WA2K Radio is now on the air

Leo McKern
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Leo McKern, AO (March 16, 1920 - July 23, 2002), born Reginald McKern, was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British television programs, movies and in over 200 stage roles. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1983.



Biography

McKern was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in 1920. After an accident at age 15 he lost his left eye. He first worked as an engineering apprentice, then as an artist, followed by serving in the Australian Army during World War II. During the war, he made his first stage appearance in Sydney in 1944.

Having fallen in love with actress Jane Holland, McKern moved to the United Kingdom to be with her and they married in 1946. He soon became a regular performer at London's Old Vic theatre and the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre (now called the Royal Shakespeare Theatre) in Stratford-upon-Avon, despite the difficulties posed by his glass eye and Australian accent. In 1949, he played Forester in Love's Labours Lost at the Old Vic. He played Subtle in Ben Jonson's The Alchemist in 1962.

McKern's film debut came in 1952's Murder in the Cathedral. His other notable film appearances included the Beatles film Help! (1965), the Academy Award-winning A Man for All Seasons (1966), Ryan's Daughter (1970), and The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981). He was given the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Travelling North (1987). In Monsignor Quixote (1989), he co-starred as Sancho Zancas with Alec Guinness as Father Quixote.

McKern was one of several Number Twos in the 1960s cult classic television series The Prisoner. Along with Colin Gordon, he was one of only two actors to play Number Two more than once. He first played the character in "The Chimes of Big Ben" and later reprised his role in the final two episodes of the series, "Once Upon A Time" and "Fall Out". Filming "Once Upon a Time" was a particularly intense experience for McKern and according to The Prisoner: The Official Companion to the Classic TV Series by Robert Fairclough, the strain of filming this episode caused McKern to suffer either a nervous breakdown or a heart attack (accounts differ), forcing production to stop for a time.

In 1975, he made his first appearance as his most famous character, Horace Rumpole, whom he played in Rumpole of the Bailey for seven series on television until 1992. John Mortimer, the writer and creator of the show, created the part with McKern in mind and had to persuade the actor to continue playing the character. McKern enjoyed the role but had shown concern regarding the fame and how much his life was becoming intertwined with Rumpole's. In the later series, his daughter Abigail McKern joined the cast as Liz Probert.

McKern became an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1983. He told his daughter Abigail that he suffered from stage fright, which became more difficult to cope with as he grew older. He had also worried that his stout frame would not appeal to audiences.

His final acting appearances came in the film The Story of Father Damien (1999) and on stage in 2000. Suffering from diabetes and other health problems, he was moved to a nursing home near Bath, Somerset in 2002. He died there a few weeks later at the age of 82. McKern was survived by his wife Jane, daughters Abigail and Harriet, and a grandchild.

Jerry Lewis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Birth name Joseph (or Jerome) Levitch
Born March 16, 1926 (age 81)

Other name(s) Jerry Lewis
Official site www.jerrylewiscomedy.com
Notable roles Stanley
in The Bellboy (1960)
Professor Julius Kelp &
Buddy Love
in The Nutty Professor (1963)
Jerry Langford
in The King of Comedy (1983)

Jerry Lewis (born on March 16, 1926, according to most sources), is an American comedian, actor, film producer, writer and director known for his slapstick humor and his charity fund-raising telethons for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Lewis was originally paired up in 1946 with Dean Martin, and formed the comedy team of Martin and Lewis. Aside from popular nightclub work, they starred in an extremely successful series of comedy films for Paramount Pictures. The team broke up ten years later (to the day) on reportedly bad terms.




