Denison's Show
Business Connections
What do the
Marx Brothers, Spanky McFarland of Our Gang, Gone, with the Wind,
John Hillerman of Magnum PI, Lee R. Mayes producer of movies
Rudy, Multiplicity..., David Easterly President and Chief Operating
Officer of Cox Enterprises all have in common...
The
name "Denison" rarely appears in the entertainment news
coming out of Hollywood and the Broadway theater. Yet the
town has made some significant contributions to the history
of both stage and screen.
They
Came to Sing and Denison Laughed
The two days
spent in Denison by a song and dance trio of brothers in the
1920's would change their lives and make them internationally
famous. It would be the most important stop they ever made as
their career moved along the street of By-and-By, Vaudeville
was in its prime then, and success on the circuit of tank town
theaters was the route to New York.
There
were five brothers in this remarkable family, but only three
siblings were aiming at Broadway. Their specialty was a singing
and dancing act which also included a female performer, and
their director and manager was the boys' Aunt Hannah. They
had been well-received in their Texas appearances. although
the lady singer seemed to be perpetually off-key. Except
for occasional changes in the music. however, the show hadn't
varied - until it was booked into the Denison Opera House
for matinee and evening shows on Friday and Saturday. They
had been hired as a special feature to entertain a convention
of school teachers meeting at the time.
Although
their music apparently had its charms, the theater manager
decided that four such shows would leave a sour note with
the audience. He insisted that they omit the singing and
do a comedy sketch each evening - a change for which he offered
them $100 an astounding figure at the time.
Money
became the mother of invention. and a humorous sketch called "Fun
In Hi Skule" was born. Aunt Hannah and the girl vocalist
were the students; the elder brother was the teacher and
another a scholar with a German accent. The third brother,
with his boyish looks and a rather vacant expression, became
the half-witted country moron. Costumes and props were hard
to come by on short notice, but the class dummy was identified
by a dirty red wig made of cotton and frayed pieces of rope
by Aunt Hannah.
The new
act was such a hit in Denison that it was repeated when the
group moved on to Nacogdoches (which also alleges to be the
place where the team got its start - a claim denied in a
biography written by the son of one of the performers). As
the troupe rolled across Texas, the show was applauded at
every stop and soon it was attracting national attention. The
Marx Brothers were on their way to becoming the nation's
most loved family comedy team. Groucho, Gummo and Harpo -
the three who originated the show - were joined later by
Chico and Zeppo, and the original sketch was expanded into
movies, radio and television shows and stage performances.
One thing, however, never changed. Harpo later acquired a
floppy tan coat, an auto horn and a cane. But the red wig
he wore that night in Denison remained a part of his stage
costume until his death.
The
Kid Next Door
Everybody
at one time or another has known a cute, fat precocious child
like Spanky McFarland. He could have lived next door to any
family on any street in town. His friends would have been
kids like freckle-faced Alfalfa and a half dozen others of
the kind that peopled the fourth and fifth grade classes
at Central Ward or Peabody Schools in the early 1930's. And
it's almost certain that they would have used somebody's
barn or storage shed as a club house for their "gang."
Where
Spanky McFarland actually lived has been lost, but he was
born in Denison and spent his early years there. And he went
on to star in "Our Gang" comedies, probably the most popular
movie series about kids ever to come out of Hollywood.
The comedies
continued to be made for a few years after McFarland outgrew
his role and still are shown today as television reruns.
After his career as the chunky, lovable child star, McFarland
went on to other endeavors and never returned to his old
hometown.
John
Hillerman - Magnum PI
Fans
of the hit television show "Magnum PI" invariably type
John Hillerman, the sophisticated keeper of the estate,
as British.
With his clipped mustache and cool demeanor, he looks and
talks like the master of an English country estate. Only
those who have read his publicity know that he was born in
the railroad town in Texas named Denison, the son of the
owner of a gasoline service station.
Hillerman
wanted to be an actor even when he was a student as St. Xavier's
Academy. After graduation, he attended the University of
Texas at Austin for three years and then did a four-year
stint in the Air Force. During his years in uniform he worked
with various theatrical groups, and on his discharge, he
went to New York to study a the American Theatre Wing. In
1957, he began his career in professional theater as the
resident juvenile at Chatauqua Playhouse in Middleton, Ohio.
Gone
with the Wind
Annie Laurie
Williams became one of the best known and most successful literary
agents by selling Hollywood producers stories the didn't want
at unheard of prices, often before they were published as books.
She sold for Taylor Calwell, John Hersey, Alfred Noyes John Steinbeck
and many more. Some of titles were Bell for Adano, Forever
Amber, Of Mice and Men... three that were rejected several
times before she finally found buyers - Grapes of Wrath, The
Magnificent Obsession and probably her hardest sale Gone
with the Wind. Annie grew up on the 200 block of West Munson
Street in Denison. Her father, P.E. Williams was a crew dispatcher
for the Katy Railroad.
LA
Producer
Lee R. Mayes,
son of Donald and Rosie Mayes, is a producer in L.A. He has produced
films like Rudy (about the kid who goes to Notre Dame) and Multiplicity
(starring Andie MacDowell and Michael Keaton). He grew up in
Denison TX .
David
Harrod
Actor featured in The Thin Red Line, David Harrod, Denison native and
DISD graduate in the 1999 Memorial Day Parade. David has also appeared
in Walker Texas Ranger episodes and several other projects.
Major
Media
Denison
Native, David Easterly, President and Chief Operating Officer
of Cox Enterprises, Inc. one of the largest media conglomerates
in the US. Cox Enterprises publishes 16 daily newspapers, owns
about a dozen TV stations, more than 50 radio stations, and is
one of the nation's largest cable systems. Cox Communications
has partnered with Sprint, AT&T Broadband & Internet Services
(the former TCI), and Comcast to offer personal communications
services and has started a unit to develop products and content
for the Internet. Cox's Manheim Auctions operates more than 70
automobile auctions in Canada, the UK, and the US. |
