The Late Great Tim Curry

Legendry actor Tim Curry died on August 24, 2026, at the age of 80. He was best known for playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). He also played Wadsworth in Clue (1985), Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island (1996), and, on television, Pennywise in the mini-series It, among many other roles.

Tim Curry was born on April 1946, in Grappenhall, Cheshire. When he was twelve years old, his father had a stroke and then died weeks later from complications from pneumonia. Tim Curry went to school at Kingswood School in Bath, Somerset and later graduated from the University of Birmingham in 1968 with a degree in English and drama.

It was not long after graduating from the University of Birmingham that Tim Curry began his professional acting career with a 1968 production of Hair on London's West End. It was while he was appearing in Hair that he met Richard O'Brien, who later go onto write The Rocky Horror Show. In the late Sixties and early Seventies Tim Curry appeared in several stage productions on the West End elsewhere, including Titus Andronicus, The White Devil, Life of Galileo, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was in 1973 that Tim Curry originated the role of Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show at the Royal Court Theatre.Tim Curry made his Broadway debut in The Rocky Horror Show in 1975. The Rocky Horror Show was adapted to film as The Rocky Horror Picture Show in 1975 and marked Tim Curry's movie debut. The film became a cult phenomenon and launched Tim Curry's film career.

Tim Curry made his television debut in 1969 in an episode of Television Theatre From... In 1970, he guest starred on episodes of Ace of Wandsand ITV Saturday Night Theatre. In the Seventies, he appeared in the mini-series Napoleon and Love and Will Shakespeare. He guest starred on the shows Stage 2, Armchair Theatre, Play for Today, Rock Follies of '77, and The Sunday Drama. After making his film debut in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), he appeared in the movies The Shout (1978) and Times Square (1980). On both the West End and Broadway, he appeared on stage in Travesties and Amadeus.

In the Eighties, Tim Curry appeared in the movies Annie (1982), The Ploughman's Lunch (1983), Legend (1985), Clue (1985), Pass the Ammo (1987), and The Hunt for Red October (1990). He guest starred on the shows Arena, Long Ago and Far Away, The Tracy Ullman Show, and Wiseguy. He appeared in such TV movies as Blue Money and The Worst Witch. He played Pennywise in the mini-series It. He was a guest voice on the animated series The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible. He appeared on Broadway in Amadeus and in London in The Pirates of Penzance, The Rivals, The Threepenny Opera, and Dalliance.

In the Nineties, Tim Curry starred on the sitcom Over the Top. He had a recurring role on the sitcom Rude Awakening. He provided the voice of Mr. Curry on the animated series Paddington Bear, Captain Hook in the animated series Peter Pan and the Pirates, Sharkster on Fish Police, additional voices on The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda, Sir Gawain on The Legend of Prince Valiant, Barney Finkleberg on Wild West C.O.W. Boys of Moo Mesa, Skullmaster on Mighty Max, King Acorn on Sonic the Hedgehog, Kilokah on Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad, MAL on Captain Planet and the Planeteers,and Dr. Sevarius on Gargoyles. He was also a guest voice on several more animated shows. He guest starred on the shows Roseanne, Tales from the Crypt, Dinosaurs, Earth 2, The Naked Truth, Lexx, and Bette. He played Gomez Addams in the TV movie Addams Family Reunion. He appeared in the movies Oscar (1991), The Player (1992), Passed Away (1992), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Loaded Weapon 1 (1993), The Three Musketeers (1993), The Shadow (1994), Congo (1995), Lover's Knot (1995), Muppet Treasure Island (1996), McHale's Navy (1997), Sorted (2000), and Charlie's Angels (2000). He appeared on Broadway in My Favorite Year.

From 1998 to 2004, Tim Curry was the voice of Nigel Thornberry on the animated show The Wild Thornberrys. He was a guest voice on many more animated shows. He starred on the short-lived reboot of the sitcom Family Affair. He guest starred on the shows Monk, Will & Grace, Psych, Poirot, Cranford, and Criminal Minds. He appeared in the movies Scary Movie 2 (2001), The Scoundrel's Wife (2002), Kinsey (2004), Bailey's Billion$ (2005), Christmas in Wonderland (2007), The Secret of Moonacre (2008), and Burke & Hare (2010). He appeared on Broadway in Spamalot.

