Snow White was a Hollywood High Sheik: A Century of "Achieving the Honorable"
The students, faculty, and alumni of the world's most famous high school have greatly influenced the world. No other secondary school has as many accomplished, illustrious and celebrity alumni. The list of Hollywood High Sheiks that starred in or produced the greatest and most memorable shows of all time reads like a veritable who's who of TV land: Mike Farrell (M*A*S*H), George Takei (Star Trek), Carol Burnett (The Carol Burnett Show), Julie London (Emergency), Tony Becker (Little House on The Prairie), Alan Hale, Jr. (Gilligan's Island), Meredith Baxter (Family and Family Ties), Charlene Tilton (Dallas), Meta Rosenberg (Maverick and The Rockford Files), Doug Schwartz (Baywatch), Diana Canova (Soap), Mimi Leder (L.A. Law), John Ritter (Three's Company and The Walton's), James Garner (Maverick and The Rockford Files), Johnny Crawford (The Rifleman), Ricky Nelson (The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriett), David Nelson (The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriett), Glen Larson (Magnum P.I. and Knight Rider), Stefanie Powers (Hart to Hart), Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex in the City), June Marlowe (Our Gang Series), and Swoosie Kurtz (Sisters).
But it's not just Hollywood High's legacy, it's the world's as her alumni, called the Sheiks, "Achieve the Honorable" in whatever they do, creating iconic and superlative bodies of work that have and will transform the lives of generations. William Shockley created the computer age with his invention of the transistor. Dimitri Mihalas, the pioneer in astrophysical computational physics, is the world leader in the fields of radiation hydrodynamics and astrophysical quantitative spectroscopy. Laurence Johnston set the charges on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs. Vincent Bugliosi and Stephen Kay prosecuted Charles Manson and his band of psychological misfits which included fellow Sheiks Gypsy and Brenda. Fourteen-year-old Brandy Norwood sold 14 million records before she enrolled as a Senior. Scott Walker may not be familiar unless you're from England where in the 1960's he sold more records than the Beatles. And the Beatle's catalog owner, Michael Jackson married Debbie Rowe whose children play with a Ken doll modeled after Ken Handler, son of Barbie creator, Ruth Handler.
When you add the greatest films of all time, you get the sense that celebrity status is the norm not the exception with the cultural and artistic contributions of these Sheik entertainers: Judy Garland (The Wizard of Oz), Mickey Rooney (Boys Town and Andy Hardy Series), Gloria Grahame (It's a Wonderful Life), John Huston (African Queen, The Maltese Falcon, and Treasure of the Sierra Madre), Laurence Fishburne (Apocalypse Now), Marni Nixon (West Side Story and My Fair Lady), Adriana Caselotti (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), Heather Menzies (The Sound of Music), Sally Kellerman (M*A*S*H), Marge Champion (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Fantasia), Edward Dmytryk (The Caine Mutiny), Alan Ladd (Shane), Dickie Jones (Pinocchio), Jason Robards (Once Upon a Time in the West), Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Majestic), and Fay Wray (King Kong).
If you don't remember their names, you will instantly recognize the memorable roles they played: Dorothy, Shane, B.J. Hunnicutt, Snow White, Pinocchio, Moesha, Henry Aldrich, The Captain, Lucy Ewing, Krystle Carrington, Johnny, Luisa von Trapp, Hot Lips Houlihan, Audra Barkley, Jack Tripper, Bret Maverick, Elyse Keaton, Carrie Bradshaw, Ann Darrow, Jennifer Hart, Mr. Sulu, Miss Crabtree, and Jim Rockford. Who can ever forget Judge Joe Wapner (The People's Court) immortalized in Rain Man by Dustin Hoffman's mutterings of his favorite show. What is the truth about the discovery of Wapner's high school girlfriend, Lana Turner (Peyton Place)? It did not happen at Schwab's.
Hollywood is known for its stories, but nothing comes close to revealing the vast contributions of the Sheiks that pervade our lives on a daily basis. Other unforgettable Sheiks include Tuesday Weld, Anthony Anderson, Yvette Mimieux, Adam Walsh, Warren Christopher, Stuart Whitman, Ruta Lee, Lon Chaney, Jr., Nanette Fabray, Richard Long, Aprile Millo, Sharon Brown, Rita Wilson, and Carlos Castaneda.
The stories and legends of Hollywood High Sheiks have been told through hundreds of interviews and extensive research of her yearbooks, school newspapers, archives, and the internet. Hollywood High celebrated her Centennial from 2003 to 2004 with great fanfare and pomp befitting this historic school, starting a resurgence in the community it helped to create. From Disney's Main Street to the Great White Way and from the White House to Silicon Valley, Hollywood High Sheiks have left their mark on the world like no other school has or ever will.
