1.
San Diego
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San Diego is a major city in California, United States. It is in San Diego County, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, approximately 120 miles south of Los Angeles and immediately adjacent to the border with Mexico. With an estimated population of 1,394,928 as of July 1,2015, San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest in California. It is part of the San Diego–Tijuana conurbation, the second-largest transborder agglomeration between the US and a country after Detroit–Windsor, with a population of 4,922,723 people. San Diego has been called the birthplace of California, historically home to the Kumeyaay people, San Diego was the first site visited by Europeans on what is now the West Coast of the United States. Upon landing in San Diego Bay in 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the area for Spain, the Presidio and Mission San Diego de Alcalá, founded in 1769, formed the first European settlement in what is now California. In 1821, San Diego became part of the newly independent Mexico, in 1850, California became part of the United States following the Mexican–American War and the admission of California to the union. The city is the seat of San Diego County and is the center of the region as well as the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. San Diegos main economic engines are military and defense-related activities, tourism, international trade, the presence of the University of California, San Diego, with the affiliated UCSD Medical Center, has helped make the area a center of research in biotechnology. The original inhabitants of the region are now known as the San Dieguito, the area of San Diego has been inhabited by the Kumeyaay people. The first European to visit the region was Portuguese-born explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailing under the flag of Castile, sailing his flagship San Salvador from Navidad, New Spain, Cabrillo claimed the bay for the Spanish Empire in 1542, and named the site San Miguel. In November 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno was sent to map the California coast, in May 1769, Gaspar de Portolà established the Fort Presidio of San Diego on a hill near the San Diego River. It was the first settlement by Europeans in what is now the state of California, in July of the same year, Mission San Diego de Alcalá was founded by Franciscan friars under Junípero Serra. By 1797, the mission boasted the largest native population in Alta California, with over 1,400 neophytes living in, Mission San Diego was the southern anchor in California of the historic mission trail El Camino Real. Both the Presidio and the Mission are National Historic Landmarks, in 1821, Mexico won its independence from Spain, and San Diego became part of the Mexican territory of Alta California. In 1822, Mexico began attempting to extend its authority over the territory of Alta California. The fort on Presidio Hill was gradually abandoned, while the town of San Diego grew up on the land below Presidio Hill. The Mission was secularized by the Mexican government in 1833, the 432 residents of the town petitioned the governor to form a pueblo, and Juan María Osuna was elected the first alcalde, defeating Pío Pico in the vote
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
4.
The Nutcracker
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The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E. T. A. Hoffmanns story The Nutcracker and it was given its premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg on Sunday, December 18,1892, on a double-bill with Tchaikovskys opera Iolanta. Although the original production was not a success, the 20-minute suite that Tchaikovsky extracted from the ballet was, major American ballet companies generate around 40% of their annual ticket revenues from performances of The Nutcracker. Tchaikovskys score has become one of his most famous compositions, in particular the pieces featured in the suite. Among other things, the score is noted for its use of the celesta, for the ballet, Tchaikovsky would again join forces with Marius Petipa, with whom he had collaborated on The Sleeping Beauty. The material Petipa chose was an adaptation of E. T. A, Hoffmanns story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by Alexandre Dumas père called The Tale of the Nutcracker. The plot of Hoffmanns story was simplified for the two-act ballet. Hoffmanns tale contains a flashback story within its main plot titled The Tale of the Hard Nut. This had to be excised for the ballet, Petipa gave Tchaikovsky extremely detailed instructions for the composition of each number, down to the tempo and number of bars. The completion of the work was interrupted for a time when Tchaikovsky visited the United States for twenty-five days to conduct concerts for the opening of Carnegie Hall. Tchaikovsky composed parts of The Nutcracker in Rouen, France, the first performance of the ballet was held as a double premiere together with Tchaikovskys last opera, Iolanta, on 18 December 1892, at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. Although the libretto was by Marius Petipa, who choreographed the first production has been debated. Petipa began work on the choreography in August 1892, however, illness removed him from its completion and his assistant of seven years, although Ivanov is often credited as the choreographer, some contemporary accounts credit Petipa. The childrens roles, unlike many later productions, were performed by real children rather than adults, students of Imperial Ballet School of St. Petersburg, the first performance of The Nutcracker was not deemed a success. The reaction to the dancers themselves was ambivalent, while some critics praised DellEra on her pointework as the Sugar Plum Fairy, one critic called her corpulent and podgy. Olga Preobrajenskaya as the Columbine doll was panned by one critic as completely insipid, Alexandre Benois described the choreography of the battle scene as confusing, One can not understand anything. Disorderly pushing about from corner to corner and running backwards and forwards – quite amateurish, the libretto was criticized for being lopsided and for not being faithful to the Hoffmann tale. Some found the transition between the world of the first scene and the fantasy world of the second act too abrupt
5.
