Mooie title voor een boek met Elvis fotos die vrij zeldzaam zijn. Van de optredens in het Lake Tahoe hotel zijn vanuit de periode 1971 tot en met 1976 weinig fotos, laat staan anekdotes bekend. Dit zijn optredens geweest, die niet net zo als in Vegas, tot de verbeelding hebben gesproken. Zeker niet wat afbeeldingen betreft. Zijn optredens in deze tweede roulette stad van de USA zijn veelal wel op bootleg cds uitgebracht en ik herinner me de eerste illegale complete show nog die werd uitgegeven van het Lake Tahoe gebeuren. Dat was een mei 1973 show op het Peaf label. Een uitgave die toen in 1992 ongekend populair was bij de concert liefhebbers. Het was de allereerste complete live show die in goede audience geluidskwaliteit uitkwam. Ongehoord in die vroegere jaren. Maar nu terug naar het boek. Het was toentertijd absoluut verboden om fotos te maken in Vegas of in Lake Tahoe. In Lake Tahoe was het nog moeilijker om het toch te doen, aangezien alles daar veel kleiner en veel compacter en daardoor intiemer was en de pakkans dus groter. Niettemin heeft Sue McCasland, een Elvis fan in hart en nieren, zeer veel fotos kunnen schieten van Elvis zijn optredens in Lake Tahoe. Met de fotos van Sue McCasland gaat dan ook als het ware een schatkist voor u open. Zeer veel en ook mooie fotos maken dit boek welk op glanspapier is gedrukt en met harde cover, een waar genot om in te kijken, bladeren en om in te lezen. Met recht kunnen we de titel van dit boek letterlijk vertalen: Elvis leeft in Del Webbs Sahara Tahoe hotel. In tegenstelling tot Las Vegas is van de Tahoe periode weinig bekend terwijl Elvis ook daar menigmaal achter elkaar is opgetreden. Nu, met de uitgave van dit boek, komt er enorm veel informatie op ons af van dit Lake Tahoe gebeuren. Informatie welke we node hebben gemist. Informatie die we nodig hebben om het Elvis plaatje in ons hoofd compleet te maken. Bijna elke foto van de optredens in Lake Tahoe zijn opgespoord en in dit fascinerende boek terug te vinden als ook ooggetuigenverslagen van mensen die Elvis in Lake Tahoe hebben meegemaakt, achtergrond informatie over Lake Tahoe zelf en nog veel meer. Conclusie is dan ook dat we hier een Elvis boek hebben die het waard is om tussen uw andere Elvis boekente staan en die er recht op heeft dat hij af en toe ter hand wordt genomen om weer in te kijken en door te bladeren en om weer bepaalde passages te lezen. Kortom een waardevol Elvis boek die niet snel zal vervelen en een einde maakt aan de mythe dat Elvis in 1977 pas het Sundial jumpsuit droeg.
As recorded at the Sahara Tahoe, Lake Tahoe, NV - Sunday, May 2, 1976
Label: Straight Arrow Special Products SA/SP 2011-03-02
In the past year 'Straight Arrow' managed to obtain a couple of superb-quality Vegas and Tahoe off-line recordings suitable for special releases. The third volume of our "STRAIGHT ARROW SPECIAL PRODUCTS" mini-series is "A TRIPLE THREAT!" (SA/SP 2011-03-02) and features the super-cool Lake Tahoe concert from May 2, 1976.
Of all of Elvis' 70s concerts, those in Lake Tahoe are the most poorly-documented. In a way it's a real pity, because the beauty of the Nevada surroundings and the intimacy of the Sahara showroom always seemed to bring out the best in him. Although Elvis looked somewhat unhealthy in May 1976, he appeared to be in a very good mood, and his warm interaction with fans made the shows quite memorable. The May 2, 1976 gig featured on this release is one of the longest and most entertaining that he gave.
Listening to this, one might easily get the impression that Elvis was courting guests in his living room. There's a nice intimacy to the recording, and his interplay with audience and musicians alike is a true delight. There are also a number of vocally-impressive performances in evidence, one being Elvis' latest RCA single, "Hurt," which he reprises twice! It is the only known date where "Hurt" was performed three times due to the terrific audience response! Worth a mention as well are solid performances of "Burning Love", "My Way", "Tryin' To Get To You" and "An American Trilogy".
This previously unreleased show is taken from a 24-bit digital transfer of a first-generation copy of original cassette. Since the recorder was very close to James Burton's stage monitor, the lead guitar is exceptionally well-defined in the sound image.
Like its predecessors, this new release will be presented in a beautiful digipack with all the necessary information, plus Lake Tahoe memorabilia and photos taken during actual gig. If you dug "FADED LOVE" and "YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY YOU LOVE ME" CDs, we'll bet that you will love this one, too.
