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Byrne Piven
Bernard Piven (September 24, 1929 – February 18, 2002) was an American stage actor, director, and co-founder of the Playwrights Theatre Club, a forerunner of The Second City. He was known as Byrne Piven. Life and career Piven was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania the son of Katie (née Balaban) and Samuel Piven, who were Ukrainian-Jewish immigrants. He came to Chicago in 1954 and met Joyce Hiller at the University of Chicago. They were married a short time later. In the 1950s, the Pivens were two of the founding members of the Playwrights Theatre Club, along with Paul Sills and David Shepard. Playwrights featured such budding stars as Mike Nichols, Elaine May, Ed Asner and Barbara Harris. In the mid-1950s, the Pivens moved to New York, where they studied with Uta Hagen. Piven played the leads in several New York Shakespeare Festival productions. He was also part of the Obie Award-winning cast of ''A House Remembered''. They returned to Chicago in 1967 to rejoin Sills, Shel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming Valley, and the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 562,037 as of 2020. It is List of cities and boroughs in Pennsylvania by population, the sixth largest city in Pennsylvania. The contiguous network of five cities and more than 40 boroughs all built in a straight line in Northeastern Pennsylvania's urban area act culturally and logistically as one continuous city, so while the city of Scranton itself is a smaller town, the larger unofficial city of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre contains nearly half a million residents in roughly 200 square miles. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is the cultural and economic center of a re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the American Theatre Wing. As the Tony Awards cover Broadway productions, the Obie Awards cover off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions. Background The Obie Awards were initiated by Edwin (Ed) Fancher, publisher of ''The Village Voice,'' who handled the financing and business side of the project. They were first given in 1956 under the direction of theater critic Jerry Tallmer. Initially, only off-Broadway productions were eligible; in 1964, off-off-Broadway productions were made eligible. The first Obie Awards ceremony was held at Helen Gee's cafe.Aletti, Vince"Helen Gee 1919–2004" ''Village Voice'' (New York City), 12 October 2004, accessed on 21 November 2013 With the exception of the Lifetime Achievement and Best New American Pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miracle On 34th Street (1994 Film)
''Miracle on 34th Street'' is a 1994 American Christmas fantasy comedy-drama film co-written and co-produced by John Hughes, and directed by Les Mayfield. The film stars Richard Attenborough, Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott, J.T. Walsh, James Remar, Mara Wilson, and Robert Prosky. It is the first theatrical remake of the original 1947 film. Like the original, this film was released by 20th Century Fox. The New York City based Macy's department store declined any involvement with this remake, saying “we feel the original stands on its own and could not be improved upon.” The fictitious "Cole's" became its replacement. Gimbels had gone out of business in 1987; hence it was replaced by the fictional "Shopper's Express". Plot Cole's Department Store's special events director Dorey Walker fires the Cole's Department Store's Santa Claus Tony Falacchi after he gets drunk before taking part in the Thanksgiving parade. Immediately trying to find a replacement, she spots an e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pyrates
''Pyrates'' is a 1991 comedy film, starring Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick about a couple who experience pyrokinesis after having sex. Directed and written by Noah Stern, the film was released on VHS on December 18, 1991. Plot When Ari (Kevin Bacon) and Sam (Kyra Sedgwick) first meet they realise that there is chemistry between them. When they have sex with each other, they experience pyrokinesis. However, as their love affair does not run smoothly, their friends Liam ( Bruce Martyn Payne) and Pia (Kristin Dattilo) intervene to try to help. At one point when Sam is angry with Ari, Liam helps Ari to serenade her with a rendition the Soft Cell song ''Tainted Love''. Cast *Kevin Bacon as Ari *Kyra Sedgwick as Sam * Bruce Martyn Payne as Liam *Kristin Dattilo as Pia *Buckley Harris as Dr. Weiss *Deborah Falconer as Rivkah *David Pressman as Carlton *Raymond O'Connor as Fireman *Byrne Piven as Rabbi Lichtenstein *Ernie Lee Banks as Wee Willie *Mickey Jones as Wisconsin Del *Petra Ver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Creator (film)
''Creator'' is a 1985 film directed by Ivan Passer, starring Peter O'Toole, Vincent Spano, Mariel Hemingway, and Virginia Madsen. It is based on the 1980 novel of the same title by Jeremy Leven, who also wrote the screenplay adaptation. Plot Dr. Harry Wolper is an eccentric medical professor teaching at a small Southern California college who is obsessed with making a clone of his wife Lucy who died in childbirth 30 years earlier. Harry hires Boris Lafkin, a struggling pre-med student as his personal assistant to help him with his experiments by obtaining lab equipment and working in his backyard shed in exchange for which Harry gives Boris love life advice in courting an attractive coed named Barbara who slowly becomes smitten with Boris. To continue his research into cloning, Harry meets and employs a young woman, named Meli, who practically moves in with him on an agreement to contribute her ovary sample as part of the cloning progress. Meli slowly falls for the much older Harr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frances Fox Piven
Frances Fox Piven (born October 10, 1932) is an American professor of political science and sociology at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, where she has taught since 1982.Frances Fox Piven Papers – Biographical Note , Sophia Smith Collection, , Five Colleges Archives & Manuscript Collections Piven is known equally for her contributions to social theory and for her social activism. A veteran of the |
Uncle Ben's
