The Dean Martin Expo and Nostalgic, Comedy, and Comic Convention    

Deana Martin is an accomplished actress andentertainer who has achieved success in all facets of the entertainment industry. She made her television debut in 1966, performing on her father's legendary series- The Dean Martin Show. She soon began taking part in both musical and comedy numbers with a wide array of guests including Frank Sinatra. Martin trained professionally at England's Dartington College of Arts, Ms. Martin where she appeared in English productions of Romeo & Juliet,The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet and A Taste of Honey. Upon her return to the states, she made her North American theatrical debut along with George Hamilton in the critically acclaimed national tour of the Neil Simon play The Star Spangled Girl. She soon added to her ever growing list of stage credits with appearances in Wait Until Dark, Six Rms Riv Vu, A Shot In the Dark and The Tunnel of Love.

     Her work at Reprise Records as a recording artist brought about the single, "Girl of the Month Club". Ms. Martin was introduced to motion picture audiences in 1968's YOUNG BILLY YOUNG, a classic of the western genre, in which she co-starred with Robert Mitchum and Angie Dickinson.Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Ms. Martin channeled her enthusiasm for health and excercise into a successful fitness company -- Bodies by Deana. This lead to a workout video, The Deana Martin Total Body Workout and her own talk show, The Deana Martin Show, whose 40+ episodes were broadcast on cable throughout California.

      Deana's desire to continue her fathers lifelong tradition of support for various childrens charitable causes has lead to her role as spokeswoman for The Roosters -- a California based organization that supports several children's charities throughout the country. She is a driving force behind The Dean Martin Festival; a yearly event in her fathers hometown of Steubenville, Ohio. Proceeds from this event help fund the Dean Martin Music Scholarships; awarded to worthy young people in the Steubenville area of which her father was so fond. In 2002, Deana, along with her husband, John Griffeth, successfully lobbied the Ohio State Legislature and realized their goal of having Dean Martin's birthday, June 7, declared a state holiday. Dean Martin has the distinction of being the only entertainer honored in this manner. The establishment of "Dean Martin Day" ensures the continued success of the Dean Martin Festival, a boon to the local economy, and the future endowment of the Dean Martin Scholarships.

In 2002 America watched Deana's return to television musical performance in a memorable segment of the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. Martin and Lewis were together again as Deana and Jerry performed a touching duet of "Time After Time" in honor of her father.

Ms. Martin and her husband John Griffeth are proud parents and grandparents. 
They reside in Beverly Hills, California.

American actress Barbara Feldon claimed to be a lonely child, one whose escape from loneliness took the form of books and ballet. While studying drama at Carnegie Tech, she became an expert in Shakespeare, and in this capacity made her TV debut as a contestant on The $64,000 Question (kinescopes exist of this appearance; Barbara is instantly recognizable, though she hasn't quite lost all her baby fat). Feldon worked as a chorus girl in New York, then slimmed down considerably and became a high-priced fashion model. Commercials followed, in which Feldon pitched deodorant pads and--most famously--men's cologne. Few males who were going through adolescence in the early '60s will forget Feldon pitching Top Brass cologne to the "tigers" in the audience, staring into the camera with almost unbearable sultriness (the actress insisted that her come-hither glare was a result of nearsightedness).

After doing the guest-star round on several TV dramatic programs, Feldon won the role of statuesque Agent 99 on the spy sitcom Get Smart. Part of the fun on this program was watching Feldon try to avoid revealing that she was a few inches taller than co-star Don Adams (in some scenes he was standing on an incline, as proven when the Nickelodeon cable network put together a montage of "who's taller?" scenes from Get Smart in the early '90s). Get Smart ran from 1965 through 1970, but Feldon has occasionally re-created Agent 99, once in a Smart TV-movie reunion, and more recently in a "return" series for the Fox Network, again starring with Don Adams. Feldon's film career has been less remarkable, save for her brilliant interpretation of a near-fanatic beauty contest organizer in the 1975 satirical comedy Smile. In the last few years, Barbara Feldon has distinguished herself as an expert voiceover artist in commercials and TV specials; she can be heard as the narrator of the PBS series Dinosaurs. Barbara has also appeared on the Dean Martin Show and Guest Starred on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Ms. Feldon will sign from 2-7pm on June 28th.

