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Burt Young
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Birth name Jerry De Louise
Born April 30, 1940 (1940-04-30) (age 67)
Queens, New York, USA
Notable roles Paulie in the Rocky series

Burt Young (born April 30, 1940 in Queens, New York, USA) is an American actor, painter and author.





Early life

Born Jerry De Louise to an Italian family in Queens, New York, Young was trained by Lee Strasberg at the world-famous Actor's Studio.


Acting career

Young made his name playing rough-edged, working class Italian-American characters, the best known example being his signature role, as Sylvester Stallone's brother-in-law Paulie in Rocky, in 1976, for which he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. He is one of three actors (Sylvester Stallone and Tony Burton being the other two) who have appeared in every Rocky film.

He has played similar roles in Chinatown, Convoy, The Pope of Greenwich Village, Once Upon A Time In America, and Last Exit to Brooklyn.

Young has also appeared in many television programs, including Baretta, Law & Order, M*A*S*H, guest-starred in a Miami Vice episode and a highly memorable appearance on The Sopranos as an old mobster dying with cancer who comes out of retirement to execute a hit on a godson whom he hates.


Painter

Young is a painter whose art has been displayed in galleries throughout the world and can be bought from his website.


Author

Young is a published author whose works include two filmed screenplays and 400-page historically-based novel called Endings.

He has also written two stage plays: SOS and A Letter to Alicia and the New York City Government From a Man With a Bullet in His Head.


Personal life

He was married, until her death and only have one daughter, Anne Morea. Young owns a restaurant in The Bronx, New York.

Bobby Vee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bobby Vee (born April 30, 1943) is an American pop music singer. Born Robert Thomas Velline in Fargo, North Dakota, United States, his 1961 summer release Take Good Care of My Baby went to No.1 on the Billboard U.S. and number 3 on the UK singles chart (according to EveryHit.com). Known primarily as a performer of Brill Building pop material, he went on to record a string of international hits in the 1960s, including Devil or Angel, Rubber Ball (1961), More Than I Can Say (1961), Run To Him (1961), The Night Has A Thousand Eyes (1963), and Come Back When You Grow Up. When Vee recorded Come Back When You Grow Up in 1967, he was joined by a band called "'The Strangers'".

His first single was Suzie Baby, an original song penned by Vee which nodded towards Holly's Peggy Sue for the Minneapolis-based Soma Records in 1959; it drew enough attention and chart action to be purchased by Liberty Records, which signed him to their label in early 1960. His followup single, a cover of Adam Faith's UK Number 1 What Do You Want? charted in the lower reaches of Billboard in early 1960; however, it was his fourth recording, a revival of The Clovers' doo-wop ballad Devil or Angel, that brought him into the big time with US buyers. His follow-up single, Rubber Ball, was the record that made him an international star.

Vee was also a pioneer in the music video genre, appearing in several musical motion pictures as well as in the Scopitone series of early film-and-music jukebox recordings. He is a 1999 inductee of the North Dakota Roughrider Award.





"The Day The Music Died"

Vee's career began amid tragedy. On "The Day the Music Died" (3 February 1959), the three headline acts in the lineup of the traveling "Winter Dance Party", Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, were killed in the crash of aircraft N3974N near Clear Lake, Iowa while en route to the next show on the tour itenerary in Moorhead, Minnesota. Velline, then aged 15, and a hastily-assembled band of Fargo, North Dakota schoolboys calling themselves Bobby Vee and the Shadows volunteered for and were given the unenviable job of filling in for Holly and his band The Crickets at the Moorhead engagement. Their performance there was a success, setting in motion a chain of events that led to Vee's career as a popular singer.

Despite the circumstances of his debut, Vee went on to become a bona fide star, and regularly performs at the Winter Dance Party memorial concerts in Clear Lake to this day.


Personal

Vee later married and fathered three sons and a daughter. He is still active and touring internationally as a performer as of 2006, along with his backup band, The Vees, which includes his two elder sons. His youngest son, Robby Vee is also a recording and performing artist. Bobby Vee is a recipient of the state of North Dakota's Roughrider Award and his contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.


Lore

Early in Vee's career, a musician named Elston Gunnn [sic] briefly toured with the band. [1][2][3]. "Gunnn", whose actual name was Robert Zimmerman, later went on to fame under his better-known stage name, Bob Dylan.

Jill Clayburgh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jill Clayburgh (born April 30, 1944) is a twice Academy Award-nominated American actress of stage, motion pictures, and television.

Clayburgh was born in New York City to a Jewish family. She attended Sarah Lawrence College, where she decided that she wanted to be an actress. She later joined the Charles Street Repertory Theater in Boston. She appeared in numerous Broadway productions in the 1960s, including The Rothschilds and Pippin.

