WA2K Radio is now on the air

Jane Seymour (actress)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Birth name Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg
Born February 15, 1951 (age 55)
Hayes, Hillingdon, England, UK
Height 161 cm (64 in)
Spouse(s) James Keach 1993-present
David Flynn 1981-1992
Geoffrey Planer 1977-1978
Michael Attenborough 1971-1973
Official site www.janeseymour.com
Notable roles Solitaire, Live and Let Die
Serina, Battlestar Galactica
Elise McKenna, Somewhere in Time
Dr. Quinn, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
Kathleen Cleary, Wedding Crashers
Emmy Awards

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
1988 Onassis: The Richest Man in the World

Jane Seymour OBE (born Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg on February 15, 1951) is an English-born actress probably best known today as the star of the TV series and film Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. She is now an American citizen.





Biography

Early life

Born in Hayes, Hillingdon, England to John Frankenberg, a British Jewish obstetrician of Polish and German origin and his Dutch wife Mieke van Trigt, she took the stage name of Jane Seymour at the age of 17.


Acting career

She has had a long career in both film and television, beginning in 1969 with an uncredited role in Richard Attenborough's film version of Oh! What a Lovely War. Soon afterward she married Attenborough's son, Michael Attenborough. Her first major film role was as Lillian Stein, a Jewish woman seeking shelter from the Nazis with a Danish Christian family in the 1970 war drama The Only Way.

From 1972 to 1973 she played her first major TV role as Emma Callon in the successful 1970s series The Onedin Line. During this time she appeared as female lead Prima in the two-part TV mini-series Frankenstein: The True Story and as Winston Churchill's lover Pamela Plowden in another of the films produced by her father-in-law, Young Winston. She also drew her first major international attention as Bond girl Solitaire in the James Bond film Live and Let Die.

Seymour divorced Michael Attenborough in 1973. She then took only two minor TV roles until cast as Princess Farah in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, the third part of Ray Harryhausen's Sinbad trilogy, in 1975. (The film was not released, however, until its stop motion animation sequences had been completed in 1977.) For the remainder of the 1970s, she played minor TV roles. In 1978 she played Serina in the Battlestar Galactica motion picture, and then in the first two episodes of the series that followed, until she was killed off, with the role being one of her most memorable minor TV roles. In 1981 she was in the TV movie version of John Steinbeck's East of Eden.

In 1980, Seymour returned to the big screen in the comedy Oh Heavenly Dog opposite Chevy Chase and as Elise McKenna in Somewhere in Time opposite Christopher Reeve. Following her appearance opposite Tom Selleck in the unsuccessful 1984 film Lassiter, however, she made no further major movie appearances until 2005.


Next, Seymour won the female lead in the epic twelve-part TV miniseries, War and Remembrance (1988), in which she played Natalie Henry, an American Jewish woman trapped in Europe during World War II. The series was based on the successful novel by Herman Wouk, and is noted for its accurate and graphic depiction of the Holocaust.

In 1989, as part of the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution, she appeared in a lavish television movie series called La révolution française (filmed in both French and English.) Seymour appeared as the doomed French queen, Marie Antoinette, her two children ?- Kathryn and Sean ?- appeared as the queen's children.

Seymour continued to take numerous roles in TV movies and series, most notably as Dr. Michaela Quinn in the TV series and movie Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993-2001), through which she met her present husband, director James Keach. It is well known that while filming the 1996-1997 season, Seymour allowed British rock group Radiohead to record their hit album OK Computer at her mansion. In 2004 she made several guest appearances in the hit WB Network series Smallville, playing the role of Genevieve Teague, the wealthy, scheming mother of Jason Teague (Jensen Ackles). She also made a guest appearance on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

She returned to the big screen again in 2005 with the major role of Kathleen Cleary, wife of Treasury Secretary William Cleary (Christopher Walken), in the hit comedy Wedding Crashers. She returned to TV in the short lived WB series Modern Men, broadcast in spring 2006.

Seymour was named an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II on New Year's Eve, 1999. She became a U.S. citizen on February 11, 2005.

In fall 2006, Seymour guest-starred as a law-school professor on an episode of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and as a wealthy client on the FOX legal drama Justice.


Marriages and children

1971-1973 : Michael Attenborough
1977-1978 : Geoffrey Planer
1981-1992 : David Flynn (with two children, Katherine, born 1981; and Sean, born 1986)
1993 to date : James Keach (with twins Johnny and Kris, born 1995, named after family friends Johnny Cash and Christopher Reeve)

Trivia

Her eyes are different colours. Her right eye is hazel brown and her left eye is green. (See Heterochromia.)
Thanks to her mother, she is fluent in Dutch as well as English.
The music bands The Cure and Radiohead (OK Computer) have recorded at her house in England.
During filming of Live and Let Die, she went to a tarot reader. The reader looked at the cards, and told Jane that she would marry again three times. Jane was shocked, because she had just been married for the first time. She later did marry again three times. She mentions this in the 2000 DVD release of Live and Let Die.

Chris Farley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Born February 15, 1964
Madison, Wisconsin
Died December 18, 1997 (at age 33)
Chicago, Illinois

Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 - December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian.

