Here is a million-dollar baby. Maybe.
This is the picture: Male, five-eleven, the muscular physique of “Mr. America” and brooding, dark good looks reminiscent of the late James Dean.
Talents: Acting and singing.
Personality: Partly cloudy, with occasional thunder.
Name: Rod Lauren.
And maybe he will be the biggest star of the coming decade.
– “Birth of a Star” by Martin Cohen
TV-Radio Mirror, October 1960
On the day he was born – on March 26, 1940, in Fresno – his parents named him Roger Lawrence Strunk.
By the time he turned twenty, he would be heard on radio stations across the United States (as well as in Canada, Great Britain and several other countries), written about in newspapers and magazines – from his hometown Tracy Press to Life, Time, and Parade – and seen on national television with Ed Sullivan, Bob Hope, Perry Como, Steve Allen and on Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand,” known now as “moody, sullen-faced” Rod Lauren.
This is the story of Rod Lauren, and of Roger Strunk.
This story is being continued at RodLaurenStory.com
Written by David Ferrell Jackson.
“I Dreamed” Cover Art: Concept by David Ferrell Jackson · Photo Illustration by Zahid Amin · Based on 1959 “I’m Rod Lauren” cover art (LSP-2176) courtesy of RCA Victor Records.
So glad I stumbled upon this! I am engaged to Roger’s son, Derek and I shared it with him right away. Please post the continuation as soon as you can. We both loved reading it.
And yes, he’s just as handsome (and musically gifted) as his father, if not moreso.