"death, and was dedicated to Jackson's memory. His 1978 film ""The Wiz"" (in which he co-starred alongside Diana Ross and Richard Pryor) was briefly re-released in a rare 35mm format and was shown at the Hollywood Theater in his honor. It was also re-released a week prior to the release of ""Michael Jackson's This Is It"" in select cities. Madonna opened the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards with a speech about Michael Jackson. Janet Jackson made an appearance at the VMAs to pay a musical tribute to her brother and honor his career. He was honored with a posthumous lifetime"
"in vaudeville, and follows her through her illustrious and highly-publicized rise to stardom at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios; her trials as a youngster in dealing with the movie studio system that held her back while her mother was forever pushing her to excel, as well as all the backstage joy and heartbreak during the filming of ""The Wizard of Oz"" (1939). Emmy Award Rainbow (1978 film) Rainbow is a 1978 American made-for-television biographical musical drama film which chronicles the early years of singer-actress Judy Garland, portrayed by Andrea McArdle. Directed by Jackie Cooper, the film was written by John McGreevey based on"
"Mahogany (film) Mahogany is a 1975 American romantic drama film directed by Berry Gordy and produced by Motown Productions. The Motown founder Gordy took over the film direction after British filmmaker Tony Richardson was dismissed from the film. ""Mahogany"" stars Diana Ross as Tracy Chambers, a struggling fashion design student who rises to become a popular fashion designer in Rome. Fresh from the success of ""Lady Sings the Blues"", this film served as Ross' follow-up feature film. It was released on October 8, 1975. Tracy Chambers is a sassy industrious young woman living on the southside of Chicago who dreams"
"and ""I Wish I Were in Love Again"". The film version, released in 1939, starred Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney and was directed by Busby Berkeley. Its radically revised plot retained only two songs from the original stage version—""Where or When"" and ""Babes in Arms"". The film is credited with popularizing the ""kids putting on a musical show for charity"" trope. The original version had strong political overtones with discussions of Nietzsche, a Communist character and two African-American youths who are victims of racism. In 1959 George Oppenheimer created a ""sanitized, de-politicized rewrite"" which is now the most frequently performed"
"was titled ""Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5"". It was actually Motown producer Bobby Taylor who discovered the Jacksons. Even so, Ross embraced the role and became a good friend of Michael Jackson, serving as a mother figure to him. In 2006, Diana was one of 25 African-American women saluted at Oprah Winfrey's Legends Ball, a three-day celebration, honoring their contributions to art, entertainment, and civil rights. Diana Ross was named one of the Five Mighty Pop Divas of the Sixties along with Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin, Martha Reeves, and Dionne Warwick. On November 16, 2016, Ross was announced as"
"Rainbow (1978 film) Rainbow is a 1978 American made-for-television biographical musical drama film which chronicles the early years of singer-actress Judy Garland, portrayed by Andrea McArdle. Directed by Jackie Cooper, the film was written by John McGreevey based on the 1975 book ""Rainbow: The Stormy Life of Judy Garland"" by Christopher Finch. It originally aired on ""NBC Monday Night at the Movies"" on November 6, 1978. McArdle's casting as Judy Garland was heavily criticized at the time, as the actress did not resemble nor sound remotely like Garland. The early life and struggles of Judy Garland during her early years"
"Two versions of the song have been released as charting singles: one associated with the Broadway show by studio group Consumer Rapport in 1975, and a second recorded by Diana Ross and Michael Jackson for the 1978 feature-film adaptation of ""The Wiz"". The song was performed in the original Broadway production by Stephanie Mills (Dorothy), Hinton Battle (Scarecrow), Tiger Haynes (Tin Man), and Ted Ross (Cowardly Lion), who also perform the song on the original 1975 cast album for ""The Wiz"". The song was a number-one disco hit for five non-consecutive weeks in a recording by the disco studio group"
"by Jeff Francis; wig design by Gary Arave; production stage manager Peter Hanson; stage manager Valerie A. Peterson. The 1939 film version was directed by George Cukor and starred Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford. Supporting cast included Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine and Mary Boland. In 1956, the story was made into a musical film titled ""The Opposite Sex"", starring June Allyson and Joan Collins. Diane English directed and co-wrote a long-in-development contemporary remake of the film, starring Jada Pinkett Smith, Meg Ryan, Eva Mendes and Annette Bening, which was released in 2008. On February 7, 1955, the NBC"
