The Williamsburg Film Festival

The 15th Annual Festival is on track for March 9-12, 2011. Guest Stars confirmed for our festival include Ed Faulkner, Anne Jeffreys, Mickey Kuhn, Donna Martell, Paul Petersen, Ann Rutherford and H.M. Wynant. Entertainment will be provided by Ed & Bobbi Beard, the Blue ...River Blue Grass Band and Johny Western.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, Betsy Palmer and Stella Stevens who have been previously announced will be unable to attend.

We expect a record crowd based on the hotel occupancy at this date. Several new Dealers are coming on board as well as our regular group.

Ed & Bobbi Beard will perform at lunch each day in the Number 9 Saloon and at 9 p.m. on Thursday Night in the Panel Interview Room.

The Blue River Blue Grass Band will perform on Friday Night at 9 p.m. in the Panel Interview Room. The Blue River Blue Grass Band was a real hit at our festival several years ago.

We will have one-on-one interviews with each of our stars during the festival as well as a planned Q&A with Ann Rutherford and Mickey Kuhn on that classic film - "Gone with the Wind."

We will again have two film/video viewing rooms. The 16mm Theater will feature a wide array of b-westerns while the video room will show films and TV shows of our Guest Stars.

The Solar Guard Space Academy will again have their annual reunion and will be in attendance. Classic space shows will be shown nightly in the Video Viewing Room from 5 pm on.

"Cowboys and Aliens" staring Harrison Ford will be in theaters soon but here at the Williamsburg Film Festival, Cowboys and Space Men have been hanging out for years!!!! Welcome Solar Guard.

We will conclude our Festival with a great Saturday Night Dinner show where each of our Guest Stars will be honored and Johnny Western will headline a great Western Music Concert. We will again present "The Eddie" to a deserving fan.

In each newsletter, we will highlight the career of one of our Guest Stars. In this, the first edition, we cover the career of Ed Faulkner - John Wayne's right hand man.

Fielden Edward Faulkner II was born on Leap Year 1932 in Lexington, Ky., where his father ran a building supply company. His mother was a retired music teacher. He attended the University of Virginia for two years, majoring in civil engineering, then earned a B.S. degree from the Business College at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.

After two years of service in the military, Ed returned to civilian life to manage the family business. But he wanted to act. In the spring of 1958, Ed, his wife Barbara and their daughter moved to Beverly Hills to seek their fortune in Hollywood.

Over the next 18 years, Ed appeared in over 250 television programs and 30 theatrical motion pictures and telemovies. He is perhaps best remembered for his featured roles in six films with John Wayne and two with Elvis Presley. He also worked with such celebrated performers as James Stewart, Jack Lemmon, Dean Martin, Maureen O'Hara, Doris Day, Jean Arthur, Brian Keith, Rock Hudson, Jim Hutton, Vera Miles and Katharine Ross.

In 1975, Ed took a sabbatical from the film industry and entered the business world by joining Sea Containers Inc., a publicly-held company that owned and leased cargo containers to the marine transportation industry. He became president of the San Francisco office for five years, then director of sales for the company's leisure division, renowned for the restoration and operation of the Orient Express and ownership of over 40 luxury hotels worldwide, including the Hotel Cipriani in Venice. He retired in 1987.

But Ed still does voiceovers and makes guest appearances on T. Since 2004 he has been a guest at numerous film festivals across the United States. He ws recently honored at the 2007 Western Legends Round-Up in Kanab with a plaque on the Little Hollywood Walk of Fame. In October 2008 he taped a two-hour interview for Turner Classic Movies Archive Files.

Ed and Barbara reside in Palm Desert, Calif. They have three daughters, a son and five grandchildren.

Hope to see you in March.