Broadway theatre
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Along with Londons West End theatres, Broadway theatres are widely considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. The Theater District is a popular tourist attraction in New York City, the great majority of Broadway shows are musicals. They presented Shakespeare plays and ballad operas such as The Beggars Opera, in 1752, William Hallam sent a company of twelve actors from Britain to the colonies with his brother Lewis as their manager. They established a theatre in Williamsburg, Virginia and opened with The Merchant of Venice, the company moved to New York in the summer of 1753, performing ballad operas and ballad-farces like Damon and Phillida. The Revolutionary War suspended theatre in New York, but thereafter theatre resumed in 1798, the Bowery Theatre opened in 1826, followed by others. Blackface minstrel shows, a distinctly American form of entertainment, became popular in the 1830s, by the 1840s, P. T. Barnum was operating an entertainment complex in lower Manhattan. In 1829, at Broadway and Prince Street, Niblos Garden opened, the 3, 000-seat theatre presented all sorts of musical and non-musical entertainments. In 1844, Palmos Opera House opened and presented opera for four seasons before bankruptcy led to its rebranding as a venue for plays under the name Burtons Theatre. The Astor Opera House opened in 1847, booth played the role for a famous 100 consecutive performances at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1865, and would later revive the role at his own Booths Theatre. Other renowned Shakespeareans who appeared in New York in this era were Henry Irving, Tommaso Salvini, Fanny Davenport, lydia Thompson came to America in 1868 heading a small theatrical troupe, adapting popular English burlesques for middle-class New York audiences. Thompsons troupe called the British Blondes, was the most popular entertainment in New York during the 1868–1869 theatrical season, the six-month tour ran for almost six extremely profitable years. Theatre in New York moved from downtown gradually to midtown beginning around 1850, in 1870, the heart of Broadway was in Union Square, and by the end of the century, many theatres were near Madison Square. Broadways first long-run musical was a 50-performance hit called The Elves in 1857, New York runs continued to lag far behind those in London, but Laura Keenes musical burletta The Seven Sisters shattered previous New York records with a run of 253 performances. It was at a performance by Keenes troupe of Our American Cousin in Washington, the production was a staggering five-and-a-half hours long, but despite its length, it ran for a record-breaking 474 performances. The same year, The Black Domino/Between You, Me and the Post was the first show to call itself a musical comedy, Tony Pastor opened the first vaudeville theatre one block east of Union Square in 1881, where Lillian Russell performed. Comedians Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart produced and starred in musicals on Broadway between 1878 and 1890, with book and lyrics by Harrigan and music by his father-in-law David Braham. They starred high quality singers, instead of the women of repute who had starred in earlier musical forms. Plays could run longer and still draw in the audiences, leading to better profits, as in England, during the latter half of the century, the theatre began to be cleaned up, with less prostitution hindering the attendance of the theatre by women
6.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
7.
