1.
National Velvet (film)
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National Velvet is a 1944 American Technicolor sports film directed by Clarence Brown and based on the novel of the same name by Enid Bagnold, published in 1935. It stars Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp, and a young Elizabeth Taylor, in 2003, National Velvet was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. She is aided by a young drifter named Mi Taylor, who found Mrs. Browns name and address among his late fathers effects. Hoping to gain money from the association, Mi stays at the Browns home. Nevertheless she convinces her husband to hire Mi over his better judgment and it is revealed that Mi had been a jockey in Manchester, but his career ended in a collision which resulted in the death of another jockey. Since then Mi has not held a job, and he has come to hate horses, Velvet decides to call the horse The Pie after his owner, Mr. Ede, calls him a pirate. The man decides to be rid of The Pie, and offers him up in a raffle, Velvet wins The Pie, and on realizing the extent of the horses natural talent, she pleads with Mi to train the horse for the Grand National. He believes it a fools errand, not because of the horse and he makes his case to Mrs. Brown, but she consents to Velvets desire to train the horse. Velvet and Mi train the horse and enter him into the race, an experienced jockey is hired to ride him. The night before the race Velvet senses that the jockey hired to ride The Pie has no faith in him, Velvet convinces Mi to fire the jockey, leaving them without a rider. That night Mi determines to overcome his fears and ride The Pie himself, instead, he discovers that Velvet has slipped on the jockeys colors, and intends to ride the horse in the race herself. Aware of the dangers of such a race, Mi tries to reason with Velvet, as the race unfolds Velvet and The Pie avoid a number of falls, clear all the hurdles and win the race. Elated by their win, Velvet faints and falls off her mount at the finish, as she is revived the race doctor realizes she is not a young man, but a young woman. As she dismounted before getting the back to the paddock, she and The Pie are disqualified. Velvet becomes a sensation, declining an offer of £5,000 to travel to Hollywood with The Pie to be filmed. She ran The Pie at the Grand National because he deserved to have a chance and he wasnt an oddity to be stared at. Velvet tearfully refuses the offer claiming that The Pie wouldnt like being stared at, Velvet chooses to have a normal life with The Pie. At the close of the film Mi takes his leave, Velvet rides off to catch up with Mi and tell him that his father had been Mrs. Browns coach when she won the prize as the first woman to swim the English Channel, many years before
2.
National Velvet (TV series)
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National Velvet is an American drama series that originally aired from 1960 to 1962 on NBC. Based on the novel and film of the name, the series ran for a total of fifty-eight episodes. Velvet owned a thoroughbred stallion named King which she hoped would one day run in the Grand National Steeplechase, first aired at 8 p. m. Eastern on Sunday preceding The Tab Hunter Show and opposite CBSs The Ed Sullivan Show. National Velvet at the Internet Movie Database National Velvet at TV. com
3.
William Morrow and Company
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William Morrow and Company is an American publishing company founded by William Morrow in 1926. The company was acquired by Scott Foresman in 1967, sold to Hearst Corporation in 1981, the company is now an imprint of HarperCollins. William Morrow has published many renowned fiction and non-fiction authors, including Ray Bradbury, Michael Chabon, Neil Gaiman, Erle Stanley Gardner, liddell Hart, Elmore Leonard, Judith Rossner, and Neal Stephenson. Francis Thayer Hobson was President and later Chairman of the Board of William Morrow and Company
4.
Enid Bagnold
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Enid Algerine Bagnold, Lady Jones CBE was a British author and playwright, known for the 1935 story National Velvet. She was born in Rochester, Kent, daughter of Colonel Arthur Henry Bagnold and his wife, Ethel, and brought up mostly in Jamaica. She went to art school in London, and then worked for Frank Harris, during the First World War she became a nurse, writing critically of the hospital administration and being dismissed as a result. After that she was a driver in France for the remainder of the war years and she wrote about her hospital experiences in A Diary Without Dates, and about her experiences as a driver in The Happy Foreigner. In 1920, she married Sir Roderick Jones, Chairman of Reuters and they lived at North End House, Rottingdean, near Brighton, the garden of which inspired her play, The Chalk Garden. Their great-granddaughter is Samantha Cameron, wife of the former Prime Minister, Bagnold died at Rottingdean in 1981, aged 92, and is interred at St Margarets churchyard there. During the Second World War, Bagnolds brother Ralph Bagnold founded the Long Range Desert Group, some context of the interwar pony story in which Bagnolds National Velvet was conceived, jeunessejournal. com, accessed 28 September 2014. Profile, spartacus-educational. com, accessed 28 September 2014
5.
