News

Robert Patrick, the prolific playwright and onetime roommate of Lanford Wilson best known for the drama Kennedy’s Children, which starred Shirley Knight in a Tony-winning performance, has died. He was 85.

Patrick died in his sleep Sunday at his home in Los Angeles, Jason Jenn, his caregiver and longtime friend and associate, announced.

Patrick got his start at the West Village off-off-Broadway venue Caffe Cino and worked at the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, and more than 300 productions of his plays were staged in New York in the 1960s.

Patrick started writing Kennedy’s Children — set in a bar on New York’s Lower East Side on Valentine’s Day — in 1968 and finished it four years later. He premiered it off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizon to little attention before taking it to London, where it played in a pub and then the West End, was directed by Clive Donner and became a sensation.

Robert Patrick, a pioneering playwright in the Off Off Broadway movement who later won wider acclaim for the 1975 Broadway staging of his play Kennedy’s Children, died in his sleep at home in Los Angeles on Sunday, April 23. He was 85.

His death was announced by Jason Jenn, a longtime friend and associate.

The Broadway production of Kennedy’s Children starred Shirley Knight, who won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress, beating out a competitive roster that included Meryl Streep, Mary Beth Hurt and Lois Nettleton.

The play, which focused on a group of former 1960s activists reuniting and reminiscing in a Lower East Side bar, was adapted by Patrick for a 1982 TV movie that starred Knight, Jane Alexander, Lindsay Crouse and Brad Dourif, among others.

Robert Patrick O’Connor was born in Kilgore, Texas to migrant workers, later joining the Air Force for a stint cut short when a poem...

Jean Veloz, the innovative Lindy Hop dancer who dazzled in Swing Fever and other Hollywood musicals of the 1940s, has died. She was 98.

Veloz died Sunday at her home in Los Angeles, her friend, agent and manager Rusty Frank told The Hollywood Reporter. Frank co-produced the 2010 event A Tribute to the Groovie Movie, which celebrated Veloz and her contribution to dance.

“Jean innovated a style of swing dance that was admired around the world,” Frank said. “It was silky smooth and greatly contrasted the more jitterbug style prevalent during the 1930s-’40s.”

Generations of dancers idolized her.

In MGM’s Swing Fever (1943), Veloz whirled with servicemen portrayed by Lennie Smith and Don Gallagher in the high-octane number “One Girl and Two Boys,” accompanied by Kay Kyser’s band and sandwiched between Marilyn Maxwell’s singing.

She also did the jitterbug in Where Are Your Children? (1943), starring Jackie Cooper; danced with...

Producers of the 73rd annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony honored almost all of the expected people who died this past year. Who was not featured during the emotional In Memoriam segment Sunday night on CBS? Prominent performers and character actors such as Frank Bonner, Sean Connery, Michael Constantine, Abby Dalton, James Hampton, Bruce Kirby, Norman Lloyd, Helen Reddy and Jane Withers were not part of the 49 people included.

While over 100 celebrated television people died since last year’s event in mid-September of 2020, the segment generally only makes room for less than 50. Among those featured Sunday night: TV Academy Hall of Fame members actor Ed Asner, production designer Roy Christopher, actress Cloris Leachman, writer/producer William Link and actress Cicely Tyson. Current nominee Michael K. Williams (“Lovecraft Country”) and “Saturday Night Live” veteran Norm Macdonald sadly passed away this month as well.

SEECelebrity Deaths 2021: In Memoriam Gallery

The 49 people featured...

Producers of this Sunday’s Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony have some difficult decisions to make about who to honor during the emotional In Memoriam segment. Cedric the Entertainer will host the 2021 Emmys for CBS at 8:00 p.m. Et; 5:00 p.m. Pt. A total of 34 presenters have been announced so far.

Our list below includes almost 100 people who made a strong contribution to television and have died since mid-September of 2020. Only about 40-45 of these people will probably be in the video segment. Certain to be featured will be TV Academy Hall of Fame members actor Ed Asner, production designer Roy Christopher, actress Cloris Leachman, writer/producer William Link and actress Cicely Tyson. Current nominee Michael K. Williams (“Lovecraft Country”) sadly passed away this month as well.

SEECelebrity Deaths 2021: In Memoriam Gallery

Ed Asner (actor)

Dana Baratta (writer/producer)

Anne Beatts (writer)

Ned Beatty (actor)

William Blinn (writer)

Frank Bonner (actor)

Perry Botkin,...

Who will be included for the special “In Memoriam” segment for Sunday night’s Oscars 2021 ceremony? With last year’s Academy Awards happening over 14 months ago, it means an even larger number of film veterans have died. Producers will hopefully be offering a longer remembrance and not leaving out people for the sake of time.

Superstar actor Chadwick Boseman died late last summer and is a nominee as Best Actor for his role in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Previous Oscar winners from acting categories show who will likely be honored include Sean Connery, Olivia de Havilland, Cloris Leachman and Christopher Plummer. Past acting nominees include Hal Holbrook, Ian Holm, Shirley Knight, George Segal, Cicely Tyson, Max von Sydow and Stuart Whitman.

