Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, usually referred to as Morecambe and Wise, were a British comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe’s death in 1984. They have been described as “the most illustrious, and the best-loved, double-act that Britain has ever produced”.
Morecambe [...]
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985), best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, writer, actor and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television, and radio.
Welles was also an accomplished magician, starring in troop variety spectacles in the war years. Noted for his innovative dramatic productions as well [...]
Franco Corelli (8 April 1921 – 29 October 2003) was an Italian tenor who had a major international opera career between 1951 and 1976.
Associated in particular with the spinto and dramatic tenor roles of the Italian repertory, he was celebrated universally for his thrilling upper register. Dubbed the “Prince of tenors”, Corelli possessed handsome features [...]
Dad’s Army is best known as one of the most successful, most popular and longest-running sitcoms made in Britain.
Dad’s Army tells the story of the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard during the Second World War. The platoon includes a bank manager, a chief bank clerk, a bank clerk, a butcher, a spiv, an undertaker and an ex-tailor. [...]
Sir Norman Wisdom OBE (born 4 February 1915) is a retired English comedian, singer, songwriter, actor and musician.
Norman Wisdom was born in the Marylebone district of London. His parents were Frederick, a chauffeur, and Maud Wisdom (née Targett), a dressmaker who often worked for West End theatres. The couple married in Marylebone in 1912.Norman Wisdom’s [...]
James Joseph “Jim” Croce (pronounced /ˈkroʊtʃi/; January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American folk rock singer-songwriter. He recorded for Capitol and ABC Records between 1960 and 1973, Croce released six studio albums and eleven singles. His singles “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” and “Time in a Bottle” were both Number One hits on [...]
Thomas Frederick “Tommy” Cooper (19 March 1921 – 15 April 1984) was a Welsh prop comedian and magician. He was known for making an art of getting magic tricks wrong, although he was actually an accomplished magician.
Despite his purported inability to perform conjuring tricks, Cooper was a member of The Magic Circle. Famed for his [...]
Mario Lanza (January 31, 1921 – October 7, 1959) was an Italian American tenor and Hollywood movie star who enjoyed success in the late 1940s and 1950s.
His lirico spinto tenor voice was considered by his admirers to rival that of Enrico Caruso, whom Lanza portrayed in the 1951 film The Great Caruso. Compared with Caruso, [...]
Samuel George Davis, Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American entertainer.
Primarily a dancer and singer, Davis was a childhood vaudevillian, and became internationally famous for his performances on Broadway and Las Vegas, as a recording artist, television and film star, and the only black member of Frank Sinatra’s “Rat Pack”.
Sammy was [...]