In the Teens, Tim Curry was the voice of G. Gordon Godfrey on the animated series Young Justice, the voice of the Sorcerer on Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, and Palpatine on Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He was a guest voice on many other animated shows.

News of Tim Curry's death felt like a punch to the gut for me. To me, he wasn't only one of the greatest character actors of the late 20th Century, but one of the greatest character actors of all time. What is more, he appears to have been a true gentleman. Not only have his co-stars spoke of his kindness, generosity, and sense of humour, but so too have ordinary people who had the opportunity to meet him. Tim Curry may have played many villains throughout this career, but in real life, he was one of the good guys.

He was certainly talented. Indeed, he was phenomenally so. He had the ability to disappear completely into his characters. If Frank-N-Furter and The Rocky Horror Picture Show remain iconic, it is largely because of Tim Curry's performance in the role. Tim Curry is probably much of the reason the movie Clue has become a cult classic as well. He shined as the fast-talking butler Wadsworth. Tim Curry played his share of villains during his career, both humorous and otherwise. He was great as the treacherous, egocentric Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island. He was fearsome as the demonic Darkness in Legend. He inspired fear as Pennywise in the mini-series It, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. Tim Curry played so many great roles during his long career, including Dr Petrov in The Hunt for Red October, Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers, The Grand Wizard in the TV movie The Worst Witch, and so much more. Tim Curry was a chameleon, able to transform himself into any role he played. Few actors ever had the talent that Tim Curry had, and for that talent he will be remembered.

We Will Always Love Dolly Parton

There are very few celebrities as beloved as Dolly Parton. To wit, even people who aren't fans of country music, such as myself, loved Dolly. But then Dolly was much more than a country singer. She was a movie star, who appeared in such movies as 9 to 5 (1980) and Steel Magnolias (1989). She was a comedian, with a razor sharp wit that was often self-effacing. But most of all, she was a humanitarian. Dolly would easily have been a billionaire, but she insisted on using her money to help people, from providing children with books to medical research. I honestly can't think of any celebrity who was as selfless as Dolly Parton. She loved everyone and I don't ever remember her ever saying anything mean-spirited about anyone. It was as if she were an angel placed here on Earth. Indeed, Dolly was so friendly and so familiar to all of us that it only seems right to address her by her first name rather than something more formal. Sadly, Dolly Parton died on August 25, 2026, at the age of 80.

Dolly Parton was born on January 19, 1946, in a one room cabin on the banks of Little Pigeon River near Pittman Center, Tennessee. She was the 4th of twelve children born to Avie Lee Owens and Robert Lee Parton. Her father was a sharecropper and tobacco farmer who also occasionally worked as a construction worker. The family later moved to a cabin in Locust Ridge, Tennessee.

Her mother sang traditional mountain ballads and recited folklore to her children. By the time she was seven, Dolly had already taught herself to play guitar on a homemade guitar. When she was eight years old, her Bill Owens, her mother's younger brother, gave her a real guitar. Her Uncle Bill was a musician and songwriter who acted as her mentor and later collaborated with her on songs.

Dolly Parton was still a child when she began performing. She sang on local, East Tennessee radio stations. She was only ten yeas old when she appeared on The Cas Walker Show on WIVK Radio and and WBIR out of Knoxville, Tennessee. Her first single, "Puppy Love," was released when she was only 13, on Goldband Records, a Louisiana label. She appeared at the Grand Ole Opey for the first time during this period. She singed with Combine Publishing ans saw some success as a songwriter. She was 19 when she signed with Monument Records, who initially insisted on marketing her as a bubblegum singer. It was not until Monument relented and let her record country music that she had a single chart. That single was "Dumb Blonde," which peaked at no. 24 on the Billboard Country chart.

