Hooray for Hollywood!
The Academy Awards are this weekend, and over this last bad century, the Chicago Cubs have not been immune from the lure of Hollywood.
Here are a few examples...
Peanuts Lowery
Peanuts was an outfielder for the Cubs before and after the war, but he was a showbiz star long before he became a professional baseball player. He was a child actor; part of Hal Roach's "Our Gang" group during the silent movie era. After his playing career was over he returned to acting, playing a ballplayer in the movie about Grover Cleveland Alexander, "The Winning Team" (1952). It was a stretch for him; he had to play a pitcher. His job was throwing pitches at the star of the film, a B-movie star named Ronald Reagan.
VIDEO: Silent movie era "Our Gang" short
Chuck Connors
The physically imposing 6'5" Connors played first base for the Cubs in 1951 and hit a whopping two home runs in 200 at bats, not exactly the kind of power you want from a big first baseman. That performance earned him a trip back to the minors. Luckily for him, the Cubs minor league team at the time was in Los Angeles. While he was playing in the Cubs minor league system he got a bit part in the movie "Pat & Mike" (starring Spencer Tracy--1952). That led him to quit baseball for good and become a full-time actor. By 1958, he was starring in "The Rifleman," which aired until 1963. He also starred in Old Yeller, Soylent Green, and Roots, and is arguably the greatest Cubs actor of all-time (other than Sammy Sosa during his "corked bat" press conference).
VIDEO: Chuck Connors is The Rifleman
Jophery Brown
On September 28, 1968, relief pitcher Jophery Brown took the mound and pitched two innings for the Chicago Cubs. It would be his only appearance in the majors. He has been employed in Hollywood ever since. You may have seen Brown's bit acting parts in films like "Bingo Long," "Foul Play," "Rocky III", "Jurassic Park" and "Spiderman," but he is better known as one of Hollywood's best stuntmen. He was a stuntman in the 70s ("Live & Let Die" and the "Smokey and the Bandit" movies), the 80s ("The Blues Brothers" and the "Lethal Weapon" movies), the 90s ("Speed" and "Get Shorty"), and continues to perform stunts today (most recently for the TV series "Prison Break").
Leo Durocher
He wasn't nicknamed "The Lip" for nothing. Durocher parlayed his natural gift of gab into a few acting gigs during the years he was a third base coach with the Los Angeles Dodgers (1961-1964). He was named the Cubs manager in 1965.
VIDEO: Leo Durocher on "The Beverly Hillbillies"
VIDEO: Leo Durocher on "The Munsters"
Durocher was also in an episode of "Mr Ed" during this same era. (The plot was exactly the same as the Durocher plot in "The Munsters" and "The Beverly Hillbillies" episodes). I've seen the Mr. Ed episode during my misspent youth, but I can't find a copy of it on the Internet. If you have it, or have posted it somewhere, please let me know so I can share it with everyone. (E-mail: rick@justonebadcentury.com)