Tracks:
CD1: 01. Introduction: Also Sprach Zarathustra - 02. C. C. Rider - 03. I Got A Woman (with break) / Amen - 04. Love Me - 05. If You Love Me (Let Me Know) - 06. You Gave Me A Mountain 07. Elvis talks - 08. All Shook Up - 09. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear / Elvis talks - 10. Don't Be Cruel - 11. Tryin' To Get To You - 12. My Way - 13. Burning Love.
CD2: 01. Introduction of singers, musicians - 02. Early Morning Rain (John Wilkinson, instrumental) - 03. What'd I Say (James Burton) - 04. Johnny B. Goode (James Burton) - 05. Drum Solo (Ronnie Tutt) - 06. Bass Solo (Jerry Scheff) - 07. Piano Solo (Tony Brown) - 08. Electric Piano Solo (David Briggs) - 09. Love Letters (with false start) - 10. School Day (Joe Guercio Orchestra) - 11. Hurt - 12. Hurt (second rendition) - 13. Hurt (reprise of last verse and ending) - 14. Hound Dog - 15. An American Trilogy - 16. Softly As I Leave You - 17. Can't Help Falling In Love - 18. Closing Vamp.
Approx running time: 85 minutes
A piece of a review from "A HILL IN LAKE TAHOE 1976" by Geoffrey Mc Donnell,Australia.
Elvis appeared in Lake Tahoe on 30th April 1976 for his 5th Appearance only 3 days after closing in Spokane on 27th April. This wasn't much of a break as he was going to perform 14 shows in Lake Tahoe performing until 9th May 1976. Elvis was overweight not looking his best, but he did seem to be in excellent spirits for this season. This seems to be verified by his compliance to perform many, many requests this season as well as developing other songs not heard of for years and varying his repertoire considerably to make entertaining shows for his Fans in Lake Tahoe. Really in the last year or so of Elvis's shows Lake Tahoe represents the last time that Elvis gave a MAJOR overall and expansion to his 'standard' shows repertoire. By this I mean 'new' material not sung 'live' before and the expansion of the introductions featuring solos by the band with a song that Elvis could if he wanted sing along too. All the audiences were good and responsive (after all they'd got inside the showroom!) Elvis took more requests than ever before and delighted audiences indeed his closing show was 2 hours long and Elvis and the Colonel gave Roses to all the Ladies as they entered the showroom that closing show night.
Rockwel Records released the new 12 Im Counting On You album. A fine compilation featuring some of Elviss more country style songs. Available here on high quality heavyweight black vinyl.
SIDE ONE: Blue Moon Of Kentucky I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine You're A Heartbreaker We're Gonna Move When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again I'm Counting On You
SIDE TWO: Poor Boy Have I Told You Lately That I Love You True Love I Forgot To Remember To Forget Love Me Tender Old Shep
Venus announced a new release in the "Unedited Masters" series, Unedited Masters: Nashville 1970
From the press release:
Again we are able to present to you more undubbed and unedited masters, this time as recorded in Nashville, Tennessee 1970. As always, we deliver all songs without any fade-ins, fade-outs or cut-outs. Everything is presented the way it was recorded in the studio. The sound quality on this wonderful release is again "from outer space". Hear Elvis in his prime in a way you never heard him before! Don't you dare miss this great and limited edition and If it sounds like from outer space, you can be sure it's from Venus.
Track listing:
1 Got My Mojo Working / Keep Your Hands Off of It unedited O.V. master 5:37 2 You Don't Have To Say You Love Me unedited O.V. master 2:34 3 Just Pretend unedited O.V. master 4:13 4 Faded Love Brass & Stings O.V. master 4:09 5 The Next Step Is Love unedited O.V. master 3:48 6 Make The World Go Away Take 3 O.V. /work part Tk.1 O.V. 5:01 7 I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water unedited overdubbed master 5:24 8 Twenty Days And Twenty Nights unedited O.V. master 3:40 9 I've Lost You unedited O.V. master 4:01 10 I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago unedited master 3:29 11 The Sound Of Your Cry unedited O.V. master 4:36 12 The Fool unedited undubbed master 2:33 13 Cindy, Cindy unedited O.V. master 3:16 14 It's Your Baby, You Rock It unedited alternate master 3:23 15 Stranger In The Crowd unedited O.V. master 4:35 16 Mary In The Morning unedited O.V. master 4:25 17 This is Our Dance backup vocal overdub master 3:14 18 Only Believe O.V. master ( featuring horns ) 2:58 19 Patch It Up unedited alternate master 3:28 20 The Fool Take 1 ( different mix ) 2:24
Na de ontzettend aangename TCB Cruise afgelopen maand, is ElvisMatters in samenwerking met Gullivers Reisen alweer klaar met het cruise-pakket voor september 2012. En het allerbeste nieuws is: die cruise wordt nog groter én goedkoper! En vergeet niet: wie via ElvisMatters boekt, krijgt een exclusieve avond aangeboden in het gezelschap van alle Elvis-gasten. Voor vele fans was die avond HET hoogtepunt van de cruise!
