WA2K Radio is now on the air

Our friend Dave Colt the dj at Cathay Pacific retired last week and is in the process of moving to Maryland where he bought a pleasing abode. We devoted afficianados will miss him greatly. But sometimes it offers a new possibility for happiness. Harry one of the regulars with his attractive sweety Judy opened karaoke proceeding in the same city Quincy just down the road apiece. So Nair and I attended not expecting him to be the equal of our aforementioned song guru. Very professional books provided a welcome surprise. While scanning I happened upon one of my favorite songs. I had never sung it as I hadn't found it before in anyone's book. And there it was in black and while just daring me to sing it knowing full well I had never done it before. As everyone knows I am not faint of heart. So I did it. And did it well if I guaged the audience response accurately. Nair was delighted and comments throughout the evening supported her appraisal. Here is the song.

Lyrics to Roy Clark's Rendition of
"Yesterday When I Was Young"

Performed at Mickey Mantle's Funeral, August 15, 1995 - Dallas, TX




(When Mickey heard Roy Clark sing the song, "Yesterday When I Was Young," he felt it summed up his life very well. He asked Roy if he would sing it at his funeral.)
Yesterday when I was young

The taste of life was sweet as rain upon my tongue

I teased at life as if it were a foolish game

The way the evening breeze may tease a candle flame

The thousand dreams I dreamed, the splendid things I planned

I always built, alas, on weak and shifting sand

I lived by night and shunned the naked light of day

And only now I see how the years ran away

Yesterday when I was young

So many drinking songs were waiting to be sung

So many wayward pleasures lay in store for me

And so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see

I ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out

I never stopped to think what life was all about

And every conversation I can now recall

Concerned itself with me, and nothing else at all

Yesterday the moon was blue

And every crazy day brought something new to do

I used my magic age as if it were a wand

And never saw the waste and emptiness beyond

The game of love I played with arrogance and pride

And every flame I lit too quickly, quickly died

The friends I made all seemed somehow to drift away

And only I am left on stage to end the play

There are so many songs in me that won't be sung

I feel the bitter taste of tears upon my tongue

The time has come for me to pay for yesterday when I was young


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Yesterday When I Was Young"

Lyrics by Charles Aznavour

Translated into English by Herbert Kreutzer

Performed by Roy Clark, August 15, 1995, Dallas, Texas

Bob, I love that song, and I am glad things are working out for the new karaoke.

Remember this one? When you first made your appearance on A2K, I alluded to it.

Roy Clark

I've made a small fortune and you squandered it all
You shamed me till I feel about one inch tall
But I thought I loved you and I hoped you would change
So I gritted my teeth and didn't complain.

Now you come to me with a simple goodbye
You tell me you're leaving but you won't tell me why
Now we're here at the station and you're getting on
And all I can think of is thank God and Greyhound you're gone

Thank God and Greyhound you're gone
I didn't know how much longer I could go on
Watching you take the respect out of me
Watching you make a total wreck out of me
That big diesel motor is a-playing my song
Thank God and Greyhound you're gone.

Thank God and Greyhound you're gone
That load on my mind got lighter when you got on
That shiny old bus is a beautiful sight
With the black smoke a-rolling up around the taillight
It may sound kind-a cruel but I've been silent too long
Thank God and Greyhound you're gone.

Thank God and Greyhound you're gone...

The Wedding Song (There Is Love)

He is now to be among you at the calling of your hearts
Rest assured this troubadour is acting on His part.
The union of your spirits, here, has caused Him to remain
For whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name
There is Love, there is Love.

A man shall leave his mother and a woman leave her home
And they shall travel on to where the two shall be as one.
As it was in the beginning is now and 'til the end
Woman draws her life from man and gives it back again.
And there is Love, there is Love.

Well then what's to be the reason for becoming man and wife?
Is it love that brings you here or love that brings you life?
And if loving is the answer, then who's the giving for?
Do you believe in something that you've never seen before?
Oh there is Love, there is Love.

Oh the marriage of your spirits here has caused Him to remain
For whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name
There is Love, there is Love.

