Aretha Franklin (March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist and civil rights activist…..who began her career as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan…..where her father C. L. Franklin was minister. At the age of 18, she embarked on a secular musical career as a recording artist for Columbia Records….and while her career…
John Facenda (August 8, 1913 – September 26, 1984) was an American broadcaster and sports announcer…..who was a fixture on Philadelphia radio and television for decades….and achieved national fame as a narrator for NFL Films and Football Follies. Through his work with NFL Films, Facenda was known by many National Football League fans as “The Voice of God.” One night in 1965, Facenda went to a local tavern, the RDA Club, which happened to…
There has never been…..nor will there ever be again…..an athlete to stand in front of a television camera and control the stage quite like Cassius Clay / Muhammad Ali…..for in so many ways, he truly was The Greatest…..whether he was responding to an interviewers question…..or reciting his poetry to any “gathered crowd”…..or “trash talking” an opponent in the…
Tracy Wilson and partner Rob McCall were a Canadian ice dance team that won the Canadian national championship seven times from 1982 – 1988….and were three-time World Figure Skating Championships bronze medalist….and the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics bronze medalist. In the summer of 1981, Wilson teamed up with Rob McCall….as their partnership started at the Elgin Barrow Arena in Richmond Hill, Ontario…..where they trained throughout their competitive careers…..in which…
In this video excerpt from Bob Hope’s tv special Road To Hollywood….Bob Hope and his guest Martha Hyer reminisce about their time together in the 1958 movie Paris Holiday….as the two perform a typical Bob Hope stand up routine with lots of laughs. Martha Hyer (August 10, 1924 – May 31, 2014) was an American actress….who is best…
In this 1978 interview of Muhammad Ali by Frank Gifford on ABC’s Wide World of Sports…..Ali assesses the fight between challenger Larry Holmes verses WBC Champ Ken Norton….which was a tough, competitive fight…..when after fourteen rounds…..each of the three judges scored the fight dead even at seven rounds each…..as Holmes rallied late in the fifteenth to win…
“Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’“ is the opening song from the musical Oklahoma!….which premiered on Broadway in 1943….and was written by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The leading male character in Oklahoma!, Curly McLain, sings the song at the beginning of the first scene of the musical. The refrain runs: “Oh, what a beautiful mornin’! / Oh,…
Larry Holmes vs. Muhammad Ali was billed as “The Last Hurrah“….which was a professional boxing match contested on October 2, 1980 in Las Vegas for the WBC and Lineal Heavyweight Championships ….as the fight was estimated to have been watched by a record 2 billion viewers worldwide. Larry Holmes was Ali’s sparring partner for a long time. “He lived with Ali. They boxed hundreds of…
“Joltin’” Jeff Chandler is a former professional boxer…..who reigned as the Lineal and WBA World Bantamweight Champion from November 1980 to April 1984….as the 5’7″ (67 inches / 1.70 meters) tall Philadelphian began his professional career with a four-round draw in 1976 after only two amateur bouts. Chandler then began a four-year string of victories culminating in a challenge for the world’s…