The Country Girl is a 1954 drama film adapted by George Seaton from a Clifford Odets play of the same name, which tells the story of an alcoholic actor struggling with the one last chance he's been given to resurrect his career. It stars Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and William Holden. Seaton, who also directed, won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay. It was entered in the 1955 Cannes Film Festival.

Kelly won the Oscar for Best Actress for the role, which previously had earned Uta Hagen her first Tony Award in the play's original Broadway production. The role, a non-glamorous departure for Kelly, was as the alcoholic actor's long-suffering wife.

The win was a huge surprise, as most critics and people in the press felt that Judy Garland would win for A Star Is Born. NBC even sent a camera crew to Garland's hospital room, where she was recuperating from the birth to her son, in order to conduct a live interview with her if she won. The win by Kelly instead famously prompted Groucho Marx to send Garland a telegram stating it was "the biggest robbery since Brinks."

Given the period of its production, the film is notable for its realistic, frank dialog and honest treatments of the surreptitious side of alcoholism and post-divorce misogyny.

Some of the dialogue was used in a Mika song, "Grace Kelly".

Plot

In a theatre where auditions are being held for a new musical production, the director, Bernie Dodd, watches a number performed by fading star Frank Elgin and suggests he be cast. This is met with strong opposition from Cook, the show's producer.

Bernie insists on the down-on-his-luck Elgin, who is living in a modest apartment with his wife Georgie, a cold and bitter woman who has aged far beyond her years. They are grateful, though not entirely certain Elgin can handle the work.

Based on comments Elgin makes about her privately, Bernie assumes that Georgie is the reason for Frank's career decline. He strongly criticizes her, first behind her back and eventually to her face. What he doesn't know is that the real reason Elgin's career has ended is the death of their five-year-old son Johnny, who was hit by a car while in the care of his father.

Mealy-mouthed to the director's face, Elgin is actually a demanding alcoholic who is totally dependent on his wife. Bernie mistakenly blames her for everything that happens during rehearsals, including Elgin's requests for a dresser and a run-of-the-show contract. He believes Georgie to be suicidal and a drunk, when it is actually Frank who is both.

Humiliated when he learns the truth, Bernie realizes that behind his hatred of Georgie was a strong attraction to her. He kisses her and falls in love.

Elgin succeeds in the role on opening night. Afterward he demands respect from the producer that he and his wife had not been given previously. At a party to celebrate, Bernie believes that now that Elgin has recovered his self-respect and stature, Georgie will be free to leave him. But she stands by her husband instead.

Cast

Bing Crosby - Frank Elgin

Grace Kelly - Georgie Elgin

William Holden - Bernie Dodd

Anthony Ross - Philip Cook

Gene Reynolds - Larry

Jacqueline Fontaine - Lounge singer

Eddie Ryder - Ed

Robert Kent - Paul Unger

John W. Reynolds - Henry Johnson

Victor Young - Recording studio conductor

Academy Awards – 1954

The Country Girl won 2 Academy Awards.

References

External links

Category:1954 films Category:American drama films Category:Films based on plays Category:Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award winning performance Category:Films featuring a Best Drama Actress Golden Globe winning performance Category:Plays by Clifford Odets Category:Paramount films Category:Films whose writer won the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award Category:Films directed by George Seaton Category:1950s drama films Category:Films about alcoholism

Consort	yes
Full name	Grace Patricia Kelly
Succession	Princess consort of Monaco
Caption	Princess Grace in 1981
Reign	April 19, 1956 – September 14, 1982
Spouse	Rainier III, Prince of Monaco
Issue	Caroline, Princess of HanoverAlbert II, Prince of MonacoPrincess Stéphanie of Monaco
Titles	HSH The Princess of MonacoMiss Grace Patricia Kelly
Father	John B. Kelly, Sr.
Mother	Margaret Katherine Majer
Date of birth	November 12, 1929
Place of birth	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Date of death	September 14, 1982
Place of death	Monaco
Place of burial	Monaco Cathedral
Occupation	Actress
Religion	Roman Catholic
Signature	Grace Kelly Signature.jpg

Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress and Princess consort of Monaco. In April 1956 Kelly married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and became styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and was commonly referred to as Princess Grace.

After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of 20, Grace Kelly appeared in New York City theatrical productions as well as in more than forty episodes of live drama productions broadcast during the early 1950s Golden Age of Television. In October 1953, with the release of Mogambo, she became a movie star, a status confirmed in 1954 with a Golden Globe Award and Academy Award nomination as well as leading roles in five films, including The Country Girl, in which she gave a deglamorized, Academy Award-winning performance. She retired from acting at 26 to enter upon her duties in Monaco. She and Prince Rainier had three children: Caroline, Albert, and Stéphanie. She also retained her American roots, maintaining dual US and Monégasque citizenships. She died on September 14, 1982, two months before her 53rd birthday, when she lost control of her automobile and crashed after suffering a stroke. Her daughter Princess Stéphanie, who was in the car with her, survived the accident. In June 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her #13 in their list of top female stars of American cinema.

Family

A native of Philadelphia, Grace Kelly was born to John Brendan "Jack" Kelly (October 4, 1889–June 20, 1960), and his wife, Margaret Katherine Majer (December 13, 1898–January 6, 1990). The newborn was named in memory of her father's sister, who had died at a young age. She was raised Catholic by her Irish Democrat parents. The family lived in a house at 3901 Henry Avenue in the East Falls neighborhood of the city. Before her marriage, Margaret Majer studied physical education at Temple University and later became the first woman to head the Physical Education Department at the University of Pennsylvania. Jack Kelly was a local hero as a triple Olympic-gold-medal-winning sculler, and subsequently became a self-made millionaire, with his brick business rising to prominence as the largest such enterprise on the East Coast. Registering as a Democrat, he obtained the party's nomination for mayor in the 1935 election and lost by the closest margin for any Democrat in the city's electoral history. In later years, he served on the Fairmount Park Commission and, during World War II, was appointed by President Roosevelt as National Director of Physical Fitness.

When Grace was born, the Kellys already had two children, Margaret Katherine, known as Peggy (June 13, 1925–November 23, 1991) and John Brendan, Jr., known as Kell (May 24, 1927–May 2, 1985). Another daughter, Elizabeth Anne, known as Lizanne (June 25, 1933–November 24, 2009), was born three and a half years after Grace.

At Margaret's baptism in 1925, Jack Kelly's mother, Mary Costello Kelly, expressed her disappointment that the baby was not named Grace in memory of her last daughter who died young. Upon his mother's death the following year, Jack Kelly resolved that his next daughter would bear the name and, three years later, with the arrival of Grace Patricia in November 1929, his late mother's wish was honored.

Following in his father's athletic footsteps, John Jr. won in 1947 the James E. Sullivan Award as the country's top amateur athlete. Also, similar to his father's gold medals in rowing at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics, he competed in the sport at the 1948, 1952 and the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne where, on November 27, seven months after his sister's Monaco wedding, he won a bronze medal, which he gave to her as a gift of the occasion. He also served as a city councilman and Philadelphia's Kelly Drive is named for him.

Two of Grace Kelly's uncles were prominent in the arts; her father's eldest brother, Walter C. Kelly (1873–1939), was a vaudeville star whose nationally known act, The Virginia Judge, was filmed as a 1930 MGM short and a 1935 Paramount feature, and another older brother, George Kelly (1887–1974), estranged from the family due to his homosexuality, became renowned in the 1920s as a dramatist, screenwriter and director with a hit comedy-drama, The Show Off, in 1924–25, and was awarded the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his next play, Craig's Wife.

Acting career

Name	Grace Kelly
Caption	from the film To Catch a Thief
Birth name	Grace Patricia Kelly
Years active	1950–1958

While attending Ravenhill Academy, a prestigious Catholic girls' school, Kelly modeled fashions at local social events with her mother and sisters. In 1942, at the age of twelve, she played a lead in Don't Feed the Animals, a play produced by the East Falls Old Academy Players. Written in the "Stevens' Prophecy" section was, “Miss Grace P. Kelly - a famous star of stage and screen.”

Theatre

Because of low mathematics scores, Kelly was rejected by Bennington College in July 1947. To the dismay of her mother, Kelly decided to pursue her dreams of a career in the theater. For an audition into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York she used a scene from her uncle's 1923 play The Torch-Bearers. Although the school had already selected its semester quota, Kelly wrangled an interview with the school's admission officer, Emile Diestel. Alumni of the school include Lauren Bacall, Gene Tierney, and Spencer Tracy. Living in Manhattan's Barbizon Hotel for Women, a prestigious establishment which barred men from entering after 10 p.m., and working as a model to support her studies, Kelly began her first term the following October. A diligent student, she would use a tape recorder to practice and perfect her speech. Her early acting pursuits led her to the stage, most notably a Broadway debut in Strindberg’s The Father alongside Raymond Massey. At 19, her graduation performance was in The Philadelphia Story, a role with which she would also end her film career, in the MGM musical film version High Society.

Television producer Delbert Mann cast Kelly as Bethel Merriday, an adaptation of the Sinclair Lewis novel of the same name, in her first of nearly sixty live television programs. Success on television eventually brought her a role in a major motion picture. Kelly made her film debut in a small role in the 1951 film Fourteen Hours. She was noticed during a visit to the set by Gary Cooper, who subsequently starred with her in High Noon. Cooper was charmed by Kelly and said that she was "different from all these actresses we've been seeing so much of." However, her performance in Fourteen Hours was not noticed by critics, and did not lead to her receiving other film acting roles. She continued her work in the theater and on television. Kelly won the role, along with a 7-year contract, although she was hired at a relatively low salary of $850 a week. Kelly signed the deal under two conditions: First that, one out of every two years, she have time off to work in the theater and second, that she be able to live in New York City, at the now-landmarked Manhattan House, at 200 E. 66th Street. Just two months later, in November, the cast arrived in Nairobi to begin production. She later told Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper, "Mogambo had three things that interested me. John Ford, Clark Gable, and a trip to Africa with expenses paid. If Mogambo had been made in Arizona, I wouldn't have done it." The role garnered her a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

]] After the success of Mogambo, Kelly starred in a TV play The Way of an Eagle, with Jean-Pierre Aumont before being cast in the film adaptation of Frederick Knott's Broadway hit Dial M for Murder. Alfred Hitchcock was slated to direct the film and would become one of Kelly's last mentors. Hitchcock also took full advantage of Kelly's virginal beauty on-camera. In a scene in which her character Margot Wendice is nearly murdered, a struggle breaks out between her and her would-be-killer Tony Dawson as she kicks her legs and flails her arms attempting to fight off her killer. Dial M for Murder opened in theaters in May 1954 to both positive reviews and box-office triumph.

Kelly began filming scenes for her next film, The Bridges at Toko-Ri, in January 1954 with William Holden. The role of Nancy, the wife of naval officer Harry (Holden), proved to be a minor but pivotal part of the story. Released in January 1955, The New Yorker wrote of Kelly and Holden's unbridled on-screen chemistry, taking note of Kelly's performance of the part "with quiet confidence."

In committing to the role of Lisa Fremont in Rear Window, Kelly unhesitatingly turned down the opportunity to star alongside Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, which won her replacement, Eva Marie Saint, an Academy Award. "All through the making of Dial M for Murder, he [Hitchcock] sat and talked to me about Rear Window all the time, even before we had discussed my being in it." Much like the shooting of Dial M for Murder, Kelly and Hitchcock shared a close bond of humor and admiration. Sometimes, however, minor strife would emerge on set concerning the wardrobe:

in Rear Window]] Kelly's new co-star, James Stewart, was highly enthusiastic about working with her. The role of Lisa Fremont, a wealthy Manhattan socialite and model, was unlike any of the previous women which she had played. For the very first time, she was an independent career woman. Stewart played a speculative photographer with a broken leg, bound to a wheelchair and so reduced to curiously observing the happenings outside his window. Kelly is not seen until twenty-two minutes into the movie. Just as he had done earlier, Hitchcock provided the camera with a slow-sequenced silhouette of Kelly, along with a close-up of the two stars kissing and finally lingering closely on her profile. With the film's opening in October 1954, Kelly was again praised. Variety's film critic remarked on the casting, commenting about the "earthy quality to the relationship between Stewart and Miss Kelly. Both do a fine job of the picture's acting demands."

Kelly won the role of Bing Crosby's long-suffering wife, Georgie Elgin, in The Country Girl, after a pregnant Jennifer Jones bowed out. Already familiar with the play, Kelly was desperate for the part. This meant that, to MGM's dismay, she would have to be loaned out to Paramount. Kelly threatened the studio that she would pack her bags and leave for New York for good. The vanquished studio caved in, and the part was hers.

The film also paired Kelly again with William Holden. The wife of a washed-up alcoholic singer, played by Crosby, Kelly's character is emotionally torn between two lovers. Holden willfully begs Kelly to leave her husband and be with him. A piece of frail tenderness manages to cloak itself inside of her, even after having been demonized by Crosby, describing "a pathetic hint of frailty in a wonderful glowing man. That appeals a lot to us. It did to me. I was so young. His weaknesses seemed touching and sweet, they made me love him more."

As a result of her performance in The Country Girl, Kelly was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her main competitor for the prize was Judy Garland's much heralded comeback performance in A Star Is Born; playing not only the part of an up and coming actress-singer, but also ironically, the wife of an alcoholic movie star. Although Kelly won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for best actress for her performances in her three big movie roles of 1954 (Rear Window, Dial M For Murder, and The Country Girl), she and Garland both received Golden Globe Awards for their respective performances.

By the following March, the race between Kelly and Garland for the Oscar was very close. On the night of the Academy Awards telecast, March 30, 1955, Garland was unable to attend because she was in the hospital having just given birth to her son, Joseph Luft. However, she was rumored to be the odds-on favorite, and NBC Television cameras were set up in her hospital room so that if she was announced as the winner, Garland could make her acceptance speech live from her hospital bed. However, when William Holden announced Kelly as the winner, the technicians immediately dismantled the cameras without saying one word to Garland. Garland was reported not to have been very gracious about Kelly's win, saying in later years, "I didn't appreciate Grace Kelly taking off her makeup and walking away with my Oscar."

In April 1954, Kelly flew to Colombia for a 10-day shoot on her next project, Green Fire, with Stewart Granger. Kelly plays Catherine Knowland, a coffee plantation owner. In Granger's autobiography he writes of his distaste for the film's script, while Kelly later confided to Hedda Hopper, "It wasn't pleasant. We worked at a pathetic village - miserable huts and dirty. Part of the crew got shipwrecked ... It was awful." The fireworks scene has been the subject of much commentary, as Hitchcock subliminally peppers an undertone of sexual innuendo during the sequence.

Marriage

Kelly headed the US delegation at the Cannes Film Festival in April 1955. While there, she was invited to participate in a photo session at the Palace of Monaco with Prince Rainier III, the sovereign of the principality. After a series of delays and complications, Kelly met the prince in Monaco.

Upon returning to America, Kelly began work on The Swan, in which she coincidentally portrayed a princess. Meanwhile, she was privately beginning a correspondence with Rainier. In December, Rainier came to America on a trip officially designated as a tour, although it was speculated that Rainier was actively seeking a wife. A 1918 treaty with France stated that if Rainier did not produce an heir, Monaco would revert to France as a result of the Monaco Succession Crisis of 1918. At a press conference in the United States, Rainier was asked if he was pursuing a wife, to which he answered, "No." A second question was posed, asking, "If you were pursuing a wife, what kind would you like?" Rainier smiled and answered, "I don't know — the best." Rainier met Kelly and her family, and after three days, the prince proposed. Kelly accepted and the families began preparing for what the press called "The Wedding of the Century." Kelly and her family had to provide Prince Rainier with dowry of $2,000,000 USD in order for the marriage to go ahead. The religious wedding was set for April 19, 1956. News of the engagement was a sensation even though it meant the possible end to Kelly's film career. Industry professionals realized that it would have been impractical for her to continue acting and wished her well. Alfred Hitchcock had quipped that he was "very happy that Grace has found herself such a good part."

]] Preparations for the wedding were elaborate. The Palace of Monaco was painted and redecorated throughout. On April 4, 1956, leaving from Pier 84 in New York Harbor, Kelly, with her family, bridesmaids, poodle, and over eighty pieces of luggage boarded the ocean liner SS Constitution for the French Riviera. Some 400 reporters applied to sail, though most were turned away. Thousands of fans sent the party off for the eight-day voyage. In Monaco, more than 20,000 people lined the streets to greet the future princess consort.

That same year, MGM released Kelly's last film, the musical comedy High Society (based on the studio's 1940 comedy Philadelphia Story). One highlight of the film was Kelly's duet with Bing Crosby, singing "True Love," with words and music by Cole Porter.

Princess of Monaco

As is customary in some countries, Kelly and Rainier had both civil and religious weddings. The 40-minute civil ceremony took place in the Palace Throne Room of Monaco on April 18, 1956, and was broadcast across Europe. To cap the ceremony, the 142 official titles (counterparts of Rainier's) that Kelly acquired in the union were formally recited. The following day the church ceremony took place at Monaco's Saint Nicholas Cathedral. Kelly's wedding dress, designed by MGM's Academy Award–winning Helen Rose, was worked on for six weeks by three dozen seamstresses. The bridesmaid's gowns were designed by Joe Allen Hong at Neiman Marcus after Lawrence Marcus visited Monaco. The 600 guests included Hollywood stars David Niven and his wife Hjördis, Gloria Swanson, Ava Gardner, the crowned head Aga Khan, Gloria Guinness, Daisy Fellowes, Etti Plesch, Lady Diana Cooper, Enid, Lady Kenmare, Loelia, Duchess of Westminster and Conrad Hilton. Frank Sinatra initially accepted an invitation but at the last minute decided otherwise, afraid of upstaging the bride on her wedding day. The ceremony was watched by an estimated 30 million people on television. The prince and princess left that night for their seven-week Mediterranean honeymoon cruise on Rainier's yacht, Deo Juvante II.

As Princess of Monaco, she founded AMADE Mondiale, a Monaco-based non-profit organization eventually recognized by the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organization. According to UNESCO's website, AMADE promotes and protects the "moral and physical integrity" and "spiritual well-being of children throughout the world, without distinction of race, nationality or religion and in a spirit of complete political independence." Her daughter Princess Caroline carries the torch for AMADE today in her role as President.

Children and family

Princess Grace gave birth to the couple's first child, Princess Caroline, nine months and four days after the wedding. Twenty-one guns announced the event, a national holiday was called, gambling ceased, and free champagne flowed throughout the principality. A little over a year later, 101 guns announced the birth of their second child, Prince Albert. Prince Rainier and Princess Grace had three children:

, during Expo 1967.]]