Clayburg made her screen debut in The Wedding Party, filmed in 1963 but not released until six years later. She was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Actress for 1978's An Unmarried Woman, for which she won the "Best Actress Award" at the Cannes Film Festival, and for 1979's Starting Over. She also received strong notices for her performance in I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (which co-starred Geraldine Page).

Her other films include Portnoy's Complaint, Gable And Lombard (in which she portrayed screen legend Carole Lombard), Silver Streak, Semi-Tough, It's My Turn , First Monday in October and La Luna, a controversial role in Bertolucci's critically panned film. This includes a scene in which her character masturbates her son in an attempt to help his heroin addiction.

Television audiences know her from numerous roles in series and movies including The Practice and as Ally McBeal's mother. She received Emmy Award nominations for her work in the made-for-television movie Hustling in 1975 and for her guest appearance in the television series Nip/Tuck in 2005.

She has been married to screenwriter and playwright David Rabe since 1979. They have one son and one daughter, actress Lily Rabe. Some years ago she publicly admitted to having had an abortion.

In 2006, she appeared on Broadway in Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park with Patrick Wilson and Amanda Peet; she played Peet's mother, a role originated by the late Mildred Natwick. She also returned to the screen as a therapist's eccentric wife in the all-star ensemble dramedy Running With Scissors, an autobiographical tale of teenage angst and dysfunction based on the book by Augusten Burroughs and co-starring Annette Bening, Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes, Evan Rachel Wood, Alec Baldwin and Gwyneth Paltrow. Her next role will be as Pat Nixon in the film Dirty Tricks, directed by Running With Scissors director Ryan Murphy.

Kirsten Dunst
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Birth name Kirsten Caroline Dunst
Born April 30, 1982 (1982-04-30) (age 25)
Point Pleasant, New Jersey
Notable roles Claudia in Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
Lux Lisbon in The Virgin Suicides (1999)
Torrance Shipman in Bring It On
Mary Jane Watson in the Spider-Man film series (2002-2007)
Marie Antoinette in Marie Antoinette (2006)
Golden Globe Awards

Nominated: Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
1995 Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles
Kirsten[1] Caroline Dunst (born April 30, 1982) is a Golden Globe-nominated American actress, best known for her roles in Interview with the Vampire, The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette, and Bring It On, as well as Mary Jane Watson in the Spider-Man film series.


Biography

Early life

Dunst was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, to Inez and Klaus Dunst, who are separated. Her father, a German medical services executive from Hamburg, remained in New Jersey but now lives in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, a Swedish former art gallery owner,[2] moved to California. Dunst has a younger brother, Christian.

Dunst attended the Ranney School in New Jersey, but graduated in 2000 from Notre Dame High School in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.


Career

Dunst got her start as a child fashion model at the age of three in television commercials. She was signed with Ford Models and Elite Model Management.[3] In a 1988 episode of Saturday Night Live, she played the role of President George H. W. Bush's granddaughter, in a sketch in which Dana Carvey acted as President Bush. In 1989, Dunst moved to the big screen with New York Stories. Soon after, she landed a small part in The Bonfire of the Vanities as Tom Hanks's daughter. Dunst also did the voice of Kiki in the 1989 anime film Kiki's Delivery Service. In 1993, Dunst played Hedril in the seventh season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called "Dark Page". She also had a recurring role as a child prostitute, Charlie Chiemingo, on ER.

Her feature film breakthrough came in Interview with the Vampire, a 1994 film based on Anne Rice's novel. The movie featured a scene in which Dunst, then-aged eleven, received her first kiss from Brad Pitt, who was 29. Her performance earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination, the MTV Award for Best Breakthrough Performance and the Saturn Award for Best Young Actress. In 1995 (and again in 2002), she was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People.

Dunst was also offered the role of Angela in the 1999 Academy Award-winning film American Beauty, but turned it down because she did not want to appear in the film's suggestive sexual scenes or kiss co-star Kevin Spacey.[4] The same year, she had the role of troubled adolescent Lux Lisbon in Sofia Coppola's independent film The Virgin Suicides.

At the 2002 Mar de Plata Film Festival, Dunst won the Best Actress Silver Ombú for her performance as Charlie Chaplin's love interest Marion Davies in Peter Bogdanovich's The Cat's Meow. Dunst made her singing debut in the 2001 film Get Over It, performing two songs written by Marc Shaiman. Previously had appeared in the music video for Savage Garden's "I Knew I Loved You". She also lent her musical voice to the end credits of The Cat's Meow by singing the old standard, "After You've Gone."

Dunst's most recent film, Marie Antoinette, premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and was released in North America on October 20, 2006. In the film, her second with director Sofia Coppola, Dunst plays the title character and uses an American accent in the role.[5] Dunst stated in an interview in 2006 while promoting Marie Antoinette that she wants to take a break from appearing in films to study and pursue art.[citation needed]

Dunst is slated to portray peace activist Marla Ruzicka in Sweet Relief scripted by Lorene Scafaria for Warner Independent Pictures in 2009.[6] Dunst also reprises her role of Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man 3, which is scheduled for a release on May 4, 2007. Dunst initially signed on to appear in three Spider-Man films, and has said that she would not appear in a fourth film unless director Sam Raimi returned to direct.[7] In another project, she is rumored to play Blondie frontwoman Deborah Harry in director Michel Gondry's upcoming biopic about the band.


