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Billy Van
William Allan Van Evera (11 August 1934 – 8 January 2003), known by the stage name Billy Van, was a Canadian comedian, actor, and singer. Biography Van was born in Toronto, Ontario, and dropped out of Bloor Collegiate Institute in Grade 11 to pursue a career as an entertainer. Starting as a youth, he and his four brothers toured North America as a singing act called the Van Evera Brothers. After leaving his brothers and dropping "Evera" from his name, Van performed as a singer, leading the Billy Van Four and later the Billy Van Singers, and making frequent appearances on Canadian variety television shows such as ''Fancy Free''. The single "I Miss You" / "The Last Sunrise" by the Billy Van Four, released on the Rodeo International label, peaked at number 29 on the CHUM Chart in Toronto in March 1961. As a comedian, Van gained national attention in 1963 as a performer on CBC Television's late-night satire programme ''Nightcap''. He threatened to quit the show after three se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor of the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration of 9,765,188 people (as of 2021) surrounding the western end of Lake Ontario, while the Greater Toronto Area proper had a 2021 population of 6,712,341. Toronto is an international centre of business, finance, arts, sports and culture, and is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world. Indigenous peoples have travelled through and inhabited the Toronto area, located on a broad sloping plateau interspersed with rivers, deep ravines, and urban forest, for more than 10,000 years. After the broadly disputed Toronto Purchase, when the Mississauga surrendered the area to the British Crown, the British established the town of York in 1793 and later designat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolfman Jack
Robert Weston Smith (January 21, 1938July 1, 1995), known as Wolfman Jack, was an American disc jockey active from 1960 till his death in 1995. Famous for his gravelly voice, he credited it for his success, saying, "It's kept meat and potatoes on the table for years for Wolfman and Wolfwoman. A couple of shots of whiskey helps it. I've got that nice raspy sound." Early life Smith was born in Brooklyn on January 21, 1938, the younger of two children of Anson Weston Smith, an Episcopal Sunday school teacher, writer, editor, and executive vice president of ''Financial World'', and his wife Rosamond Small. He lived on 12th Street and 4th Avenue and went to Manual Training High School in the Park Slope section. His parents divorced while he was a child. To help keep him out of trouble, his father bought him a large Trans-Oceanic radio, and Smith became an avid fan of R&B music and the disc jockeys who played it, including Douglas "Jocko" Henderson of Philadelphia, New York's "Dr. Ji ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Byner
John Byner (born John Biener; June 28, 1938) is an American actor, comedian and impressionist who has had a lengthy television and film career. His voice work includes the cartoon series ''The Ant and the Aardvark'', in which the title characters are voiced by Byner's impressions of Dean Martin and Jackie Mason, respectively. Career On ''The Ed Sullivan Show'', where he made his first early TV appearances, he mimicked Ed Sullivan among many others. Other impressions included John Wayne and he sings as Dean Martin and Johnny Mathis. His ability to mimic "Toastmaster General" George Jessel came in handy during his appearances on panel programs such as celebrity "roasts" and other tributes. In 1966, Byner released "Everybody Do The," a musical spoof of dance crazes, as a single on the Pop-Side label. Byner wrote the song with his manager Harry Colomby. The B side of the record was a cover of the blues/R&B/rock standard "Baby, Please Don't Go." On a 1967 episode of ''Get Smart'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bizarre (TV Series)
''Bizarre'' is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that aired from 1980 to 1986. The show was hosted by John Byner, and produced by CTV at the CFTO's Glen Warren Studios in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario for first-run airing in Canada on CTV and in the United States on the Showtime premium cable network. Synopsis The series featured slapstick sketches, monologues, TV parodies, and performances by guest stand-up comics. Byner's interactions with members of the studio audience, or with show producer Bob Einstein (who often came in to halt a sketch midway through), provided an early example of removing the fourth wall. Much of the humour on the show was considered risqué during the original run of the series. The series utilized a rotating ensemble of supporting actors who backed Byner up in his sketches. Besides Einstein, this group included Philip Akin, Harvey Atkin, Billy Barty, Cynthia Belliveau, Jack Duffy, Jayne Eastwood, Barbara Hamilton, John Hemph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eureka! (TV Series)
''Eureka!'' is a Canadian educational television series which was produced and broadcast by TVOntario in 1980 and 1981. The series was narrated by Billy Van, and featured a series of animated vignettes which taught physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ... lessons to children. It is currently available online. Synopsis Eureka! is a series of animated shorts that illustrate concepts in physics. Each program takes a simple and direct approach to the subject matter; while the basic concepts are explained in a voice-over, cartoon characters and a variety of animated objects demonstrate the principles on the screen. Constant review and reinforcement make the message clear; as a result, the study of physics becomes easy and accessible - even to viewers without a solid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bits And Bytes
''Bits and Bytes'' was the name of two Canadian educational television series produced by TVOntario that taught the basics of how to use a personal computer. The first series, made in 1983, starred Luba Goy as the Instructor and Billy Van as the Student. ''Bits and Bytes 2'' was produced in 1991 and starred Billy Van as the Instructor and Victoria Stokle as the Student. The Writer-Producers of both ''Bits and Bytes'' and ''Bits and Bytes 2'' were Denise Boiteau & David Stansfield. Title sequence The intro sequence featured a montage of common computer terms such as "ERROR", "LOGO" and "ROM", as well as various snippets of simple computer graphics and video effects, accompanied by a theme song that very heavily borrows from the 1978 song "Neon Lights" by Kraftwerk. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TVOntario
TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario Educational Communications Authority (OECA), a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario. It operates flagship station CICA-DT (channel 19) in Toronto, which also relays programming across portions of Ontario through eight rebroadcast stations. All pay television (cable, satellite, IPTV) providers throughout Ontario are required to carry TVO on their basic tier, and programming can be streamed for free online within Canada. Governance, funding and other responsibilities TVO is governed by a volunteer board of directors, and supported by a network of regional councillors from across the province. TVO also reports to the Ontario legislature through the Minister of Education, in accordance with the Ontario Educational Commun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Bearde
Chris Bearde (June 18, 1936 – April 23, 2017) was a British-born comedy writer, producer and director best known for his work as a writer on ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' and for co-writing and producing television specials for Elvis Presley, Bob Hope, Sonny & Cher, Bill Cosby, Steve Martin, Jim Carrey, Andy Williams, The Jackson 5, The Osmonds, Dinah Shore, Diana Ross, and Lucille Ball. He also created the format for the original ''Gong Show'' and a number of network and pay-cable comedy series including ''That's My Mama'' and ''Sherman Oaks''. Early career Bearde's career started in the 1950s in his adopted home, Sydney, Australia. After working in radio and serving two years in the Australian Army, at age 23 he became host of the children's television series ''Smalltime''. His appearances in this show and his writing for other Australian comedy shows was recognised by visiting Canadian and American producers, and Bearde was contracted by the Canadian commercial network CT ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hudson Brothers
The Hudson Brothers were an American musical group formed in Portland, Oregon, consisting of brothers Bill Hudson, Brett Hudson and Mark Hudson. They were discovered by a record producer while recording music at a local studio, and offered a recording contract. After releasing several garage rock singles in the late 1960s as The New Yorkers, the group began releasing material under the names Everyday Hudson, and Hudson. They garnered fame as teen idols in the 1970s after their primetime series debuted as a Summer replacement for The ''Sonny & Cher'' Comedy Hour in 1974. The resulting popularity led to their Saturday-morning half-hour sketch comedy series for CBS, ''The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show'', which ran from 1974 to 1975. They also released numerous hit singles during this time for producer Bernie Taupin, including "So You Are a Star" (1974), "Rendezvous" (1975), "Lonely School Year" (1975), and "Help Wanted" (1976). History 1965–1972: Formation and early singles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bobby Vinton Show
''The Bobby Vinton Show'' was a Canadian musical variety television series produced for the CTV Television Network between 1975 and 1978, with a total of 52 episodes broadcast. Featuring Bobby Vinton, a best-selling popular music singer since the early 1960s, the series mixed comedy skits with musical interludes. Appearing on the series as a regular was comedian Billy Van. The series often satirized Vinton's Polish heritage, and its theme song was an "umpah band" rendition of his 1974 song " My Melody of Love" (Vinton also ended each episode by performing the song himself). The series was created by Chris Bearde and packaged by Chuck Barris. The shows always commenced with a large woman named Monique dancing the guest out to the stage. The series was syndicated to local stations in the United States, although the program's entry in the user-edited Internet Movie Database suggests it may also have been broadcast by CBS during 1975 (CBS did broadcast his one-hour special, '' Bobby V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour
''The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour'' was an American variety show that starred American pop singers Sonny Bono and Cher, who were married to each other at the time. The show ran on CBS in the United States, and premiered in August 1971. The show was cancelled in May 1974, due to the couple's divorce, but the duo reunited in 1976 for the similarly formatted ''The Sonny & Cher Show'' (a title sporadically used during the run of the ''Comedy Hour''), which ran for two seasons, ending August 29, 1977. ''The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour'' (1971–1974) By 1971, Sonny & Cher had stopped producing hit singles as a duet act. Cher's first feature film, ''Chastity'', was not a success, and the duo decided to sing and tell jokes in nightclubs across the country. CBS head of programming Fred Silverman saw them one evening and offered them their own show. ''The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour'' was originally supposed to be a summer replacement series, but high ratings gave Silverman sufficient reason t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ken Berry
Kenneth Ronald Berry (November 3, 1933 – December 1, 2018) was an American actor, dancer, and singer. Berry starred on the television series ''F Troop'', ''The Andy Griffith Show'', ''Mayberry R.F.D.'' and ''Mama's Family''. He also appeared on Broadway in ''The Billy Barnes Revue'', headlined as George M. Cohan in the musical ''George M!'' and provided comic relief for the medical drama ''Dr. Kildare'' with Richard Chamberlain in the 1960s. Early life and career Berry was born in Moline in Northwestern Illinois, one of two children of an accountant, Darrell Berry, and his wife, Bernice. Berry was of Swedish-English descent. Berry realized he wanted to be a dancer and singer at age 12, as he watched a children's dance performance during a school assembly. He then dreamed of starring in musicals and went to movie theaters to watch Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in some of his favorite films such as '' Easter Parade'', ''Royal Wedding'', '' On the Town'', and ''Summer Stock' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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