Bing Crosby was, without doubt, the most popular and influential media star of the first half of the 20th century. The undisputed best-selling artist until well into the rock era (with over half a billion records in circulation), the most popular radio star of all time, and the biggest box-office draw of the 1940s, Crosby dominated the... [+] Read More

Yes No

The facts surrounding the multi-decade, multi-generational success of Bob Hope are irrefutable. He was a resounding success -- a true star -- on the Broadway stage, in movies, on radio, and television, staying with NBC in the latter two ventures for over half a century. He appeared in over 70 movies in a film career that spanned four decades. He... [+] Read More

Yes No

With his cheery tenor voice and ever-present ukulele, Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards was a major vaudeville star of the 1920s who branched out into record-making (selling a reported 74 million discs), film-making (appearing in as many as 100 films), radio, and television. He introduced such songs as "Fascinating Rhythm" and "Toot, Toot, Tootsie!... [+] Read More

Yes No

Matinee idol Dick Powell enjoyed a long and far-ranging career which brought him great success in music, film and television. Born in Mountain View, Arkansas on November 14, 1903, Powell regularly sang in both school and church choirs as a child, his soprano voice eventually becoming a tenor; at the same time, he also learned to play a number of... [+] Read More

Yes No

Gene Kelly was never very popular as a singer, even though he did cut records and was seen in movie roles in which he sang -- rather, it was his work onscreen as a dancer, choreographer, and director that allowed him to exert a key influence over the popularity of certain song catalogs in the mid-20th century. Showing an early aptitude in both... [+] Read More

Yes No

George Burns had two distinct careers, one an outgrowth of the other. After the death of his beloved wife and partner for 40 years, Gracie Allen, George Burns went back to work in show business as a single. This wasn't the first time, as Burns had a checkered career pre-Burns and Allen when he first started in vaudeville, doing any kind of an... [+] Read More

Yes No

If any performer can truly be said to have carved out his own comedic turf, made a huge success out of it lasting over several decades, while completely owning that piece of turf lock, stock and barrel, then that performer would have to be Jimmy Durante. There never has been -- nor is there likely ever to be -- a stylistic school of Durante; the... [+] Read More

Yes No

One of the most technically gifted and popular vocalists of the immediate post-war period, Jo Stafford effortlessly walked the line between breezy pop and the more serious art of post-big-band jazz singing. With the help of her husband, top-flight arranger and Capitol A&R director Paul Weston, Stafford recorded throughout the '40s and '50s for... [+] Read More

Yes No

Singer/actress Judy Garland had a varied career that began in vaudeville and extended into movies, records, radio, television, and personal appearances. She is best remembered as the big-voiced star of a series of movie musicals, particularly The Wizard of Oz, in which she sang her signature song, "Over the Rainbow." But unlike most other film... [+] Read More

Yes No

At the commercial height of her career in the '60s, actress/singer Julie Andrews could claim to be the primary performer associated with the longest running musical in Broadway history, the highest grossing Hollywood film ever made, and the biggest-selling album of all time. Each of those achievements was surpassed by others eventually, of... [+] Read More

Yes No