Career

Lewis was born in Newark, New Jersey, to a Jewish family. His birth name was Joseph Levitch, though Shawn Levy's biography, "King of Comedy", claims this is untrue and that Lewis' name at birth was Jerome Levitch. His father was a vaudeville performer. He began in burlesque in 1942 at age 16 (if the birth year of 1926 is correct) and married two years later in 1944 at age 18. He gained initial fame with singer Dean Martin, who served as a straight man to Lewis's manic, zany antics as the Martin and Lewis comedy team. They distinguished themselves from the majority of comedy acts of the 1940s by relying on the interaction of the two comics instead of pre-planned skits. In the late 1940s, they quickly rose to national prominence, first with their popular nightclub act and then as film stars. Critics often found it difficult to describe their chaotic act beyond the laconic "Martin sings and Lewis clowns". They continued to perform in film and on television until their partnership ended in 1956. Following their split, the two became involved in a well-publicized and long-running feud that never truly ended; the next time they were seen together in public would be a surprise appearance by Martin on Lewis's telethon in 1976, arranged by Frank Sinatra. Lewis wrote of his kinship with Martin in the 2005 book Dean and Me (A Love Story). When Sinatra tried to bring Lewis back to Martin, Lewis was quoted as saying, "I'll never work with that drunk ever again".[citation needed] Although the pair eventually reconciled in the late-1980s after Martin's son died, there was never any reunion.

Lewis returned as a solo act with his debut film The Delicate Delinquent in 1957. Teaming with director Frank Tashlin, whose background as a Looney Tunes director suited Lewis's brand of humor, he starred in five more films, and even appeared uncredited as Itchy McRabbitt in Li'l Abner (1959) before he produced, directed, co-wrote with Bill Richmond, and starred in his own movie entitled The Bellboy in 1960. Using the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami as his setting, on a small budget, a very tight shooting schedule and no script, Lewis shot the film by day and performed at the hotel in the evenings. During production, Lewis developed the technique of using video cameras and multiple closed circuit monitors to allow him to view scenes at the same time as he was filming them. This allowed him to review his performance instantly. Later, he incorporated videotape, and as more portable and affordable equipment became available, this technique would become an industry standard known as video assist.

Lewis directed several more films which he co-wrote with Richmond including The Ladies Man, The Errand Boy, and the iconic film, The Nutty Professor. During this period he was consistently praised by some highbrow French critics in the influential Cahiers du Cinéma for his absurd comedy, in part because he had gained respect as an auteur who had total control over all aspects of his films, comparable to Howard Hawks and Alfred Hitchcock. In March 2006 the French Minister of Culture awarded Lewis the 'Legion of Honor' calling him the 'French people's favorite clown.' [1] Liking Lewis has long been a common stereotype about the French in the minds of many Americans, and is often the object of jokes in U.S. pop culture.

Lewis's box office appeal waned by the mid-1960s. In 1966, he began hosting an annual labor day telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, a charity with which he had been publicly associated since 1950. He remained popular in Europe until the 1980s. Later, Lewis starred in and directed the unreleased The Day The Clown Cried in 1972. The film was a drama set in a Nazi concentration camp. Lewis has explained why the film has not been released by suggesting litigation over post-production financial difficulties. More importantly, however, he recently admitted during his book tour for Dean and Me that a major factor for the film's burial is that he is not proud of the effort.

After an eight-year absence from movies, Lewis returned in the early 1980s with Hardly Working, a film he both directed and starred in. Despite being panned by the critics, the film did eventually earn $50 million. He followed this up with a critically acclaimed performance in Martin Scorsese's 1983 film The King of Comedy in which Lewis plays a late night TV host plagued by obsessive fans (played by Robert de Niro and Sandra Bernhard). Ironically, the role had been offered to, and turned down by, Dean Martin. Lewis continued doing interesting work in small films in the 1990s, most notably his supporting role in Arizona Dream (1994), and also Jerry's last picture Funny Bones (1995).

Lewis and his popular movie characters were animated in the cartoon series Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down which premiered on ABC in 1970 and then ended in 1972. The show was produced at Filmation Studios, and starred David Lander (later of Laverne and Shirley fame) as the voice of the animated Jerry Lewis character. Lewis was the show's partner.

Lewis suffered a minor heart attack on June 11, 2006 at the end of a cross-country commercial airline flight en route home from New York City. [2] It was later found that he also had pneumonia. Lewis had two stents inserted into an artery in his heart that was 90% blocked, and it restored full blood flow to his heart. This has allowed him to continue his rebound from the lung issues he suffered from 2001-2005 and his health is getting better all the time. While it meant cancelling several major events for Lewis, he recuperated in a matter of weeks. Lewis currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.


