Krishna playing flute. Statue at the Sri Mariamman Temple (Singapore).

The venu (Sanskrit: वेणु; veṇu) is a bamboo transverse flute used in the Carnatic music of South India. Although it is often called Carnatic flute or simply flute in English, venu is the instrument's ancient Sanskrit name. It is also called by various other names in the languages of South India, including pullankuzhal (புல்லாங்குழல்) in Tamil, പുല്ലാങ്കുഴല്‍ in Malayalam, and ಕೊಳಲು (koLalu) in Kannada. It is known as pillana grovi (పిల్లన గ్రోవి) in Telugu (Andhra Pradesh). It is called Bansuri in Marathi (Maharashtra), and is used extensively for Hindustani classical music.

Construction and technique[link]

One of the oldest musical instruments of India, the instrument is a keyless transverse flute made of bamboo. The fingers of both hands are used to close and open the holes. It has a blowing hole near one end, and eight closely placed finger holes. The instrument comes in various sizes.

The venu is capable of producing two and half octaves with the help of overblowing and cross fingering. The flute is like the human voice in that it is monophonous and also has the two and half octaves sound reproduction. Sliding the fingers on and off the holes allows for a great degree of ornamentation, important in the performance of raga-based music.

History[link]

The flute (Venu) finds great mention in Indian mythology and folklore having been listed as amongst the 3 original instruments meant for music along with the Saraswati veena and mridangam (veena-venu-mridanga trinity). However it is strange that there is no name mentioned for the typical flute that the Lord plays.

The venu is associated with the Hindu god Krishna, who is often depicted playing it. This kind of flute is mainly used in South India.The Lord Vishnu is portrayed as Sri Venugopala - playing the flute of Creation.

Until the late 19th century, the Carnatic flute (better known in Tamil as the pullanguzhal), a 8-hole bamboo flute, the South Indian equivalent of the North Indian 6-hole bansuri flute, had never been used in Carnatic concerts. Sharaba Shastri has been characterized by his followers as a musical genius after experimenting and creating the Carnatic flute. He is also known for bringing the Carnatic flute to the fore of Carnatic music concerts as an influential instrument. The Sharaba Shastri style or bani of playing was established and was carried on by his disciple Sanjeeva Rao. However it was the self-taught "Mali" who brought a revolution in popularising the Carnatic flute and whose legacy was carried on by Ramani and other national and international disciples of Mali.

Venuists[link]

	sound samples Carnatic 8-hole flute pitch E
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

[edit] Venu players of the past

• Palladam Sanjiva Rao
• H. Ramachandra Shastry, a disciple of Palladam Sanjiva Rao.
• T. R. Mahalingam, a child venuist prodigy who started playing the flute at the age of five years. He is most popularly known as "Mali" or sometimes "Flute Mali."
• B.N. Suresh
• T. Viswanathan, grandson of Veena Dhanammal and brother of Balasaraswati
• T. K. Radhakrishnan, son of the Legendary composer Lalithadasar and disciple of Palladam Sanjiva Rao
• T. A. Hariharan - Disciple of Sri T K Radhakrishnan and staff Artiste of AIR Chennai
• Cochin Ranganathan known for his unique style of Swaraprastharas

[edit] Venu players of the present

• B. Shankar Rao (b. 1922), largely self taught, great friend and informal student of Late Mali, has enriched the field of Carnatic music for seven decades and continues to do so personally and through his students.
• Prof. Dr. Prapancham Sita Raman, a Senior Disciple of Flute T.R.MAHALINGAM * N. Ramani, (b. 1934), disciple of T. R. Mahalingam
• T. S. Sankaran - Disciple of T R Mahalingam
• Sikkil Sisters - Kunjumani & Neela (b. 1930 and 1940)
• Sikkil Mala Chandrasekar, (b. 1963)
• S. Shashank, (b. 1978) a child venuist prodigy who started to play the flute at the age of six years and give his first concert performance at the age of twelve years.
• K. S. Gopalakrishnan
• G.S. Srikrishnan
• K.Bhaskaran, (b. 1961), disciple of Smt. Mayavaram Saraswati Ammal.

