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The Great Caruso
''The Great Caruso'' is a 1951 biographical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and starring Mario Lanza as Enrico Caruso. It was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Joe Pasternak with Jesse L. Lasky as associate producer from a screenplay by Sonya Levien and William Ludwig. The original music was by Johnny Green and the cinematography by Joseph Ruttenberg. Costume design was by Helen Rose and Gile Steele. The film is a highly fictionalized biography of the life of Caruso. Cast The Opera Montage are Metropolitan Opera stars, notably sopranos Teresa Celli, Lucine Amara and Marina Koshetz, mezzo-soprano Blanche Thebom, baritone Giuseppe Valdengo and bass Nicola Moscona. Factual discrepancies Although the film follows the basic facts of Caruso's life, several of the characters and most of the incidents portrayed in the movie are entirely fictional. Members of the Caruso family in Italy successfully sued MGM for damages because of this. Here are a few of the many factual ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Thorpe
Richard Thorpe (born Rollo Smolt Thorpe; February 24, 1896 – May 1, 1991) was an American film director best known for his long career at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Biography Born Rollo Smolt Thorpe in Hutchinson, Kansas, Richard Thorpe began his entertainment career performing in vaudeville and onstage. In 1921 he began in motion pictures as an actor and directed his first silent film in 1923. He went on to direct more than one hundred and eighty films. He worked frequently at the Poverty Row studio Chesterfield Pictures during the 1930s. The first full-length motion picture he directed for MGM was ''Last of the Pagans'' (1935) starring Ray Mala. At MGM, he teamed up with producer Pandro S. Berman in the 1950s, with whom he made several films, including '' Ivanhoe'' (1952), ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1952), '' Knights of the Round Table'' (1953), '' All the Brothers Were Valiant'' (1953) and ''The Adventures of Quentin Durward'' (1955). After directing ''The Last Challenge'' in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorothy Caruso
Dorothy Park Benjamin Caruso (August 6, 1893 – December 16, 1955) was an American socialite and the wife of the Italian operatic tenor Enrico Caruso. Life Born Dorothy Park Benjamin on August 6, 1893 in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, she was the daughter of Park Benjamin, a wealthy lawyer and author, and Ida Crane. Dorothy had two sisters and two brothers. On August 20, 1918, Benjamin married Enrico Caruso, with whom she had a daughter, Gloria Caruso (1919-1999). After the death of Enrico Caruso on August 2, 1921, Dorothy married Captain Ernest Augustus Ingram (1892–1954) in 1923. They had a daughter, Jacqueline, born in September 1924, and were divorced in 1925. She then married Charles Adam Holder (1872–1955) in Paris in 1933. They divorced in 1940. She reverted to the surname "Caruso" following the dissolution of both marriages. Dorothy Caruso died of cancer in Baltimore, Maryland on December 16, 1955 at the age of 62. She was interred in Druid Ridge Cemetery, Baltim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Hageman
Richard Hageman (9 July 1881 – 6 March 1966) was a Dutch-born American conductor, pianist, composer, and actor. Biography Hageman was born and raised in Leeuwarden, Friesland, Netherlands. He was the son of Maurits Hageman of Zutphen, a violinist, pianist and conductor, and of Hester Westerhoven of Amsterdam, a singer who performed under the name Francisca Stoetz.Richard Hageman at 401DutchOperas.com A child prodigy, he was a concert pianist by the age of six. He studied at the conservatories of and |
Shepard Menken
Shepard Menken (November 2, 1921 – January 2, 1999) was an American film, television, voice, radio character actor. Early life Menken began his career at the age of 11, when he started appearing on children's radio programs. After high school, Menken attended Columbia University, and later studied performing arts at the Neighborhood Playhouse Theatre and the Juilliard School of Music. Career Menken made his film debut in 1949 with a supporting role in ''The Red Menace (film), The Red Menace'', and eventually appeared onscreen in 17 movies. Menken worked steadily as a television actor, appearing on such series as ''I Love Lucy'', ''I Spy (1965 TV series), I Spy'', and ''The Wild Wild West''. He was also in demand as a voice talent, working on animated cartoons for Hanna-Barbera, United Productions of America, UPA, and Marvel Productions, as well as advertising spots for StarKist Tuna and Mattel Toys; his was the voice intoning, "The only way to fly!" in Western Airlines' spots i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antonio Scotti
Antonio Scotti (25 January 1866 – 26 February 1936) was an Italian baritone. He was a principal artist of the New York Metropolitan Opera for more than 33 seasons, but also sang with great success at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Milan's La Scala. Life Antonio Scotti was born in Naples, Italy. His family wanted him to enter the priesthood but he embarked instead on a career in opera. He received his early vocal training from Esther Trifari-Paganini and Vincenzo Lombardi. According to most sources, he made his debut at Malta's Theatre Royal in 1889, performing the role of Amonasro in Giuseppe Verdi's ''Aida''. Engagements at various Italian operatic venues ensued and he later gained valuable stage experience singing in Spain, Portugal, Russia and South America (Buenos Aires from 1891 to 1894 and again 1897; Río de Janeiro 1893 and Chile 1898; he also sung in Montevideo). In 1898, he debuted at Italy's most renowned opera house, La Scala, Milan, as Hans Sachs in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pál Jávor (actor)
Pál Jávor (31 January 1902 – 14 August 1959) was a Hungarian actor, and the country's first male movie star. Life Early years Pál Jávor (born Pál Jermann) was born 31 January 1902 in Arad to Pál Jermann, a 53-year-old cashier and Katalin Spannenberg, a 17-year-old servant-maiden. His parents, who only married after his birth, had 3 children to care for, which made life hard for the family, who moved often. His mother later opened a grocery store in Arad's Kossuth street. Jávor was a student in a state operated gymnasium, but often played truant to see movies in the town's two theatres. From very early on, he wanted to break away from his homeland, and from the simple life his mother wished for him. During World War I, he ran away to serve on the front as a courier. He was caught and transported back months later by military police. In 1918, after working as a junior reporter for the ''Aradi Hírlap'', he set out to emigrate to Denmark, so he could act in the Danish m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean De Reszke
