Ladder 49

'Saturday Night Fever' (1977) Travolta earned his first Oscar nomination — and proved he was more than Vinnie Barbarino on TV's "Welcome Back, Kotter" — as the Brooklyn teenager who becomes a big man on the disco dance floor. "It was a great beginning. I was grateful for it. " 'Grease' (1978) Travolta was the first choice to play Danny, who falls in love with Olivia Newton-John's good girl, Sandy, and frets over whether his tough-guy image can survive their romance.

Melissa Lynn "Stanley" Cohen, a Baltimore film production coordinator who worked on movies including Failure to Launch and Ladder 49, died of breast cancer Wednesday at Mercy Medical Center. She was 36. Cohen, who grew up in Ellicott City, graduated from Mount Hebron High School in 1989. She attended classes at Catonsville Community College but quit to follow her mother, a hair and makeup artist, into the film industry. She moved to Los Angles when she was 18. After finding she wasn't getting her calls returned in the male-dominated film world, she borrowed her dad's name and began sending out resumes as "Stanley Cohen."

Folks at the Baltimore City firefighters awards ceremony at the Marriott Waterfront Sunday night, and those at the Ladder 49 premiere at the Senator weren't the only ones to get "up close and personal" with the Disney movie's stars this week. Seems some unsuspecting diners found themselves with thrilling company at a couple of local restaurants Sunday. After the big awards ceremony that night, Ladder 49 actors John Travolta, Robert Patrick, Kevin Chapman and Billy Burke joined some of Baltimore's F.D. brass and their families for dinner in the Fleming's private dining room.

Mayor Martin O'Malley got his big Hollywood break yesterday, but his first role in a feature film was not much of a stretch. O'Malley portrayed the Mayor in the Touchstone Pictures drama Ladder 49, which stars John Travolta and Joaquin Phoenix. The scene shot yesterday portrayed a ceremony at the War Memorial Building on Gay Street and featured the mayor and 516 extras. "I never came out of character," O'Malley said of a performance that garnered him membership in the Screen Actors Guild and a one-day paycheck of $650.

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A slimmed-down Edna Turnblad shared the stage with her creator, John Waters, last night, much to the delight of scores of star-crazed fans. Well, it wasn't exactly Edna, the zaftig stage mom from Waters' "Hairspray," who took to the stage at the Maryland Institute College of Art . Rather, it was actor John Travolta, who brought Edna to the big screen in the 2007 musical version of Waters' film, up there on the stage. But the crowd embraced him like one of their own. "You've always been my favorite actor," one fan said from the audience, noting that she spent her teen years with pictures of Travolta plastered to her wall.

Baltimore has come a long way since its supporting role in Barry Levinson's intimate 1982 film comedy Diner. Three major productions pumped a record $125 million into Maryland's economy last year, nearly doubling the previous year's total, the state film office reported yesterday. During the year ending June 30, the Maryland Film Office was successful in bringing DreamWorks' Head of State, Touchstone Pictures' Ladder 49 and the HBO series The Wire to the state, along with a variety of independent films, commercials and documentaries.

Just a week ago, Elizabeth Conway Nass sat down with her father, Eric, to plan out a semester abroad in Norway. She wanted his advice on how she would spend the second half of her junior year overseas while staying on track to earn a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary liberal studies from James Madison University. Her family said Ms. Nass dreamed of becoming a special education teacher, except for a brief stint when she decided she wanted to be a firefighter after seeing "Ladder 49. " Ms. Nass had expected to return to college in Harrisonburg, Va., in a few days.

Oscar-nominated actor John Travolta will sit down for a public conversation with John Waters at Baltimore's Maryland Institute College of Art . The man who created Edna Turnblad and the actor who brought the zaftig housewife of "Hairspray" to full-throated life on the big screen will be appearing together in Baltimore next month. Oscar-nominated actor John Travolta, whose film roles have included star turns in "Saturday Night Fever," "Grease," "Pulp Fiction" and the musical version of "Hairspray," will sit down for a public conversation with John Waters, the unregenerate bad-boy director responsible for "Hairspray" in the first place.

There's your usual hot Baltimore summer. And then there's a hot-hot-hot B-more summer. Think the latter, according to the latest word on the street. "Hot" as in George Clooney coming to town. Are we talking a new flick being filmed here? Nobody's confirming anything yet. But it's looking good. Just like Mr. Clooney. Oh, and did we mention another sizzling name being bandied about in reference to a Charm City visit as well? A certain Matt Damon? Stay tuned. And then there's that scorcher that was filmed here last year.