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Olga San Juan
Olga San Juan (March 16, 1927January 3, 2009) was an American actress. Born in Brooklyn, she began her brief film career with Paramount Pictures after being scouted at Copacabana. She performed in several Hollywood musicals in the 1940s and on Broadway in ''Paint Your Wagon'' (1951). Early years Olga San Juan was born on March 16, 1927, in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, to Puerto Rican parents. Her family went to Puerto Rico when she was three and then returned to New York City two years later, moving to East Harlem. Her singing career reportedly began when she performed with a group of schoolchildren from New York at the White House for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She left high school in ninth grade after her father became ill, performing at venues including El Morocco and the Hotel Astor. Career San Juan was contracted to Paramount Pictures in 1943 after being scouted at Copacabana and performing at the Paramount Theatre. In ''Blue Skies'' (1946), San Juan perf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variety Girl
''Variety Girl'' is a 1947 American musical comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Mary Hatcher, Olga San Juan, DeForest Kelley, Frank Ferguson, Glenn Tryon, Nella Walker, Torben Meyer, Jack Norton, and William Demarest. It was produced by Paramount Pictures. Numerous Paramount contract players and directors make cameos or perform songs, with particularly large amounts of screen time featuring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Among many others, the studio contract players include Gary Cooper, Alan Ladd, Paulette Goddard, Ray Milland, William Holden, Burt Lancaster, Robert Preston, Veronica Lake, William Bendix, Barbara Stanwyck and Paula Raymond. Overview The opening caption reads, "This picture is dedicated to Variety Clubs, International, "The Heart of Show Business", which beats constantly in behalf of the under-privileged children of the world ... regardless of race, creed or color". The story revolves around two young girls who exchange identities, causing confusion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Harlem
East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the east and north. Despite its name, it is generally not considered to be a part of Harlem proper, but it is one of the neighborhoods included in Greater Harlem. The neighborhood is one of the largest predominantly Hispanic communities in New York City, mostly made up of Puerto Ricans, as well as sizeable numbers of Dominican, Cuban and Mexican immigrants. The community is notable for its contributions to Latin freestyle and salsa music. East Harlem also includes the area formerly known as Italian Harlem, in which the remnants of a once predominantly Italian community remain. The Chinese population has increased dramatically in East Harlem since 2000. East Harlem has histori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Higham (biographer)
Charles Higham (pronounced ''HYE-um''; 18 February 1931 – 21 April 2012)Elaine Wo"Charles Higham dies at 81; controversial celebrity biographer" ''Los Angeles Times'', 4 May 2012Fox, Margali ''The New York Times'', 3 May 2012; "A cloying vulgarity and coarseness suffuse this book", Carolyn See wrote in the ''Los Angeles Times'' in 1986, reviewing his ''Lucy: The Life of Lucille Ball''. "But the author is either so cunning – or so closely allied in emotional terms with the subject of this biography – that the reader can’t tell if the vulgarity comes from Charles Higham or from Lucille Ball herself." was an English author, editor and poet. After moving to Australia in 1954, Higham began a career in journalism, before moving to the United States in 1969. In the United States, he became known as a celebrity biographer, mainly of film stars, such as Katharine Hepburn and Errol Flynn. The latter book, among several during Higham's career, was criticized for fabrications. Clos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jove Books
Jove Books, formerly known as Pyramid Books, is an American paperback and eBook publishing imprint, founded as an independent paperback house in 1949 by Almat Magazine Publishers (Alfred R. Plaine and Matthew Huttner). The company was sold to the Walter Reade, Walter Reade Organization in the late 1960s. It was acquired in 1974 by Harcourt Trade Publishers, Harcourt Brace (which became Harcourt Brace Jovanovich) which renamed it to Jove in 1977 and continued the line as an imprint (trade name), imprint. In 1979, they sold it to The Putnam Berkley Group, which is now part of the Penguin Group. History 1949–1969 Phil Hirsch was vice president of Pyramid Books from 1955-1975 and had his name as author or editor on many of Pyramid's books, many of them anthologies of jokes, cartoons and humor, or concerned with the military and warfare, including some which combined those interests. While not the most prolific publisher of science fiction and fantasy during its years as Pyramid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1926 to 1977. He made over 70 feature films and recorded more than 1,600 songs. His early career coincided with recording innovations that allowed him to develop an intimate singing style that influenced many male singers who followed, such as Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Dick Haymes, Elvis Presley, and John Lennon. ''Yank'' magazine said that he was "the person who had done the most for the morale of overseas servicemen" during World War II. In 1948, American polls declared him the "most admired man alive", ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Pius XII. In 1948, ''Music Digest'' estimated that his recordings filled more than half of the 80,000 weekly hou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Skies (1946 Film)