Farley was a cast member at Chicago's Second City Theatre and achieved his greatest fame as a cast member on the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. He starred in a string of moderately successful comedic films in the mid-1990s before dying of a drug overdose in late 1997.





Early life

Farley was born in Madison, Wisconsin. His nuclear family consisted of his three brothers (Tom, Jr. and actors Kevin and John), his sister, Barbara, and his parents, Maryann and Tom, Sr. Chris graduated from Edgewood High School (Wisconsin) after leaving La Lumiere School due to academic reasons after just one semester. He then went on to graduate from Marquette University in 1986 with a degree in communications and theatre. After graduating, he worked with his father at the Scotch Oil Company in Madison. Chris got his start in professional comedy at the Ark Improv Theatre in Madison and the Improv Olympic theater in Chicago. He then went on to perform at Chicago's Second City Theatre. He was initially part of Second City's touring group, but was eventually promoted to their main stage. While working at Second City, he was discovered by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels.


Saturday Night Live

Farley was one of two new SNL cast members announced in the spring of 1990, the other being Chris Rock. On the show, Farley frequently collaborated with fellow cast members David Spade, Rob Schneider and Adam Sandler, among others. This group came to be known as the "Bad Boys of SNL". Popular characters performed by Farley included an over-the-top motivational speaker named Matt Foley (who constantly reminded characters that he lived in "a van down by the river"), Todd O'Connor of Bill Swerski's Superfans (a group of stereotypical Chicagoans who constantly yell out "da Bears!"), a Chippendales dancer (in a famous skit that paired him with guest host Patrick Swayze, which then inspired the ogre and moonkin dance in World of Warcraft), a "Gap Girl" (who hung out with friends at a local mall), a stereotypical lunch lady (to the theme of Hoagies and Grinders performed by Adam Sandler[1]) and Bennett Brauer (a Weekend Update commentator who would often divulge his personal and hygienic problems via air quotes). Some of these characters were brought to SNL from his days at Second City. Farley also performed impersonations of Tom Arnold, (who gave the eulogy at his funeral), Andrew Giuliani, Jerry Garcia, Meat Loaf, Norman Schwarzkopf, Roger Ebert, and Newt Gingrich, who invited Farley down to Washington, D.C.


Film career

Farley made appearances in several films, including Wayne's World in 1992, Coneheads in 1993, Wayne's World 2 in 1993 (playing a different character than he did in the previous film), Airheads in 1994, and Adam Sandler's Billy Madison in 1995.


After Farley and most of his fellow cast members were released from their contracts at Saturday Night Live after its 1994-1995 season, Farley focused on his film career. His first two major films costarred his SNL cohort and close friend David Spade. Together, the duo made the films Tommy Boy and Black Sheep, which were successes at the domestic box office, earning around $32 million each and gaining a large cult following on home video.[2][3] These films established Farley as a relatively bankable star and he was given the sole leading role in 1997's Beverly Hills Ninja. However, drug and alcohol problems began interfering with his work and during the filming of his final film, Almost Heroes with Matthew Perry, shooting was stopped several times for Farley's disease treatment and relapses. [4]

Farley was popular with young audiences not only as a physical comedian but also as a comic actor, but few critics warmed to him. Only Tommy Boy was met with any degree of critical acclaim.


Unfinished projects

Farley had recorded vocals for a character in an animated film produced by Dreamworks SKG, but his death necessitated that the role be recast. He was replaced by SNL colleague Mike Myers as the voice of Shrek in the movie of the same name.


Death

Farley was severely overweight for most of his child and adult life and was an alcoholic. He began drinking beer while at Marquette University. After struggling with obesity, alcohol, and drug addiction for years, he was found dead in his 60th floor apartment of the John Hancock Center in Chicago on December 18, 1997. Farley was 33 years old. An autopsy revealed that Farley had died of an overdose of cocaine and heroin (speedball) with coronary arteriosclerosis being a contributing factor. [5] By the time of his last SNL appearance, as a guest host on October 25, 1997 [6], he was evidently in trouble ?- his voice was unbearably hoarse, he looked bloated, sweated profusely, and was grossly overweight. [7][8] A tabloid reported that Farley had been drinking heavily during the week of rehearsals and needed an oxygen tank. Reportedly, on the set of Almost Heroes, he required almost constant hands-on caretaking, [9] however Matthew Perry has said this was untrue and that Farley was sober on set.

In some ways Farley was a contradictory character: he could be completely uninhibited onstage, willing to do anything for a laugh, but he could also be shy and insecure in private. He had devastating insecurities, including an over-dependency on his father's love.[citation needed] He overcame neither these emotional problems nor his dependence on alcohol. Farley's friends have said that they were worried because they knew about his excessive drug and alcohol intake, and his fixation with becoming a legend by dying, but were unable to get him to see the insanity of that thought process.

In his book "Gasping For Airtime," former cast member Jay Mohr recalled a surreal moment involving Farley and fellow cast member Phil Hartman. In the SNL cast's goodbye song-and-dance performance to Hartman, the final scene featured Farley (in his Matt Foley costume) and Hartman embracing each other, as the latter sang "Goodbye" to the camera. They died within six months of each other.

