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1-9 of 9
- A resolute, blue-eyed brunette with attractive, slightly pinched features, Geraldine Brooks was born to a Dutch couple on October 29, 1925, in New York City. Her parents had a theater-based background -- father, James Stroock, owned a top costume company and mother, Bianca, was a costume designer and stylist. In dance shoes from age 2, her closer relatives were also extensively involved in theater -- one aunt being a former Ziegfeld Follies girl and another a contralto with the Metropolitan Opera. Growing up surrounding by these theatrical types, it was only natural that it rubbed off on her. She attended the Hunter Modeling School as a young teen and graduated from Julia Richman High School in 1942 as president of her drama club. Older sister, Gloria Stroock, also became an actress, primarily on TV.
In New York, Geraldine studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Art and the Neighborhood Playhouse before apprenticing in summer stock productions. In a pre-Broadway tryout of "Follow the Girls" in 1944, Geraldine subsequently went with the show to Broadway in May of that same year and enjoyed a nine-month run. Following her role as "Perdita" in "A Winter's Tale" at the Theatre Guild, she was signed by Warner Bros. and made her film debut promisingly as a second femme lead in the mystery thriller Cry Wolf (1947) starring Barbara Stanwyck and Errol Flynn. At this time, she shunned her odd-sounding last name of "Stroock" in favor of the more euphonious marquee name of "Brooks", which was the name of her father's costume company. Playing Flynn's cool, conniving niece who gives trouble to Stanwyck, she gave added suspense to the film. In her second movie, Possessed (1947), she is again at odds with another powerhouse star, this time Joan Crawford, but shows more sensitivity against the manic Crawford character in this film-noir chiller.
Geraldine moved to dramatic lead status with Embraceable You (1948) opposite Dane Clark, and played daughter to real wife-and-husband team Fredric March and Florence Eldridge in An Act of Murder (1948), a drama that dealt with the topic of euthanasia. Less impressive was the standard Warner Bros. "B" western The Younger Brothers (1949) and her MGM loanout appearance in Challenge to Lassie (1949). Floundering a bit at this time and failing to strike a star-making chord with audiences, she attempted a few continental film assignments, one in which she played Anna Magnani's younger sister, but grew quickly disillusioned there as well and returned to America.
Focusing instead on stage and TV, including a Broadway stint in "Time of the Cuckoo" starring Tony-winning Shirley Booth, Geraldine eventually went back to studying acting again. In 1956, she became a member of the Actor's Studio and became a strong exponent of its method style. Despite this renewed, enlightening acting technique, her film career found no momentum at all. In fact, she appeared in only two films in the oncoming years as brittle, harder-core ladies in Street of Sinners (1957) and Johnny Tiger (1966). Her greater notices were to be found guesting on various popular TV series. Particularly noteworthy were her roles on Perry Mason (1957), The Defenders (1961), Bus Stop (1961) (for which she earned an Emmy nomination), the pilot of Ironside (1967) and the last final climactic episode of The Fugitive (1963). A regular as Dan Dailey's secretary on the mildly received Faraday and Company (1973), she also appeared in the 70s episodes of Kung Fu (1972), Cannon (1971), Barnaby Jones (1973) and McMillan & Wife (1971), the last in which sister, Gloria Stroock, had a recurring role as Rock Hudson's secretary.
Geraldine's later theater included her Tony-nominated role in "Brightower" (1970) (despite it closing after only one performance) on Broadway and as wife "Golde" in the musical "Fiddler on the Roof". Her final movie part came in the rather ho-hum crime movie Mr. Ricco (1975) alongside Dean Martin. A short-lived series regular as the matriarch of The Dumplings (1976), a rare comedic venture for her, and a stage production of Jules Feiffer's "Hold Me!" in 1977 capped her capable but somewhat unsatisfying career. She deserved much better attention than she got, especially in films. Divorced from TV writer Herbert Sargent after only three years (1958-1961), she married author Budd Schulberg (best known for his screenplay of On the Waterfront (1954)), in 1964. The couple moved to Los Angeles and opened a writers' workshop together for the underprivileged. She also collaborated with Schulberg on the book Swan Watch (1975), a study on the elegant birds in which she also took photographs. In addition, she wrote poetry for children although she herself never had any. Sadly, Geraldine died in 1977 at age 51 of a heart attack while battling cancer, thus depriving the entertainment industry of a valuable talent. She was survived by her husband, mother and sister. - Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Actor
Earl Luick was born on 13 March 1904 in Belding, Michigan, USA. He was a costume designer and actor, known for The Desert Song (1929), Chandu the Magician (1932) and Local Boy Makes Good (1931). He died on 29 September 2003 in Riverhead, New York, USA.- Ricky Kasso was born on 29 March 1967 in Northport, New York, USA. He died on 7 July 1984 in Riverhead, New York, USA.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Joe Sherman was born on 25 September 1926 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a composer, known for Uncle Buck (1989), Leap Year (2010) and The Year My Voice Broke (1987). He was married to Susan. He died on 17 March 2017 in Riverhead, New York, USA.- Shawn Cassillo was born on 28 September 1984 in New York. He died on 2 March 2010 in Riverhead, New York, USA.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Teo Macero was born on 30 October 1925 in Glens Falls, New York, USA. He was a composer, known for Virus (1980), The Orphan (1979) and End of the Road (1970). He was married to Jeanne Macero and Florence Macero. He died on 19 February 2008 in Riverhead, New York, USA.- Herbert Haucke was born in New York City on September 18, 1933. He was raised by his mother when his father, Herbert Haucke Sr., a NYPD patrolman in the 103rd Precinct in Queens, was killed in the line of duty on June 16, 1934.* As a child he spent his summers in Montauk, New York, and is fondly known to Montauk's long-time residents. Herbert has many recollections of camping on the Beach at Hither Hills State Park during World War 2, along with soldiers stationed at Camp Hero who would patrol the beach day and night watching for enemy ships and submarines. As a young adult Herbert became a partner in an insurance firm in New York eventually building it into a highly successful business. His ability to relate to people, his comfort with presentation and public speaking, and his lack of fear and tenaciousness prepared him for the role he played as an aggressive over-the-top salesman who accompanied colleague Murray King on the trip to Las Vegas portrayed in the movie.
"A Hard Day's Night" is credited as the first feature-length Mockumentary, a portmanteau of mock and documentary. This genre depicts fictional events performed in an improvised and unscripted manner to portray either real or fictional persons or subjects in an entertaining and comedic fashion. Music or laugh tracks are rarely used in order to maintain the appearance of reality. "King Murray" is ground breaking in that it portrays real-life people who, although relatively unknown, have unusual or exceptional abilities. Murray King and Herbert Haucke are able to comfortably navigate the fine line between fiction and reality so convincingly you are able to better appreciate the confidence and intensity these men possess, qualities which made them successful and are obvious and succinctly appreciated in "King Murray". - Soundtrack
Teddy Charles was born on 13 April 1928 in Chicopee Falls, Chicopee, Massachusetts, USA. He was married to Diana. He died on 16 April 2012 in Riverhead, New York, USA.- Dan Flavin was born on 1 April 1933 in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Four Color Eulogy (2016). He was married to Tracy Harris and Sonia Severdija. He died on 29 November 1996 in Riverhead, New York, USA.