Evel Knievel R.I.P.

I believe that this past November saw more celebrities pass than any month since I started A Shroud of Thoughts. The latest to pass was not an important figure in films, music, or literature, but he had an impact on pop culture in the Seventies nonetheless. Daredevil Evel Knievel died yesterday at the age of 69 after years of failing health from diabetes, pulmonary fibrosis, and hepatitis. Anyone alive in the Seventies will remember Knievel as the daring (some might say reckless) motorcyclist who jumped the fountains at Caesar's Palace and tried to jump the Snake River Canyon.

Evel Knievel was born Robert Knievel in Butte, Montana on October 17, 1938. His parents divorced when he was a child and he was raised by grandparents. As a child he saw the Joie Chitwood Auto Daredevil Show when it came to Butte, the event which would lead to his chosen profession as an adult. In and out of trouble while he was growing up, Knievel eventually found himself spending the night in jail. Another inmate there, William Knofel, was called "Awful Knofel." Robert Knievel was then called "Evil Knievel." He later changed the "i" to an "e" because he thought it looked better.

Knievel served in the United States Army as a paratrooper. He later played semi-professional hockey with the Charlotte Clippers of the Eastern Hockey League. Having ridden motorcycles since he was very young, Knievel finally took up motorcycle racing. By 1965 he was co-owner of a motorcycle shop in Moses Lake, Washington. As a publicity stunt he jumped his motorcycle over parked cars, a box of rattlesnakes, and a mountain lion. The stunt drew 1000 people. It was then that Knievel decided he could make a living performing motorcycle stunts. He formed Evel Knievel’s Motorcycle Daredevils that same year and they toured the West. Eventually, Knievel would go solo, and it was in 1967 that Knievel performed the stunt that would make him famous. On December 31, 1967 he jumped the fountains at Caesar's Palace. The jump ended with a crash in which Knievel was injured, but a film of the stunt was broadcast on ABC's Wide World of Sports. By 1968 Knievel was regularly performing motorcycle stunts and earning around $25,000 for each one.He was also setting world records, getting his name several times in Guinness Book of Records. It was in 1972 that he attempted his biggest stunt ever, jumping the Snake River Canyon in Idaho. Using a rocket powered motorcycle to perform the stunt, Knieval made it all the way across the canyon, only to have the bike's parachute pull the motorcycle down into the canyon. Fortunately for Knievel, he survived the stunt with only minor injuries.

The early to mid Seventies saw Knievel at the height of his career. At least two feature films were based upon him. In 1971 there was biopic made called Evel Knievel, starring George Hamilton in the lead role. In 1977 Knievel played himself in Viva Knievel. An unsold television pilot, Evel Knievel, aired on CBS in 1974. That same year Ideal Toy Company released an action figure based on Knieval, complete with motorcycle and other accessories. He was a frequent guest on talk shows of the time. A pinball machine even bore his name.

In the end it was Knievel himself who put an end to his own success. In 1977 the book Evel Knievel on Tour by Knievel's former agent, Sheldon Saltman, was published. Knievel viewed Saltman's book as an attack on his character, and for that reason Knievel attacked Saltman with a baseball bat, breaking Saltman's left arm. On October 24, 1977, Knievel was sentenced for assault and battery to three years probation and six months in a county jail. The attack on Saltman essentially ruined Knievel's career. Not only did his various merchandising deals dry up, but he found it difficult to book performances as well. As the years passed, Knievel would meet with more trouble from the law. In 1983 he ran afoul of the IRS, who claimed he owed $1.6 million in taxes from his various jumps. In 1986 he solicited a policewoman in Kansas City, Missouri and had to pay a $200 fine. In 1994, a domestic disturbance call in California resulted in the discovery of several firearms which resulted in weapons violations. Knievel had to perform 200 hours of community service.

Sheldon Saltman said of Evel Knievel that "He was a true daredevil, but he basically was not a good human being." Given Knievel's attack on Saltman and his various legal infractions, it is hard to argue with Saltman's statement. That having been said, it must be pointed that he did eventually straighten up his act and even found religion. Besides which, it remains that Knievel was a great stunt motorcyclist, perhaps the greatest of all time. He not only performed spectacular stunts, but he set many records. He still holds a record for having broken 35 bones. Regardless of his personal life, Knievel left his mark in the history of motorcycle stunts. And he also had a huge impact on pop culture. He inspired action figures, movies, pinball machines, and even songs. It is even possible that he may partially be the inspiration behind the Marvel Comics character Ghost Rider. I rather suspect Knievel will be remembered for a long time to come.

Tag I'm It

I've been tagged by the award winning d. chedwick bryant, the eloquent kitty cat with a penchant for perfume and Bob Dylan.This amounts to winning an award for the writing in my blog. In turn, I have to tag five other bloggers I feel are worthy of winning an award for their writing, as well as list the three things I feel are necessary to powerful writing. Ched listed:
1. Must love to read the writings of others.
2. Open to observing life with a sense of the absurd.

