Early History of Cuban Television 1950-1959

Television arrived to Cuba on October 14, 1950 In the 1940s, Cuba’s two largest radio stations, CMQ and RHC-Cadena Azul announced they would soon start broadcasting television. Since building TV stations and broadcast networks from scratch was extremely expensive and complex it took longer than expected. They were both beaten to the air by the tiny radio station, Union Radio. Gaspar Pumarejo, owner of Union Radio, built the new station in his Havana home and garage. Pumarejo set the inauguration of his TV station for October 24, 1950 which was Journalists Day in Cuba. After honoring the journalist, Cuba’s President Prio was shown mugging it up for the camera and playing the role of camera man. After this event Union Radio’s slogan became “Union Radio, primera en television, primera en popularidad” (”Union Radio, First in television, first in popularity”).Union Radio was quickly followed by CMQ which began broadcasting December 18, 1950.

Variety of shows

One of the first shows broadcast was coverage of Cuban Winter League baseball games

[in late October, the station carried the first of what would be regular Cuban Winter League Baseball Games. A crew drove to the stadium in a remote-control truck. The broadcast were beamed to Pumarejo’s house by microwave, where they were rebroadcast. Cameramen were positioned at first base and home plate. The station‘s third camera remained in the house until newsman Alberto Gandero finished his newscast. After the newscast, the third camera was carried to the stadium by taxi and positioned near third base.]

Soap operas also known as telenovelas, news, cooking shows and comedy groups were shown. After Union Radio TV went on the air Cuban demand for television sets soared. Luckily Cuban broadcasting coincided with a glut of sets in the US market. Despite the high cost, ranging $350 for a 16” set to $2,000 for a 30” unit, the Cuban government Imports and Exports Analysis Agency estimated that Cubans imported more than 100,000 television receivers by 1952.

Social and Political Aspects

From it’s inception Cuban TV played a huge part in the social and political fiber of Cubans. Extensive discussions about television began to unfold in the radio and entertainment sections of Cuban newspapers and magazines in the year leading up to October 14, 1950, the day Unión Radio-TV became the first television station to broadcast in Havana. Critics believed that US television set a level of excellence that they wanted to uphold. They believed the medium's primary purpose in Cuba would be to enhance the "high culture" education of the Cuban citizen.

Censorship under Batista

On March 10, 1952 following Fulgencio Batista's successful coup he sent for representatives of the media and imposed censorship. Though it was supposed to be temporary it wasn’t until Journalists’ Day October 24, 1953 that censorship was supposedly lifted. In truth the censorship became even harsher after Fidel Castro's July 26, 1953 attack on [[Moncada Barracks. Stations could be fined or shut down for various infractions. For example on march 14,1953, CMCH-Radio Cadena Habana permitted a criticism of the coup. The station was immediately occupied by government soldiers. In true Cuban fashion the media learned to operate within the parameters of the censorship. In late 1957, Circuito Nacional Cubano, a station purported to be secretly owned by Batista, broadcast a fictional program called El Dictador De Valle Azul” [it starred Rolando Leyva as the rebel leader Taguary, who, with his group of men, roamed the Blue Valley and helped the people fight the valley’s evil dictator in each episode. The comparisons with the dictator Batista and the rebel leader Castro were unmistakable. The governments failure to recognize the satire only made the government appear inept as well as tyrannical.] Moral censorship also increased under Batista. There was a move towards more family friendly broadcasts and less sexually provocative variety shows. In particular these were the rumba and mambo inspired dances and more specifically the female dancers.

Notes

References

Salwen, Michael. Radio and Television in Cuba: The Pre-Castro Era. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1994.

Rivero, Yeidy M. “Broadcasting Modernity: Cuban Television 1950-1953.” Cinema Journal 46.3(2007):3-23.Print.

The following is a list of all television stations in Cuba:

Cubavisión (Canal 6) - State broadcaster

*Cubavision International - Satellite service of Cuba Vision, broadcasting internationally

Canal Educativo

Canal Educativo 2

Canal Habana

Tele Rebelde (Canal 2)

The United States Military has a television station to serve the troops at Guantanamo Bay:

NBW 8 (AFN), Military station of Guantanamo Bay

Listings

Daily listings appear in the newspaper Granma.