Written and Recorded by Noel Paul Stookey

Noel Paul Stookey:



The Sandman Theme

Bill Thomas and Noel Stookey
©1975 Morningwater Music

"Sleep tight the sandman soon will be by
Softly he steps from the clouds in the sky
And smiling he winks at the Man in the Moon
And strikes up the stars for a lullabye tune

So sweet dreams 'till morning brings sun and the dawn
And sweet drops like diamonds lay shining on the lawn
And who put those tiny footprints there upon the dew?
The Sandman is coming with something for you

The lights have been turned out on Sesame Street
Snoopy and Teddy Bear just fell asleep
Raggedy Andy and Raggedy Ann
Will see you when the morning comes again

So sweet dreams of angels your mother is near
Smiling and happy because you are here
And when the new morning peeks into your room
The Sandman will be gone, but he left you this tune

And who put those tiny footprints there upon the dew?
The Sandman is leaving
The Sandman is leaving
The Sandman is leaving
He'll be back real soon...

Mr. Sandman



(scat "bung, bung, bung, bung" 26 bungs in all)

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream (bung, bung, bung, bung)
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen (bung, bung, bung, bung)
Give him two lips like roses and clover (bung, bung, bung, bung)
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over.
Sandman, I'm so alone
Don't have nobody to call my own
Please turn on your magic beam
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream.

(scat "bung, bung, bung, bung".)

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen
Give him the word that I'm not a rover
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over.
Sandman, I'm so alone
Don't have nobody to call my own
Please turn on your magic beam
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream.

(scat "bung, bung, bung, bung")

Mr. Sandman (male voice: "Yesss?") bring us a dream
Give him a pair of eyes with a "come-hither" gleam
Give him a lonely heart like Pagliacci
And lots of wavy hair like Liberace
Mr Sandman, someone to hold (someone to hold)
Would be so peachy before we're too old
So please turn on your magic beam
Mr Sandman, bring us, please, please, please
Mr Sandman, bring us a dream.

(scat "bung, bung, bung, bung".)



Chordettes

Love it, edgar. Hey, where are satt and Elvis the cat?

Here's another by that Dylan man.

Bob Dylan - Every Grain Of Sand Lyrics

In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need
When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed
There's a dying voice within me reaching out somewhere
Toiling in the danger and in the morals of despair.

Don't have the inclination to look back on any mistake
Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break
In the fury of the moment I can see the master's hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand.

Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear
Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer
The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way
To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.

I gaze into the doorway of temptation's angry flame
And every time I pass that way I always hear my name
Then onward in my journey I come to understand
That every hair is numbered like every grain of sand.

I have gone from rags to riches in the sorrow of the night
In the violence of a summer's dream, in the chill of a wintry light
In the bitter dance of loneliness fading into space
In the broken mirror of innocence on each forgotten face.

I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea
Sometimes I turn, there's someone there, other time it's only me
I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand.

Dylan said he hadn't finished writing Every Grain of Sand yet, but his concentration was broken somehow, and he was not able to continue to work on it. Seems complete enough to me, however. My poem, Children of the Ward, was written in the same cadence as this song.

when i read the politics or religion threads, i think the following may well be the case

We Are All On Drugs
Weezer

When your out with your friends
In your new Mercedes-Benz
And you're on drugs
And you show up late for school
'Cause You think your really cool
when you're on drugs
And you put on your headphones
And you step into the zone
When you're on drugs
But the world don't care
If you are or are not there
'Cause you're on drugs

Give it to me
We are all on drugs, yeah
Never getting enough,
Never get enough
We are all on drugs, yeah
Give me some of that stuff

And you twitch in your sleep
'Cause you wanna hit the street
when you're on drugs
And you cause such a fuss 'cause
There's no one you can trust
When you're on drugs
And the best of your days
Will all vanish in the haze
When you're on drugs
And you wish you could quit
'cause you're really sick of it
But you're on drugs

Give it to me
We are all on drugs, yeah
Never getting enough,
Never get enough
We are all on drugs, yeah
Give me some of that stuff

here's a good little tune from a sadly under appreciated welsh band

i love the opening two lines

Road Rage
Catatonia

If all you've got to do today is find peace of mind
Come round you can take a piece of mine
And if all you've got to do today is hesitate,
Come here, you can leave it late with me.

