Lean On Me

Question: I was a fan of Lost in Space, but was an even bigger fan of Zorro, who was played by LiS's Guy Williams. One thing I always wondered, though. Since he had a mask on, was that really him with the sword?

Answer: That it was, Jeff. Matter of fact, the only reason Williams, whose acting résumé was pretty much nonexistent up to that point, got the role was that he was mighty handy with a blade. It seems Williams, born Armando Catalano in New York City, was the only one to audition who could actually fence. His father, a skilled fencer in his native Italy, taught his son to handle a sword, but neither of them dreamed how valuable a skill it would prove to be after Williams became a contract player at Universal in the early '50s.

"I used to play anonymous men leaning in doorways with cigarettes dangling fr read more

Question: One day I was driving around with my dad in Plainfield, N.J., and he mentioned how bad the schools were there. He told me the high school was almost taken over by the state, like in the movie Lean on Me. Is that movie based on actual events and, if so, did it really happen in New Jersey?

Answer: The movie Lean on Me (1989) was inspired by Principal Joe Lewis Clark's campaign to reform crime-ridden Eastside High in Paterson, N.J., in the early '80s. Clark became Eastside's principal in 1983 and within two years had turned it into something resembling a model school. Lean on Me, which starred Morgan Freeman as Principal Clark, was shot on location at Eastside High.