Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars - "Incense of Forgetfulness" - 2:30 pm Wednesday, July 22 on WXNY Retro

Buster Crabbe (Actor) .. Flash

Born: February 07, 1908
Died: April 23, 1983

Trivia: Athletic actor Buster Crabbe, born Clarence Crabbe, grew up in Hawaii where he developed into a first-rate swimmer and athlete, going on to win the gold medal in 400-meter swimming at the 1932 Olympics (he broke the record held by another actor-athlete, Johnny Weissmuller). After the Olympics he found work in Hollywood playing Tarzan, branching out from this character to eventually play Flash Gordon, Billy the Kid, and Buck Rogers, among other action heroes. He became enormously popular with young audiences for his appearances in many serials and action flicks of the '30s and '40s, and ultimately starred in over 100 films. He also made westerns (in the '40s he was teamed with sidekick Al "Fuzzy" St. John), and was on the list of Top Ten Western Stars at the box office in 1936. Crabbe went on to star in the '50s TV series Captain Gallant, which also featured his son Cullen "Cuffy" Crabbe. He considerably slowed down his acting output in the '50s and '60s, becoming the athletic director for a resort hotel in the Catskills and investing in the swimming pool business. He also authored Energetics, a book on physical fitness for people over 50. Crabbe later returned to the screen once, for a large role in The Alien Dead (1980).

Jean Rogers (Actor) .. Dale

Born: March 25, 1916
Died: February 24, 1991

Trivia: Blonde, wide-eyed film ingénue Jean Rogers came to Hollywood on the strength of a beauty contest. She rose to stardom as the fetchingly underdressed, ever-imperiled Dale Arden in the popular Universal serial Flash Gordon (1936). She also co-starred in the second Gordon serial, as well as such chapter plays as Ace Drummond (1935) and The Adventures of Frank Merriwell (1936). From Universal, Rogers moved on to 20th Century Fox, where she starred in a series of enjoyable B-pictures, the best of which (though not her personal favorite) was Heaven With a Barbed Wire Fence (1939). She appeared in supporting parts in several MGM films of the 1940s, then freelanced in independent productions. Jean Rogers retired from show business in 1951 upon her marriage to a successful actors' agent.

Charles Middleton (Actor) .. Ming

Born: October 03, 1874

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Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars: Incense of Forgetfulness

2:30 pm - 3:00 pm, Wednesday, July 22 on WXNY Retro (32.5)

Incense of Forgetfulness

Season 1, Episode 10