Ray Charles
Born: 23 September 1930
Birthplace: Albany, Georgia
Death: 10 June 2004
Best Known As: Singer of "Hit the Road, Jack"
Ray Charles was a legendary pop music star famous for such songs as "Hit the Road, Jack," "Georgia On My Mind" and "I Can't Stop Loving You." Blind from the age of seven, Charles was a gifted pianist and saxophonist who taught himself to compose and arrange music by braille, then went on to become one of the most successful African-American artists of the 20th century. He began recording in the late 1940s, and in the 1950s had success with soul and gospel-influenced originals such as "Hallelujah I Love Her So" and "I Got a Woman" (covered by Elvis Presley). Charles had a 1959 rock hit with "What'd I Say" and in the 1960s had a string of hits that blended jazz, rock, soul, country and gospel. He won his first of a dozen Grammys in 1961 and was voted best male singer five years in a row (1961-66) by jazz critics in Downbeat magazine. His reputation as one of the greats secure, Charles spent the rest of his career touring and releasing occasional records, including compilations and jazz and country duets. His many famous songs include "Busted," "Ruby" "Take These Chains From My Heart" and "Crying Time." In 2005 Charles's last album, Genius Loves Company, won 7 Grammy awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year (for "Here We Go Again," his duet with Norah Jones).
The song "Georgia On My Mind" became the official state song of Georgia in 1979... Charles was played by actor Jamie Foxx in the 2004 biographical feature Ray. Foxx won an Oscar for the role.
|
Category: Water Monkey - Jen Shen
Leave comment
here
Robert Vaughn
Date of birth (location)
22 November 1932
New York, New York, USA
The son of show-business parents, his father, Walter, was a radio actor and his mother, Marcella, was a stage actress. Robert came to the public's attention first with his Oscar nominated role in The Young Philadelphians (1959) in 1959. The next year he was one of the seven in the Western classic The Magnificent Seven (1960).
Despite being in such popular films, he generally found work on television. He appeared over 200 times in guest roles in the late 1950s to early 1960s. It was in 1963 that he received his first major role in "The Lieutenant" (1963). Robert took the role with intention of making the transition from being a guest-star actor to being a co-star on TV. It was due to his work in this show that producer Norman Felton offered Robert the role of Napoleon Solo in "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (1964).
Four extremely successful years (1964-68) followed as the show became one of the most popular TV shows of the 1960s. It is in this role which made him a huge TV star, but he wanted to embark on a career in film, and did so soon after the show ended in 1968 by co-starring in Bullitt (1968) with Steve McQueen.
Now working in film full-time, he starred in The Bridge at Remagen (1969) and The Mind of Mr. Soames (1970) before making a change by going back to TV, this time in England, Robert took a lead role in the TV series "The Protectors" (1972) and stayed in England, UK for the first half of the 1970s. He returned to the United States in the mid 1970s and embarked on a very successful run of TV mini-series roles which got him an Emmy award in 1978 for "Washington: Behind Closed Doors" (1977) (mini) and a nomination the following year for "Backstairs at the White House" (1979) (mini).
The 1970s proved a important time in Robert's life as he became married in 1974 to actress Linda Staab, and completed his thesis on Hollywood blacklisting during the McCarthy-era, and it was published in 1972 as "Only Victims: A Study of Show Business Blacklisting". During the 1980s he mixed TV with film. Roles in such films as S.O.B. (1981), Superman III (1983), The Delta Force (1986) and Black Moon Rising (1986) were highlights. In TV he again starred in successful shows, most notably in "The A-Team" (1983) and "Emerald Point N.A.S." (1983).
He continued to mix the types of projects, even appearing on stage on numerous occasions. The 1990s has seen the same variety of roles. TV Movies have been a popular choice as well as TV series work in "As the World Turns" (1956) and making many guest appearances in shows like "The Nanny" (1993) and "Law & Order" (1990) as well as having a role in the 1998 remake series "The Magnificent Seven" (1998), which he of course starred in 1960. Even though he's also appeared in major features such as Joe's Apartment (1996) and BASEketball (1998), he's taking it more easy these days. He has been working on his autobiography titled "Christ, Shakespeare, Ho Chi Min: As I Knew Them" for some years now, but no date has been set for publication.
|
Category: Water Monkey - Jen Shen
Leave comment
here | |
he Sixty-Year Chinese Cycle directory:
