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name | John Barrymore |
---|---|
birth name | John Sidney Blyth |
birth date | February 15, 1882 |
birth place | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US |
death date | May 29, 1942 |
death place | Los Angeles, California, US |
years active | 1903–1941 |
occupation | Actor |
spouse | Katherine Corri Harris (1910–1917)Blanche Oelrichs (1920–1925) 1 childDolores Costello (1928–1934) 2 childrenElaine Barrie (1936–1940) }} |
John Sidney Blyth (February 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942), better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays ''Hamlet'' and ''Richard III''. His success continued with motion pictures in various genres in both the silent and sound eras. Barrymore's personal life has been the subject of much writing before and since his passing in 1942. Today John Barrymore is mostly known for his roles in movies like ''Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde'' (1920), ''Grand Hotel'' (1932), ''Dinner at Eight'' (1933), ''Twentieth Century'' (1934), and ''Don Juan'' (1926), the first ever movie to use a Vitaphone soundtrack.
A member of a multi-generation theatrical dynasty, he was the brother of Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore, and was the paternal grandfather of Drew Barrymore.
Barrymore fondly remembered the summer of 1896 in his youth, spent on his father's rambling estate on Long Island. He and Lionel lived a Robinson Crusoe-like existence, attended by a black servant named Edward. John was expelled from Georgetown Preparatory School in 1898 after being caught entering a bordello.
Barrymore studied to be an artist and worked on New York newspapers before deciding to go into the family business as an actor. He made his stage debut in 1903. He first appeared on the London stage two years later.
While still a teenager, he courted showgirl Evelyn Nesbit in 1901 and 1902. For years, rumors swirled that Nesbit had become pregnant and that Barrymore had arranged an abortion, disguised as an operation for "appendicitis". In 1906, another Nesbit lover, famed architect Stanford White, was murdered by Nesbit's husband, Pittsburgh millionaire Harry K. Thaw. Barrymore was subpoenaed to testify at Thaw's trial in defense hopes of showing that Nesbit had a history of "immorality." Both Barrymore and Nesbit denied the abortion story under oath.
Barrymore was staying at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco when the 1906 earthquake struck. He had starred in a production of ''The Dictator'' and was booked to tour Australia with it. Since he loathed this prospect, he hid, spending the next few days drinking at the home of a friend on Van Ness Avenue. During this drinking jag, he worked out a plan to exploit the earthquake for his own ends. He decided to present himself as an on-the-scene "reporter", making up virtually everything he claimed to have witnessed. Twenty years later, Barrymore finally confessed to his deception, but by then, he was so famous that the world merely smiled indulgently at his admission." His account was written as a "letter to my sister Ethel". He was sure the letter would be "worth at least a hundred dollars." In terms of publicity it earned Barrymore a thousand times that amount.
He was buried in East Los Angeles, at Calvary Cemetery, on June 2. Surviving family members in attendance were his brother Lionel and his daughter Diana. Ex wife Elaine also attended. Among his active pallbearers were Gene Fowler, John Decker, W.C. Fields, Herbert Marshall, Eddie Mannix, Louis B. Mayer, and David O. Selznick. Years later, Barrymore's son John had the body reinterred at Philadelphia's Mount Vernon Cemetery.
Barrymore had been a friend and contemporary (and drinking buddy) of his fellow Philadelphian W. C. Fields. In the 1976 film ''W.C. Fields and Me'', Barrymore was played by Jack Cassidy. Cassidy, like Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. idolized Barrymore. Barrymore was also portrayed by Christopher Plummer (who was a friend of Diana Barrymore) in the 1996 two-man show ''Barrymore,'' and by Errol Flynn in the 1958 film ''Too Much, Too Soon.''
He is mentioned in the lyrics of the song "I May Be Wrong (But I Think You're Wonderful)" by Harry Sullivan and Harry Ruskin, written in 1929, which became the theme song of the Apollo Theater in New York, and which was recorded by many artists including Doris Day in 1950.
In addition, his ghost is a major character in Paul Rudnik's comedy I Hate Hamlet.
Category:Actors from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:American film actors Category:American silent film actors Category:American stage actors Category:Deaths from cirrhosis Category:American people of English descent Category:1906 San Francisco earthquake Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Shakespearean actors Category:Vaudeville performers Category:Alcohol-related deaths in California Category:People educated at King's College School, Wimbledon Category:1882 births Category:1942 deaths Category:1906 San Francisco Earthquake survivors Category:20th-century actors Category:Children of Entertainers
ar:جون باريمور bg:Джон Баримор de:John Barrymore es:John Barrymore fr:John Barrymore id:John Barrymore it:John Barrymore la:Ioannes Barrymore lb:John Barrymore hu:John Barrymore nl:John Barrymore ja:ジョン・バリモア no:John Barrymore pl:John Barrymore pt:John Barrymore ru:Берримор, Джон sh:John Barrymore fi:John Barrymore sv:John Barrymore tr:John Blyth Barrymore uk:Джон Беррімор zh:約翰·巴里摩This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe, Larry, and Shemp," among other lineups. They first started as "Ted Healy and his Stooges" which contained Moe, Larry and Shemp. "The Three Stooges" film trio was originally composed of Moe Howard, brother Curly Howard and Larry Fine. Shemp Howard replaced brother Curly, when Curly suffered a debilitating stroke in May 1946.
After Shemp's death from a heart attack in November 1955, he was replaced by comedian Joe Besser, after the use of film actor Joe Palma to film four Shemp-era shorts. Ultimately, Joe DeRita (nicknamed "Curly Joe") replaced Joe Besser by 1958. The act regained momentum throughout the 1960s as popular kiddie fare until Larry Fine's paralyzing stroke in January 1970 effectively marked the end of the act proper. Moe tried unsuccessfully one final time to revive the Stooges with longtime supporting actor Emil Sitka filling in for Larry. Larry ultimately succumbed to a series of additional strokes in January 1975, followed by Moe, who died of lung cancer in May 1975.
In 1930, Ted Healy and His Stooges (including Sanborn) appeared in their first Hollywood feature film, ''Soup to Nuts'', released by Fox Film Corporation. The film was not a critical success, but the Stooges' performances were singled out as memorable, leading Fox to offer the trio a contract minus Healy. This enraged the prickly Healy, who told studio executives that the Stooges were his employees. The offer was withdrawn, and after Howard, Fine and Howard learned of the reason, they left Healy to form their own act, which quickly took off with a tour of the theatre circuit. Healy attempted to stop the new act with legal action, claiming they were using his copyrighted material. There are accounts of Healy threatening to bomb theaters if Howard, Fine and Howard ever performed there, which worried Shemp so much that he almost left the act; reportedly, only a pay raise kept him on board. Healy tried to save his act by hiring replacement stooges, but they were inexperienced and not as well-received as their predecessors. In 1932, with Moe now acting as business manager, Healy reached a new agreement with his former Stooges, and they were booked in a production of Jacob J. Shubert's ''The Passing Show of 1932''. During rehearsals, Healy received a more lucrative offer and found a loophole in his contract allowing him to leave the production. Shemp, fed up with Healy's abrasiveness, decided to quit the act and found work almost immediately, in Vitaphone movie comedies produced in Brooklyn, New York.
With Shemp gone, Healy and the two remaining stooges (Moe and Larry) needed a replacement, so Moe suggested his younger brother Jerry Howard. Healy reportedly took one look at Jerry, who had long chestnut red locks and a handlebar mustache, and remarked that he did not look like he was funny. Jerry left the room and returned a few moments later with his head shaved (though his mustache remained for a time), and then quipped "Boy, do I look girly." Healy heard "Curly," and the name stuck. (There are varying accounts as to how the Curly character actually came about.)
In 1933, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) signed Healy and his Stooges to a movie contract. They appeared in feature films and short subjects, either together, individually, or with various combinations of actors. The trio was featured in a series of musical comedy shorts, beginning with ''Nertsery Rhymes''. The short was one of a few shorts to be made with an early two-strip Technicolor process, including one featuring Curly without Healy or the other Stooges, ''Roast Beef and Movies'' (1934). The shorts themselves were built around recycled film footage of production numbers cut from MGM musicals, such as ''Children of Pleasure'', ''Lord Byron of Broadway'', and the unfinished ''March of Time'' (all 1930), which had been filmed in early Technicolor. Soon, additional shorts followed (sans the experimental Technicolor), including ''Beer and Pretzels'' (1933), ''Plane Nuts'' (1933), and ''The Big Idea'' (1934).
Healy and company also appeared in several MGM feature films as comic relief, such as ''Turn Back the Clock'' (1933), ''Meet the Baron'' (1933), ''Dancing Lady'' (1933), ''Fugitive Lovers'' (1934), and ''Hollywood Party'' (1934). Healy and the Stooges also appeared together in ''Myrt and Marge'' for Universal Pictures.
In 1934, the team's contract with MGM expired, and the Stooges parted professional company with Healy. According to Moe Howard's autobiography, the Stooges split with Ted Healy in 1934 once and for all because of Healy's alcoholism and abrasiveness. Their final film with Healy was MGM’s 1934 film, ''Hollywood Party''. Both Healy and the Stooges went on to separate successes, with Healy dying under mysterious circumstances in 1937.
Within their first year at Columbia, the Stooges became wildly popular. Realizing this, Columbia Pictures president Harry Cohn used the Stooges as leverage, as the demand for their films was so great that Columbia eventually refused to supply exhibitors with the trio's shorts unless they also agreed to book some of the studio's mediocre B movies. Cohn also saw to it that the Stooges remain ignorant of their popularity. During their 23 years spent at Columbia, the Stooges were never completely aware of their amazing drawing power at the box office. As their contracts with the studio included an open option that had to be renewed every year, Cohn would tell the boys that the short subjects were in decline, which was not a complete fabrication (Cohn's yearly mantra was "the market for comedy shorts is dying out, fellahs.") Thinking their days were numbered, the Stooges would sweat it out each and every year, with Cohn signing the trio up for another year at the last minute. This cruel deception kept the insecure Stooges unaware of their true value, resulting in them having second thoughts about asking for a better contract without a yearly option. Cohn's scare tactics worked for all 23 years the Stooges were at Columbia; the team never once asked for—nor were they ever given—a salary increase. It was not until after they stopped making the shorts in December 1957 did Moe learn of the game Cohn was playing, what a valuable commodity the Stooges had been for the ailing studio, and how many millions more the act could have earned.
The Stooges were required to churn out up to eight short films per year within a 40-week period; for the remaining 12 or so weeks, they were free to pursue other employment. Usually, the Stooges would either spend this time with their families or tour the country promoting their live act. The Stooges appeared in 190 film shorts and five features while at Columbia. Del Lord directed more than three dozen Stooge films; Jules White directed dozens more, and his brother Jack White directed several under the pseudonym "Preston Black".
According to a published report, Moe, Larry, and director Jules White considered their best film to be ''You Nazty Spy!''. This 18-minute short subject starred Moe as "Moe Hailstone", an Adolf Hitler-like character, and satirized the Nazis in a period when America was still neutral and resolutely isolationist. Curly played a Hermann Goering character, replete with medals, and Larry a Ribbentrop-type ambassador. ''You Nazty Spy!'' was the first Hollywood film to spoof Hitler, as it was released in January, 1940, nine months before Charlie Chaplin's ''The Great Dictator''. Reportedly this film caused the Stooges to be placed on Hitler's so-called "death list" because of its anti-Nazi stance. Chaplin, along with Jack Benny, would also be on this list due to their later anti-Nazi films. The Stooges made occasional guest appearances in feature films, though generally they stuck to short subjects. Columbia offered theater owners an entire program of two-reel comedies (15 to 25 titles annually) featuring such stars as Buster Keaton, Andy Clyde, Charley Chase, and Hugh Herbert, but the Three Stooges shorts were the most popular of all.
Curly was easily the most popular member of the team. His childlike mannerisms and natural comedic charm (he had no previous acting experience) made him a hit with audiences. The fact that Curly had to shave his head for the act led him to feel unappealing to women. To mask his insecurities, Curly ate and drank excessively and caroused whenever the Stooges made personal appearances, which was approximately seven months out of the year. His weight ballooned in the 1940s, and his blood pressure was dangerously high. His wild lifestyle and constant drinking eventually caught up with him in 1945, and his performances suffered. In his last dozen shorts (ranging from 1945's ''If a Body Meets a Body'' through 1947's ''Half-Wits Holiday''), he was seriously ill, struggling to get through even the most basic scenes.
It was during the final day of filming ''Half-Wits Holiday'' on May 6, 1946 that Curly suffered a debilitating stroke on the set, ending his 14-year career. Curly's health necessitated a temporary retirement from the act, and while the Stooges hoped for a full recovery, Curly never starred in a film again, except for one brief cameo appearance in the third film after Shemp returned to the trio, ''Hold That Lion!'' It was the only film that contained all ''four'' of the original Stooges (the three Howard brothers and Larry) on screen simultaneously; Jules White recalled Curly visiting the set one day, and White had him do this bit for fun. (Curly's cameo appearance was recycled in the 1953 remake ''Booty and the Beast''.) In 1949, Curly was supposed to play a cameo role in the Stooge comedy ''Malice in the Palace'', but he was physically unable to perform. His chef role was played by Larry.
Shemp appeared with the Stooges in 76 more shorts and a quickie Western comedy feature titled ''Gold Raiders''. Upon Shemp's return, the quality of the films picked up; the last few Curly efforts had been marred by his sluggish performances. Entries like ''Out West'', ''Squareheads of the Round Table'', and ''Punchy Cowpunchers'' proved that there was life after Curly, and that Shemp could easily hold his own. Though some say he lacked his younger brother's childlike charisma, Shemp was a gifted, professional comedian. More often than not, his astute gift of comedic timing buoys weak material. In fact, one the finest entries in the series, ''Brideless Groom'', was made during this period.
Another interesting plus from the Shemp era was that Larry was given more time on screen. Throughout most of the Curly era, Larry was relegated to a background role, only being called upon to break up a potential scuffle between Moe and Curly. By the time Shemp rejoined the Stooges, Larry was allotted equal footage, even becoming the focus of several films (''Fuelin' Around'', ''He Cooked His Goose'').
During this period, Moe, Larry, and Shemp made a pilot for a ''Three Stooges'' television show called ''Jerks of All Trades'' in 1949. The series was never picked up, although the pilot is currently in the public domain and is available on home video, as is an early television appearance from around the same time on a vaudeville-style comedy series, ''Camel Comedy Caravan'', originally broadcast live on CBS-TV on March 11, 1950 and starring Ed Wynn. Also available commercially is a kinescope of Moe, Larry, and Shemp's appearance on ''The Frank Sinatra Show'', broadcast live over CBS-TV on January 1, 1952. Frank Sinatra was reportedly a big fan of the Stooges and slapstick comedy in general. On this broadcast, the Stooges are joined by one of their longtime stock-company members, Vernon Dent, who plays "Mr. Mortimer", a party-goer who requests a drink. The Stooges oblige with disastrous results.
Columbia's short-subject division downsized in 1952. Producer Hugh McCollum was discharged and director Edward Bernds resigned out of loyalty to McCollum, leaving only Jules White to both produce and direct the Stooges' remaining Columbia comedies. Production was significantly faster, with the former four-day filming schedules now tightened to two or three days. In another cost-cutting measure, White would create a "new" Stooge short by borrowing footage from old ones, setting it in a slightly different storyline, and filming a few new scenes often with the same actors in the same costumes. White was initially very subtle when recycling older footage: he would reuse only a single sequence of old film, re-edited so cleverly that it was not easy to detect. The later shorts were cheaper and the recycling more obvious, with as much as 75% of the running time consisting of old footage. White came to rely so much on older material that he could film the "new" shorts in a single day.
Three years after Curly's death, Shemp Howard died of a sudden heart attack at age 60 on November 22, 1955. Archived footage of Shemp, combined with new footage of Joe Palma, were used to complete the last four films originally planned with Shemp: ''Rumpus in the Harem'', ''Hot Stuff'', ''Scheming Schemers'', and ''Commotion on the Ocean''.
With Besser on board, the Stooge films began to resemble sitcoms. Sitcoms, though, were now available for free. Television was the new popular medium, and by the time Besser joined the act, the Stooges were generally considered throwbacks to an obsolete era. In addition, Moe and Larry were growing older, and could not perform pratfalls and physical comedy as they once had. The inevitable occurred soon enough. Columbia was the last studio still producing shorts, and the market for such films had all but dried up. As a result, the studio opted not to renew the Stooges' contract when it expired in late December 1957. The final comedy produced was ''Flying Saucer Daffy'', filmed on December 19–20, 1957. Several days later, the Stooges were unceremoniously fired from Columbia Pictures after 24 years of making low-budget shorts. Joan Howard Maurer, daughter of Moe, wrote the following in 1982:
{{bquote|The boys' careers had suddenly come to an end. They were at Columbia one day and gone the next—no 'Thank yous,' no farewell party for their 24 years of dedication and service and the dollars their comedies had reaped for the studio.
Moe Howard recalled that a few weeks after their exit from Columbia, he drove to the studio to say goodbye to several studio executives when he was stopped by a guard at the gate (obviously, not a Stooges fan) and, since he did not have the current year's studio pass, was refused entry. For the moment, it was a crushing blow.}} Although the Stooges were no longer working for Columbia, the studio had enough completed films on the shelf to keep releasing new comedies for another 18 months, and not in the order they were produced. The final Stooge release, ''Sappy Bull Fighters'', did not reach theaters until June 4, 1959. With no active contract in place, Moe and Larry discussed plans for a personal appearance tour; meanwhile, Besser's wife had a minor heart attack, and he preferred to stay local, leading him to withdraw from the act. For the first time in nearly 30 years, the Stooges hit a dead end.
This Three Stooges lineup went on to make a series of popular full-length films from 1959 to 1965, most notably ''Have Rocket, Will Travel'', ''The Three Stooges Meet Hercules'' and ''The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze''. The films were aimed at the kiddie-matinee market, and most were Farce outings in the Stooge tradition, with the exception of ''Snow White and the Three Stooges'', a children's fantasy in Technicolor. They also appeared as firemen (the role that helped make them famous in ''Soup to Nuts'') in the film ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World''. Throughout the 1960s, The Three Stooges were one of the most popular and highest-paid live acts in America. The trio also filmed 41 short comedy skits for ''The New Three Stooges'', which features a series of 156 animated cartoons produced for television. The Stooges appeared in live-action color footage, which preceded and followed each animated adventure in which they voiced their respective characters.
On January 9, 1970, during production of the pilot, Larry suffered a paralyzing stroke, ending his acting career, as well as plans for the television series. thumb|150px|lefgt|A proposed incarnation of the Three Stooges. A promotional picture taken after Larry Fine's death in 1975 features a very ill Moe Howard (who died shortly thereafter) flanked by Curly Joe DeRita to the left and Emil Sitka to the right.Plans were in the works for longtime foil Emil Sitka to replace Larry as the "Middle Stooge" in 1971, but nothing ever came of that idea other than the proposed publicity still reproduced here. Three years later, just before Christmas of 1974, Larry Fine suffered yet another stroke at the age of 72 and four weeks later, suffered a more massive one. Slipping into a coma, he died a week later of a stroke-induced cerebral hemorrhage on January 24, 1975.
Devastated by his friend's death, Moe nevertheless decided that the Three Stooges should continue. Several movie ideas were considered, one of which according to critic and movie historian Leonard Maltin, (who also uncovered a pre-production photo) was entitled ''Blazing Stewardesses''. Unfortunately, before pre-production could begin, after a lifetime of smoking, Moe fell ill from lung cancer, and died three months later on May 4, 1975, finally putting to rest the last original surviving member of one of the most famous comedy troupes of the 20th Century.
However, ''Blazing Stewardesses'', the last film idea that the Three Stooges had ever seriously considered, was eventually made, starring the last of the surviving Ritz Brothers comedy troupe and released to moderate acclaim later that year.
Curly Joe continued to perform live into the mid-1970s with Mousie Garner and Frank Mitchell as "The New 3 Stooges" enjoying recognition well into old age, before retiring by 1979.
Of the remaining “original-replacement” Stooges, Joe Besser died of heart failure on March 1, 1988, followed by Curly Joe DeRita of pneumonia on July 3, 1993.
The Ted Okuda/Edward Watz-penned book ''The Columbia Comedy Shorts'' puts the Stooges legacy in critical perspective:
Beginning in the 1980s, the Stooges finally began to receive long-overdue critical recognition. More often than not, the praise was directed at Curly, usually at the expense of his castmates, most especially Shemp. With the advent of cable television and the burgeoning home video market, the praise was eventually spread more evenly throughout the team. Critics began to realize that Moe and Larry were gifted performers; though less flamboyant than Curly, they were by no means less talented. Curly was indeed brilliant and a one-of-a-kind, but taken for long periods of time, he could also be irritating and exhausting without Moe and Larry present to provide a counterbalance. This balance would be handled better after Shemp returned to the act, with Larry in particular receiving more screen time. The release of nearly all their films on DVD by 2010 has allowed critics of Joe Besser and Joe DeRita—often the recipients of significant fan backlash—to appreciate the unique style of comedy both comedians brought to the Stooges. In addition, the DVD market in particular has allowed fans to view the entire Stooge film corpus as distinct periods in their long, distinguished career instead of comparing one Stooge to the other (the Curly vs. Shemp debate continues to this day).
