OK. For today, just the living celebs -( two great composers sharing a birthday, today )
A Happy Birthday to:
Karl Malden (96, receiving the Monte Cristo Award in 2004)for his long stage career from Michael Douglas) ; Stephen Sondheim (78); William Shatner (77); Roger Whittaker (72); Andrew Lloyd Webber (60) and Mathew Modine (49).
Born Mladen George Sekulovich
March 22, 1912 (1912-03-22) (age 96)
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Spouse(s) Mona Greenberg
(1938-present)
[show]Awards won
Academy Awards
Best Supporting Actor
1951 A Streetcar Named Desire
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special
1985 Fatal Vision
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Life Achievement Award (2004)
Other Awards
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Karl Malden (born on March 22, 1912) is an Emmy Award-winning, Oscar-winning and Golden Globe-nominated American actor of Serbian origin, known for his expansive manner. In a career that spanned over seven decades, he was featured in classic films such as A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront and One-Eyed Jacks, with Marlon Brando, and also starred in the blockbuster movie, Patton. Among other notable film roles are Archie Lee Meighan in Baby Doll and Zebulon Prescott in How the West Was Won both starring Carroll Baker. His best-known role was on television as Lt. Mike Stone on the 1970s crime drama, The Streets of San Francisco.
Biography
Early life
The eldest of three brothers, Malden was born Mladen George Sekulovich (from Mladen George Sekulović, Serbian:Младен Ђорђе Секуловић) in Chicago, Illinois on March 22, 1912. He was the child of a Serb father, Petar Sekulovich, and a Czech seamstress mother, Minnie Sekulovich. The family moved from Chicago to the Serbian quarter of Gary, Indiana, in 1917, when Malden was five years old. It was in Gary that his father would work in the steel mills and as a milkman. The Sekulovich family roots trace back to the city of Bileća in Herzegovina. Malden spoke Serbian until he was in kindergarten. Malden's father had a passion for music, as Petar began organizing for the choir. As a teenager, Karl joined the Karageorge Choir. In addition, his father produced Serbian plays at his church. Petar also taught students acting. A young Malden took part in many of these plays, including a version of Jack and the Beanstalk but most centering on the community's Serbian heritage. In high school he was a popular student and the star of the basketball team (according to his autobiography, Malden broke his nose twice while playing basketball, taking elbows to the face and resulting in his trademark bulbous nose). He participated in the drama department, and was narrowly elected senior class president. After graduating from Emerson School for Visual and Performing Arts in 1931 with high marks, he briefly planned to leave Gary for Arkansas, where he hoped to win an athletic scholarship, but college officials did not admit him due to his refusal to play any sport beside basketball. From 1931 until 1934, he worked in the steel mills, as had his father.
From his uncle, he changed his name from Mladen Sekulovich to Karl Malden, when he became an actor at age 22. Malden often finds ways to say "Sekulovich" in films and television shows in which he appears. For example, as General Omar Bradley in "Patton", as his troops slog their way through enemy fire in Sicily, Malden says "Hand me that helmet, Sekulovich" to another soldier. In "Dead Ringer", as a police detective in the squad room, Malden tells another detective: "Sekulovich, gimme my hat." In "Birdman of Alcatraz", as a prison warden touring the cellblock, Malden recites a list of inmates' names, including Sekulovich.
In 1997, Malden published his autobiography, When Do I Start, written with his daughter, Carla Malden.
Education and early stage work
In September, 1934, Malden decided to leave his home in Gary, Indiana, to pursue formal dramatic training at the Goodman School (later part of DePaul University), then associated with the Goodman Theater in Chicago. Although he had worked in the steel mills in Gary for three years, he had helped support his family, and was thus unable to save enough money to pay for his schooling. Making a deal with the director of the program, he gave the institute the little money that he did have, with the director's agreeing that, if Malden did well, he would be rewarded with a full scholarship. He won the scholarship. When Malden performed in the Goodman's children's theater, he wooed the actress Mona Greenberg (stage name: Mona Graham), who married him in 1938. He graduated from the Chicago Art Institute in 1937. Soon after, without work and without money, Malden returned to Gary.
Career
Acting career: circa World War II
His life in his hometown came to an end as he traveled to New York City, and found some more appropriate plays for the city. He first appeared as an actor on Broadway in 1937, then did some radio work, before becoming a movie character actor in 1940, where his first film was They Knew What They Wanted (1940). He also attended the Group Theatre, where he began acting in many plays and was introduced to a young Elia Kazan, who would soon work with him on A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and On the Waterfront (1954). His acting career was interrupted by World War II and Malden served as a noncommissioned officer in the US 8th Air Force. While in the war, he was given a small role in the U.S. Army Air Forces play and film Winged Victory. After the war ended in 1945, he resumed his acting career, receiving yet another small supporting role in the play Truckline Cafe, with a young, unknown actor, Marlon Brando. He also guest-starred in both The Ford Theatre and The Armstrong Circle Theatre. Jobs were getting harder to find for him, as he was in his mid-30s and was about to give up. He received a co-starring role in the play, All My Sons with the help of director Elia Kazan. With that success, he then crossed over into movies.
Film career: 1950s to 1970s
Malden resumed his film acting career in the 1950s, starting with The Gunfighter (1950), which was followed by Halls of Montezuma (1950). The following year, he starred in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), where he played Mitch, Stanley Kowalski's best friend who starts a romance with Blanche DuBois (Vivian Leigh). For this role, he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. When he attended the awards ceremony for this film, he rented a tuxedo. At the ceremony, he sat behind Hollywood legend Humphrey Bogart, and when his name was announced as the winner, he gave his rented suit jacket to Bogart for him to look after. Later, backstage, he sought Bogart for his jacket, but when he couldn't find it he asked Bogart where it had gone. Bogart replied: "Forget about the jacket, kid. You've just won an Oscar!" He later found his jacket and returned it to the store the following day.[citation needed]
Other films during this period included On the Waterfront (1954), where he played a priest who influenced Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) to testify against mobster-union boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb). In Baby Doll (1956), he played a power-hungry sexual man who had been frustrated by a teenage wife. Before and after he arrived in Hollywood, he starred in dozens of films of the late 1950s to the early 1970s, such as Fear Strikes Out (1957), Pollyanna (1960), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), Gypsy (1962), How the West Was Won (1962), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), and Patton (1970), playing General Omar Bradley. After his last film, Summertime Killer (1972), he appeared in the made-for-television film The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro (1989) (as Leon Klinghoffer).
Television work
The Streets of San Francisco
In 1972, Malden was approached by producer Quinn Martin about starring as Lt. Mike Stone in The Streets of San Francisco. Although the concept originated as a made-for-television movie, ABC quickly signed on to carry it as a series. Martin hired Michael Douglas to play Lt. Stone's young partner, Inspector Steve Keller.
On Streets, Malden played a widowed veteran cop with more than 20 years of experience who is paired with a young officer recently graduated from college. During its first season, it was a ratings winner among many other 1970s crime dramas, and served as ABC's answer to such shows as Hawaii Five-O, Ironside, Kojak, McMillan and Wife, Police Woman, The Rockford Files and Switch.
During the second season, production shifted from Los Angeles to San Francisco. For his work as Lt. Stone, Malden was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Drama Series four times between 1974 and 1977, but never won. After two episodes in the fifth season, Douglas left the show to act in movies; Douglas had also produced the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1975. On the show, his character left police work for teaching. Lt. Stone's new partner was Inspector Dan Robbins, played by Richard Hatch. The show took a ratings nosedive, and ABC canceled The Streets of San Francisco after five seasons and 119 episodes.
Skag
Skag was an hour-long dramatic television series starring Karl Malden that focused on the life of a foreman at a Pittsburgh steel mill. Malden described his character, Pete Skagska, as a simple man trying to keep his family together. The pilot film for the series had Skag temporarily disabled by a stroke, and explored the effects it had on his family and co-workers. The show was considered very daring for its time in the issues it tackled, like impotence and infidelity. The critics gave Skag very positive reviews and even took out full page ads to save the show. However, it was not highly rated and was cancelled after several episodes. To this day, Malden is proud of the show and wishes it were still on the air.[citation needed]
Other work
American Express
Malden famously delivered the line "Don't leave home without them!" in a series of US television commercials for American Express Travelers Cheques in the 1970s and 1980s.
