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The Singing Idol
''Sing Boy Sing'' is a 1958 musical–drama film released by 20th Century-Fox and starring newcomers Tommy Sands and Lili Gentle. The film was an expansion of the January 1957 '' Kraft Television Theatre'' episode "The Singin' Idol," also starring Sands, who was billed by the studio as a new teen idol and plays an Elvis Presley-type singer. The film was Gentle's only starring role, and her penultimate film appearance. 20th Century-Fox had plans to promote her as its new dashing redhead, but suitable roles for her did not materialize. ''Sing, Boy, Sing'' was released in the United States in February 1958 to positive reviews, but performed poorly at the box office, though it did find some popularity with teenage audiences. Sands' soundtrack of songs from the film was released in 1958 and produced a #24 hit on the '' Billboard'' singles chart with the title song. Plot Virgil Walker is a popular singing star. His manager Joseph Sharkey keeps tight control over Walker's life. Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Ephron
Henry Ephron (May 26, 1911 – September 6, 1992) was an American playwright, screenwriter and film producer who often worked with his wife, Phoebe (née Wolkind). He was active as a writer from the early 1940s through the early 1960s. Early life Henry Ephron was born in Bronx, New York, the son of Gittle "Gussie" (née Weinstein) and Yitzhak Asher "Isaac" Ephron, a retailer. His parents were Jewish immigrants, his father from Grodno, now in Belarus, and his mother from Skidzyel', now in Belarus. All four of his daughters by his first wife, Phoebe: Nora Ephron, Delia Ephron, Hallie Ephron and Amy Ephron, also became notable writers. Coincidentally, his second wife, June (née Gilmartin; July 6, 1911 – November 13, 1996), widow of Oscar Levant, who wed Ephron in 1978, was also one of four sisters. His family is Jewish. Ephron died in 1992 of "natural causes" at the Motion Picture Hospital in Los Angeles. Notable works (unless otherwise noted, films written with Phoebe E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nick Adams (actor, Born 1931)
Nick Adams (born Nicholas Aloysius Adamshock; July 10, 1931 – February 7, 1968) was an American film and television actor and screenwriter. He was noted for his roles in several Hollywood films during the 1950s and 1960s along with his starring role in the ABC television series '' The Rebel'' (1959–1961). Decades after his death from a prescription drug overdose at the age of 36, his widely publicized friendships with James Dean and Elvis Presley would stir speculation about both his private life and the circumstances of his death. In an ''AllMovie'' synopsis for Adams's last film, reviewer Dan Pavlides wrote, "Plagued by personal excesses, he will be remembered just as much for what he could have done in cinema as what he left behind." Early life and career Adams was born as Nicholas Aloysius Adamshock in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania to Catherine (Kutz) and Peter Adamshock, an anthracite coal miner. His parents were both Ukrainian. In 1958, he told columnist Hedda Hopper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
''Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?'' is a 1957 American satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ... comedy film starring Jayne Mansfield and Tony Randall, with Betsy Drake, Joan Blondell, John Williams (actor), John Williams, Henry Jones (actor), Henry Jones, Lili Gentle, and Mickey Hargitay, and with a cameo by Groucho Marx. The film is a satire on popular fan culture, Hollywood hype, and the advertising industry, which was profiting from commercials on the relatively new medium of television. It also takes aim at the reduction television caused to the size of movie theater audiences in the 1950s. The film was known as ''Oh! For a Man!'' in the United Kingdom. The film was produced and directed by Frank Tashlin, who also wrote the largely original screenplay, using ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spyros Skouras
Spyros Panagiotis Skouras (; gr, Σπύρος Σκούρας; March 28, 1893 – August 16, 1971) was a Greek-American motion picture pioneer and film executive who was the president of 20th Century-Fox from 1942 to 1962. He resigned June 27, 1962, but served as chairman of the company for several more years. He also had numerous ships, owning Prudential Lines. Skouras and two brothers came to the United States as immigrants in 1910; Spyros kept such a pronounced Greek accent in English that comedian Bob Hope would joke "Spyros has been here twenty years but he still sounds as if he's coming next week." Skouras oversaw the production of such epics as ''Cleopatra'' (1963) with Elizabeth Taylor, as well as the development of Century City. The early years Spyros Panagiotis Skouras was born in 1893 in Skourochori, Greece to a family whose father was a sheep herder. Together with his brothers Charles and George Skouras, he emigrated to the United States in 1910. The brothers settled ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time. While in his 20s, Welles directed high-profile stage productions for the Federal Theatre Project, including an adaptation of ''Macbeth'' with an entirely African-American cast and the political musical '' The Cradle Will Rock''. In 1937, he and John Houseman founded the Mercury Theatre, an independent repertory theatre company that presented a series of productions on Broadway through 1941, including ''Caesar'' (1937), an adaptation of William Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar''. In 1938, his radio anthology series ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' gave Welles the platform to find international fame as the director and narrator of a radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's novel ''The War of the Worlds'', which caused s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pat Boone
Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in more than 12 Hollywood films. According to ''Billboard'', Boone was the second-biggest charting artist of the late 1950s, behind only Elvis Presley, and was ranked at No. 9 in its listing of the Top 100 Top 40 Artists 1955–1995. Until the 2010s, Boone held the ''Billboard'' record for spending 220 consecutive weeks on the charts with one or more songs each week. At the age of 23, Boone began hosting a half-hour ABC variety television series, ''The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom'', which aired for 115 episodes (1957–1960). Many musical performers, including Edie Adams, Andy Williams, Pearl Bailey, and Johnny Mathis, made appearances on the show. His cover versions of rhythm and blues hits had a noticeable effect on the development of the broa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teen-Age Crush
"Teen-Age Crush" is a song written by Audrey Allison and Joe Allison and performed by Tommy Sands. It reached #2 on the U.S. pop chart and #10 on the U.S. R&B chart in 1957. The song ranked #33 on ''Billboard's'' Year-End top 50 singles of 1957. Other versions * Barry Frank released a version of the song as a single in 1957, but like his other covers of popular hits of the day released by Bell Records, then a budget label, it did not chart. *Gary Paxton Gary Sanford Paxton (born Larry Wayne Stevens; May 18, 1939 – July 17, 2016) was an American record producer, recording artist, and Grammy and Dove Award winning songwriter. Paxton was a member of Skip & Flip and the Hollywood Argyles and was ... released a version of the song as a single in 1962, but it did not chart. * Ray Whitley released a version of the song as a single in 1963, but it did not chart. References Songs about teenagers 1957 songs 1957 singles 1962 singles 1963 singles Songs written by Joe All ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colonel Tom Parker
Thomas Andrew Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk; June 26, 1909 January 21, 1997), ''New York Times'', January 22, 1997. Accessed June 6, 2022. commonly known as Colonel Parker, was a -born musical entrepreneur, best known for being 's manager. Born in the Netherlands, Parker emigrated illegally to the United States at the age of 20. He changed his name and claimed to have been born in the United States. His Dutch birthplace and immigrant status were not revealed for many years. A carnival worker by background, Parker moved into music promotio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Jazz Singer
''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1927 American musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music score as well as lip-synchronous singing and speech (in several isolated sequences). Its release heralded the commercial ascendance of sound films and effectively marked the end of the silent film era. It was produced by Warner Bros. with the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system and features six songs performed by Al Jolson. Based on the 1925 play of the same title by Samson Raphaelson, the plot was adapted from his short story "The Day of Atonement". The film depicts the fictional story of Jakie Rabinowitz, a young man who defies the traditions of his devout Jewish family. After singing popular tunes in a beer garden, he is punished by his father, a hazzan (cantor), prompting Jakie to run away from home. Some years later, now calling himself Jack Robin, he has become a talented jazz singer, performing in blackfa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Randle
Bill Randle (March 14, 1923 – July 9, 2004) was an American disc jockey, lawyer and university professor. Randle was born William McKinley Randle Jr. in Detroit, Michigan. In Detroit, he hosted a popular show on WJLB-AM radio (now WDTK) called ''The Interracial Goodwill Hour'', featuring rhythm and blues music and hot jazz. As a pioneering disc jockey at radio station WERE in Cleveland, Ohio, he helped change the face of American music. In the 1950s, ''Time'' magazine called Randle the top DJ in America. His popularity and huge listening audience allowed him to bolster the careers of a number of young musicians, including the Four Lads, Bobby Darin, and Fats Domino. Nicknamed "The Pied Piper of Cleveland", a 1955 musical documentary film was made about him titled '' The Pied Piper of Cleveland: A Day in the Life of a Famous Disc Jockey''. The film includes a Cleveland concert at Brooklyn High School on October 20, 1955, featuring Pat Boone and Bill Haley & His Comets with Elvis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Regis Toomey
John Francis Regis Toomey (August 13, 1898October 12, 1991) was an American film and television actor. Early life Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was one of four children of Francis X. and Mary Ellen Toomey, and attended Peabody High School. He initially pondered a law career, but acting won out and he established himself as a musical stage performer. Career Educated in dramatics at the University of Pittsburgh, where he became a brother of Sigma Chi, Toomey began as a stock actor and eventually made it to Broadway. Toomey was a singer on stage until throat problems (acute laryngitis) while touring in Europe stopped that aspect of his career. In 1929, he appeared in his first films, starting out as a leading man, but finding more success as a character actor, ''sans'' his toupee. In 1941, Toomey appeared in ''You're in the Army Now'', in which Jane Wyman and he had the longest screen kiss in cinema history: 3 minutes and 5 seconds. In 1956, Toomey was cast as the Re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerry Paris
William Gerald Paris (July 25, 1925 – March 31, 1986) was an American actor and director best known for playing Jerry Helper, the dentist and next-door neighbor of Rob and Laura Petrie, on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', and for directing the majority of the episodes of the sitcom ''Happy Days''. Early life Paris was born in San Francisco, California. His name, as frequently reported, was indeed Paris, and not Grossman, a stepfather's surname he never adopted. Paris' mother's maiden name was Esther Mohr. After serving in the United States Navy during World War II, he attended New York University and the Actors Studio in New York City. After graduating, Paris moved to Los Angeles, where he attended UCLA and studied acting at the Actors Lab in Hollywood. Career Paris had roles in films such as ''The Caine Mutiny'', ''The Wild One'', and '' Marty''. He also played Martin "Marty" Flaherty, one of Eliot Ness's men, in a recurring role in the first season of ABC-TV's ''The Untouch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
