and acting career.
Caroline's first attempt at marriage, to Count Glauco, an Italian national, was blocked in 1983 by legal complications (under English law she was still considered male). In 1989 she married Elias Fattal in London, but her husband left her shortly after the honeymoon and the marriage was annulled by the High Court (under a ruling that the bride and groom had not been female and male, respectively). Caroline told her story in the 1982 book, Tula: I Am a Woman and published an autobiography, My Story, in 1991; she has resumed her modelling career and is now married to David Finch, a Canadian.
But Caroline Cossey was a 'Bond girl' in only the most fleeting of ways: She appeared but briefly on screen in For Your Eyes Only, and film credits describe her as "girl at pool," a designation she shared with ten other actresses.
Rumors about the real transexual Bond girl have morphed over time, with later versions asserting the woman in question had been one of the primary love interests in For Your Eyes Only. (That role was filled by French actress Carole Bouquet, appearing as the vengeful daughter of the scientist the villain had done away with.) Though it makes for a more satisfying rumor to have Roger Moore recoiling in horror at having discovered he'd just performed a love scene with an actress who'd been born male, it just didn't happen.
Caroline Cossey (back row, center) with the other Bond girls in For Your Eyes Only
Sources:
Binyon, Michael. "Sex Change Woman Loses Legal Case."
The Times. 28 September 1990 Home News.
Dunn, Jane. "How Barry Became Carrie."
Sunday Times. 5 May 1991 Features.
Goodchild, Sophie. "New Hope for Transsexuals as MPs Move to Change Law on Birth Certificates."
The [London] Independent. 23 June 2002 (p. 13). -
A number of unusual deaths have occurred to the cast of the Poltergeist trilogy of films.
Claim: A number of deaths have occured among the cast of the Poltergeist trilogy of films.
Origins: What is seen as an unusually large number of deaths have occurred among the former cast of the Poltergeist trilogy. This occurrence has given rise to the rumor that the productions were in some way "cursed" due to the nature of the films themselves, as if the evil spirits conjured up in the make-believe world of the cinema have since reached out into the real world to claim what they might see as their rightful victims.
In a popular form of the rumor, one of the child actors is said to have come to an untimely end after the making of each film, one murdered, one in a car accident, and one of a mysterious disease. Though it's true Dominique Dunne and Heather O'Rourke have since died, Oliver Robins (the lad who played the boy) appears to be still with us.
Three horror films comprise the Poltergeist trilogy: Poltergeist (1982), Poltergeist II (1986), and Poltergeist III (1988 ). Each recounts an episode in the lives of the Freelings, a fictitious family who have the bad luck to take up residence in homes inhabited by spirits intent upon kidnapping their kids or to send their kids to live in such places.
(As to what the word itself means, a poltergeist is a noisy and destructive (but usually mischievious, not malicious) ghost held to be responsible for unexplained noises and movement of objects within a home. It is hypothesized that poltergeists are drawn to homes in which there are prepubescent children, especially girls.)
Though coincidence is a much more likely explanation than a curse, there have been four deaths among the cast of this set of films -- Dominique Dunne (Dana Freeling), Heather O'Rourke (Carol Ann Freeling), Will Sampson (Taylor, a good spirit), and Julian Beck (Kane, an evil spirit). Though two of the deaths were foreseeable -- indeed, expected -- two were not. It's the combination of the two unexpected deaths which lies at the heart of every rumor about a curse.
22-year old Dominique Dunne died on 4 November 1982 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, four days after her boyfriend choked her into a coma from which she never awoke. Weeks earlier, Dunne had ended her abusive live-in relationship with Los Angeles chef John Sweeney. On the night of 30 October 1982, he dropped by their former shared residence to plead with her to take him back. The conversation did not go as he'd hoped, and the encounter ended with him strangling her for what was later determined to be 4 to 6 minutes, then leaving her for dead in her driveway.
Sweeney was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, sentenced in November, 1983, and released in 1986 after serving only 3 years, 8 months of a 6 1/2 year sentence. His sentence is controversial to this day.
Poltergeist, the film in which Dunne appeared, had been released earlier that year, in June.
12-year-old Heather O'Rourke died of septic shock on 1 February 1988 at the Children's Hospital in San Diego. What had been thought to be a bout of ordinary flu launched her into cardiac arrest during the drive to the local hospital as bacterial toxins set loose by a bowel obstruction made their way into her bloodstream. Her heart was successfully restarted and she was flown by helicopter to the much-larger Children's Hospital where she underwent an operation to remove the obstruction. The toxins rampaging through her system proved too much, and she died on the operating table.
The circumstances surrounding her passing rendered her death even more of a shock than it otherwise would have been, as she went overnight from a little girl who had the flu to a dead little girl who expired during a desperate operation to save her life. It's hard enough to accept that a child can die of an illness, let alone a healthy-looking youngster no one knew anything was wrong with. (That she looked healthy did not necessarily mean that she was. The year before her death she'd been diagnosed as having Crohn's Disease, a lifelong inflammatory small bowel disease which often first manifests in children and young adults.) Of course such an unexpected death would fuel rumors, especially when considered in conjunction with Dominique Dunne's murder only six years earlier.