Ben's Original, formerly called Uncle Ben's, is an American brand of parboiled rice and other related food products that was introduced by Converted Rice Inc., which is now owned by Mars, Inc. Its headquarters are in Denver Harbor, Houston, Texas. Uncle Ben's rice was first marketed in 1943 and was the top-selling rice in the United States from 1950 until the 1990s. In 2020, it was rebranded as "Ben's Original" in the US following the George Floyd protests. The brand has historically capitalized on the long history of rice in African-American food culture and rice production in the United States. History In the 1910s, the German-British chemist Erich Huzenlaub (1888–1964) and the British chemist Francis Heron Rogers invented a form of parboiling designed to retain more of the nutrients in rice, now known as the Huzenlaub Process. The process entailed vacuum drying the whole grain, then steaming, and finally vacuum drying and removal of the husk. This increased the ric ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aidan Quinn
Aidan Quinn (born March 8, 1959) is an American actor who made his film debut in '' Reckless'' (1984). He has starred in over 80 feature films, including ''Desperately Seeking Susan'' (1985), '' The Mission'' (1986), ''Stakeout'' (1987), ''Avalon'' (1990), ''Benny & Joon'' (1993), ''Legends of the Fall'' (1994), '' Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'' (1994), ''Michael Collins'' (1996), ''Practical Magic'' (1998), ''Song for a Raggy Boy'' (2003), and ''Unknown'' (2011). Quinn has received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his work in ''An Early Frost'' (1985) and ''Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee'' (2007). He played Captain Thomas "Tommy" Gregson in the CBS television series ''Elementary'' (2012–2019). Early life Quinn was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Irish Catholic parents. He was raised in Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, as well as in Dublin and Birr, County Offaly, Ireland. His mother, Teresa, was a homemaker, but also worked as a bookkeeper and in the travel business, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Sunshine Boys
''The Sunshine Boys'' is an original two-act play written by Neil Simon that premiered December 20, 1972 on Broadway starring Jack Albertson as Willie Clark and Sam Levene as Al Lewis and later adapted for film and television. Plot The play's protagonists are Al Lewis and Willie Clark. Lewis and Clark were once a successful vaudevillian comedy duo known as the Sunshine Boys. During the later years of their 43-year run, animosity between the partners grew to the point where they ceased to speak with each other. Eleven years prior to the events of the play, Al retired from show business, leaving Willie struggling to keep his career afloat. Willie, now an old man struggling with memory loss, reluctantly accepts an offer from his nephew Ben, a talent agent, to reunite with Al for a CBS special on the history of comedy. Willie and Al meet in Willie's apartment to rehearse their classic doctor and tax collector sketch. The reunion gets off to a bad start, with the two getting in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shelley Berman
Sheldon Leonard Berman (February 3, 1925 – September 1, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, writer, teacher, and lecturer. In his comedic career, he was awarded three gold records and he won the first Grammy Award for a spoken comedy recording in 1959. He played Larry David's father on ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', a role for which he received a 2008 Emmy Award nomination. Berman taught humor writing at the University of Southern California for more than 20 years. Early life and education Berman was born in Chicago, the son of Irene (née Marks) and Nathan Berman. He was Jewish. He had a younger brother, Ronald. He served in the Navy during World War II. He then enrolled in Chicago's Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago (now at DePaul University) as a drama student. There he met fellow student Sarah Herman; they married in 1947. His acting career began with an acting company in Woodstock, Illinois. Leaving Woodstock in 1949, the couple made their way to Ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Jefferson
Joseph Jefferson III, commonly known as Joe Jefferson (February 20, 1829 – April 23, 1905), was an American actor. He was the third actor of this name in a family of actors and managers, and one of the most famous 19th century American comedians. Beginning as a young child, he continued as a performer for most of his 76 years. Jefferson was particularly well known for his adaptation and portrayal of Rip Van Winkle on the stage, reprising the role in several silent film adaptations. After 1865, he created no other major role and toured with this play for decades. Life and career Jefferson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Joseph Jefferson, Jr., was a scenic designer and actor and his mother an actress. He appeared onstage early in life, often being used when a play called for "a babe in arms". His first recorded appearance was at the Washington Theatre in Washington, D.C., where he appeared in a benefit performance for the minstrel Thomas D. Rice. Jefferson ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson (born Zelma Kathryn Elisabeth Hedrick; February 9, 1922 – February 17, 2010) was an American actress and coloratura soprano.Ronald Berganbr>Obituary '' London Guardian'', February 19, 2010. From the age of twelve, Grayson trained as an opera singer. She was under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by the early 1940s, soon establishing a career principally through her work in musicals. After several supporting roles, she was a lead performer in such films as ''Thousands Cheer'' (1943), ''Anchors Aweigh'' (1945) with Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, and ''Show Boat'' (1951) and ''Kiss Me Kate'' (1953), both with Howard Keel. When film musical production declined, she worked in theatre, appearing in ''Camelot'' (1962–1964). Later in the decade she performed in several operas, including ''La bohème'', ''Madama Butterfly'', ''Orpheus in the Underworld'' and ''La traviata''. Early life Zelma Kathryn Elisabeth Hedrick was born on February 9, 1922, in Winston-Salem, Nort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