It was in 1967 that Porter Wagner invited her to join his syndicated TV show The Porter Wagner Show. Porter Wagner convinced the label on which he was on, RCA Victor to sign Dolly Parton. Porter Wagner and Dolly Parton often performed as a duo and released several singles and studio albums together. It was during this period that Dolly also saw success as a solo artist. Her single, "Just Because I'm a Woman" reached no. 17 on the Billboard Country chart. 1970 was her breakthrough year, with her version of "Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)" reaching no. 3 on the Billboard Country chart and "Joshua" going all the way to no. 1 on the chart. It was in 1973 that she saw her first crossover success. Her song "Jolene" went to no. 1 on the Billboard Country chart and peaked at no. 60 on the Billboard Hot 100. 1977 saw her first major crossover success. "Here You Come Again' reached no. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Ultimately, Dolly Parton released 49 solo studio albums and 198 solo singles. She had 25 singles go to no. 1 on the Billboard Country chart. Her last album, Rockstar, was released in 2023, and saw her collaborate with rock artists from John Fogerty to Rob Halford.

Of course, much of Dolly Parton's initial success was due to her appearances on television, and she continued to appear on television throughout her career. She appeared on several talk shows and variety shows, including The Kraft Music Hall, Hee-Haw, The Mike Douglas Show, The David Frost Show, Dinah!, The Tonight Show, and Saturday Night Live. She had two variety shows of her own. Dolly! ran in syndication from 1976 to 1977. Dolly ran on ABC from 1987 to 1988. She guest starred on several TV shows during her career, including Captain Kangaroo, Designing Women, Babes, Heavens to Betsy, The Magic School Bus, The Simpsons, Reba, Hannah Montana, Gracie and Frankie, The Orville, and Call Me Kat. She also appeared in several TV movies, and produced several, including A Smoky Mountain Christmas, Wild Texas Wind, Unlikely Angel, Dolly Parton: Coat of Many Colors, and Dolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love. It might surprise many to learn that her production company, Sandollar Productions, produced the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Sarah Michelle Gellar said that while Dolly rarely visited the set, she would send personalized Christmas gifts to the cast. Dolly also expressed pride in the show.

In addition to being a country music star, Dolly Parton was also a movie star. She made her movie debut in 9 to 5 in 1980. Over the years, she appeared in the movies The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), Rhinestone (1984), Steel Magnolias (1989), Straight Talk (1992), The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), Smoky Mountain Wilderness Adventure (2002), Frank McCluskey, P.I. (2002), Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005), Joyful Noise (2012), Dollywood's Christmas Carol (2013), and Christmas in the Square (2020). She was a voice in the animated movies Gnomeo & Juliet (2011) and The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom (2011).

Of course, Dolly Parton was also known for her amusement park Dollywood, located near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The park opened in 1986 and has since become the biggest ticketed tourist attraction in Tennessee.

As famous as Dolly Parton was as a singer, an actress, and an all-around entertainer, she may be well be more famous for her humanitarianism. In fact, I think it may well be impossible to list every single act of charity she did in her life. There was so much that Dolly did without publicity, things that were only made public later by others. Among her most famous works of charity was her literacy program the Imagination Library. Founded in 1995, it sends a book to every child who is enrolled from their birth to when they enter kindergarten. In 2022 it was revealed that for years Dolly Parton had been anonymously buying band uniforms and instruments for low-income and underfunded schools across Tennessee and much of the South.

Dolly also was a huge supporter of healthcare and medical research. She has raised money for both the Red Cross and HIV/AIDS charities. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, Dolly Parton donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center and as a result funded the early stages of the development of the Moderna vaccine. She also made donations to various hospitals during her life. Her sister Stella Parton revealed that, even if there was no hope that she could survive her cancer, Dolly offered to have experimental drugs used on her in hope that it might help others.

Dolly Parton did so much good in this world. When the Great Smoky Mountains Wildfires in 2016 took place, Dolly's "My People Fund" sent $1000 a month for six months to people affected by the wildfires. After Hurricane Helene in 2024, she donated $2 million to relief efforts. She also supported wildlife conservation and animal welfare and was an advocate for the LGTQ+ community. Following her death, there have been numerous stories of individuals helped by Dolly, as well as her kindness and warmth in general.