See also[link]

• Bansuri: The bansuri from the Hindustani music tradition is a 7/8 holed flute. Lord Krishna was also known as Murali-dhara (one who is carrying Murali or flute) and Venu-gopala (Gopala playing the Venu) and the music from his flute was called as Venu Naadham.^{[citation needed]}
• Carnatic Music
• Hindustani Music

External links[link]

Karingozhakkal Mani Mani (K. M. Mani) is a veteran Indian politician and the leader of Kerala Congress (M), one of the factions of the Kerala Congress. He holds the records of having presented the maximum number of ten budgets in the Kerala Legislative Assembly as Finance Minister and also as the longest-serving member of Kerala Assembly. He holds the distinction of being the longest-serving minister in the Government of Kerala and having continuously represented from Palai legislative constituency since its inception.^[2] He is the MLA of Palai Legislative constituency for the last 45 years beginning from 1965. He is known for his political tactics as comparable to veteran politician K. Karunakaran. He lost the Chief Minister post of Kerala in 1979 twixt cup and lip.^{[citation needed]} Mani is regarded as the 'God Father' of all factions of Kerala Congress parties in the state.^{[citation needed]}

Early life[link]

He was born to Thomas Mani and Aleyamma Mani in 1933 in a Syrian Catholic Christian family at Marangattupilly village in Kottayam district of Kerala and is married to Kuttiyamma. They have a son, five daughters, and thirteen grandkids. His son Jose K Mani, contested unsuccessfully from the Muvattupuzha parliament constituency in 2004. Later in 2009 Jose K Mani was elected as the MP of Kottayam parliament constituency by defeating sitting MP Suresh Kurup of LDF. He is married to Nisha Jose. Mani practiced as a lawyer before entering politics as an active member of the Indian National Congress. He studied in Kuravilangad at St. Mary's High School and in Palai at St. Thomas High School. He was interested in elocution from a young age and participated in elocution competitions. He started his political career by being the Congress president of Marangattupilly ward. He married Kuttiyamma when he was a Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee member.

Political career[link]

Mani practiced as a lawyer before entering into politics as an active member of Indian National Congress. He served as the Kottayam DCC (District Congress Committee) Secretary from 1960 till the formation of Kerala Congress in 1964. He was elected to Kerala Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1965 from the Palai Assembly Constituency (now PALA) Constituency of Kottayam district, and since then he won all the ten elections that followed in 1967, 1970, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011. He was minister for Home Affairs (April 1977 to September 1978 and again from October 1978 to July 1979), Finance and Law (January 1980 - October 1981, December 1981-March 1982 and again from May 1982-March 1982-March 1986), Irrigation and law(1987), Revenue and Law(1987), Revenue and Law (June 1991 to March 1996),Revenue and Law(2001 to 2006). He has never lost an election to the Legislative Assembly.

He lost the Chief Minister post of Kerala in 1979 twixt cup and lip when P K Vasudevan Nair resigned. Then C. H. Mohammed Koya became Chief Minister and after 2 months Mani withdrew his party's support on that government and C. H. resigned. Again Mani got a chance to become the Chief Minister, but with the interference of Congress party the Assembly was dissolved in favour of all those who did not wish him to become the Chief Minister.

In the faction ridden Kerala Congress, Mani is accused by political foes as having engineered many a split in the party. He is also famous for describing the Kerala Congress as a party "which splits as it grows and grows as it splits".

In his tenure as being a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), he is second only to K. R. Gowri Amma.

In a public function organised at Ramapuram, Palai on October 2009, M. M. Jacob, senior Congress leader and former Meghalaya Governor said that he advised Mani in 1965 to contest in the Congress party label and if it was done Mani would have become the Chief Minister very early. Again he said that now Mani is fully eligible for the post of Chief Minister.^[3]

In 2009, Mani got the P. R. Francis award for the best social worker of Kerala. After presenting the award to Mani in a function organised at Thrissur, Congress leader Oommen Chandy invited him to Congress party. But Mani rejected.^[4]

On 2 November 2009, P. C. George faction of the Kerala Congress decided to merge with Kerala Congress (M). This was a major breakthrough in the Kerala politics since George abused and criticised Mani for many years.^[5]

On 30 April 20, P. J. Joseph resigned his ministerial post and declared that his Kerala Congress is going to merge with Kerala Congress (M). Political analysts have estimated that this decision will help Kerala Congress to sweep almost all the assembly seats in Central Travancore region and will create a new diversion in Kerala politics.^[6]

On 13 May 2011, Mani recorded his 12th consecutive victory from his home constituency of Palai by defeating the Left front candidate Mani C. Kappen by a lead of 5,500 votes.

