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Julius La Rosa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Julius La Rosa (born January 2, 1930) is an American pop singer, specializing in traditional pop music.


Biography

Born in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, Julius LaRosa joined the United States Navy after finishing high school, and becoming a Navy radioman who sang informally, he was heard by Arthur Godfrey, at the time the dominant TV and radio personality in America. Godfrey was also a Naval Reserve Officer whom the Navy accommodated in recognition of the steady stream of good PR he provided them. Impressed by hearing La Rosa sing, after being tipped by the young sailor's buddies, Godfrey had La Rosa flown to New York to appear on his TV show and told the young sailor that whenever he left the Navy, he had a job singing for Godfrey on his radio and television programs. La Rosa returned to duty, but given Godfrey's interest, was quickly reassigned to the Navy Band as a vocalist, the Navy quick to seize on the PR value the young sailor now had. Discharged from the Navy on a Friday, he went to Godfrey on the following Monday, and a week later he appeared on Godfrey's variety show. He was a regular on both the morning "Arthur Godfrey Time" and the Wednesday night variety showArthur Godfrey and his Friends ' '. La Rosa's tenure lasted from November 19, 1951 to October 19, 1953. He was one of a number of regulars on the show, including Frank Parker, announcer Tony Marvin, Haleloke, The McGuire Sisters, The Mariners, Marion Marlowe and Godfrey's bandleader, Archie Bleyer. He also worked on other Godfrey shows during the week, and other engagements on weekends. Like the other "Little Godfreys," Godfrey discouraged La Rosa from hiring a manager or booking agent, preferring to have his staff coordinate and negotiate on La Rosa's behalf.

When Bleyer formed Cadence Records in 1952, the first performer signed was La Rosa. Cadence's first single, which was also La Rosa's first recording, was "Anywhere I Wander." It reached the top 30 on the charts, and his next recording, "My Lady Loves To Dance," was a moderate success, but La Rosa hit gold with his third recording, "Eh, Cumpari" in 1953. It hit #1 on the Cash Box chart and #2 on the Billboard chart, and La Rosa got an award as the best new male vocalist of 1953. He became the beloved "son" in the Godfrey family.

La Rosa's popularity grew exponentially, and his ego grew to some extent as well. At one point, La Rosa's fan mail eclipsed Godfrey's. Godfrey, too, underwent changes. In mid-1953 he underwent an early form of hip replacement surgery. When he returned to the show, he began to exhibit some erratic behavior. Though he could be truculent, this side of him began to dominate his management of the shows. He also noticed a sense of laziness and egotism among his cast members. This behavior carried on into his "Talent Scouts" broadcast. He canceled one show because he felt the talent on the show that night was not up to his standards.

La Rosa, like other "Little Godfreys," as the cast was known, was required by Godfrey to take ballet lessons, supposedly so they could move with more polish onstage, particularly on the Arthur Godfrey and His Friends variety show, where dance numbers were common. A family emergency forced La Rosa to miss a lesson. Godfrey responded by posting a memo informing La Rosa he wouldn't be needed on the show since he missed the ballet class. La Rosa, upset, tried to talk to Godfrey who ignored him. He then hired his own agent and manager: Tommy Rockwell, considered one of the best in show business. Since Godfrey refused to deal with agents or managers, insisting he would never get his shows broadcast if he had to deal with a multitude of handlers, La Rosa had painted himself into a corner.

When Godfrey received a notification letter from Rockwell regarding La Rosa's representation, he became enraged at what he felt was disloyalty. During a consultation with CBS President Frank Stanton, he suggested Godfrey release La Rosa on the air, though it remains unclear whether Stanton intended Godfrey to do so without first advising La Rosa. On the morning of October 19, after La Rosa had finished singing "Manhattan" on Arthur Godfrey Time, Godfrey fired him on the air, announcing, "that was Julie's swan song with us." Unaware the firing was coming (or what the phrase "swan song" meant), La Rosa tearfully met with Godfrey after the broadcast and thanked him for giving him his "break." La Rosa was then met at Godfrey's offices by his lawyer, manager and some reporters. The singer claimed he was "bewildered" by the events, but Rockwell was highly critical of Godfrey's behavior, angrily citing LaRosa's public humiliation.

The following day, Godfrey, amazed by the angry public response to LaRosa's firing, held his own press conference in rebuttal, alleging that La Rosa had lost the "humility" he had when he first hired him and in fact had requested he be released, a detail that would become a bone of contention between the two. A few days later, Godfrey, featured on an episode of the CBS interview show Person to Person hosted by Edward R. Murrow, was questioned by Murrow about the way he fired LaRosa. In response, Godfrey rambled through a monologue that made little sense.