SEE2021 Oscars presenters: Last year’s winners Renee Zellweger, Joaquin Phoenix, Laura Dern, Brad Pitt returning

Almost all of the near 100 people on the list below were Academy members.

MGM’s remake of the grand musical can’t be ignored — the restored transfer is stunning, demonstrating the studio’s technical skill at full tilt. There are good aspects to this version, even if it’s mostly a missed opportunity more notable for production backstories than for itself. It’s Kathryn Grayson’s high water mark at MGM, and Howard Keel does yeoman’s work on his side. MGM’s musical arrangements of the Hammerstein / Kern songbook is as good as ever. Most critics in 1951 thought it superior because it was in Technicolor; and it was one of the top $ money earners of the year.

Show Boat

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 108 min. / Street Date February 23, 2021 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown, Marge Champion, Gower Champion, Robert Sterling, Agnes Moorehead, Leif Erickson, William Warfield, Regis Toomey, Adele Jergens, Owen McGiveney,...

MGM’s remake of the grand musical can’t be ignored — the restored transfer is stunning, demonstrating the studio’s technical skill at full tilt. There are good aspects to this version, even if it’s mostly a missed opportunity more notable for production backstories than for itself. It’s Kathryn Grayson’s high water mark at MGM, and Howard Keel does yeoman’s work on his side. MGM’s musical arrangements of the Hammerstein / Kern songbook is as good as ever. Most critics in 1951 thought it superior because it was in Technicolor; and it was one of the top $ money earners of the year.

Show Boat

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 108 min. / Street Date February 23, 2021 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown, Marge Champion, Gower Champion, Robert Sterling, Agnes Moorehead, Leif Erickson, William Warfield, Regis Toomey, Adele Jergens, Owen McGiveney,...

Marge Champion, a dancer who achieved nationwide television fame in the 1950s with her husband and dance partner Gower Champion and even then had already contributed to cinema history as a movement model for three classic Walt Disney animated films, died Wednesday in Los Angeles. She was 101.

Her death was announced by her son Gregg Champion. A cause was not specified.

The daughter of a Hollywood dance coach, Champion was already performing in public when she was recruited by Disney to serve as the movement model for the lead character in 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the same year she entered a three-year marriage to Disney animator Arthur Babbitt. Champion would also provide the movements for the Blue Fairy in 1940’s Pinocchio and the ballet-dancing hippos in 1940’s Fantasia.

But if her work had already been seen by millions, Champion didn’t become recognizably famous until the late 1940s,...

Marge Champion, a dancer and actress known for “Show Boat” and “Give a Girl a Break,” as well the model used by Walt Disney animators for the dancing in “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” has died. She was 101.

Champion died Wednesday in Los Angeles while quarantined with her son Gregg Champion, who confirmed her death to the New York Times.

At 14, Champion, born Marjorie Celeste Belcher, was hired as a model by Walt Disney Studios, dancing the part of Snow White so that animators could model her movements and enhance the realism of what would be Disney’s first animated feature film. Disney would later use her as a model for the Blue Fairy in “Pinocchio” (1940) and the hippo with twinkle toes in “Fantasia” (1940).

You can see a video of Belcher dancing to one of the songs from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” below alongside the final footage of the film.

Marge Champion, a dancer and actor who served as the real-life model for Disney’s 1937 animated classic “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” died on Wednesday in Los Angeles, according to The New York Times. She was 101.

Champion and her husband, Gower Champion, also had great success as dance partners and choreographers for Broadway musicals, films and television shows. Champion won an Emmy award in 1975 for choreographing the television movie “Queen of the Stardust Ballroom.”

Marge and Gower Champion most notably danced together in multiple MGM musicals, including the 1951 remake of “Show Boat” starring Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson and Ava Gardner.

In addition to “Snow White,” Champion’s elegant dance moves served as the inspiration for the Blue Fairy in “Pinocchio” and the tutu-wearing hippo ballerinas in the “Dance of the Hours” number in “Fantasia.”

The Champions danced across television screens in the late 1940s and 1950s, first appearing in...

Marge Champion, who served as the real-life model for Snow White, then teamed with her husband and dance partner, Gower Champion, for Broadway musicals, television shows and movies, has died. She was 101.

Champion, who won an Emmy for choreographing the acclaimed 1975 telefilm Queen of the Stardust Ballroom, died Wednesday in Los Angeles, dance instructor Pierre Dulaine told The Hollywood Reporter.

Survivors include a step-daughter, actress Katey Sagal, and her son, producer-director Gregg Champion.

Marge and Gower Champion danced together in several MGM musicals, perhaps most memorably in George Sidney’s 1951 remake of Show Boat, which starred Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson and Ava Gardner. Their ...

Marge Champion, who served as the real-life model for Snow White, then teamed with her husband and dance partner, Gower Champion, for Broadway musicals, television shows and movies, has died. She was 101.

