Thursday, February 7, 2013

Blog post (from research) #6: (Due Monday, February 11)
Pick the photo file of a particular person in the Mass Media & Culture collection (someone you’ve read about or just a name at random), explore the contents (sometimes more than photos), do some research and write about that person or the event depicted. Be sure you’ve picked an interesting photo and describe it well. (250-350 words; 2-3 secondary sources. Include a copy of one of the photos.)

22 comments:

  1. I chose a photo of TV and radio personality Kate Smith from 1957. In the photo, she is on a stage smiling and dancing. From what I have read about Kate Smith, this photo seems representative of who she was as a person. She grew up singing and dancing and performing in musicals. She began making records in 1926 and she was discovered in 1930 by Ted Collins, vice president of Columbia Records. He put her on the air in 1931 when she was only 24.

    Smith was a very large lady and she was often ridiculed for it. However, she learned to embrace it, as it came along with her tremendous voice. She had several radio shows, including “The Kate Smith Hour”, “Kate Smith Sings”, and “Kate Smith Speaks”, among others. She was referred to as the First Lady of Radio. In the 1950s she moved to TV, achieving great success with her own shows and making guest appearances on many others.

    She became known eventually as the good luck charm of the Philadelphia Flyers. In 1969, the Flyers began playing her famous rendition of “God Bless America” before home games, and believed they won the games at which they played her song. On several occasions, Smith herself came to Philadelphia to sing the song live. She helped the Flyers win two Stanley Cups back-to-back. There is even a statue of her in Philadelphia outside the Flyers arena. Smith died in 1986 and was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1999.

    The photo I chose describes Smith perfectly. Smith was a woman who lived for show business. She was a people person. Her passions were singing and entertaining people. It could not be clearer from the look on her face in this photo that she is in her element. She is up on stage with a big smile on her face, in the middle of a dance move. This photo seems very representative of the free, passionate entertainer she has been described as.

    My photo: https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=281460757d&view=att&th=13cc02983bced0ef&attid=0.1&disp=inline&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P9o_zjjH6G3HxoxxN74jp-C&sadet=1360433650372&sads=3Bv3MA_A5ppB48oMeluEPqfVwoo&sadssc=1

    http://www.radiohof.org/musicvariety/katesmith.html
    http://katesmith.org/katebio.html
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Smith

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  2. I chose a photo of television personality Alex Trebek, hosting the 1992 National Geography Bee. The event was broadcast on public television stations across the nation on May 21 of that year, including by Maryland Public Television, who are responsible for the photograph.

    In my research I discovered that Trebek, best known as the host of Jeopardy!, hosts the National Geography Bee every year, and won a gold medal from the Royal Canadian Geography Society in 2010 for his achievements in geography.

    1992 was the fourth year of the National Geographic Bee, and the winner was Lawson Fite, an eighth-grader from Washington state, who received the final question "Many coastal countries have established so-called EEZs-areas extending 200 nautical miles from shore over which countries have sovereign rights for resource exploration. What do the initials EEZ stand for?". He answered correctly with "Exclusive Economic Zone", capping off a perfect final round.

    Trebek has hosted four different game shows, but is best known for his work on Jeopardy!. He replaced Art Fleming in 1984, and has won five Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Gameshow Host. Born in Ontario, Canada, Trebek became a US citizen in 1998. He began his career as a sportscaster and newscaster with CBC, before moving to a Canadian music show in 1963.

    My photo: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=c9f8a43366&view=att&th=13cc4c43f09edbe1&attid=0.1&disp=thd&zw

    Sources: http://www.rcgs.org/awards/gold_medal/winner_gold2010.asp
    http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Trebek

