.svg)
| Caption | Walston as Boothby on |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Herman Walston |
| Birth date | December 02, 1914 |
| Birth place | New Orleans, Louisiana,United States |
| Death date | January 01, 2001 |
| Death place | Beverly Hills, California,United States |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Spouse | (his death) |
Ray Walston (December 2, 1914 – January 1, 2001) was an American stage, television and film actor best known as the title character on the 1960s situation comedy My Favorite Martian. In addition, he was also known for his role as high school teacher Mr. Hand in the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Judge Henry Bone on the drama series Picket Fences.
He guest starred on numerous television programs, including a role in 1960-1961 as a judge on NBC's The Outlaws with Barton MacLane. Walston went on to some of his greatest success on the small screen.
Walston was also known for playing Starfleet Academy groundskeeper "Boothby" in Star Trek: The Next Generation and later on Star Trek: Voyager. Some non-canon Trek material pays tribute to Walston's most famous role by suggesting that Boothby was, in fact, "Martian", a native of the Human settlements on Mars.
From 1980 to 1992, Walston starred in fourteen movies, including 1981's Galaxy of Terror, and 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High (as well as its 1986 television adaptation) as Mr. Hand. In a 1999 interview, Walston said he was happy and relieved that when he walks down the street, young fans shout at him "Mr. Hand" because he had finally torn away from his Martian role.
In 1985, Walston made a brief appearance in the opening credits of Steven Spielberg's series Amazing Stories, as a caveman acting out a story for his tribe. Only a few seconds long, this performance began every episode of the subsequent series.
In 1992, Walston played the role of Candy in the big-screen remake of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men with Gary Sinise and John Malkovich. He would work alongside Sinise again two years later in the miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand.
Walston was nominated three times for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his work on Picket Fences, winning twice, in 1995 and 1996. Though Walston enjoyed his work in the series, its ratings were beginning to slip, and CBS cancelled the show after four seasons in 1996. However, Walston made a memorable guest appearance in an episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman entitled "Remember Me", in which he portrayed the father of Jake Slicker, who was stricken with Alzheimer's disease.
Category:1914 births Category:2001 deaths Category:American film actors Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American television actors Category:Emmy Award winners Category:People from Beverly Hills, California Category:People from Houston, Texas Category:People from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:People from Laurel, Mississippi Category:Tony Award winners Category:Vee-Jay Records artists Category:Deaths from lupus
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| Name | Kim Novak |
|---|---|
| Caption | Novak in 2004 |
| Birth name | Marilyn Pauline Novak |
| Birth date | February 13, 1933 |
| Birth place | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Years active | 1954–1991 |
| Spouse | Richard Johnson (1965–1966)Dr. Robert Malloy (1976–present) |
Kim Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American actress. She is best known for her performance in the classic 1958 film Vertigo. Novak retired from acting in 1991 and has since become an accomplished artist of oil paintings. She currently lives with her veterinarian husband on a ranch in Eagle Point, Oregon, where they raise livestock.
While attending David Glasgow Farragut High School, she won a scholarship to the Art Institute of Chicago. After leaving school, she began a career modeling teen fashions for a local department store. She later received a scholarship at a modeling academy and continued to model part-time. She worked as an elevator operator, a sales clerk and a dental assistant.
After a job touring the country as a spokesman for a refrigerator manufacturer, "Miss Deepfreeze," Novak moved to Los Angeles, where she continued to find work as a model.
In 1958, Novak starred in the Alfred Hitchcock-directed classic thriller Vertigo, playing the roles of a brunette shopgirl, Judy Barton, and a blonde woman named Madeleine Elster.
Today, the film is considered a masterpiece of romantic suspense, though Novak's performance has received mixed reviews. Critic David Shipman thought it "little more than competent", while David Thomson sees it as "one of the major female performances in the cinema". Hitchcock, rarely one to praise actors, dismissed Novak in a later interview. "You think you're getting a lot," he said of her ability, "but you're not." ]] That same year, she again starred alongside Stewart in Bell, Book and Candle, a comedy tale of modern-day witchcraft that did moderately well at the box office. In 1960, she co-starred with Kirk Douglas in the critically acclaimed Strangers When We Meet also featuring Walter Matthau and Ernie Kovacs. In 1962, Novak produced her own movie, financing her own production company in association with Filmways Productions. Boys' Night Out, in which she starred with James Garner and Tony Randall. It was received mildly well by critics and the public. She was paired with Lemmon for a third and final time that year in a mystery-comedy, The Notorious Landlady.
In 1964 she played the vulgar waitress Mildred Rogers in a remake of W. Somerset Maugham's drama Of Human Bondage opposite Laurence Harvey, and starred as barmaid Polly, "The Pistol" in Billy Wilder's Kiss Me, Stupid with Ray Walston and Dean Martin. After playing the title role in The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965) with Richard Johnson, Novak took a break from Hollywood acting. She continued to act, although infrequently, taking fewer roles as she began to prefer personal activities over acting
Her comeback came in a dual role as a young actress, Elsa Brinkmann, and an early-day movie goddess who was murdered, Lylah Clare, in producer-director Robert Aldrich's The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968) with Peter Finch and Ernest Borgnine for MGM. The movie did not do well. After playing a forger, Sister Lyda Kebanov, in The Great Bank Robbery (1969) opposite Zero Mostel, Clint Walker, and Claude Akins, she stayed away from the screen for another four years. She then played the role of Auriol Pageant in the horror anthology film Tales That Witness Madness (1973) opposite Joan Collins. She starred as veteran showgirl Gloria Joyce in the made-for-TV movie The Third Girl From the Left (1973), and played Eva in Satan's Triangle (1975). She was featured in the 1977 western The White Buffalo with Charles Bronson, and in 1979 she played Helga in Just a Gigolo co-starring David Bowie.
In 1980, Novak played Lola Brewster in the mystery/thriller The Mirror Crack'd, based on the story by Agatha Christie and co-starring Angela Lansbury, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor. She and Taylor portrayed rival actresses. She made occasional television appearances over the years. She co-starred with James Coburn in the TV-movie Malibu (1983) and played Rosa in a revival of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985) opposite Melanie Griffith. From 1986 to 1987, the actress was a cast member of the television series Falcon Crest during its fourth season, playing the mysterious character Kit Marlowe (the stage name rejected at the start of her career). She co-starred with Ben Kingsley in the 1990 film The Children.
Her most recent appearance on the big screen to date came as a terminally ill writer with a mysterious past in the thriller Liebestraum (1991), opposite Kevin Anderson and Bill Pullman. However, owing to battles with the director over how to play the role, her scenes were cut. Novak later admitted in a 2004 interview that the film was a mistake. She said
"I got so burned out on that picture that I wanted to leave the business, but then if you wait long enough you think, 'Oh, I miss certain things.' The making of a movie is wonderful. What's difficult is afterward when you have to go around and try to sell it. The actual filming, when you have a good script—which isn't often—nothing beats it.". In an interview with Stephen Rebello in the July 2005 issue of Movieline's Hollywood Life, Novak admitted that she had been "unprofessional" in her conduct with the film's director, Mike Figgis.
Novak has not ruled out further acting. In an interview in 2007, she said that she would consider returning to the screen "if the right thing came along."
Novak appeared for a question-and-answer session about her career on July 30, 2010, at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, where the American Cinematheque hosted a tribute to her coinciding with the August 3 DVD release of "The Kim Novak Collection."
In 1995, Novak was ranked 92nd by Empire Magazine on a list of the 100 sexiest stars in film history. In 1955, she won the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer-Female. In 1957, she won another Golden Globe–for World Favorite female actress. In 1997, Kim won an Honorary Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. In 2002 a Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Novak by Eastman Kodak.
In 2005, British fashion designer Alexander McQueen named his first It bag the Novak.
Novak was previously married to English actor Richard Johnson from March 15, 1965, to April 23, 1966. The two have remained friends. Novak also dated Sammy Davis, Jr., in the late 1950s and actor Michael Brandon in the 1970s. She was engaged to director Richard Quine in the early 1960s.
On July 24, 2000, her home in Eagle Point, Oregon, was partially destroyed by fire. Novak lost scripts, several paintings, and a computer containing the only draft of her unfinished autobiography.
In 2006, Novak was injured in a horseback riding accident. She suffered a punctured lung, broken ribs, and nerve damage but made a full recovery within a year.
In October 2010, it was reported that Novak had been diagnosed with breast cancer according to her manager, Sue Cameron. Cameron also noted that Novak is "undergoing treatment" and that "her doctors say she is in fantastic physical shape and should recover very well."
