A BIRTHDAY AND FOND REMEMBRANCE : MCCLURE AND FURNEAUX

#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: My name is Doug McClure... and you may now me from films like....' TODAY we celebrate the birthday of McClure, born and educated in Los Angeles, had small parts in the local film industry, starting with a submarine drama, The Enemy Below (1957) Soon, television stardom beckoned in The Overland Trail, as William Bendix's sidekick, and in a private eye series, Checkmate, and John Huston made him Burt Lancaster's younger brother in his western The Unforgiven (1960). He was a natural man of the West, enlivening The Virginian, the first television western series to have 90-minute episodes. In The Virginian, which ran from 1962 to 1970, McClure played Trampas, friend of the ranch foreman of the title, played by James Drury.

IN 1975 McClure came to Britain to star in The Land That Time Forgot, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1918 science fiction novel. It was strictly double-bill fare, and he appeared in three follow-ups: At the Earth's Core (1976) with Peter Cushing as Abner Perry, The People That Time Forgot (1977) and Warlords of Atlantis (1978). 

AMICUS PRODUCTIONS did the producing duties, with co-operation on the last two from American International Pictures, temporarily deserting teenagers on motor-bikes. Fighting dinosaurs and such, McClure was energetic, especially as he looked as if he had had a heavy night. Later movie appearances included Cannonball Run II (1983) and Omega Syndrome (1986). McClure has been regularly parodied as Troy McClure, an ageing star of the 1950s, in the television series The Simpsons. David Shipman Doug McClure, actor: born Glendale, California 11 May 1934; married three times; died Los Angeles 5 February 1995. Remembered and Missed.....

THROWBACKTHURSDAY: YVONNE FURNEAUX, was born today 11th May 1928. 'VERY mixed and elective' is probably the best qualificative that defines the career of Yvonne Furneaux, even though she always gave believable and  superb performances, her name and magical presence on screen, has sadly never earned her a more memorable place in the public memory.

YVONNE was born in Roubaix, in the North of France in 1928. She was immediately placed under the sign of bilingualism, her father being English and her mother French. As a result, once this alluring brunette had become an actress, she could as easily play in an English or a French film, which did not prevent her from being a regular in Italy and in West Germany, with a foray into Spain.

YVONNE FURNEAUX AND JOHN ERICSON IN 'SLAVE QUEEN OF BABYLON' (1963)

FURNEAUX has appeared in films noirs.... (Enough Rope (1963), The Champagne Murders (1967), sword & sandal movies (Slave Queen of Babylon (1963), The Lion of Thebes (1964) comedies (Temptation in the Summer Wind (1972) to chillers (Repulsion (1965)). The quality of her films, ranging from bombs (Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie (1984), mediocre run-of-the mill products (The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse (1964) . . . and has sadly always read as an actor, who in every sense of the word was 'a working actor, an actor for hire.....but a very adaptable one! We celebrate here today for her connection to Peter Cushing as the beautiful Isobel Banning / Princess Ananka, in Hammer films, 'THE MUMMY (1959). 

FURNEAUX is an actress who because of her eclectic body of work, is so often over-looked. From La Dolce Vita (1960) to Helen in 'Repulsion' (1965) to Princess Ananka in 'The Mummy'......Without a doubt, Yvonne Furneaux's work deserves to be remembered in our hearts as well as our heads.... Born Elisabeth Yvonne Scarcherd 11th May 1928. Happy Birthday Yvonne Furneaux!

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