1.
Sweet Charity
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Sweet Charity is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon. It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse starring his wife and it is based on Federico Fellinis screenplay for Nights of Cabiria. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1966, where it was nominated for 9 Tony Awards, the musical was adapted for the screen in 1969 with Shirley MacLaine as Charity and John McMartin recreating his Broadway role as Oscar Lindquist. Bob Fosse directed and choreographed this film, the young woman Charity Hope Valentine is a taxi dancer at a dance hall called the Fandango Ballroom in New York City. With a shoulder bag and a heart tattooed on her left shoulder, while Charlie silently preens himself, Charity speaks the pick-up lines she imagines him saying, and tells him how handsome he is. Charlie then steals her handbag and pushes her into the lake before running off, passers-by discuss the apparent drowning but do nothing, until a young Spaniard finally rescues her. In the Hostess Room of the Fandango Ballroom, Charity tries to convince herself and the other skeptical taxi dancers that Charlie tried to save her. Nickie, a dancer, tells Charity that her problem is you run your heart like a hotel — youve always got people checking in. The manager, Herman, arrives to them it is time for work. The hostess dancers proposition the audience in the front room of the Fandango Ballroom, Helene and Nickie try to comfort Charity about Charlies absence. On the street, after work, Charity gives to every beggar who approaches her until she realizes she has no money, just then, film star Vittorio Vidal rushes out of the smart Pompeii Club, in pursuit of his beautiful mistress, Ursula. Ursula refuses to go back inside with Vittorio, who takes the only-too-willing Charity instead. Inside the Pompeii Club, the dancers are dancing the latest craze, to everyones astonishment, the famous Vittorio is accompanied by the unknown Charity. She tries to him away from the subject of Ursula. Not having eaten since breakfast, Charity faints, there is general agreement amongst the dancers that she needs to be laid down. And Charity recovers enough to prompt Vittorio with your apartment, lying down on Vittorios bed, Charity claims she is no longer hungry. She admits she is a dance hall hostess, putting it down to the finger of fate. Vittorio is struck by her humor and honesty, starstruck, Charity asks for a signed photograph to prove to the girls she was really in his apartment
2.
Bob Fosse
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Robert Louis Bob Fosse was an American dancer, musical theatre choreographer, director, screenwriter, film director and actor. He won eight Tony Awards for choreography, more than anyone else and he was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning for his direction of Cabaret. Fosse was born in Chicago, Illinois on June 23,1927, to a Norwegian American father, Cyril K. Fosse, and Irish-born mother, Sara Alice Fosse, the second youngest of six. He teamed up with Charles Grass, another dancer. They toured theaters throughout the Chicago area, after being recruited, Fosse was placed in the variety show Tough Situation, which toured military and naval bases in the Pacific. Fosse moved to New York City with the ambition of being the new Fred Astaire and his appearance with his first wife and dance partner Mary Ann Niles in Call Me Mister brought him to the attention of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Fosse was signed to a MGM contract in 1953 and his early screen appearances included Give A Girl A Break, The Affairs of Dobie Gillis and Kiss Me Kate, all released in 1953. A short sequence that he choreographed in the latter brought him to the attention of Broadway producers, although Fosses acting career in film was cut short by typecasting, he was reluctant to move from Hollywood to theater. Nevertheless, he made the move, and in 1954, he choreographed his first musical, The Pajama Game and it was while working on the latter show that he first met the rising star whom he was to marry in 1960, Gwen Verdon. Verdon won her first Tony Award for Best Actress in Damn Yankees, in 1957 Fosse choreographed New Girl in Town, also directed by Abbott, and Verdon won her second Leading Actress Tony. That year he also choreographed the film version of Pajama Game starring Doris Day, in 1960, Fosse was, for the first time, both director and choreographer of a musical called simply Redhead. With Redhead, Verdon won her third Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, Verdon starred in Sweet Charity in 1966, with Fosse again the choreographer-director, and she starred in Chicago in 1975, with Fosse as director and choreographer. Fosse performed a song and dance number in Stanley Donens 1974 film version of The Little Prince, according to AllMusic, Bob Fosse stops the show with a slithery dance routine. In 1977, Fosse had a role in the romantic comedy Thieves. Notable distinctions of Fosses style included the use of turned-in knees, the famous Fosse Amoeba, sideways shuffling, rolled shoulders, with Astaire as an influence, he used props such as bowler hats, canes and chairs. His trademark use of hats was influenced by his own self-consciousness, according to Martin Gottfried in his biography of Fosse, His baldness was the reason that he wore hats, and was doubtless why he put hats on his dancers. He used gloves in his performances because he did not like his hands, some of his most popular numbers include Steam Heat and Big Spender. The Rich Mans Frug scene in Sweet Charity is another example of his signature style and his first, Sweet Charity, starring Shirley MacLaine, is an adaptation of the Broadway musical he had directed and choreographed
3.
Neil Simon
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Marvin Neil Simon is an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He has written more than thirty plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays and he has received more combined Oscar and Tony nominations than any other writer. Simon grew up in New York during the Great Depression, with his parents financial hardships affecting their marriage, giving him a mostly unhappy and he often took refuge in movie theaters where he enjoyed watching the early comedians like Charlie Chaplin. After a few years in the Army Air Force Reserve, and after graduating high school, he began writing comedy scripts for radio. Among them were Sid Caesars Your Show of Shows from 1950 and he began writing his own plays beginning with Come Blow Your Horn, which took him three years to complete and ran for 678 performances on Broadway. It was followed by two successful plays, Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple, for which he won a Tony Award. It made him a celebrity and the hottest new playwright on Broadway. During the 1960s to 1980s, he wrote original screenplays and stage plays, with some films actually based on his plays. His style ranged from comedy to farce to more serious dramatic comedy. Overall, he has garnered seventeen Tony nominations and won three and his comedies centred on subjects such as marital conflict, infidelity, sibling rivalry, adolescence, and fear of aging. Simons facility with dialogue gives his stories a rare blend of realism, humor, Neil Simon was born on July 4,1927 in The Bronx, New York, to Jewish parents. His father, Irving Simon, was a garment salesman, and his mother, Simon had one older brother by eight years, Danny Simon. Simons childhood was difficult and mostly due to his parents tempestuous marriage. He would sometimes block out their arguments by putting a pillow over his ears at night and his father often abandoned the family for months at a time, causing them further financial and emotional hardship. As a result, Simon and his brother Danny were sometimes forced to live with different relatives, or else their parents took in boarders for some income. During an interview with writer Lawrence Grobel, Simon stated, To this day I never really knew what the reason for all the fights, shed hate him and be very angry, but he would come back and she would take him back. It made me strong as an independent person, to escape difficulties at home he often took refuge in movie theaters, where he especially enjoyed comedies with silent stars like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Laurel and Hardy. Simon recalls, I was constantly being dragged out of movies for laughing too loud, I think part of what made me a comedy writer is the blocking out of some of the really ugly, painful things in my childhood and covering it up with a humorous attitude
4.