You could be taking it easy on yourself
You should be making it easy on yourself

Cause you and I know,
It's all over the front page, you give me road rage,
Racing through the best days,
It's up to you boy you're driving me crazy,
Thinking you may be losing your mind.

If all you've got to prove today is your innocence,
Calm down, you're as guilty as can be,
If all you've got to lose alludes to yesterday,
Yesterday's through, now do anything you please.

You could be taking it easy on yourself
You should be making it easy on yourself

Cause you and I know,
It's all over the front page, you give me road rage,
Racing through the best days,
It's up to you boy you're driving me crazy,
Thinking you may be losing your mind.

You're losing your mind.

You, you've been racing through the best days
You, you've been racing through the best days.

Space age, road rage, fast lane,

And if all you've got to do today is find peace of mind
Come here, you can take a piece of mine.

You could be taking it easy on yourself
You should be making it easy on yourself

Cause you and I know,
It's all over the front page, you give me road rage,
Racing through the best days,
It's up to you boy you're driving me crazy,
Thinking you may be losing your mind.

But you and I know,
We all live in the space age, coming down with road rage,
Racing through the best days

It's up to you boy you're driving me crazy,
Thinking you may be losing your mind.

It's not over, it's not over, it's not over,
It's not over, it's not over, it's not over, you and I know
We all live in the space age, you give me road rage,
Racing to the best days
It's up to you boy you're driving me crazy,
Thinking you may be losing your mind.
Losing your mind

[to fade]

Wow! Thor threw a lightning bolt through our studio window and now I have another "thor" spot in addition to the one on my finger. (In other words, it killed my pc for a moment)

edgar, why not do your "Child of the Ward" here, Texas.

Welcome back, dj. I want to listen more carefully to that ode to those two forums, but first, I was delighted to find this lady, thanks to satt.

Helen Merrill and friends.



She did this one, folks, and I love it.




I'm a fool to want you
I'm a fool to want you
To want a love that can't be true
A love that's there for others too

I'm a fool to hold you
Such a fool to hold you
To seek a kiss not mine alone
To share a kiss the Devil has known

Time and time again I said I'd leave you
Time and time again I went away
But then would come the time when I would need you
And once again these words I'd have to say

I'm a fool to want you
Pity me, I need you
I know it's wrong, it must be wrong
But right or wrong I can't get along
Without you


Time and time again I said I'd leave you
Time and time again I went away
But then would come the time when I would need you
And once again these words I'd have to say

Take me back, I love you
Pity me, I need you
I know it's wrong, it must be wrong
But right or wrong I can't get along

Without you

Children of the Ward

I watch the children playing,
See them dancing in the yard.
Preserve the words they`re saying,
Like a fancy Christmas card.
The moments that betray them
Are the moments caught off guard;
Yet the dragons cannot slay them,
Not these children of the ward.
I hear their mothers calling
As they empty out the yard,
Echoing their footsteps,
Like bells tolling in my heart.
I gaze upon the portrait
Of my brother who`s been gone:
Time itself cannot prorate
The memory and the song.

To see you I would kiss you;
And give hugs until you groan.
Mama`s off to find you,
I must go it all alone -
I`ve been across some borders,
To describe my private hell;
In deep and shallow waters,
Like a bucket in a well.
Each story has an anchor;
Yes I dragged mine through the bay;
I was lucky just to find her,
Fortunate she went my way.

The sun is like a prism:
See it straining through the glass.
My mind`s not like a prison;
I`m no prisoner to the past.
There`s a beauty in the foment,
And a rage to top the crest;
Got to have myself a moment,
So I`m ready for the rest.

dj, I'm with you on the first two lines of your song, Road Rage. Very meaningful play on words, Canada.

edgar, that poem is absolutely awesome. I especially like this verse:



The sun is like a prism:
See it straining through the glass.
My mind`s not like a prison;
I`m no prisoner to the past.
There`s a beauty in the foment,
And a rage to top the crest;
Got to have myself a moment,
So I`m ready for the rest

Great, Texas.

and, folks, it's time for Letty to say goodnight to the tune of a sandman.