Personal life

After briefly dating her longtime friend, playwright Jeff Smeenge, she started dating actor Jake Gyllenhaal in September 2002, after meeting him through his sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal (her Mona Lisa Smile co-star). They officially broke up in July 2004 but remained off and on until December 2005.[8] They adopted a German Shepherd dog from a Los Angeles dog shelter and named him Atticus, after Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. She was recently seen with British rocker Johnny Borrell at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas.[9] Borrell, the frontman of Razorlight, commented on their relationship, saying, "I'm not hiding anything. We met in Los Angeles. We were hanging out at South by Southwest and we've been hanging out ever since."

According to The Sun, Dunst has said that she occasionally smokes marijuana. Dunst claims, "I've never been a major smoker, but I think America's view on weed is ridiculous. I mean, are you kidding me? If everyone smoked weed, the world would be a better place."[10]

One Liners

Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm

Drink 'till she's cute, but stop before the wedding

Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines

Early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese

I'm not cheap, but I am on special this week

I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met

I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol

I intend to live forever - so far, so good

I love defenseless animals, especially in a good gravy

If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?

If you ain't makin' waves, you ain't kickin' hard enough!

Mental backup in progress - Do Not Disturb!

Mind Like A Steel Trap - Rusty And Illegal In 37 States

Quantum Mechanics: The dreams stuff is made of.

Support bacteria - they're the only culture some people have.

Televangelists: The Pro Wrestlers of religion.

The only substitute for good manners is fast reflexes.

When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.

Give a man a free hand and he'll run it all over you.

If I worked as much as others, I would do as little as they.

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder...

24 hours in a day ... 24 beers in a case ...coincidence?

If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.

Many people quit looking for work when they find a job.

Dancing is a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire.

When I'm not in my right mind, my left mind gets pretty crowded.

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don't have film.

Boycott shampoo! Demand the REAL poo!

If you choke a smurf, what color does it turn?

Who is General Failure and why is he reading my hard disk?

What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

Energizer Bunny arrested, charged with battery.

I poured Spot remover on my dog. Now he's gone.

I used to have an open mind but my brains kept falling out.

I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.

Shin: a device for finding furniture in the dark.

How do you tell when you run out of invisible ink?

Join the Army, meet interesting people, kill them.

Laughing stock: cattle with a sense of humor.

Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?

Wear short sleeves! Support your right to bare arms!

For Sale: Parachute. Only used once, never opened, small stain.

OK, so what's the speed of dark?

Corduroy pillows: They're making headlines!

Black holes are where God divided by zero.

All those who believe in psychokinesis raise my hand.

Excuses are like asses everyone's got em and they all stink.

I tried sniffing Coke once, but the ice cubes got stuck in my nose.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away... so does having no medical insurance.

I really think the Mars Rover is scouting for the next Wal-Mart Superstore site.

Death is life's way of telling you you've been fired.

What we could really use is the separation of Bush and state.

Never play strip poker with a nudist, they have nothing to lose.

If you can't read this, you're illiterate.

It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it.

He who hesitates is boss.

As they say at the Planned Parenthood Clinic, better late than never

Glad to see you back, hawkman. Your one liners are delightful, as usual, and we're glad that you didn't get sucked into a jet engine.

Great bio's, Boston, but as usual will await our Raggedy to fill us in with faces. (damn, can't stop alliterating)

Quote for the day:

"finest feller I ever fiddled fer"

A great example of illiteration.

Hmmm. Bobby Vee is one of those performers that reflects Bob's example of a photographic memory with no film.

However, folks, I did find this song by Bobby

When I see my baby,
what do I see,
Poetry,
Poetry in Motion

Poetry in Motion, walking by my side, her lovely locomotion,
keeps my eyes open wide.
Poetry in Motion, see her gentle sway, on a wave out on the
ocean, could never move that way.

I Love every Movement, and there's nothing I would change,
she doesn't need improvement, she's much too nice to
arrange.
Poetry In Motion, dancin' close to me, a flower of the devotion,
For all the world to see.
a-woe woe woe woe woe woe
a-woe woe woe woe woe woe
a-woe woe woe woe woe woe
a-woe
Poetry in Motion, see her gentle sway, on a wave out on the
ocean, could never move that way.
I Love every Movement, and there's nothing I would change,
she doesn't need improvement, she's much too nice to
arrange.

Poetry In Motion, all that I adore, no number 9 love potion could make me love you more

a-woe woe woe woe woe woe
a-woe woe woe woe woe woe
a-woe woe woe woe woe woe
a-woe woe woe woe woe woe
a-woe woe woe woe woe woe
a-woe woe woe woe woe woe

Good afternoon.

