25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Television Permalink

Dorothy Sebastian

October 25, 2019

Dorothy Sebastian was an American film and stage actress.

Sebastian was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. In her youth she hoped to be a dancer and later a film actress. Her family frowned on both ambitions, however, so she fled to New York at the age of 15. Upon her arrival in New York City, Sebastian’s southern drawl was thick enough to “cut with a knife”. She followed around theatrical agents before returning at night to a $12-a-month room, after being consistently rejected.

Her first contact in Hollywood was Robert Kane, who gave her a film test at United Studios. She performed in George White’s Scandals with Joan Crawford and Anita Page for a popular series of MGM romantic dramas including Our Dancing Daughters and Our Blushing Brides. Sebastian also appeared in 1929’s Spite Marriage, wherein she was cast opposite her then-lover Buster Keaton.

Sebastian went into semi-retirement in the mid-1930s after marrying Hopalong Cassidy star William Boyd. They wed in Las Vegas, Nevada following a romance which began on a set at Pathe Pictures. After their divorce in 1935, Sebastian attempted a comeback, appearing in much smaller parts than years before. In 1947, Sebastian married Miami Beach businessman Harold Shapiro to whom she remained married until her death.

25 Oct 2019
Recording, Television Permalink

Doug McClure

October 25, 2019

Douglas Osborne “Doug” McClure was an American actor whose career in film and television extended from the 1950s to the 1990s. Born in Glendale, California, to Donald Reed McClure and the former Clara Clapp, he is best known for his appearances as Trampas in the NBC western series The Virginian.

McClure’s The Virginian co-stars were James Drury, Roberta Shore, Lee J. Cobb, Randy Boone, Gary Clarke, and Tim Matheson in the later seasons. Before The Virginian, McClure costarred in two other series: as Frank “Flip” Flippen on NBC’s western, Overland Trail, with co-star William Bendix, and as Jed Sills on the CBS detective series Checkmate opposite Anthony George as Don Corey and Sebastian Cabot as Dr. Carl Hyatt. In 1958 and 1959, McClure appeared in three episodes of the syndicated western series 26 Men, stories of the Arizona Rangers. He appeared as Adam Davis in 1959 in the episode “The Court Martial of Trooper Davis” of the syndicated series Mackenzie’s Raiders starring Richard Carlson. He was in the third episode of The Twilight Zone, “Mr. Denton on Doomsday”.

He starred in science fiction films such as At the Earth’s Core, The Land That Time Forgot and The People That Time Forgot, all three based on the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs. In 1967, he played the Errol Flynn role in a re-make of Against All Flags titled The King’s Pirate. He played the lead in two World War II adventures, The Longest Hundred Miles and The Birdmen, set in the Philippines and at Colditz Castle respectively.

He co-starred on the sitcom Out of This World later in his career.

25 Oct 2019
Radio, Recording Permalink

Doug Morris

October 25, 2019

MUSIC MOGUL DOUG MORRIS WAS HONORED WITH 2,399th STAR ON THE HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME with guest speakers including will.i.am and Mary J. Blige
at 6259 Hollywood Boulevard off of Vine Street on
Tuesday, January 26, 2010.

Doug Morris is the Worldwide Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Universal Music Group. In this position, he continues to be the most influential music executive in the industry, responsible for guiding the overall global activities of the world's largest music company. Universal Music Group encompasses the development, marketing, sales and distribution of recorded music through a network of subsidiaries, joint ventures and licensees in 77 countries around the world. Universal Music Group's businesses also include the industry's largest global music publishing operation, Universal Music Publishing Group.

Under his direction, UMG is rapidly evolving from a record company into a full-fledged music entertainment company, from simply being vendors to active partners with businesses looking to use music as the foundation of their products and services. Over the past several years, UMG has been an industry leader in effectively leveraging core assets to create lucrative new revenue streams, forging precedent-setting deals with YouTube, Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Nokia, MySpace, imeem, MOG, BuzzNet and Last.fm, among many others. Add to that UMG's over 30% market share for 2009, leading the market for the 12th consecutive year, with best-selling albums from such superstars as Lady Gaga, U2, Black Eyed Peas and Kanye West, along with successful newcomers Rihanna and Justin Bieber, and you can see why UMG is considered the music industry's most successful music company.

A graduate of Columbia University, Morris began his music career as a songwriter for music publisher Robert Mellin, Inc. His credits include the Chiffons' 1966 hit "Sweet Talkin' Guy" and producing such hit records as Brownsville Station's "Smokin' in the Boys Room." Morris joined Laurie Records in 1965 as a writer and producer and was eventually named Vice President and General Manager. Later, he launched his own label, Big Tree Records, which was distributed and eventually acquired by Atlantic Records in 1978. At this time Morris was named President of ATCO Records, beginning a 17-year association with Warner Music.