Category:1933 births Category:Living people Category:American painters Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:American people of Czech descent Category:Actors from Chicago, Illinois Category:Actors from Illinois Category:Cancer patients Category:People from Eagle Point, Oregon Category:People from Jackson County, Oregon
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| Name | Dean Martin |
|---|---|
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | Dino Paul Crocetti |
| Alias | Dean MartinThe King of CoolDinoDino Martini |
| Born | June 07, 1917 Steubenville, Ohio, United States |
| Died | December 25, 1995Beverly Hills, California, United States |
| Genre | Big band, pop, country |
| Years active | 1939-1995 (His Death) |
| Occupation | Actor, comedian, singer, producer |
| Label | Capitol, Reprise |
At the age of 15, he was a boxer who billed himself as "Kid Crochet". His prizefighting years earned him a broken nose (later straightened), a scarred lip, and many sets of broken knuckles (a result of not being able to afford the tape used to wrap boxers' hands). Of his twelve bouts, he would later say "I won all but eleven." For a time, he roomed with Sonny King, who, like Martin, was just starting in show business and had little money. It is said that Martin and King held bare-knuckle matches in their apartment, fighting until one of them was knocked out; people paid to watch.
Eventually, Martin gave up boxing. He worked as a roulette stickman and croupier in an illegal casino behind a tobacco shop where he had started as a stock boy. At the same time, he sang with local bands. Calling himself "Dino Martini" (after the then-famous Metropolitan Opera tenor, Nino Martini), he got his first break working for the Ernie McKay Orchestra. He sang in a crooning style influenced by Harry Mills (of the Mills Brothers), among others. In the early 1940s, he started singing for bandleader Sammy Watkins, who suggested he change his name to Dean Martin.
In October 1941, Martin married Elizabeth Anne McDonald. During their marriage (ended by divorce in 1949), they had four children. Martin worked for various bands throughout the early 1940s, mostly on looks and personality until he developed his own singing style. Martin famously flopped at the Riobamba, a high class nightclub in New York, when he succeeded Frank Sinatra in 1943, but it was the setting for their meeting.
Martin repeatedly sold 10 percent shares of his earnings for up front cash. He apparently did this so often that he found he had sold over 100 percent of his income. Such was his charm that most of his lenders forgave his debts and remained friends.
Drafted into the United States Army in 1944 during World War II, Martin served a year stationed in Akron, Ohio. He was then reclassified as 4-F (possibly because of a double hernia; Jerry Lewis referred to the surgery Martin needed for this in his autobiography) and was discharged.
By 1946, Martin was doing relatively well, but was still little more than an East Coast nightclub singer with a common style, similar to that of Bing Crosby. He drew audiences to the clubs he played, but he inspired none of the fanatic popularity enjoyed by Sinatra.
Martin and Lewis's official debut together occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24, 1946, and they were not well received. The owner, Skinny D'Amato, warned them that if they did not come up with a better act for their second show later that night, they would be fired. Huddling together in the alley behind the club, Lewis and Martin agreed to "go for broke", to throw out the pre-scripted gags and to improvise. Martin sang and Lewis came out dressed as a busboy, dropping plates and making a shambles of both Martin's performance and the club's sense of decorum until Lewis was chased from the room as Martin pelted him with breadrolls. They did slapstick, reeled off old vaudeville jokes, and did whatever else popped into their heads at the moment. This time, the audience doubled over in laughter. This success led to a series of well-paying engagements on the Eastern seaboard, culminating in a triumphant run at New York's Copacabana. Patrons were convulsed by the act, which consisted primarily of Lewis interrupting and heckling Martin while he was trying to sing, and ultimately the two of them chasing each other around the stage and having as much fun as possible. The secret, both said, is that they essentially ignored the audience and played to one another.
The team made its TV debut on the very first broadcast of CBS-TV network's Toast of the Town Program (later called the Ed Sullivan Show) with Ed Sullivan and Rogers & Hammerstein appearing on this same inaugural telecast of June 20, 1948 (photo archive and IMDB documentation confirmed). A radio series commenced in 1949, the same year Martin and Lewis were signed by Paramount producer Hal B. Wallis as comedy relief for the movie My Friend Irma.
Martin liked California which, because of its earth tremors, had few tall buildings. Suffering as he did from claustrophobia, Martin almost never used elevators, and climbing stairs in Manhattan's skyscrapers was not his idea of fun.
Their agent, Abby Greshler, negotiated for them one of Hollywood's best deals: although they received only a modest $75,000 between them for their films with Wallis, Martin and Lewis were free to do one outside film a year, which they would co-produce through their own York Productions. They also had complete control of their club, record, radio and television appearances, and it was through these endeavors that they earned millions of dollars.
Martin and Lewis were the hottest act in America during the early 1950s, but the pace and the pressure took its toll. Most critics underestimated Martin's contribution to the team, as he had the thankless job of the straight man, and his singing had yet to develop into the unique style of his later years. Critics praised Lewis, and while they admitted that Martin was the best partner he could have, most claimed Lewis was the real talent and could succeed with anyone. However, Lewis always praised his partner, and while he appreciated the attention he was getting, he has always said the act would never have worked without Martin. In Dean & Me, he calls Martin one of the great comic geniuses of all time. But the harsh comments from the critics, as well as frustration with the formulaic similarity of Martin & Lewis movies, which producer Hal Wallis stubbornly refused to change, led to Martin's dissatisfaction. He put less enthusiasm into the work, leading to escalating arguments with Lewis. They finally could not work together, especially after Martin told his partner he was "nothing to me but a dollar sign". The act broke up in 1956, 10 years to the day from the first official teaming.
Splitting up their partnership was not easy. It took months for lawyers to work out the details of terminating many of their club bookings, their television contracts, and the dissolution of York Productions. There was intense public pressure for them to stay together.
Lewis had no trouble maintaining his film popularity alone, but Martin, unfairly regarded by much of the public and the motion picture industry as something of a spare tire, found the going hard. His first solo film, Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957), was a box office failure. He was still popular as a singer, but with rock and roll surging to the fore, the era of the pop crooner was waning. It looked like Martin's fate was to be limited to nightclubs and to be remembered as Lewis's former partner.
The CBS film, Martin and Lewis, a made-for-TV movie about the famous comedy duo, starred Jeremy Northam as Martin, and Sean Hayes as Lewis. It depicted the years from 1946-1956.
In 1960, Martin was cast in the motion picture version of the Judy Holliday hit stage play Bells Are Ringing. Martin played a satiric variation of his own womanizing persona as Vegas singer "Dino" in Billy Wilder's comedy Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) with Kim Novak, and he was not above poking fun at his image in films such as the Matt Helm spy spoofs of the 1960s, in which he was a co-producer.
As a singer, Martin copied the styles of Harry Mills (of the Mills Brothers), Bing Crosby, and Perry Como until he developed his own and could hold his own in duets with Sinatra and Crosby. Like Sinatra, he could not read music, but he recorded more than 100 albums and 600 songs. His signature tune, "Everybody Loves Somebody", knocked The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" out of the number-one spot in the United States in 1964. This was followed by the similarly-styled "The Door is Still Open to My Heart", which reached number six later that year. Elvis Presley was said to have been influenced by Martin, and patterned "Love Me Tender" after his style. Martin, like Elvis, was influenced by country music. By 1965, some of Martin's albums, such as Dean "Tex" Martin, The Hit Sound Of Dean Martin, Welcome To My World and Gentle On My Mind were composed of country and western songs made famous by artists like Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and Buck Owens. Martin hosted country performers on his TV show and was named "Man Of the Year" by the Country Music Association in 1966. "Ain't That a Kick in the Head", a song Martin performed in Ocean's Eleven that never became a hit at the time, has enjoyed a spectacular revival in the media and pop culture (which can be traced to its usage in 1993's A Bronx Tale and 1997's Fools Rush In).
For three decades, Martin was among the most popular acts in Las Vegas. Martin sang and was one of the smoothest comics in the business, benefiting from the decade of raucous comedy with Lewis. Martin's daughter, Gail, also sang in Vegas and on his TV show, co-hosting his summer replacement series on NBC. Though often thought of as a ladies' man, Martin spent a lot of time with his family; as second wife Jeanne put it, prior to the couple's divorce, "He was home every night for dinner."
The Martin-Sinatra-Davis-Lawford-Bishop group referred to themselves as "The Summit" or "The Clan" and never as "The Rat Pack", although this has remained their identity in the popular imagination. The men made films together, formed an important part of the Hollywood social scene in those years, and were politically influential (through Lawford's marriage to Patricia Kennedy, sister of President John F. Kennedy).