Filling in with faces

There she is, folks. Great pictures, puppy, but alas with chagrin and finger on chin, I only recognize Cloris and Willie and silly Bobby Vee.

Thanks, anyway my friend from PA. (stop it, Letty)

All this time, I compared some cowboy I know to Mr. Nelson, and I was stunned to find out that he is, in fact, Edgar Winter, but only the hair.



So, for that cowboy....
Edgar Winter Group
ANIMAL

Some kind of animal is stalkin' your trail.
Some weird unconformity outside your tail.
Bug Bear, Night Mare, Castles in the air,
I wonder if this game is fair.

Some kind of animal is loose in the night.
Leaping and shrieking in freakish delight.
Some kind of animal let out on the stage.
But, surrounded by people like the bars of a cage.

Look out now !!!

Some kind of animal - You make me feel like,
Some kind of animal - Makes love like,
Some kind of animal - Gonna die like,
Some kind of animal !!!

INSTRUMENTAL

Some kind of animal - You must feel like,
Some kind of animal - You make love like,
Some kind of animal - You're gonna die like,
Some kind of animal !!!

Some kind of animal exists in us all.
Instinct awakens to it's primitive call.
Bug a Boo after you, look out now it's comin' through .........

I wonder if this dream is true???

I wonder if it's me or you???

INSTRUMENTAL

ANIMAL !!!!!!!!!

Hmmm. I think it should be animals: Fred, and Sally, and Dante.

Actually I was once mistaken for Johnny Winter, Edgar's brother at the L.A. airport, I gave a damn fine interview for the press.

Well, dys. All them musicianers with platinum blonde hair look alike to me.

Glad to see you back, cowboy.

Funny story about a horse show in Virginia. All the creme de la creme were there, and as a celebrity spokesman, they hired some cowboy of movie fame. Can't recall the guy's name, but he began with a joke that went something like. "I thought my nose was runnin', but its snot."

Bud was covering the event, and he said he thought he would never get over the look of surprise and disdain and chagrin that covered the faces of the audience. He loved it, and his inability to stifle a laugh drew some looks of disapproval as well.

Mike Fink

Mike Fink
(Bob Dyer)

Well, my daddy was a bear in the Allegheny Mountains
And my mother was a 'gator in the Ohio
I was born full-growed at the forks of the river
And I cut my teeth on a catfish bone

Oh, my name is Mike Fink, I'm a keelboat poler
I'm a Salt River roarer and I eat live coals
I'm a half-alligator and I ride tornaders
And I can out-feather, out-jump, out-hop, out-skip
Throw down and lick any man on the river

Well I poled the Ohio and I poler the Mississippi
And I poled the Missouri when she's choked with snags
I poled on the wilds and the salts of the Kentucky
And I never met a man that I couldn't out-brag

Well, Betsy is my shooting iron, she shoots like thunder
And she flashes like the lightening and she kicks like a mule
I can clip an Indian scalp, knock it cleaner than a whistle
I can knock a tin can off the head of a fool

Well, Carpenter's a name that I guess you heard tell of
I taught that critter everything that he knowed
But he done me dirt on the Yellowstone River
And I crossed his eyes with a musket ball

Well, some say I died on the Yellowstone River
Or was shot by a man by the name of Talbot
But if you want to know the truth about what really happened
You're gonna have to come knocking on the Devil's door

Wow!, I love that song, edgar, and the rhythm is so easy to feel. Sorta reminds me of shape shifting. Thanks, buddy.

I have been doing some research today, folks, concerning the stereotype of the noble savage. I found this interesting group and a song to match.



Cherokee Morning Song Lyrics
Artist: Cherokee



We n' de ya ho, We n' de ya ho,
We n' de ya, We n' de ya Ho ho ho ho,
He ya ho, He ya ho, Ya ya ya

Translation - We n' de ya ho
Freely translated: "A we n'" (I am), "de" (of), "Yauh" --the-- (Great Spirit), "Ho" (it is so).
Written as: A we n' de Yauh ho (I am of the Great Spirit, Ho!).
This language stems from very ancient Cherokee.

Don't know about the savage, but the song is noble, and speaking of noble, this pop song was done by Ray Noble, and although we have played it before, it's worth another spin.

Sweet Indian maiden, since first I met you,
I can't forget you, Cherokee sweetheart.

Child of the prairie, your love keeps calling,
my heart enthralling, Cherokee.

Dreams of summertime, of lovertime gone by,
throng my memory so tenderly, and sigh. My

Sweet Indian maiden, one day I'll hold you,
in my arms fold you, Cherokee.