Dolly Parton was certainly a most remarkable person. Even someone who doesn't know much about country music as myself knows the impact she had on country music. Her songs changed the genre forever and brought it to a larger audience. I daresay every country music artist has felt her impact every since. And it is little wonder she had such success. She had a gift for songs that told stories, that people relate to, from "Jolene" to "Coat of Many of Colors.' She also had a beautiful high soprano voice. Dolly was known as "the Queen of Country" for a reason.

Of course, Dolly also had a film career and she was a very good actress. She was great right out the gate in her movie debut as secretary Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5. She also gave an excellent performance as hairdresser Truvy Jones in Steel Magnolias. Even when the movies weren't necessarily that good, such as Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Rhinestone, Dolly was always good. Dolly was perhaps a natural as an actress, particularly when it came to comedy. In both her concerts and in interviews, she often displayed a razor-sharp, self-deprecating humor. Dolly could be funny enough that had she not become a singer, she could have seen success as a comedian.

While Dolly Parton was clearly a great talent, what made her most remarkable was her abundance of love for her fellow human beings. She did so much to help so many, and often did so with no publicity, no fanfare. Dolly once said, "I'm just so proud to have been a part of anything that's good and that's making life a little better for people." The fact is that she made life a whole lot better for a whole lot of people. As I said earlier, it was as if she was an angel placed here on Earth. If Dolly is being mourned so greatly around the world, it isn't because she was a great singer or a great actress, it's because she was a great person.

A Q&A with Christina Solis Caron, Baby Doll from Mi Vida Loca (1993)

Christina Solis Caron played the role of Baby Doll in the cult classic movie Mi Vida Loca (1993). Mi Vida Loca is a groundbreaking film in the history of movies about Chicanos, as it  follows the everyday lives of Chicana gang members in Echo Park in Los Angeles. In addition to Mi Vida Loca, she also made notable guest appearances on such TV shows as Married with Children, Silk Stalkings, Chicago Hope, and 7th Heaven and appeared in such movies as Out for Justice (1991) and Quiet Days in Hollywood (1997). Christina graciously agreed to answer questions about Mi Vida Loca, her career, and the status of Chicanos in Hollywood.

Q:  How did you get into acting and what drew you to it?

A: I actually got into acting through a work-study job with UCLA Early Outreach. We’d go into schools and perform assemblies, and that’s where something clicked for me. It wasn’t about wanting to be famous. I loved connecting with an audience and making somebody feel something.

Once I realized that, I took acting seriously. I trained with Howard Fine and Silvana Gallardo and did Groundlings. My first film was Out for Justice, and I kept working from there.

For me, acting has always been about connection. You step into somebody else’s life for a minute, and if you do it right, you make people understand that person a little differently.

Q: Now as a fan of classic movies I have to ask this. Were there any classic movie stars who inspired you?

A: I grew up loving musicals. Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth. I loved that whole era.

My siblings took me to see stage productions like Annie, The Phantom of the Opera, and Cats, and I remember being completely drawn to the stage. I knew I wanted to be up there somehow.

I wasn’t a professional singer or dancer, but in my mind, if I was acting, I could do anything. That was part of the magic for me. Acting gave me permission to imagine myself doing things I never thought I could do in regular life.

Q: How were you cast in Mi Vida Loca?

A: By that point I was already working professionally. Out for Justice had been my first film, and I was training seriously as an actor. Allison Anders was doing something unusual with Mi Vida Loca. She mixed professional actors with actual young people from Echo Park.

I was cast in that mix as Baby Doll. I honestly don’t remember every detail of the audition now. What I do remember is that being part of that film became much bigger than any of us could have known at the time.

Q: Now I know Nélida López was an actual gang member and I do believe her gang name really was "Whisper," but how did they come up with the gang names for the other characters?

A: Nélida really was Whisper, and she played herself. Allison spent a lot of time getting to know the Echo Park Locas before filming. The real homegirls were involved as consultants, so a lot of the language and detail came directly out of that culture.

