Frank Beacham's Journal

George Balanchine was born 118 years ago today

Balanchine, 1941

Photo by George Platt Lynes

George Balanchine was born 118 years ago today.

Balanchine was one of the 20th century's most prolific and famous choreographers. Known as the father of American ballet, he co-founded the New York City Ballet and remained its balletmaster for more than 35 years.

Balanchine was a choreographer known for his musicality. He expressed music with dance and worked extensively with leading composers of his time like Igor Stravinsky.

After years of illness, Balanchine died on April 30, 1983 at age 79 in New York City from Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, which was diagnosed only after his death.

He first showed symptoms during 1978 when he began losing his balance while dancing.

As the disease progressed, his equilibrium, eyesight and hearing deteriorated. By 1982, he was incapacitated.

The night of his death, the company went on with its scheduled performance, which included Divertimento No. 15 and Symphony in C at Lincoln Center.

In his last years, Balanchine suffered from angina and underwent heart bypass surgery.

Danny Kaye was born 112 years ago today

Danny Kaye was born 112 years ago today.

An actor, singer, dancer and comedian, Kaye’s performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes and rapid-fire nonsense songs. He starred in 17 movies, notably The Kid from Brooklyn (1946), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), The Inspector General (1949), Hans Christian Andersen (1952), White Christmas (1954) and The Court Jester (1956).

Kaye’s films were popular, especially his bravura performances of patter songs and favorites such as "Inchworm" and "The Ugly Duckling." He was the first ambassador-at-large of UNICEF in 1954 and received the French Legion of Honor in 1986 for his years of work with the organization.

Kaye died in 1987 at 74 years old.

On Danny Kaye...

Eartha Kitt was born 96 years ago today

Eartha Kitt was born 96 years ago today.

A singer, actress, dancer and cabaret star, Kitt was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash, "Santa Baby."

Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the world."

She took over the role of Catwoman for the third and final season of the 1960s Batman television series, replacing Julie Newmar, who was unavailable due to other commitments.

She also voiced Yzma on Disney's The Emperor's New Groove and its television spinoff, The Emperor's New School, earning five Emmy Awards in the process — the last shortly before her death.

Kitt died in 2008 at the age of 81.

Here is Kitt performing "C'est Si Bon"

In 1962, Chubby Checker went back to #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “The Twist”

Photo by Tracy Glantz

In 1962, Chubby Checker went back to #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “The Twist.”

The song first went to #11 in Sept, 1960 and became the only record in American chart history to top the charts on two separate occasions.

In the photo, Chubby Checker does The Twist in 2011 with Hallie Sabb, left, and Carrie McGill-Tisdaleon on family property he played on as a child in Spring Gully, South Carolina.

Alvin Ailey was born 92 years ago today

Judith Jamison, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Alvin Ailey

Photo by Jack Vartoogian

Alvin Ailey was born 92 years ago today.

An African-American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City, Ailey is credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American participation in 20th century concert dance. His company gained the nickname "Cultural Ambassador to the World" because of its extensive international touring.

Ailey's choreographic masterpiece, Revelations, is believed to be the best known and most often seen modern dance performance.

In 1977, Ailey was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1988, just one year before his death. In 2014, President Barack Obama selected Ailey to be a posthumous recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Here is Ailey’s Revelations

On Christmas Day, 2006, James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul,” died at the age of 73 after being diagnosed with severe pneumonia

On Christmas Day, 2006, James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul,” died at the age of 73 after being diagnosed with severe pneumonia.

Two days earlier, Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia, several hours later than his appointment for dental implant work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that Brown looked "very bad ... weak and dazed." Instead of performing the dental work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition.

Brown checked in at the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital the next day for a medical evaluation of his condition, and he was admitted to the hospital for observation and treatment.

According to Charles Bobbit, Brown's longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had a noisy cough since he returned from a November trip to Europe. Bobbit also added that Brown never complained about being sick, and often performed while ill.

Although Brown had to cancel upcoming shows in Waterbury, Connecticut and Englewood, New Jersey, Brown was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time to perform the New Year's Eve shows.