After his death, a funeral service was held at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Madison, Wisconsin on December 23, 1997. Over 500 people attended his funeral. Farley was buried in Resurrection Cemetery in Madison.

In 1998 his final completed films Almost Heroes and Dirty Work were posthumously released.

On August 26, 2005, almost eight years after his death, Farley posthumously received the 2,289th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His star is located in front of ImprovOlympic West. [10]

Farley once said he wanted to be just like his idol, the late comedian John Belushi. His lifestyle and death were strikingly similar to Belushi's. He died at the same age and under similar circumstances as Belushi.

In late 2005, it was revealed that Chris Farley had a child with friend Josette Doyle. Their son, Sterling Doyle, was born on September 5, 1997, just 3 months before Farley's death. In an article, [11] Josette Doyle states that Chris knew about his child, but kept away when he was born.

A Mom is driving a little girl to her friends
house for a play date. "Mommy," the little
girl asks, "how old are you?"


The mother looks over at the little girl, "Honey, you are not
supposed to ask a lady her age, it isn't polite." the mother warns.




"Ok," the little girl says, "How much do you weigh?"


"Now really," the mother says, "these are personal
questions and are really none of your business."


Undaunted, the little girl asks,
"Why did you and daddy get a divorce?"


"That is enough questions, honestly!" The exasperated
mother walks away as the two friends begin to play.



"My Mom wouldn't tell me anything,"
the little girl says to her friend.


"Well," said the friend, "All you need
to do is look at her driver's license.
It's like a report card, it has everything on it."


Later that night the little girl says to her mother,
"I know how old you are, you are 32."


The mother is surprised and asks,
"How did you find that out?"


"I also know that you weigh 140 pounds."
The mother is past surprise and shock now.


"How in heavens name did you find that out?"


The little girl continues on triumphantly,
"And...I know why you and daddy got divorce."


"Oh really?", the mother asks, "Why is that?"


To which the girl replies,
"Because you got an F in sex."

Wonderful, folks. Our hawkman gave us great bio's today and managed to leave us with a big smile. Loved the funny, BioBob, and boy can kids get the best of us by being so straight forward. Thanks once again for the marvelous info, Boston.

dys, I cannot tell you how nice it was to be reminded of Nat. My mom loved him and Bud thought his Nat Cole Trio was awesome.

Let's hear one by Melissa, and then we'll do one by Nat Cole:


Whatever it is, it'll keep till the morning
Haven't we both got better things to do?
Midnight blue
Even the simple things become rough
Haven't we had enough?

And I think we can make it
One more time
If we try
One more time for all the old times

For all of the times you told me you need me
Needing me now is something I could use
Midnight blue
Wouldn't you give your hand to a friend?
Maybe it's not the end

And I think we can make it
One more time
If we try
One more time for all the old times
Midnight blue

I think we can make it
I think we can make it
Oh, wouldn't you give your heart to a friend?
Think of me as your friend

And I think we can make it
One more time
If we try
One more time for all of the old, old times

One more time
I think we can make it
If we try
I think we can make it
If we try
Looks like we're gonna make it
Looks like we're gonna make it
If we try
I think we can make it

fade

Wow! It certainly has been difficult getting into our studio this afternoon.

From Nat Cole:


Answer me, oh, my love
Just what sin have I been guilty of?
Tell me how I came to lose your love
Please answer me, sweetheart
You were mine yesterday
I believed that love was here to stay
Won`t you tell me where I`ve gone astray?
Please answer me, my love

If you`re happier without me
I`ll try not to care
But if you still think about me
Please listen to my prayer

You must know I`ve been true
Won`t you say that we can start anew?
In my sorrow now I turn to you
Please answer me, my love

Because
The Dave Clark Five

[Written by Dave Clark]

It's right that I should care about you
And try to make you happy when you're blue
It's right, it's right to feel the way I do
Because, because I love you

It's wrong to say I don't think of you
'Cause when you say these things
You know it makes me blue

Give me one kiss and I'll be happy
Just, just to be with you
Give me, give me, a chance to be near you
Because, because I love you

------ Organ Solo ------

Give me one kiss and I'll be happy
Just, just to be with you
Give me, give me, a chance to be near you
Because, because I love you
Because, because I love you

It's right that I should care about you
And try to make you happy when you're blue
It's right, it's right to feel the way I do
Because, because I love you

It's wrong to say I don't think of you
'Cause when you say these things
You know it makes me blue

Give me one kiss and I'll be happy
Just, just to be with you
Give me, give me, a chance to be near you
Because, because I love you

------ Organ Solo ------

Give me one kiss and I'll be happy
Just, just to be with you
Give me, give me, a chance to be near you
Because, because I love you
Because, because I love you

Good morning, WA2K listeners and contributors.

edgar, you and I are up early today, Texas. Thanks for the Dave Clark Five song.

Watched The Ghost and the Darkness, which is one worth seeing several times, folks.

So, here is one by Paul Simon.


