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Arthur Freed
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arthur Freed (September 9, 1894 - April 12, 1973) was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was an American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer of Jewish descent.

Freed began his career in vaudeville, and he appeared with the Marx Brothers. He soon began to write songs, and was eventually hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. For years, he wrote lyrics for numerous films, many set to music by Nacio Herb Brown.

In 1939 he was promoted to the position of producer, and helped elevate MGM as the studio of the musical. Freed chose to surround himself with film directors such as Vincente Minnelli and Busby Berkeley. He also helped shape the careers of stars including Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Red Skelton, Lena Horne, Jane Powell, Esther Williams, Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Cyd Charisse, Ann Miller, Mickey Rooney, Vera-Ellen, and many others. He brought Fred Astaire to MGM after Astaire's tenure at RKO and coaxed him out of semi-retirement to star opposite Garland in Easter Parade. His team of writers, directors, composers and stars came to be known as the Freed Unit and produced a steady stream of popular, critically acclaimed musicals until the late 1950s.

Freed served as associate producer of The Wizard of Oz (1939), though his name does not appear on the actual screen credits, nor on posters used to publicize the film. His first solo credit as producer was the film version of Rodgers and Hart's smash Broadway musical Babes in Arms (also 1939), released only a few months after The Wizard of Oz, and in itself not a very distinguished film due to the fact that it gutted most of the original stage score. But it did star Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, and was so successful that it ushered in a long series of "let's put on a show" "backyard" musicals, all starring Rooney and Garland. However, Freed did bring an outstanding amount of talent from the Broadway theaters to the MGM soundstages including Vincente Minnelli, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Roger Edens, Kay Thompson, Zero Mostel, June Allyson, Nancy Walker, choreographer Charles Walters, orchestrators Conrad Salinger, Johnny Green, Lennie Hayton, and many others.

He allowed his directors and choreographers free rein, something unheard of in those days of committee-produced film musicals, and is credited for furthering the boundaries of film musicals by allowing such moments in films as the fifteen-minute ballet at the end of An American in Paris (1951), after which the film concludes moments later with no further dialogue or singing, and he allowed the musical team of Lerner and Loewe complete control in their writing of Gigi (1958).

Two of his films won the Academy Award for Best Picture: An American in Paris and Gigi. On the night that An American in Paris won Best Picture, Freed received an Honorary Oscar, and his version of Show Boat (1951) was also up for two Oscars that year, though it lost both to An American in Paris. But what is now his most highly regarded film, Singin' in the Rain (1952), won no Oscars whatsoever.

He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972.

Freed left MGM in 1970 after failing for almost a decade to bring his dream project, a biopic of Irving Berlin entitled Say It With Music, to the screen. He died three years later surrounded by family.

Jane Greer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jane Greer (September 9, 1924 - August 24, 2001) was a film actress who was perhaps best known for her role as femme fatale Kathie Moffat in Out of the Past (1947).

The five-foot five Greer began life as Bettejane Greer in Washington, D.C. A beauty-contest winner and professional model from her teens, Greer began her show business career as a big band singer. Howard Hughes spotted Greer modeling on the cover of Life magazine on June 8, 1942 and sent her to Hollywood to become an actress. She married Rudy Vallee, her senior by 22 years, the same year. Hughes lent out the actress to RKO to star in many films including Dick Tracy (1945), The Falcon's Alibi (1946), Out of the Past (1947), They Won't Believe Me (1947), and the comedy/suspense film The Big Steal (1949), alongside Out of the Past co-star Robert Mitchum. Hughes refused to let her work for a time; when she finally began film acting again, she appeared in You're in the Navy Now (1951), The Prisoner of Zenda (1952), The Clown (1953), Run for the Sun (1956), The Man of a Thousand Faces (1957), Where Love Has Gone (1964) and The Outfit (1973). In 1984 she was cast in Against All Odds, a remake of Out of the Past, playing Rachel Ward's mother. She also participated in an Out of the Past parody on TV's Saturday Night Live with her original costar Robert Mitchum.

Greer died of cancer at the age of 76 in 2001 and was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.


Marriages

Jane Greer married Rudy Vallee in 1943, but they divorced the following year. She remarried in 1947, to Edward Lasker (1912-1997), a Los Angeles lawyer and businessman with whom she had three children. Her son Lawrence Lasker is a movie producer who has co-produced several films, including WarGames (1983) and Sneakers (1992).

Edward Lasker had been an owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses since 1929, and Ms. Greer too would become an owner and race horses under her own name. Among her graded stakes race wins were the 1966 Withers and Jim Dandy Stakes and the 1967 Fall Highweight Handicap with the colt Indulto.

Cliff Robertson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Birth name Clifford Parker Robertson III
Born September 9, 1925 (1925-09-09) (age 81)
La Jolla, California
Years active 1943 - present
Spouse(s) Cynthia Stone (1957-1959)
Dina Merrill (1966-1986)
[show]Awards
Academy Awards
Best Actor
1968 Charly
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Lead Actor - Miniseries/Movie
1966 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre: The Game (#3.1)

Clifford Parker Robertson III (born September 9, 1925) is an American Academy Award-winning actor with a film and television career that spans half of a century. In addition to his Oscar and Emmy and several lifetime achievement awards from various film festivals, Robertson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Blvd.




