The Blackburn Twins were an American duo of entertainers (dancer-singer-actor) who appeared on stage, film and television in the mid-20th century. [1]
The twin brothers, Ramon Perez and Royce Perez, later professionally known as the Blackburn Twins, were born January 8, 1925 [2] in Blue Point, New York. [3]
At the age of seven they performed on stage in the Jerome Kern musical Music in the Air which ran in 1932-33. Also in 1932, they made their film debut in Her First Affaire , with Ida Lupino. [4]
As child actors, the boys appeared in the Broadway plays 200 Were Chosen (1936) and As You Like It (1937). Separately, Royce appeared in Everywhere I Roam (1938-39) and Ramon in Stop-Over (1938). As a duo the pair danced in Olsen and Johnson's Sons o' Fun (1941-43).
Drafted into the army during World War II, they appeared in both the stage and screen versions of the patriotic show Winged Victory (1943-44). In 1946 they appeared in a gimmicky musical short called Film Vodvil: Three Sets of Twins with the McFarland Twins (musicians) and the Burke Twins (singers).
The Blackburn Twins were best remembered for three films: Words and Music (1948), Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949), and She's Working Her Way Through College (1952). [2] [5]
The bulk of their professional work was in nightclubs, but from 1948 through 1954 they also made television appearances on shows like Cavalcade of Stars , The Ed Sullivan Show , Texaco Star Theater with Milton Berle, The Colgate Comedy Hour , [6] The Tonight Show and The Arthur Murray Party . [2]
In 1952, while performing at the Copa Cabana, Ramon met and fell for Copa Girl Joyce Sieger. They were married within weeks. [2] [3]
Royce died of cancer on April 14, 1994 (age 69) in New Ipswich, New Hampshire. [4] [7] Ramon died August 17, 2018 (age 93) in Boynton Beach, Florida. [3]
Glynis Johns is a British actress, dancer, musician and singer. Born in Pretoria, South Africa, while her parents were on tour, she is best known for creating the role of Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music on Broadway, for which she won a Tony Award, and for playing Winifred Banks in Walt Disney's musical motion picture Mary Poppins.
Kellie Suzanne Waymire was an American stage, television, and film actress. She was known for her television roles on Six Feet Under, Friends, and Star Trek: Enterprise.
Bernard Punsly was an American actor who later left show business to become a physician.
Jeanine Tesori is an American composer and musical arranger. She is the most prolific and honored female theatrical composer in history, with five Broadway musicals and five Tony Award nominations. She won the 1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play for Nicholas Hytner's production of Twelfth Night at Lincoln Center, the 2004 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music for Caroline, or Change, and the 2015 Tony Award for Best Original Score for Fun Home, making them the first female writing team to win that award. She was named Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist twice for Fun Home and Soft Power.
Verla Eileen Regina Brennan was an American actress. She made her film debut in the satire Divorce American Style (1967), followed by a supporting role in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show (1971), which earned her a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Constance Vera Browne, Baroness Oranmore and Browne, commonly known as Sally Gray, was an English film actress of the 1930s and 1940s. Her obituary in The Irish Times described her as "once seen as a British rival to Ginger Rogers."
Ramon Arens Bieri was an American actor who starred in many films and TV shows.
Baccara was a female vocal duo formed in 1977 by Spanish artists Mayte Mateos and María Mendiola. The duo rapidly achieved international success with their debut single "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie", which reached number one across much of Europe and became the best-selling single of all-time by a female group, eventually selling more than 18 million copies worldwide. A successful follow-up single and European tour led to a number of album releases, numerous television appearances and the duo's selection to represent Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978.
Joan Hume McCracken was an American dancer, actress, and comedian who became famous for her role as Sylvie in the original 1943 production of Oklahoma! She also was noted for her performances in the Broadway shows Bloomer Girl (1944), Billion Dollar Baby (1945) and Dance Me a Song (1950), and the films Hollywood Canteen (1945) and Good News (1947).
Max Gordon Showalter, sometimes credited as Casey Adams, was an American film, television, and stage actor, as well as a composer, pianist, and singer. He appeared on more than 1,000 television programs. One of Showalter's most memorable roles was as the husband of Jean Peters' character in the 1953 film Niagara.
Royce Dwayne Applegate was an American actor and screenwriter who was first billed as Roy Applegate.
Lee Bergere was an American actor, known for his role as Joseph Anders in the 1980s television series Dynasty.
Doris Breamer Hare, MBE was a Welsh actress, singer, dancer and comedienne, she is best known for being the second actress to portray Mrs Mabel "Mum" Butler in the British sitcom On the Buses after replacing original actress Cicely Courtneidge.
Janeece "Jan" Adele was an Australian actress and entertainer active in many fields including circus, vaudeville, theatre, film and television. She was best known for her recurring comedy role of vaudevillian showgirl Trixie O'Toole in the 1970s television soap opera Number 96.usually sharing scenes with co-stars Wendy Blacklock and Mike Dorsey.
The March of Time is the title of an unreleased 1930 American Pre-Code musical film directed by Charles Reisner. The film was originally scheduled to be released in September 1930 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer but was shelved. The March of Time would have been one of the many musicals partially filmed in two-color Technicolor.
Antoinette Olympe Bradna was a French dancer and actress, who emigrated to the United States where she lived for the rest of her life.
Anson Randolph Merriman was an American television producer, game show host and radio broadcaster. He was the first host of The Big Payoff game show on NBC.
Chris Markoff is a Yugoslav-American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with professional wrestling promotions in the Midwestern United States in the 1960s.
Phil Ford was a vaudeville performer, musician, and comedian, whose career spanned over seven decades.
Walking on Air is a British musical film featuring jazz, songs, dance, tap dance, and variety comedy routines including several performances by African American performers. Starring performers include Johnny Worthy, Bertie Jarrett, Sonny Thomas, Ray Ellington, The Skating Avalons, singer Jill Allen singing "Honeysuckle Rose", Maudie Edwards, Myrette Moreven, Miki Hood, Jasmine Dee, Loderick Caton, Coleridge Goode, and Freddie Crump on drums. The Huntley Film Archives have extended clips from the film. Aveling Ginever directed. Ginever, Johnny Worth and Val Guest wrote the screenplay.
... the Blackburn Twins were popular dancers who appeared in several first-rate musicals. They were good-looking, able to do tap, a little ballet, and modern dance with great exuberance and real skill.
Known as The Blackburn Twins , these young fellows appeared in a number of M.G.M. ...