25 Oct 2019
Radio Permalink

Cliff Arquette

October 25, 2019

Clifford Arquette was an actor and comedian, famous for his role as “Charley Weaver”.

Arquette was the patriarch of the Arquette show business family, which became famous because of him. Arquette was the father of the late actor Lewis Arquette and the grandfather of actors Patricia, Rosanna, Alexis, Richmond, and David Arquette. He was a night club pianist, later joining the Henry Halstead orchestra in 1923.

Arquette had been a busy, yet not nationally known, performer in radio, theatre, and motion pictures until 1956, when he retired from show business. At one time, he was credited with performing in 13 different daily radio shows at different stations in the Chicago market, getting from one studio to the other by way of motorboats along the Chicago River through its downtown.

The story that Arquette later told about his big break was that one night in the late 1950s he was watching The Tonight Show. Host Jack Paar happened to ask the rhetorical question, “Whatever became of Cliff Arquette?” That startled Arquette so much that, “I almost dropped my Scotch!”

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Television Permalink

Cliff Robertson

October 25, 2019

Clifford Parker “Cliff” Robertson III is an American actor with a film and television career that spans half of a century. Robertson won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie Charly. He is perhaps best known to younger audiences for playing “Uncle” Ben Parker in the Spider-Man film series.

Robertson was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Audrey and Clifford Parker Robertson II. He attended Antioch College in Ohio and worked as a journalist for a short time. In high school he was known as ‘The Walking Phoenix’.

Robertson played a future President of the United States in PT 109 and a presidential candidate in The Best Man. Later came Charly. Other films included Picnic, Autumn Leaves, Gidget, Sunday in New York, Devil’s Brigade, Too Late the Hero, J. W. Coop, Three Days of the Condor, Obsession, Star 80 and Malone. More recently, Robertson’s career has had a resurgence. He appeared as Uncle Ben Parker in the first movie adaptation of Spider-Man, as well as in the sequels Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3. He commented on his website that “Since Spider-Man 1 and 2, I seem to have a whole new generation of fans. That in itself is a fine residual.” He was also in the horror film Riding the Bullet .

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Radio Permalink

Cliffie Stone

October 25, 2019

Cliffie Stone, born Clifford Gilpin Snyder, was an American country singer, musician, record producer, music publisher, and radio and TV personality who was pivotal in the development of California?s thriving country music scene after World War II during a career that lasted six decades. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989.

Born in Stockton, California, Stone’s father was country musician Herman the Hermit. The family moved to Burbank, and early in his life, he played bass in the big bands of Freddie Slack and Anson Weeks in Southern California, as well as working at local radio stations KXLA, KFVD and KFWB. Starting in 1935, Stone appeared on the Los Angeles-based radio shows Covered Wagon Jubilee, Hollywood Barn Dance, Dinner Bell Roundup, and Lucky Stars, singing as well as performing comedy routines and acting as host and DJ in the mid-1940s. In 1939, he married his first wife, Dorothy, and they had four children.

Stone began working at Capitol Records in 1946, and became an A&R man there; among the talents he discovered were Tennessee Ernie Ford, Molly Bee, and Hank Thompson. He was instrumental in helping various young musicians get their start in television, such as guitarist Zane Ashton who would also write songs for Stone’s Central Songs publishing firm. His Hometown Jamboree premiered as a weekly TV broadcast in December 1949 over KCOP-TV in Pasadena; in 1953 it moved to KTLA-TV, where it ran until its cancellation in 1959.

Stone’s career at Capitol was successful, but he was ultimately better known for his successes in radio. He recorded six albums with a backing band which went under various names, including Cliffie Stone & His Orchestra, Cliffie Stone & His Barn Dance Band, and Cliffie Stone’s Country Hombres. His 1955 hit, “The Popcorn Song”, peaked at No. 14 on the just-launched Billboard magazine’s singles charts in 1955.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Radio Permalink

Clifton Fadiman

October 25, 2019

Clifton P. “Kip” Fadiman was an American intellectual, author, radio and television personality.