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  3. I chose a picture of Patrice Munsel, a famous opera singer from 1959. She is posed with Howard Keel, a famous television actor and singer with a large parasol that has a feather trim. The two have large smiles and it seems to be a part of some promotional material. After reading a bit about Patrice and what she was doing around that era, I discovered that she and Keel appeared on The Bell Telephone Telecasts from 1959-1966.
    Much before The Bell Telephone Telecasts, Munsel had a long career singing opera at many different venues. She first sang at the Metropolitan when she was only 17 years old in 19423. She performed over 200 more times at the Metropolitan before moving her act to Las Vegas, which for opera was unheard of at the time. The Las Vegas Review-Journal did an article explaining how she began performing on the Strip singing opera in 1955, which was known for primarily popular music acts, not opera.
    She moved to television in the mid 1950s and in 1959 she sang on The Bell Telephone Telecasts with several other singers, including Howard Keel. The Bell Telephone Telecasts began on NBC Radio in 1940 but moved to television in 1959. It was a show that brought the most popular singers in classic and Broadway music to millions of listeners every week.
    This photo I chose seems to show Patrice in a fun way. This photo just stood out to me out of all of them for that reason. As I mentioned earlier, it was probably promotional material for the show. Though this picture was taken towards the end of her career, it was lengthy in both radio and television singing opera.

    Sources:
    http://www.reviewjournal.com/legends/patricemunsel.html
    http://www.originallifemagazines.com/LIFE-Magazine-March-3-1952-P2303.aspx
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bell_Telephone_Hour
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Keel#1960s.E2.80.931980s
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Munsel

    My photo:
    https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=91ca33ea7f&view=att&th=13cc6847076d275d&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=78db9c5c65d12409_0.1&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P_FfosTrOSRDKswxiyhNF6A&sadet=1360540261241&sads=P3a66FqoGqO_AhwDQszIHAdINdg&sadssc=1

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  4. About the Show:

    “Route 66” was the first of its kind television drama. It broke barriers by not shooting on a studio stage but in real settings. The show was filmed all over the country and was deemed by Newsweek as the "the largest weekly mobile operation in TV history." The series ran Fridays from 8:30-9:30 p.m. on CBS from Oct. 1960 until Sept. 1964, airing 116 episodes.1 The show plot was simple, following two men, Buzz Murdoch (George Maharis) and Tod Stiles (Martin Milner), as they drove across country in a Corvette inherited from Stiles’ father.1

    The individual shows focus on great social issues such as mental illness, drug addiction, war and religion to name a few. However, the show did have many elements of slapstick humor.
    Route 66, never had great success on television. It was ranked 30th in number of viewers in 1960-61, and 27th in 1962-3 with an estimated audience of 10,713,900 viewers.

    The Picture: “Journey to Nineveh”
    This photo depicts a scene in the 1962 episode “Journey to Nineveh.” This episode guest stars Buster Keaton (bottom) as Jonah, “the town jinx” who brings Buzz and Tod bad luck throughout the episode. According to a note that CBS released along with the photo, a rowboat that Keaton and Maharis were using began to sink.

    Buster Keaton:
    Born in 1895, Buster Keaton grew to be known as one of the best physical comics of all time. Keaton began his career at the age of three as a vaudeville child actor with his parents. He wrote, directed and starred in silent comedy pictures. His career began to fail in the 1930s as studios started to take on writing. However in the 1950s, Keaton began reviving his career as audiences craved for “nostalgia.” His guest role on Route 66, was just one of many examples of Keaton attempting to get back in business. In 1966, Keaton died at the age of 69, just after finishing work on Richard Lester’s “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”5

    My Photo: https://twitter.com/HarringtonPMCJ/status/300783433012084736/photo/1
    ---------------
    1 http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=route66
    2 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cbs-broadcasts-the-premiere-episode-of-route-66
    3 http://classic-tv.com/60s-ratings/
    4 http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/route-66-1962/episode-2-season-3/journey-to-nineveh/204145
    5 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/buster-keaton/about-buster-keaton/644/

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  5. The photo I picked was of Jimmy Durante looking startled as a replica “puppet” sits on his left shoulder. The photo was in decent shape and obviously printed in black and white. On the back of the photo, the information listed states that it was from “TV MAG,” 12 inches x 2.5 inches deep. It’s my guess that the pictured appeared somewhere between the late 1940s to the early 50s. As I looked for more photos of Durante, the same colorful emotions were prevalent, but the actually picture of him looking at his puppet was not coming up. I’m not sure if this was a cover photo for the magazine or if it was an insert, but it seems rather comparable to Durante’s cover on Time Magazine, in which he is looking at a “doll” of himself.

