Eddie Mekka
Edward Rudolph Mekjian (June 14, 1952 – November 27, 2021), known professionally as Eddie Mekka, was an American actor, best known for his role as Carmine Ragusa on the hit television sitcom '' Laverne & Shirley''. Early life Mekka was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of Mariam (née Apkarian), a dry cleaning presser, and Vahe Vaughn Mekjian, a factory worker. His family was of Armenian descent. His father was a World War II veteran. He graduated from Burncoat High School and attended the Berklee College of Music. Career In the early 1970s, Mekka headed the Worcester County Light Opera in Massachusetts, teaching young people how to sing. After performing on Broadway in ''The Lieutenant'', for which he was nominated for a Tony Award, he moved to Los Angeles. He landed the role of Carmine "The Big Ragoo" Ragusa for '' Laverne & Shirley'' in 1976, acting on the series until its 1983 cancellation. Mekka starred in roughly 50 TV shows and movies throughout his career. H ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chiller Theatre (New York)
''Chiller Theatre'' was a Saturday night show on Channel 11 WPIX in New York City that showed classic horror movies. History 1960s ''Chiller Theater'' actually began on WPIX during 1961 (with the montage of clips discussed post 1965) and in 1963 included John Zacherle, Zacherley ("The Cool Ghoul") as the on-air host. However, by 1965, Zacherley left the show, but the show maintained its "Classic Montage Opening" that used a montage of clips from various 1950s sci-fi films. This montage of clips started with the classic scene from ''Plan 9 from Outer Space'' with Maila Nurmi, Vampira coming out of the woods. Then, the clip from ''The Cyclops (film), The Cyclops'', showing Actress Gloria Talbott just inside a cave looking at the Cyclops. Various other clips continued throughout the montage, concluding with the classic "goof" from ''Attack of the 50 Foot Woman'', with the giant alien from outer space, picking up one brand of car and then shown throwing a completely different brand o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Penny Marshall
Carole Penny MarshallBorn Carole Penny Marshall in 1943, as per ''My Mother Was Nuts, a Memoir'', p. 10; . Copyright 2012 (October 15, 1943 – December 17, 2018) was an American actress, director and producer. She is known for her role as Laverne DeFazio on the television sitcom ''Laverne & Shirley'' (1976–1983), receiving three nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her portrayal. Marshall made her directorial debut with ''Jumpin' Jack Flash'' (1986) before directing ''Big'' (1988), which became the first film directed by a woman to gross more than $100 million at the U.S. box office. Her subsequent directing credits included ''Awakenings'' (1990), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, ''A League of Their Own'' (1992), ''Renaissance Man'' (1994), ''The Preacher's Wife'' (1996) and ''Riding in Cars with Boys'' (2001). She also produced '' Cinderella Man'' (2005) and ''Bewitched'' (2005), a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Erin Moran
Erin Marie Moran-Fleischmann (October 18, 1960 – April 22, 2017) was an American actress, best known for playing Joanie Cunningham on the television sitcom ''Happy Days'' and its spin-off ''Joanie Loves Chachi''. Early life Erin Marie Moran was born on October 18, 1960 in Burbank, California in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and raised in nearby Los Angeles in the North Hollywood district. She was the second youngest of six children born to Sharon and Edward Moran. Her father was a finance manager, and her interest in acting was supported by her mother, who signed her with a talent agent when she was 5 years old. Two of her brothers are also actors, John Moran and Tony Moran, the latter of whom played the unmasked Michael Myers in the movie '' Halloween'' (1978). Career Moran's first acting role was at the age of 5 in a television commercial for First Federal Bank. At the age of 6, she was cast as Jenny Jones in the television series ''Daktari'', which ran from 196 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily newspaper in Boston. Founded in 1872, the paper was mainly controlled by Irish Catholic interests before being sold to Charles H. Taylor and his family. After being privately held until 1973, it was sold to ''The New York Times'' in 1993 for $1.1billion, making it one of the most expensive print purchases in U.S. history. The newspaper was purchased in 2013 by Boston Red Sox and Liverpool owner John W. Henry for $70million from The New York Times Company, having lost over 90% of its value in 20 years. The newspaper has been noted as "one of the nation's most prestigious papers." In 1967, ''The Boston Globe'' became the first major paper in the U.S. to come out against the Vietnam War. The paper's 2002 c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Joseph Bologna
Joseph Bologna (December 30, 1934 – August 13, 2017) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter notable for his roles in the comedy films ''My Favorite Year'', ''Blame It on Rio'' and ''Transylvania 6-5000 (1985 film), Transylvania 6-5000''. Life and career Bologna was born in the Parkville section of Brooklyn, New York to an Italian-American family. He attended St. Rose of Lima school and Brown University, where he majored in art history. Bologna served with the United States Marine Corps. Bologna was hired to produce and direct Manhattan-based TV commercials. Bologna enjoyed a long run in film and television. His breakthrough film ''Lovers and Other Strangers'' adapted with his wife Renée Taylor from a play they co-wrote, was based on the true-life circumstances of organizing a wedding on short notice with the involvement of his Italian extended family and her Jewish clan. Several relatives performed as extras in the final cut. The couple shared an Academy Awar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Renée Taylor
Renée Adorée Taylor (née Wexler; born March 19, 1933) is an American actress, screenwriter, playwright, producer and director.Taylor was nominated for an Academy Award for co-writing the screenplay for the film ''Lovers and Other Strangers'' (1970). She also played Sylvia Fine on the television sitcom ''The Nanny'' (1993–1999). Early years Taylor was born on March 19, 1933, in The Bronx, New York City, to Charles and Frieda (née Silverstein) Wexler, an aspiring actress. Her mother named her after silent film actress Renée Adorée. She graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Arts. Career Taylor acted with improv groups in the 1950s. She worked as a comedian in the early 1960s at the New York City nightclub Bon Soir. Her opening act was a then-unknown Barbra Streisand. In 1967, Taylor played an actress portraying Eva Braun in Mel Brooks' feature film '' The Producers'', a role she got while performing the play '' Luv'' with Gene Wilder, whom Brooks cast as protagonist L ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Westside Theatre