3. Ability to write about a supposedly mundane moment & make it interesting.
As to the three things I feel are necessary to powerful writing, I would say:
1. One must have the ability to take even the most unoriginal idea and make it entirely one's own.
2. One must write for himself or herself, without worrying about the opinions of others.
3. One must write about subjects which one loves passionately.

As to the bloggers I feel should win an award for their writing, here they are in alphabetical order.

Beth: Beth's blog, Finding My Voice, covers pretty much anything which interests Beth, which is everything from movies to politics. Beth is a very good writer with a great sense of humour. She also has a beautiful voice (as proof, here's a link to her entry with an audio clip of her rendition of "Gotta Be This or That" by Sunny Skylar).

Jeremy: Jeremy's blog, Popped Culture is about my favourite subject: the entire gamut of pop culture. Here one can read about everything from the misuse of the puppets from the old Canadian children's show The Friendly Giant to Kermit the Frog performing Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt." Jeremy clearly loves pop culture and it shows in his blog.

RC: RC's blog Strange Culture also covers the whole gamut of pop culture. What sets Strange Culture apart from other pop culture blogs is that RC often examines pop culture with a philosophical bent. For instance, one of his recent entries dealt with the theme of "Good vs. Evil" which recurs throughout the rides at the Universal Studio's Island of Adventure theme park. You don't see that in every blog.

Reel Fanatic: Reel Fanatic's self titled blog is exactly what it sounds like it's about: movies. Reel Fanatic covers the whole spectrum of film, from B-movies to Oscar contenders. You'll find everything there from movie reviews to the latest news. What makes the blog so great is two things. First, Reel Fanatic has very good tastes in movies--it's rare that I find myself disagreeing with him. Second, he clearly loves movies, which is a big advantage when one is writing about them.

Row Three: Row Three is a collaborative blog, but it includes one of my favourite bloggers of all time, Marina of the late, lamented Mad About Movies. Like Mad About Movies before it, Row Three has movie news, reviews, and commentary. And like Mad About Movies, it has the advantage of Marina writing for it. Like Reel Fanatic, I rarely finding myself disagreeing with Marina. And like Reel Fanatic, she clearly loves movies. Here I should also mention that the other writers at Row Three (Andrew, Jonathan, and Kurt) are really good too.

So there are my five award winning bloggers (well, I guess Row Three counts as more than one, but who is counting...). If you haven't done so already, check out their blogs. You'll thank me later.

Mel Tolkin R.I.P.

Mel Tolkin, the lead writer of the legendary TV series Your Show of Shows, died on November 26 at the age of 94. In addition to Your Show of Shows, Tolkin wrote for shows ranging from Caesar's Hour to All in the Family.

Mel Tolkin was born Shmuel Tolchinsky in Odessa, Ukraine on August 3, 1913. The family migrated to Montreal in 1926. He studied accounting in accordance with his family's wishes, but found himself drawn to show business instead. In the Thirties he wrote musical revues and played piano in night clubs around Montreal. He used the name "Mel Tolkin" so that his family would not find out. His first big break in show business came as writing the book for the revue Of V We Sing which ran for a brief time on Broadway in 1942. During World War II he served in the Canadian Army.

Following the war, Tolkin moved to New York City. His talent for entertainment found him at Camp Tamiment, a resort in the Poconos. It was there that he met his writing partner, Lucille Kallen. It was in 1949 that Tolkin and Kallen were hired for the TV show The Admiral Broadway Revue. An early comedy variety show, it starred Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Aired on both NBC and the Dumont network, The Amdiral Broadway Revue would pave the way for another show starring Caesar and Coca and written by Tolkin and Kallen--Your Show of Shows. Your Show of Shows debuted in 1950 and aired on Saturday night. It was one of the earliest sketch comedy shows and can be considered the direct ancestor of such series as Saturday Night Live and In Living Colour. In fact there is very little later sketch variety shows have done that Your Show of Shows did not do first--movie parodies, parodies of TV commercials, skits that pushed the boundaries of good tastes, and so on. Tolkin not only wrote many of the sketches on Your Show of Shows, he also wrote the theme song for the show as well.

Indeed, Mel Tolkin was the lead of a group of writers, most of who would become legendary in a relatively short period of time: Mel Brooks, Larry Gelbart, Danny Simon, and Neil Simon. The performers on the show would become legendary as well, featuring not only Sid Caesar, but Carl Reiner and Howard Morris (best known as Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show) as well. Your Show of Shows would leave the air in 1954, whereupon Tolkin would become ;ead writer on Sid Caesar's next variety show, Caesar's Hour. Mel Brooks, Larry Gelbart, Danny Simon, and Neil Simon would follow Tolkin to the new show, which included a new writer--a fellow by the name of Woody Allen. Sadly, Caesar's Hour was not the success that Your Show of Shows had been and lasted only three seasons.

