american bandstand regulars who have died american bandstand regulars who have died

American Bandstand - Home - Facebook I knew all their names. 10/7/1957 9/5/1987 ABC 60 minutes Classic TV Shows - Dick Clark's American Bandstand| FiftiesWeb Where Are the American Bandstand Regulars Now? As she puts it, being a Regular entailed holding a WFIL-TV Bandstand Club membership card and dancing every day on the show. Black music and black dances originating in Philadelphia neighborhoods contributed substantially to the success ofAmerican Bandstand; yetAmerican Bandstandsdancefloor and bleachers were racially segregated, and some of the shows most popular dances were adapted without attribution from black neighborhoods. American Bandstand (TV Series 1952-1989) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. She is a Marco Polo member of the Society of American Travel Writers, a past president of Virginia Professional Communicators and a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame. And, for me, the kids on Bandstand were all I aspired to be. He retained his youthful looks through the 1980s, burnishing his reputation as Americas Oldest Living Teenager. Dick Clark died at age 82 in Santa Monica. On Bandstand, she became lifelong friends with one of the celebrity guests, straight Annette Funicello, of Mickey Mouse Club and Beach Party fame. He still had that in him until the evening before he passed away. The parents of one kid on the show found out that he was gay . The followed the trend of solo ("open") dancing started by Chubby Checker and "The Twist.". Elmhurst Blotter: Man charged with battery for allegedly punching a security guard at a bar, Hinsdale police blotter: multiple thefts reported by patients at Hinsdale Hospital, Glenview police blotter: Harwood Heights woman charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. He said, 'In all my days, I never thought I would ever meet you, and here you are standing right in front of me.' James Morgan, who danced 17 times on Bandstand and stayed interested in it over the years, said Mrs. Spada had run a beauty parlor in the suburbs. Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963 .When he spoke to us off-screen, it was usually from the podium; it gave him command over his domain, and as I have learned over the years, Clark liked and wanted to be in command.4, Smith recalls the closetingof American BandstandsLGBT youths. . Like Rick Pierce, Bandstand dancer Sandra Mae Dawson, who died Feb. 25, 2008, at age 66, was into car racing. His latest book, The Kardashians: An American Drama, will be published in September. For a time, she dated a neighborhood boy, Danny Rapp, lead singer of Danny & the Juniors, who had the hit song At the Hop., I was so afraid that I started trying to talk myself into being straight, Sullivan says. Particularly during the shows prime Philadelphia years (1952-63), Philadelphia youth culture became American culture through American Bandstand. Clark suffered a heart attack while at St. John's. Sullivans co-author, Ray Smith, recently retired after 40 years as an Emmy-winning Today show producer. While ABC wasnt in the quiz show business, a congressional subcommittee found another reason to investigate the network. I never had a crush on her. We have lived in NJ ever since. When I used to walk down the streets of Philadelphia and be recognized, Id be called a Bandstand f*****.. The rest, as they say, is history. . Many of the shows female dancers wore Peter Pan collarsa feature of their Catholic school uniformsand at one point this even sparked a nationwide trend imitating the look. Known for her perky personality, Pat Moliterri is credited with inventing the dance, the Hop, by combining elements of the Slop and the Bop.Sadly, Pat died in in the mid-seventies of a heart attack. Fiorentino, whose mother died when he was 12, said Clark became a role model. It was horrible., Smith says he was lucky to have escaped a beating. And the one thing that really shocked me was that those boys who were 14 and 15 and 16 were sleeping with each other.. The bashing of Bandstand regulars, gay and straight, happened all the time, Sullivan and Smith reveal. Arlene Sullivan, one of the most popularAmerican Bandstandregulars, presents another perspective on the shows closeted world. Henderson remained the chief newsreader for Australia's Channel 9 until finally announcing his retirement in 2002. H.E. Really enjoyed reading your article Larry , I also grew up in the 50s watching American Bandstand, your article brought back so many memories of the good ole days growing up. The Philadelphia way Were goin drop in (Drop!) However, musicians such as Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Sam Cooke all made national appearances on American Bandstand during the late 1950s. "I loved those kids," she says now, living with her husband on the Northwest Side of Chicago. The new legislation effectively ended payola in the music business.2, American Bandstandtoo weathered the payola storm. He debuted in Studio 3B at WFIL-TV, near the El train stop in West Philadelphia, in 1956 when he was a 13-year-old junior high school student. ", Songs she liked to dance to, Mrs. Spada wrote online in June 2010, included "Little Darlin'," "Sixteen Candles," "Tears on my Pillow," "Splish Splash," "Never on Sunday," and "Let's Do The Stroll.". She would gobble down some cookies and milk and turn on the TV. Support+971+2+5530548 