Category: All Posts

Larissa in Jeopardy!

My friend SamJay is a lifelong fan of Jeopardy! and last week he suggested that I tune in. The last time he told me to do that was early in Ken Jennings’ record sweep. This time the contestant who’s creating a sensation is Larissa Kelly. She’s originally from Newton, MA, and The Boston Globe had an item about her a couple of days ago at this link.

Her winning way
Grad student Larissa Kelly, who grew up in Newton, made some history on “Jeopardy!” this week. Kelly, 28, became the highest-money-winning woman in the game show’s long history, tallying $146,197 in just four games. Kelly, who attends UC-Berkeley, will try to extend her winning streak next week.

Jeopardy! insiders are saying Larissa will be around for a while. Exactly how long is unknown, but for now she seems to be on a roll. Here’s a heavily-edited video of Larissa’s appearance in last Friday’s show. Double Jeopardy had an Alfred Hitchcock theme, and I got all of the Hitchcock answers. The clip is chopped-up, so not all of the answers and questions match. Larissa was up against some excellent competitors, and it was only a bit of luck that saved her in Final Jeopardy. It will be interesting to see how long Larissa’s luck holds.

[flv:/Video/2008/MAY/jeopardy.flv 480 360]

A Beatle In Transit

Here’s a fab picture I found recently in a book that I hadn’t seen before. George Harrison with his parents, Louise and Harold, getting ready to fly to America for the second time. George had flown to the U.S. on his own in September ’63 to see his sister Louise. George’s father looked like George Orwell! The custom British European Airways logo was later seen in A Hard Day’s Night.

George Harrison and his parents

Dear Prudence, Won’t You Come Out to Play?

Everybody knows the story of George Harrison meeting Pattie Boyd on the set of A Hard Day’s Night. But who is the girl in this photo?

Prudence Hooper and Paul McCartney

For my money, for sheer beauty she is in Vivien Leigh territory, and she outshines Pattie. Here they are together in AHDN.

[flv:/Video/2008/MAY/AHDN.flv 440 330]

But who is she? I’m not 100% sure, but I believe her name is Prudence Hooper. There is virtually no information available on Prue Hooper that I have ever been able to find. Where are you, Prudence?

Petula Clark in “Trouble at Townsend”

Petula Clark in \The first item I posted about Pet Clark was a scene with her in the classic 1945 movie by Powell and Pressburger, I Know Where I’m Going! But there’s an even earlier screen appearance by Pet as a child actress, in a 20-minute educational film from 1944, called Trouble at Townsend. Petula’s UK fan club has posted the film. A classic this movie certainly is not. The quality of the picture and sound are well below average, and the video player controls are hidden (right-click to pause and resume), but nevertheless it provides a fascinating glimpse into why Petula Clark was a child star in England more than 20 years before most Americans first heard her on the radio, with no preconceptions whatsoever about who she was or what she had done, before bursting onto the American scene with “Downtown.” Click here to watch Petula Clark at age 11, in Trouble at Townsend.

It seems that Firefox uses a Flash player, and IE brings up Media Player. The IE version of the movie has an incorrect aspect ratio.