These Eyes
The Guess Who

[Written by Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings]

These eyes cry every night for you
These arms long to hold you again

The hurtin's on me, yeah
And I will never be free, no, my baby, no no
You gave a promise to me, yeah
An' you broke it, an' you broke it, oh no

These eyes watched you bring my world to an end
This heart could not accept and pretend

The hurtin's on me, yeah
And I will never be free, no, no, no
You took the vow with me, yeah
An' you spoke it, an' you spoke it, babe

These eyes are cryin'
These eyes have seen a lot of loves
But they're never gonna see another one like I had with you

These eyes are cryin'
These eyes have seen a lot of loves
But they're never gonna see another one like I had with you

These eyes are cryin'
These eyes have seen a lot of loves
But they're never gonna see another one like I had with you

These eyes cry every night for you
These arms, these arms long to hold you, hold you again

These eyes are cryin'
These eyes have seen a lot of loves
But their never gonna see another one like I had with you

These eyes are cryin'
These eyes have seen a lot of loves
But their never gonna see another one like I had with you

These eyes are cryin'
These eyes have seen a lot of loves
But their never gonna see another one like I had with you

These eyes are cryin'
These eyes have seen a lot of loves
But their never gonna see another one like I had with you
Baby, baby, baby, baby
Don't ya know these eyes are cryin' every night
I need you back in my heart

Good morning, WA2K listeners and contributors.

edgar, I read the lyrics to your song with a great deal of interest, Texas. It still makes me wonder which of our five senses carries the greatest import. Do they act in concert? Can we separate them?

Pentacle Queen had an interesting discussion about how one listens to music, and that has given me pause for thought.

Well, folks, let's hear what Billy Joel has to say about the anger that occasionally comes out in all of us. This one is about men, but believe it or not, women occasionally let it bubble over.

Prelude/Angry Young Man
Billy Joel


There's a place in the world for the angry young man
With his working class ties and his radical plans
He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl,
And He's always at home with his back to the wall.
And he's proud of his scars and the battles he's lost,
And he struggles and bleeds as he hangs on his cross-
And he likes to be known as the angry young man.

Give a moment or two to the angry young man,
With his foot in his mouth and his heart in his hand.
He's been stabbed in the back, he's been misunderstood,
It's a comfort to know his intentions are good.
And he sits in a room with a lock on the door,
With his maps and his medals laid out on the floor-
And he likes to be known as the angry young man.

I believe I've passed the age
Of consciousness and righteous rage
I found that just surviving was a noble fight.
I once believed in causes too,
I had my pointless point of view,
And life went on no matter who was wrong or right. OHHHHHHHH

And there's always a place for the angry young man,
With his fist in the air and his head in the sand.
And he's never been able to learn from mistakes,
So he can't understand why his heart always breaks.
And his honor is pure and his courage as well,
And he's fair and he's true and he's boring as hell-
And he'll go to the grave as an angry old man.

There's always a place for the angry young man
With his working class ties and his radical plans
He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl,
And He's always at home with his back to the wall.
And he's proud of his scars and the battles he's lost,
And he struggles and bleeds as he hangs on his cross-
And he likes to be known as the angry young man.

Kate Smith
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Kathryn Elizabeth Smith (May 1, 1907 - June 17, 1986) was a Washington, D.C.-born singer best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". She was one of America's most beloved entertainers, with a radio, TV and recording career that spanned five decades, and which reached its most-remembered zenith in the 1940s.

Her musical career began in earnest when she was discovered in 1930 by Columbia Records vice president Ted Collins, who became her longtime partner and manager and who put her on the radio in 1931. She sang the controversial top twenty song of 1931, "That's Why Darkies Were Born". She starred in the 1932 movie Hello Everybody!, with co-stars Randolph Scott and Sally Blane, and in 1943 she sang "God Bless America" in the wartime picture This is the Army. Irving Berlin had written the song in 1918, and it is considered "the second National Anthem" of the United States. Its popularity and constant airplay led Woody Guthrie to pen the original version of "This Land Is Your Land" in protest at the Berlin tune's unquestioning complacency.

Kate began making records in 1926; among her biggest hits were "River, Stay 'Way From My Door" (1931), "The Woodpecker Song" (1940), "The White Cliffs of Dover" (1941), "Rose O'Day" (1941), "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" (1942), "There Goes That Song Again" (1944), "Seems Like Old Times" (1946), and "Now Is the Hour" (1947). Her theme song was "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain", the lyrics of which she helped write. She greeted audiences with "Hello, everybody!" and signed off with "Thanks for listenin'."




Radio

Her oversized figure made her the occasional butt of derision from fellow performers and managers, however, in her later career, some Philadelphia Flyers hockey fans lovingly said about her performances prior to games, "it ain't BEGUN 'til the fat lady sings!"

Despite the occasional ridicule, Smith was a major star of radio, usually backed by Jack Miller's Orchestra. She began in 1931 with her twice-a-week NBC series, Kate Smith Sings (which quickly expanded to six shows a week), followed by a series of shows for CBS: Kate Smith and Her Swanee Music (1931-33), sponsored by La Palina Cigars; The Kate Smith Matinee (1934-35); The Kate Smith New Star Revue (1934-35); Kate Smith's Coffee Time (1935-36), sponsored by A&P; and The Kate Smith A&P Bandwagon (1936-37).