Email: sales@mazoutdft.com. "It is with much sadness that we have lost one of the most loving and beautiful souls - Carole Scaldeferri Spada has passed away," Bunny Gibson, who identified herself as a "Bandstand buddy," posted on Facebook. I did get to know Annette Funicello [a Mouseketeer on the original Mickey Mouse Club], who came to the show. . [2] Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Paylola and Sponsorship Identification, Federal Communications Act, Amendments, 1960. It originally aired as simply "Bandstand" in 1952, shot at WFIL-TV's studios in Philadelphia and airing locally. Weekday afternoons were spent with the kids in Philly, the kids on American Bandstand. Dottie When ABC picked the show up, it was renamed American Bandstand, airing its first national show on August 5, 1957. sign up for our monthly Nostalgia e-newsletter or other e-newsletters tailored for boomers! It's handled with sensitive delicacy. "It was in the original TV studio and it was amazing," says Cutler. Via this network, which advertised itself as WFIL-adelphia, the show reached almost six million viewers in the Delaware Valley, the nations third-largest market at the time. As the music historian John Jackson observes, from the 1970s on American Bandstandno longer served as Clarks primary video outlet. For the next several decades, Clark would achieve high national visibility as a popular gameshow host and as the impresario of periodic primetimeAmerican Bandstandhit-song reunions (not to mention a spate of video cassettes and books) that fed on white Americas nostalgia forAmericanBandstandsdays in West Philadelphia, evoked in Barry Manilows Bandstand song with Manilows homage to The Philadelphia Way.. Fifty years later, Bandstand fan Sharon Sultan Cutler wondered what had become of the "Regulars," the name given to the teens that showed up daily to dance. The shy Sullivan pushed herself forward with the contact because she wanted to get on TV to impress her mother. Reading the book, one easily grasps or is reminded what an impactful cultural phenomenon "American Bandstand" was for a couple of generations of TV-watching kids. Known as the Regulars, they became the nation's first reality stars. Click here to see some of your favorites back in action. Barbara finally came back and said I had to come to the front because the back was only for colored people. They werent playing baseball they were DANCING. ), Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. [Clark] was a cool professional with an agenda from the beginning, an agenda for success that made him rich; he was a millionaire by the end of the 1950s. He was 89 years old. I was trying to hit them over their heads with my pocketbook, but they just wouldnt give up. These teenagers became the nation's first reality-TV stars--they received thousands of fan letters and were mobbed everywhere they went. NEW PAGE! In fact, she was "the first female car racer at Cecil County Drag Strip," according. Of course we didn't realize it at the time but these kids were really the first reality stars.". Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years 1956 to 1963 - Facebook In 2014, the National Enquirer interviewed Frank Brancaccio and Eddie Kelly, other series regulars. We would roar, roll over with pain from laughing so hard. Filmed in the cramped quarters of the WFIL Studios at 46th and Market Streets in Philly, Bandstand is such a part of Americana that Dick Clarks podium now resides in the Smithsonian. A show where well-dressed teens gently bop around to the big hits while maintaining an appropriate distance apart hardly seems like it would be a hot bed of sexual experimentation, but American Bandstand apparently featured a crew of Philadelphia kids who had more than dancing in common. Menu. On a sociological front, the show helped popularize rock and roll and make it acceptable to many adults (i.e., parents). It got me out of my shell, but I learned I was a regular teenager who happened to dance on a show that unexpectedly became very popular. 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We were like sisters. ), Lew Klein papers and Evening Bulletin Photographs Collection, Special Collections Research Center of Temple University Libraries, Charles Library, Eye to Eye: American Bandstand (CBS News, YouTube), Interview with Lew Klein, executive producer of American Bandstand (Temple University Television), Lesson Plan: A New "Twist" on Race Relations (ExplorePaHistory.com). In order to help establish a clean-cut image for the show, guys were required to wear ties with suit jackets or sweaters, while girls dressed in good taste, for example a high-cut blouse with a dress or skirt. Thats why Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson would never appear on the show, but movie stars Jeff Chandler, Tab Hunter, Sal Mineo came., Dancing came naturally to Sullivan, the way it did to all Regulars, she says. The couple first honeymooned on the Chattanooga Choo Choo, the famed railway that was immortalized by Glenn Miller and was the first to run South to North. "After that, it was history.". My mother thought I was nuts. In 1988, the National Park Service listed 4548 Market Street on the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Some solo dances had animal names, for example, "The Pony" and "The Monkey"; others were named for . For More Bunny click here to go to Bunny Gibson.com, Bunny Gibson