"cartoon. It's the ultimate indication of her power to transcend: There's very little uglier than this in American pop culture, yet even here Judy can find a reserve of dignity, and not be brought down. She does not ""sell"" racism; at her bosses' behest, she merely wears its costumes"". F.D.R. Jones ""F.D.R. Jones"" (sometimes ""Franklin D. Roosevelt Jones""; originally titled ""Man of the Year"") is a 1938 satirical song written by Harold Rome. It was first recorded and released as a single by Ella Fitzgerald in 1938 and was performed by Judy Garland in blackface in the 1941 musical picture"
"featured in the 1978 film version, sung by cast members Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, and Ted Ross (credited as The Wiz Stars). Given the all-Black cast of ""The Wiz"", the song's many references to freedom and new possibilities (especially as sung by African American characters who had just been freed from enslavement) certainly invoked the struggles and history of Blacks in America. In the onscreen version of the song, Nipsey Russell can even be heard exclaiming ""Free at last!""—a reference to civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. (His impromptu addition to the song is not heard on"
"would team them several more times until ""Words and Music"" in 1948. The film features a cameo appearance from Frankie Darro as Dink Reid. According to MGM records the film earned $426,000 in the US and Canada and $305,000 elsewhere resulting in a loss of $29,000. Thoroughbreds Don't Cry Thoroughbreds Don't Cry is a 1937 American musical comedy film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in their first film together. Cricket West (Garland) is a hopeful actress with a pair of vocal cords that bring down the house. Her eccentric aunt runs a boarding"
"a 1978 adaptation of the Broadway musical ""The Wiz"" starring Diana Ross and the Jackson 5's Michael Jackson, the company focused more closely on television. Its productions during the late 1970s and early 1980s included TV movies such as ""Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill,"" (1979) and ""Callie & Son"" (1981) and TV specials such as the popular and successful """" (1983). ""Motown 25"", an anniversary special for the Motown Records label, was most noted for featuring Michael Jackson's famous performance of his non-Motown hit song ""Billie Jean"". By this time, Suzanne de Passe had become the executive"
"certain we didn't use anything from it. They made a brilliant movie, and even though our concept is different – they're Kansas, we're New York; they're white, we're black, and the score and the books are totally different – we wanted to make sure that we never overlapped in any area."" Michael Jackson, a former Motown star and close friend of Diana Ross was cast as the Scarecrow. By the start of development on ""The Wiz"" in 1977, he and his brothers The Jacksons, had left Motown for Epic Records, though Jackson had yet to make a solo album since"
"Academy Award for Best Song and the Golden Globe. A film sequel, ""Rooster Cogburn"", was made in 1975, with Wayne reprising his role and Katharine Hepburn as an elderly spinster, Eula Goodnight, who teams up with him. The plot has been described as a rehash of the original ""True Grit"" with elements of the Bogart-Hepburn film ""The African Queen"". A further made-for-television sequel titled """" appeared in 1978, starring Warren Oates as Rooster Cogburn and Lisa Pelikan as Mattie Ross and featuring subsequent adventures of the valiant pair. In 2010, Joel and Ethan Coen directed another adaptation of the novel."
"it left the stage and an unsuccessful motion picture made in 1978, starring Diana Ross as Dorothy and Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow. In 1985, Walt Disney Productions released the live-action fantasy film ""Return to Oz"", which starred (and introduced) Fairuza Balk as a young Dorothy Gale. Based loosely on ""The Marvelous Land of Oz"" (1904) and ""Ozma of Oz"" (1907), it fared rather poorly with critics who were unfamiliar with the ""Oz"" books and was not successful at the box office, although it has since become a popular cult film, with many considering it a more loyal and faithful"
"their being mismatched..."" - ""Dorothy Masters"", ""The New York Daily News"" It was released on VHS in 1989, and on DVD in 2004. The soundtrack album was released at the time of the original movie release, and appeared on CD in 2002 along with the Garland album ""That's Entertainment!"" In 2016, it was released on Blu-ray with a limited release from Twilight Time. I Could Go On Singing I Could Go On Singing is a 1963 British-American musical drama film directed by Ronald Neame, starring Judy Garland (in her final film role) and Dirk Bogarde. Although not a huge box"
"prominent secondary roles. Her film credits include ""Middle of the Night"" (1959), ""Roseland"" (1977), ""It's My Turn"" (1980), ""A Little Sex"" (1982), ""Happy New Year"" (1987), ""The Laser Man"" (1988), ""Her Alibi"" (1989), ""Jungle 2 Jungle"" (1997), ""The Peacemaker"" (1997), ""The Object of My Affection"" (1998), ""The Adventures of Sebastian Cole"" (1998), ""The Audrey Hepburn Story"" (2000), ""The Last Request"" (2006), and ""The Private Lives of Pippa Lee"" (2009). She also voiced Tanana in Disney's ""Brother Bear"" (2003). In December 2014, Copeland was invited, along with Broadway actor-singer Jamie Ross by The Noel Coward Society to lay flowers on the"
"mid-1950s. 20th Century Fox originally optioned the project as a possible starring vehicle for Marilyn Monroe around 1956, with Monroe starring as Joyce Lakeland. Marlon Brando was attached to star as Lou Ford. Elizabeth Taylor was considered at the time for the role of Amy Stanton. After Monroe's unexpected death on August 5, 1962, the project was shelved. A film adaptation was eventually made in 1976, directed by Burt Kennedy and starring Stacy Keach as Lou Ford and Susan Tyrrell as Joyce Lakeland. In the mid-1980s, there was another attempt to adapt the book into a film, with Tom Cruise"
"public domain companies over the years. Africa Screams Africa Screams is a 1949 American adventure comedy film starring Abbott and Costello and directed by Charles Barton that parodied the safari genre. The title is a play on the title of the 1930 documentary ""Africa Speaks!"". The supporting cast features Clyde Beatty, Frank Buck, Max Baer, Buddy Baer, Shemp Howard, and Joe Besser. Diana Emerson (Hillary Brooke) is in the book department of Klopper's Department store looking for a copy of the book ""Dark Safari"", written by the famed explorer Cuddleford. Buzz Johnson (Bud Abbott) overhears Diana saying that she will"
"mostly resembles the 1954 version starring Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte titled ""Carmen Jones"". The 1954 remake was of the opera by Georges Bizet titled ""Carmen"". The film has a potential halt as it exercised a common role for African-American women known as ""Jezebel typecast"". This was displayed by sassy, shameless, and often times cutthroat women. However, Dandridge was able to play the role adding layers to her character and thus the movie became a success. It also became a paramount in the Black feminist community as this was one of the first movies to successfully show a black woman"
"was released on VHS home video in the 1990s, and was issued on DVD on May 1, 2007. The movie currently holds a 29% ""Rotten"" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 14 critics. Mahogany (film) Mahogany is a 1975 American romantic drama film directed by Berry Gordy and produced by Motown Productions. The Motown founder Gordy took over the film direction after British filmmaker Tony Richardson was dismissed from the film. ""Mahogany"" stars Diana Ross as Tracy Chambers, a struggling fashion design student who rises to become a popular fashion designer in Rome. Fresh from the success of ""Lady Sings"
"he began his American directing career with ""The Appaloosa"", a Western film starring Marlon Brando and John Saxon. He revisited the spy genre with a follow-up to ""The Ipcress File""; ""The Naked Runner"". Both films feature Furie's signature visuals and directorial style. In 1972, he directed Lady Sings the Blues, a biographical drama about the life of jazz singer-songwriter Billie Holiday, for which lead actress Diana Ross was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. Furie was later attached to direct the similarly-themed remake of ""The Jazz Singer"", but was replaced by Richard Fleischer halfway through principal photography. He"
"and ""Mirror Mirror"". Shortly thereafter, Ross established her production company, named Anaid Productions (""Diana"" spelled backwards), and also began investing in real estate and touring extensively in the United States and abroad. Before the release of ""Why Do Fools Fall in Love"", Ross hosted her first TV special in four years, ""Diana"". Directed by Steve Binder, the concert portions of the special were filmed at Inglewood, California's 17,500-seat The Forum indoor stadium and featured performances by Michael Jackson, Muhammad Ali, "" Dallas"" actor Larry Hagman, music impresario Quincy Jones and members of The Joffrey Ballet. In early 1982, Ross sang"
"Judy Garland as gay icon Actress Judy Garland (1922–1969) is widely considered a gay icon. ""The Advocate"" has called Garland ""The Elvis of homosexuals"". The reasons frequently given for her standing as an icon among gay men are admiration of her ability as a performer, the way her personal struggles seemed to mirror those of gay men in America during the height of her fame, and her value as a camp figure. Garland's role as Dorothy Gale in ""The Wizard of Oz"" is particularly noted for contributing to this status. The aspects of gay identification with Garland were being discussed"
"already good movie."" According to MGM records, the film earned $781,000 in the US and Canada, and $442,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $399,000. The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: The movie was remade by director John Ford in 1953 as ""Mogambo"", this time set in Africa, rather than Indochina, and shot on location in color, with Ava Gardner playing Harlow's role and Grace Kelly in Astor's part. Clark Gable returned to play the same character he had portrayed twenty-one years earlier. Ford used African tribal music as the film's score. ""Red Dust"" was"