Under African Skies

Joseph's face was black as night
The pale yellow moon shone in his eyes
His path was marked
By the stars in the southern hemisphere
And he walked his days
Under african skies
This is the story of how we begin to remember
This is the powerful pulsing of love in the vein
After the dream of falling and calling your name out
These are the roots of rhythm
And the roots of rhythm remain

In early memory
Mission music
Was ringing 'round my nursery door
I said take this child, lord
From tucson arizona
Give her the wings to fly through harmony
And she won't bother you no more

This is the story of how we begin to remember
This is the powerful pulsing of love in the vein
After the dream of falling and calling your name out
These are the roots of rhythm
And the roots of rhythm remain

Joseph's face was black as night
And the pale yellow moon shone in his eyes
His path was marked
By the stars in the southern hemisphere
And he walked the length of his days
Under african skies

Edgar Bergen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Edgar John Bergen (February 16, 1903 - September 30, 1978) was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist.

Bergen was born in Decatur, Michigan to a Swedish family. He taught himself ventriloquism from a pamphlet when he was 11. A few years later he commissioned Chicago woodcarver Theodore Mack to sculpt a likeness of a rascally Irish newspaperboy he knew. The head went on a puppet named Charlie McCarthy, who became Bergen's lifelong sidekick. At age 16, he came to Chicago, where he attended Lake View High School and worked at a silent movie house.

His first performances were in vaudeville and one-reel movie shorts, but his real success was on the radio. He and Charlie were seen at a Hollywood party by Noel Coward, who recommended them for an appearance on Rudy Vallee's program. The appearance was so successful that the next year they were given their own show. Under various sponsors, they were on the air from December 17, 1937 to July 1, 1956. The popularity of a ventriloquist on radio, when one could see neither the dummies nor his skill, surprised and puzzled many critics, then and now. However, it was Bergen's skill as an entertainer and vocal performer, and especially his characterization of Charlie, that carried the show over. Luckily, many of the shows have survived and are available for audiences today to experience the phenomenon firsthand. Bergen's success on radio was paralleled in the UK by Peter Brough and his dummy Archie Andrews.

For the radio program, Bergen developed other characters, notably the slow-witted Mortimer Snerd and the man-hungry Effie Klinker. The star, however, was Charlie, who was always presented as a child (albeit in top hat, cape, and monocle)?-a debonair, girl-crazy, child-about-town. As a child, and a wooden one at that, Charlie could get away with double entendre that adult humans could not under broadcast standards of the day.

Charlie: "May I have a kiss good-bye?"
Dale Evans: "Well, I can't see any harm in that!"
Charlie: "Oh. I wish you could. A harmless kiss doesn't sound very thrilling."
Similar lines given to Mae West in a sketch on the show broadcast December 12, 1937, resulted in her 15-year broadcasting ban. "Charles, I remember our date and have the splinters to prove it."

Charlie's feud with W. C. Fields was a regular feature of the show.

W.C. Fields: "Well, Charlie McCarthy, the woodpecker's pinup boy."
W.C. Fields: "I love children. I can remember when, with my own little unsteady legs, I toddled from room to room."
Charlie: "When was that? Last night?"
W.C. Fields: "Quiet, Wormwood, or I'll whittle you down to a coathanger."
W.C. Fields: "Tell me, Charles, is it true that your father was a gate-leg table?"
Charlie: "If it is, your father was under it."
W.C. Fields: "Why, you stunted spruce, I'll throw a japanese beetle on you."
Charlie: "Why, you bar-fly you, I'll stick a wick in your mouth, and use you for an alcohol lamp!"
Charlie: "Pink elephants take aspirin to get rid of W. C. Fields."

A scene from the film Stage Door Canteen (1943)Bergen was not the most technically skilled ventriloquist?-Charlie McCarthy frequently twitted him for moving his lips?-but Bergen's sense of comedic timing was superb, and he handled Charlie's snappy dialogue with aplomb. Bergen's wit in creating McCarthy's striking personality and that of his other characters was the making of the show. The fact that Bergen was widely popular for a ventriloquism act on radio (where the trick of "throwing his voice" was not visible) indicates that his appeal was primarily the personality he applied to his characters.

Bergen and McCarthy are sometimes credited with "saving the world" because, on the night of October 30, 1938 when Orson Welles performed his War of the Worlds radio play that panicked many listeners, most of the American public had instead tuned in to Bergen and McCarthy on another station and never heard Welles' play. Conversely, it has also been theorized that Bergen inadvertently contributed to the hysteria. When the musical portion of Bergen's show, The Chase and Sanborn Hour, aired approximately 12 minutes into the show, many listeners switched stations and found the War of the Worlds presentation already underway, with a realistic sounding reporter detailing terrible events.





Comic strip

In addition to his work as a ventriloquist, Bergen was also an actor and comic strip creator. He appeared as the shy Norwegian suitor in I Remember Mama (1948). He also appeared in Captain China (1949) and Don't Make Waves (1965). He created the syndicated comic strip Mortimer & Charlie which ran in 1939.

