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Showing posts with label Kim Novak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kim Novak. Show all posts
December 5, 2020
November 16, 2020
20,000 vinyl LPs 253: Burgess Meredith & Howard O. Sackler ~ Everyman
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vinyl LP front cover detail
woodcut ca 1500
coloring & calligraphy by Gogin Stair
detail photo by Styrous®
The Somonyng of Everyman (The Summoning of Everyman), usually referred to simply as Everyman, is a late 15th-century morality play. Like the John Bunyan 1678 Christian novel The Pilgrim's Progress, Everyman uses allegorical characters to examine the question of Christian salvation and what Man must do to attain it. An excellent topic for our world today!
In 1955 Burgess Meredith recorded a reading of the play with a cast of a stunning array of artists under the direction of Howard O. Sackler. Today is the birthday of Meredith and this is my tribute to him.
vinyl LP front cover
woodcut ca 1500
coloring & calligraphy by Gogin Stair
photo by Styrous®
The play is set in a wooded world of mystery and intrigue, this 600 year-old play
follows the journey of the character "Everyman" who is tasked by "Death"
to meet his maker "God" for a reckoning. Stalling for time, Everyman
begs for the chance to bring a single companion with him to his death.
He tries to enlist his Kin, Cousin, Goods, Beauty, Strength, and 5 wits,
but none will follow him to his death.
vinyl LP front cover detail
woodcut ca 1500
coloring & calligraphy by Gogin Stair
detail photos by Styrous®
This
was a seminal project as many of the readers on the recording went on
to other famous, fun and strange projects that influenced many segments
in the world of entertainment.
Cavada Humphrey would appear in the very weird soap opera, Dark Shadows: the show's inhabitants were ghosts, werewolves, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel, and a parallel universe (link below). John Heldabrand would appear in The Immoralist, a 1955 play written by Augustus and Ruth Goetz based on the novel by André Gide, which also starred James Dean, Louis Jourdan, and Geraldine Page. Heldabrand also in the 1956 television play A Night to Remember for the Kraft Television Theatre.
David Hersey is is one of the readers. however, he is a lighting designer who designed the lighting for over 250 plays, musicals, operas, and ballets. His awards include the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design for Evita, Cats, and Les Misérables, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for Cats, Miss Saigon, and Equus, and the 1996 Laurence Olivier Award for Lighting Design.
Janet Ward appeared in the films Fail Safe (1964), The Anderson Tapes (1971) and Night Moves (1975). She appeared in the television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Perry Mason, The Defenders, N.Y.P.D., Cannon, Barney Miller, Kojak and Law & Order.
Darren McGavin has a role in the reading; he was one of the stars in Summertime and in The Man with the Golden Arm (link below) which starred Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Arnold Stang (both 1955). From 1958 to 1959, he played the title character in the 1950s television series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, and subsequently starred in the NBC Western series Riverboat, first with Burt Reynolds and then with Noah Beery Jr.
McGavin went on to have a prolific career in television,
appearing in numerous guest-starring roles throughout the 1960s and
1970s. He starred in the successful TV movie The Night Stalker
Julian Barry is an American screenwriter and playwright; his script for the 1974 film Lenny about comedian Lenny Bruce won him an Oscar-nomination. Barry adapted the script from his successful Broadway play of the same name. The film, directed by Bob Fosse and starring Dustin Hoffman and Valerie Perrine, was nominated for the so-called Oscar Grand Slam, one of some 40 films to be so honored. Barry wrote or rewrote screenplays for several notable films including The River starring Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek, Eyes of Laura Mars starring Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones, and Rhinoceros, starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, Me, Myself and I, starring George Segal and Jobeth Williams, and the American Playhouse production for PBS, A Marriage - Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, starring Christopher Plummer and Jane Alexander.
Frederick Rolf has been active in American theatre for over six decades. On Broadway he was featured as the Inquisitor in Saint Joan and in Time Remembered with Helen Hayes and Richard Burton. Some of his film credits include (Witness with Harrison Ford, Street Smart with Morgan Freeman and five Woody Allen films).
Stefan Gierasch made over 100 screen appearances, mostly in American television, beginning in 1951. He appeared in many films including in The Hustler (1961), The Traveling Executioner (1970), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), What's Up Doc? (1972), High Plains Drifter (1973), Carrie (1976), Silver Streak (1976), Victory at Entebbe (1976), Blue Sunshine (1977), The Champ (1979), Blood Beach (1980), Perfect (1985), and in 1994 he appeared in the Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito film Junior.
Terence Kilburn is known for his roles as a child actor, in films such as A Christmas Carol (1938) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) in the late 1930s and the early 1940s.
