Burton Stephen Lancaster was an American actor and film producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-year career in films and television series. He was a four-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Actor, and he also won two BAFTA Awards and one Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actor. The American Film Institute ranks Lancaster as #19 of the greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
Ken Curtis was an American actor and singer best known for his role as Festus Haggen on the western television series Gunsmoke.
Merle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rosewood, Kentucky, United States. His songs' lyrics often discussed both the lives and the economic exploitation of American coal miners. Among his many well-known songs and recordings are "Sixteen Tons", "Re-Enlistment Blues", "I am a Pilgrim" and "Dark as a Dungeon". However, it is his unique guitar style, still called "Travis picking" by guitarists, as well as his interpretations of the rich musical traditions of his native Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, for which he is best known today. Travis picking is a syncopated style of guitar fingerpicking rooted in ragtime music in which alternating chords and bass notes are plucked by the thumb while melodies are simultaneously plucked by the index finger. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1977.
Vegas is an American crime drama television series starring Robert Urich that aired on ABC from September 20, 1978, to June 3, 1981, with the pilot episode airing April 25, 1978. Vegas was produced by Aaron Spelling and was created by Michael Mann. The series was filmed in its entirety on location in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Robert Harriot Barrat was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor.
Lynne Roberts, also credited as Mary Hart, born Theda May Roberts was an American film actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She appeared exclusively in what were referred to as B movies.
The Hoosier Hot Shots were an American quartet of musicians who entertained on stage, screen, radio, and records from the mid-1930s into the 1970s. The group formed in Indiana where they performed on local radio before moving to Chicago and a nationwide broadcasting and recording career. The group later moved to Hollywood to star in western movies.
Babes in Arms is the 1939 American film version of the 1937 coming-of-age Broadway musical of the same title. Directed by Busby Berkeley, it stars Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, and features Charles Winninger, Guy Kibbee, June Preisser, Grace Hayes, and Betty Jaynes. It was Garland and Rooney's second film together as lead characters after their earlier successful pairing in the fourth of the Andy Hardy films. The film concerns a group of youngsters trying to put on a show to prove their vaudevillian parents wrong and make it to Broadway. The original Broadway script was significantly revamped, restructured, and rewritten to accommodate Hollywood's needs. Almost all of the Rodgers and Hart songs from the Broadway musical were discarded.
June Travis was an American film actress.
Circus of the Stars was an annual television special, broadcast by the CBS network in the United States, in which celebrities performed circus-type acts. It was filmed at the main Universal Pictures studio lot. With 19 shows in total, the first was broadcast in 1977 and the last was in 1994. Over the years the series featured many leading movie and television stars.
Norton is a surname with origin from the basic Early English norþ + tun, meaning North settlement. There are many English villages called Norton or including Norton as part of the name, e.g. Midsomer Norton, Chipping Norton, Brize Norton etc. When surnames started to be used in the Middle Ages, a man from such a village might have the name added e.g. Tom of Norton. Alternatively a man from the north side of any village might be given the name Tom Norton to distinguish him from a Tom from the south side. A secondary source for the surname is from the anglicisation of Celtic surnames. It is also sometimes found as a Jewish surname. The famous Emperor Norton in San Francisco was of Jewish origin from a South African settler family.
Song of Idaho is a 1948 American Western musical film directed by Ray Nazarro. It was released by Columbia Pictures.
Over the Santa Fe Trail is a 1947 American Western film directed by Ray Nazarro and written by Louise Rousseau. The film stars Ken Curtis, Jennifer Holt, Guy Kibbee, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Noel Neill and Holmes Herbert. The film was released on February 13, 1947, by Columbia Pictures.
Throw a Saddle on a Star is a 1946 American Western film directed by Ray Nazarro and written by J. Benton Cheney. The film stars Ken Curtis, Jeff Donnell, Adele Roberts, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Andy Clyde and Frank Sully. The film was released on March 14, 1946, by Columbia Pictures.
That Texas Jamboree is a 1946 American Western film directed by Ray Nazarro and written by J. Benton Cheney. The film stars Ken Curtis, Jeff Donnell, Andy Clyde, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, and Robert Kellard. The film was released on May 16, 1946, by Columbia Pictures.
Singing on the Trail is a 1946 American Western film directed by Ray Nazarro and written by J. Benton Cheney. The film stars Ken Curtis, Jeff Donnell, Guy Kibbee, Dusty Anderson and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. The film was released on September 2, 1946, by Columbia Pictures.
Rhythm Round-Up is a 1945 American Western musical film directed by Vernon Keays and written by Charles R. Marion. The film stars Ken Curtis, Cheryl Walker, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Raymond Hatton and Victor Potel. The film was released on September 7, 1945, by Columbia Pictures.
