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1-13 of 13
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Ann Miller was born Johnnie Lucille Ann Collier on April 12, 1923 in Chireno, Texas. She lived there until she was nine, when her mother left her philandering father and moved with Ann to Los Angeles, California. Even at that young age, she had to support her mother, who was hearing-impaired and unable to hold a job. After taking tap-dancing lessons, she got jobs dancing in various Hollywood nightclubs while being home-schooled. Then, in 1937, RKO asked her to sign on as a contract player, but only if she could prove she was 18. Though she was really barely 14, she managed to get hold of a fake birth certificate, and so was signed on, playing dancers and ingénues in such films as Stage Door (1937), You Can't Take It with You (1938), Room Service (1938) and Too Many Girls (1940). In 1939, she appeared on Broadway in "George White's Scandals" and was a smash, staying on for two years. Eventually, RKO released her from her contract, but Columbia Pictures snapped her up to appear in such World War II morale boosters as True to the Army (1942) and Reveille with Beverly (1943). When she decided to get married, Columbia released her from her contract. The marriage was sadly unhappy and she was divorced in two years. This time, MGM picked her up, showcasing her in such films as Easter Parade (1948), On the Town (1949) and Kiss Me Kate (1953). In the mid-1950s, she asked to leave to marry again, and her request was granted. This marriage didn't last long, either, nor did a third. Ann then threw herself into work, appearing on television, in nightclubs and on the stage. She was a smash as the last actress to headline the Broadway production of "Mame" in 1969 and 1970, and an even bigger smash in "Sugar Babies" in 1979, which she played for nine years, on Broadway and on tour. She has cut back in recent years, but did appear in the Paper Mill Playhouse (Millburn, New Jersey) production of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" in 1998, in which she sang the song "I'm Still Here", a perfect way to sum up the life and career of Ann Miller. On January 22, 2004, Ann Miller died at age 80 of lung cancer and was buried at the Holy Cross Cemetary in Culver City, California.- Ticky Holgado was born on 24 June 1944 in Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, France. He was an actor, known for Amélie (2001), The City of Lost Children (1995) and A Very Long Engagement (2004). He was married to Edith Holgado. He died on 22 January 2004 in Paris, France.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Distinguished multiple Grammy-winning trumpeter, arranger, conductor and songwriter whose instantly-recognizable style remains a longtime trademark. The son of a roofer and a youthful asthmatic, his physician advised therapy through playing the tuba. In his school band, he developed an appreciation of the other instruments and became a self-taught trumpeter and trombonist, and also an arranger. On the occasion when Charlie Barnet was to perform on a Pittsburgh radio station, May came to the studio to show Barnet some arrangements, which Barnet accepted but never paid for. Several months later, May approached Barnet for payment and Barnet offered May a position with his band. For Barnet, he provided the arrangement for his hits "Cherokee" and "Redskin Rhumba". Eventually Glenn Miller became aware of the Barnet band's sound and hired May away to play and arrange. For Miller, Billy May contributed the arrangements for "Serenade in Blue", "American Patrol" and "Take the 'A' Train". When the Miller band dissolved during World War II, May settled in Los Angeles to work with NBC and Capitol Records as a studio arranger, and with the bands of 'Les Brown', Woody Herman, Alvino Rey and Ozzie Nelson. But his longest association was with Frank Sinatra, with whom he worked on the noted albums "Come Fly With Me" (1957), " and "Come Dance With Me" (1958), "Come Swing With Me" (1961), and "Trilogy" (1979). In the early 1950s, Billy May had his own orchestra, for which the theme was "Lean Baby", featuring his trademark sax style. His last musical work was arranging a 90th Anniversary compendium of the music from Paramount Pictures in collaboration with noted composer-arranger Will Schaefer. But Billy May left the project due to his illness.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Gérard Darrieu was born on 11 September 1925 in Arnicourt, Ardennes, France. He was an actor, known for Elevator to the Gallows (1958), Z (1969) and An Orphan's Tale (1981). He died on 22 January 2004 in Paris, France.- Director
- Editor
- Producer
Charlotte Zwerin was born on 15 August 1931 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. She was a director and editor, known for Salesman (1969), Gimme Shelter (1970) and Sculpture of Spaces: Noguchi (1999). She was married to Michael Zwerin. She died on 22 January 2004 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.- Ethel Kenyon was born on 17 June 1904 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. She was an actress, known for Branded (1931), By Whose Hand? (1932) and June Moon (1931). She was married to Ernest Victor Heyn, Charles Butterworth and A. Edward Sutherland. She died on 22 January 2004 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Alka Inamdar was an actress, known for Aai Pahije (1988), De Danadan (1987) and Irasaal Karti (1987). She died on 22 January 2004.
