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W. C. Fields And Me
''W. C. Fields and Me'' is a 1976 American biographical film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Rod Steiger and Valerie Perrine. The screenplay by Bob Merrill is based on a memoir by Carlotta Monti, mistress of actor W. C. Fields during the last 14 years of his life. The film was released by Universal Pictures. Plot The story begins in 1924 in New York City, where W. C. Fields is a Ziegfeld Follies headliner, and ends with his 1946 death in California at age 66. In between, it dramatizes his life and career with emphasis on the latter part of both, when the "Me" of the title, Carlotta Monti, played a prominent role, with a number of fictionalized events added for dramatic impact. Having lost his girlfriend Melody to another man and most of his life savings due to careless investments by his broker, Fields heads west to Santa Monica, where he operates a wax museum until he's offered a film role. He quickly becomes a major screen presence and a notorious drinker. While at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Hiller
Arthur Hiller, (November 22, 1923 – August 17, 2016) was a Canadian television and film director with over 33 films to his credit during a 50-year career. He began his career directing television in Canada and later in the U.S. By the late 1950s, he was directing films, most often comedies, but also dramas and romantic subjects, such as in Love Story (1970 film), ''Love Story'' (1970), which was nominated for seven Oscars. Hiller collaborated on films with screenwriters Paddy Chayefsky and Neil Simon. Among his other films were ''The Americanization of Emily'' (1964), Tobruk (1967 film), ''Tobruk'' (1967), ''The Hospital'' (1971), The Out-of-Towners (1970 film), ''The Out-of-Towners'' (1970), Plaza Suite (film), ''Plaza Suite'' (1971), ''The Man in the Glass Booth'' (1975), Silver Streak (film), ''Silver Streak'' (1976), The In-Laws (1979 film), ''The In-Laws'' (1979), ''Making Love'' (1982), and Outrageous Fortune (film), ''Outrageous Fortune'' (1987). Hiller served as pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount Global. It is the sixth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-oldest film studio in the United States (behind Universal Pictures), and the sole member of the Major film studio, "Big Five" film studios located within the city limits of Los Angeles. In 1916, film producer Adolph Zukor put 24 actors and actresses under contract and honored each with a star on the logo. In 1967, the number of stars was reduced to 22 and their hidden meaning was dropped. In 2014, Paramount Pictures became the first major Hollywood studio to distribute all of its films in digital form only. The company's headquarters and studios are located at 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, California. The most commercially successful film franchises from Paramount Pictu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karen Black
Karen Blanche Black (née Ziegler; July 1, 1939 – August 8, 2013) was an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence for her work in various studio and independent films in the 1970s, frequently portraying eccentric and offbeat characters, and established herself as a figure of New Hollywood. Her career spanned over 50 years and includes nearly 200 credits in both independent and mainstream films. Black received numerous accolades throughout her career, including two Golden Globe Awards, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actress. A native of suburban Chicago, Black studied theater at Northwestern University before dropping out and relocating to New York City. She performed on Broadway in 1965 before making her major film debut in Francis Ford Coppola's ''You're a Big Boy Now'' (1966). Black relocated to California and was cast as an LSD-tripping prostitute in Dennis Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edgar Bergen
Edgar John Bergen (né Berggren; February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, vaudevillian and radio performer. He was best known for his characters Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. Bergen pioneered modern-day ventriloquism and has been described by puppetry organization UNIMA as the “quintessential ventriloquist of the 20th century”. He was the father of actress Candice Bergen. Early life Bergen was born in Chicago, one of five children and the younger of two sons of Swedish immigrants Nilla Svensdotter (née Osberg) and Johan Henriksson Berggren. He lived on a farm near Decatur, Michigan until he was four, when his family returned to Sweden, where he learned the language. After his family had returned to Chicago, when he was eleven, he taught himself ventriloquism from a pamphlet called "The Wizard's Manual". He attended Lake View High School. After his father died, when Edgar was 16, he went out to work as an ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew Parks
Andrew Lawrence Parks (born March 1, 1951) is an American film and television actor. Biography Born in Los Angeles, California to actors Larry Parks and Betty Garrett, Andrew Parks made his film debut at the age of 11, but did not return to acting for another eight years, beginning with ''The Strawberry Statement'' in 1970. His feature film credits include ''W.C. Fields and Me'' (1976), ''The Mirror Has Two Faces'' (1996) and ''Donnie Brasco'' (1997). He is a key member of Larry Blamire's stock company, playing clueless alien Kro-Bar in ''The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra'' and its sequel ''The Lost Skeleton Returns Again,'' gullible scientist Dr. Philip Latham in '' Trail of the Screaming Forehead'' and monocled English dandy Lord Partfine in ''Dark and Stormy Night''. Most recently, he mimicked Franklin Pangborn in the comedy short ''It's a Frame-Up!'', the writing/directing debut of Blamire's producer Michael Schlesinger. Parks' television credits include a recurring role on ''An ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis Zorich
