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Four Star Revue
''Four Star Revue'' (also known as ''All Star Revue'' and ''All Star Summer Revue'') was an American variety/comedy program that aired on NBC from October 4, 1950, to December 26, 1953. The series originally starred four celebrities, Ed Wynn, Danny Thomas, Jack Carson, and Jimmy Durante (hence the name ''Four Star Revue''), alternating as hosts of the program every week. Other stars would join the show beginning with its second season, causing the title to change to ''All Star Revue''. Some of the other stars to pass through during the second season were Bob Hope, Spike Jones and Helen Grayco, and Paul Winchell. As the series progressed, several permanent hosts were added to replace the original four. Some included actress and singer Martha Raye, boxer Rocky Graziano, actor and toastmaster George Jessel, and actress Tallulah Bankhead. At the time that the show originally aired in the early 1950s, ''Four Star Revue'' was known as the second most expensive hour on television. Each ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variety Show
Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a Master of Ceremonies, compère (master of ceremonies) or Television presenter, host. The variety format made its way from the Victorian era stage in Britain and America to radio and then television. Variety shows were a staple of English language television from the late 1940s into the 1980s. While still widespread in some parts of the world, such as in the United Kingdom with the ''Royal Variety Performance'', and South Korea with ''Running Man (South Korean TV series), Running Man'', the proliferation of multichannel television and evolving viewer tastes have affected the popularity of variety shows in the United States. Despite this, their influence has still had a major effect on late night television whose la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Colgate Comedy Hour
''The Colgate Comedy Hour'' was an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show featured many notable comedians and entertainers of the era as guest stars. Many of the scripts of the series are archived at the UCLA Library in their Special Collections. Synopsis The program evolved from NBC's first TV variety showcase, ''Four Star Revue,'' sponsored by Motorola. The "running gag" sketches were dropped in favor of more performing acts. The weekly show was proposed to be hosted by four comedians in a four-week rotation to provide competition for Ed Sullivan's ''Toast of the Town'' on CBS. The first episode, starring Hans Conried, Rosemary DeCamp and Dick Foran, was written and produced by the then 22-year-old Peggy Webber, who appeared in over 100 episodes of '' Dragnet'' with Jack Webb. The new format was heavily backed by its sponsor, Colgate-Palmolive, to the tune of $3 million in the first year, and the 8:00 p.m. E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Texaco Star Theater
''Texaco Star Theater'' was an American comedy-variety show, broadcast on radio from 1938 to 1949 and telecast from 1948 to 1956. It was one of the first successful examples of American television broadcasting, remembered as the show that gave Milton Berle the nickname "Mr. Television". The classic 1940–1944 version of the program, hosted by radio's Fred Allen, was followed by a radio series on ABC (the former NBC Blue) in the spring of 1948. When Texaco (now Chevron Corporation) first took it to television on NBC on June 8, 1948, the show had a huge cultural impact. Once Texaco ended its sponsorship in 1953, the show became known as ''The Milton Berle Show'' for its final few seasons. Radio The roots of ''Texaco Star Theater'' were in a 1930s radio hit, ''Ed Wynn, the Fire Chief'', featuring the manic "Perfect Fool" in a half-hour of vaudevillian routines interspersed with music. Wynn's ratings began to slide and the comedian lapsed amidst personal and professional crises, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ziegfeld Follies
The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air''. Founding and history Inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris, the Ziegfeld Follies were conceived and mounted by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., reportedly at the suggestion of his then-wife, the stage actress and singer Anna Held. The shows' producers were turn-of-the-twentieth-century producing titans Klaw and Erlanger. The Follies were a series of lavish revues, something between later Broadway shows and the more elaborate high class vaudeville and variety show. The first follies, '' The Follies of 1907'', was produced that year at the ''Jardin de Paris'' roof theatre. During the Follies era, many of the top entertainers, including W. C. Fields, Eddie Cantor, Josephine Baker, Fanny Brice, Ann Pennington, Bert Williams, Eva Tanguay, Bob H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition or light poetry, interspersed with songs or ballets. It became popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s, but the idea of vaudeville's theatre changed radically from its French antecedent. In some ways analogous to music hall from Victorian Britain, a typical North American vaudeville performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Types of acts have included popular and classical musicians, singers, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, ventriloquists, strongmen, female and male impersonators, acrobats, clowns, illustrated songs, jugglers, one-act plays or scenes from plays, athletes, lecturing celebrities, minstrels, and movies. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lifeboat'' (1944). She also had a brief but successful career on radio and made appearances on television. In all, Bankhead amassed nearly 300 film, stage, television and radio roles during her career. She was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1972 and the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1981. Bankhead was a member of the Bankhead and Brockman family, a prominent Alabama political family. Her grandfather and her uncle were U.S. senators, and her father was Speaker of the House of Representatives. Bankhead's support of liberal causes, including the budding civil rights movement, brought her into public conflict with her family and southern contemporaries, who championed white supremacy and racial segregation. She also supp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Jessel (actor)
