HOLLYWOOD...THE BUSINESS OF SHOW BUSINESS

Source: www.speakup.com.br

Language level: Proficiency

Standard: American

Speaker: Chuck Rolando

A world of movie-lovers watched Hollywood on February 27th when the Academy Awards, or “Oscars,” took place. For the lucky winners, it may just be the highlight of their movie careers, but no matter how successful they are now, they had to start at the bottom. They all had “day-time jobs” in bars or restaurants, and they went to auditions in their spare time. And they undoubtedly signed up with a talent agency, which probably still represents them today. The Affinity Artists Agency is a typical example, it is headed by Ross Grossman, who was himself a child actor, and later a comedian, writer and therapist, before becoming an agent. As he explains, even when you become a star, there’s no guarantee that it will last.

Ross Grossman

(Standard American Accent)

Recently Adam Sandler and a bunch of other celebrities, Chris Rock, they were all sitting around, I think it was 60 Minutes, and they were being asked: “Do you feel like you’ve made it, do you feel like you’re good, you’re set?” and all of them said: “No, no way!” Because they said: “We picked up a People Magazine from five years ago and we looked at all the people who were on top and almost none of them were still on top. “ So,it is a very fickle business. I think that the public generally likes new. New is interesting to them. And, at a certain point, I think either the casting directors or the public gets tired, or wants something new. Now, there are certain people, Jackson Nicholson, you know, there are certain actors, Tom Cruise, that are able to ride the wave and stay on it, but eventually most of them seem to fade.

CHARISMA

We then asked him the classic Hollywood question: What makes a star?

Ross Grossman

Charisma is a big peace. There is an ethereal fairy dust that is on certain people. . how they got that way is a very complex…we’d have to have clones and put people in laboratories to figure out how ths person showed up with this much charisma, but there are some people who have so much charisma, or something about their character that is so unique, that you just know: they’re riveting. It’s like when you watch a lion or a tiger, you’re riveted because there’s something so spontaneous and so strong and so confident. And that doesn’t mean that each performance is playing a confident person; they could be playing a nervous wreck, but there’s a confidence about them, and a oneness of purpose and just something very magnetic. But some people try to create a false magnetism by being super-big and important and loud and intense, and it’s or like that. It doesn’t come from outside, I don’t think, but some people try to wow you with what they believe charisma is. But I think, really, what it is knowing yourself and making strong bold choices with your acting skills and with your personality. Personality does go a long way. People in Hollywood want to work with nice people. So, if you’re talented, but you’re really not a pleasant person, there will be plenty of other people who could take your place.

THAT LOOK

And what about physical appearance? Are looks everything?

Ross Grossman

You have to remember that movies and television are a visual medium: we can’t forget that. And, because of that, many films and television shows use visual shorthand. As soon as you see Paul Giamatti, or just any number of actors, as soon as you see them, there’s a whole bunch of script that doesn’t have to happen because you just get, “Oh, this is this type of person. And that’s like a visual shorthand for people. Just as when you see Charlie Chaplin as the little tramp, that speaks volumes. You know, you don’t have to hear his entire story. It’s a visual shorthand, so, yes, the look does count, but that look cold be geeky, that look could be odd, that could be unusual, or plus size, or frightening. It doesn’t have to always be gorgeous. It just has to be unique and striking.

ENERGY

But, says Ross Grossman, talent, charisma and the right looks are not enough. Aspiring actors also need a sense of initiative. Having an agent isn’t enough, they should build their portfolios, and increase their selection of footage, or “reel.” And Ross Grossman introduced us to a Hollywood neologism; the “webisode.” This is a combination of “web” and “episode.”

Ross Grossman

And then, once they have an agent, is running out there and doing stuff, getting in plays, getting into more independent films, getting better reel, meeting people, socializing. If they can’t find scripts to get in, finding people, , acting troupes, people who want to put together webisodes. That’s the new trend, is get a bunch of people together, get some writers together, start doing some webisodes, don’t wait for someone else to make you known.

