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Clarence Wheeler
Clarence E. Wheeler (September 27, 1885 – December 28, 1966) was an American musician and composer. He created the music for many of ''Woody Woodpecker'' series cartoons under Walter Lantz Productions along with films in the 1950s. Biography Wheeler was born in Walnut, Kansas. He formed an orchestra that appeared on the radio in Chicago in the 1930s, playing on ''The Terminix All-Star Program'' in May 1933 on WBBM. He was music director of the station from 1935 to 1938 and was replaced by Caesar Petrillo, brother of future American Federation of Musicians boss James Petrillo. He arrived in Hollywood that year and began writing music published by Alberto Colombo. Among his compositions were ''Cinemaland Parade'', ''Silhouette in Rhythm'', ''Sing For Our Fallen Brave''., ''There Must Be a Way'', ''Hey There, Mr. Labor'', ''That Night in Donegal'', ''Tiny Little Big Shot'', ''Hello Broadway, London Calling'', the last four with James J. May. He soon went into scoring short films. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Woody Woodpecker
Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and distributed by Universal Studios between 1940 and 1972. Woody, an anthropomorphic woodpecker, was created in 1940 by Lantz and storyboard artist Ben "Bugs" Hardaway, who had previously laid the groundwork for two other screwball characters, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, at the Warner Bros. cartoon studio in the late 1930s. Woody's character and design evolved over the years, from an insane bird with an unusually garish design to a more refined looking and acting character in the vein of the later Chuck Jones version of Bugs Bunny. Woody was originally voiced by prolific voice actor Mel Blanc, who was succeeded in the shorts by Danny Webb, Kent Rogers, Dick Nelson, Ben Hardaway, and, finally, Grace Stafford (wife of Walter Lantz). Woody Woodpecker cartoons were first broadcast on television in 1957 under the title ''The Woody Woodpecker Show'', which featur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blondie (1938 Film)
''Blondie'' is a 1938 American comedy film directed by Frank Strayer, based on the comic strip of the same name, created by Chic Young. The screenplay was written by Richard Flournoy. The plot involves the Bumsteads' fifth anniversary, Dagwood trying to get a raise, and Blondie trying to buy new furniture. This was the first of 28 films based on the comic strip; Columbia Pictures produced them from 1938 to 1943, and popular demand brought them back in 1945. When the ''Blondie'' film series came to an end with ''Beware of Blondie'' in 1950, it was announced as being replaced with a series of ''Gasoline Alley'' movies. However, only two such films were made, ''Gasoline Alley'' (1951) and ''Corky of Gasoline Alley'' (1951). Columbia then reissued the ''Blondie'' features, beginning with the first film in the series. Columbia used the series to showcase many of its contract players. Rita Hayworth was featured in ''Blondie on a Budget''; Glenn Ford in ''Blondie Plays Cupid'', Larr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1966 Deaths
Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is deposed by a military coup in the Republic of Upper Volta (modern-day Burkina Faso). * January 10 ** Pakistani–Indian peace negotiations end successfully with the signing of the Tashkent Declaration, a day before the sudden death of Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. ** Georgia House of Representatives, The House of Representatives of the US state of Georgia refuses to allow African-American representative Julian Bond to take his seat, because of his anti-war stance. ** A Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference convenes in Lagos, Nigeria, primarily to discuss Rhodesia. * January 12 – United States President Lyndon Johnson states that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communism, Communist aggression there is e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1885 Births
Events January–March * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 4 – The first successful appendectomy is performed by Dr. William W. Grant, on Mary Gartside. * January 17 – Mahdist War in Sudan – Battle of Abu Klea: British troops defeat Mahdist forces. * January 20 – American inventor LaMarcus Adna Thompson patents a roller coaster. * January 24 – Irish rebels damage Westminster Hall and the Tower of London with dynamite. * January 26 – Mahdist War in Sudan: Troops loyal to Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad conquer Khartoum; British commander Charles George Gordon is killed. * February 5 – King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo Free State, as a personal possession. * February 9 – The first Japanese arrive in Hawaii. * February 16 – Charles Dow publishes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puny Express
This is a list of animated cartoons that star Woody Woodpecker, who appeared in 203 cartoons (196 Woody shorts and 7 miscellaneous shorts) during and after the Golden age of American animation. All the cartoons were produced by Walter Lantz Productions, and were distributed by Universal Pictures, United Artists and Universal International. Also listed are miscellaneous cartoons that feature Woody but are not a part of the main short series, and the 2018 Woody Woodpecker web series. 1940s = Academy Award nominee/winner 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 Starting this year until the studio's hiatus, all shorts are distributed by United Artists. 1949 {, class="wikitable" , - !style="width:3em", # !style="width:15em", Title !style="width:7em", Date !style="width:10em", Director ! Notes , - , 31 , ''Drooler's Delight'' , April 25 , Dick Lundy , {{Plainlist, * Final Woody short distributed by United Artists. * Final Woody s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City and a movie ranch in Encino. It was best known for specializing in Westerns, serials, and B films emphasizing mystery and action. Republic was also notable for developing the careers of John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers. It was also responsible for the financing and distribution of a few A films directed by John Ford during the 1940s and early 1950s and one Shakespeare film, ''Macbeth'' (1948), directed by Orson Welles. Under Herbert J. Yates, Republic was considered a mini-major film studio. Company history Created in 1935 by Herbert J. Yates, a longtime investor in film (having invested in 20th Century Pictures at its founding in 1933) and owner of the film processing laboratory Consolidated Film Industries, Republic was initial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gumby
