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Sextette
''Sextette'' is a 1978 American musical comedy film directed by Ken Hughes, and starring Mae West in her final film, alongside an ensemble cast including Timothy Dalton, Dom DeLuise, Tony Curtis, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, George Hamilton, Alice Cooper, and Walter Pidgeon. Produced by Daniel Briggs, Robert Sullivan, and Harry Weiss for the production company Briggs and Sullivan, the screenplay was dramatized for the screen by Herbert Baker, from West's final stage performance play of the same title, later renamed ''Sextet'', which West herself had written (based on a story idea by Charlotte Francis) and originally performed in 1961. Costumes were designed by Edith Head. Filmed at Paramount Studios, ''Sextette'' was West's final film, as well as that of Pidgeon and Moon. Featured were cameos by Rona Barrett, Regis Philbin, and George Raft, all of whom appeared as themselves. The film was a major box-office bomb, grossing just $50,000 against an estimated budget of $4–8 million. ...
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Rona Barrett
Rona Barrett (born Rona Burstein, October 8, 1936) is an American gossip columnist and businesswoman. She runs the Rona Barrett Foundation, a non-profit organization in Santa Ynez, California, dedicated to the aid and support of senior citizens in need. Early life and career Barrett was born on October 8, 1936, into a Jewish family in New York City. As a teenager, she overcame a degenerative hip condition that made walking extremely difficult, and organized fan clubs for popular singers she admired, such as Eddie Fisher and Steve Lawrence. She became a gossip columnist for the Bell-McClure Syndicate in 1957, and soon went to work for Bob Marcucci, the manager for teen idols Frankie Avalon and Fabian. In 1966, she began broadcasting Hollywood gossip on the Los Angeles television station KABC-TV. She could be seen on TV regularly, appearing on ABC's five owned and operated stations around the country. WABC-TV in New York put her pre-recorded gossip segment into its night ...
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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 ...
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Ken Hughes
Kenneth Graham Hughes (19 January 1922 – 28 April 2001) was an English film director and screenwriter. He worked on over 30 feature films between 1952 and 1981, including the 1968 musical fantasy film ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'', based on the Ian Fleming Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, novel of the same name. His other notable works included ''The Trials of Oscar Wilde'' (1960), ''Of Human Bondage (1964 film), Of Human Bondage'' (1964), ''Casino Royale (1967 film), Casino Royale'' (1967), and ''Cromwell (film), Cromwell'' (1970). He was an Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Award winner and a three-time BAFTA Award nominee. Hughes has been called "a filmmaker whose output was consistently interesting and entertaining, and deserved more critical attention than it has received." Early life and career Hughes was born in Yates St, Toxteth, Liverpool. His family moved to London soon after. Hughes won an amateur film contest at age 14 and worked as a projectionist. When he was sixteen he went t ...
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George Raft
George Raft (né Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembered for his gangster roles in ''Quick Millions (1931 film), Quick Millions'' (1931) with Spencer Tracy, ''Scarface (1932 film), Scarface'' (1932) with Paul Muni, ''Each Dawn I Die'' (1939) with James Cagney, ''Invisible Stripes'' (1939) with Humphrey Bogart, and Billy Wilder's comedy ''Some Like It Hot'' (1959) with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon; and as a dancer in ''Bolero (1934 film), Bolero'' (1934) with Carole Lombard and a truck driver in ''They Drive by Night'' (1940) with Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino and Bogart. Early life and career Raft was born at 415 West 41st Street in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City, the son of Eva ( Glockner), a German immigrant, and Conrad Ranft, who was born in Massachusetts ...
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Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films, in roles covering a wide range of genres. In his later years, Curtis made numerous television appearances. He achieved his first major recognition as a dramatic actor in '' Sweet Smell of Success'' (1957) with co-star Burt Lancaster. The following year he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for '' The Defiant Ones'' (1958) alongside Sidney Poitier (who was also nominated in the same category). This was followed by the comedies ''Some Like It Hot'' and '' Operation Petticoat'' in 1959. In 1960, Curtis played a supporting role in the epic historical drama ''Spartacus''. His stardom and film career declined considerably after 1960. His most significant dramatic part came in 1968 when he starred in the true-life drama '' The Boston Stran ...
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Crown International Pictures
Crown International Pictures (CIP) was an independent film studio and distribution company formed in 1959 by Newton P. Jacobs. History Jacobs was a branch head of RKO Pictures until 1947, when he formed Favorite Films, an organization which released films acquired from the studios which had originally produced them, long after their first run release. CIP became one of the first franchise distributors for American International Pictures (AIP) product. Like AIP, Crown International is primarily known for low-budget genre films, including biker films, exploitation films, and B-movie drive-in fare. Crown International began releasing both low-budget films as '' Bloodlust!'' and ''The Seventh Commandment'', by American producers, as well as foreign films such as '' First Spaceship on Venus'' and ''Varan the Unbelievable'' (released as a double feature in 1962) which Crown was able to acquire inexpensively, due to the US dollar's strength. Crown began producing its own films, start ...