Caroline Louise Marguerite, Princess of Hanover, born January 23, 1957, and now heiress presumptive to the throne of Monaco

Albert II, Prince of Monaco, born March 14, 1958, current ruler of the Principality of Monaco

Princess Stéphanie Marie Elisabeth, born February 1, 1965.

Later years

After the wedding, Prince Rainier banned the screening of Kelly's films. Hitchcock offered Kelly the lead in his film Marnie in 1962. She was eager, but public outcry in Monaco against her involvement in a film that portrayed her as a kleptomaniac made her reconsider and ultimately reject the project. Director Herbert Ross attempted to lure Princess Grace for his 1977 film The Turning Point, but Prince Rainier quashed the idea. Later that year, Kelly returned to the arts in a series of poetry readings on stage and the narration of the documentary The Children of Theater Street. She also narrated ABC's made-for-television film The Poppy Is Also a Flower (1966).

As princess, Kelly was active in improving the arts institutions of Monaco, and eventually the Princess Grace Foundation was formed to support local artisans. She was one of the first celebrities to support and speak on behalf of La Leche League, an organization that advocates breastfeeding; she planned a yearly Christmas party for local orphans, and dedicated a Garden Club that reflected her love of flowers.

Kelly was also a member of the International Best Dressed List since 1960.

In 1981, the Prince and Princess celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary.

Personal life

Kelly was the object of the tabloids and gossip throughout her life. Her love life was a particular focus of speculation. Stories of affairs circulated from her first major role in motion pictures and eventually included the names of almost every major actor at the time.

During the making of Dial M for Murder, her co-star Ray Milland attempted to seduce her. Milland was 22 years older than she. Milland was married to Muriel Milland for thirty years, and the couple had a son. Milland assured Kelly that he had left his wife, which she would later find out to have been a lie. Muriel Milland was one of the most popular wives in Hollywood and had the support of many friends, including gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. After Muriel Milland found out about the alleged affair, Kelly was branded a homewrecker. After Kelly gave a press interview explaining her side of the story the town seemed to lose interest in the scandal. It was never proven that Kelly actually succumbed to Milland's advances; in fact, her friends at the time, such as Rita Gam, believed she had little interest in him.

and first lady Nancy Reagan, 1981]]

Russian fashion designer Oleg Cassini, having just seen Mogambo earlier that evening, encountered Grace Kelly having dinner at Le Veau d'Or. Formerly married to actress Gene Tierney, the original choice to play Mogambo's Linda Nordley, Cassini was raised in Florence and had a cultured air with an abundance of charm and courtliness. He became just as captivated by Kelly in person as he had been while watching her in the film and soon piqued her curiosity by sending her a daily bouquet of red roses. His persistence paid off when she accepted his invitation to lunch, with the provision that her eldest sister, Peggy, join them. Ultimately, her relationship with Cassini foundered on her parents' refusal to accept a divorced non-Catholic as a future son-in-law.

When she was a princess, Prince Rainier laid down a list of strict rules when it came to the encounters with the Princess at the palace, which included, no autographs, no photographs, no audio recording devices, and nobody was allowed to leave the room for anything, unless, and until, the Princess left the room first, so that she would avoid being trapped by a mob of fans. This observation was reported in 1963.

In a 1960s interview, Kelly explained how she had grown to accept the scrutiny as a part of being in the public eye, but expressed concern for her children’s exposure to such relentless scandalmongering. After her death, celebrity biographers chronicled the rumors with renewed enthusiasm.

Friendship with Josephine Baker

In 1951, the newly famous Kelly took a bold stand against a racist incident involving Black American expatriate singer/dancer Josephine Baker, when Sherman Billingsley's Stork Club in New York refused Baker as a customer. Kelly, who was dining at the club when this happened, was so disgusted that she rushed over to Baker (whom she had never met), took her by the arm, and stormed out with her entire party, vowing never to return (and she never did). The two women became close friends after that night. A significant testament to their close friendship was made evident when Baker was near bankruptcy, and was offered a villa and financial assistance by Kelly (who by that time had become The Princess of Monaco) and her husband Rainier III of Monaco. The princess also encouraged Baker to return to performing and financed Baker's triumphant comeback in 1975, attending the opening night's performance. When Baker died, the Princess secured her burial in Monaco.

Death

On September 13, 1982, while driving with her daughter Stéphanie to Monaco from their country home on the French side of the border, Princess Grace suffered a stroke, which caused her to drive her Rover P6 off the serpentine road down a mountainside. The accident site is located at . Grace was pulled alive from the wreckage, but had suffered serious injuries and was unconscious. She died the following day at the Monaco Hospital (renamed Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace — "The Princess Grace Hospital Centre" in English—in 1985), having never regained consciousness. It was initially reported that Princess Stéphanie suffered only minor bruising, although it later emerged that she had suffered a serious cervical fracture.

Grace was buried in the Grimaldi family vault on September 18, 1982, after a requiem mass in Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Monaco. The 400 guests at the service included representatives of foreign governments and of present and past European royal houses. Diana, Princess of Wales represented the British royal family. Cary Grant was among the members of the film community in attendance. Nearly 100 million people worldwide watched her funeral. Prince Rainier, who did not remarry, was buried alongside her following his death in 2005.

In his eulogy, James Stewart said:

Legacy

The Princess Grace Foundation, Monaco was founded in 1964 with the aim of helping those with special needs for whom no provision was made within the ordinary social services. In 1983, following Princess Grace's death, Caroline, Princess of Hanover assumed the duties of President of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation. Albert II, Prince of Monaco is Vice-President.

The Princess Grace Foundation-USA (PGF-USA) was established following the death of Princess Grace of Monaco to continue the work that she had done, anonymously, during her lifetime, assisting emerging theater, dance and film artists in America. Incorporated in 1982, PGF-USA is headquartered in New York and is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit, publicly supported organization. The Princess Grace Awards, a program of the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, has awarded nearly 500 artists at more than 100 institutions in the U.S. with more than $7 million to date. The Princess Grace Foundation-USA also holds the exclusive rights to, and facilitates the licensing of, Princess Grace of Monaco's name and likeness throughout the world. Princess Grace Foundation-USA

On June 18, 1984, Prince Rainier inaugurated a public rose garden in Monaco in Princess Grace's memory because of her passion for the flower.

In 1993, Princess Grace became the first U.S. actress to appear on a U.S. postage stamp.

In 2003, 83 years after Olympic Gold Medalist John Kelly, Sr. was refused entry to the most prestigious rowing event in the world, the Henley Royal Regatta renamed the Women's Quadruple Sculls after his daughter, "Princess Grace Challenge Cup". Princess Grace was invited to present the prizes at the Henley Royal Regatta in 1981 as a peace offering by the Henley Stewards to put a long conflict (61 years) between the Kelly family and Stewards to rest. Her brother, John Kelly, Jr., won the Diamond Sculls at Henley in 1947 and 1949 as well as a Bronze Medal in the single sculls at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. In 2004 her son, Prince Albert, presented the prizes at the Henley Royal Regatta.

On April 1, 2006, The Philadelphia Museum of Art presented an exhibition entitled, Fit for a Princess: Grace Kelly's Wedding Dress, that ran through May 21, 2006. The exhibition was in honor of the 50th anniversary of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier's wedding.

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of her death €2 commemorative coins were issued on July 1, 2007 with the "national" side bearing the image of Princess Grace. In Monaco (at the Grimaldi Forum) and the United States (at Sotheby's) a large Princess Grace exhibition, coordinated by the Princely Family, called "Grace, Princess of Monaco: A Tribute to the Life and Legacy of Grace Kelly", celebrated her life and her contribution to the arts through her Foundation.

In October 2009, a plaque was placed on the "Rodeo Drive Walk of Style" in recognition of Princess Grace's contributions to style and fashion.

In November 2009, to commemorate what would have been her 80th birthday TCM named her as star of the month which saw Prince Albert II pay a special tribute to his mother.

Titles and styles

Titles held by the Princess of Monaco, in chronological order:

Miss Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 - April 18, 1956)

Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco (April 18, 1956 - Death)

Princess Grace's official style and title was: Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, Duchess of Valentina, Marchioness of Baux, Countess of Carlades, Baroness of Sain Lo, 101 times Dame.

Screen credits

Filmography

{| class=wikitable |- style="background:#b0c4de; text-align:center;" | Year || Title || Role || Director || Co-stars |- | 1951 || Fourteen Hours || Louise Ann Fuller || Henry Hathaway || Paul Douglas, Richard Basehart, Barbara Bel Geddes |- | 1952 || High Noon || Amy Fowler Kane || Fred Zinnemann || Gary Cooper, Katy Jurado, Lloyd Bridges, Thomas Mitchell |- | 1953 || Mogambo || Linda Nordley || John Ford || Clark Gable, Ava Gardner |- | rowspan=5|1954 || Dial M for Murder || Margot Mary Wendice || Alfred Hitchcock || Ray Milland, Robert Cummings, John Williams |- | Rear Window || Lisa Carol Fremont || Alfred Hitchcock || James Stewart, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr |- |The Country Girl || Georgie Elgin || George Seaton || Bing Crosby, William Holden |- | Green Fire || Catherine Knowland || Andrew Marton || Stewart Granger |- |The Bridges at Toko-Ri || Nancy Brubaker || Mark Robson || William Holden, Fredric March, Mickey Rooney, Earl Holliman |- | 1955 || To Catch a Thief || Frances Stevens || Alfred Hitchcock || Cary Grant |- | rowspan=2|1956 || The Swan || Princess Alexandra || Charles Vidor || Alec Guinness, Louis Jourdan |- | High Society || Tracy Samantha Lord || Charles Walters || Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Celeste Holm |}

Television appearances and filmography

{| class=wikitable |- style="background:#b0c4de; text-align:center;" | Year || TV series and network || Date of broadcast and episode title || Episode sequence || Cast, writer, director and explanatory notes |- | 1948 || Kraft Television Theatre(NBC) || November 3, 1948:"Old Lady Robbins" || season 2 episode 7 || Ethel Owen, Grace Kelly |- | rowspan=16|1950 || The Philco Television Playhouse(NBC) || January 8, 1950:"Bethel Merriday" || season 2 episode 19 || Grace Kelly as Bethel Merriday, Oliver Thorndike, Warren Stevens, Katherine Meskill, Mary Patton, Frank Stephens, Mary K. Wells—————adapted from novel by Sinclair Lewisdirected by Delbert Mann |- | Ripley's Believe It or Not(NBC) || January 11, 1950:"The Voice of Obsession" || season 2 episode 2 || John Hudson, Hildy Parks, Grace Kelly |- | Westinghouse Studio One(CBS) || January 23, 1950:"The Rockingham Tea Set" || season 2 episode 20 || Starring Louise Allbritton as Celia Arden; Featuring Catherine Willard as Mrs. Arden, Judson Laire as Dr. Waller, Katherine Emmet as Mrs. Gregory; Introducing Grace Kelly as Sara Mappin, Richard McMurray as David Barr; Other players Cecil Scott and Nell Harrison—————by Virginia Douglas Dawsonadapted by Worthington Miner and Matthew E. Harlibdirected by Franklin Schaffner |- | The Philco Television Playhouse(NBC) || February 12, 1950:"Ann Rutledge" || season 2 episode 24 || Grace Kelly as Ann Rutledge, Stephen Courtleigh as Abraham Lincoln |- | Actors Studio(CBS) || March 3, 1950:"The Apple Tree" || season 2 episode 22 || John Merivale, Patricia Kirkland, Grace Kellyhost: Marc Connelly |- | Cads, Scoundrels and Ladies(NBC) || April 25, 1950:"The Lovesick Robber" || drama special || one-time hour-long live presentation replacing The Original Amateur HourGrace Kelly appears in "The Lovesick Robber", one of the comedy-drama one-act plays |- |The Play's the Thing(CBS) || May 26, 1950:"The Token" || season 1 episode 7 || Mark Roberts, Grace Kellyhost: Marc Connelly |- | The Play's the Thing(CBS) || June 9, 1950:"The Swan" || season 1 episode 8 || Grace Kelly as Princess Alexandra [the role she will play again in the 1956 film], George Keane as Nicholas Agi, Alfred Ryder as Prince Albert, Jane Hoffman as Princess Beatrix, Leopoldine Konstantin as Queen Maria Dominika, Dennis Hoey as Father Hyacinth—————adapted from play by Ferenc Molnárhost: Marc Connelly; directed by David Pressman |- | Comedy Theater(CBS) || July 9, 1950:"Summer Had Better Be Good" || season 1 episode 1 || Grace Kelly—————by Ruth McKenney |- |Lights Out(NBC) || July 17, 1950: "The Devil to Pay" || season 2 episode 45 || Jonathan Harris, Grace Kelly, Theodore Marcusedirected by William Corrigan |- | Big Town(CBS) || October 5, 1950: "The Pay-Off" || season 1 episode 1 || Patrick McVey, Mary K. Wells, Grace Kellydirected by David Lowell Rich |- | The Clock(NBC) || October 20, 1950:"Vengeance" || season 2 episode 4 || Torin Thatcher, Grace Kelly—————adapted from novella by Balzacdirected by Grey Lockwood |- | The Web(CBS) || November 1, 1950: "Mirror of Delusion" || season 1 episode 18 || Hugh Franklin, Anna Lee, Grace Kelly, Mary Stuarthost: Jonathan Blake |- | Somerset Maugham TV Theatre(CBS) || November 15, 1950 || season 1 episode 5 || Leo Penn, Grace Kelly—————adapted from story by W. Somerset Maughamhost: W. Somerset Maugham |- | Danger(CBS) || December 19, 1950:"The Sergeant and the Doll" || season 1 episode 13 || Laura Weber, Grace Kelly, James Westerfieldhost: Richard Stark |- | The Philco Television Playhouse(NBC) || December 31, 1950:"Leaf Out of a Book" || season 3 episode 17 || Vicki Cummings, Lauren Gilbert, Grace Kelly, Claudia Morgan [restaged, again on NBC, with most of the same cast, on Goodyear Television Playhouse, broadcast July 6, 1952] |- | rowspan=6|1951 || The Prudential Family Playhouse(CBS) || February 13, 1951:"Berkeley Square" || season 1 episode 10 || Richard Greene as Peter Standish, Grace Kelly as Helen Pettigrew, Rosalind Ivan as Lady Ann Pettigrew, Mary Scott as Kate Pettigrew—————adapted from play by John L. Balderston |- | Nash Airflyte Theater(CBS) || February 22, 1951:"A Kiss for Mr. Lincoln" || season 1 episode 23 || Richard Greene, Grace Kelly, Bruce Gordon, Sarah Cunningham, Sarah Floydhost: William Gaxtondirected by David Pressman |- | Fourteen Hours(TCF) || first screening:March 6, 1951 || first feature film || Paul Douglas, Richard Basehart, Barbara Bel Geddes, Debra Paget, Agnes Moorehead, Robert Keith, Howard Da Silva, Jeffrey Hunter, Martin Gabel, Grace Kellydirected by Henry Hathaway |- | Armstrong Circle Theatre(NBC) || June 5, 1951:"Lover's Leap" || season 1 episode 53 || Leslie Nielsen, Grace Kelly, Don Murphy, Alan Abel, Larry Buchanan, Michael Keith, Charles Mendick |- | Armstrong Circle Theatre(NBC) || November 27, 1951: "Brand from the Burning" || season 2 episode 11 || Thomas Coley, Grace Kellyhost: Nelson Case |- | The Philco Television Playhouse(NBC) || December 30, 1951: "The Sisters" || season 4 episode 6 || Leslie Nielsen, Grace Kelly, Dorothy Peterson, Natalie Schafer—————by Robert Alan Aurthurdirected by Gordon Duff |- | rowspan=16|1952 || CBS Television Workshop(CBS) || January 13, 1952:"Don Quixote" || season 1 episode 4 || Boris Karloff as Don Quixote, Jimmy Savo as Sancho Panza, Grace Kelly as Dulcinea—————adapted from the Cervantes classicdirected by Sidney Lumet |- | Hallmark Television Playhouse(NBC) || January 20, 1952:"The Big Build Up" || season 1 episode 4 || Grace Kelly as Claire, Richard Derr, Vinton Hayworth, Parker McCormick, Harry Mehaffey, Elinor Randel—————adapted from novel by Michael Fosterhost: Sarah Churchill; directed by William Corrigan |- | Danger(CBS) || February 5, 1952:"Prelude to Death" || season 2 episode 21 || Grace Kelly, Carmen Mathewshost: Richard Stark |- | The Philco Television Playhouse(NBC) || February 10, 1952:"Rich Boy" || season 4 episode 9 || Gene Lyons as Anson Hunter, Grace Kelly as Paula Legendre, Phyllis Kirk as Dolly Karger, Kathleen Comegys as Aunt Edna, Mary Jackson, Henry Hart, Robert McQueeney, Tom Pedi, Geoffrey Lumb, David White, Eric Sinclair—————adapted by Walter Bernstein from short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald; directed by Delbert Mann |- | Lux Video Theatre(CBS) || February 18, 1952:"Life, Liberty and Orrin Dudley" || season 2 episode 26 || Jackie Cooper as Orrin Dudley, Grace Kelly as Beth—————teleplay by John Whedondirected by Richard Goode |- | Lights Out(NBC) || March 17, 1952:"The Borgia Lamp" || season 4 episode 30 || Robert Sterling, Grace Kelly, Hugh Griffith |- | Robert Montgomery Presents(NBC) || June 2, 1952:"Candles for Theresa" || season 3 episode 31 || Robert Sterling, Grace Kellyhost: Robert Montgomery |- | Kraft Television Theatre(NBC) || June 11, 1952: "The Cricket on the Hearth" || season 5 episode 40 || Russell Hardie as Edward Plummer, Grace Kelly as May Fielding—————adaptation of the Dickens classic |- | Suspense(CBS) || Tuesday, July 1, 1952, 9:30–10pm:"Fifty Beautiful Girls" || season 4 episode 41 || Joseph Anthony, Grace Kelly, Rusty Lane, Robert Keith, Jr.; host: Rex Marshall[since this episode and the one below were both broadcast live, research has not yet determined how Grace Kelly could have simultaneously performed in both productions] |- | Armstrong Circle Theatre(NBC) || Tuesday, July 1, 1952, 9:30–10pm:"City Editor" || season 2 episode 41 || Louise Allbritton, Shepperd Strudwick, Grace Kellyhost: Joe Ripley[since this episode was apparently broadcast simultaneously with the one above, it is inexplicable how Grace Kelly could have appeared on both] |- | Goodyear Television Playhouse(NBC) || July 6, 1952:"Leaf Out of a Book" || season 1 episode 20 || Lauren Gilbert, Grace Kelly, Claudia Morgan[restaged production, again on NBC, with most of the same cast, of December 31, 1950 episode of Philco Television Playhouse] |- | High Noon(Stanley Kramer Productions) || first screening:July 7, 1952 || second feature film || Gary Cooper, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado, Grace Kellydirected by Fred Zinnemann |- | Kraft Television Theatre(NBC) || August 29, 1952:"The Small Hours" || season 5 episode 49 || Lauren Gilbert as Henry Mitchell, Katherine Meskill as Laura Mitchell, Grace Kelly as Dorothy Mitchell—————adapted from play by George S. Kaufman and Leueen MacGrath |- | Armstrong Circle Theatre(NBC) || September 2, 1952:"Recapture" || season 2 episode 48 || Darren McGavin, Grace Kelly, Barbara Baxleyhost: Joe Ripleydirected by Garry Simpson |- | Westinghouse Studio One(CBS) || September 22, 1952:"The Kill" || season 5 episode 1 || Starring Dick Foran as Jeff, Nina Foch as Carrie, Grace Kelly as Freda, Paul Langton as Marsh, Harry Townes as Dave, Don Hanmer as Al, Carl Frank as Link, George Mitchell as Abner, Joe Maross as Nebro, Alan Devitt as Cap Manny, Frank Marth as Bub, James Coots as Sheriff, Arthur Junaleska as Billy, Lynn Loring as Carol—————based on The Mountains Have No Shadow by Owen Cameron; written for television by Reginald Rose; directed by Franklin Schaffner |- | Lux Video Theatre(CBS) || September 29, 1952: "A Message for Janice" || season 3 episode 6 || Jackie Cooper, Grace Kelly as Janice, George Hall—————by S. H. Barnett from story by Walter C. Browndirected by Richard Goode |- | rowspan=5|1953 || Lux Video Theatre(CBS) || May 14, 1953: "The Betrayer" || season 3 episode 37 || Robert Preston, Grace Kelly as Meg—————written by Charles L. Emmonsdirected by Fielder Cook |- | The Philco Television Playhouse(NBC) || June 7, 1953:"The Way of the Eagle" || season 5 episode 24 || Jean-Pierre Aumont, Grace Kelly |- | Kraft Television Theatre(NBC) || June 17, 1953:"Boy of Mine" || season 6 episode 37 || Henry Jones, Grace Kelly, Martin Newman |- | Mogambo(MGM) || first screening:October 9, 1953 || third feature film || Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kellydirected by John Ford |- | Toast of the Town(CBS) || October 18, 1953 || season 7 episode 6 || nine days after release of Mogambo, Grace Kelly performed on America's top-rated star-driven variety program; in other segments: David Wayne, Ralph Meeker, John Forsythe; host: Ed Sullivan |- | rowspan=8|1954 || Kraft Television Theatre(NBC) || January 6, 1954:"The Thankful Heart" || season 7 episode 19 || Florenz Ames, John Stephen[nearly seven months after appearing in her previous live TV drama (on the same anthology series) and, on the brink of movie stardom, with full schedule of film starring roles, Grace Kelly here gives her final performance for the Golden Age of Television] |- | 26th Academy Awards(NBC) || March 25, 1954 || second televised Academy Awards || host in Hollywood: Donald O'Connorhost in New York: Fredric MarchGrace Kelly as presenter and also nominee for Best Supporting Actress in Mogambo |- | The Country Girl(Paramount) || first screening:May 17, 1954 || fourth feature film || Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, William Holdendirected by George Seaton |- | Dial M for Murder(Warner) || first screening:May 29, 1954 || fifth feature film || Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummingsdirected by Alfred Hitchcock |- | Rear Window(Paramount) || first screening:August 1, 1954 || sixth feature film || James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Coreydirected by Alfred Hitchcock |- | Miss America Pageant(ABC) || September 11, 1954 || first Miss America Pageant televised || host for the pageant: Bob Russellcommentator for ABC network: John Dalyco-host for ABC network: Bess MyersonGrace Kelly as one of the judges |- | The Bridges at Toko-Ri(Paramount) || Los Angeles preview:September 25, 1954 || seventh feature film || William Holden, Grace Kelly, Fredric Marchdirected by Mark Robson |- | Green Fire(MGM) || first screening:December 24, 1954 || eighth feature film || Stewart Granger, Grace Kelly, Paul Douglasdirected by Andrew Marton |- | rowspan=3|1955 || Toast of the Town(CBS) || January 9, 1955: || season 8 episode 18 || Grace Kelly's second performance on the top-rated variety program; in other segments: José Greco, Forrest Tucker, Guy Mitchell, James Michener, The Shipstad & Johnson Ice Follies with Werner Groebli, The U.S.O. Hollywood Troupe, The Kermond Brothers, Richard Dwyer, Marie Crimmins; host: Ed Sullivan |- | 27th Academy Awards(NBC) || March 30, 1955 || third televised Academy Awards || host in Hollywood: Bob Hopehost in New York: Thelma RitterGrace Kelly as presenter and also nominee (and eventual winner) for Best Actress in The Country Girl |- | To Catch a Thief(Paramount) || first screening:August 3, 1955 || ninth feature film || Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landisdirected by Alfred Hitchcock |- | rowspan=5|1956 || 28th Academy Awards(NBC) || March 21, 1956 || fourth televised Academy Awards || host in Hollywood: Jerry Lewisco-hosts in Hollywood: Claudette Colbert and Joseph L. MankiewiczGrace Kelly as presenter |- | The Swan(MGM) || first screening:April 26, 1956 || tenth feature film || Grace Kelly, Alec Guinness, Louis Jourdandirected by Charles Vidor |- | Wedding in Monaco(MGM) || first screening:May 17, 1956 || short film || 31-minute widescreen filmed record of the wedding of Grace Kelly to Prince Rainierdirected by Jean Masson |- | High Society(MGM) || first screening:July 17, 1956 || eleventh feature film || Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatradirected by Charles Walters |- | The Perry Como Show(NBC) || September 15, 1956 || season 7 episode 6 || live musical variety program features a segment filmed in the Monaco Royal Palace with Princess Grace and Prince Rainier; in other segments: Irene Dunne, Sal Mineo; host: Perry Como |- ||1958 || The Ed Sullivan Show(CBS) || July 6, 1958 || season 11 episode 41 || third appearance of Grace Kelly, now Princess Grace, on the top-rated variety program, which was officially titled Toast of the Town until September 11, 1955; the live show presents a segment filmed in Monaco in which Princess Grace and Prince Rainier describe the two years of their marriage, mention 4-month-old Prince Albert and introduce 18-month-old Princess Caroline; in other segments: William Bendix, Carol Burnett, Esther Williams, Harold Lloyd and Duke Lloyd, Sally Blair, Professor Backwards, The Kirby Stone Four, Robert Q. Lewis, The Moridor Trio, Jumpin Joe Monahan, Wilbert Clark, Joe Cook, Jr., Jacqueline Dubeiffe, Elaine Herndon; host: Ed Sullivan |}

