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Mae Questel
Mae Questel (; born Mae Kwestel; September 13, 1908 – January 4, 1998) was an American actress. She was best known for providing the voices for the animated characters Betty Boop (from 1931) and Olive Oyl (from 1933). Questel began her career in vaudeville, primarily working as an impressionist. She later performed on Broadway and in films and television, including her role as Aunt Bethany in '' National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'' (1989). Early career and Betty Boop Born Mae Kwestel on September 13, 1908, in the Bronx, New York City, to Simon and Freida (née Glauberman) Kwestel, she attended Morris High School and studied acting at the American Theatre Wing and with the Theatre Guild. Although she wanted to be an entertainer, her parents, who were Orthodox Jews, actively discouraged her from doing so, at one point forcing her to leave the Theatre Guild school. Nevertheless, at the age of 17, Questel won a talent contest held at the RKO Fordham Theatre in the Bronx by im ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City borough of Manhattan is across the Harlem River; and to its south and east is the borough of Queens, across the East River. The Bronx, the only New York City borough not primarily located on an island, has a land area of and a population of 1,472,654 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It has the fourth-largest area, fourth-highest population, and third-highest population density of the boroughs.New York State Department of Health''Population, Land Area, and Population Density by County, New York State – 2010'' retrieved on August 8, 2015. The Bronx is divided by the Bronx River into a hillier section in the West Bronx, west, and a flatter East Bronx, easte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helen Kane
Helen Kane (born Helen Clare Schroeder, August 4, 1904 – September 26, 1966) was an American singer and actress. Her signature song was " I Wanna Be Loved by You" (1928), featured in the 1928 stage musical ''Good Boy''. The song was written for ''Good Boy'' by the songwriting team Kalmar and Ruby. Kane's voice and appearance were thought to be a source for Fleischer Studios animators when creating Betty Boop. Kane attempted to sue the studio for claims of stealing her signature "boop-oop-a-doop" style, but the judge decided that the proof of this was insufficient, thus dismissing the case. Fleischer Studios later admitted that Kane had been the inspiration for Betty Boop. Early life Kane attended St. Anselm's Parochial School in The Bronx, New York City. She was the youngest of three children. Her father, Louis Schroeder, a German immigrant, was employed intermittently as a wagon driver; her Irish-immigrant mother, Ellen (born Dixon) Schroeder, worked in a laundry. Kane's mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ZaSu Pitts
ZaSu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who, in a career spanning nearly five decades, starred in many silent film drama film, dramas, such as Erich von Stroheim's 1924 epic ''Greed (1924 film), Greed'', along with comedies, before moving into sound films, mostly comedy roles. She also appeared on numerous radio shows and, later, on television. She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 at 6554 Hollywood Blvd. Early life ZaSu Pitts was born in Parsons, Kansas, the third of four children of Rulandus and Nelly (''née'' Shay) Pitts. Her father, who had lost a leg while serving in the 76th New York Volunteer Infantry, 76th New York Infantry in the American Civil War, Civil War, had settled the family in Kansas before ZaSu's birth. The names of her father's sisters, Eliza and Susan, were purportedly the basis for the name "ZaSu", i.e., to satisfy competing family interests. It has been (incorrectly) spelled as Zazu Pitts in some fil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Segar, Elzie (Crisler) – Encyclopædia Britannica Article . Britannica.com. Retrieved on March 29, 2013.Goulart, Ron, "Popeye", ''St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture''. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. (Volume 4, pp. 87-8).Walker, Brian. ''The Comics: The Complete Collection''. New York: Abrams ComicArts, 2011. (pp. 188-9,191, 238-243) The character first appeared on January 17, 1929, in the daily King Features Syndicate, King Features comic strip ''Thimble Theatre''. The strip was in its tenth year when Popeye made his debut, but the one-eyed sailor quickly became the lead character, and ''Thimble Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, as an animation studio, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney, Roy Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it later operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before adopting its current name in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film ''Steamboat Willie.'' The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse, who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon. After becoming a success by the early 1940s, Disney diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. However, followin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wolf. The film stars Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Stubby Kaye, and Joanna Cassidy, along with the voices of Charles Fleischer and an uncredited Kathleen Turner. Combining Live-action animated film, live-action and animation, the film is set in an alternate history Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood in 1947, where humans and cartoon characters (referred to as "toons") co-exist. Its plot follows Eddie Valiant, a private Detective, investigator with a grudge against toons, who must help exonerate Roger Rabbit, a toon Frameup, framed for murder. Walt Disney Pictures purchased the film rights for the story in 1981. Price and Seaman wrote two drafts of the script before Disney brought in executive producer Steven Spielberg and his production comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