The movie explains Sad Girl and Mousie. Those names were treated almost like they had been passed down from older generations of homegirls. Mousie got the name because she was little. Sad Girl basically got the name that was left, even though she wasn’t particularly sad at the time.

Some names were connected directly to real people. Joker Bird, for example, was the actual gang name of Rudy Bermudez, and Panchito Gomez played the character based on him.

As far as Baby Doll, Giggles, Big Sleepy and every individual name, I honestly don’t remember who came up with each one. Allison worked so closely with the homegirls that a lot of what was written and what came organically from Echo Park blended together.

Q: I know casts on some films grow so close they regard themselves as family. Was that the case with Mi Vida Loca? Have you stayed in touch with the rest of the cast?

We really did become family in a way, and some of those relationships continued long after the movie ended.

I became especially close with Angel Aviles, who played Sad Girl. We went to each other’s baby showers. She came to my house, I went to hers, and over the years we were in and out of each other’s lives.

Then my husband died, and Angel reached out to me. She said, "Do you realize we’ve become a cult classic? You have fans out there."

I don’t think she even realized what that did for me at the time. I had spent so many years being a wife and raising my children, and after losing my husband, I was trying to figure out who I was again. Angel reminded me of a part of myself I had almost forgotten. She reminded me that I was Christina the actress and that I had been part of something that mattered to people. I will always love her for that. I also stayed connected with a lot of the Echo Park locals through social media. Later I reconnected with Verónica Arellano, who played Stranger, and Angel and I started doing meet-and-greets. We ended up traveling around the country doing them.

It was unbelievable. People came out in droves. I used to joke that it felt like we were The Beatles. We would walk in and people were crying, screaming, wanting pictures and telling us what the movie meant to them.

What surprised me most was how young so many of the fans were. At first I would look at these young girls and think, "Where are your mothers?" Then I realized, no, they’re the fans. They came to see us.

There were babies, mothers, grandmothers, generations of women, but so many young girls. That was when I really understood that Mi Vida Loca hadn’t simply survived as an old movie. It had been passed down.

A mother showed it to her daughter. An older sister showed it to a younger sister. Then that girl found Baby Doll or Sad Girl or Mousie and saw something in one of us that spoke to her.

That has probably been one of the greatest gifts the movie has given me. Thirty years later, I get to meet the women, and now the girls, who made these characters part of their own lives.

Q: Mi Vida Loca remains popular to this day and many consider it a seminal work among films about Chicanos. What do you think its most lasting impact has been?

A: I think its biggest impact is that Chicana women got to be at the center of the story.

We weren’t somebody’s girlfriend in the background. We weren’t there just to explain the male character. These women had friendships, children, jealousy, loyalty, humor, anger, mistakes and dreams. They were complicated. And the film didn’t clean them up to make them acceptable.

That mattered, especially then. For Chicanas, there was something powerful about simply seeing ourselves. Our clothes. Our hair. The way people talked. The friendships. The loyalty. The neighborhood. Things Hollywood either ignored or stereotyped were suddenly taking up the whole screen.

I think that’s why younger generations keep finding it. They may not have lived that exact life, but they recognize something in those women.

To me, that’s the legacy. Mi Vida Loca said these girls were worthy of having their stories told. I’m very proud that Baby Doll is still part of that.

Q: Besides playing Baby Doll in Mi Vida Loca, I think you may be best known for your guest appearance as Esmeralda on Married with Children, but you did guest star on several other shows, including Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, 7th Heaven, and Chicago Hope. Do you have a favorite out of your television guest appearances? What was your best experience on television?

A: I really enjoyed doing the USA Network shows, especially Silk Stalkings and High Tide. They were fun. You’d come into an established cast, work hard for a week and bond with everybody fast.

Television moved quickly. You were shooting an hour of TV in a week instead of spending months on a movie, and I liked that pace. You came in, did your work and became this little family for a week. High Tide was especially fun, and Rick Springfield was honestly one of the sweetest people I ever worked with. Everybody was so welcoming. I have really good memories from those shows. But my television "one that got away" was Buddies. I was cast as Pamela, the neighbor, on the show with Dave Chappelle, and it was incredibly exciting.