Godfrey claimed La Rosa had requested release from his contract, the reason he'd consulted Stanton about him in the first place. La Rosa flatly denied this. Some, however, say Godfrey simply called Stanton to angrily report LaRosa's apostasy in hiring a manager and agent. Stanton, for his part, never substantiated Godfrey's claims that LaRosa wanted to leave, claims which came from Godfrey alone. The CBS executive said at the time that Godfrey contacted him, that Stanton suggested announcing La Rosa's departure on the air, a far cry from suggesting he be "dismissed on the air" per se. Stanton also declared that "maybe (the entire strategy) was a mistake." Rumors also circulated La Rosa had incurred Godfrey's wrath because of jealousy for dating Dorothy McGuire of the McGuire Sisters; Godfrey was said in this rumor to be particularly fond of her.

Given the blend of aw-shucks earthiness and ego Godfrey regularly showed on his broadcasts, traits audiences considered part of his appeal, the LaRosa firing forever altered the public perception of Godfrey, making his declarations the singer had "lost his humility" seem disingenuous and hypocritical given Godfrey's undeniable ego. Over time, the more Godfrey addressed the subject, even though he was careful to praise LaRosa, the more the host damaged his beloved public image. The matter might have faded sooner had Godfrey simply quit discussing it. Comedians began working the phrase "no humility" into their routines, essentially holding Godfrey up to public ridicule for the first time in his career, while LaRosa appeared the wronged, righteous victim. Singer Ruth Wallis, known for her raunchy double entendre novelties, recorded "Dear Mr. Godfrey," a biting satire on the matter. Days after firing LaRosa, Godfrey also fired bandleader Archie Bleyer, owner of La Rosa's label Cadence Records.

The firing did not hurt La Rosa's career in the short run, however. Immediately afterwards, "Eh, Cumpari" became a major hit, followed by "Domani." Ed Sullivan immediately signed La Rosa for appearances on his CBS Toast of the Town TV variety show, which sparked a nasty feud between he and Godfrey. Sullivan compounded the animosity by signing other "Little Godfreys" who'd been fired, declaring that if Godfrey were fired, Sullivan would try to sign him as well. The ongoing controversies and subsequent firings of other "Little Godfreys," as well as some of Godfrey's controversial antics while piloting his airplanes, damaged Godfrey's public reputation though he remained a regular TV personality until 1959 and on radio until 1972. Only his successful 1959 battle with lung cancer softened his negative image.

La Rosa, who worked in musical comedy and nightclubs, was incessantly questioned about the firing through the remainder of his career. He eventually moved on to a long-time disk jockey position at New York's WNEW and continued to sing and occasionally record. The Godfrey affair always remained close by, though in later years, as Godfrey was all but forgotten except by nostalgia and vintage broadcasting buffs, a mature, seasoned LaRosa established himself as a fine singer of American popular tunes in the mold of Tony Bennett.

In 1980 Godfrey's advisors, aware that Godfrey had wanted to return to television, tried organize a reunion show of the old Godfrey cast that would feature as its high point, Godfrey's public reconciliation with La Rosa. La Rosa, who had met Godfrey cordially on the streets of Manhattan some years earlier, agreed to the idea. But at a preliminary meeting Godfrey, unable to let go of the past, foolishly revisited his claim La Rosa had requested to be released from the show. When La Rosa again denied that and reminded Godfrey of the events as he recalled them, Godfrey exploded. LaRosa walked out of the office, ending the meeting. The reunion never took place. Godfrey died in 1983.

La Rosa has been reluctant to revisit the Godfrey affair, in part because it's been rehashed so many times, but he's been known to declare publicly that Godfrey was indeed his discoverer and the individual who made his career, but always adding, "he wasn't a very nice man."

The Godfrey affair may have shadowed him, and he may have been a bit young for his stardom. But the acclaim his singing has engendered in recent years prove that the talent Godfrey originally saw indeed was real. La Rosa, superbly profiled by Gene Lees some years ago, has continued to work clubs and record albums that show his greater maturity and skills as a jazz vocalist, talents honed over half a century.

La Rosa had a three times a week television series, The Julius La Rosa Show, during the summer of 1955, featuring Russ Case and his Orchestra. The short-lived series lasted only 13 weeks.

In the 1980s, Julius LaRosa had something of a return when he appeared in a non-contract, recurring role in the NBC soap opera Another World.

Roger Miller
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Roger Dean Miller (January 2, 1936 - October 25, 1992) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician.



Life and work

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, to mother Laudene Holt Miller and father Jean Miller, Roger, the youngest of three boys, was sent to live with his uncle and aunt, Elmer and Armelia Miller, in Erick, Oklahoma, when his father died while Roger was just one year old.

Miller had a lonely and unhappy childhood. Heavily influenced by the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights and the Light Crust Doughboys on Fort Worth radio, he desperately wanted to be a singer-songwriter. When he was 17 he stole a guitar, but turned himself in and chose to join the Army rather than go to jail. He later quipped, "My education was Korea, Clash of '52."

On leaving the army, he went to Nashville to work on his music career. In 1959 he wrote his first number-one song, "Billy Bayou" recorded by Jim Reeves.

