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Maidie Norman
Maidie Ruth Norman (October 16, 1912 – May 2, 1998) was an American radio, stage, film, and television actress as well as an instructor in African-American literature and theater. Early life Norman was born Maidie Ruth Gamble on a plantation in Villa Rica, Georgia, to Louis and Lila Graham Gamble. She was raised in Lima, Ohio, and began studying drama and performing in Shakespeare plays as a child. She graduated from Central High School in Lima in 1930, and attended Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1934. She then got her master's degree in drama at Columbia University in 1937. She married real-estate broker McHenry Norman on December 22, 1937. She later used her husband's surname as her professional name. Career Acting Norman began her career in radio with appearances on ''The Jack Benny Program'' and ''Amos 'n' Andy''. In 1946, she began studying at the Actors' Laboratory Theatre in Hollywood. She made her stage deb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carl Van Vechten
Carl Van Vechten (; June 17, 1880December 21, 1964) was an American writer and Fine-art photography, artistic photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary estate, literary executor of Gertrude Stein. He gained fame as a writer, and notoriety as well, for his 1926 novel ''Nigger Heaven''. In his later years, he took up photography and took many portraits of notable people. Although he was married to women for most of his adult years, Van Vechten engaged in numerous homosexual affairs during his lifetime. Life and career Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he was the youngest child of Charles Duane Van Vechten and Ada Amanda Van Vechten (née Fitch). Both of his parents were well educated. His father was a wealthy, prominent banker. His mother established the Cedar Rapids Public Library and had great musical talent. As a child, Van Vechten developed a passion for music and theatre. He graduated from Washington High School (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Washington High ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Susan Slept Here
''Susan Slept Here'' is a 1954 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Dick Powell (in his last film role) and Debbie Reynolds. Shot in Technicolor, the film is based on the play of the same name by Steve Fisher and Alex Gottlieb. Tashlin later revised the film's plotline and reused it in 1962 for the production '' Bachelor Flat''. Comedian Red Skelton has a minor role. Plot Mark Christopher is a successful 35-year-old Hollywood screenwriter who has suffered from partial writer's block since winning an Academy Award and has been unable to produce a decent script. One Christmas Eve, he receives an unexpected and very unwanted surprise present. Vice Squad Sergeant Sam Hanlon brings 17-year-old Susan Landis to Mark's luxurious apartment. Susan had been abandoned by her mother and was arrested for vagrancy and hitting a sailor over the head with a beer bottle. Not wanting to keep her in jail over the holidays and aware that Mark was interested in writin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Jeffersons
''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985. Lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes, ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longest-running sitcoms in history. Premise The show focuses on George and Louise Jefferson, a prosperous black couple who have been able to move from Queens to Manhattan owing to the success of George's dry-cleaning chain, Jefferson Cleaners. The show was launched as the second (and longest running) spin-off of ''All in the Family'' (after '' Maude''), on which the Jeffersons had been the neighbors of Archie and Edith Bunker. The show was the creation of Norman Lear. ''The Jeffersons'' eventually evolved into more of a traditional sitcom, but episodes occasionally focused on serious issues such as alcoholism, racism, suicide, gun control, being transgender, the KKK, and adult illiteracy. The epithets ''nigger'' and '' honky'' were used occasionally, especially dur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Good Times
''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans (actor), Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first African American two-parent family sitcom. It is a Spin-off (media), spin-off of ''Maude (TV series), Maude'', itself a spin-off of ''All in the Family''. Compared to many other popular sitcoms by Norman Lear, ''Good Times'' also tackled some challenging and complex issues such as: gang warfare, racism, widowhood, poverty, education, child abuse, unemployment, evictions, financial struggles, paraplegia, dating, stealing, mugging, engagements, affairs and rent parties. Synopsis Florida and James (renamed from Henry) Evans and their three children live at 963 North Gilbert Avenue, apartment 17C, in a public housing project in a poor, black neighborhood in inner-city Chicago. The project is unnamed on the show but is implicitl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Raisin In The Sun
''A Raisin in the Sun'' is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" (also known as "A Dream Deferred") by Langston Hughes. The story tells of a black family's experiences in south Chicago, as they attempt to improve their financial circumstances with an insurance payout following the death of their father, and deals with matters of housing discrimination, racism, and assimilation. The New York Drama Critics' Circle named it the best play of 1959, and in recent years publications such as ''The Independent'' and '' Time Out'' have listed it among the best plays ever written. Plot Walter and Ruth Younger, and their son Travis, along with Walter's mother Lena (Mama) and younger sister Beneatha, live in poverty in a run-down two-bedroom apartment on Chicago's South Side. Walter is barely making a living as a limousine driver. Though Ruth is content with their lot, Walter desperately wishes for more. He hopes to invest i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Casey
