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1-21 of 21
- Music Artist
- Actor
- Writer
Born in Houston, Texas on August 21, 1938, Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, actor, record producer and entrepreneur Kenneth Ray Rogers was the fourth of eight children born to a carpenter father who worked in a shipyard and a mother who was a hospital nurse's assistant. Of humble Irish and Native American heritage, the boy grew up in the poorer section of Houston, but would become the first member of his family to graduate from high school.
Kenny took an early interest in singing and, as a teenager, joined a doo-wop recording group called "The Scholars". The group recorded the song "Poor Little Doggie," and Kenny, age 19, recorded his first solo song, "That Crazy Feeling," for a small Houston label, Carlton Records, and his career was off and running. He subsequently joined the "New Christy Minstrels" 1966 as a singer and double bass/bass guitar player, then splintered off with others from the popular folk music group a year later to form the rock group "The First Edition," an eclectic-styled rock band whose repertoire included rock and roll, R&B, folk and country.
The First Edition's first Billboard hit, "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" (1968) was a psychedelic rock song which peaked at #5, and was followed by the more popular soft-rock hit "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" (1969) which hit #6 on the US charts and made them a star attraction. Other successes would include "Reuben James" (1969, #26), "Something's Burning" (1970, #11) and "Tell It All Brother" (1970, #17). By this time, the dark-haired, husky-framed, ear-pierced singer's ingratiating personality and sensual gravel tones, affectionately dubbed "Hippie Kenny," had taken center stage and the group changed their name to "Kenny Rogers and the First Edition" in 1969. The First Edition enjoyed worldwide success, appeared on such popular shows as "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," had featured roles in the TV movie The Dream Makers (1975) and went on to host the syndicated TV variety series Rollin' on the River (1971).
Sadly, the pressures of taping a weekly show caused extreme friction within the group and eventually took its toll. After a couple more years of producing songs that couldn't reach the "Top 20," the group decided to disband in 1976 and, inevitable as it was, Kenny went solo. It didn't take long before he started chalking up a string of country-tinged 'Top 20' pop hits with "Lucille" (#5), "Don't Fall in Love With a Dreamer" (#4, with Kim Carnes), "Through the Years" (#13), "We've Got Tonight" (#6, with Sheena Easton) and his two #1 hit sellers "Islands in the Stream" (with Dolly Parton) and "Lady." By the late 1970s, the (now) silver fox had sold over $100 million worth of records. He also made popular hit duets with both country female stars (Parton and Dottie West) as well as the distaff pop elite (Kim Carnes and Sheena Easton).
Into the 1980's Kenny began to feel a downswing in his singing career. After charting lower and lower, he wisely branched off into other successful areas. In 1980, he touched off a modest, lightweight, but highly appealing acting career starting with the Southern-styled TV-movie The Gambler (1980), based on his #1 1979 Grammy-winning song hit. The feature had Kenny starring as poker-playing card shark Brady Hawkes, who attempts to unite with a son he never knew. This led to four equally popular sequels -- Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues (1983), Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues (1987), The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (1991) and Gambler V: Playing for Keeps (1994). Two other old-fashioned western TV movies followed. The first was also based on a hit Kenny Rogers song, Coward of the County (1981), (Country, #3) in which he played a town preacher who tries to mentor his young "cowardly" nephew. The second, Wild Horses (1985), had him starring as a has-been rodeo champion looking for personal fulfillment herding wild mustangs.
Kenny also tried to parlay his popularity as a major country singer into a conservative film career. There would only be one starring role. In Six Pack (1982), Kenny stars as a race car driver who tangles with six roughhouse orphans. Instead, he was back to TV-movies where he went on to appear as himself in two TV country-flavored biopics -- Big Dreams & Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story (1995) and Get to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story (1997). He also put out the folksy yuletide offering Christmas in America (1990) which had his real-life son Kenneth Rogers co-starring in a father-son strained relationship; and the western Rio Diablo (1993) in which he he essays the role of a nice-guy bounty hunter assisting a revengeful groom country singer Travis Tritt in a search for of kidnapped bride. Another then-reigning country star, Naomi Judd, was featured as a colorful madam.
In addition to a few acting appearances on TV with "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," "Touched by an Angel" and "How I Met Your Mother," Kenny also became a perennial star or guest of TV specials and seasonal events over the years, including Kenny Rogers and the First Edition: Rollin' on the River (1971), A Christmas Special... With Love, Mac Davis (1979), Kenny Rogers Live in Concert (1983), Kenny & Dolly: A Christmas to Remember (1984), Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton Together (1985), Kenny, Dolly and Willie: Something Inside So Strong (1989), Kenny Rogers Going Home (1995), Live by Request: Kenny Rogers (1999) and Consequence (2007). He also hosted two TV documentary series: The Real West (1992) and High Point Casinos of the World (2003).
