Show Business

Category Archives: Show Business

Arnold Schwarzenegger: A Short Bio

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger born in Austria is a very versatile actor along with being a great bodybuilder and now a politician and the Governor of California. He was the second son of his parents. His father being a police officer taught him great values and brought him up in a very strict and disciplined environment.

Arnold had a great sports personality like his father. He had an ambition to be a body builder from his childhood and thus he began bodybuilding at the age of fifteen when he joined the soccer team of Austria. At the age of eighteen, in 1965 he joined the army and that’s when he became serious about his body and started taking a strict diet. While in the army he took part in the Mr. Junior Europe contest in 1965 and won the competition. From then on there was no looking back for him. He won enormous number of professional titles after which he went to take part in the 1968 Mr. Universe competition. He won that one too and also became the youngest winner, at the age of twenty. He even won the Mr. Olympia titles consecutively for six years but lost to Sergio Oliva when he competed for the first time. He was given the nickname “The Austrian Oak” for his great body. He then left the competition saying that he wanted to give a chance to other talents too. George Butler made a documentary on Arnold’s body building training named Pumping Iron. Besides body building being his ultimate dream, he entered Hollywood with his first movie “Hercules Goes to New York” in the year 1970. He won the Golden Globe Award for best new actor for his performance in the movie Stay Hungry, in 1976. His character in “Conan” movie required him to train vigorously and all the horse riding, sword training and running made him so strong that he required only eight weeks training for the competition. This time too, he won it. But it led to a controversy that the competition didn’t support talent but popularity.

Cary Grant: A Short Bio

One of the greatest actors that Hollywood has ever seen Cary Grant was born on January 18, 1904 in Horfield, Bristol, U.K. His original birth name was Archibald Alexander Leach. Cary Grant was a tall, handsome and Charismatic person. No wonder why everyone during that era wanted to be like him. The actors had an average lower middle class childhood. It got even tougher after his mother was sent to a mental institution after she fell mentally ill when he was only 9 years old. But this fact had not been told to him until he reached his late twenties. He dropped out from school at the age of fourteen to join Bob Pender’s troupe of comedians by lying about his age and forging the signature of his father on the letter he submitted to join the troupe.

Charlie Chaplin: A Short Bio

What could be said about this great and prolific actor? An article isn’t sufficient to describe the life of this immortal legend. A library of books written on him may still fall short of portraying the life of this never to be forgotten hero of Hollywood who gave innumerable memorable movies to us. Though he rose to fame mostly due to his silent movies but he conveyed so many things that many actors couldn’t do through speech. Charles Spencer Chaplin popularly known as Charlie Chaplin was born in Walworth, London, U.K. on April 16, 1889. The people had given him nick names like Charlie, Charlot and The Little Tramp.

Clark Gable: A Short Bio

William Clark Gable who is popularly known as Clark Gable was born on February 1, 1901 in a small town called Cadiz in Ohio. Clark Gable was also known by nicknames such “Gabe” and “The King”. Clark Gable had five marriages. The first two ended in divorce with Josephine Dillon and Ria Langham respectively. The third marriage took place with Carole Lombard but that too was short lived as she died after three years of marriage. Clark Gable married Sylvia Ashley nearly 7 years after the death of his third wife. But that too ended within 3 years of marriage. His last wife survived Clark Gable when he died of a heart attack on November 16, 1960.

History of Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation owned by media conglomerate Viacom was founded in the year 1912. The founder Adolph Zukor of Famous Players Film Company decided to make feature films that would fulfill the demands of immigrants. By the mid of next year he made five successful films. In the same year Jesse L. Lasky founded Lasky Feature Play Company and hired Cecil B. DeMille for his first movie “The Squaw Man”. Both these production companies sought help of Paramount Pictures to release their movies. Paramount Pictures was a new company at that time and was a merger of many small firms by W. W. Hokinson. The idea was appreciated and the new company, Famous Players-Lasky, got a good start. Lasky and his brother-in-law, Goldfish became in charge of the production, along with DeMille. Hiram Abrams was responsible for the distribution where as Zukor made plans for the development of the company. The company soon touched great heights. In 1916, Zukor decided to talk about the merging of the three companies with Lasky and Hodkinson. Public can take guided tour into the Paramount Studios situated in Hollywood, California.

History of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

The California based Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation formed after the merger of two companies Fox Film Corporation and Twentieth Century Pictures in 1935. Darryl F. Zanuck, Raymond Griffith, William Goetz and Joseph Schenck started the Twentieth Century Pictures in 1933 and the Fox Film Corporation’s founder was William Fox who founded it in the year 1915.

