Chill Wills
Theodore Childress "Chill" Wills (July 18, 1902 – December 15, 1978) was an American actor and a singer in the Avalon Boys quartet. Early life Wills was born in Seagoville, Texas, on July 18, 1902. Career Wills was a performer from early childhood, forming and leading the Avalon Boys singing group in the 1930s. He provided the deep voice for Stan Laurel's performance of "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" in ''Way Out West (1937 film), Way Out West'' (1937), in which the Avalon Boys Quartet appeared. After appearing in a few western film, Westerns, he disbanded the group in 1938, and struck out on a solo acting career. During the 1940s, Wills was a contract player for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, appearing in Westerns. Wills was also cast in a number of dramatic roles, including as "the City of Chicago" as personified by a phantom police sergeant in the film noir ''City That Never Sleeps'' (1953), and that of Uncle Bawley in ''Giant (1956 film), Giant'' (1956), which also features ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Seagoville, Texas
Seagoville ( ) is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States, and a suburb of Dallas. A small portion of Seagoville extends into Kaufman County. The population was 18,446 at the 2020 census. The city is located along U.S. Highway 175, from downtown Mesquite. History Seagoville was originally called Seago, and under this name was laid out in 1876 by T. K. Seago (1836–1904), and named after him. The United States Post Office changed the town's name to "Seagoville" in 1910 to prevent confusion with another city in Texas called Sego. During World War II, the Federal Reformatory for Women in Seagoville was the site of an Immigration and Naturalization Service detention camp for Japanese, German, and Italian Americans classified as "enemy aliens" and women of Japanese and German ancestry deported from Latin America.Mak, Stephen"Seogoville (detention facility)"''Densho Encyclopedia'' (accessed 17 Jun 2014). Internees at Seagoville published a German language newsletter call ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Academy Award For Best Supporting Actor
The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 9th Academy Awards to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role in a film released that year. The award is traditionally presented by the previous year's Best Supporting Actress winner. However, in recent years, it has shifted towards being presented by previous years’ Best Supporting Actor winners instead. In lieu of the traditional Oscar statuette, supporting acting recipients were given plaques up until the 16th Academy Awards, when statuettes were awarded to each category instead. The Best Supporting Actor award has been presented a total of 89 times, to 80 actors. The first winner was Walter Brennan for his role in '' Come and Get It'' (1936). The most recent winner is Kieran Culkin for '' A Real Pain'' (2024). The record for most wins is three, held by Brennan–who won ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wagon Train
''Wagon Train'' is an American Western television series that aired for eight seasons, first on the NBC television network (1957–1962) and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and reached the top of the Nielsen ratings. It is the fictional adventure story of a large westbound wagon train through the American frontier from Missouri to California. Its format attracted famous guest stars for each episode, appearing as travelers or residents of the settlements whom the regular cast encountered. The show initially starred film actor Ward Bond as the wagon master (replaced after his death in 1960 by John McIntire) and Robert Horton as the scout (eventually replaced by Robert Fuller). The series was inspired by the 1950 film '' Wagon Master'' and the 1930 early widescreen film '' The Big Trail'', both featuring Bond. The series influenced the development of ''Star Trek'', pitched as "''Wagon Train'' to the stars" and launched in 1966. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Binion's Gambling Hall And Hotel
Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel, formerly Binion's Horseshoe, is a casino on Fremont Street along the Fremont Street Experience pedestrian mall in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It is owned by TLC Casino Enterprises. The casino is named for its founder, Benny Binion, whose family ran it from its founding in 1951 until 2004. The hotel, which had 366 rooms, closed in 2009. TLC reopened 81 of the rooms as a boutique hotel called Hotel Apache in July 2019. History Binion's Horseshoe (1951–2004) Benny Binion bought the Eldorado Club and Hotel Apache in 1951, re-opening them as Binion's Horseshoe (also called the Horseshoe Casino). The casino's interior had a frontier flavor, like an old-style riverboat, with low ceilings and velvet wallpaper. It was the first casino in downtown Las Vegas (also called Glitter Gulch) to replace sawdust-covered floors with carpeting, and was the first to offer comps to all gamblers, not just those who bet big money. Binion also insti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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World Series Of Poker
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada, and since 2004, sponsored by Eldorado Resorts, Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker players to the Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel, Horseshoe Casino for a single tournament, with a set start and stop time, and a winner determined by a secret ballot of the seven players. As of 2020, the WSOP consists of 101 events, with most List of poker variants, major poker variants featured. However, in recent years, over half of the events have been variants of Texas hold 'em. Events traditionally take place during one day or over several consecutive days during the series in June and July. However, starting in 2008, November Nine, the Main Event final table was delayed until November. The 2012 and 2016 Main Event final tables commenced in October because of the 2012 United States presidential election, United States pre ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Benny Binion
