Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrelated English folkloric tradition. The recognisably modern figure of the English Father Christmas developed in the late Victorian period, but Christmas had been personified for centuries before then.
A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas Carol, is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. In the process, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man.
Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since is a historical novel by Walter Scott (1771–1832). Scott was already famous as a poet, and chose to publish Waverley anonymously in 1814 as his first venture into prose fiction. It is often regarded as one of the first historical novels in the Western tradition.
"The Night of the Meek" is episode 47 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on December 23, 1960, on CBS. It was one of the six episodes of the second season which were shot on videotape in a short-lived experiment aimed to cut costs.
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day. Together, both days are considered one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and Western society.
Michael Brown was an American composer, lyricist, writer, director, producer, and performer. He was born in Mexia, Texas. His musical career began in New York cabaret, performing first at Le Ruban Bleu. In the 1960s, he was a producer of industrial musicals for major American corporations such as J.C. Penney and DuPont. For the DuPont pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair, Brown wrote and produced a musical revue, The Wonderful World of Chemistry staged 48 times a day by two simultaneous casts in adjacent theaters. For years, he maintained a reunion directory of the cast and crew, which included Robert Downey, Sr. as a stage manager. 2005 mailing: “After all, it was a remarkable time in all of our lives. We can be fairly certain nothing like it will be seen again. Love all round, Mike.” Several of his songs have entered the American repertoire, including "Lizzie Borden" and "The John Birch Society," which were popularized by the Chad Mitchell Trio. Children know him best as the author of three Christmas books about Santa's helper, Santa Mouse.
Scrooge is a 1951 British Christmas fantasy drama film and an adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol (1843). It stars Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge, and was produced and directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, with a screenplay by Noel Langley. It also features Kathleen Harrison, George Cole, Hermione Baddeley, Mervyn Johns, Clifford Mollison, Jack Warner, Ernest Thesiger and Patrick Macnee. Michael Hordern plays Marley's ghost and the older Jacob Marley. Peter Bull narrates portions of Charles Dickens' words at the beginning and end of the film, and appears on-screen as a businessman.
The observance of Christmas around the world varies by country. The day of Christmas, and in some cases the day before and the day after, are recognized by many national governments and cultures worldwide, including in areas where Christianity is a minority religion. In some non-Christian areas, periods of former colonial rule introduced the celebration ; in others, Christian minorities or foreign cultural influences have led populations to observe the holiday.
Leave It to Psmith is a comic novel by English author P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 30 November 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, England, and in the United States on 14 March 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised, in the Saturday Evening Post in the US between 3 February and 24 March 1923, and in the Grand Magazine in the UK between April and December that year; the ending of this magazine version was rewritten for the book form.
William John Eythe was an American actor of film, radio, television and stage.
A Christmas Carol is a 1984 British-American made-for-television film adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (1843). The film was directed by Clive Donner, who had been an editor of the 1951 film Scrooge, and stars George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge. It also features Frank Finlay as Marley's ghost, David Warner as Bob Cratchit, Susannah York as Mrs. Cratchit, Angela Pleasence as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Edward Woodward as the Ghost of Christmas Present and Roger Rees as Scrooge's nephew Fred; Rees also narrates portions of Charles Dickens' words at the beginning and end of the film. The movie was filmed in the historic medieval county town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire.
Clement Gazzam Hurd was an American artist. He is known for illustrations of children's picture books, especially collaborations with writer Margaret Wise Brown, including Goodnight Moon (1947) and The Runaway Bunny (1942).
A Christmas Carol: The Musical is a 2004 American musical television film based on the 1994 stage musical by Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens inspired by the 1843 novella of the same name by Charles Dickens.
A Very Brady Christmas is a 1988 American made-for-television Christmas comedy-drama film directed by Peter Baldwin and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, Ann B. Davis, Barry Williams, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Knight, Eve Plumb, Mike Lookinland, and Jennifer Runyon. It reunited the original cast members of the 1969–1974 sitcom The Brady Bunch, with the exception of Susan Olsen. Ron Kuhlman and Jerry Houser both reprised their characters from the short-lived 1981 sitcom The Brady Brides.
Edward Streeter, sometimes credited as E. Streeter, was an American novelist and journalist, best known for the 1949 novel Father of the Bride and his Dere Mable series.
"The Greatest Gift" is a 1943 short story written by Philip Van Doren Stern, loosely based on the Charles Dickens 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, which became the basis for the film It's a Wonderful Life (1946). It was self-published as a booklet in 1943 and published as a book in 1944.
Star in the Night is a 1945 American short drama film directed by Don Siegel and starring J. Carrol Naish, Donald Woods and Rosina Galli. The film was Siegel's directorial debut, and won an Oscar in 1946 for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel). The film is a modern-day retelling of the Nativity story, set on Christmas Eve at a desert motel in the Southwestern United States.
Little Lord Fauntleroy is a 1980 British family drama television film directed by Jack Gold and adapted by Blanche Hanalis from Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1886 children's novel of the same name. The film stars Alec Guinness, Rick Schroder, Eric Porter, Connie Booth, and Colin Blakely.
A Lively Christmas Eve is an East German comedy Christmas film, directed by Günter Reisch. It was released in 1962.
"Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean" is the seventh episode of the British television series Mr. Bean, produced by Tiger Television for Thames Television. It was first broadcast as a Christmas special on ITV on Tuesday 29 December 1992 as part of ITV's Christmas schedule and was watched by 18.48 million viewers during its original transmission.