USPS Committee
He is a member of the United States Postal Service's 16-member Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, which meets to review recommendations for U.S. commemorative postage stamps.[1]
Personal Quotes
Karl: "People have told me that I came to this industry at its Golden Age. But when I was there, it was just an age." (Source: USIMDB.com)
Karl: "I am thrilled to be honored by the Screen Actors Guild because I've been with it for such a long time. The Screen Actors Guild is sort of a highfalutin name for a union, and this union was always wonderful to work for. For the rank-and-file of the union to honor me is the best compliment I can receive." (Source: USIMDB.com)
Karl on his early days: "My father was a milkman. So, I delivered milk." (Source: USIMDB.com)
Karl on Norman Jewison winning the award: "Norman deserved that award; he's a damn good director, The Cincinnati Kid". (Source: Thinkexist.com)
Karl on his days of working with Norman Jewison: "He could handle longtime stars like Joan Blondell and Edward G. Robinson, and he also could handle Steve McQueen. Norman stepped in at the last moment (Sam Peckinpah had been fired after a week's filming), and that's not an easy thing to do." (Source: Thinkexist.com)
Private life
Malden has been married to Mona Greenberg since December 18, 1938. Their marriage is one of the longest in Hollywood history.
In 1976, his father, Petar Sekulovich, died. To honour the memory of his father, Malden had a role in Twilight Time six years later. It was a private film, not seen by many.
Awards
Karl Malden won the 1951 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for A Streetcar Named Desire and was nominated in 1954 for his supporting role in On the Waterfront. Karl Malden is a past president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In October of 2003, Malden was named the 40th recipient of the Screen Actors' Guild's Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment.
On November 12, 2005, the United States House of Representatives authorized the U.S. Postal Service to rename the Los Angeles Barrington Postal Station as the Karl Malden Postal Station in honour of Malden's achievements. The bill, H.R. 3667, was sponsored by Representatives Henry Waxman and Diane Watson.
In May 2001, Karl Malden received an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, from Valparaiso University.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Karl Malden has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6231 Hollywood Blvd. In 2005, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
0 Replies
bobsmythhawk
1
Reply
Sat 22 Mar, 2008 03:13 pm
0 Replies
bobsmythhawk
1
Reply
Sat 22 Mar, 2008 03:17 pm
Stephen Sondheim
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Background information
Birth name Stephen Joshua Sondheim
Born March 22, 1930 (1930-03-22) (age 78)
New York City, NY, U.S.
Genre(s) Musical theatre
Occupation(s) Composer, Lyricist
Years active 1954 - Present
Stephen Joshua Sondheim (b. March 22, 1930) is an American stage musical and film composer and lyricist, winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards (seven, more than any other composer), multiple Grammy Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize. He has been described by Frank Rich in the The New York Times as "the greatest and perhaps best-known artist in the American musical theater." [1] His most famous scores include (as composer/lyricist) A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, and Assassins, as well as the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy. He was president of the Dramatists Guild from 1973 to 1981. In 1993 The Stephen Sondheim Society was set up to promote, create a greater interest in and provide information about the works of Stephen Sondheim.
Early life
Stephen Sondheim was born to Herbert and Janet ("Foxy") Sondheim, in New York City, New York, and grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and later on a farm in Pennsylvania. Herbert was a dress manufacturer and Foxy designed the dresses. An only child of well-to-do parents living in a high-rise apartment on Central Park West, Sondheim's childhood has been portrayed as isolated and emotionally neglected in Meryle Secrest's biography, Stephen Sondheim: A Life.
Sondheim traces his interest in theater to Very Warm for May, a Broadway musical he saw at the age of nine. "The curtain went up and revealed a piano," Sondheim recalled. "A butler took a duster and brushed it up, tinkling the keys. I thought that was thrilling."[2]
When Stephen was ten years old, his father Herbert, a distant figure in Stephen's life, abandoned him and his mother. Stephen "famously despised" Foxy;[1] he once wrote a thank-you note to close friend Mary Rodgers that read, "Dear Mary and Hank, Thanks for the plate, but where was my mother's head? Love, Steve."[2] When Foxy died on September 15, 1992, Sondheim refused to attend her funeral.
Career
Mentorship under Oscar Hammerstein II
At about the age of ten, around the time of his parents' divorce, Sondheim became friends with Jimmy Hammerstein, son of the well-known lyricist and playwright Oscar Hammerstein II. The elder Hammerstein became a surrogate father to Sondheim, as the young man attempted to stay away from home as much as possible. Hammerstein had a profound influence on the young Sondheim, especially in his development of love for musical theater. Indeed, it was at the opening of Hammerstein's hit show South Pacific that Sondheim met Harold Prince, who would later direct many of Sondheim's most famous shows. During high school, Sondheim attended George School, a private Quaker preparatory school in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He had the chance to write a comic musical based on the goings-on of his school, entitled By George. It was a major success among his peers, and it inflated the young songwriter's ego considerably; he took it to Hammerstein, and asked him to evaluate it as though he had no knowledge of its author. Hammerstein said it was the worst thing he had ever seen. "But if you want to know why it's terrible," Hammerstein consoled the young man, "I'll tell you." The rest of the day was spent going over the musical, and Sondheim would later say that "in that afternoon I learned more about songwriting and the musical theater than most people learn in a lifetime." [3]
Thus began one of the most famous apprenticeships in the musical theatre, as Hammerstein designed a kind of course for Sondheim to take on the construction of a musical. This training centered around four assignments, which Sondheim was to write. These were:
A musical based on a play he admired (which became All That Glitters)
A musical based on a play he thought was flawed (which became High Tor)
A musical based on an existing novel or short story not previously dramatized (which became his unfinished Mary Poppins, not connected to the musical film and stage play scored by the Sherman Brothers.)
An original musical (which became Climb High)
None of these "assignment" musicals was ever produced professionally. High Tor and Mary Poppins have never been produced at all, because the rights holders for the original works refused to grant permission for a musical to be made.
In 1950, Sondheim graduated magna cum laude from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He went on to study composition with the composer Milton Babbitt. Sondheim says that when he asked Babbitt if he could study atonality, Babbitt replied "No, I don't think you've exhausted your tonal resources yet." [4]. Sondheim agreed, and despite frequent dissonance and a highly chromatic style, his music remains resolutely tonal.
Move to Broadway and work as lyricist
"A few painful years of struggle" followed for Sondheim, during which he conditionally auditioned songs and lived in his father's dining room to save money. He also spent some time in Hollywood writing for the television series Topper.[2] Though, to date, Sondheim has only dabbled in movie musicals, he devoured the film of the forties and fifties and has called cinema his "basic language."[1] In the fifties, his knowledge of film got him through The $64,000 Question contestant tryouts. Though his favorite movies include classics like Citizen Kane, The Grapes of Wrath, and Stairway to Heaven, Sondheim says he dislikes movie musicals. He added that "studio directors like Michael Curtiz and Raoul Walsh....were heroes of mine. They went from movie to movie to movie, and every third movie was good and every fifth movie was great. There wasn't any cultural pressure to make art."[5]
In 1954, Sondheim wrote both music and lyrics for Saturday Night, which was never produced on Broadway and was shelved until a 1997 production at London's Bridewell Theatre. In 1998 Saturday Night received a professional recording, followed by an Off-Broadway run at Second Stage Theatre in 2000.
Sondheim's big break came when he wrote the lyrics to West Side Story, accompanying Leonard Bernstein's music and Arthur Laurents's book. The 1957 show, directed by Jerome Robbins, ran for 732 performances. While this may be the best-known show Sondheim ever worked on, he has expressed some dissatisfaction with his lyrics, stating they don't always fit the characters and are sometimes too consciously poetic.
In 1959, he wrote the lyrics for another hit musical, Gypsy. Sondheim would have liked to write the music as well, but Ethel Merman, the star, insisted on a composer with a track record - thus Jule Styne was hired. [6] Sondheim questioned if he should write only the lyrics for yet another show, but his mentor Oscar Hammerstein told him it would be valuable experience to write for a star. Sondheim worked closely with book writer Arthur Laurents to create the show. It ran 702 performances.