    Originally starting as a blues musician, Durante, using his humor and his unique looks (he had a really big nose), he transitioned into comedy, where he became known as one of the funniest characters in both radio and television. In 1943, he shared his own radio program with Garry Moore, and during the 1950s, NBC granted him his own program called, The Jimmy Durante Show. Durante did basically everything. He sang, he danced, he cried, he made jokes. His raspy voice, and old man features allowed him to play a variety of different roles in all entertainment mediums. He was one of the most influential characters during the golden age of radio, and his signature lines like, “Good night Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are,” is still revered as legendary today.



    http://www.redhotjazz.com/jdurante.html


    http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/d/Durante/jimmy.htm

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Durante


    Picture: https://twitter.com/gmf721/status/300800170684198915/photo/1

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  6. Naturally, as soon as I discovered the Bill Cosby file in the Mass Media & Culture collection I knew that I would find some interesting, or at the very least amusing, pictures of the actor-comedian. While it was tough to choose between all of the photos of a pre-Cosby Show Bill Cosby, replete with muttonchops and a ridiculous blazer, I eventually settled on a picture of Cosby with a large cutout of his Fat Albert cartoon character. I used to occasionally watch Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids reruns when I was younger and had forgot that Cosby created the show, so this picture brought back a wave of nostalgia and prompted further research into the show’s history.

    The photo is in black and white, with Cosby sitting next to the large cutout of Fat Albert; his shirt says “Hey Hey Hey” on it (a reference to Fat Albert’s catchphrase) and he is adorning one of his trademark “goofy Cosby” pseudo-smiles. The premise for Fat Albert was based on Cosby’s adventures with his gang growing up in inner city Philadelphia, and show debuted in 1972 and ran until 1985 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068072/]. Each show was also designed to teach a lesson to the show’s generally younger audience and the show became a popular and engaging teaching tool for many educators; Cosby even wrote his doctoral dissertation on the show, a paper he titled, “An Integration of the Visual Media Via 'Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids' Into the Elementary School Curriculum as a Teaching Aid and Vehicle to Achieve Increased Learning” [http://proquest.umi.com/pqdlink?did=756476461&Fmt=14&VType=PQD&VInst=PROD&RQT=309&VName=PQ
    D&TS=1270441368&clientId=79356&cfc=1]. In addition to being a good teaching tool, the show also was successful, especially considering seasons were infrequent and the show aired on Saturday mornings. The entertainment website IGN ranked the show the 82nd best animated series, TV Guide named Fat Albert the best animated series of the 1970s [http://tv.ign.com/top-100-animated-tv-series/82.html]“Fat Albert was filled with humor… but tackled serious issues like stealing, racism, child abuse, smoking and vandalism,” wrote IGN.

    My photo: https://twitter.com/JeremyGranoff/status/300800925461794817/photo/1

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  7. What made Jack Benny so appealing to audiences was his creative humor that could always catch a crowd off-guard. He once stood before an audience in his usual suit and said, “You know, I was just thinking, I don’t know why I come out here every show and I keep saying ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’ You get in here for nothing.” What would be an otherwise offensive comment from any up-and-coming performer was comedic gold for the legendary Benny. The audience erupted in laughter. Benny added, “And believe me that wasn’t my idea.” Benny also proposed adults pay one dollar to see him, children pay 50 cents and dogs pay a quarter.

    I found that same humor frozen in this old photo of Benny with a gorilla. I immediately thought this was a bizarre photo. Benny is well-dressed and wearing a suit while standing next to an animal. Do people wear suits around animals? I don’t think so. The gorilla also looks like it was a costume. This made me scratch my head a bit. I thought to myself, “Okay, here is a gorilla, played by a man, standing directly behind Jack Benny in a suit. … What is going on here?”

    On his show Benny was a “cheap, insecure, untalented braggart who would never willingly enter his fifth decade.” I can’t honestly tell you I get that from this photo, but I can say that Benny was eccentric. Despite those traits, the audience endeared him and even admired him. I get the feeling that the fans adored him from the YouTube clip. Benny had the confidence to be rude to them and they knew he was just joking. Between that and the photo, it was easy to see that he was quite the character.


