March 08

George Michael Dolanz's Birthday

George Michael (Micky) Dolenz, Jr. is an actor, musician, and director. He began his acting career at eleven when he starred under the name Micky Braddockin a children’s TV show called Circus Boy. In the popular series he played an orphaned boy who is the water boy for the elephants in his uncle’s one-ring circus

After Circus Boy, Dolenz began singing, performing in LA-area clubs with a band called Micky & The One-Nighters as well as with a band called Missing Links. Micky auditioned for The Monkees (1966) TV series in 1965, and on the strength of his audition won a role and became the group's designated crazy one. Assigned as a drummer, he worked to learn the drums well enough to bluff his way through filming.

The Monkees which also costarred with Davey Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork became a hit. The group soon evolved into a legitimate band and had several concert tours while they worked on the TV series. When the show was cancelled in 1968, the band continued releasing records until 1970. The Monkees also made one film, Head (1969), a disastrous psychedelic romp cowritten by Jack Nicholson.

After the cancellation of The Monkees, Micky's career floundered for a few years. He auditioned for for the role of Fonzie on the series Happy Days, but lost out to Henry Winkler. He survived by doing cartoon voice-over roles and a few minor guest roles in TV shows. Micky eventually reunited with fellow Monkee, Davey Jones, for a series of concerts in the United States and England which culminated in 1977 with Jones and Dolenz in a stage production of the Harry Nilsson musical The Point! in London, playing the part of Arrow, Jones's pet dog. After the show’s run, he remained in England and began producing and directing for the stage and television.

In 1986, a screening of the entire Monkees television series by MTV led to renewed interest in the group, followed by a 20th Anniversary Tour, a greatest hits album and a brand new LP, the group's original albums were reissued and all of them hit the record charts at the same time. Micky then joined the other ex-Monkees for periodic reunion tours and has performed as a solo performer on occasions.

So let's make some Monkey bread to celebrate the birthday of The Monkees' crazy one. Monkey bread is a certified comfort food - a pull-apart coffee cake that can made quickly by using prepared refrigerator biscuits instead of the traditional yeast bread recipes. Enjoy it with a viewing of Head (1968) for a psychedelic treat .

Monkey Bread

Ingredients

4 cans refrigerated biscuits
1 cup packed brown sugar
1&1/2 sticks butter

1/2 cup white sugar
2 TB cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9-10 inch tube pan.
2. Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized plastic bag. Cut the biscuits into halves or quarters and
    place six to eight biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. Shake well.
3. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the greased pan. Continue layering until all the biscuit pieces are coated and
    in the pan. Place raisins among the biscuit pieces as you are layering.
4. In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the
    layered biscuits.
5. Bake for 35 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn upside down onto serving plate; pull apart to serve. Serve
    warm.

Serves 3- 4