Fadiman grew up in Brooklyn and was a nephew of the child prodigy William James Sidis. A graduate of Columbia University, he worked for Simon & Schuster for ten years, ending as its chief editor. He spent another ten years in charge of The New Yorker’s book review section and in 1944 became a judge for the Book of the Month Club. In the 1970s, Fadiman was also senior editor of Cricket Magazine, where he wrote Cricket’s Bookshelf, a book review column for children.

His witticisms and sayings were frequently printed in newspapers and magazines. “When you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before, you see more in you than there was before”, was one of the better known. Of Stendhal, Fadiman wrote, “He has no grace, little charm, less humor. is not really a good storyteller.”

Fadiman was already well known from radio where, from May 1938 until June 1948, he hosted its most popular quiz show, Information Please!. A trio of pundits — Clifton Fadiman, Franklin P. Adams, and John Kieran — conducted each session with erudite charm and good-natured wordplay. Information Please! was briefly revived for CBS-TV in 1952 as a 13-week summer replacement for the musical variety program The Fred Waring Show. During that June-September period, devoted fans of the departed radio program could finally not only hear, but also see Fadiman, Adams, and Kieran in action. With the advent of TV, Fadiman gained in popularity, quickly establishing himself as an all-purpose, highly knowledgeable guest and host. At ease in front of the TV camera and experienced from his years in radio, he frequently appeared on talk shows and hosted a number of upscale quiz programs.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Radio Permalink

Clifton Webb

October 25, 2019

Clifton Webb was an American actor, dancer and singer.

Webb was born Webb Parmelee Hollenbeck in a rural part of Marion County, Indiana, which would, in 1906, become Beech Grove, a self-governing city entirely surrounded by Indianapolis. As a result, virtually all printed sources give the larger city as his place of birth. Webb’s parents were Jacob Grant Hollenbeck, the son of a grocer from a multi-generational Indiana farming family, and Mabelle A. Parmelee, the daughter of a railroad conductor.

In 1892, Webb’s formidable mother, Mabelle, moved to New York City with her beloved “little Webb”, as she called him for the remainder of her life. She dismissed questions about her husband Jacob, a ticket clerk who, like her father, worked for the Indianapolis-St. Louis Railroad, by saying, “We never speak of him. He didn’t care for the theatre.”

Privately tutored, Webb started taking dance and acting lessons at the age of five. He made his stage debut at seven in the impressive setting of Carnegie Hall by performing with the New York Children’s Theatre in Palmer Cox’s The Brownies. This success was followed by a vaudeville tour playing The Master of Charlton Hall, succeeded by leading roles as Oliver Twist and Tom Sawyer in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In between performances, Mabelle saw to it that he studied painting with the renowned Robert Henri and voice with the equally famous Victor Maurel. By his seventeenth birthday, he was singing one of the secondary leads in the Boston-based Aborn Opera Company’s production of the comic opera Mignon.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Recording Permalink

Clint Black

October 25, 2019

Clint Patrick Black is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and occasional actor. Signed to RCA Records in 1989, Black made his debut with his Killin’ Time album, which produced four straight Number One singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. Although his momentum gradually slowed throughout the 1990s, Black consistently charted hit songs into the 2000s. He has amassed more than thirty singles on the U.S. Billboard country charts, in addition to releasing nine studio albums and several compilation albums. In 2003, Black founded his own record label, Equity Music Group. Black has also ventured into acting, having made a cameo appearance in the 1994 film Maverick, as well as a starring role in 1998’s Still Holding On: The Legend of Cadillac Jack.