For eight years (1937-45), The Kate Smith Hour was a leading radio variety show, offering comedy, music and drama with appearances by top personalities of films and theater. The nationwide audience was introduced to comedy by the show's resident comics, Abbott and Costello and Henny Youngman, while a series of sketches led to The Aldrich Family as a spin-off in 1940. She continued into the 1950s on the Mutual Broadcasting System, CBS, ABC, and NBC, doing both music and talk shows.


Kate Smith statue

On October 8, 1987, the Kate Smith statue was dedicated outside the Spectrum in Philadelphia prior to the Flyers game vs. the Montreal Canadiens. An unusual part of her career began on December 11, 1969, when the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team played her rendition of "God Bless America" before the game. Philadelphia beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-3. The team would begin to play the song before home games every once in a while, and the perception developed that the team was more successful on these occasions, so the tradition grew.

On October 11, 1973, she made a surprise appearance at the Flyers' home opener to perform the song in person prior to another game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and received a tremendous reception. The Flyers won that game by a 2-0 score.

She again performed the song at the Spectrum in front of a capacity crowd of 17,007 excited fans before Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals on May 19, 1974, at which the Flyers clinched their first of two back-to-back Stanley Cups, winning that playoff series against the Boston Bruins 4 games to 2, with Bernie Parent shutting the Bruins out 1-0 in that game.

Miss Smith also performed live at these Flyers home games: May 13, 1975, where the Flyers beat the New York Islanders by a score of 4-1 to win Game 7 of the Stanley Cup semi-finals, and on May 16, 1976, before Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals where the Flyers lost to the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 5-3 and were swept by the Canadiens in that series.

Although viewed as a good luck charm to the team, there were a few losses along the way. The Flyers' record when "God Bless America" was either played or sung in person was 69 wins, 19 losses, and 3 ties. Regardless of wins and losses, Ms. Smith and her song remain a special part of Flyers' history. In 1987, the team erected a statue of Smith outside their arena at the time, the Spectrum, in her memory. The Flyers will still show a video of her singing "God Bless America," in lieu of "The Star Spangled Banner", for good luck before important games. Often, the video of her performance is accompanied by Lauren Hart, daughter of the late Hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster, Gene Hart, longtime voice of the Flyers.

In 1982, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan.

Proceeds or money from her performances of God Bless America are donated to the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts of America.


Death

Kate Smith, who never married, died of diabetes in 1986 at age 79 in Raleigh, North Carolina, several years after converting to Roman Catholicism. She is interred in a private mausoleum at Saint Agnes Cemetery in Lake Placid, Essex County, New York. In 1999, she was posthumously inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. Her husband once said, "Well, I guess that's what you get to converting to Roman Catholicism. It just proves that they are a lot of no-good death addicts!" Unfortunately, her husband died a few months later.

Glenn Ford
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Birth name Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford
Born May 1, 1916
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada[1]
Died August 30, 2006 (aged 90)
Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Years active 1930s-1990s
Spouse(s) 1) Eleanor Powell (1943 - 1959, divorced)
2) Kathryn Hays (1966 - 1969, divorced)
3) Cynthia Hayward (1974 - 1977, divorced)
4) Jeanne Baus (1993 - 1994, divorced)
Official site Glenn Ford Online Website

Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford (May 1, 1916 - August 30 2006) was an acclaimed Canadian-born actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades. He was born to Anglo-Quebecer parents at Jeffrey Hale Hospital in Quebec City, Québec[1] and was a grand-nephew of Canada's first Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald.[2] Ford moved to Santa Monica, California with his family at the age of eight, and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1939.

Ford is best known for his film roles playing either cowboys or ordinary men in unusual circumstances. His acting career began on stage, and his first major movie part was in the 1939 film Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence.





Military service

In 1942, Ford's film career was interrupted when he volunteered for duty in World War II with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve on 13 December as a photographic specialist at the rank of sergeant. He was assigned in March 1943 to active duty at the Marine Corps Base in San Diego. He was sent to Marine Corps Schools Detachment (Photographic Section) in Quantico, Virginia, that June, with orders as a motion-picture production technician. Sergeant Ford returned to the San Diego base in February 1944 and was assigned next to the radio section of the Public Relations Office, Headquarters Company, Base Headquarters Battalion. There he staged and broadcast the radio program Halls of Montezuma. Glenn Ford was honorably discharged from the Marines on 7 December 1944.

In 1958, he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve and was commissioned as a lieutenant commander with a 1655 designator (public affairs officer). During his annual training tours, he promoted the Navy through radio and television broadcasts, personal appearances, and documentary films. He was promoted to commander in 1963 and captain in 1968.