Finally, Sondheim participated in a musical for which he wrote both the music and lyrics, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. It opened in 1962 and ran 964 performances. The book, based on the farces of Plautus, was by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Sondheim's score was not especially well-received at the time - the show won several Tony Awards, including best musical, but Sondheim did not even receive a nomination. In addition, some critics felt the songs were not properly integrated into the farcical action.
At this point, Sondheim had participated in three straight hits - he'd yet to taste failure on Broadway. His next show ended the streak. Anyone Can Whistle (1964) was a 9-performance flop, although it introduced Angela Lansbury to musical theatre and has developed a cult following.
In 1965 he donned his lyricist-for-hire hat for one last show, Do I Hear a Waltz?, with music by Richard Rodgers - the one project he has since openly regretted working on. [1] In 1966, he semi-anonymously provided the lyric for "The Boy From...", a parody of The Girl from Ipanema that was a highlight of the off-Broadway revue The Mad Show. (The official songwriting credit went to the linguistically-minded pseudonym "Esteban Rio Nido," which translates from the Spanish to "Stephen River Nest." In the show's Playbill, the lyric was credited to "Nom De Plume").
Maturity as composer/lyricist in the 70s
Since then Sondheim has devoted himself to both composing and writing lyrics for a series of varied and adventurous musicals, beginning with the innovative "concept musical" Company in 1970.
Sondheim's work is notable for his use of complex polyphony in the vocal parts, such as the chorus of five minor characters who function as a sort of Greek chorus in 1973's A Little Night Music. He also displays a penchant for angular harmonies and intricate melodies reminiscent of Bach (Sondheim has claimed that he "loves Bach" but his favorite period is Brahms to Stravinsky).[7] To aficionados, Sondheim's musical sophistication is considered to be greater than that of many of his musical theater peers, and his lyrics are likewise renowned for their ambiguity, wit, and urbanity.
Sondheim collaborated with producer/director Harold Prince on six distinctive musicals between 1970 and 1981. Company (1970) was a "concept musical", a show centered around a set of characters and themes rather than a straightforward plot. Follies (1971) was a similarly-structured show filled with pastiche songs echoing styles of composers from earlier decades. A Little Night Music (1973), a more traditionally plotted show based on the film Smiles of a Summer Night by Ingmar Bergman, was one of his greatest successes, with Time magazine calling it "Sondheim's most brilliant accomplishment to date."[8] Notably, the score was mostly composed in waltz time (either ¾ time, or multiples thereof.) Further success was accorded to A Little Night Music when "Send in the Clowns" became a hit for Judy Collins. Although it was Sondheim's only Top 40 hit, his songs are frequently performed and recorded by cabaret artists and theatre singers in their solo careers.
Pacific Overtures (1976) was the most non-traditional of the Sondheim-Prince collaborations, an intellectual exploration of the westernization of Japan. Sweeney Todd (1979), Sondheim's most operatic score (and his only show to find a definite foothold in opera houses), once again explores an unlikely topic, this time murderous revenge and cannibalism. The libretto, by Hugh Wheeler, is based on Christopher Bond's 1973 stage version of the Victorian original.
Later work
Merrily We Roll Along (1981), with a book by George Furth, is one of Sondheim's more "traditional" scores and was thought to hold potential to generate some hit songs (Frank Sinatra and Carly Simon each recorded a different song from the show). Sondheim's music director, Paul Gemignani, said, "Part of Steve's ability is this extraordinary versatility." Merrily, however, was a 16-performance flop. "Merrily did not succeed, but its score endures thanks to subsequent productions and recordings. According to Martin Gottfried, "Sondheim had set out to write traditional songs But [despite] that there is nothing ordinary about the music." [9] Sondheim and Furth have extensively revised the show since its initial opening.
The failure of Merrily greatly affected Sondheim; he was ready to quit theater and do movies or create video games or write mysteries. He was later quoted as saying, "I wanted to find something to satisfy myself that does not involve Broadway and dealing with all those people who hate me and hate Hal." [10] The collaboration between Sondheim and Prince would largely end after Merrily - until the 2003 production of Bounce, another failure.
However, instead of quitting the theater following the failure of Merrily, Sondheim decided "that there are better places to start a show", and found a new collaborator in the "artsy" James Lapine. Lapine has a taste "for the avant-garde and for visually oriented theater in particular." Sunday in the Park with George (1984), their first collaboration, was very much the avant-garde, but they had blended it together with the professionalism of the commercial theater to make a different kind of musical. Sondheim again was able to show his versatility and his adaptability. His music took on the style of the artist Georges Seurat's painting techniques. In doing so, Sondheim was able to bring his work to another level.
In 1985, he and Lapine won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for Sunday in the Park with George. It is one of only seven musicals that have taken this prestigious award. The Sondheim-Lapine collaboration also produced the popular fairy-tale show Into the Woods (1987) and the rhapsodic Passion (1994). 1990 saw the opening of Sondheim's Assassins off-Broadway.
In the late nineties, Sondheim reunited with Hal Prince for Wise Guys, a long-in-the-works musical comedy about Addison and Wilson Mizner. Though a Broadway production starring Nathan Lane and Victor Garber and directed by Sam Mendes was announced for Spring 2000,[11] the New York debut of the musical was delayed. Rechristened Bounce in 2003, the show was mounted at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.. Bounce received disappointing reviews and never reached Broadway. Sondheim has continued to work on Bounce.
Regarding whether he had any interest in writing new work, Sondheim was quoted in a 2006 Time Out: London interview as saying:
" No... It's age. It's a diminution of energy and the worry that there are no new ideas. It's also an increasing lack of confidence. I'm not the only one. I've checked with other people. People expect more of you and you're aware of it and you shouldn't be.[12] "
In December 2007, Sondheim said that, along with continued work on Bounce, he was "nibbling at a couple of things with John Weidman and James Lapine. And writing a book."[13]
In March of 2008, Sondheim and Frank Rich of the New York Times appeared in a few West Coast cities with "A Little Night Conversation with Stephen Sondheim."
Work away from Broadway
Sondheim's mature career has been varied, encompassing much beyond composition of musicals.
An avid fan of games, in 1968 and 1969 Sondheim published a series of word puzzles in New York magazine. (In 1987, Time referred to his love of puzzlemaking as "legendary in theater circles," adding that the central character in Anthony Shaffer's hit play Sleuth was inspired by Sondheim. That the show was given the working title Who's Afraid of Stephen Sondheim? is an urban legend. In a New York Times interview on March 10, 1996 Shaffer denied ever using the title, and Sondheim speculated that it was the invention of producer Morton Gottlieb.)[2] He parlayed this talent into a film script, written with longtime friend Anthony Perkins, called The Last of Sheila. The 1973 film, directed by Herbert Ross, starred Dyan Cannon, Raquel Welch, Richard Benjamin, and others.
He tried his hand at writing one more time - in 1996 he collaborated on a play called Getting Away with Murder. It was not a success, and the Broadway production closed after 29 previews and 17 performances.
His compositional efforts have included a number of film scores, notably a set of songs written for Warren Beatty's 1990 film version of Dick Tracy; one song, "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)" (as performed by Madonna), won Sondheim an Academy Award.
Major works
Unless otherwise noted, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
Saturday Night (1954, though unproduced until 1997) (book by Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein)
West Side Story (1957) (music by Leonard Bernstein; book by Arthur Laurents; directed by Jerome Robbins)
Gypsy (1959) (music by Jule Styne; book by Arthur Laurents; directed by Jerome Robbins)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962) (book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart; directed by George Abbott)
Anyone Can Whistle (1964) (book by Arthur Laurents; directed by Arthur Laurents)
Do I Hear a Waltz? (1965) (music by Richard Rodgers; book by Arthur Laurents; directed by John Dexter)
Company (1970) (book by George Furth; directed by Hal Prince)
Follies (1971) (book by James Goldman; directed by Hal Prince)
A Little Night Music (1973) (book by Hugh Wheeler; directed by Hal Prince)
Pacific Overtures (1976) (book by John Weidman; directed by Hal Prince)
Sweeney Todd (1979) (book by Hugh Wheeler; directed by Hal Prince)
Merrily We Roll Along (1981) (book by George Furth; directed by Hal Prince)
Sunday in the Park with George (1984) (book by James Lapine; directed by James Lapine)
Into the Woods (1987) (book by James Lapine; directed by James Lapine)
Assassins (1990) (book by John Weidman; directed by Jerry Zaks)
Passion (1994) (book by James Lapine; directed by James Lapine)
Bounce (2003) (book by John Weidman; directed by Hal Prince)
The Frogs - Second version (2004) (revised book by Nathan Lane, from Burt Shevelove's 1974 book. Contains seven new songs)
Side by Side by Sondheim (1976), Marry Me A Little (1980), You're Gonna Love Tomorrow (1983) and Putting It Together (1993) are anthologies or revues of Sondheim's work as composer and lyricist, featuring both produced songs and songs cut from productions.