Although conventionally grouped with "Country" singers, Miller's unique style defied easy classification. He had a string of pop hits in the 1960s, and also his own TV show for a few years. Many of his recordings were humorous novelty songs with whimsical lyrics, coupled with vocalese riffs filled with nonsense syllables. Others were sincere ballads, which also caught the public's fancy, none more so than his signature song, "King of the Road", about a presumed "hobo" who relishes his life and freedom, riding the rails.

In addition to 11 Grammy Awards, Roger Miller won Broadway's Tony award for writing the music and lyrics for Big River, which won a total of 7 Tonys including best musical in 1985.

He was voted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1995. In Erick, Oklahoma where he grew up, a thoroughfare was renamed "Roger Miller Boulevard."

A lifelong cigarette smoker, Miller died of lung and throat cancer. In a TV interview, he once explained that he composed his songs from "bits and pieces" of ideas he wrote on scraps of paper. When asked what he did with the unused bits and pieces, he half-joked, "I smoke 'em!" (One of his songs, "A Man Can't Quit", centered on the subject of addiction to cigarettes.)

The chorus of one of his songs, "England Swings", was used for the 1998 BBC radio program, 15 Minutes of Misery.

He was married to Mary Arnold, who herself was a musician, a member of country-rock band, Kenny Rogers and The First Edition. Rogers had introduced the two. Arnold now manages Miller's estate.

In his 1997 autobiography Johnny Cash compared Miller's bass vocal range favorably with his own, saying it was the closest to his own that he had heard.

In early 2006, Roger Miller's 1967 single "Walkin' In The Sunshine" was featured in a Mastercard commercial. In the 1970's a clip from Miller's actual recording of "King of the Road" was featured in a Monroe Shock Absorbers TV commercial.

Roger Miller wrote and performed three songs in Robin Hood (1973 film) as Alan-a-Dale. A sample of his song Whistle Stop was used as the musical accompaniment for the internet phenomenon the hampsterdance.

Cuba Gooding, Jr.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Born January 2, 1968
The Bronx, New York, USA

Cuba Gooding, Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an Academy Award-winning American actor.



Biography

Gooding, Jr. was born in The Bronx, New York to Cuba Gooding, Sr. (lead vocalist of soul group The Main Ingredient) and Shirley (a singer); he has two siblings, one of whom is actor Omar Gooding. His family moved to Los Angeles after Gooding, Sr.'s music group had a hit single with "Everybody Plays the Fool" in 1972; the elder Gooding abandoned his family two years later.

He became a born-again Christian at age 13.

Gooding, Jr., was raised by his single mother and attended four different high schools (including North Hollywood High School, Tustin High School, and Apple Valley High School). He served as class president in three of them.

During his appearance on the "The Howard Stern Show", Gooding, Jr. revealed that after his father had left, his family lived in hotels through out Los Angeles, CA. He now has a relationship with his father who re-married his mother a few years ago.

Cuba has been married to schoolteacher Sara Kapfer since 1994, whom he has known since 1986; they have three children, Spencer, Mason, and Piper.


Career

Gooding, Jr.'s first major film role was in director John Singleton's 1991 film, Boyz N The Hood, a well-reviewed film about inner city youths. Prior to this, he had appeared in many TV shows, including a recurring role on MacGyver. He also had a very minor part in the 1988 Eddie Murphy comedy Coming to America as a customer in the barbershop scene.

Following the success of Boyz N The Hood, he was cast in a series of roles, both leading and supporting, including the 1996 film, Jerry Maguire, for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Cuba took his first shot at producing with long-time manager and partner Derek Broes. Broes and Gooding tapped long time friend Rowdy Herrington as the writer/director of the film A Murder of Crows. The film has gained cult status among murder mystery buffs. Broes later left Hollywood for the technology world as an executive chair at Microsoft Corporation running global wireless strategy and business development. But Broes returned to Hollywood in 2006 as Senior Vice President of Worlwide Business Development for Paramount Pictures Entertainments digital division.

Gooding Jr.'s subsequent career has included box office successes like Men of Honor (2000), Snow Dogs (2002), and a supporting role as Navy Cross awardee Doris Miller in the 2001 film, Pearl Harbor.

In 2006, he appeared in the crime-drama, Dirty, which received a limited theatrical release, as well as the direct-to-DVD, 24-esque political drama End Game where he plays a Secret Service agent who uncovers a conspiracy after a presidential assassination.

He also hosted the 37th Annual NAACP Image Awards.[1]

After a string of comedies that were mostly disliked by critics, Gooding, Jr. has vowed to never appear in another comedy again, saying that he "thought people wanted me to make them laugh, but I was wrong on so many levels. I try to take all my energy and take it into comedy, and that's when I'm terrible".[2]

An optimist sees the best in the world, while a
pessimist sees only the worst. An optimist finds
the positive in the negative, and a pessimist can
only find the negative in the positive.

For example, an avid duck hunter was in the market
for a new bird dog. His search ended when he found
a dog that could actually walk on water to retrieve a
duck. Shocked by his find, he was sure none of his
friends would ever believe him.

