Mitzi Gaynor
Encyclopedia
Life and career
Gaynor was born as Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber in Chicago, Illinois to Pauline Fisher, a dancer, and Henry von Gerber, a violinist, cellist, and music director. The family first moved to Detroit and when she was eleven to Hollywood, California.She trained as a ballerina
Ballerina
A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...
as a child and began her career as a chorus dancer. At 13 she was singing and dancing with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera
Los Angeles Civic Light Opera
The Los Angeles Civic Light Opera was an American theatre/opera company in Los Angeles, California. Founded under the motto "Light Opera in the Grand Opera manner" in 1938 by impresario Edwin Lester, the organization presented fifty seasons of theatre before closing due to financial reasons in...
company. She lied about her address so she could go to Hollywood High School
Hollywood High School
Hollywood High School is a Los Angeles Unified School District high school located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California.-History:...
, and signed a seven year contract with Twentieth Century-Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
at age 17. She sang, acted and danced in a number of film musicals, often paired with some of the biggest male musical stars of the day.
A Fox Studio executive thought that Mitzi Gerber sounded like the name of a delicatessen and they came up with a name that used the same initials.
Notable early roles included There's No Business Like Show Business
There's No Business Like Show Business (film)
There's No Business Like Show Business is a 20th Century Fox musical film that was released on December 16, 1954. The title is borrowed from the famous song in the stage musical Annie Get Your Gun....
(1954) which featured Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
's music and also starred Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her powerful voice and roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm", "Everything's...
, Dan Dailey
Dan Dailey
Daniel James Dailey Jr. was an American dancer and actor.-Early life and career:Born in New York City on December 14, 1915, to James J. and Helen Dailey, both born in New York City. He appeared in a minstrel show when very young, and appeared in vaudeville before his Broadway debut in 1937 in...
, Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, Donald O'Connor
Donald O'Connor
Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor was an American dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred alternately with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule...
, and Johnnie Ray
Johnnie Ray
Johnnie Ray was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor of what would become rock and roll, for his jazz and blues-influenced music and his animated stage personality.-Early life:John Alvin Ray was born in...
.
She married Jack Bean, a talent agent and public relations executive for MCA, in San Francisco, California on November 18, 1954. Gaynor had just been fired from Twentieth Century-Fox (before the start of There's No Business Like Show Business) with four years left on her contract and Bean fired from MCA and decided with the time off to get married. After their marriage Bean quit MCA and started his own real estate business and managed Gaynor's career.
She also appeared in Les Girls
Les Girls
Les Girls, also known as Cole Porter's Les Girls, is a 1957 musical comedy film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by George Cukor, produced by Sol C...
(1957, directed by George Cukor
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David Copperfield , Romeo and Juliet and...
) with Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
and Kay Kendall
Kay Kendall
Kay Kendall was an English actress.Kendall began her film career in the 1946 musical London Town. Though the film was a financial failure, Kendall continued to work regularly until her appearance in the comedy Genevieve brought her widespread recognition...
, and the remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of Anything Goes
Anything Goes (1956 film)
Anything Goes is a 1956 musical film adapted from the Cole Porter, Guy Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse stage production of the same title. The book was drastically rewritten for the second film version, also by Paramount, released in 1956...
(1956), co-starring Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Donald O'Connor
Donald O'Connor
Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor was an American dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred alternately with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule...
, and Zizi Jeanmaire
Zizi Jeanmaire
Zizi Jeanmaire is a ballet dancer and widow of renowned dancer and choreographer Roland Petit. She became famous in the 1950s after playing the title role in the ballet version of Carmen, produced in London in 1949, and went on to appear in several Hollywood films.-Background:Born in Paris,...
, loosely based on the musical by Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
, P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton
Guy Bolton
Guy Reginald Bolton was a British-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the U.S., he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred working in collaboration with others, principally the English writers P. G...
.