Discography

"True Love" (from High Society, duet with Bing Crosby, 1956)

L'Oiseau du Nord et L'Oiseau du Soleil, in French and in English (1978)

Birds, Beasts & Flowers: A Programme of Poetry, Prose and Music (1980)

References

External links

Ancestry Chart of Prince Albert

A list of ancestors of Grace Kelly

Princess Grace Foundation - USA

Princely House of Monaco

Footage of Grace Kelly's Royal Wedding

Short film about Grace Kelly

|- 1982}}

Category:1929 births Category:1982 deaths Category:20th-century actors Category:Actors from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni Category:American expatriates in Monaco Category:American film actors Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American television actors Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners Category:Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Burials at Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Monaco Category:American actors of German descent Category:House of Grimaldi Category:Kelly family Category:Monegasque Roman Catholics Category:Monegasque people of Irish descent Category:Naturalized citizens of Monaco Category:Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre alumni Category:Pennsylvania Democrats Category:People from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Princesses of Monaco Category:Road accident deaths in Monaco Category:Western (genre) film actors

Name	Bing Crosby
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Harry Lillis Crosby
Born	May 03, 1903Tacoma, Washington, U.S.
Origin	Spokane, Washington, U.S.
Died	October 14, 1977Madrid, Spain
Instrument	Vocals
Voice type	Baritone/Bass-baritone
Genre	Traditional pop, Jazz, vocal
Occupation	Singer-songwriter actor
Years active	1926–1977
Label	Brunswick, Decca, Reprise, RCA Victor, Verve, United Artists
Associated acts	Bob Hope, Dixie Lee, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, The Rhythm Boys, Rosemary Clooney, David Bowie, Louis Armstrong
Url	http://www.bingcrosby.com

Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Crosby's unique bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists until well into the late 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation.

One of the first multimedia stars, from 1934 to 1954 Bing Crosby was very successful across record sales, radio ratings and motion picture grosses. Crosby and his musical acts influenced male singers of the era that followed him, including Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin. Yank magazine recognized Crosby as the person who had done the most for American G.I. morale during World War II and, during his peak years, around 1948, polls declared him the "most admired man alive," ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Pius XII. Also during 1948, the Music Digest estimated that Crosby recordings filled more than half of the 80,000 weekly hours allocated to recorded radio music.

Through the aegis of recording, Crosby developed the techniques of constructing his broadcast radio programs with the same directorial tools and craftsmanship (editing, retaking, rehearsal, time shifting) that occurred in a theatrical motion picture production. This feat directly led the way to applying the same techniques to creating all radio broadcast programming as well as later television programming. The quality of the recorded programs gave them commercial value for re-broadcast. This led the way to the syndicated market for all short feature media such as TV series episodes.

In 1963, Crosby was the first person to be recognized with the Grammy Global Achievement Award. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Father Chuck O'Malley in the 1944 motion picture Going My Way, and was nominated for his reprisal of Father O'Malley in The Bells of St. Mary's the very next year, becoming the first of four actors to be nominated twice for the same character performance. Crosby is one of the few people to have three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Early life

Crosby was born in Tacoma, Washington, on May 3, 1903, In 1906, Crosby's family moved to Spokane, Washington. In 1913, Crosby's father built a house at 508 E. Sharp Ave. The house now sits on the campus of Bing's alma mater Gonzaga University and formerly housed the Alumni Association.

He was the fourth of seven children: five boys, Larry (1895–1975), Everett (1896–1966), Ted (1900–1973), Harry 'Bing' (1903–1977), and Bob (1913–1993); and two girls, Catherine (1904–1974) and Mary Rose (1906–1990). His parents, Harry Lincoln Crosby (1870–1950), a bookkeeper, and Catherine Helen (known as Kate) Harrigan (1873–1964), were English-American and Irish-American, respectively. Kate was the daughter of Canadian-born parents who had emigrated to Stillwater, Minnesota, from Miramichi, New Brunswick. Kate's grandfather and grandmother, Dennis and Catherine Harrigan, had in turn moved to Canada in 1831 from Schull, County Cork, Ireland. Bing's paternal ancestors include Governor Thomas Prence and Patience Brewster, who were both born in England and who emigrated to what would become the U.S. in the 17th century. Patience was a daughter of Elder William Brewster, (c. 1567 – April 10, 1644), the Pilgrim leader and spiritual elder of the Plymouth Colony and a passenger on the Mayflower.

In 1910, Crosby was forever renamed. Six-year-old Harry discovered a full-page feature in the Sunday edition of the Spokesman-Review, "The Bingville Bugle".

As documented by biographer Gary Giddins in Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams - The Early Years, 1903 - 1940, Volume I, the "Bugle," written by humorist Newton Newkirk, was a parody of a hillbilly newsletter complete with gossipy tidbits, minstrel quips, creative spelling, and mock ads. A neighbor, 15-year-old Valentine Hobart, shared Crosby's enthusiasm for "The Bugle" and noting Crosby's laugh, took a liking to him and called him "Bingo from Bingville". The last vowel was dropped and the name shortened to "Bing", which stuck.

In 1917, Crosby took a summer job as property boy at Spokane's "Auditorium," where he witnessed some of the finest acts of the day, including Al Jolson, who held Crosby spellbound with his ad libbing and spoofs of Hawaiian songs. Crosby later described Jolson's delivery as "electric".

Popular success

Music

In 1926, while singing at Los Angeles Metropolitan Theater, Crosby and his vocal duo partner Al Rinker caught the eye of Paul Whiteman, arguably the most famous bandleader at the time. Hired for $150 a week, they made their debut on December 6, 1926 at the Tivoli Theatre (Chicago). Their first recording, "I've Got The Girl," with Don Clark's Orchestra, was issued by Columbia and did them no vocal favors as it sounded as if they were singing in a key much too high for them. It was later revealed that the 78 rpm was recorded at a speed slower than it should have been, which increased the pitch when played at 78 rpm.

As popular as the Crosby and Rinker duo was, Whiteman added another member to the group, pianist and aspiring songwriter Harry Barris. Whiteman dubbed them The Rhythm Boys, and they joined the Whiteman vocal team, working and recording with musicians Bix Beiderbecke, Jack Teagarden, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, and Eddie Lang and Hoagy Carmichael.

Crosby soon became the star attraction of the Rhythm Boys, not to mention Whiteman's band, and in 1928 had his first number one hit, a jazz-influenced rendition of "Ol' Man River". However, his repeated youthful peccadilloes and growing dissatisfaction with Whiteman forced him, along with the Rhythm Boys, to leave the band and join the Gus Arnheim Orchestra. During his time with Arnheim, The Rhythm Boys were increasingly pushed to the background as the vocal emphasis focused on Crosby. Fellow member of The Rhythm Boys Harry Barris wrote several of Crosby's subsequent hits including "At Your Command," "I Surrender Dear", and "Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams"; however, shortly after this, the members of the band had a falling out and split, setting the stage for Crosby's solo career.

On September 2, 1931, Crosby made his solo radio debut. In 1931, he signed with Brunswick Records and recording under Jack Kapp and signed with CBS Radio to do a weekly 15 minute radio broadcast; almost immediately he became a huge hit. His 1948 song Now is the Hour, however, would be his last number one hit. Crosby is, according to Quigley Publishing Company's International Motion Picture Almanac, tied for second on the "All Time Number One Stars List" with Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, and Burt Reynolds. Crosby's most popular film, White Christmas, grossed $30 million in 1954 ($}} million in current value). Crosby won an Academy Award for Best Actor for Going My Way in 1944, a role he reprised in the 1945 sequel The Bells of Saint Mary's, for which he was nominated for another Academy Award for Best Actor. He received critical acclaim for his performance as an alcoholic entertainer in The Country Girl, receiving his third Academy Award nomination. He partnered with Bob Hope in seven Road to musical comedies between 1940 and 1962 and the two actors remained linked for generations in general public perception as arguably the most popular screen team in film history, despite never officially declaring themselves a "team" in the sense that Laurel and Hardy or Martin and Lewis were teams.

By the late 1950s, Crosby's singing career would make a comeback, with his albums Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings and Bing With A Beat selling reasonably well,

Career statistics

Crosby's sales and chart statistics place him among the most popular and successful musical acts of the 20th century. Although the Billboard charts operated under a different methodology for the bulk of Crosby's career, his numbers remain astonishing: 1,700 recordings, 383 of those in the top 30, and of those, 41 hit #1. Crosby had separate charting singles in every calendar year between 1931 and 1954; the annual re-release of White Christmas extended that streak to 1957. He had 24 separate popular singles in 1939 alone. Billboard's statistician Joel Whitburn determined Crosby to be America's most successful act of the 1930s, and again in the 1940s.

in White Christmas (1954)]]For 15 years (1934, 1937, 1940, 1943–1954), Crosby was among the top 10 in box office draw, and for five of those years (1944–1948) he was the largest in the world.

Entrepreneurship

Mass media

Crosby's radio career took a significant turn in 1945, when he clashed with NBC over his insistence that he be allowed to pre-record his radio shows. (The live production of radio shows was also reinforced by the musicians' union and ASCAP.) Historian John Dunning, in On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, has written that Crosby – having discovered German engineers developed a tape recorder and improved them to a near-professional standard – saw "an enormous advantage in prerecording his radio shows. The scheduling could now be done at the star's convenience. He could do four shows a week, if he chose, and then take a month off. But the networks and sponsors were adamantly opposed. The public wouldn't stand for 'canned' radio, the networks argued. There was something magic for listeners in the fact that what they were hearing was being performed, and heard everywhere, at that precise instant. Some of the best moments in comedy came when a line was blown and the star had to rely on wit to rescue a bad situation. Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Phil Harris, and, yes, Crosby were masters at this, and the networks weren't about to give it up easily."

Crosby's influence eventually factored into the further development of magnetic tape sound recording and the radio industry's adoption of it. He used his power to innovate new methods of reproducing audio of himself. But with NBC (and competitor CBS) refusing to allow recorded radio programs (except for advertisements and occasional promotional material), Crosby walked away from the network and stayed off the air for seven months, causing a legal battle with Kraft, his sponsor, that was settled out of court and put Crosby back on the air for the last 13 weeks of the 1945–1946 season.

The Mutual network, on the other hand, had pre-recorded some of its programs as early as the Summer 1938 run of The Shadow with Orson Welles, and the new ABC network – formed out of the sale of the old NBC Blue network in 1943 to Edward Noble, the "Life Savers King," following a federal anti-trust action – was willing to join Mutual in breaking the tradition. ABC offered Crosby $30,000 per week to produce a recorded show every Wednesday sponsored by Philco. He would also get $40,000 from 400 independent stations for the rights to broadcast the 30-minute show that was sent to them every Monday on three 16-inch lacquer/aluminum discs that played ten minutes per side at 33⅓ rpm.

Crosby wanted to change to recorded production for several reasons. The legend that has been most often told is that it would give him more time for his golf game. And he did record his first Philco program in August 1947 so he could enter the Jasper National Park Invitational Golf Tournament in September when the new radio season was to start. But golf was not the most important reason.

Crosby was always an early riser and hard worker, and Dunning and other radio historians have noted that, even while acknowledging he wanted more time to tend his other business and leisure activities. But he also sought better quality through recording, including being able to eliminate mistakes and control the timing of his show performances. Because his own Bing Crosby Enterprises produced the show, he could purchase the latest and best sound equipment and arrange the microphones his way; mic placement had long been a hotly debated issue in every recording studio since the beginning of the electrical era. No longer would he have to wear the hated toupee on his head previously required by CBS and NBC for his live audience shows (he preferred a hat). He could also record short promotions for his latest investment, the world's first frozen orange juice to be sold under the brand name Minute Maid. This investment allowed Bing to make more money by finding a loophole whereby the IRS couldn't tax him at 77% for income, see TIME Magazine story.