The team appeared in 220 films. In the end, it is the durability of the 190 timeless short films the Stooges made at Columbia Pictures that acts as an enduring tribute to the comedy team. Their continued popularity worldwide has proven to even the most skeptical critics that their films—quite simply—are funny. American television personality Steve Allen went on record in the mid-1980s saying "though they never achieved widespread critical acclaim, they achieved exactly what they had always intended to do: they made people laugh."
! | ! Ted | ! Moe | ! Shemp | ! Larry | ! Curly | ! Joe | ! Curly Joe | ! Emil Sitka | |
1. | 1922–1924 | ||||||||
2. | 1925–1932 | ||||||||
3. | 1932–1934 | ||||||||
4. | 1934–1946 | ||||||||
5. | 1946–1955 | ||||||||
6. | 1956–1958 | ||||||||
7. | 1958–1971 | ||||||||
8. | 1971–1975 |
Ted Healy Real Name: Clarence Ernst Lee Nash Born: October 01, 1896 Died: December 21, 1937 Stooge Years: 1922–1931, 1932–1934
Moe Howard Real Name: Moses Harry Horwitz Born: June 19, 1897 Died: May 04, 1975 Stooge years: 1922–1927, 1928–1975
Larry Fine Real Name: Louis Feinberg Born: October 05, 1902 Died: January 24, 1975 Stooge years: 1925–1927, 1928–1971
Curly Howard Real Name: Jerome Lester Horwitz Born: October 22, 1903 Died: January 18, 1952 Stooge years: 1932–1946
Shemp Howard Real Name: Samuel Horwitz Born: March 04, 1895 Died: November 22, 1955 Stooge years: 1922–1927, 1928–1932, 1946–1955
Joe Besser Born: August 12, 1907 Died: March 01, 1988 Stooge years: 1956–1958
Joe DeRita Real Name: Joseph Wardell Born: July 12, 1909 Died: July 03, 1993 Stooge years: 1958–1975
Emil Sitka Born: December 22, 1915 Died: January 16, 1998 Stooge years: n/a
The Three Stooges appeared in 220 films throughout their career. Of those 220, 190 short films were made for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959, for which the trio are best known. Their contract was extended each year from 1934 until the final one expired on December 31, 1957. The last 8 of the 16 shorts with Joe Besser were released soon afterward.
In 1994 the heirs of Larry Fine and Joe DeRita filed a lawsuit against Moe's family, particularly Joan Howard Maurer and her son Jeffrey, who had inherited the NMP/Normandy business. The result reestablished Comedy III as a three-way interest of Fine/[Moe]Howard/DeRita. The DeRita heirs received the proxy to the Howard share, giving them majority control on the company's management. Curly-Joe's stepsons, Robert and Earl Benjamin, became the senior management of Comedy III. The Benjamins later incorporated the company, and C3 Entertainment, Inc. is currently the owner of all Three Stooges trademarks and merchandising. Larry's grandson Eric Lamond is the representative of the Fines' one-third interest in the company.
C3 has also, since 1995, authorized and provided the services of veteran actors Jim Skousen, Alan Semok, and Dave Knight (as Moe, Larry, and Curly respectively) for numerous "personal appearances" by the Stooge characters for a variety of merchandising and promotional events. This latter day trio has also provided voices for the characters in a variety of radio spots, merchandising tie-ins, and most recently for the first new Three Stooges short in fifty years. A CGI animation by Famous Frames Mobile Interactive, a first-wave "new media" company, entitled ''The Grate Debate'', has Moe, Larry and Curly running for President.
Since the 1990s Columbia and its television division's successor, Sony Pictures Television, has preferred to license the Stooges shorts to cable networks, precluding the films from being shown on local broadcast TV. Two stations in Chicago and Boston, however, signed long-term syndication contracts with Columbia years ago and have declined to terminate them. Thus, WMEU-CA in Chicago currently airs all 190 Three Stooges shorts on ''Stooge-a-Palooza'', hosted by Rich Koz, and WSBK-TV in Boston airs Stooge shorts and feature films. KTLA in Los Angeles dropped the shorts in 1994, but brought them back in 2007 as part of a special retro-marathon commemorating the station's 60th anniversary. Since that time, the station's original 16mm Stooges film prints have aired occasionally as part of mini-marathons on holidays. Antenna TV, a network broadcasting on the digital subchannels of local broadcast stations (owned by Tribune Broadcasting, who also owns KTLA), began airing the Stooges shorts upon the network's January 1, 2011 launch, which run in multi-hour blocks on weekends; most of the Three Stooges feature films are also broadcast on the network, through Antenna TV's distribution agreement with Sony Pictures Entertainment (whose Columbia Pictures subsidiary released most of the films).
Some of the Stooge films have been colorized by two separate companies. The first colorized DVD releases, distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, were prepared by West Wing Studios in 2004. The following year, Legend Films colorized the public domain shorts ''Malice in the Palace'', ''Sing a Song of Six Pants'', ''Disorder in the Court'' and ''Brideless Groom''. ''Disorder in the Court'' and ''Brideless Groom'' also appear on two of West Wing's colorized releases. In any event, the Columbia-produced shorts (aside from the public domain films) are handled by Sony Pictures Entertainment, while the MGM Stooges shorts are owned by Warner Bros. via their Turner Entertainment division. Sony offers 21 of the shorts on their web platform Crackle, along with eleven Minisodes. Meanwhile, the rights to the Stooges' feature films rests with the studios that originally produced them (Columbia/Sony for the Columbia films, and 20th Century Fox for the Fox films).
On October 30, 2007, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released a two-disc DVD set entitled The Three Stooges Collection, Volume One: 1934–1936. The set contains shorts from the first three years the Stooges worked at Columbia Pictures, marking the first time ever that all 19 shorts were released in their original theatrical order to DVD. Additionally, every short was remastered in high definition, a first for the Stooge films. Previous DVD releases were based on themes (wartime, history, work, etc.), and sold poorly. Fans and critics alike praised Sony for finally giving the Stooges the proper DVD treatment. One critic states "the Three Stooges on DVD has been a real mix'n match hodgepodge of un-restored titles and illogical entries. This new...boxset...seems to be the first concerted effort to categorize their huge body of work chronologically with many shorts seeing the digital light for the first time." Videolibrarian.com critic added "finally, the studio knuckleheads got it right! The way that the Three Stooges have been presented on home video has been a real slap in the face and poke in the eye to fans. They’ve been anthologized, colorized, and public domain-ed, as their shorts have been released and re-released in varying degrees of quality. Highly recommended." Critic James Plath of DVDtown.com added, "Thank you, Sony, for finally giving these Columbia Pictures icons the kind of DVD retrospective that they deserve. Remastered in High Definition and presented in chronological order, these short films now give fans the chance to appreciate the development of one of the most successful comedy teams in history."
The chronological series proved very successful and wildly popular, and Sony wasted little time preparing the next set for release. Volume Two: 1937–1939 was released on May 27, 2008, followed by Volume Three: 1940–1942 three months later on August 26, 2008. Demand exceeded supply, proving to Sony that they had a hit on their hands. In response, Volume Four: 1943–1945 was released on October 7, 2008, a mere two months after its predecessor. The global economic crisis slowed down the release schedule after Volume Four, and Volume Five: 1946–1948 was belatedly released on March 17, 2009. Volume Five is the first in the series to feature Shemp Howard with the Stooges. Volume Six: 1949–1951 was released June 16, 2009. and Volume Seven: 1952–1954 was released on November 10, 2009.
The eighth and final volume was released on June 1, 2010, bringing the series to a close. For the first time in history, all 190 ''Three Stooges'' short subjects became available to the public.
{|class="wikitable" |- ! Film || Year || Moe || Larry || Curly || Shemp || Joe || Curly Joe |- |''Soup to Nuts'' || 1930 || Moe || Larry || || Shemp || || |- |''Turn Back the Clock'' || 1933 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Meet the Baron'' || 1933 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Dancing Lady'' || 1933 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Broadway to Hollywood'' || 1933 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Myrt and Marge'' || 1933 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Fugitive Lovers'' || 1934 || Moe || Larry ||Curly || || || |- |''Hollywood Party'' (cameos) || 1934 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''The Captain Hates the Sea'' (cameos)|| 1934 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Start Cheering'' || 1938 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Time Out for Rhythm'' || 1941 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''My Sister Eileen'' (cameos) || 1942 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Rockin' in the Rockies'' || 1945 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Swing Parade of 1946'' || 1946 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Gold Raiders'' || 1951 || Moe || Larry || || Shemp || || |- |''Have Rocket, Will Travel'' || 1959 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |- |''Stop! Look! and Laugh!'' (compilation)|| 1960 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Snow White and the Three Stooges'' || 1961 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |- |''The Three Stooges Meet Hercules'' || 1962 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |- |''The Three Stooges in Orbit'' || 1962 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |- |''The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze'' || 1963 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |- |''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' (cameos)|| 1963 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |- |''4 for Texas'' || 1963 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |- |''The Outlaws Is Coming'' || 1965 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |- |''Kook's Tour'' (TV pilot) || 1970 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |} Joe Besser never appeared with the Stooges in a feature film.
Three feature-length Columbia releases were actually packages of older Columbia shorts. ''Columbia Laff Hour'' (introduced in 1956) was a random assortment that included the Stooges among other Columbia comedians like Andy Clyde, Hugh Herbert, and Vera Vague; the content and length varied from one theater to the next. ''Three Stooges Fun-o-Rama'' (introduced in 1959) was an all-Stooges show capitalizing on their TV fame, again with shorts chosen at random for individual theaters. ''The Three Stooges Follies'' (1974) was similar to ''Laff Hour'', with a trio of Stooge comedies augmented by Buster Keaton and Vera Vague shorts, a Batman serial chapter, and a Kate Smith musical.
The Stooges are referenced in the video for Weird Al Yankovic's Like a Surgeon with a hospital PA system asked for "Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard."
After finding "the lost tapes," Bergeron brought them into Howard Stern's production studio. He stated that the tapes were so old that the tapes with the Larry Fine interviews began to shred as Howard Stern's radio engineers ran them through their cart players. They only really had the one shot, and fortunately for Three Stooges fans, the tapes were saved.
"The Lost Stooges Tapes" were hosted by Tom Bergeron with modern commentary on the almost 40 year old interviews that he had conducted with Larry Fine and Moe Howard. At the times of these interviews, Moe was still living at home and Larry had suffered a stroke and was living in a Senior Citizen's home.
