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Semi-Tough
''Semi-Tough'' is a 1977 American sports comedy film directed by Michael Ritchie and starring Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson, Jill Clayburgh, Robert Preston, Lotte Lenya, and Bert Convy. It is set in the world of American professional football. The plot involves a love triangle between the characters portrayed by Reynolds, Kristofferson, and Clayburgh. ''Semi-Tough'' also includes a parody of Werner Erhard's Erhard Seminars Training (''est''), depicted in the film as an organization called "B.E.A.T.". The film is based on the 1972 novel of the same name by Dan Jenkins. It was adapted for the screen by writer Walter Bernstein and director Ritchie, who added a new storyline that included a satire of the self-help movement and new religions. ''Semi-Tough'' follows the story of pro football friends Billy Clyde Puckett and Marvin "Shake" Tiller, who have a third roommate, Barbara Jane Bookman. A romance develops between Shake and Barbara Jane when he becomes self-co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jill Clayburgh
Jill Clayburgh (April 30, 1944 – November 5, 2010) was an American actress known for her work in theater, television, and cinema. She received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her breakthrough role in Paul Mazursky's comedy drama ''An Unmarried Woman'' (1978). She received a second consecutive Academy Award nomination for ''Starting Over (1979 film), Starting Over'' (1979) as well as four Golden Globe Award, Golden Globe nominations for her film performances, and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her television work. Clayburgh was a member of the Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East, a pro-Israel group. In 1984, she signed a letter protesting German arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Early life Clayburgh was born in New York City, the daughter of a Protestant mother and a Jewish father. Her mother, Julia Louise (married and maiden names, née Dorr), was an actress and theatrical production s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Bernstein
Walter Bernstein (August 20, 1919 – January 23, 2021) was an American screenwriter and film producer who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios in the 1950s because of his views on communism. Some of his notable works included '' The Front'' (1976), '' Yanks'' (1979), and '' Little Miss Marker'' (1980). He was a recipient of Writers Guild of America Awards including the Ian McLellan Hunter Award and the Evelyn F. Burkey Award. Early life Bernstein was born on August 20, 1919, in Brooklyn, New York, to Eastern European Jewish immigrants Hannah (née Bistrong) and Louis Bernstein, a teacher. He studied at the Erasmus High School in Flatbush, Brooklyn. After graduating from high school, he went on to study a six-month immersive language course at University of Grenoble, where he lived with a French family who were acquaintances of his father. It was here that he was exposed first to communist ideas. He returned to the United States and attended Dartmouth College, wher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dan Jenkins
Daniel Thomas Jenkins (December 2, 1928 – March 7, 2019) was an American author and sportswriter who often wrote for ''Sports Illustrated''. He was also a high-standard amateur golfer who played college golf at Texas Christian University. Early life Jenkins was born in 1928 and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, where he attended R. L. Paschal High School and Texas Christian University, where he played on the varsity golf team. Career Jenkins worked for many publications, including the '' Fort Worth Press'', '' Dallas Times Herald'', ''Playboy'', and ''Sports Illustrated'', where among other things, he covered the 1966, 1967, 1969, and 1971 versions of the college football Game of the Century. In 1985, he retired from ''Sports Illustrated'' and began writing books full-time, although he maintained a monthly column in ''Golf Digest''. Larry King called Jenkins "the quintessential ''Sports Illustrated'' writer" and "the best sportswriter in America." Jenkins wrote numerous works ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Dennehy
Brian Manion Dennehy (; July 9, 1938 – April 15, 2020) was an American actor of stage, television, and film. He won two Tony Awards, an Olivier Award, and a Golden Globe, and received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Dennehy had roles in over 180 films and in many television and stage productions. His film roles included '' First Blood'' (1982), '' Gorky Park'' (1983), '' Silverado'' (1985), '' Cocoon'' (1985), '' F/X'' (1986), '' Presumed Innocent'' (1990), '' Tommy Boy'' (1995), '' Romeo + Juliet'' (1996), '' Ratatouille'' (2007), and '' Knight of Cups'' (2015). Dennehy won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film for his role as Willy Loman in the television film '' Death of a Salesman'' (2000). Dennehy's final film was '' Driveways'' (2019), in which he plays a veteran of the Korean War, living alone, who befriends a young, shy boy who has come with his mother to clean out his deceased aunt's hoarded home. According to '' Variety'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bert Convy
Bernard Whalen "Bert" Convy (July 23, 1933 – July 15, 1991) was an American actor, singer, game-show panelist, and host known for ''Tattletales'', '' Super Password'', and '' Win, Lose or Draw''. Early life Convy was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Bernard Fleming and Monica (née Whalen) Convy.State of California death certificate Convy's family moved to Los Angeles when he was 7 years old. He later attended North Hollywood High School, where he was an all-around athlete. The Philadelphia Phillies offered him a contract when he was just 17 and he played two years of Minor League Baseball in 1951–52. He later joined the 1950s vocal band The Cheers, who had a top-10 hit in 1955 with " Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots". Convy attended UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television, where he received a bachelor's degree. Career Early years After a two-season stint in the Philadelphia Phillies' minor league system with the Klamath Falls Gems, Miami Eagle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan August'' (1970–1971). He had leading roles in films such as '' Navajo Joe'' (1966) and '' 100 Rifles'' (1969), and his breakthrough role was as Lewis Medlock in ''Deliverance'' (1972). Reynolds played leading roles in financial successes such as '' White Lightning'' (1973), '' The Longest Yard'' (1974), '' Smokey and the Bandit'' (1977) (which started a six-year box-office reign), '' Semi-Tough'' (1977), ''The End'' (1978), '' Hooper'' (1978), '' Starting Over'' (1979), ''Smokey and the Bandit II'' (1980), '' The Cannonball Run'' (1981), '' Sharky's Machine'' (1981), '' The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'' (1982) and '' Cannonball Run II'' (1984), several of which he directed. He was nominated twice for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Preston (actor)