The Rat Pack were legendary for their Las Vegas performances. For example, the marquee at the Sands Hotel might read DEAN MARTIN---MAYBE FRANK---MAYBE SAMMY. Las Vegas rooms were at a premium when the Rat Pack would appear, with many visitors sleeping in hotel lobbies or cars to get a chance to see the three men together. Their act (always in tuxedo) consisted of each singing individual numbers, duets and trios, along with much seemingly improvised slapstick and chatter. In the socially-charged 1960s, their jokes revolved around adult themes, such as Sinatra's infamous womanizing and Martin's legendary drinking, as well as many at the expense of Davis's race and religion. Davis famously practiced Judaism and used Yiddish phrases onstage, eliciting much merriment from both his stage-mates and his audiences. It was all good-natured male bonding, never vicious, rarely foul-mouthed, and the three had great respect for each other. The Rat Pack was largely responsible for the integration of Las Vegas. Sinatra and Martin steadfastly refused to appear anywhere that barred Davis, forcing the casinos to open their doors to African-American entertainers and patrons, and to drop restrictive covenants against Jews.
Posthumously, the Rat Pack has experienced a popular revival, inspiring the George Clooney/Brad Pitt "Ocean's" trilogy. An HBO film, The Rat Pack, starred Joe Mantegna as Martin, Ray Liotta as Sinatra and Don Cheadle as Davis. It depicted their contribution to JFK's election in 1960.
The TV show was a success. Martin prided himself on memorizing whole scripts – not merely his own lines. He disliked rehearsing because he firmly believed his best performances were his first. The show's loose format prompted quick-witted improvisation from Martin and the cast. On occasion, he made remarks in Italian, some mild obscenities that brought angry mail from offended, Italian-speaking viewers. This prompted a battle between Martin and NBC censors, who insisted on more scrutiny of the show's content. The show was often in the Top Ten. Martin, deeply appreciative of the efforts of the show's producer, his friend Greg Garrison, later made a handshake deal giving Garrison, a pioneer TV producer in the 1950s, 50% ownership of the show. However, the validity of that ownership is currently the subject of a lawsuit brought by NBC Universal.
Despite Martin's reputation as a heavy drinker — a reputation perpetuated via his vanity license plates reading 'DRUNKY' — he was remarkably self-disciplined. He was often the first to call it a night, and when not on tour or on a film location liked to go home to see his wife and children. Phyllis Diller recently confirmed that Martin was indeed drinking alcohol onstage and not apple juice. She also commented that he while not being drunk was not really sober either but had very strict rules when it came to performances. He borrowed the lovable-drunk shtick from Joe E. Lewis, but his convincing portrayals of heavy boozers in Some Came Running and Howard Hawks's Rio Bravo led to unsubstantiated claims of alcoholism. More often than not, Martin's idea of a good time was playing golf or watching TV, particularly westerns – not staying with Rat Pack friends Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. into the early hours of the morning.
Martin starred in and co-produced a series of four Matt Helm superspy comedy adventures. A fifth, The Ravagers, was planned starring Sharon Tate and Martin in a dual role, one as a serial killer, but due to the murder of Tate and the decline of the spy genre the film was never made.
By the early 1970s, The Dean Martin Show was still earning solid ratings, and although he was no longer a Top 40 hitmaker, his record albums continued to sell steadily. His name on a marquee could guarantee casinos and nightclubs a standing-room-only crowd. He found a way to make his passion for golf profitable by offering his own signature line of golf balls. Shrewd investments had greatly increased Martin's personal wealth; at the time of his death, Martin was reportedly the single largest minority shareholder of RCA stock. Martin even managed to cure himself of his claustrophobia by reportedly locking himself in the elevator of a tall building and riding up and down for hours until he was no longer panic-stricken.
Martin retreated from show business. The final (1973–74) season of his variety show would be retooled into one of celebrity roasts, requiring less of Martin's involvement. After the show's cancellation, NBC continued to air the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast format in a series of TV specials through 1984. In those 11 years, Martin and his panel of pals successfully ridiculed and made fun of these legendary stars in this order: Ronald Reagan, Hugh Hefner, Ed McMahon, William Conrad, Kirk Douglas, Bette Davis, Barry Goldwater, Johnny Carson, Wilt Chamberlain, Hubert Humphrey, Carroll O'Connor, Monty Hall, Jack Klugman & Tony Randall, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Leo Durocher, Truman Capote, Don Rickles, Ralph Nader, Jack Benny, Redd Foxx, Bobby Riggs, George Washington, Dan Rowan & Dick Martin, Hank Aaron, Joe Namath, Bob Hope, Telly Savalas, Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, Sammy Davis Jr, Michael Landon, Evel Knievel, Valerie Harper, Muhammad Ali, Dean Martin, Dennis Weaver, Joe Garagiola, Danny Thomas, Angie Dickinson, Gabe Kaplan, Ted Knight, Peter Marshall, Dan Haggerty, Frank Sinatra, Jack Klugman, Jimmy Stewart, George Burns, Betty White, Suzanne Somers, Joan Collins, and Mr T. For nearly a decade, Martin had recorded as many as four albums a year for Reprise Records. That stopped in November 1974, when Martin recorded his final Reprise album - Once In A While, released in 1978. His last recording sessions were for Warner Brothers Records. An album titled The Nashville Sessions was released in 1983, from which he had a hit with "(I Think That I Just Wrote) My First Country Song", which was recorded with Conway Twitty and made a respectable showing on the country charts. A followup single "L.A. Is My Home" / "Drinking Champagne" came in 1985. The 1975 film Mr. Ricco marked Martin's final starring role, and Martin limited his live performances to Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
Martin seemed to suffer a mid-life crisis. In 1972, he filed for divorce from his second wife, Jeanne. A week later, his business partnership with the Riviera was dissolved amid reports of the casino's refusal to agree to Martin's request to perform only once a night. He was quickly snapped up by the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, and signed a three-picture deal with MGM Studios. Less than a month after his second marriage had been legally dissolved, Martin married 26-year-old Catherine Hawn on April 25, 1973. Hawn had been the receptionist at the chic Gene Shacrove hair salon in Beverly Hills. They divorced November 10, 1976. He was also briefly engaged to Gail Renshaw, Miss World-U.S.A. 1969.
Eventually, Martin reconciled with Jeanne, though they never remarried. He also made a public reconciliation with Jerry Lewis on Lewis' Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon in 1976. Frank Sinatra shocked Lewis and the world by bringing Martin out on stage. As Martin and Lewis embraced, the audience erupted in cheers and the phone banks lit up, resulting in one of the telethon's most profitable years. Lewis reported the event was one of the three most memorable of his life. Lewis brought down the house when he quipped, "So, you working?" Martin, playing drunk, replied that he was "at the Meggum" – this reference to the MGM Grand Hotel convulsed Lewis . This, along with the death of Martin's son Dean Paul Martin a few years later, helped to bring the two men together. They maintained a quiet friendship but only performed together again once, in 1989, on Martin's 72nd birthday.
Martin returned to films briefly with appearances in the two star-laden yet critically panned Cannonball Run movies,. He also had a minor hit single with "Since I Met You Baby" and made his first music video, which appeared on MTV. The video was created by Martin's youngest son, Ricci.
On December 8, 1989, Martin attended Sammy Davis Jr.'s 60th Anniversary Special.
Martin, a life-long smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer at Cedars Sinai Medical Center on 16 September 1993. He died of acute respiratory failure resulting from emphysema at his Beverly Hills home on Christmas morning 1995, at the age of 78. The lights of the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed in his honor.
An annual "Dean Martin Festival" celebration is held in Steubenville. Impersonators, friends and family of Martin, and various entertainers, many of Italian ancestry, appear.
In 2005, Las Vegas renamed Industrial Road as Dean Martin Drive. A similarly named street was dedicated in 2008 in Rancho Mirage, California.
Martin's family was presented a gold record in 2004 for Dino: The Essential Dean Martin, his fastest-selling album ever, which also hit the iTunes Top 10. For the week ending December 23, 2006, the Dean Martin and Martina McBride duet of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" reached #7 on the R&R; AC chart. It also went to #36 on the R&R; Country chart - the last time Martin had a song this high in the charts was in 1965, with the song "I Will", which reached #10 on the Pop chart.
An album of duets, Forever Cool, was released by Capitol/EMI in 2007. It features Martin's voice with Kevin Spacey, Shelby Lynne, Joss Stone, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Robbie Williams, McBride and others.
His footprints were immortalized at Grauman's Chinese Theater in 1964. Martin has not one but three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: One at 6519 Hollywood Blvd. (for movies), one at 1817 Vine (for recordings) and one at 6651 Hollywood Boulevard (for television).
In February 2009, Martin was honored with a posthumous Grammy award for Lifetime Achievement. Four of his surviving children, Gail, Deana, Ricci and Gina, were on hand to accept on his behalf. In 2009, Martin was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.
