- Kathleen Scavone
- Posted On
Lake County Time Capsule: Personalities in our past
"Be awful nice to them going up, because you're gonna meet them all coming down." – Jimmy Durante
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – While taking in some of the interesting elements at our historic Lakeport Courthouse Museum, I happened upon an attention-grabbing display, entitled, "Our Star Legacy" which features some of the celebrities who have called Lake County their home, or at least their home-away-from-home at one time in the past.
Actor Jackie Gleason, who was adored by America in "The Jackie Gleason Show" in 1951, along with fellow actor Jack Haley of the classic 1939 movie, "The Wizard of Oz," where he played the Tin Man as well as the farm owner, were investment partners in Lake County.
Gleason and Haley formed a company in the 1960s, called the Kramden Investment Co., to invest in Lake Pillsbury properties.
Friends for decades, the pair performed in the 1941 movie, "Navy Blues."
Here in Lake County, the actors sidelined in acquiring residential and commercial properties. One piece they purchased was a ranch which was once owned by J.W. Fuller, the proprietor of the Fuller Paint Co.
The ranch was named The Lake Pillsbury Ranch and boasted, among other amenities, both an airstrip and a polo field. Then, they were able to fly their Hollywood pals from the Rat Pack into Lake County to enjoy the countryside.
Gleason starred in dozens of television shows, movies and several stage productions in his long career. Born in Brooklyn in 1916, he died in Florida of colon cancer in 1987 shortly after completing a movie with Tom Hanks, called "Nothing in Common.”
Jack Haley was born in 1897, and was a well-loved star of film, radio, stage as well as vaudeville.
Born in Boston to a Canadian sailor, John Joseph Haley Sr. and mother, Ellen Curley Haley, his father died at sea when Jack was just 6 months old. Jack died in 1979 of a heart attack, in Los Angeles leaving a legacy of dozens of features films behind.
Another of the personalities in Lake County's past include the singer Johnny Burnette, who drowned in Clear Lake in 1964 while fishing in a small craft.
His little boat, which was not lit, collided with a cabin cruiser and he was flung into the lake to his death.
The Aug. 12, 1964, headlines in the Ukiah Daily Journal read, "Singing Star Drowning Victim.”
Johnny Burnette and his brother, Dorsey Burnette, along with a guitarist named Paul Burlison starred in the group called "The Rock and Roll Trio" in the 1950s.
The group decided to split in 1957, when Johnny Burnette's career took off with a No. 8 on the music Billboard Hot 100 due to his hit, "You're Sixteen," among other hit songs.
Hot cha cha cha – would you believe actor/singer Jimmy Durante was a homeowner in Lake County in the 1950s, where he had a house on Sioux Avenue in Clearlake Highlands, now called Clearlake? Unfortunately, the house burned down years ago.
Durante was born in 1893 in New York City to parents who immigrated from Salerno, Italy.
His early career found him playing ragtime piano in a family act, then he played in the "Original New Orleans Jazz Band," where he was the only player who did not hail from New Orleans.
Durante, the self-proclaimed "schnozzola," starred or played parts in dozens of radio, TV shows and movies throughout his career, and also completed six record albums.
Durante died of pneumonia in 1980 in Santa Monica.
Tennessee Ernie Ford was born Ernest Jennings Ford in 1919.
The highly successful singer, who was noted for his gospel, western and pop music, once owned 500 acres of land in Long Valley here in Lake County. In 1956 he and his family raised Herefords on his ranch.
Ford may have been known most for his million-copies sold in less than a month of his recording, "Sixteen Tons," about life working in a coal mine. He was inducted into both the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Ford loved the resorts here in Lake County and playing golf.
He introduced his movie star buddies to life in Lake County. Ford especially loved golfing at Hoberg's, where he sang "Sixteen Tons.”
According to the information in the Courthouse Museum's display, “There are many stories of Ford's movie star friends like John Wayne, Edgar G. Robinson and others coming to visit the ranch. They would pile into an old military Jeep and drive to the resorts in Clearlake Highlands (now Clearlake) for dinner."
Ford died in 1991 of liver failure after an illustrious career of making more than 60 record albums and numerous singles.
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also formerly wrote for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.