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Mike L. Fry
Michael L. "Mike" Fry (October 25, 1960 – November 4, 2012) was an American serial entrepreneur, entertainer, trainer and marketing expert. He was the original Happy the Hobo on the children's television series '' Happy's Place'', and the creative mind behind and owner of Fancy Fortune Cookies. Entertainer Mike Fry was born in Watseka, Illinois but grew up in the Huntington, Indiana area. He was the state Tae Kwon Do champion in 1979. He began juggling at the age of fourteen, after finding out that his grandfather used to juggle dirt clods on the farm in rural Illinois. By the age of 17 he was juggling for audiences in the local area. Fry was accepted to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, in Venice, Florida at the age of 19, graduating in 1981. He toured with the circus for the 1981 and 1982 season. He had the honor of being trained by three of the world's four Master Clowns: Lou Jacobs, Frosty Little, and Bobby Kay. He trained in heavy object balancin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Happy's Place
''Happy's Place'' is an afternoon children's television program that aired on WFFT-TV in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the 1980s and 1990s. Background The program was known for its two-hour block of children's programming (in later supplied by the Fox network) that initially aired from 3 to 5 in the afternoon. In the mid to late 1980s, programming included ''DuckTales'', ''Inspector Gadget'', ''The Smurfs'', ''He-Man'', '' Saber Rider'' and ''G.I. Joe''. The original program was called ''Happy's Hour'' which began broadcasting in 1976 on WTVQ in Lexington, Kentucky, with Tim Eppenstein playing the character of Happy and Mike McMellon providing the voice of Froggie. During programming breaks, Happy, who was a clown dressed as a hobo, would do children's activities from the WFFT studios. In the show, he had a sidekick named Froggie, a frog puppet (voiced by Craig Beaverson). Froggie had his own morning program on WFFT, entitled ''Froggie's Pad''. ''Froggie's Pad'' featured children' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Watseka, Illinois
Watseka is a city in and the county seat of Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. It is located approximately west of the Illinois-Indiana state line on U.S. Route 24. The population of Watseka was 5,255 according to the 2010 census, which was a 7.3 percent decrease from the 2000 census. History Incorporated in 1865, the name " Watseka" derives from the Potawatomi name "Watch-e-kee", "Daughter of the Evening Star", the wife of early eastern Illinois settler Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard. The Old Iroquois County Courthouse was constructed in 1866, with two additions built in 1881 and 1927. In the early 1960s, an Iroquois County resident, Mrs. Katherine Clifton, bequeathed to the county in her will a large sum of money and a site upon which to build a new courthouse. It is the only courthouse in the United States built entirely with private funds. The old courthouse was advertised for sale and fell into disuse. In 1967, during the Centennial Celebration of Watseka, the Iroqu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lou Jacobs
Johann Ludwig Jacob (January 1, 1903 – September 13, 1992), professionally known as Lou Jacobs, was a German-born American Clown#Auguste, auguste clown who performed for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for more than 60 years. He was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame in 1989. He is credited with popularizing the clown car, which has been a staple of circus clown acts ever since. He is also often cited as the originator of the red rubber ball nose, which is used by many clowns today. He was the first living person to have his portrait appear on an American postage stamp. Career in US In 1923, Lou Jacobs came to the U. S. on a steamship. His older brother Karl, had already made it to the U. S. and worked in the Keith Orpheum Theater as a contortionist. He saved up $150.00 to pay for his brother's boat fare. When Jacobs arrived in New York, he had only two dollars and could not speak English. Yet, he landed a part in a Belgian acrobatic act tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fortune Cookies
A fortune cookie is a crisp and sugary cookie wafer usually made from flour, sugar, vanilla, and sesame seed oil with a piece of paper inside, a "fortune", usually an aphorism, or a vague prophecy. The message inside may also include a Chinese phrase with translation and/or a list of lucky numbers used by some as lottery numbers. Fortune cookies are often served as a dessert in Chinese restaurants in the United States, Canada and other countries, but they are not Chinese in origin. The exact origin of fortune cookies is unclear, though various immigrant groups in California claim to have popularized them in the early 20th century. They most likely originated from cookies made by Japanese immigrants to the United States in the late 19th or early 20th century. The Japanese version did not have the Chinese lucky numbers and was eaten with tea. History As far back as the 19th century, a cookie very similar in appearance to the modern fortune cookie was made in Kyoto, Japan; and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bozo The Clown
