Musical History

  • Guess who's coming to dinner

    Spencer Tracy was born four years after his brother Carroll to truck salesman John Edward and Caroline Brown Tracy.
  • It happened one night

    He just barely comes out on top of #3, and on some days I put him below Billy-Po, but most of the time I feel that though he flirts with being overrated at times, for the most part, Clark Gable is not unduly iconic.
  • the thin man

    Besides his iconic turns as Nick Charles in The Thin Man and the title role in My Man Godfrey; and besides my personal favorite of his comedies, Libeled Lady, I thought he gave a marvelous dramatic performance in Manhattan Melodrama.
  • angels with dirty faces

    One of Hollywood's preeminent male stars of all time, James Cagney was also an accomplished dancer and easily played light comedy. James Francis Cagney was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, to Carolyn (Nelson) and James Francis Cagney, Sr., who was a bartender and amateur ...
  • THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES

    Fredric March began a career in banking but in 1920 found himself cast as an extra in films being produced in New York. He starred on the Broadway stage first in 1926 and would return there between screen appearances later on. He won plaudits (and an Academy Award nomination) for his send-up of
  • "Face the Music" Musical

    The musical "Face the Music" by Irving Berlin opened, contained the popular song "Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee."
  • Song composure, "Top Hat"

    Berlin wrote songs for the musical film "Top Hat," which was released in 1935. The film included the hit "Cheek to Cheek."
  • Gershwin"s Death

    Gershwin died at the age of 38 of a brain tumor.
  • "Night and Day"

    Cole Porter is known for composing music with sophisticated rhythms, according to Larry Starr and Christopher Waterman, authors of "American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MP3."
  • "God Bless America"

    In 1938, Berlin's anthem "God Bless America" premiered for the first time when it was sung by Kate Smith.
  • Hart's death

    Hart's death in 1943