Two episodes of Hanna-Barbera's ''The New Scooby-Doo Movies'' aired on CBS featuring animated Stooges as guest stars: the premiere, "Ghastly Ghost Town" (September 9, 1972) and "The Ghost of the Red Baron" (November 18, 1972). There also was a short-lived animated series, also produced by Hanna-Barbera, titled ''The Robonic Stooges'', originally seen as a featured segment on ''The Skatebirds'' (CBS, 1977–1978), featuring Moe, Larry, and Curly (voiced by Paul Winchell, Joe Baker and Frank Welker, respectively) as bionic cartoon superheroes with extendable limbs, similar to the later ''Inspector Gadget''. ''The Robonic Stooges'' later aired as a separate half-hour series, retitled ''The Three Robonic Stooges'' (each half-hour featured two segments of ''The Three Robonic Stooges'' and one segment of ''Woofer And Whimper, Dog Detectives'', the latter re-edited from episodes of ''Clue Club'', an earlier Hanna-Barbera cartoon series). There are also many ''Stooges'' references in the sitcom ''ALF''.
In the episode "Beware The Creeper" of ''The New Batman Adventures''. the Joker retreats to his hide-out after a quick fight with Batman. He yells out for his three henchmen "Moe? Larr? Cur?" only to find that they are not there. Shortly after that, Batman comes across these three goons in a pool hall; they have distinctive accents and hair styles similar to those of Moe, Larry, and Curly. These henchmen are briefly seen throughout the rest of the season.
The film regularly runs on the American Movie Classics (AMC) channel.
The studio has had a difficult time putting together a cast to play the Three Stooges. Originally slated were Sean Penn to play Larry, Benicio del Toro to play Moe and Jim Carrey to play Curly. Both Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro left the project but returned while no official confirmation has been made about Jim Carrey. When del Toro was interviewed on MTV News for ''The Wolfman'', he spoke about playing Moe. He was later asked who was going to play Larry and Curly in the film and commented that he still thought that Sean Penn and Jim Carrey were going to play them, though he added "Nothing is for sure yet." A story in the Hollywood Reporter stated that Will Sasso will play Curly in the upcoming comedy and that Hank Azaria is the front runner to play Moe. Sean Hayes of ''Will & Grace'' fame has officially been cast as Larry Fine, while Chris Diamantopoulos was cast as Moe. On April 27, Jane Lynch joined the cast; she will be playing a nun.
In 1984 Gottlieb released an arcade game featuring the Stooges trying to find three kidnapped brides. Later in 1987, game developers Cinemaware released a successful Three Stooges computer game, available for Apple IIGS, Amiga, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, and Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Based on the Stooges earning money by doing odd jobs to prevent the foreclosure of an orphanage, it incorporated audio from the original films and was popular enough to be reissued for the Game Boy Advance in 2002, as well as for PlayStation in 2004.
In Japanese they are known as ''San Baka Taishō'' (三馬鹿大将) meaning "Three Idiot Generals" or "Three ''Baka'' Generals". The Japanese term ''baka'' (馬鹿, "fool" or "idiot", lit. "horse deer") is associated with the Chinese idiom ''zhǐlù wéimǎ'' (指鹿為馬; lit. "point at a deer and call it a horse", in Japanese ''shika o sashite uma to nasu'' [鹿を指して馬と為す]) meaning "deliberate misrepresentation for ulterior purposes". In Spanish they are known as ''Los tres chiflados'' or, roughly, "The Three Crackpots". In French and German usage, the name of the trio is partially translated as ''Les Trois Stooges'' and ''Die drei Stooges'' respectively. In Thai, the trio is known as 3 สมุนจอมป่วน (''3 Samunčhǭmpūan''; ) or 3 พี่น้องจอมยุ่ง (''Phīnǭngčhǭmyung''; ). In Portuguese, they are known as ''Os Três Patetas'' in Brazil, and ''Os Três Estarolas'' in Portugal, being "estarola" a direct translation to "stooge", while "pateta" being more related to "goofy".
;Bibliography
Category:Television series by Sony Pictures Television Category:1925 introductions Category:Jewish comedy and humor Category:The Three Stooges films Category:Pie throwing Category:Slapstick comedians Category:Gold Key Comics titles Category:Dell Comics titles Category:Jewish comedians
de:The Three Stooges es:Los tres chiflados fr:Les Trois Stooges gl:The Three Stooges id:The Three Stooges it:Three Stooges kn:ದ ಥ್ರೀ ಸ್ಟೂಜಸ್ lb:Three Stooges nl:Three Stooges ja:三ばか大将 pt:Three Stooges sq:The Three Stooges simple:The Three Stooges sh:Three Stooges fi:The Three Stooges sv:The Three Stooges tl:Three Stooges th:3 สมุนจอมป่วน zh:三個臭皮匠This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
name | Louis Armstrong |
---|---|
alt | A picture of Louis Armstrong. Short-haired black man in his fifties blowing into a trumpet. He is wearing a light-colored sport coat, a white shirt and a bow tie. He is faced left with his eyes looking upwards. His right hand is fingering the trumpet, with the index finger down and three fingers pointing upwards. The man's left hand is mostly covered with a handkerchief and it has a shining ring on the little finger. He is wearing a wristwatch on the left wrist. |
landscape | Yes |
background | solo_singer |
birth name | Louis Armstrong |
born | August 4, 1901New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
died | July 06, 1971Corona, Queens, New York City, U.S. |
instruments | Trumpet, cornet, vocals |
genre | Dixieland, jazz, swing, traditional pop |
occupation | Musician |
spouse | Daisy Parker |
years active | c. 1914–71 |
associated acts | Joe "King" Oliver, Ella Fitzgerald, Kid Ory, Bobby Hackett |
website | }} |
Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive" cornet and trumpet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the music's focus from collective improvisation to solo performance.
With his instantly recognizable deep and distinctive gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also greatly skilled at scat singing, vocalizing using sounds and syllables instead of actual lyrics.
Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general.
Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over," whose skin-color was secondary to his amazing talent in an America that was severely racially divided. It allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society that were highly restricted for a person of color. While he rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, he was privately a strong supporter of the Civil Rights movement in America.
Armstrong often stated that he was born on July 4, 1900, a date that has been noted in many biographies. Although he died in 1971, it was not until the mid-1980s that his true birth date of August 4, 1901 was discovered through the examination of baptismal records.
Armstrong was born into a very poor family in New Orleans, Louisiana, the grandson of slaves. He spent his youth in poverty, in a rough neighborhood of Uptown New Orleans, known as “Back of Town”, as his father, William Armstrong (1881–1922), abandoned the family when Louis was an infant and took up with another woman. His mother, Mary "Mayann" Albert (1886–1942), then left Louis and his younger sister Beatrice Armstrong Collins (1903–1987) in the care of his grandmother, Josephine Armstrong, and at times, his Uncle Isaac. At five, he moved back to live with his mother and her relatives, and saw his father only in parades.
He attended the Fisk School for Boys. It was there that he likely had his first exposure to Creole music. He brought in some money as a paperboy and also by finding discarded food and selling it to restaurants, but it was not enough to keep his mother from prostitution. He hung out in dance halls close to home, where he observed everything from licentious dancing to the quadrille. For extra money he also hauled coal to Storyville, the famed red-light district, and listened to the bands playing in the brothels and dance halls, especially Pete Lala's where Joe "King" Oliver performed and other famous musicians would drop in to jam.
After dropping out of the Fisk School at age eleven, Armstrong joined a quartet of boys that sang in the streets for money. But he also started to get into trouble. Cornet player Bunk Johnson said he taught Armstrong (then 11) to play by ear at Dago Tony's Tonk in New Orleans, although in his later years Armstrong gave the credit to Oliver. Armstrong hardly looked back at his youth as the worst of times but instead drew inspiration from it, “Every time I close my eyes blowing that trumpet of mine—I look right in the heart of good old New Orleans...It has given me something to live for.”
He also worked for a Lithuanian-Jewish immigrant family, the Karnofskys, who had a junk hauling business and gave him odd jobs. They took him in and treated him as almost a family member, knowing he lived without a father, and would feed and nurture him. He later wrote a memoir of his relationship with the Karnofskys titled, ''Louis Armstrong + the Jewish Family in New Orleans, La., the Year of 1907.'' In it he describes his discovery that this family was also subject to discrimination by "other white folks' nationalities who felt that they were better than the Jewish race. I was only seven years old but I could easily see the ungodly treatment that the White Folks were handing the poor Jewish family whom I worked for." Armstrong wore a Star of David pendant for the rest of his life and wrote about what he learned from them: "how to live—real life and determination." The influence of Karnofsky is remembered in New Orleans by the Karnofsky Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to accepting donated musical instruments to "put them into the hands of an eager child who could not otherwise take part in a wonderful learning experience."
Armstrong developed his cornet playing seriously in the band of the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs, where he had been sent multiple times for general delinquency, most notably for a long term after firing his stepfather's pistol into the air at a New Year's Eve celebration, as police records confirm. Professor Peter Davis (who frequently appeared at the Home at the request of its administrator, Captain Joseph Jones) instilled discipline in and provided musical training to the otherwise self-taught Armstrong. Eventually, Davis made Armstrong the band leader. The Home band played around New Orleans and the thirteen year old Louis began to draw attention by his cornet playing, starting him on a musical career. At fourteen he was released from the Home, living again with his father and new stepmother and then back with his mother and also back to the streets and their temptations. Armstrong got his first dance hall job at Henry Ponce’s where Black Benny became his protector and guide. He hauled coal by day and played his cornet at night.
He played in the city's frequent brass band parades and listened to older musicians every chance he got, learning from Bunk Johnson, Buddy Petit, Kid Ory, and above all, Joe "King" Oliver, who acted as a mentor and father figure to the young musician. Later, he played in the brass bands and riverboats of New Orleans, and began traveling with the well-regarded band of Fate Marable, which toured on a steamboat up and down the Mississippi River. He described his time with Marable as, "going to the University," since it gave him a much wider experience working with written arrangements.
In 1919, Joe Oliver decided to go north and resigned his position in Kid Ory's band; Armstrong replaced him. He also became second trumpet for the Tuxedo Brass Band, a society band.
Through all his riverboat experience Armstrong’s musicianship began to mature and expand. At twenty, he could read music and he started to be featured in extended trumpet solos, one of the first jazzmen to do this, injecting his own personality and style into his solo turns. He had learned how to create a unique sound and also started using singing and patter in his performances. In 1922, Armstrong joined the exodus to Chicago, where he had been invited by his mentor, Joe "King" Oliver, to join his Creole Jazz Band and where he could make a sufficient income so that he no longer needed to supplement his music with day labor jobs. It was a boom time in Chicago and though race relations were poor, the “Windy City” was teeming with jobs for black people, who were making good wages in factories and had plenty to spend on entertainment.
Oliver's band was the best and most influential hot jazz band in Chicago in the early 1920s, at a time when Chicago was the center of the jazz universe. Armstrong lived like a king in Chicago, in his own apartment with his own private bath (his first). Excited as he was to be in Chicago, he began his career-long pastime of writing nostalgic letters to friends in New Orleans. As Armstrong’s reputation grew, he was challenged to “cutting contests” by hornmen trying to displace the new phenom, who could blow two hundred high C’s in a row. Armstrong made his first recordings on the Gennett and Okeh labels (jazz records were starting to boom across the country), including taking some solos and breaks, while playing second cornet in Oliver's band in 1923. At this time, he met Hoagy Carmichael (with whom he would collaborate later) who was introduced by friend Bix Beiderbecke, who now had his own Chicago band.
