|
Tommy Noonan
Tommy Noonan (born Thomas Noone; April 29, 1921 – April 24, 1968) was a comedy genre film performer, screenwriter and producer. He acted in a number of high-profile films as well as B movies from the 1940s through the 1960s, and he is best known for his supporting performances as Gus Esmond, wealthy fiancé of Lorelei Lee (Marilyn Monroe) in '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'' (1953), and as the musician Danny McGuire in '' A Star Is Born'' (1954). He played a stockroom worker in the film ''Bundle of Joy'' (1956) with Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. Early years Born in Bellingham, Washington, Noonan was the younger half-brother of actor John Ireland (actor), John Ireland. Noonan was the son of Michael James Noone and Gracie Ferguson. His father was a vaudeville comedian and a native of Garrafrauns, Dunmore, Galway County, Ireland. His mother, a piano teacher, was from Glasgow, Scotland. He attended New York University. Career In 1934, Noonan and Ireland made their stage de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953 Film)
''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'' is a 1953 American musical comedy film based on the 1949 stage musical of the same name. It was directed by Howard Hawks and stars Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe, with Charles Coburn, Elliott Reid, Tommy Noonan, George Winslow, Taylor Holmes and Norma Varden in supporting roles. The film is filled with comedic situations and musical numbers, choreographed by Jack Cole, while the music was written by Hoagy Carmichael, Harold Adamson, Jule Styne and Leo Robin. The songs by Styne and Robin are from the Broadway show, while the songs by Carmichael and Adamson were written especially for the film. Despite the film's title, Monroe was paid her usual contract salary of $500 a week, while Russell, the better known actress at the time, earned $200,000. While Russell's down-to-earth, sharp wit has been observed by most critics, it was Monroe's turn as the gold-digging Lorelei Lee for which the film is often remembered. Monroe's rendition of the song "Diamo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Playbill
''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's program. ''Playbill'' was first printed in 1884 for a single theater on 21st Street in New York City. The magazine is now used at nearly every Broadway theatre, as well as many Off-Broadway productions. Outside New York City, ''Playbill'' is used at theaters throughout the United States. As of September 2012, its circulation was 4,073,680. History What is known today as ''Playbill'' started in 1884, when Frank Vance Strauss founded the New York Theatre Program Corporation specializing in printing theater programs. Strauss reimagined the concept of a theater program, making advertisements a standard feature and thus transforming what was then a leaflet into a fully designed magazine. The new format proved popular with theatergoers, who s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Closer (magazine)
''Closer'' is a British tabloid magazine founded in 2005 and published by Bauer Consumer Media. A French language version followed shortly afterwards, and an American edition began publication in 2013. Profile ''Closer'' mainly specializes in celebrity news and gossip, real-life stories, fashion and television/entertainment. There is also a French-language version of the magazine published by Mondadori, an Italian media company. The French edition had a circulation of 399,589 copies in 2005. In the spring of 2006, the British parent company East Midlands Allied Press announced that it would separate its French subsidiary, which was eventually acquired in August 2006 by Mondadori for 545 million euros when taking over Emap France. The 2010 circulation of the French version of the magazine was 466,000 copies. In January 2013, an American edition was launched in New York published by AMI Celebrity Publications, targeting both USA and Canadian markets. The new edition is stylized as ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dan Rowan
Daniel Hale Rowan (July 22, 1922 – September 22, 1987) was an American actor and comedian. He was featured in the television show ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'', wherein he played straight man to Dick Martin and won the 1969 Emmy for Outstanding Variety or Musical Series. Early life and career Rowan was born on July 22, 1922, on a carnival train near the small town of Beggs, Oklahoma, as Daniel Hale David. He toured with his parents, Oscar and Nellie David, who performed a singing and dancing act with the carnival. He was orphaned at the age of 11, spent four years at the McClelland Home in Pueblo, Colorado, and then was taken in by a foster family at the age of 16 and enrolled in Central High School. After graduating from high school in 1940, he hitchhiked to Los Angeles and found a job in the mailroom at Paramount Pictures, quickly ingratiating himself with studio head Buddy DeSylva. A year later he became Paramount's youngest staff writer. World War II During World War II ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rowan And Martin
''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin. It originally aired as a one-time special on September 9, 1967, and was such a success that it was brought back as a series, replacing ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' on Mondays at 8 pm (ET). It quickly became the most popular television show in the United States. The title of the show was a play on the 1960s hippie culture "love-ins" or the counterculture " be-ins", terms derived from the "sit-ins" common in protests associated with civil rights and antiwar demonstrations of the time. In 2002, ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' was ranked number 42 on ''TV Guide's'' 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. ''Laugh-In'' had its roots in the humor of vaudeville and burlesque, but its most direct influences were Olsen and Johnson ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swingin' Along
''Swingin' Along'' is a 1961 American comedy film directed by Charles Barton. The film, which was released by 20th Century Fox, marked the final appearance of the comedy team of Tommy Noonan and Peter Marshall. The film focuses on Noonan as a courier who dreams of becoming a songwriter and Marshall as a con artist who wants to enter Noonan’s original composition in a music competition. The film co-stars Barbara Eden and features musical performances by Ray Charles, Bobby Vee and Roger Williams. According to Peter Marshall, the film was originally planned under the title ''Double Trouble'' and the screenplay was originally written for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.Marshall, Peter, ''Backstage with the Original Hollywood Square''. University of California Press 2002. , p. 7 It was later re-released with the ''Double Trouble'' title. Plot Freddy Merkle never finishes anything. He has a half-done painting, half a sculpture and a sonata he's been composing for quite a while. His au ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Rookie (1959 Film)
