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Drene Time
''Drene Time'' (aka ''The Drene Show'') was a 30-minute radio variety show starring Don Ameche and singer-actress Frances Langford as co-hosts, airing on NBC's Sunday night schedule (10-10:30pm Eastern) in 1946–47. The series was sponsored by Procter & Gamble's Drene Shampoo, and the announcer was Tobe Reed. ''Drene Time'' usually opened with Langford singing a big band-style arrangement. Then Ameche and Langford would slip into comedy, often aided by co-star Danny Thomas, in routines involving Thomas' frustration that Ameche was less of an actor than Thomas. After another musical number and a commercial spot for Drene Shampoo, Ameche and Langford appeared as the Bickersons for the final 15 minutes of the show. The Bickersons segment, at that time, was titled, "The Honeymoon Is Over." The program featured the music of Carmen Dragon and His Orchestra. Also in the cast was Gale Gordon. The series was written by Philip Rapp and produced by Carlton Alsop. The first offici ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sylvia Sidney
Sylvia Sidney (born Sophia Kosow; August 8, 1910 – July 1, 1999) was an American stage, screen and film actress whose career spanned over 70 years. She rose to prominence in dozens of leading roles in the 1930s. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in '' Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams'' in 1973. She later gained attention for her role as Juno, a case worker in the afterlife, in Tim Burton's 1988 film '' Beetlejuice'', for which she won a Saturn Award as Best Supporting Actress. Early life Sidney was born Sophia Kosow in the Bronx, New York, the daughter of Rebecca (née Saperstein), a Romanian Jew, and Victor Kosow, a Russian-Jewish immigrant who worked as a clothing salesman. Her parents divorced by 1915, and she was adopted by her stepfather Sigmund Sidney, a dentist. Her mother became a dressmaker and renamed herself Beatrice Sidney. Now using the surname Sidney, Sylvia became an actress at the age of 15 as a way of overco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1940s American Radio Programs
Year 194 ( CXCIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Septimius and Septimius (or, less frequently, year 947 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 194 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Emperor Septimius Severus and Decimus Clodius Septimius Albinus Caesar become Roman Consuls. * Battle of Issus: Septimius Severus marches with his army (12 legions) to Cilicia, and defeats Pescennius Niger, Roman governor of Syria. Pescennius retreats to Antioch, and is executed by Severus' troops. * Septimius Severus besieges Byzantium (194–196); the city walls suffer extensive damage. Asia * Battle of Yan Province: Warlords Cao Cao and Lü Bu fight for control over Yan Province; the battle lasts for over 100 d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Time (TV Series)
''Star Time'' is an American variety series which aired on the DuMont Television Network from September 5, 1950, to February 27, 1951, and starred singer-actress Frances Langford. It was broadcast from 10 to 11 p.m. on Tuesdays. Broadcast history The hour-long comedy-variety show spotlighted several regulars and guest performers. One feature of each telecast was a lengthy skit, written and directed by Philip Rapp, with Langford and Lew Parker performing as The Bickersons, a quarrelsome married couple that migrated from radio as a distinctively-unhappy sitcom man and wife. With Langford as a first-class singer, music was an integral component of the series. The premier telecast spotlighted The Harmonicats, a trio of versatile harmonica players who had achieved great prominence in the 1940s. But the program soon settled on a regular slot called Club Goodman in which the Benny Goodman Sextet—with Goodman, Teddy Wilson, and Terry Gibbs, among others—played jazz arran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marvin Miller (actor)
Marvin Elliott Miller (born Marvin Mueller; July 18, 1913 – February 8, 1985) was an American actor. Possessing a deep baritone voice, he began his career in radio in St. Louis, Missouri before becoming a Hollywood actor. He is remembered for voicing Robby the Robot in the science fiction film '' Forbidden Planet'' (1956), a role he reprised in the lesser-known '' The Invisible Boy'' (1957). Miller's next most notable role is that of Michael Anthony, the loyal assistant of Paul Frees's generous billionaire John Beresford Tipton Jr., on the TV series '' The Millionaire'' (1955–1960). Career Radio and recordings Born in St. Louis, Miller graduated from Washington University before commencing his career in radio. When a singer named Marvin Miller debuted on another St. Louis radio station, he began using his middle initial to distinguish himself from the newcomer. For the Mutual Broadcasting System, he narrated a daily 15-minute radio show titled ''The Story Behind the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earle Ross
Earle Ross (March 29, 1888 – May 21, 1961) was an American radio and film actor. While in school he became interested in dramatics and was usually cast as a villain or an old man because of his unusual voice characteristics. In 1908 he worked with Colonel Bill Selig in his first 5-reel movie film ''The Holy Cross''. In 1912, he ventured to the East Coast and worked on Broadway in such shows as ''Where the Trail Divides'' and ''Cost of Living''. From there, he started his own chain of theaters but went broke in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Actor Wilton Lackaye suggested a career on stage for Ross after he saw him perform in a high school play. After making his professional debut on stage, Ross acted in ''The Holy City'' (1908), "the first American five-reel film". Ross headed the Earle Ross Players at the Warrington Theatre in Oak Park, Illinois, beginning in 1927. From 1929 to 1932, he led a school of fine arts in Oak Park. After working as a producer, Ross returned to ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Backus
