25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Television Permalink

George Brent

October 25, 2019

George Brent was an Irish film and television actor in American cinema.

He was born George Brendan Nolan in Raharabeg, County Roscommon on the opposite bank of the River Shannon from the town of Shannonbridge, County Offaly, Ireland, to a family with a history of British Army service. However, during the Irish War of Independence, Brent was part of an IRA Active Service Unit as early as 1920, carrying out IRA directives. He fled with a bounty set on his head by the British, although he claimed only to have been a courier for guerrilla leader and tactician Michael Collins.

He eventually moved to Hollywood where he made his first film in 1930. Signed to a contract with Warner Brothers, Brent carved out a successful career as a top-flight leading man of the late 1930s and 1940s. Highly regarded by Bette Davis, he became her most frequent male co-star, appearing with her in thirteen films, including Front Page Woman, Special Agent, The Golden Arrow, Jezebel, The Old Maid, Dark Victory and The Great Lie. Brent also played opposite Ruby Keeler in 42nd Street, Greta Garbo in The Painted Veil, Madeleine Carroll in The Case Against Mrs. Ames, Jean Arthur in More Than a Secretary, Myrna Loy in Stamboul Quest and The Rains Came, Merle Oberon in ‘Til We Meet Again, Ann Sheridan in Honeymoon for Three, Joan Fontaine in The Affairs of Susan, Barbara Stanwyck in The Purchase Price, The Gay Sisters and My Reputation, Claudette Colbert in Tomorrow Is Forever, Dorothy McGuire in The Spiral Staircase, Lucille Ball in Lover Come Back and Yvonne De Carlo in Slave Girl. Brent drifted into “B” pictures from the late 1940s and retired from film in 1953. He continued to appear on television until 1960, starring in the series Wire Service in 1956. In 1978, he made one last film, the made-for-television production Born Again.

25 Oct 2019
Live Performance, Motion Pictures, Television Permalink

George Burns

October 25, 2019

George Burns, born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.

His career spanned vaudeville, film, radio, and television, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became familiar trademarks for over three quarters of a century. Beginning at the age of 79, George enjoyed a career resurrection as an amiable, beloved and unusually active old comedian, continuing to work until shortly before his death, in 1996, at the age of 100.

Nathan Birnbaum was the ninth of twelve children born to Louis and Dorothy Birnbaum in New York City. His father was a substitute cantor at the local synagogue but did not work very often. During the influenza epidemic of 1903, Louis contracted the flu and died. Nattie started working in 1903 after his father's death, shining shoes, running errands, and selling newspapers.

When he landed a job as a syrup maker in a local candy shop at the age of seven, Nattie Birnbaum was discovered, as he recalled many years later:

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Recording Permalink

Gary Cooper

October 25, 2019

Frank James ?Gary? Cooper was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, individualistic, emotionally restrained, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made. His career spanned from 1925 until shortly before his death, and comprised more than one hundred films.

Cooper received five Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, winning twice for Sergeant York and High Noon. He also received an Honorary Award in 1961 from the Academy.

Decades later, the American Film Institute named Cooper among the AFI’s 100 Years. 100 Stars, ranking 11th among males from the Classical Hollywood cinema period. In 2003, his performances as Will Kane in High Noon, Lou Gehrig in The Pride of the Yankees, and Alvin York in Sergeant York made the AFI’s 100 Years. 100 Heroes and Villains list, all of them as heroes.

Cooper was born Frank James Cooper in Helena, Montana, one of two sons of an English farmer from Bedfordshire, who later became an American lawyer and judge, Charles Henry Cooper, and Kent-born Alice Cooper. His mother hoped for their two sons to receive a better education than that available in Montana and arranged for the boys to attend Dunstable Grammar School in Bedfordshire, England between 1910 and 1913. Upon the outbreak of World War I, Mrs. Cooper brought her sons home and enrolled them in a Bozeman, Montana, high school.

25 Oct 2019
Radio, Recording Permalink

Gary Owens

October 25, 2019

Gary Owens is an American disc jockey and voice actor. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offers deadpan recitations of total nonsense, which he frequently demonstrated as the announcer on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In. Owens is equally proficient in straight or silly assignments and is frequently heard in television, radio, and commercials. He’s best known as the voice of Space Ghost on Space Ghost. He also was himself on Space Ghost Coast to Coast in 1998.

Owens was born Gary Altman in Mitchell, South Dakota, the son of Venetta, an educator and county auditor, and Bernard Joseph Altman, a county treasurer and sheriff.