Martin's second wife was Jeanne Biegger. A stunning blonde, Jeanne could sometimes be spotted in Martin's audience while he was still married to Betty. Their marriage lasted twenty-four years (1949–1973) and produced three children. Their children were Dean Paul (November 17, 1951 - March 21, 1987; plane crash), Ricci James (born September 20, 1953) and Gina Caroline (born December 20, 1956).
Martin's third marriage, to Catherine Hawn, lasted three years. One of Martin's managers had spotted her at the reception desk of a hair salon on Rodeo Drive, then arranged a meeting. Martin adopted Hawn's daughter, Sasha, but their marriage also failed. Martin initiated divorce proceedings. Martin's uncle was Leonard Barr, who appeared in several of his shows.
Category:1917 births Category:1995 deaths Category:Actors from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:American comedians Category:American crooners Category:American film actors Category:American male singers Category:Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Category:Cancer deaths in California Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Deaths from emphysema Category:Deaths from lung cancer Category:Deaths from respiratory failure Category:American jazz musicians of Italian descent Category:American jazz musicians of Sicilian descent Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American people of Sicilian descent Category:American baritones Category:Actors from Ohio Category:Musicians from Ohio Category:People from Steubenville, Ohio Category:Ohio Republicans Category:Republicans (United States) Category:California Republicans Category:Musicians from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:Traditional pop music singers
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| Name | Dirty Harry |
|---|---|
| Gender | male |
| Birth date | February 17, 1951 perhaps best known for rough irrumatio. He also performs as Uncle Harry and Uncle Dirty. |
| Name | Harry, Dirty |
| Date of birth | 1951-02-17 |
| Place of birth | Los Angeles, California , United States |
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Best known today for his creation of Topper, Smith's comic fantasy fiction (most of it involving sex, lots of drinking, and supernatural transformations, and aided by racy illustrations) sold millions of copies in the early 1930s. Smith drank as steadily as his characters; his appearance in James Thurber's The Years With Ross involves an unexplained week-long disappearance. Smith was born in Annapolis, Maryland the son of a Navy commodore, attended Dartmouth College, and after hungry years in Greenwich Village working part-time as an advertising agent, Smith achieved meteoric success with the publication of Topper in 1926. He died of a heart attack in 1934 while vacationing in Florida.
Lazy Bear Lane (1931) A children's book.
These dissertations are all available from ProQuest (formerly University Microfilms) at 1-800-521-0600 Ext 7044.
Category:American fantasy writers Category:American novelists Category:Dartmouth College alumni Category:1892 births Category:1934 deaths
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| Caption | Dempsey presenting Made of Honor in Madrid, 2008. (La boda de mi novia : My girlfriend's wedding in Spanish) |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Patrick Galen Dempsey |
| Birth date | January 13, 1966 |
| Birth place | Lewiston, Maine, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor/Race car driver |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Spouse | Jillian Fink (1999–present)Rocky Parker (1987–1994) |
As a child, Dempsey attended Camp Wekeela located in Hartford, Maine
Dempsey was diagnosed with dyslexia at age twelve. He told Barbara Walters on her 2008 Oscar special that he thinks dyslexia "made him what he is today." “It’s given me a perspective of — you have to keep working,” Dempsey told Walters. “I have never given up.”
Dempsey's first major feature film role was at age 21 with Beverly D'Angelo in the movie In The Mood, the real life WW2 story about Ellsworth Wisecarver who had relationships with older married women which created a national uproar. This was followed by the teen comedy Can't Buy Me Love in 1987 with actress Amanda Peterson and Some Girls with Jennifer Connelly in 1988. This film was a flop. In 1989, he had the lead role in the film Loverboy with actress Kirstie Alley and Happy Together with actress Helen Slater. Although the teen comedy and romance roles led to Dempsey being somewhat typecast for a time, he was able to avoid playing the same character as his career progressed.
Dempsey had a high-profile role as one of the suitors for Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama. He also had a role as Detective Kincaid on Scream 3. When Scream 4 was officially announced, it was speculated Dempsey would return. But in late April, writer Kevin Williamson confirmed the 3 main cast members who had survived the other 3 movies were the only returning characters. Dempsey's most recent roles include the 2007 Disney film Enchanted, and the Paramount Pictures film Freedom Writers where he reunites with his Iron Jawed Angels co-star Hilary Swank. He also voiced the character Kenai in Brother Bear 2.
Dempsey starred in the 2008 film Made of Honor as Tom, and appeared in 2010's romantic comedy Valentine's Day; the latter film, directed by Garry Marshall, follows five interconnecting stories about Los Angelinos anticipating (or in some cases dreading) the holiday of love.
Dempsey has acquired the rights to the prize-winning novel The Art of Racing in the Rain and will produce and star in the screen version. The film will go into production in 2010. He has also signed on to star in the 2011 movie .
Dempsey was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama at the 2006 Golden Globes for the role. His success on the show has led to his becoming a spokesman for Mazda and State Farm Insurance. He has been the face of L'Oreal and Versace and was featured in ads for Serengeti sun glasses. In November 2008 he launched an Avon fragrance named Unscripted, and due to its success a second fragrance named Patrick Dempsey 2 was launched in October 2009.
On July 31, 1999, Dempsey married Jillian Fink, founder of Delux Beauty. The couple have three children: A daughter, Talula Fyfe, born on February 20, 2002, and twin sons Darby Galen and Sullivan Patrick, born on February 1, 2007. The family resides in Malibu and also has homes in Maine and Texas.
Dempsey was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 12. As a result, it is necessary for him to memorize all his lines in order to perform, even for auditions where he was unlikely to get the part.
Entertainment Weekly put Dempsey's hair on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying, "What made Grey's Anatomy a mega-medi-hit? It could have something to do with creator Shonda Rhimes' scalpel-sharp writing…or McDreamy's impossibly luxurious mane. Just saying."
Dempsey revealed that he will be taking part in the 2011 Rolex 24 at Daytona along with taking part in as many races as he can throughout the season in the Mazda RX-8.
Category:1966 births Category:American film actors Category:American racecar drivers Category:American stage actors Category:American voice actors Category:American television actors Category:Indy Racing League owners Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Jugglers Category:Living people Category:Actors from Maine Category:People from Lewiston, Maine Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Category:Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:24 Hours of Daytona drivers
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| Name | Gary Coleman |
|---|---|
| Caption | Coleman in May 2005 |
| Birth name | Gary Wayne Coleman |
| Birth date | February 08, 1968 |
| Birth place | Zion, Illinois, U.S. |
| Death date | May 28, 2010 |
| Death place | Provo, Utah, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1978–2010 |
| Spouse | Shannon Price (2007–2008) |
Gary Wayne Coleman (February 8, 1968 – May 28, 2010) was an American actor, known for his childhood role as Arnold Jackson in the American sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978–1986) and for his small stature as an adult. He was described in the 1980s as "one of television's most promising stars". After a successful childhood acting career, Coleman struggled financially later in life. In 1989, he successfully sued his parents and business advisor over misappropriation of his assets.
The show's creators, Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez, have said the Coleman character is a personification of one of Avenue Q's central themes: that as children we are told we are "special", but upon entering adulthood we discover that life is not nearly as easy as we have been led to believe. They added that they originally considered asking Coleman himself to play the Gary Coleman role, and he expressed interest in accepting it. However, he never showed up for a meeting scheduled to discuss it.
In 2005, Coleman announced his intention to sue the producers of Avenue Q for their depiction of him, although the lawsuit never materialized. At the 2007 New York Comic Con, Coleman said, "I wish there was a lawyer on Earth that would sue them for me."
Shortly after Coleman's death, it was announced that Avenue Q's rendition of Coleman would live on in the show.
In 2005 Coleman moved from Los Angeles to Santaquin, a small town south of Salt Lake City, Utah, where he lived for the remainder of his life. In early 2007 he met Shannon Price, 22, on the set of the film Church Ball, where she was working as an extra, and married her several months later. On May 1 and 2, 2008, they made a well-publicized appearance on the show Divorce Court to air their differences in an attempt to save their marriage. Nevertheless, they divorced in August 2008, citing irreconcilable differences, but according to a court petition later filed by Price, continued to live together as husband and wife until his death. and won a $1,280,000 judgment in 1993. He later filed for bankruptcy, in 1999. Multiple people, he said, were responsible for his insolvency, "...from me to accountants to my adoptive parents, to agents to lawyers and back to me again."
Ongoing medical expenses contributed significantly to Coleman's chronic financial problems, and compelled him, at times, to resort to unusual fundraising activities. In 2008, for example, he auctioned an autographed pair of his pants on eBay to help pay medical bills. The auction attracted considerable attention, including fake bids up to US$400,000. The pants were eventually bought for $500 by comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who famously hung them from the rafters of his television studio.
