Corriganville Movie Ranch

Cartoon Map of Corriganville

Left Hand page

Right Hand Page

Back in the 1970s  a great Western Movie Show came to Los Angeles, I think it was at the old Biltmore Hotel in Dowtown Los Angeles.  Almost all my childhood heroes were there, Lash La Rue, Crash Corrigan, and many of the gals and guys who played in the old Chapter Serials.  I had a chance to chat with Ray Corrigan for a while.  I had been to his movie ranch and was thrilled to meet him.  We spoke for about a half hour, and I can say he was no fan of Bob Hope, who had purchased the property around 1966, and added it to his huge real estate holdings in the San Fernando Valley.  It was the first time I had heard anything negative about Hope, but it was not the last.  His well-funded Public Relations machine keeps up the Hope image long after his death, naming streets, post offices, and re-naming the Burbank airport in his name.  Meanwhile, sadly,  Corrigan lies in an unmarked grave in Inglewood.

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The Lost Archives of Larry Edmunds Bookshop

Digging Out Old Tapes of Past Events

by Uncle Paulie

I’ve been filming at Larry Edmunds Book Shop for a few years.  I would like to film every guest author, but there’s often scheduling problems on my end.   Kicking around some marketing ideas with owner Jeff one day, he mentioned that he used to film some of the events himself.  It turns out he had an old VHS-C camera.

I told him it would be a good idea to get the old tapes and I would transfer them to DVDs and a digital file.  Old tapes can last for years, but eventually they will degrade, depending on a few factors, including how they are stored and how hot it is.  Of course his tapes were stored in an upper storage area where it does get hot.  In addition, he can’t find the original camera and never re-wound the tapes every year, which helps to preserve them.

Since a lot of my video equipment is old, it just so happened that I had a couple of old VHS-C cameras.  I would need one to transfer the tape to a DVD recorder.  Sometimes things work and sometimes they don’t.  Running a tape from one camera to another can be a problem.  I was lucky and my old JVC seems to give a fairly good image, although some color loss has occurred on some of the tapes.

So here is the first tape, filmed way back in November 17, 2011.  It was author, actor, and director Sir Micchael Lindsay-Hogg.  His career in the music businesss is legendary.  He started off as a director for the famous British pop music program Ready, Steady, Go.  He had a huge career  in the music video business, working with The Rollling Stones and churning out music videos of almost all their albums.  He also did music videos for The Beatles, Wings, and Whitney Houston.

A small word of caution on these tapes.  Most are not perfect, and most only about 30 minutes or so.  Jeff, running the projector, the camera and the show, was always in motion, sometimes running back at the last moment to adjust the camera.  We are just going to put these out as they are, a fun gift from Jeff at Larry Edmunds to celebrate their 80th bookstore birthday. Jeff’s job is to root through the old storage area and find the tapes.  I will attempt to transfer them as I receive them, and YOUR job is to sit back and enjoy some lost Hollywood history.

 

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Exploring The Beginning Of The Hollywood Blacklist

Show Trial Author Thomas Doherty on the Red Scare, HUAC, and the Hollywood Ten

by Ed Murray

Author Thomas Doherty was at Larry Edmunds Book Shop on Saturday April 7th, to discuss his new book on Post WW2 America and the beginning of the Hollywood Blacklist. This is not a book review, just some random comments on the era and the strange situation we are in today. The following comments are from What Up Hollywood.  To hear Mr. Doherty’s talk, click on the box below.

Even though the United States was allied with the Soviet Union in World War 2 and were part of the great fight against fascism, the post-war years saw a 180 degree turn against the Soviet Union.  America was seized with anti-communist hysteria and Congress launched The House Committee on Un-American Activities, called HUAC by its enemies to cleverly turn the committee itself into an Un-American entity by switching the Committee title around (HCUA vs HUAC).

During the War, the U.S. was more than happy to urge the Hollywood Studios to put out anti-Nazi and anti-Fascist propaganda, and several pro-Soviet films were also made.  When Congress launched it’s hearings after the war, suddenly they were ripping Hollywood apart looking for “Communists”.  How soon they forgot that Russia was our ally.  Even studio head Jack Warner asked Congress why they seemed to all have “amnesia” about our former friends and the importance of using movies to fight fascism.

