HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALICE GHOSTLEY! Alice Ghostley (1924-2007) is shown, in this short piece of film, both as she appears in RICK McKAY’S BROADWAY: THE GOLDEN AGE FILM TRILOGY and as she appeared in the 1954 film, NEW FACES, which was an adaption of the smash Broadway hit, LEONARD SILLMAN’S NEW FACES OF 1952, which launched the careers of Alice Ghostley, Eartha Kitt, Paul Lynde, Mel Brooks, Sheldon Harnick and many, many more. Although the film made the foolish mistake of writing a backstory to hinge the super-successful revue on, and was beaten up by critics, audiences and the original cast, we can be grateful that at least some of the great Alice Ghostley’s performance of Sheldon Harnick’s BOSTON BEGUINE is preserved. Most people today know Alice from television - either as Esmerelda on BEWITCHED or as Berenice on DESIGNING WOMEN or from countless other series like EVENING SHADE, MAUDE, LOVE AMERICAN STYLE and CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU?; or from such films as THE GRADUATE, GREASE or WITH SIX YOU GET EGGROLL. But, Alice Ghostley was one of the of the most versatile actresses ever. Alice could go from high comedy to the dark drama of Lorraine Hansberry’s last play, THE SIGN IN SIDNEY BRUSTEIN’S WINDOW, or from the legit soprano of NEW FACES and Rodger & Hammerstein’s CINDERELLA, to the low-down belt of her Miss Hannigan on Broadway in ANNIE, where she won over critics and audiences alike. And on top of all that, she was truly one of the kindest, funniest and smartest people I have ever been lucky enough to spend a day with. We kept in touch over the phone, but sadly she was gone a few years after this shoot. A great loss for all of us - but enjoy her here in these few magical moments where she is at the top of her game. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALICE! youtu.be/vXxjt-3kkO0 See the new trailer and support the Broadway film trilogy at broadwaythemovie/trailer/bbga Or get the award-winning first film of the trilogy, BROADWAY: THE GOLDEN AGE on DVD: amazon/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000649YA2/ref=nosim/broadwthegold-2 With Rick McKay, Celia Castevens, Anne Bernstein, Jamie DeRoy, Richard Eric Weigle, Jane Klain, Fran Bator and Michael Anastasio.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 22:07:25 +0000
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