For the New Year's celebrations, Brown was scheduled to perform at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey and at the B. B. King Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on CNN for the Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve special. However, Brown remained hospitalized, and his medical condition worsened throughout that day.

On December 25, 2006, Brown, 73, died at approximately 1:45 a.m. EST from congestive heart failure resulting from complications of pneumonia. Bobbit was at his bedside when he died.

According to Bobbit, Brown stuttered "I'm going away tonight," and then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying.

The Nutcracker ballet, with a score by Tchaikovsky, premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia on this day in 1892 — 130 years ago

For many, it is hard to imagine the holiday season without the cultural feast of glittering fairies, toys and sweets that come alive with the dancing and music of “The Nutcracker.”

The Nutcracker ballet, with a score by Tchaikovsky, premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia on this day in 1892 — 130 years ago.

It might never have happened. Tchaikovsky’s parents sent him to law school because they didn’t consider music an acceptable profession. Later, he quit a legal job to attend the St. Petersburg Conservatory, the foundation of an illustrious career that included “Swan Lake” and “Sleeping Beauty.”

The “Nutcracker” tale isn’t entirely Russian, though. It’s based on an 1816 story, “Nutcracker and Mouse King,” by the German writer E. T. A. Hoffmann, and it was adapted and popularized by the French writer, Alexandre Dumas, in 1844 as “The Tale of a Nutcracker.”

Decades later, the St. Petersburg Opera hired Tchaikovsky to write music for a ballet based on the later version. No performances today faithfully follow the staging first done in St. Petersburg.

Tchaikovsky’s scores are among the most famous in ballet, and they lend much of the magic to the holiday fairy tale that ends happily ever after.

Thanks New York Times

Betty Grable, celebrated for having the most beautiful legs in Hollywood, was born 106 years ago today

Betty Grable, celebrated for having the most beautiful legs in Hollywood, was born 106 years ago today.

An actress, dancer and singer, Grable’s iconic bathing suit poster made her the #1 pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the Life magazine project "100 Photos That Changed the World."

Hosiery specialists of the era often noted the ideal proportions of her legs as thigh (18.5 inches), calf (12 inches) and ankle (7.5 inches). Grable's legs were famously insured by her studio for $1,000,000 with Lloyds of London.

Grable appeared in several smash-hit musical films in the 1940s. The most notable was Mother Wore Tights in 1947 with frequent co-star, Dan Dailey. She came to prominence in 1939 when she signed with 20th Century-Fox and signed on to appear opposite, Ethel Merman, in the Broadway musical, Du Barry Was a Lady.

But it was not until she was called back to Hollywood to replace Fox's musical queen, Alice Faye, in Down Argentine Way, that she became a household name.

Throughout her career, Grable was typecast in her stereotype-musical film roles. When her career faltered in the 1950s, she found it hard to reinvent herself as a serious actress.

In 1958, she appeared as herself on The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour with then husband, Harry James, in an episode entitled, "Lucy Wins A Racehorse.”

During her heyday in the 1940s, she had several nicknames during her career. They included "the girl with the million dollar legs," "the quick-silver blonde," "the queen of the Hollywood musical" and "the darling of the forties."

Grable died in 1973 at age 56 of lung cancer.

Sammy Davis, Jr. was born 97 years ago today

Sammy Davis Jr, 1986

Photo by Allan Warren

Sammy Davis, Jr. was born 97 years ago today.

Primarily a dancer and singer, Davis also had many acting roles on stage and screen, and was noted for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities.

At the age of three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father and Will Mastin as the Will Mastin Trio, which toured nationally. After military service, Davis returned to the trio. He became an overnight sensation following a nightclub performance at Ciro's after the 1951 Academy Awards. With the trio, he became a recording artist.

In 1954, Davis lost his left eye in an automobile accident, and several years later, he converted to Judaism. Davis' film career began as a child in 1933. In 1960, he appeared in the first Rat Pack film, Ocean's 11.

After a starring role on Broadway in 1956's Mr. Wonderful, Davis returned to the stage in 1964's Golden Boy, and in 1966 had his own TV variety show, The Sammy Davis Jr. Show.