Owens was a journeyman DJ/announcer throughout the midwest and southern U.S. in the late 1950s, finally ending up at radio station KEWB, Oakland, California in 1959.

Owens moved to KEWB’s sister station KFWB in Los Angeles in 1961. From there, he joined the staff of KMPC in 1962, , where he remained for the next two decades working the 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. shift, Monday through Friday. A gifted punster, Owens became known for his surrealistic humor. Among his trademarks were daily appearances by The Story Lady, the Rumor of the Day, myriad varieties of “The Nurney Song”, and the introduction of the nonsense word “insegrevious”, which was briefly included in the Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary.

25 Oct 2019
Radio, Recording Permalink

Gene Austin

October 25, 2019

Gene Austin was an American singer and songwriter, one of the first “crooners”. His 1920s compositions “When My Sugar Walks Down the Street” and “The Lonesome Road” became pop and jazz standards.

Austin was born as Lemeul Eugene Lucas in Gainesville, Texas, to Nova Lucas and the former Serena Belle Harrell. He took the name “Gene Austin” from his stepfather, Jim Austin, a blacksmith. Austin grew up in Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, located east of Shreveport. There he learned to play piano and guitar. He ran away from home at 15 and attended a vaudeville act in Houston, Texas, where the audience was allowed to come to the stage and sing. On a dare from his friends, Austin took the stage and sang for the first time since singing as a Southern Baptist choir boy. The audience response was overwhelming, and the vaudeville company immediately offered him a billed spot on their ticket.

Austin joined the U.S. Army at the age of seventeen in hopes of being dispatched to Europe to fight in World War I. He was first stationed in New Orleans, where he played the piano at night in the city’s notorious vice district. His familiarity with horses from helping his stepfather in his blacksmithing business also prompted the Army to assign Austin to the cavalry and send him to Mexico with General John Pershing’s Pancho Villa expedition, for which he was awarded the Mexican Service Medal. Thereafter, he served in France in the Great War.

On returning to the United States in 1919, Austin settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he intended to study dentistry. Soon, however, he was playing piano and singing in local taverns. He started writing songs and formed a vaudeville act with Roy Bergere, with whom he wrote “How Come You Do Me Like You Do.” The act ended when Bergere married. Austin worked briefly in a club owned by Lou Clayton, who later was a part of the famous vaudeville team Clayton, Jackson and Durante.

25 Oct 2019
Live Performance, Motion Pictures, Radio, Recording, Television Permalink

Gene Autry

October 25, 2019

Orvon Eugene Autry, better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s. Autry was also owner of the Los Angeles/California Angels Major League Baseball team from 1961 to 1997, as well as a television station and several radio stations in southern California.

Although his signature song was "Back in the Saddle Again", Autry is best known today for his Christmas holiday songs, "Here Comes Santa Claus", "Frosty the Snowman", and his biggest hit, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".

He is a member of both the Country Music and Nashville Songwriters halls of fame, and is the only celebrity to have five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Autry, the grandson of a Methodist preacher, was born near Tioga, Texas. His parents, Delbert Autry and Elnora Ozment, moved to Ravia, Oklahoma in the 1920s. He worked on his father's ranch while at school. After leaving high school in 1925, Autry worked as a telegrapher for the St. Louis?San Francisco Railway.

25 Oct 2019
Live Performance Permalink

Gene Barry

October 25, 2019

Gene Barry was an American stage, screen, and television actor.

Barry was born Eugene Klass in New York City, the son of Eva and Martin Klass; all of his grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia. Barry exhibited early artistic skills with singing and playing violin as a child and later spent two years at the Chatham Square School of Music on a scholarship awarded for his vocal ability. When Barry was 25, he married Betty Claire Kalb on October 22, 1944. At the time of their marriage, Kalb was an actress known by the stage name, Julie Carson. Their marriage produced three children; two biological sons and an adopted daughter.

Barry chose his professional name in honor of John Barrymore and made his Broadway debut as Captain Paul Duval in the 1942 revival of Sigmund Romberg's The New Moon. He later portrayed Falke in Rosalinda, Nova Kovich in The Merry Widow, Lieutenant Bunin in Catherine Was Great, Dorante and Comte De Chateau-Gaillard in The Would-Be Gentleman, The Doctor in Happy as Larry, and played a variety of roles in the musical revue Bless You All. In 1950, Barry began appearing on TV with the "NBC Television Opera Theatre". In 1951, Barry was hired for in his first movie, in the role of "Dr. Frank Addison" in The Atomic City, and then in 1952, Barry was cast as "Dr. Clayton Forrester" in the science fiction film The War of the Worlds. Much later, Barry also made a cameo appearance in Steven Spielberg's remake of War of the Worlds, along with his co-star Ann Robinson from the film of 1952.)