Ray Bolger
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Raymond Wallace Ray Bolger was an American actor, singer, and dancer of vaudeville, stage and screen best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz. Raymond Wallace Bolger was born into a Roman Catholic family of Irish descent in Dorchester, Boston and his entertainment aspirations evolved from the vaudeville shows of his youth. He began his career in a vaudeville tap show, creating the act Sanford & Bolger with his dance partner, in 1926, he danced at New York Citys legendary Palace Theatre, the premier vaudeville theatre in the U. S. His limber body and improvisational dance movement won him leading roles on Broadway in the 1930s. Eventually, his career would also film, television and nightclub work. In 1932 he was elected to the theater club, The Lambs. Bolger signed his first cinema contract with MGM in 1936 and although The Wizard of Oz was early in his career he appeared in other movies of note. His best known appearance was The Great Ziegfeld, in which he portrayed himself. He also appeared in Sweethearts, the first MGM film in Technicolor, starring Nelson Eddy, Jeanette MacDonald and he also appeared in the 1937 Eleanor Powell vehicle, Rosalie, which also starred Eddy and Morgan. Following Oz, Bolger moved to RKO, in 1941, he was a featured act at the Paramount Theatre in New York, working with the Harry James Band. He would do tap dance routines, sometimes in a challenge dance with the bands pianist. One day during this period the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Bolger toured in USO shows with Joe E. Lewis in the Pacific Theater during World War II, and was featured in the United Artists war-time film Stage Door Canteen. In 1946 he returned to MGM for a role in The Harvey Girls. He repeated his role in the 1952 film version of the musical. Also in 1952 he made April in Paris with Doris Day, Bolger appeared in his own ABC television sitcom with a variety show theme, Wheres Raymond. Renamed the second year as The Ray Bolger Show and he continued to star in several films, including Walt Disneys 1961 remake of Babes in Toyland. Bolger made frequent guest appearances on television, including the episode Rich Man and his last television appearance was on Diffrent Strokes in 1984, three years before his death. In his later years, he danced in a Dr Pepper television commercial, and in 1985, he and Liza Minnelli, a film also written by Jack Haley, Jr. the son of Jack Haley, who portrayed the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz
8.
Walter Slezak
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Walter Slezak was an Austrian-born character actor and singer who appeared in German films before migrating to the US in 1930 and featuring in numerous Hollywood productions. He also played a corrupt and philosophical private detective in the film noir Born to Kill. Born in Vienna, the son of opera tenor Leo Slezak and Elsa Wertheim, he studied medicine for a time and he was talked into taking his first role, in the 1922 Austrian film Sodom und Gomorrah, by his friend and the films director, Michael Curtiz. In his early career, before he gained a great deal of weight. He also acted on the stage for years, debuting on Broadway in 1931. In Vienna in the 1930s, Slezak was close friends with heiress Maria Altmann and his first American film was Once Upon a Honeymoon, with Ginger Rogers and Cary Grant. Slezak played the lead in Broadway musicals, including Fanny, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, Slezak acted in radio in such shows as Lux Radio Theater, Columbia Workshop, The Pepsodent Show, and The Charlie McCarthy Show. He made numerous appearances, including in the programs This Is Show Business, Playhouse 90, and Studio One. In the 1970s, Slezak played the role of Frosch. Later film roles in Britain included the Cliff Richard vehicle Wonderful Life and his autobiography, What Times the Next Swan. was published in 1962. The books title refers to an incident in the career of his father. During a performance in the role of Lohengrin, the elder Slezak was supposed to finish his aria by stepping into a swan boat. When a stagehand removed the boat prematurely, Slezak supposedly reacted to the error by asking the audience What Times the Next Swan, Slezak married Johanna Kaasi Van Rijn on October 10,1943. The couple had three children, Ingrid, Erika, and Leo, Erika went on to become an Emmy-winning actress, and starred as Victoria Lord on the long-running soap opera One Life to Live from 1971 to its cancellation in 2012. In 1974, Slezak appeared on the series as her characters godfather, on 21 April 1983, Slezak died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was reportedly despondent over his physical illness. As was his father, he is buried in Rottach-Egern, in 1955, Slezak won a Tony Award for his role in the Broadway production of Fanny
9.