Bergen and his alter-ego McCarthy appeared together with top billing in several films, including the technicolor extravaganza The Goldwyn Follies (1938), opposite The Ritz Brothers. That year they also appeared inYou Can't Cheat An Honest Man, with W. C. Fields. At the height of their popularity in 1938, Bergen was presented an Honorary Oscar (in the form of a wooden Oscar stauette) for his creation of Charlie McCarthy.


in the film Stage Door Canteen (1943) with Mortimer SnerdOther film roles for the team include Look Who's Laughing (1941) and Here We Go Again (1942), both with Fibber McGee and Molly. Later Bergen and McCarthy were featured in Fun and Fancy Free (1947), and much later in The Muppet Movie. Bergen passed away shortly after completing his scenes, marking it as Bergen's last appearance; the film was dedicated to him.

In addition to his work in radio and film, Bergen also made numerous appearances on television during his career. In a Thanksgiving special sponsored by Coca-Cola in 1950, the new character Podine Puffington was introduced. This saucy southern belle was as tall as a real woman, in contrast to Bergen's other sit-on-the-knee sized characters. Bergen also hosted the television show Do You Trust Your Wife? in 1956, later to be replaced by Johnny Carson. Bergen continued to appear regularly on television in the 1960s. For example, he did a stint as one of the What's My Line? Mystery Guests on the popular Sunday night CBS TV program.

Bergen appeared as Grandpa Walton in the original The Waltons movie The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (1971). The part was played by Will Geer in the subsequent series. Throughout the run of The Waltons -- which took place in the late 1930s through the 1940s -- the voices of Bergen and Charlie McCarthy were sporadically heard from the Walton family's radio, as family members regularly tuned in that program.

Edgar Bergen died of kidney disease in Las Vegas, Nevada, aged 75. He is interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California. He was elected to the Radio Hall of Fame in 1990, the same year that The Charlie McCarthy Show was selected as an honored program.


Marriage to Frances Bergen

Edgar Bergen met Frances Westerman (1922-2006) during a radio program when he was 39 and she was only 19. Noticing Westerman in the audience, Bergen asked to meet the young fashion model, who was known as Frances Westcott during her modeling career. The two were married on 28 June 1945 and they remained married until Bergen's death in 1978. They were the parents of actress Candice Bergen, whose first performances were on Bergen's radio show, and Kris Bergen. Frances Bergen died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on October 2, 2006, aged 84, from undisclosed causes (see [2]).


Trivia

In 1940, Edgar Bergen was grand marshall of the Tournament of Roses Parade.
The Bergen surname is cognate to the word borough.
Bergen attended Northwestern University, but did not graduate. The school later gave him an honorary degree as "Master of Innuendo and Snappy Comeback".
Bergen and his two sidekicks Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd appeared on Walt Disney's One Hour In Wonderland in 1950 with Kathryn Beaumont (the voice of Alice in Disney's 1951 animated film Alice in Wonderland). This episode is featured on Disc Two of the Alice in Wonderland Special Edition.
In 1955, Edgar was the honorary grand marshall of the Annual Great Oregon Steam-Up in Brooks, Oregon. A yearly show which features steam traction engines.
Edgar was the boyhood idol of famous puppeteer Jim Henson.
Bergen penned the article on ventriloquism in the 1958 Encyclopedia Brittanica.[1]

References in popular culture

In Radio Days, young Joe's (Seth Green) Uncle Abe (Josh Mostel) and Aunt Ceil (Renee Lippin) have an argument over an unnamed Bergen's radio act; Abe is driven crazy by the thought of a ventriloquist over the radio ("How can you tell his lips aren't moving?!")
A Charlie McCarthy doll figures into the storyline of The Rainmaker (1997), the film based on the John Grisham novel.

Vera-Ellen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Vera-Ellen (February 16, 1921 - August 30, 1981) was an American actress and stage and film dancer, principally celebrated for her filmed dance partnerships with Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor.

She was born Vera-Ellen Westmeier Rohe in Norwood, Ohio to Martin Rohe and Alma Catherine Westmeier, both descended from German immigrants. She began dancing at the age of 9 and quickly became very proficient. At 16, she was a winner on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour, and entered upon a professional career.

In 1939, Vera-Ellen made her Broadway theatre debut in the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein musical Very Warm For May at the age of 18. She became one of the youngest Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, although she was not tall. This led to roles on Broadway in Panama Hattie, By Jupiter, and A Connecticut Yankee, where she was spotted by Samuel Goldwyn, who cast her opposite Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo in the film Wonder Man (1945).

She appeared in several films, including White Christmas (1954), On the Town (1949), the "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" dance in Words and Music (1948) -- the last three with Gene Kelly. Vera-Ellen was also one of the stars in the last Marx Brothers film, Love Happy (1949). She took top billing alongside Fred Astaire in Three Little Words (1950) and The Belle of New York (1952), and with Donald O'Connor in Call Me Madam (1953).

During the 1950s, she was reputed to have the "smallest waist in Hollywood", probably because she suffered from anorexia, which contributed to her premature aging [1].

She died of cancer at her home in California at the age of 60 in 1981.