"Ross (1978 album) Ross is a 1978 studio album/compilation released by American singer Diana Ross on the Motown label. The album was a mixture of older tunes Ross recorded and newer recordings, side A consisting of four tracks recorded in 1978 and Side B of material recorded between the years 1971 and 1975, but remixed and/or extended by Motown in-house producer Russ Terrana specifically for the ""Ross"" album. ""Ross"" peaked at #49 on the US Pop Albums chart, and #32 on Black Albums. The album failed to chart in the UK. Its final USA sales figures stood at around 150,000"
"rekindle their romance. The musical ran on Broadway in 1978–1979, running for 449 performances and winning five Tony Awards. It showcased Madeline Kahn in the role of Lily Garland, and when Kahn left the show, the role launched the career of Judy Kaye. Several revivals followed in London and elsewhere, and a 2015 Broadway revival featured Kristin Chenoweth and Peter Gallagher. Comden and Green based the musical on three works: the 1934 Howard Hawks film ""Twentieth Century""; the original 1932 play of the same name by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur; and Hecht's and MacArthur's inspiration, Charles Bruce Millholland's unproduced"
"broadcast a radio adaptation of the film, starring Judy Garland as Eva Lovelace and Adolphe Menjou reprising his role of Louis Easton. Garland performed the song ""I'll Remember April"" on the broadcast. In 1949, a second radio adaptation was aired on the radio, this time with Elizabeth Taylor in the lead role of Eva Lovelace. Morning Glory (1933 film) Morning Glory is a 1933 American Pre-Code drama film which tells the story of an eager would-be actress and her journey to stardom, and what she loses as a result. The picture stars Katharine Hepburn, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Adolphe Menjou,"
"Woodard (Ouiser), Phylicia Rashād (Clairee), Adepero Oduye (Annelle) and Condola Rashād (Shelby). ""The New York Times"" had mixed reactions: applauded it on some points and on others as either schmaltz or less attentive than the 1989 film. Steel Magnolias Steel Magnolias is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross. It is a film adaptation of Robert Harling's 1987 play of the same name. The play and film are about the bond a group of women share in a small-town Southern community, and how they cope with the death of one of their own. The story is based on"
"The Wiz (soundtrack) The Wiz is the original motion picture soundtrack album for the 1978 film adaptation of the Broadway musical ""The Wiz"". Although the film was produced for Universal Pictures by Motown Records' film division, the soundtrack album was issued on MCA Records as a two-LP collection (Universal was owned by MCA Inc. at the time). Chiefly produced by Quincy Jones, ""The Wiz"" soundtrack features non-sync cast performances by the stars of the film, including Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, Mabel King, Theresa Merritt, Thelma Carpenter, and Lena Horne. Like many musicals of the period, the"
"Africa Screams Africa Screams is a 1949 American adventure comedy film starring Abbott and Costello and directed by Charles Barton that parodied the safari genre. The title is a play on the title of the 1930 documentary ""Africa Speaks!"". The supporting cast features Clyde Beatty, Frank Buck, Max Baer, Buddy Baer, Shemp Howard, and Joe Besser. Diana Emerson (Hillary Brooke) is in the book department of Klopper's Department store looking for a copy of the book ""Dark Safari"", written by the famed explorer Cuddleford. Buzz Johnson (Bud Abbott) overhears Diana saying that she will pay $2,500 for a map that"
"in films such as Disney's ""Captain EO"" in 1986, the anthology film ""Moonwalker"" in 1988 and the posthumous documentary ""This Is It"" in 2009. With Lena Horne's death in 2010, Diana Ross is the last surviving ""Main Cast"" member of the film. The Wiz (film) The Wiz is a 1978 American musical adventure fantasy film produced by Universal Pictures and Motown Productions, and released by Universal Pictures on October 24, 1978. A reimagining of L. Frank Baum's classic 1900 children's novel ""The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"" featuring an all-black cast, the film was loosely adapted from the 1974 Broadway musical"
"be the dream of a little girl who has fallen asleep listening to the story of Kynd and Kruel, said to be the story of ""The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"". The film also introduced the idea of the farmhands also being the Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman and Cowardly Lion, albeit as costumes they don in order to conceal themselves in Oz. In the 1939 movie ""The Wizard of Oz"", Dorothy was played by Judy Garland, who received an Academy Juvenile Award for her performance. Since she was sixteen years old at the time of filming, Garland's maturing figure was bound into"