Grand National
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The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap steeplechase over 4 miles 514 yards with horses jumping 30 fences over two laps and it is the most valuable jump race in Europe, with a prize fund of £1 million in 2016. An event that is prominent in British culture, the race is popular amongst many people who do not normally watch or bet on horse racing at times of the year. The course over which the race is run features much larger fences than those found on conventional National Hunt tracks, the Grand National has been broadcast live on free-to-air terrestrial television in the United Kingdom since 1960. From then until 2012 it was broadcast by the BBC, between 2013 and 2016 it was shown by Channel 4, the UK broadcasting rights transfer to ITV from 2017. An estimated 500 to 600 million people watch the Grand National in over 140 countries and it has also been broadcast on radio since 1927, BBC Radio held exclusive rights until 2013, however, Talksport also now holds radio commentary rights. The most recent running of the race, in 2016, was won by Rule The World, the next Grand National is on 8 April 2017 and is sponsored by Randox Health. The Grand National was founded by Kieran Sanderson, a head and proprietor of the Waterloo Hotel, on land he leased in Aintree from William Molyneux. Lynn set out a course, built a grandstand, and Lord Sefton laid the stone on 7 February 1829. This same horse won again in 1837, while Sir William was the winner in 1838 and these races have long been disregarded because of the belief that they took place at Maghull and not Aintree. Contemporary newspaper reports place all the 1836-38 races at Aintree although the 1839 race is the first described as national, to date, though, calls for the Nationals of 1836–1838 to be restored to the record books have been unsuccessful. The Duke was ridden by Martin Becher, the fence Bechers Brook is named after him and is where he fell in the next year’s race. In 1838 and 1839 three significant events occurred to transform the Liverpool race from a local affair to a national event. Firstly, the Great St. Albans Chase, which had clashed with the steeplechase at Aintree, was not renewed after 1838, secondly, the railway arrived in Liverpool, enabling transport to the course by rail for the first time. Finally, a committee was formed to organise the event. These factors led to a highly publicised race in 1839 which attracted a larger field of top quality horses and riders, greater press coverage. Over time the first three runnings of the event were quickly forgotten to secure the 1839 race its place in history as the first official Grand National. It was won by rider Jem Mason on the named, Lottery By the 1840s
6.
Steeplechase
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A steeplechase is a distance horse race in which competitors are required to jump diverse fence and ditch obstacles. Steeplechasing is primarily conducted in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Australia, modern usage of the term steeplechase differs between countries. In Ireland and the United Kingdom, it only to races run over large, fixed obstacles. The collective term jump racing or National Hunt racing is used referring to steeplechases. Elsewhere in the world, steeplechase is used to refer to any race that involves jumping obstacles. The most famous steeplechase in the world is the Grand National run annually at Aintree Racecourse, in Liverpool, since its inception in 1836, which in 2014 offered a prize fund of £1 million. The steeplechase originated in Ireland in the 18th century as an analogue to cross-country thoroughbred horse races which went from church steeple to church steeple, an account of the race was believed to have been in the library of the OBriens of Dromoland Castle. Most of the earlier steeplechases were contested cross-country rather than on a track, the first recorded steeplechase over a prepared track with fences was run at Bedford in 1810, although a race had been run at Newmarket in 1794 over a mile with five-foot bars every quarter mile. The first recognised English National Steeplechase took place on Monday 8 March 1830, the 4-mile race, organised by Thomas Coleman of St Albans, was run from Bury Orchard, Harlington in Bedfordshire to the Obelisk in Wrest Park, Bedfordshire. The winner was Captain Macdowall on The Wonder, owned by Lord Ranelagh, report of the event appeared in the May and July editions of Sporting Magazine in 1830. In Great Britain and Ireland, steeplechase only refers to one branch of jump racing, collectively, Great Britain and Ireland account for over 50% of all jump races worldwide, carding 4,800 races over fences in 2008. Jump racing in Great Britain and Ireland is officially known as National Hunt racing, French jump racing is similar to British and Irish National Hunt races, with a few notable differences. Hurdles are not collapsible, being akin to small brush fences. Chases often have large fences called bullfinches, a large hedge up to 8 ft tall that horses have to jump rather than over. There are also a number of cross-country chases where horses have to jump up and down banks, gallop through water. Auteuil in Paris is perhaps the best known racecourse in France for French jump racing, the Velká pardubická Steeplechase in Pardubice in the Czech Republic is the location of one of the longest steeplechase races in Europe. The first Velka Pardubice Steeplechase was held on 5 November 1874, in the United States, there are two forms of steeplechasing, hurdle and timber. National fences stand 52 inches tall at the highest point, but are made of synthetic brush that can be brushed through
7.