Robert Preston Meservey (June 8, 1918 – March 21, 1987) was an American stage and screen actor best-known for his role as Professor Harold Hill in the 1957 musical ''The Music Man'', for which he received the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He reprised the role in the 1962 film adaptation, and received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy nomination. Preston made his Broadway debut in ''The Male Animal'' in 1952. He won two Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical for ''The Music Man'' (1957) and '' I Do! I Do!'' (1967) and was Tony-nominated for '' Mack and Mabel'' (1975). He co-starred alongside Steve McQueen as in the Sam Peckinpah film '' Junior Bonner'' (1972). Preston collaborated twice with director Blake Edwards, first in '' S.O.B.'' (1981) and again in '' Victor/Victoria'' (1982), the latter earning him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Early life Preston was born Robert Preston Meservey in N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erhard Seminars Training
Erhard Seminars Training, Inc. (marketed as est, though often encountered as EST or Est) was an organization founded by Werner Erhard in 1971 that offered a two-weekend (6-day, 60-hour) course known officially as "The est Standard Training". The purpose of the training was to use concepts loosely based on Zen Buddhism for self improvement. The seminar aimed to "transform one's ability to experience living so that the situations one had been trying to change or had been putting up with clear up just in the process of life itself". Est seminars operated from late 1971 to late 1984 and spawned a number of books from 1976 to 2011. Est has been featured in a number of films and television shows, including the critically acclaimed spy-series ''The Americans'', broadcast from 2013 to 2018. Est represented an outgrowth of the Human Potential Movement of the 1960s through to the 1970s. As est grew, so did criticisms. Various critics accused est of mind control or of forming an authorit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert McGinnis
Robert Edward McGinnis (February 3, 1926 – March 10, 2025) was an American artist and illustrator. McGinnis is known for his illustrations of more than 1,200 paperback book covers,BiographyMcGinnis, Robert− Cavalier Galleries and over 40 movie posters, including ''Breakfast at Tiffany's (film), Breakfast at Tiffany's'' (his first film poster assignment),Jilbert, Paul − Celebrating Films of the 1960s & 1970sNew DVD Documentary on Legendary Movie Poster Artist Robert McGinnis"− Cinema Retro − May 13, 2008 ''Barbarella (film), Barbarella'', and several James Bond and Matt Helm films. Early life Robert "Bob" Edward McGinnis was born on February 3, 1926 in Cincinnati, Ohio to Mildred (nee Finch, 1899-1978) and Nolan McGinnis (1896-1981). One of six children, he was raised in Wyoming, Ohio. His father was a construction worker. A talented artist himself his father, once it became evident that his son also had talent encouraged his son’s talent for drawing, with his moth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lotte Lenya
Lotte Lenya (born Karoline Wilhelmine Charlotte Blamauer; 18 October 1898 – 27 November 1981) was an Austrian-American singer, diseuse, and actress, long based in the United States. In the German-speaking and classical music world, she is best remembered for her performances of the songs of her first husband, Kurt Weill. In English-language cinema, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as a jaded aristocrat in '' The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone'' (1961). She also played the murderous and sadistic Rosa Klebb in the James Bond movie '' From Russia with Love'' (1963). Early career In 1922, Lenya was seen by her future husband, German-Jewish composer Kurt Weill, during an audition for his first stage score ''Zaubernacht'', but because of his position behind the piano, she did not see him. She was cast, but owing to her loyalty to her voice coach, she declined the role. She accepted the part of Jenny in the first performance of ''The Threepenny Opera'' (''Die Dreig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a more raw, introspective style. Some of his most famous songs include "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times (song), For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night", all of which became hits for other artists. Kristofferson was born in Brownsville, Texas; the family relocated to San Mateo, California during his childhood and he was briefly drafted into military service in the early 1960s. After one single for Epic Records, Kristofferson was signed by Monument Records in 1969. Throughout his career, he recorded a total of 10 albums for Monument, two albums for Mercury Records, one album each for Justice Records and Atlantic Records, and two albums each for New West Records and KK Records. In Septe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Merrick
David Merrick (born David Lee Margulois; November 27, 1911 – April 25, 2000) was an American theatrical producer who won a number of Tony Awards. Life and career Born David Lee Margulois to Jewish parents in St. Louis, Missouri, Merrick graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, then studied law at the Jesuit-run Saint Louis University School of Law. In 1940, he left his legal career to become a successful theatrical producer. His first seven productions were hits, starting with ''Clutterbuck'' in 1949, which he produced in partnership with Irving Jacobs, and he set a precedent in 1958 of having four productions on Broadway simultaneously; all hits: '' Look Back in Anger'', '' Romanoff and Juliet'', ''Jamaica'' and '' The Entertainer''. He often was his own competition for the Tony Award, and he frequently won multiple nominations and/or wins in the same season. Merrick was known for his love of publicity stunts. In 1949, his comedy ''Clutterbuck'' was running out ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
