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Charles Walters
Charles Powell Walters (November 17, 1911 – August 13, 1982) was an American Hollywood director and choreographer most noted for his work in MGM musicals and comedies from the 1940s to the 1960s. Early years Charles Walters was born in Pasadena, California, the son of Joe Walter and Winifred Taft Walter, who had moved from Tomah, Wisconsin. He changed his last name to Walters in the 1930s because he was "tired of misspellings". Walters was educated at Anaheim Union High School (Class of 1930) and briefly attended the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Career Actor Shortly after graduating high school in 1931 Walters joined a touring Fanchon & Marco revue as a chorus boy and specialty dancer. After keeping a correspondence with producer, dancer and choreographer Leonard Sillman, Sillman agreed to cast Walters in the revue ''Low and Behold'' (1933) which also featured Tyrone Power, Eve Arden and Kay Thompson. The show never reached Broadway, but producer Ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. He is among the world's best-selling music artists with an estimated 150 million record sales. Born to Italian immigrants in Hoboken, New Jersey, Sinatra was greatly influenced by the intimate, easy-listening vocal style of Bing Crosby and began his musical career in the swing era with bandleaders Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. He found success as a solo artist after signing with Columbia Records in 1943, becoming the idol of the " bobby soxers". Sinatra released his debut album, '' The Voice of Frank Sinatra'', in 1946. When his film career stalled in the early 1950s, Sinatra turned to Las Vegas, where he became one of its best-known residency performers and part of the famous Rat Pack. His acting career was revived by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moss Hart
Moss Hart (October 24, 1904 – December 20, 1961) was an American playwright, librettist, and theater director. Early years Hart was born in New York City, the son of Lillian (Solomon) and Barnett Hart, a cigar maker. He had a younger brother, Bernard. He grew up in relative poverty with his English-born Jewish immigrant parents in the Bronx and in Sea Gate, Brooklyn. He was the great-grandson of the Jewish bare-knuckle pugilist Barney Aaron. In his youth, he had a strong relationship with his Aunt Kate, with whom he later was to lose contact due to a falling out between her and his parents, and Kate's weakening mental state. She piqued his interest in the theater, taking him to see performances often. Hart even went so far as to create an "alternate ending" to her life in his book '' Act One''. He writes that she died while he was working on out-of-town tryouts for ''The Beloved Bandit.'' In later life, Kate had become eccentric and then disturbed, vandalizing Hart's home, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judy Garland
Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939). She attained international stardom as an actress in both musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage. Renowned for her versatility, she received an Academy Juvenile Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Special Tony Award. Garland was the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, which she won for her 1961 live recording titled '' Judy at Carnegie Hall''. Garland began performing as a child with her two older sisters, in a vaudeville group " The Gumm Sisters" and was later signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager. She appeared in more than two dozen films for MGM. Garland was a frequent on-screen partner of both Mickey Rooney and Gene Kelly and regularly collabor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Presenting Lily Mars
''Presenting Lily Mars'' is a 1943 American musical comedy film directed by Norman Taurog, produced by Joe Pasternak, starring Judy Garland and Van Heflin, and based on the novel by Booth Tarkington. The film is often cited as Garland's first film playing an adult type role (although '' For Me and My Gal'', released the previous year, is also often credited thus). Tommy Dorsey and Bob Crosby appear with their orchestras in this Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production. __TOC__ Plot Lily Mars (Judy Garland) is a small-town girl with big-city ambitions. She contrives to audition for a Broadway producer whose father was the local physician and whose family piano her father also happened to tune. However, the producer wants nothing to do with her. She then heads to Broadway hoping to convince him to cast her, but after a series of disappointments, the best she can manage is an understudy job. Cast * Judy Garland as Lily Mars * Van Heflin as John Thornway * Fay Bainter as Mrs. Thornway * Ri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seven Days' Leave (1942 Film)
''Seven Days' Leave'' is a 1942 musical comedy about a soldier (Victor Mature) who has seven days to marry an heiress (Lucille Ball) in order to inherit $100,000. Plot Army privates Johnny Grey, Speak Jackson and Buddy "Clarky" Clark were members of the Les Brown band before they joined the army. When they are granted seven days' leave before shipping out, they attend an old Les Brown concert, where Johnny renews his romance with band performer Mapy Cortés. Johnny then discovers that he is heir to his great-grandfather's $100,000 fortune. Overwhelmed with excitement, Johnny promises to buy Mapy a diamond engagement ring. Johnny goes to New York to claim his inheritance, accompanied by Clarky, Jackson, and their friend Bitsy. Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, the representative of the estate, tells Johnny that he must marry a descendant of the Havelock-Allen family in order to collect his inheritance. Johnny is reluctant to do so until he meets Terry Havelock-Allen, the wealthy and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Banjo Eyes
''Banjo Eyes'' is a musical based on the play '' Three Men on a Horse'' by John Cecil Holm and George Abbott. It has a book by Joseph Quinlan and Izzy Ellinson, music by Vernon Duke, and lyrics by John La Touche and Harold Adamson. Produced by Albert Lewis and staged by Hassard Short, the Broadway production opened on December 25, 1941 at the Hollywood Theatre, where it ran for 126 performances. The cast included Eddie Cantor, Lionel Stander, William Johnson, and, in a small role, future novelist Jacqueline Susann ('' Valley of the Dolls''). Although Cantor was known as "Banjo Eyes," the title referred not to his character but to a talking race horse, played in costume by the vaudeville team of Morton and Mayo. In dream sequences, Banjo Eyes would give Cantor's character tips on which horses were going to win different races, but warned him his supposed talent for picking the winners would vanish if he ever placed a bet himself. The book was a very loose adaptation of i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Let's Face It!