Biography

Early life

Robertson was born in La Jolla, California to Audrey (Willingham) and Clifford Parker Robertson II.[1] He attended Antioch College in Ohio and worked as a journalist for a short time.[2]


Career

Robertson is notable for his performances in PT 109 (chosen personally by John F. Kennedy to portray the then-Lt. Kennedy), The Best Man, Charly (an adaptation of Flowers for Algernon for which he won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor), Picnic, Autumn Leaves, Too Late the Hero, Three Days of the Condor, Obsession, J. W. Coop, Star 80 and Malone. More recently, Robertson appeared as Uncle Ben Parker in the first movie adaptation of Spider-Man, as well as in the sequels Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3. He was also in the 2004 horror film Riding the Bullet.


Robertson in "The Galaxy Being" (1963), an episode of television's The Outer LimitsRobertson's television appearances include the starring role in the live space opera Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers, as well as recurring roles on Hallmark Hall of Fame, Alcoa theatre, and Playhouse 90 (in the 1950s), Outlaws, The Twilight Zone, and Batman as the villainous gunfighter Shame (in the 1960s), Falcon Crest (in the 1980s), and most recently, The Lyon's Den. He had starring roles in both the 1960s and 1990s versions of The Outer Limits. He was awarded an Emmy for his leading role in an 1965 episode from Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre entitled "The Game." His second appearance on Batman featured his wife, Dina Merrill, as his sidekick and wife Calamity Jan. This two-part episode is considered by many Batman fans to be among the series' funniest.


Personal life

He was once married to actress Dina Merrill. In 1977, Robertson learned that his name had been forged on a $10,000 check that had been due to him. He discovered that the forgery had been carried out by Columbia studio head David Begelman, and on reporting it, the result was one of the biggest Hollywood scandals of the 1970s. Robertson was subsequently blacklisted for several years before finally getting back into film in Brainstorm (1983).[3] Robertson received an award from Antioch College Alumni in 2007 for his contributions to his field of work.

One of Robertsons main hobbies is flying and amongst other aircraft he has owned several de Havilland Tigermoths, an Me108 and a genuine WW2 era MK.IX Spitfire

Sylvia Miles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sylvia Reuben Lee (born September 9, 1932) better known as Sylvia Miles, is a two-time Academy Award-nominated American actress.


Early life

Miles was born in New York City, New York to Jewish American parents Reuben and Belle Lee.


Career

Miles played the role of "Sally" in the pilot episode of what would become The Dick Van Dyke Show, which was later taken by Rose Marie for the series. She also appeared in an episode of Naked City as a lovely barfly attempting to communicate with a psychotic Jack Warden.

She is perhaps best known for her role in the movie Midnight Cowboy as a hooker on a busman's holiday with Jon Voight, which earned her an Oscar nomination, despite the role's brevity. She received a second Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for her role in Farewell, My Lovely [1].

Over the years, the very active Miles has become a cult figure known for her ties to the avant-garde (Warhol, Morrissey, etc.) and her increasingly bizarre appearance over the years and her willingness to attend any public function. One wag remarked that Miles "would attend the opening of an envelope."

Her most recent acting performance as of 2007 was as an old woman who explains to Sarah Jessica Parker's character, Carrie Bradshaw, that she takes her lithium in her ice cream, on an episode of Sex and the City.

Otis Redding
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Background information

Born September 9, 1941(1941-09-09)
Dawson, Georgia, U.S.
Died December 10, 1967 (aged 26)
Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Genre(s) Deep soul, Southern soul, Soul
Occupation(s) singer
Instrument(s) vocals
Label(s) Stax, Volt, Atco, Rhino, Sundazed
Website www.otisredding.com

Otis Ray Redding, Jr. (September 9, 1941 - December 10, 1967) was an influential American deep soul singer, best known for his passionate delivery and posthumous hit single, "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay." According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (where he was inducted in 1989) website, Redding's name is "synonymous with the term soul, music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, secular testifying."[1]




Biography

Early life

Redding was born in the small town of Dawson, Georgia. At the age of 5 he moved with his family to Macon, Georgia. He sang in the choir of the Vineville Baptist Church, and became somewhat of a local celebrity as a teenager after winning a local Sunday night talent show 15 weeks in a row.[2]


Career

In 1960, Redding began touring the South with Johnny Jenkins and The Pinetoppers. That same year he made his first recordings, "She's All Right" and "Shout Bamalama" with this group under the name "Otis and The Shooters".

In 1962, he made his first real mark in the music business during a Johnny Jenkins session when he recorded "These Arms of Mine", a ballad that Redding had written. The song became a minor hit on Volt Records, a subsidiary of renowned "Southern soul" label Stax, based in Memphis, Tennessee. His manager was fellow Maconite Phil Walden (who later founded Capricorn Records). Otis Redding continued to release for Stax/Volt, and built his fanbase by extensively touring a legendarily electrifying live show with support from fellow Stax artists Sam & Dave. Further hits between 1964 and 1966 included "Mr. Pitiful", "I Can't Turn You Loose" (to become The Blues Brothers entrance theme music), "Try a Little Tenderness" (a remake of the 1930's standard by Harry Woods/Jimmy Campbell/Reg Connelly that was featured in a memorable scene in John Hughes's film "Pretty In Pink"), "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (written by the Rolling Stones), and "Respect" (later a smash hit for Aretha Franklin).

Redding wrote many of his own songs, which was unusual for the time, often with Steve Cropper (of Stax house band Booker T. & the M.G.'s, who usually served as Otis's backing band in the studio). Soul singer Jerry Butler cowrote another hit "I've Been Loving You Too Long". One of his few songs with a significant mainstream following was "Tramp" (1967) with Carla Thomas. Later that year, Redding played at the massively influential Monterey Pop Festival, which helped him to break into the white pop music scene.


Death

Redding and six others, including four of the six members of Redding's backup band, The Bar-Kays, were killed when the plane on which they were travelling crashed into Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin on December 10, 1967. The two remaining members of The Bar-Kays were Ben Cauley and James Alexander. Cauley was the only person aboard Redding's plane to survive the crash; Alexander was on another plane.