From the late Fifties into the Sixties Tolkin would write for such series as Sid Caesar Invites You, The Danny Kaye Show, Run, Buddy. Run, and The Good Guys. In the Seventies he wrote several episodes of All in the Family. In the Sixties he also wrote the screenplay for the movie Last of the Secret Agents. Tolkin also wrote for Bob Hope and Danny Thomas.

Tolkin also worked on Broadway. In 1950 he composed the lyrics and music for the musical revue Tickets, Please. In 1958 he wrote the comedy Maybe Tuesday. In 1990 he wrote the musical revue Those Were The Days.

Even though his name is not as well known today as some of the writers he worked with on Your Show of Shows, Mel Tolkin was arguably one of the most talented comedy writers in television. The work that he and his fellow writers did on Your Show of Shows was sheer genius. Even today, over fifty years after the show first aired, those sketches are still laugh out loud funny. As a man who wrote many, many hours of the best comedy material ever to air on television, Mel Tolkin will not soon be forgotten.

Quiet Riot's Kevin DuBrow is Dead

Kevin DuBrow, lead singer of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, was found dead Sunday at the age of 52. The causes were unknown.

DuBrow was born October 29, 1955 in Hollywood, California. By age 13 his family had moved to Van Nuys, California. He became interested in music as a teenager. It was in 1975 that legendary guitarist Randy Rhoads formed Quiet Riot with Kevin DuBrow as lead singer. The group recorded two albums (unreleased in the United States) before breaking up in 1979, when Rhoads left to work with Ozzy Osbourne. DuBrow then formed his own band, called DuBrow, with some of the old members of Quiet Riot. Not long after Rhoads' untimely death, DuBrow was renamed Quiet Riot.

This new version of Quiet Riot would have a hit single with a remake of Slade's "Cum on Feel the Noize." The success of the single would drive their album, Metal Health, to number one on the Billboard albums chart. Quiet Riot seemed poised for stardom. But their second album, Condition Critical (which included another Slade remake, "Mama Weer All Crazee Now," fizzled on the charts. As the album failed on the charts, DuBrow criticised other metal bands, the press, and even the record company. The end result was that DuBrow effectively alienated many of Quiet Riot's fans. Eventually even the other members of Quiet Riot tired of DuBrow and he fired from the band in 1987.

DuBrow would return to the band in 1991. The band continued to release albums throughout the Nineties and the Naughts, but they never again saw the success that they had with Metal Health. DuBrow recorded his own solo album in 2004, consisting of nothing but covers (such as T. Rex's "20th Century Boy" and Mott the Hoople's "Drivin' Sister").

I cannot say that I ever was a huge fan of Quiet Riot. While I am a metal fan, I have never been fond of pop metal and Quiet Riot was a most typical pop metal band. I must admit that I did like their remakes of "Cum on Feel the Noize" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now." And there is no denying their influence. Both the single "Cum on Feel the Noize" and the album Metal Health were among the earliest metal records to hit the top of the charts, thus paving the way for other metal acts in the Eighties where Billboard was concerned. For better or worse, Quiet Riot also paved the way for other pop metal bands. Regardless of what serious metalheads thought of the subgenre of pop metal, it was certainly popular in the Eighties. Although he would only have one successful album, Kevin DuBrow then left his mark on music history.

Mizzou Won

Okay, I don't usually write about sports here. A Shroud of Thoughts is devoted to pop culture and I simply do not think of sports as pop culture. That having been said, last night was the occasion of what may be the most significant football game in the history of either the University of Missouri or the University of Kansas. In the end the Missouri Tigers would beat the Kansas Jayhawks 36-28.

The significance of the game rested on several factors. First, this game was the Big 12 North championship. Whoever won this game would move onto the Big 12 championship to face the Big 12 South champions Oklahoma. Second, for the first time in years both teams were ranked in the top ten in the AP poll--Missouri at number 3 and Kansas at number 2. Third, Friday night number one LSU lost their game against Arkansas. This puts the number one spot up for grabs. Whoever won the so called "Border Showdown" could find themselves ranked number one in the AP poll. Fourth, not only would the winner of this game move onto the Big 12 championship, but they could find themselves in the national championship. This would be quite an accomplishment for either team. The last time Mizzou was ever this close to a national championship title was in 1960. As to Kansas, they have never been this close.