Charitable work

Lewis helped establish the Muscular Dystrophy Association in 1952, and has organized a Labor Day telethon to help raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) since 1966. His efforts have helped raise approximately US$2 billion for neuromuscular patient care and research. In the early years it was Martin & Lewis raising money for MDA, and then Lewis continued on when he and Dean split as partners in 1956. The International Association of Fire Fighters is the largest single sponsor of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, starting in 1954, and has donated over $250 million dollars to date. Lewis has served as National Chairman of the association since 1952.[3] Lewis is one of few fundraisers who brings in more than is actually pledged. This is because many donors as they write a check add extra money to help "Jerry's Kids" given his generosity and no-pressure appeal.[citation needed] In 1977, he became the first and only media celebrity to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and in 1985, he received a US Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service. In September 2005 Lewis was slated to receive the Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, honoring his long-running telethons.

The telethons are typically star-studded: among Lewis's co-hosts through the years were Ed McMahon and Casey Kasem. A frequent performer in the 1970s and 1980s was Frank Sinatra, who surprised Lewis by reuniting him with Dean Martin on the telethon in 1976.

On his 40th Labor Day telethon in 2005, Lewis added Salvation Army fundraising (for Hurricane Katrina) to his usual MDA fundraising, though he also encouraged viewers to give to the American Red Cross. He has also hosted the 1987 and 1991 editions of the French Muscular Dystrophy Téléthon, where he is known for his work against this disease.


Trivia

Jerry Lewis has won many prestigious Lifetime Achievement Awards from The American Comedy Awards, The Golden Camera, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, The Venice Film Festival and he has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Lewis has battled prostate cancer, diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis. Medical treatment for the fibrosis in the early 2000s caused the comedian to experience weight gain and bloating that noticeably changed his appearance.
Lewis has suffered years of back pain due to a failed slapstick stunt that almost left him paralyzed. An electronic device developed by Medtronic recently implanted in his back has helped reduce the discomfort. He is now one of Medtronic's leading spokesmen.
Lewis tried his hand at singing in the 1950s, having a chart hit with the song "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" (a song originated by Al Jolson and popularized by Judy Garland) as well as the song, "It All Depends On You" in 1958.
The Simpsons' voice actor Hank Azaria based the voice of Professor Frink on Lewis' Nutty Professor character Julius Kelp. Lewis was eventually invited to guest as Frink's father.
The Animaniacs character of "Mr. Director" is inspired by Lewis. He is portrayed as well-mannered and quiet, but sometimes gets into loud yelling fits, where he often yells "Pretty Lady!"
In 1984, he was nominated for the Golden Raspberry for Worst Actor for his role in Slapstick of Another Kind.
Lewis is the father of 1960s pop musician Gary Lewis, who had several hits during the mid-1960s with his group Gary Lewis and the Playboys.
He has been roasted by The Friars Club on three separate occasions, and now holds the position of abbot.
In a radio interview associated with his 2005 book, he said that his IQ has been measured at 169.[citation needed]
Dozens of Hollywood stars and screen legends have been lobbying for years to get Lewis the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The reasons for not giving him the Oscar has been reported by insiders to be a few Academy board members that Lewis snubbed when he was the top box office draw in the world in the 1950s and 60s, and they were struggling to make a name in show business.[citation needed]
In the Febuary 7, 1983 edition of People Magazine interview, Lewis claimed that he was "going for Bobby's throat" after actor Robert De Niro directed a slew of anti-Semitic epithets against Lewis. Despite De Niro's almost exact wording to Mel Gibson's anti-semitic remarks from 2006, De Niro has escaped the kind of controversy suffered by Gibson.
Lewis might have been a role model for author Rodger Port-who had named the main character after Lewis (the book was called I'm now Rough and Ready).

Erik Estrada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Erik Estrada (born March 16, 1949 in New York City) is an American actor of Puerto Rican descent, known for his co-starring lead role in the 1977-1983 US television series CHiPs. He later became known for his work in Spanish language telenovelas, and in more recent years, his appearances in reality television shows.




Acting History

1970s-1980s

In the 1970 film version of The Cross and the Switchblade, Estrada made his film debut in the role of Nicky Cruz alongside Pat Boone who played the role of David Wilkerson.