Coleman was charged with assault in 1998 after he punched a woman. He was working as a security guard, and bus driver Tracy Fields requested his autograph while he was shopping for a bulletproof vest in a California mall. The two argued about the autograph, and Fields mocked Coleman's lackluster career as an adult actor. Coleman testified that "I was getting scared, and she was getting ugly"; he said that he thought Fields was going to hit him, so he punched her. Coleman pleaded no contest and received a suspended sentence. He was also ordered to pay Fields $1,665 for hospital bills resulting from the fight.
On July 26, 2007, Coleman was cited for misdemeanor disorderly conduct by a Provo, Utah, police officer after Coleman was seen having a "heated discussion" with his wife, Shannon Price.
On July 3, 2009, Coleman and his ex-wife were involved in a domestic dispute in which Coleman's ex-wife was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, and both parties were cited for disorderly conduct.
Coleman was involved in an automobile accident in Payson, Utah on September 6, 2008. According to Payson police, Coleman was backing up his truck in a Payson bowling alley parking lot when he allegedly hit 24-year-old Colt Rushton. According to a witness, the tire of Coleman's truck hit Rushton's knee and pulled him under the truck. Coleman's vehicle then hit another car. Rushton was transported to a local hospital, where he was treated and released with minor injuries. Police said Coleman's driving speed was not excessive. Witnesses told police the incident stemmed from an argument that started in the bowling alley after Rushton photographed Coleman. Coleman objected to Rushton taking his picture and the two men started arguing, according to witnesses. There was no citation or arrest for either man. Police said neither man would make a statement at the scene.
On December 2, 2008, Coleman pleaded no contest to charges of disorderly conduct and reckless driving. The court ordered him to pay a $100 fine for disorderly conduct. The reckless driving charge was to be waived in one year if Coleman did not commit any further violations. On January 14, 2010, Coleman settled a civil suit related to the incident for an undisclosed amount.
On January 24, 2010, Coleman was arrested on a domestic violence assault warrant in Santaquin. Coleman was subsequently booked into the Utah County Jail, and released on January 25, 2010.
On Wednesday, May 26, 2010, Coleman was admitted to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, Utah in critical condition after falling down the stairs at his home in Santaquin and hitting his head, possibly after another seizure, and suffering an epidural hematoma. According to a hospital spokesman, Coleman was "conscious and lucid" the next morning, but his condition subsequently worsened. By mid-afternoon on May 27, Coleman was unconscious and on life support. He died at 12:05 pm MDT (18:05 UTC) on Friday, May 28, 2010.
The casts of the Off Broadway production of Avenue Q in New York City and the Avenue Q National Tour in Dallas dedicated their May 28 performances to his memory, and the actors playing the Coleman role paid tribute to him from the stage at the performances' conclusions. Subsequently, producers announced that the Coleman character would not be written out of the show, although some modifications would be made to the character's dialog.
A funeral scheduled the weekend after Coleman's death was postponed and later canceled due to a dispute regarding the disposition of his estate and remains between Coleman's adoptive parents, Price, and former business associate Anna Gray. (Dion Mial, Coleman's friend and former manager, was also involved initially, but later withdrew.) Coleman directed in a 2005 will that his remains be cremated, and "...that there be no funeral service, wake, or other ceremony memorializing my passing." Questions were also raised as to whether Price, who authorized discontinuation of Coleman's life support, had the legal authority to do so. The controversy was exacerbated by a photograph published in the tabloid newspaper The Globe depicting Price posed next to a comatose, intubated Coleman. The front-page headline read, "It Was Murder!"
The hospital later issued a statement confirming that Coleman had completed an Advanced Health Care Directive granting Price permission to make medical decisions on his behalf. An investigation by Santaquin police into the circumstances surrounding his death was closed on October 5, 2010, after the medical examiner concluded that the cause was "accidental", and no evidence of wrongdoing could be demonstrated.
Coleman's remains were cremated on June 17, 2010 in Sandy, Utah, after a Utah judge determined that there was no dispute regarding that issue. However, disposition of the ashes, and a funeral, if there is one, will be delayed several months while the judge decides who will permanently control the estate. The will signed by Coleman in 2005 names Gray as executor, and awards his entire estate to her. However, Price and Coleman married in 2007; and while they divorced in 2008, Price claimed in a court petition that she remained Coleman's common-law wife, sharing bank accounts and presenting themselves publicly as husband and wife, until his death; an assertion that, if validated by the court, would make her the lawful heir.
Category:1968 births Category:2010 deaths Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Accidental deaths from falls Category:Accidental deaths in Utah Category:Actors from Illinois Category:Actors who attempted suicide Category:African American film actors Category:African American television actors Category:American adoptees Category:American child actors Category:American people convicted of assault Category:American video game actors Category:Deaths from cerebral hemorrhage Category:Organ transplant recipients Category:People from Utah County, Utah Category:People from Zion, Illinois
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| Name | Cher |
|---|---|
| Background | solo_singer |
| Alias | Cherilyn LaPiere, Cher Bono |
| Born | May 20, 1946El Centro, California |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Genre | Pop, rock, folk, dance, disco, pop-rock |
| Occupation | Singer, actress, film director songwriter |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 1965–present |
| Label | Imperial (1965–1968)Atlantic (1965–1967)Atco (1969)MCA (1971–1974)Warner Bros. (1975–1977)Casablanca (1979–1980)Columbia (1982)Geffen (1987–1991)Warner Music UK (1995–2002)Warner Bros. (2003–present) |
| Associated acts | Sonny & Cher, Sonny Bono, Tina Turner, Christina Aguilera |
| Url |
Cher (; is an American recording artist, actress, director, and record producer. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award for her work in film, music and television. Cher began her career as a backup singer and later came to prominence as one half of the pop rock duo Sonny & Cher with the success of their song "I Got You Babe" in 1965. She subsequently established herself as a solo recording artist, and became a television star in 1971 with The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, a variety show for which she won a Golden Globe. A well received performance in the film Silkwood earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1984. In the following years, Cher starred in a string of hit films Her hit dance single "Believe" is her biggest-selling recording and was the best-selling single of 1999, having sold over 10 million copies worldwide. She holds the Hot 100 record for the longest hit-making career span, with 33 years between the release of her first and most recent #1 singles, in 1965 and 1999. Cher ended her 3-year-long "" in 2005 as the most successful tour by a female solo artist of all time. With a career lasting over 45 years, Cher has sold over 100 million records worldwide. After a three-year hiatus and retirement from touring, Cher returned to the stage in 2008 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas where she is currently performing her show Cher at the Colosseum.
The duo became a sensation, traveling and performing around the world. Following an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in the fall of 1965 in which Sullivan had infamously mispronounced her name 'Chur' during their introduction, the singer began spelling her name with an acute accent mark: Chér—a typographical feature she maintained through 1974. The couple soon appeared on other hit television shows of the era including American Bandstand, Top of the Pops, Hollywood A Go-Go, Podunk, Hollywood Palace, Hullabaloo, Beat Club, Ready Steady Go! and Shindig!!. and incorporating eccentric gowns, "hippie" attire and elaborate costumes into live shows.
Later in 1965, Cher released her debut solo album, All I Really Want to Do, which reached #16 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The album's cover of the Bob Dylan song "All I Really Want to Do" peaked at #15 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1966, Cher released her second solo album on the Imperial Records label, The Sonny Side of Chér. It peaked at #26 in the U.S. charts, and #11 in the UK chart. The album contained the singles "Where Do You Go (#25 on the Billboard Hot 100), as well as "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" (#2 on the Billboard Hot 100); both hits written and produced by Sonny Bono. In the United States, the latter was Cher's biggest solo hit of the 1960s. Her third solo album Chér, also released in 1966, was not as successful as its predecessors, but did include the European Top 10 hit "Sunny".
In an attempt to capitalize on the duo’s initial success, Sonny speedily arranged a film project for the duo to star in. But the 1967 feature, Good Times, was a major bomb, despite the efforts of fledgling director William Friedkin and co-star George Sanders. Cher continued to establish herself as a solo artist and released the album Backstage. The album was a flop. Sonny and Cher's career had stalled by 1968 as album sales dried up. Their gentle, easy-listening rock folk sound and drug-free life had become "unhip" in an era becoming increasingly consumed with psychedelic rock, and the overall evolutionary change in the American pop culture landscape during the late 1960s. Sonny and Cher's only child together, Chaz Bono, was born Chastity Bono on March 4, 1969. The duo made another unsuccessful foray into film later in 1969 with Bono writing and producing the film Chastity, intended as a dramatic debut for Cher as an actress. That film (directed by first and only-time director Alessio De Paulo) was also a commercial failure. A mixture of slapstick comedy, skits and live music, the appearance was a critical success, which led to numerous guest spots on other television shows. The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour debuted in 1971 as a summer replacement series.
