Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-9 of 9
- André René Roussimoff was born in a small farming community in Grenoble, France to Boris and Marian Rouismoff. His parents and four siblings were all of normal size, but André suffered from acromegaly, a hormonal disorder that results when the pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone. As the Giant grew up (very quickly, as he reached the height of 6' 3" by the age of 12) he began to often disagree with his parents. He left home at 14 and obtained a job with a furniture-moving firm and began to play rugby. At 17 he was seen training at a gym by several professional wrestlers. Impressed by his size, they taught him some basic wrestling skills and built a friendship with him. Later, when one of the wrestlers was injured, André stepped in for him. He would wrestle for nearly thirty more years. By his early 20s André had wrestled in Algeria, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, England, Scotland, and most of non-Communist Europe but had not found fame. In 1971 he came to North America under the name Jean Ferre and was mildly popular in Canada. Then he met a New York based booker by the name of Vincent J. McMahon (often incorrectly referred to as "Vince McMahon Sr") who renamed him "Andre the Giant," and billed him as 7' 4" (Andre was really closer to 7'). Soon Andre the Giant became a national sensation and was a much sought after wrestler. In addition he participated in television, movies, and commercials. With his wealth the Giant bought a ranch in Ellerbe, North Carolina where he would live during his rare time off and after he retired from wrestling in 1990. He died while in France after attending his father's funeral. André was cremated and his ashes were spread across his ranch. He is survived by his one daughter.
- John Steadman was born James Lanford Steadman on July 20, 1909 in Lexington, South Carolina. Steadman worked in radio for three decades as a writer, producer, and announcer prior to embarking on an acting career in the early 1970's. An extremely colorful and distinctive character actor, John was often cast in both films and TV shows alike as a crotchety old coot. Steadman died at 83 from a lung ailment on January 28, 1993 in Montrose, California.
- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Tom Priestley was born on 29 September 1917 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA. He was a director and producer, known for FDR (1982), The Killing Ground (1979) and Michelangelo: The Last Giant (1965). He died on 28 January 1993 in New York, USA.- Writer
- Additional Crew
Aben Kandel was born on 15 August 1897 in Romania. Aben was a writer, known for She Gets Her Man (1935), Konga (1961) and Berserk (1967). Aben died on 28 January 1993 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Music Department
- Composer
Kay Swift is better known for her decade-long involvement with George Gershwin than she is for her own musical contributions to the American Songbook. After George's death, she was sought after far more as an expert on his work than for her own original musical compositions. Though many people believe that she made this choice, she had a great deal of regret that her career was always second to his, and much as she wished for work, she never had few of the kind of opportunities that would have resulted in a bigger catalog bearing her name. Gershwin dedicated his "Songbook" to her. He suggested that her maiden name, Swift, with the nickname "Kay," which originated with him, would be the perfect name for her as a songwriter. Trained as a classical musician, with a great deal of talent both as a performer and as a composer, she only began to write popular show tunes with his encouragement.
In 1930, Kay and her husband James Paul Warburg (of the banking Warburgs) wrote the first successful musical show of the 1930s, Fine and Dandy (with a book by Donald Ogden Stewart) starring Joe Cook. (Warburg wrote under the name "Paul James" so that his father's banking associates wouldn't become alarmed.) This song was preceded by many revue songs, including "Can't We Be Friends?" from the 1929 Schwartz-Dietz revue The Little Show. Her musical and personal relationship with George Gershwin was so significant that her handwritten comments and notation can be found on pages of the original manuscript to Porgy and Bess. For ten years she and George were intimate, and it is certain, after some frustrations in Hollywood, he was about to return to her in New York before his untimely death in 1937. After George's death, she completed many of George's works (from memory) and wrote down complete works that otherwise would have been lost. Her second Broadway score (words and music) was for Cornelia Otis Skinner's one-woman show Paris '90. Even into her 90s, Swift was the last knowledgeable living person who could play Gershwin music the way George played it. Her apartment in Manhattan was the ultimate destination for Gershwin scholars. She was a consultant for the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Let 'Em Eat Cake production in 1983 and also for the recordings of conductor and Gershwin scholar Michael Tilson Thomas.- Harry Thomashefsky was born on 21 March 1895 in New York, USA. He was a director, known for The Yiddish King Lear (1935). He died on 28 January 1993 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Producer
Warner G. Toub was born on 30 October 1922. Warner G. was a producer, known for Sextette (1977). Warner G. died on 28 January 1993 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Leon Mandrake was born on 11 April 1911 in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. He was an actor, known for The Manipulators (1970), The Alan Hamel Show (1976) and Mantrap (1971). He was married to Louise "Velvet" Salerno, Lola "Princess Narda" Douglas and Ruby Olive Burleson. He died on 28 January 1993 in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
- Amílcar Botica was born on 24 December 1931 in Alhandra, Portugal. He was an actor, known for Esta Noite Sonhei com Brueghel (1989), A Vida É Bela?! (1982) and Cinzas (1992). He died on 28 January 1993 in Lisbon, Portugal.