But the hunt for the secret Communist Party members was on.  The FBI had burglarized the Communist headquarters in Los Angeles and obtained copies of the membership cards of all the Reds, including many of the screen writers.  They dragged them to Washington and demanded to know if they were now or ever had been members of the Communist Party.  The writers were stuck.  If they admitted that they had been, the next question would be “who else do you know was a member?”  Not willing to snitch on their friends, they refused to answer, citing the First Amendment.  The now famous Hollywood Ten writers were found in contempt of Congress and sent to jail for a year.

Progressives, socialists and liberals were all running scared, and the big witch hunt went on for years, with many Hollywood folks afraid to speak their mind on political issues for fear of being called communists or communist sympathizers. The Communist Party, taking it’s orders from Moscow, slowly lost the enthusiasm of the left.  The authoritarian rule was something most Progressives and leftists ultimately disliked.  The Party ceased to exist after the breakup of the Soviet Union, although there are still some radical revolutionary home-grown communist movements.

The odd twist today is how the Progressives and the left are suddenly smitten about the FBI.  They have let their hatred of President Trump over-rule their common sense.  As long as America is a “Capitalist” country, the FBI will always be the enemy of any “socialist” or “progressive” movement.  The establishment will protect itself, no matter what.  Although several of the top FBI leadership were allegedly pro-Clinton, this does not mean that they were in any way pro-progressive or socialist.  The FBI and Deep State hatred of Russia continues today in a straight line from the 1930s.

Author Thomas Doherty gave a great background to the Congressional Hearings, starting back in the 1930’s.  His entire lecture is featured here, just click on the box below.  To obtain signed copies of his book, go to LarryEdmunds.com.  They have his books in stock now.  Support independent book shops who bring you these great events for free.

 

Larry Edmunds Book Shop has 3 Thomas Doherty books in stock.

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Mr. Novak – Beloved Television High School Teacher

New Book Explores Award-Winning Series From The 1960s.

ca. 1960s --- James Franciscus, as his character John Novak, from the TV series Mr. Novak (1963-65) --- Image by © Corbis

ca. 1960s — James Franciscus, as his character John Novak, from the TV series Mr. Novak (1963-65) — Image by © Corbis

A new book, Mr. Novak An Acclaimed Television Series, tells the complete story of the series that ran only for 2 seasons back in the 1960s.  It was about a young teacher in Los Angeles, played by actor James Franciscus, and all the things that teachers and staff had to deal with in both their school and private lives.  Backing up Franciscus was actor Dean Jagger playing the principal of the school, and a stellar list of guest actors.

It is interesting that fifty years ago things were a lot different, and the quality of the Mr. Novak series reflected it. The series took on very serious issues, and a visit to the website, MrNovakBook.com has an entire section devoted to “Progressive Themes of the Mr. Novak Television Series.”

The show tackled the tough issues, drug abuse, teen pregnancy, racism, anti-semitism, and much more. The series reflected our great schools and teachers. It might help to release the dvds of the series, maybe we can find a clue to what has gone wrong in California education in the last 50 years.

Congratulations to Chuck Harter for his excellent and well-rounded presentation of Mr. Novak, an acclaimed television series.

Click below to view author Chuck Harter’s video tour of 2 of the locations where the exterior shots of the series were filmed, John Marshall High School and Hamilton High School.

The Book is available now in Hardback, Paperback, and Kindle editions at amazon.com

Author Chuck Harter:
Chuck Harter is an author, musician and popular culture consultant. He is the author of the new book “Mr. Novak An Acclaimed Television Series” – Bear Manor media (AMAZON) and has written four previously published books which include…”Superboy & Superpup: The Lost Videos” – Cult Movies Press (AMAZON), “Superman on Broadway” – Co-Authored with Bob Holiday (Holiday Press), “Johnnie Ray: The Year of the Atomic Ray” (Self Published) and “Little Elf: A Celebration of Harry Langdon” – Co-Authored with Michael J. Hayde – Bear Manor Media (AMAZON). Chuck wrote the acclaimed Television Documentary “Hey! Hey! We’re the Monkees” – Rhino/Disney Channel and…among others… “Gossip: Tabloid Tales” for A&E. He has appeared as a commentator on such TV programs as “North Mission Road”, ‘Cops: America’s Most Wanted”, “Places of Infamy”, A&E Biography”, “Mysteries and Scandals” and “Unsolved Mysteries”. Under his musical performing name of Chuck Winston he has produced four cds of musical recordings and recently finished a compilation cd of the best previously released material = “The Best of Chuck Winston” – Kickz Records. He has performed in concert many times in the Los Angeles area. Chuck’s current book is “Mr. Novak An Acclaimed Television Series” which covers the 1960’s program about education, and was published by Bear Manor Media (AMAZON) in October of 2017. His next project will be a book on the 1961 Horror TV series “‘Way Out” in which he will partner with author Martin Grams, Jr. Publication is scheduled for September of 2018. Chuck lives in Los Angeles near Culver City.