Clint Black was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, one of four children born to G.A. and Ann Black. The family moved back to Texas, where G.A. Black had been raised, before Clint was one year old. He was raised in Katy, Texas. Music was always present in the house. Black taught himself to play harmonica before he was 13, and at 14 wrote his first song. His father remarked that it was at that age that the parents “first noticed that he had a great voice”. By fifteen, Black had learned to play guitar. As a teenager Black joined his elder brothers, Kevin and Bryan, in their small band. On Saturday afternoons, the family would host backyard barbecues and invite the neighborhood to listen to the boys sing. Some weekends would attract up to 70 people. Black eventually dropped out of high school to play with his brothers, before becoming a solo act.

Black was initially drawn to a variety of musical genres. According to his father, he chose to focus on country music in the early 1980s, after singers George Strait and Reba McEntire transformed the genre. For six years, Black supported himself as a construction worker, bait cutter, and fishing guide, while singing at various lounges as a solo singer and guitarist. At one of the gigs he met another guitarist, Hayden Nicholas. The two men connected musically and began a song writing partnership that would last decades. In the late 1980s, Black delivered a demo of their collaboration “Nobody’s Home” to record promoter Sammy Alfano. Within two days of that delivery, Black was invited to a meeting with Bill Ham, who managed ZZ Top.

Black soon signed with RCA Records, at that time considered one of the “most aggressive” labels in country music. His first album, Killin’ Time, was released in 1989. Each song on the album was penned at least in part by Black; four of them were attributed solely to him, while the rest were collaborations with Nicholas. In a departure from most other country albums, Black used his road band instead of session musicians to record Killin’ Time. The album was a critical and commercial success, reaching Number One on the Billboard Country Albums chart and certified platinum in 1990. The first single, “A Better Man”, reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs in early June. This marked the first time in 14 years that a debut single by a male artist had peaked at the top of the chart. In total, five singles off of his debut album reached number 1, the first time any country artist had accomplished this feat. Black swept the Country Music Association’s awards in 1989, winning in six different categories, including the Horizon Award for best newcomer. At the end of the year, his singles, “A Better Man” and “Killin’ Time” place number 1 and number 2 on the year-end country singles charts. It had been 36 years since another artist had claimed both top spots in a single year. Looking back at the early stages of his career, Black recalled: “‘At one point, I knew I crossed this line out of obscurity and I felt like no matter what happened from that point on I would always be remembered for “Killin’ Time.” There was this kind of mixed feeling of remorse and excitement.'”

25 Oct 2019
Recording, Television Permalink

Clint Walker

October 25, 2019

In memory of actor and Walk of Famer Clint Walker,flowers were placed on his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 at 4 p.m. The star in the category of Television is located at 1501 Vine Street.

“Clint, you will be missed! Rest in peace.” Ana Martinez, Producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame signed the card on behalf of the Hollywood Historic Trust and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Sign are registered trademarks of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. 

Norman Eugene "Clint" Walker is an American actor best known for his cowboy role as "Cheyenne Bodie" in the TV Western series, Cheyenne.

Walker was born in Hartford, Illinois; he was a twin, and is of one-quarter Cherokee descent. He left school to work at a factory and on a river boat, then joined the United States Merchant Marine at the age of seventeen in the last months of World War II. After leaving the Merchant Marine, he labored at odd jobs in Brownwood, Texas, Long Beach, California, and Las Vegas, where he worked as a doorman at the Sands Hotel. He also was employed as a sheet-metal worker and a nightclub bouncer.

In Los Angeles, he was hired by Cecil B. DeMille to appear in The Ten Commandments. A friend in the film industry helped get him a few bit parts that brought him to the attention of Warner Bros., which was developing a western style television series.

Walker's good looks and imposing physique, he stood 6 feet, 6

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Recording Permalink

Clive Davis

October 25, 2019

Clive Davis is an American record producer, executive and music industry executive. He has won multiple Grammy awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967-72 he was the President of Columbia Records, was the founder and president of Arista Records in the late 1970s through 2000 until founding J Records. From 2002 until April 2008, Davis was the Chairman and CEO of the RCA Music Group, Chairman and CEO of J Records, and Chairman and CEO of BMG North America. Currently Davis is the Chief Creative Officer of Sony Music Entertainment Worldwide. He currently plays a part in the careers of Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, Harry Connick, Jr., Leona Lewis, Barry Manilow, and Whitney Houston.

