Friday, May 27, 2011

Please understand that many of the images & much of the information I posted tonight came from a book called JOHNNY MACK BROWN~ Up Close & Personal by Bobby J. Copeland, published by Empire Publishing. Please take time out of your busy day & go to their website & order the book so y'all can keep them off my light-skinned fanny!
www.empirepublishinginc.com


A lot has been said that Johnny Mack Brown's Southern accent killed his "Matinee Idol" career when silent films went to talkies but Joan Crawford had a lot to do with killing Johnny Mack's career as Hollywood's Leading Man which led to his later career as a star in B-Westerns. The married Crawford apparently was having an affair the married Clark Gable & after the preview of the film she shot with Johnny Mack called LAUGHING SINNERS, she put her arms around Mr. Mayer's neck ("He always responded to that, and he never touched my boobs or pinched my butt," Crawford said) & asked him to reshoot the picture with Clark Gable instead. Mayer agreed.


A friend sent me this 1957 clipping about her Mother's accidental death because it mentioned a passenger & employee of her family's company. His name was Johnny Mack Brown. The strange thing is that I'll betcha my Daddy sold the tire that blew & caused the accident. Stuff like this absolutely brings out the MOST POWERFUL MEMORIES for me. I MUST begin to acquire Dothan City Directories. I don't give a damn about the year as long as it's before '80. If you know ANYBODY who has extra copies of Dothan City Directories they willing to give away, PLEASE CONTACT ROBERTOREG!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011


Johnny Mack gittin' sum from
AMERICA'ZZZZZZZZZZZZ SWEETHEART!!!!!....
Mary Pickford http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Pickford


From Johnny Mack Brown:
Greta Garbo and Mae West give me the same reaction. When Garbo enters a room, or a scene, you know that SOMEONE is there. When Mae enters a room or a scene you also know that SOMEONE is there. When I see them personally, when I talk with them, when I play love scenes with them. I get the same reaction, the same sort of thrill.
They are both SUPREME INDIVIDUALS~
& SUPREME INDIVDUALISTS.
They are both egotists. 100 per cent. They both love themselves first and the rest of mankind afterwards. Their first interest is themselves. All others are subsidiary.
In a sense, there are NO OTHERZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!



Johnny Mack had a lot of insight into the sex appeal of his co-stars. Here he compares Greta Garbo to Mae West:
Their surface methods are different. Garbo is aloof. She doesn't mix with the other members of the cast nor fraternize with the men and women on the set. Mae does mix and mingle with everyone. She is the reverse of aloof. She takes infinite time and patience with the other members of the cast. She worked for hours with the fighters, coaching them, helping them with their lines, working right along with them. She didn't do what most stars would do- leave the set and say that she would return when they were ready to shoot.
But despite the different methods, both get the same results- both inspire the same dog-like devotion, abject adoration. No one is ever familiar with either one of them. It is always "Miss Garbo" to her fellow workers, and it is always "Miss West." If Garbo makes a serious, somber remark to someone, it is received with respect and if Mae makes an amusing wisecrack it, too, is received with respect. Funny, but true. Both are indefatigable workers. Both have enormous powers of concentration.


Saw in somebody's Facebook where they had Hoyt Winslett, Jr., as a Facebook friend.
Here's what the '26 Corolla had to say about his Daddy:
Hoyt is one of the all-round athletes we hear mentioned so much. This year proved his power as an end and the joyful part about it to ALABAMA is the fact that he has another year with us. To say he played well would not be enough; to say he fought hard is not enough; he deserves more and he gets it. The stands went wild many a time at seeing Winslett grab a pass and scamper away. In addition, Hoyt is a Beau Brummel of the field.


From the '26 Corolla :
ALABAMA produced Johnny Mack, but when California filmdom looked him over, the state nearly lost him. That smile and those handsome features possessed the same attraction there as here. The attendant celebrities at the big game were bowled over in their seats, however, when Mack completed pass after pass and eluded tackler after tackler in swift runs toward Washington's goal. Brown's name and fame have traveled the length and breadth of the states and in all places he is known for what he is, one of the fastest and finest of them all.


Johnny Mack Brown was born on Thursday, Sept. 1, 1904, in his parents' house at 519 S. St. Andrews St. in Dothan so he grew up a Southside boy. He was voted MOST HANDSOME in both his Jr.(1921) and Sr. years(1922) at Dothan High. After the 1926 Rose Bowl where he led BAMA to her first National Championship and was named the game's Most Valuable Player, he returned to Dothan on the train. He later recalled,"One of my biggest thrills was going home after the Rose Bowl game. As the train pulled into Dothan, there was a big crowd to meet it, and I looked out the window and saw my brother playing trap drums with the band. They gave me one of the finest receptions anyone could ever wish for. There was a luncheon at the hotel with my Mother and Daddy there, and speeches, speeches, speeches."

Tuesday, May 24, 2011


O.K., here's the deal on the picture of the sports car from the '70 Corolla. I thought it was Toffel's. I were wrong. It were Doug Jones' car. Got this message from Toffel's daughter,"Yes, he had a black Austin Healy 3000 that I sported around in when I was a junior/senior at Tuscaloosa High."


Forest Lake, Monday, May 23, 2011

Sunday, May 22, 2011




Hey y'all~

Whew, I HAD to take a drink before I started this.

We're making progress but I dread tomorrow.


Unnudder one of the nice things about having children who grow up & pay ALL their bills is having children who give you gifts. My son gave me a Kingsford Charcoal Grill for my 61st birthday.

My son put it together for me before he delivered it. Not only that, he put another one together & recognized it was damaged, took it back & put mine together.


My new pet project is trying to get the Ronnie Hammond-Buddy Buie song called "The Day Bear Bryant Died" played to an audience for the first time @ THE ARS FOR ALS RESEARCH gig, Saturday, August 20, in the Dothan Civic Center. Let me know if you can help me @ robertoreg@gmail.com http://daybeardied.com