Sussex
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Sussex, from the Old English Sūþsēaxe, is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. Brighton and Hove was created as an authority in 1997. Until then, Chichester was Sussexs only city, Sussex has three main geographic sub-regions, each oriented approximately east to west. In the south-west is the fertile and densely populated coastal plain, North of this are the rolling chalk hills of the South Downs, beyond which is the well-wooded Sussex Weald. The name derives from the Kingdom of Sussex, which was founded, according to legend, in 825, it was absorbed into the kingdom of Wessex and subsequently into the kingdom of England. It was the home of some of Europes earliest hominids, whose remains have been found at Boxgrove, in 1974, the Lord-Lieutenant of Sussex was replaced with one each for East and West Sussex, which became separate ceremonial counties. Sussex continues to be recognised as a territory and cultural region. It has had a police force since 1968 and its name is in common use in the media. In 2007, Sussex Day was created to celebrate the rich culture. Based on the emblem of Sussex, a blue shield with six gold martlets. In 2013, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles formally recognised and acknowledged the existence of Englands 39 historic counties. The name Sussex is derived from the Middle English Suth-sæxe, which is in turn derived from the Old English Suth-Seaxe which means of the South Saxons, the South Saxons were a Germanic tribe that settled in the region from the North German Plain during the 5th and 6th centuries. The earliest known usage of the term South Saxons is in a charter of 689 which names them and their king, Noðhelm. The monastic chronicler who wrote up the entry classifying the invasion seems to have got his dates wrong, the New Latin word Suthsexia was used for Sussex by Dutch cartographer Joan Blaeu in his 1645 map. Three United States counties, and a former division of Western Australia, are named after Sussex. The flag of Sussex consists of six gold martlets, or heraldic swallows, on a background, blazoned as Azure. Officially recognised by the Flag Institute on 20 May 2011, its design is based on the shield of Sussex. The first known recording of this emblem being used to represent the county was in 1611 when cartographer John Speed deployed it to represent the Kingdom of the South Saxons
8.
English Channel
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The English Channel, also called simply the Channel, is the body of water that separates southern England from northern France, and links the southern part of the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. It is about 560 km long and varies in width from 240 km at its widest to 33.3 km in the Strait of Dover and it is the smallest of the shallow seas around the continental shelf of Europe, covering an area of some 75,000 km2. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the English Channel as follows, a line joining Isle Vierge to Lands End. The southwestern limit of the North Sea, the IHO defines the southwestern limit of the North Sea as a line joining the Walde Lighthouse and Leathercoat Point. The Walde Lighthouse is 6 km east of Calais, and Leathercoat Point is at the end of St Margarets Bay. The Strait of Dover, at the Channels eastern end, is its narrowest point and it is relatively shallow, with an average depth of about 120 m at its widest part, reducing to a depth of about 45 m between Dover and Calais. Eastwards from there the adjoining North Sea reduces to about 26 m in the Broad Fourteens where it lies over the watershed of the land bridge between East Anglia and the Low Countries. It reaches a depth of 180 m in the submerged valley of Hurds Deep,48 km west-northwest of Guernsey. The eastern region along the French coast between Cherbourg and the mouth of the Seine river at Le Havre is frequently referred to as the Bay of the Seine. There are several islands in the Channel, the most notable being the Isle of Wight off the English coast. The coastline, particularly on the French shore, is indented, several small islands close to the coastline, including Chausey. The Cotentin Peninsula in France juts out into the Channel, whilst on the English side there is a parallel channel known as the Solent between the Isle of Wight and the mainland. The Celtic Sea is to the west of the Channel, the time difference of about six hours between high water at the eastern and western limits of the Channel is indicative of the tidal range being amplified further by resonance. It was never defined as a border and the names were more or less descriptive. It was not considered as the property of a nation, strangely, before the development of the modern nations, British scholars very often referred to it as Gaulish and the French one as British or English. The name English Channel has been used since the early 18th century. In modern Dutch, however, it is known as Het Kanaal, later, it has also been known as the British Channel or the British Sea having been called the Oceanus Britannicus by the 2nd-century geographer Ptolemy. The same name is used on an Italian map of about 1450, the Anglo-Saxon texts often call it Sūð-sǣ as opposed to Norð-sǣ
9.
Gymkhana
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Gymkhana is an Indian term which originally referred to a place of assembly. The meaning then altered to denote a place where skill-based contests were held, Gymkhana is an Anglo-Indian expression, which is derived from the Persian word Jamat-khana. Most gymkhanas have a Gymkhana Club associated with them, a term coined during British Raj for gentlemens club, in India, the term gymkhana is commonly used to refer to a gymnasium. More generally, gymkhana refers to a social and sporting club in the Indian subcontinent, the term is also used as the name of a timed automotive obstacle course, see Gymkhana and Gymkhana. The first element of gymkhana comes from gend meaning ball in Hindi/Hindustani/Khariboli and this element is distinct from English word gym, short for gymnasium and gymnastics which has Greek and Latin roots. The second element, khānā has Indo-Persian or Indo-Arabic origin meaning a place or a compartment, in the Persian its a term for dwelling, house
10.