Armstrong enjoyed working with Oliver, but Louis's second wife, pianist Lil Hardin Armstrong, urged him to seek more prominent billing and develop his newer style away from the influence of Oliver. Armstrong took the advice of his wife and left Oliver's band. For a year Armstrong played in Fletcher Henderson's band in New York on many recordings. After playing in New York, Armstrong returned to Chicago, playing in large orchestras; there he created his most important early recordings. Lil had her husband play classical music in church concerts to broaden his skill and improve his solo play and she prodded him into wearing more stylish attire to make him look sharp and to better offset his growing girth. Lil’s influence eventually undermined Armstrong’s relationship with his mentor, especially concerning his salary and additional moneys that Oliver held back from Armstrong and other band members. Armstrong and Oliver parted amicably in 1924. Shortly afterward, Armstrong received an invitation to go to New York City to play with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, the top African-American band of the day. Armstrong switched to the trumpet to blend in better with the other musicians in his section. His influence upon Henderson's tenor sax soloist, Coleman Hawkins, can be judged by listening to the records made by the band during this period. Armstrong quickly adapted to the more tightly controlled style of Henderson, playing trumpet and even experimenting with the trombone and the other members quickly took up Armstrong’s emotional, expressive pulse. Soon his act included singing and telling tales of New Orleans characters, especially preachers. The Henderson Orchestra was playing in the best venues for white-only patrons, including the famed Roseland Ballroom, featuring the classy arrangements of Don Redman. Duke Ellington’s orchestra would go to Roseland to catch Armstrong’s performances and young hornmen around town tried in vain to outplay him, splitting their lips in their attempts.
During this time, Armstrong also made many recordings on the side, arranged by an old friend from New Orleans, pianist Clarence Williams; these included small jazz band sides with the Williams Blue Five (some of the best pairing Armstrong with one of Armstrong's few rivals in fiery technique and ideas, Sidney Bechet) and a series of accompaniments with blues singers, including Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Alberta Hunter.
Armstrong returned to Chicago in 1925 due mostly to the urging of his wife, who wanted to pump up Armstrong’s career and income. He was content in New York but later would concede that she was right and that the Henderson Orchestra was limiting his artistic growth. In publicity, much to his chagrin, she billed him as “the World’s Greatest Trumpet Player”. At first he was actually a member of the Lil Hardin Armstrong Band and working for his wife. He began recording under his own name for Okeh with his famous Hot Five and Hot Seven groups, producing hits such as "Potato Head Blues", "Muggles", (a reference to marijuana, for which Armstrong had a lifelong fondness), and "West End Blues", the music of which set the standard and the agenda for jazz for many years to come.
The group included Kid Ory (trombone), Johnny Dodds (clarinet), Johnny St. Cyr (banjo), wife Lil on piano, and usually no drummer. Armstrong’s bandleading style was easygoing, as St. Cyr noted, "One felt so relaxed working with him and he was very broad-minded ... always did his best to feature each individual." His recordings soon after with pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines (most famously their 1928 ''Weatherbird'' duet) and Armstrong's trumpet introduction to "West End Blues" remain some of the most famous and influential improvisations in jazz history. Armstrong was now free to develop his personal style as he wished, which included a heavy dose of effervescent jive, such as "whip that thing, Miss Lil" and "Mr. Johnny Dodds, Aw, do that clarinet, boy!"
Armstrong also played with Erskine Tate’s Little Symphony, actually a quintet, which played mostly at the Vendome Theatre. They furnished music for silent movies and live shows, including jazz versions of classical music, such as “Madame Butterfly,” which gave Armstrong experience with longer forms of music and with hosting before a large audience. He began to scat sing (improvised vocal jazz using non-sensical words) and was among the first to record it, on "Heebie Jeebies" in 1926. So popular was the recording the group became the most famous jazz band in the USA even though they as yet had not performed live to any great degree. Young musicians across the country, black and white, were turned on by Armstrong’s new type of jazz.
After separating from Lil, Armstrong started to play at the Sunset Café for Al Capone's associate Joe Glaser in the Carroll Dickerson Orchestra, with Earl Hines on piano, which was soon renamed ''Louis Armstrong and his Stompers'', though Hines was the music director and Glaser managed the orchestra. Hines and Armstrong became fast friends as well as successful collaborators.
Armstrong returned to New York, in 1929, where he played in the pit orchestra of the successful musical ''Hot Chocolate'', an all-black revue written by Andy Razaf and pianist/composer Fats Waller. He also made a cameo appearance as a vocalist, regularly stealing the show with his rendition of "Ain't Misbehavin'", his version of the song becoming his biggest selling record to date.
Armstrong started to work at Connie's Inn in Harlem, chief rival to the Cotton Club, a venue for elaborately staged floor shows, and a front for gangster Dutch Schultz. Armstrong also had considerable success with vocal recordings, including versions of famous songs composed by his old friend Hoagy Carmichael. His 1930s recordings took full advantage of the new RCA ribbon microphone, introduced in 1931, which imparted a characteristic warmth to vocals and immediately became an intrinsic part of the 'crooning' sound of artists like Bing Crosby. Armstrong's famous interpretation of Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" became one of the most successful versions of this song ever recorded, showcasing Armstrong's unique vocal sound and style and his innovative approach to singing songs that had already become standards.
Armstrong's radical re-working of Sidney Arodin and Carmichael's "Lazy River" (recorded in 1931) encapsulated many features of his groundbreaking approach to melody and phrasing. The song begins with a brief trumpet solo, then the main melody is stated by sobbing horns, memorably punctuated by Armstrong's growling interjections at the end of each bar: "Yeah! ..."Uh-huh" ..."Sure" ... "Way down, way down." In the first verse, he ignores the notated melody entirely and sings as if playing a trumpet solo, pitching most of the first line on a single note and using strongly syncopated phrasing. In the second stanza he breaks into an almost fully improvised melody, which then evolves into a classic passage of Armstrong "scat singing".
As with his trumpet playing, Armstrong's vocal innovations served as a foundation stone for the art of jazz vocal interpretation. The uniquely gritty coloration of his voice became a musical archetype that was much imitated and endlessly impersonated. His scat singing style was enriched by his matchless experience as a trumpet soloist. His resonant, velvety lower-register tone and bubbling cadences on sides such as "Lazy River" exerted a huge influence on younger white singers such as Bing Crosby.
The Depression of the early Thirties was especially hard on the jazz scene. The Cotton Club closed in 1936 after a long downward spiral and many musicians stopped playing altogether as club dates evaporated. Bix Beiderbecke died and Fletcher Henderson’s band broke up. King Oliver made a few records but otherwise struggled. Sidney Bechet became a tailor and Kid Ory returned to New Orleans and raised chickens. Armstrong moved to Los Angeles in 1930 to seek new opportunities. He played at the New Cotton Club in LA with Lionel Hampton on drums. The band drew the Hollywood crowd, which could still afford a lavish night life, while radio broadcasts from the club connected with younger audiences at home. Bing Crosby and many other celebrities were regulars at the club. In 1931, Armstrong appeared in his first movie, ''Ex-Flame''. Armstrong was convicted of marijuana possession but received a suspended sentence. He returned to Chicago in late 1931 and played in bands more in the Guy Lombardo vein and he recorded more standards. When the mob insisted that he get out of town, Armstrong visited New Orleans, got a hero’s welcome and saw old friends. He sponsored a local baseball team known as “Armstrong’s Secret Nine” and got a cigar named after himself. But soon he was on the road again and after a tour across the country shadowed by the mob, Armstrong decided to go to Europe to escape.
After returning to the States, he undertook several exhausting tours. His agent Johnny Collins’ erratic behavior and his own spending ways left Armstrong short of cash. Breach of contract violations plagued him. Finally, he hired Joe Glaser as his new manager, a tough mob-connected wheeler-dealer, who began to straighten out his legal mess, his mob troubles, and his debts. Armstrong also began to experience problems with his fingers and lips, which were aggravated by his unorthodox playing style. As a result he branched out, developing his vocal style and making his first theatrical appearances. He appeared in movies again, including Crosby's 1936 hit ''Pennies from Heaven''. In 1937, Armstrong substituted for Rudy Vallee on the CBS radio network and became the first African American to host a sponsored, national broadcast. He finally divorced Lil in 1938 and married longtime girlfriend Alpha.
After spending many years on the road, Armstrong settled permanently in Queens, New York in 1943 in contentment with his fourth wife, Lucille. Although subject to the vicissitudes of Tin Pan Alley and the gangster-ridden music business, as well as anti-black prejudice, he continued to develop his playing. He recorded Hoagy Carmichael's Rockin' Chair for Okeh Records.
During the subsequent thirty years, Armstrong played more than three hundred gigs a year. Bookings for big bands tapered off during the 1940s due to changes in public tastes: ballrooms closed, and there was competition from television and from other types of music becoming more popular than big band music. It became impossible under such circumstances to support and finance a 16-piece touring band.
This group was called Louis Armstrong and his All Stars and included at various times Earl "Fatha" Hines, Barney Bigard, Edmond Hall, Jack Teagarden, Trummy Young, Arvell Shaw, Billy Kyle, Marty Napoleon, Big Sid Catlett, Cozy Cole, Tyree Glenn, Barrett Deems and the Filipino-American percussionist, Danny Barcelona. During this period, Armstrong made many recordings and appeared in over thirty films. He was the first jazz musician to appear on the cover of ''Time Magazine'' on February 21, 1949.
In 1964, he recorded his biggest-selling record, "Hello, Dolly!" The song went to #1 on the pop chart, making Armstrong (age 63) the oldest person to ever accomplish that feat. In the process, Armstrong dislodged The Beatles from the #1 position they had occupied for 14 consecutive weeks with three different songs.
Armstrong kept up his busy tour schedule until a few years before his death in 1971. In his later years he would sometimes play some of his numerous gigs by rote, but other times would enliven the most mundane gig with his vigorous playing, often to the astonishment of his band. He also toured Africa, Europe, and Asia under sponsorship of the US State Department with great success, earning the nickname "Ambassador Satch." While failing health restricted his schedule in his last years, within those limitations he continued playing until the day he died.
His honorary pallbearers included Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Pearl Bailey, Count Basie, Harry James, Frank Sinatra, Ed Sullivan, Earl Wilson, Alan King, Johnny Carson and David Frost. Peggy Lee sang The Lord's Prayer at the services while Al Hibbler sang "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" and Fred Robbins, a long-time friend, gave the eulogy.