The transcription method had problems, however. The acetate surface coating of the aluminum discs was little better than the wax that Edison had used at the turn of the century, with the same limited dynamic range and frequency response.

But Murdo MacKenzie of Bing Crosby Enterprises saw a demonstration of the German Magnetophon in June 1947, one that Jack Mullin had brought back from Radio Frankfurt with 50 reels of tape at the end of the war. This machine was one of the magnetic tape recorders that BASF and AEG had built in Germany starting in 1935. The 6.5mm ferric-oxide-coated tape could record 20 minutes per reel of high-quality sound. Alexander M. Poniatoff ordered his Ampex company (founded in 1944 from his initials A.M.P. plus the starting letters of "excellence") to manufacture an improved version of the Magnetophone.

Crosby hired Mullin and his German machine to start recording his Philco Radio Time show in August 1947, with the same 50 reels of I.G. Farben magnetic tape that Mullin had found at a radio station at Bad Nauheim near Frankfurt while working for the U.S. Army Signal Corps. The crucial advantage was editing. As Crosby wrote in his autobiography, "By using tape, I could do a thirty-five or forty-minute show, then edit it down to the twenty-six or twenty-seven minutes the program ran. In that way, we could take out jokes, gags, or situations that didn't play well and finish with only the prime meat of the show; the solid stuff that played big. We could also take out the songs that didn't sound good. It gave us a chance to first try a recording of the songs in the afternoon without an audience, then another one in front of a studio audience. We'd dub the one that came off best into the final transcription. It gave us a chance to ad lib as much as we wanted, knowing that excess ad libbing could be sliced from the final product. If I made a mistake in singing a song or in the script, I could have some fun with it, then retain any of the fun that sounded amusing."

Mullin's 1976 memoir of these early days of experimental recording agrees with Crosby's account: "In the evening, Crosby did the whole show before an audience. If he muffed a song then, the audience loved it – thought it was very funny – but we would have to take out the show version and put in one of the rehearsal takes. Sometimes, if Crosby was having fun with a song and not really working at it, we had to make it up out of two or three parts. This ad lib way of working is commonplace in the recording studios today, but it was all new to us."

Crosby invested US$50,000 in Ampex to produce more machines. In 1948, the second season of Philco shows was taped with the new Ampex Model 200 tape recorder (introduced in April) using the new Scotch 111 tape from the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M) company. Mullin explained that new techniques were invented on the Crosby show with these machines: "One time Bob Burns, the hillbilly comic, was on the show, and he threw in a few of his folksy farm stories, which of course were not in Bill Morrow's script. Today they wouldn't seem very off-color, but things were different on radio then. They got enormous laughs, which just went on and on. We couldn't use the jokes, but Bill asked us to save the laughs. A couple of weeks later he had a show that wasn't very funny, and he insisted that we put in the salvaged laughs. Thus the laugh-track was born." Crosby had launched the tape recorder revolution in America. In his 1950 film Mr. Music, Bing Crosby can be seen singing into one of the new Ampex tape recorders that reproduced his voice better than anything else. Also quick to adopt tape recording was his friend Bob Hope, who would make the famous "Road to..." films with Crosby and Dorothy Lamour.

Mullin continued to work for Crosby to develop a videotape recorder. Television production was mostly live in its early years, but Crosby wanted the same ability to record that he had achieved in radio. The Fireside Theater, sponsored by Procter and Gamble, was his first television production for the 1950 season. Mullin had not yet succeeded with videotape, so Crosby filmed the series of 26-minute shows at the Hal Roach Studios. The "telefilms" were syndicated to individual television stations.

Crosby did not remain a television producer but continued to finance the development of videotape. Bing Crosby Enterprises (BCE), gave the world's first demonstration of a videotape recording in Los Angeles on November 11, 1951. Developed by John T. Mullin and Wayne R. Johnson since 1950, the device gave what were described as "blurred and indistinct" images, using a modified Ampex 200 tape recorder and standard quarter-inch (6.3 mm) audio tape moving at 360 inches (9.1 m) per second.

Thoroughbred horse racing

Crosby was a fan of Thoroughbred horse racing and bought his first racehorse in 1935. In 1937, he became a founding partner and member of the Board of Directors of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club that built and operated the Del Mar Racetrack at Del Mar, California. One of Crosby's closest friends was Lindsay Howard, for whom he named his son Lindsay and from whom he would purchase his 40-room Hillsborough estate in 1965. Lindsay Howard was the son of millionaire businessman Charles S. Howard, who owned a successful racing stable that included Seabiscuit. Charles S. Howard joined Crosby as a founding partner and director of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.

Crosby and Lindsay Howard formed Binglin Stable to race and breed thoroughbred horses at a ranch in Moorpark in Ventura County, California. They also established the Binglin stock farm in Argentina, where they raced horses at Hipódromo de Palermo in Palermo, Buenos Aires. Binglin stable purchased a number of Argentine-bred horses and shipped them back to race in the United States. On August 12, 1938, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club hosted a $25,000 winner-take-all match race won by Charles S. Howard's Seabiscuit over Binglin Stable's Ligaroti. Binglin's horse Don Bingo won the 1943 Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.

The Binglin Stable partnership came to an end in 1953 as a result of a liquidation of assets by Crosby in order to raise the funds necessary to pay the federal and state inheritance taxes on his deceased wife's estate.

A friend of jockey Johnny Longden, Crosby was a co-owner with Longden's friend Max Bell of the British colt Meadow Court, which won the 1965 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Irish Derby. In the Irish Derby's winner's circle at the Curragh, Crosby sang "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling."

The Bing Crosby Breeders' Cup Handicap at Del Mar Racetrack is named in his honor.

Personal life

Crosby was married twice, first to actress/nightclub singer Dixie Lee from 1930 until her death from ovarian cancer in 1952. They had four sons: Gary, twins Dennis and Phillip, and Lindsay. The 1947 film is indirectly based on her life. After Dixie's death, Crosby had a relationship with actress Inger Stevens and with Grace Kelly before marrying the actress Kathryn Grant in 1957. They had three children, Harry (who played Bill in Friday the 13th), Mary (best known for portraying Kristin Shepard, the woman who shot J.R. Ewing on TV's Dallas), and Nathaniel.

Crosby was Catholic. Kathryn converted to Catholicism to marry him. He was also a Republican, and actively campaigned for Wendell Willkie in 1940, asserting his belief that Franklin Roosevelt should serve only two terms. When Willkie lost, he decreed that he would never again make any open political contributions.

Crosby had an interest in sports. From 1946 until the end of his life, he was part-owner of baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates and helped form the nucleus of the Pirates' 1960 championship club. Although he was passionate about his team, he was too nervous to watch the deciding Game 7 of that year's World Series, choosing to go to Paris with Kathryn and listen to the game on the radio. Crosby had the NBC telecast of the game, capped off by Bill Mazeroski's walk-off home run, recorded on kinescope. He apparently viewed the complete film once at his home and then stored it in his wine cellar, where it remained undisturbed until it was discovered in December 2009. In 1978, he and Bob Hope were voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf.

Crosby reportedly overindulged in alcohol in his youth, and may have been dismissed from Paul Whiteman's orchestra because of it, but he later got a handle on his drinking. A 2001 biography of Crosby by Village Voice jazz critic Gary Giddins says that Louis Armstrong's influence on Crosby "extended to his love of marijuana." Bing smoked it during his early career when it was legal and "surprised interviewers" in the 1960s and 70s by advocating its decriminalization, as did Armstrong. According to Giddins, Crosby told his son Gary to stay away from alcohol ("It killed your mother") and suggested he smoke pot instead. In Bob Hope's 1985 book Bob Hope's Confessions of a Hooker: My Lifelong Love Affair with Golf, Hope recounts hearing Crosby had been advised by a physician in England to only play 9 holes of golf due to his heart condition.

After Crosby's death, his eldest son, Gary, wrote a highly critical memoir, Going My Own Way, depicting his father as cold, remote, and both physically and psychologically abusive. Two of Crosby's other sons, Lindsay and Dennis, sided with Gary's claim and stated Crosby abused them as well. Dennis also stated that Crosby would abuse Gary the most often.

Nathaniel Crosby, Crosby's youngest son from his second marriage, was a high-level golfer who won the U.S. Amateur at age 19 in 1981, the youngest winner of that event (a record later broken by Tiger Woods). Nathaniel praised his father in a June 16, 2008, Sports Illustrated article.

Widow Kathryn Crosby dabbled in local theater productions intermittently, and appeared in television tributes to her late husband.

Denise Crosby, Dennis's daughter, is also an actress and known for her role as Tasha Yar on , and for the recurring role of the Romulan Sela (daughter of Tasha Yar) after her withdrawal from the series as a regular cast member. She also appeared in the film adaptation of Stephen King's novel Pet Sematary.

In 2006, Crosby's niece, Carolyn Schneider, published "Me and Uncle Bing," in which she offered an intimate glimpse of her family, and gratitude for Crosby's generosity to her and to other family members.

Legacy

at 6769 Hollywood Blvd.]] He is a member of the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in the radio division.

The family has established an official website. It was launched October 14, 2007, the 30th anniversary of Bing's death.

In his 1990 autobiography Don't Shoot, It's Only Me! Bob Hope states, "Dear old Bing. As we called him, the Economy-sized Sinatra. And what a voice. God I miss that voice. I can't even turn on the radio around Christmastime without crying anymore."

Calypso musician Roaring Lion wrote a tribute song in 1939 entitled "Bing Crosby", in which he wrote: "Bing has a way of singing with his very heart and soul / Which captivates the world / His millions of listeners never fail to rejoice / At his golden voice..."

Golf

Crosby is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Aside from Bobby Jones and Arnold Palmer, Crosby may be the person most responsible for popularizing the game of golf. Since 1937 the 'Crosby Clambake' as it was popularly known—now the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am—has been a leading event in the world of professional golf. Crosby first took up the game at 12 as a caddy, dropped it, and started again in 1930 with some fellow cast members in Hollywood during the filming of The King of Jazz. Although he made his name as a singer, vaudeville performer, and silver screen luminary, he would probably prefer to be remembered as a two handicap who competed in both the British and U.S. Amateur championships, a five-time club champion at Lakeside Golf Club in Hollywood, and as one of only a few players to have made a hole-in-one on the 16th at Cypress Point.

He conceived his tournament as a friendly little pro-am for his fellow members at Lakeside Golf Club and any stray touring pros who could use some pocket change. The first Clambake was played at Rancho Santa Fe C.C., in northern San Diego county, where Crosby was a member. He kicked in $3,000 of his own money for the purse, which led inaugural champion Sam Snead to ask if he might get his $700 in cash instead of a check. Snead's suspicions notwithstanding, the tournament was a rollicking success, thanks to the merry membership of Lakeside, an entertainment industry enclave in North Hollywood. That first tournament set the precedent for all that followed as it was as much about partying as it was about golf.

The tournament, revived on the Monterey Peninsula in 1947, has as of 2009 raised $93 million for local charities.

Compositions

Crosby co-wrote lyrics to 15 songs. His composition "At Your Command" was no.1 for three weeks on the U.S. pop singles chart in 1931, beginning with the week of August 8, 1931. "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You" was his most successful composition, recorded by Duke Ellington, Linda Ronstadt, Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday, and Mildred Bailey. The songs Crosby co-wrote are:

#"That's Grandma" (1927), with Harry Barris and James Cavanaugh #"From Monday On" (1928), with Harry Barris and recorded with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke on cornet, no. 14 on US pop singles charts #"What Price Lyrics?" (1928), with Harry Barris and Matty Malneck #"At Your Command" (1931), with Harry Barris and Harry Tobias, US, no. 1 (3 weeks) #"Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)" (1931), with Roy Turk and Fred Ahlert, US, no. 4; US, 1940 re-recording, no. 27 #"I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You" (1932), with Victor Young and Ned Washington, US, no. 5 #"My Woman" (1932), with Irving Wallman and Max Wartell #"Love Me Tonight" (1932), with Victor Young and Ned Washington, US, no. 4 #"Waltzing in a Dream" (1932), with Victor Young and Ned Washington, US, no.6 #"I Would If I Could But I Can't" (1933), with Mitchell Parish and Alan Grey #"Where the Turf Meets the Surf" (1941) #"Tenderfoot" (1953) #"Domenica" (1961) #"That's What Life is All About" (1975), with Ken Barnes, Peter Dacre, and Les Reed, US, AC chart, no. 35; UK, no. 41 #"Sail Away to Norway" (1977)

Filmography

Discography

Radio

The Radio Singers (1931, CBS), sponsored by Warner Brothers, 6 nights a week, 15 minutes.

The Cremo Singer (1931–1932, CBS), 6 nights a week, 15 minutes.

Unsponsored (1932, CBS), initially 3 nights a week, then twice a week, 15 minutes.

Chesterfield's Music that Satisfies (1933, CBS), broadcast two nights, 15 minutes.

Bing Crosby Entertains for Woodbury Soap (1933–1935, CBS), weekly, 30 minutes.

Kraft Music Hall (1935–1946, NBC), Thursday nights, 60 minutes until Jan. 1943, then 30 minutes.

Armed Forces Radio (1941–1945; World War II).

Philco Radio Time (1946–1949, ABC), 30 minutes weekly.

The Bing Crosby Chesterfield Show (1949–1952, CBS), 30 minutes weekly.

The Minute Maid Show (1949–1950, CBS), 15 minutes each weekday morning; Bing as disc jockey.

The General Electric Show (1952–1954, CBS), 30 minutes weekly.

The Bing Crosby Show (1954–1956, CBS), 15 minutes, 5 nights a week.

A Christmas Sing with Bing (1955–1962, CBS, VOA and AFRS), 1 hour each year, sponsored by the Insurance Company of North America.

The Ford Road Show (1957–1958, CBS), 5 minutes, 5 days a week.

The Bing Crosby – Rosemary Clooney Show (1958–1962, CBS), 20 minutes, 5 mornings a week, with Rosemary Clooney.

RIAA certification

{| style="background:none" cellpadding="2" |- ! style="width:30%; background:white;"|Album ! style="width:20%; background:white;"|RIAA |- |Merry Christmas |Gold |- |Bing sings |2x platinum |- |White Christmas |4x platinum |}

References

;Bibliography

Macfarlane, Malcolm. Bing Crosby – Day By Day. Scarecrow Press, 2001.

Osterholm, J. Roger. Bing Crosby: A Bio-Bibliography. Greenwood Press, 1994.

Prigozy, R. & Raubicheck, W., ed. Going My Way: Bing Crosby and American Culture. The Boydell Press, 2007.

External links

http://groups.google.com/group/the-bing-crosby-free-speech-fan-forum

http://www.bingcrosby.com/

Bing Crosby Collection at Gonzaga University

Conference Bing Crosby (November 2002)

Bing Crosby Article – by Dr. Frank Hoffmann

BING magazine (a publication of the ICC)

The Sun Chronicle">"Bing still matters" (2007) by Ted Nesi, The Sun Chronicle

Bravo Bing! A Tribute to Bing Crosby

Bob Hope: The Road to Bed in TimesOnline

Bing Crosby Official 10" (78Rpm) Discography

A Bing Crosby Session based discography

Category:1903 births Category:1977 deaths Category:American baritones Category:20th-century actors Category:American crooners Category:American film actors Category:American jazz singers Category:American racehorse owners and breeders Category:American radio personalities Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Whistlers Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery Category:California Republicans Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Decca Records artists Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in Spain Category:American actors of English descent Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Major League Baseball executives Category:Major League Baseball owners Category:World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Category:MGM Records artists Category:Musicians from Washington (U.S. state) Category:Peabody Award winners Category:People from Spokane, Washington Category:People from Tacoma, Washington Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Pittsburgh Pirates owners Category:RCA Victor artists Category:Traditional pop music singers Category:Vaudeville performers

Name	William Holden
Birth name
Birth date	April 17, 1918
Birth place	O'Fallon, Illinois, U.S.
Death date
Death place	Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, wildlife conservationist
Years active	1938–1981
Spouse

William Holden (April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974. One of the biggest box office draws of the 1950s, he was named one of the "Top 10 Stars of the Year" six times (1954–1958, 1961) and appeared on the American Film Institute's AFI's 100 Years…100 Stars list as #25.

Early life and career

Holden, eldest of three sons (brothers were Robert and Richard), was born William Franklin Beedle, Jr. in O'Fallon, Illinois, the son of Congregationalist parents Mary Blanche (née Ball), a schoolteacher, and William Franklin Beedle, Sr., an industrial chemist. Growing up, Holden was raised in the Methodist church, and while some sources cite him as a Congregationalist, Holden identified himself as a Methodist throughout his life. The family, which moved to South Pasadena, California when he was three, was of English descent; Holden's paternal great-grandmother, Rebecca Westfield, was born in England in 1817, while some of his mother's ancestors emigrated in the 17th century to Millenback, Lancaster County, Virginia in the U.S. from England.

After graduating from South Pasadena High School, Holden attended Pasadena Junior College, where he became involved in local radio plays. Contrary to legend and theatre publicity, he did not study at the Pasadena Playhouse, nor was he discovered in a play there. Rather, he was spotted by a talent scout from Paramount Pictures in 1937 while playing the part of an 80-year-old man, Marie Curie's father-in-law, in a play at the Playbox, a separate and private theatre owned by Pasadena Playhouse director Gilmor Brown. His first film role was in Prison Farm the following year.

Hollywood's "Golden Boy"

Holden's first starring role was in Golden Boy (1939), in which he played a violinist turned boxer. That was followed by the role of George Gibbs in the film adaptation of Our Town.

After Columbia Pictures picked up half of his contract, he alternated between starring in several minor pictures for Paramount and Columbia before serving as a 2nd lieutenant in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, where he acted in training films. Beginning in 1950, his career took off when Billy Wilder tapped him to star as the down-at-the-heels screenwriter Joe Gillis, who is taken in by faded silent-screen star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) in Sunset Boulevard, for which Holden earned his first Best Actor Oscar nomination.

in Sunset Boulevard]] Following this breakthrough film, he played a series of roles that combined good looks with cynical detachment, including a prisoner-of-war entrepreneur in Stalag 17 (1953), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, a pressured young engineer/family man in Executive Suite (1954), an acerbic stage director in The Country Girl (1954), a conflicted jet pilot in the Korean War film The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954), a wandering braggart in Picnic (1955), a dashing war correspondent in Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), an ill-fated prisoner in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and a WWII tug boat captain in The Key (1958).

He also played a number of sunnier roles in light comedy, such as the handsome architect pursuing virginal Maggie McNamara in the controversial Production Code-breaking The Moon is Blue (1953), as Judy Holliday's tutor in Born Yesterday (1950), as a playwright captivated by Ginger Rogers' character in Forever Female (1953) and as Humphrey Bogart's younger brother, a playboy, in Sabrina (1954), which also starred Audrey Hepburn.

