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Gloria Blondell
Gloria Blondell (August 16, 1915 – March 25, 1986) was a stage, film, and television actress who was the younger sister of actress Joan Blondell. Family Blondell was born into a vaudeville family. Her parents and siblings, Edward Jr. and Joan, were all entertainers. She once said, " me member of my family has been in the theater ever since the time of Richard the Lionhearted." Her father, Levi Blustine (or Bluestein), a vaudeville comedian known as Ed Blondell, was born in Poland to a Jewish family circa 1865 and died in Glendale, California, on March 27, 1943. He toured for many years starring in the Blondell/Fennessy stage version of '' The Katzenjammer Kids''. Blondell's mother, Catherine (also known as Kathryn or Katie) Caine, was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, on April 13, 1884, of Irish descent. She died on October 5, 1952, in Glendale, California. Stage Gloria Blondell said that she first went on stage when she was 9 months old, and she was described as "a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent setting, such as a home, workplace, or community. Unlike sketch comedy, which features different characters and settings in each Sketch comedy, skit, sitcoms typically maintain plot continuity across episodes. This continuity allows for the development of storylines and characters over time, fostering audience engagement and investment in the characters' lives and relationships. History The structure and concept of a sitcom have roots in earlier forms of comedic theater, such as farces and comedy of manners. These forms relied on running gags to generate humor, but the term ''sitcom'' emerged as radio and TV adapted these principles into a new medium. The word was not commonly used until the 1950s. Early television sitcoms were often filme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar
''Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar'' is a radio drama that aired on CBS Radio from February 18, 1949 to September 30, 1962. The first several seasons imagined protagonist Johnny Dollar as a private investigator drama, with Charles Russell, Edmond O'Brien and John Lund portraying Dollar in succession over the years. In 1955 after a yearlong hiatus, the series came back in its best-known incarnation with Bob Bailey starring in "the transcribed adventures of the man with the action-packed expense accountAmerica's fabulous freelance insurance investigator." There were 809 episodes (plus two not-for-broadcast auditions) in the 13-year run, and more than 710 still exist today. Jim Cox's book ''American Radio Networks: A History'' cites "886 total performances" which includes repeat performances. Format The format best remembered was instituted by writer-director Jack Johnstone. Each case usually started with a phone call from an insurance adjuster, calling on Johnny to investigate an u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom D'Andrea
Thomas J. D'Andrea (May 15, 1909 – May 14, 1998) was an American actor in films and on television. Early years D'Andrea was born May 15, 1909, in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from high school with honors and excelled in basketball. Career D'Andrea's first job was at the Chicago Public Library, after which he worked in publicity at the Sherman Hotel in Chicago. Contacts with entertainers at the hotel led to an opportunity to work in Hollywood. After moving there in 1934, he became a publicist for Betty Grable, Gene Autry, Mae Clarke and Jackie Coogan. He began writing scripts in 1937, creating lines for Ben Bernie, Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor and Olsen and Johnson and later continued in television, writing for Cantor and Donald O'Connor on their shows. In 1941, D'Andrea was drafted into the Army Air Corps. He was assigned to write a Gracie Fields program after being stationed at Camp Roberts, California. Reading lines at a rehearsal, Fields decided to have him read the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Bendix
William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an American film, radio, and television actor, known for his portrayals of rough, blue-collar characters. He gained significant recognition for his role in ''Wake Island'', for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Bendix is also remembered for playing Chester A. Riley, the earnest and clumsy aircraft plant worker, in both the radio and television versions of ''The Life of Riley.'' Additionally, he portrayed baseball legend Babe Ruth in '' The Babe Ruth Story''. Bendix frequently co-starred with Alan Ladd, appearing in ten films together; both actors died in 1964. Early life Bendix was born in Manhattan, the only child of Oscar and Hilda (Carnell) Bendix, and was named William after his German paternal grandfather. His uncle was composer, conductor, and violinist Max Bendix. In the early 1920s, Bendix was a batboy for the New York Yankees and said he saw Babe Ruth hit more than 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three Sappy People
''Three Sappy People'' is a 1939 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 43rd entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959. Plot The Stooges are phone repairmen unwittingly mistaken for esteemed psychiatrists, Drs. Z. Ziller, X. Zeller, and Y. Zoller, while occupying their office space. Wealthy patron J. Rumsford Rumford, influenced by a recommendation from a medical acquaintance, engages the services of the Stooges to attend to his spirited wife, Sherry Rumford. During the course of their appointment, the Stooges inadvertently disrupt a formal dinner gathering, instigating a chaotic food altercation in their characteristic manner. Despite the commotion, the unorthodox behavior of the Stooges inadvertently amuses Mrs. Rumford, leading her husband to conclude erroneously that her ail ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daredevil Drivers
''Daredevil Drivers'' is a 1938 American crime film directed by B. Reeves Eason and written by Sherman L. Lowe. The film stars Beverly Roberts, Dick Purcell, Gloria Blondell, Gordon Oliver, Charley Foy and Donald Briggs. The film was released by Warner Bros. on February 12, 1938. Plot Automobile racer Bill Foster is disqualified from a race for reckless driving, then banned from competing in the sport altogether. On the road, he then collides with a bus, owned by a company run by Jerry Neeley, a woman trying to stay in business against an aggressive rival. Foster ends up working for Jerry's competition. A lawsuit goes against her that puts her livelihood in jeopardy. When a bus goes out of control, endangering passengers including children, Foster is able to stop it and save everyone just in time. He then joins forces with Jerry to save her company. Cast *Beverly Roberts as Jerry Neeley *Dick Purcell as Bill Foster *Gloria Blondell as Lucy Mack *Gordon Oliver as Mark Banning * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Twonky
