25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Radio Permalink

Bob Burns

October 25, 2019

Bob Burns was an American radio and film comedian during the 1930s and 1940s. Early in his career he was billed as Robert Burns.

He was born Robin Burn in Greenwood, Arkansas. When he was three years old, his family moved to Van Buren, Arkansas. As a young child, Burns was playing trombone and cornet in the Queen City Silver Cornet Band. At 13, he formed his own string band. Practicing in the back of Hayman’s Plumbing Shop one night, he picked up a length of gas pipe and blew into it, creating an unusual sound. With modifications, this became a musical instrument he named a bazooka. A photograph shows him playing his invention in the Silver Cornet Band.

During World War I Burns enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He sailed to France with the 11th Regiment, U.S. Marines, AEF, and as a sergeant became the leader of the Marine Corps’s jazz band. he became known for his “bazooka” – made from stove pipes and a whiskey funnel.

Following the war, Burns played his novelty instrument on radio programs. Functioning like a crude trombone, his musical bazooka had a narrow range, but this was intentional. Burns used it as a prop when telling hillbilly stories and jokes. During World War II, GIs borrowed the name for their handheld anti-tank rocket launchers.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Radio, Television Permalink

Bob Crosby

October 25, 2019

Bob Crosby was an American dixieland bandleader and vocalist, best known for his group Crosby and the Bob-Cats.

He was the youngest of seven children: five boys, Larry, Everett, Ted, Harry and Bob; and two girls, Catherine and Mary Rose. His parents were English-American bookkeeper Harry Lowe Crosby and Irish-American Catherine Harrigan, , the daughter of a builder from County Mayo in Ireland.

Bob Crosby began singing with Anson Weeks and the Dorsey Brothers. He led his first band in 1935, when the former members of Ben Pollack’s band elected him as titular leader. He recorded with the Clark Randall Orchestra in 1935, led by Gil Rodin and featuring singer Frank Tennille, whose pseudonym was Clark Randall. Glenn Miller was a member of that orchestra which recorded the Glenn Miller novelty composition “When Icky Morgan Plays the Organ” in 1935. His most famous band, the Bob-Cats, was a Dixieland jazz group with members from the Bob Crosby Orchestra. Both the Bob Crosby Orchestra and the smaller Bob-Cats group specialized in Dixieland jazz, presaging the traditional jazz revival of the 1940s. Crosby’s singing voice was remarkably similar to that of his brother Bing, but without its range.

The Bob Crosby Orchestra and the Bob Cats included Yank Lawson, Billy Butterfield, Muggsy Spanier, Matty Matlock, Irving Fazola, Ward Silloway, Warren Smith, Eddie Miller, Joe Sullivan, Bob Zurke, Jess Stacy, Nappy Lamare, Bob Haggart, Walt Yoder, Jack Sperling, and Ray Bauduc. Arrangements for the orchestra were often done by a young trumpeter by the name of Gilbert Portmore who, during the time he was a decorated WWII fighter pilot in the South Pacific, started an Air Force swing band known as Cap’n Portmore’s Hepcats.

25 Oct 2019
Radio, Recording Permalink

Bob Eubanks

October 25, 2019

Robert Leland "Bob" Eubanks is an American television/radio personality and game show host, best known for hosting the game show The Newlywed Game on and off since 1966, where he was known for using the catch-phrase, "Makin' Whoopee".

Eubanks was born in Flint, Michigan, but was raised primarily in Pasadena, California, where he grew up listening to music, most notably favorites like Frank Sinatra and Doc Watson. He watched popular classic television and quiz game shows. Also growing up in the 1940s and 1950s, he was influenced by Cary Grant, Howard Hughes, Buddy Hackett and Bill Cullen. He attended Pasadena High School, where he graduated in 1955. After graduation from high school, he would become one of California's most popular disc jockeys. In 1956, his first radio exposure was at KACY Radio in Oxnard, California. For most of the 1960s, while working the midday shift at KRLA in Pasadena, he was also a producer of concerts, such as The Beatles 1964 and 1965 Hollywood Bowl performances, The Rolling Stones, during the first two years of the American tour. While still in Los Angeles, he also produced such artists as Barry Manilow, The Supremes, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Elton John and Merle Haggard, among others.

