Mame

Thursday, 17 January 2013

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Ambrose Burnside
Ambrose Everett Burnside (May 23, 1824 – September 13, 1881) was an American soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist, and politician from Rhode Island, serving as governor and a U.S. Senator. As a Union Army general in the American Civil War, he conducted successful campaigns in North Carolina and East Tennessee but was defeated in the disastrous Battle of Fredericksburg and Battle of the Crater, earning his reputation as one of the most incompetent generals of the war. His distinctive style of facial hair is now known as sideburns, derived from his last name.
Burnside was born in Liberty, Indiana, the fourth of nine children of Edghill and Pamela (or Pamilia) Brown Burnside, a family of Scottish origin. His great-great-grandfather Robert Burnside (1725–1775) was born in Scotland and settled in the Province of South Carolina. His father, a native of South Carolina, was a slave owner who freed his slaves when he relocated to Indiana. Ambrose attended Liberty Seminary as a young boy, but his education was interrupted when his mother died in 1841; he was apprenticed to a local tailor, eventually becoming a partner in the business. His interest in military affairs and his father's political connections obtained an appointment to the United States Military Academy in 1843. He graduated in 1847, ranking 18th in a class of 38, and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Artillery. He traveled to Veracruz for the Mexican-American War but arrived after hostilities ceased and performed mostly garrison duty around Mexico City.

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Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury, CBE (born 16 October 1925) is an English-born US-naturalized actress and singer in theatre, television, and motion pictures. Her career has spanned eight decades and earned an unsurpassed number of performance Tony Awards (tied with Julie Harris), with five wins. Her first film appearance was in the film Gaslight (1944) as a conniving maid, for which she received an Academy Award nomination. Among her other films are The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), Beauty and the Beast (1991), and Anastasia (1997).
She expanded her repertoire to Broadway musicals and television in the 1950s and was particularly successful in Broadway productions of Gypsy, Mame and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Lansbury is perhaps best known to modern audiences for her twelve-year run starring as writer and sleuth Jessica Fletcher on the American television series Murder, She Wrote (1984–1996). Her recent roles include Lady Adelaide Stitch in the film Nanny McPhee (2005), Leona Mullen in the 2007 Broadway play Deuce, Madame Arcati in the 2009 Broadway revival of the play Blithe Spirit and Madame Armfeldt in the 2010 Broadway revival of the musical A Little Night Music.

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Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, although her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas.
After appearing in Broadway plays, Davis moved to Hollywood in 1930, but her early films for Universal Studios were unsuccessful. She joined Warner Bros. in 1932 and established her career with several critically acclaimed performances. In 1937, she attempted to free herself from her contract and although she lost a well-publicized legal case, it marked the beginning of the most successful period of her career. Until the late 1940s, she was one of American cinema's most celebrated leading ladies, known for her forceful and intense style. Davis gained a reputation as a perfectionist who could be highly combative, and confrontations with studio executives, film directors and costars were often reported. Her forthright manner, clipped vocal style and ubiquitous cigarette contributed to a public persona which has often been imitated and satirized.

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Bob Peak
Robert "Bob" M. Peak (May 30, 1927 – August 1, 1992) was an American commercial illustrator best known for innovative design in the development of the modern movie poster.
His artwork has been on the cover of Time magazine, TV Guide, and Sports Illustrated. He also illustrated advertisements and U.S. postage stamps.
Bob Peak was born in Denver, Colorado and grew up in Wichita, Kansas. He knew from an early age that he wanted to be a commercial illustrator. He majored in geology from Wichita State University and got a part time job in the art department of McCormick-Armstrong. After serving the military during the Korean War, Peak transferred to the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, California, graduating in 1951.
In 1953, Peak moved to New York City, landed an Old Hickory Whiskey advertising campaign. His work went on to appear in major advertising and national magazines.
United Artists studio hired Peak in 1961 to design the poster images for the film West Side Story. The success of Peak's work on that film led to work on posters for designer Bill Gold, including the big-budget musicals My Fair Lady and Camelot. In the mid-1970s Peak's style would become familiar to fans of science fiction films when he created the poster art for the futuristic film Rollerball (1975), which was followed by the first five Star Trek films, Superman (1978), Excalibur (1981), In Like Flint, and Apocalypse Now (1979). By the 1980s only the movie poster artist Drew Struzan was in as much demand by film directors^{[citation needed]}.

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Bruce Davison
Bruce Davison (born June 28, 1946) is an American actor and director.
Davison was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Marian E. (née Holman), a secretary, and Clair W. Davison, a musician, architect, and draftsman for the Army Engineers. His parents divorced when he was three years old. He was raised by his mother, and also spent weekends with his father. He graduated in 1964 at Marple Newtown Senior High School, and entered Penn State as an art major but stumbled into acting when he accompanied a friend to an audition. He attended NYU's Graduate Acting Program, graduating in 1969.
Davison made his Broadway debut in Tiger at the Gates in 1968. He also appeared as John Merrick in The Elephant Man and in The Glass Menagerie opposite Jessica Tandy. Davison was one of a quartet of newcomers including Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas, and Catherine Burns when he made his film debut in Last Summer in 1969. In 1970 he played opposite Kim Darby in the film about peaceful student protest and its violent outcome The Strawberry Statement. Two years later he portrayed the title role in Willard. He also appeared in Ulzana's Raid, Peege, Mame, Mother, Jugs & Speed, Short Eyes, The Lathe of Heaven, and Six Degrees of Separation. In 1978 he appeared as Dean Torrence opposite Richard Hatch in the made-for-tv biopic Deadman's Curve (the story of 1960s pop duo Jan & Dean). The same year, he played the title role in the TV movie adaptation Summer Of My German Soldier.

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Don Porter
Donald Porter (September 24, 1912 – February 11, 1997) was an American actor who appeared in a number of films in the 1940s, including Top Sergeant and Eagle Squadron, but is perhaps best known for his role as Russell Lawrence, the widowed father of 15-year old Frances "Gidget" Lawrence (Sally Field) in the 1965 ABC television series Gidget.
Born in Miami, Oklahoma, Porter began his acting career in the late 1930s. He appeared in various film in the 1940s before landing the role of Peter Sands, the boss of Susan Camille MacNamara (Ann Sothern) on the 1950s situation comedy Private Secretary. A retooled version of the series appeared later, titled The Ann Sothern Show. It featured many of the same actors, including Porter, in the venue of a fashionable New York City hotel. He later guest starred on episodes of Green Acres, Love, American Style, The Mod Squad, Barnaby Jones, The Six Million Dollar Man, Hawaii Five-O, Three's Company, on which he played John Ritter's uncle, and Switch. Porter also had roles in the television film The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975).