Nights of Cabiria
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Nights of Cabiria is a 1957 Italian drama film directed by Federico Fellini and starring Giulietta Masina, François Périer, and Amedeo Nazzari. Based on a story by Fellini, the film is about a prostitute in Rome who searches for love in vain. The film won the 1957 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and this was the second straight year Italy and Fellini won this Academy Award, having won for 1956s La Strada, which also starred Giulietta Masina. A happy, laughing Cabiria is standing on a bank with her current boyfriend and live-in lover. Suddenly he pushes her into the river and steals her purse which is full of money. She cannot swim and nearly drowns, but is rescued by a group of young boys, in spite of just saving her life, she treats them with disdain and starts looking for Giorgio. Cabiria returns to her home, but Giorgio has disappeared. She is bitter, and when her best friend and neighbor, Wanda tries to help her get him, Cabiria shoos her away. She continues to ply her trade as a prostitute, one night, she is outside a fancy nightclub and witnesses a fight between famous movie star, Alberto Lazzari and his girlfriend, as she dumps him. The differences in appearance between the glamorous girlfriend, in a coat, and the disheveled and short Cabiria are stark. The jilted Lazzari takes the starstruck Cabiria to another club and then to his house, as the two are finally becoming closer after a rather standoffish few hours, Lazzaris girlfriend returns and Cabiria is shuffled off to the bathroom, unable to consummate with the movie star. Later, a procession passes the hangout area for the town prostitutes. As her associates mock the Church, Cabiria is drawn to the procession, just as she is about to join the procession, another john comes and she gets in his truck instead. As she heads home later that night, she sees a man giving food to the people living in caves near her house. She has never seen this man before, but she is impressed by his charity toward others, when she goes to church with her friends, she prays for a chance to better her life. Cabiria goes to a show, and the magician drags her up on stage. As the audience laughs, she acts out her desires to be married, furious at having been taken advantage of for the audiences amusement, she leaves in a huff. Outside the theater, a man named Oscar is waiting outside to talk to her and he was in the audience, and he says he agrees with her that it was not right for everyone to laugh, but believes that fate has brought them together
5.
Shirley MacLaine
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Shirley MacLaine is an American film, television and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author. She is known for her New Age beliefs, and has an interest in spirituality and she has written a series of autobiographical works that describe these beliefs, document her world travels, and describe her Hollywood career. She has also won five competitive Golden Globe Awards and received the Golden Globe Cecil B, deMille Award at the 1998 ceremony. Named after Shirley Temple, Shirley MacLean Beaty was born in Richmond, MacLaines younger brother is the actor, writer and director Warren Beatty, he changed the spelling of his surname when he became an actor. Their parents raised them as Baptists and her uncle was A. A. MacLeod, a Communist member of the Ontario legislature in the 1940s. MacLaine played baseball in a team, holding the record for most home runs which earned her the nickname Powerhouse. During the 1950s, the family resided in the Dominion Hills section of Arlington. As a toddler she had weak ankles and would fall over with the slightest misstep and this was the beginning of her interest in performing. Strongly motivated by ballet, she never missed a class, in classical romantic pieces like Romeo and Juliet and The Sleeping Beauty, she always played the boys roles due to being the tallest in the group and the absence of males in the class. Ultimately she decided against making a career of professional ballet because she had grown too tall and was unable to acquire perfect technique and she explained that she didnt have the ideal body type, lacking the requisite beautifully constructed feet of high arches, high insteps and a flexible ankle. Also slowly realizing ballets propensity to be too all-consuming, and ultimately limiting, she moved on to forms of dancing, acting. She attended Washington-Lee High School, where she was on the cheerleading squad, the summer before her senior year, she went to New York City to try acting on Broadway, and had some success. After she graduated, she returned and within a year became an understudy to actress Carol Haney in The Pajama Game, Haney broke her ankle, a few months after, with Haney still injured, film producer Hal B. Wallis saw MacLaines performance, and signed her to work for Paramount Pictures and she later sued Wallis over a contractual dispute, a suit that has been credited with ending the old-style studio star system of actor management. MacLaine made her debut in Alfred Hitchcocks The Trouble with Harry. This was quickly followed by her role in the Martin and Lewis film Artists, soon afterwards, she had a role in Around the World in 80 Days. This was followed by Hot Spell and a role in Some Came Running, for the latter film she gained her first Academy Award nomination. Her second Oscar nomination came two years later for The Apartment, starring with Jack Lemmon, the film won five Oscars, including Best Director for Billy Wilder
6.
Cy Coleman
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Cy Coleman was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist. Coleman was born Seymour Kaufman on June 14,1929, in New York City to Eastern European Jewish parents and his mother, Ida was an apartment landlady and his father was a brickmason. He was a prodigy who gave piano recitals at Steinway Hall, Town Hall. Before beginning his fabled Broadway career, he led the Cy Coleman Trio, despite the early classical and jazz success, Coleman decided to build a career in popular music. His first collaborator was Joseph Allen McCarthy, but his most successful early partnership, the pair wrote many pop hits, including Witchcraft and The Best Is Yet to Come. One of his instrumentals, Playboys Theme, became the music of the regular TV shows and specials presented by Playboy. Colemans career as a Broadway composer began when he and Leigh collaborated on Wildcat, the score included the hit tune Hey, Look Me Over. When Ball became ill, she left the show, and it closed, next for the two was Little Me, with a book by Neil Simon based on the novel of the same name by Patrick Dennis. The show introduced Real Live Girl and Ive Got Your Number, in 1964, Coleman met Dorothy Fields at a party, and when he asked if she would like to collaborate with him, she is reported to have answered, Thank God somebody asked. The show was a success and Coleman found working with Fields much easier than with Leigh. The partnership was to work on two more shows – an aborted project about Eleanor Roosevelt, and Seesaw which reached Broadway in 1973 after a troubled out-of-town tour, despite mixed reviews, the show enjoyed a healthy run. The partnership was cut short by Fields death in 1974, Coleman remained prolific in the late 1970s. Also in 1970 he produced the single Lying Here, later in the decade, he collaborated on Welcome to the Club with A. E. Hotchner, and City of Angels with David Zippel. In the latter, inspired by the detective film noir of the 1930s and 1940s, he returned to his jazz roots. Colemans film scores include Father Goose, The Art of Love, Garbo Talks, Power, Coleman was on the ASCAP Board of Directors for many years and also served as their Vice Chairman Writer. One final musical with a Coleman score played in Los Angeles at the Mark Taper Forum Dec. 2003-Jan,2004 under the title Like Jazz, as a Broadway tryout. Investor Transamerica Capital went forward with plans to mount a Broadway production renamed In the Pocket, dirk Decloedt and Maurice Hines were announced as director and choreographer with an anticipated opening in Spring 2006 but it never opened. Coleman studied at the The High School of Music & Art, Coleman died of cardiac arrest on November 18,2004 at New York Hospital,11,59 pm at the age of 75
7.
Dorothy Fields
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Dorothy Fields was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films, along with Ann Ronell, Dana Suesse, Bernice Petkere, and Kay Swift, she was one of the first successful Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood female songwriters. Fields was born in Allenhurst, New Jersey, and grew up in New York City, Fields went to and graduated in 1923 from the Benjamin Franklin School for Girls in New York City. At school, she was outstanding in the subjects of English, drama and her poems were even published in the school’s literary magazine. Her family, was involved in show business. Her father, Lew Fields, was a Jewish immigrant from Poland and they were known as the Weber and Fields vaudeville act. When the duo separated in 1904, Lew Fields went on to further his career in another direction, from 1904 till 1916, he produced about 40 Broadway shows, and was even nicknamed “The King of Musical Comedy” because of his achievements. She had two brothers, Joseph and Herbert, who also became successful on Broadway, Joseph as a writer and producer. Despite her natural familial connections to the theatre via her father, he disapproved of her choice to pursue acting and this began when he refused to let her take a job with a stock company in Yonkers. Hence Dorothy began working as a teacher and a laboratory assistant, in 1926, Fields met the popular song composer J. Fred Coots, who proposed that the two begin writing songs together. Nothing actually came out of interaction and introduction, however Coots introduced Fields to another composer and song-plugger. Fieldss career as a professional songwriter took off in 1928 when Jimmy McHugh, Fields and McHugh teamed up until 1935. Songs from this period include I Cant Give You Anything But Love, Exactly Like You, during the later 1920s, she and McHugh wrote specialty numbers for the various Cotton Club revues, many of which were recorded by Duke Ellington. In the mid 1930s, Fields started to write lyrics for films and collaborated with other composers, with Kern, she worked on the movie version of Roberta, and also on their greatest success, Swing Time. The song The Way You Look Tonight earned the Fields/Kern team an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936 and she wrote the lyrics for the 1936 movie The King Steps Out by directed by Josef von Sternberg based on the early years of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Fields returned to New York and worked again on Broadway shows, in the 1940s, she teamed up with her brother Herbert Fields, with whom she wrote the books for three Cole Porter shows, Lets Face It. Something for the Boys, and Mexican Hayride, in 1946, Fields approached Oscar Hammerstein II with her idea for a new musical based on the life of famous female sharpshooter Annie Oakley. Hammerstein liked the idea and agreed to produce the show, Kern and Fields were signed on to write the songs in the show
8.
