Godspeed Animator Jane Baer

Animator Jame Baer, who worked on the Disney classic Sleeping Beauty (1959) and the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), died on February 16, 2026, at the age of 91.

Jane Baer was born Jane Shattuck on October 30, 1934, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She attended the Art Center in Pasadena. In 1955, she went to work at Disney on Sleeping Beauty (1959), on which she would be a cleanup artist. In the early Sixties, she worked at Ed Graham Animation. She moved to Europe for a time. Once back in the Untied States, she worked at Filmation Associates on such shows as Aquaman and Journey to the Centre of the Earth in the mid to late Sixties. She then wen to work at Pantomime Studios on such shows as Speed Racer, Hot Wheels, and Skyhawks in the mid to late Sixties. She also worked on the animated feature film Santa and the Three Bears (1970).

In the Seventies, among her feature film credits were Journey Back to Oz (1982), The Rescuers (1977), and Pet4e's Dragon (1977). She worked on animation for the comedy The Naked Ape (1973). In the early Eighties, she worked on the Saturday morning cartoons Laverne & Shirley in the Army and The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang. She was a character designer on Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp  (1982). It was in 1984 that she and her husband Dale Bear founded  Baer Animation, which would later include Baer Animation Camera Services. As part of Baer Animation, Jane Baer worked on Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988), including the sequences in Toontown and the character of Benny the Cab. She served as an assistant animator on The Black Cauldron (1986) and The Great Mouse Detective (1986). She provided animation for the film Fletch Lives (1989) and worked on the shorts "Tummy Trouble" (1989) and "The Prince and the Pauper." On television, she also worked on the TV series Smurfs. 

In the Nineties, she worked on the films Rover Dangerfield (1991) and Beauty and the Beast (1991). She provided animation for The Last Action Hero (1993) and The Beautician and the Beast (1997). She was a founding member of Women in Animation and also served on its advisory board. She also produced and co-wrote Annabelle's Wish (1997).

Jane Baer was  true pioneer in animation. At a time when there weren't that many female animators, she ran Baer Animation, at which she oversaw supervised anywhere from 50 to 100-plus artists and people, depending on the project they were working on at the time. She also worked on such truly legendary movies, from Sleeping Beauty to Beauty and the Beast. She leaves behind a legacy that only a few other animators can match. 

Maria O'Brien Passes On

Maria O'Brien, who was a regular on the TV show The Life and Times of Eddie Roberts an appeared in the movie Protocol (1984), died on February 24, 2026 at the age of 75. 

Maria O'Brien was born on August 14, 1950 in Los Angeles. Her parents were both legends. Her father was Oscar-winning actor Edmond O’Brien , while her mother was actress, dancer, and comedian Olga San Juan. Her first credit came while she was very young, a guest appearance on the TV show Sam Benedict.It was in 1980 that she began her stint as a regular on the short-lived TV show The Life and Times of Eddie Roberts. In the Seventies, she guest starred on the shows Ironiside, Police Woman, Tabitha, Viva Valdez, Chico and the Man, The Love Boat, How the West Was Won, Number 96, and Quincy. She made heer movie debut in Smile in 1975. She appeard in the movies The Choirboys (1977), American Raspberry (1977), and Psi-Factor (1980).

In the Eighties, Maria O'Brien guest starred on the shows CHiPs; Quincy, M.E.; Magnum, P.I.; Good Morning, Miss Bliss; L.A. Law; Matlock; 1st & Ten; and Jake and the Fatman. She appeared in the movies The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981), Table for Five (1983), and Protocol (1984).

In the Nineites, Maria O'Brien guest-starred on the shows Murder, She Wrote; Nash Bridges; Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction; Suddenly Suan; and Jack & Jill. She appeared in the movie Good Luck (1996) and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2000). In the Naughts, she guest starred on the TV shows Spyder Games and For the People. In the Teens, she appeard in th emovie Dead on Arrival (2017). She was a regular on the web series Ave 43.

Maria O'Brien was also an acting coach on Days of Our Lives. 