In 1974, Estrada landed a big break in the successful disaster film, Airport 1975, where he played a featured role as the flight engineer on a Boeing 747. His character was killed in a midair collision. Two years later, he was a featured player in the military historical epic Midway, as a fictional airman Ens. "Chili Bean" Ramos.


Erik Estrada as Francis "Ponch" PoncherelloIn 1977, Estrada began playing the role of Francis "Ponch" Poncherello, an Italian-American California Highway Patrol officer on the 1977-1983 US television series CHiPs. Estrada became a teen idol, appearing on the cover of Tiger Beat and other publications. In the 1980s, after CHiPs was cancelled, Estrada had few television or movies roles.


1990s

In the 1990s Estrada played the role of Johnny, a Tijuana trucker, in the Televisa telenovela Dos mujeres, un camino ("Two women, one road").

In 1995, he made a special guest appearance as Ponch in punk rock band Bad Religion's music video Infected. In 1998, he returned as the character in the TNT made-for-tv movie CHiPs '99, along with the rest of the original cast.


2000s

In 2002 he played a Spanish game show host on the Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire with Hilary Duff. He has also had a regular role doing voiceovers for the Cartoon Network show Sealab 2021, which also gave him the opportunity to parody himself. The show has featured several CHiPs homages and his character, First Mate Marco Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar Gabriel Garcia Marquez, is played as a stereotypical Latin macho character. Estrada has also guest-starred on the children's cartoon Maya and Miguel.

Estrada has appeared in music videos, such as Eminem's music video "Just Lose it". He has a band named after him (Estradasphere) based in Santa Cruz, California. Estrada also made guest appearances on The Wayans Bros., Unhappily Ever After, the Nickelodeon comedy Drake & Josh, NBC's Scrubs and ABC's According to Jim.

Estrada has done a long-running series of infomercials as a national spokesman for National Recreational Properties, selling real estate property in such locations as Siskiyou County, California; Lake Shastina, California; California City, California; Ocean Shores, Washington; Colorado; and recently, Tellico Village, Tennessee. Parlaying his CHiPs fame for the public good, Estrada has also made numerous appearances supporting automobile child-seat safety checks in states including Illinois and Indiana.

Estrada has appeared in recent years in a number of reality television shows. In 2004 he starred in both the second season of The Surreal Life and in Discovery Health Body Challenge. He also starred in the short-lived CBS reality show, Armed & Famous.

Estrada was the Grand Marshall for the Krewe of Rio in Mardi Gras 2007.


Personal life

Estrada has been married three times. He is currently married to Nanette Mirkovich, and they have a daughter named Francesca. He also has two sons from one of his previous marriages, Anthony Erik and Brandon Michael-Paul.

Two old guys, one 80 and one 87, were sitting on their usual park bench one morning.

The 87 year old had just finished his morning jog and wasn't even short of breath.

The 80 year old was amazed at his friend's stamina and asked him what he did to

have so much energy.

The 87 year old said; "Well, I eat Italian bread every day. It keeps your energy

level high and you'll have great stamina with your wife ."

So, on the way home, the 80 year old stops at the bakery. As he was looking

around, the lady asked if he needed any help.

He said, "Do you have any Italian bread?"

She said, "Yes, there's a whole shelf of it. Would you like some?"

He said, "I want 5 loaves."

She said, "My goodness, 5 loaves...don't you think by the time you get to

the 5th loaf it'll be hard?"

He replied, "Holy ......! Everybody in the world knows about this Italian bread thing but ME

Well, folks, there's the hawk flying in with great bio's and a delightful double entendre. Thanks Boston Bob. We learn a lot about the celebs from your background material.

Will await our Raggedy before commenting further, however.

I noticed that child in Florida has resumed her hiccups. Bud could cure hiccups with one technique. He would take those bass playing hands and press on the carotid artery and it worked every time. He had one man who had had hiccups for two weeks straight, offer to pay him for curing his. That is a true story.

I'll have to check it out, but I think Jerry Lewis did "What kind of Fool am I", and I recall at the time being amazed at what a fantastic voice he had.

so let's hear dino sing an italian lovesong and about a "gay tarantella" - his words , not mine !
hbg

Hey, hbg. Love that song and I know exactly where "tarantella" gets its name, and there's nothing gay about it.



