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Mercury Theater
The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman. The company produced theatrical presentations, radio programs and motion pictures. The Mercury also released promptbooks and phonographic recordings of four Shakespeare works for use in schools. After a series of acclaimed Broadway productions, the Mercury Theatre progressed into its most popular incarnation as ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air''. The radio series included one of the most notable and infamous radio broadcasts of all time, "The War of the Worlds", broadcast October 30, 1938. The ''Mercury Theatre on the Air'' produced live radio dramas in 1938–1940 and again briefly in 1946. In addition to Welles, the Mercury players included Ray Collins, Joseph Cotten, George Coulouris, Martin Gabel, Norman Lloyd, Agnes Moorehead, Paul Stewart, and Everett Sloane. Much of the troupe would later appear in Welles's films at RKO, particu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caesar (Mercury Theatre)
''Caesar'' is the title of Orson Welles, Orson Welles's innovative 1937 adaptation of William Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar (play), Julius Caesar'', a modern-dress bare-stage production that evoked comparison to contemporary Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Considered Welles's highest achievement in the theatre, it premiered November 11, 1937, as the first production of the Mercury Theatre, an independent repertory theatre company that presented an acclaimed series of productions on Broadway theatre, Broadway through 1941. Production Breaking with the Federal Theatre Project in 1937, Orson Welles and John Houseman founded their own repertory company, which they called the Mercury Theatre. The name was inspired by the title of the iconoclastic magazine, ''The American Mercury''. The original company included such actors as Joseph Cotten, George Coulouris, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ruth Ford (actress), Ruth Ford, Arlene Francis, Martin Gabel, John Hoyt, J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor. He was known for his work in the horror film genre, mostly portraying villains. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures and one for television. Price's first film role was as a leading man in the 1938 comedy ''Service de Luxe''. He became a character actor, appearing in ''The Song of Bernadette (film), The Song of Bernadette'' (1943), ''Laura (1944 film), Laura'' (1944), ''The Keys of the Kingdom (film), The Keys of the Kingdom'' (1944), ''Leave Her to Heaven'' (1945), ''Dragonwyck (film), Dragonwyck'' (1946), ''The Three Musketeers (1948 film), The Three Musketeers'' (1948) and ''The Ten Commandments (1956 film), The Ten Commandments'' (1956). He established himself in the horror genre with roles in ''House of Wax (1953 film), House of Wax'' (1953), ''The Fly (1958 film), The Fly'' (1958 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio Drama
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story: "It is auditory in the physical dimension but equally powerful as a visual force in the psychological dimension." Radio drama includes plays specifically written for radio, docudrama, dramatised works of fiction, as well as Play (theatre), plays originally written for the theatre, including musical theatre, and opera. Radio drama achieved widespread popularity within a decade of its initial development in the 1920s. By the 1940s, it was a leading international popular entertainment. With the advent of television in the 1950s, radio drama began losing its audience. However, it remains popular in much of the world. Recordings of OTR (old-time radio) survive today in the audio archives of collectors, lib ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mercury Theatre On The Air
''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' is a radio series of live radio dramas created and hosted by Orson Welles. The weekly hour-long show presented classic literary works performed by Welles's celebrated Mercury Theatre repertory company, with music composed or arranged by Bernard Herrmann. The series began July 11, 1938, as a sustaining program on the CBS Radio network, airing Mondays at 9 pm ET. On September 11, the show moved to Sundays at 8 pm. The show made headlines with its "The War of the Worlds (1938 radio drama), The War of the Worlds" broadcast on October 30, one of the most famous broadcasts in the history of radio due to the panic it allegedly caused, after which the Campbell Soup Company signed on as sponsor. ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' made its last broadcast on December 4 of that year, and ''The Campbell Playhouse (radio series), The Campbell Playhouse'' began five days later, on December 9. Production After the theatrical successes of the Mercury Theatre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broadway Theatre
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of Broadway theaters, extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling ''Theatre'' as the proper noun in their names. Many performers and trade groups for live dramatic presentations also use the spelling ''theatre''. or Broadway, is a theatre genre that consists of the theatrical performances presented in 41 professional Theater (structure), theaters, each with 500 or more seats, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End theatre, West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world. While the Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway thoroughfare is eponymous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Houseman
John Houseman (born Jacques Haussmann; September 22, 1902 – October 31, 1988) was a Romanians, Romanian-born British Americans, British-American theatre and film producer, actor, director, and teacher. He became known for his highly publicized collaboration with director Orson Welles from their days in the Federal Theatre Project through to the production of ''Citizen Kane''. He enjoyed a distinguished career as an influential producer of both the stage and screen, and was the founding director of the Juilliard School and co-founder of The Acting Company. Houseman was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture for producing William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, ''William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar'' (1953). As an actor, Houseman won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Professor Charles W. Kingsfield in the 1973 film ''The Paper Chase (film), The Paper Chase'', which he reprised in the 1978 The Paper Chase (TV ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Repertory Theatre
A repertory theatre, also called repertory, rep, true rep or stock, which are also called producing theatres, is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing her support from the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Horniman's Gaiety Theatre opened its first season in September 1908. The opening of the Gaiety was followed by the Citizens' Theatre in Glasgow, the Liverpool Repertory Theatre and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Previously, regional theatre relied on mostly London touring ensembles. During the time the theatre was being run by Annie Horniman, a wide variety of types of plays were produced. Horniman encouraged local writers who became known as the Manchester School of playwrights. They included Allan Monkhouse, Harold Brighouse—writer of '' Hobson's Choice''—and Stanley Houghton, who wrote ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Wilson (producer)
Richard Alan Wilson (December 25, 1915 – August 21, 1991) was an American director, actor, writer and producer closely associated with Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre. accessed 20 April 2014 Select filmography 
* ''The Lady from Shanghai'' (1948) - associate producer
* ''Macbeth (1948 film), Macbeth'' (1948) - associate producer
*''Man with the Gun'' (1955) - direct ...