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Gene Saks
Gene Saks (born November 8, 1921) is an American stage and film director.
Saks was born in New York City, the son of Beatrix (née Lewkowitz) and Morris J. Saks. Saks studied at Cornell University and trained for acting at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York with the influential German director Erwin Piscator.
Saks has shared a long-term professional relationship with playwright/comedy writer Neil Simon, directing his plays Biloxi Blues, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Jake's Women, Rumors, Lost in Yonkers, Broadway Bound, The Odd Couple, and California Suite. Additional Broadway credits include Enter Laughing; Half a Sixpence; Mame; I Love My Wife; Same Time, Next Year; and Rags.
Among Saks' screen credits are Cactus Flower, which won Goldie Hawn the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Barefoot in the Park, The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, The Odd Couple, Mame, So I Married an Axe Murderer (uncredited), and the 1995 television production of Bye Bye Birdie.
Saks made his acting debut on Broadway in South Pacific in 1949. On stage he also appeared in A Shot in the Dark, The Tenth Man, and A Thousand Clowns, in the role of Leo "Chuckles The Chipmunk" Herman, which he reprised in the film version. He portrayed Jack Lemmon's brother in the screen adaptation of Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue.

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George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor ( /ˈkjuːkər/; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed What Price Hollywood? (1932), A Bill of Divorcement (1932), Dinner at Eight (1933), Little Women (1933), David Copperfield (1935), Romeo and Juliet (1936) and Camille (1936).
He was replaced as the director of Gone with the Wind (1939), but he went on to direct The Philadelphia Story (1940), Adam's Rib (1949), Born Yesterday (1950), A Star Is Born (1954) and My Fair Lady (1964). He continued to work into the 1980s.
Cukor was born on the Lower East Side of New York City, the younger child and only son of Hungarian Jewish immigrants Victor, an assistant district attorney, and Helen Ilona (née Gross) Cukor. His parents selected his middle name in honor of Spanish–American War hero George Dewey. Unlike the Jews of Poland and Russia whose first language was Yiddish, Hungarian Jews did not adopt Yiddish as their primary language. Therefore, the Cukor family, subscribing to the norm of their country of origin, was not a Yiddish speaking household. The family was not particularly religious, pork was a staple on the dinner table, and when he started attending temple as a boy, Cukor learned Hebrew phonetically, with no real understanding of the meaning of the words or what they represented. As a result, he was ambivalent about his faith and dismissive of old world traditions from childhood, and as an adult he embraced Anglophilia to remove himself even further from his roots.

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George Pickett
George Edward Pickett (January 16, 25, or 28, 1825 – July 30, 1875) was a career United States Army officer who became a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He is best remembered for his participation in the futile and bloody assault at the Battle of Gettysburg that bears his name, Pickett's Charge.
Pickett was born in Richmond, Virginia, the first of the eight children of Robert and Mary Pickett, a prominent family of Old Virginia of English origins, and one of the "first families" of Virginia. He was the cousin of future Confederate general Henry Heth. He went to Springfield, Illinois, to study law, but at the age of 17 he was appointed to the United States Military Academy. Legend has it that Pickett's West Point appointment was secured for him by Abraham Lincoln, but this is largely believed to be a story circulated by his widow following his death. Lincoln, as an Illinois state legislator, could not nominate candidates, although he did give the young man advice after he was accepted; Pickett was actually appointed by Illinois Congressman John T. Stuart, a friend of Pickett's uncle and a law partner of Abraham Lincoln.

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Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers (July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century.
During her long career, she made a total of 73 films, and was best known as Fred Astaire's romantic interest and dancing partner in a series of ten Hollywood musical films that revolutionized the genre. She achieved great success on her own in a variety of film roles and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Kitty Foyle (1940). She ranks #14 on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list of actress screen legends.
Rogers was born Virginia Katherine McMath in Independence, Missouri, the only child of William Eddins McMath, an electrical engineer, and his wife, Lela Emogene (née Owens; 1891–1977). Ginger's parents separated soon after her birth, and she and her mother went to live with her grandparents, Walter and Saphrona (née Ball) Owens, in nearby Kansas City. Rogers' parents fought over her custody. After her mother denied him visitation, her father reportedly absconded with his daughter twice. After her parents divorced, Rogers stayed with her grandparents while her mother wrote scripts for two years in Hollywood. Rogers was to remain close to her grandfather (much later, when she was a star in 1939, she bought him a home at 5115 Greenbush Avenue in Sherman Oaks, California so that he could be close to her while she was filming at the studios).^{[citation needed]}

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Jane Connell
Jane Connell (born October 27, 1925) is an American character actress. She was born as Jane Sperry Bennett in Berkeley, California to Louis Wesley and Mary (née Sperry) Bennett.
She married William Gordon Connell, known professionally as Gordon Connell, an actor and musician,^[when?]; they have two daughters, Melissa and Margaret. She began her career with her husband, working in such San Francisco night clubs as The Purple Onion and The Hungry I.
Eventually the couple moved to New York City, where Connell made her Off-Broadway debut in the 1955 revival of Threepenny Opera, a long-running hit at the Theatre de Lys. In the London production of Once Upon a Mattress, Connell starred as Winifred, the role that made Carol Burnett a Broadway star. Connell had a big success in 1966 when she was cast as Agnes Gooch in Jerry Herman's Mame.
She recreated the role in the 1974 screen adaptation after the film's star, Lucille Ball, became dissatisfied with Madeline Kahn, who had been signed originally to play Gooch.

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Jerome Lawrence
Jerome Lawrence (July 14, 1915 – February 29, 2004) was an American playwright and author.
Lawrence was born Jerome Lawrence Schwartz in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Sarah (née Rogen), a poet, and Samuel Schwartz, a printer. He worked for several small newspapers as a reporter/editor before moving into radio as a writer for CBS. With his writing partner, Robert E. Lee, Lawrence worked for Armed Forces Radio during World War II; Lawrence and Lee became the most prolific writing partnership in radio, with such long-running series as Favorite Story among others.
Lawrence and Lee turned to the live theatre in 1955 with Inherit the Wind, which remains among the most-produced plays in the American theatre. They also collaborated on the plays Auntie Mame, The Incomparable Max, and First Monday in October, among others. In 1965, they founded the American Playwrights' Theatre, a plan to bypass the commerciality of the Broadway stage, which foreshadowed the professional regional theatre movement. Their wildly successful play, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, was produced through the American Playwrights Theatre, and premiered at Lawrence's alma mater, Ohio State University, which also commissioned their play on the life and times of James Thurber, Jabberwock (1972).

wn.com/Jerome_Lawrence
Jerry Herman
Jerry Herman (born July 10, 1931) is an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway musical theater. He composed the scores for the hit Broadway musicals Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage aux Folles. He has been nominated for the Tony Award five times, and won twice, for Hello, Dolly! and La Cage aux Folles. In 2009, Herman received the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. He is a recipient of the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors.

