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1-5 of 5
- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
The son of a saloon keeper, Jack Benny (born Benny Kubelsky) began to study the violin at the age six, and his "ineptness" at it, would later become his trademark (in reality, he was a very accomplished player). When given the opportunity to play in live theatre professionally, Benny quit school and joined vaudeville. In the same theatre that Benny was working with were the very young The Marx Brothers. Their mother, Minnie Marx, wanted Benny to go on the road with them. However, this plan was foiled by his parents who would not let their 17-year-old son on the road.
Having a successful vaudeville career, Benny also had a greater career on radio for "The Jack Benny Program". The show was one of the few successful radio programs that also became a successful television show.
Benny also starred in several movies, including The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929), Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935), The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) and George Washington Slept Here (1942), although he had much greater success on radio and on TV than he did on the big screen.
He was good friends with Fred Allen, with whom he had a long-standing comic "feud".- Actor
- Composer
- Producer
Farid Al Atrache was born in Jebel Ed-Druz, Southern Syria in 1915. His parents were Prince Fahad Al Atrache and Princess Alia. In 1923, Prince Fahad and the Al Atrache clan were fighting against the French occupation of their land and as a result, Princess Alia had to flee to Egypt with her three young children Fouad, Farid and Amal. Their journey was diffcult where they travelled from Beirut through Palestine and finally Egypt without any personal documents. The Egyptian government granted them permission to stay, and the family settled at one of Cairo's popular districts where they lived in a one room flat after being accustomed to living in luxurious palaces. The mother had to work as a singer at private parties,and weddings in order to support her children who also took jobs while they went to school. Farid and his young sister Amal were interested in their mother's love of music, so she encouraged them to sing and taught her son how to play the oud. In their early youths, Farid and Amal (who later became Asmahane), began to draw the attention of composers and song writers who were amazed by their musical talents and beautiful voices, and eventually the duo were singing at radio stations and in front of wide audiences. The cinema was also the gateway to success and glory for Farid and Asmahane as they starred in two films. Once again tragedy struck Farid, his sister Asmahane was killed in a car accident and there were rumors that she was involved with the British intelligence.
Farid continued to sing and compose until one day he met Samia Gamal, a lovely belly dancer who captured his heart, and together they created a duo starring in several musical films from the late 1940s and the early 1950s. However, their relationship didn't last because Samia married an American man who embraced Islam and they both travelled to the U.S, and again Farid was lonely and sad but he still loved Samia. His next films and songs contained feelings of love and anguish in addition to patriotism. He spent his last years in Lebanon while he made frequent visits to Egypt, Arab countries and Europe. He died in Beirut on December 26, 1974 and that was before attending the premiere of his last film with actress Mervat Amin "Nagahm fi Hayati".- M. Sevki Yazman was born in 1896 in Elazig, Turkey. M. Sevki was a writer, known for Toros çocugu (1946). M. Sevki died on 26 December 1974 in Istanbul, Turkey.
- Leokadia Pancewicz-Leszczynska was born on 8 November 1888 in Warsaw, Poland, Russian Empire [now Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland]. She was an actress, known for Love or a Kingdom (1936), Trzy serca (1939) and Halka (1937). She died on 26 December 1974 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Knudåge Riisager was born on 6 March 1897 in Kunda, Governorate of Estonia, Russian Empire [now Estonia]. He was a composer, known for Sommerrapsodi (1947), Må vi hilse på hr. Petersen (1963) and Eurovision Presents Pictures in the Sky (1957). He died on 26 December 1974 in Copenhagen, Denmark.