The Westside Theatre is an off-Broadway performance space at 407 West 43rd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The building houses two auditoriums: the Upstairs Theatre, which seats 270, and the Downstairs Theatre, which features a thrust stage and has a seating capacity of 249. Formerly known as the Chelsea Theatre Center and the Westside Arts Theatre, the building was renovated in 1991. History The Romanesque Revival style building, designed by Henry Franklin Kilburn, was constructed in 1890 for the Second German Baptist The Schwarzenau Brethren, the German Baptist Brethren, Dunkers, Dunkards, Tunkers, or sometimes simply called the German Baptists, are an Anabaptist group that dissented from Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed European state churches during t ... Church, which it housed until the 1960s. The site was then occupied by various nightclubs until its establishment as a theatre in 1976. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Times Of Northwest Indiana
''The Times of Northwest Indiana'' (NWI) is a daily newspaper headquartered in Munster, Indiana. It is the second-largest newspaper in Indiana, behind only ''The Indianapolis Star''. History The paper was founded on June 18, 1906, as ''The Lake County Times''. Its founder, Simon McHie, was a native of a small town along the Niagara River in Canada. In 1933, the name was changed to ''The Hammond Times'', and it became an afternoon paper serving Hammond, Whiting, and East Chicago. In May 1962, the McHie family sold the publication to Robert S. Howard of Howard Publications. The paper expanded to all of northwest Indiana in 1967 and dropped Hammond from its masthead to become simply ''The Times''. Offices were moved to Munster in 1989, and the paper began morning delivery and began printing different editions based on distribution region. The Howard papers were bought in April 2002 by Lee Enterprises. Distribution ''The Times'' prints different editions based on delivery region. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cindy Williams
Cynthia Jane Williams (born August 22, 1947) is an American actress and producer, known for her role as Shirley Feeney on the television sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1975–1979), and '' Laverne & Shirley'' (1976–1982). Early life Williams was born in the Van Nuys district of Los Angeles, California, on August 22, 1947. The family moved to Dallas, Texas when she was a year old and returned to Los Angeles when she was ten years old. She has one sibling, a sister named Carol Ann. Williams wrote and acted during childhood at a church and later acted at Birmingham High School, graduating in 1965. She attended Los Angeles City College with a theater major. Career After college, Williams began her professional career by landing national commercials, which included Foster Grant sunglasses and TWA. Her first roles in television, among others, were on ''Room 222'', ''Nanny and the Professor'' and '' Love, American Style''. Williams accompanied an actor-friend from Los Angeles City Coll ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Grease (musical)
''Grease'' is a musical with music, lyrics, and a book by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Named after the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as greasers, the musical is set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School (based on Taft High School in Chicago, Illinois and named after rock singer Bobby Rydell) and follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of peer pressure, politics, personal core values, and love.Woulfe, Molly" 'Grease' has deep, dark Chicago roots"''NW Times'', January 2, 2009, retrieved January 10, 2017 The score borrows heavily from the sounds of early rock and roll. In its original production in Chicago, ''Grease'' was a raunchy, raw, aggressive, vulgar show. Subsequent productions toned down the more risqué content. The show mentions social issues such as teenage pregnancy, peer pressure, and gang violence; its themes include love, friendship, teenage rebellion, sexual exploration during adolescence, and, to some ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Playbill
''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's program. ''Playbill'' was first printed in 1884 for a single theater on 21st Street in New York City. The magazine is now used at nearly every Broadway theatre, as well as many Off-Broadway productions. Outside New York City, ''Playbill'' is used at theaters throughout the United States. As of September 2012, its circulation was 4,073,680. History What is known today as ''Playbill'' started in 1884, when Frank Vance Strauss founded the New York Theatre Program Corporation specializing in printing theater programs. Strauss reimagined the concept of a theater program, making advertisements a standard feature and thus transforming what was then a leaflet into a fully designed magazine. The new format proved popular with theatergoers, who s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Luxor
Luxor Las Vegas is a 30-story casino hotel situated on the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The hotel is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International and has a casino with over 2,000 slot machines and 87 table games. The casino opened in 1993 and was renovated and expanded several times. Later renovation work modernized the design of the property and raised the hotel's capacity to 4,407 rooms, including 442 suites. The hotel's rooms line the interior walls of the main tower, which has a pyramid shape, and the 22-story twin ziggurat towers. The hotel is named for the city of Luxor (ancient Thebes) in Egypt. History Construction and opening The resort was announced by Circus Circus Enterprises on November 14, 1991. Known temporarily as "Project X", the pyramid-shaped resort would cost $290 million, and would be built on the Las Vegas Strip, on land located south of the company's Excalibur Hotel and Casino. Groundbreaking took place ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |