Fred Ebb (1928 - 2004)

Music publisher Tommy Valando introduced Fred Ebb to Kander in 1962. After a few songs such as “My Coloring Book,” Kander and Ebb wrote a stage musical, Golden Gate, that was never produced. However, the quality of the score convinced producer Harold Prince to hire them for their first professional production, the George Abbott-directed musical […]

Jerry Bock (1928 - 2010)

Born in New Haven, Connecticut and raised in Flushing, Queens, New York, Jerry Bock studied the piano as a child. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he wrote the musical Big As Life, which toured the state and enjoyed a run in Chicago. After graduation, he spent three summers at the Tamiment Playhouse in […]

Jerome Weidman (1913 - 1998)

Jerome Weidman (April 4, 1913, New York City – October 6, 1998, New York City) was an American playwright and novelist. He collaborated with George Abbott on the book for the musical Fiorello! with music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. All received the 1960 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work. Jerome Weidman […]

Peter Gennaro (1919 - 2000)

Peter Gennaro was born in Metairie, Louisiana. He made his Broadway debut in the ensemble of Make Mine Manhattan in 1948. He followed this with Kiss Me, Kate (1948) and Guys and Dolls (1950). He first drew notice from theatergoers as a member of the trio that danced the Bob Fosse number “Steam Heat” in […]

Peter Stone (1930 - 2003)

When Peter Stone was 15, his parents took him to see Mexican Hayride starring Bobby Clark at the Hazard’s Pavilion. Stone saw Clark throw his hat on a hat tree 100 feet away, and, at that moment, knew he wanted to work in theatre. He graduated from University High School in Los Angeles, attended Bard […]

Thomas Meehan (1929 - 2017)

Thomas Meehan moved to New York at age 24, and worked at The New Yorker’s “Talk of the Town”. In 1972, Meehan was asked to work on a musical based on the comic strip Little Orphan Annie. At first, Meehan was skeptical to accept the offer, but eventually accepted the offer after reading the strip. […]

John Abercrombie (1944 - 2017)

John Abercrombie graduated from Berklee in 1967 and briefly attended North Texas State University before moving to New York in 1969. He quickly became one of the “most in-demand session players,” recording with Gil Evans in 1974, Gato Barbieri in 1971, and Barry Miles in 1972 among others. In 1969, he joined Dreams, one of […]

Freddie Hubbard (1938 - 2008)

In December 1960, Freddie Hubbard was invited to play on Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz after Coleman had heard him performing with Don Cherry. Then in May 1961, Hubbard played on Olé Coltrane, John Coltrane’s final recording session for Atlantic Records. Together with Eric Dolphy, Hubbard was the only sideman who appeared on both Olé and Africa/Brass, […]

Bill Justis (1926 - 1982)

William Everett “Bill” Justis, Jr. (October 14, 1926 – July 15, 1982) was an American pioneer rock and roll musician, composer, and musical arranger, best known for his 1957 Grammy Hall of Fame song, “Raunchy.” As a songwriter, he was also often credited as Bill Everette. Bill Justis was born in Birmingham, Alabama but grew up […]

Billy Lee Riley (1933 - 2009)

Born in Pocahontas, Arkansas, the son of a sharecropper, Billy Lee Riley learned to play guitar from black farm workers. After four years in the Army, Riley first recorded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1955 before being lured to Sun Studios by Sam Phillips. He recorded “Trouble Bound” for Jack Clement and Slim Wallace. Sam Phillips […]

Sonny Burgess (1929 - 2017)

Sonny Burgess was born on a farm near Newport, Arkansas to Albert and Esta Burgess. He graduated from Newport High School in 1948. In the early 1950s, Burgess played boogie woogie music in dance halls and bars around Newport. Burgess, Kern Kennedy, Johnny Ray Hubbard, and Gerald Jackson formed a boogie-woogie band they called the Rocky […]

Lionel Conacher (1900 - 1954)

Lionel Pretoria Conacher, MP (/ˈkɒnəkər/; May 24, 1900 – May 26, 1954), nicknamed “The Big Train”, was a Canadian athlete and politician. Voted the country’s top athlete of the first half of the 20th century, he won championships in numerous sports. His first passion was football; he was a member of the 1921 Grey Cup […]

King Clancy (1903 - 1986)

King Clancy played for junior teams in the Ottawa area and began his NHL career in his hometown playing for the Senators, where he would establish himself as among the league’s top players and help the Senators to Stanley Cup wins in 1923 and 1927. Although he was one of the smallest defencemen of his […]

Charlie Conacher (1909 - 1967)

Signed the next season by the Maple Leafs with Jackson, Toronto manager Conn Smythe paired the two with former farmhand Joe Primeau.  The trio, nicknamed the “Kid Line” for their inexperience – Primeau was 23, Charlie Conacher and Jackson both 18 – became an immediate sensation in Toronto, as Conacher scored his first NHL goal […]

Syl Apps (1915 - 1998)

Syl Apps was a strong athlete, six feet tall, weighing 185 pounds, and won the gold medal at the 1934 British Empire Games in the pole vault competition. Two years later he represented Canada at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he placed sixth in the pole vault event. After watching him play football […]