Of course, the game is made all the more important by the rivalry between the University of Missouri and University of Kansas that has existed ever since they first played each other in 1891. It is the oldest football rivalry west of the Mississippi. What is more the rivalry's roots do not rest on the gridiron, but in the history of the two states. Prior to the American Civil War, there were outright skirmishes between the two states. During the War, Jayhawkers from Kansas would raid Missouri and bushwhackers from Missouri would raid Kansas. The rivalry then actually came about because of some very deep seated feelings the states hold for each other. Since 1891, the two teams have played each other 116 times. Until last night the record was tied at 53 wins apiece, 53 losses apiece, and 9 ties. Last night that changed, as Mizzou now has 54 wins over Kansas. Of course, Jayhawkers will insist that the record should be tied at 54 wins apiece, counting the 1960 game in which the Jayhawks played an ineligible player as a win (Bert Coan, ineligible because of recruiting violations on the part of Kansas). It must be pointed out, however, that the NCAA does not count the game as a win, which is ultimately what matters, regardless what Jayhawks fans might think.

Given what either team could gain from the game and the long history between the two teams, I think those of you who do not live in either Missouri or Kansas can understand why the game was so important. That having been said, I am still a little puzzled as to why some venues favoured Kansas to win the game, even if many thought it would be close. The simple fact is that Missouri played a much tougher schedule than Kansas did. In fact, I will go so far as to say that given the teams that the Jayhawks played, I don't think they really deserved their AP ranking of number two. Let's face it, while Mizzou faced off against the juggernaut known as Oklahoma, Kansas was facing off the rather less threatening team known as Baylor. At best, Kansas faced teams who might hope to get into the fringe bowls, while Missouri was facing teams with fairly good records. I might also mention that Kansas did not even rank in the top 100 with regards to punt returns and net punting, and until last night they had only sacked a passer a total of 19 times. I can also point out that the last time the Tigers played the Jayhawks, we beat them 42 to 17.

In fact, while I am happy that Missouri won last night's game, I must say that I am somewhat disappointed at the score. We only won 36 to 28. In my humble opinion, the score should have been more like last year's Mizzou/KU game; the Tigers should have given the Jayhawks a sound thrashing. While the Tigers were playing well last night, it seems to me that they could have played better. While I have to admit that this KU team is a good one, I don't think they are so good that they could rack up 28 points against the Tigers without some mistakes on Mizzou's part.

Regardless, for the first time in 47 years it seems that the national championship could be within Mizzou's grasp. As a fan of Mizzou football since childhood, I have to say that this makes me very happy. Of course, even if the Missouri Tigers do not become the 2007 football champions, I will still be happy. After all, we ended KU's winning streak, won the Big 12 North title, prevented them from going onto the Big 12 championship, and dashed any hopes, however meagre, they had of being national champions. For a Mizzou Tiger fan, that is more than enough.

Black Friday

I have to be frank. I don't like shopping. I have always been one of those people who prefers to go into the store, get what he wants, and then get out of there as swiftly as possible. I see no point in wandering around a retail store looking for bargains, even on things that I might want or even possibly need. It is for that reason that I usually avoid stores on the day after Thanksgiving, now widely known as Black Friday. As nearly everyone knows, Black Friday is the official start of the Yuletide shopping season. Many, many people will rush to the stores on this day hoping to find things on the cheap. Sadly, for the most part these bargain hunters make it almost impossible to get out of any store in a timely manner.

Indeed, I feel that I was very lucky yesterday. My sister had run out of her diabetes medication and I needed to get groceries. To conserve gas we decided to simply go to WalMart yesterday morning, despite the crowds of shoppers (the need for her diabetes medicine outweighed any desire to avoid bargain hunters). We were fortunate in that we were able to get out of WalMart in a little over fifteen minutes. At any rate, when I told my second best friend (who hates shopping as much as I do) that I was going to WalMart yesterday, she looked at me as if I was insane until I explained to her my sister's situation with regards to her diabetes medication.

Anyhow, I bring this up because Black Friday has become a firmly rooted tradition in American culture. What is more is that it is not a recent phenomenon. Oh, it is true that the name by which it has become known is of recent vintage. The earliest use of the phrase Black Friday referred not to the day after Thanksgiving, but the Friday before the Christian Easter, the day better known as "Good Friday." It is on this day that Christians commemorate the Crucifixion of Jesus, hence the reason it was called "Black Friday." In the United States, the name "Black Friday" was also applied to September 24, 1869, a day when there was a financial panic as the gold market in the United States collapsed. And as I mentioned yesterday, it was also the name of a 1940 movie starring Boris Karloff.

As to how the day after Thanksgiving came to be called "Black Friday" in the United States, it could to have its origins in the Philadelphia area, or at least the eastern United States. The first printed references to the day after Thanksgiving as "Black Friday" were both published on November 25, 1975 and both deal with the Philadelphia area. One article was in the Titusville Herald (Titusville being a suburb of Philadelphia), dealing with the crowds of shoppers on this day. The article specifically states that bus drivers and cabbies called the day "Black Friday" because of the headaches they receive from the day. Another article appeared in no less than the New York Times. This article dealt with the Army-Navy football game, which always takes place after Thanksgiving. Making reference to the shopping done on that day, this article mentions that Philadelphia bus drivers and police officers call the day "Black Friday" because of the extreme traffic. It would then seem that the day after Thanksgiving received its name of "Black Friday" because of the hordes of shoppers out on that day.