    Pic: https://twitter.com/egarjourno/status/300809851985072129/photo/1

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    Replies
    1. Sources:

      http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Benny.html

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8HCXCe4aPE

      Delete
  8. The picture I chose shows Mary Healy pictured with her husband Peter Lind Hayes. I found it interesting that most of the pictures in Mary Healy’s file were of her and her husband. At first I thought it was a male co-star and those were promotional pictures but as I learned after doing some research, that was her husband and they often starred in shows together. The picture depicts Peter Lind Hayes in weird sunglasses as Mary Healy looks at him in surprise. I chose it because it was a fun picture and it seems to speak to how they were as a couple.

    Mary Healy was a former Miss New Orleans beauty pageant winner and had her first major role in Second Fiddle (1939) [1]. She is well known for her role as Princess Aouda in Orson Welles’ Broadway production of Around the World in 80 Days (1946) [2]. Most of the shows she appeared on however were with her husband, including The Chevrolet Show (1949), The Stork Club (1950), Star of the Family (1951-52) and the sitcom Peter Loves Mary (1960-61) [3]. Peter Lind Hayes was the son of Grace Hayes, a comedienne and singer in the vaudeville era [4]. Peter Lind Hayes once stated that the couple’s forte was “musical comedy satire“ [5].

    I thought it was interesting that Grace Hayes didn’t think the marriage between her son and Mary Healy would last and supposedly called her “that girl” up until she died in 1989 (although in an account in the Saturday Evening Post Peter Lind Hayes made it seem like his mother got over the fact that he married Mary) [6] [7]. Mary and Peter were married from 1940 until his death in 1998.

    [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Healy
    [2] “
    [3] http://www.lexisnexis.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/lnacui2api/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T16655537349&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo=26&resultsUrlKey=29_T16655493966&cisb=22_T16655537352&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=8200&docNo=36
    [4] http://www.lexisnexis.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/lnacui2api/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T16655495412&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T16655493966&cisb=22_T16655495414&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=11063&docNo=5
    [5] “
    [6] “
    [7] http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=5d76ef89-6345-4b79-849d-57a3cb19109b%40sessionmgr110&vid=6&hid=128


    picture: https://picasaweb.google.com/107783771895196435243/February112013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNjhldPc2LvMsgE&feat=directlink

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  9. The photograph that I have chosen for this assignment shows Tommy Rettig and a Rough Collie dog Lassie from 1950's TV series "Lassie." In the photo Lassie and his human companion are shown kneeling in an outdoor setting with the young child smiling with Lassie's right paw in his hand as if they are holding "hands." This photograph truly represents the saying, "A dog is a man's beast friend." Aside from the black and white quality and the photo's depiction, I notice that the background in the photo has been partially blacked/colored out. In last week's Hornbake's visit, you mentioned that older pictures where unable to be photoshopped like today, but instead they were colored with marker or the like.

    According to Wikipedia, Lassie is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie dog named Lassie and her companions, human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 24, 1973. One of the longest running dramatic series on television, the show chalked up seventeen seasons on CBS before entering first-run syndication for its final two seasons. Initially filmed in black and white, the show transitioned to colour during 1965.

    The show's first ten seasons follow Lassie's adventures in a small farming community. Fictional eleven-year-old Jeff Miller, his mother, and his grandfather are Lassie's first human companions until seven-year-old Timmy Martin and his adoptive parents take over in the fourth season. When Lassie's exploits on the farm end in the eleventh season, she finds new adventures in the wilderness with a succession of United States Forest Service Rangers. After traveling without human leads for a year, Lassie finally settles at a children's home for her final two syndicated seasons.

    According to The Lassie Network, Lassie's series started on radio before premiering on television, something that I didn't know until research.

    https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/?ui=2&ik=0a31e019fe&view=att&th=13ccc09e5a901d2b&attid=0.0&disp=inline&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P-t-fF6Hv4jXBCpVbafXII0&sadet=1360634040069&sads=sR6ukLibQgaF3N-6-XoYDRPqQ5k

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  10. The photograph I selected was of Bob Costas, sports reporter. As an avid tennis player and fan, I often heard his commentary drifting through my house during the various Grand Slams and Olympics. His even tone was punctuated by bursts of enthusiasm: when Roger Federer aced his opponent, or when Maria Sharapova hit a particularly strong volley. Narration seemed natural to him. The photo is a simple headshot of him in an NBC blazer, smiling genially at the camera. It’s black-and-white and the date on the back says 1989, courtesy of NBC Sports, and was taken during “NFL Live”. To my untrained eye, it looks as though Costas hasn’t aged much.

