In my wildest dreams, I would not have thought to pair Meatloaf with Pavorotti. But, it worked.
edgar, your choice led me
here.
Can't imagine where I've heard it before, although my dad liked comical stuff so that might explain it. Gave me a smile anyway.
Yeah, the naughty lady. Love that one.
edgar, Loved the Ames Bros. and their bird allusion. Also know Walk on By, but like Tai, I don't know why.
Yep, Tai. I know that one as well. Hey, gal, nine day old babies can be very naughty. Just ask any bedraggled mother.
Thinking of mine and Eva's ballet lessons, I decided to play this one for my goodnight song, folks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6ZtOAoPyHo
Tomorrow, world.
From Letty with love
Good early morning, WA2K radio audience.
Thanks, edgar, for the late night listening, and RH, it's nice to see you back again.
Anyone remember Mr. Newton's cradle?
Today is Paula Abdul's birthday, so let's listen to that old theme of opposites attract, shall we?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbknGnZXHUk&feature=related
Good Morning Letty, I was playing a golden oldie earlier on called "Love letters in the sand" by Pat Boone. On searching a little bit more I came across a song usually attributed to Little Richard but Pat certainly does it justice too. Listen to "Tutti Frutti".
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Ymew1nkkvCI
Dutchy, how delightful to see our cosmic eagle back again. Amazing, buddy, because I had no idea that Pat did Tutti Frutti. Love it, Aussie.
Speaking of the past, folks, how many of you recall this song.
It also reminds me of "Build Thee More Stately Mansions, Oh, my Soul."
A sigh for Anthony and Audrey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEMe_Ei7PME
Green mansions is the place to be
Tree living is the life for me
No lines
Long vines
You are my wife
Goodbye city life
Green mansions we are there
edgar, edgar,edgar. You are getting as bad as Gus. (wonder where he is?)
Continuing with "green", here's a funny one by Verdi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDhHxIz83Ic
That was beautiful, letty.
Charles Coburn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born Charles Douville Coburn
June 19, 1877(1877-06-19)
Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Died August 30, 1961 (aged 84)
Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, New York, U.S.
Occupation Actor
Years active 1930s - 1950s
Spouse(s) Winifred Natzka
Ivah Wills (widowed)
Awards won
Academy Awards
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
1943 The More the Merrier
Charles Douville Coburn (June 19, 1877 - August 30, 1961) was an Academy Award-winning American film and theater actor.
Biography
Coburn was born in Savannah, Georgia, the son of Scots-Irish Americans Emma Louise Sprigman and Moses Douville Coburn. He started out doing odd jobs at the local theater, handing out programs, ushering, being the doorman. By the age of 17 or 18, he was the theater manager.[1][2] He later moved on to acting and made his debut on Broadway in 1901. Coburn formed an acting company with Ivah Wills in 1905.[1][2] They married in 1906. In addition to managing the company, the couple performed frequently on Broadway.
After his wife's death in 1937, Coburn relocated to Los Angeles, California and began acting in films. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The More the Merrier in 1943. He was also nominated for The Devil and Miss Jones in 1941 and The Green Years in 1946. Other notable film credits include Of Human Hearts (1938), The Lady Eve (1941), Kings Row (1942), The Constant Nymph (1943), Heaven Can Wait (1943), Wilson (1944), Impact (1949), The Paradine Case (1947), Everybody Does It (1950), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and John Paul Jones (1959). He usually played comedic parts, but Kings Row and Wilson were dramatic parts, showing his versatility.
Coburn has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to motion pictures at 6240 Hollywood Boulevard.
Hollywood blacklist
In the 1940s, Coburn served as vice-president of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a right-wing group opposed to Communists in Hollywood. His support for the Hollywood blacklist of anyone suspected of having any connection to Communism, supported by, among others, John Wayne, Hedda Hopper, Adolphe Menjou, Ward Bond, Robert Taylor, and Ginger Rogers led to many talented actors, writers and directors forced out of Hollywood and deprived of their livelihood.
