'Riddler' actor Frank Gorshin dies

Actor and master impressionist Frank Gorshin has died at the age of 71 or 72, depending what source you read. Some say he was born on April 15, 1933 and some say April 5, 1934. He was best known for his maniacally menacing turn as the Riddler on the 1960s TV series "Batman".

The veteran entertainer, diagnosed with lung cancer several years ago while starring in a one-man Broadway show as comic legend George Burns, died on Tuesday at a hospital in Burbank, California, his agent and longtime friend Fred Wostbrock told Reuters.

Gorshin also had been suffering from emphysema and pneumonia, Wostbrock said.

His wife of 48 years, Christina, was with him at the end, the agent said.

Ironically, Gorshin's death came two days before CBS was set to broadcast what became his final performance, a guest appearance on the season finale of the hit show "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

Gorshin, a Pittsburgh native, got his start in television and film playing bad guys during the 1950s and '60s. But he soon gained attention as a gifted impressionist, doing comic imitations of such stars as Kirk Douglas, Marlon Brando and Burt Lancaster on the nightclub and TV variety show circuit.

One of his first big appearances, on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964, happened to coincide with the Beatles' famed first performance on that program.

But Gorshin's biggest break came in 1966 when he was cast in the recurring role of the Riddler, the cackling, fiendish arch enemy of Batman on the ABC series based on the popular comic book hero.

Gorshin made 12 appearances as the Riddler on "Batman," earning an Emmy nomination for his work, and donned his green question mark-patterned suit again for a big-screen movie based on the series.

He also is remembered by "Star Trek" fans for his memorable guest performance on that show as Commissioner Bele, a half-black, half-white alien who appeared in a favorite episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield," a parable on race relations.

Much later in his career, Gorshin portrayed the late George Burns in the Tony-nominated Broadway show "Say Goodnight, Gracie." source: abcnews.go.com

Whatever happened to former Beatle Pete Best?

This post has been tweaked and moved to beatleslane.com. You can find the article here.

How To Convert LP's and Cassettes to CD or MP3

If you're like me you probably have some great old albums and cassettes that you don't have on CD. Some of them you won't find available on CD or maybe you just don't want to re-buy the same music again. I could write an article on how to convert your analog media (LPs, cassettes, etc.) into digital (CD's, MP3's) but instead I'll just point you to a few sites that have already written some how-to articles. I hope that you find them helpful.
How to turn vinyl LPs into CDs | How to Convert LP and Cassettes to CD or MP3 | Home Office: LP to CD--Music Soothes Savage Bass

Town Not Entirely 'Bewitched' by TV Statue

SALEM, Mass. -- In this town where witches are no laughing matter, a proposed statue immortalizing TV's "Bewitched" has left some residents wishing they could simply make the thing magically disappear. The 9-foot tall bronze statue of sitcom character Samantha Stephens astride a broom, one of a series of sculpture nationwide proposed by TV Land cable network, is near where 20 people were sentenced to death during the witch hysteria of 1692. source: newsday.com

Beatles 'Break-Up' Letter to Be Auctioned Off

A letter co-signed by three members of the The Beatles, dated April 18, 1969, is to be auctioned to the highest bidder by Christie's in London on May 5th during their Pop Memorabilia auction. It has been owned by the same anonymous private collector for around 20 years. The letter, which is signed by George Harrison, John Lennon and Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr), was addressed to Lee Eastman, Paul McCartney's father-in-law and lawyer. It details how Paul McCartney wanted Lee Eastman to manage the band, while the others chose Allen Klein, who also managed the "Rolling Stones". The letter tells Eastman that he is, "not authorised to act as the attorney or legal representative of 'The Beatles' or of any of the companies which the Beatles own or control." The issue was resolved when the band was dissolved in 1975, although they technically broke up in 1970. Starr later compared the band's dissolution to “...like the wind-down to a divorce. A divorce doesn’t just happen suddenly, there are months and years of misery until you finally say ’Oh, let’s end it.”’

Update: BEATLES 'SPLIT' LETTER SELLS FOR $91,200

"people weren't really writing their own music"? Lisa Marie misspeaks...

Please excuse me while I set the record straight. Lisa Marie Presley was on Larry King the other night. Larry asked her if her father, Elvis, wrote any of his songs. She said "No, no, he didn't. I'm sure (he) could have. I don't think it was, at that time, people weren't really writing their own music, I don't think anybody was." Hmmmmm. Lisa Marie, you ever hear of Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Eddie Cochran, just to name a few? And that's only the first few years of Elvis's career. How about Hank Williams who died years before Elvis ever even made a single record? Then, during the 60's just about everyone wrote their own stuff. You may have seen a few songs with "Elvis Presley" included in the writing credits, but those were most likely just for publishing purposes to bring in a bigger cut from sales. Some record producers elsewhere have used this trick by placing their own name in writing credits to get a bigger piece of the pie. I'm not saying all of this to take anything away from Elvis, I'm actually a fan. He was an incredible singer and is certainly a legend. But her saying that nobody wrote their own stuff back then is just wrong! I can understand that Lisa Marie wants to defend her dad, but it kind of waters down the greats who DID have songwriting talents "back then". Yes, even in those early days of rock.