Mr Novak book cover990

 

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Merry Christmas From Tod Browning and Cast of Freaks

Cast and Crew of “Freaks”.  Tod Browning Center Back Row

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Photo courtesy of Julie Webster.

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Hollywood Casting Couch

Cartoon by Ben Garrison

Cartoon by Ben Garrison

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Remembering The Boulevard Theater

Old Photo Album Found at Thrift Shop Reveals Hollywood History

Boulevard Theater, 1615 West Washington Blvd.

Boulevard Theater, 1615 West Washington Blvd.

An old photo album I found at a local Thrift Shop had some interesting historical photos, including a nice shot of the old Boulevard Theater at Washington and Vermont.  The Theater opened in 1925 and had a long run.  In the 1950’s the stage was turned into offices for  Fox West Coast.  It was sold to Thriftimart in 1960 and was demolished in the mid-80’s.  The movie playing on the marquee was This Time for Keeps with Esther Williams, which would date the photo to 1947.  The site today is a shopping center with a drug store.

Front Lobby

Front Lobby

Another photo of the Boulevard.  I would guess that the photos were taken on a Saturday, notice the kids.  The man on the right is Johnny Strong, an actor.

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This photo, also taken at the Box Office Lobby area is interesting because the guy in front, possibly with his son, is bending over and behind him on the side window of the Box Office is a poster advertising “Hurricane Tommy Tucker”.  It says he is the World’s Wonder Voice, and will be imitating Woody Wood Pecker, Donald Duck, and the Famous Tarzan Yell among others.  This is a live performance, along with cartoons and movies.  I haven’t yet been able to find out anything about Tommy Tucker, maybe some readers could help on this.

Actor Johnny Strong

Actor Johnny Strong

This cool photo shows actor Johnny Strong posing with his “Woody” car, which says “Johnny Strong Enterprises, Hollywood, Calif.” painted on the side.  I have no idea what his business was, there’s no notation on any of the photos unfortunately.

Johnny Strong

Johnny Strong

Another photo of Johnny Strong.  IMDB shows him as an actor in 7 movies, mostly uncredited parts.  Only one photo could be found, his photo in The Falcon in San Francisco.  He was born in 1920 and died at 71 (1992) in Yucaipa, CA.

Big John

Big John

 This is a great candid of “Big John” Strong.  He was 6’5″.   At this point, that’s all we have been able to find about him.  Would love to get any further information on Johnny Strong.  There’s a lot of other photos of him in the album, with possibly his wife and relatives. although none related to Hollywood as far as I can tell. A couple of the photos were taken in the Bel Air vicinity.

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I believe this is Johhny Strong’s wife, taken on a trip to Utah.

posted by Uncle Paulie

Check out the great site, Los Angeles Theaters blogspot, fantastic historic photos and information, Click Here.

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High Noon at the Aero

high noon

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William Margold 1943-2017

Bill Margold, Long Time Writer for L.A. Express

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Bill Margold was a long time columnist for the L.A. Express.  Until recently he always had the back page of the newspaper, reviewing films, including most of the new x-rated films. We filmed Bill at Larry Edmunds Book Shop in Hollywood some time ago during an event centered around some of the Hollywood gals who were pioneers in the adult film industry. You can see the article and video link, click here.  Bill asked questions and talked about some of his experiences toward the end of the tape. He was a warrior for the First Amendment, and I wish he had written a book about his experiences.

