Betty White nominated for Primetime Emmy 1951

 The 3rd Primetime Emmy Awards was held January 23, 1951. The nominees were mainly from the Los Angeles area, but beginning with the 4th ceremony, the awards considered national television networks.

Alan Young was a big winner that night winning for the Best Variety Show and Best Actor.  The phenomenal Betty White was nominated for Best Actress along with Helen Hayes, but lost to Gertrude Berg.

"The Music Man" wins six Tony Awards 1958

Meredith Wilson's musical comedy The Music Man, which debuted on Broadway in 1957, took home five Tony Awards at the 12th annual ceremony held April 13, 1958.  It won:

Best Musical

Best Actor in a Musical for Robert Preston

Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for David Burns

Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for Barbara Cook

Best Conductor and Musical Director for Herbert Green

It had been nominated for 

Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for Iggie Wolfington

Best Director for Morton DaCosta

Best Choreography for Onna White

Best Stage Technician for Sammy Knapp

Helen Hayes won her second Best Actress in a Play Tony for her performance in Time Remembered.

Anne Bancroft won her first Tony for Best Supporting Actress in a Play for her performance in Two for the Seesaw.

Ella Fitzgerald wins 8th Grammy Award 1977

Ella Fitzgerald, first lady of jazz, won her eight Grammy Award at the 19th annual ceremony, held February 19, 1977. She won Best Jazz Vocal Performance for Fitzgerald and Pass...Again, the second album of four she recorded with guitarist Joe Pass.

George Benson won Record of the Year for This Masquerade.  It was in contention for Album of the Year and Song of the Year.  I recognize every other album and song nominated in these three categories, and Benson's is the only one I do not know and, after listening to it just now, have never heard it before.  I suppose his music did not get any airplay in my area back then.

Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder won Album of the Year, and Barry Manilow's I Write the Songs won Song of the Year.

Starland Vocal Band won Best New Artist, beating Brothers Johnson, Boston(!), and Wild Cherry.  Unfortunately, they are best known for their only hit, Afternoon Delight, which won Best Arrangement for Voices (duo, group or chorus).

Natalie Cole won Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female for her Sophisticated Lady (She's a Different Lady).

Helen Hayes, with Henry Fonda, James Earl Jones & Orson Welles, won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Recording for Great American Documents.  This win made Helen Hayes become the second person to become an EGOT, someone who has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony.

5th Emmy Awards 1953

 

The fifth annual ceremony of the Emmy Awards (before it was changed to the Primetime Emmy Awards) was held February 5, 1953 at the Hotel Statler in Los Angeles, I Love Lucy won Best Situation Comedy and Lucille Ball won Best Comedienne. Jimmy Durante won Best Comedian. Dragnet won Best Mystery, Action or Adventure Program and What's My Line? won Best Audience Participation, Quiz or Panel Program. Helen Hayes won Best Actress.

It's interesting to see how some things have changed, but others seem to haven't changed.  I recognize very few of the shows nominated or the actors and actresses.  Also, the presentations have changed.  Helen Hayes won Best Actress, but appeared in only one movie in 1953: My Son John.  Her movie is not mentioned in the Emmy program and imdb.com doesn't list her Emmy as a win for it.  Weird.  

Raquel Welch wins Golden Globe for Best Actress 1975

I've always liked Raquel Welch. Though I'm not familiar with much of her work, my favorite movies of hers are The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers, which unfortunately her character does not survive.

But the movies let her showcase her talent and it worked.  Ms. Welch won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical for her work as Constance Bonacieux in The Three Musketeers.  She had some stiff competition for the award.  Lucille Ball, Helen Hayes, and Cloris Leachman (Young Frankenstein).

The Three Musketeers was nominated for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical. I'm a little shocked that these were the only two nominations this movie received.  Faye Dunaway was nominated for her work in Chinatown, but got snubbed for her work on The Three Musketeers.

I could not find an image or a clip of her accepting her win, so I settled for a still from the movie and the catfight between her and Faye Dunaway.

Happy birthday, British actress Jane Lapotaire!

Jane Lapotaire, born January 26, 1944 in Suffolk, England, is an actress who I first saw in the miniseries Marie Curie in 1977.  More recently, she appeared in Downton Abbey as Princess Irina, appearing with Dame Maggie Smith.  I found out she was in another favorite movie, One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing in 1975 with Helen Hayes.  In 2006, she starred with Sir Patrick Stewart in the mini-series thriller Eleventh Hour.  In 2020, she appeared in the remake of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.

It's interesting to note that she was born on the anniversary of Marie Curie's discovery of radium in 1898. 

"Airport" wins Academy Award 1971

Airport, based on the novel by Arthur Haley, won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, April 15, 1971.  Helen Hayes took home the award for her role as Ada Quonsett, the lovable stowaway.  Released in May 1970, Airport received ten nominations, but won only one Oscar.

It was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing.

Maureen Stapleton was also nominated Best Supporting Actress for her role as Inez Guerrero. 

"One of our Dinosaurs is Missing" released 1975

Disney Studios released its spy caper One Of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing July 9, 1975.  The comedy film starred Helen Hayes, Peter Ustinov and Joan Hickson (of Miss Marple fame).

The film was based on a book The Great Dinosaur Robbery, which was an adult novel.  The authors were disappointed when Disney decided to turn the story into a kid's film.

The Diplodocus skeleton model in the movie was used in Star Wars IV: A New Hope when C3PO is stranded on Tatooine and sees the Jawa transporter.