Personal life
He married two times. His first wife was Ivah Wills Coburn (c. 1882-1937), an American actress and theatrical producer. In 1959, Coburn married Winifred Natzka, who was forty-one years his junior and the widow of Oscar Natzka, a famed New Zealand operatic bass baritone.
He died from a heart attack on August 30, 1961 in New York, New York, aged 84.
Moe Howard
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born Harry Moses Horwitz
June 19, 1897(1897-06-19)
Bensonhurst, New York
Died May 4, 1975 (aged 77)
Los Angeles, California
Years active 1909-1975
Spouse(s) Helen Schonberger
(1925-1975)
Moe Howard (June 19, 1897 - May 4, 1975) was one of the Three Stooges, the slapstick comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television for four decades. His distinctive hairstyle came about when he was a boy and cut off his curls with a pair of scissors, producing a ragged shape approximating a helmet.
Biography
Early life
Moe was born Harry Moses Horwitz in the Brooklyn, New York neighborhood of Bensonhurst to Solomon Horwitz and Jennie Gorovitz. He was the fourth of the five Horwitz brothers and of Levite and Lithuanian Jewish ancestry. In his younger years, he got the nickname Moe. Although his parents were not involved in show business, Moe, his older brother Samuel, and younger brother Jerome, all eventually became world-famous as members of the Three Stooges.
In school, Moe originally did quite well, aided by a prolific memory, able to quickly memorize anything. In later years, this helped him in his acting career, making memorizing his lines quick and easy. Moe loved reading, as his older brother Jack commented "I had many Horatio Alger books and it was Moe's greatest pleasure to read them. They started his imaginative mind working and gave him ideas by the dozen. I think they were instrumental in putting thoughts into his head to become a person of good character and to become successful."[1]
Although his "bowl-cut" hairstyle is now widely recognized, as a child his mother refused to cut his hair, letting it grow to shoulder length. One day, he could not take his classmates' years of teasing any longer, sneaked off to a shed in his parents' back yard, and with the help of a friend and a mixing bowl, cut his hair. Moe was so afraid his mother would be upset (she enjoyed curling his hair) that he hid under the house for several hours, causing a panic. He finally came out and his mother was so glad to see him that she did not even mention the hair.
Moe began to develop an interest in acting and, as a result, his schoolwork suffered. He began playing hooky from school in order to attend theater shows. Moe said, "I used to stand outside the theater knowing the truant officer was looking for me. I would stand there 'til someone came along and then ask them to buy my ticket. It was necessary for an adult to accompany a juvenile into the theater. When I succeeded I'd give him my ten cents ?- that's all it cost ?- and I'd go up to the top of the balcony where I'd put my chin on the rail and watch, spellbound, from the first act to the last. I would usually select the actor I liked the most and follow his performance throughout the play."[1]
Despite his decreasing attendance Moe graduated from P.S. 163 in Brooklyn, but he dropped out of Erasmus Hall High School after only two months. This was the end of his formal education. To mollify his parents he took a class in electric shop, but quit after a few months to pursue a career in show business.[1]
Moe began by running errands for no fee at the Vitagraph Studios in Midwood, Brooklyn (currently the home of the CBS daytime serial As the World Turns), where he was rewarded with bit parts in movies being made there. Unfortunately, a fire at the studios in 1910 destroyed the film of most of Moe's work done there. In 1909 he met a young man named Lee Nash who would later provide a significant boost to Moe's career aspirations. In 1912, they both held a summer job working in Annette Kellerman's aquatic act as diving "girls."[1]
Career
Moe continued his attempts at gaining show business experience by singing in a bar with his older brother Shemp until their father put a stop to it, and in 1914 joining a performing troupe on a Mississippi River showboat for the next two summers. In 1921, he joined Lee Nash, who was now firmly established in show business as Ted Healy, in a vaudeville routine. In 1923, Moe spotted Shemp watching the show and yelled at him from the stage. Shemp and Moe heckled each other to a large positive response from the audience and Healy hired Shemp as a permanent part of the act. Next, Healy recruited a vaudeville violinist, Larry Fine, in 1925, to join the comedy troupe, which was billed as "Ted Healy and His Racketeers" (later changed to Ted Healy and His Stooges).[1]
