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Robin Hood - Richard Greene starred as the legendary 12th century English hero
and freedom fighter of Sherwood Forest who robbed from the rich and gave to the
poor on the syndicated adventure THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD/CBS/1955-58.
Nobleman Sir Robin of Locksley spoke out against the tyranny of King John who
had usurped the powers of the throne while the true king, his brother King
Richard, was in the Holy Lands fighting the Crusades. For his action, Robin of
Locksley's properties and lands were confiscated and he was declared an outlaw
of the Crown. With the aid of his "merry men," Robin Hood battled the Sheriff of
Nottingham (Alan Wheatley) and all forces that stood in the way of restoring
King Richard to the throne of England. The legend of Robin Hood appears in
Langland's Piers Plowman and in many other English ballads. Twenty-five years
later Mel Brooks created a wild, irreverent spoof of this legendary hero with
his sitcom WHEN THINGS WERE ROTTEN/ABC/1975 starring Dick Gautier as Robin Hood.
ROBIN OF SHERWOOD/SHO/1984-86 featured a reworked Robin Hood legend (filmed in
Britain) starring Michael Praed (and later Jason Connery), as the rugged
swashbuckling medieval hero. A revised version of the Robin Hood legend MAID
MARIAN AND HER MERRY MEN/BBC/1989-94 starred Kate Lonergan as Maid Marian and
Wayne Morris as Robin of Kensington. This time around Robin was a cowardly
tailor from Kensington, and Marian was the brains behind the Merry Men. In May,
1991 the FOX Network aired Robin Hood, a spirited movie presentation with
Patrick Bergin as the legendary English outlaw. In the summer of 1991, actor
Kevin Kostner starred in the theatrical release Robin Hood: The Prince of
Thieves which debuted in theaters nationwide. This adventurous adaptation had
Robin Hood bathing nude in a Sherwood Forest pond and a feisty Maid Marion
kneeing an attacker in the groin. And still another remake starred Matthew
Porretta in TNT Network's first original television series THE NEW ADVENTURES OF
ROBIN HOOD/TNT/1997-99. The latest reincarnation of the classic British outlaw
aired as ROBIN HOOD on the BBC in 2006. It starred Jonas Armstrong as a young
blonde, baby-faced outlaw of Sherwood.
Robin Hood of the Old West See -
"The Cisco Kid"
Rock, The (1) - Audrey Meadows, who played housewife Alice Kramden on the sitcom
THE HONEYMOONERS/CBS/1955-56 was nicknamed "The Rock" for her ability to get
people back to the script during rehearsals. According to The Official
Honeymooners Treasury by Peter Crescenti & Bob Columbe "She'd (Audrey) never
step on their ad-libs, (and) she'd hold fast to the written script. Gleason
became so dependent on Audrey's ability to keep the show on course that he
instructed the writers never to write a long scene for him unless Audrey was
also on stage." On the sitcom WHAT A DUMMY/SYN/1990-91 six-year-old Maggie
Brannigan (Jeanna Michaels) is called "The Rock" by her school friends because
she has nerves of steel. See also - The Great Non-Rehearser"
Rock, The (2) - Nickname of Dwayne Douglas Johnson, a professional wrestler
turned action movie star. Born May 2, 1972 in Hayward, California, Dwayne grew
up in Florida and played football for the Miami Hurricanes. Dwayne had already
played high school football at the age of 14 at Freedom High in Bethleham, Pa
and was considered one of the top 10 defensive tackles in the country in his
senior year. In 1995, Dwayne graduated from the University of Miami and signed a
contract with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League, but a year
later he decided to take a cue from his father Rocky Johnson and his grandfather
Peter Maivia and become a professional wrestler. Dwayne entered the ring for the
WWF on November 17 1996 under the name Rocky Maivia (a hybrid of his father and
grandfather's name) and soon earned the moniker "The Rock." (he also worked
under the name Flex Kavana for the USWA). The birth of the rock came about in a
1997 promo against Stone Cold Steve Austin when Rocky Maivia proclaimed "Stone
Cold Steve Austin, I'm challenging you for the Intercontinental
Championship....and if you do accept my challenge, then your bottom line will
say: 'Stone Cold---has been. Compliments of....The Rock!" Ask about wrestling
The Rock responded "I love wrestling and the physicality of wrestling. I love
the showmanship of wrestling and I love the interaction with the fans." Dwayne
calls himself "without a doubt, the most electrifying man in sports
entertainment today!" as well as "The People's Champ" and "The Great One". At 6'
5" and 275lbs, The Rock has a number of trademark moves: his staring into the
camera while lifting his right eyebrow called "The People's Eyebrow"; his
finishing moves, an elbow drop off the ropes called "The People's Elbow" (a.k.a.