Eubanks married Irma Brown, an avid athlete, ranch forewoman and artist, on September 10, 1969. They had three children: Trace; Corey, a stuntman; and Theresa. In 1970, Bob & Irma purchased a portion of a working cattle ranch, and later expanded it to. The entire family enjoyed roping and riding. Irma handled interior decorating, landscaping, and mounting one to two equestrian shows a year. Irma died in 2001 after a prolonged illness.

At some point after 2001, Bob married Deborah James. She is a wedding/events coordinator in Ventura, CA. She has her own company called Bella Vita Events. They live in Westlake Village, CA.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Television Permalink

Bob Hawk

October 25, 2019

Bob Hawk was an American radio quizmaster and comic whose early work in radio set the standard for the “man in the street? interviews. He worked on several different radio shows with most being sponsored by Camel Cigarettes. He was host of the Bob Hawk Show a quiz program for the radio.

His programs included :

In 1949 the Bob Hawk Show was moved from Chicago, Illinois, the then capital of Radio with 22 radio stations, to Hollywood, California. Later shows was recorded and then edited down to 30 minutes.

In all of his shows, Hawk wrote the questions and was famous for coming up with very clever ones. For instance, one such question was “Could a baseball game end in a 6-6 tie without a man touching first base?” Answer: “Yes, if the game was played between two girl teams.”

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

Bob Hope

October 25, 2019

Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was an American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel. Throughout his career, he was honored for his humanitarian work. In 1996, the U.S. Congress honored Bob Hope by declaring him the "first and only honorary veteran of the U.S. armed forces." Bob Hope appeared in or hosted 199 known USO shows.

Hope was born in Eltham, London, England, the fifth of seven sons. His father, William Henry Hope, was a stonemason from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset and his Welsh mother, Avis Townes, was a light opera singer who later worked as a cleaning woman. The family lived in Weston-super-Mare, then Whitehall and St George in Bristol, before moving to Cleveland, Ohio in 1908. The family emigrated to the United States aboard the SS Philadelphia, and passed inspection at Ellis Island on March 30, 1908. Hope became a U.S. citizen in 1920 at the age of seventeen. In a 1942 legal document, Hope's legal name is given as Lester Townes Hope. His name on the Social Security Index is also listed as Lester T. Hope. His name at birth as registered during the July?August?September quarter in the Lewisham district of Greater London was also Leslie Towns Hope.

From the age of 12, he worked at a variety of odd jobs at a local boardwalk. He would busk, doing dance and comedy patter to make extra money. He entered many dancing and amateur talent contests, and won prizes for his impersonation of Charlie Chaplin. He also boxed briefly and unsuccessfully under the name Packy East, once making it to the semifinals of the Ohio novice championship.

In 1918 at the age of 15 he was admitted to the Boys Industrial School in Lancaster, Ohio. Formerly known as the Ohio Reform School, this was one of the more innovative, progressive institutions for juvenile offenders. As an adult, Hope donated sizable sums of money to the institution.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Television Permalink

Bob Keeshan

October 25, 2019

Robert James Keeshan was an American television producer and actor. He is most famous as the title character of the children's television program Captain Kangaroo, which became an icon for millions of people during its 30-year run from 1955-1984.

Keeshan also played the original "Clarabell the Clown" on the Howdy Doody television program.

Keeshan was born in Lynbrook, New York. In 1945, during World War II, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, but was still in the United States when Japan surrendered. He attended Fordham University on the GI Bill. An urban legend claims that actor Lee Marvin said on The Tonight Show that he had fought alongside Keeshan at the Battle of Iwo Jima in February-March, 1945. However, Marvin not only never said this, but had not served on Iwo Jima, and Keeshan himself never saw combat, having enlisted too late to serve overseas.

Network television programs began shortly after the end of the war. Howdy Doody, an early show which premiered in 1947 on NBC, was one of the first. Debuting on January 3, 1948, Keeshan played "Clarabell the Clown", a silent Auguste clown who communicated by honking several horns attached to a belt around his waist. One horn meant "yes"; another meant "no". Clarabell often sprayed Buffalo Bob Smith with a seltzer bottle and played practical jokes. Keeshan gave up the role in 1952, and was replaced.

