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The Great Houdini (film)
''The Great Houdinis'' ''The Great Houdini'' is a 1976 American made-for-television biographical film which is a fictionalized account of the life of the Hungarian-American escape artist and entertainer Harry Houdini. The film was written and directed by Melville Shavelson and features Paul Michael Glaser (''Starsky & Hutch'') and Sally Struthers (''All in the Family'') and originally aired on ABC on October 8, 1976. Overview The movie features the early career of Houdini, the relationship between his wife and mother, and his and his wife's attempts to reach "the other side", with him attempting to contact his deceased mother and her attempting to contact Houdini himself after his death. Although the film portrays a strained relationship between Houdini's wife and mother, in reality they got along relatively well. Some notable performances were turned in by Vivian Vance as Bess Houdini's nurse (and the narrator), Ruth Gordon as Houdini's mother, Peter Cushing as Sir Arthur Conan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Benchley
Peter Bradford Benchley (May 8, 1940 – February 11, 2006) was an American author, screenwriter, and ocean activist. He is known for his bestselling novel ''Jaws'' and co-wrote its film adaptation with Carl Gottlieb. Several more of his works were also adapted for both cinema and television, including '' The Deep'', '' The Island'', '' Beast'', and ''White Shark.'' Later in life, Benchley expressed some regret for his tone in writing about sharks, which he felt indulged already present fear and false belief about sharks, and he became an advocate for marine conservation. Contrary to widespread rumor, Benchley did not believe that his writings contributed to shark depopulation, nor is there evidence that ''Jaws'' or any of his works did so. Early life Benchley was the son of Marjorie (née Bradford) and author Nathaniel Benchley and grandson of Algonquin Round Table founder Robert Benchley. His younger brother, Nat Benchley, is a writer and actor. Peter Benchley was an alumn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruth Gordon
Ruth Gordon Jones (October 30, 1896 – August 28, 1985) was an American actress, screenwriter, and playwright. She began her career performing on Broadway at age 19. Known for her nasal voice and distinctive personality, Gordon gained international recognition and critical acclaim for film roles that continued into her 70s and 80s. Her later work included performances in '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1968), ''What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice'' (1969), ''Where's Poppa? ''Where's Poppa?'' is a 1970 American black comedy film based on the 1970 novel by Robert Klane and starring George Segal, Ruth Gordon, Ron Leibman, and Trish Van Devere. The plot revolves around the troubled relationship between a lawyer (Segal ...'' (1970), ''Harold and Maude'' (1971), ''Every Which Way but Loose (film), Every Which Way but Loose'' (1978), and ''Any Which Way You Can'' (1980). In addition to her acting career, Gordon wrote numerous plays, film scripts, and books, most notably co-writing the screenpla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1976 Television Films
Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Philadelphia Flyers–Red Army game results in a 4–1 victory for the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers over HC CSKA Moscow of the Soviet Union. * January 16 – The trial against jailed members of the Red Army Faction (the West German extreme-left militant Baader–Meinhof Group) begins in Stuttgart. * January 18 ** Full diplomatic relations are established between Bangladesh and Pakistan 5 years after the Bangladesh Liberation War. ** The Scottish Labour Party (1976), Scottish Labour Party is formed as a breakaway from the UK-wide party. ** Super Bowl X in American football: The Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Dallas Cowboys, 21–17, in Miami. * January 21 – First commercial Concorde flight, from London to Bahrain. * January 27 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clive Revill
Clive Revill is a New Zealand actor, best known for his performances in musical theatre and the London stage. A veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he has also starred in numerous films and television programmes, often in character parts. He is a two-time Tony Award nominee; Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Irma La Douce (musical), ''Irma La Douce'' and Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, Best Actor in a Musical for ''Oliver!'' He was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Billy Wilder's ''Avanti!'' (1972). A distinguished voice actor, his roles include voicing Palpatine, the Emperor in the original theatrical edition of ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980). Early life Revill was born in Wellington, the son of Eleanor May (née Neel) and Malet Barford Revill. He attended Rongotai College. Career Stage H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maureen O'Sullivan
Maureen O'Sullivan (17 May 1911 – 23 June 1998) was an Irish-American actress, who played Jane in the ''Tarzan'' series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller. She performed with such actors as Laurence Olivier, Greta Garbo, William Powell, and Myrna Loy. In 2020, she was listed at number eight on ''The Irish Times'' list of Ireland's greatest film actors. Early life O'Sullivan was born in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland, in 1911, the daughter of Mary Eva Lovatt (née Frazer) and Charles Joseph O'Sullivan, an officer in the Connaught Rangers who served in World War I. Maureen returned to Boyle in 1988 to be honoured by the town. She attended a convent school in Dublin, then the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Roehampton (now Woldingham School), England. One of her classmates there was Vivian Mary Hartley, future Academy Award-winning actress Vivien Leigh. After attending finishing school in France, O'Sullivan returned to Dublin to work with the poor. In October 1929, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geoffrey Lewis (actor)