Contributions[link]

As finance minister of Kerala state, he initiated a lot of reforms that uplifted farmers of the state.^{[citation needed]} When he was the electricity minister, he introduced 'Light Revolution' which brought electricity to a massive number of households. He did a lot for the development of Kottayam and Idukki districts.^{[citation needed]} He advocates 'toiling class' theory which is for the liberation and upliftment of lower middle class through progressive reforms and taxation policy. His 'toiling class' theory negates 'class struggle' whereas it stands for 'class collaboration' According to Mani, 'toiling class' theory is an alternative to socialism and capitalism. In a recent seminar organized by Centre for Reform and Research, he stated that "left parties cannot resist global changes".^[7]

He is the author of Fiscal Problems of Kerala-Causes and Remedial Measures, The People's Socialism and The Eighth Five Year Plan-An alternative approach.^[8]

References[link]

Ravi Teja (born Bhupatiraju Ravi Shankar Raju on 26 January 1968) is an Indian Telugu film actor. He won the Nandi Award for Best Actor for the film Neninthe in 2008. He has acted in other films including Avunu Valliddaru Ista Paddaru, Idiot, Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi, Venky, Bhadra, Vikramarkudu, Krishna, Kick, and Mirapakaay. These successful films have established him within a short period of time as one of the leading actors in Tollywood.

Early life[link]

Ravi Teja was born as Bhupatiraju Ravishankar Raju to father Bhupatiraju Rajgopal Raju and mother Rajya Lakshmi Bhupatiraju on 26 January 1968 in the Indian village of Jaggampeta, Andhra Pradesh, India. Ravi Teja's father was a pharmacist and mother was a homemaker. He is the eldest of three sons and the other two Bharath and Raghu are also actors. Ravi Teja spent most of his childhood in Northern India because his father used to move very often due to his work. Due to that, his schooling was done in Jaipur, Delhi, Mumbai and Bhopal. Ravi Teja completed his schooling at N.S.M. public school. Later on he moved to Vijayawada along with his family and completed his Bachelors in Arts at Siddhartha Degree College. From early child hood Ravi Teja had dreamt of acting in films. As a result, in 1988 he went to Chennai to start his career in films.

Personal life[link]

Ravi Teja got married to Kalyani in 2002.^[1] The couple have two children, Mokshadha (b. 2003) and Mahadhan (b. 2006).^[2] He is known to be good friends with Puri Jagannadh.

Career[link]

Early career (1990-1996)[link]

In the following years of his arrival to Chennai, Ravi Teja struggled to get even a small opportunity to prove himself at acting. Strong willed, Ravi never gave up on his dream to be an actor. Y. V. S. Chowdary and Gunasekhar were his roommates during struggling days^[3] Finally after few years of struggle, he began his career with small roles in films like Karthavyam (1991),^[4] Chaitanya (1991) and Aaj Ka Goonda Raj (1992). After gaining few years of experience, Ravi became an assistant director. He worked in both television and films. As an assistant director, he worked in several Bollywood as well as Telugu projects including Prathibandh, Aaj Ka Goondaraj, and Criminal.^[5] He met Krishna Vamsi and worked as an assistant director under him for the 1996 hit film Ninne Pelladutha. Vamsi also gave Ravi an opportunity to act in a small role in that film. He continued to work as an assistant director for few other films.^[6]

[edit] Sindhooram, Nee Kosam and breakthrough (1997-2000)

In 1997, while still working as an assistant director, Ravi got an opportunity to act in the film Sindhooram directed by Krishna Vamsi. Vamsi cast Ravi as one of the lead actors. The film was critically acclaimed and won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu. Ravi Teja's performance was critically acclaimed and was appreciated by the movie-goers. This was the turning point for Ravi's acting career.

