Rest In Peace for Miss Hartline. She was among our first nationally-famed circus women, majorette boots and all. What a beauty she was.
In re our Woodcocks and the Dumont era: We know our leading elephant star was named by Colonel Woodcock for Anna May Wong. She was the first truly recognizable Oriental film star, beginning in the silents. The Colonel was enraptured over her "hair as black as a raven's wing." It is barely remembered today that Ms. Wong was the first Oriental woman to star in her own TV series, THE GALLERY OF MADAME LIU-TSONG. The show ran for one season, 1951, on the Dumont Network which itself lasted from 1946 to 1956. Researchers have sadly concluded that Ms. Wong's kinescope episodes were all destroyed sometime in the 1970s, but thankfully she can be seen in a number of films on YouTube. Her history is well-stated in both IMDb and Wikipedia. Further study finds photos of her marker, with Oriental inscriptions, in her family's final resting place.
Curious how my father suddenly became a Super Circus fan whenever Mary was featured. Super Circus was broadcast live from Chicago's Civic Theatre ... which now sadly has been dismantled to make more storage room for the adjacent Civic Opera House. The Civic Theatre was also where Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie had its world premiere ... and also in the late 1960s where the Peanuts musical, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown played for over a year ... I know this because that is where I met my wife of 50 years.
7 comments:
“Super Circus” a Sunday afternoon series on ABC
began in early 1949 when the TV industry was in
the earliest stages of live broadcasts
Hartline was a striking presence with her long
wavy hair her majorette style costumes which
included her signature uniform with musical
notes on the thigh high hemline & white boots
Our late Empress Barbara never
thought much of majorette boots
In the early days of broadcast television
there were only 2 types of Image Orthicon
cameras that utilized these very sensitive
I-O tubes that needed constant adjustments
This early version of an RCA TK camera was
the most common along with more primative
DuMont wooden enclosed "box" cameras that
were hand made by Allen B DuMont for his
WABD TV station (later renamed WNEW)
Over the years the show ran
it provided work for a vast
number of circus performers
That included the Woodcocks
Above Mary's head is a boom mounted
Electro Voice 666 cardioid microphone
supported in a shock mount cage
The camera is indeed an RCA TK10
What silly stuff to remember
Rest In Peace for Miss Hartline. She was among our first nationally-famed circus women, majorette boots and all. What a beauty she was.
In re our Woodcocks and the Dumont era: We know our leading elephant star was named by Colonel Woodcock for Anna May Wong. She was the first truly recognizable Oriental film star, beginning in the silents. The Colonel was enraptured over her "hair as black as a raven's wing." It is barely remembered today that Ms. Wong was the first Oriental woman to star in her own TV series, THE GALLERY OF MADAME LIU-TSONG. The show ran for one season, 1951, on the Dumont Network which itself lasted from 1946 to 1956. Researchers have sadly concluded that Ms. Wong's kinescope episodes were all destroyed sometime in the 1970s, but thankfully she can be seen in a number of films on YouTube. Her history is well-stated in both IMDb and Wikipedia. Further study finds photos of her marker, with Oriental inscriptions, in her family's final resting place.
Curious how my father suddenly became a Super Circus fan whenever Mary was featured. Super Circus was broadcast live from Chicago's Civic Theatre ... which now sadly has been dismantled to make more storage room for the adjacent Civic Opera House. The Civic Theatre was also where Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie had its world premiere ... and also in the late 1960s where the Peanuts musical, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown played for over a year ... I know this because that is where I met my wife of 50 years.
Post a Comment