The Stephen Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts
The Stephen Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts opened December 7-9, 2007, located at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center in Fairfield, Iowa. The Center opened with performances from seven notable Broadway performers, including Len Cariou, Liz Callaway and Richard Kind, all of whom had taken part in the musicals of Sondheim. [14] The center is the first one in the world named after him.
0 Replies
bobsmythhawk
1
Reply
Sat 22 Mar, 2008 03:23 pm
William Shatner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born March 22, 1931 (1931-03-22) (age 77)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Other name(s) Bill Shatner
Occupation Actor, Television personality, Spokesperson
Years active 1950-present
Spouse(s) Gloria Rand (1956-1969)
Marcy Lafferty (1973-1994)
Nerine Kidd (1997-1999)
Elizabeth Anderson Martin (2001-)
Children Leslie Carol Shatner (b.1958)
Lisabeth Shatner (b.1961)
Melanie Shatner (b.1964)
Official website
[show]Awards won
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Guest Actor - Drama Series
2004 The Practice
Outstanding Supporting Actor - Drama Series
2005 Boston Legal
Golden Globe Awards
Best Supporting Actor - Miniseries/TV Movie
2005 Boston Legal
Golden Raspberry Awards
Worst Actor
1989 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Worst Director
1989 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Other Awards
Saturn Award for Best Actor (film)
1982 Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
William Alan Shatner (born on March 22, 1931) is a double Emmy-, Golden Globe-, and Saturn Award-winning Canadian actor who gained fame for playing Captain James Tiberius Kirk, captain of the starship USS Enterprise, in the television show Star Trek from 1966 to 1969 and in seven of the subsequent movies. Shatner has written a series of books chronicling his experiences playing James T. Kirk and being a part of Star Trek. He also played the title role as veteran police sergeant T.J. Hooker, from 1982 to 1986. He has since worked as a musician, bestselling author, producer, director, and celebrity pitchman, most notably for Priceline.com. He currently co-stars as attorney Denny Crane on the television drama Boston Legal, for which he has won an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award.
Biography
Early life
Shatner was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to Joseph Shatner, a clothing manufacturer,[1] and Anna Garmaise. All four of Shatner's grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe; his paternal grandfather, Wolf Schattner, shortened the family name to "Shatner". He attended Willingdon Elementary School,[2] in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in Montreal, Quebec, and earned in 1952 a Bachelor's degree in commerce from Montreal's McGill University, the Student Union building of which was renamed The Shatner Building in 1993 following a referendum by the Student Union. Although used by many students, the name is not officially recognized by the university, which still refers to the building as University Centre.
Early stage, film, and television work
Trained as a classical Shakespearean actor, Shatner performed at the Shakespearean Stratford Festival of Canada in Stratford, Ontario. He played a range of Shakespearean roles at the Stratford Festival in productions that included Shakespeare's Henry V and Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great. Shatner made his Broadway debut in the latter. In 1954, he was cast as Ranger Bill on the Canadian version of the Howdy Doody Show.
Though his official movie debut was in the 1951 Canadian film entitled The Butler's Night Off, Shatner's first feature role came in the 1958 MGM film The Brothers Karamazov with Yul Brynner, in which he starred as the youngest of the Karamazov brothers, Alexei. In 1959, he received decent reviews when he took on the role of Robert Lomax in the Broadway production of The World of Suzie Wong. In 1961, he starred in the Broadway play A Shot in the Dark opposite Julie Harris and directed by Harold Clurman. Walter Matthau and Gene Saks were also featured in this play.
In 1962, he starred in Roger Corman's award-winning movie The Intruder. He also appeared in the Stanley Kramer film Judgment at Nuremberg and two episodes, "Nick of Time" and "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", of the acclaimed science fiction anthology series The Twilight Zone. He was also in an episode of The Outer Limits. Shatner guest-starred in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in an episode that also featured Leonard Nimoy, with whom Shatner later would be paired in Star Trek. He also starred in the critically acclaimed drama For the People in 1965 as an assistant district attorney with Jessica Walter which lasted only 13 episodes. Shatner also starred in the 1965 Gothic horror film Incubus, the second feature-length movie ever made with all dialogue spoken in the constructed language Esperanto.
Star Trek career
Shatner was first cast as Captain James T. Kirk for the second pilot of Star Trek, entitled "Where No Man Has Gone Before". He was subsequently contracted to play Kirk for the Star Trek series and held the role from 1966 to 1969. In the episode Operation Annihilate he also played the corpse of the recently killed George Samuel Kirk (the brother of James T. Kirk).
In 1973, Shatner returned to the role of Captain Kirk, albeit only in voice, in the animated Star Trek series. He was slated to reprise the role of Kirk for Star Trek: Phase II, a follow-up series chronicling the second five-year mission of the Enterprise, but Star Trek: Phase II was cancelled in pre-production and expanded into Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Shatner is notable for having participated in the first interracial kiss in a U.S. television drama series between fictional characters, with Nichelle Nichols, in the 1968 Star Trek episode "Plato's Stepchildren". The scene provoked controversy and was seen as groundbreaking, even though the kiss was portrayed as having been forced by telekinesis; it is also frequently misremembered as "the first interracial kiss on US TV" even though it took place after Sammy Davis, Jr., and Nancy Sinatra had openly kissed on the variety program Movin' With Nancy in December 1967. The episode was not telecast in some Southern cities for fear of protest in those states; nevertheless, most viewer reaction was positive. Shatner has claimed in his memoirs that no one on the set felt the kiss to be very important until a network executive raised fears of a Southern boycott and the kiss was almost written out of the script. Gene Roddenberry supposedly made a deal that the scene would be shot both with the kiss and with a cut-away shot which merely implied a kiss, and then a subsequent decision would be made about which scene to televise. The footage of the actual kiss was eventually used. Some cast members have written that this was because Shatner deliberately ruined the take for the implied-kiss footage by looking into the camera and crossing his eyes to force the real kiss to be used.[3]
For years, Shatner was accused of being difficult to work with by some of his Star Trek co-stars, most notably James Doohan and George Takei, who professed that he despised Shatner for being an arrogant, egotistical, line-stealing showboater who tried to keep his co-stars in the background.[4] In the 2004 Star Trek DVD sets, Shatner seemed to have buried the hatchet with Takei, but the gulf between Shatner and Doohan was more difficult. In the 1990s, Shatner made numerous attempts to patch things up with Doohan, but was unsuccessful for some time; however, an Associated Press article published at the time of Doohan's final convention appearance in late August 2004 stated that Doohan had forgiven his fellow Canadian Shatner and they had mended their relationship.[5] It's possible that their renewed friendship was the result of Shatner caring for Doohan, who had fallen ill and died of Alzheimer's on July 20, 2005.
Between 1979 and 1991, William Shatner played Captain Kirk in the first six Star Trek films, and directed the fifth. In 1994, he returned to the role of Captain Kirk in Star Trek Generations - his character's final appearance in the movie series. 1997 marked his final appearance as Captain Kirk in the movie sequences of Starfleet Academy, although he recently reprised this role briefly for a Trek-parody DirecTV advertisement which began airing in late summer 2006.
In the summer of 2004, rumors circulated that the producers of Star Trek: Enterprise were considering bringing William Shatner back into the Trek fold. Reports in the media indicated that the idea was given serious thought, with series producer Manny Coto indicating in Star Trek Communicator magazine's October 2004 issue that he was preparing a three-episode story arc for Shatner. Shortly thereafter, Enterprise was cancelled, likely ending all hope that Shatner would return to Star Trek.