Following the fame he got, he continued acting in small yet significant roles in films like Seetharamaraju, Padutha Teeyaga, Manasichhi Choodu and S. V. Krishna Reddy's Premaku Velayara. He became well known to Telugu movie-goers with these films and was acclaimed for his acting. In 1999, he was cast in a leading role by Srinu Vaitla for Nee Kosam co-starring Maheswari. The film was critically acclaimed and won the Silver Nandi for Best Film. Ravi Teja won the prestigious Nandi Award for Best Actor Special Jury for his performance. This was Ravi's first award. Following this, he started appearing in more significant roles such as Krishna Vamsi's Samudram, Chiranjeevi's Annayya and Budget Padmanabham. He also appeared in lead roles in multi-starrer films such as Kshemanga Velli Labanga Randi, Tirumala Tirupathi Venkatesa, Sakuntumba Sapari Vare Sametham and Ammayi Kosam.

Lead roles and success (2001–2005)[link]

In 2001, Ravi Teja's association with Puri Jagannadh began when the later cast Ravi as the lead role in Itlu Sravani Subramanyam. The movie was a commercial hit and got Ravi Teja much required success as a solo lead actor. For the second time, Ravi Teja won the Nandi Special Jury Award for his performance. In 2002, his next film Avunu Valliddaru Ista Paddaru, directed by Vamsy and co-starring Kalyani was released. The film was a successful at the box office and won Ravi lot of acclaim. The year also saw Ravi in Idiot. Directed by Puri Jagannadh and co-starring Rakshita, the film was a blockbuster hit and Ravi's performance and dialogue delivery were praised by critics and movie-goers alike. With three consecutive successes, Ravi Teja became a big name in Telugu cinema.

The year also saw the release of Krishna Vamsi's Khadgam. Ravi Teja was cast as one of the lead actors. The movie was a huge success at the box office and won Sarojini Devi Award for a Film on National Integration. Ravi's portrayal of a young wannabe actor won him the Nandi Special Jury Award for the third time and his performance was praised^[7]. In 2003, Ravi again worked with director Puri Jagannadh for Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi. The film co-starring Asin became a blockbuster hit and Jeevi of idlebrain praised him:"Ravi Teja did well. His strength lies in his dialogue delivery and reckless body language"^[8]. The year also saw Ravi working in commercially successful films like Dongodu, co-starring Kalyani and directed by Bheemineni Srinivas and Veede, co-starring Aarthi Agarwal and directed by Ravi Raja Pinisetty. In the same year, Ravi was also seen in films like Ee Abbayee Chala Manchodu, Anveshana and Oka Raju Oka Rani, which failed to do well at the box office.

In 2004, Raviteja was seen in Venky, co-starring Sneha. The film was directed by Srinu Vaitla, who previously made the critically acclaimed Nee Kosam with Ravi. The film was commercially successful and was declared a hit, Idlebrain wrote:"His comedy is very good in the first half. His antics with Siddanthi and the way he curses himself in front of the mirror is hilarious"^[9]. The same year saw Ravi acting in Naa Autograph, co-starring Gopika and Bhumika Chawla. The film was directed by cinematographer turned director S. Gopal Reddy. It was successful at box office and Ravi won accolades for his performance in the film especially a critic wrote:"Ravi Teja delivers a stunning performance as a dejected lover"^[10]. The same year had Ravi in Chanti. The film was directed by Sobhan and was a failure at the box office. In 2005, Ravi was seen in commercially successful hit Bhadra. It was directed by Boyapati Srinu and Ravi was paired alongside Meera Jasmine. He was also seen in Bhageeratha, directed by Rasool Ellore and co-starring Shriya Saran; the film performed well at the box office. He also worked in the crime film Shock, directed by Harish Shankar and co-starring Jyothika and produced by Ram Gopal Varma, the film was unsuccessful at the box-office.

