PANORAMA
THE SUMTER ITEM
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2014
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The name’s Rimmer, Shane Rimmer BY NICK THOMAS Tinseltown Talks Special to The Item Widely recognized as the voice on a 1960s British children’s show, Shane Rimmer also worked alongside the BBC’s original Dr. Who, helped R2-D2 into an X-wing fighter, delivered an atomic bomb in “Dr. Strangelove,” and battled villains with two James Bond actors. Originally from Canada, Rimmer made a film career playing technicians, military men and numerous supporting characters (see www.shanerimmer.com). He has lived in Great Britain since the 1950s, retaining a distinctive North American accent that makes him much sought after in the British film industry. “I hit England at a lucky time when there weren’t many North American actors here,” said Rimmer by phone from his home in Hertfordshire. “I could have moved to Los Angeles instead,” he said. “But you really had to put your career ahead of everything else, and I just didn’t like the idea of handing over my life to Hollywood.” In 1966 he appeared in an early episode of “Dr. Who” which, still in production today, is now well-known in the U.S. “William Hartnell played the first Doctor back then,” recalled Rimmer. “My first
PHOTO COURTESY SHANE RIMMER
Shane Rimmer, right, supported Roger Moore as James Bond in “The Spy Loved Me.” day on the set, he came up and asked if I was from north or south of the Mason-Dixon Line! He could be a rough old bugger, but once you got to know him he was fine.” But it was in the 1960s British sci-fi kids show “Thunderbirds” that Rimmer made an impact, voicing Scott Tracy, pilot of the Thunderbird 1 aircraft. The action show, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, became extremely popular in Europe, Canada, Japan and Australia and used marionette puppets, detailed minia-
ture models, and dramatic special effects to portray the adventures of an international rescue team. “Gerry Anderson heard me on a BBC serial and thought my voice would be good,” said Rimmer. “He wanted a midAtlantic sound – not totally British, nor American. I still remember the recording sessions because all the actors were crowded around one gigantic microphone. They had some beautiful receiver mics in those days – ours looked like Big Ben in the middle of the studio!”
A 1964 role as copilot of a bomber sent to Russia in “Dr. Strangelove” gave his movie career a boost. “A big film like that gets your name out there and entry to other projects you might never have had,” he said. As a result, Rimmer joined the Bond family in the ‘60s and ‘70s, making three spy films working with both Sean Connery and Roger Moore. “Connery had a tremendous presence. I liked him, but you didn’t fool around and stuck to the script,” Rimmer said. “Moore was charming and
YESTERYEAR, FROM PAGE C1 “Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates” and “The Count of Monte Cristo.”
50 YEARS AGO – 1964-65 Dec. 27, 1964 – Jan. 2, 1965 Two Clarendon County hunters, Osteen Evans and Alfonso Welch, stumbled upon the skeletal remains of a human body as they trudged through Black River Swamp on a Christmas Day hunting trip. The skeleton, partially covered by the swamp water, was scattered about an area having a diameter of approximately ten feet. It was located about three miles east of the Gable Crossing on Highway 301 in the middle of Black River Swamp. A preliminary pathologist’s report, released today by Clarendon County Sheriff T.J. Jackson, revealed that the skeleton was that of a white male approximately 35 years old. • “The American Heritage New Illustrated History of the United States,” a new 16-volume series with a forward written especially for Volume 2 by the late President John F. Kennedy, will go on sale Jan. 11 at the A&P supermarkets in Sumter. • The Sumter County Christmas Seal Campaign Returns now total $5,400, Beverly Wolff Dwiggins, honorary chairwoman reported. “The campaign continues through Dec. 31, and all Sumter County citizens who have not yet answered their Christmas Seal Appeal are urged to do so,” Dwiggins said. • Establishment of the Robert H. Reeves Memorial Trophy for outstanding Clarendon County athletes was announced today by John Katsos, member of the trophy committee and one of the organizers of the project. The trophy is being awarded in memory of one of the area’s most sports-minded residents and the county’s oldest Clemson graduate, prior to his recent death. Robert H. Reeves, prominent farmer and former member of the House of Representatives from Clarendon County, was a member of Clemson’s varsity football team in the early 1900s. • “It broke the monotony of practice,” Coach Charlie Hodgin declared this morning as he looked back on yesterday’s 10-team Basketball Jamboree at Darlington. His Sumter High boys turned in two good performances in exhibition games. They outscored Conway 75-46 and in the afternoon outperformed Southside by 71-59. In the Conway game Hodgin was pleased with the