    According to NBC, he's won 19 Emmys, 14 of which were under the category of "Outstanding Sports Personality/Host." His interview program, "Later with Bob Costas," also snagged an Emmy in 1993 for "Outstanding Informational Series." His illustrious career started when he graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in communications in 1974. (He was born in Queens, New York). As I previously mentioned, Costas is in an NBC blazer in the photo I selected, though he wasn't always on-screen; he was formerly on the radio for ten years (1986-1996) as host of the syndicate show "Costas Coast to Coast" (which later became "Costas on the Radio").

    He garnered slight controversy with political comments, including a disparaging comment on George W. Bush’s presidency (he declared the presidency had “tragically failed.”) He later made a statement on gun control during the “Sunday Night Football Halftime Show” in light of the Jovan Belcher murder/suicide; critics pointed out how he used an entertainment venue to make a comment on such a controversial topic. Outside of his work, he lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with his second wife. (He has two children with his first wife). Unsurprisingly, his main interest outside of work is sports.

    [1] http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/25918118/ns/sports-sunday_night_football/
    [2] http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/bob-costas/195051
    [3] https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/1/?ui=2&ik=c6e84476f0&view=att&th=13ccc7a50a2bf08b&attid=0.1&disp=inline&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P_kmvxledU96fVnHGobgL38&sadet=1360640283999&sads=yuhvRiSlM0jLzbrSby1IEvsTIcQ&sadssc=1
    [4] https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/1/?ui=2&ik=c6e84476f0&view=att&th=13ccc7a50a2bf08b&attid=0.2&disp=inline&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P_kmvxledU96fVnHGobgL38&sadet=1360640556647&sads=lBBJlY4WQpJTs6BZIQ0ijNNEqIo

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  11. I chose a picture of Bob Costas and Bob Uecker, two famous play-by-play announcers, from what I believe to be the mid-90's at Comiskey Park in Chicago. I chose the picture because I am a big fan of both announcers and because of the different styles of the two men. I always think of Costas as a serious announcer despite his appearance in a comedy movie. But I always think of Uecker as the hilarious announcer in the movie series "Major League," in which he is an announcer who does not take the team seriously [1].

    Costas is and has been a staple of sports broadcasting for the past 30 years. Starting announcing for the Bulls, Costas has moved on to broadcasting a record nine Olympic games and has hosted his own talk shows on HBO, NBC, and MLB Network. Recently Costas has come under fire for voicing his opinions of national debates at halftime of Sunday Night Football, but Costas still reigns as one of the best in the world [2][3].

    Uecker started his career as a baseball player and later became a Milwaukee Brewers' announcer. Uecker has appeared in multiple movies, sitcoms, and commercials since he started as an announcer, and is better know for those roles than for his announcing. [4]

    [1] http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0879902/?ref_=sr_1
    [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Costas
    [3] http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/26/bob-costas-on-the-gun-control-controversy-i-could-have-handled-it-better/
    [4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Uecker

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  12. I chose a photograph of Bob Costas standing with three other men in front of an NBC Radio Network banner. The photo is black and white and dated 1987, so it certainly displays a much younger looking Costas than what we are accustomed to seeing on NBC's Football Night in America. Nonetheless, he clearly stands out as the guy in the picture, standing in the middle and beaming radiantly with his infectious smile that has appeared in households nationwide since his debut on air in the early 80s.

    The picture appealed to me because he never was a radio personality of any stature and made his mark in the television field. Nonetheless, it makes sense he probably double-dipped and crossed over at times, meeting and interacting with the NBC radio crew to pitch ideas and news to one another. I am unable to identify the other men in the picture, but would very much be interested in conducting some research in discovering who they are. I fear it may be producers and directors, which means it'll be much more difficult than if they were on-air talent.

    Costas has always endeared himself to me with both his smooth voice and pure talent. Whether it be the Olympics or Sunday Night Football, we can find Costas on a large stage delivering news and analysis in an appealing and entertaining manner.I was particualry impressed by his willingness and courageousness to go on the air and deliver comments about gun control to a national audience after the tragic Jovan Belcher death. This inspired me as an aspiring broadcaster to understand when to take a stand and allow moral beliefs to blend with professional broadcasting. Although it's a gray area with no defined rules, I think Costas made the right call in addressing the issue while remaining as bipartisan as possible. I think him owning up to some of the controversy caused illustrates how good of a broadcaster he is and added more to his legacy rather than take some away.

    [1] http://www.filmreference.com/film/66/Bob-Costas.html
    [2] http://www.starpulse.com/Actors/Costas,_Bob/Biography/
    [3] http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2012/12/04/bob-costas-calls-jovan-belcher-commentary-a-mistake/
    [4] https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=9d01752f42&view=att&th=13cccb41236b353b&attid=0.1&disp=inline&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P_q4NuPG5LUntbw8zXxLV2I&sadet=1360644063773&sads=YODWK2uQxIcQzcEbh_vzqiFfWts&sadssc=1

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  15. In the image I studied, NBC correspondent Nancy Dickerson is preparing for an interview of the Presidential family, including Lady Bird Johnson and her two daughters Lynda Bird and Luci Banes.[1] Dickerson pages through a Johnson family scrapbook as NBC director Charles Jones speaks and producer Bob Arman stands in the background, going over final plans for the interview, which was the first to include all three women in the First Family.[2]

    Clips of the interview, which took place in the White House living room, were later aired as part of NBC’s convention coverage, as well as on the “Sunday” show.[3]

    Dickerson broke the glass ceiling for network correspondents at CBS News in 1960; She also interviewed President John F. Kennedy in the White House prior to his inauguration in 1961 for the program, “Being with John F. Kennedy,” eventually went on to form her own production company, and commentated for Fox News, among a host of series of other roles.[4] Between covering presidential campaigns, Kennedy’s funeral and the civil rights movement, she also found time to thrive in New York City’s elite party scenes — she was even named best coiffed women several times.[5]

    You can tell her attention to detail in her appearance stemmed from something bigger than vanity. She was a women who took her job and credibility seriously and didn’t want anything to distract from her interviews, correspondences or programs — event a pregnancy. Her son, Slate chief political correspondent John Dickerson, says his mother gave birth within a day of delivering The News with Nancy Dickerson on NBC. [6] Because she anchored her time slot uninturrupted, every shot from the waiste up, her audience had never known the 41-year-old woman was pregnant.[6]

    1. National Broadcasting Company file photo
    2. National Broadcasting Company file photo
    3. National Broadcasting Company file photo
    4. The New York Times, October 19, 1997, “Nancy Dickerson, 70, First Woman to Be a Reporter at CBS”
    5. NPR, October 19, 2006, “Nancy Dickerson, the First Lady of TV News”
    5. NPR, October 19, 2006, “Nancy Dickerson, the First Lady of TV News”
    6. NPR, October 19, 2006, “Nancy Dickerson, the First Lady of TV News”

    http://tinypic.com/r/m8g12e/6

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  16. I found a photograph of actress Betsy Palmer, in what appears to be a still from a movie. She seems to be dressed in 19th century garb and crouching next to a friar of some sort. Both look tense and nervous and there a a bunch of small barrels. The friar character is holding one, perhaps to send up the chimney. I was unable to find any information on from what film this was taken, so I have imagined perhaps they are smuggling barrels of alcohol. Since the back of the photo says it was taken in 1959, I looked through Betsy Palmer's filmography and my best guess is the photo came from a live dramatic television series called "The United States Steel Hour," and the episode might have been "The Wayward Widow." [1]

    Though all of the photos I found in Betsy Palmer's file were from her youth in the 50s and 60s, she is best known for her 1980 role in "Friday the 13th" in which she plays Pamela Voorhees. [2] Palmer has said the only reason she took the role was because she needed a new car, and she had assumed the movie would be a flop, saying in an interview she read the script and thought, "What a piece of shit! Nobody is ever going to see this thing."[3] I read a couple interviews with Palmer and she was surprisingly funny. She often swear words, which surprised me given her ladylike appearance. At the end of the cited interview, the interviewer told her to have a good day and she replied, "I will. And if I don't, it's my own damn fault."