Champion, who won an Emmy for choreographing the acclaimed 1975 telefilm Queen of the Stardust Ballroom, died Wednesday in Los Angeles, dance instructor Pierre Dulaine told The Hollywood Reporter.

Survivors include a step-daughter, actress Katey Sagal, and her son, producer-director Gregg Champion.

Marge and Gower Champion danced together in several MGM musicals, perhaps most memorably in George Sidney’s 1951 remake of Show Boat, which starred Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson and Ava Gardner. Their ...

We told you. Remember the rules. You didn’t listen. Now we’re Back with an all new batch of guest recommendations featuring Blake Masters, Julien Nitzberg, Floyd Norman, Tuppence Middleton and Blaire Bercy.

Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Wild Angels (1966)

Spirits of the Dead (1966)

The Trip (1967)

Mooch Goes To Hollywood (1971)

Stalker (1979)

The Candidate (1972)

The Parallax View (1974)

Network (1976)

Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Ace In The Hole (1951)

Margin Call (2011)

Death Wish (1974)

Death Wish (2018)

Seconds (1966)

Soylent Green (1973)

Rage (1972)

Assault on Wall Street (2013)

Repo Man (1984)

Elmer Gantry (1960)

The Train (1965)

Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)

Strange Brew (1983)

To Have And Have Not (1944)

Singin’ In The Rain (1952)

Easter Parade (1948)

The Band Wagon (1953)

Guys And Dolls (1955)

On The Town (1949)

Casablanca (1942)

The Dirt Gang (1972)

Back To The Future (1985)

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

The Big Sleep (1946)

Bomba, the Jungle Boy (1949)

My Man Godfrey...

We thought it was time to update this list after a recent sad passing as well as more celebratory news: this weekend Bernie Koeppel from The Love Boat turned 87, Marisa Pavan turned 88, Olympia Dukakis turned 89, and Gena Rowlands turned 90. Happy birthday to all of them. Anyway here's the list. Lots of great rental ideas herein...

200 Oldest Living Screen Stars

105 years young

Norman Lloyd (11/08/14) 

Most recently seen in the supporting cast of Trainwreck. He started as a Hitchcock player and later became a Hitchcock producer ("Alfred Hitchcock Presents") which led to a long producing career on TV (two Emmy nods). Other acting roles: Dead Poet's Society, The Flame and the Arrow, Wise Guy and St Elsewhere.

103 years young

Olivia de Havilland (7/1/1916) 

This centenarian is the oldest bonafide Movie Star alive and had already won Best Actress twice by the time she was 33 for To Each His Own (1946) and The Heiress (1949). Olivia's...

Legendary animator Floyd Norman talks about his all time favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Floyd Norman: An Animated Life (2016)

Vertigo (1958)

Citizen Kane (1941)

Rope (1948)

The Trouble With Harry (1955)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

Song of the South (1946)

The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948)

The Third Man (1950)

The Jungle Book (1967)

The Jungle Book (2016)

The Lion King (2019)

Pinocchio (1940)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

The Old Mill (1937)

Casablanca (1942)

Cinderella (1950)

Singin’ In The Rain (1953)

Paths of Glory (1957)

1917 (2019)

The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)

Star Wars (1977)

American Graffiti (1973)

Sorcerer (1977)

Other Notable Items

Michael Fiore

The Watts riots

The LAPD’s cruel mistreatment of Rodney King

The George Floyd protests

Move in Philadelphia

Walt Disney Pictures

Tfh Guru Roger Corman

Erik Sharkey

The Three Stooges

I Am the Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali TV series (1977)

Muhammad Ali

Fred Calvert

Alfred Hitchcock

Bernard Herrman’s Vertigo score

Robert Burks

The latest...

“There’s still not enough room on this boat for the two of us!”

Show Boat (1951) is one of Hollywood’s most beloved musicals and you’ll have a chance to see it on the big screen at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater this weekend as part of their Classic Film Series. It’s Saturday, May 14th at 10:30am at the Hi-Pointe located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117. Admission is only $5.

Show Boat (1951) a colorful version of the Edna Ferber novel may not be held in as high regard as the 1936 adaption directed by James Whale and starring Irene Dunn and Paul Robeson, but is a big, fun musical nonetheless.

The songs by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein are considered some of the best either ever composed and are sung by those talented performers Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel. Both do excellent work both musically and dramatically even...

Oh, the things this orange couch has seen!

For this Sunday's episode of The Simpsons, the beloved animated family is paying homage to Disney classics during their signature orange couch opener. Veteran animator Eric Goldberg, who worked on multiple classic Disney flicks, gave each iconic yellow character different Disney makeover – including their pets.

Lisa gets a chance to step into Cinderella's glass slippers and take a ride in a pumpkin carriage; Marge takes on the role [and chores] of Snow White and Homer gets to play the role of Baloo from The Jungle Book.

Then there's baby Maggie, who plays the...