Universal Pictures
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Universal Pictures is an American film studio owned by Comcast through the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. The company was founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley and its studios are located in Universal City, California, and its corporate offices are located in New York City. Universal Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America and is one of Hollywoods Big Six studios. Universal Studios was founded by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane, one story has Laemmle watching a box office for hours, counting patrons and calculating the days takings. Within weeks of his Chicago trip, Laemmle gave up dry goods to buy the first several nickelodeons, for Laemmle and other such entrepreneurs, the creation in 1908 of the Edison-backed Motion Picture Trust meant that exhibitors were expected to pay fees for Trust-produced films they showed. Soon, Laemmle and other disgruntled nickelodeon owners decided to avoid paying Edison by producing their own pictures, in June 1909, Laemmle started the Yankee Film Company with partners Abe Stern and Julius Stern. Laemmle broke with Edisons custom of refusing to give billing and screen credits to performers, by naming the movie stars, he attracted many of the leading players of the time, contributing to the creation of the star system. In 1910, he promoted Florence Lawrence, formerly known as The Biograph Girl, the Universal Film Manufacturing Company was incorporated in New York on April 30,1912. Laemmle, who emerged as president in July 1912, was the figure in the partnership with Dintenfass, Baumann, Kessel, Powers, Swanson, Horsley. Eventually all would be out by Laemmle. Following the westward trend of the industry, by the end of 1912 the company was focusing its efforts in the Hollywood area. On March 15,1915, Laemmle opened the worlds largest motion picture production facility, Universal City Studios, studio management became the third facet of Universals operations, with the studio incorporated as a distinct subsidiary organization. Unlike other movie moguls, Laemmle opened his studio to tourists, Universal became the largest studio in Hollywood, and remained so for a decade. However, it sought an audience mostly in towns, producing mostly inexpensive melodramas, westerns. In its early years Universal released three brands of feature films — Red Feather, low-budget programmers, Bluebird, more ambitious productions, and Jewel, their prestige motion pictures. Directors included Jack Conway, John Ford, Rex Ingram, Robert Z. Leonard, George Marshall and Lois Weber, despite Laemmles role as an innovator, he was an extremely cautious studio chief. Unlike rivals Adolph Zukor, William Fox, and Marcus Loew and he also financed all of his own films, refusing to take on debt. Character actor Lon Chaney became a card for Universal in the 1920s
9.
Musical film
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The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline. The musical film was a development of the stage musical after the emergence of sound film technology. Typically, the biggest difference between film and stage musicals is the use of background scenery and locations that would be impractical in a theater. Musical films characteristically contain elements reminiscent of theater, performers often treat their song, in a sense, the viewer becomes the diegetic audience, as the performer looks directly into the camera and performs to it. The 1930s through the early 1950s are considered to be the age of the musical film. Musical short films were made by Lee de Forest in 1923–24, beginning in 1926, thousands of Vitaphone shorts were made, many featuring bands, vocalists and dancers. The Jazz Singer, released in 1927 by Warner Brothers, was the first to include a track including non-diegetic music and diegetic music. This feature-length film was also a musical, featuring Al Jolson singing Dirty Hands, Dirty Face, Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Blue Skies and My Mammy. Historian Scott Eyman wrote, As the film ended and applause grew with the houselights and she saw terror in all their faces, she said, as if they knew that the game they had been playing for years was finally over. Still, only isolated sequences featured live sound, most of the film had only a musical score. In 1928, Warner Brothers followed this up with another Jolson part-talkie, The Singing Fool, theaters scrambled to install the new sound equipment and to hire Broadway composers to write musicals for the screen. The first all-talking feature, Lights of New York, included a sequence in a night club. The enthusiasm of audiences was so great that in less than an all the major studios were making sound pictures exclusively. The Broadway Melody had a plot about two sisters competing for a charming song-and-dance man. Advertised by MGM as the first All-Talking, All-Singing, All-Dancing feature film, it was a hit, there was a rush by the studios to hire talent from the stage to star in lavishly filmed versions of Broadway hits. The Love Parade starred Maurice Chevalier and newcomer Jeanette MacDonald, written by Broadway veteran Guy Bolton, Warner Brothers produced the first screen operetta, The Desert Song in 1929. They spared no expense and photographed a large percentage of the film in Technicolor and this was followed by the first all-color, all-talking musical feature which was entitled On with the Show
10.
John McMartin
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John Francis McMartin was an American actor of stage, film and television. McMartin was born in Warsaw, Indiana on August 21,1929 and he made his off-Broadway debut in Little Mary Sunshine in 1959, opposite Eileen Brennan and Elmarie Wendel. He won a Theatre World Award for his role as Corporal Billy Jester and his first Broadway appearance was as Forrest Noble in The Conquering Hero in 1961, which was followed by Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole. He created the role of Oscar in Sweet Charity in 1966, opposite Gwen Verdon, garnering a Tony nomination and he was reportedly cast in Stephen Sondheims A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in 1962, but his role was cut before the show opened. He later starred in the original Broadway production of Sondheims Follies opposite Alexis Smith in 1971 as Benjamin Stone and his association with Sondheim has continued, appearing in A Little Night Music as Frederick at the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, in 1991. The reviewer for the Orange County Register wrote that the actor was aggressively deadpan as her old flame. He appeared in the Broadway revival of Into the Woods in 2002 and he also had a role, as the American Revolutionary naval hero John Paul Jones, in the unsuccessful Loesser/Spewack musical, Pleasures and Palaces, which closed in Detroit. In regional theater, he originated the role of Benteen in the Folger Theater Groups 1979 production of Custer at the Kennedy Center and he played Anton Schell opposite Chita Rivera in Kander and Ebbs musical The Visit at the Goodman Theatre. He created the roles of J. V, major Bouvier and Norman Vincent Peale in Grey Gardens, opposite Mary Louise Wilson and Christine Ebersole. On television, he appeared on the soap opera As the World Turns as John Rice and he later was on the CBS drama Eastside/Westside and in the first two seasons of Beauty and the Beast as Charles Chandler, father of Catherine. He also appeared in The Golden Girls as Frank Leahy who and he appeared on Cheers in The Visiting Lecher. He appeared as radio personality Fletcher Grey on Frasier and he also appeared in four episodes of Murder, She Wrote. He also appeared as Shirley Jones love interest in The Partridge Family episode titled When Mother Gets Married. On film his roles included the editor in All the Presidents Men, a Senator in Brubaker, a political advisor in Blow Out. McMartin died of cancer in Manhattan on July 6,2016 and he is survived by his two daughters from his marriage, and his long-time partner, actress Charlotte Moore, the artistic director of the Irish Repertory Theatre. The Conquering Hero — Forrest Noble —1961 Blood, Sweat, major Bouvier/Norman Vincent Peale -2006 Is He Dead
11.
Sammy Davis Jr.
