Hello and welcome to this week’s installment of Welcome to the Insta-hood. Where I interview fascinating people and their Instagram Accounts. This week I interviewed IG account:

@alittleclownnamedfergus

Many people know this movie or least seen the poster. (side note it is one of my favorites movies)

However do you remember this lady who was an extra in this movie?

Her name is Tammy Lynn Leppert and she has been missing since 1983 which was 36 years ago.

Tammy Lynn Leppert started her entertainment career as a  child model and started to enter beauty queen pageants until her late teens.

Even though she won a majority of these pageants she was still yearning to do more with her life. She decided that her best route is to become an actress. She was able to nab various extra roles and is probably best known as the woman who distracted Manny who was in the getaway car during that infamous chainsaw scene from the movie Scarface.

She was also  known for the movie called “Spring Break.” She was an extra during the boxing match scene.

There are also a report that the movie poster has Tammy Lynn’s middle section on it:

Things started to get weird for Tammy Lynn Leppert after the movie “Spring Break” was completed. She apparently went to a party over the weekend by herself and came back a totally different person. Here in this Unsolved Mystery Episode (season 5 Episode 1) her family recalls the odd behavior that Tammy Lynn was displaying before she vanished:

Her mother noticed her troubling behavior when Tammy  to her mother’s home. She realize a mental flag read. Tammy was back home only after four days of shooting the movie “Scarface”. Tammy’s increasing paranoia of something really bad happening to herself caused her mother to make Tammy go see a doctor to check out her overall health. With being checked into doctor’s care for about three days she left. The doctor could not find anything wrong with her. She had no drugs or alcohol in her system to suggest something was enhancing her  paranoid state.

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Her last known sighting was on July 6, 1983 and that day doesn’t seem a hundred percent accurate as to what happened to her. There were reports that she was seen without shoes and did not have any money with her. There was also a report that she left with a friend that day from her house in Rockledge, Florida. They got into an argument while in route to their destination. The argument got so bad they the driver of the car left Tammy at a parking lot and that was the last time she was reportedly seen. The friend that got in an argument with her that day is not a suspect in her disappearance and no charges were ever brought upon him. But her mother was quoted as saying that Tammy herself said that she was scare of this particular friend.

There are a couple of theories as to what happened to her:

Some believe that she was murder by know serial killer Christopher Bernard Wilder. He was known as the “Beauty Queen Killer” because he was linked to killing, kidnapping and rapping 12 women between California to Florida. He would lure these women claiming to be a modeling agent and have auditions or gigs in his house. This theory was never confirm because Wilder died in 1984. Tammy’s mother even sued Wilder’s estate for her daughter’s death but also felt he did not do it nor did the police link her death to him.

There was also another serial killer and rapist in the area at the time of Tammy’s disappearance. A man named  John Brennan Crutchley but again no evidence was match with Tammy either.

Tammy’s mother believe that her daughter had knowledge of a drug ring that was happening in the area at the time and become a threat to the drug ring and something happened to Tammy through them.

Unfortunately Tammy’s mother never found out what happened to her daughter because she passed away in 1995. However Tammy’s sister is still active in finding out what happen.

She runs a facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/findtammyleppert/

If you have any information or knowledge  about what happen to Tammy Lynn Leppert please contact the link above.  If you know or have any knowledge about her missing case or anyone’s please use the link below:

https://www.justice.gov/actioncenter/report-and-identify-missing-persons

Until next time!

Source:

Wikipedia

Tammy Lynn Leppert- The Scarface Extra and model who Vanished

Have you ever heard about the one Kleenex commercial from Japan that was apparently cursed?

Well in 1986 this commercial was deemed as having a darker sister curse. When it first started showing up on Japanese television airwaves it made people who watched it very uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that viewers actually called in TV stations as well as complained to the Kleenex complain to have this commercial pulled off the air.  The main complain was how creepy and evil the commercial seemed. It got such a negative response that it was pull off the Japanese TV airwaves within a couple of months.

This commercial was part of a three part  commercial campaign that the Kleenex company debut in 1986. This is a really random commercial to be honest. It has two actors one a baby who is costume as an Oni or ogre (which in Japanese culture is a mythical demon. And it usually has a horn or multiple horns and a red, blue or green colored body.)

It also has an actress named Keiko Matsuzaka dressed in a white dress and there is no dialogue exchanged between the two but you can hear a slow pace song. The song is called “Its A Fine Day” by  Edward Barton and Jane.

A lot of viewers who called in to complain about the commercial also claim that this song sounded like a “German curse” however this song was sung in English only. Those viewers who called in to complained about the commercial that saw it during the night time or at midnight when it was on the air. Claimed that the singer’s voice turned from a normal high pitch to a “raspy old woman.”

The blunt of the urban legend seemed to be more geared towards Keiko Matsuzaka. Everything from she died, she went crazy after filming  and was taken to a mental hospital and that she had her own demon child because she was part of this commercial.  However Keiko Matsuzaka is still alive and has done various commercials for Nissin Foods, Nissan cars and other Kleenex products.

