Carol Burnett has always made the audience her priority. Over 11 seasons of her landmark variety show, she indulged fans in countless Tarzan yells, never reshot a sketch when one of her co-stars cracked up and prided herself on getting The Carol Burnett Show‘s weekly crowds (and its staff) out of the studio in time for dinner. Naturally, during the recent taping of the upcoming NBC special Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love, she avoided the trappings of a clip show. And she kept things moving. “It’s a two-hour show, and we were done in about two-and-a-half,” she says of her early birthday party — filmed in front of a live audience. “I want people to feel like they’re seeing a Broadway show, not sitting around waiting for scenery or costume changes.”
As she turns 90 on April 26, the day her special drops, Burnett’s love of comedy...
As she turns 90 on April 26, the day her special drops, Burnett’s love of comedy...
- 4/13/2023
- by Mikey O'Connell
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Lucille Ball: The glamour look. Cate Blanchett to play Lucille Ball: Actress won Oscar for incarnating Ball's fellow Rko contract player Katharine Hepburn Two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett is reportedly slated to star in a biopic of former Rko and MGM actress and big-time television comedienne Lucille Ball. Aaron Sorkin, Oscar winner for David Fincher's The Social Network, will be responsible for the screenplay. According to Entertainment Weekly, the Lucille Ball film biopic will focus on Ball's two-decade marriage to her I Love Lucy costar Desi Arnaz. In 1960, the couple had an acrimonious divorce that supposedly “shocked” clueless fans unable to tell the difference between TV reality and real-life reality. Their children, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Lucie Arnaz, had modest acting careers in film and on TV in the '70s and '80s. As per the EW.com report, they're both producing the planned Lucille Ball biopic.
- 9/3/2015
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Lucille Ball, Easy to Wed Lucille Ball Centennial on TCM: Stage Door, Best Foot Forward Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am Du Barry Was A Lady (1943) A night club employee dreams he's Louis Xv, and the star he idolizes is his lady love. Dir: Roy Del Ruth. Cast: Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly. C-101 mins. 8:00 Am Panama Lady (1939) An oil man forces a cabaret singer to work for him after she tries to rob him. Dir: Jack Hively. Cast: Lucille Ball, Allan Lane, Steffi Duna. Bw-65 mins. 9:30 Am Without Love (1945) A World War II housing shortage inspires a widow to propose a marriage of convenience with an inventor. Dir: Harold S. Bucquet. Cast: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball. Bw-111 mins. 11:30 Am Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949) An inept secretary goes to work for a bogus real estate firm thinking it's for real.
- 8/6/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Comedy scriptwriter Irving Brecher has died at the age of 94.
He passed away on Monday in Los Angeles after a series of heart attacks last week (beg10Nov08).
His most notable work included the vaudeville sketches he penned for Milton Berle and comedies he wrote for the Marx Brothers - including a solo credit on 1940 film Go West.
Early in his career, Brecher was an uncredited script doctor on The Wizard of Oz, leading Groucho Marx to call him The Wicked Wit of the West - the title of his autobiography, which is scheduled to hit shelves in January.
His film credits came to include Shadow of the Thin Man in 1941, 1943's Du Barry Was a Lady, starring Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly and Red Skelton, Yolanda and the Thief in 1945, starring Fred Astaire, and 1963 classic Bye Bye Birdie.
Brecher was also nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay for Meet Me in St. Louis, starring Judy Garland.
In addition to the silver screen, Brecher also turned his talents to radio, creating long-running series The Life of Riley - later adapted into a feature film and TV series in 1949.
He is survived by his wife, Norma, and three stepchildren.
He passed away on Monday in Los Angeles after a series of heart attacks last week (beg10Nov08).
His most notable work included the vaudeville sketches he penned for Milton Berle and comedies he wrote for the Marx Brothers - including a solo credit on 1940 film Go West.
Early in his career, Brecher was an uncredited script doctor on The Wizard of Oz, leading Groucho Marx to call him The Wicked Wit of the West - the title of his autobiography, which is scheduled to hit shelves in January.
His film credits came to include Shadow of the Thin Man in 1941, 1943's Du Barry Was a Lady, starring Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly and Red Skelton, Yolanda and the Thief in 1945, starring Fred Astaire, and 1963 classic Bye Bye Birdie.
Brecher was also nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay for Meet Me in St. Louis, starring Judy Garland.
In addition to the silver screen, Brecher also turned his talents to radio, creating long-running series The Life of Riley - later adapted into a feature film and TV series in 1949.
He is survived by his wife, Norma, and three stepchildren.
- 11/19/2008
- WENN
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