Weekly listings appear on the website of Juventud Rebelde (in Spanish):

Cubavision

TeleRebelde

Canal Educativo

Canal Educativo 2

External links

Portal de la Televisión Cubana

*

Birthname	Kimberly Elise Trammel
Birth date	April 17, 1967
Birth place	Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Othername	Kimberly Elise Oldham, Kimberly Oldham
Occupation	Actress
Yearsactive	1994–present
Spouse	Maurice Oldham (1958-2005)

Kimberly Elise (born April 17, 1967) is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her role in the films Set It Off, John Q, and Diary of a Mad Black Woman. Elise has won three NAACP Image Awards.

Personal life

Elise was born as Kimberly Elise Trammel in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the daughter of Erma Jean (née Johnson), an elementary school teacher, and Marvin Trammel, who owns an executive search firm. She has three siblings. Elise studied film and acting at the University of Minnesota and earned a BA in Mass Communications. She was married to Maurice Oldham (1958–2007) from 1989 until 2005; they have two children, Ajableu Oldham and Butterfly Oldham. He passed away from a "massive blood clot", according to Elise.

Elise's maternal descent is of the Songhai people in Mali.

Career

Elise's first movie was Set It Off (1996), in which she played one of four women who resort to robbing a bank for money. Her big break came in 1997 when she was cast in the Family Channel original television movie The Ditchdigger's Daughters, based on the Pulitzer-prize nominated and critically acclaimed 1995 memoir The Ditchdigger's Daughters: A Black Family's Astonishing Success Story, written by Yvonne S. Thornton and Jo Coudert. She received critical acclaim for her role in this film, and in 1997 she was recognized as Best Supporting Actress in a Movie or Miniseries at the 19th annual CableACE Awards. A relative unknown at the time, she conveyed her anonymity upon receiving the award by saying "Who is Kimberly Elise?". Her performance helped her land a role the next year in Beloved alongside Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover. She is often compared to a young Cicely Tyson whom she resembles.

In 2004, she appeared in Woman Thou Art Loosed portraying Michelle, an abused young woman who finally got the help she needed behind bars. This role won her a Black Reel award for Best Actress. She also appeared in John Q, The Manchurian Candidate and Diary of a Mad Black Woman (she won a NAACP Image Award for the latter). From 2005 to 2007 she starred on the CBS crime drama Close to Home, playing Marion County, Indiana (Indianapolis) prosecutor Maureen Scofield. Her character was killed off in the last episode of the 2006-2007 season. The series was cancelled in May 2007.

She has since made a guest appearance on the sitcom Girlfriends in which she played an HIV-positive woman.

Her most recent film role was in Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls (2010), as the battered wife Crystal. While the film itself received mixed to negative reviews, her performance was praised by many critics. One journalist described her as, "...the great lost Best Supporting Actress contender of the 2010 season."

Filmography

Set It Off (1996)

The Ditchdigger's Daughters (1997)

Beloved (1998)

The Loretta Claiborne Story (2000)

Bait (2000)

Bojangles (2001)

John Q (2002)

Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004)

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)

Pride (2007)

The Great Debaters (2007)*The Marriage Lover (2013)

(2009)

For Colored Girls (2010)

Television Work

Newton's Apple (1995)

In the House (1995)

The Twilight (2003)

Girlfriends (2003) (2 episodes)

Soul Food (2002–2003)

Close to Home (2005–2007)

Private Practice (2007) (1 episode)

Master of Science Fiction (2007)

Grey's Anatomy (2009)

Awards and nominations

Acapulco Black Film Festival

1999: Nominated - Best Actress for Beloved (1998)

African-American Film Critics Association

*2010: Won- Best Supporting Actress for For Colored Girls

Black Reel Awards

2002: Won - Best Supporting Actress for Bojangles (2001)

2003: Nominated - Best Actress for John Q (2002)

2005: Nominated - Best Supporting Actress for The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

2005: Won - Best Actress, Independent Film for Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004)

2006: Won- Best Actress for Diary of a Mad Black Woman

2011: Nominated- Best Actress for For Colored Girls

2011: Nominated- Best Ensemble for For Colored Girls

CableACE Award

1997: Won - Supporting Actress in a Movie or Miniseries for The Ditchdigger's Daughters (1997)

