Fame

Dick Clark of "American Bandstand" fame and "New Year's Rockin' Eve" played a high school teacher in what 1960 feature film? "Because They're Young"

If anyone can restore Hollywood's luster, John Peterson figures it's him. The one-legged man has spent 14 years polishing celebrities' stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. With 2,412 of them along nearly three miles of sidewalk, it's a full-time job. "Chewing gum should be banned globally," says the 61-year-old, scraping a dirty clump of the stuff off actress and singer Cass Daley's star near Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. "It's not recyclable, it's not biodegradable, it's not good."

Sandy Hook. Aurora. Columbine. It's appalling, but one way to achieve fame in America is through acts of infamy. What if that weren't so? Today's media might profit by studying an example from ancient Greece on how to keep evildoers from becoming instant celebrities. The precedent sprang from a heinous crime in 356 BC that occurred in Ephesus, a magnificent city in what is now Turkey. The city's crowning glory was an Ionic temple to the Ephesian version of the Greek goddess Artemis.

The guys around the table call Sid Caesar "The King. " They're seated in a back room of Factor's Famous Deli on Pico Boulevard, a boisterous group of longtime Hollywood funnymen, enjoying their lunch, which is somewhere between a meal and a ritual. The legendary Caesar still has a place of honor even though he's frail and rarely speaks. As his friend and lunch pal Monty Hall - of "Let's Make a Deal" fame - notes, the 90-year-old Caesar wouldn't miss these lunches. "You know when he walks in we say, 'The King is here,'" said Hall, 91. "He loves that.

The California Sports Hall of Fame has announced its 2013 inductees: Kings legend Luc Robitaille, San Diego Padres star Tony Gwynn, track star Florence Griffith-Joyner, football icon Joe Montana, former USC football coach John Robinson and diver Greg Louganis. They will be inducted June 9 at the Ontario Convention Center. “We are proud to continue our tradition of recognizing incredible Californians who have made outstanding contributions at the highest level in sports,” said Christian Okoye, the founder of the California Sports Hall of Fame.

Dick Williams, a feisty old-school baseball manager who won pennants with three teams and back-to-back World Series titles with the Oakland Athletics during a Hall of Fame career, died Thursday of a ruptured aortic aneurysm at a hospital near his home in Henderson, Nev. He was 82. Williams spent more than six decades in professional baseball, signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers on the day he graduated from Pasadena High School in 1947. He made his major league debut four years later and eventually played six positions for five teams over parts of 13 seasons, batting .260.

John Henry Johnson Pro Football Hall of Fame running back John Henry Johnson, 81, a Pro Football Hall of Fame running back during the 1950s and '60s who was a member of the San Francisco 49ers' "Million Dollar Backfield," died Friday in Tracy, Calif., the team announced. No cause was given, but the San Francisco Chronicle reported in 2002 that Johnson had Alzheimer's disease. Johnson, 6 feet 2 and 210 pounds, played for the 49ers from 1954 to '56 and teamed with fellow Hall of Fame members fullback Joe Perry, halfback Hugh McElhenny and quarterback Y.A. Tittle.

An honor roll of athletics Los Angeles High School Sports Hall of Fame Inaugural Class AQUATICS Sammy Lee, Franklin Esther Williams, Washington BASEBALL Ozzie Smith, Locke Bret Saberhagen, Cleveland BASKETBALL Gail Goodrich, Poly...

In the 78-year history of high school sports in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the number of Olympians produced, major league players developed and Hall of Fame members inducted from a variety of sports is staggering. So now you can understand how difficult it is to be selected to the Los Angeles City Section Hall of Fame. The second class of 42 recipients has been selected, and it is a who's who of greatness. There are baseball Hall of Fame members Robin Yount (Taft 1973)