Jackie Gleason
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John Herbert Jackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor, and musician who developed a style and characters in his career from growing up in Brooklyn, New York. He was known for his visual and verbal comedy style. By filming the episodes with Electronicams, Gleason later could release the series in syndication and he also developed The Jackie Gleason Show, which maintained high ratings from the mid-1950s until its cancellation in 1970. After originating in Hollywood, filming moved to Miami, Florida, John Herbert Gleason was born in 1916 at 364 Chauncey Street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. He grew up at 328 Chauncey, named Herbert Walton Gleason, Jr. at birth, he was baptized John Herbert Gleason. His parents were Herbert Walton Herb Gleason, an Irish-American insurance auditor, Gleason was one of two children, his brother, Clement J. died of meningitis at age 14. Gleason remembered him and his father having a beautiful handwriting, and he used to watch him work at the kitchen table. Once it became evident that he was not coming back, Mae went to work as an attendant for the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation. With the disappearance of his father, young Gleason began hanging around with a gang, hustling pool. 73 Elementary School in Brooklyn, John Adams High School in Queens, Gleason became interested in performing after being part of a class play, he quit school before graduating and got a job that paid $4 per night as master of ceremonies at a theater. Other jobs he held at that time included working in a hall, as a stunt driver. He performed the same duties twice a week at the Folly Theater, Gleason was raised by his mother. When she died in 1935 of sepsis from a large neck carbuncle, Gleason was 19, he had nowhere to go, and he had 36 cents to his name. The family of his first girlfriend, Julie Dennehy, offered to him in, Gleason, however, was headstrong. His friend Sammy Birch made room for him in the room he shared with another comedian. Birch also told him of a gig in Reading, Pennsylvania. The booking agent advanced him bus fare for the trip against his salary and this was Gleasons first job as a professional comedian, henceforth, he would always have regular work in small clubs. Gleason worked his way up to a job at New Yorks Club 18, Gleason greeted noted skater Sonja Henie by handing her an ice cube and saying, Okay, now do something
10.
Richard Burton
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Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor who was noted for his mellifluous baritone voice. Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and he was called the natural successor to Olivier by critic and dramaturge Kenneth Tynan. An alcoholic, Burtons failure to live up to those expectations disappointed critics and colleagues, Burton was nominated for an Academy Award seven times, but never won an Oscar. He was a recipient of BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and Tony Awards for Best Actor, Burton remains closely associated in the public consciousness with his second wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor. The couples turbulent relationship was rarely out of the news, Burton was born Richard Walter Jenkins, Jr. on 10 November 1925 in a house at 2 Dan-y-bont in Pontrhydyfen, Neath Port Talbot. He was the twelfth of thirteen born to Richard Walter Jenkins Sr. Jenkins Sr. called Daddy Ni by the family, was a miner, while his mother worked as a bartender at a pub called the Miners Arms. He remembered his mother to be a strong woman and a religious soul with fair hair. Richard was barely two years old when his mother died on 31 October, six days after the birth of Graham, Ediths death was a result of postpartum infections, Richard believed it occurred due to hygiene neglect. According to biographer Michael Munn, Edith was fastidiously clean, following Ediths death, Richards elder sister Cecilia, whom he affectionately addressed as Cis, and her husband Elfed James, also a miner, took him under their care. I was immensely proud of her and she felt all tragedies except her own. Daddy Ni would occasionally visit the homes of his daughters but was otherwise absent. Another important figure in Richards early life was Ifor, his brother,19 years his senior, a miner and rugby union player, Ifor ruled the household with the proverbial firm hand. He was also responsible for nurturing a passion for Rugby in young Richard, although Richard also played cricket, tennis, and table tennis, biographer Bragg notes rugby union football to be his greatest interest. On rugby, Richard said he would rather have played for Wales at Cardiff Arms Park than Hamlet at The Old Vic, the Welsh rugby union centre, Bleddyn Williams believed Richard had distinct possibilities as a player. From the age of five to eight, Richard was educated at the Eastern Primary School while he attended the Boys segment of the school from eight to twelve years old. He took an exam for admission into Port Talbot Secondary School in March 1937. Biographer Hollis Alpert notes that both Daddy Ni and Ifor considered Richards education to be of paramount importance and planned to send him to the University of Oxford, Richard became the first member of his family to go to secondary school
11.