William Fox built many theaters and created many legends in his impressive career. Sound Fox bought the rights of a German film sound processing technique and Fox was able to produce movies with music and effect track in 1926. The company was growing and more land was required for expanding. He bought around three hundred acre of land in Beverly Hills where he built the Movietone City. After the death of his rival, Marcus Loew, William thought of buying Loew’s Inc. It had nearly two hundred theaters and also MGM studios under it. The deal was made and the companies were officially merged in 1929. But the owner of MGM studios, Louis B. Mayer, wasn’t happy with this idea and he revolted by calling on the Justice Department’s anti-trust unit and using political influence. Luck wasn’t on William’s side and he was injured in a car crash and by the time he was back to normal again the stock market crashed and he was totally bankrupt. He lost all his fortune and was even had to go to jail. The only way out was to merge with another larger company. This is when the merger of Twentieth Century and Fox took place. Fox had nearly two hundred theaters under its belt, but at that time the Twentieth Century was in better financial condition, so the name of the new company was Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, which began functioning on May 31, 1935. Schenck became the chief executive and Zanuck was the head of production. The leading actor of this company Will Rogers was killed in a plane crash and the leading actress Janet Gaynor also began losing popularity. Zanuck then decided to sign up new artists with some fresh talent. That was when Tyrone Power, Betty Grable, Henry Fonda, Sonja Henie, and Don Ameche became a part of the Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. They made many musical-dramas and movies on famous biographies, which became huge hit with the audiences.

History of Universal Studios

Universal Studios or Universal Pictures or Universal City Studios is one of the largest American film studios. It was established in 1906 when Carl Laemmle started his first theater in Chicago. He started by playing short silent movies. He later switched to production and distribution. To start the production of his own films, he opened the Independent Moving Picture Company in New York in 1909. His first work, Hiawatha, was released in the same year.

Laemmle’s dream was to make his presence felt all over America. His next target was the west where he bought the Nestor Studio in Hollywood. He formed the Universal Film Manufacturing Company on June 8, 1912. This company which was New York based, incorporated the already existing Independent Moving Picture Company and five other companies into it. By that time he had already conquered the east and the west coast of America and now he decided to centralize his production companies. He asked Isadore Bernstein to buy plots in Los Angeles. The two hundred and thirty acre land bought became the Universal City, the entertainment center of the world. Although film production here began in 1914 and in 1915 it was officially inaugurated on March 15, 1915. The first production of this studio was Damon and Pythias. Many films were released after the studio opened including comedies, drama, action, and adventure.

History of Warner Bros

Based in Burbank, California Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. is one of the largest producers of television programs and films. The other companies which are a part of Warner Bros. are Warner Bros. Studios, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Home Video, Warner Bros. Animation, The CW Television Network and DC Comics. The founders of the studio were the Warner Brothers – Harry Warner, Albert Warner, Sam Warner and Jack L. Warner. The first three brothers started with projecting movies in the Ohio and Pennsylvania. They bought their first theater the Cascade in 1903. They also founded Duquesne Amusement and Supply Company for distribution purpose in Pittsburg.

How do I break into show business?

Many people have the dream of breaking into Show Business one day in their life. While many have the inborn talent to make it big some may have to work hard to polish it. But irrespective of whatever everybody has to plan and take a right approach to get a break in Showbiz. But remember success doesn’t come overnight; you have to work hard and even harder to make it big in the Show business. So the first lesson to learn is stay away from agents who promise you to make a big star overnight.

The first and foremost thing to know before entering the Show Business is that you should analyze yourself whether you have it in you to break into Show Business. Somebody can teach you acting but cannot make you an actor unless you have it in you called the desire. Question yourself whether you will be able face the challenges like different work environment, different style of living, new people, new places and many more that might come in your way and the tough competition ahead. A lot depends on how flexible and adaptable you are. If you have a rigid personality then forget about getting a break as this industry demands you to work with people having different kinds of personalities and the possibility of differences creeping in cannot be ruled out.

How to find an agent?

You may have the talent and skills to make it big in the show business but the attempts to break into the industry are futile without an agent and to be precise a right agent. A good agent is critical to the success of your efforts to get into show business. There are many agents who advertize to get candidates, some look out for them on the roads and malls promising a bright future to the prospective actors. But beware of these agents. Reputed agents never advertize to get actors. They already have a bee-line at their door and thus would never be required to advertize, their hands are always full with aspiring actors willing to get a break in this fantastic industry.