Aintree Racecourse
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Aintree Racecourse is a racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. The racecourse is best known for holding the world-famous Grand National steeplechase. The course is home of the Grand National steeplechase, one of the most famous races in the world, prior to the event being held at Aintree, the race was run in the nearby district of Maghull. Steeplechasing at Aintree was introduced in 1839, though flat racing had taken there for many years prior to this. It is regarded as the most difficult of all courses to complete successfully, with 16 steeplechase fences including renowned obstacles the Chair, Foinavon, Valentines, Canal Turn and these are so infamous that even their names strike fear into the most professional of jockeys. All fences bar the water jump are covered with spruce, unlike at any other course in British National Hunt racing, four other races take place over the National fences. These are the Topham Chase and the Fox Hunters Chase at the Grand National meeting, within the large National course there is also the smaller Mildmay course containing hurdles and fences. These fences are made of traditional National Hunt material, the National and Mildmay courses used to share the water jump, but the water jump is no longer used on the Mildmay course. The Grand National race is run over 4 miles 514 yards after being re-measured by the BHA in 2015, the race is considered among the most demanding steeplechases in the world. The lead has often changed hands during the 494-yard run-in after the final fence, there are usually 40 horses taking part in the race but fewer than ten may in fact complete the course. In 1928,42 horses started and only two finished the course, the record for the most victories in the Grand National is held by Red Rum, who won three times in the 1970s, in addition to coming second twice. Aintree has also used as a venue for motor racing. The British Grand Prix was staged there on five occasions, in 1955,1957,1959,1961 and 1962. The only driver to have competed in horse and motor race is Alfonso de Portago, who competed at the Grand National in his early days as well as in a sportscar race. He was to compete at the 1957 British Grand Prix at Aintree, michael Jackson concluded the European leg of his 1987–1989 Bad World Tour at the venue on 11 September 1988, to more than 125,000 people. McFly performed for the Liverpool Summer Pops in 2005, P. nk performed at the venue during her Im Not Dead Tour on 16 July 2007. Kaiser Chiefs and The Chemical Brothers performed in concert at Aintree Pavilion as part of Liverpool Music Week 2007, the racecourse contains a 9-hole golf course and driving range within its boundaries. Golfers have the chance to see the track from a different perspective
11.
Elizabeth Taylor
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Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress, businesswoman, and humanitarian. She began as an actress in the early 1940s, and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. She continued her career successfully into the 1960s, and remained a well known figure for the rest of her life. The American Film Institute named her the seventh-greatest female screen legend in 1999, Born in London to wealthy, socially prominent American parents, Taylor moved with her family to Los Angeles in 1939, and she soon was given a film contract by Universal Pictures. Her screen debut was in a role in Theres One Born Every Minute. Taylor was then signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and had her breakthrough role in National Velvet, becoming one of the studios most popular teenaged stars. She made the transition to adult roles in the early 1950s, despite being one of MGMs most bankable stars, Taylor wished to end her career in the early 1950s, as she resented the studios control and disliked many of the films to which she was assigned. She began receiving roles in the mid-1950s, beginning with the epic drama Giant. These included two film adaptations of plays by Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Suddenly, Last Summer, although she disliked her role in BUtterfield 8, her last film for MGM, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. She was next paid a record-breaking $1 million to play the role in the historical epic Cleopatra. During the filming, Taylor and co-star Richard Burton began having an affair which caused a scandal. Despite public disapproval, Burton and she continued their relationship and were married the first time in 1964. Dubbed Liz and Dick by the media, they starred in 11 films together, including The V. I. P. s, The Sandpiper, The Taming of the Shrew, and Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Taylor received the best reviews of her career for Woolf, winning her second Academy Award, in the 1980s, she acted in her first substantial stage roles and in several television films and series, and became the first celebrity to launch a perfume brand. Taylor was also one of the first celebrities to take part in HIV/AIDS activism and she co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research in 1985 and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1991. From the early 1990s until her death, she dedicated her time to philanthropy and she received several accolades for it, including the Presidential Citizens Medal. Taylors personal life was subject to constant media attention throughout her life and she was married eight times to seven men, endured serious illnesses, and led a jet set lifestyle, including amassing one of the most expensive private collections of jewelry. After many years of ill health, Taylor died from heart failure at the age of 79 in 2011
12.