''The Twonky'' is a 1953 independently made American black-and-white science fiction/comedy film, produced by A.D. Nast, Jr., Arch Oboler, and Sidney Pink, written and directed by Arch Oboler, and starring Hans Conried, Gloria Blondell, Billy Lynn, and Edwin Max. The film was distributed by United Artists. Plot After seeing his wife (Janet Warren) off on her trip, Kerry West (Hans Conried), a philosophy teacher at a small-town college goes inside his home to contemplate his new purchase: a television set. Sitting down in his office, he places a cigarette in his mouth and is about to light it when a solid beam of light shoots from the television screen, lighting it for him. Absentmindedly unaware of what has taken place, it is only when the television subsequently lights his pipe that West realizes that his television is behaving abnormally. West soon discovers that the television can walk and perform a variety of functions, including dishwashing, vacuuming, and card-playing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hans Conried
Hans Georg Conried Jr. (April 15, 1917 – January 5, 1982) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for providing the voices of George Darling and Captain Hook in Walt Disney's '' Peter Pan'' (1953), Snidely Whiplash in Jay Ward's '' Dudley Do-Right'' cartoons, Professor Waldo P. Wigglesworth in Ward's '' Hoppity Hooper'' cartoons, was host of Ward's live-action " Fractured Flickers" show and Professor Kropotkin on the radio and film versions of '' My Friend Irma''. He also appeared as Uncle Tonoose on Danny Thomas' sitcom '' Make Room for Daddy'', twice on ''I Love Lucy'', and as the Mad Hatter along with Daws Butler, Dolores Starr, Stanley Adams, Francis Condie Baxter and Cheryl Callaway in ''The Alphabet Conspiracy'' (1959). Early life Conried was born on April 15, 1917, in Baltimore, Maryland, to parents Edith Beryl (née Gildersleeve) and Hans Georg Conried. His Connecticut-born mother was a descendant of Pilgrims, and his father was a Jewish immigrant from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Accidents Will Happen (film)
''Accidents Will Happen'' is a 1938 American drama film directed by William Clemens and written by George Bricker and Anthony Coldeway. The film stars Ronald Reagan, Gloria Blondell, Dick Purcell, Sheila Bromley, Addison Richards, Hugh O'Connell and Janet Shaw. The film was released by Warner Bros. on April 9, 1938. Plot Eric Gregg is an insurance investigator whose avaricious wife Nona wants him to make more money. After he solves a case and is promised a raise, Nona is a witness in a car crash involving a claim against Eric's company. Her testimony conflicts with others at the scene. Later, Eric discovers Nona with a very expensive fur coat on credit. He learns that she paid it off with the help of Thurston, the loan company's boss, who works with a ring of criminals working to defraud insurance companies. Shortly thereafter, Eric ends up losing his job after a rival, Dawson, exposes the fraud. Eric and a cigarette girl, Patricia Carmody, begin pulling insurance scams o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party and became an important figure in the American conservative movement. Presidency of Ronald Reagan, His presidency is known as the Reagan era. Born in Illinois, Reagan graduated from Eureka College in 1932 and was hired the next year as a sports broadcaster in Iowa. In 1937, he moved to California where he became a well-known film actor. During his acting career, Reagan was president of the Screen Actors Guild twice from 1947 to 1952 and from 1959 to 1960. In the 1950s, he hosted ''General Electric Theater'' and worked as a motivational speaker for General Electric. During the 1964 United States presidential election, 1964 presidential election, Reagan's "A Time for Choosing" speech launched his rise as a leading conservative figure. After b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Great Gildersleeve
''The Great Gildersleeve'' was a radio situation comedy broadcast in the United States from August 31, 1941 to 1958. Initially written by Leonard Lewis Levinson, it was one of broadcast history's earliest spin-off programs. The series was built around Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, a regular character from the radio situation comedy '' Fibber McGee and Molly''. The character was introduced in the October 3, 1939, episode (number 216) of that series. Actor Harold Peary had played a similarly named character, Dr. Gildersleeve, on earlier episodes. ''The Great Gildersleeve'' enjoyed its greatest popularity in the 1940s. Peary played the character during its transition from the parent show into the spin-off and later in four feature films released at the height of the show's popularity. In ''Fibber McGee and Molly'', Peary's Gildersleeve had been a pompous windbag and antagonist of Fibber McGee. "You're a ''haa-aa-aa-aard'' man, McGee!" became a Gildersleeve catchphrase. The charac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Screen Directors Playhouse
''Screen Directors Playhouse'' (sometimes written as ''Screen Directors' Playhouse'') is an American radio and television anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949. The radio program broadcast adaptations of films, with original directors of the films sometimes involved in the productions, although their participation was usually limited to introducing the radio adaptations and taking a brief "curtain call" with the cast and host at the end of the program. During the 1955–56 season, the series was seen on television, focusing on original teleplays and several adaptations of famous short stories (such as Robert Louis Stevenson's " Markheim"). Radio The radio version ran for 122 episodes and aired on NBC from January 9, 1949, to September 28, 1951, under several different titles: ''NBC Theater'', ''Screen Directors Guild Assignment'', ''Screen Directors Assignment'' and, as of July 1, 1949, ''Screen Directors Playhouse''. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