While both articles reference the Philadelphia area, we cannot be certain that the term originated there. A year later, on November 27, 1976, an article in the Times Herald Record of Middletown, New York referred to the day of Thanksgiving as "Black Friday," with particular reference to the hordes of shoppers out on that day. It is possible that the Times Herald Record got the term from the articles in the New York Times and the Titusville Herald, but then it is also possible that, while the first two times the phrase appeared in print make reference to the Philadelphia area, the name "Black Friday" originated elsewhere in the eastern United States. That having been said, references to the day after Thanksgiving as "Black Friday" are sparse before the Naughts. The term is used in an article in the St. Petersburg Times dated November 27, 1986. That article makes reference to the Tampa Bay, Florida area and states that the day after Thanksgiving is called "Black Friday." It is also used in the article "This Year It's Green Friday," from the November 27, 1998 issue of Time. Regardless, use of the term Black Friday for the day after Thanksgiving seems to have entered widespread usage around 2002. That year alone the term was used in venues ranging from the Chicago Tribune to CNN.

While the term Black Friday may have only originated in the past thirty years, the tradition of the day after Thanksgiving as the official start of the Christmas shopping season goes back considerably farther. As might be expected, it is rooted deeply in the history of the observation of Christmas in the United States. For much of the United States' history, the nation was sharply divided on the subject of Christmas. New England was largely settled by Puritans, who regarded Christmas as a largely pagan celebration (given how much of the old Germanic pagan holiday called Geol in Old English and Jól in Old Norse carried over into the Christian holiday, they were right to some degree). In fact, in 1659 the General Court of Massachusetts actually banned any observance of Christmas beyond attending church! Most of New England would not go this extreme, but from the 17th to 19th centuries Christmas was simply another work day for most Yankees. This was in sharp contrast to the American South. Settled by Royalists loyal to Charles I, Christmas was the social event of the year. There was simply no holiday observed with so much enthusiasm in the South as Christmas.

Of course, before Black Friday could develop, the holiday of Thanksgiving would also have to be established. The nation was also sharply divided with regards to Thanksgiving. Annual Thanksgiving observances in New England date back to the late 17th century. In New England it was one of the biggest celebrations of the year. On the other hand, from the 17th to 19th centuries, the South hardly even recognised the existence of the day. This would be changed by one woman, Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of the women's magazine Godey's Lady's Book, started campaigning to make Thanksgiving a national holiday as early as 1827. She finally succeeded in 1863 when Abraham Lincoln signed it into law. Over the next several decades, then, Thanksgiving would catch on in the American South.

At the same time New England's attitudes towards Christmas were changing. In 1820 New Yorker Washington Irving published his popular book The Keeping of Christmas at Bracebridge Hall. Illustrator Thomas Nast, born in Germany but raised in New York, popularised the image of Santa Claus in the pages of Harper's Weekly. The growing popularity of Christmas in New England was not lost on retailers. Christmas having traditionally been a time of gift giving, retailers gradually began to capitalise on the holiday. As early as the 1820s and 1830s, sweet shops in New York City started having Christmas sales. By 1840 many stores began to advertise themselves as Santa Claus' headquarters. Influential department store Macy's was among those to jump on the Christmas bandwagon. The year 1867 marked the very first time the retailer was open until midnight on Christmas Eve. In 1874 Macy's set up the first of their legendary Yuletide window displays. That same year Macy's brought Santa Claus to the store for the first time (here it should be noted that they were the first store to have their own Santa Claus).

With American retailers capitalising on Christmas, it would not be long before the day after Thanksgiving would be established as the first day of the holiday shopping season. References to shopping on the day after Thanksgiving occur relatively early in the 20th century. As early as 1907 the The Evening Times of Cumberland, Maryland makes reference to shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. Such references would grow with even more frequency as the years passed. In the December 10, 1908 issue of the Charleroi Mail of Charleroi, Maryland, a retailer mentions that they have been busy since the day after Thanksgiving. In an issue of the Indiana Progress dated November 27, 1917, a retail store makes reference to their holiday line being ready the day after Thanksgiving.

By 1920 the idea that the day after Thanksgiving marked the first day of the holiday shopping season was so entrenched in the United States that Gimbels' first Thanksgiving parade in Philadelphia in 1920 marked the arrival of Santa Claus at their store. Macy's would follow suit with their own parade in 1924. In fact, Macy's would even go a step further. While it is now known as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, that first parade was called the Macy’s Christmas Parade. Even then the Macy's parade ended with the arrival of Santa Claus. Hudson's department store in Detroit would also hold their own Thanksgiving parade in 1924. That parade also ended with the arrival of Santa.

