25 Oct 2019
Radio, Recording Permalink

Erroll Garner

October 25, 2019

Erroll Louis Garner was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His best-known composition, the ballad “Misty”, has become a jazz standard. Allmusic.com calls him “one of the most distinctive of all pianists” and a “brilliant virtuoso”.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to an African American family in 1921, Erroll began playing piano at the age of 3. He attended George Westinghouse High School, as did fellow pianists Billy Strayhorn and Ahmad Jamal. Garner was self-taught and remained an “ear player” all his life ? he never learned to read music. At the age of 7, Garner began appearing on radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh with a group called the Candy Kids. By the age of 11, he was playing on the Allegheny riverboats. At age 14 in 1937 he joined local saxophonist Leroy Brown.

He played locally in the shadow of his older pianist brother Linton Garner and moved to New York in 1944. He briefly worked with the bassist Slam Stewart, and though not a bebop musician per se, in 1947 played with Charlie Parker on the famous “Cool Blues” session. Although his admission to the Pittsburgh music union was initially refused because of his inability to read music, they eventually relented in 1956 and made him an honorary member. Garner is credited with having a superb memory of music. After attending a concert by the Russian classical pianist Emil Gilels, Garner returned to his apartment and was able to play a large portion of the performed music by recall.

Short in stature, Garner performed sitting on multiple telephone directories, except when playing in New York City, where a Manhattan phone book was sufficient. He was also known for his occasional vocalizations while playing, which can be heard on many of his recordings. He helped to bridge the gap for jazz musicians between nightclubs and the concert hall. Until his death on January 2, 1977, he made many tours both at home and abroad, and produced a large volume of recorded work. Garner is buried in Pittsburgh’s Homewood Cemetery. He was, reportedly, The Tonight Show host Johnny Carson’s favorite jazz musician; Garner appeared on Carson’s show many times over the years.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Recording Permalink

Estelle Taylor

October 25, 2019

Estelle Taylor was an American Hollywood actress whose career was most prominent during the silent film era of the 1920s.

Born Estelle Boylan in Wilmington, Delaware to a Jewish family, Taylor married a banker while still a teenager. After relocating to Hollywood, she began taking bit parts in films.

Taylor is possibly best recalled for her roles in the 1922 drama Monte Cristo opposite John Gilbert, the enormously successful 1923 Cecil B. DeMille directed The Ten Commandments as Miriam, the sister of Moses; as Lucrezia Borgia in the 1926 Warner Bros.’ first feature-length film with synchronized Vitaphone sound effects and musical soundtrack Don Juan opposite John Barrymore, Mary Astor and Warner Oland, 1927’s New York, opposite Ricardo Cortez and Lois Wilson, 1931’s Street Scene with Sylvia Sidney and both the Academy Award winning Cimarron and the Clara Bow talkie, Call Her Savage in 1932.

Taylor married heavyweight boxing champion, Jack Dempsey, in 1925. She was supposed to have co-starred in a movie with actor Rudolph Valentino which would have brought her more widespread fame but he died just before production was to begin.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Television Permalink

Esther Ralston

October 25, 2019

Esther Ralston was an American movie actress whose greatest popularity came during the silent era.

Ralston started as a child actress in a family vaudeville act which was billed as “The Ralston Family with Baby Esther, America’s Youngest Juliet.” From this, she appeared in a few small silent film roles before gaining attention as Mrs. Darling in the 1924 version of Peter Pan.

In the late 1920s she appeared in many films for Paramount, at one point earning as much as $8000 a week, and garnering much popularity, especially in Britain. She appeared mainly in comedies, often portraying spirited society girls, but she also received good reviews for her forays into dramatic roles. In 1962, she had a leading role in the short-lived daytime drama, Our Five Daughters.