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Mary Wickes
Mary Wickes (born Mary Isabella Wickenhauser; June 13, 1910 – October 22, 1995) was an American actress. She often played supporting roles as prim, professional women, secretaries, nurses, nuns, therapists, teachers and housekeepers, who made sarcastic quips when the leading characters fell short of her high standards. Early life Wickes was born to Frank Wickenhauser and his wife, Mary Isabella (née Shannon), in University City which is a suburb in Saint Louis County Missouri on June 13, 1910; she was of German, Scottish, and Irish extraction, and raised Protestant. Her parents were theater buffs, and they took her to plays from the time that she could stay awake through a matinee. An excellent student, she skipped two grades and graduated at 16 from Beaumont High School. She was accepted into Washington University in St. Louis, where she joined the debate team and the Phi Mu sorority, and was initiated into Mortar Board in 1929. She graduated in 1930 with a double major in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruth Warrick
Ruth Elizabeth Warrick (June 29, 1916 – January 15, 2005) was an American singer, actress and political activist, best known for her role as Phoebe Tyler Wallingford on ''All My Children'', which she played regularly from 1970 until her death in 2005. She made her film debut in ''Citizen Kane'', and years later celebrated her 80th birthday by attending a special screening of the film. Early life and career Ruth Warrick was born June 29, 1916, in Saint Joseph, Missouri, to Frederick Roswell Warrick and Annie Louise Warrick, née Scott. By writing an essay in high school called "Prevention and Cure of Tuberculosis", Warrick won a contest to be Miss Jubilesta, Missouri's paid ambassador to New York City. There she began her career as a radio singer, and met her first husband Erik Rolf. Warrick's first big break was being hired by a young Orson Welles for ''Citizen Kane'' (1941), in which she played Emily Monroe Norton, niece of the President of the United States and Kane ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Stewart (actor)
Paul Stewart (born Paul Sternberg; March 13, 1908 – February 17, 1986) was an American character actor, director and producer who worked in theatre, radio, films and television. He frequently portrayed cynical and sinister characters throughout his career. A friend and associate of Orson Welles for many years, Stewart helped Welles get his first job in radio and was associate producer of the celebrated radio program "The War of the Worlds", in which he also performed. One of the Mercury Theatre players who made their film debut in Welles's landmark film ''Citizen Kane'', Stewart portrayed Kane's butler and valet, Raymond. He appeared in 50 films, and performed in or directed some 5,000 radio and television shows. Biography Paul Stewart was born in Manhattan, New York, on March 13, 1908, as Paul Sternberg. His parents were Maurice D. Sternberg, a salesman and credit agent for a textile manufacturer, and Nathalie C. (née Nathanson) Sternberg; both were born in Minneapoli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Everett Sloane
Everett H. Sloane (October 1, 1909 – August 6, 1965) was an American character actor who worked in radio, theatre, films, and television. Early life Sloane was born in Manhattan on October 1, 1909, to Nathaniel I. Sloane and Rose (Gerstein) Sloane.Ancestry.com, ''California, Death Index, 1940–1996'' [database online], Provo, Utah. US: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2000. Retrieved December 30, 2014. Aged seven, he played Puck (Shakespeare), Puck in a production of William Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' at Manhattan's Public School 46, and decided to become an actor. He completed two years at the University of Pennsylvania, and left in 1927 to join Jasper Deeter's Hedgerow Theatre repertory company. He made his New York stage debut in 1928. Sloane took a Wall Street job as a stockbroker's runner, but when his salary was cut in half after the stock market crash of 1929, he began to supplement his income with radio work. He became the sleuth's assistant on WOR ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