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John McGiver
John Irwin McGiver (November 5, 1913 – September 9, 1975) was a character actor who made more than a hundred appearances in television and motion pictures over a two-decade span from 1955 to 1975.
The owl-faced, portly actor with the mid-Atlantic accent was known for his performances as the kindly Tiffany's salesman in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961); the honorable but ill-fated Senator Thomas Jordan in the original film version of The Manchurian Candidate (1962); and as religious fanatic Mr. O'Daniel in the film Midnight Cowboy (1969). He also appeared on many TV shows and commercials, including a Baggies spot in the 1960s, as well as the first of a popular series of commercials for the American Express charge card ("Do you know me?").
McGiver was born the son of Irish immigrants. He received a B.A. in English from Fordham University in 1938 and master's degrees from Columbia University and Catholic University. He was an English teacher before he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942 and served as an officer in the U.S. Army's 7th Armored Division in Europe during World War II. His stage career also began before the war, when he was an actor-director in New York's Irish Repertory Theater. He continued to teach English and speech at Christopher Columbus High School in the Bronx, working occasionally in off-Broadway plays, until 1955, when he became a full time actor.

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Joyce Van Patten
Joyce Benignia Van Patten (born March 9, 1934) is an American stage, film and television actress.
Van Patten was born in New York City, the daughter of Josephine Rose (née Acerno), an Italian American magazine advertising executive, and Richard Byron Van Patten, a Dutch American interior decorator.
She is the younger sister of actor Dick Van Patten, half-sister of actor/director Tim Van Patten and aunt to actors Vincent Van Patten, James Van Patten and Nels Van Patten. She was formerly married to the late actor Martin Balsam, and is the mother of actress Talia Balsam, who was briefly married to actor George Clooney. Van Patten is divorced from actor-director Dennis Dugan.
Van Patten has appeared in dozens of television series. She was a member of the original cast of the daytime drama As the World Turns. She also played Joyce, the jilted fiancee of Peter Sellers in the cult classic movie I Love You, Alice B. Toklas in 1968.
She made her prime-time TV debut as a featured regular on The Danny Kaye Show, after which she co-starred with Bob Denver and Herb Edelman in the 1968-70 sitcom The Good Guys as Claudia Gramus, the long-suffering wife of diner owner Bert Gramus (played by Edelman).

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Julie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE (née Wells; born 1 October 1935) is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honours.
Andrews is a former child actress and singer who made her Broadway debut in a 1954 production of The Boy Friend, and rose to prominence starring in musicals such as My Fair Lady and Camelot, both of which earned her Tony Award nominations. In 1957, she made her television debut with the title role in Cinderella, which was seen by over 100 million viewers.
Andrews made her feature film debut in Mary Poppins (1964), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She received her second Academy Award nomination for The Sound of Music (1965). Adjusted for inflation, these two films are the 25th and 3rd highest grossing films of all time, respectively. From 1964 to 1967, Andrews was the biggest film star in the world, with the additional box office successes of her films The Americanization of Emily, Hawaii, Torn Curtain, and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

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Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.
Maltin was born in New York City, son of singer Jacqueline (née Gould), and Aaron Isaac Maltin, a lawyer and immigration judge. He is married to researcher and producer Alice Tlusty. He has one daughter Jessie, born in 1986, who works with him. Maltin is Jewish. Maltin grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, and graduated from Teaneck High School. He is a friend of film critic Roger Ebert.
Maltin began his writing career at age fifteen, writing for Classic Images and editing and publishing his own fanzine, Film Fan Monthly, dedicated to films from the golden age of Hollywood. After earning a journalism degree at New York University, Maltin went on to publish articles in a variety of film journals, newspapers, and magazines, including Variety and TV Guide.
As an author, Maltin is best known for Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, (some editions titled as his ...Movie and Video Guide), a compendium of synopses and reviews that first appeared in September 1969 and has been annually updated since October 1987. (It was published under the title TV Movies until the 1990s, and in 2005 spawned a spin-off, Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide, limited to films released in 1960 and earlier to allow the regular book to cover a larger number of more recent titles.) He has also written several other works, including Behind the Camera, a study of cinematography, The Whole Film Sourcebook, Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia, Our Gang: The Life and Times of the Little Rascals, and Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons.

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Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 - April 26, 1989) was an American comedienne, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy. One of the most popular and influential stars in the United States during her lifetime, with one of Hollywood's longest careers, especially on television, Ball began acting in the 1930s, becoming both a radio actress and B-movie star in the 1940s, and then a television star during the 1950s. She was still making films in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1962, Ball became the first woman to run a major television studio, Desilu, which produced many successful and popular television series.
Ball was nominated for an Emmy Award thirteen times, and won four times. In 1977 Ball was among the first recipients of the Women in Film Crystal Award. She was the recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1979, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center Honors in 1986 and the Governors Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 1989.

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Lucille Benson
Lucille Benson (July 17, 1914 – February 17, 1984) was an American actress known for her roles in commercials, television, and movies in the 1970s and 1980s.
Born in Scottsboro, Alabama, on July 17, 1914, Benson was adopted by her aunt, Mrs. John Benson, after her mother died of tuberculosis. She was valedictorian and president of her Jackson County High School class at Jackson County High School. She attended Huntingdon College, in Montgomery, and later attended Northwestern's School of Drama, in Evanston, Illinois. After a short career as a teacher, she went to New York around 1930 [This should be corrected. This year, 1930, makes her 16 years old when she heads off to NY after a short career as a teacher].
Her career started in New York in the 1930s. She appeared on Broadway in several plays including, The Doughgirls, The Day Before Spring, Happy Birthday, As The Girls Go, Hotel Paradiso, Period of Adjustment and Walking Happy. She performed at the Coconut Grove Playhouse, in Miami, appearing in the Tennessee Williams play, Orpheus Descending.

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Madeline Kahn
Madeline Kahn (September 29, 1942 – December 3, 1999) was an American actress. Kahn was known primarily for her comic roles in films such as Paper Moon, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, What's Up, Doc?, and Clue.
Kahn was born Madeline Gail Wolfson in Boston, the daughter of Paula Kahn and Bernard B. Wolfson, who was a garment manufacturer. She was raised in a non-observant Jewish family. Her parents divorced when Kahn was two, and she and her mother moved to New York City. Several years later her parents remarried others and gave Kahn two half-siblings: Jeffrey (from her mother) and Robyn (from her father).
In 1948, Kahn was sent to a progressive boarding school in Pennsylvania and stayed there until 1952. During that time, her mother pursued her acting dream. Kahn soon began acting herself and performed in a number of school productions. In 1960, she graduated from Martin Van Buren High School in Queens, where she earned a drama scholarship to Hofstra University on Long Island. At Hofstra, she studied drama, music, and speech therapy. After changing her major a number of times, Kahn graduated from Hofstra in 1964 with a degree in speech therapy. She was a member of a local sorority on campus, Delta Chi Delta.

wn.com/Madeline_Kahn
Molly Haskell
Molly Haskell (born 29 September 1939, Charlotte, North Carolina) is an American feminist film critic and author. She contributed to The Village Voice, first as a theatre critic, then as a movie reviewer; and from there moved on to New York Magazine and Vogue. Her most influential book is From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies (1974; revised and reissued in 1987). She co-hosted Turner Classic Movies's The Essentials with Robert Osborne in 2006 for one season.
Haskell was born in North Carolina and grew up in Richmond, Virginia. She attended Sweet Briar College, the University of London and the Collège de Sorbonne before settling in New York. While in Paris she wrote a newsletter about French films for the New York press. For the opening of new films in America, within the newsletter she interpreted the directors that came to America. To begin as a critic she then went to The Village Voice, and became a movie reviewer. Haskell finally found a steady career with New York Magazine and Vogue.

