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Jane Kean
Jane Kean (April 10, 1923 – November 26, 2013) was an American actress and singer whose career in show business spanned seven decades and included appearing in nightclubs, on recordings, and in radio, television, Broadway and films. Among her most famous roles were as Trixie Norton on ''The Jackie Gleason Show'', and as the voice of Belle in the perennial favorite ''Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol''."For Her, 'Honeymooners' Never Over : Musical: Jane Kean, who performs on college and cruise circuits, is best remembered as Trixie in the latter-day cast of the TV classic..." ''Los Angeles Times'', May 4, 1991. Retrieved November 29, 2013. < ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the 2010 United States census have indicated that Hartford is the fourth-largest city in Connecticut with a 2020 population of 121,054, behind the coastal cities of Bridgeport, New Haven, and Stamford. Hartford was founded in 1635 and is among the oldest cities in the United States. It is home to the country's oldest public art museum ( Wadsworth Atheneum), the oldest publicly funded park (Bushnell Park), the oldest continuously published newspaper (the '' Hartford Courant''), and the second-oldest secondary school ( Hartford Public High School). It is also home to the Mark Twain House, where the author wrote his most famous works and raised his family, among other historically significant sites. Mark Twain wrote in 1868, "Of all the be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Mansfield was known for her well-publicized personal life and publicity stunts. Her film career was short-lived, but she had several box-office successes and won a Theatre World Award and a Golden Globe Award. Mansfield enjoyed success in the role of fictional actress Rita Marlowe in the Broadway play ''Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?'' (1955–1956), which she reprised in the film adaptation of the same name (1957). Her other film roles include the musical comedy '' The Girl Can't Help It'' (1956), the drama '' The Wayward Bus'' (1957), the neo-noir '' Too Hot to Handle'' (1960), and the sex comedy '' Promises! Promises!'' (1963); the latter established Mansfield as the first major American actress to perform in a nude scene in a post- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Honeymooners
''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It follows the lives of New York City bus driver Ralph Kramden (Gleason), his wife Alice ( Audrey Meadows), Ralph's best friend Ed Norton ( Art Carney) and Ed's wife Trixie ( Joyce Randolph) as they get involved with various schemes in their day-to-day living. Most episodes revolve around Ralph's poor choices in absurd dilemmas which frequently show his judgmental attitude in a comedic tone. The show occasionally features more serious issues such as women's rights and social status. The sketches first aired on the DuMont network's variety series ''Cavalcade of Stars'', which Gleason hosted, and subsequently on the CBS network's '' The Jackie Gleason Show'' which was broadcast live in front of a theater audience. The popularity of the sketche ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joyce Randolph
Joyce Randolph ( Sirola; October 21, 1924) is an American actress, best known for playing Trixie Norton on the television sitcom ''The Honeymooners''. Early life and career Randolph was born in Detroit, Michigan on October 21, 1924. As a teenager, she acted with the Wayne University Workshop. After she finished high school, she began working in retail sales for a Saks Fifth Avenue store in Detroit. When a touring company of ''Stage Door'' played in Detroit, she auditioned, got a part, and performed for the rest of the tour. She moved to New York City in 1943 to pursue an acting career. She took roles on Broadway and landed various television roles. In 1951, she was seen in a Clorets commercial by Jackie Gleason and was asked to appear in a skit on ''Cavalcade of Stars'', Gleason's variety show on the DuMont Television Network. Soon after, she was cast as Trixie in ''The Honeymooners''. Several New York columnists referred to her as the "Garbo of Detroit". "That's still a myste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
70, Girls, 70
''70, Girls, 70'' is a musical with a book by Fred Ebb and Norman L. Martin adapted by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Ebb, and music by John Kander. The musical is based on the 1958 play ''Breath of Spring'' by Peter Coke, which was adapted for the movies in 1960 as Make Mine Mink. The plot concerns a group of larcenous old folks who steal furs from various New York City stores with the intent of using the proceeds from their resale to buy their Upper West Side retirement hotel, the New Sussex Arms, which is slated to be sold to developers. Productions The musical opened on Broadway on April 15, 1971, at the Broadhurst Theatre, where it ran for 35 performances and nine previews. The cast included Mildred Natwick, Lillian Roth, Hans Conried, and Lillian Hayman. Natwick was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Veteran Broadway actor David Burns was also a member of the cast, until he collapsed onstage from a heart attack during a preview performance at Philadel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kander And Ebb
Kander and Ebb were a highly successful American songwriting team consisting of composer John Kander (born March 18, 1927) and lyricist Fred Ebb (April 8, 1928 – September 11, 2004). Known primarily for their stage musicals, which include ''Cabaret'' and ''Chicago'', Kander and Ebb also scored several movies, including Martin Scorsese's '' New York, New York''. Their most famous song is the theme song of that movie. Recorded by many artists, "New York, New York" became a signature song for Frank Sinatra. The team also became associated with two actresses, Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera, for whom they wrote a considerable amount of material for the stage, concerts and television. History John Kander and Fred Ebb were introduced by their mutual music publisher Tommy Valando in 1962. Kander and Ebb met at Ebb's apartment and decided to test their compatibility as writing partners with a "mock title song" for a musical comedy already running on Broadway, a Hal Prince product ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlotte Rae
