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Lainie Kazan
Lainie Kazan (born Lainie Levine; May 15, 1940) is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for '' St. Elsewhere'' and the 1993 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for ''My Favorite Year''. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her role in ''My Favorite Year'' (1982). Kazan played Maria Portokalos in ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' and its sequel film ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2''. She also starred in ''You Don't Mess with the Zohan'' (2008). Early life Kazan was born Lainie Levine in Brooklyn, the daughter of Carole and Ben Levine. She is of Ashkenazi Jewish and Sephardic Jewish descent. Some of her grandparents lived in Israel before moving to Manchester, England and settling in Brooklyn. Kazan has described her mother as "neurotic, fragile and artistic." Kazan attended Brooklyn's Erasmus Hall High School with Barbra Streisand, for whom she would later understudy. She gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behind New York County (Manhattan). Brooklyn is also New York City's most populous borough,2010 Gazetteer for New York State . Retrieved September 18, 2016. with 2,736,074 residents in 2020. Named after the Dutch village of Breukelen, Brooklyn is located on the w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erasmus Hall High School
Erasmus Hall High School was a four-year public high school located at 899–925 Flatbush Avenue between Church and Snyder Avenues in the Flatbush neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It was founded in 1786 as Erasmus Hall Academy, a private institution of higher learning named for the scholar Desiderius Erasmus, known as Erasmus of Rotterdam, a Dutch Renaissance humanist and Catholic Christian theologian. The school was the first secondary school chartered by the New York State Regents. The clapboard-sided, Georgian-Federal-style building, constructed on land donated by the Flatbush Reformed Dutch Church, was turned over to the public school system in 1896. Around the start of the 20th century, Brooklyn experienced a rapidly growing population, and the original small school was enlarged with the addition of several wings and the purchase of several nearby buildings. In 1904, the Board of Education began a new building campaign to meet the needs of the burgeon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dean Martin
Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". Martin gained his career breakthrough together with comedian Jerry Lewis, billed as Martin and Lewis, in 1946. They performed in nightclubs and later had numerous appearances on radio, television and in films. Following an acrimonious ending of the partnership in 1956, Martin pursued a solo career as a performer and actor. Martin established himself as a singer, recording numerous contemporary songs as well as standards from the Great American Songbook. He became one of the most popular acts in Las Vegas and was known for his friendship with fellow artists Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr., who together with several others formed the Rat Pack. Starting in 1965, Martin was the host of the television variety program ''The Dean Martin Show'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Barda
Big Barda is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She first appeared in ''Mister Miracle'' #4 (October 1971), and was created by Jack Kirby. Jack Kirby based Barda's physical appearance on Lainie Kazan, who had recently appeared topless in ''Playboy''. Mark Evanier, Kirby's assistant on the Fourth World comics, has explained the genesis of the character: "Jack based some of his characters (not all) on people in his life or in the news... the characterization between Scott 'Mister Miracle' Free and Barda was based largely—though with tongue in cheek—on the interplay between Kirby and his wife Roz". In 2011, Big Barda was ranked 75th in ''Comics Buyer's Guide's'' "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list. Fictional character biography Barda is a member of the race known as the New Gods, and was born on Apokolips about 250 years ago. Her mother was Big Breeda, whom Barda was taken away from at an early age to be trained as a warrior at Granny Goodness' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew up in New York City and learned to draw cartoon figures by tracing characters from comic strips and editorial cartoons. He entered the nascent comics industry in the 1930s, drawing various comics features under different pen names, including Jack Curtiss, before ultimately settling on Jack Kirby. In 1940, he and writer-editor Joe Simon created the highly successful superhero character Captain America for Timely Comics, predecessor of Marvel Comics. During the 1940s, Kirby regularly teamed with Simon, creating numerous characters for that company and for National Comics Publications, later to become DC Comics. After serving in the European Theater in World War II, Kirby produced work for DC Comics, Harvey Comics, Hillman Periodicals a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles which provoked charges of obscenity. The first issue of ''Playboy'' was published in 1953, featuring Marilyn Monroe in a nude calendar shoot; it sold over 50,000 copies. Hefner extended the Playboy brand into a world network of Playboy Clubs. He also resided in luxury mansions where ''Playboy'' playmates shared his wild partying life, fueling keen media interest. He was a political activist in the Democratic Party and for the causes of First Amendment rights, animal rescue, and the restoration of the Hollywood Sign. Early life Hefner was born in Chicago on April 9, 1926, the first child of Glenn Lucius Hefner (1896–1976), an accountant, and his wife Grace Caroline (Swanson) Hefner (1895–1997) who worked as a teacher. His parents were from Nebraska. He had a you ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. Known for its centerfolds of nude and semi-nude models (Playmates), ''Playboy'' played an important role in the sexual revolution and remains one of the world's best-known brands, having grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc. (PEI), with a presence in nearly every medium. In addition to the flagship magazine in the United States, special nation-specific versions of ''Playboy'' are published worldwide, including those by licensees, such as Dirk Steenekamp's DHS Media Group. The magazine has a long history of publishing short stories by novelists such as Arthur C. Clarke, Ian Fleming, Vladimir Nabokov, Saul Bellow, Chuck Palahniuk, P. G. Wodehouse, Roald Dahl, Haruki Murakami, and Margaret Atwood. With a regular display of full-page c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Funny Girl (musical)
''Funny Girl'' is a musical with score by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill, and book by Isobel Lennart, that first opened on Broadway in 1964. The semi-biographical plot is based on the life and career of comedian and Broadway star Fanny Brice, featuring her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein. Barbra Streisand starred in the original Broadway musical, produced by Brice's son-in-law Ray Stark. The production received eight nominations at the 18th Tony Awards. The original cast recording of ''Funny Girl'' was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004. A Broadway revival, with a revised book by Harvey Fierstein, opened April 24, 2022, starring Beanie Feldstein. Lea Michele was subsequently cast in September 2022, releasing a new Broadway cast recording two months later. Synopsis The musical is set in and around New York City just prior to and following World War I. ''Ziegfeld Follies'' star Fanny Brice, awaiting the return of her husband Nicky ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fanny Brice
Fania Borach (October 29, 1891 – May 29, 1951), known professionally as Fanny Brice or Fannie Brice, was an American comedienne, illustrated song model, singer, and theater and film actress who made many stage, radio, and film appearances. She is known as the creator and star of the top-rated radio comedy series ''The Baby Snooks Show''. She was famously portrayed by Barbra Streisand in the stage musical '' Funny Girl''. Early life Fania Borach was born in Manhattan, New York City, United States, the third child of Rose (née Stern 1867–1941), a Jewish Hungarian woman who immigrated to the US at age 10, and Alsatian immigrant Charles Borach. The Borachs were saloon owners and had four children: Phillip, born in 1887; Carrie, born in 1889; Fania, born in 1891; and Louis, born in 1893. Under the name Lew Brice, her younger brother also became an entertainer and was the first husband of actress Mae Clarke. In 1908, Brice dropped out of school to work in a burlesque revu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bravo Giovanni
''Bravo Giovanni'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book by A. J. Russell, lyrics by Ronny Graham, and music by Milton Schafer. It is based upon Howard Shaw's 1959 novel, ''The Crime of Giovanni Venturi''. The musical was conceived as a vehicle for opera star Cesare Siepi, and the story concerned a family-owned Italian restaurant's efforts to compete with a restaurant chain.Bordman, 683 Background After three previews, the Broadway theatre, Broadway production, directed by Stanley Prager and choreographed by Carol Haney, opened on May 19, 1962 at the Broadhurst Theatre, where it ran for 76 performances. The cast included Cesare Siepi, Michele Lee, David Opatoshu, George S. Irving, Maria Karnilova, Lainie Kazan, Larry Fuller (choreographer), Larry Fuller, and Baayork Lee. The show received Tony Award nominations for Best Composer and Lyricist, Best Choreography, and Best Conductor and Musical Director. An cast album, original cast recording was released by Columbia Records. Sy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Happiest Girl In The World
''The Happiest Girl in the World'' is a musical with a book by Fred Saidy and Henry Mayers, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, and music taken from the works of Jacques Offenbach. Based on the comedy ''Lysistrata'' by Aristophanes and tales of Greek mythology by Thomas Bulfinch, it focuses on the women of Ancient Greece and Sparta who, inspired by virginal goddess Diana, vow to withhold sex from their husbands and lovers until they promise to put an end to their fighting. Complications ensue when Diana's uncle and underworld ruler Pluto balks at the notion of peace and attempts to derail her plan." ''The Happiest Girl in the World'' Synopsis, Original Cast, Musical Numbers" guidetomusicaltheatre.com, accessed September 25, 2019 The |
James Caan
James Edmund Caan ( ; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in ''The Godfather'' (1972) – a performance which earned him Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He reprised his role in ''The Godfather Part II'' (1974). He received a List of actors with Hollywood Walk of Fame motion picture stars, motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978. After early roles in Howard Hawks's ''El Dorado (1966 film), El Dorado'' (1966), Robert Altman's ''Countdown (1967 film), Countdown'' (1967) and Francis Ford Coppola's ''The Rain People'' (1969), Caan gained acclaim for his portrayal of Brian Piccolo in the 1971 television movie ''Brian's Song'' for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, Primetime Emmy Award ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