Jean de Reszke (14 January 18503 April 1925) was a Polish tenor and opera star. Reszke came from a musically inclined family. His mother gave him his first singing lessons and provided a home that was a recognized music centre. His sister Josephine and younger brother Édouard performed in Western Europe, and Reszke would perform with each of them throughout his career. He began as a baritone, but after having been trained by Giovanni Sbriglia he found that he was better suited and was most proficient as a tenor. His performance of Meyerbeer's ''Robert le diable'' in Madrid in 1879, made him a notable singer. Reszke ranked as the foremost dramatic tenor from that point until his retirement from the stage. He performed at opera venues in Paris, London, and New York, including command performances for Queen Victoria. He was known for his desire to perform operas in the language in which they were written. Rather than taking the time-honored interpretation of the music and the char ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Napier
Alan William Napier-Clavering (7 January 1903 – 8 August 1988), better known as Alan Napier, was an English actor. After a decade in West End theatre, he had a long film career in Britain and later, in Hollywood. Napier is best remembered for portraying Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's butler in the 1960s live-action ''Batman'' television series. Early life and career Napier was a first cousin-once removed of Neville Chamberlain, Britain's prime minister from 1937 to 1940. He was educated at Packwood Haugh School and, after leaving Clifton College, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1925. He was engaged by the Oxford Players, where he worked with the likes of John Gielgud and Robert Morley. As Napier recalled, his “ridiculously tall” 6′ 6″ height played a crucial part in his securing the position and also almost losing it. J. B. Fagan had dismissed Tyrone Guthrie because he was too tall for most parts. Napier was interviewed (and accept ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giulio Gatti-Casazza
Giulio Gatti-Casazza (3 February 1869 – 2 September 1940) was an Italian opera manager. He was general manager of La Scala in Milan, Italy, from 1898 to 1908 and later the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1908 to 1935. Biography Gatti-Casazza was born on 3 February 1869 in Udine, in northeastern Italy. In 1893 he succeeded his father as manager of the municipal theatre in Ferrara. He was manager of La Scala from 1898 to 1908, before his move to New York City, when he became general manager of the Metropolitan Opera from 1908 to 1935. Under his leadership the Metropolitan enjoyed a prolonged era of artistic innovation and musical excellence. He brought with him conductor Arturo Toscanini, who became the company's principal conductor and led performances of Verdi, Wagner and others that set high standards for the Metropolitan which have endured to the present day. The Viennese composer Gustav Mahler also was a Met conductor during Gatti-Casazza's first two season ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eduard Franz
Eduard Franz Schmidt (October 31, 1902 – February 10, 1983) was an American actor of theatre, film and television. Franz portrayed King Ahab in the 1953 biblical low-budget film ''Sins of Jezebel'', Jethro in Cecil B. DeMille's ''The Ten Commandments'' (1956), and Jehoam in Henry Koster's ''The Story of Ruth'' (1960). Life and career Franz was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His childhood ambition was to become a commercial artist, a goal that led him to enroll later at the University of Wisconsin, where he joined the Wisconsin Players Theater, a new student group. Performing in the theater's 1922-1923 season reignited his ambition to become an artist, although one of a different type, an actor. A year later, he was cast in Chicago productions of the Coffee-Miller Players. Dropping his surname, Franz next acted with the Provincetown Players in New York's Greenwich Village, a hothouse of theatrical ferment that had first brought the world the dramatic works of writers Eugene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Park Benjamin
Park Benjamin (1849–1922) was an American patent lawyer and writer. He was born in New York City, graduated at the United States Naval Academy in 1867, resigned from the Navy in 1869, and graduated at the Albany Law School in the following year. He was associate editor of ''The Scientific American'' from 1872 to 1878 and subsequently edited Appleton's ''Cyclopedia of Applied Mechanics'' and ''Cyclopædia of Modern Mechanism''. He is also famous as the father-in-law of operatic tenor Enrico Caruso. Early life Park Benjamin Jr. was born in New York in 1849. His father, Park Benjamin Sr., was extremely famous in his time, as a poet, editor and founder of several newspapers. Park Benjamin graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1867, and published a book of his etchings of the academy that year. He resigned from the Navy, and after a year at law school was admitted to the New York Bar in 1870. He studied science at Union College and received his Ph.D. in 1877. Before comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carl Benton Reid
Carl Benton Reid (August 14, 1893 – March 16, 1973) was an American actor. Early years Reid was born in Lansing, Michigan. He used his full name professionally because when he worked in radio, four other people in the business were named Carl Reid. Career For seven years, Reid performed in leading-man roles of productions at the Cleveland Play House. He achieved fame on the Broadway stage in 1939 as Oscar Hubbard, one of Regina Giddens's (Tallulah Bankhead) greedy, devious brothers in the play ''The Little Foxes'', and made his film debut reprising his role opposite Bette Davis in the 1941 film version. He also appeared in several Shakespeare plays on Broadway, and in the original production of Eugene O'Neill's ''The Iceman Cometh'', as Harry Slade. His stern, cold demeanor quickly stereotyped him in villainous, and/or unpleasant characters, although he could play a sympathetic role, as he did occasionally in such films as the 1957 TV-movie version of ''The Pied Piper o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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