Mickey Rooney
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Mickey Rooney was an American actor, producer, vaudevillian, comedian and radio personality. In a career spanning nine decades and continuing until shortly before his death, a versatile performer, he became a celebrated character actor later in his career. Laurence Olivier once said he considered Rooney the best there has ever been, clarence Brown, who directed him in two of his earliest dramatic roles, National Velvet and The Human Comedy, said he was the closest thing to a genius I ever worked with. Rooney first performed in vaudeville as a child and made his debut at the age of six. At thirteen he played Puck in the play and later the 1935 film adaptation of A Midsummer Nights Dream, critic David Thomson hailed his performance as one of cinemas most arresting pieces of magic. In 1938, he co-starred in Boys Town, at nineteen he was the first teenager to be nominated for an Oscar for his leading role in Babes in Arms, and he was awarded a special Academy Juvenile Award in 1939. At the peak of his career between the ages of 15 and 25, he made films, which made him one of MGMs most consistently successful actors. Rooney was the top box office attraction from 1939 to 1941, and one of the actors of that era. Drafted into the Army during World War II, he served two years entertaining over two million troops on stage and radio and was awarded a Bronze Star for performing in combat zones. Returning from the war in 1945, he was too old for juvenile roles but too short to be a movie star. Nevertheless, Rooneys popularity was renewed with well-received supporting roles in such as Requiem for a Heavyweight, Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. In the early 1980s, he returned to Broadway in Sugar Babies, Rooney made hundreds of appearances on TV, including dramas, variety programs, and talk shows, and won an Emmy in 1964, with another Emmy plus a Golden Globe for his role in Bill. At his death, Vanity Fair called him the original Hollywood train wreck and he struggled with alcohol and pill addiction and married eight times, the first time to Ava Gardner. Despite earning millions during his career, he had to file for bankruptcy in 1962 due to mismanagement of his finances. Shortly before his death in 2014 at age 93, he alleged mistreatment by some members and testified before Congress about what he alleged was physical abuse. By the end of his life, his millions in earnings had dwindled to an estate that was valued at only $18,000 and he died owing medical bills and back taxes, and contributions were solicited from the public. His mother was a chorus girl and a burlesque performer. When Rooney was born, they were appearing in a Brooklyn production of A Gaiety Girl, Rooney later recounted in his memoirs that he began performing at the age of 17 months as part of his parents routine, wearing a specially tailored tuxedo
13.
Donald Crisp
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Donald Crisp was an English-born, United States-based film actor. He was a producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1942 for his performance in How Green Was My Valley, Donald Crisp was born in Bow, London at the family home on 27 July 1882. He was one of eight born to James and Elizabeth Crisp. He was educated at the University of Oxford after serving as a trooper in the 10th Hussars in the Boer War, Crisp claimed to be of Scottish descent. While travelling on the S/S Carmania to America in July 1906, fisher, who immediately offered him a job with his company. Crisp spent his first year in New York City in Grand Opera, and it was while touring with the company in the United States and Cuba that Crisp first became interested in the theatre. By 1910, Crisp, now using the name Donald, was working as a manager for the renowned entertainer, composer, playwright. It was during this time he met and befriended film director D. W. Griffith, when Griffith ventured west, to seek his fortune in Hollywood in 1912, Crisp accompanied him. From 1908 to 1930, Crisp, in addition to directing dozens of films, also appeared in nearly 100 silent films, one notable exception was his casting by Griffith as General Ulysses S. Grant in Griffiths landmark film The Birth of a Nation in 1915. Another was his role in Griffiths 1919 film Broken Blossoms as Battling Burrows and this experience fostered a similar passion in Crisp to become a director in his own right. His first directing credit was Little Country Mouse, made in 1914, many directors would find themselves turning out a dozen or more films in a single year at this time. Over the next fifteen years, Crisp directed some 70 films in all, most notably The Navigator with Buster Keaton and Don Q and his final directorial effort was the film The Runaway Bride. Between working for Griffith and other producers, along with his acting roles. During the Second World War, Crisp answered the call to duty at a time when his career was at its peak. This time, he served in United States Army Reserve, where he rose to the rank of Colonel, with the advent of talkies, Crisp abandoned directing and devoted himself entirely to acting after 1930. He became a sought after character actor
14.
Anne Revere
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Anne Revere was an American stage, film, and television actress. Born in New York City, Revere was a descendant of Boston silversmith. Her father, Clinton, was a stockbroker, and she was raised on the Upper West Side and in Westfield, in 1926, she graduated from Wellesley College. Despite her unsuccessful attempts to join groups in high school and in college, she eventually was successful at Wellesley. She went on to enroll at the American Laboratory School to study acting with Maria Ouspenskaya, Revere made her Broadway debut in 1931 in The Great Barrington. Three years later, she went to Hollywood to reprise her role in the film adaptation of Double Door. Revere worked steadily as an actress in films, appearing in nearly three dozen between 1934 and 1951. She frequently was cast in the role of a matriarch and played mother to Elizabeth Taylor, Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, John Garfield and she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress three times and won for her performance in National Velvet. Additional screen credits included The Song of Bernadette, Gentlemans Agreement, The Keys of the Kingdom, Body and Soul, in 1951, Revere resigned from the board of the Screen Actors Guild. At the time she was an member of the American Communist Party. She later pleaded the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee and she would not appear again on film for the next 20 years, finally returning to the screen in Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon. She began appearing on television in 1960, notably in operas such as A Flame in the Wind, The Edge of Night, Search for Tomorrow. Revere and her husband, theatre director Samuel Rosen, moved to New York and opened an acting school, Revere died of pneumonia in her Locust Valley, New York, home at the age of 87. She was survived by one sister, Anne Revere at the Internet Broadway Database Anne Revere at the Internet Movie Database
15.
