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1-8 of 8
- Producer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Dick Clark was born and raised in Mount Vernon, New York on November 30, 1929, to Julia Fuller (Barnard) and Richard Augustus Clark. He had one older brother, Bradley, who was killed in World War II. At the age of 16, Clark got his first job in the mailroom of WRUN, a radio station in Utica, New York, which was owned by his uncle and managed by his father. He worked his way up the ranks and was promoted to weatherman before becoming a radio announcer. After graduating from Syracuse University with a degree in business administration, Clark began working at several radio and television stations before landing at WFIL radio in 1952. While working at the station, Clark became a substitute host for Bob Horn's Bandstand, an afternoon program where teenagers danced to popular music, broadcast by WFIL's affiliated television station. In 1956, Horn was arrested for drunk driving, giving Clark the perfect opportunity to step in as the full-time host.
After acquiring nationwide distribution the newly reformatted program, now titled "American Bandstand", premiered on ABC on August 5, 1957. In addition to the name change, Clark added interviews with artists (starting with Elvis Presley), lip-sync performances, and "Rate-a-Record," allowing teens to judge the songs on the show - and giving birth to the popular phrase, "It's got a good beat and you can dance to it." Clark also established a formal dress code, mandating dresses and skirts for the women and a coat and tie for the men. But perhaps the most impactful change that Clark made to the show was ending "American Bandstand's" all-white policy, allowing African American artists to perform on the show.
Under Clark's influence, "Bandstand" became one of the most successful and longest-running musical programs, featuring artists including Chuck Berry, the Doors, the Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, and Smokey Robinson. Sonny and Cher, The Jackson 5, Prince, and Aerosmith were among the influential artists and bands that made their television debuts on "Bandstand", which is also credited with helping to make America more accepting of rock 'n' roll.
With the success of "American Bandstand", Clark became more invested in the music publishing and recording businesses, and began managing artists, hosting live sock hops, and arranging concert tours. But in 1960, when the United States Senate began investigating "payola", the practice in which music producing companies paid broadcasting companies to favor their products, Clark became caught up in the scandal. The investigation found he had partial copyrights to over 150 songs, many of which were featured on his show. Clark denied he was involved in any way, but admitted to accepting a fur and jewelry from a record company president. In the end, the Senate could not find any illegal actions by Clark, but ABC asked Clark to either sell his shares in these companies or leave the network so there was no conflict of interest. He chose to sell and continue on as host of "American Bandstand", which was unaffected by the scandal.
In 1964, Clark moved Bandstand from Philadelphia to Los Angeles and became more involved in television production. Under his company Dick Clark Productions, he produced such shows as "Where the Action Is", "TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes", and more recently, "So You Think You Can Dance", as well as made-for-television movies including "Elvis", "The Birth of the Beatles", "Wild Streets", and "The Savage Seven". Clark also hosted television's "$10,000 Pyramid", "TV Bloopers and Practical Jokes" (with co-host Ed McMahon), "Scattergories", and "The Other Half". Clark also had several radio programs, including "The Dick Clark National Music Survey", "Countdown America", and "Rock, Roll & Remember".
In 1972, he produced and hosted the very first edition of "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve", a musical program where Clark counted down until the New Year ball dropped in Times Square, featuring taped performances from musical artists. "New Year's Rockin' Eve" soon became a cultural tradition, airing on ABC every year with Clark as host (except in 1999 when ABC aired "ABC 2000: Today", a news milestone program hosted by Peter Jennings). In December 2004, Clark suffered a minor stroke and was unable to host, so Regis Philbin stepped in as a substitute. The following year, Clark returned as co-host alongside primary host Ryan Seacrest. Many were worried about Clark due to his slurred and breathless speech, and he admitted on-air he was still recovering but that he wouldn't have missed the broadcast for the world. The following year, Seacrest became "New Year's Rockin' Eve's" primary host, but Clark always returned for the countdown.
Clark has received several notable awards including four Emmy Awards, the Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994, and the Peabody Award in 1999. He was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1976, The Radio Hall of Fame in 1990, Broadcasting Magazine Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. Clark had been in St. John's hospital in Los Angeles after undergoing an outpatient procedure the night of April 17, 2012. Clark suffered a massive heart attack following the procedure. Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful and he died the next morning of April 18, 2012.- Composer
- Music Department
- Producer
A versatile, accomplished and yet often times a rather underrated composer, conductor and orchestrator, Robert O. Ragland remained one of the busiest film composers in the motion picture industry. Originally from Chicago, Ragland gave up a comfortable executive position in advertising to gamble on his musical talents in Hollywood. Since that decision was made in 1968, Ragland made his impressive presence known in the film community by scoring over sixty feature motion pictures and television specials in a span of over forty years.