In 1980, Morris was appointed President of Atlantic Records and assumed the position of Co-Chairman and Co-CEO (with Ahmet Ertegun) of the Atlantic Recording Group in 1990. At Atlantic, Morris played a key role in transforming the label into the number one company within the Warner Music Group and the premier company within the music industry. As part of his strategy for growth, Morris revamped the division labels into completely autonomous units (each supporting a variety of imprints); established co-venture deals with such renowned labels as Interscope, Rhino, and Matador; and created Time Warner Audiobooks in partnership with Warner Books. He also established Atlantic Nashville, launched EastWest Records and created A*Vision Entertainment, a leading home entertainment unit. Morris was promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer of Warner Music U.S. in 1994 and, soon after, was named Chairman.

Morris began his association with the MCA Music Entertainment Group (now Universal Music Group) in July 1995 by forming the joint venture, Rising Tide Entertainment. Upon Morris' appointment as Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group in November 1995, the joint venture became wholly owned by Universal Music Group and was re-named Universal Records. The full-service label, under the direction of Morris, quickly became one of the industry's most successful start-up recording companies.

Leading Universal Music Group, Morris has energized the company by attracting and recruiting many of the music industry's most talented executives. With the acquisition of PolyGram in 1998, Morris was directly involved with the restructuring and integration process to create the world's largest music company. Since then, Universal Music Group has continued to dominate the musical charts as the industry's leader, setting new records for revenues and market share in the U.S. and on a global basis.

Throughout his career, Morris has worked in many different capacities with some of the most popular and influential artists of the past four decades, including The Rolling Stones, Phil Collins, Pete Townsend, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Nicks, Bette Midler, Tori Amos, INXS, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Stevie Wonder and U2, among many others.

Under Morris' direction, UMG has recently garnered a 33% increase in digital sales, with overall revenues growing while much of the rest of the industry has declined. Bold acquisitions of BMG Music Publishing and Sanctuary have fueled growth in music publishing and merchandising, with digital sales and higher licensing fees off-setting the decline in physical sales. UMG is the market share leader in every major genre, including Latin, Rap, R&B, Soundtracks, Top-Sellers, Jazz, Classical, Country, Alternative, Deep Catalog, Catalog and Rock.

Morris' groundbreaking digital strategies led him to become the first media executive to monetize online music videos, essentially helping to create the music video-on-demand market online. By offering MP3s, UMG's leader helped launch both Amazon and Wal-Mart's new digital music stores. Under Morris' direction, UMG continues to lead the industry in digital albums and singles sold worldwide, with four of the top 5 digital albums to date, the most viewed YouTube channel, registering over 3.6 billion streams and growing, and the best-selling mastertone artist of all time in chart-topper Akon. Recently, Morris partnered with Google to launch VEVO, the new premium music video and entertainment service. Within its first month of launch, VEVO had an unprecedented 35,395,000 unique visitors, making it the #1 music destinations on the internet, according to comScore. In doing so, VEVO beat out such popular music sites as MySpace Music, AOL Music and MTV Networks Music.

Moreover, UMG's Universal Music Publishing Group is now the world's largest music publisher after its $2 billion acquisition of BMG Music Publishing, and Universal Music Group Distribution created a successful indie arm in Fontana and entered the filmed entertainment arena with Vivendi Entertainment, a full-service company that provides distribution services including theatrical releasing, home entertainment, digital delivery and television. Universal Music Latin Entertainment has become the biggest Latin music company since acquiring Univision Music Group, and UMG's acquisition of Sanctuary Group has provided the company with management and booking expertise, as well as a lucrative merchandising and artist service division in Bravado, which features products from such clients as Kanye West, Gwen Stefani, Beyonce, Elton John, Guns N' Roses, Metallica, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Iron Maiden, Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, Christine Aguilera and Eminem, among many others. UMG has also entered the burgeoning business of classical music artist management and production, forming Universal Music Classical Artists Management & Productions, in order to develop careers, create distinctive live events and build long-lasting brands

Morris serves on the Board of Directors of The Robin Hood Foundation and The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, as well as a Director of The Rock -N- Roll Hall of Fame. In 2003, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) awarded Morris with the President's Merit Award, honoring his consistent creative commitment to artistic and entrepreneurial excellence and longstanding support for the music and world communities. Morris also serves on the Vivendi Management Board, and is a member of the Board of Directors of CBS Corporation and leading gamer Activision Blizzard, the latter formed after Vivendi's acquisition of Activision. His latest honor is being named the City of Hope's Spirit of Life Award recipient for 2008.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Radio, Television Permalink

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

October 25, 2019

Douglas Elton Fairbanks, Jr. KBE was an American actor and a highly decorated naval officer of World War II.