''Blue Skies'' is a 1946 American musical comedy film directed by Stuart Heisler and starring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, and Joan Caulfield. Based on a story by Irving Berlin, the film is about a dancer who loves a showgirl who loves a compulsive nightclub-opener who can't stay committed to anything in life for very long. Produced by Sol C. Siegel, ''Blue Skies'' was filmed in Technicolor and released by Paramount Pictures. The music, lyrics, and story were written by Irving Berlin, with most of the songs recycled from earlier works. As in ''Holiday Inn'' (1942), the film is designed to showcase Berlin's songs. The plot, which is presented in a series of flashbacks with Astaire as narrator, follows a similar formula of Crosby beating Astaire for the affections of a leading lady. Comedy is principally provided by Billy De Wolfe, and several musical numbers are performed by Olga San Juan. Joan Caulfield was the protégé of Mark Sandrich, who directed many of the Astaire-Ginger Rog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paramount Theatre (Manhattan)
The Paramount Theatre was a 3,664-seat movie palace located at 43rd Street and Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway on Times Square in New York City. Opened in 1926, it was a showcase theatre and the New York headquarters of Paramount Pictures. Adolph Zukor, founder of Paramount predecessor Famous Players Film Company, maintained an office in the building until his death in 1976. The Paramount Theatre eventually became a popular live performance venue. The theater was closed in 1964 and its space converted to office and retail use. The tower which housed it, known as the ''Paramount Building'' at 1501 Broadway, is in commercial use as an office building and is still home to Paramount Pictures offices. Following the closing of the Times Square Paramount Theatre, two other theaters in Manhattan have had the same name: the Paramount Theatre at Madison Square Garden and a movie theater in Columbus Circle, now demolished. The Brooklyn Paramount Theater, also in New York City, opened in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hotel Astor (New York City)
Hotel Astor was a hotel on Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Built in 1905 and expanded in 1909–1910 for the Astor family, the hotel occupied a site bounded by Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, Shubert Alley, and 44th and 45th Streets. Architects Clinton & Russell designed the hotel as a 11-story Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts edifice with a mansard roof. It contained 1,000 guest rooms, with two more levels underground for its extensive "backstage" functions, such as the wine cellar. The hotel was developed as a successor to the Waldorf–Astoria (1893–1929), Waldorf-Astoria. Hotel Astor's success triggered the construction of the nearby Knickerbocker Hotel (New York), Knickerbocker Hotel by other members of the Astor family two years later. The building was razed in 1967 to make way for the high-rise office tower One Astor Plaza. Construction With its elaborately decorated public rooms and its roof garden, the Hotel Astor was percei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
El Morocco
El Morocco (sometimes nicknamed Elmo or Elmer) was a 20th-century Manhattan nightclub frequented by the rich and famous from the 1930s until the decline of café society in the late 1950s. It was famous for its blue zebra-stripe motif (designed by Vernon MacFarlane) and its official photographer, Jerome Zerbe. History In 1931, John Perona (born Enrione Giovanni Perona in Chiaverano in the Province of Turin, Italy), an Italian immigrant, with Martín de Alzaga opened El Morocco as a speakeasy at 154 East 54th Street, on the south side of 54th Street in the middle of the block between Lexington Avenue and Third Avenue, where the Citigroup Center now stands. After prohibition was repealed, it became one of the most popular establishments in New York City. Its regular clientele consisted of fashionable society, politicians, and entertainers. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had their wedding reception here. Part of what made the club the 'place to be' was the photographs taken by Jerome ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Photoplay
''Photoplay'' was one of the first American film (another name for ''photoplay'') fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded '' Motion Picture Story,'' a magazine also directed at fans. For most of its run, ''Photoplay'' was published by Macfadden Publications. In 1921 ''Photoplay'' established what is considered the first significant annual movie award. The magazine ceased publication in 1980. History ''Photoplay'' began as a short fiction magazine concerned mostly with the plots and characters of films at the time and was used as a promotional tool for those films. In 1915, Julian Johnson and James R. Quirk became the editors (though Quirk had been vice president of the magazine since its inception), and together they created a format which would set a precedent for almost all celebrity magazines that followed. By 1918 the circulation exceeded 200,000, with the popularity of the magazine fueled by the public's increasing inte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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