The Early Years - The World - Some of my favorite Hollywood actors and actresses were... I liked these qualities about them:

As I kid, I knew my favorite actors by their screen names.  In most cases, I didn't even know their real names.  I grew up in a tough neighborhood and dreamed of getting out.  When I watched TV, I transported myself to places with laughs, adventure, magic and super powers.

Granny of The Beverly Hillbillies, played by Irene Ryan.  I liked her because she didn't need to be like everybody else.  No pretensions - just honest down home goodness.  She knew who she was and let everybody know it.  She was small but had a big personality, just like my Texan grandmother.

I liked Bob Denver first as the beatnik Maynard G. Krebs in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and then as Gilligan. He seemed so full of wonder and innocence.  Not a mean bone in his body.  The Howells and Ginger never corrupted him.

Superman, the TV show version with George Reeves, was my favorite show as a kid.  I always wanted to fly and leap skyscrapers in a single bound.  I loved how Superman always saved Lois Lane and cub reporter Jimmy Olsen.  When I heard the actor had died, it made me realize that there were real life people behind my screen heroes.

Samantha of Bewitched was mesmerizing.  Elizabeth Montgomery played the role with such grace and strength.  I dreamed of having her magical twitch.  She was too good for Darrin; he was lucky guy.  Many years later, even the Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman, whom I also adore, could not hold a candle to Montgomery in playing Sam.

Deputy Barney Fife of The Andy Griffith Show, played by Don Knotts.  He was a dope who got into lots of trouble because he was always in his own imaginary world, but he made me laugh.  And I longed to live in a little town like Mayberry.  I also liked him when he played a man who turned into a cartoon fish in The Incredible Mr. Limpet.

Curly of The Three Stooges was my favorite stooge.  He was played by Jerome Lester Horwitz.  I was always disappointed when I saw episodes with Shemp or Joe as the third stooge.  Curly gave me belly laughs and I loved that he stood up to Moe even when Larry backed down.  When I heard the actor died young (48 years old) it made me sad.  Moe and Larry were never the same without Curly.

I had a crush on Barbara Eden of I Dream of Jeannie.  I was a pre-teen in love.  I just couldn't take my eyes off her Arabian costume.  I figured Captain Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman) must have been the luckiest man in the whole world.  I loved it when she folded her arms and nodded her head to work her spells.

James Bond -As far as I knew, Sean Connery WAS James Bond.  He was so unflappable and debonair.   Nothing seemed to phase him.  And the girls swooned over him.  I wondered if I would ever be that popular.

Col. Wilhelm Klink of Hogan's Heroes, was my favorite guy to hate, but in a good way.  The actor, Werner Kemperer, played Kink with such over-the-top schmaltziness that I enjoyed seeing him get bested by Hogan at the end of every episode.  But strangely, sometimes I felt sorry for Klink, since he could never win, even the smallest battles.

Lucille Ball of I Love Lucy was a creative inspiration for me.  How did she think up all those outlandish schemes?  Sometimes I pretended I was sick so I could stay home and watch Lucy get into another crazy fix with Ethel and then see Ricky go ballistic when he found out.  I liked it that Lucy wasn't a typical June Cleaver or Donna Reed housewife.

Captain Kirk of Star Trek, the original 60s TV series.  I never missed this show.  I didn't even know it was William Shatner, but I loved how Kirk always figured out a way to get out of trouble by the end of the show, and that he held his own against Mr. Spock, even though Spock had special Vulcan powers. Chalk up another one for the human race.