Cauley reported that he had been asleep until just seconds before impact, and recalled that upon waking he saw bandmate Phalon Jones look out a window and say, "Oh, no!" Cauley said that he then unbuckled his seat belt, and that was his final recollection before finding himself in the frigid waters of the lake, grasping a seat cushion to keep himself afloat.[3]

Redding's body was recovered the next day when the lake bed was dragged with a grappling hook, and footage exists of his body being brought out of the water. [1] The cause of the crash was never precisely determined.

Redding was 26 years old at the time of his death. He was laid to rest in a tomb on his private ranch in Round Oak, Georgia, 23 miles (37 km) north of Macon.


After death


"(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" was recorded only three days prior to Redding's death. It was released the next month and became his first #1 single and first million-seller. The fact that "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" ultimately became Redding's greatest commercial success was unexpected, not only because its release came after his death, but also because the song is actually a significant stylistic departure from the bulk of his other work. [2]
A few further records were posthumously released, including "Hard to Handle" (1968).
Redding's sons Dexter and Otis III, together with cousin Mark Locket, founded the funk/disco-band "The Reddings" in 1978.
In 1999, Redding posthumously received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
The 2000 Everclear album Songs from an American Movie, Vol. 1: Learning How to Smile features a song titled "Otis Redding", which contains the lyric "I wish I could sing like Otis Redding, I wish I could play this guitar in tune."
In 2002, the city of Macon honored its native son, unveiling a memorial statue of Redding in the city's Gateway Park.
In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #21 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[4].
A likeness of Redding appears as an evil version of himself in Nightmares & Dreamscapes, in the story You Know They Got a Hell of a Band. Redding is portrayed as a police officer in the town of Rock N Roll Heaven, which is populated by late rock and roll legends.
The band Okkervil River wrote a song called "Listening to Otis Redding at Home during Christmas" on their album Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See.
In 2005 a sample from "It's Too Late" appeared on the Track "Gone" from Kanye West. In 2007 a sample from "Security" appeared on the track "Security" from Boudoir Star.
A DVD titled "Dreams To Remember: The Legacy of Otis Redding" was scheduled to be released in September 2007. The documentary was said to include live concert footage, interviews with Redding's contemporaries and two clips from a television appearance the singer made in Cleveland less than 24 hours before his death.
The Doors, fans of Redding, added this verse before "Runnin' Blue:" "Poor Otis dead and gone, left me here to sing his song. Pretty little girl with the red dress on, Poor Otis dead and gone." Singer Jim Morrison had been singing those lines on their tour the year before.

Michael Keaton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Birth name Michael John Douglas
Born September 5, 1951 (1951-09-05) (age 56)
Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, USA
Spouse(s) Caroline McWilliams (1982-1990)

Michael John Douglas (Better known by the stage name Michael Keaton) (born September 5, 1951) is an American actor, perhaps best known for his early comedic roles in films such as Night Shift, and Beetlejuice, and for his portrayal of Batman in the two Tim Burton directed films in the series.




Biography

Personal life

Keaton, the youngest of seven children, was born Michael John Douglas in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, the son of Leona, a homemaker, and a father who worked as a civil engineer and surveyor.[1] His family were of Scots-Irish descent. He studied speech for two years at Kent State, before dropping out and moving to Pittsburgh. Keaton was married to actress Caroline McWilliams from 1982 until 1990. They have one son, Sean Douglas (b. 1983). In the mid 1980s he dated Michelle Pfeiffer. In the late 1980s he dated porn star Rachel Ryan. Courteney Cox dated Keaton from 1989-1995. He went to Montour High School in Pennsylvania.


Early career

An unsuccessful attempt at stand-up comedy led Keaton to working as a TV cameraman at local public television station WQED (TV). Keaton first appeared on TV in several episodes of the Pittsburgh-based public television program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1975) and he came to realize he wanted to work in front of the cameras. His first acting job was on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood as one of the "Flying Zucchini Brothers." He also served as a full-time production assistant on the show, and directed several "Neighborhood of Make-Believe" segments. In 2003, following Rogers' death, Keaton hosted the PBS memorial tribute program, Fred Rogers: Everybody's Favorite Neighbor. Keaton left Pittsburgh and moved to Los Angeles to begin auditioning for various TV parts. He cropped up in various popular TV shows including Maude (1977) and The Mary Tyler Moore Hour (1979). Around this time Keaton decided to use an alternative surname to remove confusion with well known actor Michael Douglas, as well as satisfying SAG rules, and after reading an article on actress Diane Keaton, he decided on "Michael Keaton".

His next key break was scoring a co-lead alongside James Belushi in the short-lived comedy series Working Stiffs (1979), which showcased his comedic talent and got him into the casting for the co-lead in Night Shift (1982). His role as the hilariously fast-talking schemer Bill "Blaze" Blazejowski alongside nerdish morgue attendant Henry Winkler earned Keaton some critical acclaim, and he scored leads in the subsequent comedy hits Mr. Mom (1983), Johnny Dangerously (1984), and Gung Ho (1986).

His role as the title character in the 1988 Tim Burton horror-comedy Beetlejuice, which starred Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, and Winona Ryder, earned Keaton widespread acclaim and boosted him to the A-list. That same year, Keaton also gave an acclaimed dramatic performance as a drug addicted businessman in Clean and Sober. Some even mentioned an Oscar nomination for him. Newsweek featured the young actor in a story during this time.


