Sunday, April 23, 2017
Dick Contino, R. I. P.
The Fresno Bee: On the list of famous Fresnans, Dick Contino ranks as a superstar.
In the 1950s, Mr. Contino was a high-profile musician and actor who married starlet Leigh Snowden and appeared multiple times on “The Ed Sullivan Show;” more than 40 over his whole career. Author James Ellroy used parts of Mr. Contino’s life and name for his 1994 novella, “Dick Contino’s Blues” and in 1991 the actor was featured heavily in an episode of “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” In 2011, The Showbiz Society honored Mr. Contino at an event in Las Vegas that included the reading of a letter from President Barack Obama.
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The mention of his starring in an Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode sent me to pull up the movie, entitled Daddy-O, and watch it. It is quite awful, eminently MST3K-worthy, but also noteworthy as the first film for which John Williams composed the music. Everybody has to start somewhere.
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