He was not only an entertainer. Armstrong was a leading personality of the day who was so beloved by a white-controlled America that gave even the greatest African American performers little access beyond their public celebrity, that he was able to privately live a life of access and privilege accorded to few other African Americans.
He tried to remain politically neutral, which gave him a large part of that access, but often alienated him from members of the African-American community who looked to him to use his prominence with white America to become more of an outspoken figure during the Civil Rights Era of U.S. history.
The most common tale that biographers tell is the story of Armstrong as a young boy dancing for pennies in the streets of New Orleans, who would scoop up the coins off of the streets and stick them into his mouth to avoid having the bigger children steal them from him. Someone dubbed him "satchel mouth" for his mouth acting as a satchel.
Early on he was also known as Dipper, short for Dippermouth, a reference to the piece ''Dippermouth Blues''. and something of a riff on his unusual embouchure.
It was a power and privilege that he enjoyed, although he was very careful not to flaunt it with fellow performers of color, and privately, he shared what access that he could with friends and fellow musicians.
That still did not prevent members of the African-American community, particularly in the late 1950s to the early 1970s, from calling him an ''Uncle Tom'', a black-on-black racial epithet for someone who kowtowed to white society at the expense of their own racial identity.
He was criticized for accepting the title of "King of The Zulus" for Mardi Gras in 1949. In the New Orleans African-American community it is an honored role as the head of leading black Carnival Krewe, but bewildering or offensive to outsiders with their traditional costume of grass-skirts and blackface makeup satirizing southern white attitudes.
Some musicians criticized Armstrong for playing in front of segregated audiences, and for not taking a strong enough stand in the civil rights movement.
Billie Holiday countered, however, "Of course Pops toms, but he toms from the heart."
The few exceptions made it more effective when he did speak out. Armstrong's criticism of President Eisenhower, calling him "two-faced" and "gutless" because of his inaction during the conflict over school desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 made national news.
As a protest, Armstrong canceled a planned tour of the Soviet Union on behalf of the State Department saying "The way they're treating my people in the South, the government can go to hell" and that he could not represent his government abroad when it was in conflict with its own people. Six days after Armstrong's comments, Eisenhower ordered Federal troops to Little Rock to escort students into the school.
The FBI kept a file on Armstrong, for his outspokenness about integration.
In a live recording of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Velma Middleton, he changes the lyric from "Put another record on while I pour" to "Take some Swiss Kriss while I pour." The line, slightly garbled in the live recording, could just as likely be "Take some Swiss Miss while I pour"—Swiss Miss is a hot chocolate mix that would have been fairly new on the market in 1951. (The line comes at 1:04 in the song.)
He often essentially re-composed pop-tunes he played, making them more interesting. Armstrong's playing is filled with joyous, inspired original melodies, creative leaps, and subtle relaxed or driving rhythms. The genius of these creative passages is matched by Armstrong's playing technique, honed by constant practice, which extended the range, tone and capabilities of the trumpet. In these records, Armstrong almost single-handedly created the role of the jazz soloist, taking what was essentially a collective folk music and turning it into an art form with tremendous possibilities for individual expression.
Armstrong's work in the 1920s shows him playing at the outer limits of his abilities. The Hot Five records, especially, often have minor flubs and missed notes, which do little to detract from listening enjoyment since the energy of the spontaneous performance comes through. By the mid 1930s, Armstrong achieved a smooth assurance, knowing exactly what he could do and carrying out his ideas to perfection.
He was one of the first artists to use recordings of his performances to improve himself. Armstrong was an avid audiophile. He had a large collection of recordings, including reel-to-reel tapes, which he took on the road with him in a trunk during his later career. He enjoyed listening to his own recordings, and comparing his performances musically. In the den of his home, he had the latest audio equipment and would sometimes rehearse and record along with his older recordings or the radio.
Such records were hits and scat singing became a major part of his performances. Long before this, however, Armstrong was playing around with his vocals, shortening and lengthening phrases, interjecting improvisations, using his voice as creatively as his trumpet.
His influence upon Bing Crosby is particularly important with regard to the subsequent development of popular music: Crosby admired and copied Armstrong, as is evident on many of his early recordings, notably "Just One More Chance" (1931). The ''New Grove Dictionary Of Jazz'' describes Crosby's debt to Armstrong in precise detail, although it does not acknowledge Armstrong by name:
Armstrong recorded three albums with Ella Fitzgerald: ''Ella and Louis'', ''Ella and Louis Again'', and ''Porgy and Bess'' for Verve Records, with the sessions featuring the backing musicianship of the Oscar Peterson Trio and drummer Buddy Rich. His recordings ''Satch Plays Fats'', all Fats Waller tunes, and ''Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy'' in the 1950s were perhaps among the last of his great creative recordings, but even oddities like ''Disney Songs the Satchmo Way'' are seen to have their musical moments. And, his participation in Dave Brubeck's high-concept jazz musical ''The Real Ambassadors'' was critically acclaimed. For the most part, however, his later output was criticized as being overly simplistic or repetitive.
In 1964, Armstrong knocked the Beatles off the top of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart with "Hello, Dolly!", which gave the 63-year-old performer a U.S. record as the oldest artist to have a number one song. His 1964 song, "Bout Time" was later featured in the film "Bewitched" (2005).
Armstrong performed in Italy at the 1968 Sanremo Music Festival where he sang "Mi Va di Cantare" alongside his friend, the Eritrean-born Italian singer Lara Saint Paul. In February 1968, he also appeared with Lara Saint Paul on the Italian RAI television channel where he performed "Grassa e Bella," a track he sang in Italian for the Italian market and C.D.I. label.
In 1968, Armstrong scored one last popular hit in the United Kingdom with the highly sentimental pop song "What a Wonderful World", which topped the British charts for a month; however, the single did not chart at all in America. The song gained greater currency in the popular consciousness when it was used in the 1987 movie ''Good Morning, Vietnam'', its subsequent rerelease topping many charts around the world. Armstrong even appeared on the October 28, 1970 ''Johnny Cash Show'', where he sang Nat "King" Cole's hit "Rambling Rose" and joined Cash to re-create his performance backing Jimmie Rodgers on "Blue Yodel #9".
He was the first African American to host a nationally broadcast radio show in the 1930s. In 1969, Armstrong had a cameo role in the film version of ''Hello, Dolly!'' as the bandleader, Louis, to which he sang the title song with actress Barbra Streisand. His solo recording of "Hello, Dolly!" is one of his most recognizable performances. He was heard on such radio programs as ''The Story of Swing'' (1937) and ''This Is Jazz'' (1947), and he also made countless television appearances, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, including appearances on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''.
Armstrong has a record star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7601 Hollywood Boulevard.
Many of Armstrong's recordings remain popular. Almost four decades since his passing, a larger number of his recordings from all periods of his career are more widely available than at any time during his lifetime. His songs are broadcast and listened to every day throughout the world, and are honored in various movies, TV series, commercials, and even anime and computer games. "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" was included in the computer game ''Fallout 2'', accompanying the intro cinematic. It was also used in the 1993 film ''Sleepless in Seattle'' and the 2005 film ''Lord of War''. His 1923 recordings, with Joe Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band, continue to be listened to as documents of ensemble style New Orleans jazz, but more particularly as ripper jazz records in their own right. All too often, however, Armstrong recorded with stiff, standard orchestras leaving only his sublime trumpet playing as of interest. "Melancholy Blues," performed by Armstrong and his Hot Seven was included on the Voyager Golden Record sent into outer space to represent one of the greatest achievements of humanity. Most familiar to modern listeners is his ubiquitous rendition of "What a Wonderful World". In 2008, Armstrong's recording of Edith Piaf's famous "La Vie En Rose" was used in a scene of the popular Disney/Pixar film ''WALL-E''. The song was also used in parts, especially the opening trumpets, in the French Film Jeux d'enfants (English: Love Me If You Dare)
Argentine writer Julio Cortázar, a self-described Armstrong admirer, asserted that a 1952 Louis Armstrong concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris played a significant role in inspiring him to create the fictional creatures called Cronopios that are the subject of a number of Cortázar's short stories. Cortázar once called Armstrong himself "Grandísimo Cronopio" (Most Enormous Cronopio).
Armstrong appears as a minor character in Harry Turtledove's Southern Victory Series. When he and his band escape from a Nazi-like Confederacy, they enhance the insipid mainstream music of the North. A young Armstrong also appears as a minor character in Patrick Neate's 2001 novel ''Twelve Bar Blues'', part of which is set in New Orleans, and which was a winner at that year's Whitbread Book Awards.
There is a pivotal scene in 1980's ''Stardust Memories'' in which Woody Allen is overwhelmed by a recording of Armstrong's Stardust and experiences a nostalgic epiphany. The combination of the music and the perfect moment is the catalyst for much of the film's action, prompting the protagonist to fall in love with an ill-advised woman.
Armstrong is referred to in ''The Trumpet of the Swan'' along with Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. Three siblings in the film are named Louis, Billie, and Ella. The main character, Louis, plays a trumpet, an obvious nod to Armstrong. In the original E. B. White book, he is referred to by name, by a child who hears Louis playing and comments, "He sounds just like Louis Armstrong, the famous trumpet player."
In the 2009 Disney Film ''The Princess and the Frog'', one of the supporting characters is a trumpet-playing alligator named Louis. During the song "When I'm Human", Louis sings a line and it says "Y'all heard of Louis Armstrong".
{| class=wikitable |- | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;" | Grammy Award |- ! Year ! Category ! Title ! Genre ! Label ! Result |- align=center | 1964 | Male Vocal Performance | "Hello, Dolly!" | Pop | Kapp | Winner |}
{| class=wikitable |- | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;" | Grammy Hall of Fame |- ! Year Recorded ! Title ! Genre ! Label ! Year Inducted ! Notes |- align=center | 1929 | "St. Louis Blues" | Jazz (Single) | OKeh | 2008 |with Bessie Smith |- align=center | 1928 | "Weather Bird" | Jazz (Single) | OKeh | 2008 | with Earl Hines |- align=center | 1930 | "Blue Yodel #9(Standing on the Corner)" | Country (Single) | Victor | 2007 | Jimmie Rodgers (Featuring Louis Armstrong) |- align=center | 1932 | "All of Me" | Jazz (Single) | Columbia | 2005 | |- align=center | 1958 | ''Porgy and Bess'' | Jazz (Album) | Verve | 2001 | with Ella Fitzgerald |- align=center | 1964 | "Hello Dolly!" | Pop (Single) | Kapp | 2001 | |- align=center | 1926 | "Heebie Jeebies" | Jazz (Single) | OKeh | 1999 | |- align=center | 1968 | "What a Wonderful World" | Jazz (Single) | ABC | 1999 | |- align=center | 1955 | "Mack the Knife" | Jazz (Single) | Columbia | 1997 | |- align=center | 1925 | "St. Louis Blues" | Jazz (Single) | Columbia | 1993 | Bessie Smith with Louis Armstrong, cornet |- align=center | 1928 | "West End Blues" | Jazz (Single) | OKeh | 1974 | |}
{| class=wikitable |- ! Year Recorded ! Title ! Label ! Group |- align=center | 1928 | West End Blues | Okeh | Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five |}
{| class=wikitable |- ! Year Inducted ! Title ! Results ! Notes |- align=center | 2007 | Louisiana Music Hall of Fame | | |- align=center | 2007 | Gennett Records Walk of Fame, Richmond, Indiana | | |- align=center | 2007 | Long Island Music Hall of Fame | | |- align=center | 2004 | Nesuhi Ertegün Jazz Hall of Fameat Jazz at Lincoln Center | | |- align=center | 1990 | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | | Early influence |- align=center | 1978 | Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame | | |- align=center | 1952 | Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame | | |- align=center | 1960 | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Star | at 7601 Hollywood Blvd. |}
The museum opened to the public on October 15, 2003. A visitors center is currently being planned, and estimated to open in 2011.
