Vintage articles and more in the Celebrities & famous people category at Click Americana

Romantic tradition returns in the movie ‘Somewhere in Time’ (1980)

Technically superior, if overly sentimental, 'Somewhere in Time' stars Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, and takes viewers back in time to 1912. The movie was shot primarily at Mackinac Island's impeccably genteel Grand Hotel.

Actor Michael Landon and family at home - 1975

Michael Landon and his family at home (1975)

Michael Landon's 'Big House in Beverly Hills' is a far cry from the 'Little House on the Prairie' featured in his hit TV series. But, says the former Bonanza star, he and Lynn and their six lively children "really live in this house -- we don't just look at it."

WKRP in Cincinnati (1978-1982)

His style at WKRP finds him falling asleep at the turntable as he puts a needle to the station’s current playlist. But then everything changes, and as creatures trapped at a station in transition, the WKRP folk are quite funny.

Murphy Brown role the perfect fit for Candice Bergen (1988-1998)

The creators of Murphy Brown were convinced that she was the best actress to play a TV news anchorwoman struggling to rebuild her life and her career. And they were right.

Who is Mister Rogers? (1968)

Parents across the country are asking, 'Who is this Fred Rogers that the children call their friend? What is he really like?' Meet Mister Rogers here!

Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy with young Candice Bergen

Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy: The art of ventriloquism (1938)

If you own a radio, you're acquainted with Charlie McCarthy. He's the impudent little dummy who sits upon the lap of ventriloquist, Edgar Bergen, his creator, and entertains millions weekly with his comedy

Valerie Harper, Mary Tyler Moore, Cloris Leachman on The Mary Tyler Moore Show

The Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song & lyrics (1970-1977)

The Mary Tyler Moore Show features Mary in the role of Mary Richards, a small-town single girl who moves to the big city (Minneapolis-St Paul) and lands a job as associate producer of a news program on a local TV station.

Larry Wilcox Erik Estrada in CHiPs TV show

Ponch & John hit the roads in LA on CHiPs (1977-1983)

CHiPS, a light-hearted one-hour action-adventure series, follows the exploits of a pair of young California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers on the busy Los Angeles freeways, and their encounters with the infinite variety of people who drive there.

Diff’rent Strokes theme song & lyrics (1978-1986)

Gary Coleman stars as Arnold, a street-wise youth from Harlem, who is adopted by a white millionaire and becomes confused and suspicious about his sudden change of fortune on the comedy series, Diff'rent Strokes.

Growing Pains theme song & lyrics (1985-1992)

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the 1985 TV season is the success of ABC's "Growing Pains," a family sitcom starring former talk-show host Alan Thicke as psychiatrist Jason Seaver.

Love Story - Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal

Ali MacGraw shines in the hit movie ‘Love Story’ (1970)

Very probably the choicest role for an actress in many years has fallen to Ali MacGraw, who plays Jenny, the romantic-tragic girl of 'Love Story,' a movie also starring Ryan O'Neal.

St Elsewhere has a long and healthy run (1982-1988)

For six years, the NBC series St Elsewhere literally set the standard for network programming, offering a consistently high level of realistic writing, ensemble acting, narrative experimentation and outrageous humor.

Bea Arthur talks ‘Maude’ – the TV show made just for her (1977)

Ask Bea Arthur how much she resembles 'Maude,' the female chauvinist she plays each week on the tube, and the stately, gray-haired actress lays it on the line -- just like Maude.

Still unsolved: Hogan’s Heroes actor Bob Crane murdered (1978)

Actor Bob Crane murdered: The glib, boyish star of the six-year television series "Hogan's Heroes," was found beaten to death in an apartment in Scottsdale, Arizona in June 1978. The case remains unsolved.

‘Hogan’s Heroes’ star Bob Crane on finding the humor in war (1965)

Bob Crane, a breezy, articulate ex-drummer and recent disc jockey-turned-actor, stars in Hogan's Heroes, a CBS comedy series which has Col. Hogan (Crane) as the leader of Allied prisoners in a German POW camp in World War II.

Captain Bartho. Roberts with two ships, Viz. the Royal Fortune and Ranger 1721

The Pirate Code: Rules for Black Bart’s ship (1724)

Bartholomew Roberts, also known as Black Bart, was a notorious pirate who raided ships off between 1719 and 1722. Here are some of the harsh - and sometimes unexpected - rules that governed the crews on his ships.

How Outsiders & Rumble Fish author S E Hinton got her start (1975)

How does an author become an author? For S E Hinton, the choice was easy -- she wrote her first book, 'The Outsiders,' as a teenager, when she couldn't find anything that she wanted to read.