Batman


Keaton's career was given another major boost when in 1989 he was again cast by Burton, this time as billionaire playboy and crime-fighter Bruce Wayne in the big budget film Batman. Tim Burton cast him in the title role of Batman (1989) because he thought that Keaton was the only actor who could believably portray someone who has the kind of darkly obsessive personality that the character demands. After the Keaton casting, Warner Bros. received thousands of letters of complaint by fans commenting that the comedic Keaton was the wrong choice for Gotham City's creature of the night, given his prior work in comedies and the fact that he lacked the suave, handsome features and tall, muscular physicality often attributed to the character in the comic books. However, Keaton gained acclaim with his sophisticated and landmark performance, making Batman the highest-grossing film of the year.

According to Keaton, he wasn't surprised when he was first considered as Batman since he was only familiar with the 1960s Batman television series, but it wasn't until Burton introduced Keaton to Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" that Keaton really understood the dark and brooding side of Batman that he portrayed to much fan approval. Keaton returned to wear the black cape and cowl again in Batman Returns (1992), which was another box-office success.

He was prepared to return for Batman Forever (1995), even going so far as to show up for costume fitting. However, when Burton was dropped by Warner Bros. (slated to co-producer), Keaton left the series after being dissatisfied with the screenplay the new director, Joel Schumacher, approved, which Keaton considered to be lighter in tone in comparison to the past two Batman movies. According to the A&E Biography episode on Michael Keaton, after he had refused the first time (due to analysis of the script and meetings with Schumacher), Warner Brothers then offered him $35,000,000 (one of the highest salaries offered to an actor at the time), but Keaton steadfastly refused. In marked contrast to their initial reaction, many fans complaining about the following two Batman films often demanded not only that Tim Burton be rehired as director but that Keaton play Batman again.


Post-Batman

Keaton remained in demand during the 1990s, appearing in a wide range of films including Pacific Heights (1990), One Good Cop (1991), the star-studded Shakespearian Much Ado About Nothing (1993), another Ron Howard comedy The Paper (1994), with Andie MacDowell in Multiplicity (1996), as Elmore Leonard character Agent Ray Nicolette in Jackie Brown (1997) and Out of Sight (1998), and in the thriller Desperate Measures (1998). Since 2000, Keaton has appeared in several productions with mixed success including Live From Baghdad (2002), White Noise (2005), First Daughter (2004), and Herbie: Fully Loaded with Lindsay Lohan (2005). While he continues to receive good notices from the critics (particularly for Jackie Brown), with the exception of Cars, in which he played the part of Chick Hicks, he has not been able to approach the box-office success of the Batman series.

In 2006, Keaton starred in an independent film called Game 6, a semi-thriller based around the infamous 1986 World Series bid by the Boston Red Sox. Keaton has also just been announced to be the lead in Media 8 Entertainment's upcoming film Reaper, a supernatural thriller, expected for a 2008 release. He has also recently agreed to star as John Target in the Matt Evans scripted No Rule To Make Target. He is directing the drama movie The Merry Gentleman. Keaton was also cast as Dr. Jack Shephard in the series Lost, with the understanding that Jack would have been a small role and only in the show for a short time, however the character was given a large role and Keaton couldn't commit to it because of other commitments, the role was later given to actor Matthew Fox.

Hugh Grant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Birth name Hugh John Mungo Grant
Born September 9, 1960 (1960-09-09) (age 46)
Hammersmith, London, England
[show]Awards
BAFTA Awards
Best Actor
1994 Four Weddings and a Funeral
César Awards
Honorary César
2006 Lifetime Achievement
Golden Globe Awards
Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy
1995 Four Weddings and a Funeral

Hugh John Mungo Grant[1] (born September 9, 1960) is a Golden Globe-winning English actor.




Biography

Early life

Grant was born in Hammersmith, London, England to Fynvola Susan MacLean,[2] a teacher, and James Murray Grant, an aspiring artist and carpet salesman who ran a carpet firm.[3] He has an older brother, James. Grant's Scottish great-great-grandfather, Dr. James Stewart, was an assistant to explorer David Livingstone and Grant is also related to William Drummond, 4th Viscount Strathallan.[1] Grant attended Wetherby School, Latymer Upper School, and - on scholarship - New College, Oxford, where he studied English and was a member of the Piers Gaveston Society, a notorious dining club. Before his finals at Oxford, he was set to do a PhD in the History of Art at the Courtauld Institute but could not follow through as he failed to attain a first class degree required to win the grant for his doctoral studies.[4]. As a child, he was taught the piano by Andrew Lloyd Webber's mother.


Career

Grant made his film debut (as "Hughie Grant") in 1982 with the Oxford-financed Privileged. Television roles came later in 1985. He played a leading role in the Merchant-Ivory film Maurice in 1987 for which he won the Best Actor award (tied with his co-star James Wilby) at the Venice Film Festival. He then appeared in the 1988 Ken Russell film The Lair of the White Worm, and in 1991, he starred in the film Impromptu as Frédéric Chopin opposite Judy Davis (as George Sand) and Julian Sands (as Franz Liszt). He also played a major role in The Remains of the Day (1993) and simultaneously became known as the partner of model/actress Elizabeth Hurley, whom he had been dating since at least 1987. However, it was Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) which turned him into a major star.

The following year was an extremely busy one for Grant. He co-starred with Alan Rickman in An Awfully Big Adventure, partnered Julianne Moore in Nine Months, was the object of Emma Thompson's affection in Sense and Sensibility and appeared in the period piece Restoration which also co-starred Meg Ryan, Ian McKellen, Sam Neill and Robert Downey Jr. In the same year he appeared in The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain along with Ian McNeice, Tara Fitzgerald and Harry Kretchmer. He starred with Gene Hackman in the 1996 thriller Extreme Measures.