If an individual was bitten by one of these arachnids (the trantula) he was encouraged to dance, dance, dance so that the perspiration generated would rid the body of its poison.

we have the cd : "live at the sands" - with , dino , albert francis and sammy - still great fun to listen to after all the years .
one of dino's lines is :
"show me a cowboy riding side-saddle and i'll show one gay caballero ! " .

another line : "why are drinking carrot juice with your gin? "
"i may be drunk but i see well " .
hbg

Right, hbg, funny and a wee bit sad. Thanks for that, Canada.

Well, it seems that Sammy is the one who did "What Kind of Fool Am I", folks, but I know that Jerry Lewis sang a lot of songs, I just can't find them because they keep showing me Jerry LEE Lewis.

Well, I did come across this spider song. Hope it's not naughty.



Transito reumatico tarantula voraz suspéndenos
entre tus sueños de pez
Rascas la madera hasta brotarte la humedad
parasitandote la piel

Transito reumatico tarantula voraz sumérgenos
entre tus redes de sal
Rascas la madera hasta brotarte la humedad
parasitandote la piel

Y en cuanto tu respires romperemos el cristal
Tarantulas en coma con la Tierra
Y en cuanto tu respires cruzaremos el umbral
oooh ohoh

Transito reumatico tarantula voraz suspéndenos
entre tus sueños de pez
Rascas la madera hasta brotarte la humedad
parasitandote la piel

Y en cuanto tu respires romperemos el cristal
Tarantulas en coma con la Tierra
Y en cuanto tu respires cruzaremos el umbral
Tarantulas en coma con la Tierra

Y en cuanto tu respires romperemos el cristal
Tarantulas en coma con la Tierra
Y en cuanto tu respires cruzaremos el umbral
Tarantulas en coma con la Tierra
oHH Ohh oHH Ohh oHH

Tarantula (x 7)

This is difficult to believe, listeners, but a Jerry Lewis movie is been show on Turner Classic Movies as we speak.

btw i read in one of the books about frank sinatra that there was NEVER any booze allowed when he appeared on stage - alone or with his buddies . they would pretend to be "high" but frank would not allow any booze until the show was over - does that ring true ?
(somewhat different from jackie gleason : "that's GOOD coffee " :wink: ).
hbg

Well, hbg, the chairman of the board was a bit despotic, methinks. That was one reason that he distanced himself from Sammy Davis, Jr.

Well, folks, we might as well do this one from Sammy, because it's a lovely song.

What kind of fool am I, who never fell in love?
It seems that I'm the only one I have been thinking of.
What kind of man is this? An empty shell, a lonely cell
In which an empty heart must dwell?
What kind of lips are these that lied with every kiss?
That whispered empty words of love that left me alone like this?
Why can't I fall in love like any other man?
And maybe then I'll know what kind of fool I am.
What kind of clown am I? What do I know of life?
Why can't I cast away the mask of play and live my life?
Why can't I fall in love, till I don't give a damn?
And maybe I'll know what kind of fool I am.

The author (and original recording artist for) What Kind of Fool Am I was Anthony Newley. The biggest hit of the song was by Sammy Davis, JR. Newley is a fascinating subject. Here is his biography. - edgarblythe

ANTHONY GEORGE NEWLEY, who died at age 67, was an actor, singer, songwriter and director of unusual versatility; his career spanned more than 50 years and embraced film, repertory theatre, rock and roll, comedy revues, music hall and television.

Born Sept. 24, 1931, in Oswald Street, Hackney, east London, his education, at the Mandeville School for Boys, Clapton, was interrupted by the Blitz and he was evacuated to Morecambe, Lancashire, where he was fostered by George Pesckett, a former music hall performer who first introduced the boy to the theatre. After the war ended, Newley worked briefly in an insurance office until he saw an advertisement for the Italia Conti stage school, where - aged 14 - he was accepted as a pupil and tea boy. He had only been at the school for a few weeks when the film director Geoffrey de Barkus came to look for a boy to play the title role in THE ADVENTURES OF DUSTY BATES. Newley got the part at the age of 14. He also trained for the stage with the Dewsbury Repertory Co.