Holden starred in his share of forgettable movies — which he was forced to do by studio contracts — such as Paris When It Sizzles (1964), also co-starring Audrey Hepburn. By the mid-1960s, his roles were having less critical and commercial impact.

Later career

In 1969, Holden starred in director Sam Peckinpah's graphically violent Western The Wild Bunch, winning much acclaim. Also in 1969, Holden starred in director Terence Young's family film L'Arbre de Noel, co-starring Italian actress Virna Lisi, based on the novel of the same name by Michel Bataille. This film was originally released in the United States as The Christmas Tree and on home video as When Wolves Cry.

Five years later, he starred with Paul Newman and Steve McQueen in The Towering Inferno. He was also praised for his Oscar-nominated leading performance in Sidney Lumet's Network (1976), playing an older version of the character type he had perfected in the 1950s, only now more jaded and aware of his own mortality. In 1980, Holden appeared in The Earthling with child actor Ricky Schroder, playing a loner dying of cancer who goes to the Australian outback to end his days, meets a young boy whose parents have been killed in an accident, and teaches him how to survive. Schroder later named one of his sons Holden.

During his last years, he also appeared in When Time Ran Out and Blake Edwards's S.O.B.. While his second Irwin Allen was a critical and commercial failure and largely disliked by Holden himself, his other last film directed by Edwards was more successful and a Golden Globe-nominated picture.

Personal life

Holden was married to actress Ardis Ankerson (stage name Brenda Marshall) from 1941 until their divorce (after many long separations) in 1971. They had two sons, Peter Westfield (born November 17, 1943) and Scott Porter (born May 2, 1946; died January 21, 2005, San Diego, California). He also adopted his wife's daughter Virginia from her first marriage.

Holden was best man at the marriage of his friend Ronald Reagan to Nancy Davis in 1952; however, he never involved himself in politics.

In 1954, during the filming of Sabrina, Holden and Audrey Hepburn became romantically involved, and she hoped to marry him and have children. She broke off the relationship when Holden revealed that he had undergone a vasectomy.

He maintained a home in Switzerland and also spent much of his time working for wildlife conservation as a managing partner in an animal preserve in Africa. His Mount Kenya Safari Club in Nanyuki, Kenya (founded 1959) became a mecca for the international jet set.

In 1964, he was again paired up with Hepburn in Paris When It Sizzles, who nearly ten years before, he had been her leading man in Sabrina. Behind the scenes, the set was plagued with problems. Holden tried without success to rekindle a romance with the now-married actress. That, combined with his alcoholism, made the situation a challenge for the production.

In 1966, in Italy, he killed another driver in a drunk driving accident. He received an eight-month suspended sentence for vehicular manslaughter.

In 1972, he began a nine-year relationship with actress Stefanie Powers which sparked her interest in animal welfare. After his death, Powers set up the William Holden Wildlife Foundation at Holden's Mount Kenya Game Ranch.

His younger brother, Robert W. "Bobbie" Beedle, was a Navy fighter pilot who was killed in action in World War II, on January 5, 1945. After The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1955) was released, Beedle was remembered by his squadron-mates as having been very much like Holden's character Lt. Harry Brubaker.

Death

According to the Los Angeles County Coroner's autopsy report, on November 12, 1981, Holden was alone and intoxicated in his apartment in Santa Monica, California, when he slipped on a throw rug, severely lacerated his forehead on a teak bedside table, and bled to death. Evidence suggests he was conscious for at least a half hour after the fall but may not have realized the severity of the injury and did not summon aid, or was unable to call for help. His body was found four days later.

Holden dictated in his will that the Neptune Society cremate him and scatter his ashes in the Pacific Ocean. No funeral or memorial service was held, per his wishes.

Filmography

Features

Prison Farm (1938) (uncredited)

Million Dollar Legs (1939) (uncredited)

Golden Boy (1939)

Invisible Stripes (1939)

Our Town (1940)

Those Were the Days! (1940)

Arizona (1940)

I Wanted Wings (1941)

Texas (1941)

The Fleet's In (1942)

The Remarkable Andrew (1942)

Meet the Stewarts (1942)

Young and Willing (1943)

Blaze of Noon (1947)

Dear Ruth (1947)

Variety Girl (1947)

The Man from Colorado (1948)

Rachel and the Stranger (1948)

Apartment for Peggy (1948)

The Dark Past (1948)

Streets of Laredo (1949)

Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949)

Dear Wife (1949)

Father Is a Bachelor (1950)

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Union Station (1950)

Born Yesterday (1950)

Force of Arms (1951)

Submarine Command (1951)

Boots Malone (1952)

The Turning Point (1952)

Stalag 17 (1953)

The Moon Is Blue (1953)

Forever Female (1953)

Escape from Fort Bravo (1953)

in Sabrina (1954)]]

Executive Suite (1954)

Sabrina (1954)

The Country Girl (1954)

The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954)

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)

Picnic (1955)

The Proud and Profane (1956)

Toward the Unknown (1956)

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

The Key (1958)

The Horse Soldiers (1959)

The World of Suzie Wong (1960)

Satan Never Sleeps (1962)

The Counterfeit Traitor (1962)

The Lion (1962)

Paris, When It Sizzles (1964)

The 7th Dawn (1964)

Alvarez Kelly (1966)

Casino Royale (1967)

The Devil's Brigade (1968)

The Wild Bunch (1969)

The Christmas Tree (1969)

Wild Rovers (1971)

The Revengers (1972)

Breezy (1973)

Open Season (1974)

The Blue Knight (1974)

The Towering Inferno (1974)

Network (1976)

Fedora (1978)

(1978)

Ashanti (1979)

The Earthling (1980)

When Time Ran Out (1980)

S.O.B. (1981)

Short subjects

Reconnaissance Pilot (1943)

Wings Up (1943)

You Can Change the World (1951)

Awards and nominations

Academy Award

Best Actor Nomination for Sunset Boulevard (1951)

Best Actor Award for Stalag 17 (1954)

Best Actor Nomination for Network (1977)

BAFTA Award

Best Foreign Actor Nomination for Picnic (1955)

Best Foreign Actor Nomination for Network (1976)

Emmy Award

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a Movie Award for The Blue Knight (1974)

References

Bibliography

The Films of William Holden, by Lawrence J. Quirk, Citadel Press 1973

Golden Boy: The Untold Story of William Holden, by Bob Thomas, St. Martin's Press 1983

The Complete Films of William Holden, by Lawrence J. Quirk, Citadel Press 1986

Growing Up with William Holden: A Memoir, by Virginia Holden Gaines (Stepdaughter), 2007

William Holden: A Biography, by Michelangelo Capua, McFarland Press 2010

External links

Profile @ Turner Classic Movies

William Holden Wildlife Foundation

Category:1918 births Category:1981 deaths Category:Accidental deaths from falls Category:Accidental deaths in California Category:American actors of English descent Category:American film actors Category:American Methodists Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:California Republicans Category:Emmy Award winners Category:First Motion Picture Unit personnel Category:Individuals associated with animal welfare Category:Pasadena City College alumni Category:People from Pasadena, California Category:People from St. Clair County, Illinois Category:United States Army Air Forces officers Category:Western (genre) film actors Category:Animal rights advocates

Name	Tom Wopat
Caption	Tom Wopat, 1999
Birthdate	September 09, 1951
Birthplace	Lodi, Wisconsin, U.S.
Occupation	Actor/Singer
Yearsactive	1977–present
Spouse	Vickie Allen (1984-?; divorced)

Tom Wopat (born September 9, 1951) is an American actor and singer. He first achieved fame as Luke Duke in the long-running 1979 television series The Dukes of Hazzard, along with John Schneider. He also played Jeff, one of Cybill Shepherd's ex-husbands in the TV series Cybill.

Life and career

Wopat was born in Lodi, Wisconsin. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and made his television debut in the daytime drama One Life to Live; however, he achieved television fame in the popular long-running television series The Dukes of Hazzard (1979–1985).

He also embarked on a music career. He has recorded eight albums. Musically he switches between rock and roll and country music styles, though his last two albums have been of classic pop standards. The latter recording, Dissertation on the State of Bliss, is a collection of Harold Arlen songs.

Wopat first appeared on the Broadway stage as a replacement in the 1977 musical I Love My Wife, as "Wally". He then appeared as a replacement in the stage musicals City of Angels, and Guys and Dolls. He finally appeared in the opening cast of the 1999 revival of Annie Get Your Gun opposite Bernadette Peters, Susan Lucci and Reba McEntire, who played Annie Oakley (in consecutive order). He was nominated for a Tony Award in 1999 for his performance as "Frank Butler". He has since appeared in the revivals of the musicals Chicago and 42nd Street.

In 1996, Wopat served as host for Dick Clark's new country music performance show on The Nashville Network, Prime Time Country, however his time on the show was short-lived; before the first season was over, Wopat was replaced by Contemporary Christian artist Gary Chapman as host.

In 2005, Wopat appeared in the Broadway revival of David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross as the browbeaten customer, James Lingk.

On November 3, 2005, a Smallville episode called "Exposed" reunited Tom Wopat and John Schneider. Wopat played Sen. Jack Jennings, an old friend of Jonathan Kent's who comes to Smallville to seek his help in an upcoming campaign.

Wopat starred in the North Carolina Theatre's production of The Music Man, in the role of Harold Hill in November 2006.

In 2008, Wopat starred on Broadway as the father in the musical A Catered Affair, written by Harvey Fierstein (book) and John Bucchino (score), which opened on April 17, 2008 at the Walter Kerr Theatre. He received his second Tony nomination for that performance.

Wopat starred as Detective Jones in the Independent Black Comedy, The Understudy

Wopat has returned to the Madison area for various occasions, including performances at various area theatres.

Wopat also provided a minor voice part as a member of the "Bloodhounds" on the 2007 release, Manhunt 2 video game.

On May 26, 2008, Wopat sang the "Star Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America" at the Milwaukee Brewers vs. Washington Nationals MLB game.

In 2009, he appeared opposite Kevin Bacon in Taking Chance, the HBO production about the returning home of a young man named Chance Phelps, a United States Marine, who was killed in Iraq. Wopat plays Phelps' father in the movie, which is based on a true story.

On April 21 and 22, 2009, Wopat appeared at the Baltimore Lyric Opera House in the musical "Chicago" as the greedy lawyer Billy Flynn. He has played this part in national touring productions.

Wopat, along with Nathan Lane, took part in a workshop of a new musical, Catch Me If You Can, in July 2007. It is based on the 2002 film directed by Steven Spielberg. In July 2009, Wopat originated the role of Frank Abignale, Sr. in the musical "Catch Me if You Can" from July 2009 to August 2009 at the 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle, Washington.

Wopat is featured in the new musical revue Sondheim on Sondheim, conceived and directed by James Lapine, presenting the life and works of Stephen Sondheim. The revue premiered on Broadway at the Roundabout Theatre's Studio 54 on March 19, 2010 in previews and closed on June 27. The show was a hit with Wopat a highlight - alongside Barbara Cook.

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1979–1985 | The Dukes of Hazzard | Luke Duke | TV series |- | 1980 | Fantasy Island | David Chilton | Episode: "Flying Aces/The Mermaid Returns" |- | 1983 | The Dukes | Luke Duke | 7 episodes |- | rowspan="2"| 1984 | Story, Songs and Stars | | TV program |- | Burning Rage | Tom Silver | TV program |- | 1987 | Christmas Comes to Willow Creek | Pete | TV program |- | 1988 | Blue Skies | Frank Cobb | TV series |- | 1989 | A Peaceable Kingdom | Dr, Jed McFadden | 12 episodes |- | 1992 | Just My Imagination | Bobby Rex | TV program |- | 1995–1998 | Cybill | Jeff Robbins | Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series shared with Christine Baranski, Dedee Pfeiffer, Alan Rosenberg, Cybill Shepherd and Alicia WittTV series |- | 1996 | Murder, She Wrote | Bill Dawson | Episode: "Kendo Killing" |- | rowspan="3"| 1997 | Contagious | Sam | TV program |- | Crisis Center | Chuck Goodman | Episode: "Someone to Watch Over Me" |- | | Luke Duke | TV program |- | 1997–1998 | Home Improvement | Ian | Episodes: "Jill's Passion", "Taking Jill for Granite" |- | 1998 | Meteorites! | Tom Johnson | TV program |- | 1999 | | Little Duke | Video gamevoice |- | 2000 | | Luke Duke | TV program |- | 2001 | 100 Centre Street | Hanley Rand | Episode: "Lost Causes" |- | 2001–2002 | All My Children | Hank Pelham | unknown episodes |- | 2004 | | Luke Duke | Video gamevoice |- | 2005 | Smallville | Senator Jack Jennings | Episode: "Exposed" |- | rowspan="2"| 2006 | Standoff | Rick Keeslar | Episode:"Pilot" |- | Bonneville | Arlo | |- | 2007 | The History of Wisconsin Football | | voice |- | rowspan="2"| 2008 | The Hive | Bill | TV program |- | The Understudy | Detective Jones | |- | 2009 | Taking Chance | John Phelps | TV program |- | rowspan="2"| 2010 | Phineas and Ferb | Wilkins Brother #2 | Episode: "Just Passing Through/Candace's Big Day"voice |- | Jonah Hex | Colonel Slocum | |}

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Tom Wopat's Official Site

Category:1951 births Category:Actors from Wisconsin Category:American male singers Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American television actors Category:Living people Category:People from Columbia County, Wisconsin Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Category:American country singers

Bgcolour	green
Name	Stuart Erwin
Birthdate	February 14, 1903
Birth place	Beverly Hills, California
Deathdate	December 21, 1967
Deathplace	Hollywood, California

Stuart Erwin (14 February 1903, Squaw Valley, California — 21 December 1967, Beverly Hills, California) was an American actor. Erwin began acting in college in the 1920s, first appearing on the stage, then breaking into films in 1928 in Mother Knows Best. He was cast as amiable oafs in several films such as The Sophomore, The Big Broadcast, Hollywood Cavalcade, Our Town, International House and Viva Villa!. In 1934 he was cast as Joe Palooka in the film Palooka, and in 1935 he had a supporting role in After Office Hours (starring Clark Gable). He co-starred in the Paramount Pictures all-star revue Paramount on Parade (1930).

In 1936, he was cast in Pigskin Parade, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Since it was the first year that the Best Supporting Actor/Actress existed, many errors occurred, including Erwin's nomination (he was the lead in the film).

In Walt Disney's Bambi, he did the voice of a tree squirrel.

In 1950, Erwin made the transition to television, where he starred in Trouble with Father, which was eventually retitled The Stu Erwin Show. He co-starred with his wife, actress June Collyer. He later appeared in the Disney films Son of Flubber and The Misadventures of Merlin Jones. He also appeared with Jack Palance in the ABC series The Greatest Show on Earth during the 1963-1964 television season.

Erwin has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6240 Hollywood Blvd. He is buried in Chapel of the Pines Crematory.

References

External links

Category:1903 births Category:1967 deaths Category:American actors Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction

Name	Phyllis Diller
Caption
Birthdate	July 17, 1917
Birthname	Phyllis Ada Driver
Birthplace	Lima, Ohio, United States
Occupation	Actress/Comedienne
Yearsactive	1952–present
Spouse	Sherwood Anderson Diller (November 4, 1939 – September 3, 1965)Ward Donovan (October 7, 1965 – July 1975)Partnered Robert P. Hastings from c.1985 until his death, May 23, 1996.
Parents	Perry Marcus DriverFrances Ada Romshe
Children	6 children

Phyllis Diller (born Phyllis Ada Driver; July 17, 1917) is an American actress and comedienne. She created a stage persona of a wild-haired, eccentrically-dressed housewife who makes jokes about a husband named "Fang" while pretending to smoke from a long cigarette holder. Diller is credited with opening the doors of stand-up comedy to women. Phyllis Diller's trade mark is her laugh.

Early life

Phyllis Diller was born to Perry Marcus Driver and his wife, the former Frances Ada Romshe, in Lima, Ohio.

Diller attended Lima's Central High School, then studied for three years at Sherwood Music Conservatory in Chicago, Illinois. She then transferred to Bluffton College in Bluffton, Ohio, where she met fellow "Lima-ite" and classmate, Hugh Downs.

Diller was a housewife, mother, and advertising copywriter. During World War II, Diller lived in Ypsilanti, Michigan while her husband worked at the historic Willow Run Bomber Plant. In the mid-1950s, she made appearances on The Jack Paar Show and was a contestant on Groucho Marx's quiz show, You Bet Your Life.

Although she has made her career in comedy, Diller studied the piano for many years. She later decided against a career in music after hearing her teachers and mentors play with much more ability than she thought that she would be able to achieve. She still plays in her private life, however, and owns a custom-made harpsichord.

Career

Diller began her career working at KROW radio in Oakland in 1952. In November of that year, she began filming a television show titled "Phyllis Dillis, the Homely Friendmaker." The 15-minute series was a BART (Bay Area Radio-Television) production, directed for television by ABC's Jim Baker. The cameraman later admitted that there was no film: The camera was open during the filming. In the mid 1950s, while residing in the East Bay city of Alameda, California, Diller was employed at KSFO radio in San Francisco. Bill Anderson (March 29, 1917 – ), along with a young Don Sherwood (September 7, 1925 – November 6, 1983), wrote and produced a television show at KGO-TV called the Belfast "Pop Club". Don would conduct interviews and perform sketches with celebrities and the younger generation. The show was filmed live on set and it lasted only a half-hour on Saturdays. It was an early advertisement for Belfast Root Beer, now known today as Mug Root Beer. Anderson invited her onto his show on April 23, 1955 as a vocalist and started her stand up career at San Francisco's legendary nightclub, The Purple Onion owned by Enrico Banducci.

Diller appeared as a stand up at The Purple Onion on March 7, 1955 and remained there for 87 straight weeks. Diller appeared on Del Courtney's Showcase on KPIX television on November 3, 1956. Diller's fame was expanded when she co-starred with Bob Hope in 23 TV specials and three films in the 1960s: Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!, Eight on the Lam and The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell. Although only Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! performed well at the box office, Hope invited Diller to perform with him in Vietnam in 1966 with his USO troupe during the height of the Vietnam War.

Throughout the 1960s she appeared regularly as a special guest on many television programs. For example, she did a stint as one of the What's My Line? Mystery Guests. The blindfolded panel on that evening's broadcast included Sammy Davis, Jr., and they were able to discern Diller's identity in just three guesses. Also, Diller made regular cameo appearances making her trademark wisecracks on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Self-deprecating to a fault, a typical Diller joke had her running after a garbage truck pulling away from her curb. "Am I too late?" she'd yell. The driver's reply: "No, jump right in!"

