Rhonda Fleming

Rhonda Fleming was a popular movie actress in the 1940s and '50s, and on many tv shows in the 1960s and '70s. Some of her most well-known feature roles are in "Spellbound" (1945), "Out of the Past" (1947), "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" (1949), and "While the City Sleeps" (1956).

Miss Fleming was one of the most beautiful actresses in the '40s and '50s, and was nicknamed the "Queen of Technicolor" because complexion and red hair photographed exceptionally well in Technicolor films.

I sent Miss Fleming this photo in 1981, to her Los Angeles residence, and she returned it within two weeks.

While she has been retired from movies for several years, she is still very much active in humanitarian circles. She maintains her own website which can be seen here.

Anna Lee

Anna Lee was an English-born actress who became popular in American movies when she moved to Hollywood in the 1940s. She appeared in several of director John Ford's movies, including "How Green Was My Valley" (1941) and "Fort Apache" (1948). She appeared in many movies during the 1940s and 1950s, and eventually worked mostly on various tv shows.

Miss Lee is probably best remembered for her character 'Lila Quartermaine' on the tv 'soap opera' "General Hospital", a role she played for many years until 2003. She died the following year.

She is yet another actress I remembered from many movies but neglected to write. In 1990, a signed post card photo (seen below) was part of a small collection I'd purchased. The post card was never mailed, as it is postage-free on the back, and was published by an English company. Since it isn't dated, I'm assuming it to be from the late 1930s-early 1940s.

Leon Askin - 'General Burkhalter'

Leon Askin was an Austrian-born veteran actor of the stage and movies for many years before he entered tv in the 1950s. He appeared on many shows in a variety of roles, both dramatic and comedic. Mr. Askin was adept at playing foreign characters who'd speak English but with a strong accent.

While I'd seen him in various movie and tv roles, it is as the character 'General Burkhalter' in the 1960s tv sitcom "Hogan's Heroes" for which I'll remember him.

In early February 1982, I sent Mr. Askin this photo, in character as 'General Burkhalter', to his residence in Beverly Hills, California. He returned it within two weeks.

Some years later, Mr. Askin returned to his native Austria where he continued to act and direct. He even had/has his personal website. The website is still online, and apparently is being maintained by somebody since Mr. Askin's death in Vienna in 2005, at age 97.

Mary Treen

Mary Treen was a character actress who began her career on the vaudeville stage, and from there continued on to theater and movie and tv. Her movie career began in the 1930s in many uncredited roles. As audiences continued to recognize her, she eventually was given screen credit for whichever roles she played.

Ms. Treen was seen on many tv shows during the 1960s, '70s and '80s and was always fun to watch.

I wrote to Ms. Treen, at her Newport Beach, California residence, in 1982, requesting a photo. She sent this photo, within two weeks. It's signed on the upper left, in the dark portion of the photo.

Butterfly McQueen - 'Prissy' in "Gone With the Wind"

Butterfly McQueen was an actress who is best remembered for her role in 1939's "Gone With the Wind", as the young maid Prissy. She went on to appear in a handful of movies and several tv shows over the years.

In 1982, a friend who'd been collecting autographed photos for many years provided me with Miss McQueen's address, which was on West 144th Street in New York City's Harlem. I sent her this photo as 'Prissy', and she returned it to me within two weeks.

I'd heard from people who'd met her and/or talked to her by phone, that Miss McQueen was a very sweet lady who enjoyed being remembered for her movie role of many years earlier. This dear lady had a tragic end. In 1995, while living in Augusta, Georgia where she maintained a home during winter months, she attempted to light a kerosene heater, and it malfunctioned and burst into flames. She received burns over most of her body, and died a few days later. Her body was donated to medical science.

Henry Jones

Henry Jones was an actor best known for his character roles. He was active in movies from the 1940s, and tv shows from the 1950s into the 1990s. He is probably best remembered for his role as the father-in-law on the 1970s sitcom "Phyllis" which starred Cloris Leachman.

I wrote to Mr. Jones in 1982, to his residence in Los Angeles, requesting a photo. He sent this photo within one month.

Frances McCoy.....Search Ended

Welcome Back! I took a much-needed break from blogging, during the month of August, and now I'm back, with a new posting three times a week - Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I appreciate the comments people have made about my blog, and about my autographed photo collection in general, and I hope every reader will find future postings as informative and entertaining too.
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On Thursday evening, August 21, 2008, the nearly 20-year search for actress Frances McCoy ended. Fellow 'Three Stooges supporting players' researcher Frank Reighter sent me a scan of a news article in a 1943 issue of the military publication, The Stars and Stripes. He found it in a section of the genealogy website Ancestry.com. The article was about a USO entertainment troupe touring Europe to entertain U.S. armed services personnel. One of the entertainers was "singer Frances McCoy, of New York". Reference was made to Miss McCoy looking for her brother, T/Sgt. Harry Popper, who was in the Air Corps. A photograph of Frances with some other people was included in the article.
With this new information, that her family name was "Popper", I proceeded to research the vast resources at Ancestry.com and found her family in the 1930 US Census, living in New York City. With an approximate birth year for Harry, I then was able to locate his date of death and an obituary. The obit mentioned several survivors, but Frances was not one of them. There were a few children of Harry's, though, and I located his daughter Victoria, living in California. I called, and she confirmed that her aunt was indeed Frances McCoy, the actress who appeared in 1930's "Soup to Nuts", the first screen appearance of a group of comics who would later be known as The Three Stooges. Victoria was pleasantly surprised that people are interested in her aunt's career, and we had a lengthy conversation during which she told me some vital family history.

Frances was born in Poland, on December 25, 1910 (some sources give the year as 1912), as Franya Popowsky. Her parents were Sam and Yetta Popowsky (this name was later 'Americanized' to 'Popper'). Her family emigrated to the U.S. in about 1913-1914 and lived in New York City, until they moved to Los Angeles in 1930. Frances, who'd become a stage actress in NYC, was offered movie roles. While her movie career never took off as hoped, she continued performing in a few movie musical shorts and nightclub revues, until she married and left the business.

As Frances Katchen, she died on June 20, 1976, a resident of River Edge, New Jersey.

Frank will continue communicating with Frances' niece to obtain more information about her career, photos, etc.