Ford went to Vietnam in 1967 for a month's tour of duty as a location scout for combat scenes in a training film entitled Global Marine. He traveled with a combat camera crew from the demilitarized zone south to the Mekong Delta. For his service in Vietnam, the Navy awarded him a Navy Commendation Medal. His World War II decorations are as follows: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Rifle Marksman Badge, and the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Medal. He retired from the Naval Reserve in the 1970s at the rank of captain.[3]


Postwar career

Following military service, Ford's breakthrough role was in 1946, starring alongside Rita Hayworth in Gilda. He went on to be a leading man opposite her in a total of five films. While the movie is mostly remembered as the vehicle for Hayworth's "provocative rendition of a song called Put the Blame on Mame," The New York Times movie reviewer Bosley Crowther praised Ford's "stamina and pose in a thankless role" despite the movie's poor direction.[4]

Ford's acting career flourished in the 1950s and '60s, and continued into the early 1990s, with an increasing number of television roles. His major roles in thrillers, dramas and action films include A Stolen Life, The Big Heat, Framed, Blackboard Jungle, Interrupted Melody, Experiment in Terror, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Ransom!, Superman and westerns such as The Fastest Gun Alive, 3:10 to Yuma and Cimarron. Ford's versatility also allowed him to star in a number of popular comedies, including Teahouse of the August Moon, Don't Go Near the Water, The Gazebo, Cry For Happy, and The Courtship of Eddie's Father.

Ford starred for one season in the television series Cade's County (1971-1972), in which he played Southwestern Sheriff Cade in a mix of western drama and police mystery. In The Family Holvak (1975-1976), Ford portrayed a depression era preacher in a family drama, reprising the same character he had played in the TV film "The Greatest Gift". Julie Harris co-starred as his wife.

In 1978, Ford had a supporting role in Superman, as Clark Kent's adopted father, Jonathan Kent, a role that introduced Ford to a new generation of film audiences. Ford's final scene in the film begins with a direct reference to Blackboard Jungle - the earlier film's theme song "Rock Around the Clock" is heard on a car radio.


Personal life

After Ford graduated from High school, he began working on small theatre groups. Ford later commented that his father had no objection to his son's growing interest in acting but told him: "Its all right for you to try to act, if you learn something else first. Be able to take a car apart and put it together. Be able to build a house, every bit of it. Then you'll always have something."[5] Ford listened to his father's advice and during the 1950s, when he was one of Hollywood's most popular actors, he regularly worked on plumbing, wiring and air conditioning at home.[6] At times, he worked as a roofer and installer of plate-glass windows. Ford was married four times: to actress Eleanor Powell (1943-1959, one son); Kathryn Hays (1966-1969); Cynthia Hayward (1977-1984); and Jeanne Baus (1993-1994). All four marriages ended in divorce. Ford appeared on screen with Powell only once, in a short subject produced in the 1950s entitled The Faith of Our Children.

Ford suffered a series of minor strokes which left him in frail health in the years leading up to his death. For the first half of his life, Glenn Ford supported the US Democratic Party - in the 1950s he supported Adlai Stevenson for President - and in later years became a supporter of the Republican Party, campaigning for his friend Ronald Reagan in the 1980 and 1984 presidential elections.

Ford's only child, Peter Ford (born 1945), also became an actor (as well as a singer and radio host) before giving up on his acting career around 1975; he later became a successful business contractor. Ford was reportedly furious when he learned that Peter had briefly taken control of his estate in 1992, when he was seriously ill and had gone into a coma while in the hospital. Ford became estranged from his son and stated that he would leave his estate to Pauli Kiernan, his 39-year-old nurse and companion. While Peter contended Ms. Kiernan was manipulating his father, the elder Ford refused to accept his explanation and said "What Peter has done to me is cruel and wicked. He just wants my money. I want my nurse Pauli to get the money. I know who's been good and kind to me in these last years of my life."[7]

Several years later, however, Glenn Ford reconciled with his son Peter who subsequently moved into Ford's Beverly Hills mansion along with the latter's wife Lynda and their three children.[8] However, unlike his son, Ford never reconciled with any of his wives. Glenn and Peter Ford then maintained a close relationship; Peter is currently writing a biography about his father.


Awards

After being nominated in 1957 and 1958, in 1962 Glenn Ford won a Golden Globe Award as Best Actor for his performance in Frank Capra's Pocketful of Miracles. He was listed in Quigley's Annual List of Top Ten Boxoffice Champions in 1956, 1958 and 1959, topping the list at number one in 1958. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Glenn Ford has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6933 Hollywood Blvd. In 1978, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 1992 he was awarded the Légion d'honneur medal for his actions in the Second World War.

