Claude Akins

Claude Akins, the rugged actor with a Dixie drawl who was best known for his television roles as a truck driver, a colorful rural sheriff and a pitchman for a chain of automobile transmission repair shops, died of cancer Thursday afternoon at his home in Altadena. He was 75. Julian Myers, Akins' publicist, said the actor had been seriously ill for about a year.

Claude Akins, the rugged actor with a Dixie drawl who was best known for his television roles as a truck driver, a colorful rural sheriff and a pitchman for a chain of automobile transmission repair shops, died of cancer Thursday afternoon at his home in Altadena. He was 75. Julian Myers, Akins' publicist, said the actor had been seriously ill for about a year.

Claude Akins, Rita Coolidge and other celebrities will join studio head Samuel Z. Arkoff at 11 a.m. today at the ruins of the Pan Pacific Auditorium to present a petition to County Supervisor Ed Edelman, seeking to restore the 54-year-old landmark building that was destroyed by fire May 24. More than 1,000 signatures have been collected in support of the restoration. Letters from Bob Hope and Col. Tom Parker (Elvis Presley's longtime manager) will be given to Edelman as further support of the rebuilding project.

Claude Akins, Rita Coolidge and other celebrities will join studio head Samuel Z. Arkoff at 11 a.m. today at the ruins of the Pan Pacific Auditorium to present a petition to County Supervisor Ed Edelman, seeking to restore the 54-year-old landmark building that was destroyed by fire May 24. More than 1,000 signatures have been collected in support of the restoration. Letters from Bob Hope and Col. Tom Parker (Elvis Presley's longtime manager) will be given to Edelman as further support of the rebuilding project.

Mickey Rooney will be the honorary chairman for the second annual Los Angeles Marathon/Secure Horizons Senior Walk, to be held at the USC campus on Sunday. Several hundred participants are expected for the event, which is open to anyone 55 or older and will benefit the Los Angeles Childrens Hospital. Other celebrities expected to attend the 9:30 a.m. event are Cesar Romero, Claude Akins, Rose Marie and Alan Young.

Rock 'n' roller John Cougar Mellencamp plays a country singer in his first movie, being filmed in his native Indiana. "Souvenirs," which also stars Mariel Hemingway, Claude Akins and Kay Lenz, is based on a story by Mellencamp. Larry McMurtry, whose credits include "The Last Picture Show" and "Terms of Endearment," wrote the screenplay. Mellencamp plays a country singer who returns to Indiana to celebrate his grandfather's birthday.

Comedian Bob Hope and actress-singer Pia Zadora have joined the group of celebrities participating in this year's Rose Bowl festivities. Hope, Zadora and a host of Hollywood stars were invited to salute the University of Michigan Wolverines in the 43rd annual Big 10 dinner. Michigan, the Big 10 champion, will meet USC, the Pac 10 leader, in the Rose Bowl football game on New Year's Day. The dinner, held tonight, is hosted each year by the Big 10 Club of Southern California.

Writer H. P. Lovecraft's fascination with yuck and decay--with the loathsome and unnamable, with unspeakably foul and filthy beings lurking beyond the gates of consciousness--makes for icy-fingered terror as you read his stories. But not as you watch "The Curse" (citywide), based on Lovecraft's "The Color Out of Space."

What makes rock singer John Cougar Mellencamp think he can star in as well as direct his first feature? "He can do it because this is a real movie, about real life," says manager Harry Sandler, who's producing "Souvenirs" (working title). Mellencamp, who's directed several rock videos, "wouldn't be taking this on if he didn't think he could do it." Now filming in Seymour, Ind.

A North Hollywood man with two previous fraud convictions was charged Friday with untrue and misleading advertising for allegedly promoting plays that he did not intend to stage, including a production of "Death of a Salesman" starring caustic comic Don Rickles. Kevin Mark Von Feldt, 41, faces a maximum jail sentence of six months and a $2,500 fine if convicted of the misdemeanor, Deputy City Atty. Ellen Pais said.