He decided to try to break the news to a friend of
his, a pessimist by nature, and invited him to hunt
with him and his new dog.

As they waited by the shore, a flock of ducks flew by.
They fired, and a duck fell. The dog responded and
jumped into the water. The dog, however, did not sink
but instead walked across the water to retrieve the
bird, never getting more than his paws wet. This
continued all day long; each time a duck fell, the dog
walked across the surface of the water to retrieve it.

The pessimist watched carefully, saw everything, but
did not say a single word.

On the drive home the hunter asked his friend, "Did
you notice anything unusual about my new dog?"

"I sure did," responded the pessimist. "He can't swim."

Hey, hawkman. Loved your anecdote about the pessimist and the optimist, and it's hyperbole at it's best, Boston. Thanks for the bio's, buddy. I was particularly taken with Isaac Asimov's as his story "Nightfall" is rather like Ray Bradbury's, "All Summer in a Day."

Our Raggedy may be along shortly, so we will await her famous photo's before commenting further.

Here's one from Julius:


Eh Cumpari, ci vo sunari Chi si sona? U friscalettu.
E comu si sona u friscalettu?
u friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam.


E cumpari, ci vo sunari. Chi si sona? U saxofona,
E comu si sona u saxofona? Tu tu tu tu u saxofona
u friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam.


E cumpari, ci vo sunari. Chi si sona? U mandolinu.
e comu si sona u mandolinu? a plig a plin, u mandulin,
tu tu tu tu u saxofon
u friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam.


E cumpari, ci vo sunari? Chi si sona? u viulinu.
E comu si sona u viulinu? A zing a zing, u viulin,
a pling a pling, u mandulin
tu tu tu tu u saxofon
u friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam.


E cumpari, ci vo sunari? Chi si sona? a la trumbetta.
e comu si sona a la trombetta? Papapapa a la trumbetta,
A zing a zing, u viulin,
a pling a pling, u mandulin
tu tu tu tu u saxofon
u friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam.


E compari, ci vo sunari? Chi si sona? a la trombona.
e comu si sona a la trombona. A fumma a fumma a la trombona,
Papapapa a la trumbetta,
A zing a zing, u viulin,
a pling a pling, u mandulin,
tu tu tu tu u saxofon
u friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam.


Hey, folks, I did recognize violin, trumpet, trombone, and mandolin. Hmmm. Does seem that I recall a big bass drumma in some lyrics.

Good Afternoon WA2K.

A few for the gallery:

Hey, folks. There's our Raggedy. Hey, PA, thanks for the trio today.

Well, listeners, we're looking at a trio and I am remembering our middle school trio who sang so many places, and what fun we had.

There's Julius, Roger, and Cuba. (loved him in A Murder of Crows)

Well, we have done Italian, so let's hear one by Roger:

Miller Roger
Lyrics for Song: Chug-A-Lug

CHORUS
Chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug
Make you want to holler hi-de-ho
Burns your tummy, don'tcha know
Chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug

Grape wine in a Mason jar
Homemade and brought to school
By a friend of mine 'n' after class
Me and him and this other fool decide that we'll drink up what's left
Chug-a-lug, so we helped ourself
First time for everything
Mm, my ears still ring

CHORUS

4-H and FFA on a field trip to the farm
Me 'n' a friend sneak off behind
This big old barn where we uncovered a covered-up moonshine still
And we thought we'd drink our fill
And I swallered it with a smile
*Bllll-bbbb*, I run ten mile

CHORUS

Jukebox 'n' sawdust floor
Sumpin' like I ain't never seen
And I'm just going on fifteen
But with the help of my finaglin' uncle I get snuck in
For my first taste of sin.
I said "Lemme have a big old sip"
*Bllll-bbbb*, I done a double back flip

CHORUS

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: *Bllll-bbbb* is impossible to spell.
It's a ululation of the lips and
tongue similar to a "raspberry."

We have a few MIA's and I hope someone has heard from them.

Soccer George and yitwail, namely.

if you enjoy ...LOUIS PRIMA TUNES... , give this site a try . unfortunately you won't hear his voice but only the synthesised tune - still not bad !

and how about singing along with 'the bad boy' ?
hbg

Angelina (Zooma Zooma)

(Louis Prima)



I eat antipasta twice

just because she is so nice

Angelina

Angelina

the waitress at the pizzeria

I eat zoop-ing minestrone

just to be with her alone

Angelina

Angelina

the waitress at the pizzeria

Ti vol-glio be-ne

Angelina I adore you

E vol-glio be-ne

Angelina I live for you

E un pas-sio-ne

You have set my heart on fire

But Angelina

never listens to my song

I eat antipasta twice

just because she is so nice

Angelina

Angelina

waitress at the pizzeria

If she'll be a my My Car-ra mi-a

then I'll join in matrimony

with a girl who serves spumoni

and Angelina will be mine

Hey, hamburger. My sister loved Keely Smith because she pronounced "out" and "house" just as we East Virginian's do. Now I know why. She was born in Norfolk, Virginia. My word, Canada, I just found that out. I knew that she was part Cherokee, because when I taught Humanities, we tried to acquaint our students with the ethnic variety of music.