Lester Ben Binion (November 20, 1904 – December 25, 1989), better known as Benny Binion, was an American casino operator who established illegal gambling operations in the Dallas–Fort Worth area. In 1931, Binion was convicted of shooting and killing a rumrunner, Frank Bolding. In the 1940s, he relocated to Nevada, where gambling was legal, and opened the successful Binion's Horseshoe casino in downtown Las Vegas. Early history Benny Binion was born and raised in Pilot Grove, Texas, north of Dallas. His parents initially kept him out of school due to poor health. His father, a horse trader, let him accompany him on trips. While the outdoor life restored his health, Binion never had any formal education. As he traveled with his father, the young man learned to gamble, a favorite pastime when horse traders met up with farmers and merchants during county fair trade days. Criminal history Binion's FBI file reveals a criminal history dating back to 1924. At age 18 he moved to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Francis Joins The WACS
''Francis Joins the WACS'' is a 1954 American black-and-white comedy film from Universal-International, produced by Ted Richmond, directed by Arthur Lubin and starring Donald O'Connor, Julie Adams, ZaSu Pitts, Mamie Van Doren and Chill Wills in two roles, including that of the distinctive voice of Francis in voice-over. This is the fifth film in Universal-International's Francis the Talking Mule series. Plot A computer error mistakenly assigns junior officer Peter Stirling to the Women's Army Corps (WAC). Peter's old friend Francis, a talking mule, helps him through his various military and personal problems, including several familiar stays in the base's psychiatric ward. The WACs are initially highly suspicious of him, suspecting him of having been sent by General Ben Kaye to sabotage their efforts to prove themselves. However, with the assistance of Francis, he is able to win their trust and prove their worth. The film is noteworthy for Chill Wills, the voice of Francis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Spartacus (film)
''Spartacus'' is a 1960 American epic historical drama film directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Kirk Douglas in the title role, a slave and gladiator who leads a rebellion against Rome during the events of the Third Servile War. Adapted by Dalton Trumbo from Howard Fast's 1951 novel of the same title, the film also stars Laurence Olivier as Roman general and politician Marcus Licinius Crassus, Charles Laughton as rival senator Sempronius Gracchus, Peter Ustinov as gladiatorial school owner Lentulus Batiatus, and John Gavin as Julius Caesar. Jean Simmons played Spartacus' wife Varinia, a fictional character, and Tony Curtis played the fictional slave Antoninus. Douglas, whose company Bryna Productions was producing the film, removed original director Anthony Mann after three weeks of shooting. Kubrick, with whom Douglas had made '' Paths of Glory'' (1957), took over as director. It was the only film directed by Kubrick where he did not have complete arti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lentulus Batiatus
Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Vatia (also called Lentulus Batiatus by Plutarch) was the Roman owner of a gladiatorial school in ancient Capua. It was from this school that, in 73 BC, the Thracian slave Spartacus and about 70 to 78 followers escaped. The breakout led to the slave rebellion known as the Third Servile War (73–71 BC). Identity and origins Shackleton Bailey noted that the name ("Batiatus"), as recorded by the ancient historians, could be a corrupted form of the cognomen '' Vatia'' and this ''Cornelius Lentulus Vatia'' would then have been either a Servilius Vatia by birth adopted into the Cornelii Lentuli or else a Cornelius Lentulus by birth adopted into the Servilii Vatiae. Shackleton Bailey, David. R. (1991) ''Two Studies in Roman Nomenclature'', p. 73. Ronald Syme also agreed that the name "Batiatus" was surely a corruption of "Vatia". It is often assumed following Shackleton Bailey's arguments that he was the same man as the Gnaeus Lentulus Vatia who was quaestor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Peter Ustinov
Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awards and nominations, numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Award, BAFTA Awards, three Primetime Emmy Award, Emmy Awards, an Olivier Award and a Grammy Award. Ustinov received two Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his roles in ''Spartacus (film), Spartacus'' (1960), and ''Topkapi (film), Topkapi'' (1964). He also starred in notable films such as ''Quo Vadis (1951 film), Quo Vadis'' (1951), ''The Sundowners (1960 film), The Sundowners'' (1960), ''Billy Budd (film), Billy Budd'' (1962), and ''Hot Millions'' (1968). He voiced John, King of England, Prince John and Richard I of England, King Richard in the Walt Disney Animation, Walt Disney Animated film ''Robin Hood (19 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sheilah Graham
Sheilah Graham (born Lily Shiel; 15 September 1904 – 17 November 1988) was a British-born, nationally syndicated American gossip columnist during Hollywood's "Golden Age". In her youth, she had been a showgirl and a freelance writer for Fleet Street in London. These early experiences would converge in her career in Hollywood, which spanned nearly four decades, as a successful columnist and author. Graham also was known for her relationship with F. Scott Fitzgerald, a relationship she played a significant role in immortalizing through the autobiographical '' Beloved Infidel,'' a bestseller that was made into a film. Early life Graham was born Lily Shiel in Leeds, England, the youngest of Rebecca (Blashman) and Louis Shiel's eight children (two died). Her parents were Ukrainian Jews. Her father, a tailor who had fled the pogroms, died of tuberculosis on a trip to Berlin while she was still an infant. Her mother and the children moved to a basement flat in a Stepney Green ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |