Author: John R. Holmes
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476683581
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 427
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Book Description
When Ozzie Nelson died in 1975, he was no longer a household name. For a guy who had created the longest-running TV sitcom in history, invented the rock video, and fronted one of the most successful big bands of the 1930s, it's baffling that Nelson has faded so far from American media memory. Larger than life offscreen--an attorney, college football star, cartoonist, songwriter, major band leader--Ozzie created a smaller-than-life TV persona, the bumbling average Dad who became known to the rock generation (which included his teen idol son Rick Nelson) as the essence of blandness. But America also saw Ozzie as their iconic Dad: not a "father knows best," since his pontifications usually proved flawed by the end of each episode, but the father who tried his best. This book is the only full-length biography of Ozzie Nelson since he published his memoirs in 1973. It treats the big band and early TV icon with affection and hints that American pop culture may owe more to Ozzie than is generally acknowledged.
Author: Ozzie Nelson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Languages : en
Pages : 344
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Book Description
Oswald Nelson began his spectacular career as a musician at age 14 when he and a friend were paid $5 to play for the local Woman's Club dance in his native Ridgefield Park, N.J. Before Ozzie knew it, his "band" was in such demand that people were willing to pay them an incredible $10 per night. Ozzie divided his free time at Rutgers University between football and music. Music won out and within five years of graduation, he was the leader of one of the big bands of the 1930s and an established radio personality. During this period, he met Harriet Hilliard, who became his partner and, of course, his wife. Together, they won millions of radio fans when they joined Red Skelton on the highly popular Raleigh Cigarette Hour. In 1944, "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" was first broadcast. It went on to run for 22 years, first on radio and then television. Ozzie's career did not end there--he returned to the stage, and this fall [1973] will be back on television with a new series, Ozzie's Girls. More than Ozzie's success story or family album this is a nostalgic evocation of one of the most glamorous eras of show business. Enriched by a wealth of amusing anecdotes, it presents a genuinely nice man who writes with warmth and unaffected charm. Readers will like the man and enjoy his entertaining story.
Author: Philip Bashe
Publisher: Hyperion
ISBN: 9781562829698
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 312
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Book Description
The complete biography of rock idol Rick Nelson includes details of behind-the-scenes tensions on the set of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Rick's brushes with the law, his drug abuse, and his untimely death.
Author: Ricky Nelson
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN: 1458490661
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 106
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Book Description
(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Artist Songbook). A huge star at a young age thanks to his role on his parents' TV show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet , Ricky Nelson's charmed life continued when he became one of the first teen idols in rock'n'roll. This collection assembles 20 top hits from Nelson, who was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Includes: Be-Bop Baby * Believe What You Say * Garden Party * Hello Mary Lou * I'm Walkin' * It's Late * Lonesome Town * Poor Little Fool * Stood Up * Travelin' Man * and more.
Author: Sheree Homer
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476600198
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 207
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Book Description
Ricky Nelson (he later preferred "Rick") was 8 years old when he began his career in show business. After a successful run on radio, his family's situation comedy The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet enjoyed a 14 year television tenure. On the April 10, 1957, episode, "Ricky the Drummer," Nelson started his singing career by lip syncing to Fats Domino's "I'm Walkin'." He scored 36 Top 40 singles between 1957 and 1972 and ranked number 5 in Billboard's Top 25 Artists of the Decade 1950-1959. As a country rock pioneer, Rick Nelson influenced Buffalo Springfield, Linda Ronstadt, and the Eagles. This book is a candid account of his life in rock and roll through stories told by musicians and producers on the road and in the studio with him. Actors and family members also provided invaluable memories and insights.