The influence of Armstrong on the development of jazz is virtually immeasurable. Yet, his irrepressible personality both as a performer, and as a public figure later in his career, was so strong that to some it sometimes overshadowed his contributions as a musician and singer.
As a virtuoso trumpet player, Armstrong had a unique tone and an extraordinary talent for melodic improvisation. Through his playing, the trumpet emerged as a solo instrument in jazz and is used widely today. He was a masterful accompanist and ensemble player in addition to his extraordinary skills as a soloist. With his innovations, he raised the bar musically for all who came after him.
Though Armstrong is widely recognized as a pioneer of scat singing, Ethel Waters precedes his scatting on record in the 1930s according to Gary Giddins and others. Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra are just two singers who were greatly indebted to him. Holiday said that she always wanted Bessie Smith's 'big' sound and Armstrong's feeling in her singing.
On August 4, 2001, the centennial of Armstrong's birth, New Orleans's airport was renamed Louis Armstrong International Airport in his honor.
In 2002, the Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings (1925–1928) are preserved in the United States National Recording Registry, a registry of recordings selected yearly by the National Recording Preservation Board for preservation in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress.
The US Open tennis tournament's former main stadium was named Louis Armstrong Stadium in honor of Armstrong who had lived a few blocks from the site.
Today, there are many bands worldwide dedicated to preserving and honoring the music and style of Satchmo, including the Louis Armstrong Society located in New Orleans, LA.
Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:1901 births Category:1971 deaths Category:ABC Records artists Category:African American brass musicians Category:African American singers Category:American buskers Category:American jazz cornetists Category:American jazz singers Category:American jazz trumpeters Category:Burials at Flushing Cemetery Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in New York Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Decca Records artists Category:Dixieland bandleaders Category:Dixieland singers Category:Dixieland trumpeters Category:Gennett recording artists Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Jazz bandleaders Category:Jazz musicians from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:MGM Records artists Category:Musicians from Louisiana Category:Okeh Records artists Category:People from Corona, Queens Category:RCA Victor artists Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Swing bandleaders Category:Swing singers Category:Swing trumpeters Category:Traditional pop music singers Category:Vocal jazz musicians Category:Vocalion Records artists Category:Performing arts pages with videographic documentation
ar:لويس أرمسترونغ an:Louis Armstrong az:Luis Armstronq zh-min-nan:Louis Armstrong be:Луі Армстранг be-x-old:Луіс Армстранг bs:Louis Armstrong br:Louis Armstrong bg:Луис Армстронг ca:Louis Armstrong cv:Луи Армстронг cs:Louis Armstrong cy:Louis Armstrong da:Louis Armstrong de:Louis Armstrong et:Louis Armstrong el:Λούις Άρμστρονγκ es:Louis Armstrong eo:Louis Armstrong eu:Louis Armstrong fa:لویی آرمسترانگ hif:Louis Armstrong fr:Louis Armstrong fy:Louis Armstrong gl:Louis Armstrong gan:路易·暗式將 ko:루이 암스트롱 hi:लुईस आर्मस्ट्रांग hr:Louis Armstrong io:Louis Armstrong id:Louis Armstrong is:Louis Armstrong it:Louis Armstrong he:לואי ארמסטרונג pam:Louis Armstrong ka:ლუი არმსტრონგი sw:Louis Armstrong la:Ludovicus Armstrong lv:Lūiss Ārmstrongs lb:Louis Armstrong lt:Louis Armstrong hu:Louis Armstrong mk:Луис Армстронг ml:ലൂയിസ് ആംസ്ട്രോംങ് ms:Louis Armstrong nl:Louis Armstrong ja:ルイ・アームストロング no:Louis Armstrong nn:Louis Armstrong oc:Louis Armstrong pnb:لوئیس آرمسٹرانگ pap:Louis Armstrong nds:Louis Armstrong pl:Louis Armstrong pt:Louis Armstrong kaa:Louis Armstrong ro:Louis Armstrong qu:Louis Armstrong rue:Луї Армстронґ ru:Армстронг, Луи sah:Луи Армстроҥ sc:Louis Armstrong sq:Louis Armstrong scn:Louis Armstrong simple:Louis Armstrong sk:Louis Armstrong sl:Louis Armstrong sr:Луј Армстронг sh:Louis Armstrong fi:Louis Armstrong sv:Louis Armstrong tl:Louis Armstrong ta:லூயிசு ஆம்சுட்ராங் th:หลุยส์ อาร์มสตรอง tr:Louis Armstrong uk:Луї Армстронг ur:لوئی آرمسٹرانگ vi:Louis Armstrong war:Louis Armstrong yo:Louis Armstrong bat-smg:Loisos Armstrongos zh:路易斯·阿姆斯特朗This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
name | Johnny Weissmuller |
---|---|
height | 6'3" birth_name Janos Weissmuller |
birth date | June 02, 1904 |
birth place | Bánság, Austria-Hungary |
death date | January 20, 1984 |
death place | Acapulco, Mexico |
spouse | Maria Brock Mandell Bauman (1963–1984) (his death)Allene Gates (1948–1962)Beryl Scott (1939–1948) 3 childrenLupe Vélez (1933–1939)Bobbe Arnst (1931–1933) |
yearsactive | 1929-1976 }} |
Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an Austro-Hungarian-born American swimmer and actor best known for playing Tarzan in movies. Weissmuller was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal. He won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven world records. After his swimming career, he became the sixth actor to portray Edgar Rice Burroughs's ape man Tarzan in films, a role he played in twelve motion pictures. Dozens of other actors have also played Tarzan, but Weissmuller is by far the best known. His character's distinctive, ululating Tarzan yell is still often used in films.
When Weissmüller was a small child, the family emigrated to the United States aboard the ''S.S. Rotterdam'' as steerage passengers. They left Rotterdam on January 14, 1905, and arrived at Ellis Island in New York harbor twelve days later as Peter, Elisabeth and Johann Weissmüller. The passenger list records them as ethnic Germans and citizens of Austria-Hungary. After a brief stay in Chicago, visiting relatives, they moved to the coal mining town of Windber, Pennsylvania. (For most of Weissmüller's career, show business biographies incorrectly listed him as having been born in Pennsylvania. Some sources state that Weissmüller lied about his birthplace to ensure his place on the US Olympic swimming team.) Peter Weissmuller worked as a miner, and his youngest son, Peter Weissmüller, Jr., was born in Windber on 3 September 1905. Peter Jr. is listed on one census as born in Illinois.
At age nine, Weissmüller contracted polio. At the suggestion of his doctor, he took up swimming to help battle the disease. After the family moved from Western Pennsylvania to Chicago, Weissmüller continued swimming and eventually earned a spot on the YMCA swim team. While living in Chicago, Weissmüller's father owned a bar for a time and his mother became head cook at a famed restaurant. After Peter's business failed, he began drinking heavily and abusing both his wife and children. Elizabeth Weissmüller eventually filed for, and was granted, a divorce (various biographies erroneously state that Weissmüller's father died of tuberculosis leaving her a widow). According to draft registration records for World War I, Peter and Elizabeth were apparently still together as late as 1917. On his paperwork, Peter was listed as a brewer, working for the Elston and Fullerton Brewery. He and his family were living at 226 West North Avenue in Chicago. In his book, ''Tarzan, My Father'', Johnny Weissmuller Jr. stated that although rumors of Peter Weissmüller living to "a ripe old age, remarrying along the way and spawning a large brood of little Weissmüllers" were reported, no one in the family was aware of his ultimate fate. Peter signed his consent for 19-year old John "Weissmuller"'s passport application in 1924, preceding Johnny's Olympic competition in France. In the 1930 federal census, Elizabeth Weissmüller, age 49, has listed with her, her sons John P. and Peter J., and Peter's wife Dorothy. Elizabeth is listed as a widow.
As a teen Weissmuller attended Lane Technical H.S. before dropping out to work various jobs including a stint as a lifeguard at a Lake Michigan beach. While working as an elevator operator and bellboy at the Illinois Athletic Club, Weissmuller caught the eye of swim coach William Bachrach. Bachrach trained Weissmuller and in August 1921, Weissmuller won the national championships in the 50-yard and 220-yard distances. Though he was foreign-born, Weissmuller gave his birthplace as Tanneryville, Pennsylvania, and his birth date as that of his younger brother, Peter Weissmuller. This was to ensure his eligibility to compete as part of the United States Olympic team, and was a critical issue in being issued an American passport. (This comment seems to be contradicted by data on his actual passport application—on his 1924 passport application, he listed his date of birth as June 2, 1904, and his place of birth as Windbar, Pennsylvania. His father, Peter signed an affidavit to this effect, giving his 19-year-old son permission to travel abroad to participate in the Paris Olympics and for other competitions in England and Belgium. His passport was issued in May, 1924.)
On July 9, 1922, Weissmuller broke Duke Kahanamoku's world record on the 100-meters freestyle, swimming it in 58.6 seconds. He won the title in that distance at the 1924 Summer Olympics, beating Kahanamoku for the gold. He also won the 400-meters freestyle and the 4 x 200 meters relay. As a member of the American water polo team, he also won a bronze medal. Four years later, at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, he won another two Olympic titles.
In all he won five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal, fifty-two United States National Championships, and set sixty-seven world records. He never lost a race and retired with an unbeaten Amateur record.
Weissmuller would later, upon moving to the posh Bel Air section of Los Angeles, California, (specifically to an area known today as East Gate Bel Air), famously commission architect Paul Williams to design a large home with a 300-foot serpentine swimming pool that curled around the house (and which still exists to this day).
He co-starred with Esther Williams in ''Billy Rose's Aquacade'' during the ''NEW YORK World's Fair'', 1939–41, pursuing her throughout a span of two years.
