Most Successful Of All Time- Page 2

[allofmylife]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 8:27pm

I am stunned that nqobody has mentioned the greatest star to ever come from the Broadway stage, bar none. With eleven shows on Broadway then 49 movies and international acclaim as the greatest dancer of all time...

Fred Astaire.

Alfred Drake, Ethel Merman, none of them had hit films like Fred Astaire.

And Gene Kelly has to be right behind. As is Ginger Rodgers and Bob Hope.

Updated On: 4/22/06 at 08:27 PM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 8:29pm

It's not my knowledge. It's IBDB.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 8:31pm

Female: Julie Andrews, Ethel Merman

Male: Andrew Lloyd Webber...I hate to say it, but, although he is not an actor, he has reached the mainstream like no other composer of modern Broadway

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 8:43pm

I didn't get into everyone who ever walked on a Broadway stage and then went on to become a megastar in films because that list would have HUNDREDS of people on it (nearly EVERY big star prior to, say, the 60s, started out on Broadway before being discovered in film). I focused how many HIT shows that these performers were the name-above-the-titles stars of. That list is at least manageable -- there aren't many people who ever starred in more than three.

Astaire and his sister Adele were more a featured act than the actual stars of most of the shows that they appeared in on Broadway (and she was apparently the star of the act). I believe he would probably be termed "the star" of Funny Face, The Band Wagon and Gay Divorce, but he and his sister were simply one of several featured players in their other shows.

Gene Kelly only starred in two Broadway shows -- Pal Joey and Time of Your Life.

Ginger Rogers only starred in one hit -- Girl Crazy (in her entire career she only did 4 shows -- and only 2 before she went to Hollywood and became a star).

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 8:50pm

The question was "star" not star composer. If you want the biggest star composer, even Webber pales in comparison to Rodgers and Hammerstein in terms of popularizing Broadway around the planet. Their shows have been performed hundreds of thousands of times in over 100 countries and dozens of languages. In terms of sheer number of performances they're unsurpassed (and always will be) and it would be impossible to compute in 2006 dollars how many tens or (hundreds) of billions of dollars their shows and recordings and films have brought in the last 60 years. JCS, Joseph, Cats, and Phantom combined haven't brought in as much money (or been seen by as many people) worldwide as Oklahoma or Sound of Music or South Pacific have been. It's not even close.

Updated On: 4/22/06 at 08:50 PM

[mateo]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 8:52pm

Ethel Merman.... Jerry Orbach

[Kringas]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 8:55pm

Marian Seldes.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 8:56pm

Fred is often overlooked because of his unique position in time. Not counting twenty years in Vaudeville BEFORE they became Broadway stars, Fred and his sister Adele did 2700 plus performances on Broadway in 11 shows, and that dosen't include the tours and London productions of most of the shows.

Coming right on the cust of sound films, most people - even theater geeks - often forget his stage work. He seemed so fully formed in his first starring movie, Gay Divorcee. But of course, he had been playing that role with exactly the same cast - Eric Blore, Luella Gear and Eric Rhodes for three years before it was filmed. Only the female star, Claire Luce was replaced by Ginger Rogers. And BTW, Claire Luce was really, really HOT. I wish she had made films. Apparently, she danced much better than Ginger, made Fred even sexier and she was one of the most unique looking women of her time. Jean Harlow based her look on Claire's platinum blonde locks.

And the other thing about Fred was that he had spent most of his stage career appearing with his sister Adele - they were a team - and she was one of the most beloved actresses of any era. She retired at age 34 to marry The Lord of Cavendish (no he wasn't a frozen fish baron).

And a neat piece of trivia - Fred and Adele had one big flop, a stinker produced by Zeigfeld and co-starring Marilyn Miller which ran for 63 performances called "Smiles." The neat thing is, in my copy of the program, I noticed a familiar name in the chorus - Bob Hope. That was December of 1930. By 1932, Bob was himself a big Broadway star. Apparently, he pulled a Shirley McLaine (okay, he pulled a Sutton Foster for the newbies).

Updated On: 4/22/06 at 08:56 PM