On June 7, 1925, Moe Howard married Helen Schonberger, a cousin of magician Harry Houdini. The next year, Helen pressured Moe to leave the stage, as she was pregnant and wanted Moe nearer to home. Moe attempted to earn a living in a succession of "normal" jobs, none of which was very successful. He soon returned to working with Ted Healy.[1]
By 1930, Ted Healy and his Stooges were on the verge of "the big time," and made their first movie, Soup to Nuts ?- featuring Ted Healy, and his four Stooges (Moe, Shemp, Larry, and one-shot Stooge Fred Sanborn) ?- for Fox Films (later Twentieth Century-Fox). Shemp had never seen eye-to-eye with the hard-drinking and sometimes belligerent Healy, and left the group shortly after filming in order to pursue a solo film career. After a short search for a replacement, Moe suggested his youngest brother, Jerome ("Jerry" to his friends, "Babe" to Moe and Shemp). Healy originally passed on Jerry, but Jerry was so eager to join the act that he shaved off his luxuriant auburn mustache and hair and ran on stage during Healy's routine. Healy hired Jerry, who took the stage name of "Curly."[1]
Healy and the Stooges were hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as "nut" comics, to liven up feature films and short subjects with their antics. After a number of appearances in MGM films, Healy was being groomed as a solo character comedian. With Healy pursuing his own career, his Stooges (now christened The Three Stooges) signed with Columbia Pictures where they stayed until December 1957, making 190 short films.[1]
With Healy's departure, Moe's character assumed Healy's previous role of the aggressive, take-charge leader of the Three Stooges: a short-tempered bully, prone to slapstick violence against the other two Stooges. In many ways, this was the antithesis of Moe Howard's real personality; he was quiet, loving, and generous to his friends and family. He was also a shrewd businessman, and invested the money made from his film career wisely. However, the Stooges got no subsequent royalties from any of their many shorts: they were paid a flat amount for each one and Columbia owned the rights (and profits) thereafter.[1]
In 1934, Columbia released its first Three Stooges short, Woman Haters, where their stooge characters were not quite finalized. It was not a Stooge comedy in the classic sense, but rather a romantic farce; Columbia was then making a series of two-reel "Musical Novelties" with the dialogue spoken in rhyme, and the Stooges were recruited to support comedienne Marjorie White. Only after the Stooges became established as short-subject stars were the main titles changed to give the Stooges top billing. The version seen on TV and video today is this reissue print.[1]
Their next film, Punch Drunks, was the only short film that was written entirely by the Three Stooges, with Curly as a reluctant boxer who goes ballistic every time he hears "Pop Goes the Weasel." Their next short, Men in Black (a parody of the hospital drama Men in White) was their first and only film to be nominated for an Academy Award (with the classic catchphrase, "Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard"). They continued making short films at a steady pace of eight per year, such as Three Little Pigskins (with a very young Lucille Ball), Pop Goes the Easel, Hoi Polloi (where two professors make a bet trying to turn the Three Stooges into gentlemen), and many others.[1]
In the 1940s, the Three Stooges became topical, making several anti-Nazi movies including You Nazty Spy! (Moe's favorite Three Stooges film), I'll Never Heil Again, and They Stooge to Conga. Moe's accurate impersonation of Adolf Hitler highlighted these shorts, the first of which preceded Charles Chaplin's controversial film satire, The Great Dictator, by months.[1]
On May 6, 1946, during the filming of Half-Wits Holiday, brother Curly suffered a stroke. He was replaced in the Three Stooges by Shemp, who agreed to return to the group until Curly would be well enough to rejoin. Although Curly recovered enough to appear in Hold That Lion! in a cameo appearance (the only Three Stooges film to contain all three Howard brothers; Moe, Curly, and Shemp), he soon suffered a series of strokes which led to his death on January 18, 1952.[1]
The Three Stooges' series of shorts continued to be popular through the 1950s; Shemp co-starred in 73 comedies. (The Stooges also co-starred in a George O'Brien western, Gold Raiders, in 1951.) Moe also co-produced occasional western and musical films in the 1950s.