He was in the film National Velvet with a VERY young Elizabeth Taylor and the notorious 1962 film Lolita directed by Stanley Kubrick. He was also in Slaves of Babylon, a film with Richard Conte, Linda Christian and Julie Newmar,
I loved Newmar and thought she had the strangest looking face that was
sensual and exotic in a bizarre way, I guess that's why she was cast in
so many films like Babylon.
The Portland Community College For the Performing Arts Center staged a brilliant production of Everyman with stunning lighting and sets (link below).
Burgess Meredith was born in 1907 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Methodist revivalists, a religion to which he adhered throughout his lifetime. He became a reporter for the Stamford Advocate. In 1942, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. After transferring to the Office of War Information, he made training and education films for America's armed forces.
In 1943 he performed in the USAAF's recruiting short The Rear Gunner and the U.S. Army training film A Welcome to Britain for troops heading to the UK in preparation for the liberation of Europe.
He was released from duty in 1944 to work on the movie The Story of G.I. Joe, in which he played the war correspondent Ernie Pyle.
He was known later in his career for his appearances on The Twilight Zone and for portraying arch-villain The Penguin on the 1960s TV series Batman (link below) and boxing trainer Mickey Goldmill in the Rocky film series. For his performances in The Day of the Locust (1975) and Rocky (1976), he received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He later starred in the comedy Foul Play (1978) and the fantasy film Clash of the Titans (1981). He narrated numerous films and documentaries during his long career, including Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983).
Meredith played the Penguin in the television series Batman from 1966 to 1968 and in the 1966 film based on the TV series.
His role as the Penguin was so well-received that the show's writers
always had a script featuring the Penguin ready whenever Meredith was
available. He and Cesar Romero (the Joker) are tied for number of appearances on the show. He also made a brief cameo appearance as the Penguin in the 1968 episode of The Monkees titled Monkees Blow Their Minds.
My favorite film of his is Of Mice and Men (link below) based on the book by John Steinbeck. He portrays George trapped in his friendship with his sidekick, Lenny, played by Lon Chaney, Jr. The story takes place during the Depression. The score for the film was by American composer Aaron Copland.
His autobiography, So Far, So Good, was published in 1994. In the book he wrote that he suffered from violent mood swings caused by cyclothymia, a form of bipolar disorder.
Meredith died from complications of Alzheimer's disease and melanoma on September 9, 1997, aged 89, at his Malibu home. Friend Adam West spoke briefly at his memorial service.
Burgess Meredith & Howard O. Sackler ~ Everyman
vinyl LP record labels, side 1 & side 2
photos by Styrous®
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Side 1:
Everyman, Written By – Anonymous
A Part One
A Part One
Side 2:
B Part Two
Companies, etc.
Copyright (c) – Caedmon Publishers
Credits:
Directed By – Howard Sackler
Performer [Beauty], Voice Actor – Cavada Humphrey
Performer [Confession], Voice Actor – John Heldabrand
Performer [Cousin], Voice Actor – David Hersey (3)
Performer [Death], Voice Actor – Frank Silvera
Performer [Discretion], Voice Actor – Janet Ward
Performer [Everyman], Voice Actor – Burgess Meredith
Performer [Fellowship], Voice Actor – Darren McGavin (2)
Performer [Five-Wits] – Julian Barry (4)
Performer [God], Voice Actor – Frederick Rolf
Performer [Good-Deeds], Voice Actor – Sybil Baker
Performer [Goods], Voice Actor – Richard Purdy
Performer [Kindred], Voice Actor – Stefan Gierasch
Performer [Knowledge], Voice Actor – Carol Veazie
Performer [Messenger], Voice Actor – Terence Kilburn
Performer [Strength], Voice Actor – Richard Farmer (2)
Notes:
Includes a 24 page booklet
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (A runout): TC 1031 A // C0101 SC E4
Matrix / Runout (B runout): TC 1031 B // E4RP- 10110 - 1A // A1 // R
Matrix / Runout (A label): TC-1031-A
Matrix / Runout (B label): TC-1031-B
Burgess Meredith, Howard O. Sackler* – Everyman - A Moral Play
Label: Caedmon Records – TC 1031
Series: Monuments Of Early English Drama – Volume Two, Caedmon Literary Series –
Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1955
Genre: Non-Music
Style: Spoken Word
Styrous® ~ Monday, November 16, 2020
Label: Caedmon Records – TC 1031
Series: Monuments Of Early English Drama – Volume Two, Caedmon Literary Series –
Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1955
Genre: Non-Music
Style: Spoken Word
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
YouTube links:
Batman '66 Reunion (1989) Adam West, Julie Newmar, Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith
Of Mice and Men (1939) Burgess Meredith & Lon Chaney Jr (1 hr., 46 min.)