Here's one by her:

I'll never smile again
Until I smile at you
I'll never laugh again
What good would it do
For tears would fill my eyes
My heart would realize
That our romance is true
I'll never love again
I'm so in love with you
I'll never thrill again
To somebody new
Within my heart
I know I will never start
To smile again
Until I smile at you
Within my heart
I know I will never start
To smile again
Until I smile at you


Every jazz singer has done that one, I believe.

You ready for this, Canada?

Ruth Lowe wrote "I'll Never Smile Again."

Ruth Lowe

Ruth Lowe (August 12, 1914 - January 4, 1981) was a Canadian pianist and songwriter. She wrote the song "I'll Never Smile Again" after her husband died during surgery. The song was later covered by many artists, including Frank Sinatra and The Ink Spots.

In 1936, Ruth was working in the 'Song Shop' in Toronto when Ina Ray Hutton brought her All-Girl band (The Melodears) to town. Her piano player had taken ill, and Ina was frantically trying to locate a good-looking blonde lady replacement. Ruth Lowe auditioned, and became the regular pianist in Ina Ray's band. At age 23 (1938), Ruth married Harold Cohen, a Chicago music publicist. It was a very happy marriage that only lasted one year until Harold's tragic demise during an operation in 1939. In her great grief, Ruth composed a tune she named "I'll Never Smile Again". The song was first heard on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) radio program 'Music By Faith', in an arrangement by Percy Faith, a fine Canadian musician who would soon go on to fame in the USA and the world. Approximately a year later, Ruth passed a copy of the tune to a saxophone player in the Tommy Dorsey band, hoping to have Dorsey hear the tune. Dorsey thought the tune had much merit, and arranged it for his very young singer, Frank Sinatra. It was Sinatra's first great hit, and really launched Sinatra on his phenomenal career. Later she composed still another Frank Sinatra hit "Put Your Dreams Away", Frank's 'signature' song, (which was also played at his funeral).

In 1945, Ruth again married this time to Nathan Sandler and the union produced two sons, Tommy and Stephen. In 1982, the year after she died, she was inducted into the American Music Hall of Fame with an honorary Grammy Award.

One of my top favorite songs:


Stardust
(Mitchell Parish, Hoagy Carmichael)

And now the purple dusk of twilight time
Steals across the meadows of my heart,
High up in the sky, the little stars climb
Always reminding me that we're apart.

You wandered down the lane and far away,
Leaving me a song that will not die.
Love is now the stardust of yesterday,
The music of the years gone by.

Sometimes I wonder why I spend
The lonely night dreaming of a song.
The melody haunts my reverie
And I am once again with you,
When our love was new,
And each kiss an inspiration...

But that was long ago.
Now my consolation
Is in the stardust of a song.

Beside a garden wall
When stars are bright,
You are in my arms.
The nightingale tells his fairy tale,
A paradise where roses grew.

Though I dream in vain,
In my heart it will remain
My stardust melody,
The memory of love's refrain.

Love both of those songs, edgar. Thanks, Texas for the reminder of melodies and their wonderful and calming effect.

I'll bet that not one person listening will ever guess who wrote my goodnight poem.

A Good Night Poem

The time has come to say good night,
My how time does fly.
We've had a laugh, perhaps a tear,
and now we hear good-bye.
.
I really hate to say good night,
for times like these are few.
I wish you love and happiness,
In everything you do.
.
The time has come to say good night,
I hope I've made a friend.
And so we'll say May God bless you,
Until we meet again.

From Letty with love

The wind blows hard against this mountain side
Across the sea into my soul
It reaches into where I cannot hide
Setting my feet upon the road

My heart is old it holds my memories
My baby burns agem like flame
Somewhere between the soul and soft machine
Is where I find myself again

Kyrie Eleison
Down the road that I must travel
Kyrie Eleison
Through the darkness of the night
Kyrie Eleison
Where I'm going will you follow
Kyrie Eleison
On a highway in the light

When I was young I thought of growing old
Of what my life would mean to me
Would I have followed down my chosen road
Or only wished what I could be



Oh...Oh...Oh
Oh...Oh...Oh
Oh...Oh...Oh
Oh...Oh...Oh

Good morning, WA2K folks.

Dys's song reminded me of Martin Luther, and since Martin Luther King day will be coming up this month, I think the following is quite timely:

Wilt thou, O man, live happily,
And dwell with God eternally,
The ten commandments keep, for thus
Our God himself biddeth us.
Kyrieleison!
I am the Lord and God! take heed
No other god doth thee mislead;
Thy heart shall trust alone in me,
My kingdom then thou shalt be.
Kyrieleison!
Honor my name in word and deed,
And call on me in time of need:
Hallow the Sabbath, that I may
Work in thy heart on that day.
Kyrieleison!
4. Obedient always, next to me,
To father and to mother be;
Kill no man: even anger dread;
Keep sacred thy marriage-bed.
Kyrieleison!