Commercial stardom (2006–2010)[link]

In 2006, Raviteja worked with director S. S. Rajamouli for Vikramarkudu. Co-starring Anushka Shetty, the film became a blockbuster hit, Jeevi praised his performance:"Vikramarkudu is the best film of Ravi Teja so far in histrionics aspect. He did both characters of Athali Sathi Babu and Vikram Rathod equally well, His mannerism of ‘jintata’ is simply superb"^[11]. Later in 2006, Raviteja was seen in Khatarnak, directed by Amma Rajasekhar and co-starring Ileana D'Cruz, the film was unsuccessful and bombed at the box office. In 2007, Raviteja was seen working for the third time with director Srinu Vaitla for Dubai Seenu. Co-starring Nayantara, the film was very successful at the box office and was declared a hit. The year also saw Ravi doing a cameo in Chiranjeevi's Shankar Dada Zindabad. In 2008, Raviteja was seen in the blockbuster hit Krishna. Co-starring Trisha Krishnan and directed by V. V. Vinayak, the film was released for Sankranthi and performed very well at the box office. In August 2008, Raviteja was seen in Baladur. The film was declared a flop and was unsuccessful at the box office. Later in the year, Ravi again collaborated with director Puri Jagganath for Neninthe. Although the film was not successful at the box office, Ravi Teja's portrayal of an upcoming assistant director in the film won him the prestigious Nandi Award for Best Actor. This was Ravi's fourth time winning the Nandi award.

In 2009, Raviteja worked with director Surender Reddy for Kick. Co-starring Ileana D'Cruz, the film was declared a blockbuster and performed amazingly well at the box office. Later that summer, he was seen in Anjaneyulu. The film had an average run at the box office. In 2010, he was seen in the multi-starrer Shambo Shiva Shambo alongside Allari Naresh, Siva Balaji and Priyamani — a remake of 2009 Tamil hit film Naadodigal. The Telugu version was unsuccessful although Ravi won accolades for his performance. The year also saw Raviteja in the film Don Seenu, directed by Gopichand Malineni. Co-starring Shriya Saran, it was very successful at the box office and was declared as one of the biggest hits of 2010.

"Mass Maharaja" and current work (2011–present)[link]

In 2011, Ravi Teja was seen in blockbuster hit film Mirapakaay, directed by Harish Shankar. Co-starring Richa Gangopadhyay and Deeksha Seth, it performed very well at the box office. Ravi was credited as "Mass Maharaja" for this film, implying his massive following in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh: "Mass Maharaj" Ravi Teja. The year had him acting in the experimental film Dongala Mutha under the direction of Ram Gopal Varma. With a crew of only eight people including Varma, filming was completed within five days^[12] and was made with a budget of 6.5 lakh budget.^[13] Later that year, Ravi Teja appeared in Veera, directed by Ramesh Varma and co-starring Kajal Aggarwal and Taapsee Pannu. The film received mixed reviews and had an average run at the box office. He also did a cameo in Ram Gopal Varma's Katha Screenplay Darshakatvam Appalaraju. In 2012, Ravi was seen in Nippu under the direction of Gunasekhar. Produced by YVS Chowdary and co-starring Deeksha Seth, the film was released on 17 February 2012. The film received mixed reviews upon release. The year will also see Ravi Teja in Daruvu, directed by Souryam fame Shiva and co-starring Taapsee Pannu. The movie is scheduled to be released on 25 May 2012. Ravi Teja will collaborate again with Puri Jagannadh for the film Devudu Chesina Manushulu, co-starring Ileana D'Cruz. The movie is expected to begin filming in March 2012 and be released in June 2012. Apart from these Ravi Teja will be seen in an untitled Venkat Prabhu project. It is said to have Ravi Teja as the other protagonist and belongs to the buddy cop genre.^[14]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ravi Teja at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2010)

Frankie Avalon
Avalon in 1976.
Born	Francis Thomas Avallone (1939-09-18) September 18, 1939 (age 72)[1] Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Occupation	Singer, actor
Years active	1951–present
Spouse	Kathryn Diebel (m. 1963) «start: (1963)»"Marriage: Kathryn Diebel to Frankie Avalon" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Frankie_Avalon)

Frankie Avalon (born September 18, 1939)^[1] is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.

Career[link]

By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints. In 1959, "Venus" (5 weeks #1) and "Why" went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. "Why" was the last #1 of the 1950s. Avalon had 31 charted U.S. Billboard singles from 1958 to late 1962, including "Just Ask Your Heart" (U.S. #7), "I'll Wait For You" (U.S. #15), "Bobby Sox to Stockings" (U.S. #8), and "A Boy Without a Girl" (U.S. #10). Most of his hits were written and/or produced by Bob Marcucci, head of Chancellor Records.