Geoffrey Bond Lewis (July 31, 1935 – April 7, 2015) was an American character actor. He appeared in more than 200 films and television shows, and was principally known for his film roles alongside Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford. He typically portrayed villains or quirky characters. He played a bodyguard in the Jean-Claude van Damme film ''Double Impact''. Life and career Lewis was born July 31, 1935, in Plainfield, New Jersey, but spent much of his youth in Wrightwood, California. He studied theater arts at San Bernardino Valley College for two years, then worked as a truck driver and at other odd jobs before launching his career as an actor. He took acting classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City and performed off-Broadway and at regional theaters in Massachusetts. He tried breaking into Hollywood in the 1960s. Lewis appeared in TV series' including ''Bonanza'', ''Gunsmoke'', '' Mannix'', '' Mission: Impossible'', ''Cannon,'' ''Barnaby Jones'', ''Mork & Mindy' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilfrid Hyde-White
Wilfrid Hyde-White (12 May 1903 – 6 May 1991) was a British character actor of stage, film and television. He achieved international recognition for his role as Colonel Pickering in the film version of the musical ''My Fair Lady'' (1964). Early life and career Wilfrid Hyde White was born in Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire, England in 1903 to the Rev. William Edward White, canon of Gloucester Cathedral, and his wife, Ethel Adelaide ( Drought). He was the nephew of actor J. Fisher White. He attended Marlborough College and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, of which he said, "I learned two things at RADA - I can't act and it doesn't matter." He made his stage debut in the farcical play '' Tons of Money'' on the Isle of Wight in 1922 and appeared in the West End for the first time three years later in the play ''Beggar on Horseback''. He then gained steady work on the stage in a series of comedies produced at the Aldwych Theatre in London. He joined a tour of South Af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nina Foch
Nina Foch ( ; born Nina Consuelo Maud Fock; April 20, 1924 – December 5, 2008) was a Dutch-born American actress who later became an instructor. Her career spanned six decades, consisting of over 50 feature films and over 100 television appearances. She was the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award nomination for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and a National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress. Foch established herself as a dramatic actress in the late 1940s, often playing cool, aloof sophisticates. Born in Leiden, Netherlands in 1924, Foch immigrated to the United States with her mother while still a toddler, and was raised in New York City. After signing a contract with Columbia Pictures at age 19, Foch became a regular in the studio's horror film, horror pictures and film noir, films noir, starring in such films as ''The Return of the Vampire'' (1943), ''Escape in the Fog'', and ''My Name Is Julia Ross ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction. Doyle was a prolific writer; other than Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, " J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the ''Mary Celeste''. Name Doyle is often referred to as "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle" or "Conan Doyle", implying that "Conan" is part of a compound surname rather than a middle name. His baptism entry in the register of St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, gives "Arth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Carter (comedian)
Jack Chakrin (June 24, 1922 – June 28, 2015), known by his stage name Jack Carter, was an American comedian, actor and television presenter. Brooklyn-born, Carter had a long-running comedy act similar to fellow rapid-paced contemporaries Milton Berle and Morey Amsterdam. Life and career Carter was born in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York, in 1922 to a Jewish family. Carter served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He hosted an early television variety program called ''Cavalcade of Stars'' on the DuMont Network. He was lured to NBC to host his own program titled ''The Jack Carter Show''. Carter recommended Jackie Gleason take his place as host of ''Cavalcade of Stars'', though DuMont did not hire Gleason until the network's choice, Jerry Lester, also jumped to NBC. ''The Jack Carter Show'' appeared under the banner of the ''Saturday Night Revue'', NBC's -hour Saturday night programming slot. Carter hosted his show for one hour each week followed b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adrienne Barbeau
Adrienne Jo Barbeau (born June 11, 1945) is an American actress, singer and the author of three books. Barbeau came to prominence in the 1970s as Broadway's original Rizzo in the musical '' Grease'', and as Carol Traynor, the divorced daughter of Maude Findlay (played by Bea Arthur) on the sitcom '' Maude'' (1972–1978). In 1980, she began appearing in horror and science fiction films, including ''The Fog'' (1980), ''Escape from New York'' (1981), ''Creepshow'' (1982), and ''Swamp Thing'' (1982). During the 1990s, she became known for providing the voice of Catwoman on '' Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–1995), and subsequent Batman cartoon series. In the 2000s, she appeared on the HBO series ''Carnivàle'' as Ruthie the snake dancer. Early life Barbeau was born on June 11, 1945, in Sacramento, California,Archived aGhostarchiveand thWayback Machine the daughter of Armene (née Nalbandian) and Joseph Barbeau, who was a public relations executive for Mobil Oil. Her mother wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Ford (psychic)
Arthur Ford (January 8, 1896 – January 4, 1971) was an American psychic, spiritualist medium, clairaudient, and founder of the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship (1955). He gained national attention when he claimed to have contacted the dead son of Bishop James Pike in 1967 on network TV. In 1928 Ford claimed to have contacted the deceased spirits of Houdini's mother and later in 1929 Harry Houdini himself. Early life Arthur Ford was born in Titusville, Florida and grew up in Fort Pierce, Florida. As a youth he followed a religious pilgrimage that took him to Transylvania College, a Disciples of Christ school in Lexington, Kentucky. Ordained as a Disciples minister, he served a church in Barbourville, Kentucky. Ford said he realized his psychic abilities during World War I. He claimed that while in the army, he could "hear" the names of soldiers several days before they would appear on casualty lists. Medium After the war he researched purported psychic phenomena. He became ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