Looking inside ‘The Outsiders’ movie (1983)

If "The Outsiders" looks polished, there's good reason. The movie was made by the practiced hand of Francis Ford Coppola, responding to a petition sent to him by seventh and eighth graders in Fresno, California.

Steve Martin performs King Tut on SNL (1978)

See Steve Martin perform “King Tut” on SNL (1978)

Playing off the popularity of the traveling exhibit of the Treasures of Tutankhamen, actor and comedian Steve Martin debuted his parody song "King Tut" on an episode of Saturday Night Live in the spring of 1978.

Watson and Crick discover and model the structure of DNA (1953)

The way life is carried on now seems near discovery By Watson Davis, Director, Science Service Washington -- One of the fundamental problems of ... Click to read more...

Celebrity yearbook photos: See 150+ stars before they were famous!

See more than 150 celebrity yearbook photos of actresses, actors, singers, musicians, politicians and others whose names you know... but the faces in these pictures from years ago -- when they were young, and often long before they were famous -- may surprise you!

Orson Welles freaks out the country with ‘War of the Worlds’ (1938)

Panic followed an Orson Welles radio broadcast of the book 'War of the Worlds', during which armies and navies were wiped out right and left and the real radio audience was frightened as the actors pretended to be.

The end of an era: New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel torn down (1929)

The doors of New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, a 36-year-old internationally-known institution, closed May 1, 1929. Noisy wreckers will clank in to tear it down. The old generation passes with a sigh. The new era enters with a roar.

Rocky Horror Picture Show - movie poster

Time Warp back to 1975 for The Rocky Horror Picture Show

In a spangled vest and elbow-length gloves, black bikini, black opera hose and steep ankle-strap wedgies, Tim Curry as Dr Frank N Furter, makes his grand entrance in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, an outrageous camp musical based on the stage hit.

The truth about Hollywood draft deferments during WW2 (1942)

It is useless to deny that motion picture stars have been getting the best of it (as to immunity from draft). Some have been given special deferments and choice assignments and have been allowed extra months to finish pictures before having to report for active duty.

Dancer Isadora Duncan killed in bizarre accident (1927)

Dancer Isadora Duncan was killed when her shawl was caught in the rear wheel of an automobile. Unaware, the chauffeur of the car which was being demonstrated to Miss Duncan started moving forward.

Disney's Mary Poppins movie - Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews

See the Mary Poppins movie trailer and Hollywood premiere (1964)

Walt Disney hosted the big party at Grauman's Chinese Theater to introduce everybody to a grand lady, 'Mary Poppins,' a personality and a movie which should be ranked among Hollywood's finest. It certainly is high on Disney’s list of favorites turned out by his studio.

The amazing Annie Oakley, expert shot (1890s)

Annie Oakley once sent a shot right through the center of the bullseye - and then someone bet that she couldn't through the hole she had just made. You might be able to imagine what happened next.

Kurt Vonnegut’s backstory on Slaughterhouse-Five (1969)

Kurt Vonnegut Jr has hit in fact on a true science-fiction subject. As an American prisoner, in German hands, he was a witness to the Dresden holocaust, that appalling Day of Judgment for thousands -- although who deserves to be judged by whom is less obvious than you may think.

Cheers TV show theme song & lyrics (1982-1993)

The television sitcom Cheers ran on NBC from September 30, 1982 until May 20, 1993 -- that's 11 seasons, and a total of 275 half-hour episodes. Here, see the Cheers theme song from the opening credits, plus the song lyrics, along with a little look back to 1993, at the end of the show's run.

Airplane! A zany spoof on Hollywood disaster movies (1980)

Airplane! uses disaster movie conventions as platforms to interject humor at every turn. Like a streamlined club act, it's all over before the welcome gets worn. Stars Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Julie Hagerty, Robert Hayes. Also: See the Airplane movie trailer!

Newspaper headlines from Senator Bobby Kennedy's assassination (1968)

News headlines from when Senator Bobby Kennedy was shot (1968)

Senator Robert F. Kennedy died 25 hours after he was shot by an assassin. Bobby Kennedy succumbed to extensive brain damage caused when his assassin fired eight shots at point-blank range.

Diana Ross’s TV special with The Jackson 5, Bill Cosby & Danny Thomas (1971)

In her first special, "Diana!" on ABC. Sunday. April 18th, Diana Ross displays not only her exciting singing talent, but a flair for comedy and impersonation. And in her choice of guest stars -- Danny Thomas, Bill Cosby and the Jackson Five -- she demonstrates sound judgment as well,