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Alice Ghostley
Alice Margaret Ghostley (August 14, 1923 – September 21, 2007) was a Tony Award-winning American actress and singer on stage, film and television. She was best known for her roles as bumbling witch Esmeralda (1969–70; 1972) on '' Bewitched'', as Cousin Alice (1970–71) on ''Mayberry R.F.D.'', and as Bernice Clifton (1986–93) on ''Designing Women'', for which she received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1992. She was a regular on ''Nichols'' (1971–72) and ''The Julie Andrews Hour'' (1972–73). Early life Ghostley was born in Eve, Missouri, in 1923 to Edna Muriel (née Rooney) and Harry Francis Ghostley, who worked as a telegraph operator. She grew up in Henryetta, Oklahoma. She attended the University of Oklahoma, but dropped out to pursue a career in theater. Career Stage Ghostley first came to Broadway in Leonard Sillman's ''New Faces of 1952'' and in the film version released in 1954. She appeared in the 1960 revue ''A Thurb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mayberry R
Mayberry, North Carolina, is a fictional community that was the setting for two popular American television sitcoms, ''The Andy Griffith Show'' (1960–1968) and ''Mayberry R.F.D.'' (1968–1971); Mayberry was also the setting for a 1986 reunion television film titled ''Return to Mayberry''. Mayberry is said to be based on Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina. Mount Airy is also known as Mayberry and called by both names by its residents. The name "Mayberry" According to show episodes, the community of Mayberry was named for fictional founder John Mayberry. Purportedly, Andy Griffith himself chose the name of the fictional community. Griffith, however, told Larry King in 2003 that Artie Stander is the person who thought of the name Mayberry; Stander was one of the show's creators and writers. "Mayberry" is mentioned many times in television shows such as ''Cheers, House, M.D., Criminal Minds, Supernatural, How I Met Your Mother'', Buffy, and '' Scrubs''. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonard Sillman
Leonard Sillman (May 9, 1908 - January 23, 1982) was an American Broadway producer. Born in Detroit, Michigan on May 9, 1908, he was the brother of June Carroll, the brother-in-law of Sidney Carroll and the uncle of Steve Reich and Jonathan Carroll. He produced a series of musical revues, ''Leonard Sillman's New Faces'', which introduced many major stars to Broadway audiences, such as Henry Fonda, Eartha Kitt, Imogene Coca, Inga Swenson, John Lund, Van Johnson, Carol Lawrence, Madeline Kahn, Paul Lynde and Maggie Smith. Versions of ''New Faces'' were produced in 1934, 1936 (made into the film ''New Faces of 1937''), 1943, 1952 (made into the film ''New Faces''), 1956, 1962 and 1968. The very first ''New Faces'' in 1934 included actors Henry Fonda, Imogene Coca and Frances Dewey Wormser. Songwriter Arthur Siegel, who contributed many songs to the ''New Faces'' series and radio show, described Sillman's philosophy: "He believed that a revue should be a potpourri, a bouillabaisse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaye Ballard
Kaye Ballard (November 20, 1925 – January 21, 2019) was an American actress, comedian, and singer. Early life Ballard was born Catherine Gloria Balotta in Cleveland, Ohio, one of four children born to Italian immigrant parents, Lena (née Nacarato) and Vincenzo (later Vincent James) Balotta. Her parents immigrated to the United States from Calabria, a region of southern Italy. Career Ballard established herself as a musical comedian in the 1940s, joining the Spike Jones touring revue of entertainers. Capable of playing broad physical comedy as well as stand-up dialogue routines, she became familiar in television and stage productions. Ballard made her television debut on '' Henry Morgan's Great Talent Hunt'', a short-lived program hosted by Henry Morgan which first aired January 26, 1951. In 1954, she was the first person to record the song "Fly Me to the Moon". In 1957, she and Alice Ghostley played the two wicked stepsisters in the live telecast of Rodgers and Hammerstei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julie Andrews
Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Grammy Awards and six Golden Globe Awards. She has also received three Tony Award nominations. Andrews was made a Disney Legend in 1991, and has been honoured with an Honorary Golden Lion, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2007, and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2022. In 2000, Andrews was made a dame by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the performing arts. Andrews, a child actress and singer, appeared in the West End in 1948 and made her Broadway debut in '' The Boy Friend'' (1954). Billed as "Britain's youngest prima donna", she rose to prominence starring in Broadway musicals such as ''My Fair Lady'' (1956) playing Eliza Doolittle and ''Camelot'' (1960) playing Quee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cinderella (Rodgers And Hammerstein Musical)
''Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella'' is a musical written for television, but later played on stage, with music by Richard Rodgers and a book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based upon the fairy tale ''Cinderella'', particularly the French version '' Cendrillon, ou la petite pantoufle de verre'' ("Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper"), by Charles Perrault. The story concerns a young woman forced into a life of servitude by her cruel stepmother and self-centered stepsisters, who dreams of a better life. With the help of her fairy godmother, Cinderella is transformed into a princess and finds her prince. ''Cinderella'' is the only Rodgers and Hammerstein musical written for television. It was originally broadcast live in color on CBS on March 31, 1957, as a vehicle for Julie Andrews, who played the title role. The broadcast was viewed by more than 100 million people. It was subsequently remade for television twice, in 1965 and 1997. The 1965 version starred ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Many of his songs are standard repertoire for vocalists and