Shatner has not been "offered or suggested" a role in the new film Star Trek, as of October 2007.[6][7] Director J.J. Abrams said in July 2007 that the production was "desperately trying to figure out a way to put him in" but that to "shove him in...would be a disaster."[8] As a result, Shatner had invented his own idea about the beginning of Star Trek with his latest novel, Star Trek: Academy - Collision Course.[9]
In 2008, he joined Star Trek: The Tour in Long Beach, California - an exhibition which is planned to tour 40 cities in the U.S. and Canada. In an interview, he spoke about accepting the dominance of Star Trek in public recollection of his career, and coming to terms with the adoration of fans.[10]
Post-Star Trek career
Shatner was an occasional celebrity guest on The $20,000 Pyramid in the 1970s, once appearing opposite Nimoy in a matchup billed as "Kirk vs. Spock". His appearances became far less frequent after a 1977 appearance, in which, after giving an illegal clue at the top of the pyramid ($200) which deprived the contestant of a big money win, he threw his chair out of the Winner's Circle.[11] He appeared on the Match Game, though he was never a regular on this program.
Shatner had a long dry spell in the decade between the original Star Trek series and the first Trek film, which he believes was due to his being typecast as Captain Kirk, making it difficult to find other work. Moreover, his wife Gloria Rand left him. With very little money and few acting prospects, he lived in a truck bed camper in the San Fernando Valley until acting bit-parts turned into higher paying roles. Shatner refers to this part of his life as "that period", a humbling one in which he would take any odd job, including small party appearances, to support his family. Perhaps the nadir was his role in Big Bad Mama, prized by Shatnerites for his nude scene with Angie Dickinson. He did however land a starring role in the western-themed secret agent series Barbary Coast during 1975 and 1976, as well as a major role in the horror film The Devil's Rain. He also made guest appearances on many 1970s television series such as The Six Million Dollar Man, Columbo, The Rookies, and Mission: Impossible. The dry spell ended for Shatner (and the other Star Trek cast members) when Paramount produced Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979, under pressure from loyal fans of the series. Its success re-established Shatner as an actor, and Captain Kirk - now promoted to Admiral - as a cult icon.
While continuing to film the successful series of Star Trek movies, he returned to television in the 1980s, starring as a police officer in the T.J. Hooker series from 1982 to 1986. He then hosted the popular dramatic reenactment series Rescue 911 from 1989 to 1996. During the 1980s, Shatner also began dabbling in film and television directing, directing numerous episodes of T.J. Hooker and the feature film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
As the unwilling central figure of a widespread geek-culture of Trekkies, Shatner is often humorously critical of the sometimes "annoying" fans of Star Trek. He also has found an outlet in spoofing the cavalier, almost superhuman character persona of Captain Kirk, in films such as Airplane II: The Sequel (1982) and National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon (1993). During a guest-host spot on Saturday Night Live, in a skit about a Star Trek convention, he advised a room full of Trekkies to "Get a life", repeating a popular catch-phrase. Shatner also appeared in the film Free Enterprise in 1998, in which he played himself and tried to dispel the Kirk image of himself from the view of the film's two lead characters.
Shatner has enjoyed success with a series of science fiction novels published under his name, though most were written by uncredited co-writers such as Ron Goulart.[citation needed] The first, published in 1990, was TekWar. This popular series of books led to a Marvel Comics series, to a number of television movies, in which Shatner played a role, and to a short-lived television series in which Shatner made several appearances; he also directed some episodes. In 1995, a first-person shooter game named William Shatner's TekWar was released, and was the first game to use the Build engine.
In the 1990s, Shatner appeared in several plays on National Public Radio, written and directed by Norman Corwin. Shatner was cast as "The Big Giant Head", a womanizing party-animal and high-ranking officer from the same alien planet as the show's protagonists in several episodes of the television series 3rd Rock from the Sun. The role earned Shatner a nomination for an Emmy. In 2003, Shatner appeared in Brad Paisley's "Celebrity" country music video along with Little Jimmy Dickens, Jason Alexander, and Trista Rehn.
In 2004, Shatner was cast as the eccentric but highly capable attorney Denny Crane for the final season of the legal drama The Practice, for which he was awarded an Emmy, and then its subsequent spin-off, Boston Legal, for which he won a Golden Globe, an Emmy in 2005 and nominated again in 2006. With the 2005 Emmy win, Shatner became one of the few actors along with co-star James Spader as Alan Shore, to win an Emmy award while playing the same character in two different series. Even rarer, Shatner and Spader each won a second consecutive Emmy while playing the same character in two different series.
Also in 2004, Shatner became a "Celebrity Photographer" for Playboy's Cyber Club.[12]
In 2005, Shatner executive-produced and starred in the Spike TV reality miniseries Invasion Iowa. On October 19, 2005, while working on the set of Boston Legal, Shatner was taken to the emergency room for lower back pain. He eventually passed a kidney stone, but recovered and soon returned to work.
In 2006, Shatner sold his kidney stone for US$75,000 to GoldenPalace.com.[13] In an appearance on The View on May 16, 2006, Shatner said $75,000, with an additional $20,000 raised from the cast and crew of Boston Legal, paid for the building of a house by Habitat for Humanity.
Shatner also plays on the World Poker Tour in the Hollywood Home games. He plays for the Wells Fargo Hollywood Charity Horse Show. Shatner has appeared in Priceline.com commercials both online and on TV, as the "Chief Negotiating Officer". Shatner is also the CEO of the Toronto, Ontario-based C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures, which provided the special effects for the 1996 film Fly Away Home.
On August 20, 2006, Shatner was featured on Comedy Central's Roast of William Shatner. Jason Alexander acted as roastmaster with (in alphabetical order) Andy Dick, Farrah Fawcett, Greg Giraldo, Lisa Lampanelli, Artie Lange, Nichelle Nichols, Patton Oswalt, Kevin Pollak, Jeffrey Ross, George Takei, Betty White, and Fred Willard performing the roasting duties. Special, pre-taped, guest appearances were made by Leonard Nimoy, Sandra Bullock, Ben Stiller, Sarah Silverman, Jimmy Kimmel, and Clint Howard.[14]
Shatner's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.In October 2006, Shatner accepted to host the new ABC game show Show Me the Money, which began in November 2006. The show was cancelled in December 2006 due to low ratings. It was Shatner's first unsuccessful attempt at a series since Barbary Coast in 1976. Shatner continues to co-star on Boston Legal. On March 22, 2007, Shatner was announced as the inductor of legendary professional wrestler/broadcaster Jerry "The King" Lawler at the 2007 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony, set to occur on March 31, 2007, at the Fox Theater in Detroit, Michigan. Shatner was chosen because of a memorable 1995 appearance on WWF Monday Night Raw in which Shatner, promoting the TekWar TV series, pushed Lawler to the ring canvas during an interview segment. Shatner later managed fellow Canadian Bret "Hit Man" Hart in a match against Jeff Jarrett, managed by Lawler.[15] Shatner briefly reprised his role as James T. Kirk for a recent 2006 DirecTV advertisement featuring footage from Star Trek VI. Shatner has starred in a series of Kellogg's All-Bran cereal commercials in the UK and Canada.[16]
In January 2007, Shatner launched a series of daily vlogs on his life called ShatnerVision[17] on the LiveUniverse.com website. Along with his daughter Lisabeth; they provide a unique and unparalleled look into Shatner's private life and adventures in life.
Shatner also appeared in the ABC reality television series Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race, featuring a dozen celebrities in a stock car racing competition. In the first round of competition, Shatner matched up against former NFL coach Bill Cowher and former volleyball superstar Gabrielle Reece. Shatner was disqualified in the episode for repeatedly crossing a safety line on the track. As of 2007, Shatner is the first Canadian actor to star in three successful TV series on three different networks (NBC, CBS, and ABC).
Shatner has a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (for Television work) at 6901 Hollywood Blvd. He also has a star on the Canadian Walk of Fame.
On November 20, 2007, William Shatner was featured as part of the "What's Your Game?" national television commercial series for World of Warcraft along with Mr T. and Verne Troyer.
Family and other ventures
Shatner has been married four times: to Gloria Rand from 1956 to 1969, Marcy Lafferty from 1973 to 1994, Nerine Kidd from 1997 to 1999, and his current wife Elizabeth Martin whom he married in 2001. Shatner has three daughters, Leslie Carol (b. 1958), Lisabeth Mary (b. 1960), and Melanie (b. 1964), from his marriage to Rand. Melanie had a brief career as an actress and is now the proprietor of Dari, an upscale women's clothing boutique. She is married to actor Joel Gretsch, with whom she has two daughters, Kaya and Willow.
