Buried Alive

Beverly Roberts (Actor) .. Joan Wright

Born: May 19, 1914
Died: July 13, 2009

Trivia: Educated in New York and London, actress Beverly Roberts came to Hollywood in 1936 with impeccable stage credits; she'd just spent several seasons with Eva le Galliene's Civic Repertory. Signed by Warner Bros., Roberts spent the next few years playing opposite the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Joe E. Brown, and Errol Flynn. Alas, most of her assignments were thankless heroine roles, and things didn't improve much when she began freelancing in 1939. She quit movies in 1940 to return to the stage, then moved into radio and early live television. After her retirement from acting, Beverly Roberts became an executive officer for the Theatre Authority of New York.

Robert Wilcox (Actor) .. Johnny Martin

Born: May 19, 1910
Died: June 11, 1955

Trivia: The son of a Rochester, NY, physician, debonair leading man Robert Wilcox entered films in 1936 after being spotted in a summer-stock production of The Petrified Forest. In 1937, he married MGM starlet Florence Rice (the daughter of sportswriter Grantland Rice) , divorcing her two years later. Wilcox' notorious second marriage, to the troubled Diana Barrymore, created headlines for years due to the couple's rather public battle with alcoholism, an affliction which shortened the actor's screen career -- and life -- considerably. Barrymore's autobiography, Too Much Too Soon, published two years after his death, was dedicated to Wilcox.

George Pembroke (Actor) .. Mathews

Born: December 27, 1900
Died: June 11, 1972

Trivia: Canadian-born general-purpose actor George Pembroke is perhaps best remembered as Dr. Saunders, the leader of the fifth columnists in Bela Lugosi's Black Dragons (1942) and as the police inspector posing as an art connoisseur in the semi-classic Bluebeard (1944). In Hollywood from 1937, Pembroke made serials somewhat of a specialty, appearing in Drums of Fu Manchu (1940), Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941), Perils of Nyoka (1942), Captain Midnight (1942), and Daredevils of the West (1943). He later became a frequent guest star on television's The Lone Ranger and Gene Autry.

Paul McVey (Actor) .. Henderson

Born: March 17, 1898

Trivia: American character actor Paul McVey was a Fox contract player from 1934 to 1939. McVey had a substantial role in the 1934 Will Rogers vehicle Judge Priest, then settled into bit parts as detectives, stage manager and express agents. One of his meatier roles of the 1940s was "The Excellency Zanoff" in the 1941 Republic serial King of the Royal Mounted (1941). Before his retirement in 1953, Paul McVey appeared in a supporting part in the first-ever 3-D feature film, Bwana Devil (1952).

Ted Osborne (Actor) .. Hanes

Stephen Chase (Actor) .. Dr. Robert Lee

Born: April 11, 1902

Don Rowan (Actor) .. Big Billy

Born: January 01, 1905
Died: January 01, 1966

Peter Lynn (Actor) .. Gus Barth

Norman Budd (Actor) .. The Kid

Born: January 27, 1914

Robert Fiske (Actor) .. Prosecuting Attorney Gerald Storm

Born: January 01, 1888
Died: January 01, 1944

Bob McKenzie (Actor) .. Al Garrity

Born: September 22, 1883
Died: July 08, 1949

Trivia: Irish-born Robert McKenzie was already a theatrical showman of some renown by the time he made his first film appearance in 1921. The barrel-chested, snaggle-toothed McKenzie appeared in dozens of westerns and comedies, usually as a bombastic lawman or backwoods con artist. Even when he played bits (which was often), his raspy voice and hyena-like laugh always identified him. His more memorable feature-film roles included W. C. Fields' drinking buddy Charlie Bogle in You're Telling Me (1934), larcenous Judge Roy Dean in Gene Autry's Sing, Cowboy, Sing (1937), and the jolly captain who rents Laurel & Hardy a broken-down boat in Saps at Sea (1940). In addition, he appeared in hundreds of short subjects, playing opposite the likes of Our Gang, Andy Clyde, Charley Chase and the Three Stooges. In 1927, McKenzie tried his hand at screenwriting with the low-budget western The White Outlaw. Robert McKenzie and his actress-wife Eva had three daughters, all of whom acted in films at one time or another; their daughter Ella was the wife of comedian Billy Gilbert.

Joe Caits (Actor) .. Killer Joe Rizinsky

Born: January 01, 1889
Died: January 01, 1957

Edward Earle (Actor) .. Charlie Blake

Born: July 16, 1882
Died: December 15, 1972

Trivia: One of the first stars to emerge from the old Edison film company, Canadian-born actor Edward Earle had toured in vaudeville and stock before settling on movies in 1915. The blonde, muscular Earle quickly rose to the rank of romantic lead in films like Ranson's Folly (1915), The Gates of Eden (1916), and East Lynne (1921). In the '20s he could be seen supporting such luminaries as George Arliss (The Man Who Played God [1922]) and Lillian Gish (The Wind [1928]). In talkies, Earle became a character player. Though his voice was resonant and his handsome features still intact, he often as not played unbilled bits, in everything from prestige pictures (Magnificent Obsession [1935]) to B-items (Laurel and Hardy's The Dancing Masters [1943] and Nothing but Trouble [1944]). In Beware of Blondie, Earle assumed the role of Dagwood's boss, Mr. Dithers -- but his back was turned to the camera and his voice was dubbed by the Blondie series' former Dithers, Jonathan Hale. Earle's best sound opportunities came in Westerns and serials; in the latter category, he was one of the characters suspected of being the diabolical Rattler in Ken Maynard's Mystery Mountain (1934). Edward Earle retired to the Motion Picture Country Home in the early '60s, where he died at age 90 in 1972.

James McNamara (Actor) .. Wegley

Ted Osborn (Actor) .. Ira Hanes

Peter George Lynn (Actor) .. Gus Barth

8:00 pm - 10:00 pm, Tuesday, December 2 on WNJJ Main Street Television (16.1)