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Samuel George Sammy Davis Jr. was an American entertainer. Primarily a dancer and singer, he was also an actor of stage and screen, comedian, musician, at the age of 3, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father and Will Mastin as the Will Mastin Trio, which toured nationally. After military service, Davis returned to the trio, Davis became an overnight sensation following a nightclub performance at Ciros after the 1951 Academy Awards. With the trio, he became a recording artist, in 1954, he lost his left eye in a car accident, and several years later, he converted to Judaism. Daviss film career began as a child in 1933, in 1960, he appeared in the Rat Pack film Oceans 11. After a starring role on Broadway in 1956s Mr Wonderful, he returned to the stage in 1964s Golden Boy, in 1966 he had his own TV variety show, titled The Sammy Davis Jr. Show. Daviss career slowed in the late 1960s, but he had a hit record with The Candy Man in 1972 and became a star in Las Vegas, earning him the nickname Mister Show Business. Davis was a victim of racism throughout his life, particularly during the pre-Civil Rights era, Davis had a complex relationship with the black community, and drew criticism after publicly supporting President Richard Nixon in 1972. One day on a course with Jack Benny, he was asked what his handicap was. This was to become a comment, recounted in his autobiography. After reuniting with Sinatra and Dean Martin in 1987, Davis toured with them and Liza Minnelli internationally and he died in debt to the Internal Revenue Service, and his estate was the subject of legal battles. Davis was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and he was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 1987, and in 2001, he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. During his lifetime, Davis stated that his mother was Puerto Rican, as an infant, he was reared by his paternal grandmother. When he was 3 years old, his parents separated and his father, not wanting to lose custody of his son, took him on tour. Davis learned to dance from his father and his uncle Will Mastin, Davis joined the act as a child and they became the Will Mastin Trio. Throughout his career, Davis included the Will Mastin Trio in his billing, Mastin and his father shielded him from racism. Snubs were explained as jealousy, for instance, when Davis served in the United States Army during World War II, however, he was confronted by strong racial prejudice. He later said, Overnight the world looked different and it wasnt one color any more
12.
Chita Rivera
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Chita Rivera is an American actress, dancer, and singer best known for her roles in musical theatre. She is the first Hispanic woman and the first Latino American to receive a Kennedy Center Honors award and she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Her father was Puerto Rican, and her mother was of Scottish, Rivera was seven years old when her mother was widowed and went to work at The Pentagon. In 1944, Riveras mother enrolled her in the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet, Riveras audition was successful, and she was accepted into the school and given a scholarship. In 1951, Rivera accompanied a friend to the audition for the company of Call Me Madam. She followed this by landing roles in other Broadway productions such as Guys and Dolls, in 1957, she was cast in the role which was destined to make her a Broadway star, the firebrand Anita in West Side Story. Rivera starred in a tour of Can-Can and played the role of Nickie in the film adaptation of Sweet Charity with Shirley MacLaine. On December 1,1957, Rivera married dancer Tony Mordente and her performance was so important for the success of the show that the London production of West Side Story was postponed until she gave birth to the couples daughter Lisa. In 1960, Rivera created the role of Rose in the Broadway smash Bye Bye Birdie and she won raves for her performance, but was passed over for the film version where the role was played by Janet Leigh. In 1963, Rivera was cast opposite Alfred Drake in Zenda, the Broadway-bound musical closed on the road. In 1975 she appeared as Velma Kelly in the original cast of the musical Chicago, in 1984 she starred in the musical The Rink with Liza Minnelli and won her first Tony Award for her role as Anna. In 1986, while performing in the Jerry Herman musical, Jerrys Girls, injuries sustained included the breaking of her left leg in twelve places, requiring eighteen screws and two braces to mend. After rehabilitation, Rivera continued to perform on stage, miraculously revitalized, in 1988, she endeavored in a restaurant venture in partnership with the novelist, Daniel Simone. The eatery, located on 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenue, was named Chitas after her and it soon became a significant attraction for the after-theater crowds and remained open until 1994. In addition to her instructors, Rivera credited Leonard Bernstein and Gwen Verdon, with whom she starred in Chicago. She appeared as Fastrada in a version of the musical Pippin in 1981. In 1993, she received a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Aurora in the musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, written by Kander, Rivera starred in the Goodman Theatre production of the musical The Visit as Claire Zachanassian in 2001. In 2008 she appeared in a production of the musical at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia
13.
Paula Kelly (actress)
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Paula Kelly is a dancer and actress in films, television and theatre. Kelly made her Broadway debut as Mrs. Veloz in the 1964 musical Something More, sharing the stage with Barbara Cook. Her other Broadway credits include The Dozens, Paul Sills Story Theatre, Ovids Metamorphoses, and Duke Ellingtons Sophisticated Ladies with Gregory Hines and Phyllis Hyman. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, the daughter of a musician, Kelly was raised in New York Citys Harlem where she attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art. She continued her studies at the Juilliard School of Music majoring in dance under Martha Hill, graduating with an M. S. degree, she performed as a soloist with major modern dance companies such as Martha Graham, Donald McKayle, and Alvin Ailey. Kelly performed a solo at the Academy Awards for the nominated song Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. She appeared on the London stage in Sweet Charity opposite dancer and actress Juliet Prowse as Helene, Kelly had a recurring role as Liz Williams on the first season of the sitcom Night Court, for which she received an Emmy nomination. She was nominated for a second Emmy for her role in The Women of Brewster Place, Paula Kelly at the Internet Movie Database Paula Kelly at the Internet Broadway Database
14.
Stubby Kaye
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Bernard Solomon Kotzin, known as Stubby Kaye, was an American comic actor known for his appearances in Broadway and film musicals. In 1939 he won the Major Bowes Amateur Hour contest on radio where the prize included touring in vaudeville, during the Second World War he joined the USO where he toured battle fronts and made his London debut performing with Bob Hope. After the war he continued to work in vaudeville and as Master of Ceremonies for the orchestras of Freddy Martin. Directors viewed Kaye as a master of the Broadway idiom during the last phase of the musical comedy era, in 1953 he played in You Cant Run Away From It, a remake of It Happened One Night. Kaye is best known for defining the role of Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls, first on Broadway and he also played Marryin Sam in Lil Abner, again on both stage and screen. In 1962, he played the character in Michael Winners The Cool Mikado. In the mid-1950s, Kaye guest starred on NBCs The Martha Raye Show, in 1958, he appeared on the short-lived NBC variety show, The Gisele MacKenzie Show. About this time, he appeared on ABCs The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom. In the 1959–1960 television season, Kaye co-starred with William Demarest, Jeanne Bal, in the 1960s, Kaye became well known as host of a weekly childrens talent show, Stubbys Silver Star Show. During the 1962–1963 season, he was a regular on Stump the Stars, on April 14,1963, he guest starred as Tubby Mason in NBCs Ensign OToole comedy series, starring Dean Jones. From 1964 to 1965, he hosted the Saturday morning childrens game show Shenanigans on ABC, in 1965, Kaye appeared alongside Nat King Cole as a travelling musician in the western/comedy Cat Ballou, starring Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin. In 1969, Kaye played the role of Herman in the Universal musical film Sweet Charity directed by Bob Fosse which starred Shirley MacLaine in the title role, in that movie, he sang the song I Love to Cry at Weddings. Kayes later stage productions included the 1974 Broadway revival of Good News, Man of Magic in London and he made a guest appearance in Delta And The Bannermen, a story in the British science fiction series, Doctor Who in 1987. His last featured role was as Marvin Acme in Robert Zemeckiss 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. His father, David Kotzin, was a salesman. He was raised in the Far Rockaway section of Queens and later in The Bronx, where he acted in student productions at DeWitt Clinton High School and his first wife was Jeanne Watson from Chicago, who was a clerical worker at the movie studios in the late 1950s. They were married in 1960 as the series Love and Marriage ended, kayes second wife, Angela Bracewell, was a former dancer at the London Palladium whom he met while living in Great Britain. She was the hostess of the British version of the Beat the Clock game show and they remained married until his death
15.