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Radio Permalink

Gene Kelly

October 25, 2019

Eugene Curran “Gene” Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer. A major exponent of 20th century filmed dance, Kelly was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style, his good looks and the likeable characters that he played on screen.

Although he is known today for his performance in Singin’ in the Rain, he was a dominant force in Hollywood musical films from the mid 1940s until this art form fell out of fashion in the late 1950s. His many innovations transformed the Hollywood musical film, and he is credited with almost single-handedly making the ballet form commercially acceptable to film audiences.

Kelly was the recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 1952 for his career achievements. He later received lifetime achievement awards in the Kennedy Center Honors, and from the Screen Actors Guild and American Film Institute; in 1999, the American Film Institute also numbered him 15th in their Greatest Male Stars of All Time list.

He was the third son of James Kelly, a phonograph salesman, and Harriet Curran, who were both children of Irish Roman Catholic immigrants. He was born in the Highland Park neighbourhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and, at the age of eight, was enrolled by his mother in dance classes, along with his elder brother James. They both rebelled, and, according to Kelly: “We didn’t like it much and were continually involved in fistfights with the neighborhood boys who called us sissies.I didn’t dance again until I was fifteen.” He thought it would be a good way to get girls. Kelly returned to dance on his own initiative and by then was an accomplished sportsman and well able to take care of himself. He attended St. Raphael School Elementary School In the Morningside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA. He graduated from Peabody High School in 1929. He enrolled in Pennsylvania State College to study journalism but the economic crash obliged him to seek employment to help with the family’s finances. At this time, he worked up dance routines with his younger brother Fred in order to earn prize money in local talent contests, and they also performed in local nightclubs.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Television Permalink

Gene Lockhart

October 25, 2019

Eugene “Gene” Lockhart was a Canadian character actor, singer, and playwright. He also wrote the lyrics to a number of popular songs.

Born in London, Ontario, Lockhart made his professional debut at the age of six when he appeared with The Kilties Band of Canada. At the age of 15, he was appearing in sketches with actress Beatrice Lillie. Lockhart was educated in various Canadian schools and at the Brompton Oratory School in London, England. He also played football for the Toronto Argonauts.

Lockhart had a long stage career; he also wrote professionally and taught acting and stage technique at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. He had also written theatrical sketches, radio shows, special stage material, song lyrics and articles for stage and radio magazines.

He made his Broadway debut in 1916, in the musical The Riviera Girl. He was a member of the travelling play The Pierrot Players. This play introduced the song, The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise, for which Lockhart wrote the lyrics along with Canadian composer Ernest Seitz. He also wrote and directed the Broadway musical revue Bunk of 1926. He also sang in Die Fledermaus for the San Francisco Opera Association.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Television Permalink

Gene Nelson

October 25, 2019

Gene Nelson was an American dancer, actor, screenwriter, and director.

Born Leander Eugene Berg in Astoria, Oregon, he moved to Seattle when he was one year old. He was inspired to become a dancer by watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies when he was a child. After serving in the Army during World War II, Nelson landed his first Broadway role in Lend an Ear, for which he received the Theatre World Award. He also appeared on stage in Follies, which garnered him a Tony Award nomination, and Good News.

Nelson’s film acting credits include This is the Army, I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now, Gentlemen’s Agreement, Apartment for Peggy, The Walls of Jericho, The Daughter of Rosie O’Grady, Tea for Two, The West Point Story, Lullaby of Broadway, Painting the Clouds with Sunshine, Starlift, She’s Working Her Way Through College, She’s Back on Broadway, Three Sailors and a Girl, Crime Wave, So This is Paris, Oklahoma!, The Atomic Man, The Way Out, The Purple Hills, 20,000 Eyes, Thunder Island, A Brand New Life, Family Flight, and S.O.B.. Nelson directed episodes of the original Star Trek, the first season of I Dream of Jeannie, and Gunsmoke. In 1959, he appeared with Keith Larsen and Buddy Ebsen in the NBC adventure series Northwest Passage as a young man trying to prove his innocence in a murder case.