De cruise van 23 tot 30 september omvat 8 dagen heerlijke zon, 7 nachten aan boord van een top-de-luxe cruise schip. De Norwegian Epic is het modernste en grootste cruiseschip in Europa. Gebouwd in 2010, bevat het maar liefst 19 verdiepingen met meer dan 20 restaurants, room service, 24/24 pizza-dienst, theaters, zwembaden, whirlpools, fitness-ruimtes, discos, clubs, bars, casinos de lijst in eindeloos. Negentien verdiepingen vol entertainment!
Ook de Elvis-gasten zijn van top-niveau met de TCB Band, LINDA THOMPSON (!), Sam Thompson, Jerry Schilling, én er worden de komende weken en maanden NOG speciale Elvis-gasten aangekondigd!
Reisschema: Dag 1 - Barcelona vertrek om 18 u. Dag 2 - Cruising day. Dag 3 - Naples (Capri). Dag 4 - Rome (Civitavecchia). Dag 5 - Pisa (Florence). Dag 6 Nice (Villefranche). Dag 7 - Marseille. Dag 8 - Barcelona.
De prijzen voor deze ALL IN luxe cruise variëren van 599 euro per persoon voor een inside state cabin tot 999 euro voor een cabine met balkon en zeezicht en 1199 euro voor een suite. Wie zeker wil zijn van een plaatsje aan boord, doet er best aan zo spoedig mogelijk in te schrijven. Dat kan via peter@elvismatters.com. Houzee!
Touchdown Productions' next release will be the afternoon show from Shreveport, Louisiana on June 7, 1975. The King delivered a very good show with lots of highlights. The sound is of very good quality for this kind of recordings.
Tracklisting: See See Rider - I Got A Woman / Amen - Love Me - If You Love Me Let Me Know - Love Me Tender - Audience Talk - All Shook Up - Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel - Hound Dog - The Wonder Of You - Burning Love - Band Introductions - Johnny B Goode - Drum Solo - Bass Solo - Piano Solo - School Days - T-R-O-U-B-L-E - Why Me Lord? - How Great Thou Art - Funny How Time Slips Away - Little Darlin' - Mystery Train / Tiger Man - Can't Help Falling in Love
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 4/5 - (3 Stemmen) Categorie:Algemeen Tags:Glenn D. Hardin, Mark Elbers, My Way ,
21-10-2011
Fresno Air Terminal 26 april 1973
Fresno Air Terminal 26 april 1973
Op 25 april 1973 gaf Elvis twee uitverkochte shows in de Fresno Selland Arena. Het was voor het eerst dat hij daar optrad. De volgende ochtend zijn er beelden van Elvis gefilmd bij de Fresno Air terminal. Deze beelden bleven lang bewaard, maar waren nog niet toegankelijk voor het grote publiek. Nu staan ze dan op YouTube!
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 3/5 - (2 Stemmen) Categorie:Releases Tags:Fresno Air Terminal 26 april 1973
The Complete Louisiana Hayride Archives 1954-1956
The Complete Louisiana Hayride Archives 1954-1956
Op 21 november wordt er een nieuwe cd box via het 'Memphis Recording Service' label uitgebracht, in samenwerking met 'Joseph A Tunzi' (JAT Productions). Op deze box staan alle live opnamens van de Louisiana Hayride shows van Elvis. De box krijgt de passende titel: The Complete Louisiana Hayride Archives 1954-1956. Het geluid van alle 29 tracks zijn opgepoetst tot een goed niveau. Een veel rijker geluid bij o.a. 'Hearts of Stone' en 'Im Left You're Right She's Gone' zal smullen zijn!
Op de cd is ook de show van December 1956 te vinden. Deze show werd onlangs uitgebracht op de SONY box 'Young man With The Big Beat'. De makers van deze nieuwe MRS uitgave, vertellen dat dit de complete show bevat en dat de nummers op de correcte wijze worden bewerkt.
Deze uitgave bevat tevens een 100 pagina tellend boekwerk, met schitterende foto's.