Though her main claim to fame is her stand-up comedy act, Diller also has appeared in other films besides the three mentioned above, including a cameo appearance as Texas Guinan, the wisecracking nightclub hostess in the 1961 Hollywood production of Splendor in the Grass. She appeared in more than a dozen, usually low-budget movies, including as "The Monster's Mate" in the Rankin/Bass animated film Mad Monster Party (1967), co-starring Boris Karloff.

Diller also starred in two short-lived TV series: the half-hour sitcom The Pruitts of Southampton (later retitled The Phyllis Diller Show) on ABC from 1966–1967, and the variety show The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show on NBC in 1968. More recent television appearances for Diller have included at least three episodes between 1999–2003 on the long-running family drama 7th Heaven, in one of which she got drunk while cooking dinner for the household, and a 2002 episode of The Drew Carey Show, she had a three month run on Broadway in Hello, Dolly! (opposite Richard Deacon) as the second to last in a succession of replacements for Carol Channing in the title role, which included Ginger Rogers, Martha Raye, Betty Grable, and Pearl Bailey. After Diller's stint, Ethel Merman took over the role until the end of the show's run in December 1970.

In 1993, she was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

In 1998, Diller provided the vocals for the Queen in Disney/Pixar's animated movie A Bug's Life. In 2005, Diller was featured as one of many contemporary comics in a documentary film, The Aristocrats. Diller, who avoids blue comedy, did a version of an old, risqué vaudeville routine in which she describes herself passing out when she first heard the joke, forgetting the actual content of the joke.

On January 24, 2007, she appeared on The Tonight Show and performed stand-up, before chatting with Jay Leno.

Diller had a cameo appearance in an episode of ABC's Boston Legal on April 10, 2007. She appeared as herself, confronting William Shatner's character Denny Crane, alleging to have had a torrid love affair with him. They seemed to have enjoyed a romantic moment in a foxhole during World War II.

Diller is a member of the Society of Singers, which supports singers in need. In June 2001 at the request of fellow Society member and producer Scott Sherman, she appeared at Kansas City and Philadelphia Pride events in support of gay pride and rights. The mayor of Philadelphia officially proclaimed June 8, 2001, as "Phyllis Diller Day". On stage she was presented an official proclamation to a standing ovation. In 2006, Mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom proclaimed February 5, 2006 "Phyllis Diller Day in San Francisco," which she accepted by phone.

She has also recorded at least five comedy LP records, one of which was Born To Sing, released as Columbia CS 9523.

Although known for decades for smoking from long cigarette holders in her comedy act, Diller is a lifelong nonsmoker, and the cigarette holders were stage props that she had specially constructed.

Personal life

Diller, a longtime resident of the Brentwood area of Los Angeles, California, credits much of her success to Bob Hope, in large part because he included her in many of his films and his Vietnam USO shows. She is an accomplished pianist as well as a painter.

Diller has been married and divorced twice. She also dated Earl "Madman" Muntz, a pioneer in oddball TV and radio ads. She had six d. 1998 of cancer). Her second child Sally, born in 1944, has suffered from schizophrenia most of her life. Her third child, a son, was a blue baby who lived for only two weeks in an incubator. A daughter, Suzanne, was born in 1946, followed by another daughter Stephanie (b. 1948 d. 2002 of a stroke) and a son Perry (b. 1950). Diller's second husband was actor Warde Donovan, who turned out to be gay. Her youngest son Perry, now 60, oversees her affairs today. Diller is not the mother of actress Susan Lucci, despite an urban legend to that effect, frequently passed through viral emails under trivia headings such as "Did You Know...?"

Diller has candidly discussed her plastic surgery, a series of procedures first undertaken when she was 55. The results have drawn numerous awards and acknowledgments from plastic surgeons and medical organizations. In her 2005 autobiography, she wrote that she has undergone "fifteen different procedures".

Diller has suffered medical problems, including a heart attack in 1999. After a hospital stay she was fitted with a pacemaker and released. A bad fall resulted in her being hospitalized for tests on her head and pacemaker in 2005. She has since retired from stand-up comedy appearances. She wrote her autobiography in 2005, titled Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse. A direct-to-DVD version of the project, complete with early live clips of Diller, and interviews with her showbiz colleagues including Don Rickles, among others, was released in December 2006. A screenplay about Diller's early years in stand-up, according to blind items in the trades, is in preproduction with Patricia Clarkson slated to play the comedienne. Diller spends much of her time painting, cooking, and gardening.

On July 11, 2007, USA Today reported that she fractured her back and had to cancel a Tonight Show appearance, during which she had planned to celebrate her 90th birthday. On January 4, 2011 she appeared looking well on Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN as part of a panel of women comediennes.

Filmography

Features:

Splendor in the Grass (1961)

The Fat Spy (1966)

Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966)

Eight on the Lam (1967)

Silent Treatment (1968) (unfinished)

The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell (1968)

Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady? (1968)

Mad Monster Party (1969) (voice)

The Adding Machine (1969)

The Sunshine Boys (1975)

A Pleasure Doing Business (1979)

Pink Motel (1982)

Doctor Hackenstein (1988)

Pucker Up and Bark Like a Dog (1990)

The Nutcracker Prince (1990) (voice)

The Boneyard (1991)

Wisecracks (1992) (documentary)

The Perfect Man (1993)

Happily Ever After (1993) (voice)

The Silence of the Hams (1994)

A Bug's Life (1998) (voice)

The Debtors (1999)

The Nuttiest Nutcracker (1999) (voice) (direct-to-video)

Everything's Jake (2000)

The Last Place on Earth (2002)

Hip! Edgy! Quirky! (2002)

Bitter Jester (2003) (documentary)

Motocross Kids (2004)

West from North Goes South (2004)

Goodnight, We Love You (2004) (documentary)

The Aristocrats (2005) (documentary)

Madman Muntz: American Maverick (2005) (documentary)

Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006) (documentary)

Unbeatable Harold (2006)

Forget About It (2006)

Celebrity Art Show (2008) (documentary)

Blaze of Glory (2008) (voice)

You Know the Face (2009) (documentary)

Looking for Lenny (2009) (documentary)

Short Subjects:

Rowan & Martin at the Movies (1968)

The Lion Roars Again (1975)

Television work

The Phyllis Diller Special (1963)

The Pruitts of Southampton (1966–1967)

An Evening with Phyllis Diller (1966)

The Phyllis Diller Special (1968)

The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show (1968) (canceled after 13 episodes)

The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians (1970) (voice)

Night Gallery (1970) Episode "Pamela’s Voice"

Mooch Goes to Hollywood (1971)

The New Scooby Doo Movies episode 6: "A Good Medium is Rare" (1972) (voice)

Phyllis Diller's 102nd Birthday Party (1974)

The Gong Show (1976–1980) (recurring panelist throughout run)

The Muppet Show (1977)

On Location: Phyllis Diller (1977)

Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell sisters NBC (1981 in television)

Whatever Became Of... (1981) (unsold pilot)

Jonathan Winters: On the Ledge (1987)

Alice Through the Looking Glass (1987) (voice)

Hey Arnold! (1999) (Mitzy)

The Bold and the Beautiful (recurring cast member from 1995–2004)

Kiss My Act (2001)

Titus (2001) (Grandma Titus)

Even Stevens (2002) (Coach Korns)

Casper's Scare School (2006) (voice)

Family Guy (Recurring voice of Thelma Griffin)

Robot Chicken (2005) Phyllis Diller Spray N' Play

Boston Legal (2007) (One of Denny's past lovers)

References

External links

Phyllis Diller at Internet Broadway Database

Interview with Phyllis Diller

Diller's Entry in the St. Louis Walk of Fame

Comedy College webpage for Phyllis Diller

NPR interview, Phyllis Diller: Still Out for a Laugh

Archive of American Television Interview with Phyllis Diller March 8, 2000

NPR: Not My Job: Phyllis Diller August 4, 2007 on Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!

Early Articles on Phyllis Diller's career

Category:1917 births Category:American comedians Category:American film actors Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:Living people Category:People from Lima, Ohio Category:Women comedians Category:Bluffton University alumni

Name	Natalie Wood
Birth name	Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko
Birth date	July 20, 1938
Birth place	San Francisco, California
Death date	November 29, 1981
Death place	Santa Catalina Island, California
Other namess	Natasha GurdinNatalie Wood Wagner
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1943–1981
Spouse

Natalie Wood (born Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko (); and became a successful child actor in such films as Miracle on 34th Street (1947). A well received performance opposite James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and helped her to make the transition from a child performer. She then starred in the musicals West Side Story (1961) and Gypsy (1962). She also received Academy Award nominations for her performances in Splendor in the Grass (1961) and Love with the Proper Stranger (1963).

Her career continued successfully with films such as Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). After this she took a break from acting and had two children, appearing in only two theatrical films during the 1970s. She was married to actor Robert Wagner twice, and to producer Richard Gregson. She had one daughter by each: Natasha Gregson and Courtney Wagner. Her younger sister, Lana Wood, is also an actress. Wood starred in several television productions, including a remake of the film From Here to Eternity (1979) for which she won a Golden Globe Award.

Wood drowned near Santa Catalina Island, California at age 43. She had not yet completed her final film, the science fiction drama Brainstorm (1983) with Christopher Walken, which was released posthumously.

Early life and childhood stardom

Wood was born Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko in San Francisco, to Russian immigrant parents Maria Stepanovna (née Zudilova) and Nikolai Stepanovich Zacharenko. As an adult, she stated, "I'm very Russian, you know." Her father was born in Vladivostok and he, his mother, and two brothers, immigrated to Montreal, Canada and later to San Francisco. There, he worked as a day laborer and carpenter. Her paternal grandfather Stepan worked in a chocolate factory in Russia and was killed in street fighting between Red and White Russian soldiers in 1918. Natalie's mother originally came from Barnaul, southern Siberia, but grew up in the Chinese city of Harbin. She described her family by weaving mysterious tales of being either gypsies or landowning aristocrats. In her youth her mother dreamed of becoming an actress or ballet dancer.

Biographer Warren Harris writes that under the family's "needy circumstances," her mother may have transferred those ambitions to her middle daughter, Natalie. Her mother would take Natalie to the movies as often as she could: "Natasha's only professional training was watching Hollywood child stars from her mother's lap," notes Harris. Natalie Wood would later recall this early period:

My mother used to tell me that the cameraman who pointed his lens out at the audience at the end of the Paramount newsreel was taking my picture. I'd pose and smile like he was going to make me famous or something. I believed everything my mother told me.

Shortly after her birth in San Francisco, her family moved to nearby Sonoma County, and lived in Santa Rosa, California, where Wood was noticed during a film shoot in downtown Santa Rosa. Her mother soon moved the family to Los Angeles and pursued a career for her daughter. Wood had one younger sister, Svetlana Zacharenko (better known as Lana Wood), who also became an actress and later, notably, a Bond girl. She and Lana have an older half sister, Olga Viriapaeff. Though Natalie had been born "Natalia Zacharenko," her father later changed the family name to "Gurdin" and Natalie was often known as "Natasha," the diminutive of Natalia. Hollywood would later change her name to "Natalie Wood," a name she really never cared for.

Wood made her film debut a few weeks before turning five, in a fifteen-second scene in the film Happy Land (1943). Despite the brief part, she attracted the notice of the director, Irving Pichel, who remained in touch with her family for two years until another role came up. The director phoned Natasha's mother and asked her to bring Natasha down to Los Angeles for a screen test. Her mother became so excited at the possibilities, she overreacted and "packed the whole family off to Los Angeles to live," writes Harris. Her husband opposed the whole idea, but his wife's "overpowering ambition to make Natasha a star" took priority.

Wood, then seven years old, got the part and played a German orphan opposite Orson Welles and Claudette Colbert in Tomorrow Is Forever. Welles later said that Wood was a born professional, "so good, she was terrifying". After doing another film directed by Pichel, her mother signed her to a role with 20th Century Fox studio for her first major role, the Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street (1947), which made her one of the top child stars in Hollywood. Within a few months after the film's release she was so popular that Macy's invited her to appear in the store's annual Thanksgiving Day parade.

She would eventually appear in over 20 films as a child, appearing opposite such stars as Gene Tierney, James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, Bette Davis and Bing Crosby. As a child actor, her formal education took place on the studio lots wherever she was acting. California law required that until age 18, actors had to spend at least three hours per day in the classroom, notes Harris. "She was a straight A student," and one of the few child actors to excel at arithmetic. Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who directed her in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), said that "In all my years in the business, I never met a smarter moppet." Wood remembers that period in her life:

I always felt guilty when I knew the crew was sitting around waiting for me to finish my three hours. As soon as the teacher let us go, I ran to the set as fast as I could.

Teen stardom

Wood successfully made the transition from child star to ingenue at age 16 when she co-starred with James Dean and Sal Mineo in Rebel Without a Cause, Nicholas Ray's film about teenage rebellion. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She followed this with a small but crucial role in John Ford's western The Searchers which starred John Wayne and also featured Wood's sister, Lana, who played a younger version of her character in the film's earlier scenes. She graduated from Van Nuys High School in 1956.

Signed to Warner Brothers, Wood was kept busy during the remainder of the decade in many 'girlfriend' roles that she found unsatisfying. The studio cast her in two films opposite Tab Hunter, hoping to turn the duo into a box office draw that never materialized. Among the other films made at this time were 1958's Kings Go Forth and Marjorie Morningstar. As Marjorie Morningstar, she played the role of a young Jewish girl in New York City, who has to deal with the social and religious expectations of her family, as she tries to forge her own path and separate identity.

Adult career

After appearing in the box office flop All the Fine Young Cannibals, Wood's career was salvaged by her casting in director Elia Kazan's Splendor in the Grass (1961) opposite Warren Beatty, which earned Wood Best Actress Nominations at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTA Awards. Also in 1961 Wood played Maria in the Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise musical West Side Story which was a major box office and critical success, however, the singing parts were sung by Marni Nixon. Wood did sing when she starred in the 1962 film, Gypsy. She co-starred in the slapstick comedy The Great Race (1965), with Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Peter Falk. Wood then received her third Academy Award nomination and another Golden Globe award in 1964 for Love with the Proper Stranger, opposite Steve McQueen.

Although many of Wood's films were commercially profitable, her acting was criticized at times. In 1966 she won the Harvard Lampoon Worst Actress of the Year Award. She was the first performer in the award's history to accept it in person and the Harvard Crimson wrote she was "quite a good sport." Conversely, director Sydney Pollack said "When she was right for the part, there was no one better. She was a damn good actress." Other notable films she starred in were Inside Daisy Clover (1965) and This Property Is Condemned (1966), both of which co-starred Robert Redford and brought subsequent Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress. In both films, which were set during the Great Depression, Wood played small-town teens with big dreams. After the release of the films, Wood suffered an emotional breakdown and sought professional therapy. During this time, she turned down the Faye Dunaway role in Bonnie and Clyde because she didn't want to be separated from her analyst.

After three years away from acting, Wood played a swinger in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), a comedy about sexual liberation. The film was one of the top ten box office hits of the year, and Wood received ten percent of the film's profits. After becoming pregnant with her first child, Natasha Gregson, in 1970, she went into semi-retirement and only acted in four more theatrical films during the remainder of her life. She appeared as herself in The Candidate (1972), reuniting her for a third time with Robert Redford. She also reunited on the screen with Robert Wagner in The Affair (1973), a television adaptation of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976) and made cameo appearances on his shows Switch in 1978 as "Bubble Bath Girl" and Hart to Hart in 1979 as "Movie Star". During the last two years of her life, Wood began to work more frequently as her daughters reached school age.

Among the film roles Wood turned down during her career hiatus went to Ali MacGraw in Goodbye, Columbus, Mia Farrow in The Great Gatsby and Faye Dunaway in The Towering Inferno. Instead, Wood chose to star in misfires like the disaster film Meteor (1979) with Sean Connery and the sex comedy The Last Married Couple in America (1980). She found more success in television, receiving high ratings and critical acclaim in 1979 for The Cracker Factory and especially the miniseries film From Here to Eternity with Kim Basinger and William Devane. Wood's performance in the latter won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in 1980. Later that year, she starred in The Memory of Eva Ryker which proved to be her last completed production.

At the time of her death, Wood was filming the sci-fi film Brainstorm (1983), co-starring Christopher Walken and directed by Douglas Trumbull. She was also scheduled to star in a theatrical production of Anastasia with Wendy Hiller and in a film called Country of the Heart, playing a terminally ill writer who has an affair with a teenager, to be played by Timothy Hutton. Due to her untimely death, both of the latter projects were canceled and the ending of Brainstorm had to be re-written. A stand-in and sound-a-likes were used to replace Wood for some of her critical scenes. The film was released posthumously on September 30, 1983, and was dedicated to her in the closing credits.

She appeared in 56 films for cinema and television. Following her death, Time magazine noted that although critical praise for Wood had been sparse throughout her career, "she always had work."

Personal life

Marriages

(1960)]]

Natalie Wood's two marriages to actor Robert Wagner were highly publicized. Wood said she had a crush on Wagner since she was a child

A year after their wedding, Wood expressed her feelings in a letter to her new husband:

: "You are my husband, my child, my strength, my weakness, my lover, my life."

Wood and Wagner separated in June 1961 and divorced in April 1962.

On May 30, 1969, Wood married British producer Richard Gregson. The couple dated for two and a half years prior to their marriage, while Gregson waited for his divorce to be finalized. They had a daughter, Natasha Gregson (born September 29, 1970). They separated in August 1971 after Wood overheard an inappropriate telephone conversation between her secretary and Gregson. The split also marked a brief estrangement between Wood and her family, when mother Maria and sister Lana told her to reconcile with Gregson for the sake of her newborn child. She filed for divorce, and it was finalized in April 1972.

In early 1972, Wood resumed her relationship with Wagner. The couple remarried on July 16, 1972, just five months after reconciling and only three months after she divorced Gregson. Their daughter, Courtney Wagner, was born on March 9, 1974. They remained married until Wood's death seven years later on November 29, 1981.

Other relationships

in Rebel Without a Cause (1955)]] Biographer Suzanne Finstad writes that Wood had a relationship with director Nicholas Ray, director of Rebel Without a Cause, when she was 16 and he was 43. During her teens, Wood went on studio-arranged dates with older men, including actors Tab Hunter and Nick Adams, and dated actor Raymond Burr, when she was 17 and he was 38. Wood also dated actors Michael Caine, Steve McQueen, Warren Beatty and Dennis Hopper, singer Elvis Presley, director Henry Jaglom, and politician Jerry Brown.