Gaynor's biggest international fame came from her starring role as Ensign Nellie Forbush in the film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
's South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
, one of the most financially successful musicals
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
of all time, although it was largely panned by critics. For her performance, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
for best actress.
She made films with many other well-known stars, including Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, David Niven
David Niven
James David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther...
, Dan Dailey
Dan Dailey
Daniel James Dailey Jr. was an American dancer and actor.-Early life and career:Born in New York City on December 14, 1915, to James J. and Helen Dailey, both born in New York City. He appeared in a minstrel show when very young, and appeared in vaudeville before his Broadway debut in 1937 in...
, Betty Grable
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...
and Oscar Levant
Oscar Levant
Oscar Levant was an American pianist, composer, author, comedian, and actor. He was more famous for his mordant character and witticisms, on the radio and in movies and television, than for his music.-Life and career:...
. She made her last film to date in the early 1960s. One of her last films was the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
production Surprise Package (1960), a musical comedy thriller directed by Stanley Donen
Stanley Donen
Stanley Donen ; is an American film director and choreographer whose most celebrated works are Singin' in the Rain and On the Town, both of which he co-directed with Gene Kelly. His other noteworthy films include Royal Wedding, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Funny Face, Indiscreet, Damn...
. Her co-stars were Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner was a Russian-born actor of stage and film. He was best known for his portrayal of Mongkut, king of Siam, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film version; he also played the role more than 4,500 times on...
and Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
. The film had a theme song by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
.
Following her film work, Gaynor remained a popular favorite. She often performed songs at Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
ceremonies. At the 1967 Oscar telecast, she sang the theme from the film Georgy Girl
Georgy Girl
Georgy Girl is a 1966 British film based on a novel by Margaret Forster. The film was directed by Silvio Narizzano and starred Lynn Redgrave as Georgy, Alan Bates, James Mason, Charlotte Rampling and Bill Owen....
. Gaynor later added the number to her concert repertoire. Throughout the 1960s and '70s Gaynor starred in nine acclaimed television specials that garnered 16 Emmy nominations. As an interesting historical footnote, Gaynor appeared between two sets by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
when they made their second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show of February 16, 1964. She performed for an unprecedented nine-minute segment from the stage of the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach, separated with one commercial break. She sang "Too Darn Hot
Too Darn Hot
"Too Darn Hot" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for his musical Kiss Me, Kate . In the stage version, it is sung at the start of Act 2, and in the 1948 original Broadway production, it was sung by Lorenzo Fuller and Eddie Sledge and Fred Davis...
" and a blues medley.
Gaynor also recorded two albums for the Verve
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
label, one called Mitzi and the second called Mitzi Gaynor Sings the Lyrics of Ira Gershwin. It is estimated that she earned more from the record royalties on the South Pacific soundtrack album than her salary for the movie. She also recorded the title song from her film, Happy Anniversary
Happy Anniversary (film)
Happy Anniversary is a 1959 comedy film starring David Niven and Mitzi Gaynor.Directed by David Miller, the movie's cast also included Carl Reiner and a young Patty Duke. Duke's next film, The Miracle Worker, would earn her an Academy Award.-Plot:...
for the Top Rank label.
For several decades, Mitzi Gaynor appeared regularly in Las Vegas and at nightclub and concert venues throughout the United States and Canada. During the 1990s, Gaynor also became a featured columnist for the influential newsmagazine The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
. During her nightclub years, Gaynor rehearsed and broke in her night club routines at The Cave
The Cave
The Cave is a multimedia opera in three acts by Steve Reich to an English libretto by his wife Beryl Korot. It was first performed in 1994 by the Steve Reich Ensemble and conducted by Paul Hillier....
, a popular night club in Vancouver. She developed an affinity for the city and was much appreciated by both the local media and the viewing public, frequently making guest appearances on local television for interviews. "Mitzi's back in town" became an annual slogan when Gaynor would come to the city for a number of weeks each year to break in her Las Vegas routines.