On The Good Ship Lollipop
"On the Good Ship Lollipop" is a song composed by Richard A. Whiting with lyrics by Sidney Clare. It was the signature song of child actress Shirley Temple. Temple first sang it in the 1934 film '' Bright Eyes''. In the song, the "Good Ship Lollipop" travels to a candy land. The "ship" referred to in the song is an aircraft; the scene in ''Bright Eyes'' where the song appears takes place on a taxiing American Airlines Douglas DC-2. 400,000 copies of the sheet music, published by Sam Fox Publishing Company, were sold, and one recording by Mae Questel (the cartoon voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl) reputedly sold more than two million copies. It finished at #69 in the survey AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs of top tunes in cinema in the United States in June 2004. In popular culture In February 1974, the song was parodied on an episode of ''The Brady Bunch'', the episode being "The Snooperstar" in which Cindy becomes convinced that Mike's fussy client Penelope Fletcher ( Nata ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animation
Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animation has been recognised as an artistic medium, specifically within the entertainment industry. Many animations are either traditional animations or computer animations made with computer-generated imagery (CGI). Stop motion animation, in particular claymation, has continued to exist alongside these other forms. Animation is contrasted with live action, although the two do not exist in isolation. Many moviemakers have produced films that are a hybrid of the two. As CGI increasingly approximates photographic imagery, filmmakers can easily composite 3D animations into their film rather than using practical effects for showy visual effects (VFX). General overview Computer animation can be very detailed 3D animation, while 2D c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clara Bow
Clara Gordon Bow (; July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the film ''It (1927 film), It'' brought her global fame and the nickname "It girl, The It Girl". Bow came to personify the Roaring Twenties and is described as its leading sex symbol. Bow appeared in 46 silent films and 11 talkies, including hits such as ''Mantrap (1926 film), Mantrap'' (1926), ''It'' (1927), and ''Wings (1927 film), Wings'' (1927). She was named first box-office draw in 1928 and 1929 and second box-office draw in 1927 and 1930. Her presence in a motion picture was said to have ensured investors, by odds of almost two-to-one, a "safe return". At the apex of her stardom, she received more than 45,000 fan mail, fan letters in a single month, in January 1929. Two years after marrying actor Rex Bell in 1931 and having two childr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Fleischer
Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 11, 1972) was an American animator and studio owner. Born in Kraków, in Austrian Poland, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios, which he co-founded with his younger brother Dave. He brought such comic characters as Koko the Clown, Betty Boop, Popeye, and Superman to the movie screen, and was responsible for several technological innovations, including the Rotoscope, the " Follow the Bouncing Ball" technique pioneered in the '' Ko-Ko Song Car-Tunes'' films, and the " Stereoptical Process". Film director Richard Fleischer was his son. Early life Majer Fleischer was born July 19, 1883, to a Jewish family in Kraków (then in the Austrian Partition of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). He was the second of six children of a tailor from Dąbrowa Tarnowska, Aaron Fleischer, who later changed his na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Auguste Chevalier (; 12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor, and entertainer. He is best known for his signature songs, including " Livin' In The Sunlight", " Valentine", " Louise", " Mimi", and " Thank Heaven for Little Girls", and for his films, including '' The Love Parade'', '' The Big Pond'', '' The Smiling Lieutenant'', '' One Hour with You'', and '' Love Me Tonight''. His trademark attire was a boater hat and tuxedo. Chevalier was born in Paris. He made his name as a star of musical comedy, appearing in public as a singer and dancer at an early age before working in menial jobs as a teenager. In 1909, he became the partner of the biggest female star in France at the time, Fréhel. Although their relationship was brief, she secured him his first major engagement, as a mimic and a singer in ''l'Alcazar'' in Marseille, for which he received critical acclaim by French theatre critics. In 1917, he discovered jazz and ragtime and went to Londo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mae West
Mary Jane "Mae" West (August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American actress, singer, comedian, screenwriter, and playwright whose career spanned more than seven decades. Recognized as a prominent sex symbol of her time, she was known for portraying sexually confident characters and for her use of double entendres, often delivering her lines in a distinctive contralto voice. West began performing in vaudeville and on stage in New York City before moving on to film in Los Angeles. She was frequently associated with controversies over Film censorship, censorship and once stated, "I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it." As her film career declined, she remained active by writing books and plays, performing in Las Vegas and London, and appearing on radio and television. In later years, she also released rock and roll recordings. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her 15th among the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, greatest female screen legends of Classic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
