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Hillard Elkins
Hillard (Hilly) Elkins (October 18, 1929 – December 1, 2010) was an American theatre and film producer. Life and career Born in Brooklyn, Elkins attended Erasmus Hall and Midwood High Schools and Brooklyn College. William Grimes"Hillard Elkins, Producer, Is Dead at 81" ''The New York Times'', December 7, 2010. At the age of eighteen he already had his degree and was studying law while working in the mail room at the William Morris Agency, quickly moving up the ranks to agent and then head of the theatrical department.David Rensin, '' The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up'' (Random House, reprint 2004), , pp. 3–15Excerpt availableat Google Books. After serving in the Korean War by making training films in Manhattan, he returned to agency work, but in 1953 left to open his own management company, where he represented James Coburn, Robert Culp, Steve McQueen, Mel Brooks, Herbert Ross, Charles Strouse, and Lee Adams. Elkins turned to Broadway theatre producing in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nikki Finke
Nikki Jean Finke (December 16, 1953 – October 9, 2022) was an American blogger, journalist, publisher and writer. She also was the founder, editor-in-chief and president of ''Deadline Hollywood'', a website with original content consisting of reporting and commentary on the business of the entertainment industry by her and other show business journalists. She founded and was the chief executive officer of Hollywood Dementia LLC and its website, HollywoodDementia.com, for showbiz short fiction. Early life Finke was born at Doctors Hospital in Manhattan, New York City, on December 16, 1953, the younger of two daughters born to Jewish parents, Robert and Doris Finke. She was raised in the affluent village of Sands Point, New York, on Long Island. Finke was educated at Buckley Country Day School and the Hewitt School, before attending Wellesley College,Mark Shanahan & Meredith Goldstein (February 25, 2010)"Rapping it up: Matt keeps going", ''Boston Globe''; accessed November 8 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mel Brooks
Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. A recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Brooks, numerous accolades, he is one of EGOT, 21 entertainers to win the EGOT, which includes an Emmy Awards, Emmy, a Grammy Awards, Grammy, an Academy Awards, Oscar, and a Tony Awards, Tony. He received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2009, a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2010, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2013, a British Film Institute Fellowship in 2015, a National Medal of Arts in 2016, a BAFTA Fellowship in 2017, and the Honorary Academy Award in 2024. Brooks began his career as a comic and a writer for Sid Caesar's variety show ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950–1954). There he worked with Neil Simon, Woody Allen, Larry Gelbart, and Carl Reiner. With Reiner, he co-created ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oh! Calcutta!
''Oh! Calcutta!'' is an avant-garde, risqué theatrical revue created by British drama critic Kenneth Tynan. The show, consisting of sketches on sex-related topics, debuted Off-Broadway in 1969 and then in the West End in 1970. It ran in London for over 3,900 performances, and in New York initially for 1,314. Revivals enjoyed even longer runs, including a 1976 Broadway revival that ran for 5,959 performances, making the show the longest-running revue in Broadway history, the second longest-running revival (after ''Chicago''), and the eighth longest-running Broadway show ever. The show sparked considerable controversy at the time due to its extended scenes of total nudity, both male and female. The title is taken from a painting by Clovis Trouille, a portrait of a reclining nude. Background Tynan came up with the idea of putting on an erotic revue in the early summer of 1966. Tynan had hoped that Harold Pinter would direct the production, in order to give it avant-garde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in Manhattan. The ceremony is usually held in June. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances. One is also given for regional theatre. Several discretionary non-competitive awards are given as well, including a Special Tony Award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and the Isabelle Stevenson Award. The awards were founded by theatre producer and director Brock Pemberton. They are named after Antoinette "Tony" Perry, an actress, producer and theatre director who was co-founder and secretary of the American Theatre Wing. The trophy consists of a spinnable medallion, with faces portraying an adaptation of the comedy and tragedy masks, mounted on a black base with a pewter swivel. The rules for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Penn
Arthur Hiller Penn (September 27, 1922 – September 28, 2010) was an American filmmaker, theatre director, and producer. He was a three-time Academy Award nominee for Academy Award for Best Director, Best Director, and a Tony Awards, Tony Award winner. Among other accolades, he was also nominated for a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, Golden Globe and two Primetime Emmy Award, Primetime Emmy Awards. Penn’s first achieved prominence as a theatre director, winning a Tony Award for Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play, Best Direction of a Play for The Miracle Worker (play), ''The Miracle Worker''. He received similar acclaim and his first Oscar nomination for directing the The Miracle Worker (1962 film), 1962 film adaptation. His 1967 film ''Bonnie and Clyde (film), Bonnie and Clyde'' is credited with initiating the New Hollywood movement, by infusing the biographical crime drama with a counterculture sensibility. He achieved similar critical and commercial success direct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden Boy (musical)