THE JAPANESE SANDMAN



Won't you stretch imagination for the moment and come with me
Let us hasten to a nation lying over the western sea
Hide behind the cherry blossoms here's a sight that will please your eyes
There's a baby with a lady of Japan singing lullabies
Night winds breath her sighs here's the Japanese sandman.

Just as silent as we came we'll leave the land of the painted fan
Wander lightly or you'll wake the little people of old Japan
May repose and pleasant dreaming be their share while the hours are small
Like an echo of the song I hear the Japanese Sandman
sneaking on with the dew just an old second hand man
He'll buy your old day from you
he will take every sorrow of the day that is through
and he'll give you tomorrow just to start a life anew
then you'll be a bit older in the dawn when you wake
and you'll be a bit bolder with the new day you make
here's the Japanese Sandman trade him silver for gold
just an old second hand man trading new days for old.

From Letty with love

Goodnight, my love
Pleasant dreams and sleep tight, my love
May tomorrow be sunny and bright
And bring you closer to me

Before you go
Please remember I need you so
And this love I have for me
Will never go cold

If you should awake in the still of the night
Please have no fear
Just close your eyes
Then you realize
That my love will watch over you, dear, always

Goodnight, my love
Pleasant dreams and sleep tight, my love
May tomorrow be sunny and bright
And bring you closer to me

If you should awake in the still of the night
Please have no fear
Just close your eyes
Then you realize
That my love will watch over you, dear, always

Goodnight, my love
Pleasant dreams and sleep tight, my love
May tomorrow be sunny and bright
And bring you closer to me

Buddy Holly
Not Fade Away

(Charles Hardin (Buddy Holly) & Norman Petty)

Buddy Holly
w/Joe Mauldin - bass, Jerry Allison - drums
prob. Buddy Holly J. Allison, Niki Sullivan - background
vocals. Original release: Oct. 27, 1957.
Brunswick Records Single #55035





(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
I'm-a gonna tell you how it's gonna be
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
A-you gonna give-a your love to me
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
I wanna love you night 'n day
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
You know my lover, not fade away
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
A-well, you know my lover, not fade away

(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)

My love, a-bigger than the Cadillac
I try to show it 'n you drive-a me back
Your love for me, it got to be real
A-for you to know a-just how I feel
A love for real, not fade away
[Not Fade Away lyrics on http://www.metrolyrics.com]


(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)

(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)

(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)

(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)

I'm-a gonna tell you how it's gonna be
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
A-you're gonna give-a your love to me
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
A love to last-a more than one day
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
A lover's love and not fade away
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
A lover's love and not fade away

(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
FADES-
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop)
(Ooo-bop, wop-bop-bop).

Bill Robinson

Bojangles - Bill Robinson

Born: May 25, 1878
Richmond, Virginia, USA
Died: November 25, 1949
New York, New York, USA
Occupation: Dancer

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (May 25, 1878 - November 25, 1949) was a pioneer and pre-eminent African-American tap dance performer.




Childhood and Early Career

Born in Richmond, Virginia on May 25, 1878, to Maxwell Robinson, a machine-shop worker, and Maria Robinson, a choir singer, Bill Robinson was brought up by his grandmother after the death of his parents when he was still a baby. He was Christened "Luther" - a name he did not like, so he suggested to his younger brother Bill that they should exchange names. When Bill objected, Luther applied his fists, and the exchange was made! (The new 'Luther' later adopted the name Percy and became a well-known drummer.) The details of Robinson's early life are known only through legend, much of it perpetuated by Bill Robinson himself.

At the age of 6 he began dancing for a living, appearing as a "hoofer," or song-and-dance man, in local beer gardens. At age 7, Bill dropped out of school to pursue dancing. Two years later in Washington, DC, he toured with Mayme Remington's troupe. In 1891 (Ed: another source-1892), at the ripe age of 12, he joined a traveling company in The South Before the War, and in 1905 (Ed: another source 1902) worked with George Cooper as a vaudeville team. He gained great success as a nightclub and musical comedy performer, and during the next 25 years became one of the toasts of Broadway. Not until he was 50 did he dance for white audiences, having devoted his early career exclusively to appearances on the black theater circuit.

