25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Television Permalink

Halle Berry

October 25, 2019

Halle Berry is an American actress, former fashion model, and beauty queen. Berry received an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and an NAACP Image Award for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was also nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in Monster’s Ball, becoming the first and, as of 2009, only woman of African American descent to have won the award for Best Actress. She is one of the most highly paid actresses in Hollywood and also a Revlon spokeswoman. She has also been involved in the production side of several of her films.

Before becoming an actress, Berry entered several beauty contests, finishing runner-up in the Miss USA, and coming in 6th place in the Miss World Pageant in 1986. Her breakthrough feature film role was in the 1991 Jungle Fever. This led to roles in The Flintstones, Bulworth, X-Men and its sequels, and as Bond Girl Jinx in Die Another Day. She also won a worst actress Razzie Award in 2005 for Catwoman and accepted the award in person.

Divorced from baseball player David Justice and musician Eric Benét, Berry dated French-Canadian model Gabriel Aubry from November 2005, through April, 2010. Their daughter, Nahla Ariela Aubry, was born on March 16, 2008.

Berry was born Maria Halle Berry, though her name was legally changed to Halle Maria Berry in 1971. Berry’s parents selected her middle name from Halle’s Department Store, which was then a local landmark in her birthplace of Cleveland, Ohio. Her mother, Judith Ann, who is Caucasian, was a psychiatric nurse. Her father, Jerome Jesse Berry, was an African American hospital attendant in the same psychiatric ward where her mother worked; he later became a bus driver. Berry’s maternal grandmother, Nellie Dicken, was born in Sawley, Derbyshire, England, while her maternal grandfather, Earl Ellsworth Hawkins, was born in Ohio. Berry’s parents divorced when she was four years old; she and her older sister Heidi were raised exclusively by her mother. Berry has said in published reports that she has been estranged from her father since her childhood, noting in 1992, “I haven’t heard from him since. Maybe he’s not alive.”

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures Permalink

Hank Mann

October 25, 2019

Hank Mann and “Mr Smith Goes to Washington”. One of his most famous bits was as the “glass door man” in the Three Stooges’ short “Men in Black”. Later in his career he continued to play bit parts in TV comedies, and made some appearances in several Jerry Lewis film comedies in the 1960’s. Although he never really retired completely from the film industry, his later years were spent as an apartment building manager with his wife, Dolly, in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles.

25 Oct 2019
Recording 1 Comment Permalink

Hank Williams

October 25, 2019 1 Comment

Hank Williams, born Hiram King Williams, was an American singer-songwriter and musician regarded as among the greatest country music stars of all time. He charted eleven number one songs between 1948 and 1953, though unable to read or write music to any significant degree. His hits included "Your Cheatin' Heart", "Hey Good Lookin'" and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry".

Williams died at age 29; his death is widely believed to have resulted from a mixture of alcohol and drugs.

His son Hank Williams, Jr., daughter Jett Williams, and grandchildren Hank Williams III, Holly Williams, and Hilary Williams are also professional singers.

His songs have been recorded by hundreds of other artists, many of whom have also had hits with the tunes, in a range of pop, gospel, blues and rock styles.

25 Oct 2019
Radio, Television Permalink

Hanna-Barbera

October 25, 2019

 

Hanna-Barbera

William Hanna and Joseph Barbera

 