Steal not, nor do thy neigbor wrong
By bearing witness with false tongue;
Thy neighbor's wife desire thou not,
Nor grudge him aught he hath got. Kyrieleison

German

Mensch, willt du leben seliglich,
Und bei Gott bleiben ewiglich,
Sollt du halten die zehn Gebot,
Die uns geben unser Gott.
Kyrioleis!
Dein Gott allein und Herr bin ich,
Kein ander Gott soll irren dich;
Trauen soll mir das Herze dein,
Mein eigen Reich sollt du sein.
Kyrioleis!
Du sollt mein'n Namen ehren schon
Und in der Noth mich rufen an,
Du sollt heil'gen den Sabbath-Tag,
Das ich in dir wirken mag.
Kyrioleis!
Dem Vater und der Mutter dein
Sollt du nach mir gehorsam sein;
Niemand tödten noch zornig sein,
Und deine Eh' halten rein.
Kyrioleis!

Du sollt ein'm andern stehlen nicht,
Auf Niemand falsches zeugen icht;
Deines Nächsten Weib nicht begehr'n
Und all sein's Gut's gern entbehr'n.
Kyrioleis!

ZaSu Pitts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


ZaSu Pitts (January 3, 1894 (?) - June 7, 1963) was a United States movie actress. She was one of the more popular stars of the early motion picture era.



Name and birth date

Her unusual first name was coined from parts of the names "Eliza" and "Susan", female relatives who both wanted Pitts's mother to name the child after them. In many film credits and articles, her name was rendered as Zazu Pitts or Zasu Pitts. Though her name is commonly mispronounced as "Zazz-oo", in her 1930s film shorts with Thelma Todd (see below) it is clearly pronounced on-screen (by Todd) as "ZAY-sue;" her name was also consistently pronounced "ZAY-sue" during her recurrent guest appearences on Fibber McGee and Molly's show in 1939.

There is some disagreement as to her birth date: some on-line biographies claim Pitts was born January 3, 1894, but the Internet Broadway Database gives her birth date as January 3, 1898. Her California death record claims she was born January 3, 1901, and making matters more confusing, the Social Security Death Record reflects a birthdate of January 3, 1900.


Biography

Pitts was born in Parsons, Kansas and grew up in Santa Cruz, California.

Pitts was discovered by screenwriter Frances Marion and made her debut in the silent film The Little Princess (1917), starring Mary Pickford. Pitts became a leading lady in Erich von Stroheim's masterpiece Greed (1924); based on this performance, von Stroheim labelled Pitts "the greatest dramatic actress". Von Stroheim also featured her in his films The Wedding March (1928) and Walking Down Broadway (1933), which was re-edited by Alfred L. Werker and released as Hello Sister.

Pitts enjoyed her greatest fame, however, in the 1930's, often starring in B movies and comedy shorts, often teamed with Thelma Todd. She also played secondary parts in many films. Her stock persona (a fretful, flustered, worrisome spinster) made her instantly recognizable and was often imitated in cartoons and other films. She starred in a number of Hal Roach shorts and features that were popular, but her brief stint in the Hildegarde Withers mystery series was not well received.

Films featuring Pitts include Nurse Edith Cavell (1939) and two film adaptations of No, No, Nanette - one in 1930 and another in 1940. Pitts achieved renewed fame in television in the 1950's, notably costarring in Gale Storm's sitcom Oh, Susanna. Her last role, shortly before her death, was as a voice actress (switchboard operator) in the Stanley Kramer comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World(1963).


Marriage

Pitts was married to actor Tom Gallery from 1920 to 1932. They had two children: a daughter, Ann Gallery, and a son, Don Gallery (né Marvin Carville La Marr), whom they adopted after the 1926 death of his mother, silent film actress Barbara La Marr.


Death

Pitts died of cancer in Hollywood, California in 1963. She was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery although she was not known to be a Roman Catholic.


Trivia

She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in 1994, she was honored with her image on a United States postage stamp designed by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld.
When Hollywood switched to talkies Pitts, who had a distinctive nasal voice with a wavering vibrato, switched from dramas to comedy roles.
Mae Questel characatured Pitt's voice for the character "Olive Oyl" for the Fleischer Studios animated cartoon version of the comic strip "Popeye".
From the 1940s through the early 1960s, Pitts also made numerous television appearances, including her role in Oh! Susanna (1956-1960), with Gale Storm as her niece.
She was on radio, appearing several times on the earliest Fibber McGee and Molly show. Her character was a somewhat dipsy dame who was constantly looking for a husband.
Referred to sadistic gossip columnist Hedda Hopper as a "ferret".
Conservative both politically and financially, she left her lucrative job with Thelma Todd over a money dispute with Hal Roach, and often complained about taxes.