In 1908 in Chicago he met Marty Forkins, who became his lifelong manager. Under Forkins' tutelage, Robinson matured and began working as a solo act in nightclubs, increasing his earnings to an estimated $3500 per week. The publicity that gradually came to surround him included the creation of his famous "stair dance" (which he claimed to have invented on the spur of the moment when he was receiving some honor--he could never remember exactly what-- from the King of England. The King was standing at the top of a flight of stairs, and Bojangles' feet just danced up to be honored), his successful gambling exploits, his bow ties of multiple colors, his prodigious charity, his ability to run backward (he set a world's record of 8.2 seconds for the 75-yard backward dash) and to consume ice-cream by the quart, his argot--most notably the neologism copacetic--and such stunts as dancing down Broadway in 1939 from Columbus Circle to 44th St. in celebration of his 61st birthday.

Because his public image became preeminent, little is known of his first marriage to Fannie S. Clay in Chicago shortly after World War I, his divorce in 1943, or his marriage to Elaine Plaines on January 27, 1944, in Columbus, Ohio.

Toward the end of the vaudeville era a white impresario, Lew Leslie, produced Blackbirds of 1928, a black revue for white audiences featuring Robinson and other black stars. From then on his public role was that of a dapper, smiling, plaid-suited ambassador to the white world, maintaining a tenuous connection with the black show-business circles through his continuing patronage of the Hoofer's Club, an entertainer's haven in Harlem. Consequently, blacks and whites developed differing opinions of him. To whites, for example, his nickname "Bojangles" meant happy-go-lucky, while the black variety artist Tom Flatcher claimed it was slang for "squabbler." Political figures and celebrities appointed him an honorary mayor of Harlem, a lifetime member of policemen's associations and fraternal orders, and a mascot of the New York Giants major league baseball team. Robinson reciprocated with open handed generosity and frequently credited the white dancer James Barton for his contribution to Robinson's dancing style.


After 1930 black revues waned in popularity, but Robinson remained in vogue with white audiences for more than a decade in some fourteen motion pictures produced by such companies as RKO, 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures. Most of them had musical settings, in which he played old-fashioned roles in nostalgic romances. His most frequent role was that of an antebellum butler opposite Shirley Temple in such films as The Little Colonel (1935), The Littlest Rebel (1935), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938) and Just Around the Corner (1938), or Will Rogers in In Old Kentucky. Rarely did he depart from the stereotype imposed by Hollywood writers. In a small vignette in "Hooray For Love" (1935) he played a mayor of Harlem modeled after his own ceremonial honors; in One Mile From Heaven (1937), he played a romantic lead opposite the singer Lena Horne after Hollywood had relaxed its taboo against such roles for blacks. Audiences enjoyed his style, which eschewed the frenetic manner of the jitterbug. In contrast, Robinson always remained cool and reserved, rarely using his upper body and depending on his busy, inventive feet and his expressive face. He appeared in one film for black audiences, Harlem Is Heaven (1931), a financial failure that turned him away from independent production.

In 1939 he returned to the stage in The Hot Mikado, a jazz version of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta produced at the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair, and was one of the greatest hits of the fair. His next performance, in All in Fun (1940), failed to attract audiences. His last theatrical project was to have been "Two Gentlemen From The South" with James Barton, in which the black and white roles reverse and eventually come together as equals, but the show did not open. Thereafter he confined himself to occasional performances, but he could still dance in his late sixties almost as well as he ever could, to the continual astonishment of his millions of admirers. He explained this extraordinary versatility--he once danced for more than an hour before a dancing class without repeating a step--by insisting that his feet responded directly to the music, his head having nothing to do with it.

Robinson died of a chronic heart condition at Columbia Presbyterian Center in New York City in 1949. His body lay in state at an armory in Harlem; schools were closed, thousands lined the streets waiting for a glimpse of his bier, and he was eulogized by politicians, black and white--perhaps more lavishly than any other African American of his time. "To his own people", wrote Marshall and Jean Stearns, "Robinson became a modern John Henry, who instead of driving steel, laid down iron taps." He was buried in the cemetery of the Evergreens in New York City.