The baby and the crew that shot the commercial apparently died also after this commercial wrapped.

Although none of these things were true it create an urban legend that is decades old which proves to me that even the most random things such as a Kleenex commercial can become scary!

Side note: When Kleenex pulled this commercial off the air they replaced it with this one. Which is more random and weirder then the one the pulled:

Until Next time!

Source: Wikipedia

The Enchanted Tiki Room is one of the original rides in Disneyland and Disneyworld  that are still in the parks!

It first opened in 1963 and the concept of this ride all started with Walt Disney going on a trip to New Orleans, Louisiana. While on a trip with his wife, Disney saw a mechanical bird in a cage and was so interested to see how it worked. He ended up purchasing it and return home. He showed his imagineers the bird and told them to figure out how it works. Imagineers Marc Davis and Rolly Crump

took on the challenge! Not only did they figure out the inner workings of the toy bird but made bigger versions of the birds along with flowers and tikis as well!

For the first 12 years of this ride it was sponsored by American Airlines and then in 1976 the Hawaiian brand: Dole Food Company took over the sponsorship and they are still the sponsors for the ride today.

In 1986 Dole Food Company created a desert that is a Disney food cult classic call the Dole Whip!

Walt Disney originally wanted the Enchanted Tiki Room to be a restaurant. It was going to be a Polynesian theme restaurant and the mechanical birds were going to sing when customers finish their meals.  However they quickly shot down that idea because the thought customers would not finish their meals on time in order for the next group of customers to come through due to the enchantment of the singing mechanical birds.

Another factor that the restaurant idea was veto is that this ride was the first Disney attraction offer air conditioning inside so customers might also linger inside to savory the air conditioning attraction!

Not much has changed to this ride from the time it open to the present day. The main birds feature in the show had a change of color in their feathers.

Also from 1998 until 2011 the show changed to “Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Starring Iago from Aladdin and Zazu from the Lion King. However in early 2011 a small attic fire happened inside of the the main room.  It caused the Iago mechanical bird  to be really burnt and beyond repair.

So they decided to go back to the original format after that fire and I am not going to lie I personally preferred the original song than the other one.

An interesting fact about the attraction:

There is a total of 225 singing flowers, tiki gods and birds in the attraction!

Until Next time!

World War II was an extremely scary time for a lot of countries. The US had a scare that deadly chemicals would attack America so having gas masks in your emergency kits in your house was not uncommon.

However when it came to protect children of potential chemical attack these standard gas masks were not the best.

A lot of time these masks were too big to fit a child’s face and/or it just scared the kids into not wanting to put them on. That is when the government decided to give Walt Disney a call!

In January 1942 Walt Disney was invited to Washington DC to meet with “civil and chemical warfare” teams to come up with a concept and design a gas mask that children would want to wear that would not be so scary as this:

So he came up with this design:

The Mickey Mouse gas Mask came in five different sizes for about $3.75 each. The sizes range baby to toddler to kid to small adult all the way up to a stand adult size.

The mask was produced by a company called The Sun Rubber Company who usually made rubber items for schools and hospitals. They even made a pouch with a cartoon Mickey Mouse on it:

About a thousand of these masks were made in the US. There was even a British version of this mask and they tried to market them as a fun game to play in order for children to keep this mask with them on all times and to put them on if the occasion arose. The different between the US and the British masks was the coloring of it.  The British version of these was a solid color of blue or red:

The US version had colors that more resemble Mickey’s colors:

Even Charlie McCarthy  ( a very popular entertainment act) was fitted to wear a Mickey Mouse gas Mask!

The masks that were made for the US was never handed out because chemical warfare never came on to US soil however they were used more in England. These masks are really rare to find in the US and most of them are in museums.

Fun fact:  Depending on how well the Mickey Mouse gas mask sold they were going to make more of these masks with other Disney characters such as Goofy and the three little pigs:

Until Next time!

Source: washingtonpost.com

Blood and Black Lace (1964) is a movie directed by Mario Bava and it is one of my favorite movies of his. It stars Cameron Mitchell and Eva Bartok.

This is such a colorful movie done in technicolor and it totally shows! With such saturated colors reflected on the screen it appeals to your eyes. It absorbs your eyes on the mystery of who is killing all of the models that belong to a fashion house that this movie centers around.

There is a killer on the loose and no one know who it is until the end. We as an audience do not see the mystery person because they are in a unique costume:

Mario Bava made this movie after he had much success of his two previous films. One was Black Sunday and the other was Black Sabbath. He was granted more creative control of this film and it shows with the high stylized background and  plot. I personally considered this movie to be one of my favorite movies that centered around fashion. Not a lot of people would think that fashion and horror goes together but I think it creates a unique plot.

This movie has been regarded as the beginning of the Giallo genre. Which is one of my favorite movie genres ever. Giallo is a movie theme that has a combination of mystery, slasher, horror and some kind of thriller rolled into one.

Fun fact about this movie that it only took six weeks to film!