"Next Door to an Angel" by Neil Sedaka

I am feeling under the weather today, so rather than a full blog post I thought I would just leave you with a song. Here is my favourite song from Neil Sedaka, who recently died. It's "Next Door to an Angel." It was released in October 1962 and peaked at no. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

The Late Great Neil Sedaka

Legendary singer and songwriter Neil Sedaka died at age 86 on Friday, February 27, 2026. He was 86 years old. He wrote or co-wrote and performed such hit songs as "Breaking Up is Hard to Do," "Calendar Girl," "Next Door to An Angel," and "Laughter in the Rain." He also wrote songs that would be  hits for other artists, including "Stupid Cupid" and "Where the Boys Are" for Connie Francis (with Howard Greenfield)   and  “Love Will Keep Us Together" for Captain & Tennille. 

Neil Sedaka was born in Brooklyn on March 13, 1939. He grew up in the Brighton Beach neighbourhood there. He showed an aptitude for music while he was still young and took piano lessons as a child. In 1947, he won a scholarship to Juilliard’s School of Music’s Preparatory Division for Children. His mother wanted young Neil Sedaka to be a classical pianist. 

Neil Sedaka was 13 years old when he was introduced to his 16 year-old neighbour Howard Greenfield, an aspiring poet and lyricist. It was Howard Greenfield who convinced Neil Sedaka that they should try their hand at pop songs. It was in 1956 that Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield sent demos to Jerry Wexler at Atlantic Records. As a result their songs would be recorded by such Atlantic artists as The Clovers ("Bring Me Love"), The Cookies ("Passing Time"), LaVern Baker ("I Waited Too Long"), Clyde McPhatter ("Since You've Been Gone"). 

In addition to writing songs, Neil Sedaka also wanted to be a singer. He joined three other graduates from Lincoln High School to form The Linc-Tones. Their first single, "While I Dream," was a local hit in New York. Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield also wrote such song as  “I Love My Baby,” “Come Back, Joe” and “Don’t Go Away" for the group, who would eventually be re-named The Tokens. Neil Sedaka left The Tokens for a solo career in 1958. The Tokens would go onto have their own hits, including"Tonight I Fell in Love' and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." 

As to the songwriting team of Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, they eventually landed a contract with Aldon Music in the Brill Building. It was through Aldon Music that they met Connie Francis, who would record their song "Stupid Cupid," which went to no. 14 on the Billboard singles chart. She would go onto record their songs "Fallin'," "Frankie," and "Where the Boys Are." Connie Francis's refusal to let Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield to read her journal inspired their song "The Diary." The song led to Neil Sedaka receiving a recording contract. 

Neil Sedaka would record three singles before "The Diary" proved to be a hit, gong to no.14 on the Billboard singles chart. His single "Oh! Carol" performed even better, peaking at 9. The song was inspired by a girl that Neil Sedaka had dated in high school, Carol Klein, who would become a songwriter in her own right, Carol King. Neil Sedaka's songs "Stairway to Heaven" and  "You Mean Everything to Me" both did well before "Calendar Girl" proved to be Neil Sedaka's first major hit, going all the way to no 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. It would be followed by other major hits, including "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen," "Breaking Up is Hard To Do (which went all the way to no. 1),"  and "Next Door to an Angel."

Unfortunately, Neil Sedaka's success as a singer would fade in 1964 with the British Invasion. His single "Sunny"only went to no. 86 in 1964. His single The World Through a Tear" peaked at no. 76 in 1965. His label did not renew his contract in 1966. Neil Sedaka then fell back on his talent as a songwriter. His songs “When Love Comes Knockin’ (at Your Door)” and “The Girl I Left Behind Me," co-written with Carol Bayer, were recorded by The Monkees. With Howard Greenfield, he wrote "We Had a Good Thing Goin'" for The Cyrkle. He co-wrote "Workin’ on a Groovy Thing" with Roger Atkins for The 5th Dimension. 

In 1969, Neil Sedaka recorded his album "Working' on a Groovy Thing" in Australia, where he still had a strong following.  The album would not be a success, although the song "Puppet Man" and the title song would be hits for The 5th Dimension. His 1971 album Emergence also did not fare well. Having moved to England in 1970, Neil Sedaka's fortunes as a songwriter began to change. His song "That's When the Music Takes Me," from his 1972 album Solitaire, went to no. 18 on the UK singles chart. It would later go to no. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1975. He met Elton John in 1973, who signed him to his label The Rocket Record Co. 