Note

The previous biographical article is from the International Tap Association Newsletter May/June 1993. The biographical material was extrapolated from The American Dictionary of Biography and Webster's American Biographies.

Film career

Whether he was performing in a small town theater or a grand Broadway playhouse, Robinson gave his best and his national popularity became such that he was invited by studio executive Darryl F. Zanuck to come to Hollywood to appear in motion pictures, albeit limited to stereotypical roles. In all, he appeared in more than a dozen films but is best remembered for a number of 1930s film performances with the child star Shirley Temple including director Allan Dwan's very successful 1938 production of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.

Claude Akins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Claude Marion Akins was an American actor (born May 25, 1926, in Nelson, Georgia - died January 27, 1994, in Altadena, California). Powerful in appearance and voice, Akins could be counted on to play the clever (or less than clever) tough guy, on the side of good or bad, in movies and television. He is best remembered as Sheriff Lobo in the 1970s TV series B.J. and the Bear, and later The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, a spinoff series.

In movies, Akins portrayed prisoner Joe Berdett in the movie Rio Bravo (which also starred John Wayne and Angie Dickinson), Naval Lt. Commander Farber in Don't Give Up The Ship (starring Jerry Lewis), the Reverend Jeremiah Brown in the 1960 movie Inherit the Wind, outlaw Ben Lane in Comanche Station that same year, and later the gorilla leader Aldo in Battle for the Planet of the Apes, the last original Apes movie in 1973.

In television, Akins had an early appearance in Adventures of Superman (episode number 69, "Peril by Sea"), playing a villainous co-conspirator. He had numerous roles in Western series, including Wagon Train, Death Valley Days, Zane Grey Theater, The Rifleman and Bonanza, and featured roles on the original The Twilight Zone ("The Little People", "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street") and The Untouchables.

Before his signature character Lobo, he appeared as trucker Sonny Pruett in NBC's Movin' On, from 1974 to 1976. He also appeared in TV commercials for Polygrip and Aamco. He guest-starred on an episode of CBS's I Love Lucy, playing himself.

Akins found work in the late 1980's lending his inimitable voice talents to the work safety instructional video series Safety Shorts. In these videos Akins was able to expound the virtues of workplace safety to thousands of industrial employees, offering valuable lessons on the importance of Lockout/tagout procedures, personal protective equipment, and the ever popular MSDS documentation process.

Jeanne Crain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jeanne Elizabeth Crain (May 25, 1925 - December 14, 2003) was an American actress.




Biography

Early life

Crain was born in Barstow, California to George A. Crain (a school teacher) and Loretta Carr; she was of Irish heritage on her mother's side, and of English and distant French descent on her father's. She moved to Los Angeles as a young child. An excellent ice skater, Crain first attracted attention when she was crowned Miss Pan Pacific at L.A.'s Pan Pacific Auditorium. Later, while still in high school, she was asked to make a screen test opposite Orson Welles. She did not get the part, but in 1943, at the age of 18, she appeared in a bit part in the movie The Gang's All Here.


Career

In 1944 she starred in Home in Indiana and In the Meantime, Darling. Her acting was critically panned, but she rebounded in the hit Winged Victory. During World War II, Crain's fan mail was second in volume only to that of Betty Grable. In 1945 she co- starred with Dana Andrews in State Fair, and Leave Her to Heaven with Gene Tierney. In 1949 she starred in three films: A Letter to Three Wives, The Fan, and Pinky, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Pinky was a controversial movie, since it told the story of a light-skinned African-American young woman who passes for white in the northern United States. Although Lena Horne and other black actresses were considered for the role, Darryl F. Zanuck chose to cast a white actress for box-office reasons.

In 1950, Crain starred opposite Myrna Loy and Clifton Webb in Cheaper by the Dozen. Next, Crain paired up with Cary Grant, for the Joseph L. Mankiewicz production of People Will Talk (1951). Crain was again teamed with Loy in Belles on Their Toes (1952), the sequel to Cheaper by the Dozen.

