One of Anaheim High’s most successful athletes is Class of 1963’s Loy M. Petersen, the only graduate to play in the National Basketball Association.
Petersen, a 6-foot-5 forward and guard, was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the second round (17th overall) of the 1968 NBA draft. He played 69 career games over two seasons for the Bulls from 1968–1970.
He was a much sought after following his outstanding career with the Oregon State University Men’s Basketball Team from 1965 to 1968 [Read more…]
Destined to be a Colonist, Don Liebhart was born June 15, 1927 in Anaheim, and grew up dreaming of becoming an Anaheim High athlete. However, those dreams were dashed when he was stricken with polio in early childhood. With encouragement from his father, who would not let his son use his disability as an excuse, Don exercised his withered leg daily and, by the grace of God, was able to maintain use of his leg.
And what legs they became! They grew to carry Don at a height of 5-foot-10 and on to an amazing journey as an athlete, an award-winning basketball coach and dedicated teacher, father and grand-father. [Read more…]
One of Anaheim High’s best kept secrets is Class of 1930 graduate Charles Walters who became a successful Broadway and Hollywood dancer, choreographer and director.
In a soon-to-be-published book about his life, Walters is credited with being “responsible for staging some of the best remembered (now iconic) film musical sequences of the 1940s, showcasing Lucille Ball, Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, Mickey Rooney, among others.
Walters also directed — and often simultaneously choreographed — some of the most popular movie musicals made during Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio’s “golden age” and beyond. From his earliest directorial triumphs, “Good News,” “Easter Parade,” and The Barkleys of Broadway” to his smash hits “Lili,” “High Society,” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” [Read more…]
George Fraser – Class of 1970
George Fraser has the distinction of being Anaheim High’s first player in CIF history to make the CIF selection three years in a row, twice on first team. He was also on the 1967 Colonist football team that won Anaheim’s first outright CIF championship in the 4- A Division.
A natural athlete, Fraser was a stand-out player from the beginning. He played football, basketball and ran track as a boy in New York with a Catholic youth organization before moving to Anaheim in 1964. [Read more…]
Jerry Shipkey – Class of 1943
Legendary Hall of Fame athlete Jerry Shipkey has the distinction of being the only person to play in the Rose Bowl for both USC and UCLA. But his accomplishments as an athlete include much more. Shipkey went on to a standout career in professional ball with the Pittsburgh Steelers and was also a record-setting track and field star in high school and college. [Read more…]
ANAHEIM HIGH HALL OF FAMERS: Dave Bourne ’57, Jo An Burdick Gottlieb ’58, Greg Domene ’69 (on behalf of his wife Jan Harp Domene ’69), Julie Pascoe (on behalf of her father Jerry Shipkey ’43); and George Fraser ’70 accept their alma mater’s recognition as outstanding Colonists.
Five outstanding Anaheim High graduates were added to the Colonist Hall of Fame at a recent dinner and half-time ceremony.Honorees include Jerry Shipkey, a legendary athlete from Class of 1941; Jo An Burdick Gottlieb, a Class of 1951 graduate who achieved success in the entertainment, education and business fields; Dave Bourne, an award-winning musician who began playing professionally upon graduating from Anaheim High in 1957; Jan Harp Domene, a ’69 grad who became a nationally recognized advocate for children and education; and George Fraser, a community volunteer with youth sports and the first and only player in CIF history to make CIF selection three years in a row. They join 38 other inductees who have been named to the school’s Hall of Fame since the program’s inception in 2003.
Click on the following link to read more about these notable alumni: 2012 INDUCTEES
Photos from the event are available via the following link: http://s123.photobucket.com/albums/o297/AUColonist/HALL%20OF%20FAME/2012%20Hall%20of%20Fame/?albumview=slideshow
When growing up in the Colony, she went by Maybelle. But Katharine Elizabeth Wilson soon dropped the nickname when her family moved to Hollywood and she sat her sights on an entertainment career. Maybelle transformed into radio, TV and film star Marie Wilson, a blonde bombshell whose new moniker became a household name.
The only Anaheim High graduate with three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Marie earned national recognition for her role as the voluptuous blonde, scatter-brained secretary in “My Friend Irma,” the title role of a radio series that became one of the most popular shows of the late 1940s.
She starred in the television series of the same name from 1952 to 1954, then played the character in two movies titled, “My Friend Irma” and “My Friend Irma Goes West” featuring the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