On August 9, 1999, Shatner returned home around 10 p.m. to discover the body of his wife Nerine at the bottom of their back yard swimming pool. Alcohol and Valium were detected in an autopsy, and a coroner ruled the death an accidental drowning. The LAPD ruled out foul play and the case has been long closed. Speaking to the press shortly after his wife's death, a clearly shaken and emotional Shatner said that she "meant everything" to him and called her his "beautiful soulmate".[18] Shatner urged the public to support Friendly House, a non-profit organization that helps women re-establish themselves in the community after suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction.[19] He later told Larry King in an interview that "...my wife, whom I loved dearly and who loved me, was suffering with a disease that we don't like to talk about, alcoholism. And she met a tragic ending because of it."[20]
In 2000, a Reuters story reported that Shatner was planning to write and direct The Shiva Club, a dark comedy about the grieving process inspired by his wife's death. The project is still in pre-production.[citation needed] Shatner's 2004 album Has Been produced with Ben Folds included a spoken word piece titled "What Have You Done" which describes his anguish upon discovering his wife's body in the pool.
Shatner is also related to Mordechai Shatner, who was one of the signators of the Israeli declaration of independence.
In his spare time, Shatner enjoys breeding and showing American Saddlebreds and Quarter Horses. Shatner has a 360-acre (1.5 km²) horse farm in Kentucky named Bell Reve, where he raises American Saddlebreds. His champion American Saddlebreds include Call Me Ringo, Revival, and Sultan's Great Day.
Musical tangents
Shatner began a much derided musical career with the spoken word 1968 album The Transformed Man. Delivered with orchestral backings with the odd "psychedelic" flourish, his exaggerated, interpretive recitations of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" became instant camp classics. Shatner would eventually parody his own musical style several times in the 1990s, including during an episode of Futurama, in which he performed a spoken word version of the rap hit song "The Real Slim Shady".
Shatner performed a reading of the Elton John song "Rocket Man" during the Science Fiction Film Awards, televised in 1978. Dressed in tuxedo ruffles with a hand-rolled cigarette in hand, he spoke with Kirk-like delivery against a synthesizer-laden backdrop of the song. This was spoofed in an episode of Family Guy.
Shatner provided vocals for "In Love" by Ben Folds on his Fear of Pop album. He would later provide vocals for an alternate version of Folds's song "Rockin' the Suburbs", which was contributed to the Over the Hedge soundtrack in 2006.
A creative friendship blossomed that led to Folds producing and co-writing Shatner's well-received second studio album, Has Been, in 2004. The album centers around Shatner's often melancholy and regretful autobiographical ruminations, and features a number of prestigious guest artists such as Aimee Mann, Lemon Jelly, Henry Rollins, Brad Paisley, and Joe Jackson. Notably, Has Been features the single "Common People", a cover version of the song by Pulp.
He appears on the piece "'64 - Go" by Lemon Jelly, featured on their CD entitled '64 - '95, on which he was credited as "the creative genius that is william shatner" and in Brad Paisley's music video for "Celebrity" and "Online." Shatner also appears as a studio producer in the music video for "Landed" by Ben Folds.
In 2007, a ballet called Common People, set to Has Been, was created by Margo Sappington (of Oh! Calcutta! fame) and performed by the Milwaukee Ballet. Shatner attended the premiere and filmed the event. The filmed footage eventually turned into a feature film called Gonzo Ballet, due out in 2008.
Friendship with other actors
Shatner's friendship with Leonard Nimoy began in 1964, when they guest-starred on an episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., entitled: The Project Strigas Affair. In addition, they both have a lot of things in common (starting with the fact that Shatner is exactly four days older than Nimoy). They would also co-star together on Star Trek, where they both shared their good and bad times together on and off the set. After Star Trek's demise in 1969, both Shatner and Nimoy would later reunite together on a Star Trek animated series , as well as The $20,000 Pyramid, where Kirk vs. Spock would appear on two different tables. Nimoy would also guest-star on his friend's own series T.J. Hooker, for a few episodes.. The 1999 death of Shatner's third wife, Nerine, created a strong force between Shatner & Nimoy, as Nimoy had mourned over the loss of his best friend's wife. Nimoy would also appear alongside Shatner at the TV Land Awards which was hosted by John Ritter, and was one of the many people to serve as a celebrity "roaster" of Shatner. Nimoy said of his friend of over 40 years, "Bill's energy was good for my performance, cause Spock could be the cool individual, our chemistry was successful, right from the start." Despite their friendship, Leonard said of the feud the two had away from the set of Star Trek, "Very competitive, sibling rivalry up to here. After the show had been on the air a few weeks and they started getting so much mail for Spock, then the dictum came down from NBC: 'Give us more of that guy, they love that guy, you know?' Well, that can be ... that can be a problem for the leading man who was hired as the star of the show; and suddenly, here's this guy with ears --- 'What's this, you know?'" said Nimoy. On an A&E Biography he also said "Bill Shatner hogging the stage? No. Not the Bill Shatner I know."
Shatner began a longtime friendship with a then-unknown star, Heather Locklear, beginning in 1982, when she co-starred with him on T.J. Hooker, as his charming, young partner, Officer Stacy Sheridan. Hooker ended in 1986, and Shatner helped Locklear to become a prolific actress.[citation needed] Nineteen years after the cancellation, she would later guest star on Shatner's Boston Legal. It was mentioned in a 2005 Entertainment Tonight interview that Locklear herself is a huge fan of the show. Also, the 1999 death of wife, Nerine, helped bridged the gap between Shatner & Locklear, as she mourned over the loss of her mentor's soulmate. Locklear said of her longtime colleague about shooting both T.J. Hooker and Dynasty when she was asked if it was extremely difficult of working with both actors on 2 different shows, "No, but I was scared - scared of William Shatner and Joan Collins? So, I'd get really nervous and want to be prepared, but ... well, even though I auditioned and stuff, (my career) was kind of delivered to me. And you better take it when it's there. So, I didn't think of saying anything like, 'No - I think I'll go back to college and be a psychologist.'" Many years ago in another interview, Heather also said as to how much she enjoys her co-stars' recent show, "Well, I'm on Boston Legal, for a couple of episodes. I love the show, it's my favorite show; and I sorta kind of said, 'Shouldn't I be William Shatner's illegitimate daughter or his love interest?'"
Shatner in popular culture
Tim Allen's role as Commander Peter Quincy Taggart/Jason Nesmith in Galaxy Quest was also inspired by Shatner and his relationship with his fellow Star Trek stars. Allen's role is an analogue of James T. Kirk/William Shatner as known by the public at large; Taggart has a reputation for taking off his shirt at the flimsiest excuse, rolling on the ground during combat, and making pithy speeches at the drop of a hat, while Nesmith is an egomaniac who regards himself as the core of Galaxy Quest, and tells fans to "get a life".
Entrepreneur Richard Branson, head of the space tourism company Virgin Galactic, offered William Shatner a free ride into space on the inaugural space launch of the VSS Enterprise scheduled for 2008, saving Shatner $200,000; however, Shatner turned it down, and said, "I do want to go up but I need guarantees I'll definitely come back."[21]
In the Halloween series, Michael Myers wears a William Shatner mask that is painted white.
The character of Zapp Brannigan in the TV series Futurama was conceived as a mixture of both Shatner and Kirk, with Brannigan frequently exhibiting character traits associated with both. On the DVD commentary of Zapp's first appearance, the creators describe him as being "40% Kirk, 60% Shatner", and that the initial premise for the character was "What if the real William Shatner was the captain of the Enterprise instead of Kirk." Shatner himself - along with most of the rest of the surviving Star Trek cast - would appear in an episode during the series' fourth season. In a later episode the character Calculon exclaims "Great Shatner's Ghost!".
On the 1996 MTV Movie Awards, William Shatner reprises his roles as James T. Kirk, T. J. Hooker, and the host of Rescue 911 in a parody of Se7en.