Neil Sedaka would have his first no. 1 song since "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" with "Laughter in the Rain" in 1974. He would have another no. 1 hit in 1975 with "Bad Blood,' which featured uncredited backing vocals by Elton John. A ballad remake of "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" went to no. 8. His song "Love in the Shadows" went to no. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was in 1975 that Captain & Tennille hit no. 1 with Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield's song "Love Will Keep Us Together." Neil Sedaka would have one last hit in 1980 with "Should've Never Let You Go," recorded with his daughter Dara Sedaka. 

While Neil Sedaka would have no more hit singles, he continued to record. From 1980 to 2016, he recorded 12 more albums. He continued to perform well into the Teens. More recently, Neil Sedaka and his grandson Michael posted duets of the two of them to social media. 

I don't think it is an understatement to say that Neil Sedaka numbers among the greatest songwriters of all time. He was certainly versatile. He is probably best known for his series of bouncy pop hits from the late Fifties and early Sixties, such as "Oh! Carol," "Calendar Girl," and "Breaking Up is Hard to Do," but he wrote many other sorts of songs. His song "Love in the Shadows" is an outright guitar-driven pop rock. "Where the Boys Are" is a ballad. Neil Sedaka could write many different sots of sons, all of them with enough hooks to keep listeners interested. Beyond his talent as a songwriter, Neil Sedaka was also a remarkable singer. He was a high tenor with a sweet and clear voice, and a voice that was emotive enough to fit any mood. In his tribute to Neil Sedaka on social media, Mickey Dolenz wrote, "Neil was one of those rare songwriters who could do it all." Nothing truer of Neil Sedaka as a songwriter could be said.

Here Comes Tomorrow: The First Black Radio Soap Opera

Journalist Richard
Durham

The soap opera was one of the most popular formats during the days of Old Time Radio. The vast majority of soap operas to air on American radio centred on white characters. An exception was the short-lived radio show Here Comes Tomorrow. There series focused on an African American family. It aired on WJJD in Chicago between 1947 and 1948.

Here Comes Tomorrow centred on the Redmond family, including a Black pilot who served in the 99th Pursuit Squadron (part of what would later become known as the Tuskegee Airmen) who returned from World War II with amnesia. It was created by Richard Durham, a Black journalist who had written for New Masses, the Chicago Defender, the Chicago Star, and the Illinois Standard. He would go onto create the radio show Destination Freedom. Richard Durham was also a co-founder of the Du Bois Theatre Guild, which staged Here Comes Tomorrow. It was sponsored by Metropolitan Mutual Insurance. 

The cast of Here Comes Tomorrow included Janice Kingslow, who had appeared in the play Anna Lucasta and later appeared on the radio shows Destination Freedom and Democracy U.S.A; Wezlyn Tildon, a journalist who also acted on radio, singer, songwriter, playwright, poet, and actor Oscar Brown, Jr.; and Fred Pinkard, who would later appear in shows such as The Jeffersons and movies such as Rocky II (1979), and Harris Gaines, Jr.. Richard Durham and Jack Gibson wrote Here Comes Tomorrow. Allen Harris was its director. 

Here Comes Tomorrow was well regarded. In 1948, it took second prize in the "Dramatic Programs, 50,000 Watts" category in  a Billboard program competition. The review in the November 20, 1948, issue of Billboard, stated, "If all "soap operas" were as well written, produced and directed as this show, if they all had its intense dramatic content, its social significance and its potential as a weapon against intolerance, no one would  ever again have cause to level an accusing finger at daytime dramatic serials." According to Jack Gibson, it could also be controversial. Speaking with Smithsonian Productions, he said, "There were times that the script was so strong they used to have to take us out of the studios by freight elevators and put us in taxi cabs and go up the alley." 

Here Comes Tomorrow ended it run in 1948, but it would not be the last Black radio show to come out of Chicago. In 1948, Richard Durham created Destination Freedom, which aired live on WMAQ in Chicago. That show would run on-and-off until 1941. While Here Comes Tomorrow did not last long, it was certainly a pioneering show. 

Lauren Chapin of Father Knows Best Passes On

Lauren Chapin, who played Kathy "Kitten" Anderson on the classic sitcom Father Knows Best, died on February 24, 2026, at the age of 80. The cause was cancer. 

Lauren Chapin was born on May 23, 1945, in Los Angeles. Her older brothers were also child actors. Michael Chapin appeared as the character Red White in a series of Westerns. Billy Chapin may be best known for Night of the Hunter (1955). Lauren Chapin was singed to a contract with Columbia Pictures. She trained with mime Marcel Marceau and dancers/choreographers Marge and Gower Champion. 

