The Gisele MacKenzie Show
Encyclopedia
The Gisele MacKenzie Show in an American variety show
hosted by Gisele MacKenzie
. The series aired live on NBC
from September 28, 1957, to March 29, 1958. The Curfew Kids appeared on the program as semi-regulars.
MacKenzie had been a regular on the earlier NBC musical series Your Hit Parade
from 1953 to 1957. She had also worked in radio with Bob Crosby
and had toured with Jack Benny
and guest starred on The Jack Benny Program
. Benny in fact had recommended her to the producers of Your Hit Parade.
joins MacKenzie in a duet of "Paper Moon". He also presents a "This Is Your Life" segment on MacKenzie, who did the solos "Merci Beaucoup", "I Love Paris
", and "Tammy
". Dennis Day
, a recurring actor on The Jack Benny Program, guest starred in the second episode, as the two perform a duet of "Blue Suede Shoes
".
The series featured numerous well-known guest stars, including Ronald Reagan
, who appeared in the third episode, which aired on October 12, 1957. Reagan and MacKenzie perform duets of "I've Got a Crush on You" and "You're the Top". She also presents solos of "Goody-Goody" and "Fascination".
Bob Crosby appears in the fourth episode as he and MacKenzie perform "Singing the Blues". MacKenzie also does a solo of "Tip Toe Through the Tulips". In the fifth episode, MacKenzie and Jack Benny perform on the violin
and reminisce over the days that Benny's troupe toured London and Benny and MacKenzie working together in Las Vegas, Nevada
. MacKenzie sings "Chances Are
", a Johnny Mathis
hit.
Eddie Fisher
joined MacKenzie in a rendition of "Mutual Admiration Society" and "You Do Something to Me". Dean Martin
and George Raft
appeared together with MacKenzie. She and Martin perform "Walking My Baby Back Home
", a continuation of the preceding NBC program that evening, Club Oasis
. Raft teams with MacKenzie and her Curfew Kids for a dance number "Top Hat". The finale has George Raft and MacKenzie doing the tango
to "Orchids in the Moonlight".
In still another episode, Boris Karloff
, and Johnny Desmond
appear with McKenzie. Karloff sings "Those Were the Good Old Days" from Damn Yankees
, and MacKenzie solos "Give Me the Simple Life". Desmond croons "Keep Me In Mind". The finale includes the trio in "Girl Friend of the Whirling Dervish
". Margaret Truman Daniel
appears too, having joined MacKenzie and the Curfew Kids in the song and dance "The Huckle Buck". MacKenzie solos with "Them There Eyes
". She and Truman perform the duet of "I Only Have Eyes For You
" and play the piano
together in a version of "Sisters". Anna Maria Alberghetti
, another program guest, performs "I’ve Got a Crush on You", and MacKenzie solos with "Till" and "Never Go Away". In another episode, Cesar Romero
and MacKenzie dance the mambo
to "Who's Got the Pain". MacKenzie dances with the Curfew Kids to "The Lord Loves a Laughing Man" and performs a Christmas
song, "Too Fat For the Chimney".
The Christmas program on December 21, 1957, features Edgar Bergen
as the guest. MacKenzie and the Curfew Kids, perform a song-and-dance version of "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
". She also performs "The Christmas Waltz", "Frosty the Snowman
", and a French version of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer".
Edie Adams
and MacKenzie perform a duet of "It's So Nice to Have a Man Around the House" and "It's Delightful to be Married". The Curfew Kids join MacKenzie for "Tip Toe Through the Tulips".
Other MacKenzie guests include June Hutton
, Molly Bee
, Robert Clary
, George DeWitt
(twice), Eddie Foy, Jr.
, Stubby Kaye
, Snooky Lanson
, Johnny Mercer
, George Montgomery, Jimmie Rodgers
, and folk singer
Randy Sparks
(twice).
In the series finale, the guests are Miyoshi Umeki
and NBC cameraman Lee Mossman, both in second appearances. Mossman was actually discovered as a singer by MacKenzie. Umekii performs "How Deep Is the Ocean", and MacKenzie sings numbers from The King and I
. When the series ended, MacKenzie began starring in San Francisco, California
, in a stage version of The King and I.
, rotating with Club Oasis
. The program was cast opposite the first season of Richard Boone
's western
series Have Gun - Will Travel on CBS and the second-half of Lawrence Welk's Dodge Dancing Party
on ABC. Because of the popularity of those shows, MacKenzie lacked enough viewers to be renewed for an entire 39-week season, and she never headlined another weekly series.