Federico Fellini
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Federico Fellini was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Known for his style that blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. His films have ranked, in such as Cahiers du cinéma and Sight & Sound. Sight & Sound lists his 1963 film 8½ as the 10th greatest film of all time, in 1993, he was awarded an honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement at the 65th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Fellini was born on 20 January 1920, to parents in Rimini. His father, Urbano Fellini, born to a family of Romagnol peasants and small landholders from Gambettola and his mother, Ida Barbiani, came from a bourgeiois Catholic family of Roman merchants. Despite her familys vehement disapproval, she had eloped with Urbano in 1917 to live at his parents home in Gambettola, a civil marriage followed in 1918 with the religious ceremony held at Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome a year later. The couple settled in Rimini where Urbano became a traveling salesman, Fellini had two siblings, Riccardo, a documentary director for RAI Television, and Maria Maddalena. In 1924, Fellini started primary school in a run by the nuns of San Vincenzo in Rimini. In 1926, he discovered the world of Grand Guignol, the circus with Pierino the Clown, Guido Brignone’s Maciste all’Inferno, the first film he saw, would mark him in ways linked to Dante and the cinema throughout his entire career. Enrolled at the Ginnasio Giulio Cesare in 1929, he made friends with Luigi ‘Titta’ Benzi, in Mussolini’s Italy, Fellini and Riccardo became members of the Avanguardista, the compulsory Fascist youth group for males. He visited Rome with his parents for the first time in 1933, the sea creature found on the beach at the end of La Dolce Vita has its basis in a giant fish marooned on a Rimini beach during a storm in 1934. To say that my films are autobiographical is an overly facile liquidation and it seems to me that I have invented almost everything, childhood, character, nostalgias, dreams, memories, for the pleasure of being able to recount them. In 1937, Fellini opened Febo, a shop in Rimini. with the painter Demos Bonini. His first humorous article appeared in the Postcards to Our Readers section of Milan’s Domenica del Corriere, deciding on a career as a caricaturist and gag writer, Fellini travelled to Florence in 1938, where he published his first cartoon in the weekly 420. According to a biographer, Fellini found school exasperating and, in one year, had 67 absences, failing his military culture exam, he graduated from high school in July 1938 after doubling the exam. In September 1939, he enrolled in law school at the University of Rome to please his parents, biographer Hollis Alpert reports that there is no record of his ever having attended a class. Installed in a family pensione, he met lifelong friend
16.
Ennio Flaiano
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Ennio Flaiano was an Italian screenwriter, playwright, novelist, journalist, and drama critic. Best known for his work with Federico Fellini, Flaiano co-wrote ten screenplays with the Italian director, including La Strada, La Dolce Vita, Flaiano wrote for Cineillustrato, Oggi, Il Mondo, Il Corriere della Sera and other prominent Italian newspapers and magazines. In 1947, he won the Strega Prize for his novel, set in Ethiopia during the Italian invasion, the novel tells the story of an Italian officer who accidentally kills an Ethiopian woman and is ravaged by the awareness of his act. The barren landscape around the protagonist hints at an interior emptiness and meaninglessness and this is one of the few Italian literary works dealing with the misdeeds of Italian colonialism in Eastern Africa. The novel has been constantly in print for sixty years, a movie adaptation with the same title, directed by Giuliano Montaldo and starred by Nicolas Cage, was released in 1989. In 1971 Flaiano suffered a first heart-attack, all will have to change, he wrote in his notes. He put his many papers in order and published them, although the part of his memoirs were published posthumously. In November 1972 he began writing various autobiographical pieces for Corriere della Sera, on November 20 of the same year, while at a clinic for a check-up, he suffered a second cardiac arrest and died. His daughter Lelè, after an illness, died at age 40 in 1992. His wife Rosetta Rota, aunt of the mathematician Giancarlo Rota, the entire family is buried together at the Maccarese Cemetery, near Rome. Flaianos name is tied to Rome, a city he loved and hated, as he was a caustic witness to its urban evolutions and debacles, its vices. In La Solitudine del Satiro, Flaiano left numerous passages relating to his Rome, in the Montesacro quarter of Rome, the LABit theatre company placed a commemorative plaque on the facade of his house where he lived from 1952. Critic Richard Eder wrote in Newsday, To read the late Ennio Flaiano is to imagine a bust of Ovid or Martial, placed in a piazza in Rome, in his antic, melancholy irony, Flaiano wrote as if he were time itself, satirizing the present moment. He introduced the expression saltare sul carro del vincitore into the Italian language, in the last section of his book, The Via Veneto Papers, journalist Giulio Villa Santa included an interview with Flaiano for Swiss-Italian Radio, two weeks before his death. But this gives rise to the suspicion in me that at bottom you are a man from another if not from another age altogether, is that an unfounded suspicion. We don’t know who we are, we are just so many passengers without baggage, we are born alone and we die alone. A writer once quoted me in a book of hers, and in the English translation the English writer translated my name as Ennius Flaianus, thinking that this Ennio Flaiano was some Latin author. A few months later we met each other in a restaurant in Rome and were introduced and, naturally, she experienced an awkward moment, however, we did agree that certain characteristics of my person, a certain style of life, indicated that she was right
17.
Tullio Pinelli
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Tullio Pinelli was an Italian screenwriter best known for his work on the Federico Fellini classics I Vitelloni, La Strada, La Dolce Vita and 8½. Born in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, Pinelli began his career as a civil lawyer and he was descended from a long line of Italian patriots, his great-uncle General Ferdinando Pinelli quashed the bandit revolt in Calabria following Italian unification. He met Fellini in a Rome kiosk in 1946 while they were reading opposite pages of the same newspaper, meeting each other, explained Pinelli, was a creative lightning bolt. We spoke the language from the start. But the idea never went anywhere either, the anecdote about flying presages the opening scene of 8½ in which the protagonist, a prominent film director, who dreams of escape by flying out of his car caught in a traffic jam. Pinelli died at the age of 100 on 7 March 2009 in Rome and he was married to the French-born actress Madeleine LeBeau, who had roles in 8½ and Casablanca. The Opium Den Symphony of Love The Lovers of Manon Lescaut Pinelli, Tullio Pinelli at the Internet Movie Database
18.
Edith Head
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Edith Head was an American costume designer who won a record eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design, starting with The Heiress and ending with The Sting. Born and raised in California, Head managed to get a job as a sketch artist at Paramount Pictures. She first acquired notability for Dorothy Lamour’s trademark sarong dress, Head was considered exceptional for her close working relationships with her subjects, with whom she consulted extensively, and these included virtually every top female star in Hollywood. After 43 years she left Paramount for Universal, possibly because of her partnership with Alfred Hitchcock. She was born Edith Claire Posener in San Bernardino, California and her father, born in January 1858, was a naturalized American citizen from Germany, who came to the United States in 1876. Her mother was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1875, the daughter of an Austrian father and it is not known where Max and Anna met, but they married in 1895, per the 1900 United States Federal Census records. Just before Ediths birth, Max Posener opened a haberdashery in San Bernardino which failed within a year. In 1905 Anna married mining engineer Frank Spare, from Pennsylvania, the family moved frequently as Spares jobs moved. The only place Head could later recall living in during her early years was Searchlight, Frank and Anna Spare passed Edith off as their mutual child. As Frank Spare was a Catholic, Edith ostensibly became one as well and she became a language teacher with her first position as a replacement at Bishops School in La Jolla teaching French. After one year, she took a position teaching French at the Hollywood School for Girls, wanting a slightly higher salary, she told the school that she could also teach art, even though she had only briefly studied the discipline in high school. To improve her skills, at this point rudimentary, she took evening classes at the Chouinard Art College. On July 25,1923, she married Charles Head, the brother of one of her Chouinard classmates, although the marriage ended in divorce in 1936 after a number of years of separation, she continued to be known professionally as Edith Head until her death. In 1924, despite lacking art, design, and costume design experience, later she admitted to borrowing other students sketches for her job interview. She began designing costumes for silent films, commencing with The Wanderer in 1925 and, by the 1930s, had established herself as one of Hollywoods leading costume designers. She worked at Paramount for 43 years until she went to Universal Pictures on March 27,1967, possibly prompted by her work for director Alfred Hitchcock. Heads marriage to set designer Wiard Ihnen, on September 8,1940, over the course of her long career, she was nominated for 35 Academy Awards, annually from 1948 through to 1966, and won eight times – receiving more Oscars than any other woman. Although Head was featured in studio publicity from the mid-1920s, she was originally over-shadowed by Paramounts lead designers, first Howard Greer, Head was instrumental in conspiring against Banton, and after his resignation in 1938 she became a high-profile designer in her own right
19.
