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Tall, rugged James Craig's career as an MGM contract player blossomed in the 1940s. This was due in large part to his strong physical and vocal resemblance to the studio's top leading man, Clark Gable (who was -- by the time Craig was signed to MGM -- serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces). The Rice Institute graduate had studied to be a physician until a sojourn in the movie capital persuaded him to try his luck as an actor. He was tutored by thespian Cyril Delevanti in 1934 and began in the industry as an extra. Having lived for some time in Texas, he had the perfect drawl just tailor-made for a western hero. James Henry Meador consequently transformed himself into James Craig when it looked like he might be given a role in the melodrama Craig's Wife (1936). As it turned out, he was mainly cast in low-budget second-feature westerns for the first two years of his Hollywood tenure. Craig's breakthrough arrived courtesy of a loan-out to RKO where he was co-starred opposite Ginger Rogers in Kitty Foyle (1940). He had some critical success as farmer Jabez Stone in The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) and scored high-profile parts in a couple of other A-grade features: the caliph in Kismet (1944), and as Halverson in Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945). However, before long, Mr. Gable returned from the war and it was back to low budget horse operas for Craig. After working in episodic television for several years in the 1960s, he called it quits and turned his talents towards a lucrative career in real estate.

Philip Kindred Dick was born in Chicago in December 1928, along with a twin sister, Jane. Jane died less than eight weeks later, allegedly from an allergy to mother's milk. Dick's parents split up during his childhood, and he moved with his mother to Berkeley, California, where he lived for most of the rest of his life. Dick became a published author in 1952. His first sale was the short story "Roog." His first novel, "Solar Lottery," appeared in 1955. Dick produced an astonishing amount of material during the 1950s and 1960s, writing and selling nearly a hundred short stories and some two dozen or so novels during this period, including "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?," "Time Out Of Joint," "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch," and the Hugo-award winning "The Man In The High Castle." A supremely chaotic personal life (Dick was married five times) along with drug experimentation, sidetracked Dick's career in the early 1970s. Dick would later maintain that reports of his drug use had been greatly exaggerated by sensationalistic colleagues. In any event, after a layoff of several years, Dick returned to action in 1974 with the Campbell award-winning novel "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said." Perhaps more importantly, though, this same year Dick would have a profound religious experience that would forever alter his life. Dick's final years were haunted by what he alleged to be a 1974 visitation from God, or at least a God-like being. Dick spent the rest of his life writing copious journals regarding the visitation and his interpretations of the event. At times, Dick seemed to regard it as a divine revelation and, at other times, he believed it to be a sign of extreme schizophrenic behaviour. His final novels all deal in some way with the entity he saw in 1974, especially "Valis," in which the title-character is an extraterrestrial God-like machine that chooses to make contact with a hopelessly schizophrenic, possibly drug-addled and decidedly mixed-up science fiction writer named Philip K. Dick. Despite his award-winning novels and almost universal acclaim from within the science-fiction community, Dick was never especially financially successful as a writer. He worked mainly for low-paying science-fiction publishers and never seemed to see any royalties from his novels after the advance had been paid, no matter how many copies they sold. In fact, one of the reasons for his extreme productivity was that he always seemed to need the advance money from his next story or novel in order to make ends meet. But towards the very end of his life, he achieved a measure of financial stability, partly due to the money he received from the producers of Blade Runner (1982) for the rights to his novel "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?" upon which the film was based. Shortly before the film premiered, however, he died of a heart attack at the age of 53. Since his death, several other films have been adapted from his works (incuding Total Recall (1990)) and several unpublished novels have been published posthumously.

Joe Cobb was born on 7 November 1916 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Uncle Tom's Uncle (1926), Good Cheer (1926) and The Buccaneers (1924). He died on 21 May 2002 in Santa Ana, California, USA.

Pete Kellett was born on 4 November 1922 in West Plains, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for Zorro: The Gay Blade (1981), Star Trek (1966) and Swashbuckler (1976). He died on 7 August 1982 in Santa Ana, California, USA.

Susie Tracy was born on 1 July 1932 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is known for Larry King Live (1985) and The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn (1986). She died on 29 May 2022 in Santa Ana, California, USA.

Jon Simanton was born on 4 September 1970. He was an actor, known for Epic Movie (2007), Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (1997) and Surviving Christmas (2004). He died on 17 February 2015 in Santa Ana, California, USA.

David Zdunich was born on 2 February 1947 in the USA. He was an actor, known for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005). He died on 15 September 2009 in Santa Ana, California, USA.

Rosa Turich was born on 9 June 1903 in Tucson, Arizona, USA. She was an actress, known for Tripoli (1950), Rangers of Fortune (1940) and Clipped Wings (1937). She was married to Felipe Turich. She died on 20 November 1998 in Santa Ana, California, USA.

Tommy Bupp was born on 10 February 1924 in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for It's a Gift (1934), Piccadilly Jim (1936) and Little Men (1934). He died on 24 December 1983 in Santa Ana, California, USA.

Born in Naponee, Nebraska. His father was horse buyer for the U.S. Army. Pierce learned to ride horses bareback because parents could not afford a saddle. Attended University of Nebraska and the Emerson College of Oratory. Received the "Golden Boot" award in 1992. The city of Orange, California declared a "Pierce Lyden Day". He also received a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Fame. The state of Nebraska honored him with the prestigious "Buffalo Bill Award" in 1997. He had divorced once and is twice widowed. His only child, a son, died in 1988.

Tom Vize was born on 1 April 1920 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for The Millionaire (1955), Mannix (1967) and Poor Devil (1973). He died on 6 September 2001 in Santa Ana, California, USA.

Arletta Duncan was born on 31 December 1914 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. She was an actress, known for Menace (1934), Back Street (1932) and Night World (1932). She died on 28 October 1985 in Santa Ana, California, USA.