Bozo the Clown, sometimes billed as "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown", is a clown character created for children's entertainment, widely popular in the second half of the 20th century. He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to television in 1949, later appearing in franchised television programs of which he was the host, where he was portrayed by numerous local performers. Creation and history The character was created by Alan W. Livingston and portrayed by Pinto Colvig for a children's storytelling record album and illustrated read-along book set in 1946. He became popular and served as the mascot for Capitol Records. The character first appeared on US television in 1949 portrayed by Colvig. After the creative rights to Bozo were purchased by Larry Harmon in 1957, the character became a common franchise across the United States, with local television stations producing their own Bozo shows featuring the character. Harmon bought out his business partners in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_type2 = Counties , subdivision_name1 = Illinois , subdivision_name2 = Cook and DuPage , established_title = Settled , established_date = , established_title2 = Incorporated (city) , established_date2 = , founder = Jean Baptiste Point du Sable , government_type = Mayor–council , governing_body = Chicago City Council , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Lori Lightfoot ( D) , leader_title1 = City Clerk , leader_name1 = Anna Valencia ( D) , unit_pref = Imperial , area_footnotes = , area_tot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sketch Comedy
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is used widely in variety shows, comedy talk shows, and some sitcoms and children's television series. The sketches may be improvised live by the performers, developed through improvisation before public performance, or scripted and rehearsed in advance like a play. Sketch comedians routinely differentiate their work from a "skit", maintaining that a skit is a (single) dramatized joke (or "bit") while a sketch is a comedic exploration of a concept, character, or situation. definition 3b, Merriam-Webster online. Retrieved 5/4/2019 History Sketch comedy has its origins in |
The Second City
The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959, and has since become one of the most influential and prolific comedy theatres in the English-speaking world. In February 2021, ZMC, a private equity investment firm based in Manhattan, purchased the Second City. The Second City has produced television programs in both Canada and the United States, including '' SCTV'', ''Second City Presents'', and '' Next Comedy Legend''. Since its debut, The Second City has consistently been a starting point for many comedians, award-winning actors, directors, and others in show business, including Del Close, Alan Alda, Alan Arkin, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, John Candy, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Colin M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tiny Tim (musician)
Herbert Butros KhauryTiny Tim: Tiptoe Through A Lifetime', Lowell Tarling, Generation Books, 2013, p. 29, (April 12, 1932 November 30, 1996), also known as Herbert Buckingham Khaury, and known professionally as Tiny Tim, was an American singer, ukulele player, and musical archivist. He is best remembered for his cover hits "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" and "Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight", which he sang in a falsetto voice. Early life Khaury was born in Manhattan, New York City, on April 12, 1932. His mother Tillie (née Staff), a Polish-Jewish garment worker, was the daughter of a rabbi. She had immigrated from Brest-Litovsk, present-day Belarus, as a teen in 1914. Khaury's father, Butros Khaury, was a textile worker from Beirut, present-day Lebanon, whose father was a Maronite Catholic priest. Khaury displayed musical talent at a very young age. At the age of five, his father gave him a vintage wind-up Gramophone and a 78-RPM record of "Beautiful Ohio" by H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerry Mathers
Gerald Patrick Mathers (born June 2, 1948) is an American actor best known for his role in the television sitcom '' Leave It to Beaver'', originally broadcast from 1957 to 1963, in which he played the protagonist Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, the younger son of the suburban couple June and Ward Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont, respectively) and the younger brother of Wally Cleaver (Tony Dow). Early life and family Mathers was born in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1948, the son of a high school principal, and grew up in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California. Mathers has one sister and two brothers, including Jimmy Mathers. Early career Mathers began his career at the age of 2 when he appeared as a child model for a department store ad. Soon after, he starred in a commercial for PET Milk opposite vaudeville comedian Ed Wynn. His early movies included ''This is My Love'' (1954), ''Men of the Fighting Lady'' (1954), ''The Seven Little Foys'' (1955) and Alfred Hitchc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Harlem Globetrotters
The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of its connotations as a major African-American community. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 countries and territories, mostly against deliberately ineffective opponents, such as the Washington Generals (1953–1995, since 2015) and the New York Nationals (1995–2015). The team's signature song is Brother Bones' whistled version of "Sweet Georgia Brown", and their mascot is an anthropomorphized globe named "Globie". The team is owned by Herschend Family Entertainment. History The Globetrotters originated on the South Side of Chicago in 1926, where all the original players were raised. The Globetrotters began as the Savoy Big Five, one of the premier attractions of the Savoy Ballroom, opened in Januar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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