LaserDisc
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LaserDisc is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978. It was not a format in Europe and Australia when first released but was popular in the 1990s. Its superior video and audio quality made it a choice among videophiles. The technologies and concepts behind LaserDisc were the foundation for later optical disc formats including Compact Disc, DVD, Optical video recording technology, using a transparent disc, was invented by David Paul Gregg and James Russell in 1958. The Gregg patents were purchased by MCA in 1968, by 1969, Philips had developed a videodisc in reflective mode, which has advantages over the transparent mode. MCA and Philips then decided to combine their efforts and first publicly demonstrated the video disc in 1972. LaserDisc was first available on the market, in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 15,1978, Philips produced the players while MCA produced the discs. The Philips-MCA cooperation was not successful, and discontinued after a few years, several of the scientists responsible for the early research founded Optical Disc Corporation. In 1979, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago opened its Newspaper exhibit which used interactive LaserDiscs to allow visitors to search for the front page of any Chicago Tribune newspaper and this was a very early example of public access to electronically stored information in a museum. The first LaserDisc title marketed in North America was the MCA DiscoVision release of Jaws in 1978, the last title released in North America was Paramounts Bringing Out the Dead in 2000. The last Japanese released movie was the Hong Kong film Tokyo Raiders from Golden Harvest, a dozen or so more titles continued to be released in Japan, until the end of 2001. Production of LaserDisc players continued until January 14,2009, when Pioneer stopped making them and it was estimated that in 1998, LaserDisc players were in approximately 2% of U. S. households. By comparison, in 1999, players were in 10% of Japanese households, LaserDisc was released on June 10,1981 in Japan, and a total of 3.6 million LaserDisc players were sold there. A total of 16.8 million LaserDisc players were sold worldwide, by the early 2000s, LaserDisc was completely replaced by DVD in the North American retail marketplace, as neither players nor software were then produced. Players were still exported to North America from Japan until the end of 2001, the format has retained some popularity among American collectors, and to a greater degree in Japan, where the format was better supported and more prevalent during its life. In Europe, LaserDisc always remained an obscure format and it was chosen by the British Broadcasting Corporation for the BBC Domesday Project in the mid-1980s, a school-based project to commemorate 900 years since the original Domesday Book in England. From 1991 up until the early 2000s, the BBC also used LaserDisc technology to play out the channel idents, the standard home video LaserDisc was 30 cm in diameter and made up of two single-sided aluminum discs layered in plastic. Although appearing similar to compact discs or DVDs, LaserDiscs used analog video stored in the domain with analog FM stereo sound
20.
DVD
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DVD is a digital optical disc storage format invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. The medium can store any kind of data and is widely used for software. DVDs offer higher capacity than compact discs while having the same dimensions. Pre-recorded DVDs are mass-produced using molding machines that physically stamp data onto the DVD, such discs are a form of DVD-ROM because data can only be read and not written or erased. Blank recordable DVD discs can be recorded using a DVD recorder. Rewritable DVDs can be recorded and erased many times, DVDs containing other types of information may be referred to as DVD data discs. The OED also states that in 1995, The companies said the name of the format will simply be DVD. Toshiba had been using the name ‘digital video disk’, but that was switched to ‘digital versatile disk’ after computer companies complained that it left out their applications, Digital versatile disc is the explanation provided in a DVD Forum Primer from 2000 and in the DVD Forums mission statement. There were several formats developed for recording video on optical discs before the DVD, Optical recording technology was invented by David Paul Gregg and James Russell in 1958 and first patented in 1961. A consumer optical disc data format known as LaserDisc was developed in the United States and it used much larger discs than the later formats. CD Video used analog video encoding on optical discs matching the established standard 120 mm size of audio CDs, Video CD became one of the first formats for distributing digitally encoded films in this format, in 1993. In the same year, two new optical disc formats were being developed. By the time of the launches for both formats in January 1995, the MMCD nomenclature had been dropped, and Philips and Sony were referring to their format as Digital Video Disc. Representatives from the SD camp asked IBM for advice on the system to use for their disc. Alan E. Bell, a researcher from IBMs Almaden Research Center, got that request and this group was referred to as the Technical Working Group, or TWG. On August 14,1995, an ad hoc group formed from five computer companies issued a release stating that they would only accept a single format. The TWG voted to both formats unless the two camps agreed on a single, converged standard. They recruited Lou Gerstner, president of IBM, to pressure the executives of the warring factions, as a result, the DVD specification provided a storage capacity of 4.7 GB for a single-layered, single-sided disc and 8.5 GB for a dual-layered, single-sided disc
21.
Central Park
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Central Park is an urban park in Manhattan, New York City. Central Park is the most visited park in the United States, with 40 million visitors in 2013. The park was established in 1857 on 778 acres of city-owned land, construction began the same year and the parks first area was opened to the public in the winter of 1858. Construction continued during the American Civil War farther north, and was expanded to its current size of 843 acres in 1873, Central Park was designated a National Historic Landmark by the U. S. Department of the Interior in 1962. The Conservancy is a organization that contributes 75 percent of Central Parks $65 million annual budget and is responsible for all basic care of the 843-acre park. Between 1821 and 1855, New York City nearly quadrupled in population, as the city expanded northward up Manhattan, people were drawn to the few existing open spaces, mainly cemeteries, to get away from the noise and chaotic life in the city. Since Central Park was not part of the original Commissioners Plan of 1811, John Randel, Jr. surveyed the grounds. The only remaining surveying bolt from his survey is still visible, it is embedded in a rock just north of the present Dairy and the 65th Street Transverse, the bolt marks the location where West 65th Street would have intersected Sixth Avenue. The state appointed a Central Park Commission to oversee the development of the park, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux developed what came to be known as the Greensward Plan, which was selected as the winning design. The Greensward Plan called for some 36 bridges, all designed by Vaux, ranging from rugged spans of Manhattan schist or granite, to lacy Neo-Gothic cast iron, several influences came together in the design. Landscaped cemeteries, such as Mount Auburn and Green-Wood had set examples of idyllic, naturalistic landscapes, the most influential innovations in the Central Park design were the separate circulation systems for pedestrians, horseback riders, and pleasure vehicles. The crosstown commercial traffic was entirely concealed in sunken roadways, screened with densely planted shrub belts so as to maintain a rustic ambiance, before the construction of the park could start, the area had to be cleared of its inhabitants. Most lived in villages, such as Harsenville, the Piggery District, or Seneca Village, or in the school. Approximately 1,600 residents were evicted under the rule of eminent domain during 1857, Seneca Village and parts of the other communities were razed to make room for the park. During the parks construction, Olmsted fought constant battles with the park commissioners, between 1860 and 1873, most of the major hurdles to construction were overcome and the park was substantially completed. The work was documented with technical drawings and photographs. More gunpowder was used to clear the area than was used at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, the parks commissioners assigned a name to each of the original 18 gates in 1862. The names were chosen to represent the diversity of New York Citys trades, for example, Mariners Gate for the entrance at 85th Street
22.
Big Spender
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Big Spender is a song written by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields for the musical Sweet Charity, first performed in 1966. It is sung, in the musical, by the dance hostess girls, it was choreographed by Bob Fosse for the Broadway musical and it is set to the beat of a striptease as the girls taunt the customers. A hit version of the song by Shirley Bassey reached #21 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1967 and this version is featured in the 2004 film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, and in the 2005 film Nynne. The song has one of Basseys signature songs. She has performed the song numerous times, most notably for the 80th birthday of Prince Philip and she also sang it at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival. In December 2007 it was re-released in a new remixed version as a digital download and this was the third and final single released from the album Get the Party Started. The single features a remix from Pink Pound and two remixes that were not included on the album release. Unlike the previous two singles this track featured a remix of a released recording, the vocal track was taken from a session recorded in 1984 for the album I Am What I Am. There was no promotion undertaken for the single and no video was made to support the release, Big Spender Dangerous Game Peggy Lee, who recorded the song in 1966. Her rendition became a hit on the US Easy Listening chart in that year, Jennifer Love Hewitt recorded her version of the song for a promo for her new TV Series The Client List. Lana Del Rey sings a variation of the chorus throughout English rapper Smilers song Spender for his 2012 mixtape All I Know. Theophilus London for his 2012 mixtape Rose Island Vol.1 raps over a DJ Carnage remix featuring ASAP Rocky Skepta raps over a grime remix of Theophilus Londons version. Dee Snider with Cyndi Lauper, In the album Dee does Broadway which was released in 2012 In the late 1970s Tom Waits often used to perform Big Spender as a medley with the song Small Change. Queen performed it Live at Wembley Stadium on 12 July 1986, dionne Warwick and Debby Boone performed the song on Boones show One Step Closer in 1982. The Pussycat Dolls performed the live at the 2004 MTV Asia Awards. The Pussycat Dolls Doll Domination Tour that started in 2009, featured Ashley Roberts, Jessica Sutta, the song appeared in Muriel Cigar commercials in the 1970s, sung by Edie Adams. A modified version of the tune entreated the viewer to. spend a dime with me. In an episode of British Asian sketch comedy show Goodness Gracious Me, in the Two Bad Neighbors episode of The Simpsons, Homer Simpson performed the song at a yard sale with new lyrics to reflect the merchandise he is promoting
23.
