|
The Mercury Wonder Show
''The Mercury Wonder Show for Service Men'' was a 1943 magic-and-variety stage show by the Mercury Theatre, produced by Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten as a morale-boosting entertainment for US soldiers in World War II. Directed by Welles, the show starred Welles ("Orson the Magnificent"), Cotten ("Jo-Jo the Great"), Agnes Moorehead ("Calliope Aggie") and Rita Hayworth, whose part was later filled by Marlene Dietrich. Jean Gabin also worked on the show backstage, as a propman. The show ran to 150 minutes. Background In early 1943, the two concurrent radio series (''Ceiling Unlimited'', '' Hello Americans'') that Orson Welles created for CBS to support the war effort had ended. Filming also had wrapped on ''Jane Eyre'' and that fee, in addition to the income from his regular guest-star roles in radio, made it possible for Welles to fulfill a lifelong dream. He approached the War Assistance League of Southern California and proposed a show that evolved into a big-top spectacle, part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magic (American Magazine)
''MAGIC'', also known as ''The Magazine for Magicians'', was an independent magazine for magicians that was based in Las Vegas, Nevada. A creation of Stan Allen, it debuted in September 1991, with its first issue featuring Lance Burton on the cover, and over the years it also featured David Copperfield, Siegfried & Roy, Penn & Teller, Mike Caveney, and Mac King. Its final issue was #301, November 2016. Writers for the magazine have included Joshua Jay, Gabe Fajuri, John Lovick, Alan Howard, Max Maven, Peter Duffie, Andi Gladwin, Mark Nelson, Rory Johnston, Timothy Hyde and Shawn McMaster. In 2005 ''MAGIC Magazine'' was deemed the world's largest-selling publication for magicians by Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world .... In 2007 ''MAGIC Magaz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metamorphosis (illusion)
Metamorphosis is the name of a stage illusion invented by John Nevil Maskelyne, but most often associated with famous escape artist Harry Houdini and performed to some renown (for speed) by The Pendragons, among others. It is also known amongst magicians as the Substitution Trunk (often abbreviated to Sub Trunk). In the illusion, an assistant (Houdini employed his wife Bess) is locked inside a large box or trunk, often after being restrained with handcuffs, ropes, bags, etc. The magician stands on the trunk and holds a curtain up to momentarily conceal his entire body. When the curtain is lowered, it is now revealed to be the assistant standing atop the box, the magician and assistant having changed places instantaneously. When the box is opened, it is shown to contain the magician, restrained as the assistant had been. In some acts, the magician is locked in the box first, then appears standing atop the box. Variations include the Aquarian Illusion created in the 1970s by A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howard Thurston
Howard Thurston (July 20, 1869 – April 13, 1936) was a stage magician from Columbus, Ohio, United States. His childhood was unhappy, and he ran away to join the circus, where his future partner Harry Kellar also performed. Thurston was deeply impressed after he attended magician Alexander Herrmann's magic show and was determined to equal his work. He eventually became the most famous magician of his time. Thurston's traveling magic show was the biggest one of all; it was so large that it needed eight train cars to transport his road show. Early life Howard Thurston was born July 20, 1869, in Columbus, Ohio. He was the middle son of William and Margaret Thurston. His father William Henry Thurston was a wheelwright and carriage maker who served briefly as a private during the Civil War in the Third Ohio Regiment. His mother Margaret (Cloude), was the daughter of an Ohio farmer. He attended Mount Hermon School for Boys in Northfield, Massachusetts, class of 1893. Among his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dolores Del Río
María de los Dolores Asúnsolo y López Negrete (3 August 1904 – 11 April 1983), known professionally as Dolores del Río (), was a Mexican actress. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is regarded as the first major female Latin American crossover star in Hollywood. Along with a notable career in American cinema during the 1920s and 1930s, she was also considered one of the most important female figures in the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, and one of the most beautiful actresses of her era. After being discovered in Mexico, she began her film career in Hollywood in 1925. She had roles on a string of successful films, including ''Resurrection'' (1927), '' Ramona'' (1928) and '' Evangeline'' (1929). Del Río came to be considered a sort of feminine version of Rudolph Valentino, a "female Latin Lover", in her years during the American " silent" era. With the advent of sound, she acted in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to musical comed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
California State Fair