Tracklist:
First Louisiana Hayride Show - 16th October 1954 1. Hayride Begins Jingle 2. Introduction/That's All Right 3. Blue Moon of Kentucky
January 15th 1955 4. Hearts of Stone 5. That's All Right 6. Tweedle Dee
January 22nd 1955 7. Money Honey 8. Blue Moon of Kentucky 9. I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine 10. That's All Right
April 30th 1955 11. Tweedle Dee
July 16th 1955 12. I'm Left You're Right She's Gone
August 20th 1955 13. Baby Let's Play House 14. Maybellene 15. That's All Right
Last Louisiana Hayride Show - 16th December 1956 16. Heartbreak Hotel 17. Long Tall Sally 18. I Was the One 19. Love Me Tender 20. Don't Be Cruel 21. Love Me 22. I Got a Woman 23. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again 24. Paralyzed 25. Hound Dog 26. Elvis Has Left the Building 27. Hayride End Jingle
Bonus Tracks 28. June Carter Talks about Elvis on the Hayride 29. Maybellene (Tunzi Remix)
JAT productions brengt een speciale limited edition DVD uit op 15 november met de titel: Elvis, Young Man Of The Nation. In 1970 werd Elvis genomineerd als een van de tien beste jongen mannen van de USA. Op 16 januari 1971 aanvaardde hij de prijs in zijn woonplaats Memphis. Nu voor het eerst op DVD de volledige, onuitgebrachte documentaire van deze historische gebeurtenis. U kunt nu getuige zijn van die gebeurtenis van het begin tot het einde.
Barbara Jean Morehead August 23, 1934 (1934-08-23)(age 77) Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Years active
1956present
Spouse
Michael Ansara (1958-1974; divorced); 1 child Charles Fegert (1977-1982; divorced) Jon Eicholtz (1991-present)
Barbara Eden (born August 23, 1934) is an American film and television actress and singer who is best known for her starring role in the sitcomI Dream of Jeannie.
Eden was born Barbara Jean Morehead in Tucson, Arizona, the daughter of Alice Mary (née Franklin) and Hubert Henry Morehead. Her parents divorced when she was three; she and her mother Alice moved to San Francisco where later her mother married Harrison Connor Huffman, a telephone lineman. The Great Depression deeply affected the Huffman family, and as they were unable to afford many luxuries, Barbara's mother entertained the children by singing songs. This musical background left a lasting impression on the actress, who began taking acting classes because she felt it might help her improve her singing.
Her first public performance was singing in the church choir. She was always doing the solos. When she was 14 she was singing in local bands for $10 a night in night clubs. At age 16 she became a member of Actor's Equity.She studied singing at the Conservatory of Music in San Francisco and acting with the Elizabeth Holloway School of Theatre. She graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco in 1949 and studied theater for one year at City College of San Francisco. Then she was elected Miss San Francisco in 1951. Barbara also entered the Miss California pageant, but did not win.[citation needed]
She guest starred in four episodes of Burke's Law playing different roles each time. She was an uncredited extra in the movie The Tarnished Angels with Rock Hudson, in partnership with 20th Century Fox studios. She then starred in the syndicated comedy How To Marry A Millionaire. The show was based on the film of the same name.
Discovery in the Hollywood sense came when she starred in a play with James Drury. Film director Mark Robson, who later directed her in the movie From The Terrace, had come to the play and wanted her for 20th Century Fox studios. Her screen test was the Joanne Woodward role in No Down Payment. Though she did not get the role, the studio gave her a contract. Eden did a screen test for the role of Betty Anderson in 1956 for the movie Peyton Place, though Terry Moore got the role. She had minor roles in Bailout At 43,000, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? and The Wayward Girl, and then became a leading lady in films and starred opposite Gary Crosby, Barry Coe, and Sal Mineo in A Private's Affair, and had a costarring role in Flaming Star (1960), with Elvis Presley.
Her last film for 20th Century Fox was The Yellow Canary (1963). She left Fox studios (due to budget cuts) and began guest-starring in shows such as Saints And Sinners and also doing films for MGM, Universal, and Columbia. She played supporting roles over the next few years, including The Brass Bottle, and the notable, if odd, movie 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, both with Tony Randall. In The New Interns, she co-starred with Michael Callan. Then she signed to become "Jeannie," a genie in a bottle rescued by an astronaut in the television sitcomI Dream of Jeannie. She played this role for five years and 139 episodes. Eden also played Jeannie's sister in nine episodes and Jeannie's mother in two.[citation needed]
After that, Eden did an unaired pilot, The Barbara Eden Show, and another pilot, The Toy Game. She also began starring in and sometimes producing a string of successful made-for-TV movies, making at least one a year for one of the networks and they all were top-rated.[citation needed] Her first TV movie was called The Feminist And The Fuzz. Although best known for comedy, most were dramas, as when she starred with her "Jeannie" co-star Larry Hagman in A Howling in the Woods (1971). She starred in The Woman Hunter (1972) with Robert Vaughn, an earlier co-star from Gunsmoke. In The Stranger Within (1974), Eden plays unwitting housewife Ann Collins, who becomes one of many earthling women that are extraterrestrially impregnated. Like the mother-to-be in Rosemary's Baby, Ann develops unusual prenatal cravings (in this case, coffee grounds instead of blood-rare meat). The screenplay was written by Richard Matheson and directed by Lee Philips.