 Marilyn Sternberg was born in Manhattan on February 26, 1943. Her mother was the Cantoress and actress, Fraydele Oysher, and her father Harold Sternberg was a senior basso with the Metropolitan Opera for 37 years. Her Uncle was the legendary Cantor and film actor, Moishe Oysher.

Marilyn began performing with her mother, Fraydele, at age 7 on the Yiddish Stage and throughout Canada, and at 14, she was soloist in her father and Uncle Moishe’s choir. Upon graduating from Music and Art High School, as a music major, and then an art major, she started performing in Catskill Resorts. At 17 she won a recording contract with Hugo and Luigi of RCA Victor, and recorded the follow up song to Ray Peterson’s Tell Laura I Love Her.. Tell Tommy I Miss Him.

She continued to record for the Warner Brother’s and ABC Paramount Labels, and was soon starring in Las Vegas, and show rooms throughout the country.

In 1966, she was chosen by Jule Styne to star as Fannie Brice in the National Company of Funny Girl. She toured for a year, garnering raves and followed with numerous television appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Dean Martin Show, Sammy Davis, Jackie Gleason Show, Red Skelton, and Jonathan Winters Shows.

In 1973 she starred as the only female performer in the Emmy Winning comedy series, The Kopykats for ABC (Smith Hemion Productions)

In 1981 she starred with Rich Little in the Diet 7 Up Campaign, and a pictorial for Playboy magazine as Bette Midler, Bo Derek, Julie Andrews, Barbra Streisand, Donna Summer and Lily Tomlin. Hugh Hefner, threatened to pull the shoot unless there was more nudity, but Michaels refused, and they printed the pictorial anyway. She reprised some of these characters working with Debbie Reynolds on The Love Boat in 1982.

In 1988 she did five voices for the Emmy Winning PBS series, Reading Rainbow, Gregory the Terrible Eater, and was all the voices for the satire Frankly Scarlett I Do Give a Damn (Harper Collins)

In 1991, Michaels won an Outer Critics Award and Drama League Award for her debut in Catskills On Broadway, followed by her own revue Broadway Ballyhoo, at Harrahs in Atlantic City, and host of the radio show The Broadway Hour.

She recently wrote two articles for The New York Times regarding the revival of Funny Girl, and has composed the score as well as co written the book to a new musical comedy Alysha, with her son, Mark Wilk. She is also, presently writing a humor book entitled, How Not To Cook For The Rest Of Your Life. Her celebrity portraits and art work can be seen on her website, www.marilynmichaels.com

She will be signing from 2-7pm at the June 28th show.

Jim Monaco has been collecting Dean Martin memorabelia for over 50 years and most likely has the largest collection of Dino items in the world. Jim has appeared as an actor in shows such as The Fantasticks, See How They Run and South Pacific. He has also produced and hosted The New Jersey Comedy Shop for 3 years, won Showtime Award for Funniest Person in New Jersey, and produced and directed award winning shows "Kiddeo Video"&  "Consumer's Choice".        

He has Directed movies "Prevues From Hell" & "Bloodbath". Interestingly, he appears regularly as characters in Dinner Theater Murder Mysteries, Comedies, and continues his Stand Up comedy career. He has appeared on the Joe Franklin TV show and with Deana Martin at the Smithsonian Institute and at her "Roast" in Steubenville Ohio...her father's home town. Remarkabley, he even has items from his Dean Martin collection on display at the Smithsonian Institute.

