This Week in Television History: March 2013 PART II

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As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.

 

March 11, 1903

Lawrence Welk is born.

For the generation that grew up on the big bands of the 30s and 40s, The Lawrence Welk Show was a blessed island of calm in a world gone mad for rock and roll, and it aired like clockwork every Saturday night from 1955 to 1982. But for the children and grandchildren watching along with them, it seemed more like the "television show that time forgot." The man at this generational flash point was an accordion-playing, Alsatian-accented bandleader who kicked off each number with "A vun and a two" and ended with a cheery "Wunnerful, wunnerful." Although he delighted the older crowd, youngsters were usually not so enamored. As polarizing in his own folksy way as Elvis Presley was in his, the inimitable Lawrence Welk—creator and King of "Champagne Music"—was born in rural North Dakota on March 11, 1903.

Welk's parents were immigrants from Alsace-Lorraine who spoke only German to the nine children they raised on their farm outside Strasburg, North Dakota. In fact, Lawrence Welk did not learn English until his early 20s, which explains the accent that became his trademark. A dutiful son, Welk dropped out of school in the fourth grade to work full time on the family farm, but he decided early on that he wished to pursue a career in music. He learned to play the accordion from his father, who carried his own antique instrument with him when he immigrated to America. Lawrence wore out the inexpensive, mail-order accordion bought for him as a boy, so he made a deal with his parents: In exchange for a $400 loan to purchase a professional accordion, he would stay and work on the family farm through the age of 21. Playing small professional gigs in the surrounding area, Welk honed his musical skills and earned enough money to pay his parents back when he left home for good in 1924.

By the early 1930s, Lawrence Welk had earned a degree in music and made a name for himself as the leader of a traveling orchestra. He had also failed in a restaurant venture selling "squeezeburgers" cooked on an accordion-shaped grill, but he had succeeded in developing a unique brand as the proponent of a pleasing pop style dubbed "Champagne Music" for its light and bubbly quality. After two decades of success in the Midwest, Welk made his way to Los Angeles in 1951, taking up residence with his orchestra at the Aragon Ballroom in Pacific Ocean Park. He made his first appearance on local television the following year, and his show was picked up by ABC in 1955. When ABC dropped The Lawrence Welk Show in 1971, Welk independently arranged a syndication deal that kept him on the air for another 11 years and made him one of the richest entertainers in America. Born on this day in 1903, Lawrence Welk died at the age of 89 on May 17, 1992.

March 14, 1948

Billy Crystal is born in Long Beach, California. Crystal began performing in comedy clubs as a teenager; after graduating from New York University's film school, he formed his own comedy troupe, 3's Company. As a young stand-up comic, Crystal opened for acts like the singer Barry Manilow and was particularly known for his impression of the sportscaster Howard Cosell interviewing Muhammad Ali. 

After setting off for Hollywood, Crystal landed the role of Jodie Dallas, one of the first openly gay characters on television, on Soap (1977-81). 

Though his first film, Rabbit Test (1978)--in which he played the world's first pregnant man--flopped, Crystal's star kept rising. 

His popular live performances and regular appearances on TV's Saturday Night Live landed him roles in a string of movies, including Rob Reiner's This is Spinal Tap (1984), Running Scared (1986) and The Princess Bride (1987), and Throw Momma From the Train (1987). In 1989, he made his highest-profile star turn yet, playing opposite Meg Ryan in the hit romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally..., also directed by Reiner.

In 1990, Crystal won over audiences with his first Oscar hosting gig, performing silly songs based on the nominated films and popping up in film-clip montages. He would host the ceremony seven more times (1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2004 and 2012), along with a number of other events, including the Grammy Awards and the HBO benefit series Comic Relief, alongside Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams.

Crystal scored his biggest movie hit to date in 1991, playing a radio executive going through a mid-life crisis in City Slickers (1991), which he also executive-produced. The film's success led to a memorable moment at the 1992 Oscars, when Crystal's 73-year-old co-star, Jack Palance, dropped to the stage to perform one-armed pushups when accepting his statuette for Best Supporting Actor. As emcee that night, Crystal wrung maximum comedic potential about the incident with his follow-up jokes. The film's sequel, City Slickers 2: The Legend of Curly's Gold, came out in 1994.
Crystal had less success with his next producing and acting effort, the ambitious 1992 film Mr. Saturday Night, which he also directed. In the film, Crystal played the stand-up comedian Buddy Young Jr., a character he had originated in 1984 and later portrayed on Saturday Night Live, among other shows. Mr. Saturday Night received mixed reviews, and was a failure at the box office. In 1995, Crystal wrote, directed, produced and starred in Forget Paris, a romantic comedy co-starring Debra Winger; the film was a critical and commercial disappointment.
Crystal appeared in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996) and Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry (1997), but another producing effort, 1998's My Giant, also flopped. He came back strong, however, with 1999's blockbuster hit Analyze This, as a therapist who counsels a mob boss, played by Robert De Niro. A sequel, Analyze That, was released in 2002. In between those big-screen successes, Crystal earned an Emmy Award nomination for directing the HBO movie 61*, about the home run race between Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle in 1961; the project was driven by Crystal's longtime love of baseball. He also wrote and co-starred in the Hollywood-skewering comedy America's Sweethearts and provided the voice of one of the lead characters in the animated hit Monsters, Inc., all in 2001.
He was reportedly offered the Oscar hosting gig for the 2006 ceremony but turned it down to concentrate on his autobiographical one-man show, 700 Sundays, on Broadway. Attendance was so good that the show's run was extended past its original booking; it also won a Tony Award for Best Theatrical Event. That same year, Crystal became a best-selling children's book author with the release of I Already Know I Love You (2006), based on his experiences with the birth of his first granddaughter.

March 14, 1968

The original Batman series concluded its short run.

To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

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Tony Figueroa