By the Thirties the day after Thanksgiving was so well established as the first day of the holiday shopping season that it even resulted in the date of Thanksgiving being moved. Retailers had long wanted a longer holiday shopping season and so they lobbied President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to move the date of the holiday from the last Thursday in November to the next to the last Thursday in November. Roosevelt then changed the date of the holiday in 1939. An outraged public forced the President to move the holiday back.

It would seem that the day after Thanksgiving or Black Friday was long ago established as the first day of the holiday shopping season. That having been said, it is not the biggest shopping day of the year in the United States, as often believed. According to Snopes.Com, while Black Friday may be the day when the largest number of shoppers rush to the stores, it is not the day when the most money is spent. According to statistics from the International Council of Shopping Centres provided by Snopes, the date that the most money was spent at retail stores from 1993 to 2002 ranged from December 18 to December 23. Despite the hordes of bargain hunters who flock to stores on the day after Thanksgiving, then, it would seem that most of us procrastinate when it comes to our holiday shopping, waiting a few days before Christmas to do the bulk of it.

Despite the fact that Black Friday is not the biggest shopping day of the year in the United States, it is certainly one which has had a long association with that particular activity. This year many stores opened as early as 4:00 AM Friday so that eager bargain hunters could do their shopping. What is more, this is nothing unusual. Even when I was growing up in the Seventies, I can remember when stores would open up inordinately early in order to accommodate shoppers. Even the pushing, shoving, and outright fighting over merchandise that accompanies some Black Friday sales was not unknown then. I can remember hearing news reports about such events even as a boy. Indeed, anyone who was alive in 1984 can probably remember the fist fights that broke out over the then wildly popular Cabbage Patch Kids. This year alone police were called to break up fights between shoppers in places as diverse as Cullman, Alabama and Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

As much as I hate shopping, Black Friday has never been a tradition in which I have taken part. Even as a child I don't think my family ever went shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. I suspect my mother and father were much like me--I simply do not care to brave the crowds of often crazy shoppers in search of a bargain. In fact, I have to say that the fifteen minutes I spent in WalMart yesterday was fifteen minutes too long. That having been said, I recognise that for better or worse, Black Friday has been established as a tradition for around 100 years. And whether one likes shopping or not, it seems like it is here to stay.

Postscript: Okay, I know it might seem odd that I am writing about Black Friday on Saturday, but yesterday was Boris Karloff's 120th birthday, a much more important event in my mind. As usual, I have my priorities....

Boris Karloff's 120th Birthday

Today is the busiest shopping day of the year here in the United States, called "Black Friday." Perhaps fittingly, it is also the 120th birthday of the late, great, horror star Boris Karloff, who starred in a 1940 movie called, well, Black Friday. Boris Karloff was born William Henry Pratt on this date in 1887 in Camberwell, London, England.

William Henry Pratt was born into a family of some distinction. His father was Edward John Pratt Jr, the Deputy Commissioner of Customs, Salt and Opium, Northern Division, Indian Salt Revenue Service, His grandmother was Eliza Julia Pratt, whose sister was Anna Leonowens--best known for Anna and the King of Siam. Sadly, William Henry Pratt was orphaned while very young. He was raised by his older siblings and attended Enfield Grammar School, Uppingham School, and Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood. He attended the University of London, determined to follow his brother, Sir John Henry Pratt, into foreign service. Instead, William Henry Pratt found himself drawn to drama. In 1909 he moved to Canada. It was not long before William Henry Pratt would take the stage name of Boris Karloff. There is some mystery as to how he developed the name. Karloff claimed that he chose the name "Boris" because it sounded exotic and foreign, and the name "Karloff" because it was a last name on his mother's side of the family. That having been said, while Karloff could boast some Indian ancestry, none of his ancestors on either side of his family appear to have been Slavic. While the means by which Karloff developed his nom de guerre remain a mystery, the reason he did so may be easier to find. The Pratt family was a distinguished one, particularly in the foreign service, and acting was not a particularly well respected profession at the time. In fact, after Karloff had gained fame as the Creature in Frankenstein he was concerned how his family would react to him upon his return to England in 1933. As it turned out he need not be, as his family welcomed him with open arms and even posed with him for publicity photos. While the Pratt family was not concerned with William Henry Pratt besmirching the family name, he may well have been himself, hence the need for an unusual stage name.

Karloff's first several months in Canada were spent working on a farm and later on construction on a racetrack. Eventually he became part of the Jeanne Russell Theatre Company out of Kamloops, British Columbia. By 1917 he was playing the role of Trampas in the dramatic adaptation of the classic novel The Virgininan. It was in December of that year that the play arrived in Los Angeles. It was at that point that the influenza epidemic of 1917 would change Karloff's career forever. The epidemic particularly hurt the theatre business in California, forcing many stage actors to go into the movies. Karloff was among them. He made his first appearance on the big screen in 1919 in The Lightning Raider. Over the next several years Karloff appeared in a number of silent films, usually as a heavy. He appeared in such films as The Last of the Mohicans, The Infidel, The Golden Web, and The Phantom of the North. His income from his acting was at the time so meagre that he had to work as a truck driver.