[Youtube "9qcY2ERwmaU"] Oh, the things this orange couch has seen! For this Sunday's episode of The Simpsons, the beloved animated family is paying homage to Disney classics during their signature orange couch opener. Veteran animator Eric Goldberg, who worked on multiple classic Disney flicks, gave each iconic yellow character different Disney makeover - including their pets. Lisa gets a chance to step into Cinderella's glass slippers and take a ride in a pumpkin carriage; Marge takes on the role [and chores] of Snow White and Homer gets to play the role of Baloo from The Jungle Book. Then there's baby Maggie, who plays...

The Simpsons is paying tribute to Disney characters in the past way ever. Veteran animator Eric Goldberg, known for his work on classic Disney flicks such as Aladdin, Pocahontas and Hercules, animated The Simpsons' couch gag for the Sunday, April 24 episode. In the opening sequence, Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart and Maggie all take on various Disney characters. Homer has a Jungle Book inspired look, Marge is straight out of Snow White, Lisa is Cinderella, Maggie is the classic Mickey Mouse and Bart takes on Fantasia Mickey. There's classic Disney whimsy while sticking with the Simpsons style viewers have come to know and love. Goldberg's other credits include Fantasia 2000, The Emperor's New Groove,...

Rko's final in-house production is a good end-of-an-era film, a spirited and well-made musical comedy. Bright-eyed Jane Powell can't stop accepting marriage proposals, from nerdy Tommy Noonan, dreamboat kisser Cliff Robertson and zillionare Keith Andes. She imagines her future with each man in musical terms, through production numbers staged by Gower Champion. The Girl Most Likely DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1956 / Color / 1:78 enhanced widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date November 17, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Jane Powell, Cliff Robertson, Keith Andes, Kaye Ballard, Tommy Noonan, Una Merkel, Kelly Brown, Judy Nugent, Frank Cady, Joseph Kearns, Marjorie Stapp, Robert Banas. Cinematography Robert H. Planck Film Editor Doane Harrison Original Music Nelson Riddle Choreographer Gower Champion Written by Devery Freeman, Paul Jarrico (uncredited) Produced by Stanley Rubin Directed by Mitchell Leisen

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

From roughly 1925 to 1957, the powerful men in charge of the big studios controlled most aspects of production. That...

Rick McKayhas shared another video from his trilogy, Broadway The Golden Age. In his words, 'Happy 96th Birthday, Marge Champion Marge is seen her in her shoot for Rick McKay's Broadway The Golden Age Film Trilogy, in which she tells tales of her career. From being the artistanimator's inspiration for Snow White, to dancing through the Golden Age of Hollywood on the arm of her husband and dance partner Gower Champion, to winning an Emmy Award for choreographing the wonderful film, Queen Of The Stardust Ballroom, Marge has done it all and is in no rush to quit. She co-starred opposite her old friend and early partner Donald Saddler on Broadway in Follies in 2001 and again on camera in the 2012 film about them both, Never Stand Still.'...

Debbie Reynolds ca. early 1950s. Debbie Reynolds movies: Oscar nominee for 'The Unsinkable Molly Brown,' sweetness and light in phony 'The Singing Nun' Debbie Reynolds is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” star today, Aug. 23, '15. An MGM contract player from 1950 to 1959, Reynolds' movies can be seen just about every week on TCM. The only premiere on Debbie Reynolds Day is Jerry Paris' lively marital comedy How Sweet It Is (1968), costarring James Garner. This evening, TCM is showing Divorce American Style, The Catered Affair, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and The Singing Nun. 'Divorce American Style,' 'The Catered Affair' Directed by the recently deceased Bud Yorkin, Divorce American Style (1967) is notable for its cast – Reynolds, Dick Van Dyke, Jean Simmons, Jason Robards, Van Johnson, Lee Grant – and for the fact that it earned Norman Lear (screenplay) and Robert Kaufman (story) a Best Original Screenplay Academy Award nomination.

Some films are an enigma. Some movies will not give up their secrets no matter how many times they are viewed. Parts of the puzzle are missing, all the pieces are not present so we can make an accurate determination as to what we are witnessing. And quite frankly I like that, done properly I love it. When you watch as many movies as I have the linear progression from point A to B and then to C and then the final credits can be a bit mundane after a while. I like movies that do not tell us everything, again, done properly I love them. Movies of this type expect you to stretch, to get outside your safety zone, you are expected to think about what you are seeing and feeling, there is some mystery just out of camera range.

Among the more enigmatic and puzzling movies I have...

Groucho Marx in 'Duck Soup.' Groucho Marx movies: 'Duck Soup,' 'The Story of Mankind' and romancing Margaret Dumont on TCM Grouch Marx, the bespectacled, (painted) mustached, cigar-chomping Marx brother, is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” star today, Aug. 14, '15. Marx Brothers fans will be delighted, as TCM is presenting no less than 11 of their comedies, in addition to a brotherly reunion in the 1957 all-star fantasy The Story of Mankind. Non-Marx Brothers fans should be delighted as well – as long as they're fans of Kay Francis, Thelma Todd, Ann Miller, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Allan Jones, affectionate, long-tongued giraffes, and/or that great, scene-stealing dowager, Margaret Dumont. Right now, TCM is showing Robert Florey and Joseph Santley's The Cocoanuts (1929), an early talkie notable as the first movie featuring the four Marx Brothers – Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo. Based on their hit Broadway...