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Patrick Dennis
Patrick Dennis (pseudonym of Edward Everett Tanner III) (May 18, 1921 – November 6, 1976) was an American author. His novel Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade (1955) was one of the bestselling American books of the 20th century. In chronological vignettes, the narrator - also named Patrick - recalls his adventures growing up under the wing of his madcap aunt, Mame Dennis. Dennis wrote a sequel, Around the World with Auntie Mame, in 1958. He also wrote several novels under the pseudonym of "Virginia Rowans."
"I write in the first person, but it is all fictional. The public assumes that what seems fictional is fact; so the way for me to be inventive is to seem factual but be fictional." All of Dennis's novels employ to some degree the traditional comic devices of masks, subterfuge and deception.
Patrick Dennis was born in Evanston, Illinois. His father nicknamed him "Pat" before he was born, after the Irish heavyweight boxer Pat Sweeney, "a dirty fighter known for kicking his opponents." When he was old enough to say so, he let it be known that he liked "Pat" better than "Edward," and so Pat he became. Pat attended Evanston Township High School, where he was popular and excelled in writing and theater.

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Paul Zindel
Paul Zindel Jr. (15 May 1936 – 27 March 2003) was an American playwright, author, and educator.
Zindel was born in Tottenville, Staten Island, New York to Paul Zindel,Sr., a policeman, and Beatrice Frank, a nurse; his sister, Betty (Zindel) Hagen, was a year and a half older than he. Paul Zindel, Sr. ran away with his mistress when Zindel was two, leaving the trio to move around Staten Island, living in various houses and apartments.
Through his teen years he wrote plays, though he trained as a chemist at Wagner College and spent six months working at Allied Chemical as a chemical writer after graduating. Zindel took a creative writing course with the playwright Edward Albee while he was an undergraduate. He later quit and worked as a high school science teacher at Tottenville High School on Staten Island.
In 1964, he wrote The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, his first and most successful play. The play ran off-Broadway in 1970, and on Broadway in 1971, and he received the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work. It was also made into a 1972 movie by 20th Century Fox. Soon thereafter, Charlotte Zolotow, a vice-president at Harper & Row, contacted him about writing for her book label.

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Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael (June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. Earlier in her career, her work appeared in City Lights, McCall's and The New Republic.
Kael was known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated, and sharply focused" reviews, her opinions often contrary to those of her contemporaries. She is often regarded as the most influential American film critic of her day.
She left a lasting impression on many major critics, including Armond White, whose reviews are similarly non-conformist, and Roger Ebert, who has said that Kael "had a more positive influence on the climate for film in America than any other single person over the last three decades."Owen Gleiberman said she "was more than a great critic. She re-invented the form, and pioneered an entire aesthetic of writing. She was like the Elvis or the Beatles of film criticism."
Kael was born on a chicken farm in Petaluma, California, to Isaac Paul Kael and Judith Friedman Kael, Jewish immigrants from Poland. Her parents lost their farm when Kael was eight, and the family moved to San Francisco, California. She matriculated at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1936; she studied philosophy, literature, and the arts but dropped out in 1940 before completing her degree. Nevertheless, Kael intended to go on to law school but fell in with a group of artists and moved to New York City with the poet Robert Horan.

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Rex Reed
Rex Taylor Reed (born October 2, 1938) is an American film critic and former co-host of the syndicated television show At the Movies. He currently writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for The New York Observer.
Reed was born in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of Jewell (née Smith) and James M. Reed, an oil company supervisor.
Reed has acted occasionally, most notably in the movie version of Gore Vidal's Myra Breckinridge. Reed also appeared in the films Inchon! and Superman (as himself), and was a regular on the TV show The Gong Show in the late '70s. Reed additionally served on the jury at the 21st Berlin International Film Festival in 1971, and guest voiced as himself on the animated series The Critic.
Rex Reed appears in the 2009 documentary For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism explaining how important film critics were in the 1970s, and complaining about the proliferation of unqualified critical voices on the Internet.
Reed is good friends with gossip columnist Liz Smith. He is a member of New York Film Critics Circle and, because his reviews appear on the Internet, he is a member of New York Film Critics Online.

wn.com/Rex_Reed
Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907 – November 28, 1976) was an American actress of stage and screen, perhaps best known for her role as a fast-talking newspaper reporter in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday, as well as the role of Mame Dennis in the film Auntie Mame. She won all 5 Golden Globes for which she was nominated, and was tied with Meryl Streep for wins until 2007 when Streep was awarded a sixth. Russell won a Tony Award in 1953 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Ruth in the Broadway show Wonderful Town (a musical based on the film My Sister Eileen, in which she also starred).
Russell was known for playing character roles, exceptionally wealthy, dignified ladylike women, as well as for being one of the few actresses of her time who regularly played professional women, such as judges, reporters, and psychiatrists. She had a wide career span from the 1930s to the 1970s and attributed her long career to the fact that, although usually playing classy and glamorous roles, she never became a sex symbol, not being famous for her looks.

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Ruth McDevitt
Ruth McDevitt (September 13, 1895 – May 27, 1976) was an American stage, film, radio and television actress.
She was born Ruth Thane Shoecraft in Coldwater, Michigan. After attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she married Patrick McDevitt and decided to devote her time to her marriage. After her husband's death in 1934, she returned to acting. She performed on Broadway, in particular understudying and succeeding Josephine Hull in Arsenic and Old Lace and The Solid Gold Cadillac. She also worked as a radio actor.
McDevitt was a familiar face on television during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. She played "Mom Peepers" in the 1950s sitcom Mr. Peepers. She was a regular with Ann Sheridan, Douglas Fowley, and Gary Vinson in CBS's Pistols 'n' Petticoats, a 1966-67 satire of the Old West. The series attracted a good audience, but was cancelled two months after Sheridan's 1967 death from cancer. She was a series regular on Bright Promise from 1974–75, McDevitt also had a regular role as Emily Cowles on Kolchak: the Night Stalker, starring Darren McGavin.

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Stonewall Jackson
Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and one of the best-known Confederate commanders after General Robert E. Lee. His military career includes the Valley Campaign of 1862 and his service as a corps commander in the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee. Confederate pickets accidentally shot him at the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2, 1863; the general survived with the loss of an arm to amputation. However, he died of complications from pneumonia eight days later. His death was a severe setback for the Confederacy, affecting not only its military prospects, but also the morale of its army and of the general public.
Jackson in death became an icon of Southern heroism and commitment, joining Lee in the pantheon of the "Lost Cause".
Military historians consider Jackson to be one of the most gifted tactical commanders in U.S. history. His Valley Campaign and his envelopment of the Union Army right wing at Chancellorsville are studied worldwide even today as examples of innovative and bold leadership. He excelled as well in other battles: the First Battle of Bull Run (where he received his famous nickname "Stonewall"), Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg. Jackson was not universally successful as a commander, however, as displayed by his weak and confused efforts during the Seven Days Battles around Richmond in 1862.

