UK group The Tornadoes' hit single "Telstar" was the first UK single to reach Number 1 in the USA on December 22, 1962. This was more than a year before the Fab Four made it to Number 1 in the USA with "I Want to Hold Your Hand" on February 1, 1964.
Unconventional comedienne Whoopi Goldberg became a top film attraction unexpectedly. In fact, she was not the first choice for many of her movies: she replaced Shelley Long in Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986), Bruce Willis in Burglar (1987), and Cher in Fatal Beauty (1988). Originally, Goldberg's lead role in the hit Sister Act (1992) was intended as a film vehicle for Bette Midler.
Unlikely celebrities who have worked as TV game show hosts include Robert Alda, Don Ameche, Gypsy Rose Lee, Vincent Price, Basil Rathbone, and Rod Serling.
Until 1942, Warner Bros.' "Looney Tunes" were black-and-white, with established characters, and "Merrie Melodies" were in color, usually with one-shot characters. For 1942 and 1943, "Looney Tunes" were in color on a scattershot basis, then color only from 1944 to the present.
Using chemicals to get "high" isn't as new as one may think. Nitrous oxide was discovered in 1800. When inhaled, it was found to give a giddy, intoxicated feeling and to release the emotions. People laughed inanely, so it was called "laughing gas." For a while, parties were organized at which people sat around inhaling its fumes.
Vanity, the seductive actress-singer linked at one time professionally and romantically with the Artist Formerly Known as Prince, was born Denise Mathews. In 1997, she told talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey that she is no longer that provocative girl of the 1980s, having acquired religion and closing the door to the entertainment industry.
Veteran actor Peter Finch gave an electrifying performance as Howard Beale in the box office hit Network (1976). Henry Fonda was originally offered the role of the TV newsman-gone-mad, but turned it down. Finch was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, but, sadly and suddenly, died of a massive heart attack in the lobby of the Beverly Hills Hotel just before going on the morning news show "Good Morning America" to be "pre-Oscar" interviewed. He later won the award, and the gold-plated statuette was accepted by his wife. Finch was the first actor to receive an Oscar posthumously.
Veteran show-tune composer Alan Jay Lerner said this about contemporary music: "Youth has many glories, but judgement is not one of them, and no amount of electronic amplification can turn a belch into an aria."
Victor Hugo's Les Miserables contains one of the longest sentences in the French language — 823 words without a period...
Victor Hugo's great classic Les Miserables was called "one of the best sellers of the ages." Within 24 hours of publication in 1862, the first Paris edition of 7,000 copies were completely sold out. The book was published simultaneously in Brussels, Budapest, Leipzig, London, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Rotterdam, and Warsaw. Later, it was translated into languages in almost every region of the world. In the 20th century, Les Miserables became a film and a record-breaking hit Broadway musical.
Visitors to the Sunset Strip in Hollywood who hope to catch glimpses of film stars can go to the many restaurants, nightclubs, and hotels that cater to a celebrity clientele. The Beverly Hills Hotel is probably the best known, but there are several others, including the Four Seasons Hotel, which the studios constantly use for press junkets. Another hotel, the Chateau Marmont, is so trendy that instead of putting Bibles on the nightstands in its suites, it provides guests with screenplays.
Walter Brennan started out in films as a stuntman. He began playing old men at age 32 after his teeth were knocked out in a mob scene.
Warren Beatty's first job came at 17. The National Theater, Washington, DC had been plagued by rats. The actors pressed theater management to hire an official rat-catcher and young Beatty, desparate for a job in the theatre, landed the role.
Western singer and cowboy star Tex Ritter was born Woodward Maurice Ritter. He was nicknamed "America's Most Beloved Cowboy" and is likely best remembered for singing the award-winning title song in the Gary Cooper/Grace Kelly classic, High Noon (1952).
What do Harry Anderson, Cindy Crawford, and (Weird) Al Yankovic have in common? They were all valedictorians.
What do Warren Beatty, Uma Thurman, Sidney Poitier, Burt Reynolds, and Michael Caine have in common, besides being in the film business? Long before fame came their way, they worked as dishwashers.
When 7-year-old Shirley Temple’s life was insured with Lloyd’s, the contract stipulated that no benefits would be paid if the child film star met with death or injury while intoxicated.
When actor Michael J. Fox first auditioned for the TV series Family Ties, he was $35,000 in debt and living on macaroni and cheese.
When actress Delta Burke competed at the Miss America Pageant as Miss Florida in 1974, she told reporters that she'd been named after her mother's "goofy" cat, Delta, who liked to chase dogs and swim in the ocean.
When Arnold Schwarzenegger was crowned Mr. Universe in 1967 at the age of twenty, he became the youngest man ever to win the title. He also collected the titles of Mr. Europe and Best-Built Man of Europe, and also won the International Powerlifting Championship. In 1968, he came defended the Mr. Universe title he'd won the previous year, and placed second – one of the few setbacks of his entire bodybuilding career. Thereafter, his triumphs in the sport were so consistent (he won four more Mr. Universe titles and six consecutive Mr. Olympia titles) that Schwarzenegger retired after 7 years because he felt he "wasn't giving others a chance to win."
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