The Simpsons has pastiched hundreds of movies in its time. From Hitchcock to Kubrick to Disney, we select our top 30 favourites...

The Simpsons has a long history of peppering its stories with pop culture references, and some of the show’s finest gags stem from the world of cinema. These have ranged from the briefest of quotes, to full on shot-for-shot parodies and extended episode-long homages.

Most striking in trying to put this list together was the sheer volume of movie references there are to choose from. In pretty much any given episode of The Simpsons, there are at least a couple, with nods to James Bond, 2001: A Space Odyssey and the work of Alfred Hitchcock proving three of the most regular candidates. The tributes to numerous great horror movies in the show’s Treehouse Of Horror episodes could have been used to fill this list all on their own.

Above: French poster by Boris Grinsson for You’ll Never Get Rich (Sidney Lanfield, USA, 1941).In the new edition of Film Comment, out this week, I write about British airbrush artist Philip Castle and his iconic poster for Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. The other man behind that poster, aside from Kubrick himself, was producer, director and writer Mike Kaplan who, at the time, was Kubrick’s marketing guru.Kaplan, who has been collecting movie posters, as well as art directing them, for 35 years, is a tireless proselytizer for the art form and his latest project is a labor of love and a pure delight. Gotta Dance! The Art of the Dance Movie Poster, a book he wrote and curated, was born out of a touring exhibition of his own personal collection that he has been exhibiting around the country for the past few years. Its latest stop is...

Given how revered Disney's "Pinocchio" is today, it's hard to believe it was a flop when it was first released exactly three quarters of a century ago. Upon its New York City premiere, on February 7, 1940, critics hailed the film as a masterpiece, and even to this day, many prefer it to Disney's pioneering first animated feature, 1937's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Yet it took the film many years and multiple re-releases to make a profit.

Today, of course, the legacy of "Pinocchio" is inescapable. Everyone's image of the puppet-boy with the nose that grows when he lies comes not from Carlo Collodi's original novel but from the kid with the Tyrolean hat and the Mickey Mouse gloves, as drawn by Disney animators. And the opening tune, Jiminy Cricket's "When You Wish Upon a Star," is ubiquitous as the theme music played before every Walt Disney movie and home video release.

When we left things on Thursday night, Nicole and Christine were sent packing, which wasn't exactly shocking, though maybe we're supposed to be surprised by how close Frankie came to being backdoored. Oh and then we had the introduction of The Reset Button, which will either change the game forever or else not change the game at all. Let's see how things go on Sunday (September 7) and let's see if Jordan accepts Jeff's proposal! 8:04 p.m. Et. We pick up with the hamsters hearing the loud boos that greeted Christine when she stormed out of the House. "That means that we made the right choice," Frankie says. Cody is nervous, because he spent a lot of time cuddling with Christine. And, as we saw, the hamsters were also pondering the newly introduced Reset Button. Caleb, if you'll recall, wanted to touch the button. Frankie was threatening to kill Caleb if he pushed Button.

Rob counts down the top 50 episodes of TV's longest-running animated series, The Simpsons...

Since its debut in 1989, across 552 episodes and 25 seasons, The Simpsons has become one of the most revered and beloved TV programmes of all time. It’s a true cultural phenomenon that’s influenced not just animation, but all areas of TV comedy and sitcom. For so many of us, its quotes and catchphrases have permeated our everyday vernacular, from single words like “crisitunity” and “embiggen” to phrases “you don’t win friends with salad” and “everything’s coming up Milhouse.”

Personal opinions may vary, but for me the show’s peak years were from season 4 through to 10. They’re consistently funny, all killer and no filler runs with barely a dud episode to be found between 1992-1998. Past this point the standard becomes a little more mixed, and recent seasons have been distinctly average at best. The...

Photo courtesy Debbie Reynolds Studios

Debbie Reynolds – actor, singer, dancer, author, champion for the preservation of the artifacts of film history and for the understanding and treatment of mental illness – has been named the 51st recipient of SAG-AFTRA’s highest honor: the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment.

Given annually to an actor who fosters the “finest ideals of the acting profession,” the union’s highest accolade will be presented to the Oscar, Emmy and Tony-nominated Reynolds at the 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015 at 8 p.m. (Et), 7 p.m. (Ct), 6 p.m. (Mt) and 5 p.m. (Pt).

SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard praised Reynolds’ artistry over her very accomplished career, saying, “I’m thrilled that SAG-AFTRA is presenting our Life Achievement Award to Debbie Reynolds. She is a tremendously talented...

