Famed Candian born actor, Jonathan Frid has died at age 87. Best known for his work on the late 1960's Soap Opera drama series "Dark Shadows," Frid paved the way for supernatural characters to take on more diverse and serious roles in mainstream series and films.
Prior to his work on "Dark Shadows" Frid graduated from the Yale School of Drama in 1954. Frid was a serious stage actor and returned to the stage after "Dark Shadows" completed in 1971. He appeared in the films "House of Dark Shadows" and Oliver Stone's directorial debut "Seizure".
During the 1980's, Frid began performing readings at annual "Dark Shadows" fan conventions. And in 1994, Frid retired to his home country of Canada after living in New York for 40 years.
America's beloved TV legendary host, Dick Clark, has died at age 82. A New York native, Dick Clark began his long 67 year career on television and radio at just 16 years of age. He attended Syracuse University and began his career in radio.
In 1956, Dick Clark became the permanent host of the popular television series "American Bandstand" which he hosted until 1989. In 1959 the show had a national audience of over 20 million viewers. The show ended its run in 1989.
Dick Clark hosted a variety of television game shows including "The 10,000 Pyramid", which earned him 3 Emmy Awards, "The Challengers", and "Scattergories."
In 1972, Dick Clark produced and hosted his first "Dick Clark's New Years Rockin Eve broadcast in Times Square of New York City every year through 2012, with the exception of 1999 when a year 2000 special took its place and in 2004 when health issues intervened.
A couple lesser known facts about Mr. Clark are that he held partial ownership in a chain of music-themed restaurants as well as few music themed theater-restaurants.
Dick Clark was well celebrated over his notable 67 year career. He appeared in over 15 television series, received four Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award and a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, National Radio hall of Fame, Broadcasting Magazine Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame.
Berkeley California born inventor, Harry Hind died on April 12 at age 96. Mr. Hind was a graduate of the University of California San Francisco and he became the first person to develop a device to read the pH of chemical solutions. This device served as the model for all pH meters in use today.
Together with a classmate, Mr. Hind's discoveries in reading pH levels led to them specializing in opthalmic eye prescriptions. Their company, Barnes-Hind Pharmaceuticals Inc. produced one of the first pharmacological treatments for tuberculosis. They were bought out by Revlon Corp in 1976.
Later, a friendship with surf industry legend Jack O'Neill, forever changed the history of the surfing. Mr. Hind's suggestion to Mr. O'Neill was to use neoprene to make wetsuits, a material still in use today.
In 1989, his experience with his wife's ineffective shingles injection pain medicine sparked another idea. By making the injection into a gel and applying it to her skin, then wrapping over it with plastic wrap, he helped had invented the first shingles patch. "Lidoderm" as the patch was called was approved by the FDA in 1999.
He will be remembered not only for his life changing inventions, but also for being a dedicated optimist.