In 1999, he starred in Notting Hill opposite Julia Roberts (of which he told E! Online, "It's very weird to be kissing an icon."). He followed with successes in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), About a Boy (2002), and Two Weeks Notice (2002) opposite Sandra Bullock. He returned to frequent collaborator Richard Curtis for the 2003 romantic comedy, Love Actually and the 2004 sequel to Bridget Jones's Diary, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. He also starred in American Dreamz (2006), a satire on reality TV shows. Most recently, Grant appeared with Drew Barrymore in Music and Lyrics, in which Grant demonstrated a passable gift for singing. Grant was offered the role of Gilderoy Lockhart in the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets film, but turned it down. He said that he later regretted this decision. On The Oprah Winfrey Show during promotions for Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, he revealed that the only movie out of his whole career that "does not make [him] cringe" is About A Boy.

Grant's most recent film is the romantic comedy film, Music and Lyrics. It is about an 80's pop star (Grant) who has to write lyrics for a newer artist. He is also in talks to star in the 2008 Disney animated film Hollywood Dog in which he plays a dog.

On the original soundtrack from Music and Lyrics, his singing voice can be heard on seven tracks - Pop Goes My Heart, Meaningless Kiss, Way Back Into Love (Demo Version) with Drew Barrymore, Dance With Me Tonight, Don't Write Me Off, Way Back Into Love with Haley Bennett, and Love Autopsy.[citation needed]


Personal life

Grant dated actress Elizabeth Hurley for many years , separating in 2000 (although they remain good friends) [5]. In 1995, while dating Hurley, he was arrested by vice squad officers in Hollywood for indecent conduct with a prostitute, Divine Brown, in a public place.[6] He offered an apology for this on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.[7] He then began dating socialite and Unicef ambassador Jemima Khan, ex-wife of Imran Khan in 2004. In February 2007, Grant's publicist, Robert Garlock, confirmed reports that the two had mutually decided to end their relationship.[8]

In April 2007, Grant was arrested after he allegedly chased, kicked, and threw a can of baked beans at photographer Ian Whittaker and cursed the photographer's children with cancer.[9][10] Charges were dropped on June 2.[11]

Grant now has an estimated net worth of $255 million.

Adam Sandler
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Birth name Adam Richard Sandler
Born September 9, 1966 (1966-09-09) (age 41)
Brooklyn, NY
Spouse(s) Jackie Sandler (2003-)
[show]Awards
Golden Globe Awards
Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
2003 Punch-Drunk Love

Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, musician, screenwriter, and film producer. After becoming a popular Saturday Night Live cast member, he went on to star in several $100 million Hollywood feature films.[2] Though he is best known for his comedic roles, such as in the films Billy Madison (1995), Happy Gilmore (1996), and Big Daddy (1999), he has also had success in romantic and dramatic roles, such as in the films Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Spanglish (2004), and Reign Over Me (2007).





Biography

Early life

Sandler was born in Brooklyn, New York to Judy, a nursery school teacher, and Stanley Sandler, an electrical engineer.[3] He had a Jewish upbringing.[4] His family moved to Manchester, NH when he was five.There, he attended Manchester Central High School. He found he was a natural comic. He nurtured his talent while at New York University by performing regularly in clubs and at universities. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1991. Later in his career, he would often draw on his earliest memories in his comedy and movies. The song "Lunchlady Land" is dedicated to the lunchlady at Central High School. In the movie Click, Sandler goes to Lake Winnipesaukee, a lake in New Hampshire where he went to summer camp.


Acting career

In the mid to late 1980s, Sandler played Theo Huxtable's friend Smitty on The Cosby Show (1987-1988). He was a performer for the MTV game show Remote Control, on which he made appearances as the characters "Trivia Delinquent" or "Stud Boy". Sandler started performing in comedy clubs early on, taking the stage at his brother's urging when he was only 17. He was then discovered by comedian Dennis Miller, who caught Sandler's act in Los Angeles. Miller immediately recommended him to Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels. Sandler was hired as a writer for SNL in 1990 and became a featured player the following year, quickly making a name for himself by performing amusing original songs on the show, including "The Chanukah Song".[5] He left the show in 1995 to focus on his acting career.

Sandler's first successful starring role was in 1989 when he starred in the movie Going Overboard. In 1995 he starred in Billy Madison, in which he plays a grown man repeating grades 1-12 to earn his father's respect back, along with the right to inherit his father's multi-million-dollar hotel empire. He followed this movie up with other financially successful comedies such as Happy Gilmore (1996) and The Wedding Singer (1998). He was initially cast in the bachelor-party-themed comedy/thriller Very Bad Things (1998), but had to back out due to his involvement in The Waterboy (1998),[6] one of his first hits.

Although most of his earlier films were almost universally despised by movie critics, many of his recent films starting with Punch-Drunk Love (2002) have received almost uniformly positive reviews, leading many movie critics to believe that Sandler possesses considerable acting ability that they believed had been previously wasted on poorly written scripts and characters with no development.[7] Audiences have remained faithful to Sandler's slapstick humor to the tune of $100-million-plus grossing movies. Sandler has moved outside the genre of goofball humor to take on more serious parts such as the aforementioned Punch-Drunk Love (for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe), and Spanglish (2004). He also plays a loving father figure in Big Daddy (1999). Ironically, during filming, he met Jacqueline Samantha Titone -- his future wife and mother of his daughter. Jackie was cast as the charming waitress from The Blarney Stone Bar.