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. was born in New York City, the son of actor Douglas Fairbanks, and his first wife, Anna Beth Sully. His parents divorced when he was nine years old. He lived with his mother in New York, California, Paris and London.

Fairbanks’ father was one of cinema’s first icons, noted for such swashbuckling adventure films as The Mark of Zorro, Robin Hood and The Thief of Bagdad. Largely on the basis of his father’s name, Fairbanks, Jr. was given a contract with Paramount Pictures at age 14. After making some undistinguished films, he took to the stage, where he impressed his father, his stepmother Mary Pickford, and Charlie Chaplin, who encouraged him to continue with acting.

He began his career during the silent film era. He initially played mainly supporting roles in a range of films featuring many of the leading female players of the day: Belle Bennett in Stella Dallas, Esther Ralston in An American Venus and Pauline Starke in Women Love Diamonds. In the last years of the silent period he was upped to star billing opposite Loretta Young in several pre-Code films and Joan Crawford in Our Modern Maidens. He supported John Gilbert and Greta Garbo in Woman of Affairs. Progressing to sound, he played opposite Katharine Hepburn in her Oscar-winning role in the film Morning Glory .

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Television Permalink

Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.

October 25, 2019

Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films such as The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro. An astute businessman, Fairbanks was a founding member of United Artists. Fairbanks was also a founding member of The Motion Picture Academy and hosted the first Oscars Ceremony in 1929. With his marriage to Mary Pickford in 1920, the couple became Hollywood royalty with Fairbanks constantly referred to as “The King of Hollywood”, a nickname later passed on to actor Clark Gable.

Fairbanks was born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman in Denver, Colorado, the son of Hezekiah Charles Ullman and Ella Adelaide Marsh. He had a half-brother, John Fairbanks, and a full brother, Robert Payne Ullman. Fairbanks’ father, who was born in Pennsylvania to a Jewish family, was a prominent New York City attorney. His mother, a Roman Catholic, was born in New York, and had previously been married to a man named John Fairbanks until his death. She then married a man named Wilcox, who turned out to be abusive. Her divorce was handled by Ullman, who later became her third husband.

In about 1881, Charles Ullman purchased several mining interests in the Rocky Mountains and moved the family to Denver, where he re-established his law practice. Ullman abandoned the family when Douglas was five years old, and he and Robert were brought up by their mother, who gave them the family name Fairbanks, after her first husband.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures Permalink

Dr. Seuss

October 25, 2019

Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo. LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone. He published over 60 children's books, which were often characterized by imaginative characters, rhyme, and frequent use of trisyllabic meter. His most celebrated books include the bestselling Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Horton Hears a Who!, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Numerous adaptations of his work have been created, including eleven television specials, three feature films, and a Broadway musical

Geisel also worked as an illustrator for advertising campaigns, most notably for Flit and Standard Oil, and as a political cartoonist for PM, a New York City newspaper. During World War II, he worked in an animation department of the U.S Army, where he wrote Design for Death, a film that later won the 1947 Academy Award for Documentary Feature.

Read Across America is an initiative on reading created by the National Education Association. One part of the project is National Read Across America Day, an observance in the United States held on March 2, the birthday of Dr. Seuss.

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts to Henrietta and Theodor Robert Geisel. His father, the son of German immigrants, inherited the family brewery one month before the start of Prohibition and later supervised Springfield's public park system and zoo. Geisel was raised in the Lutheran faith and remained a member of the denomination his entire life.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Recording Permalink

Dorothy Dandridge

October 25, 2019

Dorothy Jean Dandridge was an American actress and popular singer, and was the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

She performed as a vocalist in venues such as the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater. In 1954, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Carmen Jones, and, in 1959, was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Porgy and Bess. In 1999, she was the subject of the HBO biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. She has been recognized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Dandridge was married and divorced twice, first to dancer and entertainer Harold Nicholas and then to Jack Denison. Dandridge died of an accidental drug overdose.

Dorothy Dandridge was born on November

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Recording Permalink

Dorothy Gish

October 25, 2019

Dorothy Elizabeth Gish was an American actress, and the younger sister of actress Lillian Gish.

