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Desilu Playhouse
''Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse'' is an American television anthology series produced by Desilu Productions. The show ran on the Columbia Broadcasting System between 1958 and 1960. Three of its 48 episodes served as pilots for the 1950s television series ''The Twilight Zone'' (One Episode) and ''The Untouchables'' (Two Episodes). History Between 1951 and 1957, Desi Arnaz (1917-1986) and Lucille Ball (1911-1989) starred in and produced (via their Desilu production company) the immensely popular ''I Love Lucy'' show. In early 1958, Desi Arnaz convinced CBS to purchase ''Desilu Playhouse'' with the promise that a bi-monthly ''Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show'' (later rebroadcast as ''The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour'') would be among the dramas, comedies and musicals planned for the show. Westinghouse Electric Company paid a then-record $12 million to sponsor the show, which resulted in the cancellation of the prestigious anthology series '' Studio One'', also sponsored by Westinghouse. The sho ...
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Anthology Series
An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different cast in each episode, but several series in the past, such as '' Four Star Playhouse'', employed a permanent troupe of character actors who would appear in a different drama each week. Some anthology series, such as '' Studio One'', began on radio and then expanded to television. Etymology The word comes from Ancient Greek ἀνθολογία (''anthología'', “flower-gathering”), from ἀνθολογέω (''anthologéō'', "I gather flowers"), from ἄνθος (''ánthos'', "flower") + λέγω (''légō'', "I gather, pick up, collect"), coined by Meleager of Gadara circa 60 BCE, originally as Στέφανος (στέφανος (''stéphanos'', "garland")) to describe a collection of poetry, later retitled anthology – se ...
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Desilu
Desilu Productions () was an American television production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The company is best known for shows such as '' I Love Lucy'', ''The Lucy Show'', ''Mannix'', ''The Untouchables'', '' Mission: Impossible'' and ''Star Trek''. Until 1962, Desilu was the second-largest independent television production company in the United States, behind MCA's Revue Studios, until MCA bought Universal Pictures and Desilu became and remained the number-one independent production company, until being sold in 1968. Ball and Arnaz jointly owned the majority stake in Desilu from its inception until 1962, when Ball bought out Arnaz and ran the company by herself for several years. Ball had succeeded in making Desilu profitable again by 1968, when she sold her shares of Desilu to Gulf+Western for $17 million (a valued $ in ). Gulf+Western then transformed Desilu into the television production arm of Paramount Pictures, rebranding the c ...
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William Frawley
William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) was an American vaudevillian and actor best remembered for playing landlord Fred Mertz in the American television sitcom '' I Love Lucy'', "Bub" O'Casey in the television comedy series ''My Three Sons'', and the political advisor to the judge character in the film ''Miracle on 34th Street''. Frawley began his career in vaudeville in 1914 with his wife, Edna Louise Broedt. Their comedy act, "Frawley and Louise", continued until their divorce in 1927. He performed on Broadway multiple times. In 1916, he signed with Paramount Studios and appeared in more than 100 films over the next 35 years.Deezen, Eddie. Early life Frawley was born in Burlington, Iowa, the second son of four children of Michael A. Frawley (1857–1907) and Mary E. (Brady) Frawley (1859–1921). He attended Catholic schools and sang in the choir at St. Paul's Catholic Church. As he got older, he played small roles in local theater productions at th ...
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Vivian Vance
Vivian Vance (born Vivian Roberta Jones; July 26, 1909 – August 17, 1979) was an American actress and singer best known for playing Ethel Mertz on the sitcom '' I Love Lucy'' (1951–1957), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress, among other accolades. She also starred alongside Lucille Ball in ''The Lucy Show'' from 1962 until she left the series at the end of its third season in 1965. In 1991, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She is most commonly identified as Lucille Ball’s longtime comedic foil from 1951 until her death in 1979. Early life Vance was born in Cherryvale, Kansas, the second of six children of Robert Andrew, Sr., and Euphemia Mae (Ragan) Jones. When she was six, her family moved to Independence, Kansas, where she eventually began her dramatic studies at Independence High School with instructor Anna Ingleman. Her love of acting clashed with her mother's strict religious beliefs. "Viv" soon rebelled, ...
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77 Sunset Strip
''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, Richard Long (from 1960 to 1961) and Edd Byrnes (billed as Edward Byrnes). Each episode was one hour long when aired with commercials. The show ran from 1958 to 1964. The character of detective Stuart Bailey was first used by writer Huggins in his 1946 novel ''The Double Take'', later adapted into the 1948 film '' I Love Trouble''. Description Initial setup and characters Private detective and former World War II Office of Strategic Services secret agent and foreign languages professor Stuart ("Stu") Bailey (Zimbalist) and former government agent and nonpracticing attorney Jeff Spencer (Smith) form a duo who work from stylish offices at 77 Sunset Boulevard in Suites 101 and 102. Tab Hunter claimed he was the first choice for the lead of the series, but turned it down. The street address was colloquially known as the Sunset ...
