BearManor Media News — q&a

, 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?...