Ray Milland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Ray Milland (January 3, 1905 - March 10, 1986) was a successful Welsh actor and director who worked primarily in the United States. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985.

He was born Reginald Truscott-Jones in Neath, Wales, and took his stage surname from an area of the town. Before becoming an actor, he served in the Royal Household Cavalry. He married Malvinia Warner on September 30, 1932, and they remained together until his death. They had a son, Daniel, and an adopted daughter, Victoria.

The pinnacle of his career came in 1946 when he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of an alcoholic in the film The Lost Weekend (1945). He achieved some success as a director. He made many television appearances.

He died of lung cancer in Torrance, California in 1986, aged 81.


Trivia

Gave the shortest acceptance speech of any Oscar winner: he simply bowed and left the stage.
The popular hard rock band Local H recorded a song entitled "Ray Miland" (whether or not the actor's name is misspelled intentionally is unclear) as a b-side to their album "As Good as Dead." The song's lyrics describe a person experiencing moments of clarity in what seems to be an alcoholic haze. While the track has never been properly released, it is widely available on mp3 file-sharing networks.

Victor Borge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Victor Borge (January 3, 1909 - December 23, 2000) was a humorist, entertainer and world-class pianist affectionately known as the Clown Prince of Denmark and the Great Dane.




Biography

He was born Børge Rosenbaum in Copenhagen, Denmark, to Bernhard and Frederikke Rosenbaum, who were both musicians (Bernhard played violin in the Royal Danish Chapel, and Frederikke played piano). Borge took up piano like his mother at the age of 3, and it was soon realized that he was a prodigy. He gave his first piano recital when he was 8 years old, and was awarded a full scholarship at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in 1918, studying under Olivo Krause. Later on, he was taught by Victor Schiøler, Frederic Lamond, and Egon Petri.

Borge played his first major venue in 1926 at the Danish concert-hall Odd Fellow Palæet (The Odd Fellow Mansion). After a few years as a classical concert pianist, he started his now famous "stand up" act, with the signature blend of piano music and jokes. He married American Elsie Chilton in 1933, the same year he debuted with his revue acts. Borge started touring extensively in Europe, where he began telling anti-Nazi jokes. This led to Adolf Hitler placing the outspoken Jew on his list of enemies to the Fatherland.

When Denmark was occupied by the Nazis during World War II, Borge was playing a concert in Sweden, and managed to escape to Finland. He travelled to America on the USS American Legion, the last passenger ship that made it out of Europe prior to the war, and arrived August 28, 1940 with only 20 dollars, 3 of which went to the customs fee. Disguised as a sailor, Borge returned to Denmark once during the occupation, to visit his dying mother.

Even though Borge didn't speak a word of English upon arrival, he quickly managed to adapt his jokes to the American audience, learning English by watching movies. He took the name of Victor Borge, and in 1941, he started on Rudy Vallee's radio show, but was hired soon after by Bing Crosby for his Kraft Music Hall.

From then on, it went quickly for Borge, who won Best New Radio Performer of the Year in 1942. Soon after the award, he was offered film roles with big stars, such as Frank Sinatra (in Higher and Higher). While hosting The Victor Borge Show on NBC from 1946, he developed many of his trademarks, including repeatedly announcing his intent to play a piece but getting "distracted" by something or other, making comments on the audience, or discussing the usefulness of Chopin's Minute Waltz as an eggtimer.

Among Borge's other famous routines is the "Phonetic Punctuation" routine, in which he recites a story, with full punctuation (comma, period, exclamation mark, etc.) as onomatopoetic sounds. Another is his "Inflationary Language", where he incremented numbers embedded in words, whether they are visible or not ("inflate" becomes "inflnine", "before" becomes "befive", "Tea For Two" becomes "Tea Five Three", etc).

Borge used physical and visual elements in his live and televised performances. He would play a strange-sounding piano tune from sheet music, looking increasingly confused; turning the sheet upside down, he would then play the actual tune, flashing a joyful smile of accomplishment to the audience. (He had, at first, been literally playing the actual tune upside down.) When his energetic playing of another song would cause him to fall off the piano bench, he would open the seat lid, take out the two ends of an automotive seat-belt, and buckle himself onto the bench, for 'safety.' His musical sidekick, Leonid Hambro, was a trained concert pianist.

He also enjoyed interacting with the audience. Seeing an interested person in the front row, he would ask them, "Do you like piano music?" When they said they did, Borge would take the sheet music from his piano, say "Here," and give it to them. Waiting for the laughter to die down, he then said, "That'll be $1.95" (or whatever the current price might be).

Borge guested on Toast of the Town, hosted by Ed Sullivan, several times during 1948, and became a naturalized citizen of the United States of America the same year. He started the Comedy in Music show on The Golden Theatre in New York City on October 2, 1953. After divorcing his wife Elsie, he married Sarabel Sanna Scraper in 1953. Comedy in Music became the longest running one-man show, with 849 performances when he stopped January 21, 1956, being accepted into the Guinness Book of World Records.