On November 22, 1955, Shemp died of a heart attack, necessitating the need for another Stooge. Producer Jules White used old footage of Shemp to complete four more films with Columbia regular Joe Palma filling in for Shemp, until Harry Cohn hired Joe Besser in 1956. According to Moe's autobiography, Howard wanted a "two stooge" act, and that it was Cohn's idea, not Moe's, to replace Shemp as part of the act. Joe, Larry, and Moe filmed 16 shorts through December 1957. With the death of Columbia head Harry Cohn, the making of short subjects came to an end, and Howard was forced to take a job as a gofer at Columbia.[1]
Fortunately for the Stooges, Columbia sold the Three Stooges' library of short films to television under the "Screen Gems" brand. With this, the Three Stooges quickly gained a new audience of young fans. Ever the businessman, Moe Howard put together a new Stooges act, with burlesque and screen comic Joe DeRita (dubbed "Curly-Joe" due to his resemblance to Curly Howard) as the new "third Stooge." The revitalized trio starred in several feature-length movies: Have Rocket, Will Travel, Snow White and the Three Stooges, The Three Stooges Meet Hercules, The Three Stooges in Orbit, The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze, and The Outlaws Is Coming!.[1]
Moe, Larry and Curly-Joe continued to make live appearances, many notable "guest appearances", notably in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and 4 for Texas. The boys tried their hand at a children's cartoon show titled The New 3 Stooges, with the cartoons sandwiched between live action segments of the boys. However, by 1965, the three had aged too much to continue performing slapstick comedy. They did receive royalties from their features with Curly-Joe, and income from the volume of Three Stooges merchandising.
Moe sold real estate when his show-business life slowed down, although he still did minor roles and walk-on bits in movies (Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title, Dr. Death: Seeker of Souls) and television appearances (Here's Hollywood, Toast of the Town, Masquerade Party, and several appearances on The Mike Douglas Show). The Stooges also made several appearances on late night television, particularly The Tonight Show.
The Stooges attempted to make a final film in 1969, Kook's Tour, which was essentially an early "reality TV" show of Moe, Larry and Curly-Joe, out of character, touring the country and interacting with fans. On January 8, 1970, Larry suffered a major stroke during filming, and died on January 24, 1975, at age 72. Moe asked long-time Three Stooges supporting actor Emil Sitka to replace Larry but this final lineup never recorded any material before Moe's death on May 4, 1975, just a month shy of his 78th birthday.[1]
Moe and the Three Stooges received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 30, 1983, at 1560 Vine Street.
Death
A lifelong smoker, Moe Howard died of lung cancer on May 4, 1975. He was interred at Hillside Memorial Park, Culver City, California. His wife died of a heart attack in October 1975 and is buried next to him.
Moe and Helen had two children: Joan Howard Maurer (born 1927) and Paul Howard (born 1935).
Mildred Natwick
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born June 19, 1905(1905-06-19)
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Died 25 October 1994 (aged 89)
New York, New York, USA
Years active 1940-1988
Awards won
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a Movie
1974 The Snoop Sisters
Mildred Natwick (June 19, 1905 - October 25, 1994) was an American stage and film actress.
Biography
A native of Baltimore, Maryland, after graduating from Bennett College with a degree in theater arts, Mildred Natwick toured with a number of stage productions before her first Broadway production, Carrie Nation.