Despite making a successful transition to sound, she was reduced to appearing in B-movies by the mid-1930s, leading to her retirement. By the time she settled down in 1941, she had made over 100 movies. During the mid 1950’s as Mrs. Esther Lloyd, a grandmother, she worked in the Seventh Church of Christ Scientist in New York. Happy with her life, Ralston expressed no desire to make a comeback.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures Permalink

Esther Williams

October 25, 2019

Esther Jane Williams is a retired American competitive swimmer and MGM movie star. Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics because of the outbreak of World War II, Williams joined Billy Rose’s Aquacade, where she took on the role vacated by Eleanor Holm after the show’s move from New York City to San Francisco. There, she spent five months swimming alongside Olympic swimmer and Tarzan star, Johnny Weissmuller.

It was at the Aquacade that Williams caught the attention of MGM scouts. After appearing in several small roles, alongside Mickey Rooney in an Andy Hardy film, and future five time co-star Van Johnson in A Guy Named Joe, Williams made a series of films in the 1940s and early 1950s known as “aquamusicals”, which featured elaborate performances with synchronized swimming and diving.

From 1945 to 1949, Williams had at least one film listed among the 20 highest grossing films of the year. In 1952, Williams appeared in her only biographical role, as Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman in Million Dollar Mermaid, which would go on to become her nickname while at MGM. Williams left MGM in 1956 and appeared in a handful of unsuccessful feature films, followed by several extremely popular water-themed television specials, including one from Cypress Gardens, Florida.

Since her retirement from film in the 1960s, Williams has become a businesswoman, lending her name to a line of swimming pools and retro swimwear, instructional swimming videos for children, and serving as a commentator for synchronized swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. As of 2010 Williams lives with her fourth husband, Edward Bell, in Beverly Hills.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Recording Permalink

Ethel Barrymore

October 25, 2019

Ethel Barrymore was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors.

Ethel Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second child of the actors Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Drew. She spent her childhood in Philadelphia, and attended Roman Catholic schools there.

She was the sister of actors John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore, the aunt of actor John Drew Barrymore, and the great-aunt of actress Drew Barrymore. She was also the niece of Broadway matinée idol John Drew Jr and early Vitagraph movie star Sidney Drew.

Ethel Barrymore was a highly regarded stage actress in New York City and a major Broadway performer. Many today consider her to be the greatest actress of her generation.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Television Permalink

Ernest B. Schoedsack

October 25, 2019

Ernest Beaumont Schoedsack was an American motion picture cinematographer, director, and producer.

Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Schoedsack is probably best remembered for being the co-director of the 1933 film, King Kong.

His eyesight was severely damaged in World War II, yet he continued to direct films afterwards. He directed Mighty Joe Young at RKO in 1949, which was a reunion film of the main King Kong creative team .

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures Permalink

Ernest Borgnine

October 25, 2019

Ernest Borgnine is an American actor of television and the big screen. His career has spanned nearly six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty. On television, he is best known for playing Quinton McHale in the 1962-66 series McHale’s Navy, costarring in the mid-1980s action series Airwolf, and voicing the character Mermaid Man in the animated series, SpongeBob SquarePants. Borgnine earned an Emmy nomination at age 92 for his work on the series ER. In August 2009 at age 92 he earned the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhode Island International Film Festival.

Borgnine was born Ermes Effron Borgnino in Hamden, Connecticut, the son of Anna, who immigrated to the US from Carpi, and Camillo Borgnino, who immigrated to the US from Ottiglio. His parents separated when he was two years old, and he and his mother went to live in Italy. By 1923, his parents had reconciled, and the family name was changed from Borgnino to Borgnine. The family had settled in North Haven, Connecticut, where he attended public schools. His mother also had the passion to develop her own dance. Anna gave her son a lot of moral support and he stood closely by her at all times. Second only to his father, Ernest had a hot temper, but his wit and charm helped him win over his staunchest detractors.