In the 3rd Rock From The Sun episode "Frozen Dick", John Lithgow's character has a panic attack after seeing something on the wing of an aircraft. This is an allusion to a scene played by Lithgow in Twilight Zone: The Movie, which itself is an updated version of an original The Twilight Zone episode, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", in which the same role was played by William Shatner. In the later 3rd Rock episode "Dick's Big Giant Headache", Shatner, playing the Big Giant Head, mentions to Dick that he saw something on the wing of his plane, and Lithgow exclaims, "The same thing happened to me!".
In the animated series The Critic, which took shots at most of Hollywood, Shatner was a frequent and seemingly favorite target of satire. In one episode the main character denounces an actor as "worse than Shatner".
The "Dream On" episode of Beavis and Butt-Head contains impersonation of Captain Kirk by Butt-Head.
On The Simpsons, Shatner's singing career is a constant subject of ridicule, specifically in the episode "Dude, Where's My Ranch?".
In the movie Fight Club, Edward Norton's character is walking with Brad Pitt's character and they are discussion their ideal celebrity fight partners. The conversation ends when Norton says he'd fight William Shatner.
In the animated television program Family Guy Shatner has been portrayed with a staccato vocal delivery as well as wildly gesticulating body language, both are wild exaggerations of his distinct style.
"Weird Al" Yankovic, in his song "eBay" from Poodle Hat CD mentions bidding on "Shatner's old toupee" in the satirical song about the variety of odd items available on the auction website.
0 Replies
bobsmythhawk
1
Reply
Sat 22 Mar, 2008 03:26 pm
Roger Whittaker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Roger Whittaker (born March 22, 1936 in Nairobi, Kenya) is a British singer/songwriter and musician with worldwide record sales of more than 55 million. His music can be described as folk or easy listening. In his early career, his trademark was his whistling ability.
Childhood and beginning
Whittaker's parents, Edward and Viola, were originally from Staffordshire, England, where they owned and operated a grocery shop. His father was involved in a motorcycle accident, and the family moved to a farm in Kenya because of the better climate. That Whittaker would eventually become a musician was no surprise, since his grandfather sang in various clubs, and his father played the violin. Roger learned to play the guitar.
Whittaker was drafted into national service, and he spent two years in uniform in the Kenya Regiment [1]. In 1956, he was demobilized and decided that it was time to concentrate on a career in medicine. He enrolled at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
He left the university after 18 months and joined the civil service education department to try teaching.
Recording and performing career
To further his teaching career, Whittaker moved to Britain in September 1959. For the next three years, he studied zoology, biochemistry, and marine biology at the University of Wales, Bangor and received a B.Sc. He was one of the brightest students in his class. He continued to sing in local clubs, and released some of his songs on flexi-discs included with the campus newspaper, the Bangor University Rag. Shortly afterwards, he was signed to Fontana records who released his first professional single, "The Charge of The Light Brigade," in 1962.
In the summer of 1962, he appeared at a professional gig in Portrush, Northern Ireland. He landed his first major breakthrough when he was signed to appear on an Ulster Television show called "This And That." His second single, and the first to break into the UK Top 30 charts, was a Jimmy Dean cover of "Steel Men," released in June 1962.
In the spring of 1964, Roger met Natalie O'Brien, and they were married on August 15 of that year. They have five children, Emily (May 28, 1968), Lauren (June 4, 1970), Jessica (February 14, 1973), Guy (November 15, 1974) and Alexander (April 7, 1978).
In 1968, Whittaker had switched record labels, and in the autumn of 1969 EMI had released "Durham Town (The Leavin')," which became Whittaker's first Top 20 hit in Britain. In the spring of 1970, RCA Victor Records had released the uptempo "New World In The Morning" in the United States, where it became a Top 20 hit in the Easy Listening chart.
In 1971, Whittaker first recorded "The Last Farewell," which would become his biggest hit and a signature song, selling over 11 million copies worldwide. Whittaker also established himself in country music with "I Love You Because" entering into the country chart in late 1983. In 1979, Whittaker wrote the song Call My Name which reached the final of the UK Eurovision selection, A Song For Europe. Whittaker originally planned to perform the song himself, but opted for Eleanor Keenan to sing the song at the final. However, due to a lightning strike by BBC staff, the show was abandoned and the judges placed the song joint 2nd based on audio tapes. Later, an error in the voting was corrected and the song was downgraded to 3rd place. Whittaker himself recorded the track and had a hit in several European countries.
All of Whittaker's chart hits were issued by EMI. However, although they were issued in vinyl, cassette and 8-track versions of albums during this timeframe, no CD version has ever been issued. All recordings currently available have been re-recorded and are credited to Whittaker's 'Tembo' label. Any claims that the recordings are his 'original hits' are incorrect as without exception they have all been re-recorded.
In the 1970s and '80s, Whittaker had a lot of success in Germany, with songs produced by Nick Munro. Whittaker couldn't speak German, but sang the songs phonetically. He appeared on German and Danish TV several times [2], and was on the UK Top Of The Pops show ten times in the early to mid '70s.
In 1986, he published his autobiography, So Far, So Good, co-written with his wife.
In March of 2006, Whittaker announced on his website that a 2007 Germany tour would be his last, and he will limit future performances to "occasional concerts."
Tours
In 1976, Whittaker undertook his first tour of the United States.
In 2003 he again toured Germany. After recovering from heart problems at the end of 2004, he started touring in Germany in 2005, and then in UK from May to July.
Awards
In his career to date, Whittaker has won over 250 silver, gold and platinum albums.
He was part of a successful British team that won the annual Knokke music festival in Belgium and won the Press Prize as the personality of the festival.
Ivor Novello awards (twice) for songwriting in 1971-72 and for The Last Farewell in 1975-76 (?) (unconfirmed - e-mail query pending)
Gold Badge Award, from the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters in 1988 [3]
Golden Tuning Fork (Goldene Stimmgabel in Germany) in 1986, based on record sales and TV viewer votes.
Trivia
A Finnish band called Sleepy Sleepers recorded Kössi ja Roger (Kössi and Roger) as a tribute to Roger Whittaker. The story of the song involves Roger whistling while drinking and it leads to a heavy hangover. It also involves Kössi the Kangaroo and Roger escaping from the Mafia, which is led by Frutti Di Mare.
In the episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Puma Man; the bots Crow and Servo create a bust of Roger Whittaker in an attempt to control him. Whittaker was played by Kevin Murphy in the episode.
He recorded many of his hits in French, e.g. Durham Town became Mon Pays Bleu.
For unknown reasons, the original hit recordings of "The Last Farewell" and "Durham Town" are not available on CD anywhere. All current CD releases contain only re-records.
The Last Farewell's instrumentals are used by WGN-TV, Chicago, as background for station breaks.
"New World in the Morning" is the theme music for Marcus Lush's breakfast show on New Zealand's Radio Live. Lush believes Whittaker has 'a song for every human emotion' and often takes listeners' calls about the singer.
In an episode of the TV series Life on Mars, DCI Gene Hunt sheepishly admits to DI Sam Tyler that he likes Whittaker's music, but not as much as his wife does. At the end of the episode, as Tyler is sleeping, his television suddenly flickers into life to show Whittaker performing "I Don't Believe In If Anymore".
The Swedish football team AIK uses the melody from "The Last Farewell" in its anthem Å vi e AIK. Before every game all the fans sing this anthem together as the team enters the field.
In 1982 Whittaker became the first artist to record Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley's "Wind Beneath My Wings." The song did not become a chart-making hit, however, until Gary Morris recorded it in 1983 for his album Why Lady Why, eventually peaking at #4 on the country charts.
During the last tour of the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (R09) at the end of the 1970's, the BBC produced a TV documentary of the men and the boat ("Home From The Sea"). The theme tune was of course "The Last Farewell," sung not by Roger but by the ship's crew and accompanied by the Royal Marine Band. It can be found on the album 'Top BBC TV Themes Vol.2'.
0 Replies
bobsmythhawk
1
Reply
Sat 22 Mar, 2008 03:30 pm
0 Replies
bobsmythhawk
1
Reply
Sat 22 Mar, 2008 03:33 pm
Matthew Modine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born Matthew Avery Modine
March 22, 1959 (1959-03-22) (age 49)
Loma Linda, California, U.S.
Spouse(s) Caridad Rivera (October 31, 1980 - present; 2 children)
Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22, 1959) is an American actor.