''Gumby'' is an American clay animation Media franchise, franchise, centered on the titular green clay humanoid character created and modeled by Art Clokey. Gumby stars in two television series, the feature-length ''Gumby: The Movie'', and other media. He immediately became a famous example of stop motion clay animation and an American cultural icon, spawning tributes, parodies, and merchandising. Overview The ''Gumby'' franchise follows Gumby's adventures through different environments and historical eras. His primary sidekick is Pokey, a talking orange pony. His nemeses are the G and J Blockheads, a pair of antagonistic red humanoid figures with cube-shaped heads, one with the letter G on the block, the other with the letter J. Their creation was inspired by the trouble-making The Katzenjammer Kids, Katzenjammer Kids. Other characters include Prickle, a yellow fire-breathing dinosaur who sometimes styles himself as a detective with pipe and deerstalker hat like Sherlock Holme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Life And Legend Of Wyatt Earp
''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'' is the first Western television series written for adults, premiering four days before ''Gunsmoke'' on September 6, 1955. Two weeks later came the Clint Walker western ''Cheyenne''. The series is loosely based on the life of frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. The half-hour, black-and-white program aired for six seasons (229 episodes) on ABC from 1955 to 1961, with Hugh O'Brian in the title role. Plot The first season of the series purports to tell the story of Wyatt's experiences as deputy town marshal of Ellsworth, Kansas (first four episodes), and then as town marshal in Wichita. In the second episode of the second season, first aired September 4, 1956, he is hired as assistant city marshal of Dodge City, where the setting remained for three seasons. The final episode set in Dodge City (Season 5, Episode 1 - "Dodge City: Hail and Farewell") aired on September 1, 1959. Beginning the next week on September 8, 1959 (Season 5, Episode 2 - "The Tra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Untouchables (1959 TV Series)
''The Untouchables'' is an American crime drama produced by Desilu Productions that ran from 1959 to 1963 on the ABC Television Network. Based on the memoir of the same name by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, it fictionalized experiences of Elliot Ness as a Prohibition agent, fighting crime in Chicago in the 1930s with the help of a special team of agents handpicked for their courage, moral character, and incorruptibility, nicknamed the Untouchables. The book was later made into a celebrated film in 1987 by Brian De Palma, with a script by David Mamet, and a second, less-successful TV series in 1993. A dynamic, hard-hitting action drama, and a landmark television crime series, ''The Untouchables'' won series star Robert Stack an Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series in 1960. Series overview The series originally focused on the efforts of a real-life squad of Prohibition agents employed by the United States Department of Justice and led by Eliot Ness (Stack) that helped ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Topper (TV Series)
''Topper'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series based on the 1937 film '' Topper'', which was based on two novels ''Topper'' and ''Topper Takes a Trip'' by Thorne Smith. The series was broadcast on CBS from October 9, 1953, to July 15, 1955, and stars Leo G. Carroll in the title role. It finished at #24 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1954–1955 season. ''Topper'' also earned an Emmy nomination for Best Situation Comedy in 1954. Synopsis Sophisticated but stuffy Cosmo Topper (Carroll) is the vice president of City Bank, married to sweet but rather clueless Henrietta ( Lee Patrick). They live in a Los Angeles house they bought from the estate of a young couple, George and Marion Kerby (real life husband and wife Robert Sterling and Anne Jeffreys). The Kerbys died while skiing when they were buried by an avalanche. A St. Bernard dog, Neil, who attempted to rescue them also died with them. Topper discovers his new home is haunted by the ghosts of the former occupants a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crusader Rabbit
''Crusader Rabbit'' is the first animated series produced specifically for television. Its main characters were Crusader Rabbit and his sidekick Ragland T. Tiger, or "Rags". The stories were four-minute-long satirical cliffhangers. The concept was test marketed in 1948, while the initial serial – ''Crusader vs. the State of Texas'' – aired on KNBH (now KNBC) in Los Angeles beginning on August 1, 1950 (not August 1, 1949 as some sources erroneously state). The program was syndicated from 1950 to 1951 for 195 episodes, then was revived in 1959 for 260 color episodes. Jay Ward, who went on to create ''The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show'', was involved as business manager and producer. Production history The concept of a cartoon series made exclusively for television came from animator Alex Anderson, who worked for Terrytoons Studios. Terrytoons turned down Anderson's proposed series, preferring to remain in theatrical film animation. Consequently, Anderson approached Jay ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