''Ben Casey'' is an American medical drama television series that aired on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, ✳, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe said "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity." Neurosurgeon Joseph Ransohoff served as a medical consultant for the show. Plot The series stars Vince Edwards as medical doctor Ben Casey, the young, intense, and idealistic neurosurgeon at County General Hospital. His mentor is chief of neurosurgery Doctor David Zorba, played by Sam Jaffe, who, in the pilot episode, tells a colleague that Casey is "the best chief resident this place has known in 20 years." In its first season, the series and Vince Edwards were nominated for Emmy awards. Additional nominations at the 14th Primetime Emmy Awards on May 22, 1962 went to Sam Jaffe, Jeanne Cooper (for the episode "But Linda Only Smiled"), Joan Hackett (for the episode "A Certain Time, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965, it was renamed ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour''. Hitchcock himself directed only 17 episodes during its run. By the time the show premiered on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades. In the 21st century, ''Time'' magazine named ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' as one of "The 100 Best TV Shows of All Time". The Writers Guild of America ranked it #79 on their list of the 101 Best-Written TV Series, tying it with '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. In 2021, '' Rolling Stone'' ranked it 18th on its list of 30 Best Horror TV Shows of All Time. History ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is well known for its title sequence. The camera fades i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perry Mason (1957 TV Series)
''Perry Mason'' is an American legal drama series aired on CBS from September 21, 1957, to May 22, 1966. The Perry Mason, title character, played by Raymond Burr, is a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner. Many episodes were based on stories written by Gardner. ''Perry Mason'' was one of Hollywood's first weekly one-hour series filmed for television, and remains one of the longest-running and most successful legal-themed television series. During its first season, it received a 10th Primetime Emmy Awards, Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Dramatic Series and it became one of the five most popular shows on television. Burr received two Emmy Awards for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and Barbara Hale received an Emmy Award for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Loretta Young Show
''The Loretta Young Show'' (originally known as ''Letter to Loretta'') is an American anthology drama television series broadcast on Sunday nights from September 2, 1953, to June 4, 1961, on NBC for a total of 165 episodes. The series was hosted by actress Loretta Young, who also played the lead in various episodes. Series overview ''The Loretta Young Show'' was sponsored by Procter & Gamble for its first six seasons, from 1953 to 1959. After a dispute with her sponsor, Young found other sponsors to sustain her program: The Toni Company (1959–1961), Philip Morris (1959–60), and Warner-Lambert's Listerine (1960–61). The program began with the premise that each drama was an answer to a question asked in her fan mail; the program's original title was ''Letter to Loretta''. The title was changed to ''The Loretta Young Show'' during the first season (as of February 14, 1954), and the "letter" concept was dropped altogether at the end of the second season. At this time, Youn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion-picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her roles, Crawford launched a publicity campaign and built an image as a nationally known flapper by the end of the 1920s. By the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking, young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well received by Great Depression, Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money. By the end of the 1930s, she was labeled "Box Office Pois ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic, sardonic characters and was known for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical film, historical and period films and occasional comedies, although her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, was the first person to accrue ten Academy Award nominations (and one write-in) for acting, and was the first woman to receive a AFI Life Achievement Award, Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. In 1999, Davis was placed second on the American Film Institute's AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, list of the greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema. After appearing in Broadway theatre, Broadway plays, Davis move ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? (film)
''What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?'' is a 1962 American psychological horror thriller film directed and produced by Robert Aldrich, from a screenplay by Lukas Heller, based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Henry Farrell. The film stars Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, and features the major film debut of Victor Buono. It follows an aging former child star tormenting her paraplegic sister, also a former film star, in an old Hollywood mansion. ''What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?'' was released in theaters in the United States on October 31, 1962, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was met with critical acclaim and was a box office success. It was nominated for five Academy Awards and won one for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White, with Davis receiving her tenth and final nomination for Best Actress. The alleged bitter rivalry between the two stars, Davis and Crawford, was pivotal to the film's initial success, which helped revitalize their careers. In the years after re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