Among the many guests who appeared on The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour were Tina Turner, Chuck Berry, Carol Burnett, George Burns, Glen Campbell, Dick Clark, Tony Curtis, Bobby Darin, Phyllis Diller, Farrah Fawcett, Merv Griffin, The Jackson Five, Jerry Lee Lewis, Liberace, Steve Martin, Ronald Reagan, Burt Reynolds, Lynn Anderson, The Righteous Brothers, Neil Sedaka, Dinah Shore, Sally Struthers, The Supremes, and Raquel Welch. The duo revived its recording career, releasing four more albums for Kapp Records and MCA Records that included two more Top 10 hits: "All I Ever Need Is You" in 1971, and "A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done" in 1972.
Now 25, Cher continued to establish herself as a solo recording artist, enlisting the help of hit producer Snuff Garrett. Her first solo number-one hit was "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves". Released in September 1971, the album of the same name peaked at #16 on the Billboard 200, and remained on the chart for 45 weeks. Another single from the album, "The Way of Love" peaked at #7 in March 1972. In 1974, Cher had her third #1 solo hit with "Dark Lady", also from the album of the same name. By the third season of the Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, the marriage of Sonny and Cher was falling apart; the duo separated later that year. Cher won a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance By an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy for The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour in 1974.
Bono launched his own show, The Sonny Comedy Revue, in the fall of 1974 The variety series' debut season ranked 22nd in the year-end Nielsen ratings.
A good deal of press was generated throughout 1975 regarding Cher's exposed navel and the daring ensembles created by famed designer Bob Mackie. deciding instead to reunite with her ex-husband for a revamped version of The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. Three days after finalizing her divorce from Sonny, Cher married rock musician Gregg Allman, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, on June 30, 1975. They had one son, Elijah,
Later in 1979, Cher would capitalize on the disco craze, signing with Casablanca Records, and racking up another Top-10 single with "Take Me Home". Sales of the album Take Me Home may have been boosted by the image of a scantily-clad Cher in a Viking outfit on the album’s cover. The album was RIAA-certified Gold. This album produced the minor hit single "Hell on Wheels" and the tune was also featured in the film Roller Boogie. In 1980, Cher penned her last disco song for the film Foxes, called "Bad Love." Later in the same year, Cher formed the rock band Black Rose with her then-partner, guitarist Les Dudek, and released the album Black Rose. The album failed to sell, despite an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and the band broke up the following year. In 1982, Cher released I Paralyze, promoting it on American Bandstand and The Tonight Show, but critics panned the album and sales were disappointing. That same year, she was cast in the film version, which was directed by Robert Altman and earned her a Golden Globe nomination. She was next cast alongside Meryl Streep and Kurt Russell in the drama Silkwood (1983) in which she played Streep’s blue-collar lesbian roommate. She received her first Academy Award nomination, as Best Supporting Actress. She also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture for her performance.
Cher's next film was a starring role in Mask in 1985, directed by Peter Bogdanovich. The film also starred Eric Stoltz, Laura Dern, Estelle Getty and Sam Elliott. It opened at #3 at the box office and was considered her first critical and commercial success as a leading actress. For her role as a mother of a severely disfigured boy, Cher won the Best Actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama. In 1985, Cher was honored with Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year Award.
On May 22, 1986, Cher made her first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. In her pre-interview with the show's producers, Cher had referred to host David Letterman with a derogatory term when asked why she had previously declined to appear on his program. He later confronted her about this on air during their interview, asking why she had refused so many earlier invitations. As she thought of an appropriate answer, he pushed her further saying, "Because you thought..." to which she replied "You were an asshole. She received a mixture of boos and laughter from the audience for the remark; however, Letterman quickly played off the incident as just fun. Cher returned to Late Night With David Letterman in an appearance on November 13, 1987, this time with ex-husband Sonny Bono, reuniting to sing "I Got You, Babe" for what would be the last time. She has since made multiple appearances on Letterman's CBS show. In 1987, Cher starred in three films. She was cast as Alexandra, the female lead in the dark comedy/fantasy film The Witches of Eastwick with Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer. She played a lawyer in the thriller Suspect opposite Dennis Quaid, and starred in the romantic comedy Moonstruck, which co-starred Nicolas Cage and Olympia Dukakis and was directed by Norman Jewison. For her performance as a frumpy bookkeeper in Moonstruck, she won the 1987 Academy Award for Best Actress. She also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy, and the People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Star. Darlene Love and Bonnie Tyler provided guest vocals. In 1987, she also released her first fragrance, Uninhibited.
In 1989, Cher released the album Heart of Stone. As on her previous album, Michael Bolton, Jon Bon Jovi, Diane Warren and Desmond Child handled songwriting and/or producing duties. The album was originally released with cover artwork featuring Cher sitting in front of a heart made of stone, creating the illusion of a skull. Heart of Stone would prove to be very successful, having sold 11,000,000 copies worldwide, peaked at #3 in the U.S., reached #6 in the UK and charted in various other countries around the globe. Further hits from the album were "Just Like Jesse James", "Heart of Stone", and it also contained the hit duet with Peter Cetera, "After All", #6 in U.S.
The video for "If I Could Turn Back Time" caused controversy, because in it Cher wore a skimpy, see-through net outfit, which revealed a "butterfly" tattoo on her buttocks. Many networks on television, including MTV, initially refused to air the video because of the "partial nudity". MTV network eventually played the video, but only after 9 p.m. Cher launched the Heart of Stone Tour, which played throughout 1989 and 1990 in various parts of the world. She also starred in the television special Cher – Live at the Mirage, which was filmed during a live concert in Las Vegas. In the late 1980s, Cher was considered for the role of the Grand High Witch in a movie adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel The Witches, but the role was eventually given to Anjelica Huston.
In 1990, Cher starred in the modest box office success Mermaids with Bob Hoskins, Winona Ryder, and Christina Ricci. The film received many positive reviews from critics. Cher contributed two songs to its soundtrack. "Baby I'm Yours" and the album's second single, "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)", charted low on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 (at #33), but became a smash hit elsewhere, reaching #1 in the UK, #3 in Germany and France, and #5 in Australia. Around the globe, it became her most successful single to date, selling more than six million copies worldwide. In 1991, Cher completed her Geffen recording contract by releasing the album Love Hurts. This album had a big impact in Europe and in the rest of the world, particularly in the UK where it debuted at #1 and stayed there for six consecutive weeks. Unlike her previous two records, Love Hurts received less attention in the United States where it was certified gold; in European countries, the album was certified multi-platinum. She made few public appearances during this period with the exception of appearing in a series of infomercials launching hair-care products for her friend Lori Davis, and for the sweetener Equal. Cher made cameo appearances in the Robert Altman films The Player (1992) and Prêt-à-Porter (1994). In 1994, she collaborated with MTV's cartoons Beavis and Butt-head for a rock version of Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe". The next year she and Chrissie Hynde, Neneh Cherry and Eric Clapton topped the UK Singles Chart for one week with the charity single "Love Can Build a Bridge". In 1995, she recorded an album, mainly of covers, titled It's a Man's World. The album was released in Europe at the end of 1995 and in North America in the summer of 1996. The album sparked two European hits: "Walking in Memphis" and "One by One". It's a Man's World was a moderate success, with six million copies worldwide; however, sales in the United States were limited. Cher starred in Faithful (1996) with Ryan O'Neal and Chazz Palminteri, and scored a minor comeback when she co-executive-produced and appeared in the highly anticipated, controversial HBO abortion drama If These Walls Could Talk, with Demi Moore, Sissy Spacek and Anne Heche. Nancy Savoca co-wrote all three segments and directed the first two sections starring Moore and Spacek, but Cher directed and co-starred in the third segment, earning a Golden Globe Nomination as Best Supporting Actress in a made-for-television movie.
Cher was in London in January 1998 when a call from daughter Chastity brought news of Sonny Bono's death in a skiing accident. He was 62. At the time of his death, Bono, by then a popular California Congressman, was married to his fourth wife, Mary Bono. Sonny and Cher had been divorced for nearly 23 years and he was remarried with two more children. However, the two had remained friendly over the years, and she was chosen to deliver Sonny's eulogy at his funeral. In front of a worldwide television audience, she tearfully and effusively praised Bono, calling him "the most unforgettable character I've ever met." Cher paid tribute to Bono in the CBS special Sonny and Me: Cher Remembers (1998), calling her grief "something I never plan to get over." In 1998, Sonny & Cher received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television. Cher appeared at the event with Mary Bono, who accepted the award on behalf of her late husband.