In addition, Kenny published several books on photography and opened a rotisserie-chicken fast-food franchise (Kenny Rogers Roasters). Less and less visible in the ensuing years, Kenny produced the 1999 album "She Rides Wild Horses", which peaked at #6 on the country charts, his highest in 15 years, and included the #1 single "Buy Me a Rose."
Spending much of his free time over the years breeding Arabian horses and cattle on a 1,200-acre Georgia farm, Kenny's seemed to settle with his fifth wife Wanda Miller, whom he married in 1997. He had five children altogether and his namesake, son, Kenneth Rogers, left acting and briefly launched his own singing career in 1989 with "Take Another Step Closer". He now is on the business end of entertainment providing music for TV and movies.
Kenny made one last concert tour, "The Gambler's Last Deal," in 2015 and it was running worldwide, with visits including Australia, Scotland, Ireland, England, The Netherlands and Switzerland, as well as the U.S., until his health, plagued by bouts of bladder cancer and hepatitis C, failed him and he was forced to retire in 2018. The 81-year-old legend died on March 20, 2020, under hospice care at his home in Sandy Springs, Georgia.- Adam Peter Lanza was born on April 22, 1992 in Kingston, New Hampshire to Peter and Nancy Lanza. On December 14, 2012, Lanza killed his mother and drove to the Sandy Hook Elementary School, where he committed a mass shooting before taking his own life. The shooting received worldwide media attention.
- Mervin Good Eagle was born on 16 April 1977 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He was an actor, known for North of 60 (1992). He died on 23 October 1996 in Sandy Bay, Saskatchewan, Canada.
- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Luise King was born on 21 December 1913 in Payson, Utah, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for On Stage Everybody (1945), Cuban Pete (1946) and Larceny with Music (1943). She was married to Alvino Rey. She died on 4 August 1997 in Sandy, Utah, USA.- Evelyn Lear was born on 8 January 1926 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Great Performances (1971), Die Hochzeit des Figaro (1963) and Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976). She was married to Thomas Stewart and Walter Lear. She died on 1 July 2012 in Sandy Spring, Maryland, USA.
- Art Department
Skip Atkinson was born on 18 November 1945 in Murray, Utah, USA. He is known for A Midnight Clear (1992). He was married to Kathleen. He died on 26 March 2003 in Sandy, Utah, USA.- Nancy Lanza was born on 6 September 1960 in Salem, Massachusetts, USA. She was married to Peter Lanza. She died on 14 December 2012 in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, USA.
- Tery McPhie was born on 6 September 1956 in Moultrie, Georgia, USA. She was an actress, known for The Wizard of Speed and Time (1988), Hunter (1984) and The A-Team (1983). She was married to Joey Miyashima. She died on 19 March 2012 in Sandy, Utah, USA.
- Dean Acheson was born on 11 April 1893 in Middletown, Connecticut, USA. He died on 12 October 1971 in Sandy Spring, Maryland, USA.
- Betty Felsen was an American ballerina and vaudeville star. She was born in Chicago, Illinois to Lillian and David Felsenthal.
She began taking lessons at a local Chicago ballet school when she was eight years old, and often performed solo dances in shows presented by that school. Just before her tenth birthday in 1916, her parents enrolled her as a ballet student with the Pavley-Oukrainsky Ballet School within the Chicago Opera Association. Then, in 1919 Betty was accepted to be a member of the Chicago Opera’s Pavley-Oukrainsky Ballet corps de ballet. From December 1920 until the fall of 1922 Betty was a ballerina soloist and performed with them throughout North America.
Betty performed in vaudeville with her first partner, Frank Lischeron, from the spring of 1923 until the fall. She then switched to a new partner, Jack Broderick, because Frank did not have her vision for the act or her expertise. They performed on the B.F. Keith and Pantages vaudeville circuits throughout the U.S. and Canada as Broderick and Felsen from 1923 to 1927. Their act evolved from a simple dance act to one with over twenty dancers, an orchestra, and elaborate costumes and sets. They became so popular that from 1925 to 1926 they played for 20 straight weeks at the huge Colony Theater on Broadway in New York City. By the end of 1925 theatrical critics were proclaiming them to be one of the best dance acts in the country, if not the best.
In 1926 and 1927, they starred in two spectacular musical productions, touring across the United States and Canada, first for about three months in Emil Boreo’s Mirage de Paris followed by nine months in their own Ballet Caprice.