Eden played Liz Stonestreet, a former policewoman now private detective investigating the disappearance of a missing heiress in a critically acclaimed TV movie Stonestreet: Who Killed The Centerfold Model? (1977) co starring Louise Latham, James Ingersoll, Elaine Giftos, Ann Dusenberry. and Sally Kirkland. She played Lee Rawlins, a woman who worked at a department store, in the ABC TV movie The Girls in The Office (1979) and starred in and co-produced with her own production company (MI-Bar Productions) the NBC TV movie romantic comedy The Secret Life Of Kathy McCormick (1988) about "a simple grocery clerk, finds her way into her local high society and the life of a wealthy suitor who thinks she's a stockbroker." In addition, she starred in and produced the romantic comedy TV movie Opposites Attract (1990) co-starring John Forsythe, their first joint screen appearance since her guest-starring role in a 1957 episode of his Bachelor Father TV series.
She continued to appear regularly on stage starring in the play Blithe Spirit and in television specials like Telly...Who Loves Ya Baby? with Telly Savalas and The Best Of Everything with Hal Linden and Dorothy Loudon.
In 1978 she starred in the feature film Harper Valley PTA based on the popular country song. This led to a namesake television series in 1981; in both the movie and the TV series, she played the show's heroine, Stella Johnson. The show won 11 of its 13 time slots during its first season. It was a comedy version of Peyton Place with Anne Francine playing wealthy villain Flora Simpson Reilly. In one episode Stella dressed in a blue and gold genie costume and in another she played both Stella and her cousin Della Smith (similar to Jeannie's evil twin-sister character). The show Harper Valley PTA began January 16, 1981, and was renamed simply Harper Valley when the show began its second season on October 29, 1981. The show ran until August 14, 1982, producing 29 episodes for NBC and Universal MCA, which were rerun in 2000 by TV Land.
Eden at a United Services Organization (USO) show aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Okinawa
From April 3 through September 16, 1984, Eden starred in the Lee Guber and Shelly Gross national production of the John Kander and Fred Ebb Tony Award-winning musical comedy Woman Of The Year, playing the role of Tess Harding Craig, alongside Don Chastain (as Sam Craig), and Marilyn Cooper (as Jan Donovan, reprising her Tony Award-winning role).
In 1990, Eden had a recurring role of a billionairess seeking revenge against JR Ewing in five episodes of the final season of Dallas, playing the captivating character Lee Ann De La Vega, reuniting her with her I Dream of Jeannie co-star Hagman. In her final episode the character admits that her maiden name was "Lee Ann Nelson," which was a production gag as "Nelson" was the surname of Hagman's character, and Eden's character's married name in I Dream of Jeannie.[citation needed]
In 1991 she starred in the stage play Same Time, Next Year with Wayne Rogers, and reprised her role of Jeannie in a television movie of the week. In 1993 she starred in an 11 city national tour of the play Last Of The Red Hot Lovers with Don Knotts. She also made three guest appearances in the last few seasons of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch as the evil family matriarch, Great Aunt Irma.
Eden wrote an autobiography, Barbara Eden: My Story, published in October 1989. (Although issued an ISBN number 978-0025349308 for cataloging, Barbara Eden: My Story was not mass-produced due to content disputes between the publisher and Eden.)
She received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in the spring of 1990 from the University of West Los Angeles School of Law. On November 17, 1988, she received the honor of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame sidewalk for her contributions to television at 2003 Hollywood Boulevard.
From 2000 until 2004, Eden starred in the national touring production of the play, The Odd Couple ... The Female Version, playing the role of Florence Unger opposite Rita MacKenzie as Olive Madison.
Eden's most recent work was starring in the play Love Letters with Hal Linden, and a guest-starring role on the Lifetime series Army Wives, written and produced by her niece, Katherine Fugate. In December 2008 she began filming the TV Movie Always and Forever for the Hallmark Channel that was shown in October 2009.[2]
Eden wrote a memoir, Jeannie Out of the Bottle, released April 5, 2011, about her personal life. The book includes intimate details about her two failed marriages and her "emotional breakdown" following the death of her only child, her son, Matthew Ansara, from a drug overdose.[3]
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 4/5 - (6 Stemmen) Categorie:Elvis and Women Tags:Barbara Eden
Leticia Roman
Leticia Roman
Elvis Presley chats with leading lady, Leticia Roman, 19, on the set of G.I. Blues at Paramount Studio in Hollywood May 26, 1960. The film was Presley's first since his release from the Army, and the first ever for Miss Roman, an import from Italy. One Hollywood producer was already pegging her as another Lollobrigida.
Mostly Credited As: Leticia Roman Birth Name: Letizia Novarese Date Of Birth: August 12, 1941 (Age 70) Country Of Birth: Italy Birth Place: Rome
June 60
the press reports that she refuses to date Elvis Presley. "He kept asking me to go out with him, but I tell him no," she says. "I don't think it would be a good idea. It would seem too much like a publicity date. Besides, I don't think my parents would approve."