Borgnine joined the United States Navy in 1935, after graduation from James Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Connecticut. He was discharged in 1941, but re-enlisted when the United States entered World War II and served until 1945, reaching the rank of Gunner’s Mate 1st Class. He served aboard the destroyer USS Lamberton. His military decorations included the American Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the American Defense Service Medal with Fleet Clasp, and the World War II Victory Medal.

25 Oct 2019
Radio, Recording Permalink

Ernest Gold

October 25, 2019

Ernest Gold, born Ernst Sigmund Goldner, was an American composer. Born in Vienna, Austria; Gold wrote nearly 100 film and television scores between 1945 and 1992. Among his credits are Too Much, Too Soon, Exodus, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, On the Beach, A Child is Waiting, Fun with Dick and Jane, and Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff.

Gold's contributions were recognized with four Academy Award nominations and three Golden Globe nominations. He won a Golden Globe in 1960 for Best Motion Picture Score for 1959's On the Beach, and won an Academy Award a year later for Best Music: Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, for Exodus. His work on On the Beach also won Gold a Grammy Award. The Hollywood Walk of Fame has also recognized Gold with a star on famed Hollywood Boulevard. Gold's classical works also included a piano concerto, a string quartet, and a piano sonata.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Television Permalink

Ernest Torrence

October 25, 2019

Ernest Torrence was a Scottish born film character actor who appeared in many Hollywood films, including Mantrap with Clara Bow, and Fighting Caravans with Gary Cooper and Lili Damita. A towering figure, Torrence frequently played cold-eyed and imposing villains.

He was born Ernest Torrance-Thomson on June 26, 1878, in Edinburgh, Scotland, and as a child was an exceptional pianist and operatic baritone and graduated from the Stuttgart Conservatory, Edinburgh Academy before earning a scholarship at London’s Royal Academy of Music. He toured with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company in such productions as The Emerald Isle and The Talk of the Town before disarming vocal problems set in and he was forced to abandon this career path. Sometime prior to 1900, he changed the spelling of Torrance to Torrence and dropped the name Thomson. Both Ernest and his actor brother David Torrence went to America, in March 1911, directly from Scotland prior to World War I. Focusing instead on a purely acting career, Ernest and his brother developed into experienced players on the Broadway New York stage. Ernest received significant acclaim with Modest Suzanne in 1912 and a prominent role in The Night Boat in 1920 brought him to the attention of Hollywood filmmakers.

Torrence played the despicable adversary Luke Hatburn in Tol’able David opposite Richard Barthelmess, and immediately settled into films for the rest of his career and life. He played an old codger in the acclaimed classic western The Covered Wagon and gained attention from his roles in The Hunchback of Notre Dame as Clopin, king of the beggars, and Betty Bronson in Peter Pan as the dastardly Captain Hook. In an offbeat bit of casting he paired up with Clara Bow in Mantrap, unusually as a gentle, giant type backwoodsman in search of a wife. He appeared in other silent film classics such as The King of Kings and Steamboat Bill Jr. as Buster Keaton’s steamboat captain father. During the course of his twelve year film career, Ernest made 49 films, both silent and “talkies”.

25 Oct 2019
Radio, Television Permalink

Ernest Truex

October 25, 2019

Ernest Truex was an American actor of stage and film.

He started acting at age five and was toured through Missouri at age nine as “The Child Wonder in Scenes from Shakespeare”. His Broadway debut came in 1908 and he performed in several David Belasco plays and portrayed the titled role in the 1915 musical Very Good Eddie.

He made his film debut in 1913, but did not work in film full time for another twenty years. He tended to play “milquetoast” characters and in The Warrior’s Husband he played a “nance”. In the 1939 The Adventures of Marco Polo, he played Marco Polo’s comical assistant, opposite Gary Cooper.

In later life, he became known for playing elderly men on television in works such as Mr. Peepers, and had the main role in the Kick the Can episode of Rod Serling’s original The Twilight Zone. In another Twilight Zone episode, What You Need, he played a traveling peddler who just happened to have what people needed to buy.