Takashi Shimura was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1934 and 1981. He is particularly noted for his appearances in 21 of Akira Kurosawa's 30 films, including as a lead actor in Drunken Angel (1948), Rashomon (1950), Ikiru (1952) and Seven Samurai (1954). He is also known for his role as Professor Kyohei Yamane in Ishirō Honda's original Godzilla (1954). For his contributions to the arts, the Japanese government decorated Shimura with the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1974 and the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette in 1980.
William Herman Katt, known as Bill Williams, was an American television and film actor. He is best known for his starring role in the early television series The Adventures of Kit Carson, which aired in syndication from 1951 to 1955.
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! is a 1956 kaiju film directed by Terry O. Morse and Ishirō Honda. It is a heavily re-edited American localization, commonly referred to as an "Americanization", of the 1954 Japanese film Godzilla. The film was a Japanese-American co-production, with the original footage produced by Toho Co., Ltd, and the new footage produced by Jewell Enterprises. The film stars Raymond Burr, Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kōchi, Akira Takarada, and Akihiko Hirata, with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla. In the film, an American reporter covers a giant reptilian monster's attack on Japan.
Douglas Fowley was an American movie and television actor in more than 240 films and dozens of television programs, He is probably best remembered for his role as the frustrated movie director Roscoe Dexter in Singin' in the Rain (1952), and for his regular supporting role as Doc Holliday in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. He is the father of rock and roll musician and record producer Kim Fowley.
It Came from Hollywood is a 1982 American comedy documentary film compiling clips from various B movies. Written by Dana Olsen and directed by Malcolm Leo and Andrew Solt, the film features wraparound segments and narration by several famous comedians, including Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Gilda Radner, and Cheech and Chong. Sections of It Came from Hollywood focus on gorilla pictures, anti-marijuana films and the works of Ed Wood. The closing signature song was the doo wop hit "What's Your Name" by Don and Juan.
George Sherman was an American film director and producer of low-budget Western films. One obituary said his "credits rival in number those of anyone in the entertainment industry."
George Duning was an American musician and film composer. He was born in Richmond, Indiana, and educated in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, where his mentor was Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.
William Nuelsen Witney was an American film and television director. He is best remembered for the movie serials he co-directed with John English for Republic Pictures such as Daredevils of the Red Circle, Zorro's Fighting Legion and Drums of Fu Manchu.
Ross Elliott was an American television and film character actor. He began his acting career in the Mercury Theatre, where he performed in The War of the Worlds, Orson Welles' famed radio program.
Mikel Conrad was an American actor and film director, writer and producer. He was born in Columbus, Ohio and died in Los Angeles, California at the age of 63.
Peggy Stewart was an American actress known for her roles in Western B movies and television series.
Dennis Moore was an actor who specialized in Western films and film serials.
Rick Vallin was an actor who appeared in more than 150 films between 1938 and 1966.
Edwin Forrest Taylor was an American character actor whose artistic career spanned six different decades, from silents through talkies to the advent of color films.
Roy Engel was an American actor on radio, film, and television. He performed in more than 150 films and almost 800 episodes of television programs.
Gregg Barton was an American actor, who played various roles in feature films and television series.
Sam Nelson was a director and assistant director who worked from the end of the silent era right up through the early 1960s. While most of his film work was in the assistant director role, he did direct over 20 films during the 1930s and 1940s, all of which were westerns. As an assistant director he worked on such notable films as Pennies from Heaven, And Then There Were None, All the King's Men, the original 3:10 to Yuma, Some Like It Hot, A Raisin in the Sun, and Spartacus. In addition he appeared in over a dozen films in small roles.