August 60
lives with her parents and must be home by midnight when she dates. "In Rome I went never out without a chaperone," she says. "Even then it was to parties and never with a date of my own. Boys didn't come to parties until we were 15 years old. We grow up more slowly in Italy than girls do here."
columnist Harrison Carroll reports that Ken Scott, her co-star in Pirates of Tortuga, divides his time between her and Julie
Prowse was born in Bombay, India and brought up in South Africa. She began studying dance at the age of four. In her early twenties she was dancing at a club in Paris when she was spotted by a talent agent and eventually signed to play the part of "Claudine" in the 1960 Walter Lang film, Can-Can.
It was during the filming of Can-Can in 1959 that she captured the international spotlight. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev visited the set of the film and after Prowse performed a rather saucy can-can for the Russian leader, he proclaimed her dance "immoral". Little did Khrushchev know that he was a great press agent, because the publicity brought Prowse considerable attention in the United States. From there, her career took off.[1]
Prowse met Frank Sinatra on the set of Can-Can. Time magazine did not care for the movie but said that Prowse was the best thing in it: "In fact, the only thing really worth seeing is Juliet Prowse, a young South African hoofer who puts some twinkle in the stub-toed choreography. And the only thing really worth hearing is the crack that Frank flips back at Juliet when she whips a redoubtable hip in his direction. "Don't point", he gasps. "It's rude."[2] She would go on to appear with Sinatra and other notable guests such as Ella Fitzgerald, Peter Lawford, Hermione Gingold, the Hi-Lo's, Red Norvo, Nelson Riddle and his orchestra on the 1959, Frank Sinatra Show. She at times would sing in the chorus with other guests or Sinatra would sing to her.[3]
Sinatra and Prowse announced their engagement in 1962. Soon afterwards, they broke up reportedly because Prowse wanted to concentrate on her career. Prowse later admitted, "I was as much flattered as I was in love. He (Sinatra) was a complex person, and after a few drinks he could be very difficult."[4]
Prowse co-starred in 1960 alongside Elvis Presley in G.I. Blues. During shooting of the film they had a short and intense fling. "Elvis and I had an affair.... We had a sexual attraction like two healthy young people, but he was already a victim of his fans. We always met in his room and never went out."[4]
She starred in her own NBC sitcom for one season: 1965's Mona McCluskey, which was produced by George Burns. She also did other feature films, including The Fiercest Heart (1961) and Who Killed Teddy Bear? (1965) with Sal Mineo and Elaine Stritch.
Although her film and television career did not make her as big a star as predicted, Prowse had a rather philosophical way of looking at it. "Things generally happen for the best... I never worry about what happens in my career, because I can always do something else."[5] Prowse would later go on to headline successful Las Vegas shows, commanding a very high salary. Stating that Las Vegas was the most demanding place she ever worked, she won Entertainer of the Year for the Vegas run of Sweet Charity. She would later show off her famous dancer's legs in a series of lucrative nationwide commercials for a number of advertisers, including L'eggs hosery and Mannington flooring.
Prowse was the first guest to appear on an episode of The Muppet Show.[6]
In the late 1980s, she was mauled by an 80-pound leopard twice. Once, while filming a scene for Circus of the Stars in 1987 and later that same year rehearsing a promotional stint on The Tonight Show, when the same leopard attacked her. The later attack was more serious, requiring upwards of twenty stitches to reattach her ear.[7]
Throughout the mid 1980s and 1990s, Prowse hosted the Championship Ballroom Dance Competition on PBS.
In 1994, Prowse was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In 1995, she went into remission and was well enough to tour with Mickey Rooney in Sugar Babies. The cancer subsequently returned and she died on September 14, 1996.
She was survived by her son and her mother, and also her ex-husband, TV actor John McCook, who is the father of her only child, Seth.[8]
Sinatra began her career as a singer and actress in the early 1960s, but initially achieved success only in Europe and Japan. In early 1966 she had a transatlantic number-one hit with "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", which showed her provocative but good-natured style, and which popularized and made her synonymous with go-go boots. The promo clip featured a big-haired Sinatra and six young women in tight tops, go-go boots and mini-skirts. The song was written by Lee Hazlewood, who wrote and produced most of her hits and sang with her on several duets, including the critical and cult favorite "Some Velvet Morning". In 1966 and 1967, Sinatra charted with 13 titles, all of which featured Billy Strange as arranger and conductor.