Lauren Chapin guest starred on an episode of Lux Video Theatre before being cast as Kathy, called "Kitten" by her father (Jim Anderson, played by Robert Young), on Father Knows Best. She was nine years old at the time. The show ran for six seasons and the show would be rerun for another three seasons on primetime network television. While Father Knows Best was still on the air, Lauren Chapin guest starred on more episodes of Lux Video Theatre and an episode of Fireside Theatre. After Father Knows Best ended its run, she guest starred on an episode of General Electric Theatre. It would be her last acting appearance for several years. She had bit parts in the movies A Star is Born (1954) and Tension at Table Rock (1956). 

The next several years of Lauren Chapin's life would not be happy ones. She dropped out of Pasadena High School, married at 16, divorced at 18, and became addicted to heroin. She got sober in the 1970s. During that decade, she appeared in the movie The Amorous Adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza (1976). On television, she appeared in two Father Knows Best reunions: The Father Knows Best Reunion and Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas, both in 1977. In 1980, she appeared in the TV movie Scout's Honor. Her final acting job was as  bus driver Mama Bev on the YouTube series School Bus Diaries from 2016 to 2017. 

In addition to acting, Lauren Chapin was an ordained minister. In the Eighties, she worked at a brokerage firm and later worked as a talent manager. Among her clients were Jennifer Love Hewitt. She was also on the board fo A Minor Consideration, an organization whose purpose is to protect child actors. 

Lauren Chapin may have had a brief acting career, but she will always be remembered as Kathy on Father Knows Best. She did well in the part, Much of what set Father Knows Best part from other sitcoms was that it was more realistic, right down to the performances of the children on the show, including Elinor Donahue as eldest daughter Betty and Billy Gray as son Bud. As played by Lauren Chapin, Kathy could have been a little girl many might know from real life, a precocious tomboy with a soft heart. Later in life she did a good deal of charitable work. Both as Kathy on Father Knows Best and through her work later in life, Lauren Chapin leaves behind a considerable legacy. 

Gravedigger: DC Comics' First War Hero to Headline a Comic Book

In 1977, DC Comics began a new war title. In part, the title Men of War came from a pervious ongoing series, All-American Men of War, published from 1952 to 1966. What set Men of War apart from DC Comics' earlier war titles was that the lead feature in the title centred on an African American character. Ulysses Hazard was a special operative during the Second World War.

Of course, there had been Black war characters in American comic books before. Despite the fact that American troops were segregated during World War II, Jackie Johnson was one of Easy Company in the "Sgt. Rock" feature at DC Comics. He first appeared in Our Army at War no. 113 (December 1961). In the pages of  Marvel's Sgt Fury and His Howling Commandos there was Gabe Jones, who first appeared in Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos no. 1 (May 1963). What set Gravedigger apart from Jackie Johnson and Gabe Jones were that while they were only supporting characters, he was the lead character in the lead feature of an ongoing series. Quite simply, he was the first Black character to be the lead in an American comic book. 

Codename: Gravedigger was created by writer David Michelinie and artist Ed Davis. He first appeared in Men of War no. 1 (August 1977). He would appear in every issue of Men of War until it end its run with issue no. 26 (March 1980). Codename: Gravedigger acknowledged that the U.S. Army was segregated during World War II. Ulysses Hazard enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II. He found himself assigned to digging graves rather than being assigned to a combat unit. It was after his best friend was killed by a Nazi fighter jet that Ulysses went AWOL and made his way to Washington, DC. He argued before the the Joint Chiefs of Staff that he should be allowed to take part in combat. They were impressed and made him a special operative, code-named "Gravedigger.'

It was in the early Fifties that war comics emerged in popularity. They remained popular throughout the Sixties into the early Seventies. By the mid-Seventies, they were beginning to decline in popularity. It was perhaps for that reason that Men of War would end its run after 26 issues. Over time, DC would cancel its other war titles. The long-running title Our Fighting Forces had already ended its run in 1978. Unknown Solder (originally Star Spangled War Stories) was cancelled in 1982. G.I. Combat ended its run in 1987. Sgt. Rock (originally Our Army at War) was cancelled in 1988. Like many of DC Comics' war heroes, Ulysses Hazard has not appeared often since the 1980s. Regardless, he remains historic as the first Black war hero the headline his title, as well as one of the first black character in any comic book of any genre to be the lead in a title.