Dave was amazing. I remember him telling me, "Girl, we’re going all the way. This is the next Seinfeld. Nine to twelve seasons. I got you."

I was thinking, this is it. I’m not somebody who counts her chickens before they hatch, but this one felt different. The show got picked up. We thought we were going to have a series. Then it went through changes and it just didn’t work out.

That will always be the one I think about and wonder, what if? And the irony is that Dave Chappelle turned out to be Dave Chappelle.

Q: Were there any parts you wish you could have played?

A: I never had one particular role I spent my life thinking should have been mine.

I did always want to do a musical because I grew up loving Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Rita Hayworth, and I loved the stage. I wasn’t a professional singer or dancer, but I had this funny confidence about acting. Put me in the costume, give me the character and somehow I was going to figure it out.

There was also a funny Hollywood milestone for me. Somebody once told me you never really make it in Hollywood until you play a hooker. So when I got cast as Eva in Quiet Days in Hollywood, alongside Hilary Swank, I was actually excited. I thought, okay, I’ve made it now.

One performance I wish more people had seen was a little film called Gut Feeling. It had an incredible cast, including George Lazenby, Susan Blakely, Julie Hagerty, Stephen Root and Bruce Weitz.

Something happened on that film. I did all the work I’d been taught to do, and then it just clicked. I stopped feeling like Christina playing a character. I felt like I was her.

It’s hard to explain unless you’re an actor. You prepare and prepare, and every once in a while you get to that place where you’re not thinking about the lines anymore. You’re just living it.

I remember leaving that experience thinking, that’s why I became an actor. To this day, I think it was some of my best work.

Q: As a Chicana actress, did you encounter any racism or sexism in the film and television industries? Do you think you lost any parts due to your ethnicity?

A: Absolutely there were limitations, but they weren’t always presented to you as, "You’re not getting this because you’re Mexican."

It was more subtle than that. You saw it in the parts that were available to you in the first place. As a young Latina actress, there were certain boxes people knew how to put you in, and not nearly enough roles where you were simply a woman with a full life and a full story.

Did I lose a particular role because of my ethnicity? I can’t honestly point to one part and say I know that for a fact. I wasn’t in those rooms when those decisions were made. But I do believe my ethnicity affected the opportunities I was considered for. Sometimes the door closes before you ever get to audition.

Sexism was part of the business too. You were a young woman in an industry that paid enormous attention to your age, your body, how attractive you were and how marketable somebody thought you were.

At the same time, I never wanted being Chicana to be something I had to overcome. It was part of me. I just wanted the same opportunity to play complicated women that everybody else had.

Q: From the late Eighties into the Nineties, several Mexican American-centered movies were released, including Stand and Deliver, Mi Vida Loca, Mi Familia, and others, and on television there was Mario Lopez on Saved by the Bell and Vanessa Marquez on ER. Do you think Chicano representation was better in the Nineties or is it better now?

A: For me, it was better in the Nineties. That’s part of why Chicanos have such a connection to that time. We were actually being seen.

Stand and Deliver, Blood In Blood Out, Mi Vida Loca, Mi Familia. These weren’t films that just cast a Latino actor. Our culture and our experiences were the story.

Then somewhere along the way, Hollywood lost interest. That’s frustrating because our dollar hasn’t disappeared. Latino audiences are watching, subscribing and buying tickets. So why are our stories still being ignored?

With the temperature of this country right now, I think telling Latino stories matters more than ever. People will look back on this period historically, and you can’t tell that history without telling what Latino families were living through. Not just political or immigration stories. The everyday ones too: family, love, fear, humor, work and identity.

The business has changed so much I don’t even know who "Hollywood" is anymore. Studios, streamers, independent producers, filmmakers doing their own thing. Maybe some of these stories have to come from us. I don’t know if we can do it entirely on our own, but Hollywood doesn’t get to ignore a community this large and still expect our money.

We were seen in the Nineties. I want us to be seen again, but this time with a hand in telling the stories.

