A boy and his dog in the 1950s
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A: Mesa Grande, Ariz., played home to Fort Apache. A cavalry unit at the fort adopted the orphaned Rusty. Lee Aaker, born Sept. 25, 1943, starred as the young boy. His mother owned a dance studio and, through her connections, Aaker began appearing on television at an early age. He also had several unbilled parts in movies. ‘The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin’ aired from 1954 to 1959. After the show ended, Aaker did not make the transition to adult roles; instead, he worked on the production side of the business. He later dropped out of the entertainment business and became a carpenter. He still attends nostalgia conventions.
Q: In the 1990s, one of my favorite TV shows was ‘Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.’ Jane Seymour played Dr. Quinn. What was Dr. Quinn’s first name? ‘ P.R., Oxnard, Calif.
A: A physician from Boston, Mass., Michaela ‘Mike’ Quinn moved into a mostly unappreciative Colorado community in the 1860s. The show aired from 1993 to 1998.
Q: What is the shortest word in English that contains four c’s? ‘ V.T., Topeka, Kan.
A: I’ll say the word is ‘scacchic.’ I’ll open this to readers for help. Scacchic, by the way, is a word relating to chess.
Q: My father was in the Army in Europe during World War II. A couple of times, he talked about a radio program out of Berlin that featured a sultry-voiced female. She would report troop movements and news from home in which she’d mention the names of soldiers and say that their wives or girlfriends had found another man and had moved on with their lives. Everyone knew it was propaganda, but it did get some guys thinking. Dad said he liked the big-band music she played. After the war ended, she was sent to prison. This confused him, since she was only doing her part for her country. Do you know the name of the announcer and under what circumstances she was sent to prison? ‘ G.R., Santa Rosa, Calif.
A: You are probably referring to Mildred Gillars, better known to the GIs in Europe as ‘Axis Sally.’ An American citizen (born in Portland, Maine), Gillars was found guilty of treason in 1949 and sentenced to 10 to 30 years in prison. Released in 1962, she taught music at a Catholic girls school in Columbus, Ohio.
Q: On the TV sitcom ‘The Andy Griffith Show,’ what was the name of the lake outside Mayberry? Andy had a rowboat tied up along the shore for fishing trips. What was the name of the boat? ‘ B.L.C., Annapolis, Md.
A: Sheriff Andy Taylor anchored his boat Gertrude along the banks of Myers Lake. I am told the lake scenes were filmed in the Franklin Canyon area, north of Beverly Hills, Calif.
Q: What was the code name for the invasion of Grenada in the 1980s? ‘ S.D.R., Utica, N.Y.
A: On Oct. 25, 1983, U.S. Armed Forces, along with soldiers of other Caribbean states, landed on the island nation of Grenada and overthrew the military government of Hudson Austin. The assault ‘ code-named Operation Urgent Fury ‘ was the result of the deposition and execution of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop.
Did you know … actor Tom Cruise’s real name is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV? A onetime Franciscan seminary student, Cruise briefly studied to become a priest.
Send your questions to Mr. Know-It-All, c/o United Feature Syndicate, 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016.