Sonny Bono
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 44th district
In office
1994 - 1998

Final term completed by widow Mary Bono

Preceded by Alfred A. McCandless
Succeeded by Mary Bono

Born February 16, 1935
Detroit, Michigan
Died January 5, 1998
South Lake Tahoe, California
Political party Republican
Spouse Mary Bono
Cher, aka Cheryl Sarkisian LaPiere (divorced June 27, 1975)

Religion Roman Catholic(Public) Scientologist(Private)
Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono (February 16, 1935 - January 5, 1998) was an American record producer, singer, actor, and politician whose career spanned over three decades.





Entertainment career

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Bono began his music career working for the legendary record producer Phil Spector in the early 1960s as a promotion man, percussionist and "gofer." One of his earliest songwriting efforts was "Needles and Pins." Later in the same decade, he achieved commercial success, along with his then-wife Cher, as part of the singing duo Sonny and Cher. Bono wrote, arranged, and produced a number of hit records with singles like "I Got You Babe" and "The Beat Goes On," although Cher received more attention as the musical talent. Sonny and Cher starred in a popular television variety show, The Sonny and Cher Show, which ran on CBS from 1971 to 1977.

Bono continued his acting career, doing bit roles in such shows as Fantasy Island and The Love Boat. He played the part of mad bomber Joe Seluchi in Airplane II: The Sequel and the part of Franklin von Tussle in John Waters's "Hairspray." In the film "Men In Black," Bono is one of several oddball celebrities seen on a wall of video screens that monitor extra-terrestrials living among us.


Political career

Bono entered politics after experiencing great frustration with local government bureaucracy in trying to open a restaurant in Palm Springs, California. With conservative talk radio host Marshall Gilbert as his campaign manager (and later as the godfather of his two children by his wife, Mary), Bono placed a successful bid to become the new mayor of Palm Springs. He was instrumental in making the city more business-friendly and in spearheading the creation of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, now held each year in Bono's memory.

After unsuccessfully running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 1992, Bono was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 to represent California's 44th District. He introduced the controversial Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act during his tenure to benefit the music industry.

He championed the restoration of the Salton Sea, bringing the giant lake's plight to national attention. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich made a public appearance and speech at the shore of the lake on Bono's behalf.

In their book "Tell Newt to Shut Up", David Maraniss and Michael Weisskopf credit Bono with being the first person to recognize Gingrich's public relations problems in 1995. Drawing on his long experience as a celebrity and entertainment producer, Bono (according to Maraniss and Weisskopf) recognized that Gingrich's status had changed from politician to celebrity, and that Gingrich was not making allowances for that change:

"You're a celebrity now," he told Gingrich. "The rules are different for celebrities. I know it. I've been there. I've been a celebrity. I used to be a bigger celebrity. But let me tell you, you're not being handled right. This is not political news coverage. This is celebrity status. You need handlers. You need to understand what you're doing. You need to understand the attitude of the media toward celebrities."

Maraniss and Weisskopf go on to say that Gingrich did not heed Bono's advice. Gingrich was not interested in image for image sake, but rather in fulfilling his role as an elected leader.

Although a conservative, Bono's celebrity status and easy-going manner allowed him to develop friendships across party lines. In addition, Bono brought a plain-spoken sensibility to Congress. Asked for his views on illegal immigration, he responded, "what can I say, it's illegal."


Personal life

Bono married his first wife, Donna Rankin, on Nov. 3, 1954 and they had a daughter, Christine ("Christy"), born on June 24, 1958, before divorcing in 1962. Bono and Cher had a daughter, Chastity Bono, on March 4, 1969. Six years later, in 1975, Bono and Cher divorced. Bono then married Susie Coelho, but divorced her in 1984; he married again in 1986 to the much younger Mary Whitaker. The couple had two children, Chesare Elan Bono (a son, born 1988) and Chianna Marie Bono (a daughter, born 1991). Through Mimi Rogers he became a Scientologist, but he claimed to still be Roman Catholic on all official documents, campaign materials, web sites, etc. Mary Bono also took Scientology courses.[1][2]


Death

On January 5, 1998, Bono died of injuries after hitting a tree while skiing on the Nevada side of the Heavenly Ski Resort near South Lake Tahoe, California. He was 62 years old. Bono's death came just days after Michael Kennedy died in a similar accident. Bono's widow, Mary, was elected to fill the remainder of the Congressional term. She has since been re-elected in her own right. She continues to champion many of her late husband's causes, including the ongoing fight to save the Salton Sea.

His ex-wife, Cher, gave a tearful eulogy at Bono's funeral, after which the attendees sang the song "The Beat Goes On". His final resting place is Desert Memorial Park in nearby Cathedral City, California, the same cemetery in which Frank Sinatra was laid to rest later that same year. The epitaph on Bono's headstone reads: "And The Beat Goes On"


Trivia

Bono was a champion of the Salton Sea in south-eastern-southern California where a park was later named in his honor. The 2005 documentary film Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea (narrated by John Waters) features Bono and documented the lives of the inhabitants of Bombay Beach, Niland, and Salton City, as well as the ecological issues associated with the Sea.
The rock band A have a song named "I Love Lake Tahoe" (featured on the A vs Monkey Kong album) which includes the line, "Yeah the trees are pretty wide / That's where Sonny Bono died.".
He was the Godfather of the Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis.
The All Saints song "Never Ever" is dedicated to Bono's memory.
Since his death, rapper Eminem has used Bono and the circumstances surrounding his death as a line in several songs, including "Role Model" and "Who Knew".
A plaque near Dupont Circle in Washington D.C. reads: "In Memory of my friend Sonny Bono"
American pop singer Britney Spears did a cover of "The Beat Goes On" later in the same year that Bono died. The song appears on her debut album ...Baby One More Time.