Ford was scheduled to make his first public appearance in 15 years at a 90th birthday tribute gala in his honor [2] hosted by the American Cinematheque at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood on May 1, 2006, but at the last minute, he had to bow out. Anticipating that his health might prevent his attendance, Ford had worked the previous week with event organizer Martin Lewis to record a special filmed message for the audience, which was screened after a series of in-person tributes from friends including Martin Landau, Shirley Jones, Jamie Farr, and Debbie Reynolds [3].


Trivia

In 1980, Ford offered to buy the National Hockey League's Atlanta Flames for $8 million in order to keep the team in Atlanta, but was outbid by Canadian Nelson Skalbania, who moved the team to Calgary, Alberta, where they became the Calgary Flames.
For the 1961 film Pocketful of Miracles, Ford received $350,000, a relatively substantial amount at the time. Two years later, Elizabeth Taylor, would be the first movie star to be offered $1 million for her role in Cleopatra.
According to Sam Peckinpah's biography, when casting the movie The Wild Bunch, Gregory Peck and Charlton Heston were both considered for the role of Pike Bishop (a role that went to William Holden) and Ford was considered for the Deke Thornton character (a role that went to Robert Ryan).
In 1971 Ford had signed with CBS to star in his first television series, a half hour comedy/drama titled "The Glenn Ford Show". However, Fred Silverman, the head of CBS at the time, noticed that many of the featured films being shown at a Glenn Ford film festival were westerns. Consequently, he suggested to Ford that he consider doing a western, which resulted in the "modern day Western" series, Cade's County .
Prior to signing with CBS for his first television series, Ford was offered the lead role in the ABC series The Persuaders!, co-starring Roger Moore. He turned down the offer because the series would be filmed in Europe and he wanted to stay local. The role ended up going to Tony Curtis.
During the late seventies, Ford and his best friend William Holden had planned to reteam for a third film, a Western entitled "Dime Novel". However, Ford backed out because of location related issues and Robert Preston was named to replace him. The film was delayed and then cancelled when Holden died unexpectedly.
In 1991 Ford agreed to star in a cable network series, African Skies. However, prior to the start of the series, he developed blood clots in his legs which required a lengthy stay in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Eventually he recovered, but at one time his situation was so severe that he was listed in critical condition. Ford was forced to drop out of the series and was replaced by Robert Mitchum.
Ford's most frequent co-star was his close personal friend, Edgar Buchanan. They were in 11 movies together, plus the television series Cade's County.
In the 2006 movie Superman Returns there is a scene where Ma Kent (played by Eva Marie Saint) stands next to the living room mantle after Superman returns from his quest to find remnants of Krypton. On that mantle is a picture of Pa Kent (as played by Glenn Ford). This "cameo" of sorts, was Ford's last screen appearance.
In 1978 Ford underwent hypnosis at his home in Beverley Hills, and recalled a past life of being a Colorado cowboy named Charlie Bill. He gave a detailed description of a past-life life, which was tape-recorded for academics at the university of California to study. A second experiment was conducted at the university itself when Ford, then 61, responded well to the hypnosis. This time he did not recall the life of Charlie Bill, but that of a Scottish piano teacher named Charles Stuart. "I teach the piano to young flibbertigibbets", said Ford under the hypnosis, using a quaint old English word for rascals not in common use in California. He allegedly played a few notes on piano during the experiment, despite later telling that he never had been taught to play the instrument. The researchers then managed to locate the grave of a Charles Stuart in Elgin, Scotland, who died in 1840. After being shown a photo of the burial place, Ford said "That shook me up real bad. I felt immediately that it was the place I was buried."

Joan Hackett
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joan Hackett (May 1, 1934 - October 8, 1983) was an American-born actress who appeared on stage, in films, and on television.

Born in New York City of Irish and Italian extraction, her immigrant parents raised her Roman Catholic and sent her to Catholic schools, which she did not always attend punctually.

Hackett debuted with the role of Gail Prentiss in the TV series Young Doctor Malone in 1959. She had a leading role in the Twilight Zone episode A Piano in the House (1962). She had one of the starring roles in the 1966 Sidney Lumet film The Group along with Candice Bergen, Larry Hagman, Richard Mulligan, Joanna Pettet, and others.

One of the roles she's best remembered for, perhaps, is the role of Catherine Allen in the western Will Penny (1968) with Charlton Heston. Hackett also has a notable part in the classic Western comedy Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) with James Garner. After this she primarily had parts in TV movies and on episodes of TV series.

Hackett won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1981 movie Only When I Laugh, the last movie she made before her death. She could also be seen in Paul Simon's film "One Trick Pony".

From 1965 to 1973 she was married to the actor Richard Mulligan, who also appeared in the movie The Group.

Joan Hackett lost her battle against ovarian cancer at Encino Hospital in California in 1983 at the age of 49. Both of her parents had also died of cancer.

She is interred in a crypt in the mausoleum in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California. Her crypt marker carries an epitaph relating to her love of "beauty" sleep, admonishing visitors to "Go Away - I'm Asleep."