Born William Hanna, July 14, 1910, in Melrose, NM;  Joseph Barbera, March 24, 1911, on the Lower Est Side (Little Italy), NY. Legendary innovators in early animation, Hanna and Barbera have treasured have treasured their more than 60-year prolific partnership. Hanna’s enthusiasm for animation started from day one on the job working for Harman-Ising, freelance producers of cartoons. In his splendid 1996 autobiography entitled A Cast of Friends (co-written with Tom Ito; Taylor Publishing Company, Texas), Hanna stated, “Everyone seemed to enjoy their work and each other, and the family-like atmosphere set a personal precedent for me early on of discovering my closest friendships with the people with whom I worked.” On his own, he expanded his work hours without asking for extra pay. He started to “suggest gags and comics situations for the cartoons.” He wrote, “A lot of these things just came to me while I was working away painting a cel or maybe chewing on a ham sandwich at noon…. Zany little stunts… I also began writing little songs that (were incorporation) into Warner Bros.’ early Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons.” Hanna found himself so enthralled with the process that he worked his normal shift, went home for dinner, then returned to the studio and worked until midnight. His normal workday was 14 to 15 hours long. By his third year, Hanna earned $37.50-a-week, then after a meeting with competitor Walt Disney, Harman-Ising raised his salary to $60.00. In June 1937, MGM Studio hired Hanna as a director and story editor in their new cartoon department. On his second day of work, Hanna met another new MGM animation employee, Joe Barbera. Barbera grew up spending a lot of time daydreaming and drawing. No one else in his large Italian family had the gift of illustration, and he can remember his mother only saving one of his works, but he knew he had special talents. In his excellent 1994 autobiography entitle “My Life in ‘Toon” (Turner Publishing, Atlanta, Georgia), Barbera wrote, “It seemed to me that God had looked around, saw me, and just said: You can draw. And that’s there was to it.” He was his high school’s champion athlete, drew sketches of pretty girls he wanted to (and did) date, edited and drew cartoons for the school newspaper, and graduated early. He skipped college as times were tough; the Great Depression loomed. Barbera, who was lousy at arithmetic, got a job-through one of his father’s contracts- as an assistant tax man at Irving Trust Bank. The year was 1928 and he was paid $16-a-week. He “hated each and every minute of it,” but with most of his friends out of work, he was too scared to leave. He likened his six years there to a “torturous jail sentence.” For mental survival, he spent his lunch hour drawing. At noon each Thursday, he submitted his cartoons to the top magazines of the day, Redbook and Collier’s. He dashed to the local subway and took the ride to Grand Central Station. From there, he made his way to Park Avenue, where both magazines were headquartered. Each week he would pick up his rejects and bring new creations. For two straight years his material was rejected. Finally, he sold a single cartoon to Collier’s magazine for $25, then sold another three. Barbera was awakened to the possibility of moving cartoons when he saw Walt Disney’s cartoon short, the “Skelton Dance” at the Roxy Theatre. Barbera even wrote his first and only fan letter to Walt Disney and included a sketch he had done of Mickey Mouse. To his surprise, Disney wrote back, thanking him for the drawing a signed the letter with his unique trademark script. Inspired, Barbera took art lessons at 50 cents a piece. Then, like most of the country, he found himself laid off, Instead of sadness, he felt freedom. With moxie, he took his four published cartoons to Van Beuren Studio, and was hired as in “in-betweener” sketch artist at $25-a-week. Like his soon-to-be partner, Hanna, Barbera did not restrict himself to normal work hours. He commented that he worked: “feverishly in my attic (apartment) every night, practicing, practicing and practicing – for all practical purposes, inventing (for myself) – the art and science of animation. After some months I became good enough to ascend to the next rung on the animation ladder, an assistant.” He traveled to the West Coast in his ’36 Ford roadster, and he landed a job at MGM Studio, where he met Hanna. Their first collaboration, “Puss Gets the Boot” introduced audiences to “tom and Jerry,” the world’s most famous cat and mouse team. They received acclaim after merging their “Jerry” animation with live actor Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh (1945), and providing the “Tom and Jerry” sequence for swim queen Esther Williams in Dangerous When Wet (1953), the  movie’s highlight. When the two collaborated, the result was nothing short of magical. With the onset of TV, the two men formed their own company in 1957. A coin toss determined whose name would be first. In 1958 they released the happy, good natured blue canine on “The Huckleberry Hound Show.” Every kid in America loved this dog. The show became an instant hit and won Hanna-Barbera its first Emmy Award. It was also the first time an animated TV series won an Emmy. Next, the team created the character Quick Draw McGraw in 1959. It featured a cuddly looking horse who walked around on two legs and wore a fine Stetson hat. America also fell in love with Jellystone Park’s two most fascinating creatures, Yogi Bear and Boo Boo Bear. Breaking new ground, in 1960 Hanna-Barbera created TV’s first animated family sitcom, “The Flintsones,” a landmark series for a number of reasons. “The Flintsones,” was the first animated series to go beyond the six or seven-minute cartoon format, and the first animated series to feature human characteristics. After its initial six-year run on ABC, it has remained one of the top-ranking animated programs in syndication history, with all original 166 episodes still being viewed worldwide. In a spin-off, there have been two major motion pictures with superstar actors playing the roles. Other Hanna-BArbera prime time cartoons include “The Jetsons” and “Top Cat.” Hanna-Barbera also created the precious cowardly Great Dane, Scooby-Doo, who possesses a scratchy voice and foolhardy laugh, “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?” made its TV debut in 1969 and continues to be one of TV’s longest-running animated series. In 1981 Hanna-Barbera did it again with “The Smurfs,” which won Daytime Emmy Awards in 1982 and 1983 for Outstanding Children’s Entertainment Series and a Humanitas Prize in 1987. Animated features include the tender family tale, Charlotte’s Web (1973), and Heidi’s Song (1982) a sweet movie for the very young… Fred Flintsone’s “Yabba Yabba Doo” is “an expression of jubilance; a spontaneous, loud exclamation of joy; an exchange of greetings between good friends denoting respect and admiration.” Hanna-Barbera became part of the Warner Bros. family in 1996. Warner Bros. houses one of the most impressive animation libraries in the world.

