Cars & Stars
At nypost.com Michael Kaplan devotes an article to a fascinating figure. Here are highlights, edited by yours truly: HBO will air a documentary series, The Lady and the Dale, premiering today. The subject is Geraldine Elizabeth Carmichael, a bail-jumping felon, counterfeiter and con artist. She was new to womanhood, having been born an Jerry Dean Michael. He had fathered five kids via three wives by 1961, when he was arrested for counterfeiting. He skipped out on a bench warrant, bringing along his fourth wife, Vivian, then pregnant with their first child. He moved his family around the Sunbelt, staying one step ahead of law enforcers and landlords. “Moving is cheaper than paying rent,” he once quipped. Finally, tired of being chased by the FBI, he faked his own death, ramming his automobile into a tree on a dark road and leaving blood and bullet holes at the scene. He then went underground. By the early 1970s Michael had been reborn in Southern California as Geraldine, a “widow” who claimed to have a degree in mechanical engineering. Vivian was still along for the ride, now posing as the aunt of their five kids, who continued to live with them. The couple remained legally married. In the early ‘70’s the public was smarting from escalating gas prices and recession. Carmichael saw in an opening — a three-wheel car, the Dale, powered by a motorcycle engine, that promised amazing gas mileage. He secured the rights to it. Buyers flooded his company with deposit money, and dealerships paid $35,000 to secure positions as retailers. Carmichael was selling shares of Dale stock without being licensed to do so. After seeing the dangerous looking vehicle up close, would-be investors backed out. Word leaked about the illegal stock sales. Positive media coverage turned negative. Customers demanded refunds. Convicted of grand theft and securities fraud in 1980, Carmichael again disappeared. Nine years later an episode of Unsolved Mysteries led to her/his capture. She/he was sentenced to 32 months and served more than two years in a men’s prison. Circa 1990 Carmichael perfected a highly profitable scheme that employed formerly homeless people to sell roses on street corners. She/he died of cancer in 2004, age estimated as 67. Some people consider him a visionary. One of four remaining Dale prototypes is now in a museum. Here’s a pic:
From a recent column by NYP sports media critic Phil Mushnick: “Last season in 211 at-bats, A’s infielder Marcus Semien batted .223. This week he signed a one-year, $18 million deal to play for Toronto.” Crazy, sure, but it begs a question: With no fans in the stands, where is this money coming from? Is revenue from cable TV astronomical?
Last night the Heroes & Icons channel, 9–4 on ota’s in NYC, ran The Hostages, season two, episode 20 of Combat!, first aired 1/’64. Peter Mark Richman followed two other American-born actors who spoke German in previous episodes: James Caan and Ted Baxter. His seems flawless. Alas, I was unable to find any info on whether he learned it strictly for the part. His parents were Russian-Jewish immigrants. Born in Philadelphia, he was a fullback in H.S. football, and almost followed one of his brothers into pharmacy. His career spanned 1953–2016. There are 159 titles under his name at IMDb, but that doesn’t tell the full story, as he made multiple appearances on many TV shows, including a later episode of Combat! where he again played a German officer. His IMDb bio states: “Clocked in over 500 TV appearances.” He did guest shots on The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Outer Limits, The Fugitive and Star Trek: The Next Generation, to name a very few. He was also a painter and had several exhibitions of his work. A true renaissance man, he wrote three books: I Saw a Molten, White Light…: An autobiography of my artistic and spiritual journey, and novels Hollander’s Deal and The Rebirth of Ira Masters. A father of five, he was married for 53 years until his death at 93 a couple of weeks ago. Awesome, sir. Here he is in character beside Germany-born Eric Braeden, who was billed as Hans Gudegast back in the day, more than a decade before he began his incredible 3300+ episode run on The Young and the Restless soap opera:
Given the lack of sunshine, there was only one way I would have been able to operate the floating book shop — if I lucked into a parking spot where I could remain in the car right beside the display. On Sunday the meter rule is not in effect, so cars are liable to be left in front of the bank until Monday morning. Two thirds of the old Hyundai blocked Chase’s driveway. Fortunately, only two vehicles needed access — a scooter and an SUV that had no trouble hopping the curb with its right tires. My thanks to the woman who bought three hardcovers in Russian. Now it’s wait and see how much snow the nor’easter brings. Right now predicted accumulation has been upped to 16–22 inches. As luck would have it, someone was pulling out of the prime spot at my usual nook as I arrived. So if everything breaks right I may be back in business by Wednesday. That’s probably wishful thinking, a teaser. It will require shoveling, of course.
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