Tony Curtis was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films, in roles covering a wide range of genres. In his later years, Curtis made numerous television appearances.
Some Like It Hot is a 1959 American crime comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Billy Wilder. It stars Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, with George Raft, Pat O'Brien, Joe E. Brown, Joan Shawlee and Nehemiah Persoff in supporting roles. The screenplay by Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond is based on a screenplay by Robert Thoeren and Michael Logan from the 1935 French film Fanfare of Love. The film is about two musicians who disguise themselves as women to escape from Mafiosi whom they witnessed committing a crime.
Jeanette Helen Morrison, known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, Leigh was discovered at 18 by actress Norma Shearer, who helped her secure a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. With MGM, she appeared in films such as the dramas The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947), the crime-drama Act of Violence (1948), the drama Little Women (1949), the comedy Angels in the Outfield (1951), the romance Scaramouche (1952), and the Western drama The Naked Spur (1953).
Damn Yankees is a 1955 musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League Baseball. It is based on Wallop's 1954 novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant.
Richard Quine was an American director, actor, and singer.
That's Dancing! is a 1985 American compilation film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that looked back at the history of dancing in film. Unlike the That's Entertainment! series, this film not only focuses specifically on MGM films, but also included films from other studios.
Martha Hyer was an American actress who played Gwen French in Some Came Running (1958), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her autobiography, Finding My Way: A Hollywood Memoir, was published in 1990.
Gloria Mildred DeHaven was an American actress and singer who was a contract star for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).
Frederick Leonard Clark was an American movie and television character actor, often playing in authoritative roles.
Joseph Herman Pasternak was a Hungarian-American film producer in Hollywood. Pasternak spent the Hollywood "Golden Age" of musicals at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, producing many successful musicals with female singing stars like Deanna Durbin, Kathryn Grayson and Jane Powell, as well as swimmer/bathing beauty Esther Williams' films. He produced Judy Garland's final MGM film, Summer Stock, which was released in 1950, and some of Gene Kelly’s early breakthrough roles. Pasternak worked in the film industry for 45 years, from the later silent era until shortly past the end of the classical Hollywood cinema in the early 1960s.
Can-Can is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and a book by Abe Burrows. The story concerns the showgirls of the Montmartre dance halls during the 1890s.
Three Little Words is a 1950 American musical film biography of the Tin Pan Alley songwriting partnership of Kalmar and Ruby. It stars Fred Astaire as lyricist Bert Kalmar and Red Skelton as composer Harry Ruby, along with Vera-Ellen and Arlene Dahl as their wives, with Debbie Reynolds in a small but notable role as singer Helen Kane and Gloria DeHaven as her own mother, Mrs. Carter DeHaven.
Mary Murphy was an American film and television actress of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
Emile Meyer was an American actor, usually known for tough, aggressive, authoritative characters in Hollywood films from the 1950s era, mostly in Westerns or thrillers.
Joan Shawlee was an American film and television actress. She is known for her recurring role as Fiona "Pickles" Sorrell in The Dick Van Dyke Show, a career-defining turn in Billy Wilder's comedy Some Like It Hot (1959) playing Sweet Sue, the abrasive martinet in charge of Marilyn Monroe's all-girl jazz band, and as the flamboyant Madame Pompey in the 1957 Maverick episode "Stampede" with James Garner. She was sometimes credited under her birth name.
Two Girls and a Sailor is a 1944 American musical film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Van Johnson, June Allyson and Gloria DeHaven. Set on the American homefront during World War II, it's about two singing sisters who create a lavish canteen to entertain members of the military, thanks to financial contributions from a mysterious donor. The picture features a host of celebrity performances, including Jimmy Durante doing his hallmark "Inka Dinka Doo", Gracie Allen, and Lena Horne. Richard Connell and Gladys Lehman were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
René Havard was a French film actor. He appeared in 80 films between 1946 and 1985. He was born and died in Paris, France.
Three Sailors and a Girl is a 1953 American Technicolor musical film made by Warner Bros. It was directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by Devery Freeman and Roland Kibbee, based on the George S. Kaufman play The Butter and Egg Man. Ray Heindorf was the musical director, with orchestrations by Gus Levene, and vocal arrangements by Norman Luboff. Choreography was by LeRoy Prinz.
Georges Van Parys was a French composer of film music and operettas. Among his musical influences were the group Les Six, Maurice Ravel, and Claude Debussy. Later in his career he served as vice-president of the Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique. He is buried in the cemetery at Villiers-sur-Marne.
Two Tickets to Broadway is a 1951 American musical film directed by James V. Kern and starring Tony Martin, Janet Leigh, Gloria DeHaven and Ann Miller. It was filmed on the RKO Forty Acres backlot. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Recording. The film was choreographed by Busby Berkeley. The film recorded an estimated loss of $1,150,000.