See the collection on YouTube-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn8wdQ6weVg

Robert Francis Vaughn was born on November 22, 1932 at Charity Hospital in New York City. The son of show-business parents, his father, Walter, was a radio actor and his mother, Marcella, was a stage actress. Robert came to the public's attention first with his Oscar-nominated role in The Young Philadelphians (1959). The next year, he was one of the seven in the western classic The Magnificent Seven (1960). Despite being in such popular films, he generally found work on television. He appeared over 200 times in guest roles in the late 1950s to early 1960s. It was in 1963 that he received his first major role in The Lieutenant (1963). Robert took the role with the intention of making the transition from being a guest-star actor to being a co-star on television. It was due to his work in this series that producer Norman Felton offered him the role of Napoleon Solo in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964).

Four extremely successful years (1964-68) followed as the series became one of the most popular television series of the 1960s. That made Vaughn an international television star, but he wanted to embark on a career in film, and did so soon after the series ended in 1968 by co-starring in Bullitt (1968) with Steve McQueen. Now working in film full-time, he starred in The Bridge at Remagen (1969) and The Mind of Mr. Soames (1970) before making a change by going back to television, this time in England, He took a lead role in the series The Protectors (1972) and stayed in England for the first half of the 1970s. He returned to the United States in the mid-1970s and embarked on a very successful run of television miniseries roles that resulted in his receiving an Emmy Award in 1978 for Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977) and a nomination the following year for Backstairs at the White House (1979).

Bill Riley and Joe Ziegler transform themselves into Bud Abbott and Lou Costello through vintage dress and an authentic recreation of the team's mannerisms and vocal stylings. They perform with pinpoint accuracy many of the vaudeville and burlesque routines made famous by Bud and Lou on stage, screen, radio and television, including the classic baseball routine, "Who's On First?".

Bill Riley is a native of Paterson, New Jersey (which incidentally was Lou Costello's hometown!). He is an actor, comedian and musician who has been performing since 1960. Riley came to Baltimore in 1985 along with his wife, Gina, and son, Bryce. In August 2009, Bill retired as Director of Broadcasting at The Sheffield Institute for the Recording Arts.

Joe Ziegler, born and raised in Baltimore, has been a professional performer since the age of fifteen. "Making people laugh is what I love to do" says Ziegler. Joe, along with his wife, Sherry, has won numerous awards in years past for their portrayal of another famous duo - Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy - including a Baltimore's Best award in 1982.

Riley and Ziegler met in 1986, when Riley attended the broadcasting school where Ziegler was Dean of Students and taught commercial writing and promotions. In 1987 Riley also began working at the school and a comedy partnership was born. While both Ziegler and Riley had worked with various partners through the years - their love and admiration of Abbott and Costello combined with their own comedic chemistry and friendship sparked to form a partnership that has flourished. They have performed as Abbott and Costello since 1994 for various corporate and local business functions, private parties, civic groups, fund raisers and on radio and television. They regularly appear aboard all The John W. Brown/Project Liberty Ship “WWII Living History Cruises”, and perform yearly at The Mid-Atlantic Air Museum's "WWII Weekend" in Reading, PA and at Virginia Beach Airport's “Warbirds Over the Beach”. In addition, they perform each New Year's Eve at various “First Night Celebrations”. In May 2004, it was their great pleasure to perform in Washington, D.C. at the Disabled American Veterans' Dinner as a part of the WWII Monument Celebration/Dedication Ceremony.

Bill and Joe have worked together and independently in various capacities in radio, performed as extras in several movies, and acted in and done voice-over work for local and national commercials. In addition, Joe owns and operates a Mobile Disc Jockey company, "Hot Wax Productions".

Jason Crutchley originally began working with the team as their sound engineer and announcer in 2002. In 2004, the duo became a trio, as Jason joined Bill and Joe on stage as "Scoop Fields - Ace Press Agent". Jason also appears as various other characters in a number of routines. Prior to joining Riley and Ziegler, Crutchley, of Pylesville, MD, had worked behind the scenes in several North Harford High School productions as prop master and stage hand. He then went on to act in school musicals and stage shows, including several comedic lead roles.

In September 2006, The Golden Radio Buffs of Maryland, awarded The Ultimate Abbott and Costello Tribute Show the clubs highest honor, "The Golden Mic Award". This award was presented to Bill, Joe and Jason for their efforts to keep the memory and spirit of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello alive in the hearts of those who remember their comedic talents and for introducing these comedy legends to new generations.