Hackin' Jack poster

Bill and I were both in Hackin Jack vs. the Chainsaw Chick, a 3-D comedy horror film that is still unreleased, although it has won awards at 3-D film festivals.  You can see the trailer at www.hackinjack.com, or click here.  Bill was an accomplished actor, with 179 credits on IMDB.  Many of his roles were on X-rated or adult films.

posted by uncle paulie

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Randy Johnson 1949-2016

Funnyman Johnson Wrote Jokes for Jay Leno

He Had a Long and Varied Career in Hollywood

by Paulie Hunt

Randy Johnson

Randy Johnson

In Hollywood he was known as Randy Johnson.  To his friends he was “RJ”.  The kid from Minnesota came west to Hollywood where he jumped into the fray as an actor, documentary filmmaker, producer, director, joke writer, and graphic novel writer, among many other accomplishments.  In a town where only the hardy survive, Johnson did well, and  when one area slowed he re-invented himself and charged into another.  I knew RJ for close to 20 years and observed his struggles and achievements.

r-j-santaIt’s been said a thousand times by folks who know, that Hollywood is a merciless town, where only those with an inner toughness and the self-discipline to never give up will be able to survive.  And that’s only a “maybe”.  Most of the young folks who come here only stay a short time, then go back home and find an easier way to make a living.  But Johnson was tough.  Focused.  When he hit a wall he picked himself up and tried again.  He went over the wall, or around it.  It wasn’t an easy life.  The highs of success also begat the lows of depression and for a while alcoholism.  But his story should be an inspiration to those who follow.  Never give up.  Learn new things.  Get your foot in the door and then when the time comes, kick it open.  Don’t wait for someone to “discover” you.  RJ would tell you to “discover yourself.”

r-j-nyeHe wore many hats in his career, many that he glued together himself.  He worked in the local theaters, often for free.  He originally wanted to be an actor, and did work in television on shows like General Hospital, TV Movies “The Detective” and “Hard Time”.  During acting lulls, he used his skills as a writer for soap opera magazines, where he made a lot of friends and got some inside peeks at the television industry.  He did any kind of work he could get at first.  Once he even worked at a grimy joint in the hot San Fernando Valley that sold used refrigerators.  His job was to clean up the new arrivals, often caked with grease, to get them ready to sell.  He told me that working at that place for six months was one of the worst experiences of his life, scrubbing used refrigerators for 8 hours a day, but the side benefit was that there was no job in “Hollywood” that was worse than that.  “I knew that if I could survive that, then there was nothing in Hollywood that would beat me.  Anything would be better than that.  I got a job as a security guard at one of the studios, and compared to the refrigerators, it was paradise,” he said.

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Johnson eventually landed a job at a local television station,  KTLA where he Produced two local documentaries, “Breaking Ground”, and “Amnesty: The Dream Fulfilled.”   This would serve him well later, when he created two award winning documentary films.  The first one was “Look Who’s Laughing”, which spotlighted some disabled comedians striving for success.  He managed to get a grant from CPB, hard back then (1993) but now almost impossible for an individual.  He also managed to get financial help from Dustin Hoffman and the (Bob) Dole Foundation.  He hit the road with a camera crew, filming at comedy clubs, seeking out the few disabled comedians and filmed their routines.  He mixed in some heart-warming interviews, and the finished product became not only a success, but an inspiration to disabled folks.  Stars comedy greats Kathy Buckley, Brett Leake, Chris Fonseca, Alex Valdez, J.D. England, and Geri Jewell.

His next documentary was “The Joke’s on Thee” a film about humor in religion.  Once again he hit the trail to the comedy clubs.  He sought out stand-up comics who were finding humor in their religious beliefs.  The DVD became a classic hit, and was played many times on public broadcasting stations around the country. Click below to see a short preview on youtube.


His success with humor and comedy was highlighted in other television shows like Second City Presents, which he Produced and was hosted by writer Bill Zehme.  This new series of TV interviews offers an intimate and humorous look at comedians such as Martin Short, Tracey Ullman, Jim Belushi, Molly Shannon, Joan Rivers and John Lovitz.

RJ also one time at a Hollywood type meeting with some other producers, sketched out on a napkin an idea for a TV show, that was later called “It’s Black Entertainment”.  It was aired on Showtime, to rave reviews.