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Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.
Canby was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Katharine Anne (née Vincent) and Lloyd Canby. He attended a boarding school with the novelist William Styron, and the two became friends. He introduced Styron to the works of E.B. White and Ernest Hemingway, and the pair hitchhiked from their Christ Church, Virginia boarding school to Richmond, Virginia to buy Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. After war service in the Pacific he attended the Dartmouth College and then was employed as a film critic by Variety for six years.
Canby was an enthusiastic supporter of many filmmakers, notably Woody Allen, who credited Canby's rave review of Take The Money and Run as a crucial point in his career. He was also heavily critical of some otherwise acclaimed films, such as Rocky, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Jaws, Patton, Night of the Living Dead, Once Upon a Time in America, Chinatown, After Hours, Blazing Saddles, A Christmas Story, Witness, Mask, The Natural, Rain Man, The Exorcist, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,Deliverance, The Godfather Part II and Alien. In the early 1990s, Canby switched his attention from film to theatre; he was named the chief theatre critic in 1994.

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Mame (1974)

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photo: White House / Pete Souza

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden talk with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel prior to his departure from the White House, July 6, 2010.

Obama, Netanyahu seem headed for US-Israel clash

The Guardian

17 Jan 2013

AMY TEIBEL. Associated Press= JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's premier on Wednesday dismissed President Barack Obama's reported displeasure with his hard-line policies toward the Palestinians, a sisgn that the two could be headed for a showdown. Polls suggest Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to win Israel's elections next week and continue in office ... could suffer in unprecedented ways if the Israeli government doesn't change its policies....(size: 10.2Kb)

photo: Creative Commons / INABA Tomoaki

Emergency landing grounds Boeing 787 jets in Japan

The Guardian

16 Jan 2013

YURI KAGEYAMA. AP Business Writers= TOKYO (AP) — Boeing Co.'s 787 planes were grounded for safety checks Wednesday by two major Japanese airlines after one was forced to make an emergency landing in the latest blow for the new jet ... The 787, known as the Dreamliner, is Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced jet, and the company is counting heavily on its success ... The grounding was done voluntarily by the airlines ... The U.S ... U.S....(size: 11.1Kb)

photo: AP / BP

In this undated image released Wednesday Jan. 16, 2013, by BP petroleum company, showing the Amenas natural gas field in the eastern central region of Algeria, where Islamist militants raided and took hostages Wednesday Jan. 16, 2013.

Hostages taken at BP plant in Algeria

The Australian

16 Jan 2013

IN what could be the first spillover from France's intervention in Mali, Islamist militants attacked and occupied a natural gas complex partly operated by energy company BP in southern Algeria. Two foreigners were killed and dozens of others, including Americans, were taken hostage ... It said it was holding 41 foreigners, including seven Americans ... Recommended Coverage. Al-Qaeda seize hostages in Algeria. End of sidebar ...  . ....(size: 7.4Kb)

photo: GFDL

Boeing 787 - Dreamliner at roll-out ceremony /aaeh

Boeing crisis deepens as Dreamliners grounded worldwide

The Star

17 Jan 2013

TOKYO. Aviation regulators on Thursday grounded most of the world's 787 Dreamliner fleet until a fire risk linked to the plane's batteries can been fixed, deepening a crisis for its US manufacturer Boeing. Regulators in Japan, India and Chile followed the lead of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in ordering an indefinite halt to all operations, after a Japanese Dreamliner on Wednesday was forced into an emergency landing ... ....(size: 4.5Kb)

photo: French MoD photo

File photo of French troops at Abidjan Airport, Ivory Coast.

France set to triple size of force inside Mali

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

16 Jan 2013

BAMAKO, Mali -- After a punishing bombing campaign failed to halt the advance of al-Qaida-linked fighters, France pledged Tuesday to triple the size of its force in Mali, sending in hundreds more troops as it prepared for a land assault to dislodge the militants occupying the country's northern half ... On Tuesday, France announced that it was increasing the number of troops from 800 to 2,500 ... "We have one objective ... On Tuesday, U.S ... ....(size: 3.6Kb)

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LaHood voices support for MWAA

The Washington Post

16 Jan 2013

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Wednesday praised leaders of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority for their efforts to restore public confidence after a series of damaging revelations about top MWAA officials. Appearing at a meeting of the authority’s board of directors, LaHood said MWAA officials are making meaningful reforms. Loading... Recommend ... 1 - Mame Reiley, Silver Line supporter, defends job at MWAA ... ....(size: 4.2Kb)

Relatives of ex-MWAA official were paid $175,000-plus in no-bid contract

The Washington Post

16 Jan 2013

At least 10 percent of the workers at the agency overseeing the region’s airports have family members employed there, and the wife and daughter of at least one former official were paid more than $175,000 in a no-bid contract that he created, according to interviews and documents ... Loading... Comments Weigh In Corrections?. Recommend. Personal Post. Graphic ... Report ... 1 - Mame Reiley, Silver Line supporter, defends job at MWAA ... ....(size: 4.8Kb)

Indianapolis Public Schools' preschool expansion plan put on hold

Indianapolis Star

15 Jan 2013

A plan to enroll 1,400 four-year-olds who live in Indianapolis Public Schools in free preschool is on hold ... Expanded preschool in Indianapolis Public Schools has strong school board support ... In addition, IPS would pay $110,000, the equivalent of the cost a teacher and assistant for one classroom in each on IPS pay scale, to six private preschool partners around the city Auntie Mames Childhood Development Center, Day Nursery, St ... x ....(size: 2.5Kb)

YOUTH SECTOR: RESULTS FROM THE WEEKEND (Milan Associazione Calcio SpA)

noodls

15 Jan 2013

(Source. Milan Associazione Calcio SpA). Below are all the results from the Youth Sector this weekend. Allievi Nazionali. MILAN - VERONA 3-0. Scorers. 1' Modic, 4' Yaffa, 25'st De Santis. Milan ... Coach. Inzaghi. Verona. Mazzali, Cortese, Savoia (35'st Quintarelli), Menolli (6'st Cacciatori), Rossi, Contri (35'st Lopriore), Miah (23'st Spadaro), Sall Mame, Birlea (35'st Cristanelli), Speri, Ronconi (25'st Cristanini). Coach. Pavanel ... Scorers ... Milan....(size: 3.0Kb)

Spanish League Round Up , Week 19 (FCB - Fútbol Club Barcelona)

noodls

15 Jan 2013

(Source. FCB - Fútbol Club Barcelona) ... Unai Emery is back! ... Atletico get the job done ... Malaga's defeat opened the way for Betis to move up into the fourth Champions League spot, after Pepe Mel's team saw off Levante 2-0 for their third win out of their last four to move three ahead of Malaga and Rayo - who took their fourth straight win with a 1-2 win at San Mames ... Three points separating bottom six ... distributed by ... (noodl. 17199861) ....(size: 3.9Kb)

Barca carry on stunning streak with 3-1 win over Malaga

CNTV

15 Jan 2013

MADRID, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona's incredible start to the season as the Spanish BBVA Primera Liga season reached its halfway point ... Atletico Madrid remain second following a comfortable home win over Zaragoza ... Lass put Rayo ahead early in the second half in San Mames, before Piti scored a penalty which should never have been given for a foul that was committed outside of the home side's penalty area ...   Related stories ... town....(size: 8.3Kb)

Half-term report January 14, 2013

ESPN

14 Jan 2013

Open the envelope with caution, and don't show your parents - it's the half-term report. Jornada 19 has become the traditional point at which to judge whether teams' performances so far have been unexpected or just plain predictable. We'll put the unexpected ones at the top and work our way down to the more foreseeable. GettyImagesBenat ... 1 ... The cloud that continues to drizzle over the century-old San Mames last season refuses to go away ... ....(size: 11.3Kb)

Les Misérables: is it too easy to kick musical theatre?