What a perfect marriage: posters celebrating Hollywood musicals at the summertime mecca for dance, Jacob’s Pillow, in the Berkshire mountains of Massachusetts. And who better to serve as guest of honor than Marge Champion, still vital at age 95? If, like me, you won’t have a chance to visit the Gotta Dance! exhibit in person, curator and collector Mike Kaplan has put together a souvenir book. As Mike tells it, “The book was realized after having received requests for one at each of the previous five Gotta Dance! exhibits. As the audience at Jacob's Pillow is so dance-oriented and attracts nearly 100,000 visitors, this was a now or never opportunity. Waiting for a publisher...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]...

Presenters and musical performances have been announced for the 59th Annual Drama Desk Awards, taking place Sunday, June 1st at The Town Hall. Presenters and performers for this year's Drama Desk Awards include Christian Borle, Michael C. Hall, Toni Collette, Sutton Foster, Laura Osnes, Billy Porter, Julie Halston, Tracey Letts, Judy Kuhn, Marge Champion, Liz Larsen, Diane Paulus, John Cameron Mitchell, Stephen Trask, Jane Greenwood, David Korins, Marin Ireland, Sam Gold, Oliver Butler, Joe Masteroff, David Byrne, Leigh Silverman, Joshua Henry, Rachael Bay Jones, Sydney Lucas, Jessie Mueller, Steven Pasquale, and Kyle Riabko.

Hurrah! The Britain's Got Talent auditions have finished, the live shows begin tomorrow, and we have our semi-finalists. It was all revealed tonight in a typically grand fashion, but you'd be forgiven for missing who actually made it through in amidst all the crying and hugging. Never fear, though, for Digital Spy is here to rescue you with a full list of the Bgt semi-finalists...

The Golden Buzzer Semi-Finalists

Bars and Melody: 13-year-old rapper Leondre and 15-year-old singer Charlie won Simon Cowell's Golden Buzzer after their version of 'Hopeful'.

Christian Spridon: 35-year-old Christian from Romania won David's Golden Buzzer after his performance of 'Sex Bomb' - but the other judges had already buzzed him off, and Simon was aghast.

Paddy and Nico: 79-year-old Paddy wowed the judges with her energetic salsa with 39-year-old Nico, and won Amanda's Golden Buzzer.

REAformed: The girl band - aged between 15-21 -...

Sneak Peek the newly restored, high definition Blu-ray/DVD release of director Frank Perry's 1968 indie classic "The Swimmer", starring actor Burt Lancaster, from Sony/Columbia and Sage Stallone's Grindhouse Releasing:

"...'Ned Merrill' (Lancaster) is a man who confronts his destiny by swimming home, pool by pool, through the suburban nightmare of upper-class East Coast society..."

Bonus features include "The Story Of The Swimmer", a 2 1/2 hour documentary by Oscar winner Chris Innis including interviews with cast actors including Janet Landgard, Joan Rivers and Marge Champion, composer Marvin Hamlisch, film editor Sidney Katz, assistant directors Michael Hertzberg and Ted Zachary, UCLA swim coach Bob Horn and Joanna Lancaster.

The Blu-ray also includes a rare vintage audio recording of author John Cheever reading his original "New Yorker" short story, a 12-page booklet with liner notes by director Stuart Gordon ("Re-Animator'), rare production stills from lost alternate scenes, an extensive still galleries,...

Theater Talk celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Hello, Dolly with a trio of guests, each with a different association with the long-running show. Actress Sondra Lee was the production's original Minnie Fay Lee Roy Reams was Cornelius in the 1978 revival and directed the second revival in 1995 and dancer Marge Champion, married to the show's director-choreographer Gower Champion, was present at the show's creation. The 1964 mega-hit was a musical adaptation of Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker, with a book by Michael Stewart, score by 26-year-old Jerry Herman and produced by the notorious David Merrick. The show's original cast included Carol Channing, David Burns, Charles Nelson Reilly, Eileen Brennan and Ms. Lee. It ran for a record-breaking 2,844 performances from Jan. 15, 1964 to Dec. 27, 1970 and won 10 Tony Awards, a record it held for 35 years.

Disney was the first major animation house to add a lifelike quality to its characters. It achieved this thanks to Walt's carefully curated crew of talented animators that drew from live models. Animators studied the models endlessly, drawing them in action and in various costumes, often filming them. It was a laborious process, but the live-action reference was worth it, and Disney's movies have entranced audiences for decades. Tumblr Technicolor Disney shared several images that show a side-by-side comparison of Disney's real-life character inspirations with the final animated figures. It's a neat look at the Mouse House's process. Dancer Marge Champion was the model for Disney's groundbreaking Snow White — the first full-length...

Read More...

On Monday, June 3 at 730pm at New York University's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, the 31st Annual Fred amp Adele Astaire Awards will honor dance legend Marge Champion with its Douglas Watt Lifetime Achievement Award and Ted Chapin with a brand new award, Outstanding Achievement in the Preservation of Musical Theatre. The Astaire Awards is the only awards show to honor excellence in dance and choreography on Broadway and in film and were first started in 1982 by the late Fred Astaire and the late Douglas Watt a critic and writer for the NY Daily News and The New Yorker.