Among her celebrity friends were fellow child performers Margaret O'Brien, Carol Lynley, Stefanie Powers, and Jill St. John.

Death

In September and October 1981, Wood and Wagner stayed in Raleigh, North Carolina, while Wood did location work for the science-fiction film Brainstorm. Wood then spent most of November in California shooting interior scenes with Christopher Walken and other cast members on the MGM lot in Culver City. Noguchi also wrote that he found Wood's fingernail scratches on the side of the rubber dinghy indicating she was trying to get in. Wood was 43 at the time of her death and is buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. On March 11, 2010 Wood's sister Lana Wood stated that she is going to ask that the L.A. county sheriff to re-open the case of her death.

At the funeral, at least a thousand spectators, along with scores of photographers and reporters from around the world, were spread out behind the cemetery walls. Among the guests at her funeral was Laurence Olivier, who flew there from London. Also there were Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Fred Astaire, Rock Hudson, David Niven, Gregory Peck, Gene Kelly, and director Elia Kazan.

Filmography

Film

{| class="wikitable sortable" ! Year !! Title !! Role !! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1943 | Happy Land | Little girl who drops ice cream cone | uncredited |- | 1946 | The Bride Wore Boots | Carol Warren | |- | 1946 | Tomorrow Is Forever | Margaret Ludwig | |- | 1947 | Driftwood | Jenny Hollingsworth | |- | 1947 | The Ghost and Mrs. Muir | Anna Muir as a child | |- | 1947 | Miracle on 34th Street | Susan Walker | |- | 1948 | Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! | Bean McGill | |- | 1949 | Father Was a Fullback | Ellen Cooper | |- | 1949 | The Green Promise | Susan Anastasia Matthews | |- | 1949 | Chicken Every Sunday | Ruth Hefferan | |- | 1950 | Never a Dull Moment | Nancy 'Nan' Howard | |- | 1950 | The Jackpot | Phyllis Lawrence | |- | 1950 | Our Very Own | Penny Macaulay | |- | 1950 | No Sad Songs for Me | Polly Scott | |- | 1951 | The Blue Veil | Stephanie Rawlins | |- | 1951 | Dear Brat | Pauline Jones | |- | 1952 | The Star | Gretchen Drew | |- | 1952 | ''Just for You' | Barbara Blake | |- | 1952 | The Rose Bowl Story | Sally Burke | |- | 1954 | The Silver Chalice | Helena as a child | |- | 1955 | Rebel Without a Cause | Judy | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress |- | 1955 | One Desire | Seely Dowder | |- | 1956 | The Girl He Left Behind | Susan Daniels | |- | 1956 | The Burning Hills | Maria Christina Colton | |- | 1956 | A Cry in the Night | Liz Taggert | |- | 1956 | The Searchers | Debbie Edwards (older) | |- | 1957 | Bombers B-52 | Lois Brennan | |- | 1958 | Kings Go Forth | Monique Blair | |- | 1958 | Marjorie Morningstar | Marjorie Morgenstern | |- | 1960 | All the Fine Young Cannibals | Sarah 'Salome' Davis | |- | 1960 | Cash McCall | Lory Austen | |- | 1961 | West Side Story | Maria | |- | 1961 | Splendor in the Grass | Wilma Dean Loomis | Nominated—Academy Award for Best ActressNominated—BAFTA Award for Best Foreign ActressNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |- | 1962 | Gypsy | Gypsy Rose Lee | Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- | 1963 | Love with the Proper Stranger | Angie Rossini | Nominated—Academy Award for Best ActressNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |- | 1964 | Sex and the Single Girl | Helen Gurley Brown | |- | 1965 | Inside Daisy Clover | Daisy Clover | Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated—World Film Favorite – Female |- | 1965 | The Great Race | Maggie DuBois | |- | 1966 | Penelope | Penelope Elcott | |- | 1966 | This Property Is Condemned | Alva Starr | Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |- | 1969 | Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice | Carol Sanders | |- | 1972 | The Candidate | Herself | cameo |- | 1973 | The Affair | Courtney Patterson | TV movie |- | 1975 | Peeper | Ellen Prendergast | |- | 1976 | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Maggie | TV movie |- | 1979 | From Here to Eternity | Karen Holmes | Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama |- | 1979 | The Cracker Factory | Cassie Barrett | TV movie |- | 1979 | Meteor | Tatiana Nikolaevna Donskaya | |- | 1980 | The Last Married Couple in America | Mari Thompson | |- | 1980 | The Memory of Eva Ryker | Eva/Claire Ryker | TV movie |- | 1980 | Willie & Phil | Herself | (cameo) |- | 1983 | Brainstorm | Karen Brace | Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress |}

Television

{| class="wikitable sortable" ! Year !! Title !! Role !! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1953 | Pride of the Family | Ann Morrison | One season |- | 1969 | Bracken's World | Cameo | Guest Appearance |- | 1978 | Switch | Girl in the Bubble Bath | Guest Appearance |- | 1979 | Hart to Hart | Movie Star | Pilot episode, as Natasha Gurdin |}

Other awards

{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year !! Organization !! Award !! Film !! Result |- | 1946 || Box Office Magazine || Most Talented Young Actress of 1946 || Tomorrow Is Forever || Won |- | 1956 || National Association of Theatre Owners || Star of Tomorrow Award || || Won |- | 1957 || Golden Globe Award || New Star Of The Year – Actress || Rebel Without a Cause || Won |- | 1958 || Golden Laurel Awards || Top Female Dramatic Performance || Marjorie Morningstar || Nominated |- | 1958 || Golden Laurel Awards || Top Female Star || || Nominated (13th place) |- | 1959 || Golden Laurel Awards || Top Female Star || || Nominated (7th place) |- | 1960 || Golden Laurel Awards || Top Female Star || || Nominated (9th place) |- | 1961 || Grauman's Chinese Theatre || Handprint Ceremony || || Inducted |- | 1961 || Golden Laurel Awards || Top Female Star || || Nominated (14th place) |- | 1962 || Golden Laurel Awards || Top Female Dramatic Performance || Splendor in the Grass || Nominated |- | 1962 || Golden Laurel Awards || Top Female Star || || Nominated (5th place) |- | 1963 || Golden Laurel Awards || Top Female Musical Performance || Gypsy || Nominated |- | 1963 || Golden Laurel Awards || Top Female Star || || Nominated (2nd place) |- | 1964 || Mar del Plata Film Festival || Best Actress || Love with the Proper Stranger || Won |- | 1964 || New York Film Critics Circle Awards || Best Actress || Love with the Proper Stranger || Nominated |- | 1964 || Golden Laurel Awards || Top Female Dramatic Performance || Love with the Proper Stranger || Nominated |- | 1964 || Golden Laurel Awards || Top Female Star || || Nominated (3rd place) |- | 1965 || Golden Laurel Awards || Top Female Star || || Nominated (6th place) |- | 1966 || Golden Globe Award || World Film Favorite || || Won |- | 1966 || Golden Laurel Awards || Top Female Star || || Nominated (8th place) |- | 1967 || Golden Laurel Awards || Top Female Star || || Nominated (3rd place) |- | 1968 || Golden Laurel Awards || Top Female Star || || Nominated (12th place) |- | 1970 || Golden Laurel Awards || Top Female Star || || Nominated (9th place) |- | 1971 || Golden Laurel Awards || Top Female Star || || Nominated (9th place) |- | 1987 || Hollywood Chamber of Commerce || Hollywood Walk of Fame || || Inducted |}

Bibliography

Frascella, Lawrence and Al Weisel. Live Fast, Die Young: The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause. Touchstone, 2005. ISBN 0-7432-6082-1.

Nickens, Christopher. Natalie Wood: A Biography in Photographs. Doubleday, 1986. ISBN 0-385-23307-8.

Noguchi, Thomas T. Coroner. Simon & Schuster (October 1983). ISBN 0671467727.

Rulli, Marti and Dennis Davern. Goodbye Natalie Goodbye Splendour. Medallion, 2009. ISBN 1597776394.

Wood, Lana. Natalie: A Memoir by Her Sister. Putnam Pub Group, 1984. ISBN 0-399-12903-0.

References

External links

'Natalie Wood Style and Beauty Page'

Natalie Wood at Who2

Category:1938 births Category:1981 deaths Category:Accidental deaths in California Category:American actors Category:American child actors Category:American film actors Category:American people of Russian descent Category:Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Category:Deaths by drowning Category:American actors of Russian descent Category:New Star of the Year (Actress) Golden Globe winners Category:People from San Francisco, California Category:People from Santa Rosa, California Category:Santa Rosa, California

Name	Thomas LeRoy Collins
Order	33rd
Office	Governor of Florida
Term start	January 4, 1955
Term end	January 3, 1961
Predecessor	Charley Eugene Johns
Successor	C. Farris Bryant
Birth date	March 10, 1909
Birth place	Tallahassee, Florida
Death date	March 12, 1991 (aged 82)
Death place	Tallahassee, Florida
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Mary Call Darby Collins
Religion	Episcopalian

Thomas LeRoy Collins (March 10, 1909–March 12, 1991) was the 33rd Governor of Florida.

Early life

Collins was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, where he attended Leon High School. He went on to attend the Eastman Business College in New York and then went on to the Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama to receive a law degree. In 1932, he married Mary Call Darby, great-granddaughter of Richard K. Call, twice territorial governor of Florida.

Politics

His entry into public service began in 1934, when he was elected as Leon County's representative in the Florida House of Representatives. He continued to serve in the House until 1940, when he was elected to the Florida Senate to fill an unexpired term of the late William Hodges.

In 1941, he purchased the home built by Richard K. Call in Tallahassee, "The Grove," located across the street north of the Governor's Mansion. Collins was re-elected to the Senate in 1942, but resigned to fight in the United States Navy during World War II. After the war, he was elected once again to the Florida Senate in 1946. He was reelected in 1950, serving until 1954 when a special election was held to fill the remaining two years in the term of Governor Daniel T. McCarty, who had died in office in 1953.

Collins twice received title of "Most Valuable Senator" (the first time in 1947 by the Capital Press Corps and in 1953 by fellow lawmakers).

Governorship

Governor McCarty died just nine months after accession to the office on September 28, 1953 after suffering a debilitating heart attack on February 25. At that time, Florida had no lieutenant governor, and the president of the Florida Senate, Charley Eugene Johns, became acting governor to serve until a special election.

Collins challenged Johns in the Democratic primary election and won the nomination; due to dominance of the Democratic Party in the South at the time, a primary win nearly guaranteed victory in the general election. Collins was sworn in as governor on January 4, 1955. In 1956, he was reelected to serve a regular four-year term, which made him the first governor of Florida to serve two consecutive terms.

In the 1956 election, he made history by becoming the first governor to win election in the first primary election, defeating five other candidates. During his term, Collins focused on education, working to strengthen the state's school system. In the racial unrest of his time he took a moderate course, counseling progress under law, and the state experienced only minimal disorder.

Although he initially condemned the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, as did almost all Southern elected officials, he fought with the Florida Legislature to attempt to prevent them from passing an "interposition" resolution, which indicated the intent of the legislature to "interpose" itself between the citizens of Florida and the United States government to prevent what the legislature contended was an illegal intrusion upon the right of the state by imposing integration.

He utilized a little-known provision of the state constitution by unilaterally adjourning the legislature to prevent it from passing the resolution the first time. After the legislature returned and passed the resolution, he had no power to veto it, because it was not a law but only a resolution expressing the sense of the legislature.

However, as it passed through his office, he wrote upon the interposition resolution, the following statement, in his own handwriting, which is today held by the State Archives of Florida:

Collins became Chairman of the Southern Governors Association in 1957. It is noteworthy that his two immediate successors, C. Farris Bryant and Haydon Burns, also opposed the death penalty.

Presidential and Vice Presidential possibilities

During the 1956 Democratic National Convention Collins was among contenders for the Vice Presidential nomination, when presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson II allowed the convention to chose his running-mate. Collins received 29 votes on the first ballot.

Before the 1960 presidential election Collins was seriously considered as a possible candidate because of his popularity as a southern Governor, who was acceptable to Northern liberals because of his support for civil rights. However, he did not seek the nomination, even in the Florida primary, which went to favorite son candidate Senator George Smathers.

Chairman of the 1960 Democratic National Convention

Collins served as a chairman of the 1960 Democratic National Convention, which nominated Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts for President and Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas for Vice President.

After his defeat, he left his law firm in Tampa and returned to "The Grove" in Tallahassee until his death from cancer in 1991. He was called the greatest Governor that Florida ever had many times by Florida governors Reubin Askew, Bob Graham, and Jeb Bush. A tribute was entered in the official record of the United States House of Representatives on March 19, 1991 by Florida Representatives James Bacchus and Charles E. Bennett.

Family

His son, LeRoy Collins, Jr., a retired United States Navy rear admiral, unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for United States Senate from Florida in 2006, losing to Congresswoman Katherine Harris, who was in turn defeated by Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson.

References

External links

Official Governor's portrait and biography from the State of Florida

A scan and transcript of the Interposition Resolution in Response to Brown v. Board of Education, made available for public use by the State Archives of Florida.

Category:American Episcopalians Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:Florida Democrats Category:Florida lawyers Category:Florida State Senators Category:Governors of Florida Category:Members of the Florida House of Representatives Category:People from Tallahassee, Florida Category:United States Navy officers Category:United States vice-presidential candidates, 1956 Category:1909 births Category:1991 deaths

Name	Johnny Tillotson
Background	solo_singer
Born	April 20, 1939Jacksonville, Florida, United States
Instrument	singing
Genre	country, pop
Occupation	singer, songwriter
Years active	Since 1957
Url	JohnnyTillotson.com

Johnny Tillotson (born April 20, 1939, Jacksonville, Florida) is an American singer and songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored several Top Ten hits including "Poetry In Motion" and the self-penned "It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'." He also sang "Yellow Bird" an adaptation of the Haitian song Choucoune.

Life and career

He is the son of Doris and Jack Tillotson, a country music disc jockey, and was raised from the age of 9 in Palatka, Florida. He began to perform at local functions and on his father's radio station as a child, and while attending Palatka Senior High School developed a local reputation as a talented singer. He became a regular on the Toby Dowdy regional TV show in Jacksonville, and then had his own TV show on WDGA-TV. In 1957, while studying at the University of Florida, he entered a national talent contest and won through to the final round in Nashville, Tennessee, where he was heard by Archie Bleyer, owner of the independent Cadence Records. Bleyer signed Tillotson to a three-year contract, and issued his first single, "Dreamy Eyes" / "Well I'm Your Man" in September 1958. Both songs had been written by Tillotson, and both made the Billboard Hot 100, "Dreamy Eyes" peaking at # 63. After graduating in 1959 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and Communications, Tillotson moved to New York City to pursue his music career.

From late 1959, a succession of singles - "True True Happiness," "Why Do I Love You So," and a double-sided single covering the R&B; hits "Earth Angel" and "Pledging My Love" - all reached the bottom half of the Hot 100. His biggest success came with his sixth single, the up-tempo "Poetry in Motion", written by Paul Kaufman and Mike Anthony, and recorded in Nashville with session musicians including saxophonist Boots Randolph and pianist Floyd Cramer. Released in September 1960, it went to # 2 on the Hot 100 in the US, and # 1 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1961. On Bleyer's advice, Tillotson focused primarily on his recording career, but also appeared on television and began to be featured as a teen idol in magazines. His follow-up record, "Jimmy's Girl," only reached # 25 in the US charts and # 43 in the UK; after that, "Without You" returned him to the US Top Ten but failed to make the UK charts. |- | rowspan="2"| 1958 | "Dreamy Eyes" / "Well I'm Your Man"* | align="center"| 63 / 87* | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Johnny Tillotson (EP) |- | "I'm Never Gonna Kiss You" (with Genevieve) | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Single only |- | 1959 | "True True Happiness" | align="center"| 54 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Johnny Tillotson (EP) |- | rowspan="3"| 1960 | "Why Do I Love You So" | align="center"| 42 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="4"| This Is Johnny Tillotson |- | "Earth Angel" / "Pledging My Love"* | align="center"| 57 / 63* | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Poetry in Motion" | align="center"| 2 | align="center"| 27 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 1 |- | rowspan="2"| 1961 | "Jimmy's Girl" | align="center"| 25 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 43 |- | "Without You" | align="center"| 7 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Johnny Tillotson's Best |- | rowspan="6"| 1962 | "Dreamy Eyes" (re-issue) | align="center"| 35 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin'" | align="center"| 3 | align="center"| 6 | align="center"| 4 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 31 | rowspan="5"| It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin' |- | "Send Me the Pillow You Dream On" | align="center"| 17 | align="center"| — | align="center"| 11 | align="center"| 5 | align="center"| — | align="center"| 21 |- | "What'll I Do?" | align="center"| 106 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" | align="center"| 89 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love With You)" | align="center"| 24 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 8 | align="center"| — | align="center"| 41 |- | rowspan="4"| 1963 | "Out of My Mind" | align="center"| 24 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 11 | align="center"| — | align="center"| 34 | Greatest |- | "You Can Never Stop Me Loving You" | align="center"| 18 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 4 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Judy, Judy, Judy |- | "Talk Back Trembling Lips" | align="center"| 7 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 6 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Talk Back Trembling Lips |- | "Funny How Time Slips Away" | align="center"| 50 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 16 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin' |- | rowspan="5"| 1964 | "I'm a Worried Guy" | align="center"| 37 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Talk Back Trembling Lips |- | "Please Don't Go Away" | align="center"| 112 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "I Rise, I Fall" | align="center"| 37 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| The Tillotson Touch |- | "Worry" | align="center"| 45 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 5 | align="center"| 36 | align="center"| — |- | "She Understands Me" | align="center"| 31 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 4 | align="center"| 25 | align="center"| — | She Understands Me |- | rowspan="4"| 1965 | "Angel" | align="center"| 51 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 33 | align="center"| — | Johnny Tillotson Sings |- | "Then I'll Count Again" | align="center"| 86 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| - | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| That's My Style |- | "Heartaches by the Number" | align="center"| 35 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 4 | align="center"| 14 | align="center"| — |- | "Our World" | align="center"| 70 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 23 | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Johnny Tillotson Sings |- | rowspan="5"| 1966 | "I Never Loved You Anyway" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Country Boy" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Johnny Tillotson Sings Tillotson |- | "What Am I Gonna Do" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | No Love at All |- | "Open Up Your Heart" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Single only |- | "Christmas Country Style" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | The Christmas Touch |- | rowspan="3"| 1967 | "Tommy Jones" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Here I Am |- | "Don't Tell Me It's Raining" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "You're the Reason" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 48 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | The Best of Johnny Tillotson |- | rowspan="3"| 1968 | "I Can Spot a Cheater" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 63 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="3"| Singles only |- | "Why So Lonely" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Letter to Emily" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="3"| 1969 | "Tears on My Pillow" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 94 | align="center"| — | rowspan="3"| Tears on My Pillow |- | "Joy to the World" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Raining in My Heart" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="2"| 1970 | "Susan" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Singles only |- | "I Don't Believe in If Anymore" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="3"| 1971 | "Apple Bend" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Johnny Tillotson (1970) |- | "Welfare Hero" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Make Believe" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="7"| Singles only |- | rowspan="3"| 1973 | "Your Love's Been a Long Time Comin'" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "If You Wouldn't Be My Lady"^A | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "I Love How She Needs Me" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | 1974 | "Till I Can't Take It Anymore" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="2"| 1975 | "Mississippi Lady" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Right Here in Your Arms" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | 1976 | "Summertime Lovin'" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Johnny Tillotson (1977) |- | 1977 | "Toy Hearts" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 99 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | 1979 | "Poetry in Motion" (re-issue) / "Princess Princess" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 67 | rowspan="2"| Singles only |- | 1984 | "Lay Back in the Arms of Someone" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 91 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |}

^A"If You Wouldn't Be My Lady" peaked at #77 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada.