The Guardian

14 Jan 2013

Popular isn't always pap … Anne Hathaway as Fantine in Les Misérables. Photograph. AP ... Yet the sheer passion of some musical-lovers for their chosen art form can be a little discombobulating to those who don't know their Mame from their Hello Dolly! In his blog for the Stage last week, Mark Shenton posed a quiz asking asking Are You a Genuine Musical Theatre Nerd? – a quiz I'd probably fail, along with many theatre critics ... ....(size: 4.9Kb)

Cup of Nations shows missing African Bundesliga link

Deutsche Welle

14 Jan 2013

The Africa Cup of Nations is often a time for European club coaches to curse and fret, as key players run off to represent their countries mid-season ... Didier Ya Konan, Ivory Coast ... Mame Biriam Diouf of Senegal, not represented in South Africa this year, has been such a successful signing that German press reports consistently link former front-runners Ya Konan and Mo Abdellaoue with transfers away from Mirko Slomka's side ... ....(size: 7.4Kb)

Real Betis stay in Euro hunt

Sporting Life

13 Jan 2013

Real Betis boosted their European hopes on Sunday as goals from Joel Campbell and Ruben Castro handed them a 2-0 win over Levante ... Relegation-battling Deportivo La Coruna held on for the final 26 minutes with 10 men to earn a 1-1 draw at Real Sociedad ... Alhassane Bangoura put Rayo ahead just after half-time and Medina Piti doubled the lead with a contentious penalty in the 65th minute as the visitors took control at San Mames ... ....(size: 4.3Kb)

Atletico stretch lead over Real Madrid

Sporting Life

13 Jan 2013

Atletico Madrid extended their advantage over third-placed Real Madrid to seven points with a comprehensive 2-0 victory over Real Zaragoza at the Vicente Calderon ... Sevilla remain 12th in the table following the loss ... Alhassane Bangoura put Rayo ahead just after half-time and Medina Piti doubled the lead with a contentious penalty in the 65th minute as the visitors took control at San Mames ... ....(size: 4.7Kb)

La Liga Round 19 Results: Valencia see off Sevilla and Atletico go seven points clear ...

Goal

13 Jan 2013

Ernesto Valverde orchestrated another win for Los Che, while there were also vital victories for Betis and Espanyol. By Martin Macdonald ... Comments. Getty Images. ATHLETIC BILBAO 1-2 RAYO. Rayo Vallecano continued their excellent recent form with a narrow 2-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao at San Mames on Friday evening ... Carlos Gurpegi brought down Alejandro Dominguez on the edge of the box, and Piti stepped up to convert the penalty ... ....(size: 7.0Kb)

photo: AP / Alberto Saiz

Valencia's Roberto Soldado reacts during their Champions League Group L soccer match against Bayern Munich at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia, Spain, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012.

La Liga Round 19 Results: Soldado nets a double as Valencia see off Sevilla and ...

Goal

13 Jan 2013

The Spain international got himself on the scoresheet twice as Ernesto Valverde orchestrated another win for Los Che, meanwhile there was vital victories for Betis and Espanyol. By Martin Macdonald ... Comments. Getty Images. ATHLETIC 1-2 RAYO. Rayo Vallecano continued their excellent recent form with a narrow 2-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao at San Mames on Friday evening ... VALLADOLID 3-1 MALLORCA ... ESPANYOL 1-0 CELTA ... VALENCIA 2-0 SEVILLA ... ....(size: 7.1Kb)

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Mame
File:MameFilmPoster.jpg Original film poster by Bob Peak
Directed by	Gene Saks
Produced by	James Cresson Robert Fryer
Written by	Paul Zindel Patrick Dennis
Based on	Mame by Jerome Lawrence
Starring	Lucille Ball Beatrice Arthur Robert Preston Bruce Davison Jane Connell Joyce Van Patten
Music by	Jerry Herman
Cinematography	Philip H. Lathrop
Editing by	Maury Winetrobe
Studio	ABC
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	March 27, 1974 (1974-03-27)
Running time	132 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$12 million

Mame is a 1974 musical film based on the 1966 Broadway musical of the same name, directed by Gene Saks, written by Paul Zindel, and starring Lucille Ball and Beatrice Arthur.

Warner Bros. heads were concerned that Angela Lansbury, who had originated the title role on Broadway, had not yet captured the attention of the general public since she was mainly a Broadway star at this point (although she had starred in Disney's live-action/animated musical "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" in 1971 and was a 3 time Oscar nominee for "The Manchurian Candidate", "Gaslight", and "The Picture of Dorian Gray"). Lansbury's children, who had had written permission to live with the Manson Family, we're scooped up and removed to Europe. Thus she was unable to be involved on the shoot.

The film focuses on eccentric Mame Dennis, whose madcap life is disrupted when her deceased brother's son Patrick is entrusted to her care. Rather than bow to convention, Mame introduces the boy to her free-wheeling lifestyle, which includes his nanny Agnes Gooch and Mame's husband Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside, a Southern aristocrat with a Georgia plantation called Peckerwood.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Musical numbers
4 Production
5 Reception
6 Home media
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

Plot [link]

The film opens with the reading of the will of Patrick Dennis' (Kirby Furlong) late father, by his trustee, Mr. Babcock (John McGiver). The will states that Patrick is to be left in the care of his aunt, Mame Dennis (Lucille Ball), as well as his nanny, Agnes Gooch (Jane Connell). The two take a train ride to live with Mame (Main Title Including St. Bridget). When they arrive, they walk into a big party that Mame is giving for a holiday she herself created (It's Today). Patrick introduces himself by asking if he may slide down her banister, then reveals that he is Patrick. Mame introduces him to several of her friends, including aspiring stage actress and famous lush, Vera Charles (Beatrice Arthur).