work of his two quick guards, Winston Jewell and Doug James, who dropped in 14 points apiece. The afternoon game found the big forwards doing the work, as Tommy Edens sank 24 and Robbie Baird 14. • People in the flat Pee Dee area of South Carolina begin thinking of Hill’s when they need a plumber. And well they might, as the family by that name owns plumbing establishments in Sumter, Camden and Bishopville and has done a heap of pipe threading and leak fixing in the past 47 years. K.B. Hill Sr., who is opening a brand new shop on North Main Street in Sumter the first of January, has been in the trade for nearly a halfcentury. Now, working primarily in an advisory capacity, K.B. is leaving most of the hard work to his sons and employees.
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1964 — Six scouts of Pitts Presbyterian Church received God and Country awards. All are members of Troop 350, sponsored by the Men of Pitts Church. The Rev. Samuel Lipsey, assisted by S.A. Tisdale, institutional representative for scouting, presented the awards, and the scouts were pinned by their mothers; the scouts then presented the pins to their fathers. From left are Tim Whitehead, son of Mr. and Mrs. H.E. Whitehead; Robby and Billy Guttshall, son of Mr. and Mrs. R.B. Guttshall; Nat Gist, son of Mr. and Mrs. Nat Gist; Mark Brown, son of Mr. and Mrs. A.D. Brown; and Mike Alford, son of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Alford.
25 YEARS AGO – 1989 Sept. 29 – Oct. 5 Hurricane Hugo’s toll of destroyed homes stands at almost 1,200 in Sumter County, with many people still living in them, Sumter County Civil Defense Director Vic Jones told the state’s lieutenant governor Thursday. Lt. Gov. Nick Theodore, who came to Sumter to view the hurricane damage and rebuilding progress, commended Jones for this work and county residents for their caring in the aftermath of the storm. He thanked National Guardsmen at the courthouse and assured Jones that the Guard presence would remain until the emergency is over. • Hurricane Hugo hasn’t dampened plans by Wilder Elementary School to spruce up the school’s property and neighborhood Saturday afternoon. The cleanup, spearheaded by Wilder Principal Eddie Myers, will draw on the donated time and materials of Sumter businesses, local residents, teachers, parents and Wilder students. It had been scheduled for this past Saturday, but was canceled in the wake of Hurricane Hugo. • About 100 people lined the fence in front of the Sumter County Exhibition Center by 7 a.m. Friday. They should have been waiting to gain entry to the grounds for the fourth day of the Sumter County Fair. Instead, they stared glumly at the wreckage of fairgrounds buildings and prepared to wait two hours to get in and start applying for federal disaster aid and emergency food stamps. • Lee County Emergency
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1989 — Eddie Newman and his daughter Dana weathered the storm at Eddie’s father’s house on Boulevard Road. Operations Center officials said Friday they are finding more people who have substantial damage to their homes and are without food. Baby and food supplies are in high demand, said Bishopville Fire Chief Ronnie Williams, who is heading the EOC. • It’s an axiom that a college education is expensive. But in recent years high school counselors, parents and prospective students alike have been flabbergasted by leaping college costs. According to a recent Merrill Lynch study, in 1988-89 a year at a top private U.S. college cost almost $18,000, putting a $70,000 plus price tag on a four-year degree. And in-state tuition at public universities, the “bargain” price, still approached $6,000 a year. • For eight hours a day Gary Nelson is your typical somewhat mild-mannered teacher, plying his trade as an educator at Sumter High School. However, when the last bell of the day rings at 3:30 p.m. signaling the end of school, an amazing metamorphosis occurs. Nelson assumes another role, that of athletic trainer
