Probably rock’s most famous muse, Pattie Boyd was the inspiration for 3 of the greatest love songs of the last half of the twentieth century: George Harrison’s “Something,” Eric Clapton’s “Layla” and Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight.”

Pattie shot to fame in the early 1960s, becoming an international success as a model. Her work on a potato chip commercial (called “crisps” in the UK) led that commercial’s director, Richard Lester, to cast her as a schoolgirl in the first Beatles film, A Hard Day’s Night.

Boyd was 19, George Harrison was 20. He was instantly smitten and began pursuing Ms. Boyd – proposing to her before they even had their first date. The couple were wed in 1966.

In the course of things, George introduced her to his new best friend, Eric Clapton. Clapton also became infatuated with Boyd. The fact that she was married to his best friend only made things worse. Someone then gave Clapton a 12^th-century Persian poem called “The Story of Layla and Majnun.” (I bet you can guess where this story is going.) 

In the story, Majnun is desperately in love with Layla, but can’t have her. He eventually goes mad and wanders in the desert, never consummating his love. Obviously, this led Clapton to write his now-classic song “Layla.” In fact, his anguish about Pattie is all over his “Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs” album.

But the story of Pattie and Eric traveled a different route than that of Layla & Majnun.
 Infidelities on both George and Patti’s part had put stress on their marriage. Patti chose to resume her modeling career against the wishes of her husband. Then, Pattie discovered that George was having an affair with Ringo Starr’s wife, Maureen. That apparently was the last straw. The couple separated in 1974, eventually divorcing in 1977.

Boyd and Clapton quickly became a couple, eventually marrying in 1978. That there was no ill will between Eric & George is evident in the fact that George joined his old mates Paul McCartney & Ringo to play at Clapton’s wedding reception. (Apparently, no ill will between Ringo and George either.)

But there was no happily ever after here either. Pattie was unable to conceive and Eric ruled out adoption. This caused strain in the marriage. To make matters worse, Pattie found out that Clapton had actually fathered other children while he was married to Boyd. On top of that, Clapton’s alcoholism was out of control and he frequently beat her as well. The couple split in 1987 and were formally divorced in 1989.

Two years later, she met real estate developer Rod Weston. The two became a couple, but didn’t marry until 2015. After 24 years as a couple, Weston quipped, “It's almost our silver anniversary, so we thought we had better get on with it.”

Boyd has been active in addiction recovery work, co-founding SHARP (Self-Help Recovery Program) with Ringo’s second wife Barbara Bach.

She has also written her autobiography (with help from a professional writer), titled – what else? – Wonderful Tonight.

“Smile, you’re on Candid Camera!”

Every Baby Boomer can remember that catchphrase. You probably even said it once or twice yourself.

Here’s the true story behind America’s original reality TV show.

The premise of Candid Camera was simple: film ordinary people in unusual situations without their being aware that they are being filmed.

Alan Funt was the mastermind behind the show. He began the show during the waning days of network radio as Candid Microphone. What most of us don’t remember is that he made several attempts to bring the show to TV before it finally caught on.

The first television version aired on ABC in 1948. It moved to NBC for 1949. Then they tried to syndicate the show, with mixed results. In 1958, Candid Camera became a segment on The Jack Parr Show. In 1959, it was part of The Gary Moore Show.

Finally, in 1960 CBS tried it out as its own half-hour series again. This time it clicked and in a big way.

Candid Camera landed in the Top 10 TV shows in the U.S. in each of its first 4 seasons, peaking at # 2 in 1962-63. This version of the show lasted until 1967. It then went into syndication, but because most of the seasons had been shot in black & white, its commercial viability waned as color came to dominate TV Land.

During its 1960’s, Funt’s co-hosts included Arthur Godfrey, Durwood Kirby and Bess Myerson. A then-unknown Woody Allen was one of the show’s writers, who would also appear in some of the show's stunts.

Funt next brought his Candid Camera technique to the movies with a “naughty” version of his hidden camera stunts called What Do You Say to a Naked Lady (1970).

With the rise of cable there have been many attempts to revive the show, both in “naughty” and the more familiar family-friendly versions. The most recent revivals have been produced and hosted by Funt’s son, Peter.

Of course, Candid Camera is also the inspiration for many of the practical joke shows that pop up on television these days, especially Aston Kutcher’s Punked series.

Regardless of what the future holds, you would be wise to be on your guard. Someday, somewhere, someone may come up to you and say, “Smile! You’re on Candid Camera!”

Back when Baby Boomers were still in our Wonder Years, the average life expectancy was right around 65 years. Well, the Greatest Generation blew past that like it didn’t exist and life expectancies just keep getting longer. So, we thought you’d probably like a few tips that will help ensure you don’t outlive your money.

• Keep Working – Because birth rates declined in the U.S. many of us have found that there is no pressure from businesses to take retirement at 65. But even if working 9 to 5 isn’t what you really want, why not take some part-time work? Sure, you’ll only be earning less, but every dollar is a dollar of your retirement funds you don’t have to touch.
• Consolidate Your Retirement Accounts – the experts say it’s much easier to keep track of your money if it’s spread around fewer places. Also, you may be able to reduce some of the fees charged by money managers as you reduce your number of accounts. Firms may also offer additional discounts for larger accounts.
• Reconsider Major Expenses – This includes dropping a bundle on one of the children’s weddings or helping with a grandchild’s college tuition. We’re not saying be a Scrooge, but if you run out of money, you’ll wind up becoming a financial burden to someone else, and we’re sure you want to avoid that.

We all grew up thinking of Fritzi Ritz as Nancy’s sensible, respectable guardian, but she had a secret past!

Francine “Fritzi” Ritz started out as a showgirl who not only took off her clothes to entertain newspaper readers, she also was something of a public exhibitionist as these long lost newspaper clippings prove.

Contacted at the Home for Retired Comic Strip Actors, Ms. Ritz explained: “I’m not proud of what I did, but I’m not ashamed either. I needed the money.”

Good news! There are some healthy foods that actually taste good and you’ll want to eat. It’s nuts!

No, not a crazy kind of idea, but the actual food category of nuts. They’re loaded with nutrients and, as more and more research is showing, many kinds of nuts also have additional benefits to our mental as well as physical well-being.

Here’s just a small sample:

Almonds – Almonds are an incredible source of vitamin E, which has been shown to reduce the risk of dementia.

Pistachios – Pistachios help the brain generate what’s known as gamma waves, which boost cognition and memory.

Walnuts – In addition to being rich in fiber and protein, walnuts are also believed to help improve mood.

Roasted or Raw?

That’s up to your personal taste. Research indicates that there's no difference in the health value between roasted and raw, provided the nuts are roasted without oil.

What if You’re Allergic to Nuts?

If you are one of the unfortunates who are allergic to tree nuts, some of the same benefits can be yours by upping your consumption of seeds such as pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds.