The Carpenters: A Christmas Portrait | |
---|---|
Genre | Music |
Written by | Rod Warren |
Directed by | Bob Henry |
Starring | Karen Carpenter Richard Carpenter The Richard Carpenter Trio Gene Kelly Jimmy McNichol Kristy McNichol Georgia Engel Peter Pit |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producer | Jerry Weintraub |
Producer | Bob Henry |
Editor | Jimmy B. Frazier |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Production company | Downey-Bronx Productions |
Release | |
Original release | December 19, 1978 |
The Carpenters: A Christmas Portrait is a Christmas television special featuring The Carpenters that aired on ABC on December 19, 1978. It was the second Christmas TV special that the pop duo made and was taped in October 1978.
The special stars Richard and Karen Carpenter, with special guests Gene Kelly, Kristy and Jimmy McNichol, Georgia Engel, and Peter Pit. The special is named after the Carpenters recently released Christmas album Christmas Portrait in October 1978.
The synopsis of the special revolves around Karen and Richard throwing their annual Christmas party (just like the previous Christmas). They have invited all their special guests and the guests take turns giving their gifts to one another by song. Agnes and Harold Carpenter (Richard and Karen's parents) have cameos in this special. The last four songs just talk about the history of Christmas music and show a variety of selections from different cultures and languages.
Paul Hamilton Williams Jr. is an American composer, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for writing and co-writing popular songs performed by a number of acts in the 1970s, including Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song" and "Out in the Country", Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World", Biff Rose's "Fill Your Heart", and the Carpenters' "We've Only Just Begun" and "Rainy Days and Mondays".
Karen Anne Carpenter was an American singer and drummer, who formed half of the sibling duo the Carpenters alongside her older brother Richard. With a distinctive three-octave contralto range, she was praised by her peers for her vocal skills. Carpenter's struggle with and eventual death of heart failure related to her years-long struggle with anorexia would later raise attention and awareness of eating disorders and body dysmorphia and their possible causes.
"We've Only Just Begun" is a single by the Carpenters, written by Roger Nichols (music) and Paul Williams (lyrics). It was ranked at No. 414 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time."
Christina Ann McNichol is an American former actress. She is known for such film roles as Angel in Little Darlings, Polly in Only When I Laugh, and Barbara Weston in the TV sitcom Empty Nest. She won two Emmy Awards for her portrayal of teenage daughter Letitia "Buddy" Lawrence in the TV drama Family. McNichol retired from acting in 2001.
Close to You is the second studio album by American duo Carpenters, released on August 19, 1970. In 2003, the album was ranked number 175 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list. The album contains the hit singles "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and "We've Only Just Begun". The former was the song which earned the Carpenters an international reputation. The album topped the Canadian Albums Chart and peaked at number 2 on the US Billboard albums chart. It was also successful in the United Kingdom, entering the top 50 of the official chart for 76 weeks during the first half of the 1970s.
Richard Lynn Carpenter is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, who formed half of the sibling duo the Carpenters alongside his younger sister Karen. He had numerous roles in the Carpenters, including record producer, arranger, pianist, keyboardist, and songwriter, as well as joining with Karen on harmony vocals.
James Vincent McNichol III, known professionally as Jimmy McNichol, is an American actor and singer who first gained fame as a teen idol in the late 1970s. At the beginning of his career his popularity quickly grew, causing networks like CBS to create and implement multiple television series specifically for his involvement and leading roles. After making a record number of appearances on top talk shows he was viewed by many as "the face you see everywhere."
For the Love of It is the 12th studio album released by Bradley Joseph on the Robbins Island Music label.
Roger Stewart Nichols is an American composer and songwriter. He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays violin, guitar, bass, and piano.
The Carpenters: Music, Music, Music is a Carpenters television special from 1980. It included guest stars such as Ella Fitzgerald, John Davidson and Nelson Riddle and his orchestra.
The Carpenters' Very First Television Special was Richard and Karen Carpenter's first television special produced in the US, airing on December 8, 1976, and their second overall, following a special for BBC Television five years earlier.
The Carpenters...Space Encounters is a television special featuring the American pop duo The Carpenters. It was first shown on ABC on May 17, 1978.
Lovelines is the posthumous thirteenth studio album by American music duo Carpenters, the third Carpenters album released after the death of Karen Carpenter. It was released in 1989 and is a compilation album assembled by Richard Carpenter from unreleased Carpenters tracks along with selected solo tracks by Karen from her then-unreleased solo album.
The Singles: 1969–1981 is a compilation of the Carpenters' music released by Richard Carpenter in 2000. A SACD was also made with the same name but with some difference in the track listing. In June 2016, the album was certified Gold in the United Kingdom for sales of 100,000 copies sold.
The Essential Collection: 1965–1997 is a box-set compilation album from The Carpenters that, with the exception of a few track changes, is essentially the same as the 1991 From the Top set. Coming in at four discs and 73 songs, this album is one of the biggest of all Carpenters compilation sets. The songs from this box set are everything from the Richard Carpenter Trio recordings from 1965 to their biggest hits in the early 1970s to the last song ever recorded by the Carpenters, "Now".
Pianist, Arranger, Composer, Conductor is the second solo album by American musician Richard Carpenter, released in 1998. It includes instrumental versions of popular songs of the Carpenters, and is dedicated to their deceased mother, Agnes Carpenter. The album contains two new songs, "All Those Years Ago" and "Karen's Theme", which was released as a single.
From the Top is a box set by the Carpenters, released in 1991, containing everything from the Richard Carpenter Trio recordings from 1965 to the duo's biggest hits in the early 1970s through to the final song: "Now". This compilation was revised with The Essential Collection: 1965–1997 in 2002.
Close to You: Remembering The Carpenters is a 100-minute-long documentary that was released on DVD by MPI Home Video. It features interviews by Richard Carpenter, John Bettis (co-writer), Gary Sims, Petula Clark, et al.
The Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter. They produced a distinctive soft musical style, combining Karen's contralto vocals with Richard's harmonizing, arranging, and composition skills. During their 14-year career, the Carpenters recorded 10 albums along with many singles and several television specials.
Carpenters is the third studio album by American music duo Carpenters. Released on May 14, 1971, it was their most successful studio album, reaching number two on the Billboard 200 chart and number 12 in the UK, as well as being certified 4× Platinum by the RIAA. The album contained the hit songs "For All We Know", "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "Superstar".