The Gish sisters’ mother, Mary Robinson McConnell “Gish”, supported the family after her husband, James Leigh Gish, abandoned the family. When they were old enough, Dorothy and Lillian were brought into their mother’s act, and they also modeled. In 1912, their childhood friend, actress Mary Pickford, introduced them to director D.W. Griffith, and the sisters began acting at the Biograph Studios. Dorothy and Lillian Gish both debuted in Griffith’s An Unseen Enemy. Dorothy would go on to star in over 100 short films and features, many of them with Lillian.

Linda Arvidson, Griffith’s wife remembered in her autobiography, When The Movies Were Young

In Hearts of the World, a film about World War I and the devastation of France, Dorothy found her first foothold, striking a personal hit in a comedy role that captured the essence of her sense of humor. As the ?little disturber?, a street singer, her performance was the comic highlight of the film, and her characterization in this role catapulted her into a career as a star of comedy films.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Television Permalink

Dorothy Kilgallen

October 25, 2019

Dorothy Mae Kilgallen was an American journalist and television game show panelist known nationally for her coverage of the Sam Sheppard trial, her syndicated newspaper column, The Voice of Broadway, and her role as panelist on the television game show What’s My Line?.

Born in Chicago, Kilgallen was the daughter of Hearst newspaperman James Lawrence Kilgallen and his wife Mae Ahern. The family moved from Chicago to Wyoming, Indiana and back to Chicago before finally settling in New York City. After two semesters at The College of New Rochelle, Kilgallen left for a job as a reporter for the New York Evening Journal, which was owned and operated by the Hearst Corporation.

In 1936, Kilgallen competed with two other New York newspaper reporters in a race around the world using means of transportation only available to the general public. She was the only female contestant and she came in second. She described the event in her book Girl Around The World and penned the screenplay for a 1937 movie, Fly Away Baby, starring Glenda Farrell, as the Kilgallen-inspired character. During a stint living in Hollywood in 1936 and 1937, Kilgallen wrote a daily column that could only be read in New York that nonetheless provoked a libel suit from Constance Bennett, “who in the early thirties had been the highest paid performer in motion pictures,” according to a Kilgallen biography, “but who was experiencing a temporary decline in popular appeal.”

Back in New York in 1938, Kilgallen began writing a daily column, the Voice of Broadway, for Hearst’s New York Journal American, which the corporation created by merging the Evening Journal with the American. The column, which she wrote until her death in 1965, featured mostly New York show business news and gossip, but also ventured into other topics like politics and organized crime. The column was eventually syndicated to 146 papers via King Features Syndicate.

25 Oct 2019
Recording, Television Permalink

Dorothy Kirsten

October 25, 2019

Dorothy Kirsten was an American operatic soprano.

Kirsten’s mother was an organist and music teacher, her grandfather was a conductor, and her great-aunt, Catherine Hayes, was also an opera singer. She left high school at age 16 and worked for the Singer Corporation sewing machine company and for New Jersey Bell, studying voice in her spare time. Her teacher, Louis Darnay, eventually employed her as a secretary and maid.

By the late 1930s she had an ongoing professional career as a radio singer on WINS, a member of the Kate Smith Chorus, and as a vocalist for pop orchestras. She mentored under Grace Moore from 1938, who had her study in Rome with Astolfo Pescia. Her time in Europe was cut short by the outbreak of World War II, and she returned in 1939, debuting at the New York World’s Fair. Roles followed at the Chicago Grand Opera Company, San Carlo Opera Company, New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, and New York Philharmonic. Her radio program “Keepsakes” ran for a year in 1943-44.

Kirsten joined the roster of principle sopranos at the Philadelphia La Scala Opera Company in 1943 and spent much of her time performing there through 1947. She made her debut with the company in an out of town performance at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburg on May 18, 1943 as Mimì in Giacomo Puccini’s La Boheme with Nino Martini as Rodolfo, Carlo Morelli as Marcello, and Armand Balendonck conducting. In the 1943-1944 PLSOC season at the Academy of Music she portrayed Mimì many times and sang Nedda in Pagliacci with Giovanni Martinelli as Canio. She also toured with the company to Detroit in October 1943, singing Mimì to Armand Tokatyan’s Rodolfo. Kirsten opened the PLSOC’s 1944-1945 season singing Micaëla in Georges Bizet’s Carmen with Bruna Castagna in the tile role. She also toured with company to Cleveland singing Mimì. In February 1946 she traveled with PLSOC to Washington D.C. to perform Marguerite in Charles Gounod’s Faust. In December 1949 she recorded Manon Lescaut with the world renowned tenor Jussi Björling. Her final year performing with the PLSOC was the 1946-1947 season, portraying Cio-cio-san in Madama Butterfly and Juliette in Roméo et Juliette.