''Let's Face It!'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields is based on the 1925 play ''The Cradle Snatchers'' by Russell Medcraft and Norma Mitchell. The 1941 Broadway and 1942 West End productions were successful, and a film version was released in 1943. Plot Three suspicious wives, Maggie Watson, Nancy Collister and Cornelia Pigeon, invite three Army inductees to Maggie's summer house in Southampton on Long Island in order to make their husbands jealous. Jerry Walker is engaged to Winnie Potter, and, because he needs the money, agrees to the plot. The wives' philandering husbands leave on yet another camping trip. Winnie, hearing of Jerry's involvement, brings in two friends (who are actually girlfriends of the other two soldiers) to pretend to be interested in the older men. The husbands actually do go fishing. Winnie and her friends crash Maggie's party and the husbands unexpectedly return home. Song list ;Act I * "Mil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Du Barry Was A Lady
''Du Barry Was a Lady'' is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and the book by Herbert Fields and Buddy DeSylva."'Du Barry Was a Lady'" sondheimguide.com, accessed February 15, 2010 The musical starred Bert Lahr, and , and the song "Friendship" was one of the highlights. The musical was made into a 1943 film '' [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sing Out The News
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without accompaniment by musical instruments. Singing is often done in an ensemble of musicians, such as a choir. Singers may perform as soloists or accompanied by anything from a single instrument (as in art song or some jazz styles) up to a symphony orchestra or big band. Different singing styles include art music such as opera and Chinese opera, Indian music, Japanese music, and religious music styles such as gospel, traditional music styles, world music, jazz, blues, ghazal, and popular music styles such as pop, rock, and electronic dance music. Singing can be formal or informal, arranged, or improvised. It may be done as a form of religious devotion, as a hobby, as a source of pleasure, comfort, or ritual as part of music education or a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Married An Angel
''I Married An Angel'' is a 1938 musical comedy by Rodgers and Hart. It was adapted from a play by Hungarian playwright János Vaszary, entitled ''Angyalt Vettem Felesegul''. The book was by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, with music by Rodgers and lyrics by Hart. The story concerns a wealthy banker who, disillusioned with women, decides that the only mate for him would be an angel. An angel soon arrives, and he marries her, but finds out that her perfection and guilelessness are inconvenient. Synopsis A wealthy Budapest banker, Count Willie Palaffi, is love-weary. He ends his engagement to Anna Murphy, swearing that the only girl he could marry would be an angel. A real angel soon flies into his life, and he marries her. It turns out, however, that she is free of the human failings that permit people to tolerate each other. In particular, she is unable to fib. Her honesty alienates Willie's high society acquaintances and his biggest customer and causes a run on his ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli (born Lester Anthony Minnelli; February 28, 1903 – July 25, 1986) was an American stage director and film director. He directed the classic movie musicals '' Meet Me in St. Louis'' (1944), '' An American in Paris'' (1951), '' The Band Wagon'' (1953), and '' Gigi'' (1958). ''An American in Paris'' and ''Gigi'' both won the Academy Award for Best Picture, with Minnelli winning Best Director for ''Gigi''. In addition to having directed some of the best known musicals of his day, Minnelli made many comedies and melodramas.Obituary '' Variety'', July 30, 1986. He was married to Judy Garland from 1945 until 1951; the couple were the parents of Liza Minnelli. Early life Lester Anthony Minnelli was born on February 28, 1903, to Marie Émilie Odile Lebeau and Vincent Charles Minnelli. He was baptized in Chicago, and was the youngest of four known sons, only two of whom survived to adulthood. His mother's stage name was Mina Gennell, and his father was the musical c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Show Is On
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of pronoun ''thee'') when followed by a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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