Sergei Eisenstein reportedly called "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" the greatest movie ever made. That's especially high praise coming from the director who virtually invented avant-garde cinema, but it's hard to argue with Walt Disney's landmark achievement. The first feature-length animated movie, "Snow White" began its record-breaking run in theaters 75 years ago this week (on Feb. 4, 1938), and it was hailed immediately, both for its instant impact in transforming the medium and for what proved to be an enduring work of screen storytelling and vivid artistry. Before "Snow White," animation was widely dismissed as crudely drawn short films with singing and talking animals, strictly for kids. But Disney proved animation could work at feature length and yield results as artistically satisfying as live-action film. Today, "Snow White" stands as the template for virtually every animated feature made since, as well as the cornerstone of all the Disney family-entertainment empire has built over the past 75 years.

The stars were shining, including Chita Rivera, Marge Champion, Stephen Schwartz and more, in Flushing Meadows Corona Park Wednesday evening when Queens Theatre hosted its 2012 Gala Fundraiser, a star-studded celebration of the world premiere of Heat Wave The Jack Cole Project, a new musical homage to legendary stage and screen choreographer Jack Cole. The event raised more than 150,000 for the theatre and its programs, including its educational and outreach programs that bring theatre and the arts to public school students. See photos from the gala below...

There’s truly no place quite like Hollywood. For the third straight year, the TCM Classic Film Festival was staged in the historic center of the world’s film industry. The event once again united a great community of film fans. The 2012 event celebrated style in the movies, from fashion to architecture and everything in between and lined up great films, terrific guests and many special events.

There were so many classic films to choose from over the 4-day festival, it was nearly impossible to decide what to see! Here are a few of my favorites from the weekend.

Auntie Mame (1958) .

Fantastically restored, and screened at the legendary Egyptian Theater, this Rosalind Russell classic was easily a fan fave at the festival. Even at 9am on a Saturday morning, the house was packed. The screening was hosted by two-time Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Scholar Cari Beauchamp,...

The life story of legendary performer and Carol Channing (“Hello Dolly”) is as colorful as the lipstick on her big, bright smile. Carol Channing: Larger Than Life captures the magic and vivacity of the 90-year-old icon—both onstage and off...past and present. The film is both an intimate love story and a rarefied journey inside Broadway’s most glamorous era. It is, above all, a look at an inspiring, incomparable and always entertaining American legend. Directed and co-written by Dori Berinstein (ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway, Gotta Dance), a three-time Tony Award-winning Broadway producer. Starring Carol Channing, Harry Kullijian, Loni Anderson, Mary Jo Catlett, Marge Champion, Tyne Daly, Phyllis Diller, Betty Garrett, Tippi Hedren, Jerry Herman, Angela Lansbury, Rich Little, Bob Mackie, Jimmy Nederlander Sr., Debbie Reynolds, Chita Rivera, Harvey Sabinson, George Schlatter, Richard Skipper, Lily Tomlin, Tommy Tune, Bruce Vilanch, Barbara Walters and JoAnne Worley. Carol Channing is...

With "Midnight in Paris," Woody Allen's comic look at nostalgia and its limitations, having earned four Oscar nominations last week (including nods for Best Picture, Allen's direction and his original screenplay), it's a good time to take a look back at Allen's 1987 comedy "Radio Days." Another comic take on nostalgia, "Radio Days" is now officially a golden oldie itself, having been released exactly 25 years ago, on January 30, 1987. A fond look, filtered through memory, of a 1940s New York childhood, the radio broadcasts that captivated audiences back then, and the behind-the-scenes gossip about the performers who voiced them, "Radio Days" may be best known today for launching the career of Seth Green -- then a 12-year-old who played the Allen-like narrator as a boy. But there's also a wealth of little-known true stories behind the film, some of them from Allen's own life, some from classic radio lore, and some...

Lily Tomlin, Joanne Worley, Carole Cook, Bruce Vilanch along with filmmaker and multi Tony-winning Director and Producer, Dori Berinstein all gathered on one stage to salute a star, an icon and a legend - Ms. Carol Channing. On Wednesday night, the Paley Center featured these incredible talents as well as gathering many more in the audience for the Los Angeles premiere screening of Carol Channing Larger Than Life. The panel members, who also appear in the critically acclaimed documentary, gathered with other friends, colleagues and fans of the woman who has been dubbed, and deservingly so, The First Lady of Musical Theatre. Seen among those in attendance were a who's who of Tony, Oscar, Emmy amp Golden Globe award winners including George Chakiris, Charles Fox, Davis Gaines, Ilene Graff, Tippi Hedren, Michael Learned, Kate Linder, Julie Newmar, Connie Stevens, Ruta Lee, Rose Marie, Richard Skipper, Barbara Van Orden, Dee Wallace and co-producer,...

Firstly, let me reiterate how difficult this list was for me, as a life-long Simpsons fan, to compile. Of course we know that the Simpsons hasn’t always been at full strength (some of the later series just didn’t do it for me in terms of hilarity or poignancy) and it’s common knowledge that ratings have been slipping steadily since around series ten or eleven; although I do feel that The Simpsons Movie marked a welcomed return to form for the series when it was released in 2007.