See them at...

www.ultimateaandc.com

Bob Greenberg is an entertainer who has headlined hour-long comedy shows and has also appeared on “Saturday Night Live,” alongside Jim Carrey.

Greenberg makes his shows personal with talks about his family and how he met his wife — at Macy’s Santaland, where he was Old St. Nick and she was an elf — as well as his weight — he wanted to be a skeleton for Halloween as a kid, but unfortunately skeleton costumes don’t come in a size husky.

He also did impressions, including: Lou Costello at the John Gotti Jr. and Sr. trials; Curly from The Three Stooges as captain of the Titanic; Stan Laurel as Prissy the Maid in “Gone with the Wind,” and Oliver Hardy calling a sex hotline. Greenberg also does impression of Jackie Gleason which he will use to MC this show. Audiences love the spirit he brings to the stage!

You can see Bob on Youtube at...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnZijgQ_ePo 

As I was growing up in rural Kentucky on a tobacco farm, Tuesday night at 7:30 was a very special time for me. The supper meal was over - dishes washed and put away. The chores were done - milking, feeding the calves, gathering the eggs, slopping the hogs. Homework - well, that’s another story. It was time to watch “The Red Skelton Show”. It was a half hour of sheer, clean comedy: no dirty jokes, no filthy language, no smut whatsoever. Just a half hour of pure family entertainment.
   Down through the annals of time, Mr. Skelton’s jokes and pantomimes have been a continual source of relief from heartaches, heartbreaks, and trauma for countless people. No one could count the number of times that a quip or routine by Mr. Skelton removed a hurt or pain that I was suffering. No one will ever be able to capture the essences of Mr. Skelton’s characters: Clem Kadiddlehopper, Sheriff Dead Eye, Willie Lump Lump, Boliver Shagnasty, San Fernando Red, George Appleby, Cauliflower McPugg, Junor the Mean Widdle Kid, and the most lovable character, Freddie the Freeloader.
   No doubt many will try to carry on his beloved comedy with the hopes of succeeding. If we fail, it will not be for lack of desire or effort. It will be because God has seen fit to hallow his comedy and preserve his characters so that no one will dishonor or shame the name of Red Skelton.

See Barnett on YouTube at...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvnUK91GJLo

Howard Rogofsky can best be described as a self-made man. With a loan from his dad at 16, he started his comic book business and never looked back. Now, 50 years later, he is known by former customers as well as celebrities. Some of the well known people he has sold to were The Rockefeller's, Lucille Ball, and Red Skelton, to name a few.

Today Howard is in semi-retirement in New York City with his lovely wife Gail. His collections in a three story warehouse where one day the public might be able to see it.

Mike Carbonaro honored Howard in 2012 as the first recipient into the Comic Book Hall of Fame.

Joe Franklin calls Howard a living legend.

James Sheldon is a TV director. Throughout his career he has directed over 400 episodes of television shows. These include Dean Martin and the Moonshiners, The man From Uncle, Rich Man, Poor Man, and Batman. He has also directed episodes from Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, and many more...

He also has a biography called Before I Forget which details his 37 years in TV.

James Sheldon will sign from 1-5 pm. 

Lawrence Samuel "Larry" Storch (born January 8, 1923), in New York City, is an American actor best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for cartoon shows, such as Mr. Whoopee on Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, and his live-action role of the bumbling Corporal Randolph Agarn on F Troop.

Storch was originally a stand-up comic. This led to guest appearances on dozens of television shows, including Hennesey, Get Smart, Sergeant Bilko, Columbo, CHiPs, Fantasy Island, McCloud, Emergency!, The Flying Nun, Alias Smith and Jones, Alfred Hitchcock Hour, That Girl, The Monkees, I Dream of Jeannie, Gomer Pyle, Gilligan's Island, The Doris Day Show, The Persuaders and All in the Family. His most famous role was the scheming Corporal Agarn on the TV series F-Troop, with Forrest Tucker and Ken Berry.

