- published: 03 Feb 2006
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Gene Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.
Eugene Bertram Krupa was born in Chicago, the youngest of Anna (Oslowski) and Bartłomiej Krupa's nine children. Krupa's father, Bartłomiej, was an immigrant from Poland, and his mother, Anna, was born in Shamokin, Pennsylvania. His parents were very religious and had groomed Gene for the priesthood. He spent his grammar school days at various parochial schools and upon graduation, attended St Joseph's College for a year, but later decided it was not his vocation. He studied with Sanford A. Moeller and began playing professionally in the mid 1920s with bands in Wisconsin. He broke into the Chicago scene in 1927, when he was picked by MCA to become a member of "Thelma Terry and Her Playboys," the first notable American Jazz band (outside of all-girl bands) to be led by a female musician. The Playboys were the house band at The Golden Pumpkin nightclub in Chicago and also toured extensively throughout the eastern and central United States.[citation needed]
Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy Rich to Charlie Parker and Quincy Jones. In 1992, he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.
Lionel Hampton was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1908, and was raised by his grandmother. Shortly after he was born, he and his mother moved to her hometown Birmingham, Alabama. He spent his early childhood in Kenosha, Wisconsin before he and his family moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1916. As a youth, Hampton was a member of the Bud Billiken Club, an alternative to the Boy Scouts of America, which was off limits because of racial segregation. During the 1920s—while still a teenager—Hampton took xylophone lessons from Jimmy Bertrand and started playing drums. Hampton was raised Roman Catholic, and started out playing fife and drum at the Holy Rosary Academy near Chicago.
Actors: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (actor), Ella Fitzgerald (actress), Janet Jackson (actress), Tyne Daly (actress), Charlie Watts (actor), Duke Ellington (actor), Ron Perlman (actor), Andy Garcia (actor), Dizzy Gillespie (actor), Danny Glover (actor), Jeff Goldblum (actor), Bill Cosby (actor), Billy Crystal (actor), Mickey Cottrell (miscellaneous crew), John Legend (actor),
Genres: Biography, Documentary,Actors: Stanley Adams (actor), John Bleifer (actor), Lawrence Dobkin (actor), Eugene Jackson (actor), Gavin MacLeod (actor), Sal Mineo (actor), Leith Stevens (composer), Don Weis (director), Edwin H. Bryant (editor), Maurice Wright (editor), Celia Lovsky (actress), James Darren (actor), Gene Krupa (actor), Al Silvani (actor), Susan Oliver (actress),
Plot: The story of legendary jazz drummer, Gene Krupa. Since his youth, all Gene ever wanted to do is play the drums and make music. This is something his parents would not approve of- they want him to be a priest. When Gene's father dies he promises to enter the priesthood. He soon realizes that he doesn't belong there and leaves to join his friend, Eddie's band. Ethel, Eddie's girlfriend, convinces Gene to go to New York and make it big. The 3 of them head to New York. Here Ethel and Gene soon fall in love and Gene makes a name for himself. Gene starts to live in the fast lane, with drugs, alcohol, women and parties. Ethel, unhappy with Gene's lifestyle, leaves him. Gene soon "hits rock bottom" where he has to face reality and choose where to take his life.
Keywords: ambition, americana, arrest, band, birthday, blacklisting, chicago-illinois, compassion, convicted, death-of-fatherActors: Jack Kruschen (actor), Herbert Anderson (actor), Sam Harris (actor), Antonio Filauri (actor), Franklyn Farnum (actor), Robert Clarke (actor), Wilton Graff (actor), James Conaty (actor), Hy Averback (actor), Hal K. Dawson (actor), Steve Allen (actor), John Erman (actor), Fred Essler (actor), Douglas Evans (actor), Jack Lomas (actor),
Plot: Bio of swing band leader 'Benny Goodman' from age 10 (1919) to his landmark Carnegie Hall band concert in 1938. Not exactly historically accurate, but great music. Also, guest appearances by many great musicians of the time.
Keywords: bandleader, big-band, character-name-in-title, clarinet, swingActors: Eugene Borden (actor), Jimmy Lloyd (actor), Pierre Watkin (actor), Virginia Grey (actress), Noel Neill (actress), Sam Katzman (producer), Mischa Bakaleinikoff (composer), Paul J. Smith (composer), Arthur Dreifuss (director), Charles Nelson (editor), M. Coates Webster (writer), Netta Packer (actress), Gene Krupa (actor), Michael Duane (actor), Lee Gold (writer),
Plot: The marriage of Ray Royle ('Jack Leonard (I)' (qv)) to recording company talent scout Lorraine ('Virginia Grey' (qv)) ends in divorce after she tries to dictate both his personal and professional life. Her boss, T. J. Hopkins ('Pierre Watkin' (qv)) sends her to Memphis to sign a trio he admires. En route, she is forced to spend the night at a farmhouse where she hears Jennie Higgins ('Susan Reed (I)' (qv)) sing folk songs and play the zither. Sensing that she would be a recording sensation, Lorraine takes Jennie back to New York without signing the trio. Higgins is furious and refuses to hear Jennie, so Lorraine and employees Johnny Evans ('Michael Duane' (qv)) and Buddy Butterfield ('Jimmy Lloyd') quit and start their own small record company. Johnny tells Lorraine they need a bigger name for their initial record, so Lorraine gets her ex-husband Ray arrange to have Jennie sing at the night club where he and Gene Krupa ('Gene Krupa' (qv)) and his Orchestra are appearing.