O'Rourke appeared in all three Poltergeist movies. Poltergeist III had been completed at the time of her death although it had yet to be released, leading to rumors that she had expired during shooting and a double had to be used to complete the picture. (Poltergeist III was in the can by June 1987 but wasn't released until 10 June 1988; however, writer-director Gary Sherman decided to change the ending of the already-finished film after O'Rourke's death, so a double was used to shoot the alternate ending.)
The other two deaths were of seasoned actors well into their careers, both suffering from serious illnesses that would in time take their lives. Because their deaths were not unexpected, only rarely is either one mentioned in connection with the Poltergeist "curse."
60-year-old Julian Beck died of stomach cancer on 14 September 1985 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Like O'Rourke, he expired during the period between filming and release, but in his case the film in question was Poltergeist II, which was released in May 1986. Unlike O'Rourke, his death was not unexpected; he had been battling the cancer for 18 months.
53-year-old Will Sampson died on 3 June 1987 in a Houston hospital after receiving a heart-lung transplant 6 weeks earlier. The cause of his death was ascribed to severe pre-operative malnutrition and post-operative kidney failure and fungal infection. It has been said he knew his chances for survival were small due to his weakened condition prior to surgery.
Like Beck, Sampson appeared in only one film in the series, Poltergeist II, released in May 1986. He was best known for his portrayal of the Indian who feigned being mute in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.
An extreme version of the "curse" rumor asserts that everyone who appeared in these movies is now dead. That news must come as quite a shock to numerous thespians, most notably Craig T. Nelson (Steve Freeling), Jo Beth Williams (Diane Freeling), and Tom Skerritt (Bruce Gardner) -- they all think they're still alive and continue to ply their trade in movies and television shows despite their deceasedness.
Sources:
Arnold, Roxane. "Strangled Actress; Did Slayer's Penalty Fit His Crime?"
Los Angeles Times. 3 December 1986 (p. A1).
Associated Press. "Poltergeist Actress in Coma After Being Choked on Coast."
The New York Times. 1 November 1982 (p. A17).
Associated Press. "Dominique Dunne, Actress, Dies After Being Choked."
The New York Times. 5 November 1982 (p. D19).
Associated Press. "Slayer of Actress Sentenced to 6 1/2-Year Maximum Term."
The New York Times. 13 November 1983 (p. A28 ).
Folkart, Burt. "Role in Cuckoo's Nest; Will Sampson, Gentle Indian Giant, Dies."
Los Angeles Times. 4 June 1987 (p. A24).
Folkart, Burt. "Poltergeist Star Heather O'Rourke Dies at Age of 12."
Los Angeles Times. 3 February 1988 (p. A3).
Freedman, Samuel. "Julian Beck, 60, is Dead; Founded Living Theater."
The New York Times. 17 September 1985 (p. B6).
The San Diego Union-Tribune. "Heather O'Rourke, 12, Dies, San Diego Actress."
2 February 1988 (p. A3).
United Press International.
2 February 1988 California; Regional News. -
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Hiya....Originally posted by ratinacage:i know chaplins had some sorta mental disorder.
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hey, havent seen u in ages....too busy in love?Originally posted by lilogirl:Hiya....
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Too busy working is more like it.... But that'll end this year end... I just fried my own salted fish... or is it sotong!?!?!?!Originally posted by ratinacage:hey, havent seen u in ages....too busy in love? 
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its cuttlefish lah.neways it may be a good thing. jux get married and be a tai tai, then u can join FI's PTT liao.Originally posted by lilogirl:Too busy working is more like it.... But that'll end this year end... I just fried my own salted fish... or is it sotong!?!?!?! 
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That's the word!!! CUTTLEFISH!!!Originally posted by ratinacage:its cuttlefish lah.neways it may be a good thing. jux get married and be a tai tai, then u can join FI's PTT liao.
Haha... I can't stop working... not with the way I spend...
Was hoping to take a month rest though... Maybe I will... maybe not... haven't decided yet...
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whoa, so good, can actually decide whether to take a rest.if i take a rest,that only means i m outta a job.Originally posted by lilogirl:That's the word!!! CUTTLEFISH!!!
Haha... I can't stop working... not with the way I spend...
Was hoping to take a month rest though... Maybe I will... maybe not... haven't decided yet... 
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Hee... I'm definitely going back to work la... Just hoping to have some rest before starting work at a new place...which I haven't start looking for yet...Originally posted by ratinacage:whoa, so good, can actually decide whether to take a rest.if i take a rest,that only means i m outta a job. -
i think we are jacking your thread....muahahahahahahaOriginally posted by lilogirl:Hee... I'm definitely going back to work la... Just hoping to have some rest before starting work at a new place...which I haven't start looking for yet... -
You're right!! Gotta go to work le..See ya around... Take care!Originally posted by ratinacage:i think we are jacking your thread....muahahahahahaha -
rite,u take care now.see ya.Originally posted by lilogirl:You're right!! Gotta go to work le..See ya around... Take care!