Kindly,
Christina Solis Caron

Lalo Rios: Mexican American Movie Pioneer

Lalo Rios may not be a familiar name to many these days, but he was a pioneering Mexican American actor. In the space of two years, he appeared in two movies dealing with the Chicano experience, playing a central role in The Lawless (1950) and, for all extents and purposes, the lead role in The Ring (1952). His career never quite took off, but he remains a truly groundbreaking Chicano actor.

Lalo Rios was born on February 7, 1927, in San Miguelito, Sonora, Mexico. He was nine years old when his family moved to East Los Angeles. He attended Albion Elementary School and Lincoln High School. Following high school, he became a carpenter in the heavy construction industry.

It was through actor Don James that Lalo Rios would find his way into acting. Don James and his wife had been hired to stage a Christmas play with a social club of young Mexican American men and women 18 to 20 years old. One of the young men in the club, Lalo Rios, became close friends with Don James. Don James thought Lalo Rios had real talent, so that when he heard director Joseph Losey was making a film centered on Mexican American, The Lawless (1950), he contacted the director and told him to take a look at Lalo Rios.

The Lawless (1950) centred on a newspaper editor (MacDonald Carey), who finds himself at odds with his small town with regards to the local Mexican American fruit pickers, particularly when one of them, Paul Rodriguez (Lalo Rios), finds himself in trouble. While Lalo Rios was sixth billed in The Lawless (1950), given the amount of screen time he has and how pivotal Paul Rodriguez is to the plot, he could very nearly be considered one of the leads. What is more, while Lalo Rios had never acted in a movie before, he got good notices from critics for his portrayal of Paul Rodriguez.

Following The Lawless (1950), Lalo Rios appeared in minor roles in such films as The Law and the Lady (1951), Untamed Frontier (1952), and One Minute to Zero (1952). It was in 1952 that The Ring was released. While Lalo Rios was billed after Gerald Mohr and Rita Moreno, he was for all extents and purposes the film's star. The movie centred on centred on young Mexican American Tomas Cantanios who takes up boxing in an effort to make something better of himself. The Ring (1952) is notable for its portrayal of racism against Chicanos, including the segregation that existed in Los Angeles at the time and for its utter lack of stereotypes. In his book Viva Hollywood: The Legacy of Latin and Hispanic Artists in American Film, author Luis I. Reyes writes of Lalo Rios's character in The Ring (1950), "In The Ring, Rios could be regarded as Hollywood's first Latino working-class rebel, as he expressed postwar concerns that developed into the Chicano (Mexican American) civil rights movement of the 1960s. His character is a progenitor of the teenage antihero that James Dean played in Rebel Without a Cause."

Unfortunately Lalo Rios would never again play a role as big as that of Tomas Cantanios in The Ring (1952). He had minor roles in City Beneath the Sea (1953) Big Leaguer (1953), and Prisoner of War (1954) before appearing as Risto, the hot-headed member of the Grandi crime family who throws a bottle of acid at protagonist Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) in Touch of Evil (1958). Touch of Evil (1958) would be his last significant appearance in a movie. Afterwards, he appeared in very minor roles in films: one of Calvera's henchmen in The Magnificent Seven (1960), a prisoner in Lonely Are the Brave (1962), and a solder in Villa Rides (1968).

It was during the Fifties that Lalo Rios's acting career turned increasingly to television. He made his television debut in an episode of The Unexpected in 1952. As might be expected. he appeared in several Westerns, including Frontier Doctor, Overland Trail, Tate, Gunsmoke, Laredo, and The High Chaparral. He appeared as gangster Tony Diaz in the two-part Untouchables episode "The Big Train." His final appearance on television was in an episode of Marcus Welby, M.D.

Even as his acting career was unfolding, Lalo Rios continued to work as a carpenter in the construction industry. It was while he was working on a construction job that he was injured in an accident that limited his mobility. As if being a Chicano in Hollywood wasn't hard enough, this made it even more difficult to find acting jobs.