He made his theatre debut in 1946 in WINDS OF HEAVEN at the Colchester Repertory Theatre. He made his West End debut in 1955 in the revue CRANKS, which dispensed with sets and relied on John Addison's music, clever lyrics and surprise tactics to hold the attention. This played in New York at the Bijou in 1956 for 40 performances. CRANKS fired Newley's imagination, and in 1960, after his success in IDLE ON PARADE, he began his career as a director with his own television show, THE STRANGE WORLD OF GURNEY SLADE, a comedy about a social misfit.

He was the original East End boy made good, born illegitimately in Hackney and leaving school at 14. He then found success as a child actor, most notably as the Artful Dodger in David Lean's 1948 film OLIVER TWIST. Propelled by his role in OLIVER TWIST at the age of 17, Newley made his U.S. debut in 1956, appearing in six films that year. In the 1950s and 1960s, Newley was everywhere - on the screen, on television and, seven times, in the top ten.

His singing career came about almost by accident. In 1959, he took the part of rock and roll star Jeep Jackson - a spoof on Elvis Presley - in the film IDLE ON PARADE. A ballad from the film, I've Waited So Long, took Newley to the top of the British charts and started a three year run of hits which included Personality, If She Should Come to You, And The Heavens Cried and the novelty numbers Pop Goes the Weasel and Strawberry Fair. He also had two No 1s, with Why and Lionel Bart's Do You Mind? "So overnight I had this incredible power," he said years later. "I was a rock and roll singer and and it lasted for ten wonderful years."

His film appearances included DOCTOR DOLITTLE and THE COCKLESHELL HEROES. But he is likely to be best known for co-writing and starring in the hit musicals STOP THE WORLD - I WANT TO GET OFF and THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT - THE SMELL OF THE CROWD, as well as a number of best-selling hit singles, including What Kind Of Fool Am I?, The Candy Man and Goldfinger. In 1987 he and frequent collaborator Leslie Bricusse were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

STOP THE WORLD was a landmark in the history of the British musical, notable for its freedom of form and cynicism of content as it charted the bitter-sweet rise of its central character, played by Newley, from teaboy to millionaire. For Newley, its lasting legacy was its songs. They included Gonna Build a Mountain and What Kind of Fool Am I? which sold more than a million records and became his signature tune.

STOP THE WORLD for which he was the director, star and co-author (with his longtime collaborator, Leslie Bricusse), was his greatest showcase. The show was conceived as "a simple, lighthearted satirical life cycle of the seven ages of man." (Namely, youth-and-adolescence, decision, sophistication, maturity, sagacity, retirement and senility.) In the UK, it played to packed houses for 15 months before transferring to Broadway in 1962, where it ran for 555 performances. An allegory about acquiring fame and power but ending up disillusioned, STOP THE WORLD was a tour de force for the star, who portrayed a symbolic Everyman named Littlechap.

In the States he became one of the very few British crooners to make it big on the US cabaret circuit (In Las Vegas he commanded the same attention as Tony Bennett, Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra) and his Cockney rags-to-riches story made him a chat show favourite. In 1977 he was voted the Male Musical Star of the Year in Las Vegas.

Even the Mafia gave him a special welcome. "They said to me, 'We'd like to buy you a gift', so I asked for a Jaguar and they drove a Jaguar onto the stage," he recalled.

He had a gift for striking an emotional chord with a mass audience. But Anthony Newley was also an influence on David Bowie among later performers, because in all his songs he maintained a distinctively British voice, ending with his right arm extended for effect in his trademark signoff.

Anthony Newley married and divorced three times. His first marriage in 1956, to Elizabeth Ann Lynn, was dissolved in 1963, the same year he married Joan Collins; they divorced in 1971. His third wife was an air hostess, Dareth Dunn, whom he divorced in 1989. He is survived by his mother, Grace, 96 (with whom he lived in Surrey since 1992 after 22 years living in the U.S.), and four children, a boy (Sacha) and girl (Tara) with Joan Collins and another boy (Christopher) and girl (Shelby) with Dareth Dunn.