Karloff's fortunes changed dramatically in 1931. That year he appeared in two roles that would change his life forever. One was an important part in Howard Hawks' movie The Criminal Code, as the killer Ned Galloway. Karloff's days of playing bit parts was over. Afterwards he appeared in much more visible roles than he had before, in such films as The Public Defender and Graft. The other important role in which Karloff appeared in 1931 was the one for which he is best known. Having had a great deal of success with their adaptation of Dracula, Universal Pictures decided to adapt that other horror classic, Frankenstein. They soon found themselves without someone to play the Monster when Bela Lugosi turned down the role because his face would not be visible under the makeup the role required. It was while Karloff was working on Graft (also made at Universal Pictures) that director James Whale noticed the actor. Whale thought that Karloff's head and face would be perfect for Frankenstein's creation, and so Karloff got the part of his lifetime. Frankenstein proved to be even more successful than Dracula. In fact, it became the Star Wars of its day, raking in a tidy profit for Universal Pictures. There can be no doubt that much of the success of Frankenstein rested with Karloff's considerable talent. Rather than portraying the Creature as a mindless beast, Karloff endowed him with an innocence and naivete that made him a very sympathetic character. To this day, Karloff's portrayal of the Monster remains the definitive one, even after 76 years. Sadly, the costume Karloff had to wear as the Creature, compounded by years of physical labour, would leave him with severe back pain for the rest of his life.

Its success and that of Dracula inaugurated the First Golden Age of Horror Movies. It was during this period that Universal made many of its greatest horror films and that Karloff appeared in some of the best known movies of his career. Following the success of Frankenstein, Karloff appeared in James Whale's adaptation of The Old Dark House. He would follow this film with The Mummy, The Black Cat, and what may have been the greatest film of Karloff's career (and possibly the greatest horror movie of all time) The Bride of Frankenstein. Now endowed with speech, Karloff not only made the Creature even more sympathetic in this movie, but raised him to the ranks of the great tragic heroes of cinema. Of course, it would be a mistake to think that Karloff only appeared in horror movies during this time. Despite being best known for playing the Creature in the Frankenstein movies, he appeared in other genres of film than simply horror. He played Gafney in Scarface, Sanders in The Lost Patrol, Count Ledrantz in The House of Rothschild, and the title role in The Mask of Fu Manchu.

The mid to late Thirties were a particularly active time for Karloff. As might be expected he appeared in many horror movies. Nineteen thirty four's The Black Cat was particularly historic in that it marked the first time that Boris Karloff appeared with Bela Lugosi in a film. Filled with bizarre art deco sets, some rather gruesome imagery, and devil worship, The Black Cat is an odd film that still holds up well today. Karloff would work with Lugosi in many more movies. And while the two never became friends, Karloff never regarded or resented Lugosi as a rival as many have believed. Karloff's other horror movies of the time included The Raven, The Invisible Ray, and The Walking Dead. The First Golden Age of Horror Movies ended in 1936, but Karloff had no shortage of roles. He appeared in Charlie Chan at the Opera, Night Key, and West of Shanghai. He also played Mr. Wong in the movie series that began with Mr. Wong, Detective.

Karloff would not stay away from the horror genre for long. In 1939 he played the Creature for one last time in Universal's second sequel to Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein. This inaugurated the Second Golden Age of Horror. Over the next several years Karloff would appear in several horror movies, including the aforementioned Black Friday, Before I Hang, The Ape, and The House of Frankenstein.

A high point in Karloff's career would be the movies he made with Val Lewton. RKO signed Karloff with the intention of having him star in the low budget horror movies that Lewton made for the studio. Initially, Lewton did not look forward to working with Karloff, identifying the actor with Universal's monster movies. What Lewton did not know is that Karloff had long tired of Universal's monster movies and on the whole preferred Lewton's more subdued approach of horror by suggestion. The two actually enjoyed working with each other and made three of the best horror movies ever made together. In The Body Snatcher Karloff played the murderous, but unfortunate, Cabman Gray. In Isle of the Dead he played Greek General Nikolas Pherides on an isle quarantined because of a plague. His final movie for Lewton may have been the best. Bedlam is strong stuff even today and it provided Karloff with one of his best roles ever--Master George Sims, the sadistic head of a fictionalised version of Bethlem Royal Hospital.

It was in 1941 that Karloff also returned to the stage. He played the murderous brother Jonathan Brewster in the comedy Arsenic and Old Lace. The play provided one of the funniest in jokes in the history of drama. Brewster, having repeatedly had plastic surgery performed on himself, is constantly hearing, "He looks like Boris Karloff!" Sadly, Karloff could not appear in the film version of the play. Karloff played Brewster in the play from 1941 to 1944. He would appear in two more plays on Broadway in the Forties, The Linden Tree and The Shop at Shy Corner.

The late Forties saw the Second Golden Age of Horror come to an end with the classic Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Karloff did not appear in that film, although he would appear with the comedy duo in the movie Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff. It was in the late Forties that Karloff also appeared in the films The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome. It was in 1949 that Karloff made the first of his many appearances on television, in two episodes of The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre.

During much of the Fifties Gothic horror movies were out of fashion. And sadly, by this point in his career, Karloff was so identified with the genre that he was typecast. Much of Karloff's work in the Fifties was then done in television. In 1949 he hosted the horror anthology Starring Boris Karloff, starred in the series Colonel March of Scotland Yard, and hosted the horror anthology The Veil. He appeared in episodes of Lights Out, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, Robert Montgomery Presents, Studio One, and Playhouse 90. This is not to say Karloff did not appear in any movies during this period. He appeared in the adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Door, The Black Castle, Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (in the title role), Voodoo Island, Grip of the Strangler Frankenstein 1970, and Corridors of Blood. He also appeared on Broadway in Peter Pan as Mr. Darling/Captain Hook in 1950 and The Lark in 1955.

The Sixties saw Karloff appear in more films than he had in the Fifties, In 1963 he made two films with Roger Corman. The Raven (sharing the name, but not the plot, of his earlier film by that name) teamed Karloff with Vincent Price and Peter Lorre in one of Corman's best films, an adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe poem of that name. Sadly, The Terror, featuring a young Jack Nicholson, was a bit of a disappointment. Karloff would be reunited with Vincent Price and Peter Lorre in Jacques Tourneur's The Comedy of Terrors. Karloff also starred in The Sorcerers, directed by Michael Reeves, one of the best horror movies of the Sixties. His last truly good film was Peter Bogdanovich's Targets, in which he played an aging horror star who faces off against a psychotic sniper. He appeared in two of the beach movies of the era, including Bikini Beach and Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. His other films are hardly worth mentioning: Die, Monster, Die, Curse of the Crimson Altar, The Fear Chamber, and other low budget films.

As in the Fifties, some of Karloff's most significant work was done in television. He was the host of the classic horror anthology series Thriller, a show which served as an introduction to the great actor for many. In 1962 he appeared as himself in an episode of Route 66 which also featured Peter Lorre and Lon Chaney Jr. He narrated the classic Yuletide animated special How the Grinch Stole Christmas in 1966 and provided the voice for Dr. Frankenstein in the classic Halloween special Mad Monster Party in 1969. He made notable guest appearances on such shows as The Wild Wild West, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, and The Name of the Game.

Although Boris Karloff made his name playing monsters and villains, in real life he was much more the hero. By all accounts he was one of the gentlest, most caring actors in the profession. In 1912, while working on a play in Regina, Saskatchewan, he volunteered as a rescue worker following a devastating tornado. He was a charter member of the Screen Actors Guild and often spoke on behalf of his fellow actors and other crew members with regards to hazardous conditions on sets. He helped various charities, particularly those devoted to children. From 1940 onwards he would dress up as Santa Claus and hand out Christmas gifts to children at a hospital in Baltimore. Perhaps there is perhaps no greater demonstration of Karloff's true character than a story I read several years ago in one of the many books on horror films I have read. A little girl and her mother were visiting the set of one of the many TV shows on which Karloff guested in the Sixties. The little girl had seen Frankenstein and was drawn to Karloff's sympathetic portrayal of the Monster. Naturally, when she found out the man who had played the Creature was on the set, she had to meet him. Karloff graciously talked with the little girl. And, even though by this point in his career he was in constant pain because of his back, he even picked the little girl up and rose to his full five foot eleven height. Karloff was such a man of character that he would even place a child's enjoyment over his own pain.

Sadly, Karloff's health failed him in his later years. By the late Sixties he not only suffered from the back pain that had plagued him for much of his life, but arthritis and emphysema as well. It was in 1969 that he contracted pneumonia and never recovered. He died February 2, 1969 at the age of 81.

Boris Karloff was one of the most talented actors of the Twentieth Century. He endowed the Frankenstein Monster with a sensitivity and innocence that no actor has ever since. Indeed, Karloff always insisted on calling Frankenstein's creation as "the Creature" and never "the Monster," feeling him to be an altogether sympathetic, but misunderstood figure. Karloff displayed this talent in other roles as well, even when he was playing villains. And he was as capable of playing comedy as he was drama. His sense of humour and gift for comedy were in fine display in such films as The Comedy of Terrors and on television in the series Thriller. That he was also a man with a gentle heart and a genuine love for his fans made him a most remarkable man. Short of Vincent Price, there was perhaps no finer actor to ever star in horror movies.