While Lalo Rios only had a few significant roles in movies and on television, he remains an important figure in the history of Chicanos in movies. Years before the Chicano Movement began, he appeared in movies that addressed racism against Mexican Americans and played characters who would have a lasting impact on Mexican Americans on film. There can be no argument on the significance of The Lawless and The Ring in history of Chicano films, and it is largely Lalo Rios's performances in those films that made them what they are.

Godspeed Frank Beard of ZZ Top

Frank Beard, the drummer for rock band ZZ Top, died on August 17, 2026, at the age of 77. 

Frank Beard was born on June 11, 1949, in Frankston, Texas. He grew up in Irving, Texas. He met future ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill as teens when their bands were both playing in Fort Worth. He later played with Dusty Hill and Dusty Hill's brother Rocky Hill in the band American Blues. It following the release of ZZ Top's debut single, "Salt Lick," that Frank Beard replaced the band's original drummer, Dan Mitchell. Dusty Hill would replace the band's bassist Lanier Grieg not that long afterwards.

It was not long after Dusty Hill joined ZZ Top that they signed with London Records. Their debut album, ZZ Top's First Album, was released in 1971. Their single "Francine," from their second album Rio Grande Mud, became their first to break the Billboard Hot 100. "Tush," from their fourth album Fandango, went to no. 20 on the chart. For many years, it remained their highest charting single.

ZZ Top would reach the peak of their career years after the classic line-up of Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard came together. Their album Eliminator went to no. 9 on the Billboard album chart in 1984. The album also produced the hit singles "Gimme All Your Lovin,," "Sharp Dressed Man," and "Legs." Their albums continued to perform well throughout the remainder of the Eighties. In all, they released 15 studio albums and four live albums. Their last album was Goin' 50 in 2019. 

ZZ Top is unusual among rock bands in having a very stable lineup for most of its history. The lineup of Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard remained in place for over 50 years. n 2010 Dusty Hill summed up the band's stability to Classic Rock by simply saying, "“It’s a cliché and sounds so simplistic, but it’s down to the three of us genuinely enjoying playing together."

There can be no doubt that much of ZZ Top's success was due to Frank Beard. He had perfect timing and his style tended to minimalist, focusing on the song he was playing at the time rather than percussive pyrotechnics. As a result, his drumming complimented Billy Gibbon's guitar and Dusty Hill's bass perfectly. 

The Monkees Is Now on Tubi

Long-time readers of this blog know that The Monkees is my favourite sitcom of all time and The Monkees are one of my favourite bands of all time. I am then very happy to report that for the first time ever The Monkees is on streaming. As of August 15, 2026, the entire run of The Monkees is now on Tubi. The Monkees is also available on the over-the-top streaming service Philo and currently airs on the digital broadcast network Catchy Comedy every Saturday morning.

The Monkees debuted on NBC on September 12, 1966 and aired for two seasons. In September 1969, CBS added reruns of The Monkees to its Saturday morning lineup. It remained there until September 1973, when it moved to ABC's Saturday morning lineup. The show finally went into local syndication in the fall of 1975. In 1986, MTV held a marathon of Monkees episodes. The marathon received such a huge response that MTV began regularly airing The Monkees. This saw an upsurge in local stations picking the series up, as well the show joining the Nick At Nite lineup. Since then it has aired on IFC, MeTV, FeTV, and AXS TV. Rhino Home Entertainment released The Monkees on DVD in May 2001 and the first and second seasons as box sets in November 2003. It was released on Blu-ray in July 2016.

Even though I have owned The Monkees on DVD for years, I am still happy to see it added to Tubi and Philo. Each new exposure of The Monkees has created a new generation of fans, from when it aired on Saturday mornings to when it first entered syndication to when it aired on MTV and so on. I suspect that in streaming on Tubi it will create yet another generation of fans. This is good news for me as a life-long Monkees fan, as successive generations of fans mean that the show will continue to air on television, to stream on various service, and continue to remain in print on DVD and Blu-ray.

"Sharp Dressed Man" by ZZ Top

I don't feel up to a full post today, but I will be writing a eulogy for ZZ Top's drummer Frank Beard, who died on August 17, 2026. With that in mind, I will leave you with what might be ZZ Top's most successful single, "Sharp Dressed Man."