After Jack quit the act near the end of 1927, Betty continued to manage the troupe and, with a new dance partner, toured throughout the northeastern United States for the next six months or so as Betty Felsen and Company. The final performance of Ballet Caprice was on June 4, 1928, at America’s premier vaudeville theater, Broadway’s famed Palace Theater in New York City.
Referring to the Felsen & Licheron performances at the Balaban & Katz chain of Chicago theaters the Vaudeville Newspaper said “This dancing act is one of the best seen in the city in some time.” Theatrical critics heaped praise on the dancing of Broderick & Felsen and of Betty herself. What follows are some examples. At the end of July 1924, critics in Columbus Ohio said of Broderick & Felsen, “they offer the highest class of dancing” and “they display a most remarkable technical knowledge of dancing”. L.L. Clemons stated on 9/16/24 in Tacoma “this clever duo live up to their billing and miles beyond. No more artistic dancing has ever been seen on a Tacoma stage before.” In their 7th week (early November 1925) at the Colony Theater, the New York Star reported that Broderick & Felsen are “one of the biggest dance hits on Broadway this season.” On 2/21/26, while performing at Chicago’s Palace Theater, Billboard claimed that “Boreo’s Mirage de Paris is a stupendous and colorful revue” and “Jack Broderick and Betty Felsen carry the principal roles and are finished articles in all that they are called upon to do.” Extolling the presentation of Ballet Caprice at Keith’s Theater in Cincinnati, a critic said on 3/20/27 “The interpretive ballet dances of Jack Broderick and Betty Felsen are impressive beyond the ordinary.” In Buffalo on 2/26/28, the Courier Express reviewed Betty Felsen & Company saying of Betty “Her final dance … stands out as one of the few dance classics left on the vaudeville stage today.”
From November 1, 1928, to early 1932, Betty owned and operated a performing arts school in Worcester MA. She continued to perform locally and in vaudeville theaters in New England, sometimes with her advanced students known as the Betty Felsen Dancers. She moved to Cleveland OH in mid-1932 where she operated a performing arts school until sometime after she married Samuel Tonkin in June 1937. Betty gave birth to their son, David, in November 1938 She died on November 30, 2000, in Sandy, UT. - Director
- Editor
- Writer
Ross Spears was born on 2 July 1947 in Johnson City, Tennessee, USA. He was a director and editor, known for To Render a Life (1992), Agee (1980) and Long Shadows (1987). He died on 6 February 2024 in Sandy Spring, Maryland, USA.- Make-Up Department
- Actor
Norman Pringle was born on 29 January 1909 in Clear Lake, Washington, USA. He was an actor, known for Caribbean (1952), Nightmare (1956) and Hot News (1953). He died in July 1980 in Sandy, Utah, USA.- Robert Palladino was born on 5 November 1932 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. He was married to Catherine Halverson. He died on 26 February 2016 in Sandy, Oregon, USA.
- Don Witty was born on 19 September 1914. Don was a writer, known for Kraft Theatre (1947) and Encounter (1952). Don died on 5 September 1980 in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, USA.
- Additional Crew
Houston Holbrook was born on 16 November 1984 in the USA. Houston is known for Lone (2011). Houston was married to Denise. Houston died on 11 December 2014 in Sandy, Utah, USA.- Actress
- Writer
Florence Johns was born on 18 September 1895 in Denver, Colorado, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Registered Nurse (1934), The Auction Block (1917) and Out of the Drifts (1916). She died on 11 May 1986 in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, USA.- Sound Department
- Additional Crew
- Actress
Uti Hof was born on 11 March 1936 in Giessen, Germany. She was an actress, known for Star Pilot (1966), Paid in Blood (1971) and Lobo the Bastard (1971). She was married to Bob Mathias and Jay Blanchard. She died on 19 November 2022 in Sandy, Utah, USA.- Jason McLoney was born on 24 May 1937 in Gunnison, Colorado, USA. He was an actor, known for The Runner (1999), Invasion of Privacy (1996) and White on Rice (2009). He died on 14 March 2018 in Sandy, Utah, USA.
- Fred Bruney was born on 30 December 1931 in Martins Ferry, Ohio, USA. He was married to Louise Freeman. He died on 22 January 2016 in Sandy Springs, Georgia, USA.
- Music Department
- Additional Crew
Cyril Gell was born on 5 June 1909 in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, UK. Cyril is known for Madam Butterfly (1957), Il trovatore (1957) and The Little Beggars (1958). Cyril died on 4 September 1994 in Sandy, Bedfordshire, England, UK.- Camera and Electrical Department
Nathaniel Weston was born on 25 July 1984 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Nathaniel is known for Maybe... (2008). Nathaniel was married to Andrea. Nathaniel died on 28 October 2022 in Sandy, Utah, USA.