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The Tonight Show (1954)
''Tonight Starring Steve Allen'' is an American talk show hosted by Steve Allen. It was the first version of what eventually became known as '' The Tonight Show''. ''Tonight'' was the first late-night talk show, as well as the first late night television series of any kind to achieve long-term success. Allen's run as host of the show lasted for two and a half seasons, beginning in fall 1954 and ending with Allen's departure in January 1957. During its run it originated from the Hudson Theatre in New York City. History Originally a local program airing from 11:20 p.m. to 12 midnight on WNBT New York as ''The Steve Allen Show'', the program was moved to the full NBC network in the Fall of 1954. The first network episode of ''Tonight'' aired on September 27, 1954, and ran for 105 minutes instead of the 60-minute duration of modern talk shows (however, the first fifteen minutes were shown on very few stations). The announcer of the show was Gene Rayburn (who would eventual ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Allen
Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-creator and first host of ''The Tonight Show'', which was the first late-night television talk show. Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best known for his extensive network television career. He gained national attention as a guest host on ''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.'' After he hosted ''The Tonight Show'', he went on to host numerous game and variety shows, including his own ''The Steve Allen Show'', ''I've Got a Secret'', and ''The New Steve Allen Show''. He was a regular panel member on CBS's ''What's My Line?'' and, from 1977 until 1981, he wrote, produced, and hosted the award-winning public broadcasting show ''Meeting of Minds'', a series of historical dramas presented in a talk format. Allen was a pianist and a prolific c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve And Eydie
Steve and Eydie is the name of an American pop vocal duet, consisting of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé. They originally began working together on ''Tonight Starring Steve Allen'' in 1954 and performed together until Gormé retired in 2009. Both have also had separate careers as solo singers. The performer name on their duet releases was denoted as "Steve and Eydie," without the last names. Steve's birth name was Sidney Leibowitz; Edith "Eydie" Gormé was from a multilingual Sephardic Jewish family whose surname was variously spelled Gorman and Gormezano. The two were married from 1957 until Gormé's death in 2013. They recorded on various labels including Coral and ABC-Paramount in the 1950s, United Artists, Columbia, and RCA in the 1960s, MGM in the 1970s, and others on to the present. Their last US chart record "Hallelujah", was shown as Parker and Penny. Their 1960 song "We Got Us" was not released as a hit single but was the title tune on an A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mort Lindsey
Mort Lindsey (born Morton Lippman; March 21, 1923, Newark, New Jersey – May 4, 2012, Malibu, California), was an orchestrator, composer, pianist, conductor and musical director for Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Pat Boone, Jack Narz, and Merv Griffin. Early life He attended Newark Arts High School. He served stateside as a lieutenant in the Army Air Forces during World War II, and received a bachelor's degree from Columbia College and a master's from Columbia University in the 1940s. He later returned to Columbia University, earning a doctoral degree in music education in 1974. Career In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Lindsey was part of a trio called the Playboys with jazz guitarist Johnny Smith and organist Arlo Hults at NBC. In 1956 he is credited with composing the song "Rock 'N' Roll Polka" as recorded by John Serry Sr. (See '' Squeeze Play''). Lindsey was the musical director and conductor for Judy Garland's 1961 tour, including her concert on April 23, 1961, at Carneg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lou Stein
Lou Stein (April 22, 1922 – December 11, 2002) was an American jazz pianist. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Stein joined Ray McKinley's band in 1942. He played with Glenn Miller when the latter was stateside during World War II. After the war he worked with Charlie Ventura (1946–47) and became a session musician. He performed with the Lawson-Haggart Band, Benny Goodman, Sarah Vaughan, the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra, Louie Bellson, Red Allen, Coleman Hawkins, and Lester Young, and recorded as a bandleader. In 1957 he had a U.S. Top 40 hit with "Almost Paradise", which peaked at No. 31 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His cover version of "Got a Match" made the ''Cashbox'' Top 60 in 1958. He played with Joe Venuti from 1969 to 1972. Discography * ''Lou Stein Trio'' ( Brunswick, 1954) * ''House Hop'' (Epic, 1954) * ''Lou Stein at Large!'' (Brunswick, 1954) * ''Six for Kicks'' ( Jubilee, 1954) * ''The Lou Stein 3, 4, and 5'' (Epic, 1955) * ''Eight for Kicks, Four for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hy Gardner
Hy Gardner (December 2, 1908 – June 17, 1989) was an American entertainment reporter and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Herald Tribune'', host of ''Hy Gardner Calling'', ''The Hy Gardner Show'', and ''Celebrity Party'', and an original celebrity panelist on the first incarnation of '' To Tell The Truth'', along with Ralph Bellamy, Polly Bergen, Kitty Carlisle and host Bud Collyer. In 1957, Gardner also appeared on the show made up as a clown along with guest-challenger (famous clown) Paul Jung. Gardner also played himself in the 1963 movie '' The Girl Hunters'' with writer/friend Mickey Spillane, who included Gardner in several of his Mike Hammer novels. Career In the early 1950s, Gardner began interviewing celebrities on the radio on his own show, ''Hy Gardner Calling''. He had wanted to be a columnist for entertainment news as a young boy, and in 1951 he was hired by the ''New York Herald Tribune'' where he continued until 1966 when the paper closed. ''The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al "Jazzbo" Collins
Albert Richard "Jazzbo" Collins (January 4, 1919 – September 30, 1997) was an American disc jockey and musician who hosted ''The Tonight Show'' in 1957. Career Born in Rochester, New York, in 1919, Collins grew up on Long Island, New York. In 1941, while attending the University of Miami in Florida, he substituted as the announcer for his English teacher's campus radio program and decided he wanted to pursue a career in radio. Collins began his professional career as a disc jockey at a bluegrass music station in Logan, West Virginia; by 1943, he was at WKPA in Pittsburgh, moving in 1945 to WIND in Chicago, and in 1946 to KNAK in Salt Lake City. In 1950 he moved to New York City, where he was hired by WNEW and became one of the "communicators" on ''Monitor'' when it began in 1955. He made several appearances on ''The Tonight Show'' with Steve Allen in the early 50s. In 1953, Allen recited jazz versions of nursery rhymes such as "Little Red Riding Hood". In 1957, NBC-TV hired ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Lescoulie
Jack Lescoulie (November 17, 1912 – July 22, 1987) was a radio and television announcer and host, notably on NBC's ''Today'' during the 1950s and 1960s; a newspaper source lists his date of birth as May 17, 1912. Lescoulie was also known for his voice impersonation of comedian Jack Benny. Early years Lescoulie was born in Sacramento, California. His parents were both in vaudeville along with their children; Lescoulie's first public performance was at age 7. His first media job was with KGFJ in Los Angeles, when he was still in high school. The young Lescoulie helped the radio station cover the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Lescoulie has a star for his work in television on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Radio In 1933, Lescoulie had an orchestra that broadcast on KGFJ in Los Angeles. He was billed as the "Grouchmaster" on '' The Grouch Club'' (1938–40), a program in which people aired their complaints about anything, created by Nat Hiken, creator of ''The Phil Silvers Show'' (''Y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Today (NBC Program)
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television and in the world, and after 70 years of broadcasting it is fifth on the list of longest-running United States television series. Originally a weekday two-hour program from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., it expanded to Sundays in 1987 and Saturdays in 1992. The weekday broadcast expanded to three hours in 2000, and to four hours in 2007 (though over time, the third and fourth hours became distinct entities). ''Today''s dominance was virtually unchallenged by the other networks until the late 1980s, when it was overtaken by ABC's ''Good Morning America''. ''Today'' retook the Nielsen ratings lead the week of December 11, 1995, and held onto that position for 852 consecutive weeks until the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Ed Sullivan Show
''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CBS Sunday Movie, CBS Sunday Night Movie''. In 2002, ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' was ranked No. 15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, ''TV Guide''s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In 2013, the series finished No. 31 in ''TV Guide'' Magazine's 60 Best Series of All Time. History From 1948 until its cancellation in 1971, the show ran on CBS every Sunday night from 8–9 p.m. Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Time, and it is one of the few entertainment shows to have run in the same weekly time slot on the same network for more than two decades (during its first season, it ran from 9 to 10 p.m. ET). Virtually every type of entertainment appeared on the show; classical musicians, opera singers, popular recording ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940s for the preservation, re-broadcasting and sale of television programmes before the introduction of quadruplex videotape, which from 1956 eventually superseded the use of kinescopes for all of these purposes. Kinescopes were the only practical way to preserve live television broadcasts prior to videotape. Typically, the term Kinescope can refer to the process itself, the equipment used for the procedure (a movie camera mounted in front of a video monitor, and synchronized to the monitor's scanning rate), or a film made using the process. The term originally referred to the cathode ray tube used in television receivers, as named by inventor Vladimir K. Zworykin in 1929. Hence, the recordings were known in full as kinescope films or kines ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman'' on NBC and ending with the May 20, 2015 broadcast of ''Late Show with David Letterman'' on CBS. In total, Letterman hosted 6,080 episodes of ''Late Night'' and ''Late Show'', surpassing his friend and mentor Johnny Carson as the longest-serving late night talk show host in American television history. In 1996, Letterman was ranked 45th on ''TV Guide''s 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.Miller, Gregory E.; Schneider, Michael (December 31, 2015). "2015 by the Numbers", ''TV Guide''. p. 10. In 2002, ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' was ranked seventh on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. He is also a television and film producer. His company, Worldwide Pants, produced his shows as well as '' The Late Late Show'' and several p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Wendell
William Joseph Wenzel Jr. (March 22, 1924 – April 14, 1999), known as Bill Wendell, was an NBC television staff announcer for almost his entire professional career. Life and career Born in New York City, Wendell served in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II and graduated from Fordham University with a degree in speech. He began his radio career in summer of 1947''Yonkers Herald Statesman'', July 18, 1959, pg. 6 at WHAM in Rochester, New York. He moved to WWJ in Detroit, where he worked in both radio and TV. Wendell returned to Manhattan in 1952 when he landed a job on the DuMont television network emceeing several shows before jumping to NBC in 1955. He was a regular on the 1955-56 version of '' The Ernie Kovacs Show'', serving as the show's announcer, as well as a participant in sketches such as "Mr. Question Man" (a parody of '' The Answer Man''). He also worked with Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Dave Garroway, and other NBC personalities. After Jack Ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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