Teamed frequently with Annette Funicello, Avalon starred in a number of popular "beach" comedy movies during the 1960s. The wholesome and romantic coupling of "Frankie and Annette" in summer movies such as Beach Party and Beach Blanket Bingo became iconic figures in American films during that era.

Avalon also had straight dramatic parts in the John Wayne historical western film The Alamo, as well as the science-fiction story Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961) with Barbara Eden.^[2]

Materializing as a character called Teen Angel, his performance of "Beauty School Dropout" in the hit 1978 film of the musical Grease introduced Avalon to a new generation of viewers.

Avalon appeared in nearly two dozen TV episodes, including ABC's The Bing Crosby Show and The Patty Duke Show, appearing often as himself. Later, he became a national television spokesperson for Sonic Drive-In.In 1965 he appeared in the Combat! episode "Brother, Brother" as a childhood friend of Pfc.Kirby, played by Jack Hogan.

The 1980 film The Idolmaker, written by Ed Di Lorenzo and directed by Taylor Hackford, was a thinly-disguised biography of Avalon ("Tommy Dee" in the film) as well as 1950s teenage star Fabian (called "Caesare" in the film), along with songwriter/producer Bob Marcucci (called "Vinnie Vacarri"). In the movie, Dee clashes with the record producer and younger singer Caesare, who he feels threatens his career. Eventually, Dee and Caesare quit the label, but their record careers collapse just as the British Invasion begins. The real Fabian threatened a lawsuit, despite the filmmakers' insistence that the film presented only fictional characters (though Marcucci was a paid consultant). Avalon denied most of the movie's events.

Avalon married Kathryn Diebel on January 19, 1963. She was a former beauty pageant winner, and Avalon met her while playing cards at a friend's house. He told his friend that Kay was the girl he was going to marry. His agent warned Avalon that marriage would spoil his teen idol mystique. Still together, they have eight children - Frankie Jr., Tony, Dina, Laura, Joseph, Nicolas, Kathryn and Carla. They have 10 grandchildren. Frankie Jr. is a drummer and Tony, the second oldest son, plays guitar and teaches at the Rock Nation School. Both sons play on tour with their father.

In 1987 Avalon and Annette Funicello returned to movies with Back to the Beach. In 1989 they also appeared as themselves in cameo roles out jogging the streets in Troop Beverly Hills. Not long afterwards, Funicello was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and retired.

Afterwards, Avalon turned to marketing and created Frankie Avalon Products, a line of health and cosmetic aids. Avalon promotes his products on the Home Shopping Network with host Bob Circosta.

He made a cameo appearance as himself with Robert DeNiro in the 1995 film, Casino.

In recent years, Avalon has starred in stage productions of Grease in the role of Teen Angel and Tony n' Tina's Wedding as a caricature of himself. Additionally, in 2007, he performed "Beauty School Dropout" with the four remaining female contenders (Kathleen Monteleone, Allie Schulz, Ashley Spencer, and winner Laura Osnes) for the role of Sandy on the NBC television reality show Grease: You're the One that I Want!

On April 8, 2009, he performed on American Idol.

Chart hits: 1958-1960[link]

• "Trumpet Sorrento" (1954 instrumental, X label)
• "De De Dinah" (Chancellor 1011) #7 1958
• "You Excite Me" (Chancellor 1016) #49 1958
• "Gingerbread" (Chancellor 1021) #9 1958; #30 UK
• "I'll Wait For You" (Chancellor 1026 #15 (B-side "What Little Girl" reached #79) 1958
• "Venus" (Chancellor 1031) #1 1959; #16 UK
• "Bobby Sox to Stockings" (Chancellor 1036) #8 (B-side "A Boy Without A Girl" reached #10) 1959
• "Just Ask Your Heart" (Chancellor 1040) #7 (B-side "Two Fools" reached #54) 1959
• "Why" (Chancellor 1045) #1 (B-side "Swingin' On A Rainbow" reached #39); 20 UK 1959
• "Don't Throw Away All Those Teardrops" (Chancellor 1048) #22; #37 UK 1960
• "Where Are You" (Chancellor 1052) #32 (B-side "Tuxedo Junction" reached #82) 1960
• "Togetherness" (Chancellor 1056) #26 (B-side "Don't Let Love Pass Me By" reached #85) 1960
• "A Perfect Love" (Chancellor 1065) #47 (B-side "The Puppet Song" reached #56) 1960^[3]