Keywords: actor-shares-first-and-last-name-with-character, actor-shares-first-name-with-character, actor-shares-last-name-with-character, aunt-niece-relationship, b-movie, band-music, bandstand, bass, boogie-woogie, cigarette-smokingActors: Monte Collins (miscellaneous crew), Donald MacBride (actor), Monte Collins (writer), Will Jason (director), William Austin (editor), Harry Tyler (actor), Noel Neill (actress), Donald MacBride (actor), Will Jason (producer), Monte Collins (actor), George Offerman Jr. (actor), Frankie Darro (actor), Billy Snyder (actor), Dick Paxton (actor), Candy Candido (actor),
Plot: The growth of juvenile crime in a small town starts a movement for the building of a youth center. The project leaders discuss with the town mayor Phineas Wharton Sr.('Donald MacBride' (qv)) about buying an old warehouse from the city, and rebuilding it as the Center. The mayor, however, has his own plans to buy it himself for another project which he would profit from. The Teen-Agers, now attending San Juan Junior College, Freddy Trimball ('Freddie Stewart' (qv)), Dodie Rogers ('June Preisser' (qv)), Lee Watson ('Warren Mills (I)' (qv)), Betty Rogers ('Noel Neill' (qv)), Roy Donne ('Frankie Darro' (qv)) and the rest of Monogram's non-delinquent juveniles, think otherwise and, while the mayor does buy the warehouse, he is forced to donate it to the Youth Center committee. Cappa Barra's Harmonica Boys are NOT in this film. Credited are 'The Harmonica Boys'---Breezie ('George Offerman Jr.' (qv)), Eddie ('George Fields' (qv)), Joe ('Don Ripps' (qv) and Johnny ('Dick Paxton' (qv)). They steal some fireworks, get chased by the police and barge into the gymnasium while Dodie is entertaining.
Keywords: 1940s, actor-shares-first-and-last-name-with-character, actor-shares-first-name-with-character, actor-shares-last-name-with-character, b-movie, bandstand, california, cigarette-smoking, city-council, college-deanActors: Andrew Tombes (actor), Andrew Tombes (actor), Frank Darien (actor), Eddie Borden (actor), Grady Sutton (actor), Phillip Terry (actor), Harry Harvey (actor), Warren Jackson (actor), Roy Darmour (actor), Donald MacBride (actor), Johnny Duncan (actor), Al Murphy (actor), Tommy Noonan (actor), Bob O'Connor (actor), Ellen Corby (actress),
Plot: Based on a Broadway musical, the story has Damon Dillingham, newly-discharged from the Army following WW II, returning home and learning that his partner, Eddie Martin, has invested the savings (from $21 a month?) Damon sent home in a racehorse, rather than using the money to keep their pre-war band together. So, he starts over. A good start is made when Ann Rogers comes on board as the singer, and Gene Krupa also lends a hand.
Keywords: band, based-on-play, singerActors: Jack Haley (actor), Brooks Benedict (actor), Cary Grant (actor), Franklyn Farnum (actor), Fritz Feld (actor), Bobby Barber (actor), Sam Ash (actor), Tom Coleman (actor), Sammy Blum (actor), Herbert Evans (actor), Eddie Borden (actor), Earle S. Dewey (actor), Eddie Dunn (actor), Neely Edwards (actor), Sam Harris (actor),
Plot: This Broadway revue is about two love affairs. The romance between the comedienne Joan Mason and Jack Evans of Boston is easily disturbed by Jack's cynical sister, Clara Belle Evans, who is against their relationship. The romance between the wealthy British Jill Martin and Tom McGrath, the assistant to the impresario George White Brodway is a love hate relationship. Gene Krupa and his band keep, together with the virtuoso organist Ethel Smith, both couples dancing a lot.
Keywords: 1940s, actor-shares-first-and-last-name-with-character, actor-shares-first-name-with-character, actor-shares-last-name-with-character, archive-footage, backstage, band-member, bandleader, broadway-manhattan-new-york-city, burlesqueActors: Jack L. Warner (producer), Bing Crosby (actor), LeRoy Prinz (director), Jack Carson (actor), Charles Ruggles (actor), Frank Sinatra (actor), Olive Blakeney (actress), Cary Grant (actor), Jimmy Lydon (actor), Herbert Marshall (actor), Dennis Morgan (actor), Benny Goodman (actor), Harry James (actor), Deanna Durbin (actress), Gene Krupa (actor),
Genres: Music, Short,Somewhere there's music
How faint the tune
Somewhere there's heaven
There is no moon above
When love is far away too
Till it comes true
That you love me as I love you
Somewhere there's music
How near, how far
Somewhere there's heaven
It's where you are
The darkest night would shine
If you would come to me soon
Until you will, how still my heart
Somewhere there's music
How faint the tune
Somewhere there's heaven
The darkest night would shine
If you would come to me soon