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Dolores Gray
Dolores Gray (June 7, 1924 – June 26, 2002) was an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, Best Lead Actress in a Musical twice, winning once. Early life Both her mother and father were vaudeville actors, which is how they met. Gray's parents divorced when she was a young child. She had an older brother, Richard Gray who also had a career in Hollywood. While attending John H. Francis Polytechnic High School, Polytechnic High School she was in the Girls' Glee Club. She was discovered by Rudy Vallee, who gave her a guest spot on his nationwide radio show. Career Her career commenced as a cabaret artist in restaurants and supper clubs in California and in Reno, Nevada.''Who's Who in the Theatre'' (1981) Gale, ''Gale Biography In Context'' In Los Angeles in 1941 she appeared at the Pirate’s Den and Hollywood Playhouse. Later that year San Francisco engagements included one at Stairway to the Stars. Gray re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, cultural center of Southern California. With an estimated 3,878,704 residents within the city limits , it is the List of United States cities by population, second-most populous in the United States, behind only New York City. Los Angeles has an Ethnic groups in Los Angeles, ethnically and culturally diverse population, and is the principal city of a Metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan area of 12.9 million people (2024). Greater Los Angeles, a combined statistical area that includes the Los Angeles and Riverside–San Bernardino metropolitan areas, is a sprawling metropolis of over 18.5 million residents. The majority of the city proper lies in Los Angeles Basin, a basin in Southern California adjacent to the Pacific Ocean in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kismet (1955 Film)
''Kismet'' is a 1955 American musical film, musical-comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli and produced by Arthur Freed. It was filmed in CinemaScope and Eastmancolor and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is the fifth movie version of ''Kismet''. The first was released in 1914, the Kismet (1920 film), second in 1920, the Kismet (1930 film), third in 1930 by Warner Brothers, and the Kismet (1944 film), fourth, starring Ronald Colman and Marlene Dietrich, by MGM in 1944. The 1955 film is based on the successful 1953 stage Musical theatre, musical ''Kismet (musical), Kismet'', while the four earlier versions are based on the Kismet (play), original 1911 play by Edward Knoblock. Plot In old Baghdad, an impoverished poet, who has usurped the customary prime “begging spot” of the hajj, Mecca-bound Hajj the Beggar, is abducted and brought to the desert tent of Jawan, a notorious elderly brigand. The Poet has been mistaken for Hajj the Beggar, who cursed Jawan fifteen years ago. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
42nd Street (musical)
''42nd Street'' is a 1980 stage musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin and Johnny Mercer and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production won the Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Choreography and it became a long-running hit. The show was also produced in London in 1984 (winning the Olivier Award for Best Musical) and its 2001 Broadway revival won the Tony Award for Best Revival. Based on the 1932 novel by Bradford Ropes and the subsequent 1933 Hollywood film adaptation, this backstage musical follows the rehearsal process of a Broadway show staged during the height of the Great Depression. The show is a jukebox musical of sorts, in that, in addition to songs from the 1933 film ''42nd Street'', it includes songs that Dubin and Warren wrote for many other films at around the same time, including ''Gold Diggers of 1933'', '' Roman Scandals'', '' Dames'', ''Gold Diggers of 1935'', '' Go into Your Dance,'' '' Gold Diggers of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sherry!
''Sherry!'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by James Lipton and music by Laurence Rosenthal. The musical is based on the 1939 George S. Kaufman- Moss Hart play '' The Man Who Came to Dinner''. In 1967, following a short run on Broadway and poor reviews, the score to ''Sherry!'' was apparently lost, until being rediscovered at the Library of Congress more than thirty years later. A studio recording based on the rediscovered score was released in 2004. Production George Sanders originally was signed to play Whiteside, but when his wife, actress Benita Hume, became terminally ill with cancer, he withdrew from the project. Choreographer Ron Field was replaced by Joe Layton during the Philadelphia try-out. He took over directing as well, according to Lipton, although Morton DaCosta retained credit in the program. George Sanders later recalled . I have a wonderful voice. People kept grabbing me and saying ‘You must do a musical.’ They told me if I was ever going to d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Destry Rides Again (musical)
''Destry Rides Again'' is a 1959 musical comedy with music and lyrics by Harold Rome and a book by Leonard Gershe. The play is based on the 1939 film of the same name. Production history The show opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on April 23, 1959, and closed on June 18, 1960, after 472 performances. Michael Kidd was the director and choreographer. The cast starred Andy Griffith as Destry and Dolores Gray as Frenchy. The national tour starred John Raitt and Anne Jeffreys, while Yvonne De Carlo appeared in the show in such venues as the Paper Mill Playhouse and the Dallas Summer Musicals. The plot was loosely based on a story by Max Brand. The song sung by Marlene Dietrich in the film, " See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have", was not used in the stage production. Synopsis Act 1 The opening song ("Bottleneck") shows the roughness and violence of the town Bottleneck. Then, at the Last Chance Saloon, Frenchy and her girls perform for the male patrons of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Two On The Aisle