On December 4, 2006, Jack Bean, Gaynor's husband of 52 years, died of pneumonia in the couple's Beverly Hills home, aged 84. A producer and personal manager, Bean guided Gaynor's career, most notably securing her the lead role in South Pacific, even over the character's creator on Broadway, Mary Martin
Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...
.
On July 30, 2008, Mitzi, along with Kenny Ortega, Elizabeth Berkley, Shirley MacLaine and cast members from High School Musical, So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing with the Stars and a host of others, participated in the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences TV Moves Live, a celebration of 60 years of dance on television. Gaynor appeared performing the final few bars of Poor Papa (with her original dancers Alton Ruff and Randy Doney), a song-and-dance number from her 1969 TV spectacular, Mitzi's 2nd Special.
On November 18, 2008, City Lights Pictures in Association with Green Isle Inc. released Mitzi Gaynor Razzle Dazzle: The Special Years, a new documentary celebrating Miss Gaynor's annual television specials of the 1960s and '70s. The film, which was broadcast on public television and released on DVD, includes showstopping moments from the original specials (digitally remastered in 5.1 stereo) along with newly taped interviews with Gaynor colleagues, friends, and admirers including Bob Mackie
Bob Mackie
Robert Gordon Mackie is an American fashion designer, best known for his costuming for entertainment icons such as Judy Garland, Cher, Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli, Tina Turner, and Mitzi Gaynor...
, Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner is an American actor, film director, producer, writer and comedian. He has won nine Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award during this career...
, Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth is an American singer and actress, with credits in musical theatre, film and television. She is best known on Broadway for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown , for which she won a Tony Award, and for originating the role of Glinda in the musical...
, Rex Reed
Rex Reed
Rex Taylor Reed is an American film critic and former co-host of the syndicated television show At the Movies. He currently writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for The New York Observer.-Life and career:...
, Tony Charmoli
Tony Charmoli
Tony Charmoli , an American dancer, choreographer, and director, began dancing on Broadway in such shows as "Make Mine Manhattan" but soon began choreographing for television with "Stop the Music" in 1949. Charmoli then choreographed dance sequences for the popular "Your Hit Parade," winning his...
, Alton Ruff, Randy Doney, and Kelli O'Hara
Kelli O'Hara
Kelli O'Hara is an American actress, singer, and songwriter.O'Hara has been nominated for three Tony Awards: for her performance as Clara Johnson in The Light in the Piazza; for her performance as Babe Williams in the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of The Pajama Game, where she starred...
.
Gaynor's one-woman show, Razzle Dazzle: My Life Behind the Sequins, toured the United States throughout 2009 and 2010 (including an acclaimed 2 week engagement in NYC) Her tour resumes in 2011.
Honors
On April 18, 2010, Gaynor won the 2010 NATAS Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment Program/Special for her public television musical documentary "Mitzi Gaynor: Razzle Dazzle! The Special Years."On April 13, 2010, Gaynor was honored with the Bob Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award at The 25th annual Bistro Awards in New York City.
On November 7, 2009, Mitzi was honored with Chapman University's Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award during the 28th Annual American Celebration Gala Night at Chapman University in Orange, CA.
On July 10, 2009, Mitzi was honored with the Tremaine 2009 Entertainer of the Year Award from the Joe Tremaine Dance Competition Nationals Final Gala in Orlando, FL.
On March 8, 2009, Gaynor was honored with the 2009 Boston Youth Moves Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Chita Rivera at Swellegance, the Boston Youth Moves annual fundraiser in Boston, MA.
On April 10, 2007, Mitzi Gaynor was honored by the Museum of Television & Radio
Museum of Television & Radio
The Paley Center for Media, formerly The Museum of Television & Radio and The Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S...
in Los Angeles with a special evening celebrating her television specials of the 1960s and 1970s. The sold-out event, Mitzi Gaynor Razzle-Dazzle!: The Special Years, featured a screening followed by a panel discussion with Gaynor, designer Bob Mackie
Bob Mackie
Robert Gordon Mackie is an American fashion designer, best known for his costuming for entertainment icons such as Judy Garland, Cher, Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli, Tina Turner, and Mitzi Gaynor...
and director/choreographer Tony Charmoli
Tony Charmoli
Tony Charmoli , an American dancer, choreographer, and director, began dancing on Broadway in such shows as "Make Mine Manhattan" but soon began choreographing for television with "Stop the Music" in 1949. Charmoli then choreographed dance sequences for the popular "Your Hit Parade," winning his...
. In conjunction with the event, the museum also featured a month-long gallery exhibit, Mitzi by Mackie, featuring Bob Mackie
Bob Mackie
Robert Gordon Mackie is an American fashion designer, best known for his costuming for entertainment icons such as Judy Garland, Cher, Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli, Tina Turner, and Mitzi Gaynor...
's Emmy-winning costumes from her specials along with a selection of costumes from Gaynor's legendary stage shows and concert appearances.
On October 14, 2006, the NY Alumni "adopted" Gaynor as an official "New Yorker" at Beverly Hills High School
Beverly Hills High School
Beverly Hills High School is the only major public high school in Beverly Hills, California. Beverly is part of the Beverly Hills Unified School District and located on on the west side of Beverly Hills, at the...
in California. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
issued a proclamation paying tribute to her distinguished career as a singer, dancer, actress and writer.
The television specials
On October 14, 1968, Mitzi Gaynor starred in her first television special, Mitzi. In specials including Mitzi - The First Time and Mitzi...Zings into Spring she showcased the talents she had first used as a theatrical performer, then in films like There's No Business Like Show Business, Les Girls, and South Pacific, and finally as a cabaret performer.Each special was a blend of song, dance and comedy with guest stars drawn from the top ranks of the business including Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner is an American actor, film director, producer, writer and comedian. He has won nine Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award during this career...
, Michael Landon
Michael Landon
Michael Landon was an American actor, writer, director, and producer. He is widely known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza , Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie , and Jonathan Smith in Highway to Heaven...
, Bill Bixby
Bill Bixby
Wilfred Bailey Everett “Bill” Bixby III was an American film and television actor, director, and frequent game show panelist.His career spanned over three decades; he appeared on stage, in motion pictures and TV series...
, Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette was an American actress, on stage, screen and television.After beginning her career in theatre, she began appearing in films in the early 1960s, such as Rome Adventure and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds...
, Ken Berry
Ken Berry
Kenneth Ronald "Ken" Berry is an American dancer, comedic actor and singer. He began on stage as a dancer and later starred in television sitcoms.-Life and career:...
and George Hamilton
George Hamilton (actor)
George Stevens Hamilton is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Hamilton was the youngest son of bandleader George "Spike" Hamilton and his first wife, Ann Stevens . He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and lived in Blytheville, Arkansas...
. The 80 member USC Marching Band
Spirit of Troy
The Spirit of Troy, also known as the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band , self-described as "The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe," represents USC at various collegiate sports, broadcast, popular music recording, and national public appearance functions.The...
marching band joined her for a musical medley.
List of television specials
- The Kraft Music Hall:The Mitzi Gaynor Christmas Show (1967) (NBC)
- Mitzi (1968) (NBC)
- Mitzi's 2nd Special (1969) (NBC)
- Mitzi: The First Time (1973) (CBS)
- Mitzi: A Tribute to the American Housewife (1974) (CBS)
- Mitzi...and a Hundred Guys (1975) (CBS)
- Mitzi...Roarin' In the 20's (1976) (CBS)
- Mitzi...Zings Into Spring (1977) (CBS)
- Mitzi...What's Hot, What's Not (1978) (CBS)
- Mitzi Gaynor: Razzle Dazzle! The Special Years (2008) (PBS)
Filmography
- My Blue HeavenMy Blue Heaven (1950 film)My Blue Heaven is a 1950 musical film directed by Henry Koster and starring Betty Grable and Dan Dailey.-Plot:Kitty Moran, a radio star finds out she is pregnant however she miscarries...
(1950) - Take Care of My Little GirlTake Care of My Little GirlTake Care of My Little Girl is a 1951 drama film directed by Jean Negulesco. The film, shot in Technicolor, is based on the 1950 novel of the same name written by Peggy Goodin.-Plot:...
(1951) - Golden Girl (1951)
- We're Not Married!We're Not Married!We're Not Married! is a romantic comedy film released by 20th Century Fox. The featured was directed by Edmund Goulding, and released on July 11, 1952....
(1952) - Bloodhounds of BroadwayBloodhounds of Broadway (1952 film)Bloodhounds of Broadway is a 1952 musical film based on a Damon Runyon story and starred young starlet Mitzi Gaynor, along with Scott Brady, Mitzi Green, Marguerite Chapman, Michael O'Shea, Wally Vernon and George E. Stone. It was directed by Harmon Jones....
(1952) - The I Don't Care Girl (1953)
- Down Among the Sheltering PalmsDown Among the Sheltering Palms"Down Among the Sheltering Palms" is a popular song.The music was written by Abe Olman, the lyrics by James Brockman and Leo Wood. The song was published in 1914....
(1953) - Three Young Texans (1954)
- There's No Business Like Show BusinessThere's No Business Like Show Business (film)There's No Business Like Show Business is a 20th Century Fox musical film that was released on December 16, 1954. The title is borrowed from the famous song in the stage musical Annie Get Your Gun....
(1954) - The Birds and the BeesThe Birds and the Bees (film)The Birds and the Bees is a 1956 screwball comedy film with songs, starring George Gobel, Mitzi Gaynor and David Niven. A remake of Preston Sturges' 1941 film The Lady Eve, which was based on a story by Monckton Hoffe, the film was directed by Norman Taurog and written by Sidney...
(1956) - Anything GoesAnything Goes (1956 film)Anything Goes is a 1956 musical film adapted from the Cole Porter, Guy Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse stage production of the same title. The book was drastically rewritten for the second film version, also by Paramount, released in 1956...
(1956) - The Joker Is WildThe Joker Is WildThe Joker Is Wild is a film starring Frank Sinatra, Jeanne Crain, and Mitzi Gaynor, and Eddie Albert which tells the story of Joe E. Lewis, the popular singer and comedian who was a major attraction in nightclubs during 1920s to early 1950s....
(1957) - Les GirlsLes GirlsLes Girls, also known as Cole Porter's Les Girls, is a 1957 musical comedy film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by George Cukor, produced by Sol C...
(1957) - South Pacific (1958)
- Happy AnniversaryHappy Anniversary (film)Happy Anniversary is a 1959 comedy film starring David Niven and Mitzi Gaynor.Directed by David Miller, the movie's cast also included Carl Reiner and a young Patty Duke. Duke's next film, The Miracle Worker, would earn her an Academy Award.-Plot:...
(1959) - Surprise PackageSurprise Package (film)Surprise Package is a 1960 American comedy film directed by Stanley Donen and starring Yul Bryner, Mitzi Gaynor, Noel Coward, Eric Pohlmann and Barry Foster. An American gangster living on a Greek island and a deposed King hatch a plan to steal some crown jewels....
(1960) - For Love or MoneyFor Love or Money (1963 film)For Love or Money is a 1963 romantic comedy film starring Kirk Douglas, Mitzi Gaynor and Thelma Ritter.-Plot summary:Lawyer Donald Kenneth "Deke" Gentry is given the task of playing matchmaker for the three daughters of his wealthy client Chloe Brasher .-Cast:* Kirk Douglas as Donald Kenneth...
(1963)