    Her best-known role before "Friday the 13th" was a long-running part on the popular 50s gameshow "I've Got a Secret." She served as a panelist from 1958 until 1967 and had various other television roles throughout the 50s and 60s.

    Photo: https://twitter.com/aaperez17/status/301328443642093568/photo/1

    [1] http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0658133/filmogenre
    [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy_Palmer#cite_note-5
    [3] http://www.movieweb.com/news/exclusive-betsy-palmer-is-friday-the-13ths-mrs-pamela-voorhees

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  17. The photo that I chose was of Ed "Archie" Gardner. Gardner was known for some Broadway shows but ultimately gained fame through his radio show Duffy's Tavern. Duffy's Tavern was a situational comedy show that aired on both CBS and NBC throughout the forties and into the early fifties. It featured many famous guest that would come on as guests in the tavern. In 1954 there was an attempt to get the program on television but it failed.

    The photo that I chose of Gardner depicts him as his character, Archie. Throughout the run of the show we hear about the owner of Duffy’s Tarvern, Duffy, yet the audience never meets him. Archie serves as the manager who deal with all the problems in Duffy's absence. Archie starts off the shows with a phone conversation with Duffy. A lot of the show consists of Archie on the phone (like in the picture). In this particular photo we see Archie offering three tickets to Duffy for the opening of Duffy’s Tavern on NBC in 1951. The two are arguing which is a typical situation found in the show.




    PHOTO-http://heirloomradio.com/images/Gardner_Ed_Archie%20of%20Duffys%20Tavern.jpg
    http://heirloomradio.com/images/Gardner_Ed_Archie%20of%20Duffys%20Tavern.jpg
    http://www.otrcat.com/duffys-tavern-p-1215.html

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  18. When I saw Cloris Leachman’s photo folder in the box, I was immediately drawn to it. Most of us (my generation) knows Leachman as either a sassy senior that appears in movies or the ever-vivacious competitor on “Dancing With The Stars.” However, little of us know about her early career.

    The picture that I chose shows Leachman posing with flowers in 1974. While the photo does not exactly represent any specific role, it was taken while she was depicting one of her earlier roles, that of Phyllis Lindstrom on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” In the show, which ran from 1970-1977, Leachman appeared as the nosy, self-centered and manipulative landlady to Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore). [1]

    In the photo, Leachman has a lovely and iconic grin as she stands in a garden-like scene with a bouquet of flowers. At this moment, she looks like a quintessential suave woman of the 1970s. Her look puts the viewer at ease and her beauty is so very calm. The picture gives a warm to Leachman.

    What stood out to me in this picture is the beauty and style that Leachman possessed. I feel like her look (not personality) paralleled the character that she played at the time. In “Mary Tyler Moore,” Leachman was portrayed as the beautiful wife of a dermatologist. Given that her husband was a doctor and they owned a large Victorian home, it would appear that her husband and her lived a comfortable life. Part of the reason that the characters often bumped heads with her was because she was seen as a beautiful and confident woman who at the same time was snobbish, controlling and arrogant. She had a suave and debonair style in this photo that reflected the life she always desired to live in the sitcom. [2]

    In the midst of the “Mary Tyler Moore” run, Leachman was given her very own spinoff, entitled “Phyllis.” While her storyline changed, she remained true to her character. Even though the show only lasted two seasons, the show was a top ten hit, and she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.[3]

    Photo- https://twitter.com/jmdavis2513/status/301169671766421505/photo/1

    [1] http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=marytylermo
    [2] http://thiswastv.com/2012/11/05/1970s-fun-flops-phyllis/
    [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_(TV_series)

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  19. I chose a photo of Burr Tilistrom, a puppeteer and the creator of Kukla, Ollie and the Kuklapolitan players. Tilistrom is photographed playing with his most famous puppets, Kukla and Ollie. Kukla, Fran and Ollie was a nationally televised puppet show. It aired first on NBC and later on ABC and PBS. It was NBC’s first color telecast.