Author: Karin Adir
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 9780786413034
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 274
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Book Description
There are generations that have never seen Sid Caesar become an automobile tire or Red Skelton stick his thumbs in his armpits and intone, "Two theagulls...," never journeyed with Ernie Kovacs to a surrealistic world of his warped imagination. Here seventeen comic talents are profiled (with photographs): their early years, marriages and personal challenges, anecdotes about them, the characters they created, their styles, and often representative dialogue or sketch descriptions. There is a listing of all television shows in which each comic starred (giving length, network, air dates). The comics include Lucille Ball, Milton Berle, Carol Burnett, Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Tim Conway, Jackie Gleason, Danny Kaye, Ernie Kovacs, Olsen and Johnson, Martha Raye, Soupy Sales, Red Skelton, Dick Van Dyke, Flip Wilson, Jonathan Winters, and Ed Wynn.
Author: Tony Lewis
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 1848763794
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 257
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Book Description
Trapped in a house fire, Nelson is dying. If only he could open the door. Nelson whimpers his final goodbye to Rascal, his canine soulmate, their paws almost touching through the heavy glass that separates life from death. Succumbing to the smoke, his life drifts slowly before him.Nelson was born deep in the French Alps, where his only worries were how snow could be both soft and hard and why it made the house sink. And whose turn it was to fetch the baguettes from the boulangerie.So how could puppy love be so cruel? Why did Alphonse chain him up and beat him when all he asked for was a pistachio nut and a cuddle? And how ever did he find himself lost and lonely in England?His dogged wanderings eventually led him to David and his son Timothy, a young boy with autism. Life was once again full of joy: especially when he learnt the lyrics to Jerusalem.Now, trapped in the fire, Nelson’s luck has surely deserted him. But he can’t die yet! He has an amazing tale to tell – and an amazing tail with which to tell it. And with Rascal there to help, he has no choice but to survive.
Author: Joel Selvin
Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Contemporary
ISBN: 9780809241873
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 331
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Book Description
Chronicles the private life of television's first child actor--from his celebrated youth through his slow descent into depression and addiction as a struggling adult, and to his untimely death
Author: Ron Defore
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781643166070
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 362
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Book Description
Growing up in Disneyland" is part biography about Ron's father, Broadway, movie, and TV star, Don DeFore, and his own autobiography. Don DeFore earned a star on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame and was a household name in the 1950s and 60s. He co-starred in numerous feature films with many Hollywood legends, TV shows, and live theater. He is best known for "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" in which he played the next-door-neighbor, "Thorny," and his co-starring role as "Mr. B" in the 1960s TV series, "Hazel." The book includes much of Don's unpublished autobiography, "Hollywood-DeFore 'n After.
Author: Vincent Terrace
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 0810892502
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 401
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Book Description
Since the beginning of network television, many shows have been preceded by an announcement or theme song that served various purposes. In the 1950s and ’60s, it was common for announcers to declare that a program had been “brought to you by” a sponsor who paid for the privilege of introducing a show. Other programs, such as The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, and The Odd Couple,provided a brief encapsulation of the show’s subject matter, a practice that has continued for recent shows like Alias, Battlestar Galactica, Person of Interest, and the various editions of Law & Order. In Television Introductions: Narrated TV Program Openings since 1949, Vincent Terrace has assembled openings for more than nine hundred television shows from the past seven decades. The only documented history of narrated television program introductions, this volume is arranged by type of programming, such as comedy, drama, Western, game show, soap opera, and children’s show. In addition to quoting the opening material, entries provide information about each show’s network history and years of broadcast. Many entries include descriptions of the show, the names of announcers, and a list of main cast members, as well as a sponsor pitch exactly as spoken. Openings for programs with multiple introductions like The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and Charlie’s Angels are also included. For programs that featured new guest stars every episode—such as game shows and variety programs—Terrace has selected a representative introduction. In addition to the theme song credits found in the main text, there are also appendixes of theme songs and their composers and/or singers, as well as a listing of commercial releases (on DVD, VHS, CD, and LP) of shows and their soundtracks. A comprehensive resource for researchers and pop culture aficionados alike, Television Introductions provides a fascinating look at this neglected part of TV history.