They’re one of the most iconic images on TV recognised, within in a fraction of a second by anyone who sees them. With a staggering 22 complete series and 23rd currently airing, it’s the longest running sitcom ever to air and – after questionable, but ultimately satisfactory contract negotiations with the actors – it shows no sign of ending any time soon.

Even with a title like “Our Favorite Simpsons Episodes Ever”, we are still reluctant to say that the following episodes are in fact our favorites or even the best episodes. There is no scale for these things as you know. Kevin and I took our time and each came up with our top 10 Simpsons episodes.

Do you have a favorite Simpsons episode or moment or list to share? Comment below.

Homer the Heretic – S4E3

This episode has everything I enjoy; anti-religious sentiment, fantastic sight gags (like when Homer bounces back into the burning house) and let’s be honest; if it’s all about Homer it’s going to be great. My favorite moment has to be Homer’s morning which includes a musically charge shower, Risky Business re-enactment and his famous Moon Waffles. Ever make one of those? You die a little.

Three Men and a Comic Book...

Howard Keel on TCM Pt.2: Rose Marie, Pagan Love Song, Callaway Went Thataway Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am Desperate Search (1953) A man fights to find his children after their plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness. Dir: Joseph Lewis. Cast: Howard Keel, Jane Greer, Patricia Medina. Bw-71 mins. 7:15 Am Fast Company (1953) The heiress to a racing stable uncovers underhanded dealings. Dir: John Sturges. Cast: Howard Keel, Polly Bergen, Marjorie Main. Bw-68 mins. 8:30 Am Kismet (1955) In this Arabian Nights musical "king of the beggars" infiltrates high society when his daughter is wooed by a handsome prince. Dir: Vincente Minnelli. Cast: Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Dolores Gray. C-113 mins, Letterbox Format. 10:30 Am Rose Marie (1954) A trapper's daughter is torn between the Mountie who wants to civilize her and a dashing prospector. Dir: Mervyn LeRoy. Cast: Ann Blyth, Howard Keel, Fernando Lamas, Bert Lahr, Marjorie Main.

Howard Keel on TCM: Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, Show Boat, Kiss Me Kate Callaway Went Thataway is a pleasant comedy in which Keel has two roles: that of a cowboy star who spends most of his time wasted and a naive hick hired to impersonate said cowboy star. Keel is fine in both comedic roles, and so is Dorothy McGuire as the Hollywood slicker who falls for him. Fred MacMurray, as usual, is just there; also there are Elizabeth Taylor, Clark Gable, and Esther Williams playing themselves in brief cameos. Charles Walters' Texas Carnival (1951) is a disappointingly flat Esther Williams musical. Not even Ann Miller manages to save this one. Robert Alton's Pagan Love Song (1950) uses the song and the setting — but not the story — of the 1929 Ramon Novarro blockbuster The Pagan. Nacio Herb Brown and future producer of MGM musicals Arthur Freed wrote the hit song "Pagan Love Song,...

The TCM Classic Film Festival is back for its second year, with more than 70 screenings, as well as special introductions, guest appearances, panel discussions and more. The four-day festival kicks off Thursday April 28th and runs through May 1, 2011, in Hollywood. Peter O’Toole, Kirk Douglas, Warren Beatty, Leslie Caron, George Chakiris, Roger Corman, Mariel Hemingway, Angela Lansbury, Jerry Mathers, Hayley Mills, Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Mickey Rooney, Richard Roundtree, Barbara Rush, Alec Baldwin, Illeana Douglas, Chris Isaak, Rose McGowan, Mary Ann Mobley, Ron Perlman, Nancy & Tina Sinatra and Robert Townsend are just a few of the notables slated to appear. TCM host and film historian Robert Osborne serves as official host of the festival. The official Twitter of the 2011 TCM Classic Film Festival: @tcmfilmfest

A central theme in this year’s festival is Music and the Movies, with several screenings and events celebrating composers, great songwriters and the unique role...

The Fred & Adele Astaire Awards honoring excellence in dance on Broadway and in film are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year. The kudos were established in cooperation with Fred Astaire and honor him and his sister, Adele, who starred together in ten Broadway musicals between 1917 and 1931. The new tuner "Catch Me If You Can" reaped a leading six bids for these prizes which will be handed out on May 15 at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Balletmaster Jacques D’amboise will receive the Douglas Watt Lifetime Achievement Award. The 2011 nominating committee was chaired by Sylviane Gold. Members included: Melinda Atwood, Manny and Lani Azenberg, Bryan Bantry, Marge Champion, Wendy Federman, Barbara and Buddy Freitag, Anna Kisselgoff, Donna McKechnie, Bruce Michael, Wendy Perron, Lee Roy Reams, Andy Sandberg, Margaret Selby, Damian Woetzel and Adam Zotovich. Broadway Choreographer Rob Ashford ("How to Succeed in Business Witho...