She's got somethin' to say...

Collin Wilcox Paxton, best known for her star turn as a "rape victim" in 1962's 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' died Oct. 14 of brain cancer at her home in Highlands, N.C. She was 74.

Wilcox Paxton began her acting career on the stage in Chicago as part of an improvisational group that included Mike Nichols, Elaine May and Shelley Berman, then moved on to Broadway, where she starred in 'The Day Money Stopped' opposite Richard Basehart. That 1958 production won her the Clarence Derwent Award for best supporting actress. She also starred opposite such grand dames of the stage as Tallulah Bankhead ('Crazy October') Geraldine Page ('Strange Interlude') and Ruth Gordon ('La Bonne Soup').

Her big-screen debut came in the adaptation of Harper Lee's 'Mockingbird,' where she played the white-trash girl who falsely accused Brock Peters' character of rape. After that once-in-a-lifetime role, Wilcox Paxton moved to television, where she guest-starred in a host of series including 'Dr. Kildare,' 'The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,' 'The Defenders,' 'The Twilight Zone,' 'Playhouse 90,' 'Death Valley Days' and 'Columbo.'

Wilcox Paxton's heart belonged to the stage, however, and she left Hollywood in 1981 to return to Highland, where she met and married Scott Paxton and founded the Highlands Studio for the Arts. She briefly returned to Hollywood in the 1990s and appeared in the 'Christy' TV series, as well as 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,' among other roles.

In addition to her husband, Wilcox Paxton is survived by her children Kimberley and Michael.

Hot Film in the Summertime

There are certain films that truly convey the summer scorching heat in which they are set. You feel it. Below are some of my favorite "summer" films to watch in front of a fan with a lemon coke with lots of chipped ice.

Sounder (1972)
What a classic. This story of a 1930s sharecropper's son is one that I can never ignore on TV. I get pulled in immediately. The kids are real and honest. The southern locales are the genuine article. This movie has so much heart it makes you feel more alive after viewing.



Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
You can't take your eyes off the screen. Terrific. You'll feel sweaty just watching Al Pacino as a dumb cluck bank robber in his astounding performance.



Miss Firecracker (1989)
Holly Hunter's brilliant stage role brought to film is full of fun performances including Mary Steenburgen (who was never better than in this film as selfish, conceited Cousin Elaine) and Alfre Woodard (as sweet seamstress "Popeye") -- well, I fell in love with Alfre immediately.




A Streetcar Named Desire (1984)
I prefer the Ann-Margret TV-version. She is incredible - and pulls off hot mess Blanche Dubois better than most.


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Spike Lee's Summer of Sam and Do the Right Thing are pretty classic summer films too.



What are your fave films that take you to a hot and sticky summer day?

Lunch Lady -- 15 years later

Circa 1995, in the days when email and the internet was brand new in offices (and YOUTUBE was still years away) there was the first viral superstar - The Lunch Lady.

Sharon Adl-Doost, a cafeteria worker at US Geological Survey in Reston, Virginia, decided to record the daily menu (with her thick southern accent). When the Survey suffered major lay-offs, she started to add songs to boost staff morale. Listening to the menu phone line became a novelty, bringing the Lunch Lady fans and fame all over the country.

The phone number was passed via email around offices from New York to San Francisco and people like Diana Ross, Bruce Willis, Ralph Lauren, Rosie O'Donnell and Donna Karan were calling. Office workers begin calling daily. "Instead of a coffee break, we have a Lunch Lady break," said one.

You can read the entire Lunch Lady saga here:
http://rosegeorge.com/site/one-of-a-kind-the-lunch-lady/
http://www.airservcorp.com/airserv/employees/lunch_lady.html

A documentary was filmed in 2000 called THE LUNCH LADY, A DOCUMENTARY.

She now has a website www.LunchLady.com and does a new daily menu recording (510-351-7654) for her Fan Club President's Convalescent Hospital in Sal Leandro, CA.

Lunchy actually works as a wheelchair passenger assistant at Dulles Airport.