Until next time!

Did you know that they are different versions of  Big Bird on other versions of Sesame street around the world?

Yes it is totally true! Big Bird has a large family in many counties and I will be talking briefly about some of my favorite versions of Big Bird!

La Gallina Caponata- this is Spain’s Big Bird and was active on Barrio Sesamo from 1979 to 1980. She didn’t have Big Bird’s bubbly bright personality but she was a bit more interactive with the actors on this version of the show and was one of the main characters in the show. I really like her mult-color feathers she is a very fashionable bird!

Minik Kus- is Turkey’s Big Bird and this version of Sesame Street was called Susam Sokagi and was on the air from 1989 until 1991. This colorful bird had a florescent pink and orange feather combination.  Here is a You Tube video of a short segment of the show:

Pino is on the Dutch version of Sesame Street called Sesamtraat and was aired in the Netherlands. This version of Sesame street started in 1976 until it was moved to another broadcasting network and was on from 1995 until 2010. Pino is only four years old and it always wanting to learn new things about the world. His best friend is a small little Pig named Purk.

Pino is a little bit more sensitive than most of the characters on the show but that is just part of his charming character!

Garibaldo- is the Brazil’s version of Big Bird on Vila Sesamo and this version of the Sesame Street was actually the first worldwide version of this show! This version first started in 1972 and ran until 1977. Then it was brought back in 2007 and the show finally ended it’s run in 2016.

When the original first run of this show ran it was in black and white so the children only know of Garibaldo blue feather through merchandise and and colored production stills.

When they wanted to bring back the show in 2007 they decided to go with Big Bird yellow feathers but with Garibaldo original personality from the run show of the show from the 70’s.

Abelardo Montoya- is the Mexico’s version of Big Bird and he is known as Big Bird’s cousin. He moved into Plaza Sesamo in 1981 and has been a central character ever since!  Abelardo even came to visit Sesame Street in 1997 to visit his cousin!

Abelardo is consider a parrot and has a sharper feather color scheme of green, pink and red. He is an avid learner of letters and likes to solve problems. At four years old he is younger than Big Bird and is very physically active.

Which Big Bird is your favorite? Comment below!

Until Next time!!!

Source: Muppet Fandom

In 1995 Disney came out with an interesting documentary. It was about Aliens and it was a TV special that aired on the Disney Channel only a couple of random times on the channel between the months of February and March!

It was hosted by actor Robert Urich who also starred in such movies as The Ice Pirates (1988) and Lonesome Dove (1989):

The documentary was supposed to be a promotional tool for their new Disney World park ride: ExtraTERRORrestrial Alien Encounter that open in June 1995. (There will probably be a future blog post about that ride too!). However when I watched it there was little talk about the actual ride and more talk about the potential of UFO’s.

I went ahead and linked the documentary at the bottom of this blog post.Warning there a a lot of talking heads in this documentary! I found this 44 minute doc rather entertaining and kind of surprising that it came from Disney.

Let me know your thoughts below about this doc. Let me know if you were to watch this when it originally aired!

Until next time!

A lot of people recognizes actress Candice Bergen from the late 80’s until the late 90’s comedy TV show called Murphy Brown:

She has so many accomplishments to her name in addition to acting she was a model, writer and an artist. However one thing has always stood out to me for her. Her interesting family. This is her “brother” Charlie McCarthy:

Candice Bergen’s parents were actress and model Frances Bergen and Edgar Bergen. Who is best remembered a very pop culture act with his puppet Charlie McCarthy.

Here is the duo on the Muppet Show

Candice Bergen’s childhood was always a bit odd… She said in an Vanity Fair interview back in 2016 that this photo pretty much sums up her whole childhood:

She continued to say that her dad was a very quiet reserved man but when he interacted with Charlie McCarthy a whole out, and outlandish duo happened. Candice was always in a lot of publicly photos such she was a baby and Charlie was always part of the family:

A lot of times she was referred to as “Charlie’s sister” and always felt like she had to constantly match wits with a toy dummy. Her relationship with her dad was not the best because it seemed like Charlie was more important to her dad then his actual child.

Charlie even had his own bedroom in the Bergen household which was next door to Candice’s bedroom and he actually had the bigger room between the two of them.

Candice was never really able to cement that father-daughter relationship that she was always seeking from Edgar. Charlie seemed to the top “child” of the two.

Even when Edgar Bergen decided to retire after more than 50 years of show business. Charlie McCarthy was sent to a permanent house at the National Museum of American History  in Washington DC in 1978.

When Edgar Bergen died in September 1978. He left 10,000 dollars in his will for Charlie and also funds so Charlie can continue his performances. Edgar Bergen said that he was very attached to Charlie McCarthy and he wanted make sure he was taken care of well after his death. Since Edgar’s performances always included Charlie I can kind of see why their an unbreakable bond between the two.

Candice Bergen on the other hand got nothing. She was left out of the will completely however despite that complex and weird family dynamic she was still able to raise above it and she became pretty successful in her own right.

Until Next time!!!