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Nichols And May
Nichols and May was an American improvisational comedy duo act developed by Mike Nichols (1931–2014) and Elaine May (born 1932). Their three comedy albums reached the Billboard Top 40 between 1959 and 1962.Holland, Bill (September 28, 1996). '50s trailblazers brought social satire to the masses. ''Billboard'', p. 1. Many comedians have cited them as key influences in modern comedy. Woody Allen declared, “the two of them came along and elevated comedy to a brand-new level". Partnership Development Nichols and May met as students at the University of Chicago in the early 1950s.Staff report (Nov 21, 1960)Fun with human foibles: Nichols and May's satire prickles and tickles.''Life'' They began their career together at The Compass Players, a predecessor to Chicago's Second City which included Paul Sills, Del Close, Loretta Chiljian, and Nancy Ponder.Coleman, Janet (1991)''The Compass: The Improvisational Theatre That Revolutionized American Comedy'' University Of Chicago P ...
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Sound Recording And Reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, Mechanical system, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording. Acoustic analog recording is achieved by a microphone diaphragm that senses changes in atmospheric pressure caused by acoustics, acoustic sound waves and records them as a mechanical representation of the sound waves on a medium such as a phonograph record (in which a stylus cuts grooves on a record). In magnetic tape recording, the sound waves vibrate the microphone diaphragm and are converted into a varying electric current, which is then converted to a varying magnetic field by an electromagnet, which makes a representation of the sound as magnetized areas on a plastic tape with a magnetic coating on it. Analog sound reproduction is the reverse process, with a large ...
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Elaine May Mike Nichols Dorothy Loudon Laugh Line 1959
Elaine may refer to: Arts and entertainment * , opera composed by Herman Bemberg * "Elaine" (short story), 1945 short story by J. D. Salinger * "Elaine" (song), by ABBA Places * Elaine, Victoria, a town in Australia * Elaine, Arkansas, a US city People * Elaine (given name), real people and fictional characters with the given name * Elaine (legend), name shared by several different female characters in Arthurian legend, including: ** Elaine of Astolat ** Elaine of Corbenic * Elaine (singer), South African singer See also * Elaine's, a New York City restaurant * ''The Exploits of Elaine ''The Exploits of Elaine'' is a 1914 American Serial (film), film serial in the damsel in distress genre of ''The Perils of Pauline (1914 serial), The Perils of Pauline'' (1914). ''The Exploits of Elaine'' tells the story of a young woman named ...'', 1914 film serial in the genre of ''The Perils of Pauline'' * "Miss Elaine", song by Run–D.M.C. from the album '' Tougher Than Lea ...
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The Steve Allen Show
''The Steve Allen Show'' is an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC,The Steve Allen Show
from the
and in first-run syndication from 1962 to 1964. The first three seasons aired on Sunday nights at 8:00pm Eastern Time, directly opposite ''''. It moved to Mondays ...
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Jack Rollins (producer)
Jack Koeppel Rollins (born Jacob Rabinowitz; March 23, 1915 – June 18, 2015) was an American film and television producer and talent manager of comedians and television personalities. His first major success came in the 1950s when he managed actor and singer Harry Belafonte. Rollins co-wrote the song "Man Piaba" with Belafonte on his debut RCA Victor album '' Mark Twain and other Folk Favorites'', released in 1954. In 1958, he helped create and promote the comedy duo Nichols and May. He went on to help shepherd the careers of several prominent comedians with his partner Charles H. Joffe, beginning in 1960 with Woody Allen and later with Dick Cavett, Billy Crystal, David Letterman, and Robin Williams. Rollins' work as a film and television producer was closely tied to the artists that he managed. He was credited as an executive producer on many of the films directed by Woody Allen from 1969 to 2015. From 1970 to 1972, he was an executive producer on ABC's '' The Dick Cavett ...
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Gerald Nachman (journalist)
Gerald Weil Nachman (January 13, 1938 – April 14, 2018) was an American journalist and author from San Francisco. Biography Nachman was born January 13, 1938, to Leonard Calvert Nachman, a salesman and actor in the Little Theater movement, and Isabel (Weil) Nachman. He received an associate of arts degree from Merritt College, in 1958, and then a bachelor of arts degree from San Jose State University in 1960, beginning as a TV reviewer and humor columnist at what was then called the San Jose Mercury while he was still a student. He was a feature writer for the ''New York Post'' from 1964–66 and a feature writer and TV critic for New York Daily News from 1972–79, with a stop in the middle as columnist and film critic for the ''Oakland Tribune''. For a time he was best known for his syndicated humor columns, “Double Take” and “The Single Life.” In 1979, he joined The Chronicle as a columnist and theater critic, reviewing not just theater but also film, cabaret and c ...
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Shelley Berman
Sheldon Leonard Berman (February 3, 1925 – September 1, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, writer, teacher, and lecturer. He was awarded three gold records for his comedy albums and he won the first Grammy Award for a spoken comedy recording in 1959. In 2008 he was nominated for an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Larry David's father on '' Curb Your Enthusiasm. Berman taught humor writing at the University of Southern California for more than 20 years. Early life and education Berman was born in Chicago, the son of Irene (née Marks) and Nathan Berman. He was Jewish. He had a younger brother, Ronald. He served in the Navy during World War II, after which he enrolled in Chicago's Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago (now at DePaul University) as a drama student. There he met fellow student Sarah Herman, whom he married in 1947. His career began with an acting company in Woodstock, Illinois, and in 1949 he and his wife made their way to New York City ...