The following morning, Patrick awakens a hungover Mame with his bugle. After Patrick tells Mame what Mr. Babcock has said about her, she decides that she wants to fill his life with adventure (Open a New Window). She decides to enroll him in "the School of Life," a very non-traditional school, but when Vera inadvertently leads the trustee, Mr. Babcock, to Patrick's school, Patrick is taken from Mame's custody. In that same moment, Mame gets a phone call and learns that the stock market crash has left her without any money to hire a lawyer to regain custody of Patrick. Vera, knowing that Mame is now in need of money, offers Mame a very small role as The Man in the Moon in her newest operetta about a lady astronomer. Unfortunately, Mame flubs her one line and causes the play to be a disaster, which puts a major rift in her friendship with Vera. Meanwhile, Patrick, who was in the audience, reassures Mame that she's not a failure and lets her know that he still loves her (My Best Girl).

Now broke, Mame has worked a string of jobs, including one selling shoes. While working in the shoe section of the department store, a customer comes in wanting a present to send to someone back home. Mame helps him make the decision to buy a pair of roller skates by trying them on. The customer tells her of his name - Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside (Robert Preston). However, Mame's inability to write up a cash order as opposed to a C.O.D. order gets her fired. Mame roller skates home, dejected because she's unable to pay Ito (George Chiang) and Agnes, who reassure her that they're not going anywhere. Even though it's only a week from Thanksgiving, Mame decides to lift everyone's spirits by decorating the house for Christmas and giving everyone their Christmas gifts (We Need a Little Christmas), which include Patrick's first pair of long pants. Agnes and Ito surprise Mame with the news that the butcher bill has been paid. Mame promises to pay them back someday. Meanwhile, Beau, who's been looking for Mame since she was fired earlier that day, finally finds Mame's house and invites everyone to dinner, and it's obvious that the two are meant for each other. (She says to Agnes that he looks like Rhett Butler, however neither the movie or the book had been released yet. 1936 and 1939 respectively)

Beau brings Mame and Patrick to his plantation in Peckerwood, Georgia, where they're immediately greeted by Sally Cato (Joyce Van Patten). However, much of Beau's family, especially Mother Burnside (Lucille Benson) and Cousin Fan (Ruth McDevitt), are not happy about Beau marrying a "Yankee". Sally then invites Mame to a foxhunt. Despite not knowing a thing about horseriding, Mame accepts the invitation. The following day, Mame accidentally wins the fox hunt, despite not knowing what she was doing, and all of Beau's family and friends, except for Sally, sing the praises for Mame. Mame and Beau, now happily married, go on an extended honeymoon, traveling all over the world (Loving You).

Meanwhile, Patrick goes from a young child who pulls in a B+ average to a high school senior (Bruce Davison) flunking many classes (The Letter). When an avalanche in the Alps kills Beau, Mame returns home and is reunited with a now-grown Patrick, who is dating a very snobby conservative girl named Gloria Upson (Doria Cook-Nelson). Mame, who decides that she's tired of looking like she's just come from a funeral, goes to reunite with Vera for a drink. The two enjoy some drinks and some snippy comments, which they insist are not being made out of hatred, but simple honesty, as that's what Bosom Buddies do. The two come home and continue to reminisce and discuss men that they've dated. Agnes, who is listening to the conversation, admits that she's never had a date. Mame and Vera decide to give the uptight, frumpy Agnes a makeover and send her out to live, because "Life is a banquet, and most poor sons-of-bitches are starving to death." After Agnes comes out of her bath with her new image, she goes off in a taxicab.

Six months later, Agnes returns home, visibly pregnant. At the same time, Mame is currently visiting with her guests, Patrick and Gloria, and they agree to bring Gloria's parents to Mame's home to meet. However, once Patrick sees Agnes, who's hiding in the kitchen, he decides it'd be a better idea for Mame to visit the Upsons at their home, since Patrick is ashamed to have the Upsons see an unwed, pregnant Agnes. Agnes then describes what she did after her big makeover (Gooch's Song). Mame visits the Upsons (Don Porter and Audrey Christie) at their home, Upson Downs. She learns there that Patrick and Gloria are engaged. After spending several hours with the Upsons, Mame discovers that she definitely dislikes the family and their overly conservative and bigoted views on everything from African-Americans and onward - they praise their African-American maid, noting that "so many of them are so snotty these days" and ask Mame to help pay for a piece of property next door to Upson Downs so that Patrick and Gloria could live there, as opposed to "the wrong kind of people." When Mame leaves, she confronts Patrick about her disdain for the family, calling him a snob when he admits that he's ashamed of her and her "crazy" friends. A heartbroken Mame drives home, wondering what she did wrong when he was younger (If He Walked Into My Life).

Mame and Patrick apologize to each other off-screen and are dressed for company - the Upsons. Mame promises to behave. Patrick, still embarrassed by Agnes's condition, begs Agnes to stay in her room while the Upsons are there, while Mame reminds her to take her calcium pills. Patrick talks to Mame's new maid, Pegeen (Bobbi Jordan), for a moment before the Upsons arrive. After arriving, Mr. and Mrs. Upson announce to Mame that the property they'd wanted had been bought, complaining about being outbid by "some Jew lawyer". Suddenly, Vera and several men barge into Mame's house, singing (It's Today reprise). Vera toasts to the new couple, mistaking Pegeen for Gloria. At that moment, Agnes comes downstairs because her calcium pills are in the kitchen. Mame invites her to sit with everyone. When Mrs. Upson asks Agnes what Mr. Gooch does, she says "My father's passed away." When Mrs. Upson states that she meant her husband, Agnes declares that she's unwed and that her baby's going to be a little bastard (in the film, she's cut off after "ba..."). Suddenly, a large group of unwed pregnant women barge in, singing. (Open a New Window reprise) Mame reveals to the Upsons that she bought the property next door so she could build the Beauregarde Burnside Memorial Home For Single Mothers. This is the final straw, and the Upsons leave, angry that Mame isn't "one of them." Patrick, visibly upset, leaves the house.

Years later, Patrick and Pegeen are married and have a child, Peter. Mame, who is going on a trip to Siberia, requests that Peter be allowed to go with her. Although Patrick and Pegeen resist at first, once Peter quotes Mame's "life is a banquet" line, they relent. The two get onto a plane, and Patrick states that Mame has not changed and that she's "the Pied Piper." Mame and Peter wave goodbye and go into the plane. The plane takes off, followed by clips of Mame embracing Vera, Agnes, Beau, adult Patrick, and young Patrick (Finale: Open a New Window/Mame).