jazz musicians. He co-wrote 850 songs. He is best known for his collaborations with composer Richard Rodgers, as the duo Rodgers and Hammerstein, whose musicals include ''Oklahoma!'', '' Carousel'', '' South Pacific'', ''The King and I'', and ''The Sound of Music''. Described by Stephen Sondheim as an "experimental playwright", Hammerstein helped bring the American musical to new maturity by popularizing musicals that focused on stories and character rather than the lighthearted entertainment that the musical had been known for beforehand. He also collaborated with Jerome Kern (with whom he wrote ''Show Boat''), Vincent Y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American composers of the 20th century, and his compositions had a significant influence on popular music. Rodgers is known for his songwriting partnerships, first with lyricist Lorenz Hart and then with Oscar Hammerstein II. With Hart he wrote musicals throughout the 1920s and 1930s, including ''Pal Joey (musical), Pal Joey'', ''A Connecticut Yankee (musical), A Connecticut Yankee'', ''On Your Toes'' and ''Babes in Arms.'' With Hammerstein he wrote musicals through the 1940s and 1950s, such as ''Oklahoma!'', ''Flower Drum Song'', ''Carousel (musical), Carousel'', ''South Pacific (musical), South Pacific'', ''The King and I'', and ''The Sound of Music''. His collaborations with Hammerstein, in particular, are celebrated for brin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Television In The United States
Television is one of the major mass media outlets in the United States. , household ownership of television sets in the country is 96.7%, with approximately 114,200,000 American households owning at least one television set as of August 2013. The majority of households have more than one set. The peak ownership percentage of households with at least one television set occurred during the 1996–97 season, with 98.4% ownership. In 1948, 1 percent of U.S. households owned at least one television while 75 percent did by 1955, and by 1992, 60 percent of all U.S. households received cable television subscriptions. As a whole, the television networks that broadcast in the United States are the largest and most distributed in the world, and programs produced specifically for US-based networks are the most widely syndicated internationally. Due to a recent surge in the number and popularity of critically acclaimed television series during the 2000s and the 2010s to date, many critics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Annie (musical)
''Annie'' is a Broadway theatre, Broadway musical theatre, musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip ''Little Orphan Annie'' and loosely based on the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" written by James Whitcomb Riley. The musical includes music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and a musical theater, book by Thomas Meehan (writer), Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years, setting a record for the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon Theatre). It spawned numerous productions in many countries, as well as national tours, and won seven Tony Awards, including the Tony Award for Best Musical. The musical's songs "Tomorrow (song from Annie), Tomorrow" and "It's the Hard Knock Life" are among its most popular musical numbers. Background Charnin first approached Meehan to write the book of a musical about ''Little Orphan Annie'' in 1972. Meehan researched by rereading prints of the comic strip, but was unable to fin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorothy Loudon
Dorothy Loudon (September 17, 1925 – November 15, 2003) was an American actress and singer. She won the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical in 1977 for her performance as Miss Hannigan in ''Annie''. Loudon was also nominated for Tony Awards for her lead performances in the musicals ''The Fig Leaves Are Falling'' and ''Ballroom'', as well as a Golden Globe award for her appearances on ''The Garry Moore Show''. Early life and career Loudon was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1925 (she later shaved eight years off her age), to James Edwin Loudon and Dorothy Helen Loudon (née Shaw). She was raised in Claremont, New Hampshire, and Indianapolis, Indiana. She attended Syracuse University on a drama scholarship but did not graduate, and moved to New York City to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She began singing in night clubs, one such being New York's Blue Angel, mingling song with ad-libbed comedy patter, and was featured on television on ''The Perry Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shangri-La (musical)
''Shangri-La'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by James Hilton, Jerome Lawrence, and Robert E. Lee and music by Harry Warren. Based on Hilton's classic 1933 novel ''Lost Horizon'', it focuses on Hugh Conway, a veteran member of the British diplomatic service, who stumbles across a utopian lamasery high in the Himalayas in Tibet after surviving a plane crash in the mountainous terrain. When the dying High Lama asks him to take charge after his death, Conway must decide between embracing the inner peace, love, and sense of purpose he has discovered in this mysterious world or attempt to return to civilization as he knows it. The Broadway production, directed by Albert Marre and choreographed by Donald Saddler, opened on June 13, 1956 at the Winter Garden Theatre, where it ran for only twenty-one performances. The cast included Dennis King, Shirley Yamaguchi, Martyn Green, Jack Cassidy, Alice Ghostley, Carol Lawrence, Berry Kroeger, Harold Lang, and Robert Cohan. Irene Sharaff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musical Comedy
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals. Although music has been a part of dramatic presentations since ancient times, modern Western musical theatre emerged during the 19th century, with many structural elements established by the works of Gilbert and Sullivan in Britain and those of Harrigan and Hart in America. These were followed by the numerous Edwardian musical comedies and the musical theatre w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