RJ, Leno, unidentified

He then moved into joke writing for Jay Leno and the Tonight Show.  This was a particularly hard gig.  RJ worked as a freelancer, he was never on Leno’s staff, although he would have jumped at the chance.  (He would have also loved the high pay).  Johnson was very disciplined about his writing.  He would get up every morning about 7 am and start listening to the news.  He would scour the internet for the wacky, oddball stories that he could latch on to.  He would then write until about 1 pm, then fax the jokes that he had to Leno.  It was brutal.  He would send in 50 to 100 per day, often getting zero.  If he got 4 or 5 jokes in a week it was a very good week.

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Jay Leno spared no expense promoting the Tonight Show.  Photo by Paulie Hunt

Leno did not pay big to freelancers for jokes. It was usually $75.  After all, he had a big staff of writers who were being paid huge salaries to come up with funny stuff.  Squeezing anything into the Tonight Show was tough, the competition fierce.  RJ said that Leno got about a thousand jokes a day from freelancers.  So you had to be better than the army of freelancers and also better than the high paid pros on Leno’s staff.  There were weeks when RJ did not get even one joke. “I worked all week for free, Paulie,” he said.  Sometimes the dark cloud would continue for two or three weeks.  About the third week RJ would be questioning everything.  He would show me a stack of papers with hundreds of jokes.  “Are any of these funny?  Am I losing it?” he’d quip.  Of course they were funny, many of them were screamers.  Why Leno didn’t buy some of them, nobody could tell.  The third week of no sales would also bring on the paranoia.  He would call the show, ask if he were on the “S” list for some reason.  The voice on the other end of the phone would always calm him down. “Nothing’s wrong, just keep sending stuff in.”  And sure enough, the jokes would start selling again. His hard work would pay off and at the end of the year Leno would send him a great Christmas bonus check, based on his production and I think a little on his seniority.  RJ was always very grateful for the bonus check.  Leno is a great guy, and did not forget his freelancers, especially the ones that stuck it out and produced good stuff.

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I remember once RJ and I were working together on something, and I made one of my off the cuff comments about some news event.  RJ thought that was funny, in fact, the only funny thing I had said in months.  “I’ll send it to Leno, and if it sells, we’ll split it.”  It sold and we splurged the next Saturday night on tacos at Baja Fresh.  So there’s my claim to fame as a professional joke writer, a half of a joke sold to the Tonight Show.  Hey, at my age I take what I can get.  A half is better than notta.

The moral of the story is that you can’t give up.  Keep on slugging.  RJ had sold an incredible 1,730 jokes up until October 2013 when he had a stroke and landed in the hospital.

Red Eden Graphic Novel

Red Eden Graphic Novel

During the time he was writing jokes, he also worked on other projects. He was a co-author with Greg Simay and Mike White on a graphic novel called “Red Eden”.  This is a science-fiction story about Native Americans who used technology to get into space and settle on Mars where they built their new Paradise.  Enter a group of rogues from a dying planet Earth who try to take over the paradise on Mars for themselves.  A young “Martian” woman rallies her people to fight to the finish against the onslaught from Earth.  This graphic novel was published on amazon Kindle and is now available.  It was to be the last project that Johnson worked on, published about a year before his death, when he was incapacitated in a recovery home.  I was a hired gun on the project and RJ and I worked intensely on editing and dialogue for  over a year.

RJ had worked with Mike White long ago, back in the 1980s, when they both worked as crew for a fashion show producer.  Mike and RJ had also written a play that was produced and staged at a dinner theater in the Valley.  His other co-author was Greg Simay, who helped to finance “The Jokes on Thee”. Simay was also the publisher of Red Eden.

Old Cross Destroyed by vandals

Old Cross Destroyed by vandals

New Cross, RJ on left

New Cross, RJ on left

RJ donated a lot of his time to various Hollywood projects.  He called this putting  some “sweat equity” into things that are important to the industry he worked in.  One of his projects around 1984 was as a volunteer to hike up behind the old Pilgrimage Theater and repair the huge Cross that had been vandalized and blown over in a windstorm.  The cross was actually a memorial for Christine Stevenson who helped to build the Hollywood Bowl and did build the old Pilgrimage Theater to put on a play that she wrote.