Ragland first became interested in music by playing the piano at the age of five. During his school years, Ragland both performed and organized dance bands. After serving in the U.S. Navy for several years, Ragland attended and graduated with a business degree from Northwestern University. He then served as a musical arranger for the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra and also attained further degrees in music from the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago (Bachelors and Masters in Music) and later attended the Academy of Music in Vienna (Doctorates in Composition, Conducting and Piano).
Upon the death of Tommy Dorsey, Ragland officially left the music business for a career in advertising. However his interest in music eventually overwhelmed him as did his urge to write music for motion pictures. Ragland came out to California in 1969 to start his new career. In 1972, Ragland married Martha Montgomery Newman, following the death of her longtime husband, nine time Oscar winning film composer Alfred Newman.
A handful of Ragland's scores for films including "Seven Alone", "Pony Express Rider", "Grizzly", "Q: The Winged Serpent", "10 to Midnight", "A Time to Die" (which Ragland collaborated with the world renowned Ennio Morricone), "The Supernaturals", "Messenger of Death", "Plato's Run", "Top of the World" and the critically acclaimed award winning "Downtown: A Street Tale" are favorites to music lovers and have been well received by audiences worldwide. Ragland also composed music for such television shows including "Barnaby Jones", "The Streets of San Francisco", "Wonder Woman" and "Tarzan".
Outside of the film industry, Ragland conducted many of the most famous orchestras of the world including those in London, Moscow, Vienna, Rome and Toronto. He has composed 15 symphonies, an oratorio "St. Birgitta", a choral mass, 4 string quartets, 5 violin sonatas and a handful of chamber and vocal works.
In his later years, Ragland also conducted the music for many live awards shows including the Oscars and the Emmys. Ragland passed away at the Cedars Sinai Medical Center in April, 2012 after being retired from the industry for seven years. Since his passing however, Ragland's work has resurfaced on CD and MP3 releases to a new generation of music lovers.- Actor
- Cinematographer
Juan Carlos Araujo was an actor and cinematographer, known for Separación (2008), Casados con hijos (2005) and Sin Codificar (2008). He died on 18 April 2012 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Naum Hristov Shopov is a popular Bulgarian theatre and film actor. His career starts on the stage of the Army Theatre, where he plays for more than three decades before moving to the National Theatre. He was presented to two "Askeer" awards. Among his unforgettable films are "The Penleve Case", directed by Gueorgui Stoyanov, "Villa Zone", directed by Eduard Sachariev, "Warm", directed by Vladimir Yanchev, "The Inspector and the Night", directed by Rangel Vulchanov. He was presented to "Icarus" Award for Overall Contribution. Naum Shopov went down in history for his roles as King Lear and Tsar Boris III. Shopov's debut in cinema was in Hristo Piskov's ''Poor Man's Street'' but it was not until Vulo Radev's ''The Peach Thief'' that his cinematic talent was fully recognized. Radev's next film, ''Tsar and General'', for the first time portrayed Bulgarian Tsar Boris III (r. 1918-1943) as sympathetic and human, trying to do what is best for his beloved homeland. Naum Shopov was cast as Tsar Boris III. In the movie a prominent Bulgarian general (Peter Slabakov) faces execution when King Boris III (Naum Shopov) decides to side with Russia in this World War II drama. Naum Shopov performed in more than thirty films since 1960. On the theatrical stage Shopov will be remembered best for his memorable appearance in King Lear, Hamlet, Socrates, Don Basilio, Crap. Naum Shopov famously said once that he likes only difficult parts. "If I don't suffer, if I don't undergo something with a character, he somehow doesn't stay with me. "- Actor
- Music Department
Ireneusz Bogajewicz was born on 3 March 1921 in Pniewy, Poland. He was an actor, known for The Red Violin (1998) and Anna (1987). He was married to Jadwiga Knott and Helena Hansz. He died on 18 April 2012 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.- Tina De Mola was born on 28 October 1923 in Milan, Italy. She was an actress, known for March's Child (1958), Pazzo d'amore (1942) and Il vedovo allegro (1949). She was married to Renato Rascel. She died on 18 April 2012 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.
- Director
- Editor
- Writer
Hillman Curtis was born on 24 February 1961 in San Diego, California, USA. Hillman was a director and editor, known for Ride, Rise, Roar (2010), The Happy Film (2016) and Embrace (2008). Hillman was married to Christina. Hillman died on 18 April 2012 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.- Hila Bezaleli died on 18 April 2012 in Mount Herzl, Jerusalem, Israel.