Louis Zorich (February 12, 1924 – January 30, 2018) was an American actor. He played sporting goods salesman Burt Buchman, Paul Buchman's father, on the NBC series '' Mad About You'' from 1993 to 1999. Early years Zorich was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Croatian immigrants. He attended Earle Elementary School before going on to attend Roosevelt University and Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago (now at DePaul University) in his hometown of Chicago.Yahoo! Movies: Louis Zorich Biography Retrieved October 21, 2007. Louis's nephew, Chris Zorich, played professional football. [Baidu] |
Milt Kamen
Milton Kaiman (March 5, 1921 – February 24, 1977), better known as Milt Kamen, was an American stand-up comic and actor with numerous television credits. As a stand-up comic, Kamen was a favorite of Mel Brooks, Groucho Marx and Woody Allen. According to writer Kliph Nesteroff, Kamen worked as a stand-in for Sid Caesar on Caesar's Hour, inventing bits of business that Caesar claimed for his own. Life and career Born in Hurleyville, New York, his family moved to the Brownsville neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York when he was two years old. Kamen began his comedy career as a regular on ''Caesar's Hour'' in 1954. He frequently performed his comedy routines on shows hosted by Ed Sullivan, Steve Allen, Perry Como, Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, and Johnny Carson and made guest appearances on Funny You Should Ask (1968), ''What's My Line?'', ''The Match Game'', ''Tattletales'', ''Pantomime Quiz'', ''The Gong Show'', ''Personality'', ''Password'', '' Missing Links'', ''You're Putting Me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gregory LaCava
Gregory La Cava (March 10, 1892 – March 1, 1952) was an American film director of Italian descent best known for his films of the 1930s, including ''My Man Godfrey'' and ''Stage Door'', which earned him nominations for Academy Award for Best Director. Career La Cava was born in Towanda, Pennsylvania. His father was a shoemaker, and the family moved to Rochester, New York. La Cava reported for the ''Rochester Evening News'' and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. He was a member of the Art Students' League. Animator Around 1913, he started doing odd jobs at the Barré Studio. By 1915, he was an animator on the '' Animated Grouch Chasers'' series. Towards the end of 1915, William Randolph Hearst decided to create an animation studio to promote the comic strips printed in his newspapers. He called the new company International Film Service, and he hired La Cava to run it (for double what he was making with Barré). La Cava's first employee was his co-worker at the Barré ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allan Arbus
Allan Franklin Arbus (February 15, 1918 – April 19, 2013) was an American actor and photographer. He was the former husband of photographer Diane Arbus. He is known for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman on the CBS television series ''M*A*S*H''. Early life Arbus was born in New York City, to a Jewish family, the son of fur retailer Harry Arbus and his wife Rose (). He attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, where he first developed an interest in acting while appearing in a student play. Also a music lover, before becoming an actor, he was reportedly so taken by Benny Goodman's recordings that he took up playing the clarinet. Photography career During the 1940s, Arbus became a photographer for the United States Army. In 1946, after he completed his military service, he and his first wife, photographer Diane Arbus (née Nemerov, whom he had married in 1941), started a photographic advertising business in Manhattan. Arbus was primarily known for advertis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Barty
Billy Barty (born William John Bertanzetti; October 25, 1924 – December 23, 2000) was an American actor and activist. In adult life, he stood tall, due to cartilage–hair hypoplasia dwarfism. Because of his short stature, he was often cast in films opposite taller performers for comic effect. He specialized in outspoken or wisecracking characters. During the 1950s, he became a television actor, appearing regularly in the Spike Jones ensemble. In the early 1970s, he appeared often in a variety of roles in children's TV programs produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. As an activist for people with dwarfism, he founded the Little People of America organization in 1957. Early life Barty was born October 25, 1924, in Millsboro, Pennsylvania, the son of Albert Steven and Ellen Cecial Bertanzetti. His paternal grandfather was Italian American, Italian. The family moved to California in 1927. He had two sisters, Delores and Evelyn. Career Barty co-starred with Mickey Rooney in the ''Mick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. (; March 21, 1867 – July 22, 1932) was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1907–1931), inspired by the '' Folies Bergère'' of Paris. He also produced the musical ''Show Boat''. He was known as the "glorifier of the American girl". Ziegfeld is a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame. Early life Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. was born on March 21, 1867, in Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Rosalie (''née'' de Hez), who was born in Belgium, was the grandniece of General Count Étienne Maurice Gérard. His father, Florenz Edward Ziegfeld, was a German immigrant whose father was the mayor of Jever in Friesland. Ziegfeld was baptized in his mother's Roman Catholic church. His father was Lutheran. As a child Ziegfeld witnessed the Chicago fire of 1871. Career His father ran the Chicago Musical College and later opened a nightclub, the ''Trocadero'', to profit from the 1893 Wor ... [...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] |