Charlotte Rae Lubotsky (April 22, 1926 – August 5, 2018) was an American character actress and singer whose career spanned six decades. Rae was known for her portrayal of Edna Garrett in the sitcoms ''Diff'rent Strokes'' and its spin-off, '' The Facts of Life'' (in which she had the starring role from 1979 to 1986). She received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy in 1982. She also appeared in two ''Facts of Life'' television films: ''The Facts of Life Goes to Paris'' in 1982 and ''The Facts of Life Reunion'' in 2001. She voiced the character of "Nanny" in '' 101 Dalmatians: The Series'' and Aunt Pristine Figg in '' Tom and Jerry: The Movie''. She also appeared as Gammy Hart in '' Girl Meets World''. In 2015, she returned to film in the feature film ''Ricki and the Flash'', with Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Rick Springfield. In November 2015, Rae released her autobiography, ''The Facts of My Life'', which was co-written with her son, Larry Str ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jackie Gleason
John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy, exemplified by his city-bus-driver character Ralph Kramden in the television series '' The Honeymooners''. He also developed '' The Jackie Gleason Show,'' which maintained high ratings from the mid 1950s through 1970. After originating in New York City, filming moved to Miami Beach, Florida, in 1964 after Gleason took up permanent residence there. Among his notable film roles were Minnesota Fats in 1961's ''The Hustler'' (co-starring with Paul Newman) and Buford T. Justice in the ''Smokey and the Bandit'' series from 1977 to 1983 (co-starring Burt Reynolds). Gleason enjoyed a prominent secondary music career during the 1950s and 1960s, producing a series of best-selling "mood music" albu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Take Me Along
''Take Me Along'' is a 1959 musical based on the 1933 Eugene O'Neill play '' Ah, Wilderness'', with music and lyrics by Bob Merrill and book by Joseph Stein and Robert Russell.Mandelbaum, Ke"Ken Mandelbaum's Musicals On Disc: Remembering Bob Merrill" (partial cast list)playbill.com, March 1, 1998 Background The idea to musicalize ''Ah, Wilderness'' came to David Merrick when George M. Cohan came through St. Louis with the original production of the O'Neill play. (It was rare of Merrick to mention his hometown, as he hated it, and once he refused to fly TWA to the coast because it flew over St. Louis). While producing ''The Matchmaker'' in 1955, he began working on ''Connecticut Summer''. Things came to a halt when lyricist/librettist John La Touche died suddenly in 1956 at the age of 41. But in 1957, an adaptation of another O'Neill play, ''Anna Christie'', came to town, called '' New Girl in Town''. Merrick decided to ask the composer, Bob Merrill, to take another stab at i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaye Ballard
Kaye Ballard (November 20, 1925 – January 21, 2019) was an American actress, comedian, and singer. Early life Ballard was born Catherine Gloria Balotta in Cleveland, Ohio, one of four children born to Italian immigrant parents, Lena (née Nacarato) and Vincenzo (later Vincent James) Balotta. Her parents immigrated to the United States from Calabria, a region of southern Italy. Career Ballard established herself as a musical comedian in the 1940s, joining the Spike Jones touring revue of entertainers. Capable of playing broad physical comedy as well as stand-up dialogue routines, she became familiar in television and stage productions. Ballard made her television debut on ''Henry Morgan's Great Talent Hunt'', a short-lived program hosted by Henry Morgan which first aired January 26, 1951. In 1954, she was the first person to record the song " Fly Me to the Moon". In 1957, she and Alice Ghostley played the two wicked stepsisters in the live telecast of Rodgers and Hammerste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carnival!
''Carnival'' is a musical, originally produced by David Merrick on Broadway in 1961, with the book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The musical is based on the 1953 film '' Lili'', which again was based on the short story and treatment titled "The Seven Souls of Clement O'Reilly" by Paul Gallico. The show's title originally used an exclamation point (as ''Carnival!'' ); it was eventually dropped during the show's run, as director Gower Champion felt it gave the wrong impression, saying, "It's not a blockbuster. It's a gentle show." Background In December 1958 producer David Merrick announced his intent to produce a stage musical based on the 1953 film '' Lili'', a concept suggested to Merrick by that film's screenwriter Helen Deutsch. Originally Deutsch was to write the musical's book while the score was assigned to Gérard Calvi, a French composer — ''Lili'' was set in France — who authored the revue ''La Plume de Ma Tante'' which Merrick produced o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Pajama Game
''The Pajama Game'' is a musical based on the 1953 novel '' 7½ Cents'' by Richard Bissell. The book is by George Abbott and Richard Bissell; the music and lyrics are by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. and dances were staged by Bob Fosse in his choreography debut. The story deals with labor troubles and romance in a pajama factory. The original Broadway production opened on May 13, 1954, at the St. James Theatre, and ran for 1,063 performances, with a brief stop at the Shubert Theatre at the end of the run. It was revived in 1973, and again in 2006 by The Roundabout Theatre Company. The original production, produced by Frederick Brisson, Robert E. Griffith and Harold S. Prince, won a Tony Award for Best Musical. The 2006 Broadway revival won a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. The musical is a popular choice for community and school group productions. The original West End production opened at the London Coliseum on October 13, 1955, where it ran for 588 performan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