In the late 1950s, Sinatra began to study music, dancing, and voice at the University of California in Los Angeles. She dropped out after a year,[citation needed] and made her professional debut in 1960 on her father's television special, The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis, welcoming the return of Elvis Presley home from Europe following his discharge from service in the US Army. Nancy was sent to the airport on behalf of her father to welcome Elvis when his plane landed. On the special, Nancy and her father danced and sang a duet, "You Make Me Feel So Young/Old". That same year she began a five-year marriage to Tommy Sands.[citation needed]
Sinatra was signed to her father's label, Reprise Records, in 1961. Her first single, "Cuff Links and a Tie Clip", went unnoticed. However, subsequent singles charted in Europe and Japan. Without a hit in the US by 1965, she was on the verge of being dropped. Her singing career received a boost with the help of songwriter/producer/arranger Lee Hazlewood, who had been making records for ten years, notably with Duane Eddy. Hazlewood became Sinatra's inspiration. He had her sing in a lower key and crafted pop songs for her. Bolstered by an image overhaul including bleached-blonde hair, frosted lips, heavy eye make-up and Carnaby Street fashions Sinatra made her mark on the American (and British) music scene in early 1966 with "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", its title inspired by a line in Robert Aldrich's 1963 western comedy 4 for Texas starring her father and Dean Martin. One of her many hits written by Hazlewood, it received three Grammy Award nominations, including two for Sinatra and one for arranger Billy Strange. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[2] The camppromo clip featured a big-haired Sinatra and six young women in loose sweaters, go-go boots and hot pants. The song has been covered by artists such as Geri Halliwell, Megadeth, Jessica Simpson, Lil' Kim, Little Birdy, Billy Ray Cyrus, Faster Pussycat, KMFDM, Symarip (band), Operation Ivy and the Del Rubio Triplets and The Supremes.[citation needed]
A run of chart singles followed, including the two 1966 Top 10 hits "How Does That Grab You, Darlin'?" (#7) and "Sugar Town" (#5). "Sugar Town" became her second million seller.[2] The ballad "Somethin' Stupid" a duet with her father hit #1 in the US and the UK in April 1967 and spent nine weeks at the top of Billboard's easy listening chart. It earned a Grammy Award nomination for Record of the Year and remains the only father-daughter duet to hit No.1 in the US It became Sinatra's third million-selling disc.[2] Other 45s showing her forthright delivery include "Fridays Child" (#36, 1966), and the 1967 hits "Love Eyes" (#15) and "Lightnings Girl" (#24). She rounded out 1967 with the raunchy but low-charting "Tony Rome" (#83) the title track from the detective film Tony Rome starring her father while her first solo single in 1968 was the more wistful "100 Years" (#69).
Sinatra enjoyed a parallel recording career cutting duets with the husky-voiced, country-and-western-inspired Hazlewood, starting with "Summer Wine" (originally the B-side of "Sugar Town"). Their biggest hit was a cover of the country song, "Jackson". The single peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1967, when Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash also made the song their own. In December they released the "MOR"-psychedelic single "Some Velvet Morning", regarded as one of the more unusual singles in pop, and the peak of Sinatra and Hazlewoods vocal collaborations. It reached #26 in the US. The promo clip is, like the song, sui generis. The British broadsheetThe Daily Telegraph placed "Some Velvet Morning" in pole position in its 2003 list of the Top 50 Best Duets Ever. ("Somethin' Stupid" ranked number 27).[3]
In 1967 she recorded the theme song for the James Bond film You Only Live Twice. In the liner notes of the CD reissue of her 1966 album, Nancy In London, Sinatra states that she was "scared to death" of recording the song, and asked the songwriters: "Are you sure you don't want Shirley Bassey?" There are two versions of the Bond theme. The first is the lushly orchestrated track featured during the opening and closing credits of the film. The second and more guitar-heavy version appeared on the double A-sided single with "Jackson", though the Bond theme stalled at #44 on the Billboard Hot 100.[citation needed]
She also made appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, The Virginian and starred in television specials. These include the Emmy-nominated 1966 Frank Sinatra special A Man and His Music - Part II,[citation needed] and the 1967 NBC Emmy Award nominated for 'Special Classification of Individual Achievements' by choreographer David Winters TV special Movin' With Nancy, in which she appeared with Lee Hazlewood, her father and his Rat Pack pals Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr., with a cameo appearance by her brother Frank Sinatra, Jr. and guest star appearance by West Side Story dancer David Winters. At one point in the video, Nancy shared a kiss with Sammy Davis, Jr. She has stated "The kiss [was] one of the first interracial kisses seen on television and it caused some controversy then, and now. [But] contrary to some inaccurate online reports, the kiss was unplanned and spontaneous."[4] The special also features Winters' choreography, dancing and dancers. As there was no Emmy Award category for Choreography - the shows Emmy Nomination was placed in the 'Special Classification of Individual Achievements' category. Possibly due to this specials success and its choreography a new category for 'Outstanding Choreography' was created by the Emmy's the next year.[5]Movin' With Nancy was sponsored by Royal Crown Cola.[citation needed]
Sinatra remained with Reprise until 1970. In 1971, she signed with RCA, resulting in three albums: Nancy & Lee Again (1971), Woman (1972), and a compilation of some of her Reprise recordings under the title This Is Nancy Sinatra (1973). That year she released a non-LP single, "Sugar Me" b/w "Ain't No Sunshine". The former was written by Lynsey De Paul/Barry Blue and, with other covers of works by early-70s popular songwriters, resurfaced on the 1998 album How Does It Feel.[citation needed]
In the autumn of 1971 Sinatra and Hazlewoods duet "Did You Ever?" reached number two in the UK singles chart. In 1972 they performed for a Swedish documentary, Nancy & Lee In Las Vegas, which chronicled their Vegas concerts at the Riviera Hotel and featured solo numbers and duets from concerts, behind-the-scenes footage, and scenes of Sinatra's late husband, Hugh Lambert, and her mother.[6] The film did not appear until 1975.