Before you criticize someone,
you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you criticize them,
you're a mile away and you have their shoes.




Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.
Teach him how to fish and he will sit in a boat
and drink beer all day.




If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again,
it was probably worth it.




If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.




Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead.
Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow.
Do not walk beside me, either;
just leave me the heck alone.




It's always darkest before dawn.
So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper,
that's the time to do it.




Don't be irreplaceable; if you can't be replaced,
you can't be promoted.




No one is listening until you make a mistake.




Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.




It may be that your sole purpose in life is
simply to serve as a warning to others.




It is far more impressive when others
discover your good qualities without your help.




If you tell the truth,
you don't have to remember anything.




Some days you are the bug,
some days you are the windshield.




Good judgment comes from bad experience,
and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.




There are two theories to arguing with women.
Neither one works.




Generally speaking, you aren't learning much
when your mouth is moving.




Never miss a good chance to shut up.




Experience is something you don't get
until just after you need it.

Well, folks, we know our hawkman is through with his bio's when we get some one liners that make us smile. Love those sarcastic turn arounds on the prosaic, Boston.

Let's hope our Raggedy can make it here today, and put her usual face to name. This is my third attempt to broadcast.

Well, we shall play the song that was dedicated to Sonny Bono, and I was quite interested in the background of this one, as it is suppoed to be similar to the chord structure of "Amazing Grace", with an allusion to James Joyce's "Ulysses." Afraid that your PD simply can not see it, however.

Never Ever
Artist: All Saints



A few questions that I need to know
How you could ever hurt me so
I need to know what I've done wrong
And how long it's been going on
Was it that I never paid enough attention
Or did I not give enough affection
Not only will your answers keep me sane
But I'll know never to make the same mistake again
You can tell me to my face
Or even on the phone
You can write it in a letter
Either way I've have to know
Did I never treat you right
Did I always start the fight
Either way I'm going out of my mind
All the answers to my questions I have to find

My head's spinning
Boy, I'm in a daze
I feel isolated
Don't wanna communicate
I take a shower
I will scour
I will roam
Find peace of mind
The happy mind
I once owned, yeah

Flexing vocabulary runs right through me
The alphabet runs right from A to Zee
Conversations, hesitations in my mind
You got my conscience asking questions that I can't find
I'm not crazy
I'm sure I ain't done nothin' wrong, no
I'm just waiting
Cos I heard that this feeling won't last that long

CHORUS:
Never ever have I ever felt so low
When you gonna take me out of this black hole
Never ever have I ever felt so sad
The way I'm feeling, yeah, you got me feeling really bad
Never ever have I had to find
I've had to dig a way to find my own piece of mind
I've never ever had my conscience to fight
The way I'm feeling, yeah, it just don't feel right

REPEAT CHORUS

I'll keep searching
Deep within my soul
For all the answers
Don't wanna hurt no more
I need peace
Got to feel at ease
Need to be free from pain
Go insane
My heart aches, yeah

Sometimes vocabulary runs through my head
The alphabet runs right from A to Zed
Conversations, hesitations in my mind
You got my concience asking questions that I can't find
I'm not crazy
I'm sure I ain't done nothing wrong
Now I'm just waiting
Cos I heard that this feeling won't last that long

REPEAT CHORUS 4x

BRIDGE:
You can tell me to my face
You can tell me on the phone
Ooh, you can write it in a letter, babe
Cos I really need to know


You can write it in a letter, babe
You can write in in a letter, babe

Anticipation!

Hey, Raggedy. You took the words right out of my mind.

We can never know about the days to come
But we think about them anyway
And I wonder if I'm really with you now
Or just chasing after some finer day.

Anticipation, Anticipation
Is making me late
Is keeping me waiting

And I tell you how easy it is to be with you
And how right your arms feel around me.
Bit I rehearsed those words just late last night
When I was thinking about how right tonight might be.

Anticipation, Anticipation
Is making me late
Is keeping me waiting

And tomorrow we might not be together
I'm no prophet, I don't know natures way
So I'll try to see into your eyes right now
And stay right here, 'cause these are the good old days.


Carly, of course.

Loved the dialogue between W.C. Fields and that dummy. Bud loved W.C. and could really imitate him

good evening !
you are all invited to visit scotland tonight and enjoy "a wee dram" .
hbg

A Bottle And Friend
Robert Burns, 1787


There's nane that's blest of human kind,
But the cheerful and the gay, man,
Fal, la, la, la, la, la, la, lal
Fal, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.


2. Here's a bottle and an honest friend!
What wad ye wish for mair, man?
Wha kens, before his life may end,
What his share may be o' care, man?