Biography
Early life
Modine, the youngest of seven children, was born in Loma Linda, California, the son of Dolores (née Warner), a bookkeeper, and Mark Alexander Modine, who managed drive-in theaters.[1][2] Modine's father was a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (although later lapsed from the religion), into which Modine was baptized.[3][4][5] Modine spent his formative years growing up in Utah. When he was ten years old, he saw a documentary about the making of the film Oliver!. Inspired by the young actors and their performances, Modine decided to become an actor. He found a dance school in Provo, Utah and began taking tap dancing lessons. He also joined the junior high school Glee Club when his family moved to Midvale, Utah. He attended Marian Catholic High School for two and a half years, then graduated from Mar Vista High School in Imperial Beach, California. Modine moved to New York City to study acting. It was there that he began working with the legendary acting teacher Stella Adler.
Career
His first film role was in John Sayles' Baby It's You. His performance caught the eye of director Harold Becker, who cast him in Vision Quest (Crazy for You) based on the novel by Terry Davis. It was the director Robert Altman that propelled Modine into international stardom with his film adaptation of David Rabe's play Streamers. Modine and his fellow castmates won an unprecedented Best Actor prize from the Venice Film Festival for this tragic story of young American soldiers about to be shipped to Vietnam. Modine played Mel Gibson's brother in Mrs. Soffel and starred with Nicolas Cage in Alan Parker's Birdy. The film was awarded a prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Modine might be best known for his role as "Private Joker," the main character of Stanley Kubrick's 1987 war movie Full Metal Jacket. Afterward, he played the dangerous young criminal, Treat, in Alan Pakula's film version of the hugely successful play Orphans by writer Lyle Kessler and the goofy, earnest Det. Mike Downey, in Jonathan Demme's screwball comedy Married to the Mob opposite Michelle Pfeiffer. Modine was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performances in And the Band Played On and What the Deaf Man Heard.
In 1995, he worked opposite Geena Davis in Cutthroat Island, a movie that is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the biggest box office flop of all time.[6] In 1999, he made his feature directorial debut with If... Dog... Rabbit. This came after the success of three short films that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival: When I was a Boy (co-directed with Todd Field) Smoking written by David Sedaris, and Ecce Pirate.
His most recent films include The Go Go Tales, "Have Dreams, Will Travel", Opa!, and Mary, which won a prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Pop culture references
Canadian girl-pop band, Pony Up!, wrote and recorded a song called "Matthew Modine" on their self-titled debut album. Actor Martin Short's character Jiminy Glick has made repeated references to his twin sons, Matthew and Modine.
In the song, "Babysitting is a Bum Deal," from the comedic album, "Family Guy: Live in Vegas" (2005), one line of the character Stewie's lyrics say: "And I grunted and pooped out a poop that looked something like Matthew Modine!" In 2007, a Baltimore based music blog featured a fictitious movie trailer titled, "Rad II: The Matthew Modine Challenge".[7] The concept stems from an encounter the actors had with Modine in the Spring of 2006 at a restaurant near the Washington Monument. Modine challenged the boys to race to the top of the monument and back in under 15 minutes without vomiting.
"Full Metal Jacket Diary" is a critically acclaimed book written by Modine. The book is a day-to-day account of his experience while working on Full Metal Jacket, a film that many critics consider one of the greatest war films ever made. In addition to the diary, the book is filled with incredible photos Modine shot using a Rolleiflex camera. A website has been created so that owners of the book can register their book using the unique serial number (1-20,000) on the back of each book.
BICYCLE FOR A DAY is an environmental initiative Modine created with Charles Finch. Modine directed the BFAD film for Young Global Leaders and it was presented to an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland (2006).
0 Replies
bobsmythhawk
1
Reply
Sat 22 Mar, 2008 03:34 pm
Some actual label instructions
1. On a blanket from Taiwan - NOT TO BE USED AS PROTECTION FROM A TORNADO.
2. On a helmet mounted mirror used by US cyclists - REMEMBER, OBJECTS IN THE MIRROR ARE ACTUALLY BEHIND YOU.
3. On a Taiwanese shampoo - USE REPEATEDLY FOR SEVERE DAMAGE.
4. On the bottle-top of a (UK) flavored milk drink - AFTER OPENING, KEEP UPRIGHT.
5. On a New Zealand insect spray - THIS PRODUCT NOT TESTED ON ANIMALS.
6. In a US guide to setting up a new computer - TO AVOID CONDENSATION FORMING, ALLOW THE BOXES TO WARM UP TO ROOM TEMPERATURE BEFORE OPENING. (Sensible, but the instruction was INSIDE the box.)
7. On an American Airlines packet of nuts INSTRUCTIONS - OPEN PACKET, EAT NUTS.
8. In some countries, on the bottom of Coke bottles - OPEN OTHER END.
9. On a packet of Sunmaid raisins - WHY NOT TRY TOSSING OVER YOUR FAVOURITE BREAKFAST CEREAL?
10. On a Sears hairdryer - DO NOT USE WHILE SLEEPING.
11. On a bag of Fritos - YOU COULD BE A WINNER! NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. DETAILS INSIDE.
12. On a bar of Dial soap - DIRECTIONS - USE LIKE REGULAR SOAP.
13. On Tesco's Tiramisu dessert (printed on bottom of the box) - DO NOT TURN UPSIDE DOWN.
14. On Marks & Spencer Bread Pudding - PRODUCT WILL BE HOT AFTER HEATING.
15. On a Korean kitchen knife - WARNING: KEEP OUT OF CHILDREN.
16. On a string of Chinese-made Christmas lights - FOR INDOOR OR OUTDOOR USE ONLY.
17. On a Japanese food processor - NOT TO BE USED FOR THE OTHER USE. (Now I'm curious.)
19. On Nightly sleep aid: WARNING: MAY CAUSE DROWSINESS. (Duh!)
20. On a Swedish chainsaw - DO NOT ATTEMPT TO STOP CHAIN WITH YOUR HANDS OR GENITALS.
21. On a child's superman costume - WEARING OF THIS GARMENT DOES NOT ENABLE YOU TO FLY.
22. On some frozen dinners: SERVING SUGGESTION: DEFROST.
23. On a hotel provided shower cap in a box: FITS ONE HEAD.
24. On packaging for a Rowenta iron: DO NOT IRON CLOTHES ON BODY.
25. On Boot's "Children's" cough medicine: DO NOT DRIVE CAR OR OPERATE MACHINERY
1. On a blanket from Taiwan - NOT TO BE USED AS PROTECTION FROM A TORNADO.
2. On a helmet mounted mirror used by US cyclists - REMEMBER, OBJECTS IN THE MIRROR ARE ACTUALLY BEHIND YOU.
3. On a Taiwanese shampoo - USE REPEATEDLY FOR SEVERE DAMAGE.
4. On the bottle-top of a (UK) flavored milk drink - AFTER OPENING, KEEP UPRIGHT.
5. On a New Zealand insect spray - THIS PRODUCT NOT TESTED ON ANIMALS.
6. In a US guide to setting up a new computer - TO AVOID CONDENSATION FORMING, ALLOW THE BOXES TO WARM UP TO ROOM TEMPERATURE BEFORE OPENING. (Sensible, but the instruction was INSIDE the box.)
7. On an American Airlines packet of nuts INSTRUCTIONS - OPEN PACKET, EAT NUTS.
8. In some countries, on the bottom of Coke bottles - OPEN OTHER END.
9. On a packet of Sunmaid raisins - WHY NOT TRY TOSSING OVER YOUR FAVOURITE BREAKFAST CEREAL?
10. On a Sears hairdryer - DO NOT USE WHILE SLEEPING.
11. On a bag of Fritos - YOU COULD BE A WINNER! NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. DETAILS INSIDE.
12. On a bar of Dial soap - DIRECTIONS - USE LIKE REGULAR SOAP.
13. On Tesco's Tiramisu dessert (printed on bottom of the box) - DO NOT TURN UPSIDE DOWN.
14. On Marks & Spencer Bread Pudding - PRODUCT WILL BE HOT AFTER HEATING.
15. On a Korean kitchen knife - WARNING: KEEP OUT OF CHILDREN.
16. On a string of Chinese-made Christmas lights - FOR INDOOR OR OUTDOOR USE ONLY.
17. On a Japanese food processor - NOT TO BE USED FOR THE OTHER USE. (Now I'm curious.)
HEY. Who's accusing me of losing my key? 
)