Angela Lansbury
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Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury, DBE is a British-American-Irish actress who has appeared in theatre, television and film, as well as a producer, singer and songwriter. Her career has spanned seven decades, much of it in the United States, Lansbury was born to a middle-class family in central London, the daughter of actress Moyna Macgill and politician Edgar Lansbury. To escape the Blitz, in 1940 she moved to the United States with her mother and two younger brothers, and studied acting in New York City. Proceeding to Hollywood in 1942, she signed to MGM and obtained her first film roles, in Gaslight and The Picture of Dorian Gray, earning her two Oscar nominations and a Golden Globe Award. She appeared in eleven further MGM films, mostly in minor roles, although largely seen as a B-list star during this period, her appearance in the film The Manchurian Candidate received widespread acclaim and is cited as being one of her finest performances. Moving into musical theatre, Lansbury finally gained stardom for playing the role in the Broadway musical Mame. Amid difficulties in her life, Lansbury moved from California to County Cork, Ireland, in 1970. These included leading roles in the stage musicals Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, through Corymore Productions, a company that she co-owned with her husband Peter Shaw, Lansbury assumed ownership of the series and was its executive producer for the final four seasons. She also moved into voice work, thereby contributing to animated films such as Disneys Beauty, since then, she has toured in a variety of international theatrical productions and continued to make occasional film appearances. In 2014, Lansbury was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in a ceremony at Windsor Castle for services to drama, charitable work, Lansbury has received an Honorary Oscar and has won five Tony Awards, six Golden Globes, an Olivier Award, and one Grammy Award. She has also nominated for numerous other industry awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress on three occasions, and various Primetime Emmy Awards on eighteen occasions. She has been the subject of three biographies, Lansbury was born to an upper middle class family on October 16,1925. Although her birthplace has often given as Poplar, East London, she has rejected this, asserting that while she had ancestral connections to Poplar, she was born in Regents Park. Her mother was Belfast-born actress Moyna Macgill, who appeared on stage in the West End. Her father was the wealthy English timber merchant and politician Edgar Lansbury and her paternal grandfather was the Labour Party leader and anti-war activist George Lansbury, a man whom she felt awed by and considered a giant in my youth. Angela had a half sister, Isolde, who was the offspring of Moynas previous marriage to writer. When Lansbury was nine, her father died from stomach cancer, in 2014, Lansbury described this event as the defining moment of my life. Nothing before or since has affected me so deeply and she nevertheless considered herself largely self-educated, learning from books, theatre and cinema
16.
CBS
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CBS is an American commercial broadcast television network that is a flagship property of CBS Corporation. The company is headquartered at the CBS Building in New York City with major facilities and operations in New York City. CBS is sometimes referred to as the Eye Network, in reference to the iconic logo. It has also called the Tiffany Network, alluding to the perceived high quality of CBS programming during the tenure of William S. Paley. It can also refer to some of CBSs first demonstrations of color television, the network has its origins in United Independent Broadcasters Inc. a collection of 16 radio stations that was purchased by Paley in 1928 and renamed the Columbia Broadcasting System. Under Paleys guidance, CBS would first become one of the largest radio networks in the United States, in 1974, CBS dropped its former full name and became known simply as CBS, Inc. In 2000, CBS came under the control of Viacom, which was formed as a spin-off of CBS in 1971, CBS Corporation is controlled by Sumner Redstone through National Amusements, which also controls the current Viacom. The television network has more than 240 owned-and-operated and affiliated stations throughout the United States. The origins of CBS date back to January 27,1927, Columbia Phonographic went on the air on September 18,1927, with a presentation by the Howard Barlow Orchestra from flagship station WOR in Newark, New Jersey, and fifteen affiliates. Operational costs were steep, particularly the payments to AT&T for use of its land lines, in early 1928 Judson sold the network to brothers Isaac and Leon Levy, owners of the networks Philadelphia affiliate WCAU, and their partner Jerome Louchenheim. With the record out of the picture, Paley quickly streamlined the corporate name to Columbia Broadcasting System. He believed in the power of advertising since his familys La Palina cigars had doubled their sales after young William convinced his elders to advertise on radio. By September 1928, Paley bought out the Louchenheim share of CBS, during Louchenheims brief regime, Columbia paid $410,000 to A. H. Grebes Atlantic Broadcasting Company for a small Brooklyn station, WABC, which would become the networks flagship station. WABC was quickly upgraded, and the relocated to 860 kHz. The physical plant was relocated also – to Steinway Hall on West 57th Street in Manhattan, by the turn of 1929, the network could boast to sponsors of having 47 affiliates. Paley moved right away to put his network on a financial footing. In the fall of 1928, he entered talks with Adolph Zukor of Paramount Pictures. The deal came to fruition in September 1929, Paramount acquired 49% of CBS in return for a block of its stock worth $3.8 million at the time
17.
