This Moses parted the dance floor
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A: He was born Moses Teichman on April 4, 1895, in New York City. By the age of 17, he was giving dance lessons to supplement his income. He changed his name to Arthur Murray at the outbreak of World War I to make it sound less German. In his first business venture, he attempted to sell dance lessons through the mail. One of his techniques was for the student to place footprints, which he provided, on the floor and the wannabe dancer would follow along. In 1925, he launched his dance studios through franchising. He retired in the mid-1960s, but kept active making personal appearances for several more years. He died in 1991.
Q: On the TV show ‘The Life of Riley,’ where did Riley work? He was a riveter, but where? ‘ D.V.H., Billerica, Mass.
A: In the 1940s, the family sitcom ‘The Life of Riley’ started out as a radio show and twice came to television. The first time (1949-1950), Stevenson Aircraft in Los Angeles employed Chester A. Riley, played by Jackie Gleason.
The second time around (1953-1958), Cunningham Aircraft employed Riley, portrayed by William Bendix. By the way, Bendix handled the role of Riley on radio from 1943 to 1951.
Q: I greatly admire the author Pearl S. Buck. When was she born? What is her middle name? ‘ D.E., Augusta, Kan.
A: Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker was born June 26, 1892, in Hillsboro, W.Va. In 1914, she graduated from Randolph-Macon Women’s College in Lynchburg, Va. She later met John Lossing Buck, an agricultural economist. She changed her last name in 1917, but the marriage did not last. In 1932, she won a Pulitzer Prize. Six years later, she became the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. By the time of her death in 1973, she had published more than 70 books.
Q: ‘The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis’ was one of my favorite TV shows in the 1960s. Whatever happened to the woman who played Zelda? ‘ G.G., Rutland, Vt.
A: Sheila James Kuehl was born Feb. 9, 1941, in Tulsa, Okla. In the 1950s, as Sheila James, she played the role of tomboy Jackie, Stuart Erwin’s daughter in ‘The Stu Erwin Show’ (aka ‘Trouble with Father’). In ‘The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis,’ she played Zelda Gilroy. She was scheduled to star in her own spin-off, but it was canceled before any episodes were aired. Later admitted to Harvard Law School, she got involved in student politics. Graduating in 1975, Kuehl became known as a feminist lawyer. In the mid-1990s, she became the first openly gay person elected to the California State Assembly. Today, she is in the State Senate representing California’s 23rd district, covering Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
Q: What ever happened to former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara? ‘ K.F., Hondo, Texas
A: Born June 9, 1916, Robert Strange McNamara was appointed Secretary of Defense by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, and continued to serve in the post under President Lyndon B. Johnson until 1968, when he resigned during the height of the Vietnam War. Later that year, he was appointed president of the World Bank (1968-1981). He has served on boards of directors for business corporations and nonprofit groups. Today, he writes and gives lectures.
Q: As a kid, my favorite breakfast cereal was Cocoa Puffs. I loved the bird on the TV commercials yelling, ‘Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.’ Does the bird have a name? ‘ J.Y., St. Cloud, Minn.
A: His name is Sonny.
(Send your questions to Mr. Know-It-All at [email protected] or c/o United Feature Syndicate, 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016)