Newley was a lifelong home movie enthusiast and even filmed his first date with Collins. Twenty years later they teamed up again in London to appear in two of Noel Coward's one-act plays for BBC Television.

He recently appeared on BBC television in cameo appearances in the drama series THE LAKES and as an amorous used car salesman in the soap EASTENDERS.

Ill health had plagued the star for many years. He was first diagnosed with renal cell cancer in 1985, and had one kidney removed. The cancer returned in 1997, this time attacking his lungs, then spreading to his liver.

Speaking once about his illness, he said: "When they told me I had a growth on my left kidney I had a bet with the surgeon. 'A dollar that it's not malignant', I said. "Before they wheeled me into the operating theatre they pinned a dollar on my gown. It had gone when I finally came round. That's when I knew I'd lost the bet."

Newley lived in Surrey for many years and moved to Florida permanently in December. He had donated his papers to the Boston University Library Special Collections Dept.

His third wife, Dareth Newley Dunn, described him as "a dear, sweet, loving friend and father ... consummate performer and ultimate composer".

In addition to writing the score with Leslie Bricusse for 1971's film WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, Newley wrote the score for the 1975 film MR. QUILP (now broadcast on TV under THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP) and, with Bricusse, the title song for the 1968 film SWEET NOVEMBER; and, finally with Bricusse, the songs for the 1976 TV version of PETER PAN. He also co-wrote with Stanley Ralph Ross the book, music and lyrics for the 1983 stage show CHAPLIN and created the 1985 revue ONCE UPON A SONG. Newley had been working for many years on a musical version of RICHARD III and sang some of these songs during his last New York cabaret appearance at Rainbow and Stars in 1996. The BMI database lists over 150 songs for which Newley wrote the music or lyrics. His four U.S. hit songs were Why?, If She Should Come to You, Pop Goes the Weasel and What Kind of Fool Am I? By contrast, he had 12 hit singles in three years in the U.K., all included in the 1997 CD, THE VERY BEST OF ANTHONY NEWLEY. Newley went from child star to pop idol, to composer, author, director and leading man and leaves an amazing body of work. -Judy Harris

My goodness, edgar. That is great info about Anthony Newley. I think you just filled us in on a lot of stuff, Texas.

Is this your Brit?



Now you have sent me to the archives again, because I recall Stop the World I want to Get Off.

Hmmm. Where is that speckled pup?

Woof Woof

How about:

Well, here she is, folks. Fetching, no? Isn't the English language crazy?

Hey, Raggedy. Tell me, PA, is Mercedes' first name pronounced the same way as the car?

Then there is Jerry, and finally Eric. Hey, gal. I tried to find the lyrics to "Once in my Life" from the musical Stop the World, but could not. Will you fetch those?

I don't think Eric sang much, but I do recall Chips.

How about a traditional Irish song for all of our Irish friends, especially our Bibliophile man who has just retured from an extended leave.

Here's the short version that we all know.

When Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, 'tis like the morn in Spring.
In the lilt of Irish laughter
You can hear the angels sing.
When Irish hearts are happy,
All the world seems bright and gay.
And when Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, they steal your heart away.

Sublime, I'm guessing the Danny Boy was for Timber, haven't checked the timing. However the timing,

so right, and so long.

"Give a little bit" - Supertramp.



This song gave me a lot of comfort today.

(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons
Dinah Shore

I love you for sentimental reasons
I hope you do believe me, I give you my heart
I love you, and you alone were meant for me
Please give your loving heart to me, and say we'll never part

I think of you every morning, dream of you every night
Darling, I'm never lonely whenever you're in sight

I love you, for sentimental reasons
I hope you do believe me
I've given you my heart

Let the humming bird bid us all a good morning along with this poem:

Sweet Mornings

Early morning quiet times
When gentle breezes blow
Butterflies and hummingbirds
Darting quickly to and fro


A perfect time to sit and dream
Of things we wish were true

Like wishing you were here with me
So I could share this day with you.

~ Charlotte Anselmo ~

Osso, I am certain that sublime meant that for Kevin, and Jes your "Give a Little Bit" was a wonderful tribute.

My word, edgar. Your "Sentimental Reasons" brought to mind another parody, but we'll leave that alone for the moment.