Cher published her first memoir in late 1998, titled The First Time. Rather than a tell-all, the book was a collection of Cher's most significant "first-time" memories from her childhood, life and Hollywood career. In January 1999, Cher performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" in front of the Super Bowl XXXIII television audience. Cher also performed on the highly rated television special VH1 Divas Live 2, performing alongside contemporaries Tina Turner, Elton John, Chaka Khan, Faith Hill, Mary J. Blige, LeAnn Rimes, Diana Ross, Brandy and Whitney Houston. Later in 1999, Cher co-starred in the well-received Franco Zeffirelli film Tea With Mussolini (1999) with Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright and Lily Tomlin. Her successful worldwide Do You Believe? Tour travelled throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, with the Emmy-nominated television special Cher: Live at the MGM Grand In Las Vegas airing by year's end. On November 30, 1999, she released a compilation album The Greatest Hits that continued to build upon her huge popularity in Europe. The album entered the German Charts at #1 (her second consecutive German No. 1 album) and peaked at #7 on the official UK Albums Chart. This compilation was released only outside the United States, due to the release of the North American only compilation, which was released that same year. In Germany she became again best selling female artist of the year and was receiving her second ECHO Award (she and Madonna are the only female artists to do so). The Do You Believe? Tour continued throughout 2000 and became her most successful tour to that time.
In February 2002, still in a dance mode, Cher released the highly anticipated follow-up to Believe: Living Proof, which entered the Billboard 200 at number nine, making it her highest-charting album debut and extending her album-chart span to an excess of 37 years. It did not repeat the success of Believe, showing no longevity in the charts. Outside the United States, things were little better: in the United Kingdom, France and Australia, Living Proof failed to reach the Top 40, while charting best in Germany by entering at #13. The album included several re-mixed songs that found their way onto the Hot Dance, Maxi-Single Sales, Club Play and Adult Contemporary charts. The album was eventually certified gold in the United States and Germany, and earned her two Grammy nominations. That year, Cher won the Dance/Club Play Artist of the Year and was presented with a special Artist Achievement Award at the Billboard Music Awards. In May 2002, Cher performed on the VH1 television special VH1 Divas Las Vegas, with Shakira, Celine Dion, The Dixie Chicks, Anastacia, Cyndi Lauper and Mary J. Blige. In June, she announced plans for , which she claimed would be the final live concert tour of her career, though she vowed to continue recording and releasing music.
The show itself was a tribute to her nearly 40 years in show business. It featured vintage performance and video clips from the 1960s onwards, highlighting her successes in music, television, and film, all set amongst an elaborate backdrop and stage set-up, complete with backing band, singers and dancers, including aerial acrobatics. Dates were added, and the tour was extended several times, covering virtually all of the U.S. and Canada (plus three shows in Mexico City), several cities in Europe, as well as the major cities of Australia and New Zealand. Going well past its original cut-off date, it was eventually redubbed the "Never Can Say Goodbye Tour". In April 2003 The Very Best of Cher, a CD collection of all of her greatest hits spanning her entire career, was released. The album peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 album chart, extending her album chart span to over 38 years. The compilation has been certified double platinum and has sold 3.5 million copies worldwide.
She found success on television once again in the spring of 2003 with Cher: The Farewell Tour Live, an NBC special taped on 7 and November 8, 2002 at Miami's American Airlines Arena and aired in April 2003, attracting 17.3 million viewers. It earned Cher her first Emmy Award as Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special. She released the album later in 2003, a collection of live tracks taken from the tour. She was also seen, as herself, in the Farrelly Brothers comedy Stuck on You (2003) with Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear. In the film, she spoofed her own image, appearing in bed with a high-school boyfriend (Frankie Muniz). Also in 2003, Cher recorded a duet of "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" for Rod Stewart's As Time Goes By... The Great American Songbook Volume II album.
In February 2004, she received another Grammy Award nomination for Best Dance Recording for her song "Love One Another". During 2004, a Sonny & Cher DVD was released with nine Sonny & Cher shows from the famous Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and The Sonny and Cher Show, featuring some of the best shows during the 1970s. In 2004, Cher released the album Gold, a 2-CD collection of all her greatest hits, spanning from her days as one-half of Sonny & Cher to her Living Proof era. It was only a year following the release of her multi-platinum The Very Best of Cher album, though Allmusic nevertheless gave it four and a half out of five stars. Cher closed the farewell tour in April 2005 at the Hollywood Bowl. It was the most successful tour by a single female solo artist at that time. She is being paid $60 million for her return. The elaborate show includes eighteen dancers, four aerialists and multiple costumes designed by Bob Mackie. Choreography is directed by Doriana Sanchez who also worked with Cher on her past three major tours. On February 10, 2008, Cher made a brief appearance at the Grammy Awards, introducing a performance by Tina Turner and Beyonce Knowles. In May 2008, Cher appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss her new show and performed her hit "Take Me Home". Cher also performed "Proud Mary" with Tina Turner, which they had previously performed on the Divas Live '99 concert in 1999. On November 3, 2008, Cher appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and confirmed that she will star in a movie titled The Drop-out with Johnny Knoxville. She claimed that this movie will start filming during the summer of 2009 and will be released in 2010. Unfortunately the production hasn't started as of December 2010, but she recently said at the premier of "Burlesque" that it may still happen.
Cher began performing again in February 2009. She had to delay the last of her 2008 shows due to illness; she claimed to have "Vegas throat". Cher combined her acting and singing skills in the 2010 film Burlesque, a contemporary musical in which she starred alongside Christina Aguilera. She will also provide the voice of a lion (formerly a giraffe) in Kevin James' 2011 film The Zookeeper. On April 18, 2010, Cher made a surprise appearance on The 45th Annual Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards. She was introduced by 12-time host Reba McEntire. She said the very first song she learned was "Hey Good Lookin'".
In addition to her return to the big screen in 'Burlesque', Cher also recorded two new songs for the film, 'Welcome to Burlesque' and 'You Haven't Seen the Last of Me'. The latter of the two has had success in the Club scene, peaking at the #1 spot on Billboard's Dance/Club Play Songs chart. This fact gives Cher the title of only female singer with #1 in every decade since 60's at Billboard's Dance/Club Play Songs. Cher has also announced that she is currently recording a new rock album to be released in 2011, she has stated that she is working with a couple of men down in Nashville on the album. Cher has also claimed that it is very likely that a world tour will be hitting major arenas around September 2011. Cher has also stated in "Glamour Magazine" that she will possibly directing a movie within the next 2 to 3 years. Cher attended the 2010 MTV VMAs on September 12, 2010 presenting the Video of the Year award to Lady GaGa. On November 8, 2010 she was honored with Glamour's Woman of the Year Lifetime Achievement award. On November 18, 2010 Cher was immortalized by placing her handprints and footprints in cement in the courtyard in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
Later that year Cher married rock star Gregg Allman. Their son Elijah Blue Allman (of the band Deadsy) was born on July 10, 1976. They separated after two years and finalized their divorce in 1979. Between Bono and Allman, Cher revealed that she had a fling with Elvis Presley while they were performing in Las Vegas, but rejected him when he asked her up to his room because she was nervous about spending the night with him. In February 2008, Cher stated on Good Morning America that she deeply regrets turning him down. In the interview, she also claimed to have been asked out by Marlon Brando during a plane ride. Throughout the 1980s, Cher dated several younger men including actors Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer, Josh Donen, as well as Rob Camilletti, the 22-year-old bagel baker whom she met on her 40th birthday and lived with for three years.
Cher was involved with Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora for two years in the early 1990s, and was also linked to musicians Eric Clapton and Mark Hudson. As of 2010, Cher is dating the American comedy writer, Ron Zimmerman. They were first seen together in public in August 2010, having been dating for around six months.
In July 2006, it was announced that Cher, in conjunction with Sotheby's and Julien's Auctions, was planning to auction about 800 of her personal possessions from her Italian Renaissance-themed Malibu estate, including numerous antiques, art collectibles, paintings, career memorabilia, furniture (including her bed) as well as numerous pieces of jewelry, clothing, stage costumes, gowns, a 2003 Hummer H2 and her 2005 Bentley. The event, which took place October 3–5, 2006, in Beverly Hills, California, raised $3.3 million. Cher had said a large percentage of the proceeds will benefit the Cher Charitable Foundation. Cher reportedly received $180 million for mounting her comeback at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
The reverence held for Cher by members of the gay community has been attributed to her accomplishments in her career, her sense of style and her longevity. Alec Mapa of The Advocate elaborates: "While the rest of us were sleeping, Cher's been out there for the last four decades living out every single one of our childhood fantasies...Cher embodies an unapologetic freedom and fearlessness that some of us can only aspire to." Thomas Rogers of Salon magazine commented that "[d]rag queens imitate women like Judy Garland, Dolly Parton and Cher because they overcame insult and hardship on their path to success, and because their narratives mirror the pain that many gay men suffer on their way out of the closet."
