William Whitney Talman, Jr. (February 4, 1915 – August 30, 1968)

Bill Talman was a television and movie actor, who played Los Angeles District
Attorney Hamilton Burger in the long-running CBS-TV series Perry Mason
(1957-1966). He is also known for being the first actor in Hollywood to film
an anti-smoking public service announcement for the American Cancer
Society. A lifelong heavy smoker, Talman was diagnosed with lung cancer,
and knew he was dying when he filmed the commercial.

SANDY KOZEL

Arlo Davy Guthrie is 69 years old today.

1972

The song "Ode to Billie Joe" was written and recorded by Bobbie Gentry, a
singer-songwriter from Chickasaw County, Mississippi. It became a number-
one hit in the U.S., and a big international seller. Billboard ranked the record
as the No. 3 song for 1967. The song is ranked #412 on Rolling Stone‘s list
of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". It also generated eight Grammy
nominations, resulting in three wins for Gentry and one win for arranger
Jimmie Haskell.

Bobby Gentry in Capitol Studio C, Hollywood, CA.

Bobby Gentry (Roberta Lee Streeter) will be 72
on July 27.

George Leslie Gobel (May 20, 1919 – February 24, 1991)

George Gobel initially pursued an entertainment career as a country
music singer, appearing on the National Barn Dance on WLS radio,
and later on KMOX in St. Louis. Gobel enlisted in the U.S. Army Air
Forces during World War II and served as a flight instructor in AT-9 
aircraft at Altus, Oklahoma and later in B-26 Marauder bombers
at Frederick,Oklahoma. After his discharge at the end of the war,
he switched from singing to comedy and soon began a comedy
show on NBC in 1954 that ran until 1960. It won him an Emmy
in 1955. 

SANDY KOZEL

Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is 60 today.

During his years studying theater, Hanks met Vincent Dowling, head of  
the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio. Dowling’s urged
Hanks to become an intern at the festival. That internship stretched into
a three-year experience that covered most aspects of theater production,
including lighting, set design, and stage management, prompting Hanks
to drop out of college.

Forrest Gump, 1994

Apollo 13, 1995

Saving Private Ryan, 1998

Cast Away, 2000

2015