by Jan Alan Henderson

Happy Birthday, Fred! Today ( March 22, 2007), Fred Crane turns 89 years young, and it’s with great pride that I initiate Fred into the George Reeves Hall of Fame. All of you Glass House readers know Fred as George’s Tarleton Twin in Gone With the Wind, and his great friend from the dawn of his motion picture career to his untimely demise.

George was Fred’s best man at Fred’s first wedding, and the two remained good friends throughout their years in show business. While their careers took different directions, their admiration for one another did not. Fred "trod the boards" and was a disc jockey on Los Angeles’ premier classical radio station KFAC. He also found time to appear in films and television shows such as Lawman, Surfside Six, Lost in Space, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

I met Fred in 1994 when I began to put decades of research together for what would ultimately become Speeding Bullet. While looking for new interviews, my friend John Norris told me his family knew Fred in their mutual home town of New Orleans. At this time, Fred was still broadcasting and living in the Miracle Mile section of Los Angeles.

Within days, I was sitting with Fred and reminiscing about his glory days with George and his experiences making Gone With the Wind. I could regale you readers with stories of Fred’s exploits, but it would be better if Fred did this himself in his soon to be published autobiography. This tome is sure to be a hit with George Reeves fans, as well as Gone With the Wind enthusiasts.

Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of Fred’s friendship, as well as that of his wife Terry, and have spent many happy hours on the phone comparing notes and listening to Fred’s spectacular harmonica serenades.

So, welcome to the George Reeves Hall of Fame, my friend, and may this be the happiest of birthdays.

From your younger Southern brother in the wilds of Southern California.