Best known for his success in popularizing the sitar and introducing Indian music to other music genres, Ravi Shankar was born Robindra Shankar Chowdhury in India in 1920. Shankar lived in India until the age of 10 when he left to Paris, France with his older brother, Uday Shankar. Uday was a member of a […]
The son of a circus clown and a cleaning woman, Red Skelton was born Richard Bernard on July 18, 1913 in Vincennes, Indiana. He was introduced to show business at the age of 7 at a vaudeville show in Vincennes. At age 10, he left home to travel with a medicine show through the Midwest, and joined the vaudeville circuit at […]
Last night, the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards were broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. This year, the annual award show not only paid tribute to those making television today, but to the 50th anniversary of two momentous events in television history. Namely, the TV coverage surrounding President Kennedy’s assassination and The Beatles’ […]
Milton Berle, whose career as a comedian spanned vaudeville, radio, television, and film, was born Mendel Berlinger on July 12, 1908 in New York City. He started his career at the age of five, when he appeared in the silent film “The Perils of Pauline” after winning a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest. At the […]
What better time to celebrate the career highlights of Paul McCartney than today? Today marks Paul McCartney’s 71st birthday! It seems like just yesterday that the Beatles on Ed Sullivan American TV debut took place. Almost 50 years after that legendary performance the Beatles co-founder Paul McCartney remains more popular than ever. He was only […]
This Sunday May 26th, Steven Sorderbergh’s newest biopic “Behind the Candelabra” will premiere on HBO. The biopic chronicles the life of the famous pianist and vocalist Władziu Valentino Liberace, better known as just Liberace, starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. Liberace appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show 6 times between 1954 and 1970. Among his […]
Bob Hope was born Leslie Townes Hope in London on May 29th 1903. Three years later, Hope’s father moved the family to Cleveland, Ohio. Upon his arrival in America his name was changed to Bob. From an early age, Hope showed a big interest in the performing arts. Growing up, he was given singing lessons […]
In honor of what would have been Bing Crosby’s 110th birthday, we would like to take a moment to reminisce on his great career. Bing Crosby was born Harry Lillis Crosby on May 3, 1903. A neighborhood friend gave him the nickname “Bing,” and it stuck for the rest of his life. Crosby began his career singing […]
In 1925, The Three Stooges started out as a vaudeville and comedy act with comedian Ted Healy. During this period, they were known as “Ted Healy and His Stooges,” “Ted Healy and His Southern Gentlemen,” “Ted Healy and His Three Lost Souls” and “Ted Healy and His Racketeers.” On stage, Healy would perform jokes and […]
After winning a talent contest in 1962, Martha Reeves was asked to perform at Detroit’s Twenty Grand nightclub, where Motown A&R man William “Mickey” Stevenson heard her sing and scheduled a meeting. Although she was not signed to a record contract during that meeting, she was hired to be his secretary. A few months later, Stevenson […]