Throughout the 1930s she starred in a number of plays, frequently collaborating with friend and actor-director-playwright Joshua Logan. Natwick made her film debut in John Ford's The Long Voyage Home as a cockney prostitute, and she movingly portrayed the landlady, an important character in 1945s "The Enchanted Cottage." However, she did not pursue a Hollywood career in earnest until the mid-1940s. Even after establishing her film career, Natwick could still frequently be seen in stage productions. She was twice nominated for Tony Awards: in 1957 for The Waltz of the Toreadors, and, in 1972 for the musical, 70 Girls 70.
Natwick made her name in small but memorable roles in several of John Ford classics, including 3 Godfathers (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1948), and The Quiet Man (1952), as the sheltered widow Mrs. Tillane. The character actress was often given one-scene parts or shallow roles which she transcended with her personality and talent, such as her role as a birth control advocate in the comedy Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), the "well-preserved woman" in Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble with Harry, and a sorceress in The Court Jester.
After leaving film in favor of stage and television in the mid-1950s, she returned with Barefoot in the Park as Jane Fonda's mother. The role earned Natwick her first and only Academy Award nomination. For much of the following decade, Natwick appeared exclusively in television, winning an Emmy Award for her role in the limited series The Snoop Sisters, a mystery which paired her with fellow film veteran Helen Hayes, and is fondly remembered as the rather British "Nanny" in Eloise. Her final role was in the 1988 film Dangerous Liaisons. Natwick died of cancer at age 89 in New York City.
Mildred was the first cousin of Myron 'Grim' Natwick, the creator of Betty Boop for the Fliescher Studios, and the primary animator of Snow White for Walt Disney Studios.
Louis Jourdan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born June 19, 1919 (1919-06-19) (age 89)
Marseille, France
Spouse(s) Berthe Frederique (1944 - present)
Louis Jourdan (born June 19, 1919) is a French film actor. He is known for his roles in several Hollywood films, including Gigi (1958) and Octopussy (1983).
Biography
Early life
Jourdan was born as Louis Gendre in Marseille, France, the son of Yvonne (née Jourdan) and Henry Gendre, a hotel owner.[1] He was educated in France, Turkey and England, and trained as an actor at the École Dramatique, making his film debut in 1939.
Following the German occupation of France during World War II, he continued to make films but after refusing to participate in Nazi propaganda films, he joined the French Resistance; his father was arrested by the Gestapo.[2] After the 1944 liberation of France by the Allies, Jourdan married Berthe Frederique, with whom he had a son.
Career
In 1947 Jourdan accepted an offer from a Hollywood studio to appear in The Paradine Case, an Alfred Hitchcock drama starring Gregory Peck. There he became friends with several stars who shared his love of croquet. After a number of American films, most notably the 1954 romantic drama Three Coins in the Fountain, he made his Broadway debut in the lead role in Billy Rose' drama, The Immoralist. He returned to Broadway for a short run in 1955 and that year made his U.S. television debut as Inspector Beaumont in the series Paris Precinct.
During the 1950s Jourdan made several international films, including playing the male lead in The Bride is Too Beautiful opposite Brigitte Bardot. However, he may be best remembered as the romantic lead opposite Leslie Caron and Maurice Chevalier in the 1958 film version of the Colette novel, Gigi. The film earned nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
In later years Jourdan also appeared on television, such as 1977's Count Dracula for the BBC, and the 1978 Columbo episode, Murder Under Glass, where he played a killer caught by the eponymous, unorthodox, rumpled American detective, Lieutenant Columbo (played by Peter Falk).
In 1983, he was cast as the villainous Kamal Khan in the James Bond film, Octopussy. In 1984 he played the role of Pierre de Coubertin in The First Olympics: Athens 1896, a TV series about the 1896 Summer Olympics.
Personal life
Jourdan's only child, his son, Louis Henry Jourdan, died of a drug overdose in 1981 and was buried in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. Jourdan has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6153 and 6445 Hollywood Blvd.
He is retired and lives in California with his wife of over 60 years, Berthe Frederique "Quique" Jourdan.
