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The Television Toppers
The Television Toppers, sometimes known as The TV Toppers was a female dance company who performed mostly on BBC TV variety shows but were associated mainly with ''The Black and White Minstrel Show''. History Formed in the early 1950s by Leslie Roberts, a well-known cabaret show producer, who also created The Silhouettes, The TV Toppers appeared on light entertainment and variety shows from the 1950s through to the 1970s. They were the resident dancers on the shows which each week featured stars of the time such as Charlie Drake, Josef Locke, Max Bygraves Walter William Bygraves (16 October 1922 – 31 August 2012), best known by the stage name Max Bygraves (adopted in honour of Max Miller), was an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, s ... and Anne Shelton. They appeared on the early series of the ''Billy Cotton Band Show'' and appeared in all 20 series of ''The Black and White Minstrel Show''. The Toppers became ... [...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 Black And White Minstrel Show
''The Black and White Minstrel Show'' was a British light entertainment show that ran for twenty years on BBC prime-time television. Running from 1958 to 1978, it was a weekly variety show that presented traditional American minstrel and country songs, as well as show tunes and music hall numbers, lavishly costumed. It was also a successful stage show that ran for ten years from 1962 to 1972 at the Victoria Palace Theatre, London. This was followed by tours of UK seaside resorts, together with Australia and New Zealand. History Minstrel shows had become a long-established feature of British music halls and seaside entertainment since the success of acts such as the Virginia Minstrels in Liverpool in the 1840s and Christy's Minstrels in London in the 1850s. These led directly to many British imitators such as Hamilton's Black and White Minstrels in the 1880s and many others, with Uncle Mac's Minstrels becoming such a popular mainstay in Broadstairs from the 1890s to the 1940s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Leslie Roberts Silhouettes
The ''Billy Cotton Band Show'' was a Sunday lunchtime radio programme broadcast in the BBC Light Programme from 1949 until 1968. The band leader, Billy Cotton, was a larger-than-life Cockney character who started each show with the cry "Wakey-Wake-aaaay!”, followed by the band's signature tune “Somebody Stole My Gal” (which was also featured in the video game Pop'n Music 9). The show transferred to BBC Television in 1956, usually on Saturday evenings at 7.00 pm. It ran, under various names, until 1968. Regular entertainers included Alan Breeze, Kathie Kay, and the pianist Russ Conway. Pianist Mrs Mills made her first television appearance on the show. An additional regular act was the Leslie Roberts Silhouettes, recruited to the line-up before the television series beganThe Greatest Billy Cotton Band Show by John Maxwell (1976), p. 108. Terry Jones and Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Drake
Charles Edward Springall (19 June 1925 – 23 December 2006), known professionally as Charlie Drake, was an English comedian, actor, writer and singer. With his small stature (5' 1"/155 cm tall), curly red hair and liking for slapstick, he was a popular comedian with children in his early years, becoming nationally known for his "Hello, my darlings!" catchphrase. Early life Born Charles Edward Springall in the Elephant and Castle, Southwark, South London, he took his mother's maiden name for the stage and, later, film and television, achieving success as a comedian. Career Drake made his first appearance on stage at the age of eight, and after leaving school toured working men's clubs. After serving in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, Drake turned professional and made his television début in ''The Centre Show'' in 1953. He then joined his wartime comrade Jack Edwardes to form a double act, named 'Mick and Montmorency'. In 1954 he appeared with Bob Monkho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Josef Locke
Joseph McLaughlin (23 March 1917 – 15 October 1999), known professionally as Josef Locke, was an Irish tenor. He was successful in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s. Background Born in Derry, Ireland, he was the son of a butcher and cattle dealer, and one of nine children. He started singing in local churches in the Bogside at the age of seven, and as a teenager added two years to his age to enlist in the Irish Guards, later serving abroad with the Palestine Police Force, before returning in the late 1930s to join the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Career Known as ''The Singing Bobby'', he became a local celebrity before starting to work the UK variety circuit, where he also played summer seasons in English seaside resorts. The renowned Irish tenor John McCormack advised him that his voice was better suited to a lighter repertoire than the operatic one he had in mind, and urged him to find an agent—thus he found the noted impresario Jack Hylton who booked ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Bygraves
Walter William Bygraves (16 October 1922 – 31 August 2012), best known by the stage name Max Bygraves (adopted in honour of Max Miller), was an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, sometimes performing comedy sketches between songs. He made twenty ''Royal Variety Performance'' appearances and presented numerous programmes, including ''Family Fortunes'' between 1983 and 1985. His catchphrase "I wanna tell you a story" became an integral part of his act, although it had originated with comedian Mike Yarwood impersonating Bygraves. Early life Bygraves was born to Henry and Lillian ( McDonnell) Bygraves (who wed in 1919) in Rotherhithe in London, where he grew up in a two-room council flat in Park Buildings, Paradise Street with his five siblings, his parents and a grandparent. His father was a professional flyweight boxer, known as Battling Tom Smith, and a casual dockworker. Brought up Catholic, he attended St Joseph's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anne Shelton (singer)
Anne Shelton (born Patricia Jacqueline Sibley, 10 November 1923 – 31 July 1994) was a popular English vocalist, who is remembered for providing inspirational songs for soldiers both on radio broadcasts, and in person, at British military bases during the Second World War. During the 1950s and 60s, Shelton had some success on the UK Singles Chart, topping it in 1956 with " Lay Down Your Arms". Early life Shelton was born on 10 November 1923 in Dulwich, South London. Singing career In May 1940 at age 16, she appeared on the BBC talent radio show "Monday Night at Eight" and sang 'Let the Curtain Come Down'. The dance-band leader Bert Ambrose heard her performance, and signed her to sing with his prestigious and popular 'Ambrose Orchestra'. She made her first broadcast with Ambrose in June 1940 and she soon made her first solo record for Rex Records "I Can't Love You Any More" backed with "Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)". In January 1941 she commenced weekly radio b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Dam Busters (film)
''The Dam Busters'' is a 1955 British epic war film starring Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave. It was directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder, and Sorpe dams in Nazi Germany with Barnes Wallis's ''bouncing bomb''. The film was based on the books '' The Dam Busters'' (1951) by Paul Brickhill and '' Enemy Coast Ahead'' (1946) by Guy Gibson. The film's reflective last minutes convey the poignant mix of emotions felt by the characters – triumph over striking a successful blow against the enemy's industrial base is tempered by the sobering knowledge that many died in the process of delivering it. The film was widely praised and became the most popular motion picture at British cinemas in 1955. In 1999, the British Film Institute voted ''The Dam Busters'' the 68th greatest British film of the 20th century. Its depiction of the raid, along with a similar sequence in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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