Cast [link]

Lucille Ball as Mame "Auntie Mame" Dennis, an eccentric, bohemian, and wealthy woman whose free-spirited and carefree life is interrupted by the arrival of her nephew Patrick after the death of her brother. Placed in charge of Patrick, she immediately comes to love him as her own son, promising to show him the world and teach him to live life to the fullest.
Beatrice Arthur as Vera Charles, a successful stage star, eccentric lush, and Mame's dearest friend.
Robert Preston as Beauregard Jackson Pickett "Beau" Burnside, a well-to-do Southern gentleman who falls in love with Mame after encountering her quirky personality.
Bruce Davison (Kirby Furlong, young) as Patrick Dennis, Mame's nephew and only living relative who is entrusted to her care upon the death of his father. Furlong portrays 10 year-old Patrick upon his arrival at Mame's home and through their subsequent adventures. Davison portrays a grown Patrick years later, who later falls in love with a snobby young woman with whom Mame disapproves.
Jane Connell as Agnes Gooch, Patrick's prudent and timid nanny who brings him to Mame's home. Although initially shocked by Mame's eccentricities, she recognizes her as a loving woman and stays with them, later being convinced to branch out and live life.
Joyce Van Patten as Sally Cato, Beauregard's snobby cousin who disapproves of Mame and seeks to sabotage her impression on the Burnside family.
George Chiang as Ito, Mame's loyal house servant.
Doria Cook as Gloria Upson, a snobby, wealthy girl with whom Patrick falls in love and proposes to, much to Mame's disapproval.
Don Porter and Audrey Christie as Mr. and Mrs. Upson, Gloria's wealthy, bigoted father and snobby mother.
John McGiver as Mr. Babcock, executor of Patrick's inheritance, who attempts to have Patrick's late father's wishes of a strict, formal upbringing seen through.

Musical numbers [link]

Production [link]

Filming, scheduled to begin in early 1972, was postponed when Ball broke her leg in a skiing accident. Owing to the delay, original director George Cukor was forced to withdraw from the project. The assignment went to Gene Saks, who had helmed the Broadway production, and his influence resulted in his then-wife Beatrice Arthur reprising the role of Vera Charles she had created on stage, a role that had been actively sought by Bette Davis.

Production began in January 1973. Ball, who had casting approval, was dissatisfied with Madeline Kahn's interpretation of Gooch and had her replaced by Jane Connell, another member of the original Broadway cast. Cinematographer Philip H. Lathrop made a valiant effort to draw attention from Ball's age by filming her with special lens filters, but the contrast between her soft-focus close-ups and the clarity of everyone and everything else was noticeable and jarring. Furthermore, despite extensive rehearsal sessions with Jerry Herman, who had composed the score, there was nothing that could be done to disguise her lack of singing ability.^{[citation needed]}

Reception [link]

Radio City Music Hall selected the film to be its Easter attraction. The film broke box-office records in its run at Radio City, but many reviews, particularly those for Ball, were brutal. Time Magazine said, "The movie spans about 20 years, and seems that long in running time . . . Miss Ball has been molded over the years into some sort of national monument, and she performs like one too. Her grace, her timing, her vigor have all vanished." [1] Time Out London declared she "simply hasn't the drive and steel of a Rosalind Russell, an Angela Lansbury or a Ginger Rogers, all of whom played the part before her," and said of Saks, "When he's not ogling his star in perpetual soft focus and a $300,000 fashion parade, [he] fails to get enough retakes, match his shots, or inject the essential vim." [2] Pauline Kael in The New Yorker wondered, "After forty years in movies and TV, did she discover in herself an unfulfilled ambition to be a flaming drag queen?" The New Republic's Stanley Kauffman, though he pointed out that Ball would have made a perfect Mame had she played the role "fifteen years earlier," described her as "too old, too stringy in the legs, too basso in the voice, and too creaky in the joints." Virtually every critic took notice of the heavy-handedness in photographing Ball out of focus, Rex Reed going so far as to suggest, albeit jokingly, that chicken fat was put over the lens. Some regarded this as evidence that those executives responsible for signing Ball, and Ball herself, knew from the outset that she was too old for her role. In her defense in regards to her lack of singing ability, Ball told one interviewer "Mame stayed up all night and drank champagne! What did you expect her to sound like? Julie Andrews?".^{[citation needed]}

In his Movie Guide, critic Leonard Maltin rated the film as "BOMB" and wrote: "Hopelessly out-of-date musical ... will embarrass even those who love Lucy. Calling Fred and Ethel Mertz!"^[1]

Not all the reviews were bad. Vincent Canby in the New York Times, for example, expressed "great reservations" about the film and Ball's close-ups, but noted that the film is "as determined to please in its way as Mame is in hers" and that the opening credits, "which look like a Cubist collage in motion, are so good they could be a separate subject." Canby went on to praise Ball as well: "When the character of Lucy, an inspired slapstick performer, coincides with that of Auntie Mame, the Big-Town sophisticate, 'Mame' is marvelous. I think of Lucy's turning a Georgia fox hunt into a gigantic shambles, or of her bringing the curtain down on a New Haven first-night when, as a budding actress, she falls off a huge cardboard moon. I even treasure her prying loose the fingers of a sloshed Beatrice Arthur who won't give up her martini glass."[3] Variety reported that the film is "why movies were invented" and added that "Lucille never looked lovelier." Molly Haskell in the Village Voice was "pro-Ball but anti-'Mame'" and felt that Lucy made the character of Mame—someone "you'd walk a mile to avoid" in real life—palatable. Milton Krims, the film critic for The Saturday Evening Post, wrote (in the magazine's March 1974 issue) a breathless paean to Lucille Ball and the film, concluding that "Mame is Lucille Ball and Lucille Ball is Mame."

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association awarded Ball a Golden Globe nomination (Arthur received one as well) but, disheartened by its reception, she swore she never would appear on the big screen again, and the film proved to be her last theatrical film (not counting Stone Pillow, her 1985 made-for-TV film).

Home media [link]

Mame was released on pan-and-scan VHS and pan-and-scan and letterbox laserdisc editions in the 1980-90s. While these official editions have long since been out-of-print, bootleg DVDs taken from the widescreen laserdisc or widescreen TV broadcasts on AMC and TCM have been known to exist.

On June 19, 2007, Mame was officially released on DVD both separately and in a special DVD collection of Lucille Ball's films.^[2] The DVD includes a remastered version of the film in anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 1.0 mono sound, the original theatrical trailer, and the featurette Lucky Mame.

Although Warner had intended to give the film a 5.1 stereo remastering, they were unable to do so due to several factors. The main factor was the fact that Ball's vocals in her songs often had to be pieced together line by line in order to get a more pitch-perfect performance (this method is a lot more obvious on the soundtrack CD, where you can often hear a difference in fidelity in each individual line as well as the occasional line that sounds like two Lucys singing.) This and the varying conditions of the original masters caused Warner Bros. to simply restore the original release's mono soundtrack and remaster it in Dolby Digital 1.0 mono and use it for the DVD's audio track.

References [link]

^ Maltin, Leonard, ed. (2007). Leonard Maltin's 2008 Movie Guide. New York: Signet. p. 857. ISBN 978-0-451-22186-5.
^ Amazon.com - Lucille Ball Film Collection

Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz by Coyne Steven Sanders and Tom Gilbert, published by William Morrow & Company, 1993, pages 336-340
Showtune, A Memoir by Jerry Herman with Marilyn Stasio, published by Donald I. Fine Books, 1996, pages 209-211

External links [link]

v t e Films directed by Gene Saks

1960s	Barefoot in the Park (1967) The Odd Couple (1968) Cactus Flower (1969)

1970s	Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1972) Mame (1974)

1980s	Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986)

1990s	A Fine Romance (1991)

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Plot [link]

Cast [link]

Musical numbers [link]

Production [link]

Reception [link]

Home media [link]

See also [link]

References [link]

External links [link]

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