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William Bruce Cameron is an American author, columnist, and humorist. Cameron is most famous for his novel A Dog's Purpose, which spent 52 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. The book is the basis for the movie version starring Dennis Quaid, Britt Robertson, Peggy Lipton, K.J. Apa, Juliet Rylance, Luke Kirby, John Ortiz, and Pooch Hall, and released in theaters on January 27, 2017. A Dog's Purpose is followed by a sequel called A Dog's Journey, which Cameron, along with Cathryn Michon, adapted into a film of the same name.
The Algonquin Round Table was a group of New York City writers, critics, actors, and wits. Gathering initially as part of a practical joke, members of "The Vicious Circle", as they dubbed themselves, met for lunch each day at the Algonquin Hotel from 1919 until roughly 1929. At these luncheons they engaged in wisecracks, wordplay, and witticisms that, through the newspaper columns of Round Table members, were disseminated across the country.
Robert Charles Benchley was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor. From his beginnings at The Harvard Lampoon while attending Harvard University, through his many years writing essays and articles for Vanity Fair and The New Yorker and his acclaimed short films, Benchley's style of humor brought him respect and success during his life, from his peers at the Algonquin Round Table in New York City to contemporaries in the burgeoning film industry.
Peter Bradford Benchley was an American author, screenwriter, and ocean activist. He is known for his bestselling novel Jaws and co-wrote its film adaptation with Carl Gottlieb. Several more of his works were also adapted for both cinema and television, including The Deep, The Island, Beast, and White Shark.
Dancing Lady is a 1933 American pre-Code musical film starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, and featuring Franchot Tone, Fred Astaire, Robert Benchley, and Ted Healy and His Stooges. The picture was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, produced by John W. Considine Jr. and David O. Selznick, and was based on the novel of the same name by James Warner Bellah, published the previous year. The movie had a hit song in "Everything I Have Is Yours" by Burton Lane and Harold Adamson.
The Deep is a 1977 adventure film based on Peter Benchley's 1976 novel of the same name. It was directed by Peter Yates, and stars Robert Shaw, Jacqueline Bisset and Nick Nolte.
Jaws is a 1974 novel by American writer Peter Benchley. It tells the story of a great white shark that preys upon a small resort town and the voyage of three men trying to kill it. The novel grew out of Benchley's interest in shark attacks after he learned about the exploits of Montauk, New York shark fisherman Frank Mundus in 1964. Doubleday commissioned him to write the novel in 1971, a period when Benchley worked as a freelance journalist.
Nathaniel Robert "Nat" Benchley is an American writer and actor who has performed on stage, television, and film.
The Reluctant Dragon is a 1941 American comedy film produced by Walt Disney, directed by Alfred Werker, and released by RKO Radio Pictures on June 27, 1941. Essentially a tour of the then-new Walt Disney Studios facility in Burbank, California, the film stars radio comedian Robert Benchley and many Disney staffers such as Ward Kimball, Fred Moore, Norman Ferguson, Clarence Nash, and Walt Disney, all as themselves.
How to Sleep is a short comedy film written by and starring humorist Robert Benchley. Filmed and released by MGM in 1935, it features Benchley as a narrator as well as film subject, discussing four parts of sleep - causes, methods, avoiding sleep, and waking up.
Music Box Revue was a series of four musical theatre revues by Irving Berlin, presented from 1921 to 1925 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. The first show was staged by Hassard Short with music by Irving Berlin, and featured contributions from a number of writers including Robert Benchley. it debuted in 1921, where it ran for 440 performances.
The Treasurer's Report (1928) is a comedy sketch, made into a short film, written and performed by Robert Benchley. The film, made in the then-new Fox Movietone, documents an assistant treasurer of an organization struggling to present its yearly report. This was the first of Benchley's 46 comedy short films, with six made for Fox, one each for Universal Pictures and RKO Radio Pictures, 29 for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and nine for Paramount Pictures.
The Sex Life of the Polyp is a 1928 short film written and performed by Robert Benchley, based on a routine he first did in 1922. The short, which was adapted from an essay by Benchley, documents a dim-witted doctor attempting to discuss the sex life of a polyp to a women's club. This was the second of Benchley's 46 comedy short films, with six made for Fox, one each for Universal Pictures and RKO Radio Pictures, 29 for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and nine for Paramount Pictures.
How to Train a Dog is a 1936 short film released through MGM Studios starring Robert Benchley. The short film reveals how not to train a dog, as the character Benchley gets the dog from a pet store.
A Night at the Movies is a short film starring Robert Benchley. It was Benchley's greatest success since How to Sleep, and won him a contract for more short films that would be produced in New York.
Roy Rowland was an American film director. The New York-born director helmed a number of films in the 1950s and 1960s including Our Vines Have Tender Grapes, Meet Me in Las Vegas, Rogue Cop, The 5000 Fingers of Doctor T, and The Girl Hunters. Rowland married Ruth Cummings, the niece of Louis B. Mayer and sister of Jack Cummings. They had one son, Steve Rowland, born in 1932, who later became a music producer in the UK.
The Sport Parade is a 1932 American pre-Code film directed by Dudley Murphy and starring Joel McCrea, Marian Marsh, William Gargan, Robert Benchley, and Richard "Skeets" Gallagher. It was released by RKO Radio Pictures. Benchley also co-wrote the screenplay. The film includes location shots of New York City in 1932.
My Ten Years in a Quandary, and How They Grew is a 1936 collection of 105 short humorous essays by Robert Benchley. The book was originally published by Harper Brothers and illustrated by Gluyas Williams. It was a best-seller upon release.
Light's Diamond Jubilee (1954) is a two-hour TV special that aired on October 24, 1954, on all four U.S. television networks of the time, DuMont, CBS, NBC, and ABC. The special won a Primetime Emmy Award for Victor Young for Best Music for a Variety or Dramatic series.
References
- Billy Altman, Laughter's Gentle Soul: The Life of Robert Benchley. (New York City: W. W. Norton, 1997. ISBN 0-393-03833-5).