James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom '' Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in ''Rebel Without a Cause,'' the voice of the nearsighted cartoon character ''Mr. Magoo'', the rich Hubert Updike III on the radio version of '' The Alan Young Show'', and Joan Davis' character's husband (a domestic court judge) on TV's ''I Married Joan''. He also starred in his own show of one season, '' The Jim Backus Show'', also known as ''Hot Off the Wire''. An avid golfer, Backus made the 36-hole cut at the 1964 Bing Crosby Pro-Am tournament. He was inducted to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. Early life Backus was born February 25, 1913, in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in Bratenahl, Ohio, an East Side suburb of Cleveland located on the Lake Erie shore, surrounded by the city on three sides. He was the son of Russell Gould Backus and Daisy Taylor (né ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinky Lee
Pincus Leff (May 2, 1907 – April 3, 1993), better known as Pinky Lee, was an American burlesque comic and host of the children's television program ''The Pinky Lee Show'' in the early 1950s. Biography Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Lee got his start in show business in the 1920s as a tap dancer in the chorus of the Brodrick-Felsen & Co. vaudeville act, traveling on the Keith Orpheum circuit. Later, he worked as a comic of the "baggy pants" variety on stage, becoming an expert at the slapstick, comic dancing and rapid-fire jokes of the burlesque style. During the 1940s, he was heard on ''Drene Time'' and other radio programs. Easily recognized by his trademark lisp and high-energy antics, his signature costume was a loud plaid suit with baggy checkered pants and an undersized hat. During his routines, whenever anybody irritated him (which happened frequently) he would unleash his catchphrase: "Oooooh! You make me so ''mad!"'' Television In 1950, he had his own 30-minute prime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Truman Bradley (actor)
Truman Bradley (February 8, 1905 – July 28, 1974) was an actor and narrator in radio, television and film. Early years Bradley was born February 8, 1905, in Sheldon, Missouri. Although he wanted to be an actor, he followed his parents' desires and studied law. Career Radio Bradley began his career in the 1930s as a radio broadcaster. Working at WBBM in Chicago, Illinois, some considered him "the Mid-West's leading news commentator." He was selected by Henry Ford to be the announcer for the ''Ford Sunday Evening Hour'', for which he flew to Detroit, Michigan, each weekend. With his distinctive, authoritative voice, he soon became a radio actor as well as a narrator in numerous movies. In the mid-1940s, Bradley was a newscaster with KERN in Bakersfield, California. Bradley was the announcer for Red Skelton's program, ''Burns and Allen'' '' Easy Aces'', the ''Frank Sinatra Show'' and ''Screen Guild Players''. Film A newspaper columnist wrote in 1942 that representatives ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dick Tracy (1990 Film)
''Dick Tracy'' is a 1990 American action crime comedy film based on the 1930s comic strip character of the same name created by Chester Gould. Warren Beatty produced, directed, and starred in the film, whose supporting cast includes Al Pacino, Madonna, Glenne Headly, and Charlie Korsmo. ''Dick Tracy'' depicts the detective's romantic relationships with Breathless Mahoney and Tess Trueheart as well as his conflicts with crime boss Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice and his henchmen. Tracy also begins fostering a young street urchin named Kid. Development of the film began in the early 1980s with Tom Mankiewicz assigned to write the script. The screenplay was written instead by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., both of ''Top Gun'' fame. The project also went through directors Steven Spielberg, John Landis, Walter Hill, and Richard Benjamin before the arrival of Beatty. It was filmed mainly at Universal Studios. Danny Elfman was hired to compose the score, and the film's music was feat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Ameche
Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which led to the offer of a movie contract from 20th Century Fox in 1935. As a handsome, debonair leading man in 40 films over the next 14 years, he starred in comedies, dramas, and musicals. In the 1950s he worked on Broadway and in television, and was the host of NBC's ''International Showtime'' from 1961 to 1965. Returning to film work in his later years, Ameche enjoyed a fruitful revival of his career beginning with his role as a villain in '' Trading Places'' (1983) and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in '' Cocoon'' (1985). Early life Don Ameche was born as Dominic Felix Amici on May 31, 1908, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. His father, Felice Amici, was a bartender from Montemonaco, Ascoli Piceno, Marche, Ita ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip Rapp
Philip Rapp (March 26, 1907 – January 23, 1996) was a film and television director and screenwriter. He wrote for Eddie Cantor and, for a brief period, wrote film scripts for Danny Kaye. Rapp is perhaps best known as the creator of Baby Snooks and The Bickersons. He died on January 23, 1996 in Beverly Hills, California. Rapp was a writer, director, and producer, and he directed a popular long-running radio series called ''The Batting Bickersons''. He also introduced the Baby Snooks character for Fanny Brice of the Ziegfeld Follies. ''Topper'' (1953) is also directed by Rapp. Selected filmography Director * '' Star Time'' (1950–1951) * '' Topper'' (1 episode, 1954) * ''The Adventures of Hiram Holliday'' (8 episodes, 1956–1959) Producer * ''The Adventures of Hiram Holliday'' (9 episodes, 1956–1959) Writer * '' Strike Me Pink'' (1936) * ''Start Cheering'' (1938) * ''Wonder Man'' (1945) * ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1946) * '' The Inspector General'' (1949) * ''Topper'' (19 ep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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