References

External links

Johnny Tillotson official website

Category:1939 births Category:Living people Category:American country singers Category:American male singers Category:American pop singers Category:Songwriters from Florida Category:MGM Records artists Category:Apex Records artists Category:People from Jacksonville, Florida Category:University of Florida alumni

Name	Jayne Mansfield
Caption	At Jockeys' Ball in Los Angeles, Calif., 1957
Birth name	Vera Jayne Palmer
Birth date	April 19, 1933
Birth place	Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States
Death date	June 29, 1967
Death place	U.S. Highway 90 near Slidell, Louisiana, United States
Occupation	Actress, singer, model
Years active	1954–1967
Spouse

Jayne Mansfield (April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress working both on Broadway and in Hollywood. One of the leading blonde sex symbols of the 1950s, Mansfield starred in several popular Hollywood films that emphasized her platinum-blonde hair, hourglass figure and cleavage-revealing costumes.

While Mansfield's film career was short-lived, she had several box office successes. She won the Theatre World Award, a Golden Globe and a Golden Laurel. As the demand for blonde bombshells declined in the 1960s, Mansfield was relegated to low-budget film melodramas and comedies, but remained a popular celebrity.

In her later career she continued to attract large crowds in foreign countries and in lucrative and successful nightclub tours. Mansfield had been a Playboy Playmate of the Month and appeared in the magazine several additional times. She died in an automobile accident at age 34.

Early life

Name	Jayne Mansfield
Issue	February 1955
Bust
Waist	was the only child of Herbert William and Vera (née Jeffrey) Palmer. Her birthname was Vera Jayne Palmer. A natural brunette, she was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, but spent her early childhood in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. When she was three years old, her father, a lawyer who was in practice with future New Jersey governor Robert B. Meyner, died of a heart attack while driving a car with his wife and daughter. After his death, her mother worked as a school teacher. In 1939, when Vera Palmer remarried, the family moved to Dallas, Texas. Mansfield's desire to become an actress developed at an early age. In 1950, Vera Jayne Palmer married Paul Mansfield, thus becoming Jayne Mansfield, and the couple moved to Austin, Texas.

"Jayne Mansfield: Blonde Ambition", a documentary broadcast on the A&E; Network in 2004.

"Dead Famous: Jayne Mansfield", biography.com

Citation

External links

JM's death at Find a Death

Online biographies

Biographical timeline at Philadelphia Weekly

JM's Biography at the Biography Channel

JM's Biography at Dreamtime

JM's Biography at Find Articles (from St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture)

JM's bio and other facts at Bombshells

Category:1933 births Category:1967 deaths Category:American female models Category:Breast fetishism Category:American film actors Category:American stage actors Category:American television actors Category:Road accident deaths in Louisiana Category:New Star of the Year (Actress) Golden Globe winners Category:People from Warren County, New Jersey Category:People from Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania Category:University of Dallas alumni Category:University of Texas at Austin alumni Category:American actors of German descent Category:Playboy Playmates (1953–1959)

Name	Harold Arlen
Caption	Harold Arlen, 1939
Birth name	Hyman Arluck
Birth date	February 15, 1905
Birth place	Buffalo, New York
Death date	April 23, 1986
Death place	New York City, New York
Spouse	Anya Taranda (1937-1970)
Academyawards	Best Original Song1939 The Wizard of Ozfor Over the Rainbow

Harold Arlen (February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the Great American Songbook. "Over the Rainbow," in fact, was voted the twentieth century's No. 1 song by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Biography

Arlen was born Hyman Arluck, in Buffalo, New York, the child of a Jewish cantor. His twin brother died the next day. He learned the piano as a youth and formed a band as a young man. He achieved some local success as a pianist and singer and moved to New York City in his early 20s. He worked as an accompanist in vaudeville. At this point, he changed his name to Harold Arlen. Between 1926 and about 1934, Arlen appeared occasionally as a band vocalist on records by The Buffalodians, Red Nichols, Joe Venuti, Leo Reisman and Eddie Duchin, usually singing his own compositions.

In 1929, Arlen composed his first well-known song: "Get Happy" (with lyrics by Ted Koehler). Throughout the early and mid-1930s, Arlen and Koehler wrote shows for the Cotton Club, a popular Harlem night club, as well as for Broadway musicals and Hollywood films. Arlen and Koehler's partnership resulted in a number of hit songs, including the familiar standards "Let's Fall in Love" and "Stormy Weather." Arlen continued to perform as a pianist and vocalist with some success, most notably on records with Leo Reisman's society dance orchestra.

Arlen's compositions have always been popular with jazz musicians because of his facility at incorporating a blues feeling into the idiom of the conventional American popular song.

In the mid-1930s, Arlen married, and spent increasing time in California, writing for movie musicals. It was at this time that he began working with lyricist E.Y. "Yip" Harburg. In 1938, the team was hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to compose songs for The Wizard of Oz. The most famous of these is the song "Over the Rainbow" for which they won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song. They also wrote "Down with Love", a song later featured in the 2003 movie Down with Love.

Arlen was a longtime friend and former roommate of actor Ray Bolger who would star in The Wizard of Oz, the film for which "Over the Rainbow" was written.

In the 1940s, he teamed up with lyricist Johnny Mercer, and continued to write hit songs like "Blues in the Night", "That Old Black Magic," "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive," "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home" and "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" .

Arlen composed two defining tunes which bookend Judy Garland's musical persona: as a yearning, innocent girl in "Over the Rainbow" and a world-weary, "chic chanteuse" with "The Man that Got Away".

Harold Arlen timeline

in 1934.]]

1905 Arlen born in Buffalo, New York

1920 (age 15) He formed his first professional band, Hyman Arluck's Snappy Trio.

1921 (16) Against his parent's wishes he left home.

1923 (18) With his new band - The Southbound Shufflers, performed on the Crystal Beach lake boat "Canadiana" during the summer of 1923.

1924 (19) Performed at Lake Shore Manor during the summer of 1924.

1924 (19) Wrote his first song, collaborating with friend Hyman Cheiffetz to write "My Gal, My Pal". Copyrighting the song as "My Gal, Won't You Please Come Back to Me?" and listed lyrics by Cheiffetz and music by Harold Arluck.

1925 (20) Makes his way to New York City with the group, The Buffalodians, with Arlen playing piano.

1926 (21) Had first published song, collaborating with Dick George to compose "Minor Gaff (Blues Fantasy)" under the name Harold Arluck.

1928 (23) Chaim (Life) (or Hyman) Arluck renames himself Harold Arlen, a name that combined his parents' surnames (his mother's maiden name was Orlin).

1929 (24) Landed a singing and acting role as Cokey Joe in the musical "The Great Day"

1929 (24) Composed his first well known song - (Get Happy) under the name Harold Arlen.

1929 (24) Signed a yearlong song writing contract with the George and Arthur Piantadosi firm.

1930–1934 (25-29) Wrote music for the Cotton Club.

1933 (28) At a party, along with partner Ted Koehler, wrote the major hit song "Stormy Weather"

1933 (28) Billboard heralded Shakespeare as the most prolific playwright in history, and Arlen as the most prolific composer.

1935 (30) Went back to California after being signed by Samuel Goldwyn to write songs for the film "Strike Me Pink"

1937 (32) Married 22-year-old Anya Taranda, a celebrated Powers Agency model and former Earl Carroll and Busby Berkeley showgirl, actress, and one of the Original "Breck Girls."

.]]

1938 (33) Hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to compose songs for The Wizard of Oz.

1938 (33) While driving along Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood and stopping in front of Schwab's Drug Store came up with the song "Over the Rainbow"

1941 (36) Wrote "Blues in the Night"

1942 (37) Along with Johnny Mercer, he wrote one of his most famous songs, "That Old Black Magic"

1943 (38) Wrote "My Shining Hour"

1944 (39) While driving with songwriter partner Johnny Mercer came up with the song "Accentuate the Positive".

1945 (40) In a single evening's work in October with Johnny Mercer came up with the song "Come Rain or Come Shine"

1949 (44) Collaborated with Ralph Blane to write the score for "My Blue Heaven".

1950 (45) Worked with old pal Johnny Mercer on the film "The Petty Girl", out of which came the song "Fancy Free".

1951 (46) His wife Anya was institutionalized in a sanitarium for 7 years after repeatedly threatening her husband and others with physical harm.

1952 (47) Teamed up with Dorothy Fields on the film "The Farmer Takes a Wife"

1953 (48) Harold's father, Cantor Samuel Arluck, died.

1954 (49) The Musical "A Star is Born" starring Judy Garland singing the now classic, Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin collaboration, "The Man That Got Away"

1954 (49) Becomes dangerously ill with a bleeding ulcer and is hospitalized but recovers to work with Truman Capote on the musical House of Flowers.

1956 (51) His mother Celia Arluck dies and Harold doesn't touch music for over a year, mourning her loss.

1962 (56) Wrote the score for the animated musical Gay Purr-ee, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg.

1961–1976 (55-71) Wrote over 50 songs and continued a successful career.

1970 (65) Arlen's wife Anya Taranda dies from a brain tumor. Arlen begins to lose interest in life, withdrawing from friends and family and becoming more reclusive.

1974 (69) Composes theme song for the ABC sitcom Paper Moon, based on a 1973 Peter Bogdanovich film of the same name. [Paper Moon was a hit song in *1933* and gave its name to the movie, not the other way around.]

1986 (81) Harold Arlen dies in New York City and is interred next to his wife at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.

Works for Broadway

Earl Carroll's Vanities of 1930 (1930) – revue – contributing composer

You Said It (1931) – musical – composer

Earl Carroll's Vanities of 1932 (1932) – revue – co-composer and co-lyricist with Ted Koehler

Americana (1932) – revue – contributing composer

''George White's Music Hall Varieties (1933) – revue – co-composer

(1934) – revue – composer

The Show is On (1936) – revue – contributing composer

Hooray for What! (1937) – musical – composer

Bloomer Girl (1944) – musical – composer

St. Louis Woman (1946) – musical – composer

House of Flowers (1954) – musical – composer and co-lyricist

Mr. Imperium (1951) – movie musical – featured composer

Jamaica (1957) – musical – composer – Tony nomination for Best Musical

Saratoga (1959) – musical – composer

Major songs

"A Sleepin' Bee" – lyrics by Harold Arlen and Truman Capote

"Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive" – lyrics by Johnny Mercer

"Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home" – lyrics by Johnny Mercer

"As Long as I Live" – lyrics by Ted Koehler

"Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" – lyrics by Ted Koehler

"Blues in the Night" – lyrics by Johnny Mercer

"Come Rain or Come Shine" – lyrics by Johnny Mercer

"Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" – lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

"For Every Man There's a Woman" – lyrics by Leo Robin

"Get Happy" – lyrics by Ted Koehler

"Down with Love" – lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

"Happiness is a Thing Called Joe" – lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

"Hit the Road to Dreamland" – lyrics by Johnny Mercer

"Hooray for Love" – lyrics by Leo Robin

"I Could Go On Singing" – lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

"If I Only Had a Brain" – lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

"If I Only Had a Heart" – lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

"I Had Myself A True Love" – lyrics by Johnny Mercer

"I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues" – lyrics by Ted Koehler

"Ill Wind" – lyrics by Ted Koehler

"It Was Written in the Stars" – lyrics by Leo Robin

"I've Got the World on a String" – lyrics by Ted Koehler

"It's Only a Paper Moon" – lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, Billy Rose

"Last Night When We Were Young" – lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

"Let's Fall in Love" – lyrics by Ted Koehler

"Let's Take a Walk Around the Block" – lyrics by Ira Gershwin and E.Y. Harburg

"Like A Straw In The Wind"

"Lydia the Tattooed Lady" – lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

"My Shining Hour" – lyrics by Johnny Mercer

"One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" – lyrics by Johnny Mercer; theme song of NBC detective series Meet McGraw starring Frank Lovejoy

"Out of This World" – lyrics by Johnny Mercer

"Over the Rainbow" – lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

"Right As The Rain" – lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

"Sing My Heart" – lyrics by Ted Koehler

"So Long, Big Time!" – lyrics by Dory Langdon (recorded in Finland by Carola)

"Stormy Weather" – lyrics by Ted Koehler

"That Old Black Magic" – lyrics by Johnny Mercer

"The Man That Got Away" – lyrics by Ira Gershwin

"This Time the Dream's on Me" – lyrics by Johnny Mercer

"When the Sun Comes Out" – lyrics by Ted Koehler

References

Films

2003 – Stormy Weather: The Music of Harold Arlen. Directed by Larry Weinstein.

External links

Official web site for Harold Arlen

Barbra Streisand on two.">"Harold Sings Arlen (with a Friend)", 1966 Columbia Records album featuring Arlen singing 10 of his songs, and dueting with Barbra Streisand on two.

Category:1905 births Category:1986 deaths Category:American musical theatre composers Category:Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters Category:Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery Category:Jewish American composers and songwriters Category:American Jews Category:People from Buffalo, New York Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Category:Vaudeville performers

Name	Frank Albertson
Birthdate	February 02, 1909
Birthplace	Fergus Falls, Minnesota, U.S.
Deathdate	February 29, 1964
Deathplace	Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Yearsactive	1923–1964
Spouse	Virginia Shelley (1931-1943) 2 children Grace Gillern (1943-1964; his death) 3 children

Frank Albertson (February 2, 1909 – February 29, 1964) was an American character actor who made his debut in a minor part in Hollywood at age 13.

Albertson made well over one hundred appearances (1923–1964) in movies and television. He is probably best remembered for his role as Sam Wainwright, the businessman fond of saying "Hee-Haw" in the movie It's a Wonderful Life (1946). He played the wealthy rancher, Tom Cassidy, at the start of Psycho (1960), who provides the cash that Janet Leigh's character later steals.

Albertson portrayed future U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt in the 1956 episode "Rough Rider" of CBS's My Friend Flicka television series, starring Johnny Washbrook, Gene Evans, Anita Louise, and Frank Ferguson.

For contributions to the motion picture industry, Frank Albertson was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6758 Hollywood Boulevard.

Partial filmography

The Covered Wagon (1923) (uncredited)

Words and Music (1929)

Salute (1929)

Men Without Women (1930)

Son of the Gods (1930)

Born Reckless (1930)

Just Imagine (1930)

So This Is London (1930)

A Connecticut Yankee (1931)

The Brat (1931)

Way Back Home (1931)

Airmail (1932)

The Lost Special (1932 serial)

The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble (1933)

Ever in My Heart (1933)

Enter Madame (1935)

Alice Adams (1935)

Waterfront Lady (1935)

Ah, Wilderness! (1935)

Kind Lady (1935)

Fury (1936)

The Plainsman (1936)

Hold That Kiss (1938)

Mother Carey's Chickens (1938)

Room Service (1938)

The Shining Hour (1938)

Bachelor Mother (1939)

When the Daltons Rode (1940)

Man Made Monster (1941)

Father Steps Out (1941)

Louisiana Purchase (1941)

Junior G-Men of the Air (1942 serial)

Wake Island (1942)

Rosie the Riveter (1944)

And the Angels Sing (1944)

They Made Me a Killer (1946)

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

The Hucksters (1947)

Killer Dill (1947)

Nightfall (1957)

The Enemy Below (1957)

The Last Hurrah (1958)

Psycho (1960)

Bye Bye Birdie (1963)

References

External links

Category:1909 births Category:1964 deaths Category:People from Fergus Falls, Minnesota Category:American film actors Category:Actors from Minnesota Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery

Name	Anne Gwynne
Caption	Anne Gwynne, Yank (1943)
Birthname	Marguerite Gwynne Trice
Birth date	December 10, 1918
Birth place	Waco, Texas, United States
Death date
Death place	Woodland Hills, California, United States
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1939-1970
Spouse	Max M. Gilford (1945–65) his death
Website	www.AnneGwynne.com

Anne Gwynne (December 10, 1918 – March 31, 2003) was an American film actress of the 1940s. Known as one of the first scream queens because of her numerous appearances in horror films, the actress-model was also one of the most popular pin-ups of World War II.

Career

In 1939 she became a model for Catalina swimwear. Gwynne was a television pioneer, appearing in TV's first filmed series, Public Prosecutor (1947–48), 26 mysteries each 17½ minutes in running time. When aired, the DuMont Television Network stopped the film before the climax and a live three-member panel would try to guess the identity of the culprit. Other TV stations could buy rights to air this series but usually did not use panelists.

Personal life

Gwynne was born in Waco, Texas, the daughter of Pearl (née Guinn) and Jefferson Benjamin Trice, an apparel manufacturer. Gwynne married Max M. Gilford in 1945. The couple had two children, Gregory and Gwynne, an actress. Gwynne Gilford's children are actress Katherine Pine and actor Chris Pine. Gwynne died March 31, 2003 of a stroke following surgery at the Motion Picture Country Hospital in Woodland Hills, California.

Filmography

.]]

Unexpected Father (1939)

Bad Man from Red Butte (1940)

Black Friday (1940)

Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)

The Green Hornet (1940)

The Black Cat (1941)

Nice Girl? (1941)

Washington Melodrama (1941)

Broadway (1942)

Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942)

We've Never Been Licked (1943)

House of Frankenstein (1944)

Weird Woman (1944)

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947)

Arson, Inc. (1949)

Teenage Monster (1958)

Adam at Six A.M. (1970)

References

External links

Anne Gwynne website

Category:1918 births Category:2003 deaths Category:Actors from Texas Category:American film actors Category:Deaths from stroke Category:People from Waco, Texas