3. Then catch the moments as they fly,
And use them as ye ought, man:
Believe me, happiness is shy,
And comes not aye when sought, man.

Now when I get the blues I get me a rockin' chair
When I get the blues I get me a rockin' chair
Well the blues don't get me gonna rock on away from here
Give me one more kiss hold it a long long time
Now love me baby till a feelin' hits my head like wine
Oh flip flop and fly I don't care if I die
Now flip flop and fly I don't care if I die
Don't ever leave me don't you ever say goodbye
[ piano ]
Oh when I get lonesome I jump on the telephone
When I get lonesome I jump on the telephone
I call my baby tell her I'm gonna come back home
I'm like a Mississippi bullfrog sittin' on a hollow stump
I'm like a Mississippi bullfrog sittin' on a hollow stump
I got so many women Lord I don't know which way to jump
Jump jump let's go now
Flip flop and fly I don't care if I die...

Hey, hbg. I once asked McTag why all bagpipes played "Amazing Grace".

Odd, folks, that we mentioned All Saints' allusion to that hymn, and here comes a Canadian/German playing Burns.

(hamburger, that picture on the connection thread was Peter Nero, a fabulous pianist, and I could see it. Sorry, buddy)

Hey, edgar. First the grace, and then the rocking chair. <smile>

Original verses

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
'Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear,
And Grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that Grace appear,
The hour I first believed!
Through many dangers, toils and snares,
We have already come;
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And Grace will lead me home.(Lead me home!)
The Lord hast promised good to me,
His word my hope secures!
He will my shield and portion be,
as long as life endures.
Yea, when this heart and flesh shall fail
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil
A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be for ever mine.

Now, Texas, for another kind of rockin' chair:

Old rockin' chair's got me, my cane by my side
Fetch me that gin, son, 'fore I tan your hide
Can't get from this cabin, Ain't goin' nowhere
Just set me here grabbin' at the flies round this rockin' chair

My dear old aunt Harriet, in Heaven she be
Swing low sweet chariot, for the end of my trouble I see

Old rockin' chair gets ya, Judgement Day is near
And I'm Chained to my old rockin' chair

That one was done by everyone, folks

Jerry Lee Lewis - Hand Me Down My Walking Cane


Hand me down my walking cane
Hand me down my walking cane
Hand me down my walking cane
Lord, I'm leaving on the midnight train
All my sins are taken away


Well, hand me down my rocking shoes
Hand me down my rocking shoes
Baby, hand me down my rocking shoes
We'll rock to the rhythm and blues
All my sins are taken away


Well, hand me down my white sports coat
Hand me down my white sports coat
Well, hand me down my white sports coat
We'll start rocking and, boy, we'll go
All my sins are taken away


Well, hand me down my walking bone
Hand me down my walking bone
Well, hand me down my walking bone
We'll start rocking, we'll be a rolling stone
All my sins are taken away

Good morning, WA2K folks.

Hey, edgar. I finally discovered who did that song that was the background to a Staples commercial, and here it is:

Artist: Spinners

Song: The Rubberband Man

Hand me down my walkin' cane
Hand me down my hat
Hurry now and don't be late
'Cause we ain't got time to chat

You and me we're goin' out
To catch the latest sounds
Guaranteed to blow your mind
So high you won't come down

Hey, y'all prepare yourself
For the Rubberband man
You never heard a sound
Like the rubberband man
You're bound to lose control
When the Rubberband starts to jam

Oh, Lord, this dude is outta sight
Everything he does
seems to come out right

Once I went to hear them play
At a club outside of town
I was so surprised, I was hypnotized
By the sound this cat's puttin' down

When I saw this short fat guy
Stretch a band between his toes
Hey, I laughed so hard ?'cause the man got down
When he finally reached his goal

Hey, y'all prepare yourself
For the Rubberband man
You never heard a sound
Like the rubberband man
You're bound to lose control
When the Rubberband starts to jam

Got that rubberband
Up on his toes
And then he wriggled it up
All around his nose

(Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo)
Guaranteed to blow your mind
(Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo)
Playin' all that music, yet keepin' time
(Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo)
Where in the world did he learn that, oh, Lord
(Doo doo doo doo doo)
Lord, help him get away

Hey, y'all prepare yourself
For the Rubberband man
You never heard a sound
Like the rubberband man
You're bound to lose control
When the Rubberband starts to jam

Doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo
Rubberband man, Rubberband man
How much of this stuff do he think we can stand
So much rhythm, grace and debonair from one man, Lord
And then he had nerve to wiggle his left toe
To his knee, got the feelin' in his head, y'all
Ah, come on, baby

Hey, y'all prepare yourself
For the Rubberband man
You never heard a sound
Like the rubberband man
You're bound to lose control
When the Rubberband starts to jam

Rubberband man starts to jam
Movin' up and down across the land
Got people all in his ways
Everything about him seems out of place

Just a movin', just a movin', just a move-move-movin'
Just a Rubberband, Rubberband man
Just a movin', just a movin', just a move-move-movin'
Just a Rubberband, Rubberband man

Get down
Oh, get down lover
Uh-huh

Never heard of the Spinners, folks, but to see that dude dancing and singing that song on TV was awesome.