At one point, Sandler was considered for the part that went to Jamie Foxx in Collateral (2004).[8] He also was one of the finalists along with Jim Carrey and Johnny Depp for the role of Willy Wonka in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), but Depp in the end got the role.[9] He returned to more dramatic fare with Mike Binder's Reign Over Me (2007), a drama about a man who lost his entire family in 9/11 and rekindles a friendship with his old college roommate (played by Don Cheadle). Most recently, he starred in the movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007), where he stars along side Kevin James as a New York City fireman pretending to be gay keep up an insurance scam, so his best friends children can have benefits. His next comedy will be You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008) a film written by Sandler, The 40-Year-Old Virgin writer-director Judd Apatow (who was an old roommate of Sandler's when both were starting out), and Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog creator Robert Smigel and being directed by Happy Gilmore director Dennis Dugan about a Mossad agent who fakes his own death and moves to the United States to become a hair stylist,[10]. He will also be working on Bedtime Stories (2008), a fantasy film being directed by Bringing Down the House director Adam Shankman about a stressed real estate developer whose bedtime stories he reads to his niece and nephew begin to come true, which will mark Sandler's first family film and first film under the Walt Disney banner.[11] Sandler has also been long-rumored to costar with Michael Madsen in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming World War II saga Inglorious Bastards.[12]

In June, 2007, it was announced that his production company, Happy Madison, had made a preemptive acquisition for Mitch Albom's screenwriting debut.[13]


Themes in Sandler's films

Cheering at the end - His films sometimes end with a scene in which his character is being cheered on by a large audience for one reason or another which is occasionally followed up with a judge going the opposite direction of the crowd sentiment and ruining the moment (the Billy Madison contest and the trials in Big Daddy and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry being several examples).
Diminutive first names - Sandler's character names in many of his films end with a "y" or an "ie" sound. Examples include his characters in Going Overboard (Schecky), Billy Madison (Billy), Happy Gilmore (Happy), Bulletproof (Archie), The Wedding Singer (Robbie), Waterboy (Bobby), Big Daddy (Sonny), Little Nicky (Nicky), Punch-Drunk Love (Barry), 50 First Dates (Henry), 8 Crazy Nights (Davey and Whitey), Reign Over Me (Charlie).
V-girls - In many of his movies, the lead female character's name starts with a V (i.e., Veronica Vaughn, Virginia Venit, Valerie Veran, Vicki Vallencourt, Vanessa).
Styx - will often feature their music in his movies.
Repeating players - Sandler often casts Allen Covert, Blake Clark, Steve Buscemi, Kevin Nealon, Peter Dante, Jonathan Loughran, Rob Schneider, and former SNL players in his films.
New York Jets - Click, when he is a young boy wearing a Jets jersey; Mr. Deeds, when the helicopter pilot informs him that he now owns the Jets; Big Daddy, when Sonny and Julian go to a sports bar and the waitress asks Julian which football team he wanted to win and he replies by saying "the goddamn Jets"; Little Nicky, When Dan Marino tries to sell his soul to win the Super Bowl. The Devil refuses, Dan leaves, and the Devil informs Nicky that he's a Jets fan.
Pittsburgh Steelers - former Steeler coach Bill Cowher and former Steelers WR Lynn Swann making cameo appearances in The Waterboy. Sandler's character in The Longest Yard was a quarterback for the Steelers.
"You can do it! - usually said by Rob Schneider, often in a foreign-sounding quasi-Cajunvoice, with the exception of Anger Management where former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani says the line.
Elderly Irony - Sandler's movies often include elderly people behaving ironically uncouth ("If peeing your pants is cool, consider me Miles Davis" from Billy Madison, "Now you've had enough... bitch" Bob Barker in Happy Gilmore, "**** yeah" Old Japanese guy in Click, "Only you and my grandfather pee every 30 seconds" from Big Daddy), "Look at those two Shitheads" Old Hawaiian man from 50 First Dates.

Cameos & other work

Sandler made a cameo appearance on an episode of The Price Is Right during the "Happy Gilmore Showcase." Host Bob Barker appeared in the movie Happy Gilmore which featured a famous fight scene with Sandler's character (where Barker wins). He also appeared on Bob Barker's tribute show on May 17, 2007, in which he read a poem to Bob and congratulated him on his retirement from TPIR.

Sandler cameoed as a special audience member in an episode of The Showbiz Show with David Spade and as the feature guest on the final episode of John McEnroe's eponymous CNBC talk show, airing in late 2004. McEnroe had appeared in two of Sandler's movies, both times as himself (Mr. Deeds and Anger Management). In The Animal, starring Rob Schneider, Sandler appears briefly as Schneider's "'You can do it' Guy" from The Waterboy.

On March 20, 2007 Sandler was scheduled to be a guest on The Late Show with David Letterman. However, due to a minor illness, Letterman could not host the show and Sandler filled in as host.

On June 13, 2007, Sandler appeared and won the "Man's Man Award" on the Spike TV Guys' Choice Awards

He appeared on Australian TV show "Rove Live" when it toured America in July 2007. He was on the July 22nd show in New York.