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 Another was to pitch in to work on repairs at the old Masquers Club in Hollywood, which had been a watering hole for the top actors, producers and directors.  Located at 1765 Sycamore Ave., just above Hollywood Blvd., the old elegant Club had fallen on hard times.  The worst issue was parking.  Although the Masquers was flush with money in the 1930s, they failed to secure a parking lot at the time.  This was because all the members would arrive in their own limos, so who needs parking?  By 1980s parking was certainly a problem.  At that time crime in Hollywood was on the rise, and parking down near Hollywood Blvd and walking the block to the Masquers was like running a mugging marathon.  The muggers would fight each other over the “prey”.  It was hard to attract new members.

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In the mid 1980s RJ joined the Masquers and spent a great deal of time trying to fix up the place, painting, cleaning, everything, including putting on new shows and trying to induce new members.  The Club lingered for a while, but the building finally had to be sold.  The site is now an apartment building.  The Masquers moved downtown Los Angeles for a while into the old building owned by Milt Larson called the Variety Arts center.  The famous bar was moved into the third floor, along with all the memorabilia.  When Larson closed the Variety Arts center, the stuff was moved into a warehouse for storage, and only the CIA knows for sure where that is.

LAPD giving RJ a ride to a local event in their cool 1950's Chevy Police Car.

LAPD giving RJ a ride to a local event in their cool 1950’s Chevy Police Car. Photo by Paulie Hunt 2010.

RJ was active in local Studio City and community events, the area where he lived and managed a 23 unit apartment building,, which we called Radford Gardens.  He was a frequent letter writer to the Daily News and had scores of letters published.  He was able to get so many letters in the newspapers because he had mastered the art of being succinct.  Writing for the Tonight Show meant that the jokes were short and sweet, one or two lines.  He was big on twitter, where you only have 140 characters to get your point across.  He used these techniques to get letters into the local newspapers and television shows.  If you are an aspiring writer of the short quip, or a political activist, practice by sending out short tweets.  Train yourself to boil down the main idea that you want to get across and make it as short as possible.  RJ was big on Hemingway, and studied Hemingway’s methods of crunching down the words to the absolute minimum, while still being entertaining, of course.

Back in 2008, when WhatUpHollywood first started, RJ contributed our first video.  This was a warning to tourists, “Hollywood Tourists Beware”.  Click below to watch this.


That schtick didn’t get either one of us a free meal at Patys Restaurant in Toluca Lake, but RJ’s small snapshot photo of himself was hanging on the wall upside down beside all the glamorous photos of Hollywood Celebrities for several years.

2009 - Last Walk on the beach.

RJ loved to sneak off to Malibu and walk on the beach.  Had he made the kind of money that some writers achieve, I know where he would have been living.  I went with RJ many times to grab a lunch at McDonalds, then walk down the beach.  We could shed some stress from the grind of the writing projects we were working on.  I happened to have my little flip camera the last time we went up to Malibu, and filmed RJ waving goodbye.  Neither of us knew that would be his last walk on the beach.

When RJ’s apartment was dismantled I jotted down the basic information on the certificates of achievements that were hanging on the wall of his office.  Included were the following:

—1994  “Look Who’s Laughing”.  Berkeley Video Festival, Best of Festival, Comedy

—1995 Gold Award – Excellence in the Category of Independent Production from CPB for “Look Who’s Laughing.”

RJ at his cottage in Finland.

RJ at his cottage in Finland.

—2001 Best of Festival Award, Comedy, Berkeley Video and Film Festival, for “The Jokes on Thee”

—1994 – 42nd Annual Columbus International Film and Video Festival, Bronze Plaque for “Look Who’s Laughing.”

—2000 – Silver World Medal for “It’s Black Entertainment” (RJ was Producer on this)

—1995 Bronze Apple Award, National Educational Media Network, “Look Who’s Laughing”.

—15th Media Access Awards, “Look Who’s Laughing”, Governor’s Committee for Employment of Disabled Persons.

 

That taco was how old?

That taco was how old?

Working with RJ on various projects could be challenging.  Many times I thought that maybe it would be easier to take that job cleaning up old refrigerators.  But things smoothed out, and we did a lot of good work on Red Eden.  Knowing RJ was a great learning experience.  He always wanted to achieve the best that he was capable of.  Perfection was a goal that never could be grasped, but it was his obsession to try to reach it. He made quite a mark in Hollywood, that kid from Minneapolis, and we are all better for the experience.

Randy Johnson is missed by his friends and his loving brother Mark Johnson and family.  God rest his merry soul.

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