Hanna-Barbera collected seven Academy Awards for Tom and Jerry, eight Emmy Awards, one Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Governors Award. One Golden Globe. Inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1991. Their star dedication ceremony took place on July 21, 1976.

Hanna summed up his feelings in a sweet poem:
For the first few days, Hanna was my name
As it appeared on the Walk of Fame
I thought I heard people say
Is it Hanna or banana?
I told them either name is fine
I’m happy that my star will shine
And it will shine and shine and shine
As long as that big star is mine!”

Barbera said, “Only in America, this phrase certainly applies to a kid born in Brooklyn who started working in a deli at the age of eight. For this kid to be standing on Hollywood Boulevard, staring at a star with his name on it, certainly seems like he’s accomplished an impossible dream, but it’s happened to me. Many times I have stood on the corner close to my star and have marveled at the reaction of hundreds of tourists from all over the world as they read the names of the stars and pose for pictures with the stars on the great Hollywood Walk of Fame. Some have cameras, others are just laughing and mugging. And, as I watch these fans in Tinseltown, I realize that I’ve received more than 200 awards in my career, but none has meant as much to me as that fabulous Star on Hollywood Boulevard.

25 Oct 2019
Television Permalink

Hans Conried

October 25, 2019

Hans Conried was an American comedian, character actor and voice actor.

Conried was born Hans Georg Conried, Jr. in Baltimore, Maryland. His mother, Edith Beyr, was a descendant of Pilgrims, and his father, Hans Georg Conried, Sr., was a Jewish immigrant from Vienna, Austria. He was raised in Baltimore and in New York City. He studied acting at Columbia University and went on to play many major classical roles onstage. Conried worked in radio before breaking into movies in 1939, and was also a member of Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre Company. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in September 1944 during World War II.

Conried appeared regularly on many radio shows during the 1940s and 1950s, notably the George Burns & Gracie Allen Show, on which he played a psychiatrist whom George regularly consulted for help in dealing with the dizzy Gracie.

Conried’s most important single year was 1953, in which he made his Broadway debut in Can-Can and received screen credit in six films. His other Broadway productions include 70, Girls, 70 and Irene.

25 Oct 2019
Television Permalink

Guy Williams

October 25, 2019

Guy Williams was an American actor and former fashion model, who played swashbuckling action heroes in the 1950s and 1960s, but never quite achieved movie-star status

despite his appearance and charisma, which helped launch his early successful photographic modeling career.

