BOTD: NATALIE WOOD (July 20, 1938)

BOTD: Natalie Wood would be 83 today, July 20. Tomorrow morning I leave for Catalina Island to retrace Natalie Wood's last steps and Marilyn Monroe's first. I hope to get a lot of really great footage for my next video "The Drowning of Natalie Wood" (Episode 8). Be sure to catch on the 1-7.

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Sal Mineo: Hollywood's First Gay Teenager (Episode 3)

Forty-five years ago, on February 12, 1976, "Rebel Without a Cause" actor Sal Mineo was murdered outside his carport in West Hollywood, CA. Go behind the sign to the alleyway where the Switchblade Kid met his match. I hope you guys enjoy this video as much as I enjoyed making it. Like and Subscribe to my channel!

45 YEARS AGO TONIGHT...

Forty-five years ago, on February 12, 1976, "Rebel Without a Cause" actor Sal Mineo was murdered outside his carport in West Hollywood, CA. Go behind the sign to the alleyway where the Switchblade Kid met his match. I hope you guys enjoy this video as much as I enjoyed making it. Like and Subscribe to my Youtube channel!

Fortune and Men's Eyes (Sal Mineo)

CLICK HERE for 𝚂𝚊𝚕 𝙼𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝟷𝟿-𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛-𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝙳𝚘𝚗 𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚊, "𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙼𝚎𝚗'𝚜 𝙴𝚢𝚎𝚜." 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝙼𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚘. (𝙵𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚝 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝙻𝚘𝚜 𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜, 𝟷𝟿𝟼𝟿. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝟷𝟼𝚖𝚖 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚖 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎𝚕 𝙺𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝙼𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚂𝚊𝚗 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚘 𝙾𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚍, 𝙰𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙿𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝙹𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚍 𝙻𝚊𝙱𝚒𝚗𝚎)

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ISSUE No. 1: Sal Mineo

Hollywood’s ‘First Gay Teenager,’ Sal Mineo, was born on this day in 1939. Ahead of his time and taken way too soon. Sal was the youngest person nominated for an Academy Award for 1955’s “Rebel Without a Cause” where Sal played Plato, a lonely gay teenager in 1950’s America. He was nominated once again a few years later for his role in “Exodus” - the epic film on the founding of the modern State of Israel. By the early 1960s, Sal was becoming too old to play the type of role that had made him famous, and his rumored homosexuality led to his being considered inappropriate for leading roles. Sal's last role in a motion picture was a small part in the film Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971); he played the chimpanzee, Dr. Milo. In a 1972 interview, Sal openly discussed his bisexuality. At the time of his murder, he was in a six-year relationship with male actor Courtney Burr III. On the night of February 12, 1976, the actor returned home following a rehearsal for the play P.S. Your Cat Is Dead. After parking his car in the carport below his West Hollywood apartment, the 37-year-old was stabbed once in the heart by a mugger who quickly fled the scene. Police pursued multiple leads but assumed the crime to be the result of some sort of “homosexual motivation.” In March of 1979, Lionel Ray Williams was sentenced to 57 years in prison for both killing Mineo and committing ten robberies in the same area. Lionel was paroled in the 1990s. CLICK HERE for the issue that started it all DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD: SAL MINEO (Issue no. 1).

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BOTD: SAL MINEO (Jan. 10, 1939)

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝙸 𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚛𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙾𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚆𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝙲𝚘𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚐𝚊𝚢-𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚊 "𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚎 & 𝙼𝚎𝚗'𝚜 𝙴𝚢𝚎𝚜" 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚝 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚛𝚎 (𝟹𝟼𝟼 𝙽 𝙻𝚊 𝙲𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚐𝚊 𝙱𝚕𝚟𝚍.) 𝚒𝚗 𝙻.𝙰. 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝙷𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚢𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍'𝚜 "𝙵𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝙶𝚊𝚢 𝚃𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚛," 𝚂𝚊𝚕 𝙼𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚘. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚆𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝙲𝚘𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝙳𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟿𝟼𝟾, 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝙹𝚊𝚗𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝟿, 𝟷𝟿𝟼𝟿, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚢 𝟷𝟿𝟼𝟿. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙹𝚊𝚗𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝟿 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠! 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚛-𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎 (𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚢) 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚎𝚗 - 𝚂𝚊𝚕 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚘𝚏𝚏-𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚂𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗-𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛-𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝙳𝚘𝚗 𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗𝚜𝚘𝚗. 𝚃𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝙸 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚝 𝙻𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚘. 𝚂𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚊 𝚙𝚒𝚣𝚣𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚐𝚞𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢, "𝙿.𝚂. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝙲𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍." 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 "𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚍." 𝙸𝚝 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙸𝚏 𝚂𝚊𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍, 𝚑𝚎'𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝟾𝟸.

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DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD: ALL ROADS LEAD TO DEAN (Issue 27)

𝚃𝚠𝚘 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 @sfzinefest , 𝙸 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚍-𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙹𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚍. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚒𝚜... 𝙳𝙴𝙰𝙳 𝙸𝙽 𝙷𝙾𝙻𝙻𝚈𝚆𝙾𝙾𝙳: 𝙰𝙻𝙻 𝚁𝙾𝙰𝙳𝚂 𝙻𝙴𝙰𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝙳𝙴𝙰𝙽 (𝙸𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚎 𝟸𝟽). 𝚂𝙾𝙾𝙽.

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DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD: HERE LIES NATALIE WOOD (Issue #18)

Coming soon.

The American Teenager: Natalie Wood

“Rebel Without a Cause” defined both popular and youth culture upon its release in 1955, giving voice to the American teenager of the 1950’s. Even though Wood has starred in 20 films before turning 16, she is desperate to transition to adult roles. She sees the part of Judy as her ticket into adulthood. Complicating matters is that every actress from Debbie Reynolds to Jayne Mansfield is being considered for the role. Wood's mother pushes her into "dating" the 44-year-old "Rebel" director, Nicholas Ray - her mother waits in the car during Wood and Ray's romps at the Chateau Marmont. Sleeping with the director doesn't even work! It's not until a drunken car crash on Laurel Canyon with Dennis Hopper that Ray to cast considers Wood for the role. Ray visits Wood at the hospital, where the doctor calls Wood a "goddamn juvenile delinquent." Wood yells: "Did you hear what he called me, Nick? He called me a goddamn juvenile delinquent! Now do I get the part?" Wood deserves the credit for transforming Ray’s vision of Wood’s character Judy from a trashy teen to a confused, hurt kid like Wood herself.

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Seeing Stars

"There's the Hollywood sign; there's Griffith Observatory; there's the great, amazing Los Angeles Basin. It's 465 square miles of insanity and the best food on the planet." -Robert Crais 

James Dean on the set of “Rebel Without a Cause” at the Griffith Observatory.

James Dean on the set of “Rebel Without a Cause” at the Griffith Observatory.