discusses the 50th celebration of American Bandstand. She was one of the great stars of the Philadelphia years. His name is, Champion Polar Images Namron O My-Joy, as recorded with the AKC. As two or three stations grab it off, you get less clearance, therefore you get less rating, and its an endless cycle. He fell in love with her. ", A musical about the 'Miracle' Cubs? Delmont, Matthew F. The Nicest Kids in Town: American Bandstand, Rock n Roll, and the Struggle for Civil Rights in 1950s Philadelphia. The marker stands opposite 4548 Market Street (not shown here), which once housed WFIL-TVand its Studio B, the original home of American Bandstand. They were on the cover of "Dick Clark's American Bandstand " and have done many Documentaries R.I.P. By then, he was a big-time television producer. In a nice way, he'd discipline us.". This site is not endorsed by or associated with dick clark productions, inc. or its family of companies. Conceivably, this helped promote racial equality and intercultural understanding. American Bandstand (1952-89) was a massively popular music television program with strong Philadelphia roots, storied national success, and the power to shape the music industry and society. The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Remember hurrying from school in the 50's and turning on that old black and white tv at 4'oclock to watch all those kids dance on "American Bandstand" live from Philadelphia, The show first began as a local program in the cramped quarters of Studio B at WFIL Tv channel 6 at 46th and Market streets in Philadelphia on October 7, 1952. When she was 10 years old, the woman now known as Sharon Sultan Cutler would rush home from school in the town of East Meadow on Long Island in New York. The original "Bandstand," as it was called in 1952, was first hosted by deejay Bob Horn, who later was fired due to a drunk-driving conviction.. . After school in the late 1950s, millions of American teenagers raced home to watch the gyrations of fellow teens on their parents tiny black-and-white televisions in the living room. . Years later, when Clark was asked whether any of the dancers had died of AIDS, he stated that one had, Smith recalled. "This man had the strongest personality that I had ever seen as a young boy," he said. Of Clarks behind-the-scenes behavior at Studio B, Ray Smith writes unsparingly: The irony about Clark is that he was not the goody-two-shoes he projected: he smoked, cursed, and for a while teetered on the edge of alcoholism. At the height of its popularity, it was watched daily by 20 million people (by contrast, "Dancing With the Stars" drew 13 million viewers weekly last season), with an estimated half of them adults; its teenage dancers got as many as 45,000 fan letters a week. . Forget that. In the wake of the quiz show scandal, however, a subcommittee of the House of Representatives set up hearings to determine if the practice should be made illegal. [6] Jackson,American Bandstand, 71; Jacksons description of Arlene Sullivan. We ended up spending weekends together when she came to New York and D.C. to perform We went to lunch together and had fun, but Annette had to rest and perform, so we didnt have time for anything else., Sullivan never felt like a superstar, even when the Regulars averaged 100 to 150 fan letters a day. And more than 250 fans too, a number of them quite young, who had just heard of the show and were curious. Bunny Gibson was a kid when Dick Clark came into her life - or, rather, when she entered his world in Studio B at 46th and Market Streets in West Philadelphia. 18 talking about this. When he became a regular in 1959, Clark was only 30. Although the Regulars didnt perform in the South, Sullivans memory of a personal visit to Fort Worth, Texas, stuck with her: My friend Barbara [a fellow Regular] and I were visiting Barbaras friend there. New book keeps memories of 'American Bandstand' alive Throughout its Philadelphia years, the show was so popular that it transformed average local-area teens into national celebrities. Its original host was fired after a DWI arrest and in July 1956 a young radio DJ took over. In a fine introduction to this book one of those people, singer Bobby Rydell, recalls his first appearance on the show in 1959 and the many that followed, as well as a "short but sweet" romance with one of the teen dancers, writing: "To appear on 'American Bandstand' was everyone's dream.". But most have fond memories of their short time in the spotlight and of its lingering effect. Clark, Dick, and Richard Robinson. Thanks for contacting us. I went to Bandstand because I was gay and I was a misfit in my neighborhood. Ray Smith says he was upset when Dick Clark claimed only one of the dancers had died from AIDS when asked about it in an interview. I was truly blessed in my life with wonderful family, friends and fans. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune). In March of 1970 we moved to New Jersey. Two of the regulars, Arlene Sullivan and Ray Smith, published the volume asBandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963,with Sharon Sultan Cutler as a non-Bandstand-member co-author. He was 82. Remember, these Regulars werent paid actors or dancers. In the early 1960s, a new collection of teen regulars succeeded Arlene Sullivan's generation on American Bandstand's dance floor. Sullivan was almost 14, the required age for the show, when she became a Regular. However, the couple will shortly be returning to Los Angeles, which will be their permanent residence. . Many other Bandstand alumni from the show's Philadelphia era were overcome with a rush of memories Wednesday. They joined Arlenes and Kennys fan clubs. . We moved around the floor the way our parents did in the 40s. . She also mentions a gay dancer who was pushed in the train tracks, and another who was dangled over an elevator shaft. Rock Obituaries: Knocking on Heavens Door. The show then aired at 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, corresponding with the typical school days end. Mickey Mouse Club Hes a heckuva good dancer who does a mean jitterbug! Interracial couples were not allowed on camera, so they sat on the sidelines. The A,B,C,'s of American Bandstand: Part 3 When American Bandstand became the most popular daytime television program in the late 1950s, a group of ordinary Philadelphia high school students who loved to dance suddenly became a national phenomenon. Broadcast icon Dick Clark, the longtime host of the influential "American Bandstand," has died, publicist Paul Shefrin said. Dick Clark was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH, in 1993 as a non-performer. Numerous black and white performers who appeared on American Bandstand during its seven-year heyday in West Philadelphia are also memorialized in this building. "What ever happened to those dancers on American Bandstand By Larry Koon . REGULARS Gallery 3. . Bunny Gibson was a kid when Dick Clark came into her life - or, rather, when she entered his world in Studio B at 46th and Market Streets in West Philadelphia. Norman passed away on December 6, 1990. It could happen, How Jimmy Stewart's war service affected 'It's a Wonderful Life', Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." Five-foot-two, brown-eyed, brown-haired Arlene and handsome Kenny, a year younger, were among the TV music shows elite, its stars, the vaunted regulars along with another couple often on camera pert, blond Justine Carrelli and suave Bob Clayton. The most comprehensive, authoritative reference source ever created for the Philadelphia region. Learning how American Bandstand made rock n roll respectable. Carole Ann Scaldeferri Spada, 70, of Newtown Square, a regular dancer on American Bandstand from 1957 to 1961, has died. Normally, I do not forward mail to the Regulars. The Secret Gay Lives Of The "American Bandstand" Dancers He said funeral services are pending. 8 Surprising Facts About The Legendary Dance Show American Bandstand "He made me feel that if you want something in life, you have to be serious about it.". London: Omnibus Press, 2006. Sharon Sultan Cutler, who grew up in New York and now lives in Chicago, is co-author of Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years 1956-1963.. That really annoyed me, said Smith, Because quite a few of the Philadelphia dancers on Bandstand died of AIDS., According to Brancaccio, Clark didnt want racial integration on his show either. The news hit hard. putting buyers and sellers in touch with auction houses who have set worlds record.contact auctionmarketnews@yahoo.com with your Auction dates,want lists ,prices realized. He was 82, and had suffered a heart attack while in a Santa Monica hospital for an outpatient procedure. Amanda McClain is Assistant Professor of Communications at Holy Family University. Not only does Bandstand Diaries detail Smith's and Sullivan's personal experiences, it also includes interviews with more than 40 Bandstand regulars, reveals Dick Clark's back story and . Follow Backgrounders on Twitter I have a Champion Samoyed show dog. Who died from American Bandstand? The reality behind the scenes ofAmerican Bandstandwas quite different than what viewers saw on national television. They were the squeaky-clean Kardashians of their era, and Bandstand could easily claim the title as the first reality show. On all the music they play On the Bandstand.! American Bandstand Dancers - Legacy.com The show epitomized many important aspects of ever-evolving American popular culture: mass communication, popular music, youth culture, dance and fashion trends, as well as race and gender relationships. He remembered Clark as a man of few words who kept a professional distance between himself and the teen dancers. She tracked them down for the new coffee-table book, Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963. Throughout its run the show featured various types of popular music, such as rock-and-roll, R&B, Motown, British rock, psychedelic rock, disco, new wave, and more. This is the official Facebook of American Bandstand. On each broadcast day the line of teens hoping to appear on the show snaked around the block; some were granted entry and others denied. Early in 1964, the show moved from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, where it remained through its final season in 1989. The followed the trend of solo (open) dancing started by Chubby Checker and The Twist. Some solo dances had animal names, for example, The Pony and The Monkey; others were named for motions, for example, The Mashed Potato and The Loco-Motion. Two of the biggest record hits of the early 1960s, both of which received a huge boost from airtime onAmerican Bandstand, were Dee Dee Sharps Mashed Potato Time and Freddy Cannons Palisades Park.8, YetAmerican Bandstandsseven-year stint in West Philadelphia was about to end.