Showing results by publisher "BearManor Media" in All Categories

Everyone was “In the Mood for Love” when Frances Langford, renowned Big Band singer with a rich contralto voice, rose from performing at hometown parties in Mulberry, Florida, to Broadway, old-time radio, and movies during Hollywood’s Golden Era. Her signature song carried her from turntables to troops in World War II, and then into the stuff of legends. For the first time, her personal interviews with author-publisher Ben Ohmart bring the treasured memories from her past to light.

The Warner Bros. Western series Lawman starring John Russell, Peter Brown, and Peggie Castle was originally broadcast on ABC-TV with 156 new episodes between September 1958 and June 1962. As played by steel-eyed John Russell, Dan Troop is a no-nonsense marshal who has little patience for outlaws or hypocrites but will stand up for underdogs and outsiders. He also displays a warmer side with his mentoring of his young deputy (Peter Brown) and, beginning in the second season, in his relationship with Peggie Castle’s beautiful Lily Merrill.

Ward Morehouse III’s father, the late drama critic Ward Morehouse, lovingly introduced his son to the glamorous life of luxurious hotels. This is his memoir of his experiences at New York’s Plaza Hotel, including the many actors and actresses who came and went, the glamour and glitz, and also the animals that were brought there, even a bear named Bangkok who lived for a time at the Plaza Hotel.

The autobiography of master impressionist Joe Alaskey takes listeners on a fun-filled behind-the-scenes look at Hollywood and how he became Mel Blanc’s replacement as the voices of Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, and many of the Warner Bros. cartoon characters. Joe Bevilacqua performs as Alaskey and even demonstrates some of the voices along the way, including a sketch that pits Daffy Duck against Colombo, and Archie and Edith Bunker as Romeo and Juliet. Bevilacqua was trained with Mel Blanc and Daws Butler (Yogi Bear).

Radio was the number one form of family entertainment for a quarter century. In a dazzling step back in time, veteran broadcaster John Rayburn talks about the fantastic era of broadcasting in these fascinating interviews.

Discover the man behind the myth in Sandy Grabman’s richly researched book. Pat’s career sounds like a true Hollywood success story from his humble beginnings to living the dream of making people laugh, winning the The Pacific Pioneers Broadcaster’s Award, and winning an Emmy. His was one of the most recognizable voices in movies and on television. For the first time, his story is recalled by friends, family members, co-stars, and co-workers at Gene Autry Enterprises. Also interspersed throughout the book are many of Pat’s original, unforgettable one-liners.

Gary Craig, actor, singer, and renowned radio personality, amused audiences on stage, film, television, and radio. Hilarious anecdotes, riotous pranks, and sidesplitting stories regale you with the raucous roots of his radio reign from humble beginnings to his current spectacular ratings on Hartford's beloved WTIC-FM morning show, Craig and Company. Follow his footsteps as an underdog struggling to secure a niche career while reaching for the stars to follow his dreams.

Guarding Gable - an original audio novel by Nat Segaloff - starts with an actual event in the life of the screen's number one star and becomes a story worthy of a Hollywood movie. It's 1942 and World War II is just beginning. Beloved actress Carole Lombard is killed in a plane crash while returning from a bond-selling tour and her husband, Clark Gable, is beyond consolation. Depressed to the point of suicide, he enlists in the US Army Air Corps, telling his bosses at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that he doesn't care if he ever comes back.

For over 20 years, the name John Agar on a marquee meant action to moviegoers - from World War II land, sea, and air battles, to the frontier West, to the new frontier of 1950s science fiction, where he stood fast against some of the era's most memorable movie monsters. Agar's rise to fame was meteoric: during World War II, the $83-a-month buck sergeant met and later married "America's Sweetheart", Shirley Temple, and was soon offered a screen test and dramatic instruction by Hollywood mega-mogul David O. Selznick.

When Yvette, a New York model for White Rain shampoo, first appeared in Sunset Boulevard (1950), she could not have imagined that her own death would be as bizarre as Norma Desmond's gigolo, Joe's. After roles in Short Cut to Hell (1957) and Reform School Girl (1957), Yvette's fate cast her into dubious signature roles in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958) and Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959).

You can imagine how often Janet Cantor Gari heard that her mother was inadvertently as funny as her father, the legendary Eddie Cantor, and that she ought to write a book. Whether Janet is describing situations in her native New York or the nine years she lived in Hollywood, the book is completely candid. You'll casually meet celebrities under circumstances you'd never expect, and you'll empathize with the Cantor clan's triumphs and tragedies as if you were a next-door neighbor!

The true life story of Michael Elihu Colby and his childhood days at Manhattan's Algonquin Hotel. His grandparents Mary and Ben B. Bodne had traded their Southern oil fortune for the legendary but faded Algonquin and restored the hotel's former glory. Their efforts led to a remarkable renaissance and attracted an overflow of celebrities from the ridiculous to the sublime.

Fess Parker grew up in Texas, served in World War II, and later became TV's incredibly popular Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. After his film and TV career, Parker became a successful businessman, hotel builder, and vintner. William R. Chemerka's authorized biography is a respectful tribute to an amazing man that features thoughtful recollections from Parker's family, friends, co-stars, and fans.

The official biography of the Oscar-winning star of Cocoon, and the great radio actor, Don Ameche. Written with the aid of the Ameche family, this first book features many interviews with family and friends.

A woman receives seven letters from a former boyfriend, each one revealing highly diverse aspects of his personality. This unique radio drama was written by William Melillo and produced and directed by Joe Bevilacqua.

Over one hour, hear JoeBev's interpolation of the characters of James Thurber ("Unicorn in the Garden"), featuring some lesser known Thurberesque stories, including the baseball saga "You Can Look it Up". Who better to interpret James Thurber than JoeBev, who was the protégé of Daws Butler, the voice of Yogi Bear.

Spooky comedy, including: "The Monster in the Wardrobe", "Forever a Monster"; "A Halloween Happening", "Bewitched Tongues", "A Camp Waterlogg Halloween", "The Ugly Fairy", "The Evil Millispore", "The Poor Bunny's Magic Bouquet", "The Flying Contest", "The Incredible Black Rain", and "Rain Drop, Snow Flake".

In the variety hour, Joe Bevilacqua performs his own jazz compositions, accompanied by Paul Salomone on piano, Edward Fuqua on bass, Leif Eric on guitar, and Jim Mason on drums. In addition, Joe Bev performs Daws Butler's "Magic Drums" with Joe Gatto on drums, and sings Cab Calloway and Irving Mills' "Minnie the Moocher" as his Camp Waterlogg character Sgt. Lefty and the Chipmunks, featuring Julian Baker on trombone and keyboard. The selections are gleaned from Bevilacqua's hundreds of hours of audio work that spans more than 40 years.

In this post-apocalyptic drama, Ten is unfrozen and guided into an unfamiliar world by caretaker Barnstormer Pfaff. This original radio play was written by Daws Butler (Yogi Bear) and produced and directed by Joe Bevilacqua.

Many years before AMC's Mad Men was a hit, Daws Butler (Yogi Bear) wrote The Ad Game. Adam is the top copywriter at his firm when he finds himself in a career crisis that baffles his wife, Melissa, and his father-in-law, Ed, who is his boss.