Among his most prominent achievements were two memorable TV series: Zorro and Lost in Space, as the father of the Robinson family. The sci-fi TV program was highly popular, noted for the design of the sleek silver spacesuits, which Guy Williams wore in many publicity photos. His hobbies included: astronomy, chess, music, fencing, tropical fish, and sailing: he owned a 40-foot ketch called The Oceana.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures Permalink

Gypsy Rose Lee

October 25, 2019

Gypsy Rose Lee was an American burlesque entertainer, famous for her striptease act. She was also an actress, author and playwright, whose 1957 memoir was made into the stage musical and film ‘.

Gypsy Rose Lee was born Rose Louise Hovick‘ in Seattle, Washington in 1911, although her mother later shaved three years off both of her daughters’ ages. She was initially known by her middle name, Louise. Her mother, Rose Hovick, was a teenaged bride fresh from a convent school when she married Norwegian-American John Olaf Hovick, who was a newspaper advertising salesman and a reporter at The Seattle Times”. Louise’s sister, Ellen Evangeline Hovick, was born in 1913.

After their parents divorced, the girls supported the family by appearing in vaudeville where June’s talent shone, while Louise remained in the background. At the age of 15 in December 1928, June eloped with Bobby Reed, a dancer in the act, much to her mother’s displeasure, going on to a brief career in marathon dancing, which was more remunerative than tap dancing at the time.

Louise’s singing and dancing talents were insufficient to sustain the act without June. Eventually, it became apparent that Louise could make money in burlesque, which earned her legendary status as a classy and witty strip tease artist. Initially, her act was propelled forward when a shoulder strap on one of her gowns gave way, causing her dress to fall to her feet despite her efforts to cover herself; encouraged by the audience response, she went on to make the trick the focus of her performance.Her innovations were an almost casual strip style, compared to the herky-jerky styles of most burlesque strippers and she brought a sharp sense of humor into her act as well. She became as famous for her onstage wit as for her strip style, and—changing her stage name to Gypsy Rose Lee—she became one of the biggest stars of Minsky’s Burlesque, where she performed for four years. She was frequently arrested in raids on the Minsky brothers’ shows.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures Permalink

H. B. Warner

October 25, 2019

H. B. Warner was an English actor. He was born Henry Byron Charles Stewart Warner-Lickford in St John's Wood, London, England in 1875. His father, Charles Warner, was an actor, and, although young Henry had initially thought about studying medicine, he eventually followed in his father's footsteps and performed on the stage.

Warner began his film career in silent films in 1914, when he debuted in The Lost Paradise. He played lead roles, culminating in the role of Jesus Christ in Cecil B. DeMille's silent film epic, The King of Kings in 1927. Following that film, he was usually cast in dignified roles, in such movies as the 1930 version of Liliom, Grand Canary, the 1935 version of A Tale of Two Cities, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, the original 1937 version of Lost Horizon, You Can't Take It with You, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Rains Came, and The Corsican Brothers. In It's a Wonderful Life he played what was for him, an atypical role, as the drunken druggist. He also appeared in Sunset Boulevard and The Ten Commandments. Occasionally, Warner was seen in a sinister role, as in the 1941 film version of The Devil and Daniel Webster, in which he played the ghost of John Hathorne as well as Topper Returns from the same year.

Warner was married twice, to Rita Stanwood in 1919 and to F.R. Hamlin.

In December 1958 Warner died in Los Angeles, California of cardiac arrest, and he is buried in Chapel of Pines crematory in Los Angeles, California.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures Permalink

H. Bruce Humberstone

October 25, 2019

H. Bruce ‘Lucky’ Humberstone was a movie actor, a script clerk, an assistant director, working with directors such as King Vidor, Edmund Goulding and Allan Dwan and, ultimately, a director.

One of twenty-eight founders of the Directors Guild of America, Humberstone worked on several silent movie films for 20th Century Fox. Humberstone did not specialize; he worked on comedies, dramas, and melodramas. Humberstone is best known today for his work on some of the Charlie Chan films. In the 1950s, Humberstone worked mostly on TV.