There’s an expression that o love, and I…it was from a man named (Wes) “Scoop” Nisker, he was newsman in San Francisco, and he would always sign off the news with this phrase and that is: “If you don’t like the news, go out and make some of you own!”

Remembering Hollywood Legend Elizabeth Taylor

Source: www.voanews.com

Photo: AP

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in 1969 in Monaco

DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson.

This week, we answer a question about sports terms and play music by blues great Pinetop Perkins, who died Monday.

And we remember another star who died this week: the extraordinary actress and beauty Elizabeth Taylor.

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Elizabeth Taylor

DOUG JOHNSON: America lost one of its biggest movie stars this week. Elizabeth Taylor died Wednesday in Los Angeles, California. She had been in poor health for many years.

There was no one like Elizabeth Taylor at the height of her fame. She was an extremely beautiful woman. She won two Academy Awards. She also had an interesting and complex private life. Her many loves, her battles with substance abuse and her humanitarian causes kept her name in the news even after she stopped making films.

Katherine Cole takes a look at Elizabeth Taylor’s professional and personal life.

KATHERINE COLE: It started in nineteen forty-four with the movie “National Velvet.” Twelve-year-old Elizabeth Taylor starred as Velvet Brown, a girl in an English country village. She saves a horse and trains him for an important race. Then she rides him to victory.

AP

Elizabeth Taylor in 1944 while filming "National Velvet"

But the real victory was for the young Elizabeth Taylor. Throughout the nineteen forties she played in many movies about families. The nineteen fifty comedy “Father of the Bride” was a major hit. Eighteen-year-old Elizabeth Taylor played the bride.

This was also the year of her first marriage, to Nicky Hilton, of the Hilton Hotels business. But they separated after just nine months.

Elizabeth Taylor married seven more times to six other men. She married actor Richard Burton twice. She had four children by three of her husbands. Her relationships caused her some public image problems, especially her marriage to singer Eddie Fisher. He had been married to Taylor’s best friend and popular actress Debbie Reynolds. Fisher left Reynolds for Taylor in nineteen fifty-nine. The American public was shocked and many were angered by this behavior.

In nineteen fifty-eight she played Maggie in the film version of Tennessee Williams’ play, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” Some critics consider it her best movie.

AP

Elizabeth Taylor as "Cleopatra"

She won her first Academy Award for her work in the nineteen sixty film, “Butterfield 8.” She played a sex worker who is involved with a married man. She won another Oscar in nineteen sixty-six for the movie, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

Taylor became the highest paid film actress in history. She earned more than one million dollars for her role as “Cleopatra,” in the extraordinary production of the same name, released in nineteen sixty-three.

Elizabeth Taylor made more than sixty movies in all. In the nineteen eighties, she battled drug and alcohol abuse. She entered a medical center for treatment and was very open with the public about it. She also became a leader in the fight against AIDS and HIV. She helped found amFAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research. She did this in nineteen eighty-five when many people believed those infected with the disease were immoral.

AP

Elizabeth Taylor at a 1996 AIDS event in front of the US Capitol

The British singer-songwriter Elton John was a good friend of Elizabeth Taylor. He said the world had lost not just a Hollywood giant, but also “an incredible human being.” Elton John said she earned love and respect for speaking out against AIDS when others wanted to bury their heads in the sand.

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Sports Terms

DOUG JOHNSON: Our question this week comes from the Dominican Republic. Junior Olivares wants us to explain some of the terms used in baseball and basketball.

Baseball is known as America’s “national pastime.” The pitcher throws the ball and the batter tries to hit it on the playing field to get a “base hit.” Then the batter runs to one of the bases, depending on how far he hits the ball. The batter gets a single if he reaches first base safely. A double gets him to second base and a triple gets him to third base. A very good batter may hit the ball out of the playing field and run to all four bases for a “home run.”