''Two on the Aisle'' is a musical revue with a book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne. The project marked Comden and Green's return to Broadway following their successful reign at MGM (where they penned the classic ''Singin' in the Rain'' and ''The Band Wagon'', among others) and their first teaming with composer Styne. An evening of comedy routines and splashy musical numbers with Las Vegas-type showgirls, it was developed specifically to showcase the talents of Bert Lahr. After one preview, the show, directed by Abe Burrows, and choreographed by Ron Fletcher, opened on July 19, 1951 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, where it ran for 276 performances. The marquee is shown briefly at 37 min 46 seconds into the movie, Pat and Mike. In addition to Lahr, the cast included Dolores Gray and Stanley Prager. Lahr and Gray disliked each other, with the trouble starting in New Haven. The lead spot (number 3 in the show) for the first star was given to Lahr, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hippodrome, London
The Hippodrome is a building on the corner of Cranbourn Street and Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, London. The name was used for many different theatres and music halls, of which the London Hippodrome is one of only a few survivors. ''wikt:hippodrome, Hippodrome'' is an archaic word referring to places that host horse races and other forms of equestrian entertainment. History Hippodrome The London Hippodrome was opened in 1900. It was designed by Frank Matcham for Moss Empires chaired by Edward Moss (impresario), Edward Moss and built for £250,000 as a hippodrome for circus and variety show, variety performances. The venue gave its first show on 15 January 1900, a music hall revue entitled "Giddy Ostend" with Little Tich. The conductor was Georges Jacobi. Entry to the venue was through a bar, dressed as a ship's saloon. The performance space featured both a proscenium stage and an arena that sank into a 230 ft, 100,000 gallon water tank (about 400 tons, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
There's No Business Like Show Business (film)
''Irving Berlin's There's No Business Like Show Business'' is a 1954 American musical comedy-drama film directed by Walter Lang. It stars an ensemble cast consisting of Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor, Marilyn Monroe, Dan Dailey, Johnnie Ray, and Mitzi Gaynor. The title is borrowed from the famous song in the stage musical (and MGM film) ''Annie Get Your Gun (musical), Annie Get Your Gun''. The screenplay was written by Phoebe Ephron and Henry Ephron, based on a story by Lamar Trotti; and the movie was Fox's first musical in CinemaScope and DeLuxe Color. O'Connor later called the film the best picture he ever made. Plot In 1919, Terence and Molly Donahue are a husband-and-wife vaudeville team. By 1923, their children Steve, Katy, and Tim have joined the act, with the troupe billed as The Five Donahues. As the children mature, Terence and Molly enroll them in a Catholic boarding school in Boston. One Saturday, as their parents are performing, Steve and Tim attempt to leave bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which became an independent company just before the Second World War. The American spin-off became a subsidiary of MCA Inc. in 1962. Known for its technical innovations, the British parent company grew to become the second most successful recording company in Britain and celebrated fifty years of existence in 1979, shortly before being sold to PolyGram. Both Decca and its former subsidiary were subsequently acquired by Universal Music. Decca and its American spin-off both built up strong catalogues of popular music. In their first two decades their artists included Gertrude Lawrence, George Formby, Jack Hylton and Vera Lynn in Britain and Bing Crosby, Al Jolson, the Andrews Sisters and the Mills Brothers in the US. Later performers in their popular ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as well as an emblem of the era's sexual revolution. She was a top-billed actress for a decade, and her films grossed $200 million (equivalent to $ billion in ) by Death of Marilyn Monroe, her death in 1962. Born in Los Angeles, Monroe spent most of her childhood in foster homes and an orphanage before marrying James Dougherty (police officer), James Dougherty at the age of 16. She was working in a factory during World War II when she met a photographer from the First Motion Picture Unit and began a successful pin-up modeling career, which led to short-lived film contracts with 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures. After roles as a freelancer, she began a longer contract with Fox in 1951, becomi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Designing Woman
''Designing Woman'' is a 1957 American Metrocolor romantic comedy film, in CinemaScope, about two young, whirlwind-romanced newlywed professionals and their misadventures in adjusting to each other's lifestyles. Vincente Minnelli directed the film, which stars Gregory Peck, Lauren Bacall, and Dolores Gray, and features Sam Levene and Chuck Connors. The film earned George Wells an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Plot In Beverly Hills, California, covering a golf tournament, New York sports reporter Mike Hagen correctly chooses the winning golfer in the reporters' betting pool. With the $1,200 he won, Mike begins buying drinks. The next morning he awakes with no memory of the night before. Hung over and believing that he failed to file his story, Mike sits beside the hotel pool drinking coffee when an unfamiliar woman, Marilla Brown, approaches him. Mike, through a series of misunderstandings, assumes she is a prostitute. As Marilla heatedly begins to correct him, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lauren Bacall
Betty Joan Perske (September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014), professionally known as Lauren Bacall ( ), was an American actress. She was named the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute. She received an Academy Honorary Award in 2009 in recognition of her contribution to the Golden Age of motion pictures. Bacall was one of the last surviving major stars from the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. Bacall began a career as a model for the Walter Clarence Thornton, Walter Thornton Model Agency before making her film debut at the age of twenty in ''To Have and Have Not (film), To Have and Have Not'' (1944) as the leading lady opposite Humphrey Bogart, whom she later married. She continued in the film noir genre with appearances alongside Bogart in ''The Big Sleep (1946 film), The Big Sleep'' (1946), ''Dark Passage (film), Dark Passage'' (1947), and ''Key Largo (film), Key Largo'' (194 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