In 1999, Frankie Avalon released a double compilation of various artists labeled Frankie Avalon's Good Guys.^[4]

Legacy[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2011)

He was mentioned in the System of a Down song "Old School Hollywood". The song supposedly is about Daron Malakian's experience in a celebrity baseball game, where he and Avalon were both ignored.^{[citation needed]}

Avalon is also mentioned in "It Takes Two", a song from the hit musical Hairspray, sung by the character Link Larkin, and in a song by the Wu Tang Clan called "The City" which refers to his experiences of being a big part of the beach party film genre ("Ride the wave like Frankie Avalon").

One of numerous obscure cultural references present in Midway's video game Mortal Kombat 3 was a lo-res image of Frankie Avalon's face that would dart up in the lower right-hand corner of the screen when Goro killed his opponent by knocking him into the spike pit on the Bridge level.

His song "Venus" was featured in Cranium Command (1989–2005), an attraction at Epcot's Wonders of Life Pavilion (now closed) at Walt Disney World. In the attraction, a 12-year-old boy named Bobby (Scott Curtis), tries to survive the pressures of life and falls in love with a beautiful girl named Annie (Natalie Gregory) at school.

He and his song "Venus" are mentioned in Wendy Wasserstein's 2005 play Third. The main character, English professor Laurie Jameson, watches a PBS reunion show featuring Avalon singing the song, and sings a line of it to her daughter. In stage productions of the show, part of the song is played and a portion of the supposed PBS special is screened as part of the scenery.

He is also mentioned in Adam Sandler's 2008 comedy, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, for his haircut, which the Zohan (Sandler's character) thinks is the latest hairdo.

He is also numerously referenced in the 1994 film, The Stöned Age, in which he makes an ending scene cameo appearance.

His song "Venus" additionally appeared in season 4 of the TV series Dexter in which John Lithgow's character, Arthur Mitchell, plays it to remember his deceased sister.

Filmography[link]

• Jamboree (1957)
• Alakazam the Great (1960) (voice in English dub)
• Guns of the Timberland (1960)
• The Alamo (1960)
• Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961)
• Sail a Crooked Ship (1961)
• Panic in Year Zero! (1962)
• Operation Bikini (1963)
• The Castilian (1963)
• The Eleventh Hour as Larry Thatcher in episode entitled "A Tumble from a High White House" (1963)
• Drums of Africa (1963)
• Beach Party (1963)
• Muscle Beach Party (1964)
• Bikini Beach (1964)
• Pajama Party (1964)
• Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)
• I'll Take Sweden (1965)
• Ski Party (1965)
• How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)
• Sergeant Dead Head (1965)
• Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965)
• Fireball 500 (1966)
• The Million Eyes of Sumuru (1967)
• Skidoo (1968)
• The Haunted House of Horror (1969)
• The Take (1974)
• Grease (1978)
• Blood Song (1982)
• Back to the Beach (1987)
• Troop Beverly Hills (1989)
• Twist (1992) (documentary)
• The Stoned Age (1994)
• Casino (1995)
• Charlie Gracie Fabulous (2007) (documentary)
• The Wages of Spin (2007) (documentary)
• Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project (2007) (documentary)
• Ikki Goes Hawaiian (2016) - (voice in English dub)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Frankie Avalon Official Website
• Frankie Avalon at the Internet Movie Database
• Frankie Avalon at AllRovi
• Frankie Avalon images, from Google image search
• Frankie Avalon at AllMusic.com
• Film Reference bio

Venu Arvind is a Tamil television and film actor. He is known for his roles in K. Balachander's television serials and as the leading antagonist Ranga in the television soap Alaigal. He debuted as a director with the film Sabash Sariyaana Potti.

Career[link]

Television serials[link]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

• Chitra Swaminathan (March 24, 2003). "Serialised success". The Hindu. http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/03/24/stories/2003032400110300.htm.