By 1975 she was releasing singles on Private Stock, which are the most sought-after by collectors. Among those released were "Kinky Love", "Annabell of Mobile", "It's for My Dad," and "Indian Summer" (with Hazlewood). "Kinky Love" was banned by some radio stations in the 1970s for "suggestive" lyrics. It saw the light of day on CD in 1998 on Sheet Music: A Collection of Her Favorite Love Songs. Pale Saints covered the song in 1991.[citation needed]
By the mid-1970s, she slowed her musical activity and ceased acting to concentrate on being a wife and mother. She returned to the studio in 1981 to record a country album with Mel Tillis called Mel & Nancy. Two of their songs made the Billboard Country Singles Chart: "Texas Cowboy Night" (#23) and "Play Me or Trade Me" (#43).[citation needed]
In 1985, she wrote the book Frank Sinatra, My Father.
At 54 she posed for Playboy in the May 1995 issue and made appearances on TV shows to promote her album One More Time. The magazine appearance caused some controversy. On the talk show circuit, she said her father was proud of the photos, but not everyone was convinced. Those close to the Sinatras claimed that family members were upset with the nude photo spread. Nancy told Jay Leno on a 1995 Tonight Show that her daughters gave their approval, but her mother said she should ask her father before committing to the project. Nancy claims that when she told her father what Playboy would be paying her, he said, "Double it."[citation needed]
That year, Sundazed Records began reissuing Sinatra's Reprise albums with remastered sound, new liner notes and photos, and bonus tracks. She also updated her biography on her dad and published Frank Sinatra: An American Legend.[citation needed]
In 2003 she reunited with Hazlewood once more for the album Nancy & Lee 3. It was released only in Australia.[citation needed]
One of her recordings a cover of Cher "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" was used to open the 2003 Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill: Vol. One. In 2005, Sinatra's recording was sampled separately by the Audio Bullys and Radio Slave into dance tracks (renamed into "Shot You Down" and "Bang Bang" respectively), and by hip-hop artist Young Buck in a song titled "Bang Bang", as well as covered for a single and music video by R&B artist Melanie Durrant. Sinatra recorded the song for her second Reprise album, How Does That Grab You? in 1966. She and Billy Strange worked on the arrangement, and it was Sinatra's idea to change from a mid-tempo romp (as sung in Cher's hit single) to a ballad. Sinatra's father asked her to sing it on his 1966 TV special A Man and His Music - Part II. The footage of Sinatra's performance on that special was used in the Audio Bullys' music video of "Shot You Down."[citation needed]
Taking her father's advice from when she began her recording career ("Own your own masters"), she owns or holds an interest in most of her material, including videos.[4]
In 2004 she collaborated with former Los Angeles neighbour Morrissey to record a version of his song "Let Me Kiss You", which was featured on her autumn release Nancy Sinatra. The single released the same day as Morrisseys version charted at #46 in the UK, providing Sinatra with her first hit for over 30 years. The follow-up single, "Burnin' Down the Spark", failed to chart. The album, originally titled To Nancy, with Love, featured rock performers such as Calexico, Sonic Youth, U2, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, Steven Van Zandt, Jon Spencer, and Pete Yorn, who all cited Sinatra as an influence. Each artist crafted a song for Sinatra to sing on the album.[citation needed]
Two years later EMI released The Essential Nancy Sinatra a UK-only greatest-hits compilation featuring the previously unreleased track, "Machine Gun Kelly". The collection was picked by Sinatra and spans her 40-year career. The record was Sinatra's first to make the UK album charts (#73) in 30 years.[citation needed]
Nancy received her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 11, 2006, which was also declared "Nancy Sinatra Day" by Hollywoods mayor, Johnny Grant.[citation needed]
Nancy Sinatra recorded a public service announcement for Deejay Ra's 'Hip-Hop Literacy' campaign, encouraging reading of Tarantino screenplays and related books.[citation needed]
September 2009 saw the release of Nancy's digital-only album Cherry Smiles: The Rare Singles, featuring previously unreleased tracks and songs only available on 45.[citation needed]
Nancy now hosts a weekly show on Sirius Satellite Radio - Siriusly Sinatra where she shares her personal insights about her father.[4]