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George Hamilton (actor)
George Stevens Hamilton (born August 12, 1939) is an American actor. For his debut performance in ''Crime and Punishment U.S.A.'' (1959), Hamilton won a Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award and was nominated for a British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Award. He has received one additional BAFTA nomination and two Golden Globe nominations. Hamilton began his film career in 1958, and although he has a substantial body of work in film and television, he is perhaps most famous for his debonair style, perpetual suntan, and commercials for Ritz Crackers. Bo Derek wrote in her autobiography that "there was an ongoing contest between John Derek and George Hamilton as to who had the most tan!" Early life Hamilton was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and spent his early years with his mother, Annie Lucille Stevens (Hamilton), known as "Teeny" in Blytheville, Arkansas. He attended Beverly Hills Unified School District, Hawthorne School in Beverly Hills, California. In 1950, his mother sent him ...
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Edith Head
Edith Claire Head (née Posener, October 28, 1897 – October 24, 1981) was an American film costume designer who won a record eight Academy Awards for Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Best Costume Design between 1949 and 1973, making her the most awarded woman in the Academy's history. Head is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential costume designers in film history. Born and raised in California, Head started her career as a Spanish teacher, but was interested in design. After studying at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, Head was hired as a costume sketch artist at Paramount Pictures in 1923. She won acclaim for her design of Dorothy Lamour’s trademark sarong in the 1936 film ''The Jungle Princess'', and became a household name after the Academy Award for Best Costume Design was created in 1948. Head was considered exceptional for her close working relationships with her subjects, with whom she consulted extensively; these included virtual ...
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Van McCoy
Van Allen Clinton McCoy (January 6, 1940 – July 6, 1979) was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter and singer. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful hit " The Hustle". He has approximately 700 song copyrights to his credit, and produced songs by such recording artists as Brenda & the Tabulations, David Ruffin, The Stylistics, The Presidents, Faith, Hope & Charity, New Censation, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Aretha Franklin, Peaches & Herb, Lesley Gore, and Stacy Lattisaw. Background and early years Early life Van McCoy was born on January 6, 1940, in Washington, D.C., the second child of Norman S. McCoy, Sr. and Lillian Ray. He learned to play piano at a young age and sang with the Metropolitan Baptist Church choir as a youngster. By the age of 12, he had begun writing his own songs, in addition to performing in local amateur shows alongside his older brother, Norman Jr. The two brothers formed a doo-wop combo named the Starlighters with two friends w ...
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Artie Butler
Arthur Butler (born December 2, 1942) is an American arranger, composer, songwriter, and session musician. In a long career, he has been involved in numerous hit records and other recordings, and has been awarded over 60 gold and platinum albums. Life and career Butler was born in Brooklyn, New York, and learned to play various instruments including piano, clarinet and drums as a child. He attended Erasmus Hall High School. At the age of 13, he auditioned for Henry Glover of King Records, who offered him a contract as a result. His single, "Lock, Stock and Barrel", credited to Arthur Butler, was issued on the DeLuxe label in 1957, but was not successful. Biography by Jason Ankeny at Allmusic.com
Retrieved May 12, 2013
By the early 1960s he was working as an assistant at
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James Crabe
James Crabe, A.S.C. (August 19, 1931 – May 2, 1989) was an American cinematographer. He was a regular collaborator of director John G. Avildsen, known for his work in ''Rocky'' and ''The Karate Kid'', as well as other movies from the 1970s and 80s, like ''The China Syndrome'', ''Night Shift'', and '' Thank God It's Friday''. Crabe was also a two-time Primetime Emmy Award winner, received multiple nominations the ASC Awards, and one from the Academy Awards. Biography James Crabe was one of the few openly gay cinematographers in Hollywood. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for director John G. Avildsen's '' The Formula'' (1980). He also photographed Avildsen's films ''Save the Tiger'' (1973), '' W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings'' (1975), ''Rocky'' (1976), ''The Karate Kid'' (1984), ''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986), ''Happy New Year'' (1987) and '' For Keeps'' (1988) as well as '' Thank God It's Friday'' (1978), ''The China Syndrome'' (1979), and ' ...
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Walter Pidgeon
Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. A major leading man during the Golden Age of Hollywood, known for his "portrayals of men who prove both sturdy and wise," Pidgeon earned two Academy Awards, Academy Award nominations for Academy Award for Best Actor, Best Actor, for his roles in ''Mrs. Miniver'' (1942) and ''Madame Curie (film), Madame Curie'' (1943). Pidgeon also starred in many other notable films, such as ''How Green Was My Valley (film), How Green Was My Valley'' (1941), ''The Bad and the Beautiful'' (1952), ''Forbidden Planet'' (1956), ''Executive Suite'' (1954), ''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' (1961), ''Advise & Consent'' (1962), ''Funny Girl (film), Funny Girl'' (1968), and ''Harry in Your Pocket'' (1973). Aside from his acting career, Pidgeon served as the 10th President of the Screen Actors Guild, between 1952 and 1957. He received the Guild's Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, Life Achievement A ...
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