Hollywood Backstage | |
---|---|
Genre | Entertainment |
Written by | Paul Werth [1] |
Directed by | Rick Spalla Sr. [1] |
Presented by | John Willis Army Archerd |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producer | Rick Spalla Sr. [1] |
Production locations | Los Angeles, California London, England Boulder, Colorado |
Original release | |
Release | 1964 – 1968 |
Hollywood Backstage, with various presenters including John Willis and Army Archerd, [2] is an American TV series that features a behind-the-scenes look at the glamour of the Hollywood film industry. It originally ran from 1964 to 1968 [3] and was originally titled Hollywood Star Newsreel. [2]
John Willis narrates as cameras capture historic behind-the-scenes footage of film sets, charity functions, celebrity roasts, star interviews, and various Hollywood events. These include the premieres of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), the first film to open at the Cinerama Dome; The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) at the Egyptian Theater; The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965); Viva Maria! (1965); [2] Battle of the Bulge (1965); Zsa Zsa Gabor attending Doctor Zhivago (1965); [4] The Blue Max (1966); [5] and Fantastic Voyage (1966) at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. [6]
Visits to film sets include Kiss Me, Stupid with Kim Novak (1964), Colorado location filming for Stagecoach (1966 film) starring Ann-Margret, Divorce American Style (1967) with Dick Van Dyke and Debbie Reynolds, [2] Who's Minding the Mint? (1967), and The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967). [6]
Miscellaneous segments include Edward G. Robinson at the dedication of his wax figure at the defunct Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park, CA, [2] the opening of Gazzarri's Hollywood a Go Go on the Sunset Strip, [7] film/TV specialty auto customizing shop of George Barris, [8] and a tour of now-gone historic back lot of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio in Culver City, California. [6]
Interviews include Sonny & Cher, Nancy Wilson, Janet Leigh, [2] Red Buttons, [5] Lorne Greene, [6] Trini Lopez, Robert Wagner, [6] Carolyn Jones, [9] and Mamie Van Doren riding a motorcycle with Dave Ekins. [6]
Zsa Zsa Gabor was a Hungarian-American socialite and actress. Her sisters were socialites and actresses Eva Gabor and Magda Gabor.
Eva Gabor was a Hungarian-American actress and socialite. Gabor voiced Duchess and Miss Bianca in the Disney animations The Aristocats (1970), The Rescuers (1977), and The Rescuers Down Under (1990). She was popular in her role on the 1965–1971 television sitcom Green Acres as Lisa Douglas, the wife of Eddie Albert's character Oliver Wendell Douglas. Gabor was an actress in film, on Broadway, and on television. She was also a businesswoman, marketing wigs, clothing, and beauty products. Her elder sisters, Zsa Zsa and Magda Gabor, were also actresses and socialites.
Magdolna "Magda" Gabor was a Hungarian-American socialite and actress, and the elder sister of Zsa Zsa and Eva Gabor.
George Henry Sanders was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth, baritone voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous characters. He is remembered for his roles as wicked Jack Favell in Rebecca (1940), Scott ffolliott in Foreign Correspondent, The Saran of Gaza in Samson and Delilah, theater critic Addison DeWitt in All About Eve, Sir Brian De Bois-Guilbert in Ivanhoe (1952), King Richard the Lionheart in King Richard and the Crusaders (1954), Mr. Freeze in a two-part episode of Batman (1966), and the voice of Shere Khan in Disney's The Jungle Book (1967). He also starred as Simon Templar, in 5 of the 8 films in The Saint series (1939–41), and as a suave Saint-like crimefighter in the first 4 of the 16 The Falcon films (1941–42).
Elke Sommer is a German actress. She appeared in numerous films in her heyday throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in The Pink Panther sequel A Shot in the Dark (1964), the Bob Hope comedy Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966), Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (1974), and the British Carry On series in Carry On Behind (1975).
The Lincoln Futura is a concept car promoted by Ford's Lincoln brand, designed by Ford's lead stylists Bill Schmidt and John Najjar, and hand-built by Ghia in Turin, Italy — at a cost of $250,000.
George Barris was an American designer and builder of Hollywood custom cars. Barris designed and built the Hirohata Merc. Barris's company, Barris Kustom Industries, designed and built the Munster Koach and DRAG-U-LA for The Munsters; and the 1966 Batmobile for the Batman TV series and film.
My Mother the Car is an American fantasy comedy that aired for a single season on NBC between September 14, 1965, and April 5, 1966. Thirty episodes were produced by United Artists Television. The premise features a man whose deceased mother is reincarnated as an antique car, who communicates with him through the car radio.
Tom Conway was a British film, television, and radio actor remembered for playing detectives and psychiatrists, among other roles.
Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt is a German-American businessman best known as the last husband and widower of Zsa Zsa Gabor. Following his adoption as an adult by Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt in 1980, he changed his name.
Gazzarri's was a nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. The venue was a staple of the Los Angeles music scene from the 1960s until the early 1990s. The Doors and Van Halen were featured house bands there before being signed to major record labels. It was the backdrop for Huey Lewis and the News' short form promotional music video for their 1984 hit The Heart of Rock and Roll.
The New Alice in Wonderland is a 1966 American animated television special written by Bill Dana and produced by Hanna-Barbera. It was broadcast on the ABC network on March 30, 1966, in an hour slot. The songs were written by composer Charles Strouse and lyricist Lee Adams, who were most famous for Bye Bye Birdie. The songs were orchestrated by Marty Paich, who also provided musical direction; plus devised and arranged that part of the underscoring that was drawn from the musical numbers. The rest of the underscoring was drawn from the vast library of cues that Hanna-Barbera's in-house composer Hoyt Curtin had written for various animated series.
Made in Paris is a 1966 American romantic-comedy film starring Ann-Margret, Louis Jourdan, Richard Crenna, Edie Adams, and Chad Everett. The film was written by Stanley Roberts and directed by Boris Sagal.
The KCET Studios, located at 4401 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California is the longest continuously-producing studio in Hollywood. Since its establishment in 1912, the studios located at the site have been the home of motion picture producers, including Lubin, Essanay, Willis and Inglis, J.D. Hampton, Charles Ray, Ralph Like, Monogram Pictures, Allied Artists, and ColorVision. Since 1970, it has been the home of public television station KCET, but in April 2011, KCET announced that it had sold the facility to the Church of Scientology.
Out of Sight is a 1966 comedy film with elements of the spy spoof. It is the third and last of a series of films geared at teenagers by director Lennie Weinrib and producer Bart Patton for Universal Pictures.
Drop Dead Darling is a 1966 British-American black comedy film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Tony Curtis, Rosanna Schiaffino, Lionel Jeffries and Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Cory Wells & The Enemys are best remembered as a group fronted by Cory Wells before he joined up with Danny Hutton and Chuck Negron to form Three Dog Night.
Pamela Austin is an American retired actress.
One of the earliest telecasts of a NASCAR race was the 1960 Daytona 500, parts of which was presented as part of CBS Sports Spectacular, with announcer Bud Palmer.