BearManor Media News — q&a

Q&A with Snorre Smari Mathiesen, author of the new book on August Schonemann What piqued your interest in Norwegian comedian August Schønemann (1891-1925) in the first place?Although a huge celebrity in Norway during his lifetime, August Schønemann is today chiefly remembered as the father of Aud Schønemann, a much beloved comic performer in my home country, whose fame has endured more so than that of her father. I have many fond memories of watching Aud’s film and TV performances in my childhood. I’ve kind of always been interested in “old” things, including entertainment history of the past, and felt that...

Interview with Arnold M. Herr, author of Skinflick: A Deep Dive into the World of 3-D Sex Films1. I suppose the first question lobbed at me about Skinflick: a Deep Dive into the World of 3-D Sex Films is “what’s up with the turtle?” Although broadly speaking, he is a turtle, technically speaking, he’s a desert tortoise, belonging to the order Testudines. When I was illustrating the book, he looked through my manuscript and complained about the absence of creatures other than mammals in the book. He told me he should appear as someone who was present on the various...

, by Peggy Adler and Dibirma Jean Burnham, is the true story of Emil Pallenberg (1888-1963),  considered to have been the greatest bear trainer of his time. In 1908, he became the first person to teach a bear to ride a bicycle. He also taught his bears to roller skate, dance, walk on stilts, play musical instruments and walk the tight rope. The Pallenberg’s bears appeared in major motion pictures -- and one was on Broadway for over a year. Laura was in the 1932 Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein Musical, Music in the Air, while Mischka (aka Carmichael) was featured in a movie with Jack Benny.  Yet when the Pallenbergs and their Wonder Bears weren’t performing, they all lived in our little shoreline town of Clinton, Connecticut.

BearManor Interview with Brian Anthony, editor of The Charley Chase Scrapbook     Q: Tell us a little about Charley Chase. BA: Charley Chase is the most underrated of the truly great comedians of the silent and early sound era. He worked on over 400 films in various capacities, as a writer, producer, director, and actor. Chase was a major force in shaping the evolution of  motion picture comedy, and he accomplished all of this before his death at the early age of forty-six. A truly remarkable man, and an incredible talent.   Q: How did you first discover him?...