Davis' career slowed in the late 1960s, but he had a hit record with "The Candy Man" in 1972 and became a star in Las Vegas, earning him the nickname "Mister Show Business."

As an African-American, Davis was the victim of racism throughout his life and was a large financial supporter of the civil rights movement. He had a complex relationship with the African-American community, and drew criticism after physically embracing President Richard M. Nixon in 1972.

One day on a golf course with Jack Benny, he was asked what his handicap was. "Handicap?" he asked. "Talk about handicap — I'm a one-eyed Negro Jew." This was to become a signature comment, recounted in his autobiography, and in countless articles.

After reuniting with Sinatra and Dean Martin in 1987, Davis toured with them and Liza Minnelli internationally, before he died of throat cancer in 1990. He died in debt to the Internal Revenue Service, and his estate was the subject of legal battles.

Davis was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP. He was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 1987

Here, Sammy Davis Jr. performs “Mr. Bojangles”

Steve Rubell, co-owner of New York’s Studio 54 night club, was born 79 years ago today

Rubell with Bianca Jagger at Studio 54, 1978

Steve Rubell, co-owner of New York’s Studio 54 night club, was born 79 years ago today.

Rubell and his brother, Don, spent their childhoods with their parents in Brooklyn. His father worked for the U.S. Postal Service and later became a tennis pro. Rubell attended Wingate High School, and was also an avid tennis player, but decided against playing professionally.

Entering Syracuse University, Rubell had the intention of becoming a dentist, but failed his courses and switched majors, studying finance and history. He was reportedly not a good student but managed to complete his studies, going on to complete a Master's degree in Finance.

While attending college, Rubell met Ian Schrager, who became a lifelong friend and business partner. Rubell joined the National Guard, returning to New York after a tour of duty in a military intelligence unit. He worked at a brokerage firm after his return.

Rubell then decided to start his own business and opened two Steak Lofts restaurants: one in Queens, New York, and the other in New Haven, Connecticut. Rubell and Schrager opened two clubs, one in Boston with John Addison from La Jardin, the other, called The Enchanted Garden, in Queens in 1975, which later became Douglaston Manor.

In April, 1977, they opened Studio 54 in the old CBS television studio on West 54th Street that the network was selling. Rubell became a familiar face in front of the building, turning people down at the door and only letting in those who met his specific standards.

He also dealt with the club's celebrity patrons, ensuring that they were thrown lavish parties. His tactics worked, and the club made $7 million during its first year.

In December, 1978, Studio 54 was raided after Rubell was quoted as saying that only the Mafia made more money than the club brought in.

In June, 1979, Rubell and Schrager were charged with tax evasion, obstruction of justice and conspiracy for reportedly skimming nearly $2.5 million in unreported income from the club's receipts, in a system Rubell called "cash-in, cash-out and skim."

Police reports state that cash and receipts were in the building and were hidden in the ceiling sections of Rubell's office, where both he and Schrager worked. A second raid occurred in December, 1979.

The pair hired Roy Cohn to defend them, but on January 18, 1980, they were sentenced to three and a half years in prison and a $20,000 fine each for the tax evasion charge. On February 4, 1980, Rubell and Schrager went to prison and Studio 54 was sold in November of that year for $4.75 million.

In January, 1981, Rubell and Schrager were released from prison after handing over the names of other club owners involved in tax evasion. Once released, Rubell and Schrager purchased the Executive Hotel on Madison Ave and renamed it Morgan's.

Rubell later opened the Palladium, a large dance club famous for displaying art by Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol, and considered central to the New York club scene in the 1980s. In 1998, the Palladium was demolished so that New York University dorms could be built in its place.

Mike Myers played the part of Steve Rubell in the movie, 54, much to Rubell's relatives' protest after the movie portrayed him as an overly sleazy gay man and an alcoholic junkie with mob connections. Rubell has also been the topic of an episode of Biography titled, Steve Rubell: Lord of the Disco.

In 1985, after discovering he had contracted AIDS, Rubell (who was closeted for most of his life) began taking AZT, but his illness was furthered by his continued drug usage and drinking, which affected his already compromised immune system.

Rubell died on July 25, 1989, with the official cause of death listed as hepatitis.