Barbara Bouchet
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Barbara Bouchet is a German-American actress and entrepreneur who lives and works in Italy. She has acted in more than 80 films and television episodes and founded a company that has produced fitness videos. She also owns and operates a fitness studio and she appeared in Casino Royale as Miss Moneypenny, as Patrizia in Dont Torture a Duckling, The Scarlet and The Black and as Mrs. Schermerhorn in Martin Scorseses Gangs of New York. Barbara Gutscher, the eldest of 4 siblings, was born in Reichenberg, after World War II, her family was placed in a resettlement camp in the American occupation zone in Germany. They were granted permission to emigrate to the United States under the provisions of the Displaced Persons Act of 1948. After arriving in America, the family lived in Five Points, California on the west side of the Central Valley and eventually settled in San Francisco, where Gutscher was raised. During the early 1960s San Francisco Bay Area television station KPIX-TV ran a show named The KPIX Dance Party and these were teenage dancers who danced live to the hit songs of the day and became locally known in their own right by being on television six days per week. Barbara was on the show from 1959 until 1962, when she moved to Hollywood to get into the film industry, Bouchet began her career modelling for magazine covers and appearing in television commercials, before eventually becoming an actress. Her first acting role was a part in What a Way to Go. which led to a series of other roles in the 1960s. She appeared in the films John Goldfarb, Please Come Home, In Harms Way and she appeared, semi-clad, in two editions of Playboy magazine, May 1965 and February 1967. In Casino Royale, she played the role of Miss Moneypenny, in 1968, she guest-starred in the Star Trek episode By Any Other Name, and appeared in the musical film Sweet Charity playing Ursula. Tired of being typecast and unable to get starring roles in Hollywood, she moved to Italy in 1970 and began acting in Italian films, such as Black Belly of the Tarantula and she starred with Gregory Peck in The Scarlet and The Black, a successful TV movie. In 1985, she established a company and started to produce a successful series of fitness books. In addition, she opened a studio in Rome. In 2002, she returned to American cinema, appearing in Gangs of New York, in 1974, Barbara Bouchet married Luigi Borghese, a producer, with whom she has two sons, Alessandro, a TV chef and Massimiliano, a bartender. Her husband subsequently produced some of her later films and they separated in 2006, citing different aspirations. Dick Stewart Television Show, The Rogues Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea The Man from U. N. C. L. E
24.
Ben Vereen
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Ben Vereen is an American actor, dancer, and singer who has appeared in numerous Broadway theatre shows. Vereen graduated from Manhattans High School of Performing Arts, Vereen was born Benjamin Augustus Middleton on October 10,1946, in Miami, Florida. While still an infant, Vereen and his family relocated to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn and he was adopted by James Vereen, a paint-factory worker, and his wife, Pauline, who worked as a maid and theatre wardrobe mistress. He discovered he was adopted when he applied for a passport to join Sammy Davis, during his pre-teen years, he exhibited an innate talent for drama and dance and often performed in local variety shows. At the age of 14, Vereen enrolled at the High School of Performing Arts, where he studied under world-renowned choreographers Martha Graham, George Balanchine, upon his graduation, he struggled to find suitable stage work and was often forced to take odd jobs to supplement his income. He was 18 years old when he made his New York stage bow off-off Broadway in The Prodigal Son at the Greenwich Mews Theater. By the following year, he was in Las Vegas, performing in Bob Fosses production of Sweet Charity and he returned to New York City to play Claude in Hair in the Broadway production, before joining the national touring company. The following year, he was cast opposite Davis in the adaptation of Sweet Charity. After developing a rapport with Davis, Vereen was cast as his understudy in the production of Golden Boy. He was nominated for a Tony Award for Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972, Vereen appeared in the Broadway musical Wicked as the Wizard of Oz in 2005. Vereen has also performed in shows and actively lectures on black history. Vereens four-week summer variety series, Ben Vereen, comin At Ya, aired on NBC in August 1975 and featured regulars Lola Falana, Avery Schreiber and Liz Torres. In 1981, Vereen performed at Ronald Reagans first inauguration, the performance generated controversy as Vereen performed the first part of the show in blackface. Before the finale, ABC cut the performance, generating confusion. He was cast opposite Jeff Goldblum in the detective series Tenspeed. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Vereen worked steadily on television with projects ranging from the sitcom Webster to the drama Silk Stalkings, in 1985, Vereen starred in the Faerie Tale Theatre series as Puss in Boots alongside Gregory Hines. He appeared on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episode, “Papa’s Got a Brand New Excuse, in which he played Will Smiths biological father and he made several appearances on the 1980s sitcom Webster as the title characters biological uncle. He also appeared as Mayor Ben on the childrens program Zoobilee Zoo, in 1993 he appeared in the Star Trek, The Next Generation episode Interface, as the father of Roots co-star LeVar Burtons Geordi LaForge - fellow Roots star Madge Sinclair portrayed his wife as well
25.
Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
26.
Golden Globe Award
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Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign. The annual ceremony at which the awards are presented is a part of the film industrys awards season. The 74th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film, the 1st Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best achievements in 1943 filmmaking, was held in January 1944, at the 20th Century-Fox studios. Subsequent ceremonies were held at venues throughout the next decade, including the Beverly Hills Hotel. In 1950, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association made the decision to establish an honorary award to recognize outstanding contributions to the entertainment industry. Recognizing its subject as a figure within the entertainment industry. The official name of the award became the Cecil B. In 1963, the Miss Golden Globe concept was introduced, in its inaugural year, two Miss Golden Globes were named, one for film and one for television. The two Miss Golden Globes named that year were Eva Six and Donna Douglas, respectively, in 2009, the Golden Globe statuette was redesigned. It was unveiled at a conference at the Beverly Hilton prior to the show. The broadcast of the Golden Globe Awards, telecast to 167 countries worldwide, generally ranks as the third most-watched awards show each year, behind only the Oscars, gervais returned to host the 68th and 69th Golden Globe Awards the next two years. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosted the 70th, 71st and 72nd Golden Globe Awards in 2015, the Golden Globe Awards theme song, which debuted in 2012, was written by Japanese musician and songwriter Yoshiki Hayashi. On January 7,2008, it was announced due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The ceremony was faced with a threat by striking writers to picket the event, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was forced to adopt another approach for the broadcast. In acting categories, Meryl Streep holds the record for the most competitive Golden Globe wins with eight, however, including honorary awards, such as the Henrietta Award, World Film Favorite Actor/Actress Award, or Cecil B. DeMille Award, Barbra Streisand leads with nine, additionally, Streisand won for composing the song Evergreen, producing the Best Picture, and directing Yentl in 1984. Jack Nicholson, Angela Lansbury, Alan Alda and Shirley MacLaine have six awards each, behind them are Rosalind Russell and Jessica Lange with five wins. Meryl Streep also holds the record for most nominations with thirty, at the 46th Golden Globe Awards an anomaly occurred, a three way-tie for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
27.