Sandler and Rob Schneider make frequent cameos in each other's movies:

The Hot Chick, where Schneider stars, Sandler plays the spacey drummer
The Animal, where Schneider stars, Sandler played the townie
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, where Schneider stars, Sandler plays one of the deceased gigolos
The Longest Yard, where Sandler stars, Schneider suggests to the prisoners around him that they hug in the showers. Even though he says similar lines as the Townie, he is credited as 'Punky' in this movie.
Little Nicky, where Sandler stars, Schneider is an angry man (Townie) in riot
Big Daddy, where Sandler stars, Schneider plays a delivery man named Nazo.
Mr. Deeds, where Sandler stars, Schneider makes two short appearances as Nazo; Schneider's character in Sandler's movie, Big Daddy.
50 First Dates, where Sandler stars, Schneider plays a Hawaiian friend of Adam's character with one eye and is the presiding minister at his wedding.
The Waterboy, where Sandler stars, Schneider plays the same angry man or Townie from Little Nicky
Eight Crazy Nights, where Sandler stars, Schneider voices a Asian waiter who doesn't like Sandler's character, and also provides the narration
Click, where Sandler stars, Schneider plays Prince Habeeboo, a potential foreign customer for Sandler's architect firm.
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, where Sandler stars, Schneider plays the rabbi who marries Sandler and James's characters.

Personal life

On June 22, 2003, Sandler married actress Jacqueline Samantha Titone (now Jackie Sandler), and they are the parents of Sadie Madison Sandler, born May 6, 2006 at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles.[14] Sandler lives with his family in Los Angeles, though he also has a place in New York.

Sandler is good friends with comedian Norm MacDonald. Sandler subsequently made a cameo appearance in MacDonald's movie Dirty Work. He is a fan of professional wrestling, and most of his self-written films have references to professional wrestling in them. Five professional wrestlers had a role in The Longest Yard due to Sandler's insistence. He was also seen at WWE WrestleMania 21. Kevin Nash and Paul Wight additionally made appearances in Grandma's Boy and The Waterboy respectively. Adam is also good friends with Kevin James, Allen Covert, Blake Clark, Steve Buscemi, Kevin Nealon, Peter Dante, Jonathan Loughran, Rob Schneider, and former SNL players. Adam is a fan of the New York Yankees and shows his loyalty to the Yankees by filming some scenes of his movie Anger Management in Yankee Stadium. Actor Thomas Wilson of Back to the Future fame has stated that Sandler is the "nicest famous guy he knows".[15]

Sandler has contributed money to Rudy Giuliani's 2008 Presidential campaign.[16]

One day, there was a blind man sitting on the steps of a building
with a hat by his feet and a sign that read: "I am
blind, please help."

A man was walking by and stopped to observe. He saw that the blind
man had only a few coins in his hat. He dropped in some money and,
without asking for permission, took the sign and rewrote it.

He returned the sign to the blind man and left. That afternoon the
man returned to the blind man and noticed that his hat was full of
bills and coins.

The blind man recognized his footsteps and asked if it was he who had
rewritten his sign and wanted to know what he had written on it.

The man responded: "Nothing that was not true. I just wrote the
message a little differently. " He smiled and went on his
way.

The new sign read: "Today is Spring and I cannot see it."

Bob, thank you for the great bio's. Your tale about the blind man made us both sad and glad.

I'm not certain, folks, but didn't Jane Greer have cosmetic surgery that disfigured her face? Cannot find it in the archives, however.

It seems that our Raggedy has difficulty showing us her famous faces because the moment that she gets into our studio, everything freezes.

Guess I had better check out our thermostat.

From Otis, one of his last songs.

Sittin' in the mornin' sun
I'll be sittin' when the evenin' come
Watching the ships roll in
And then I watch 'em roll away again, yeah

I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time

I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the 'Frisco bay
'Cause I've had nothing to live for
And look like nothin's gonna come my way

So I'm just gonna sit on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time

Look like nothing's gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can't do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I'll remain the same, yes

Sittin' here resting my bones
And this loneliness won't leave me alone
It's two thousand miles I roamed
Just to make this dock my home

Now, I'm just gonna sit at the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Oooo-wee, sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time

What am I living for if not for you,
What am I living for if not for you,
What am I living for if not for you,
oh nobody else, nobody else will do

What am I longing for each lonely night,
To feel your lips to mine, to hold you tight
You'll be the only girl my whole life through,
Oh nobody else, nobody else will do

I want you close to me that's all I know,
I want you all the time because darling I love you so

What am I living for if not for you,
What am I living for if not for you,
What am I living for if not for you,
Baby nobody else, nobody else will do



What am I living for if not for you,
Darling nobody else, nobody else will do
nobody else, nobody else will do


Chuck Willis

Well, although I have never heard Chuck Willis, here's his C.C. Rider:

Well now see., C. C. Rider,
well now see, see what you have done.
Well now see., C. C. Rider,
well now see, see what you have done.
Well you made me love you woman,
Now your man has come.

So I'm goin' away now baby
And I won't be back till fall,
I'm goin' away now baby
And I won't be back till fall,
Just might find me a good girl
Might not be comin' back at all.

Well now see, C. C. Rider,
See now the moon is shining bright,
Well now see, C. C. Rider,
See now the moon is shining bright,
Just might find me that good girl
And everything would be alright.

Chuck Willis is one of my top favorite singers of the fifties. His last few songs seemed to portend an early death:
What am I Living For
My Life
Hang Up My Rock n Roll Shoes

After The Lights Go Down Low
Al Hibbler

[Written by Alan White and Leroy Lovett]

After the lights go down low, baby, you know
There'll be no reason for teasin' me so
And when the dancin' is through and folks will be few
I'll be here sittin' with no one but you
And I'll be needin' you so after the lights go down low

I wanna hold you, squeeze you as tight as I can
I'd like to kiss you, please you and make you understand
And when you thrill me, you fill me with love so divine
Together we can have a good time

After the lights go down low, baby, you know
there'll be no reason for teasin' me so
And we can cuddle up near wihout any fear
'Cause I've got some sweet talk that you want to hear
And I'll be needin' you so after the lights go down low

After the lights go down low, baby, you know
There'll be no reason for teasin' me so
And when the dancin' is through and folks will be few
I'll be here sittin' with no one but you
And I'll be needin' you so after the lights go down low

I wanna hold you, squeeze you as tight as I can
I'd like to kiss you, please you and m ake you understand
And when you thrill me, you fill me with love so divine
Together we can have a good time

After the lights go down low, baby, you know
There'll be no reason for teasin' me so
And we can cuddle up near without any fear
'Cause I've got some sweet talk that you want to hear
And I'll be needin' you so after the lights go down low

Albert George Hibbler (August 16, 1915-April 24, 2001) was a singer. He was born in Tyro, Mississippi. From birth he was blind.