While still at Fox, Crain gave an excellent performance as a young wife quickly losing her mind amidst high seas intrigue in Dangerous Crossing, co-starring Michael Rennie. Crain then starred in a string of pictures for Universal Pictures, including notable pairings with Kirk Douglas, such as Man Without a Star (1955).

Also in 1955, Crain also showed off her lively dancing abilities in Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, co-starring Jane Russell, Alan Young, and Rudy Vallee. The production was filmed on location in Paris and Crain's singing in the film was dubbed, as was customary. The film was based on the Anita Loos novel that was a sequel to her acclaimed Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Gentlemen Marry Brunettes was popular throughout Europe at the time and was released in France as A Paris Pour les Quatre ("Paris For The Four"), and in Belgium as Cevieren Te Parijs. Later in the 1950s, Crain, Russell, and another actress teamed up for a short-lived singing and dancing lounge act at one of the hotels on the Las Vegas Strip.

In 1956, Crain starred opposite Glenn Ford, Russ Tamblyn, and Broderick Crawford in the compelling Western, The Fastest Gun Alive. The film was directed by Russell Rouse. In 1957, she was a socialite who helps a crushed singer (Frank Sinatra) redeem himself in The Joker Is Wild.

In 1959, Crain appeared in a prestigious CBS Television Special production of Meet Me in St. Louis. Also starring in the broadcast were Myrna Loy, Walter Pidgeon, Jane Powell, and Ed Wynn. A sign of the times: top-billing on the program went to co-star Tab Hunter!

Film roles became fewer in the 1960s as Crain went into semi-retirement. Crain was captivating as Nefertiti in the Italian production of Queen of the Nile (1961) with Edmund Purdom and Vincent Price. During this period Crain did a stint as one of the What's My Line? Mystery Guests on the popular Sunday night CBS-TV program .She also starred again with Dana Andrews in Hot Rods To Hell which debut in 1967. Crain's last film role was in Skyjacked in 1972.


Personal life

Against her mother's wishes, Crain married former RKO Studios contract player Paul Brinkman on December 31, 1946; the first of their 7 children was born the following April. During the early 1950s, Crain was earning approx. $3,500 per week. Crain and her husband Brinkman bought a large, lovely home for their growing family on Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills. (The home can be seen and is described by Bette Davis in candid footage of a driving sequence in the 1952 now cult-classic, The Star.) The marriage was rocky for some years. Crain obtained an interlocutory divorce decree, each spouse claiming the other had been unfaithful (she also claimed Brinkman had been abusive), but the couple reconciled on the eve of their 11th wedding anniversary.

As a lifelong devout Roman Catholic, Jeanne Crain Brinkman and her husband Paul remained married, though they lived separately in Santa Barbara, California, until Brinkman's death in October of 2003. Crain died a few months later and it was later confirmed that the cause was a heart attack. Crain's funeral Mass was held at the Old Santa Barbara Mission. Crain is buried in the Brinkman family plot at Santa Barbara Cemetery. The couple outlived two of their children. The Brinkmans were survived by five adult children, including Paul Brinkman Jr., a successful television executive, most known for his work on CBS TV's JAG. Crain was also survived by many grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. Her first grandaughter actress, singer/songwriter, Bret Crain, set up a website dedicated to her memory, jeannecrain.org. On her website you can read about Bret's fond memories of her grandmother. Bret Crain can be seen being interviewed on the upcoming DVD release of Jeanne Crain's "Dangerous Crossing." Bret Crain is married to and has three chilren with Gabor Csupo, producer of "The Rugrats" and director of "Bridge to Terrabithia." Gabor Csupo is currently slated to direct "Moon Princess."

Crain's career is fully documented by an extraordinary collection of memorabilia about her assembled by the late Charles J. Finlay (longtime publicist at 20th Century Fox). The Jeanne Crain collection resides perpetually at the Wesleyan University Cinema Archives in Middletown, Connecticut. These archives also hold the papers of Frank Capra, Ingrid Bergman, Clint Eastwood, and others.