Continuing his success with several tours and shows, Borge played with some of the world's most renowned orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic and London Philharmonic. Always modest, he felt very honored when he was invited to conduct the Danish Royal Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1992.

Borge helped start several trust funds, including the Thanks to Scandinavia Fund, which was started in dedication to those who helped the Jews escape the German persecution during the war. Borge received Kennedy Center Honors in 1999.

Aside from his musical work, Borge wrote two books, My Favorite Intermissions and My Favorite Comedies in Music (with Robert Sherman), and the autobiography Smilet er den korteste afstand ("The Smile is the Shortest Distance" with Niels-Jørgen Kaiser). Victor Borge continued to tour until his last days, performing up to 60 times per year when he was 90 years old.

Borge died in Greenwich, Connecticut, after more than 75 years of entertaining. He died peacefully, in his sleep, the day after returning from a concert in Denmark. "It was just his time to go", Frederikke Borge said. "He's been missing my mother terribly."

Victor Borge Hall was named in Mr. Borge's honor in 2000. It is located in Scandinavia House in New York City.

He left behind 5 children, Sanna, Victor Jr., and Frederikke with Sarabel, and Ronald and Janet with Elsie.

Memorable Quotes

I'd like to thank my parents for making this night possible. And my children for making it necessary.
I don't mind growing old. I'm just not used to it.
Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.
Occasionally, a finger comes up to wipe a tear from the eye...and that's my reward.... the rest goes to the government.
I only know two pieces, one is 'Claire de Lune', the other one isn't.
The difference between a violin and a viola is that a viola burns longer.
When you go home, please drive home extremely carefully. Extremely carefully. Because I walk in my sleep!
It's your language, I'm just trying to use it...
Giuseppe Verdi. Joe Green to you.
I'm going to play it with both hands so it will end faster.

Betty Furness
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Elizabeth Mary Furness, better known as Betty Furness (born January 3, 1916; died April 2, 1994) was an American actress, consumer advocate and current affairs commentator.

Born in New York, New York, Furness began her professional career as a model before being signed to a film contract by RKO Studios. Her first film role was as the "Thirteenth Woman" in the 1932 film Thirteen Women but her scenes were deleted before the film's release. Over the next few years she appeared in several RKO films, and became a popular actress. Among her film successes were Magnificent Obsession (1935) and the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film Swing Time (1936). By the end of the decade she had appeared in over forty films, but during the 1940s found it difficult to secure acting roles.

In 1948 she was performing in the television series Studio One which was broadcast live. She filled in for an actor to promote Westinghouse products during the advertisement break, and impressed the company with her easy and professional manner. They offered her a contract to promote their products and she subsequently became closely associated with them. One of television's most recognizable (and occasionally parodied) series of commercials had Furness opening wide a refrigerator door, intoning, "You can be sure... if it's Westinghouse." (Ironically, Furness may be best known today for a commercial in which she did not appear: during a live spot for Westinghouse, a refrigerator door failed to open, creating one of the most infamous bloopers in TV history. This actually did not happen to Furness, as has often been claimed, but to another actress who was subbing for her.)

She was a regular panelist on What's My Line? in 1951, and that fall appeared in a series of live mysteries on ABC, under the weighty title Your Kaiser Dealer Presents Kaiser-Frazer "Adventures In Mystery" Starring Betty Furness In "Byline". In 1953 she appeared in her own television series Meet Betty Furness which was sponsored by Westinghouse and she remained a spokesperson for the company until 1960. She then attempted to move into a less commercialized role in television but found herself too closely associated with advertising to be taken seriously. During this time she worked on radio, and also on behalf of the Democratic Party.

In 1967 President Lyndon Baines Johnson, aware of her work for the Democrats contacted Furness and offered her a position as Special Assistant for Consumer Affairs. She accepted the assignment and continued in this role until the end of the Johnson administration in 1969. During her tenure she silenced her critics by applying herself studiously to her role and learning the issues relating to consumer rights. She headed the Consumer Affairs Departments of both New York City, and New York State from the late 1960s before returning to television.

Signed by WNBC in New York, Furness reported on consumer issues, and specifically targeted examples of consumer fraud. In 1976 she began an association with The Today Show filling in as anchor, and providing regular reports. In 1977 her program Buyline: Betty Furness won the Peabody Award.

In 1990 she was diagnosed with cancer. She continued working for The Today Show until she was released from her contract in 1992. Her dismissal was widely publicised and controversial and was viewed by many of Furness' supporters as ageism.

She had always expressed throughout her life that her philosophy was to never turn down a job, and she stated that it was this attitude that had allowed her to progress through such an unconventional series of professions. During her illness she stated that she wanted nothing more than to be able to work, but her health continued to deteriorate until her death in New York from stomach cancer.

Betty Furness has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution Motion Pictures, and to Television.