Ann Doran
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Ann Lee Doran was an American character actress. Doran was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Doran and she was born in Amarillo, Texas, and attended high school in San Bernardino, California. Doran began acting at the age of four and she appeared in hundreds of silent films under assumed names to keep her fathers family from finding out about her work. Rarely in a role, Doran appeared in more than five hundred motion pictures and one thousand episodes of television shows. Doran worked as a stand-in, then bit player, then incidental supporting player, by 1938 she was under contract to Columbia Pictures, where the company policy was to use the members of its stock company as often as possible. Thus, Doran appears in Columbias serials, short subjects, B features and she became a favorite of Columbia director Frank Capra and appears in many of his productions. Columbia filmed two boy-and-his-dog stories with juvenile star Ted Donaldson in 1945-46, when the Donaldson films became a full-fledged series in 1947, Doran was cast as Donaldsons mother in the next six films. Her steady, sensible maternal roles led to her being cast as James Deans mother in Rebel Without a Cause and she appeared in the religion anthology series Crossroads in the 1956 episode The White Carnation, along with Elinor Donahue, James Best, and J. Carrol Naish. In 1952 she appeared in an episode of The Lone Ranger entitled Hidden Fortune, Doran was cast in the CBS childrens western My Friend Flicka, the story of a boy and his horse on a Wyoming ranch. She also appeared in episodes of Ray Millands CBS sitcom Meet Mr. McNutley and Kenneth Tobeys syndicated aviation adventure series, Doran guest-starred on CBSs Perry Mason in The Case of the Prodigal Parent, The Case of the Lurid Letter, and The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito. Doran was cast twice in 1959-1960 in episodes of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series Colt.45, three years later, she appeared in the first episode of the ABC western series The Legend of Jesse James as Zerelda James Samuel, the mother of Jesse and Frank James. She also appeared in the program M*A*S*H as Nurse Meg Cratty, in the Season Four episode The Kids, Nurse Cratty and her charges bunked with the M*A*S*H unit to avoid snipers. Doran was an member of the Screen Actors Guild and served on the board of the Motion Picture & Television Fund for 30 years. Doran continued to work in movies and television until shortly before her death, Doran died at the age of 89 on September 19,2000, in Carmichael, California. Following her death her remains were cremated and she bequeathed $400,000 to the Motion Picture Country House, the retirement home for the movie industry. July 28,2016 was designated as Ann Doran Day in Amarillo, Ann Doran at the Internet Movie Database Ann Doran at the TCM Movie Database All Time Rebel Interview
18.
NBC
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The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcast television network that is the flagship property of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The network is part of the Big Three television networks, founded in 1926 by the Radio Corporation of America, NBC is the oldest major broadcast network in the United States. Following the acquisition by GE, Bob Wright served as executive officer of NBC, remaining in that position until his retirement in 2007. In 2003, French media company Vivendi merged its entertainment assets with GE, Comcast purchased a controlling interest in the company in 2011, and acquired General Electrics remaining stake in 2013. Following the Comcast merger, Zucker left NBC Universal and was replaced as CEO by Comcast executive Steve Burke, during a period of early broadcast business consolidation, radio manufacturer Radio Corporation of America acquired New York City radio station WEAF from American Telephone & Telegraph. Westinghouse, a shareholder in RCA, had an outlet in Newark, New Jersey pioneer station WJZ. This station was transferred from Westinghouse to RCA in 1923, WEAF acted as a laboratory for AT&Ts manufacturing and supply outlet Western Electric, whose products included transmitters and antennas. The Bell System, AT&Ts telephone utility, was developing technologies to transmit voice- and music-grade audio over short and long distances, the 1922 creation of WEAF offered a research-and-development center for those activities. WEAF maintained a schedule of radio programs, including some of the first commercially sponsored programs. In an early example of chain or networking broadcasting, the station linked with Outlet Company-owned WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island, AT&T refused outside companies access to its high-quality phone lines. The early effort fared poorly, since the telegraph lines were susceptible to atmospheric. In 1925, AT&T decided that WEAF and its network were incompatible with the companys primary goal of providing a telephone service. AT&T offered to sell the station to RCA in a deal that included the right to lease AT&Ts phone lines for network transmission, the divisions ownership was split among RCA, its founding corporate parent General Electric and Westinghouse. NBC officially started broadcasting on November 15,1926, WEAF and WJZ, the flagships of the two earlier networks, were operated side-by-side for about a year as part of the new NBC. On April 5,1927, NBC expanded to the West Coast with the launch of the NBC Orange Network and this was followed by the debut of the NBC Gold Network, also known as the Pacific Gold Network, on October 18,1931. The Orange Network carried Red Network programming, and the Gold Network carried programming from the Blue Network, initially, the Orange Network recreated Eastern Red Network programming for West Coast stations at KPO in San Francisco. The Orange Network name was removed from use in 1936, at the same time, the Gold Network became part of the Blue Network. In the 1930s, NBC also developed a network for shortwave radio stations, in 1927, NBC moved its operations to 711 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, occupying the upper floors of a building designed by architect Floyd Brown
19.
International Velvet (film)
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International Velvet is a 1978 American drama film and a sequel to the 1944 classic National Velvet starring Tatum ONeal, Christopher Plummer, Anthony Hopkins and Nanette Newman. International Velvet was partly filmed at Birmingham University, England, the film follows the story of a teenage girl from Cave Creek, Arizona, Sarah Velvet Brown. Sarah is the daughter of Velvets younger brother Donald Brown, and is orphaned when Donald, Velvet becomes Sarahs legal guardian after the death of her brother and sister-in-law. Sarah is sent to England to live with Velvet Brown and Velvets boyfriend John, after the events of National Velvet Donald got married, had Sarah, and moved from England to Arizona. The Pie is ultimately put out to stud upon his retirement and he sires his last foal after Sarahs arrival in England. Sarah and Velvet are present for the birth of this foal and she later finds out that Velvet has bought him for her. Sarah aptly names him Arizona Pie and she shows enough talent to be selected for the British Olympic team, where she is the junior, but she does well under the stern guidance of Captain Johnson. Sarah lives up to her dream and enters the Olympic Three Day Event helping Great Britain win the team competition and she falls in love with an American competitor named Scott Saunders and moves back to America with him. At the conclusion of the film Sarah is engaged to Scott, Sarah eventually returns to England and introduces Scott to Velvet and John. Tatum ONeal as Sarah Velvet Brown Christopher Plummer as John Seaton Anthony Hopkins as Captain Johnson Nanette Newman as Velvet Brown Peter Barkworth as Pilot Dinsdale Landen as Mr. V. Interviewer Brenda Cowling as Alice International Velvet was released in New York, in 1992,14 years after the movie was released Bryan Forbess novelization of International Velvet became available on May 7,1992
20.
Tatum O'Neal
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Tatum Beatrice ONeal is an American actress and author. She is the youngest person ever to win a competitive Academy Award and she also starred in The Bad News Bears, in 1976, followed by Nickelodeon, and Little Darlings. She is also known for being Michael Jacksons first girlfriend, in 1986, ONeal married professional tennis player John McEnroe, with whom she had three children. The couple separated in 1992 and were divorced in 1994, ONeal was born in the Westwood area of Los Angeles, California, to actors Ryan ONeal and Joanna Moore. Her brother, Griffin, was born in 1964, in 1967, her parents divorced and her father quickly remarried. Her fathers marriage to actress Leigh Taylor-Young produced Tatums half-brother, Patrick, Tatum has another half-brother, Redmond, from Ryan ONeals relationship with actress Farrah Fawcett. ONeals mother died of cancer in 1997 at age 63, after a career in which she appeared in such movies as Walk on the Wild Side. The youngest ever to win a competitive Academy Award, she turned 9 years old during filming in autumn 1972, ONeal played the role of Addie Loggins, a child con artist being tutored by a Depression-era grifter played by her father, Ryan. She appeared as the character in the Faerie Tale Theatre episode Goldilocks. She appeared in five films during the next 15 years. In the early 2000s, ONeal returned to acting with made guest appearances on Sex and the City,8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, and Law and Order, Criminal Intent. In 2005, ONeal began a role as Maggie Gavin on the firehouse drama series Rescue Me, portraying the unbalanced and lively sister of Tommy Gavin. In January 2006, she participated in the season of ABCs reality series Dancing with the Stars with professional partner Nick Kosovich. They were eliminated in the second round and she went on to do commentary for the series on Entertainment Tonight. From 2006 to 2007, she portrayed the vindictive and psychotic Blythe Hunter in the My Network TV drama Wicked Wicked Games and she appears opposite Nashawn Kearse and Vanessa L. Williams in the film My Brother. One of ONeals first public boyfriends was pop star Michael Jackson, Jackson described ONeal as his first love, and in a 2002 interview with Martin Bashir said that ONeal tried to seduce him, but he was terrified by the idea of sex. ONeal adamantly denied all of Jacksons claims in her 2004 autobiography, ONeals relationship with tennis player John McEnroe began in 1984 when she moved into his Central Park West condominium in New York City. The couple have three children, Kevin, Sean, and Emily and they separated in 1992 and were divorced in 1994
