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Entertainment News and Highlights, 1960

On April 29, disc jockey Dick Clark denied in testimony before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight that he had accepted "payola" from record companies.

A June 12 settlement of a contract dispute between Actors Equity and the League of New York Theatres ended a 10-day blackout of Broadway theaters.

On Octber 17, Charles Van Doren and 13 other top television quiz show winners were arrested in New York, New York, on charges of 2nd degree perjury.

Ballet

The American Ballet Theatre became the first U.S. dance company to appear in the Soviet Union on September 13, 1960, when it began a six-week engagement with a gala performance at the Stanislavsky Theatre in Moscow. "Modern" ballets performed during the tour included Anthony Tudor's Lilac Garden, Agnes de Mille's Rodeo, Jerome Robbins' Fancy Free, and Michel Fokine's Bluebeard. The company also performed a number of "traditional" ballets, including Les Sylphides, Swan Lake, and Don Quixote.

A Moscow audience gives the American Ballet Company a standing ovation following its performance of David Lichine's 1940 ballet Graduation Ball.

Margot Fonteyn and Michael Somes of the Royal Ballet of England rehearse for a television production of Cinderella, which aired in April.

A scene from the Roland Petit production of Carmen presented by the Royal Danish Ballet at the Copenhagen Royal Theatre in January.

Motion Pictures

Ben Hur, Charlton Hesston, and Simone Signoret were among the winners at the Academy Awards ceremony on April 4.

The Screen Actors Guild ended a month-long strike on April 8th after film studios agreed to pay actors a percentage of profits on films begun after January 31, 1961, and to a wage increase and fringe benefits.

Top-grossing films of the year included Spartacus, Psycho, Exodus, and Swiss Family Robinson.

[more Motion Picture Highlights from 1960]

Theater

A revue built around the writings and sketches of humorist James Thurber, A Thurber Carnival, opened at the ANTA Theatre in New York City on February 26, 1960. In addition to Thurber himself (in 88 performances, dictating letters in one skit), the cast included Tom Ewell, Peggy Cass, Paul Ford, and Alice Ghostley. The skits, with the Don Elliott Quartet providing the musical accompaniment, stressed the humor and sharp-edged sense of observation in Thurber’s drawings, and his profound affection for his fellow men.

James Thurber, whose eysight was failing, recreates with a flashlight one of his famous dog drawings (the photograph was made by means of a double expsoure).

[more Theater Highlights from 1960]

See Also

Simone Signoret

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SKC Films Library >> In The Year... >> 1960

This page was last updated on September 10, 2018.