His acting career began when he signed a seven year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and played the role of Tarzan in ''Tarzan the Ape Man'' (1932). The movie was a huge success and Weissmuller became an overnight international sensation. ''Tarzan'' author, Edgar Rice Burroughs, was pleased with Weissmuller, although he so hated the studio's depiction of a Tarzan who barely spoke English that he created his own concurrent Tarzan series filmed on location in Central American jungles and starring Herman Brix as a suitably articulate version of the character.
Weissmuller starred in six Tarzan movies for MGM with actress Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane and Cheeta the Chimpanzee. The last three also included Johnny Sheffield as Boy. Then, in 1942, Weissmuller went to RKO and starred in six more Tarzan movies with markedly reduced production values. Unlike MGM, RKO allowed Weissmuller to play other roles, though a three picture contract with Pine-Thomas Productions led to only one film, ''Swamp Fire'', being made, co-starring Buster Crabbe. Sheffield appeared as Boy in the first five features for RKO. Another co-star was Brenda Joyce, who played Jane in Weissmuller's last four Tarzan movies. In a total of twelve Tarzan films, Weissmuller earned an estimated $2,000,000 and established himself as what many consider the definitive Tarzan. Although not the first Tarzan in movies (that honor went to Elmo Lincoln), he was the first to be associated with the now traditional ululating, yodeling Tarzan yell. (During an appearance on television's ''The Mike Douglas Show'' in the 1970s, Weissmuller explained how the famous yell was created. Recordings of three vocalists were spliced together to get the effect—a soprano, an alto, and a hog caller).
When Weissmuller finally left that role, he immediately traded his loincloth costume for a slouch hat and safari suit for the role of ''Jungle Jim'' (1948) for Columbia. He made thirteen Jungle Jim films between 1948 and 1954. Within the next year, he appeared in three more jungle movies, playing himself. In 1955, he began production of the ''Jungle Jim'' television adventure series for Screen Gems, a film subsidiary of Columbia. His costars were Martin Huston and Dean Fredericks. The show produced only twenty-six episodes, which were subsequently played repeatedly on network and syndicated television. Aside from a first screen appearance as Adonis and the role of Johnny Duval in the 1946 film ''Swamp Fire'', Weissmuller played only three roles in films during the heyday of his Hollywood career: Tarzan, Jungle Jim, and himself.
In the late 1950s, Weissmuller moved back to Chicago and started a swimming pool company. He lent his name to other business ventures, but did not have a great deal of success. He retired in 1965 and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he was Founding Chairman of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
In September 1966, Weissmuller joined former screen Tarzans James Pierce and Jock Mahoney to appear with Ron Ely as part of the publicity for the upcoming premiere of the ''Tarzan'' TV series. The producers also approached Weissmuller to guest star as Tarzan's father, but nothing came of it. In the late 60s, early 70s, Weissmuller was involved with a doomed tourist attraction called Tropical Wonderland, aka Tarzan's Jungleland, on US 1 in Titusville, Florida. It was a last ditch effort to transform Florida Wonderland into something much bigger. It failed when Weissmuller and the owners did not see eye to eye, it was shut down for good in 1973.
His face appeared in the collage on the iconic front cover of The Beatles' 1967 record album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''.
In 1970, he attended the British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, where he was presented to Queen Elizabeth II. That same year, he made a cameo appearance with former co-star Maureen O'Sullivan in ''The Phynx'' (1970).
Weissmuller lived in Florida until the end of 1973, then moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he worked as a greeter at the MGM Grand Hotel for a time. In 1976, he appeared for the last time in a motion picture, playing a movie crewman who is fired by a movie mogul, played by Art Carney, in ''Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood'', and he also made his final public appearance in that year when he was inducted into the Body Building Guild Hall of Fame.
With his third wife, Beryl, he had three children, Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. (September 23, 1940 – July 27, 2006), Wendy Anne Weissmuller (b. June 1, 1942), and Heidi Elizabeth Weissmuller (July 31, 1944 – November 19, 1962).
On January 20, 1984, Weissmuller died from pulmonary edema at the age of 79. He was buried in Acapulco at Valley of the Light Cemetery. As his coffin was lowered into the ground, a recording of the Tarzan yell he invented was played three times, at his request.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Johnny Weissmuller has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6541 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood..
Johnny Weissmuller in Film | |||
! Year | ! Film | ! Role | ! Notes |
1929 | ''Glorifying the American Girl'' | Adonis | Cameo appearance in the segment "Loveland" |
''Swim or Sink'' | Himself | Short subject | |
''Water Bugs'' | Himself | Short subject | |
Tarzan | |||
''The Human Fish'' | Himself | Short subject | |
1934 | ''Tarzan and His Mate'' | Tarzan | |
1936 | ''Tarzan Escapes'' | Tarzan | |
1939 | ''Tarzan Finds a Son!'' | Tarzan | |
1941 | ''Tarzan's Secret Treasure'' | Tarzan | |
1942 | ''Tarzan's New York Adventure'' | Tarzan | |
''Tarzan Triumphs'' | Tarzan | Complete title: ''Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan Triumphs'' | |
''Tarzan's Desert Mystery'' | Tarzan | Complete title: ''Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan's Desert Mystery'' | |
''Stage Door Canteen'' | Himself | ||
1945 | ''Tarzan and the Amazons'' | Tarzan | Complete title: ''Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Amazons'' |
''Tarzan and the Leopard Woman'' | Tarzan | Complete title: ''Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Leopard Woman'' | |
''Swamp Fire'' | Johnny Duval | ||
1947 | ''Tarzan and the Huntress'' | Tarzan | Complete title: ''Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Huntress'' |
''Tarzan and the Mermaids'' | Tarzan | Complete title: ''Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Mermaids'' | |
Jungle Jim | |||
1948 | ''The Lost Tribe'' | Jungle Jim | |
''Mark of the Gorilla '' | Jungle Jim | ||
''Captive Girl'' | Jungle Jim | Alternative title: ''Jungle Jim and the Captive Girl'' | |
''Jungle Jim in Pygmy Island '' | Jungle Jim | Alternative title: ''Pygmy Island'' | |
''Fury of the Congo'' | Jungle Jim | ||
''Jungle Manhunt'' | Jungle Jim | ||
''Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land'' | Jungle Jim | ||
''Voodoo Tiger'' | Jungle Jim | ||
''Savage Mutiny'' | Jungle Jim | ||
''Valley of Head Hunters'' | Jungle Jim | ||
''Killer Ape'' | Jungle Jim | ||
''Jungle Man-Eaters'' | Jungle Jim | ||
''Cannibal Attack'' | Johnny Weissmuller | ||
''Jungle Moon Men'' | Johnny Weissmuller | ||
''Devil Goddess'' | Johnny Weissmuller | ||
1970 | ''The Phynx'' | Himself | |
1976 | ''Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood'' | Stagehand #2 | |
Television | |||
! Year | ! Title | ! Role | ! Notes |
1956–1958 | ''Jungle Jim'' | Jungle Jim | 26 episodes |
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an:Johnny Weissmuller ast:Johnny Weissmuller bg:Джони Вайсмюлер ca:Johnny Weissmuller da:Johnny Weissmuller de:Johnny Weissmüller et:Johnny Weissmüller el:Τζόνι Βαϊσμίλερ es:Johnny Weissmüller eo:Johnny Weissmüller eu:Johnny Weissmuller fr:Johnny Weissmuller gl:Johnny Weissmüller hr:Johnny Weissmüller io:Johnny Weissmuller id:Johnny Weissmuller it:Johnny Weissmuller he:ג'וני וייסמילר la:Petrus Ioannes Weissmüller hu:Johnny Weissmuller mk:Џони Вајсмилер mn:Жонни Вайсмюллер nl:Johnny Weissmuller ja:ジョニー・ワイズミュラー no:Johnny Weissmuller oc:Johnny Weissmuller pms:Johnny Weissmuller pl:Johnny Weissmuller pt:Johnny Weissmuller ro:Johnny Weissmüller qu:Johnny Weissmuller ru:Вайсмюллер, Джонни simple:Johnny Weissmuller sr:Џони Вајсмилер sh:Johnny Weissmuller fi:Johnny Weissmuller sv:Johnny Weissmuller th:จอห์นนี ไวส์มึลเลอร์ tr:Johnny Weissmuller zh:约翰尼·维斯穆勒This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
The World News (WN) Network, has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to user privacy. The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for wn.com, as well as e-mail newsletters.
We do not collect personally identifiable information about you, except when you provide it to us. For example, if you submit an inquiry to us or sign up for our newsletter, you may be asked to provide certain information such as your contact details (name, e-mail address, mailing address, etc.).
When you submit your personally identifiable information through wn.com, you are giving your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as set forth in this Privacy Policy. If you would prefer that we not collect any personally identifiable information from you, please do not provide us with any such information. We will not sell or rent your personally identifiable information to third parties without your consent, except as otherwise disclosed in this Privacy Policy.
Except as otherwise disclosed in this Privacy Policy, we will use the information you provide us only for the purpose of responding to your inquiry or in connection with the service for which you provided such information. We may forward your contact information and inquiry to our affiliates and other divisions of our company that we feel can best address your inquiry or provide you with the requested service. We may also use the information you provide in aggregate form for internal business purposes, such as generating statistics and developing marketing plans. We may share or transfer such non-personally identifiable information with or to our affiliates, licensees, agents and partners.
We may retain other companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf. Such third parties may be provided with access to personally identifiable information needed to perform their functions, but may not use such information for any other purpose.
In addition, we may disclose any information, including personally identifiable information, we deem necessary, in our sole discretion, to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal proceeding or governmental request.
We do not want you to receive unwanted e-mail from us. We try to make it easy to opt-out of any service you have asked to receive. If you sign-up to our e-mail newsletters we do not sell, exchange or give your e-mail address to a third party.
E-mail addresses are collected via the wn.com web site. Users have to physically opt-in to receive the wn.com newsletter and a verification e-mail is sent. wn.com is clearly and conspicuously named at the point of
collection.If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter and promotional communications, you may opt-out of receiving them by following the instructions included in each newsletter or communication or by e-mailing us at michaelw(at)wn.com
The security of your personal information is important to us. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during registration and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100 percent secure, however. Therefore, though we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
If we decide to change our e-mail practices, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we think appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.
If we make material changes to our e-mail practices, we will notify you here, by e-mail, and by means of a notice on our home page.
The advertising banners and other forms of advertising appearing on this Web site are sometimes delivered to you, on our behalf, by a third party. In the course of serving advertisements to this site, the third party may place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser. For more information on cookies, you can visit www.cookiecentral.com.
As we continue to develop our business, we might sell certain aspects of our entities or assets. In such transactions, user information, including personally identifiable information, generally is one of the transferred business assets, and by submitting your personal information on Wn.com you agree that your data may be transferred to such parties in these circumstances.