Singin' and Dancing Back in Time.: Oscar Levant

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Oscar Levant

Oscar Levant (December 27, 1906 – August 14, 1972) was an pianist, composer, author, comedian, and actor. He studied under Zygmunt Stojowski, a piano pedagogue. In 1924, aged 18, he appeared with Ben Bernie in a short film, Ben Bernie and All the Lads.

In 1928, Levant moved to Hollywood where he met and befriended George Gershwin. From 1929 to 1948 he composed the music for more than twenty movies. During this period, he also wrote the well known song,"Blame It on My Youth" (1934).

Levant married his second wife, singer and actress June Gale, part of the The Gale Sisters. They were married for almost 33 years, until his death.

The role of Cosmo Brown in Singin' in the Rain (1952) was written with him in mind, but the part went instead to, Donald O'Connor.

Filmography:

Ben Bernie and All the Lads (1924)
The Dance of Life (1929)
Night Parade (1929) (uncredited)
In Person (1935)
Rhythm on the River (1940). Musical comedy film starring Bing Crosby and Mary Martin as a ghostwriters whose songs are credited to a composer played by Basil Rathbone. James V. Monaco (music) and Johnny Burke (lyrics) were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for, "Only Forever". The song in the video:
"That's for Me"
(uncredited)
Music by James V. Monaco
Lyrics by Johnny Burke
Sung by Mary Martin
Also sung by Lillian Cornell

Kiss the Boys Goodbye (1941)
Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
Humoresque (1946)
Romance on the High Seas (1948)
You Were Meant for Me
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
An American in Paris (1951)
O. Henry's Full House (1952)
The I Don't Care Girl (1953)
The Band Wagon (1953)
The Cobweb (1955)
The Oscar Levant Show (1958)

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Bob Fosse

Was a musical theater choreographer and director, screenwriter and film director. He won an eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction. He was nominated for an Academy Award four times, winning for his direction of Cabaret. He was identified with his third wife, Gwen Verdon. She was both the dancer/collaborator who he choreographed much of his work and, together with dancer/choreographer Ann Reinking, a guardian of the Fosse legacy after his death. Fosse is considered to be one the most influential coreographers of the 20th Century.

Esther Williams.

JANE POWELL

After rising to fame as a singer in her home state of Oregon, Powell was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while still in her teens. Once there, the studio utilized her vocal, dancing and acting talents, casting her in such musicals as Royal Wedding, with Fred Astaire, A Date with Judy, with friend Elizabeth Taylor and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, with Howard Keel. In the late 1950s, her film career slowed, only to be replaced with a busy theater and television career.Click picture to enter websight.

Jeanette MacDonald

Singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier (Love Me Tonight, The Merry Widow) and Nelson Eddy (Naughty Marietta, Rose-Marie, and Maytime). During the 1930s and 1940s she starred in 29 feature films, four nominated for Best Picture Oscars (The Love Parade, One Hour With You, Naughty Marietta and San Francisco), and recorded extensively, earning three gold records. She later appeared in grand opera, concerts, radio, and television. MacDonald was one of most influential sopranos of the 20th century. Click picture to view fan website.

Joan Crawford.

Click picture to view website. Joan Crawford, born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre. Starting as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway, Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her parts, Crawford began a campaign of self-publicity and became nationally known as a flapper by the end of the 1920s. In the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well-received by Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money and by the end of the 1930s

Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Richard Rodgers (1902 – 1979) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895 – 1960) the songwriting duo, on our musical page. They created many popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age. With Rodgers composing the music and Hammerstein writing the lyrics, five of their shows, Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music. They won thirty-four Tony Awards, fifteen Academy Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, and two Grammys. Click picture to read movie reviews.

Cab Calloway

Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the United States' most popular African American big bands from the start of the 1930s through the late 1940s. Calloway's band featured performers including trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham, saxophonists Ben Webster and Leon "Chu" Berry, New Orleans guitar ace Danny Barker, and bassist Milt Hinton. Calloway continued to perform until his death in 1994 at the age of 86 .Click picture to view official website.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Oscar Levant

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