25 Oct 2019
Recording Permalink

Bob Marley

October 25, 2019

Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae bands The Wailers and Bob Marley & The Wailers. Marley remains the most widely known and revered performer of reggae music, and is credited with helping spread both Jamaican music and the Rastafari movement to a worldwide audience.

Marley’s best known hits include “I Shot the Sheriff”, “No Woman, No Cry”, “Could You Be Loved”, “Stir It Up”, “Jamming”, “Redemption Song”, “One Love” and, together with The Wailers, “Three Little Birds”, as well as the posthumous releases “Buffalo Soldier” and “Iron Lion Zion”. The compilation album Legend, released three years after his death, is reggae’s best-selling album, being 10 times Platinum in the U.S., and selling 20

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Television Permalink

Bob Miller

October 25, 2019

See the Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Ceremony announcement
 

Robert James "Bob" Miller is an American sportscaster, best known as the play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Kings team of the National Hockey League on Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket. Miller has held that post with the team since 1973 and has been partnered with Jim Fox for the last seventeen seasons.

Miller received his degree in communication studies from the University of Iowa. While there, he began his broadcasting career, covering the school's football and basketball games.

After his graduation in 1960, Miller began working in television sports journalism in Wisconsin. He later would add announcing duties for the football and hockey teams at the University of Wisconsin?Madison.

In 1972, Jiggs McDonald, the Kings' original play-by-play announcer, left the team to join the expansion Atlanta Flames. Kings owner Jack Kent Cooke, who was also the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team, put Lakers' announcer Francis "Chick" Hearn in charge of the search for McDonald's replacement. Miller sent tapes to Hearn and earned Hearn's recommendation for the position. However, Cooke decided to hire long-time San Francisco Bay Area announcer Roy Storey.

25 Oct 2019
Recording, Television Permalink

Bob Newhart

October 25, 2019

George Robert Newhart, known professionally as, Bob Newhart, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Noted for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery, Newhart is best known for playing psychologist Dr. Robert “Bob” Hartley on the 1970s sitcom The Bob Newhart Show and as innkeeper Dick Loudon on the 1980s sitcom Newhart.

Newhart also appeared in film roles such as Major Major in Catch-22, and Papa Elf in Elf. He provided the voice of Bernard in the Walt Disney animated films The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under. One of his most recent roles is the library head Judson in The Librarian.

Newhart was born in Oak Park, Illinois and raised on the west side of Chicago. His parents were Julia Pauline, a housewife of Irish descent, and George David Newhart, a part-owner of a plumbing and heating-supply business, who was Irish and German. Newhart has three sisters, Virginia, Mary Joan, and Pauline.

He was educated at Roman Catholic schools in the area, including St. Catherine of Sienna grammar school in Oak Park, and attended St. Ignatius College Prep, where he graduated in 1947. He then enrolled at Loyola University of Chicago where he graduated in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in business management.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Recording Permalink

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

October 25, 2019

Robert Clark “Bob” Seger is an American rock musician and singer-songwriter.

As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as The Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s. By the early 1970s, he had dropped the “System” from his recordings, and he continued to strive for national success with other various bands. In 1973 he put together “The Silver Bullet Band,” an evolving group of Detroit-area musicians, with whom he became most successful. In 1976, he achieved national fame with two albums, the live record Live Bullet, and the studio record Night Moves. On his studio albums he also worked extensively with the Alabama-based Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, appearing on several of Seger’s best selling singles and albums.

A roots rocker with a classic raspy, shouting voice, Seger was first inspired by Little Richard, along with Elvis Presley. He wrote and recorded songs that dealt with blue-collar themes. Seger has recorded many rock and roll hits, including “Night Moves”, “Turn the Page”, and “Like a Rock”, and also co-wrote the Eagles number one hit “Heartache Tonight”. His iconic signature song “Old Time Rock and Roll” was named one of the Songs of the Century in 2001. With a career spanning five decades, Seger continues to perform and record today.

Seger’s songs have been covered by many artists including Thin Lizzy and Metallica.