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Edward Bernds
Edward Bernds (July 12, 1905May 20, 2000) was an American screenwriter and director, born in Chicago, Illinois. Career While in his junior year in Lake View High School, he and several friends formed a small radio clique and obtained amateur licenses. In the early 1920s, there was considerable prestige for amateur operators to have commercial radio licenses, and Bernds was in a good position to enter broadcasting when he graduated in 1923, a year when radio stations began to be established all over Chicago. He found employment — at age 20 — as chief operator at Chicago's WENR. When talking pictures began in the late 1920s, Bernds and broadcast operators like him relocated to Hollywood to work as sound technicians in "the talkies". After a brief period at United Artists, Bernds resigned and worked at Columbia Pictures, where he functioned as sound engineer on many of Frank Capra's classics in the 1930s. He soon established himself as Columbia's best recording technic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of United States cities by population, third-most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles. As the county seat, seat of Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, the List of the most populous counties in the United States, second-most populous county in the U.S., Chicago is the center of the Chicago metropolitan area, often colloquially called "Chicagoland" and home to 9.6 million residents. Located on the shore of Lake Michigan, Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 near a Chicago Portage, portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, Mississippi River watershed. It grew rapidly in the mid-19th century. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed several square miles and left more than 100,000 homeless, but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Micro-Phonies
''Micro-Phonies'' is a 1945 short subject directed by Edward Bernds starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 87th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959. Plot In their roles as handymen at radio station KGBY, the Stooges engage in a series of mishaps while attempting to connect a pipe to a radiator. Their antics lead to a confrontation with their boss, resulting in further chaos as they inadvertently damage property and irritate an Italian baritone singer and pianist in a neighboring session. Seeking refuge, they stumble into the recording room of aspiring singer Alice Van Doren, where they serendipitously discover her record, "Voices of Spring." Impressed by Alice's operatic prowess, the Stooges, with Curly impersonating her voice while disguised as a woman, catch the attention of radio host Mrs. Bixby, who hires ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wally Vernon
Walter J. Vernon (May 27, 1905 – March 7, 1970) was an American comic and character actor and dancer. Early life Vernon was born in New York City in 1905. He was in show business from the age of three, appearing in vaudeville and stock theater; he made his first Hollywood appearance in 1937's '' Mountain Music''. Career He made more than 75 films, almost always playing a Brooklynese wiseguy and/or the hero's assistant. He was a fixture in Twentieth Century Fox features of the late 1930s and early 1940s; Vernon is seen as an eccentric dancer in Fox's ''Alexander's Ragtime Band'' (1938), where he appears as himself. Vernon freelanced at other studios after leaving Fox. He became the sidekick to cowboy star Don "Red" Barry at Republic Pictures, and when Barry began producing his own features in 1949, he remembered Vernon and brought him back as his sidekick. In 1948 Columbia Pictures producer Jules White paired Vernon with Eddie Quillan, another comedian with a vaudevi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vera Vague
Barbara Jo Allen (born Marian Barbara Henshall; September 2, 1906 – September 14, 1974) was an American actress. She was also known as Vera Vague, the spinster character she created and portrayed on radio and in films during the 1940s and 1950s. She based the character on a woman she had seen delivering a PTA literature lecture in a confused manner. As Vague, she popularized the catchphrase "You dear boy!" Early years Allen was born on September 2, 1906, in Manhattan, New York, to Charles Thomas Henshall and Grace Esther Selby. Following her mother's death when Allen was 9, she went to live with an aunt and uncle in Los Angeles. She was educated at Los Angeles High School, UCLA, Stanford University, and the Sorbonne. Her acting ability first surfaced in school plays. Concentrating on language at the Sorbonne, she became proficient in French, Spanish, German, and Italian. Film, radio, and television In 1933, Allen joined the cast of NBC's ''One Man's Family''.Grunwald, Edg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe DeRita
Joseph Wardell (July 12, 1909 – July 3, 1993), known professionally as Joe DeRita, was an American actor and comedian, who is best known for his stint as a member of The Three Stooges in the persona of Curly Joe DeRita. Early life DeRita was born into a show-business family in Philadelphia, the son of Florenz (''née'' DeRita) and Frank Wardell, and of French-Canadian and English ancestry. He was the youngest of 5 brothers. Wardell's father was a stage technician, his mother a professional stage dancer, and the three often acted on stage together from his early childhood. Taking his mother's maiden name, DeRita, the actor joined the burlesque circuit during the 1920s, gaining fame as a comedian. During World War II, DeRita joined the USO, performing throughout Britain, France, and the Pacific with such celebrities as Bing Crosby and Randolph Scott. In the 1944 comedy film '' The Doughgirls'', about the housing shortage in wartime Washington, D.C., he had an uncredited rol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Besser
Joe Besser (born Jessel Besser, August 12, 1907 – March 1, 1988) was an American actor and comedian known for his impish humor and wimpy characters. He is best known for his brief stint as a member of The Three Stooges in movie short subjects of 1957–1959. He is also remembered for his television roles: Stinky, the bratty man-child on '' The Abbott and Costello Show'', and Jillson, the maintenance man on '' The Joey Bishop Show''. Early life Besser was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on August 12, 1907. He was the ninth child of Morris and Fanny echtBesser, Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. He had seven older sisters and an older brother, Manny, who was in show business, primarily as an ethnic Jewish comic. From an early age, Joe was fascinated with show business, especially the magic act of Howard Thurston that visited St. Louis annually. When Joe was 12, Thurston allowed him to be an audience plant. Besser was so excited by this that he sneaked into Thurston's train ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dick Lane (announcer)