A batter can get to first base even if he doesn’t hit the ball. He can “walk” to first base if the pitcher throws four balls that are either too high, too low or too far from the batter. But the batter may also “strike out” if he is unable to hit the ball after three pitches. A base runner may try to “steal” a base by running to the next base while the pitcher is throwing the ball to another player.

A pitcher who is very good may throw a “no hitter” if none of the opposing batters gets a hit. Or the pitcher may even throw a “perfect game” if none of the players from the other team reaches a base.

The game of basketball has different language to describe the action. It all begins with the “tip-off.” It is the first “jump ball” that starts the game. An official throws the ball in the air as a player from each opposing team jumps to gain possession of the ball.

Next the “man-to-man defense” begins. Each defensive player is responsible for guarding one of the opposing team members. A “full court press” happens when the defenders begin guarding the offense in the back court.

Sometimes the pressure is so great that two teammates may join together to guard a single opponent. This is called “double teaming.” It is an illegal defense and may result in a “technical foul.” The opponent may be awarded a “free throw,” a chance to throw the ball into the basket.

If he misses the shot and one his teammates is able to regain control of the ball, it is called an “offensive rebound.” But, the winning team may choose to play a “keepaway game” if the game is close to ending. Players may pass the ball back and forth among themselves until there is no time left and the game ends.

One of the most exciting moves in basketball is the “slam dunk.” Players jump up high and force the ball into the net. The famous former basketball player Michael Jordan is considered to be one of the best “slam dunkers” of all time.

(MUSIC: “Pinetop’s Mambo”/Pinetop Perkins)

Pinetop Perkins

DOUG JOHNSON: Blues pianist Pinetop Perkins died Monday at his home in Austin, Texas. The ninety-seven year old musician was still making great music in his last days. In fact, just last month he won a Grammy Award. Mario Ritter remembers Pinetop Perkins and plays some of his music.

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MARIO RITTER: The piano player was born Joe Willie Perkins in Mississippi in nineteen thirteen. He lived with his mother and grandmother as a boy. His grandmother was abusive. She finally beat the boy so badly that he left home.

Pinetop Perkins said he started playing guitar when he was ten years old. He taught himself to play by listening to others. Two years later, he started a job repairing pianos and decided to teach himself to play that instrument as well.

(MUSIC: “I Almost Lost My Mind”/Pinetop Perkins)

Perkins began playing music in small clubs and at parties when he was a young man. At one club in Arkansas a woman cut his arm badly with a knife. There was so much damage that Perkins could no longer play guitar. So the piano became his instrument.

Perkins took the name “Pinetop” in honor of an earlier pianist, Clarence “Pinetop” Smith. One of Smith’s songs, “Pinetop Boogie Woogie” is now linked more closely with Pinetop Perkins.

(MUSIC)

In the nineteen forties Pinetop Perkins worked as a band member for two radio programs. One was the famous King Biscuit Time broadcast from Helena, Arkansas.

In the late nineteen sixties, blues great Muddy Waters asked Pinetop Perkins to join his band. The pianist played with Muddy Waters for more than ten years.

In nineteen eighty, Pinetop Perkins and the other Muddy Waters’ band members formed their own group, the Legendary Blues Band. They played Chicago- style blues music.

(MUSIC: “Pinetop’s Blues”/Pinetop Perkins)

The Recording Academy presented Pinetop Perkins with a Lifetime Achievement Award in two thousand five. The Academy honored him with his first Grammy two years later for best traditional blues album. Last month, he won in the same category again. Pinetop Perkins became the oldest performer to receive a Grammy.

Pinetop Perkins told a reporter that performing in his nineties was not the joy it had been when he was younger. But he said he could not stop --- it was all he knew how to do. “I’m just trying to make people happy and make a dollar or two,” he said.

(MUSIC: “Take Your Eyes Off My Woman”/Pinetop Perkins)

I’m Doug Johnson. Our program was written by June Simms and Caty Weaver who was also the producer.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English 
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