George Albert "Georgie" Jessel (April 3, 1898 – May 23, 1981) was an American, actor, singer, songwriter, film producer, and illustrated song "model." He was famous in his lifetime as a multitalented comedic entertainer, achieving a level of recognition that transcended his limited roles in movies. He was widely known by his nickname, the "Toastmaster General of the United States," for his frequent role as the master of ceremonies at political and entertainment gatherings. Jessel originated the title role in the stage production of ''The Jazz Singer''. Early years Jessel was born to a Jewish couple, Joseph and Charlotte "Lottie" (née Schwarz) Jessel, on 118th Street in Harlem, New York City. By age 10, he was appearing in vaudeville and on Broadway to support his family after the death of his father, who was a playwright. His mother, who worked as a ticket seller at the Imperial Theater, helped him form The Imperial Trio, a harmony group of ushers to entertain patrons of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toastmaster
Toastmaster is a general term, prevalent in the United States in the mid-20th century, referring to a person in charge of the proceedings of a public speaking event. The toastmaster is typically charged with organization of the event, arranging the order of speakers, introducing one or more of the speakers, and keeping the event on schedule. Such meetings typically include civic events, service organization meetings, and banquets for various purposes. Description In meetings, a toastmaster typically addresses the audience from behind a dais or from a podium. At stage entertainment events, especially ones broadcast on live television, the toastmaster often takes the form of a master of ceremonies, introducing the entertainment acts. History James Toole, father of actor John Lawrence Toole was possibly the first professional toastmaster during the 1840s in London. There are allusions to him in the press of the day. His obituary noted his "stentorian voice, and the ability wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rocky Graziano
Thomas Rocco Barbella (January 1, 1919 – May 22, 1990), better known as Rocky Graziano, was an American professional boxer and actor who held the World Middleweight title. Graziano is considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing history, often displaying the capacity to take his opponent out with a single punch. He was ranked 23rd on '' The Ring'' magazine list of the greatest punchers of all time. He fought many of the best middleweights of the era including Sugar Ray Robinson. His turbulent and violent life story was the basis of the 1956 Oscar-winning drama film, '' Somebody Up There Likes Me'', based on his 1955 autobiography of the same title. Early life Graziano was the son of Ida Scinto and Nicola Barbella. The elder Barbella, nicknamed ''Fighting Nick Bob'', was a boxer with a brief fighting record. Born in Brooklyn, Rocky later moved to an Italian enclave centered on East 10th Street, between First Avenue and Avenue A in Manhattan's East Village. He grew up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Winchell
Paul Winchell (''né'' Wilchinsky; December 21, 1922 – June 24, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, humanitarian, inventor and ventriloquist whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1954, he hosted ''The Paul Winchell Show'', which also used two other titles during its prime time run on NBC: ''The Speidel Show'', and '' What's My Name?'' From 1965 to 1968, Winchell hosted the children's television series ''Winchell-Mahoney Time''. Winchell made guest appearances on Emmy Award-winning television series from the late 1950s to the mid 1970s, such as ''Perry Mason'', ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', ''McMillan & Wife'', ''The Brady Bunch'', ''The Donna Reed Show'', and appearances as Homer Winch on ''The Beverly Hillbillies''. In animation, he was the original voice of Tigger, Dick Dastardly, Gargamel, and other characters. Winchell, who had medical training, was also an inventor, becoming the first person to build and patent a mechanical artificial heart, impla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helen Grayco
Helen Grayco (; September 20, 1924 – August 20, 2022) was an American singer and actress active from the 1930s to the 1960s. She was most famous for appearances with her husband Spike Jones on ''The Spike Jones Show'' in the 1950s and the 1960s. She is also the mother of producer and Emmy recipient, Spike Jones, Jr. and Leslie Ann Jones, a Grammy award-winning recording engineer. Early life Grayco was born Helen Greco on September 20, 1924, in Tacoma, Washington, the second youngest of 11 children born to Charles Battiste Greco and his wife, Rosina. She had five brothers; John, Ralph, George, Anthony, and James, and five sisters; Mary, Carmella, Katherina, Theresa and Elizabeth. Her parents were Italians who emigrated to the United States from Lamezia Terme, Calabria. The siblings were raised in the Roman Catholic faith of their parents. Charles Battiste Greco owned a grocery store which went bankrupt during the Great Depression. Career At age 4, Grayco began singing in Tac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spike Jones
Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gunshots, whistles, cowbells, hiccups, burps, and outlandish and comedic vocals. Jones and his band recorded under the title Spike Jones and His City Slickers from the early 1940s to the mid-1950s, and toured the United States and Canada as "The Musical Depreciation Revue". Biography Lindley Armstrong Jones was born in Long Beach, California, the son of Ada (Armstrong) and Lindley Murray Jones, a Southern Pacific railroad agent. Young Lindley Jones was given the nickname 'Spike' for being so thin that he was compared to a railroad spike. At the age of 11 he got his first set of drums. As a teenager he played in bands that he formed himself; Jones' first band was called Spike Jones and his Five Tacks. A railroad restaurant chef taught him how ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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