American Film Institute
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The American Film Institute is an American film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the moving picture arts in America. AFI is supported by funding and public membership. The institute is composed of leaders from the film, entertainment, business, a board of trustees chaired by Sir Howard Stringer and a board of directors chaired by Robert A. Daly guide the organization, which is led by President and CEO Bob Gazzale. Prior leaders were founding director George Stevens, Jr. and Jean Picker Firstenberg. <ref>AFI Board of Trustees etc. American Film Institute. October 2014. Retrieved December 24,2014. </ref>Two years later, in 1967, AFI was established, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Motion Picture Association of America and the Ford Foundation. The institute established a program for filmmakers known then as the Center for Advanced Film Studies. The institute moved to its current eight-acre Hollywood campus in 1981, the film training program grew into the AFI Conservatory, an accredited graduate school. AFI educates audiences and recognizes excellence through its awards programs and 10 Top 10 Lists. In 1969, the established the AFI Conservatory for Advanced Film Studies at Greystone. The first class included filmmakers Terrence Malick, Caleb Deschanel and Paul Schrader, mirroring a professional production environment, Fellows collaborate to make more films than any other graduate level program. Admission to AFI Conservatory is highly selective, with a maximum of 140 graduates per year, in 2013, Emmy and Oscar-winning director, producer and screenwriter James L. Brooks joined AFI as Artistic Director of the AFI Conservatory where he provides leadership for the film program. Brooks artistic role at the AFI Conservatory has a legacy that includes Daniel Petrie, Jr. Robert Wise. Award-winning director Bob Mandel served as Dean of the AFI Conservatory for nine years, jan Schuette took over as Dean in 2014. AFI Conservatorys alumni have careers in film, television and on the web and they have been recognized with all of the major industry awards – Academy Award, Emmy Award, guild awards, and the Tony Award. The AFI Catalog, started in 1968, is a web-based filmographic database, early print copies of this catalog may also be found at your local library. Each year the AFI Awards honor the ten outstanding films and ten outstanding television programs, the awards are a non-competitive acknowledgement of excellence. The Awards are announced in December and a luncheon for award honorees takes place the following January. The juries consisted of over 1,500 artists, scholars, critics and historians, with movies selected based on the films popularity over time, historical significance, citizen Kane was voted the greatest American film twice. AFI operates two film festivals, AFI Fest in Los Angeles, and AFI Docs in Silver Spring, Maryland, AFI Fest is the American Film Institutes annual celebration of artistic excellence
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
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AllMovie
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AllMovie is an online guide service website with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. As of 2013, AllMovie. com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by All Media Network, AllMovie was founded by popular-culture archivist Michael Erlewine, who also founded AllMusic and AllGame. The AllMovie database was licensed to tens of thousands of distributors and retailers for point-of-sale systems, websites, the AllMovie database is comprehensive, including basic product information, cast and production credits, plot synopsis, professional reviews, biographies, relational links and more. AllMovie data was accessed on the web at the AllMovie. com website and it was also available via the AMG LASSO media recognition service, which can automatically recognize DVDs. In late 2007, Macrovision acquired AMG for a reported $72 million, the AMG consumer facing web properties AllMusic. com, AllMovie. com and AllGame. com were sold by Rovi in August 2013 to All Media Network, LLC. The buyers also include the founders of SideReel and Ackrell Capital investor Mike Ackrell. All Media Network offices are located in San Francisco, California, AllMusic AllGame SideReel All Media Network Official website
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IMDb
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In 1998 it became a subsidiary of Amazon Inc, who were then able to use it as an advertising resource for selling DVDs and videotapes. As of January 2017, IMDb has approximately 4.1 million titles and 7.7 million personalities in its database, the site enables registered users to submit new material and edits to existing entries. Although all data is checked before going live, the system has open to abuse. The site also featured message boards which stimulate regular debates and dialogue among authenticated users, IMDb shutdown the message boards permanently on February 20,2017. Anyone with a connection can read the movie and talent pages of IMDb. A registration process is however, to contribute info to the site. A registered user chooses a name for themselves, and is given a profile page. These badges range from total contributions made, to independent categories such as photos, trivia, bios, if a registered user or visitor happens to be in the entertainment industry, and has an IMDb page, that user/visitor can add photos to that page by enrolling in IMDbPRO. Actors, crew, and industry executives can post their own resume and this fee enrolls them in a membership called IMDbPro. PRO can be accessed by anyone willing to pay the fee, which is $19.99 USD per month, or if paid annually, $149.99, which comes to approximately $12.50 per month USD. Membership enables a user to access the rank order of each industry personality, as well as agent contact information for any actor, producer, director etc. that has an IMDb page. Enrolling in PRO for industry personnel, enables those members the ability to upload a head shot to open their page, as well as the ability to upload hundreds of photos to accompany their page. Anyone can register as a user, and contribute to the site as well as enjoy its content, however those users enrolled in PRO have greater access and privileges. IMDb originated with a Usenet posting by British film fan and computer programmer Col Needham entitled Those Eyes, others with similar interests soon responded with additions or different lists of their own. Needham subsequently started an Actors List, while Dave Knight began a Directors List, and Andy Krieg took over THE LIST from Hank Driskill, which would later be renamed the Actress List. Both lists had been restricted to people who were alive and working, the goal of the participants now was to make the lists as inclusive as possible. By late 1990, the lists included almost 10,000 movies and television series correlated with actors and actresses appearing therein. On October 17,1990, Needham developed and posted a collection of Unix shell scripts which could be used to search the four lists, at the time, it was known as the rec. arts. movies movie database
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Turner Classic Movies
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Turner Classic Movies is an American movie-oriented basic cable and satellite television network owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner. TCM is headquartered at the Techwood Campus in Atlanta, Georgias Midtown business district, historically, the channels programming consisted mainly of featured classic theatrically released feature films from the Turner Entertainment film library – which comprises films from Warner Bros. However, TCM now has licensing deals with other Hollywood film studios as well as its Time Warner sister company, Warner Bros. and occasionally shows more recent films. The channel is available in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, France, Spain, Nordic countries, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. In 1986, eight years before the launch of Turner Classic Movies, concerns over Turner Entertainments corporate debt load resulted in Turner selling the studio that October back to Kirk Kerkorian, from whom Turner had purchased the studio less than a year before. As part of the deal, Turner Entertainment retained ownership of MGMs library of films released up to May 9,1986, Turner Broadcasting System was split into two companies, Turner Broadcasting System and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and reincorporated as MGM/UA Communications Co. The film library of Turner Entertainment would serve as the form of programming for TCM upon the networks launch. After the library was acquired, MGM/UA signed a deal with Turner to continue distributing the pre-May 1986 MGM and to begin distributing the pre-1950 Warner Bros. film libraries for video release. Turner Classic Movies debuted on April 14,1994, at 6,00 p. m. Eastern Time, the date and time were chosen for their historical significance as the exact centennial anniversary of the first public movie showing in New York City. The first movie broadcast on TCM was the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, at the time of its launch, TCM was available to approximately one million cable television subscribers. AMC had broadened its content to feature colorized and more recent films by 2002. In the early 90s AMC abandoned its format, leaving TCM as the only movie-oriented cable channel to devote its programming entirely to classic films without commercial interruption. In 1996, Turner Broadcasting System merged with Time Warner, which besides placing Turner Classic Movies, in March 1999, MGM paid Warner Bros. and gave up the home video rights to the MGM/UA films owned by Turner to Warner Home Video. In 2008, TCM won a Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting, in April 2010, Turner Classic Movies held the first TCM Classic Film Festival, an event – now held annually – at the Graumans Chinese Theater and the Graumans Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. In 2007, some of the films featured on TCM were made available for streaming on TCMs website. The networks programming season runs from February until the following March of each year when a retrospective of Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated movies is shown, called 31 Days of Oscar. Turner Classic Movies presents many of its features in their original aspect ratio whenever possible – widescreen films broadcast on TCM are letterboxed on the standard definition feed. TCM also regularly presents widescreen presentations of films not available in the format on any video release
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