"The Corporate Elbow") and the "Rock Bottom," a body slam; and his catch phrases
"Know your Role and shut your mouth!"; "Can you smell what The Rock is
cooking."; "You bring the ass, we bring the whuppin'!"; "Just Bring It!"; "Candy
Ass!"; and "Why don't you drink a big, tall glass of shut-up juice?" The Rock
also sports a tattoo of a Brahma Bull head on his upper-right shoulder. Outside
of his wrestling career, The Rock has appeared in the TV series WWF SUPERSTARS
OF WRESTLING (1984-96); WWF MONDAY NIGHT RAW (1993); RAW IS WAR (1997); SUNDAY
NIGHT HEAT (1998); WWF SMACKDOWN (1999); and in the action films The Mummy
Returns (2001), The Scorpion King (2001) and Helldorado (2003). Awards won by
The Rock included the 1998 King Of The Ring Finalist, 1997 Slammy Award Winner
For "New Sensation In The Ring" and 3 time World Wrestling Champion. TRIVIA
NOTE: The Rock's mother is of Samoan heritage, the daughter of The High Chief
Peter Maivia; his father, the Rocky Johnson, is of African-Canadian heritage.
Rock Hudson - To millions of his fans, he was "Rock Hudson" but in reality his
name was simply, Roy Scherer, Jr. At the beginning of his career, Roy's name was
changed to Rock Hudson by talent scout Henry Willson of the Selznick Studios.
"Rock" for the Rock of Gilbraltar and "Hudson" for the Hudson River. His
television credits include his role as the San Francisco police commissioner
Stewart McMillan on the police drama MCMILLAN AND WIFE/NBC/1971-79; the
detective drama THE DEVLIN CONNECTION/NBC/1982; and a short-lived role during
the 1984-85 season of the prime time soap opera DYNASTY/ABC/1981-89. Rock was
born November 17, 1925 in Winnetka, Illinois and died at 9:00 AM on October 2,
1985 in his Coldwater Canyon home in Los Angeles from complications due to AIDS.
Rocket - Street name of teenager Alberto a.k.a. "Rocket" (Dion Basco) who
attended Manhattan High on the teen sitcom CITY GUYS/NBC/1997-2001. Rocket had
connections all over town and could get his hands on just about anything anyone
could ever need.
Rocket Rangers, The See -
POLICE - SCI - FI
Rocky - Familiar nickname used by a number of TV characters over the years
including 24th precinct plainclothes detective Frank "Rocky" King on the
detective drama ROCKY KING, INSIDE DETECTIVE/DUM/1950-54; a flying rodent named
Rocket "Rocky" J. Squirrel on the cartoon ROCKY AND HIS
FRIENDS/ABC/NBC/1959-61/NBC/1964-73; Joseph "Rocky" Rockford (Noah Berry, Jr.),
the father of private eye Jim Rockford on the detective drama THE ROCKFORD
FILES/NBC/1974-1980; and Rocky was the first name of Rocky Jones (Richard
Crane), the chief of the Space Rangers on the sci-fi adventure ROCKY JONES,
SPACE RANGER/SYN/1954.
ROSEBUD - The middle name of Ritchie Petrie, (Larry Mathews) the young son of
comedy writer Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke) on episode No.36 "What's in a Middle
Name?" on the sitcom series THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW/CBS/1961-66. Before Ritchie
was born, the relatives of both Rob and his wife, Laura (Mary Tyler Moore)
gathered to decide on the perfect names for the yet unborn boy. To make everyone
happy, Rob took the first letter of each person's suggestion and came up with
the middle of name of ROSEBUD: "R" for Robert (his Dad), "O" for Oscar suggested
by Laura's mother), "S" for Sam (Rob's Dad's name), "E" for Edward (for Laura's
Father's brother), "B" for Benjamin (Suggested by Rob's mother), "U" for Ulysses
(suggested by Rob's grandfather) and "D" for David (suggested by Rob's
grandfather). Maurice "Buddy" Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam), Rob's writing partner
suggested that Rob name his kid "Exit" so that if he became an actor his name
would be in every theater in the country! TRIVIA NOTE: In the classic movie
Citizen Kane (1941), Rosebud was the final deathbed utterance of fictional
multi-millionaire, Charles Foster Kane. Investigative reporters spent the whole
film trying to find the significance of the word. The final scene of the movie
depicted a workman throwing a child's sled onto the flames of a large fire. On
the sled were the words "Rosebud." The sled (34 inches long), was custom built
in the RKO property department of balsa wood and fastened together with wood
dowels and glue. "The Making of Citizen Kane" by Robert L. Carringer University of
California Press, 1985.) Reportedly the name Rosebud was also millionaire
William Randolph Hearst's pet name for Marion Davies’ private part.
Roxanne Arlen - The stage name of a beautiful and very statuesque blonde starlet
named Dolores Rosedale who in the 1950s was the quintessential game show
assistant. Roxanne, a former model, appeared on both BEAT THE CLOCK/CBS/1950-58
where she photographed stunts; and on TWENTY QUESTIONS/NBC/ABC/DUM/1949-55 where
she was "The Miss Mennen Girl. Her popularity at the time landed her a spot in
the Macy's Annual Thanksgiving Parade. See also -
"Dagmar"
Ruffleman, The See - "Rifleman"
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