Her child, Chaz Bono, who was born female, She was the keynote speaker for the 1997 national Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) convention.
In 1998, Cher was honored with a GLAAD Media Award (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) and in November 1999, The Advocate named Cher as one of the '25 Coolest Women'. In October 2005 the Bravo program Great Things About Being... declared Cher "the number one greatest thing about being gay." William J. Mann, author of Gay Pride: A Celebration of All Things Gay and Lesbian, comments "[w]e'll be dancing to a ninety-year-old Cher when we're sixty. Just watch", and in a 2007 'Top Ten Gay Icons', formed by Digital Spy, it was stated that: "US comedian Jimmy James was spot-on when he quipped: "After a nuclear holocaust, all that will be left are cockroaches and Cher"." The NBC sitcom Will & Grace acknowledged her status by making her the idol of gay character Jack McFarland. Cher guest-starred as herself twice on the sitcom, in 2000 and 2002. On October 27, 2003, Cher anonymously called a C-SPAN phone-in program. She recounted a visit she had made to maimed soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and criticized the lack of media coverage and government attention given to injured servicemen. She also remarked that she watches C-SPAN every day. Though she simply identified herself as an unnamed entertainer with the USO, she was recognized by the C-SPAN host, who subsequently questioned her about her 1992 support for independent presidential candidate Ross Perot.
Back from her last tour in Europe, Cher declared that Europeans had a very bad image of Americans, mostly because of the Bush administration. "[Europeans] see us as the real terrorists since this stupid war in Iraq and because of all the innocent civilians that were killed within the first [...]somehow they're right." She shared the stage with Muhammad Muhammad in N.Y.C, an American actor who used to tell stories about the changes in American Muslims' lives since 9/11. On Memorial Day weekend in 2006, Cher called in again, endorsing Operation Helmet, an organization started by a doctor that provides helmet upgrade kits free of charge to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as to those ordered to deploy in the near future. She identified herself as a caller from Malibu, California, and proceeded to complain about the current presidential administration. She read aloud a letter from a soldier on the ground in Iraq, praising Operation Helmet's efforts, and decrying the lack of protection afforded by the military's provisions for troops.
Cher appeared on The Ed Schultz Show in May 2006 to discuss her work in support of U.S. troops fighting abroad, as well as returning veterans. Schultz noted her involvement with both Operation Helmet and the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which is constructing an advanced training skills facility at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. The center will serve military personnel who have been catastrophically disabled in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and those severely injured in other operations, as well as in the normal performance of their duties, combat and non-combat related. During the interview with Schultz, Cher again said she is an independent. Her comments about the current political scene in the U.S. led him to interject, "You're fed up with everybody", to which she replied, "I really am. I couldn't be a Republican 'cause I think I believe in too many services for poor people, but I'm fed up with the Democrats. I just think...you're gonna find all their spines where you find the elephant's graveyard."
Toward the end of the interview, Schultz asked Cher what she thinks about today's protest songs. She responded, "You know, I think it's the duty of artists to say what they want, in favor or in opposition. Unfortunately, I think that, with [the Bush administration], you haven't been able to really voice any opposition because of 9/11, if you say anything opposed to the administration, somehow they've been able to wrap themselves in the flag, so that if you have any opposing viewpoint, you're unpatriotic." She was about to offer her thoughts on this, but stopped, saying, "I don't know what you can say on your program, so I won't talk the way I normally talk. I don't like it...it rubs me the wrong way. And if I could say all those seven words," referring to George Carlin's Seven dirty words routine about profane language, "that's what I'd be saying." Cher supported Hillary Clinton in her Presidential campaign, as she noted on Entertainment Tonight in February 2008. Clinton, in return, said she was thrilled to have Cher's support. After Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination, Cher supported his candidacy on radio and TV programs, including a November 3 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Cher is still involved with Operation Helmet, and appeared with Dr. Bob Meaders (founder of Operation Helmet) on C-SPAN again on June 14, 2006. She then appeared with him on Capitol Hill on June 15, 2006. It has been reported that Cher has so far donated over US$130,000 to Operation Helmet.
In July 1999, Cher ranked 43rd on VH1’s 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll poll and in September 2002 ranked 26th on VH1’s 100 Sexiest Artists. She has appeared on the cover of People magazine thirteen times. In a 2007 poll, A&E;'s Biography magazine ranked her as the third favorite actress of all time behind two of her Hollywood idols, Katharine Hepburn and Audrey Hepburn. }}
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| Name | Art Carney |
|---|---|
| Caption | Art Carney with The Honeymooners cast (Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph) |
| Birth name | Arthur William Matthew Carney |
| Birth date | November 04, 1918 |
| Birth place | Mount Vernon, New York, U.S. |
| Death date | November 09, 2003 |
| Death place | Chester, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Years active | 1941–1993 |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Spouse | Jean Myers (1940–1965)Barbara Isaac (1966–1977)Jean Myers (1980–2003; his death) |
Arthur William Matthew “Art” Carney (November 4, 1918 – November 9, 2003) was an Academy Award winning American actor in film, stage, television and radio. He is best-known for playing Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the situation comedy The Honeymooners.
Carney was married three times to two women: Jean Myers, from 1940 to 1965, and again from 1980 until his death in 2003, and to Barbara Isaac from December 21, 1966 until 1977. He had three children with his first wife, Brian (born 1946), Eileen (born 1946) & Paul (born 1952). Brian Carney appears alongside the animated gecko in GEICO commercials.
Art Carney died November 9, 2003, aged 85, from natural causes at a rest home near his home in Westbrook, Connecticut. He is interred at Riverside Cemetery in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.
One of his radio roles during the 1940s was the fish Red Lantern on Land of the Lost. In 1943 he played Billy Oldham on Joe and Ethel Turp, based on Damon Runyon stories. He appeared on The Henry Morgan Show in 1946-47. He impersonated FDR on The March of Time and Dwight D. Eisenhower on Living 1948. In 1950-51 he played Montague's father on The Magnificent Montague. He was a supporting player on Casey, Crime Photographer and Gang Busters.
In 1950, Jackie Gleason was starring in a New York–based comedy-variety series, Cavalcade of Stars, and played many different characters. Gleason's regular characters included Charlie Bratten, a lunchroom loudmouth who insisted on spoiling a neighboring patron's meal. Carney, established in New York as a reliable actor, played Bratten's mild-mannered victim, Clem Finch. Gleason and Carney developed a good working chemistry, and Gleason recruited Carney to appear in other sketches, including the domestic-comedy skits featuring The Honeymooners. Carney gained lifelong fame for his portrayal of sewer worker Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden. The success of these skits resulted in the famous filmed situation comedy The Honeymooners, and the Honeymooners revivals that followed. He was nominated for seven Emmy Awards and won six.
Between his stints with Gleason, Carney worked steadily as a character actor. In the season two opening episode of the Batman television series, titled "Shoot a Crooked Arrow" (1966), Carney gave a memorable performance as the newly introduced villain "The Archer".
In 1958, he starred in an ABC children's television special Art Carney Meets Peter and the Wolf, which also featured the Bil Baird Marionettes. It combined an original storyline with a marionette presentation of Serge Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. Some of Prokofiev's other music was given lyrics written by Ogden Nash. The special was a success and was repeated twice.
Carney starred in an episode of The Twilight Zone "Night of the Meek". In 1964, he guest-starred in the episode "Smelling Like a Rose" along with Hal March and Tina Louise in the CBS drama Mr. Broadway, starring Craig Stevens. He also starred as Police Chief Paul Lanigan in the 1976 television movie, Lanigan's Rabbi, and in the short-lived series of the same name that aired in 1977, as part of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie lineup.
In 1978, Carney appeared in The Star Wars Holiday Special, a made-for-tv movie that was linked to the Star Wars film series. In it, he played Trader Saun Dann, a member of the Rebel Alliance who helped Chewbacca and his family evade an Imperial blockade.
In 1981, he portrayed Harry Truman, an 84-year-old lodge owner in the semi-fictional account of events leading to the eruption of Mount St. Helens, in the movie titled St. Helens.
In 1984, he portrayed Santa Claus in the made-for-TV holiday film The Night They Saved Christmas. Although he retired in the late 1980s, he returned in 1993 in a cameo in the Arnold Schwarzenegger film, Last Action Hero.
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