Turk Broda (1914 - 1972)

Turk Broda started his playing career with the Brandon Athletics and the Brandon Native Sons. After playing a few years with them he played for the Winnipeg Monarchs, Detroit Farm Crest and the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors. In 1932-33, he won the Memorial Cup. In 1933-34, the Detroit Red Wings invited Turk Broda to their […]

Bill Durnan (1916 - 1972)

Bill Durnan, whom John McGourty of NHL.com refers to as “the greatest nearly forgotten player in the history of the NHL,” only played seven seasons in the NHL due to him being 27 upon entering the league, but accomplished much in his short career. Durnan was the recipient of the Vezina Trophy as top goaltender […]

George Hainsworth (1893 - 1950)

George Hainsworth played junior hockey for the Berlin Union Jacks then moved up to senior hockey with the Berlin City Seniors and the Kitchener Greenshirts. One of the games he played for Kitchener against the Toronto Argonaut Rowing Club in the 1923 OHA playoffs was the first game that Foster Hewitt broadcast. By the end of […]

Gump Worsley (1929 - 2007)

At the outset of his career, Gump Worsley played four years in the minor leagues, most notably for the New York Rovers of the Eastern Hockey League (EHL), the St. Paul Saints of the United States Hockey League (USHL), and the Saskatoon Quakers of the Western Hockey League (WHL). For three straight seasons between 1950 […]

Doug Harvey (1924 - 1989)

Doug Harvey played minor league hockey in Oxford Park, Notre Dame de Grace in his native Montreal, Quebec, Canada, then began his professional career with the Montreal Royals of the Quebec Senior Hockey League where he played from 1945 to 1947, helping them win the Allan Cup. He then played one season with the Buffalo […]

Maurice Richard (1921 - 2000)

Joseph Henri Maurice “Rocket” Richard PC CC OQ (/rɪˈʃɑːrd/; French: [ʁiʃaʁ]; August 4, 1921 – May 27, 2000) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens. He was the first player in NHL history to score 50 goals in one season, accomplishing the […]

Terry Sawchuk (1929 - 1970)

The Red Wings signed Terry Sawchuk to a professional contract in 1947, and he quickly progressed through their developmental system, winning honors as the Rookie of the Year in both the U.S. and American Hockey Leagues. Sawchuk also filled in for seven games when the Detroit goalie Harry Lumley was injured in January 1950. Sawchuk […]

Bryan Murray (1942 - 2017)

Bryan Murray began his coaching career as coach with the Rockland Nationals in 1976 when the team went all the way and won the Centennial Cup of the CJHL. He earned a good reputation as a coach and was offered a position with the Pembroke Lumber Kings, and then with the Regina Pats of the […]

Joseph Bologna (1934 - 2017)

Joseph Bologna was born in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Brown University, where he majored in art history. Bologna served a tour of duty with United States Marine Corps. Bologna was hired to produce and direct Manhattan-based TV commercials. Bologna enjoyed a long run in film and television. His breakthrough film, Lovers and Other Strangers, written […]

Robert Holmes (1926 - 1986)

Robert Holmes found himself working almost exclusively in television drama after 1957. He began contributing episodes regularly to the adventure series Knight Errant before becoming that programme’s story editor in 1959. He wrote several episodes of another medical drama, Dr. Finlay’s Casebook, before in the early 1960s writing for a range of crime-related dramas: Dixon […]

Donald Wilson (1910 - 2002)

Donald Boyd Wilson (11 September 1910, Dunblane, Scotland – 5 March 2002, Gloucestershire, England) was a British television writer and producer, best known for his work on the BBC’s adaptation of The Forsyte Sagain 1967 and co-creating the series Doctor Who. He attended the Glasgow School of Art, following which his first jobs were as a […]

Brian Hayles (1931 - 1978)

Brian Hayles (March 7, 1931 – October 30, 1978) was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. His body of work as a writer for television and film, most notably for the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who, lasted from 1963 to 1989. Hayles wrote six stories for Doctor Who and is best known for his creation of […]

Malcolm Hulke (1924 - 1979)

Malcolm Hulke (21 November 1924 – 6 July 1979) was a British television writer and author of the industry “bible” Writing for Television in the 70s. He is remembered chiefly for his work on the science fiction series Doctor Who although he contributed to many popular television series of the era. His first major television work […]

Catfish Hunter (1946 - 1999)

Finley gave Hunter the nickname “Catfish” in 1965 because he thought his 19-year-old pitcher needed a flashy nickname. A story circulated that Hunter’s family gave him the nickname as a child when he went missing and was later found with a string of catfish; there is no truth to that explanation. Hunter never played in […]

Bobby Murcer (1946 - 2008)

Bobby Ray Murcer (May 20, 1946 – July 12, 2008) was an American Major League Baseball outfielder who played for 17 seasons between 1965 and 1983, mostly with the New York Yankees, whom he later rejoined as a longtime broadcaster. A Gold Glove winner and five-time All-Star, Murcer led the American League in on-base percentage […]