Famous People Born In
The Month Of July
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Well known people born on July 18th - your in good company
Well known people born on July 18th - your in good company
Chill Theodore Wills (July 18, 1902[1] – December 15, 1978) was an American film and television actor and a singer in the Avalon Boys Quartet.
Wills was born in 1902 in Seagoville near Mesquite in Dallas County, Texas. He was a performer from early childhood, forming and leading The Avalon Boys singing group in the 1930s. After appearing in a few westerns, he disbanded the group in 1938 and struck out on a solo acting career. One of his more memorable roles was that of the distinctive voice of Francis the Mule in a series of popular films. Wills' deep, rough voice and Western twang were matched to the personality of the cynical, sardonic mule. As was customary at the time, Wills was given no billing for his vocal work, though he was featured prominently on-screen as blustery General Ben Kaye in the fourth entry, Francis Joins the WACS. He provided the deep voice for Stan Laurel's performance of "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" in Way Out West (1937), in which the Avalon Boys Quartet appeared. Wills was cast in numerous serious film roles, including that of Uncle Bawley in Giant (1956), which also features Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and James Dean. Wills was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1960 for his role as Davy Crockett's companion "Beekeeper" in the film The Alamo. However, his aggressive campaign for the award was considered tasteless by many, including the film's star/director/producer, John Wayne, who publicly apologized for Wills. Wills' publicity agent, W.S. "Bow-Wow" Wojciechowicz, accepted blame for the ill-advised effort, claiming that Wills had known nothing about it. The Oscar was instead won by Peter Ustinov for his role as Lentulus Batiatus in Spartacus.[2] more...... |
Eugene "Gene" Lockhart (July 18, 1891 – March 31, 1957) was a Canadian character actor, singer, and playwright. He also wrote the lyrics to a number of popular songs.Born in London, Ontario, Lockhart made his professional debut at the age of six when he appeared with the Kilties Band of Canada. At the age of 15, he was appearing in sketches with actress Beatrice Lillie. Lockhart was educated in various Canadian schools and at the London Oratory School in London, England. He also played football for the Toronto Argonauts.
Lockhart had a long stage career; he also wrote professionally and taught acting and stage technique at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. He had also written theatrical sketches, radio shows, special stage material, song lyrics and articles for stage and radio magazines. He made his Broadway debut in 1916, in the musical The Riviera Girl. He was a member of the travelling play The Pierrot Players (for which he wrote the book and lyrics). This play introduced the song, The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise, for which Lockhart wrote the lyrics along with Canadian composer Ernest Seitz. (The song was subsequently made popular by Les Paul and Mary Ford in the 1950s.) He also wrote and directed the Broadway musical revue Bunk of 1926. He also sang in Die Fledermaus for the San Francisco Opera Association. On Broadway, Lockhart originated the role of Uncle Sid in Eugene O'Neill's only comedy, Ah, Wilderness! (1933), and took over from Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman, during the original run of Death of a Salesman (1949). more....... |
Harriet Nelson (July 18, 1909 – October 2, 1994) was an American singer and actress.[1] Nelson is best known for her role on the long-runningsitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
She was born Peggy Louise Snyder in Des Moines, Iowa,[2] the daughter of Hazel Dell (née McNutt) and Roy Hilliard Snyder.[3] She appeared on the vaudeville stage when she was three years old and made her debut on Broadway in her teens.[4] She frequented the Cotton Club, began smoking at age 13, was briefly married to an abusive comedian and lived what has been described as "a high-flying life".[4] She left high school before graduating and joined the Corps de Ballet at the Capitol Theater, later dancing in the Harry Carroll Revue and working as a straight woman for comedians Ken Murray and Bert Lahr.[5] By 1932, she was still performing in vaudeville when she met the saxophone-playing bandleader Ozzie Nelson. Nelson hired her to sing with the band, under the name Harriet Hilliard. They married three years later. Hilliard had a respectable film career as a solo performer, apart from the band. RKO Radio Pictures signed her to a one-year contract in 1936, and she appeared in three feature films, the most famous being the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musical Follow the Fleet. She was very much in demand during the World War II years for leading roles in escapist musicals, comedies, and mysteries. more....... |
Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton (July 18, 1913 – September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television acts between 1937 and 1971 and as host of the television program The Red Skelton Show. Skelton, who has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio and television, also appeared in vaudeville, films, nightclubs, and casinos, all while he pursued an entirely separate career as an artist.
Skelton began developing his comedic and pantomime skills from the age of 10, when he became part of a traveling medicine show. He then spent time on a showboat, worked the burlesque circuit, then entered into vaudeville in 1934. The Doughnut Dunkers, a pantomime sketch of how different people ate doughnuts written by Skelton and his wife launched a career for him in vaudeville, in radio and in films. Skelton's radio career began in 1937 with a guest appearance on The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour which led to his becoming the host of Avalon Time in 1938. He became the host of The Raleigh Cigarette Program in 1941 where many of his comedy characters were created and had a regularly scheduled radio program until 1957. Skelton made his film debut in 1938 alongside Ginger Rogers and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in Alfred Santell'sHaving Wonderful Time, and he went on to appear in numerous musical and comedy films throughout the 1940s and early 1950s, such as I Dood It (1943), Ziegfeld Follies (1946) and The Clown (1953). more....... |
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