    The nightly show featured Tilistrom’s collection puppets and comedienne Fran Allison. Tilistrom’s signature characters, Russian doll Kukla and dragon Ollie were the stars of the series, along with Fran Allison, who served as the voice of reason between the two often polarized puppets. Kukla, Fran and Ollie received critical acclaim as a children’s series, despite being popular among adults. The show received a Peabody award in 1949 and Emmys in 1954 and 1971.

    Tilistrom was born in Chicago in 1917. He got his start creating string marionettes in high school. Tilistrom created Kukla for a Russian ballerina and former love interest he met at The University of Chicago. His romance fizzled, but Kukla remained a permanent fixture.

    Kukla, Fran and Ollie aired on Chicago’s WNBQ in 1947 and nationally on NBC one year later. The program ran for ten consecutive years in various formats, including nightly episodes, radio formats and Sunday specials. At its peak in the early 1950s, the show was broadcast to several million households. In 1957, NBC cut the series and replaced it with a daily 5-minute KFO segment. Tilistrom returned to NBC without Allison in 1960, for a weekly series Burr Tilistrom’s Kukla and Ollie. KFO reunited in 1967 to host CBS’ Children’s Film Festival.

    Tilistrom died in 1985 at age 68. Prior to his death, he served as a mentor to up and coming puppeteers, including Jim Henson and Shari Lewis.

    http://kukla.tv/story.html
    http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/kuklapolitans/kuklapolitans_in_color.html
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kukla,_Fran_and_Ollie

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  20. My photograph depicts Ed Sullivan perched on a couch with beautiful opera singer Risë Stevens. According to the accompanying note, the picture was taken in October 1955 as the two were looking over the script for Stevens' upcoming appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, scheduled for November 6. The two appear to be laughing or at least enjoying themselves as they discuss the script.

    Ed Sullivan was famous for his long-running variety show on prime time television. Although he was known as a stone-faced emcee, his personal life was apparently quite glamorous. The show ran from 1948 to 1971 and hosted a variety of entertainment stars, from comedians to musicians, including fine artists such as opera singer Risë Stevens. [2]

    Stevens was most famous for her performance as Carmen in the opera during the 1950s, but her career spanned from the live stage to film and tv series's as well. [1] Stevens' appearance on the Ed Sullivan show would have occurred at the height of her popularity, which attests to the notoriety of the show and of Ed Sullivan himself, who often personally worked to secure acts for his television series. [2]

    My photo: https://twitter.com/Tmgriffi/status/301429765741637632/photo/1

    [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ris%C3%AB_Stevens
    [2] http://www.edsullivan.com/about-ed-sullivan

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  21. The photo I picked up is of Ozzie Nelson holding an adorable goat. The picture reached out to me because I love goats, along with all little animals.

    The Nelson family included Ozzie, his wife Harriet Hilliard who was also depicted in many of the photos, and their sons David and Ricky. In the 1940s, the parent duo played on the Red Skelton radio show and in 1944 took over their time slot. Their own radio show involved Ozzie, the self-deprecating husband, playing saxophone to his “girl-singer”, Harriet. In its early days, the show centered around Ozzie as the bandleader and included child actors. Then, in 1949 the real Nelson sons, David and Ricky, joined their parents on the show.

    Ozzie was in the midst of arguing a contract deal with ABC, when the network expressed interest in a television program for the Nelson family. The Nelsons starred in a Universal Studios film Here Come the Nelsons, and in 1952, ABC began filming the family’s television series, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Ozzie was extremely active in the creative and production process, helping in all of the program’s 435 episodes as head writer, script supervisor, producer and editor. Story meetings were held at the Nelson residence with appropriate ice-cream breaks.

    The show was unique in that it blended fact and fiction. Though the TV series was fiction, it was based of the Nelsons’ real lives and the public thought they were one in the same. The show ended in 1966, and the family’s members had a hard time making it in the business afterwards.

    [1] http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=nelsonozzie
    [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozzie_Nelson

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