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The Ken Berry 'Wow' Show
Kenneth Ronald Berry (November 3, 1933 – December 1, 2018) was an American actor, comedian, dancer, and singer. Berry starred on the television series ''F Troop'' (1965–1967), '' Mayberry R.F.D.'' (1968–1971) and ''Mama's Family'' (1983–1990). He also appeared on Broadway in '' The Billy Barnes Revue'', headlined as George M. Cohan in the musical ''George M!'' and provided comic relief for the medical drama '' Dr. Kildare'' with Richard Chamberlain in the 1960s. Early life Berry was born in Moline, Illinois in 1933 of Swedish and English descent, one of two children of an accountant, Darrell Berry, and his wife, Bernice (née Larson). He realized he wanted to be a dancer and singer at age 12, as he watched a children's dance performance during a school assembly. He then dreamed of starring in musicals and went to movie theaters to watch Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in some of his favorite films such as ''Easter Parade'', ''Royal Wedding'', '' On the Town'', and ''Sum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moline, Illinois
Moline ( ) is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in the 2020 census, it is the largest city in Rock Island County and the List of municipalities in Illinois, ninth-most populous in Illinois outside the Chicago metropolitan area. Moline is one of the Quad Cities at the confluence of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock and Mississippi River, Mississippi rivers, along with neighboring East Moline, Illinois, East Moline and Rock Island, Illinois, Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport, Iowa, Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities metropolitan area had a population of approximately 380,000 as of 2023. Moline was established in 1843. The name derives from the French ''moulin'' meaning "mill [town]". The John Deere World Headquarters, corporate headquarters of Deere & Company is located in Moline, as was Montgomery Elevator; its acquirer Kone has its U.S. division headquartered in Mol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tap Dance
Tap dance (or tap) is a form of dance that uses the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion; it is often accompanied by music. Tap dancing can also be performed with no musical accompaniment; the sound of the taps is its own music. It is an American artform that evolved alongside the advent of jazz music. Tap is a type of step dance that began with the combination of Southern American and Irish dance traditions, such as Irish soft-shoe and hard-shoe step dances, and a variety of both slave and freeman step dances. The fusion of African rhythms and performance styles with European techniques of footwork led to the creation of tap dance. This fusion began in the mid-17th century but did not become popular until the mid-19th century. There are two major versions of tap dance: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely performed in musical theater. Rhythm tap focuses on musicality, and practitioners consider themselve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donald O'Connor
Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor (August 28, 1925 – September 27, 2003) was an American dancer, singer and actor. He came to fame in a series of films in which he co-starred, in succession, with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule. O'Connor was born into a vaudeville family, where he learned to dance, sing, play comedy, and perform slapstick. The most distinctive characteristic of his dancing style was its athleticism, for which he had few rivals. Yet it was his boyish charm that audiences found most engaging, and which remained an appealing aspect of his personality throughout his career. In his Universal musicals of the early 1940s, O'Connor was a wisecracking, fast-talking teenager, much like Mickey Rooney of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. But by 1952 and ''Singin' in the Rain'', MGM had cultivated a much more sympathetic sidekick persona for him, and that remained O'Connor's signature image. His best-known work was his "Make 'Em Laugh" dance routine in ''Singin' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Studio System
A studio system is a method of filmmaking wherein the production and distribution of films is dominated by a small number of large movie studios. It is most often used in reference to Hollywood motion picture studios during the early years of the Golden Age of Hollywood from 1927 (the introduction of sound motion pictures) to 1948 (the beginning of the demise of the studio system), wherein studios produced films primarily on their own filmmaking lots with creative personnel under often long-term contract, and dominated exhibition through vertical integration, i.e., the ownership or effective control of distributors and exhibition, guaranteeing additional sales of films through manipulative booking techniques such as block booking. During the Hollywood Golden Age, eight companies constituted the major studios that promulgated the Hollywood studio system. Of these eight, five were fully integrated conglomerates known as the original Big Five, combining ownership of a production ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universal Pictures
Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal City Plaza, Universal Studios complex in Universal City, California, and is the flagship studio of Universal Studios, Inc., Universal Studios, the film studio arm of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers (producer), Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane and Jules Brulatour, Universal is the oldest surviving film studio in the United States and the fifth oldest globally after Gaumont Film Company, Gaumont, Pathé, Titanus and Nordisk Film, and is one of the Major film studios, "Big Five" film studios. Universal's most commercially successful film franchises include ''Fast & Furious, Jurassic Park'', and ''Despicable Me''. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company. It is headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles, which is leased from Fox Corporation. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributes and markets the films produced by this studio in theatrical markets. For over 80 years, 20th Century has been one of the major film studios, major American film studios. It was formed in 1935 as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation by the merger of Fox Film Corporation and Twentieth Century Pictures, and one of the original "studio system, Big Five" among eight majors of Hollywood's Cinema of the United States#Classical Hollywood cinema and the Golden Age of Hollywood, Golden Age. In 1985, the studio remov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Ed Sullivan Show
''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CBS Sunday Movie, CBS Sunday Night Movie''. In 2002, ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' was ranked No. 15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, ''TV Guide''s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In 2013, the series finished No. 31 in ''TV Guide'' Magazine's 60 Best Series of All Time. History From 1948 until its cancellation in 1971, the show ran on CBS every Sunday night from 8–9 p.m. Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Time, and it is one of the few entertainment shows to have run in the same weekly time slot on the same network for more than two decades (during its first season, it ran from 9 to 10 p.m. ET). Virtually every type of entertainment appeared on the show; classical musicians, opera singers, popular recording artists, songwriters ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ed Sullivan
Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television host, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate. He was the creator and host of the television variety program ''Toast of the Town'', which in 1955 was renamed ''The Ed Sullivan Show''. Broadcast from 1948 to 1971, it set a record as the longest-running variety show in U.S. broadcast history. "It was, by almost any measure, the last great American TV show", said television critic David Hinckley. "It's one of our fondest, dearest pop culture memories." Sullivan was a broadcasting pioneer during the early years of American television. As critic David Bianculli wrote, "Before MTV, Sullivan presented rock acts. Before Bravo, he presented jazz and classical music and theater. Before the Comedy Channel, even before there was ''The Tonight Show'', Sullivan discovered, anointed an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy ( ; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor and director, famous for playing Spock in the ''Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes Development of Spock, originating Spock in Star Trek: The Original Series, the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, then ''Star Trek: The Animated Series'', the first six List of Star Trek films, ''Star Trek'' films, ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Star Trek (2009 film), the 2009 ''Star Trek'' film, and ''Star Trek Into Darkness''. Nimoy also directed films, including ''Star Trek III: The Search for Spock'' (1984), ''Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'' (1986), and ''Three Men and a Baby'' (1987), and his career included roles in music videos and video games. In addition to acting and filmmaking, Nimoy was a photographer, author, singer, and songwriter. Nimoy's Leonard Nimoy filmography, acting career began during his early twenties, teaching acting classes in Hollywood and making minor film ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Services (entertainment)
Special Services was the entertainment branch of the American military. The unit was created on 22 July 1940 by the War Department as part of the Army Service Forces. Special Services not only used its own specially trained and talented troops but also would often engage local performers. Among its activities were staging plays and stage acts, holding concerts, filming documentaries, and providing recreational opportunities for servicemen. Special Services were one of the few U.S. Army units to be racially integrated during World War II. Special Services opened their first Recreational Officer school at Fort Meade Maryland on 1 April 1942. Within the United States Marine Corps, the Special Services Division was the forerunner of today's Special Services Branch. It was formed on 1 March 1943, to provide morale maintaining recreational and informational services to Marine Corps personnel. As of at least 2004, the Special Services Branch was still active within the USMC. Roles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arlene Francis
Arlene Francis (born Arline Francis Kazanjian; October 20, 1907 – May 31, 2001) was an American game show panelist, actress, radio and television talk show host. She is best known for her long-running role as a panelist on the television game show '' What's My Line?'', on which she regularly appeared for 25 years, from 1950 to 1975, on both the network and syndicated versions of the show. Early life Francis was born on October 20, 1907, in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Leah (née Davis) and Aram Kazanjian. Her Armenian father was studying art in Paris at the age of 16 when he learned that both his parents had died in one of the massacres perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman government in Turkey between 1894 and 1896, known as the Hamidian Massacres. He emigrated to the United States and became a portrait photographer, opening his own studio in Boston in the early 20th century. Later in life, Kazanjian painted canvases of dogwoods, "rabbits in flight", and other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
