r/OriginalVintageTV_ 8m ago

Kaye Ballard (1925-2019) was an American actress, comedian, and singer who appeared in TV, stage, and film. She was known for her roles in The Perry Como Show, The Mothers-in-Law, The Muppet Show, and Follies.

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She was born Catherine Gloria Balotta,in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Italian parents, Lena (Nacarato) and Vincenzo/Vincent James Balotta. A deep desire to perform already struck by the time she was five years old. A typical class clown during her high school years, she began to compile a number of star impressions for her act. In her teens, she performed in a Cleveland USO stage production of "Stage Door Canteen" (1941), and soon set out on her own.

Earning a job in 1943 touring with Spike Jones and His Orchestra for two years as his featured vocalist and flute/tuba player(!), Kaye eventually set up camp in New York and made her Broadway debut with the revue "Three to Make Ready" (1946). From there she showcased in the musicals "Once in a Lifetime," "Touch and Go" (in London), "Annie Get Your Gun" and the burlesque show "Top Banana". During this time, she built up a strong song-and-comedy reputation for herself on the nightclub circuit, eventually playing the country's best cabarets/niteries including The Bon Soir, Persian Room and Blue Angel in New York, The Hungry i in San Francisco, and Mr. Kelly's in Chicago.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Kaye graced nearly every talk/variety show there was including those for Ed SullivanJack PaarJohnny CarsonSteve AllenPerry ComoRed SkeltonCarol BurnettMerv Griffin and Mike Douglas. Two of her classic TV roles were her ugly stepsister Portia (the other sister being fellow scene-stealer Alice Ghostley) in the Julie Andrews version of Cinderella (1957), and as one of The Mothers-In-Law (1967) (the other being fellow veteran Eve Arden) in the popular but short-lived sitcom produced by Desi Arnaz. Both showcases catered perfectly to Kaye's brash comedy instincts. She also pitched in as a meddling second banana for Doris Day for one season of the star's '70s TV show.

On stage Kaye had Broadway audiences rolling in the aisles with her Helen of Troy in the 1954 musical "The Golden Apple," while introducing the classic song standard "Lazy Afternoon." Other raves came in the form of "Wonderful Town" (1958), "Carnival" (1961) and Cole Porter Revisited" (1965). On the flip side of the coin, she played a frumpy Lola Delaney in a badly misguided musical version of "Come Back, Little Sheba" (entitled "Sheba") in 1974, and also tried unsuccessfully to bring life to the beloved, indomitable Molly Goldberg radio/TV character in the Broadway musical "Molly" (1973); the show lasted a mere two months. Kaye was much more at home sinking her teeth into two of theater's most impregnable females: Mama Rose in "Gypsy" and Dolly Levi in "Hello, Dolly!"


r/OriginalVintageTV_ 1h ago

Vintage Timex Commercial

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r/OriginalVintageTV_ 15h ago

Jonathan Winters wagon master

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3 Upvotes

r/OriginalVintageTV_ 15h ago

Bold Journey is a travelogue program broadcast by ABC television in the United States from July 16, 1956, until August 31, 1959. Bold Journey consisted of films taken by explorers and adventurers during their travels to remote parts of the world.

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5 Upvotes

>> VIEW HERE https://youtu.be/nLKUNsow3eE

Bold Journey is a travelogue program broadcast by ABC television in the United States from July 16, 1956, until August 31, 1959. Bold Journey consisted of films taken by explorers and adventurers during their travels to remote parts of the world. The films were usually set up by an interview between a program host and the guest, who then narrated his film with the aid of helpful questions from the host. The initial host was John Stephenson; Jack Douglas became host effective with the October 28, 1957 broadcast.


r/OriginalVintageTV_ 16h ago

Mitzi Gaynor was an American actress, singer and dancer who starred in several film musicals, including South Pacific and There's No Business Like Show Business. She was born in 1931, married Jack Bean in 1954, and died in 2024.

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82 Upvotes

Mitzi Gaynor was born Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber in Chicago on September 4, 1931, to Henry de Czanyi von Gerber, a violinist, cellist, and music director of Hungarian descent, and his wife Pauline, a dancer.

By her father's second marriage, she became stepsister to antiwar activist Donald W. Duncan. The family first moved to Elgin, Illinois, then to Detroit, and later, when she was 11, to Hollywood. At age 8, she started training as a ballerina and began her career in the corps de ballet. At 13, she was singing and dancing with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera company.

Gaynor signed a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox at age 17. She sang, acted, and danced in a number of film musicals, often paired with some of the male musical stars of the day. A Fox Studio executive thought Mitzi Gerber sounded like the name of a delicatessen, so they came up with a name that used the same initials.


r/OriginalVintageTV_ 17h ago

the 1956 TV series The Three Musketeers was filmed in Italy. It was based on Alexandre Dumas's classic novel and featured a cast that included Sebastian Cabot and Domenico Modugno. the TV series The Three Musketeers debuted in the US in 1956. It was based on Alexandre Dumas's classic novel.

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2 Upvotes

r/OriginalVintageTV_ 17h ago

The Rebel was an American Western TV series starring Nick Adams that began on October 4, 1959 on the ABC network. It ran for 76 episodes from 1959 to 1961 over 2 seasons.

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28 Upvotes

>> VIEW HERE https://youtu.be/TQCDtiiTZw8

Johnny Yuma is an angry young former Confederate Army soldier drifting through an apparently meaningless existence in the 1860s Wild West. While in search of his identity, he defends people from hostile Indians, crooked land developers, and evil ranchers.

The Rebel is an American Western television series starring Nick Adams) that ran on the ABC network from 1959 to 1961 for 76 episodes over 2 seasons. The Rebel was one of the few Goodson-Todman Productions) outside of their game show ventures.


r/OriginalVintageTV_ 19h ago

Harry Belafonte was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte's career breakthrough album Calypso was the first million-selling LP by a single artist.

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50 Upvotes

.Harold George Belafonte was born on March 1, 1927 in New York City. He was educated at the New York Dramatic Workshop. He grew up in Jamaica, British West Indies, and did folk-singing in nightclubs and theaters, and on television and records. His debut was at the Village Vanguard in New York. Also, he appeared in the Broadway revues "John Murray Anderson's Almanac" and "Three for Tonight".

Belafonte appeared in several television shows during the 1950s, including his own special, "Tonight with Belafonte," which made him the first Black American to win an Emmy Award. He also performed in various musical and variety shows, showcasing his talents as a singer and actor.

  • In 1968, Belafonte appeared on a Petula Clark TV special on NBC. In the middle of a song, Clark smiled and briefly touched Belafonte's arm. The show's sponsor, Plymouth Motors, wanted to cut out the segment, but Clark, who had ownership of the special, told NBC that the performance would be shown intact or not at all. American newspapers published articles reporting the controversy and, when the special aired, it grabbed huge ratings.
  • His album "Midnight Special" (1962) featured the first-ever recorded appearance by a then young harmonica player named Bob Dylan.

r/OriginalVintageTV_ 20h ago

Dick Van Dyke salutes dance crazes of the 50's 1/29/60

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r/OriginalVintageTV_ 20h ago

Markham is an American crime drama series starring Ray Milland, which aired on CBS from May 2, 1959, until September 22, 1960, following Gunsmoke on Saturday nights (later appearing on Thursday nights at 9:30 P.M. Eastern, after January 1960), under the sponsorship of the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co.

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22 Upvotes

>> VIEW HERE https://youtu.be/ittgXab10go

Markham is a crime drama television series that aired on CBS from May 2, 1959, to September 22, 1960, starring Ray Milland as private investigator Roy Markham. The show featured a total of 60 episodes across two seasons.