''Golden Boy'' is a musical in two acts with a book by Clifford Odets and William Gibson, lyrics by Lee Adams, and music by Charles Strouse. Based on the 1937 play of the same name by Odets, it focuses on Joe Wellington, a young man from Harlem who, despite his family's objections, turns to prizefighting as a means of escaping his ghetto roots and finding fame and fortune. He crosses paths with Mephistopheles-like promoter Eddie Satin and eventually betrays his manager Tom Moody when he becomes romantically involved with Moody's girlfriend Lorna Moon. The musical premiered in 1964. Background Producer Hillard Elkins planned the project specifically for Sammy Davis Jr. and lured Odets out of semi-retirement to write the book. The original play centered on Italian American Joe Bonaparte, the son of poverty-stricken immigrants with a disapproving brother who works as a labor organizer.Ferri, Josh"A Knockout Drama! How Clifford Odets’ Golden Boy Survived 75 Years in the Theatric ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Gibson (playwright)
William Gibson (November 13, 1914 – November 25, 2008) was an American playwright and novelist. He won the Tony Award for Best Play for '' The Miracle Worker'' in 1959, which he later adapted for a film version in 1962. Early life and education Gibson graduated from the City College of New York in 1938. He was of Irish, French, German, Dutch, Russian, and Greek ancestry. Work as playwright Gibson made his Broadway debut with '' Two for the Seesaw'' in 1958, a critically acclaimed two-character play, which starred Henry Fonda and, in her own Broadway debut, Anne Bancroft. It was directed by Arthur Penn. Gibson published a chronicle of the vicissitudes of rewriting for the sake of this production with ''The Seesaw Log'', a nonfiction book. His most famous play is '' The Miracle Worker'' (1959), the story of Helen Keller's childhood education, which won him the Tony Award for Best Play after he adapted it from his original 1957 telefilm script. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden Boy (play)
''Golden Boy'' is a drama by Clifford Odets. The play was initially produced on Broadway by The Group Theatre in 1937. Odets' biggest hit was made into a 1939 film of the same name, starring William Holden in his breakthrough role, and also served as the basis for a 1964 musical with Sammy Davis Jr. Plot Joe Bonaparte, a young Italian American man and talented violinist, dreams of becoming a professional musician. Joe, however, fights a boxing match for manager Tom Moody, which he wins. Joe's father, Mr. Bonaparte, has scraped up enough money to afford a top-of-the-line violin for Joe's 21st birthday. However, upon learning of Joe's fight from Joe's brother Frank, Mr. Bonaparte decides not to give Joe the violin. Two months later, Joe has become a successful boxer for Moody and Roxy Gottlieb, a prizefight promoter. However, Joe won't throw punches, attempting to protect his hands. Later, Joe prepares to go on a boxing tour, where Mr. Bonaparte presents Joe with the violi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clifford Odets
Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 – August 14, 1963) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize–winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withdraw from Broadway's commercial pressures and increasing critical backlash. From January 1935, Odets's socially relevant dramas were extremely influential, particularly for the remainder of the Great Depression. His works inspired the next several generations of playwrights, including Arthur Miller, Paddy Chayefsky, Neil Simon, and David Mamet. After the production of his play '' Clash by Night'' in the 1941–42 season, Odets focused his energies primarily on film projects, remaining in Hollywood until mid-1948. He returned to New York for five and a half years, during which time he produced three more Broadway plays, only one of which was a success. His prominence was eventually eclipsed by Miller, Tennessee Williams, and, in the early- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prince Of Wales Theatre
The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre in Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in London. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner. The theatre should not be confused with the former Scala Theatre in London that was known as the ''Prince of Wales Royal Theatre'' or ''Prince of Wales's Theatre'' from 1865 until its demolition in 1903. History Phipps' theatre The first theatre on the site opened in January 1884 when Charles J. Phipps, C.J. Phipps built the Prince's Theatre for actor-manager Edgar Bruce. It was a traditional three-tier theatre, seating just over 1,000 people. The theatre was renamed the Prince of Wales Theatre in 1886 after the future Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Edward VII. Located between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square, the theatre was favourably situated to attract theatregoers. The first production in the theatre was an 1884 revival of W. S. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sammy Davis Jr
Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and musician. At age two, Davis began his career in Vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which toured nationally, and his film career began in 1933. After military service, Davis returned to the trio and became a sensation following key nightclub performances at Ciro's (in West Hollywood) in 1951, including one after the 23rd Academy Awards, Academy Awards ceremony. With the trio, he became a recording artist. In 1954, at the age of 29, he lost his left eye in a car accident. Several years later, he converted to Judaism, finding commonalities between the oppression experienced both by black Americans and Jewish communities.Sammy Davis Jr. Biography Biography.com. Retrieve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garson Kanin
Garson Kanin (November 24, 1912 – March 13, 1999) was an American writer and director of plays and films. Early life Garson Kanin was born in Rochester, New York; his Jewish family later relocated to Detroit then to New York City. He attended James Madison High School (Brooklyn), James Madison High School in Brooklyn, dropping out to take up a career on the theatre stage. He subsequently became a professional saxophone player and leader of his own band that went by the name Garson Kanin and His Red Hot Peppers. During this period, he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts pursuing an acting career. Career Stage Garson Kanin began his show-business career as a jazz musician, burlesque comedian, and actor. He graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and made his Broadway debut in ''Little Ol' Boy'' (1933). In 1935, Kanin was cast in a George Abbott play and soon became Abbott's assistant. Kanin made his Broadway debut as a director in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