''The Rookie'' is a 1959 American comedy film directed by George O'Hanlon in CinemaScope. It was the first film starring the comedy team of Tommy Noonan and Peter Marshall, they also appeared together in the 1962 film ''Swingin' Along''. Plot Set in 1945, Thomas Patrick Noonan (Tommy Noonan) is a radio station page who receives an Army induction draft notice on the day World War II ends. He insists he should fulfill his military duty, and a mistake at the Pentagon results in a decommissioned stateside military facility being kept open to accommodate his basic training. Sgt. Peter Marshall (Peter Marshall), who is in charge of shutting the camp down, is angry he has to remain in the Army, since he was planning to marry his girlfriend, movie starlet Lili Marlene (Julie Newmar). Tommy falls in love with Lili, and her press agent devises a publicity stunt for Lili to return the emotion and plan to marry him. The sergeant, who is furious about losing Lili, attempts to sabotage Tommy' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FBI Girl
''FBI Girl'' is a 1951 American film noir crime film about a female FBI employee who becomes involved in government plot involving corruption and murder. The film was directed by William A. Berke, and stars Cesar Romero, George Brent and Audrey Totter. It was made by Lippert Pictures. Plot Governor Grisby is politically ambitious, as is ruthless right-hand man Blake and a man on their payroll, Chercourt, an influential lobbyist. There is a problem, though: Grisby is actually a wanted murderer named John Williams. Fearing that the fingerprints for Williams on file with the FBI will someday be traced back to the governor, Blake coaxes petty crook Paul Craig into having his sister, Natalie, a clerk for the FBI, steal the Williams file. She now knows too much, so Blake arranges for Natalie to be killed in a car crash. FBI agents Stedman and Donley begin to investigate. Natalie's roommate is Shirley Wayne, another clerk for the FBI. Shirley tells them that when Natalie was visited by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Starlift
''Starlift'' (a.k.a. ''Operation Starlift'') is a 1951 American musical film released by Warner Bros. in directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by Karl Lamb and John D. Klorer. The film stars Janice Rule, Dick Wesson, Ron Hagerthy and Ruth Roman. ''Starlift'' was made during the beginning of the Korean War and centers on an Air Force flyer's wish to meet a film star, and her fellow stars' efforts to perform for injured men at the air force base. ''Starlift'' features many of Warner Bros. top stars, including Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, James Cagney, Gene Nelson, Jane Wyman, Randolph Scott, Virginia Mayo and Phil Harris in cameo appearances as themselves. Plot United States Air Force flyers Rick Williams (Ron Hagerthy) and Mike Nolan ( Dick Wesson) attempt to meet Nell Wayne (Janice Rule), a (fictitious) film star performing in a star-studded musical in San Francisco. Rick and Nell were both from the same small town, but had never met. Mike attempts to convince both the staff and ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joanne Dru
Joanne Dru (born Joan Letitia LaCock;Known as Joan Lacock in th1930 United States census/ref> January 31, 1922 – September 10, 1996) was an American film and television actress, known for such films as '' Red River'', ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbon'', ''All the King's Men'', and ''Wagon Master''. Career Born in Logan, West Virginia, Dru moved to New York City in 1940 at the age of eighteen. After finding employment as a model, she was chosen by Al Jolson to appear in the cast of his Broadway show '' Hold On to Your Hats''. When she moved to Hollywood, she found work in the theater. Dru was spotted by a talent scout and made her first film appearance in ''Abie's Irish Rose'' (1946). Over the next decade, Dru appeared frequently in films and on television. She was often cast in western films such as Howard Hawks's '' Red River'' (1948), John Ford's ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbon'' (1949), and ''Wagon Master'' (1950). She gave a well-received performance in the dramatic film ''All the Ki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Ireland
John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomination. Ireland was a supporting actor in several Western films such as ''My Darling Clementine'' (1946), '' Red River'' (1948), ''Vengeance Valley'' (1951), and ''Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'' (1957). His other film roles include ''Spartacus'' (1960), ''55 Days at Peking'' (1963), '' The Adventurers'' (1970), and ''Farewell, My Lovely'' (1975). Ireland also appeared in many television series, notably '' The Cheaters'' (1960–62). He was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to the television industry. Early life Ireland was born in Vancouver, British Columbia on January 30, 1914. He lived in New York City from a very early age. Ireland's formal education ended at the 7th grade, and he worked to help his family m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Marshall (game Show Host)
Ralph Pierre LaCock (born March 30, 1926), better known by his stage name Peter Marshall, is an American former game show host, television and radio personality, singer, and actor. He was the original host of ''The Hollywood Squares'' from 1966 to 1981 and has almost fifty television, movie, and Broadway credits. Marshall was given his stage name by John Robert Powers. Powers had chosen the last name Marshall for Peter's sister (who later chose to use Joanne Dru instead), and Peter adopted it early in his career and paired it with an anglicized version of his middle name. Early life Marshall was born Ralph Pierre LaCock on March 30, 1926, to Ralph and Jean LaCock, a show business family, in Huntington, West Virginia. Following his father's suicide when Marshall was ten, he moved to New York City to be with his mother, a costume designer. After he graduated from high school, he was drafted into the Army in 1944 and stationed in Italy. He was originally in the artillery, but was r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