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Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American acting coach and actor. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective". In 1951, he became director of the nonprofit Actors Studio in New York City, considered "the nation's most prestigious acting school," and, in 1966, he was involved in the creation of Actors Studio West in Los Angeles. Although other highly regarded teachers also developed versions of "The Method," Lee Strasberg is considered to be the "father of method acting in America," according to author Mel Gussow. From the 1920s until his death in 1982, "he revolutionized the art of acting by having a profound influence on performance in American theater and film." From his base in New York, Strasberg trained several generations of theatre and film notables, including Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, ...
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Nancy Ponder
Nancy may refer to: Places France * Nancy, France, a city in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle and formerly the capital of the duchy of Lorraine ** Arrondissement of Nancy, surrounding and including the city of Nancy ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Nancy, surrounding and including the city of Nancy ** École de Nancy, the spearhead of the Art Nouveau in France ** Musée de l'École de Nancy, a museum * Nancy-sur-Cluses, Haute-Savoie United States * Nancy, Kentucky * Nancy, Texas * Nancy, Virginia * Mount Nancy, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire People * Nancy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Nancy (singer) (Nancy Jewel McDonie; born 2000), member of Momoland * Nancy Ajram, Lebanese singer and businesswoman, commonly known mononymously as "Nancy" in the Arab World * Jean-Luc Nancy (1940–2021), French philosopher * Nazmun Munira Nancy, Bangladeshi singer Entertainment * ''Nancy'' (Nanc ...
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Loretta Chiljian
Loretta is a female given name, the masculine version being Lauro. The name is a diminutive form of Lora, itself a form of Laura, which refers to the laurel tree, a symbol of victory. This name is Italian in origin; it was popularized in the United States in the 1930s. It has many variant forms, including Laura, Lora, Loreen, Lorene, Lorinda/Laurinda (English), Lauretta, Loreta, and Loreto (Italian). People with this name * Loretta Bradley (born 1933), American professor * Loretta de Braose, Countess of Leicester, (c. 1185-c. 1266) *Loretta Carter Hanes (1926–2016), American educator, activist *Loretta Chase (born Loretta Lynda Chekani, 1949), American writer * Loretta Chen (born 1976), Singaporean theatre director and actor *Loretta Claiborne, American global speaker who competes in the Special Olympics *Loretta Devine (born 1949), American actress *Loretta Doyle (born 1963), British judoka *Loretta Goggi (born 1950), Italian singer, actress, television host, and dancer * L ...
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Del Close
Del Close (March 9, 1934 – March 4, 1999) was an American actor, writer, and teacher who coached many of the best-known comedians and comic actors of the late twentieth century. In addition to an acting career in television and film, he was one of the influences on modern improvisational theater. Close was co-founder of the ImprovOlympic (iO). Life and career Early life Close was born on March 9, 1934, in Manhattan, Kansas. He ran away from home at the age of 17 to work in a traveling side show, but returned to attend Kansas State University. At age 19 he performed in summer stock with the Belfry Players at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. At age 23 he became a member of the Compass Players in St. Louis. When most of the cast—including Mike Nichols and Elaine May—moved to New York City, Close followed. He developed a stand-up comedy act, starred as the Yogi in the Broadway musical revue ''The Nervous Set'', and performed briefly with an improv company in Greenwich Village w ...
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Paul Sills
Paul Sills (born Paul Silverberg; November 18, 1927 – June 2, 2008) was an American director and improvisation teacher, and the original director of Chicago's The Second City. Life and career Sills was born Paul Silverberg in Chicago, Illinois, to a family who believed in the teachings of modern-day Judaism. His mother was teacher and writer Viola Spolin, who authored the first book on improvisation techniques, ''Improvisation for the Theater''. Spolin in turn was the student of play therapy theorist Neva Boyd. In 1948, Sills enrolled in the University of Chicago, where he established himself as a director, co-founding Playwright's Theater Club. There, with fellow actors Ed Asner, Edward Asner, Byrne Piven and Zohra Lampert, they blended Spolin's improvisational techniques with established theater training. In 1955, Sills and David Shepherd (producer), David Shepherd founded the Compass Players, the first improvisational theater in the United States, where he directed Shelley ...
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The Second City
The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has become one of the most influential and renowned in the English-speaking world. In February 2021, ZMC, a private equity investment firm based in Manhattan, purchased the Second City. The Second City has produced television programs in both Canada and the United States, including '' SCTV'', ''Second City Presents'', and '' Next Comedy Legend''. It has been a starting point for many comedians, award-winning actors, directors, and others in show business, including Joan Rivers, Del Close, Alan Alda, Alan Arkin, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, John Candy, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Dave Thomas, Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, Mike Myers, Nia Vardalos, Steve Carell, J ...
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