Bert Lahr
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Bert Lahr was an American actor, particularly of stage and film, and comedian. Lahr is known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker Zeke and he was well known for his explosive humor, but also adapted well to dramatic roles and his work in burlesque, vaudeville, and on Broadway. Lahr was born in New York City, the son of Augusta and his parents were German Jewish immigrants. Lahr grew up in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, dropping out of school at 15 to join a juvenile vaudeville act, Lahr worked up to top billing on the Columbia Burlesque Circuit. In 1927 he debuted on Broadway in Delmars Revels and he played to packed houses, performing classic routines such as The Song of the Woodman. Lahr had his first major success in a stage playing the prize fighter hero of Hold Everything. Other musicals followed, notably Flying High, Florenz Ziegfelds Hot-Cha. in 1939, he co-starred as Louis Blore alongside Ethel Merman in the Broadway production of DuBarry Was a Lady. Lahr made his film debut in 1931s Flying High, playing the oddball aviator he had played on stage. He signed with New York-based Educational Pictures for a series of two-reel comedies, when that series ended, he went to Hollywood to work in feature films. Aside from The Wizard of Oz, his career was limited. In the 1944 patriotic film Meet the People, Lahr uttered the phrase Heavens to Murgatroyd, later popularized by cartoon character Snagglepuss. Lahrs most famous role was that of the Cowardly Lion in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayers 1939 adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, Lahr was signed to play the role on July 25,1938. He starred opposite Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Frank Morgan, Lahrs lion costume was composed of lion fur and, under the high-intensity lighting required for Ozs Technicolor scenes, the costume was unbearably hot. Lahr contributed ad-lib comedic lines for his character, many of Lahrs scenes took several takes because other cast members, especially Garland, couldnt complete the scenes without laughing. The Wizard of Oz was Lahrs 17th movie, when warned that Hollywood had a habit of typecasting actors, Lahr replied, Yeah, but how many parts are there for lions. He made the transition to straight theater and he got a script of Waiting for Godot, and was greatly impressed but unsure of how the revolutionary play would be received in the United States. It was performed in Europe to great acclaim, but was somewhat obscure and he co-starred in the US premiere of Waiting for Godot in 1956 at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, Florida, playing Estragon to Tom Ewells Vladimir. The performance bombed, with audience members walking out in numbers
12.
Robert Goulet
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Robert Gerard Goulet was an American singer and actor of French-Canadian ancestry. Goulet was born and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts and his debut in Camelot marked the beginning of an award-winning stage, screen, and recording career. A Grammy, Tony, and an Emmy award winner, his career spanned almost six decades, Goulet was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on Greenvile St. in the Tower Hill section, the only son of Jeanette and Joseph Georges André Goulet, a laborer. His parents were both of French Canadian ancestry and he was a descendant of French-Canadian pioneers Zacharie Cloutier and Jacques Goulet. Shortly after his fathers death, 13-year-old Robert moved with his mother and sister Claire to Girouxville, Alberta, after living in Girouxville for several years, they moved to the provincial capital of Edmonton to take advantage of the performance opportunities offered in the city. There, he attended the schools founded by Herbert G. Turner and Jean Letourneau. Upon graduating from Victoria Composite high school, Goulet received a scholarship to The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, there, he studied voice with famed oratorio baritones, George Lambert and Ernesto Vinci. In 1952, he competed in CBC Televisions Pick The Stars and this led to other network appearances on shows like Singing Stars of Tomorrow, Opportunity Knocks, Juliette and the Canadian version of Howdy Doody in which he starred opposite William Shatner. Goulets first U. S. bookings were in stock theatre with the Kenley Players. He appeared in eight productions, including Pajama Game, Bells Are Ringing, Dream Girl, South Pacific, Meet Me in St. Louis, and Carousel. John Kenley came to his room after the opening of Pajama Game and gave him a raise, saying it was because he knew he could never afford to again. Goulet repeated his role in South Pacific for Kenley in a 1995 production, in 1959, Goulet was introduced to librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe, who were having difficulty casting the role of Lancelot in their stage production Camelot. Lerner and Loewe, impressed by Goulets talent, signed the virtual newcomer to play the part, opposite Richard Burton, Camelot opened in Toronto in October 1960. It then played an engagement in Boston, and finally opened on Broadway two months later. Goulet received favorable reviews, most notably for his show-stopping romantic ballad, after the run of Camelot, Goulet appeared on The Danny Thomas Show and The Ed Sullivan Show, which made him a household name among American audiences. On December 7,1962, Goulet made an appearance on The Jack Paar Show with Judy Garland to promote their animated film and he also would win a Grammy Award as Best New Artist in 1962. On May 25,1965, Goulet mangled the lyrics to the United States National Anthem at the opening of the second Muhammad Ali-Sonny Liston heavyweight championship fight in Lewiston, Maine. Goulet had never sung the anthem in public before, and replaced the lyric dawns early light with dawns early night, the gaffe was reported in newspapers nationwide the next morning, and Goulet was criticized in opinion columns for a lack of knowledge of the lyrics
