Joe Arce

CHICAGO – Misty Rowe is a Country Music cultural icon, through her many years with TV’s “Hee Haw,” but she also portrayed Marilyn Monroe in “Goodbye, Norma Jean” (1976). She remembers it all in her new memoir, “Misty Memories.”

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Dawn Wells in a 2017 salute to her Gilligan’s Island past.

CHICAGO – To top off the end of 2020, it was announced on December 30th that Dawn Wells, best known for the girl-next-door role she had as Mary Ann on the 1960s sitcom “Gilligan’s Island,” had passed away due to COVID complications. She was 82. Dawn Wells was also a friend of HollywoodChicago.com, and had posed for the camera of photographer Joe Arce on several occasions.

CHICAGO – Misty Rowe is a Country Music cultural icon, through her many years with TV’s “Hee Haw,” but she also portrayed Marilyn Monroe in “Goodbye, Norma Jean” (1976). She remembers it all in her new memoir, “Misty Memories.”

LOS ANGELES – In another shocking piece of news in this year of 2020, the actor Chadwick Boseman, who embodied the Marvel superhero Black Panther in the film and universe, passed away on Aug. 28. He was known also for portraying black icons such as Jackie Robinson (“42”) and James Brown (“Get on Up”). He was only 43 years old.

CHICAGO – In 2011, a unique award was conferred upon Regis Philbin, the talk show/game show host and sometimes actor. The Guinness Book of World Records acknowledged that Philbin had appeared on the most hours on American television, with an astounding 16,746.5 in the final tally. Philbin passed away on July 24, 2020, at the age of 88, in his home in Greenwich, Connecticut.

CHICAGO – There was a time in Hollywood when the character actor was a familiar and reassuring presence in great movies and TV series. Shirley Knight, who worked from 1959-2018, was one of those reliable performers. Knight passed away on April 22nd, 2020, at the age of 83.

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CHICAGO – The Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) opens today (February 28th through March 1st, 2020). For three days, the best in the comic book, entertainment, TV and movie world will gather at the McCormick Place convention center on the near south side of Chicago, with epic cosplay on display.

CHICAGO – When your life is an open book, it’s appropriate to finally get around to putting it on paper. Jessica Simpson – singer, actress, reality TV star, fashion designer and now author – has just released her new memoir “Open Book,” and it has shot to number one on the New York Times Best Seller list.

CHICAGO – In the strange old days of three TV Networks and the fan-based crossovers that would come out of it, there was Gerald “Kookie” Kookson the Third of the ABC-TV show “77 Sunset Strip” (1958-1964). Kookie loved rock ’n roll, hair combing and cracking wise like a beatnik. For some reason, he became a break out star and full partner in the private investigation office of the title.

CHICAGO – The year 2019 was when everyone, including myself, seemed to struggle to focus. Politics suddenly appeared to be all consuming when we have an administration as George Orwell predicted, trying to convince so many not to believe their own eyes.