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Renowned big-band trombonist in the bands of Benny Goodman, Stan Kenton, Nelson Riddle, Andre Previn, John Williams, Henry Mancini and Ray Brown. He was orphaned at age 10, and then came to Chicago to live with relatives. His first studies were on the tuba, but he switched to trombone at age twelve. By age 16, he was already a member of the Boyd Raeburn band, booked at the former Bandbox in Chicago. In 1944 he was drafted into the US army, and had been ordered to Okinawa when an abrupt change transferred him instead into an Army band, a move later believed by his son as saving his life. In 1986, he created the Big Band Academy of America to advocate and archive big-band music and history.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Anton Marti was born on 10 April 1923 in Labin, Italy [now Croatia]. He was a director and actor, known for Kad je mac krojio pravdu (1967), Parnica oko magarece sjene (1960) and TV teatar (1956). He died on 22 January 2004 in Zagreb, Croatia.- Actress
- Music Department
Menaka Devi was born in Varanasi in 1918. Her mother was a resident of the holy city although her father was from Bengal. Her interest in music and dance took her to Bombay where she starred in a couple of films like Prince Thaksen (1929), Uttara abhimanyu, Iswar Ki Maut and others as a child artiste. Reportedly, she met the legendary film director Debaki Bose of Bengal during a train journey and he was so impressed by her that he decided to cast her in the lead role of his next venture in the Hindi version of the bilingual Sonar Sansar (1936) and thus began the illustrous career of Menaka. Her devotion to work was such that she learnt Bengali, her mother tongue although she was anything but fluent in it having spent all her life till then outside Bengal, so that she could play the same role (that of Alaka) in the Bengali version also. Dhiraj Bhattacharya was her first hero on the screen. P.C.Barua, who was on the lookout for a young and fresh face to play Jharna in his forthcoming production Mukti (1937) selected her for both the versions and a flow started whereby she starred in films like Adhikar (1939), Abhigyan (1938), Bardidi (1939), Rajat Jayanti (1940) and others. She decided to try her luck in Bombay around 1944 and starred in more than twenty films there and definitely made her presence felt although playing the second lead most of the time. Kishore Sahu procured her services for Hamari Duniya (1952). She turned producer also and this proved her undoing. Both her films as producer, Apna na Huye Apne and Jeene Do, both starring herself with prominent Bombay stars flopped. She returned to Calcutta a broken woman and found to her dismay that roles were not coming to her. She joined the MG Enterprise, a drama group of Molina Devi and performed on the stage to continue to live as an actress. She even arranged magic shows along with husband Pannalal Srivastava while small roles came pouring in films like Ekti Raat (1956) and others. The feature that strikes even today while seeing her performance is the spontaneous nature of her acting. Why good roles eluded her is a mystery. She was last seen on the screen in Bhombal Sardar (1983). Her end came in 2004 after a prolonged fight not only against poor health but also poverty. Her death was reported only in one Bengali daily although her death news received good coverage on television.- Chuck Callaway was born on 9 June 1921 in Beckley, West Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951). He died on 22 January 2004 in Pasadena, California, USA.
- Rudi Seligo was born on 14 May 1935 in Susak, Rijeka, Croatia. Rudi was a writer, known for Ante (1982) and Triptih Agate Schwarzkobler (1997). Rudi died on 22 January 2004 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
- Beatrice Kane was born on 13 October 1898 in Leicester, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Dick Barton at Bay (1950), Roses for the Oueen (1954) and Nothing But the Night (1973). She was married to Arthur Young. She died on 22 January 2004 in Westminster, London, England, UK.