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American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, California, on Riverside Drive, directly across the street from Walt Disney Studios and adjacent to the Roy E. Disney Animation Building. The network's secondary offices, and headquarters of its news division, are in New York City, at its broadcast center at 77 West 66th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Since 2007, when ABC Radio (also known as Cumulus Media Networks) was sold to Citadel Broadcasting, ABC has reduced its broadcasting operations almost exclusively to television. It is the fifth-oldest major broadcasting network in the world and the youngest of the American Big Three television networks. The network is sometimes referred to as the Alphabet Network, as its initialism also represents the first three letters of the ...
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Prime Time
Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to broadcast their season's nightly programming. The term ''prime time'' is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example (in the United States), from 8:00p.m. to 11:00p.m. (Eastern and Pacific Time) or 7:00p.m. to 10:00p.m. (Central and Mountain Time). In India and some Middle Eastern countries, prime time consists of the programmes that are aired on TV between 8:00p.m. and 10:00p.m. local time. Asia Bangladesh In Bangladesh, the 19:00-to-22:00 time slot is known as Prime Time. Several national broadcasters like Maasranga Television, Gazi TV, Channel 9, Channel i broadcast their prime-time shows from 20:00 to 23:00 after their Primetime news at 19:00. During Islamic Holidays Season, most of the TV Stations broadcast their es ...
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Pier Angeli
Pier Angeli (19 June 193210 September 1971), also credited under her real name, Anna Maria Pierangeli, was an Italian-born television and film actress who starred in American, British and European films throughout her career. Her American motion picture debut was in the starring role of the film ''Teresa'' (1951), for which she won a Golden Globe Award for Young Star of the Year - Actress. She also worked as a singer and model. Early life and career Born Anna Maria Pierangeli to Enrichetta (née Romiti) and Luigi Pierangeli in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. Her twin sister is the actress Marisa Pavan. Angeli spent World War II in Rome; she was ten when the Nazis occupied Rome, experiencing both food shortages and bomb shelters. She was deeply affected by her experiences during the war, recalling later: "What was in the world, I didn't want to know." Angeli made her film debut with Vittorio De Sica's Italian film, '' Domani è troppo tardi'' (1950) after being spotted by director ...
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Saint Bernadette
Bernadette Soubirous (; ; oc, Bernadeta Sobirós ; 7 January 184416 April 1879), also known as Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, was the firstborn daughter of a miller from Lourdes (''Lorda'' in Occitan), in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées in France, and is best known for experiencing Marian apparitions of a "young lady" who asked for a chapel to be built at the nearby cave-grotto at Massabielle. These apparitions occurred between 11 February and 16 July 1858, and the woman who appeared to her identified herself as the "Immaculate Conception." After a canonical investigation, Soubirous's reports were eventually declared "worthy of belief" on 18 February 1862, and the Marian apparition became known as Our Lady of Lourdes. Soubirous’s body has remained internally incorrupt. The Marian shrine at Lourdes (Midi-Pyrénées, from 2016 part of Occitanie) went on to become a major pilgrimage site, attracting over five million pilgrims of all denominations each year. On 8 December 19 ...
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Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization.O'Collins, p. v (preface). The church consists of 24 ''sui iuris'' churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and eparchies located around the world. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the chief pastor of the church. The bishopric of Rome, known as the Holy See, is the central governing authority of the church. The administrative body of the Holy See, the Roman Curia, has its principal offices in Vatican City, a small enclave of the Italian city of Rome, of which the pope is head of state. The core beliefs of Catholicism are found in the Nicene Creed. The Catholic Church teaches that it is th ...
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Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Auguste Chevalier (; 12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor and entertainer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including " Livin' In The Sunlight", " Valentine", " Louise", " Mimi", and " Thank Heaven for Little Girls" and for his films, including ''The Love Parade'', '' The Big Pond'', ''The Smiling Lieutenant'', '' One Hour with You'' and '' Love Me Tonight''. His trademark attire was a boater hat and tuxedo. Chevalier was born in Paris. He made his name as a star of musical comedy, appearing in public as a singer and dancer at an early age before working in menial jobs as a teenager. In 1909, he became the partner of the biggest female star in France at the time, Fréhel. Although their relationship was brief, she secured him his first major engagement, as a mimic and a singer in ''l'Alcazar'' in Marseille, for which he received critical acclaim by French theatre critics. In 1917, he discovered jazz and ragtime and went to L ...
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Lucille Ball Aldo Ray, William Lundigan Desilu Playhouse 1958
Lucille may refer to: People People with the given name "Lucille": * Lucille Bailie (born 1969), Australian basketball player * Lucille Ball (1911–1989), American actress best known for the television series ''I Love Lucy'' * Lucille Berrien (born 1928), American political activist * Lucille Bliss (born 1916), American actress * Lucille Charuk (born 1989), Canadian volleyball player * Lucille Davy, former Commissioner of Education in New Jersey * Lucy Lawless (born 1968), New Zealand actress * Lucille Lemay (born 1950), Canadian archer * Lucille Mulhall (1885–1940), Wild West performer * Lucille Opitz (born 1977), German speed skater * Lucille Ricksen (1910–1925), American actress of the silent film era * Lucille Starr (1938–2020), Canadian singer, songwriter, and yodeler * Lucille Times (1921–2021), American civil rights activist * Lucille Wall (1898–1986), American actress who played the role of Lucille March Weeks on the soap opera ''General Hospital'' ...
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