Storch appeared on many variety shows including Sonny and Cher, Laugh-In, Hollywood Squares, Playboy After Dark, and The Hollywood Palace, with several appearances on the The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and The Steve Allen Show. Jackie Gleason personally asked Storch to fill in for him in the summer of 1953 while Gleason was on hiatus.

An impressionist, Storch does hundreds of voices and dialects ranging from Muhammad Ali to Claude Rains. This has proved useful for cartoons. He has voiced characters in numerous TV and film animations including The Batman/Superman Hour, The Pink Panther Show, Groovie Goolies, The Inspector, The Brady Kids, Cool Cat, Koko the Clown, Treasure Island, Return from Oz, Scooby Doo, Tennessee Tuxedo, and many more. Larry has worked with Mel Blanc and June Foray at Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. He was the first actor to voice Batman's arch enemy, "The Joker", in The Adventures of Batman segments produced by Filmation animation in the late 1960s.

Storch has appeared in more than 25 Hollywood films, including 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962), Captain Newman, M.D. (1963), and Wild and Wonderful (1964). After success in TV and films, Storch returned to the New York stage, after having first performed on the Broadway stage in the 1950s, and wowed audiences again.

Storch is now "semi-retired". He likes to play his saxophone in the park and does occasional memorabilia shows to greet his many fans. He signs autographs at film festivals, including Chiller Theater and the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention. He is currently working on his autobiography.

Larry Storch received the 2013 Barrymore Award for Lifetime Achievement in Film and TV from the Fort Lee Film Commission. The award was presented to him New Year's Eve 2014. Guests of the evening included Larry's friend Boxing Legend Jake La Motta, Larry's Step-Daughter Emmy winning Filmmaker and Author, June Cross, Early Rock and Roller Tom Austin from The Royal Teens and Co-Author of the million selling hit "Who Wears Short, Shorts?".

Larry Storch will sign from 12-6 pm.

Caroll Edwin Spinney (born December 26, 1933) is an American puppeteer, most famous for playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street. While in the Air Force, Spinney wrote and illustrated Harvey, a comic strip about military life. He also animated a series of black-and-white cartoons called Crazy Crayon. These were done under the pseudonym Ed Spinney.

He performed in the show Rascal Rabbit and the BostonThe Judy and Goggle Show.Throughout the 1960s, he performed on the Boston broadcast of Bozo's Big Top, where he played Mr. Lion. Spinney created a puppet of a cat named Picklepuss. This cat and his other friends joined Spinney in entertaining audiences of the 1960s. Many years later, Spinney's Picklepuss and Pop puppets were characters in Wow, You're a Cartoonist!.

Spinney first met Jim Henson in 1962 at a puppeteering festival, where Henson asked if he would like to "talk about the Muppets". As Spinney failed to interpret the question as an employment offer, the conversation never came to pass.

In 1969, Spinney performed at a Puppeteers of America festival in Utah. Spinney's show was a mixture of live actors and puppets, but was ruined by an errant spotlight that washed out the animated backgrounds. Henson was once again in attendance and noticed Spinney's performance. "I liked what you were trying to do," Henson said, and he asked once more if they could "talk about the Muppets". This time, they did have the conversation, and Spinney joined the Muppeteers full-time by late 1969. Spinney joined Sesame Street for the inaugural season in 1969.The characters of Big Bird and Oscar have maintained integral roles in the show over the decades.Spinney has performed the Big Bird and Oscar characters all over the world.

Though Big Bird and Oscar are his main characters, Spinney has also performed as other characters. At one point, he created and performed Bruno the Trash Man, a full-bodied puppet representing a garbage carrier, who also carried Oscar's trash can. Bruno was used until the foam plastic of the character broke down. Spinney has also performed as Granny Bird, Big Bird's grandmother. The puppet used for Granny Bird is actually a spare Big Bird puppet, and Spinney provides her voice. As Granny Bird's appearances are often alongside Big Bird (who is, as she stated, her "favorite grandson"), her voice is usually pre-recorded so that Spinney can perform Big Bird. Spinney reprises his role as Oscar the Grouch in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian in a cameo appearance next to Darth Vader.