Portland Community College ~ Everyman (49;18)
September 22, 2015
Ernst California ~ A Tie To Die For
photos by Styrous®
I started working in the late 1950's, a time when people had to dress up for work. Women still wore hats and gloves. Men wore hats with business suits, white shirts and neckties as the office uniform. There was no such thing as, "Casual Dress Day". I was into men's fashion and ties are what I focused on especially (they were the most affordable fashion item on a $125 a month salary).
My favorite neckties were by Ernst. His ties were different: the ends were square, the quality of the manufacturing combined with the vast array of textiles used to make them and the design eye that created them was sublime! WOW! It was a radically divergent visual effect from the point-ended ties that hadn't changed in probably thirty years. It was the modern age full of right angles, squares and rectangles; think CONTEMPORARY. I was totally in love with those ties and I eventually wound up with a small collection of them.
You probably have no idea who or what Ernst was. Ok, I'll tell you but first I'll show you (left & below).
I
have done research on Ernst (Ernest J. Beall) and his ties and have come up with some interesting tales which follow the photos. But it's up to you which one you want to
believe.
One comes from the book, "The Vanishing Vision - The Inside Story of Public Television" by James Day.
KQED Television was holding an all-night telethon (it's vague as to whether it was in 1954 or 1958, an important point). People donated items to be auctioned off and one of the items was a pair of lavender sheets used by Kim Novak; it was donated by the Clift Hotel from a night she had stayed there. Beall (Ernst) paid $250 for them; took them home and made ties from them. The next day he then gave them back to the TV station for the auction and the publicity from this launched Beall in his Ernst career. I like this version, however, it might not fit with the trademark information at the end.
One of the stories comes from the Daily Independent Journal. Issue Date: Saturday, July 31, 1965, Page: 35:
Ernst was born Ernest J. Beall in the south in 1914. He served in WWII, then returned home. But not long after this, he left the south, apparently because he dared to date a black girl, earning his family’s disapproval. Moving to Los Angeles, he took a job at Capital Records, eventually becoming an executive. Then, in the early 1950s, dissatisfied with the routine, he chucked it all in and moved to San Francisco. In 1954, Beall J. Ernst bought some material intended for women's suits, and made himself a couple of neckties . . . unable to find neckties to his liking. Ernst began to design and make his own. It began as a hobby, and today it is a flourishing business.
Ernst, a dedicated Marinite who has resided the past two years in a bachelor home atop Haven Hill at Tiburon and who lived for six years prior to that in San Anselmo, says it all started back in 1954. He was then a Columbia records executive. For some time he had felt a dissatisfaction with neckties then on the market, but had done nothing to remedy the situation. Then, while shopping in the bargain basement of a department store, he stumbled onto a fabric that struck him as fascinating. It was women’s suiting material. But he bought a quarter of a yard of the goods and, in his Los Gatos home, where he then lived, he began experimenting with it. The result was “two and a half ties.” It was some time, however, before Elrnst worked up enough nerve to wear one of his homemade creations. Eventually, he did work up the courage. The result was a flood of compliments from friends who wanted to know where he had acquired the unusual neck pieces. Soon Beall Ernst was making regular trips to bargain basements to acquire fabrics and working nights to turn out ties to meet the requests of friends and business associates. And thus began the story of “Ernst, the Tie Man.”
Another story comes from Livejournal:
In 1952, Ernst leased an old brick warehouse South of Market Street and threw himself into his work. His ties were immediately snapped up by such local institutions as Gump’s, I. Magnin, The White House and the City of Paris. They were seen on models in Esquire, Playboy and Gentleman’s Quarterly.
Then, one night as he slept, two men broke into his home. They tied him up and locked him in a closet while they ransacked his house, stealing a chest of jewelry, some $20,000 in cash, and eventually fleeing in Ernst's brand new Jaguar. After nearly a day of confinement, Ernst finally managed to call the police, even though he was still tied up (dialing with his nose!). They eventually responded, but apparently their investigations proved fruitless. The experience seems to have deeply scarred Ernst. In 1970, he accepted a million-dollar offer by a group of investors, and he bade farewell to the tie business.
At this point, Ernst seems to have undergone some unknown and drastic reversal of fortune. In 1978, the city directory shows that he was no longer living in a house on Twin Peaks, but rather in an apartment in the Tenderloin. Two years later, he was found dead, in Nevada, apparently of natural causes, at the age of 64.
In my research, I found the original Trademark for the name Ernst is dated January 1, 1953. You can use this as a guide for the story you'd like to believe.
~ ~ ~
I'm selling my small collection of Ernst neckties on eBay as I have done with other items of mine, in particular, my reel-to-reel tape collection.
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