Danko was born Bertha Danko in Newark, New Jersey, in 1903, the daughter of a blacksmith who'd emigrated from Czechoslovakia. At the age of 20 she moved to L.A. with her widowed mother and moved into a bungalow at 6522 La Mirada Avenue where she would live for the next half century. She worked as a stenographer at a dental supply company and in 1924 began haunting the studios looking for extra work. It would be her career for the rest of her life. During the 1930's she worked steadily at MGM, listing "studio worker" as her occupation in City Directories. Danko was hired as an extra for The Wizard of Oz and was paid the standard $11 a day. But her resemblance and small stature matched that of Hamilton so she earned $35 for doing stunt work doubling Hamilton as well. On February 11, 1939, she replaced Hamilton for the "Surrender Dorothy" scene. After her earlier accident, Hamilton refused to play the scene, sitting on a smoking pipe configured to look like the Witch's broom. As Danko sat on the contraption and cameras rolled, the pipe exploded, seriously injuring both of Danko's legs. She was hospitalized for almost two weeks and the accident left her legs permanently disfigured and scarred. Another brave extra, Eileen Goodman, finished the scene for her. Danko earned $790 for her work on Oz plus the $35 she earned for riding the broomstick.

Pepito Pérez was born on 16 February 1885 in Barcelona, Spain. He was an actor, known for Army Girl (1938), Alias Nick Beal (1949) and Tropic Holiday (1938). He was married to Joanne Perez. He died on 13 July 1975 in Santa Ana, California, USA.

Justin Carmack was born on 12 March 1981 in Orange, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Full House (1987) and Delivering (1993). He died on 20 July 2000 in Santa Ana, California, USA.

Singer/actress Nina Koshetz (1894-1965) was in Russia a distinguished artist in classical and nationalist repertoire, singing at the principal opera and recital houses of Europe. She was frequently accompanied by Siloti and Rachmaninoff. After settling in the US in 1920, she began a superb career as teacher and coach. She is known to have appeared in at least six Hollywood films.

Ebba Mona was born in Norway in 1904 as Ebba Mona Hoeg. Following the divorce of her parents, she came to the United States with her mother where she formed a popular vaudeville dance act with her sister, Tula Belle, called "The Angelus Sisters". She worked as a chorus girl in the late 1920s until the mid-1930s. At various points in her career, Ebba used the names Ebba Mona, Ebba Angelus, Ebba Holly, and Ebba Hollingshead, the latter of these being the surname of her stepfather, producer Gordon Hollingshead. In her later years, she made the news when an Academy Award statue that had once been awarded to the Hollingshead, who had died in 1952, was recovered after having been lost for years. Ebba was tracked down and reunited with the Oscar of her beloved stepfather, a feel good story that appeared in newspapers around the country. A divorced mother of one son, she passed away in 1985 at the age of 81.

John Wimber was born on 25 February 1934 in Kirksville, Missouri, USA. He died on 17 November 1997 in Santa Ana, California, USA.

Larry Perron was born on 11 August 1923 in Wilmington, Delaware, USA. He was an actor, known for The Rifleman (1958), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) and Mike Hammer (1958). He died on 1 October 1986 in Santa Ana, California, USA.

Ted Sherdeman was born on 21 June 1909 in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Them! (1954), Latitude Zero (1969) and The McConnell Story (1955). He was married to Anne Stone. He died on 22 August 1987 in Santa Ana, California, USA.

Composer of familiar Irish songs ("When Irish Eyes are Smiling", "Mother Machree", "A Little Bit of Heaven") and pianist, educated at the Cleveland Conservatory. He was a staff composer for a music publishing company from 1907 to 1927, and a vaudeville pianist throughout the USA. He joined ASCAP as a charter member in 1914, and wrote the stage scores for Broadway musicals including "The Heart of Paddy Whack", and "Macushla". His chief musical collaborators included New York Mayor James J. Walker, Chauncey Olcott, George Graff, Darl MacBoyle, J. Kiern Brennan, Annelu Burns, and Arthur Penn, and David Reed. His other popular-song compositions include "Will You Love Me in December As You Do In May?"; "Till the Sands of the Desert Grow Cold"; ""Love Me and the World Is Mine"; "Saloon; "Dear Little Boy of Mine"; "I'll Forget You"; "Let the Rest of the World Go By"; "In the Garden of My Heart"; "My Dear"; "Who Knows?"; "Goodbye, Good Luck, God Bless You"; "Turn Back the Universe"; "I Love the Name of Mary"; "To the End of the World With You"; "West of the Great Divide"; "Ireland is Ireland to Me"; "She's the Daughter of Mother Machree"; "To Have, To Hold, To Love"; "Mother of Pearl"; "For the Sake of Auld Lang Syne"; and "You Planted a Rose".

Allan Vaughan Elston was born on 28 July 1887 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Allan Vaughan was a writer, known for Paradise Express (1937), Isle of Destiny (1940) and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955). Allan Vaughan died on 21 October 1976 in Santa Ana, California, USA.

Joanne Perez was born on 4 June 1908 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Joanne was married to Pepito Pérez. Joanne died on 1 April 2004 in Santa Ana, Orange County, California, U.S.

Pat McCormick was born on 12 May 1930 in Seal Beach, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Family Feud (1976), 16 Days of Glory (1985) and The Ed Sullivan Show (1948). She was married to Glenn McCormick. She died on 7 March 2023 in Santa Ana, California, USA.

George Van Eps was born on 7 August 1913 in Plainfield, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for Art City 1: Making It in Manhattan (1996), The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1935) and Pete Kelly's Blues (1959). He died on 29 November 1998 in Santa Ana, California, USA.