Davis was born in Brooklyn, New York to a Jewish family, the son of Herman and Florence Davis. After spending four of his earliest years in England, Davis was raised in the middle-class neighborhood of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. He received a full scholarship to New York University College of Arts and Science, where he graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa in 1953. He then received a full scholarship to Harvard Law School, where he was a member of the Board of Student Advisers and graduated in 1956. He practiced law in a small firm in New York, then moved on to the firm of Rosenman, Colin, Kaye, Petschek, and Freund two years later, where partner Ralph Colin had CBS as client. Hired by a former colleague at the firm, Harvey Schein, Davis became assistant counsel of CBS subsidiary Columbia Records at the age of twenty-eight.

Davis became a protegé of CBS Records President Goddard Lieberson, and began to climb the ranks of Columbia/CBS. In 1967, he became president of Columbia Records and became interested in the newest generation of folk rock and rock and roll. One of his earliest pop signings was the British folk-rock musician Donovan, who enjoyed a string of successful hit singles and albums released in the USA on the Epic label.

In June 1967, at the urging of his friend and business associate Lou Adler, Davis attended the Monterey Pop Festival. He immediately signed Janis Joplin with Big Brother & the Holding Company, and Columbia went on to sign Laura Nyro, Jimmie Spheeris, Electric Flag, Santana, The Chambers Brothers, Bruce Springsteen, Andy Pratt, Chicago, Billy Joel, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and Pink Floyd. The company, which had previously avoided rock music, doubled its market share in three years. One of the biggest recordings released during Davis’ tenure at Columbia was Lynn Anderson’s “Rose Garden”, in late 1970. It was Davis who insisted “Rose Garden” be the country singer’s next single release. The song reached number one in 16 countries around the world and remained the biggest selling album by a female country artist between 1971 and 1997.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures Permalink

Claude Rains

October 25, 2019

Claude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 47 years; he later held American citizenship. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them the title role in The Invisible Man, a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and, perhaps his most notable performance, as Captain Renault in Casablanca. Rains was born William Claude Rains in Camberwell, London. He grew up, according to his daughter, with “a very serious cockney accent and a speech impediment”. His father was British stage actor Frederick Rains, and the young Rains made his stage debut at 11 in Nell of Old Drury.

His acting talents were recognised by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, founder of The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Tree paid for the elocution lessons Rains needed in order to succeed as an actor. Later, Rains taught at the institution, teaching John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, among others.

Rains served in the First World War in the London Scottish Regiment, with fellow actors Basil Rathbone, Ronald Colman and Herbert Marshall. Rains was involved in a gas attack that left him nearly blind in one eye for the rest of his life. However, the war did aid his social advancement and, by its end, he had risen from the rank of Private to Captain.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Television Permalink

Claudette Colbert

October 25, 2019

Claudette Colbert was a French-born American stage and film actress.

Born in Saint-Mandé, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures. She established a successful film career with Paramount Pictures and later, as a freelance performer, became one of the highest paid entertainers in American cinema. Colbert was recognized as one of the leading female exponents of screwball comedy; she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her comedic performance in It Happened One Night, and also received Academy Award nominations for her dramatic roles in Private Worlds and Since You Went Away. Her film career began to decline in the 1950s, and she made her last film in 1961. Colbert continued to act in theater and, briefly, in television during her later years. After a career of more than 60 years’ duration, Colbert retired to her home in Barbados, where she died at the age of 92, following a series of strokes.

Colbert received theatre awards from the Sarah Siddons Society, a lifetime-achievement award at the Kennedy Center Honors, and, in 1999, the American Film Institute placed her at number twelve on their “AFI’s 100 Years. 100 Stars” list of the “50 Greatest American Screen Legends”.