for one of the largest high schools in the state of South Carolina. Nelson’s training room, normally quiet except for soft music coming from a radio for the better part of the day, suddenly is filled with a mass of teenage humanity wanting to be treated for the bumps, bruises and injuries incurred from the sports they participate in. Nelson, with the help of six student trainers, is responsible for caring for each athlete competing in any sport offered by SHS. • Residents of Swan Lake Drive feel like they’ve been through a war. “I was floored the next morning when I saw it,” said Mary Kitchener of 2 Swan Lake Drive. “I said, ‘This looks like someone dropped an atomic bomb.’” • Sumter’s Julie Tharp says she’ll go along with the old adage that a woman’s place is in the house, as long as it’s a firehouse, of course. Tharp is one of nine female volunteer firefighters in Sumter County. Tharp, in her second year of battling blazes, thinks she can handle a ladder, use an ax or man a hose as well as the next guy or girl. “I just
took it all more lightly. He reworked the Bond character to fit his personality.” As for the latest Bond incarnation, Daniel Craig, Rimmer approves: “I quite admire him. He brought back the edginess that Connery had.” In 1977, Rimmer appeared briefly in the original “Star Wars.” “I was an engineer and had to help R2-D2 into the spaceship cockpit,” he recalled. “You’d get his leg in, then an arm would fall off. It took a day and a half to film that sequence!” With connections to so many iconic films and TV shows of the 20th century, Rimmer is a popular guest at fan conventions. “They’re big over here and draw two to three thousand people every weekend,” he said. “I still do a lot of those, plus voiceover work, and I write.” Works penned by Rimmer include TV scripts and his recent autobiography, “From Thunderbirds to Pterodactyls.” “You’ve got to be multidirectional in this business,” he says. “When one area dries up, you need something else you can turn to.” Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, Alabama, and has written features, columns, and interviews for more than 400 magazines and newspapers.
call myself a firefighter,” said the 22-year-old who volunteers at Sumter’s Cherryvale Station. • Sumter City Council spent much of its brief meeting Tuesday afternoon praising city employees for getting Sumter back on its feet so soon after the hurricane. “We’ve got at least seven families in our city family that lost everything,” Mayor Steve Creech said during the 40-minute meeting. “I can tell you they were out Friday morning (after the storm) and were out 12 to 14 hours a day. We want to publicly thank our city employees,” he said, adding that letters of appreciation will be sent to department heads and workers involved in the cleanup. • Tony Myers, the 1989 United Way campaign chairman for Sumter County, said a couple of weeks ago that he would be very surprised if this year’s goal of $744,842 wasn’t met. But that was before Hurricane Hugo. Now that the violent storm has wrecked the area, causing an estimated $500 million in damage to Sumter alone, Myers sadly admits the agency might not be able to raise the amount it initially expected. And that could hurt some local agencies financed in part by the United Way. • Lee County industries together suffered about $2.5 million in damage during Hugo’s rampage through town – a formidable figure when you consider the small industry base in this rural area. Although officials said it could have been worse, the storm damage was great enough to force the Bishopville division of Hartsville Manufacturing Co. to temporarily shut down. • The Sumter County Recreation Department ended its long search for an athletic director recently, hiring Danny Miller of Greenwood. The 38-year-old was born in Greenwood, attended Greenwood High School and Piedmont Technical College of Greenwood for four years, studying business and management courses. • As if Hurricane Hugo hadn’t done enough damage to Sumter’s poultry industry, heavy rains that drenched the area Sunday night were responsible for killing more chickens and turkeys throughout the county. So far, the Category 4 hurricane has led to the loss of more than a half million birds, according to Rowland Alston, Sumter County director of the Clemson Extension Service. Reach Item Archivist Sammy Way at waysammy@ yahoo.com or (803) 774-1294.