This is the autobiography of one of the original members of the much loved "Our Gang" comedy films featuring the Little Rascals: Spanky, Buckwheat, Alfalfa & of course, Butch. Bond played with many of the great stars of the golden age of Hollywood including Eddie Cantor & Laurel & Hardy. Mr. Bond was also the first Jimmy Olsen in the early Superman films. His story is a delightful look at life as a child star with the many luminaries of the time of glitter & imagination that still delight audiences & "Our Gang" fan clubs around the country. DARN RIGHT IT'S BUTCH is the only autobiography of a member of "Our Gang."

It was the age of Jim Crow, riddled with racial violence and unrest. But in the world of Our Gang, black and white children happily played and made mischief together. They even had their own black and white version of the KKK, the Cluck Cluck Klams—and the public loved it. The story of race and Our Gang, or The Little Rascals, is rife with the contradictions and aspirations of the sharply conflicted, changing American society that was its theater. Exposing these connections for the first time, Julia Lee shows us how much this series, from the first silent shorts in 1922 to its television revival in the 1950s, reveals about black and white American culture—on either side of the silver screen. Behind the scenes, we find unconventional men like Hal Roach and his gag writers, whose Rascals tapped into powerful American myths about race and childhood. We meet the four black stars of the series—Ernie “Sunshine Sammy” Morrison, Allen “Farina” Hoskins, Matthew “Stymie” Beard, and Billie “Buckwheat” Thomas—the gang within the Gang, whose personal histories Lee pursues through the passing years and shifting political landscape. In their checkered lives, and in the tumultuous life of the series, we discover an unexplored story of America, the messy, multiracial nation that found in Our Gang a comic avatar, a slapstick version of democracy itself.

The Encyclopedia of TV Pets is an entertaining and comprehensive journey into the lives of the world's most famous television animal stars. All creatures great and small, from kangaroos, sea lions, simians, and horses to elephants, dogs, lions, cats, and bears are here and pictured in nearly 200 photographs. More than 100 TV series are represented along with the biographies and true-life stories of such memorable animals as Lassie, Mr. Ed, Gentle Ben, Wishbone, Flipper, Trigger, Arnold the Pig, Murray, Morris, Silver, J. Fred Muggs, Spuds McKenzie, Nunzio, Clarence the Cross-eyed Lion and Judy the Chimp, Benji, Morty the Moose, Marcel the Monkey, Salem from Sabrina, Fred the Cockatoo, Flicka, Fury, Lancelot Link, Tramp, Comet, Skippy the Kangaroo, Rin Tin Tin, Cheetah, London, C.J. the Orangutan, Eddie from Frasier, and even the Taco Bell® Chihuahua! The Encyclopedia of TV Pets is an amazing menagerie of facts and tales, many never before told to television fans. Owners, trainers, and the human actors who worked with the animals have told stories in exclusive interviews. What were the animals' real names? What were their favorite treats? Who trained them to do the incredible feats you see on TV? It's all here and more in The Encyclopedia of TV Pets, a book that animal lovers will keep handy alongside their remote control.

When considering the best dancers in Hollywood's history, some obvious names come to mind—Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and Bill Robinson. Yet often overlooked is one of the most gifted and creative dancers of all time, Eleanor Powell. Powell's effervescent style, unmatched technical prowess in tap, and free-flowing musicality led MGM to build top-rate musicals around her unique talents, including Born to Dance (1936) with James Stewart and Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940) with Fred Astaire, in which she became known as the only female tap dancer capable of challenging him. In a male-dominated industry, her fierce drive for perfection, sometimes to her detriment, earned her a place as one of the most accomplished performers in vaudeville, Broadway, and film. Powell's grace, precision, and power established her as one of the greatest American dancers. In 1943, she married actor Glenn Ford and largely stepped away from the spotlight for the duration of their tumultuous marriage. After their divorce, Powell made a courageous comeback, successfully performing in Las Vegas and on the nightclub circuit. Cancer claimed her life at the age of sixty-nine. Eleanor Powell: Born to Dance by Paula Broussard and Lisa Royère is an all-encompassing work following the American dance legend from her premature birth and upbringing by a single parent in Springfield, Massachusetts, to her first Broadway performance at age fifteen, through her days as a blazing icon in the world of Hollywood, and finally, to her inspiring comeback. With access to rare documents, letters, and production files, as well as insights drawn from their own personal relationships with Powell, Broussard and Royère offer a thoroughly researched, comprehensive, and fascinating look at an incredibly talented and unforgettable woman.

A complete retelling of how The Wizard of Oz was influenced and created, and attained its iconic status. The new Jay Scarfone and William Stillman volume will reflect recent research and much more through newly discovered period interviews, media resources of the era, transcriptions and unique contemporary interviews with those who were there. Additionally, never-before-published imagery accompanies the text, which may be presented as inserts or interspersed throughout. In its truth and candor, this new historical contribution will need to be unofficial and unauthorized. The Road to Oz is ideal to tie-in with the 2018-19 80th anniversary of the 1939 movie.

The New Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry is a completely revised and updated edition of Anthony Slide's The American Film Industry, originally published in 1986 and recipient of the American Library Association's Outstanding Reference Book award for that year. More than 200 new entries have been added, and all original entries have been updated; each entry is followed by a short bibliography. As its predecessor, the new dictionary is unique in that it is not a who's who of the industry, but rather a what's what: a dictionary of producing and releasing companies, technical innovations, industry terms, studios, genres, color systems, institutions and organizations, etc. More than 800 entries include everything from Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to Zoom Lens, from Astoria Studios to Zoetrope. Outstanding Reference Source - American Library Association