The California State Fair is the annual state fair for the state of California. The fair is held at Cal Expo in Sacramento, California. The Fair is a 17-day event showcasing California's industries, agriculture, and diversity of people. The CSF features blue-ribbon animal displays, culinary delights and competitions, live music concerts, a carnival, fireworks, and other family fun. In 2018, officials reported daily attendance drew between 20,000 and 60,000 people per day and about $8.5 million of food and beverage expenditures. The fair is policed by the California Exposition and State Fair Police. The Covid-19 pandemic caused losses of around $16 million in revenue and impacted over 800 seasonal workers. Cal Expo is now a temporary Covid-19 testing site, homeless trailer site, and a go-to partner during the state's battle with wildfires. History According to an editorial in the Daily Alta on November 5, 1850, fairs were common on the east coast of the United States. They beli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orson Welles' Sketch Book
''Orson Welles' Sketch Book'' is a series of six short television commentaries by Orson Welles for the BBC in 1955. Written and presented by Welles, the 15-minute episodes present the filmmaker's commentaries on a range of subjects. Welles frequently draws from his own experiences and often illustrates the episodes with his own sketches.Welles, Orson, and Peter Bogdanovich, ''This is Orson Welles''. New York: HarperCollins Publishers 1992 Episodes * "The Early Days" – Welles discusses a timely earthquake, first-night audiences at the Gate Theatre in Dublin, and how he came to be an actor. (First broadcast 24 April 1955.) * "Critics" – Welles talks about a Boston performance of '' Five Kings'', the consequences of Percy Hammond's negative review of the ''Voodoo Macbeth'', and a curse placed on the film '' It's All True''. (First broadcast 8 May 1955.) * "The Police" – Welles relates the story of Isaac Woodard, a decorated black World War II veteran who was blinded in a brut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American Escapology, escape artist, Magic (illusion), magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his Escapology, escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, Robert-Houdin (1805–1871). He first attracted notice in vaudeville in the United States and then as "Harry 'Handcuff' Houdini" on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets under water, and having to escape from and hold his breath inside a sealed milk can with water in it. In 1904, thousands watched as he tried to escape from special handcuffs commissioned by London's ''Daily Mirror'', keeping them in suspense for an hour. Another stunt saw him Premature burial, buried alive and only just able to claw himself to the surface, emerging in a state ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Press Of Kentucky
The University Press of Kentucky (UPK) is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The university had sponsored scholarly publication since 1943. In 1949, the press was established as a separate academic agency under the university president, and the following year Bruce F. Denbo, then of Louisiana State University Press, was appointed as the first full-time professional director. Denbo served as director of UPK until his retirement in 1978, building a small but distinguished list of scholarly books with emphasis on American history and literary criticism. Since its reorganization, the Press has represented a consortium that now includes all of Kentucky's state universities, seven of its private colleges, and two historical societies. UPK joined the Association of University Presses in 1947. The press is supported by the Thomas D. Clark Foundation, a private nonprofit foundation establ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph McBride (writer)
Joseph McBride (born August 9, 1947) is an American film historian, biographer, screenwriter, author and educator. He has written numerous books including biographies of notable film directors, a book on screenwriting, an investigative journalism book on the JFK assassination, and a memoir of the dark years in his life. He also serves as professor in the Cinema Department at San Francisco State University. Career Early life and career Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, McBride grew up in the suburb of Wauwatosa. He attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and worked as a reporter for the ''Wisconsin State Journal'' in Madison, before moving to California in 1973. Books McBride has published more than 20 books since 1968, including biographies of film directors Steven Spielberg (''Steven Spielberg: A Biography'', 1997, and published in translation in mainland China in 2012), Frank Capra (''Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success'', 1992), Orson Welles (''Orson Welles'' (1972), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States. The publication has won more than 40 Pulitzer Prizes. It is owned by Patrick Soon-Shiong and published by the Times Mirror Company. The newspaper’s coverage emphasizes California and especially Southern California stories. In the 19th century, the paper developed a reputation for civic boosterism and opposition to labor unions, the latter of which led to the bombing of its headquarters in 1910. The paper's profile grew substantially in the 1960s under publisher Otis Chandler, who adopted a more national focus. In recent decades the paper's readership has declined, and it has been beset by a series of ownership changes, staff reductions, and other controversies. In January 2018, the paper's staff voted to unionize and fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