Chicago Film Critics Association Awards

1999: Won - Most Promising Actress for Beloved (1998)

1999: Nominated - Best Supporting Actress for Beloved (1998)

Golden Satellite Awards

1999: Won - Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Drama for Beloved (1998)

NAACP Image Awards

1999: Nominated - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for Beloved (1998)

2002: Nominated - Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special for Bojangles (2001)

2003: Nominated - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for John Q (2002)

2003: Nominated - Image Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for "Soul Food" (2000)

2005: Nominated - Image Award Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004)

2006: Winner- Image Award Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for Diary of a Mad Black Woman

2006: Nominated- Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for "Close to Home"

2007: Winner- Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for "Close to Home"

2010: Winner- NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special for ''"Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story"

Independent Spirit Awards

2005: Nominated - Best Female Lead for Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004)

References

External links

Kimberly Elise Bio at CBS - Close To Home

Kimberly Elise Talks About Woman, Thou Art Loosed

Kimberly Elise Biography - Hollywood.com

Kimberly Elise News

Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:African American actors Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:Actors from Minnesota Category:People from Minneapolis, Minnesota Category:University of Minnesota alumni Category:African American television actors

Alexis (Ancient Greek:, 394 BC – c. 275 BC) was a Greek comic poet of the Middle Comedy, born at Thurii in Magna Graeca and taken early to Athens, where he became a citizen, of the deme Oion (), and the tribe Leontides.

It was said he had a son, called Stephanus, who also wrote thrillers. He appears to have been rather addicted to the pleasures of the table, according to Athenaeus.

He won his first Lenaean victory in the 350s BC, most likely, where he was sixth after Eubulus, and fourth after Antiphanes.

While being a Middle Comic poet, Alexis was comtempoary with several leading figures of New Comedy, such as Philppides, Philemon, Diphilus, and even Menander. There is also some evidence that, during his old age, he wrote plays in the style of New Comedy.

Plutarch says that he lived to the age of 106, and that he died on the stage while being crowned. He was certainly alive after 345 BC, for Aeschines mentions him as alive in that year. It is likely that he lived as late as 288 BC According to the Suda, he wrote 245 comedies, of which some 130 titles are preserved. His plays include Meropis, Agkylion, Olympiodoros, and Parasitos, in which he ridculed Plato, was exhibited in 360 BC. Also, Agonis, in which he ridculed Misgolas. And The Adelphoi and the Stoatiotes, in which he satirized Demosthenes, and acted shorted after 343 BC. Also The Hippos, in which he referred to the decree of Sophocles against the philosophers, in 316 BC. Pyraynos (312 BC), Pharmakopole (306 BC), Hyobolimaios (306 BC), Analion. According to Carytius of Pergamum, Alexis was the first to use the part of the parasite.

Only fragments of any of the plays have survived - about 340 in all, totaling about 1,000 lines. They attest to the wit and refinement of the author, which Athenaeus praises.

The surviving fragments also show that Alexis invented a great deal of words, mostly compound words. They also show that Alexis used normal words in an unusual way, or making strange and unusual forms of common words. The main sources of the fragments of Alexis are Stobaeus and Athenaeus.

The Suda also calls him Zoe's uncle, but an anonymous tractate on comedy more plausibly states that he was the teacher and uncle of Menander (however this statement may be spurious). Alexis was known in Roman times; Aulus Gellius noted that Alexis' poetry was used by Roman comedians, including Turpilius and possibly Plautus.

References

Editions of Fragments

Augustus Meineke. Potarum Graecorum comicorum fragmenta, (1855).

Theodor Kock. Comicorum Atticorum fragmenta, i. (1880).*Theodor Kock. Comicorum Atticorum fragmenta, i. (1880).#

*C. Austin and Rudolf Kassel. Poetae Comici Graeci. vol. 1.

Other sources

Arnott, W. Geoffrey. Alexis: The Fragments. A Commentary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Category:375 BC births Category:275 BC deaths Category:3rd-century BC Greek people Category:Ancient Greek centenarians Category:Ancient Greek dramatists and playwrights Category:Poets of Magna Graecia Category:Middle Comic poets Category:Metics in Classical Athens Category:Italiotes