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If Jamaica were an actor she would have appeared in more than one hundred and forty-one films. The list of movies where the name Jamaica plays a prominent part is probably closer to two hundred. This book chronicles over one hundred years of international film making in Jamaica from 1910, and provides many previously unpublished details of locations, actors and directors. As such, Jamaica, the Land of Film provides a comprehensive history which will be of great interest to all cinema aficionados and fans of Caribbean history.
More people watched his nationally syndicated television show between 1953 and 1955 than followed I Love Lucy. Even a decade after his death, the attendance records he set at Madison Square Garden, the Hollywood Bowl, and Radio City Music Hall still stand. Arguably the most popular entertainer of the twentieth century, this very public figure nonetheless kept more than a few secrets. Darden Asbury Pyron, author of the acclaimed and bestselling Southern Daughter: The Life of Margaret Mitchell, leads us through the life of America's foremost showman with his fresh, provocative, and definitive portrait of Liberace, an American boy. Liberace's career follows the trajectory of the classic America...
The history of American dance reflects the nation’s tangled culture. Dancers from wildly different backgrounds learned, imitated, and stole from one another. Audiences everywhere embraced the result as deeply American. Using the stories of tapper Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, ballet and Broadway choreographer Agnes de Mille, choreographer Paul Taylor, and Michael Jackson, Megan Pugh shows how freedom—that nebulous, contested American ideal—emerges as a genre-defining aesthetic. In Pugh’s account, ballerinas mingle with slumming thrill-seekers, and hoedowns show up on elite opera house stages. Steps invented by slaves on antebellum plantations captivate the British royalty and the Parisian avant-garde. Dances were better boundary crossers than their dancers, however, and the issues of race and class that haunt everyday life shadow American dance as well. Deftly narrated, America Dancing demonstrates the centrality of dance in American art, life, and identity, taking us to watershed moments when the nation worked out a sense of itself through public movement.
At least nine million Americans trace their roots to Poland, and Polish Americans have contributed greatly to American history and society. During the largest period of immigration to the United States, between 1870 and 1920, more Poles came to the United States than any other national group except Italians. Additional large-scale Polish migration occurred in the wake of World War II and during the period of Solidarity's rise to prominence. This encyclopedia features three types of entries: thematic essays, topical entries, and biographical profiles. The essays synthesize existing work to provide interpretations of, and insight into, important aspects of the Polish American experience. The topical entries discuss in detail specific places, events or organizations such as the Polish National Alliance, Polish American Saturday Schools, and the Latimer Massacre, among others. The biographical entries identify Polish Americans who have made significant contributions at the regional or national level either to the history and culture of the United States, or to the development of American Polonia.
Though chiefly remembered as the dance partner of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers had many other significant achievements in the entertainment world. She was a dancer, singer, comedienne, and Academy Award winning dramatic actress, as well as the highest paid Hollywood star in 1942. Miss Faris provides a detailed record of Ginger Roger's life and career, painting a picture of her as one of the most versatile performers in the United States. The volume begins with a short biography of Ginger Rogers, along with a succinct chronology of the major events in her life and career. These portions of the book provide a context for the chapters that follow, which contain annotated entries for her stage, film, radio, and television performances. The entries provide production information and cast listings, along with excerpts from reviews and critical commentaries. An extensive annotated bibliography lists books, magazine and newspaper articles, and movie trade publications that provide further information about Ginger Rogers's fascinating career.
People today remember Jayne Mansfield as a famous Hollywood movie star. However, she starred in only three American movies before moving to low-budget European films. She was a master of publicity who appeared in newspapers across the nation almost daily. The media focused on her figure and her stormy love life. Through her constant exposure in the press, she gave the public the false impression that she was a major movie star. This book charts the captivating life and career of Jayne Mansfield. A biography overviews her rise to fame, her three marriages and five children, and her death in a grisly automobile accident at an early age. The chapters that follow are each devoted to her performances in a particular genre, such as film, stage, and television. Each chapter contains annotated entries for her work in that media, providing cast and credit listings, plot summaries, review excerpts, and commentary. Appendices list her appearances on magazine and record covers, and an annotated bibliography discusses additional sources of information.
Jayne Mansfield (1933−1967) was driven not just to be an actress but to be a star. One of the most influential sex symbols of her time, she was known for her platinum blonde hair, hourglass figure, outrageously low necklines, and flamboyant lifestyle. Hardworking and ambitious, Mansfield proved early in her career that she was adept in both comic and dramatic roles, but her tenacious search for the spotlight and her risqué promotional stunts caused her to be increasingly snubbed in Hollywood. In the first definitive biography of Mansfield, Eve Golden offers a joyful account of the star Andy Warhol called "the poet of publicity," revealing the smart, determined woman behind the persona. Wh...
In this thorough study of Lillian Russell, chapters provide detailed entries of her performances and extensive bibliographic information.
The only available historical dictionary devoted exclusively to the 1940s, this book offers readers a ready-reference portrait of one of the twentieth century's most tumultuous decades. In nearly 600 concise entries, the volume quickly defines a historical figure, institution, or event, and then points readers to three sources that treat the subject in depth. In selecting topics for inclusion, the editors and authors offer a representative slice of life as contemporaneous Americans saw it - with coverage of people; movements; court cases; and economic, social, cultural, political, military, and technological changes. The book focuses chiefly on the United States, but places American lives and events firmly within a global context.