Some of his artwork include the 1996 painting called Luna Bird showing Big Bird walking on the moon and the 1997 painting Autumn, showing him playing in autumn leaves. Spinney has been honored with four Daytime Emmy Awards for his portrayals on the series and two Grammy Awards for his related recordings. Two of the recordings Spinney's voice can be heard on have earned Gold Record status. For his body of work, Spinney has received both a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994 and the Library of Congress' Living Legend award in 2000.

At the 2006 Daytime Emmy Awards, Spinney received the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' Lifetime Achievement Award. As of February 2012, it has been established that Spinney will be the subject of a full-length documentary by Copper Pot Pictures called I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story.

Caroll Spinney will sign from12-6 pm.

Since 1985 the Joe Koch warehouse has been a mainstay in Brooklyn, New York. Like the treasures found by Indiana Jones, those who are lucky enough to find the warehouse at 206 41st Brooklyn, NY have uncovered vintage collectibles not seen for several decades. Mr. Koch will bring an array of comics, books, CD's, records and much more for your view, with a personal invite to experience his treasure trove in Brooklyn. Joe will share with you his knowledge and legacy that one has to see to believe.

See Joe on YouTube at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRJEgLNVnaQ

His warehouse is located at 206 41st Brooklyn, NY, 11232

His direct number is (718) 768-8571

Peggy King is a jazz and pop vocalist and former TV personality. She got her start with the bands of Charlie Spivak, Ralph Flanagan and Ray Anthony and was featured on an early TV series with Mel Torme.

She is best remembered as "pretty perky Peggy King" on The George Gobel Show, on which she appeared for three seasons from 1954-57. She was also a frequent TV guest-star, including Bob Hope's 1956 Chevy Show (filmed during his USO show in Alaska), American Bandstand, Maverick, Dragnet, The Steve Allen Show, The Kraft Music Hall with Milton Berle, What's My Line?, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Perry Como Show, The Garry Moore Show, and The Jack Benny Show.

Following her early band appearances, she was signed to a contract by MGM in 1952, and had a singing cameo in Vincente Minnelli's classic film The Bad and the Beautiful. She also recorded with Skip Martin for MGM Records and drew attention singing a series of commercial jingles for Hunt's tomato sauce. Mitch Miller then signed her to a long-term contract on Columbia Records, which led to two bestselling albums, "Wish Upon on a Star" and "Girl Meets Boy" (both reissued on CD by Collectables), and a string of hit singles. She sang the Oscar-nominated song Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep) on the 1955 Academy Awards telecast and was named "Best New Singer" of 1955-56 by both Billboard (Magazine) and Down Beat.

She appeared in the 1955 cult comedy Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy and portrayed the stewardess Janet Turner in the suspense thriller Zero Hour! (1957), co-starring Dana Andrews and Linda Darnell, which later became the basis for the disaster spoof, Airplane!. She starred opposite Tab Hunter in the original television musical Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates (1958) directed by Sidney Lumet and in a musical version of Jack and the Beanstalk co-starring Joel Grey, Celeste Holm and Cyril Ritchard. Her more recent albums include "Lazy Afternoon" (recently reissued on CD by EMI), "Oh What a Memory We Made Tonight" and "Peggy King Sings Jerome Kern." The original cast album of Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates was reissued by Sepia Records with the addition of 20 of her classic Columbia recordings.

The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia inducted King into their Hall of Fame in 2010 and she hosts a two-hour interview program on WYYR.com. She is featured in the Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning HBO film Behind the Candelabra, via a 1955 TV clip in which she sings "When Liberace Winks at Me" accompanied by the real Liberace. The success of the movie led to her resuming her singing career in 2013 with the Philadelphia-based All-Star Jazz Trio  and she received strong notices at 54 Below in New York and the Metropolitan Room.

She was among the first stars to be honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and her star is located on the 6500 block of Hollywood Blvd.

She will be signing from 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm.