JAMES BYRON DEAN February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955

The next few blogs will be in Honor of JAMES DEAN.

If he hadn't died in that terrible car crash Hollywood wouldn't have been looking for The Next James Dean. But I met his good friend Christine White while a tourist in Hollywood for the first time, well before I ever thought I would be an actor or singer, long before I was discovered.

I was a fan of James Dean's, and I wanted to know everything there was to know about him, so that I could fulfill what seemed to be my destiny of stepping into his shoes as a United Artists' actor.

JAMES DEAN DRIVING VIDEO

James Dean's accident stunned my generation. I was a fan - as well as being compared to him - before I understood who he was, years before my own fame.

(275) AHNA CAPRI

I met Ahna Capri around town, at Elvis', and in Pat Boone's office. (She was in a movie with him!)

There were so many beautiful women with great personalities and Ahna was one of those. She also had a good sense of humor about herself.

Christine White, Anne Helm, and Tuesday Weld; this generation of actresses were hard working, often hired actresses, who started in television and made films too.

Some of them were famous in their time. By that I mean they were making it into the fan magazines early in their careers and then as the years went by they began to do "character" roles.

Ahna's IMDB database resume is our link here: you'll wonder if you haven't seen her work on Baretta with Robert Blake or another show.

WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC RIGHTS INFORMATION

Once in a while we'll be posting a notice like this one that reminds readers that the content of this blog is Copyright Wes Bryan and Christine Trzyna with all rights reserved including Internet and International Rights. If interested in speaking to me, Wes Bryan, please contact us at the e-mail address wewritethebook@yahoo.com

(By the way folks, don't phish us or spam us, or try to scam us; We report it all and block offenders addresses!)

We are linking to a good many web sites, favoring the official web sites of various famous and important people as well as reference sites and YouTube video. If we link to your site or a video you uploaded and you don't want us to reference it, please let us know, and we'll take down the link. The content of other people's sites remains their own.

Thank you for your consideration and courtesy.

Christine Trzyna & Wes Bryan

(274) ANNE HELM - GLAMOUR GIRL OF THE SILVER SCREEN

One of my Hollywood Hills neighbors was the beautiful actress Anne Helm. I was friends with her brother Peter ...

Ann had stared with Elvis in his 1962 film "Follow That Dream." As things were in those days, she had also dated Gary Lockwood, the football player who also dated Tuesday Weld. Small world - always!

We've linked to a glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen site that has a resume and some photos.

(272) JO-ANN CAMPBELL : HIT MAKER IN HER OWN RITE

One of the singers I enjoyed performing live with and was proud to know was the talented Jo-ann Campbell, who was a hit-making singer-songwriter in her own rite.

In 1962 she had a hit with "The Girl From Wolverton Mountain", one of my favorite songs of hers, and had a couple albums out,

A southerner by birth, Joanne could put the twang into her singing voice and move doo wop to country.

Joanne dated my friend Bobby Darin just about before he met and married Sandra Dee. Like many of us her romances were reported, for better or worse, in fan magazines.

VIDEO REPLACED JAN 2014

MARY TRAVERS MOVES TO HEAVEN

Mary Travers, one third of the three part harmony of Peter, Paul, and Mary, the folk group who became famous recording Bob Dylan's composition, "Blowin In the Wind," and who we've blogged about in the past, has passed away at 72. Mary had been battling the blood cancer called luekemia for some time. You can link to the groups official site above. The net is flooded with news stories.

(271) NATALIE TRUNDY

Famous now for the "Planet of the Apes" movies, Natalie was, like Christine White, a hard working, often hired television actress in the late 1950's in New York - a bit of history (sorry ladies!) when it comes to early television.

That's her sitting next to me in the publicity photo put out by United Artists.

Link now to her official web site!

WES BRYAN PROMOS in JAPAN

This collage of images from my early career is from Japan. I induged myself in sculpture as a creative outlet when I was in New York. That's me looking like James Dean in a hard hat. The beautiful starlet (we'll write more about her later) that they had posing with me is Natalie Trundy. Oh what United Artists could do for one of their own!

Today Japan is still one of the great buyers of Rock-A-Billy music and memorabilia and well, that's why we have the translator in Japanese installed!

KIRK DOUGLAS in STANLEY KUBRICK's PATHS OF GLORY

Called "The Most Explosive Film Ever Made" in 1957, by United Artists, with Stanley Kubrick as the producer. While I waited to play James Dean, United Artists had me doing commercials for this film. Here's the original trailer thanks to a YouTube Contributor. No I'm not in it...



One of the Best War Movies Ever Made! United Artists felt that making commercials for them that they used in their theaters would help me get comfortable behind a camera. Are any of those old commercials preserved in a film archive somewhere? I'd love to know...

SEPTEMBER 12 1962 PRESIDENT KENNEDY and THE SPACE PROGRAM

Elvis and me loved President Kennedy. On September 12, 1962 this was his invigorating speech about a dream to reach the moon. This is posted on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, an event that shattered our idea that we're safe on our home front. How I wish we as a nation could be where we were back when Kennedy made this speech!

"We choose to do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard..."

1962 BEATLES LIVE AT CAVERN CLUB

Christine here. Today the remastered CD's of the Beatles came out! Here's a link to a CNN report and if you watch the video with the quick interview of producer Giles Martin (George Martin's son), you learn what modern recording studio technology can do and the challenges that were faced to bring forth better quality sound on the CD format. The original masters were used. And above is a historic video of the Beatles at the Cavern Club in Liverpool circa 1962.

1962 WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR...

...for me as a singer-songwriter. I was experiencing one of the best phases of my life.

CHRIS ISAAK AMERICAN BOY MY BLOG THEME SONG

Friends, in the Profile View of this Google Blog, Christine Trzyna and I chose Chris Isaak's song American Boy as the theme for this blog.

We thought this song's lyrics were all about me!

I want to send my love TO MY FAMILY today... Let the lyrics explain...

W.S. GILBERT Quote on Friendship

"It isn't so much what's on the table that matters, but what's on the chairs."
- W.S. Gilbert

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