Life and career
He attended a school for the blind in Little Rock, Arkansas where he joined the school choir. He won an amateur talent contest in Memphis, Tennessee and at first worked with local bands, as well as starting a band of his own. In 1942 he joined a band led by Jay McShann, and the next year he joined Duke Ellington's band, replacing Herb Jeffries. He worked eight years with Ellington before becoming a soloist. Some of his singing is classified as rhythm and blues, but he is really best classified as a bridge between R&B and traditional pop music.

His biggest hit was "Unchained Melody" in 1955. Other hits were "He", "11th Hour Melody", "Never Turn Back", and "After the Lights Go Low" (all in 1956). "After the Lights Go Low", sung with a put-on British accent, was his last charted hit.

In the late 1950s and 1960s, Hibbler became a civil rights activist, marching with protestors and getting arrested in 1959 in New Jersey and in 1963 in Alabama. The notoriety of this activism discouraged major record labels from carrying his work, but Frank Sinatra supported him and signed him to a contract with his label, Reprise Records.

However, Hibbler made very few recordings after that, occasionally doing live appearances through the 1990s. He died in April, 2001 in Chicago

The eleventh hour is here
The hour of parting, dear

We have one hour, my love
For at midnight, we must part
Soon, my love, you'll obey
Your wandering heart

Thrill my lips as you've
Always thrilled them
Till my lips
Are mine no more

Hold back the time, my love
The eleventh hour is here
Hold the time while
I'm holding back a tear

I'll be yours
Till the last eternity
Darling, come back to me

The eleventh hour is here
The hour of parting, dear

I'll be yours
Till the last eternity
Darling, come back to me

The eleventh hour is here
The hour of parting, dear
Come back

Think Al did this one, edgar.

I surrender, dear

We've played the game of 'stay away'
But it costs more than I can pay
Without you I can't make my way
I surrender, dear.

I may seem proud and I may act gay
That's just a pose, I'm not that way.
Cause deep down in my heart I say,
I surrender, dear.

Those little mean things we were doing
Must have been part of the game
Lending a spice to the wooing
Oh, but I don't care who's to blame


When stars appear and shadows fall
Then you'll hear my poor heart call
To you my love, my life, my all
I surrender, dear

------ instrumental break ------

Oh, to you my love, my life, my all
I surrender, dear

Wow! I sure do miss our Raggedy, but here's the best that Letty can do.

Cliff Robertson. Charly was a movie that I recall (from the story Flowers for Algernon)



"Flowers for Algernon"

If you remember put some flowers on his grave
He was my little friend for all the comfort that he gave
He never called me Dummy he was always on my side
I was so very sorry when he died

His operation made him smart
He ran the maze so good
But always had some time to be my friend
We used to race and he would win
It always made me mad at him
But he would still be nice even then

And when my operation made
me smarter he was there
To show me what would happen next to me
It wasn't always in a book
I had to hurt and sometimes look
At sad things that I didn't want to see
And now the smartness goes away
And Algernon is dead
And all my friends are nice to me again
But when I am like Algernon
Asleep inside the dirt and gone
I wonder who will think about me then

Words and music: Kathy Mar

Goodbye Charlie

Goodbye... Charlie
Hate to see you go
Goodbye, Charlie
Gee ... I'm feelin' low
But, I'm cluein' you in
Someone's doin' you in, pal.

Goodbye... Charlie
Hate to see you fade
My, my Charlie
Thought you had it made
But, they're dumpin' you off
After bumpin' you off, pal.

Don't you know lechery
Leads you to treachery
Things boomerang
Someone you trifle with
Pulls out a rifle without a pang
Bang... bang... bang!

Goodbye... Charlie
Cashin' in your chips
Wild-eyed Charlie
Time you came to grips
There ain't... no doubt...
Strike three... you're out...
Goodbye... Charlie
Goodbye!

Now don't you know lechery
Leads you to treachery
Things boomerang
Someone you trifle with
Pulls out a rifle without a pang
Bang... bang... bang!

Goodbye... Charlie
Cashin' in your chips
Wild-eyed Charlie
Time you came to grips
And, there ain't... no doubt...
Strike three... you're out...
Goodbye... Charlie
Goodbye!

Love it, edgar. I did that one for hurricane Charlie.

And yes, Texas, I know Charlie Rich.

"Behind Closed Doors"

My baby makes me proud
Lord, don't she make me proud
She never makes a scene
By hanging all over me in a crowd
'Cause people like to talk
Lord, don't they love to talk
But when they turn out the lights
I know she'll be leaving with me

And when we get behind closed doors
Then she lets her hair hang down
And she makes me glad that I'm a man
Oh, no-one knows what goes on behind closed doors

My baby makes me smile
Lord, don't she make me smile
She's never far away
Or too tired to say: "I want you"
She's always a lady, just like a lady should be
But when they turn out the lights
She's still a baby to me

'Cause when we get behind closed doors
Then she lets her hair hang down
And she makes me glad that I'm a man
Oh, no-one knows what goes on behind closed doors
Behind closed doors