Richard Lane (May 28, 1899 – September 5, 1982), sometimes known as Dick Lane, was an American actor and television announcer/presenter. In movies, he played assured, fast-talking slickers: usually press agents, policemen and detectives, sometimes swindlers and frauds. He is perhaps best known to movie fans as "Inspector Farraday" in the Boston Blackie mystery-comedies. Lane also played Faraday in the first radio version of ''Boston Blackie'', which ran on NBC from June 23, 1944 to September 15, 1944. Lane was an early arrival on television, first as a news reporter and then as a sports announcer, broadcasting wrestling and roller derby shows on KTLA-TV, mainly from the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Biography Early years Lane was born in 1899 in Rice Lake, Wisconsin to a farm family. Early in life he developed talents for reciting poetry and doing various song-and-dance acts. By his teenage years, Lane was doing an " iron jaw" routine in circuses around Europe and wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gus Schilling
August "Gus" Schilling (June 20, 1908 – June 16, 1957) was an American film actor who started in burlesque comedy and usually played nervous comic roles, often unbilled. A friend of Orson Welles, he appeared in five of the director's films — ''Citizen Kane'' (first screen performance), '' The Magnificent Ambersons'', '' The Lady from Shanghai'', ''Macbeth'' and '' Touch of Evil'' (final performance, released posthumously). Career Born in New York City, Schilling had a rubber face and flustered gestures which made him a natural comedian and he began his career understudying comedy stars Bert Lahr and Joe Penner on Broadway. He soon became a favorite among burlesque comedians, who welcomed him into the burlesque profession. Schilling was in a relationship with burlesque star Betty Rowland and the couple toured in the Minsky burlesque troupe. Orson Welles saw Schilling in New York and followed him to Florida. There Welles hired Schilling to appear in a stage production fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andy Clyde
Andrew Allan Clyde (March 25, 1892 – May 18, 1967), was a Scottish-born American film and television actor whose career spanned some 45 years. In 1921 he broke into silent films as a Mack Sennett comic, debuting in ''On a Summer Day''. He was the fifth of six children of theatrical actor, producer and Stage management, manager John Clyde. Clyde's brother David and his sister Jean also became screen actors. Clyde may be best known for his work as California Carlson in the Hopalong Cassidy movie series. He is also known for recurring roles in two television series: the farmer Cully Wilson (Lassie), Cully Wilson in CBS's ''Lassie (1954 TV series), Lassie'' and as the neighbor George MacMichael on American Broadcasting Company, ABC's ''The Real McCoys''. Acting career Theatre and film At age 19, he toured Scotland with Durward Lely & Company, playing Connor Martin in the romantic Irish musical costume drama The Wearin’ o’ the Green. In 1912, Clyde first came to the Unite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Herbert
Hugh Herbert (August 10, 1885 – March 12, 1952) was an American motion picture comedian. He began his career in vaudeville and wrote more than 150 plays and sketches. Career Born in Binghamton, New York, Herbert attended Cornell University. As an actor, he "had many serious roles, and for years was seen on major vaudeville circuits as a pathetic old Hebrew." The advent of talking pictures brought stage-trained actors to Hollywood, and Herbert soon became a popular movie comedian. His screen character was usually flustered and absent-minded. He would flutter his fingers together and talk to himself, repeating the same phrases: "Hoo-hoo-hoo, wonderful, wonderful, hoo hoo hoo!" So many imitators (including Curly Howard of The Three Stooges, Mickey Rooney as Andy Hardy and Etta Candy in the Wonder Woman comic book series) copied the catchphrase as "woo woo" that Herbert even began to use "woo woo" rather than "hoo hoo" in the 1940s. Herbert's early movies, like Wheeler & ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elwood Ullman
Elwood Ullman (May 27, 1903 — October 11, 1985) was an American film comedy writer most famous for his credits on The Three Stooges shorts and many other low-budget comedies. Career A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Ullman chose a writing career, supplying humorous articles for magazines in the 1930s. He submitted script ideas to Columbia Pictures, and the studio assigned him to the short-subject department. Producer Jules White teamed Ullman with Al Giebler, a former sight-gag writer for Mack Sennett in the silent-film days. Ullman was soon completing scripts by himself, and wrote for most of Columbia's short subject stars, including The Three Stooges, Buster Keaton, Charley Chase, Harry Langdon, and Hugh Herbert. Ullman worked closely with Columbia producer Hugh McCollum and writer-director Edward Bernds until McCollum and Bernds left the studio in 1952. Bernds then became a writer-director for The Bowery Boys, and hired Ullman to write for the popular feature-length comedies. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shemp Howard
Shemp Howard (born Samuel Horwitz; March 11, 1895 – November 22, 1955) was an American comedian and actor. He is best known as the third Stooge in The Three Stooges, a role he played when the act began in the early 1920s (1923–1932), while it was still associated with Ted Healy and known as "Ted Healy and his Stooges"; and again from 1946 until his death in 1955. During the fourteen years between his times with the Stooges, he had a successful solo career as a film comedian, including a series of shorts by himself and with partners. He reluctantly returned to the Stooges as a favor to his brother Moe Howard, Moe and friend Larry Fine to replace his brother Curly Howard, Curly as the third Stooge after Curly's illness. Early life Howard was born Samuel Horwitz on March 11, 1895 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York. He was the third of five Horwitz brothers born to Lithuanian Jewish parents Solomon Horwitz (1872–1943) and Jennie Horwitz (née Gorovitz; 1870–1939). His parents ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