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
hosted by Gisele MacKenzie
Gisele MacKenzie
Gisèle MacKenzie was a Canadian-American singer, most famous for her performances on the popular television program Your Hit Parade.-Biography:...
. The series aired live on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from September 28, 1957, to March 29, 1958. The Curfew Kids appeared on the program as semi-regulars.
MacKenzie had been a regular on the earlier NBC musical series Your Hit Parade
Your Hit Parade
Your Hit Parade, is an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1955 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During this 24-year run, the show had 19 orchestra leaders and 52 singers or...
from 1953 to 1957. She had also worked in radio with Bob Crosby
Bob Crosby
George Robert "Bob" Crosby was an American dixieland bandleader and vocalist, best known for his group the Bob-Cats.-Family:...
and had toured with Jack Benny
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
and guest starred on The Jack Benny Program
The Jack Benny Program
The Jack Benny Program, starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th-century American comedy.-Cast:*Jack Benny - Himself...
. Benny in fact had recommended her to the producers of Your Hit Parade.
Episode overview
In the premiere episode, Art LinkletterArt Linkletter
Arthur Gordon "Art" Linkletter was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of House Party, which ran on CBS radio and television for 25 years, and People Are Funny, on NBC radio-TV for 19 years...
joins MacKenzie in a duet of "Paper Moon". He also presents a "This Is Your Life" segment on MacKenzie, who did the solos "Merci Beaucoup", "I Love Paris
I Love Paris
"I Love Paris" is a popular song written by Cole Porter and published in 1953. The song was introduced by Lilo in the musical Can-Can.Was the title of Michel Legrand's most popular album, which included an orchestral arrangement of the song...
", and "Tammy
Tammy (song)
"Tammy" is a popular song with music by Jay Livingston and lyrics by Ray Evans. It was published in 1957 and debuted in the film Tammy and the Bachelor. It was nominated for the 1957 Academy Award for Best Original Song....
". Dennis Day
Dennis Day
Dennis Day born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty, was an Irish-American singer and radio, television and film personality.-Early life:...
, a recurring actor on The Jack Benny Program, guest starred in the second episode, as the two perform a duet of "Blue Suede Shoes
Blue Suede Shoes
"Blue Suede Shoes" is a rock and roll standard written and first recorded by Carl Perkins in 1955 and is considered one of the first rockabilly records and incorporated elements of blues, country and pop music of the time...
".
The series featured numerous well-known guest stars, including Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, who appeared in the third episode, which aired on October 12, 1957. Reagan and MacKenzie perform duets of "I've Got a Crush on You" and "You're the Top". She also presents solos of "Goody-Goody" and "Fascination".
Bob Crosby appears in the fourth episode as he and MacKenzie perform "Singing the Blues". MacKenzie also does a solo of "Tip Toe Through the Tulips". In the fifth episode, MacKenzie and Jack Benny perform on the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and reminisce over the days that Benny's troupe toured London and Benny and MacKenzie working together in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. MacKenzie sings "Chances Are
Chances Are (song)
"Chances Are" is a popular song with music by Robert Allen and lyrics by Al Stillman. It was published in 1957. The song was one of a large number of compositions by the Stillman-Allen team that were chart hits in the 1950s. It was listed on Billboards "Most Played by Jockeys" survey for Johnny...
", a Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
hit.
Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher (singer)
Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...
joined MacKenzie in a rendition of "Mutual Admiration Society" and "You Do Something to Me". Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
and George Raft
George Raft
George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
appeared together with MacKenzie. She and Martin perform "Walking My Baby Back Home
Walkin' My Baby Back Home (song)
"Walkin' My Baby Back Home" is a popular song written in 1930 by Roy Turk and Fred E. Ahlert . It first charted in 1931 with versions by Nick Lucas , Ted Weems , The Charleston Chasers , and Lee Morse ....
", a continuation of the preceding NBC program that evening, Club Oasis
Club Oasis
Club Oasis is a 24-episode half-hour comedy-variety show, set in a chic simulated nightclub, which appeared on NBC in the 1957–1958 television season. The series alternated with The Polly Bergen Show in the 9 p.m. EST time slot on Saturday evenings...
. Raft teams with MacKenzie and her Curfew Kids for a dance number "Top Hat". The finale has George Raft and MacKenzie doing the tango
Tango (ballroom)
Ballroom Tango is a ballroom dance that branched away from its original Argentine roots by allowing European, American, Hollywood, and competitive influences into the style and execution of the dance....
to "Orchids in the Moonlight".
In still another episode, Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
, and Johnny Desmond
Johnny Desmond
Johnny Desmond , born Giovanni Alfredo De Simone, was a popular American singer.-Early years:...
appear with McKenzie. Karloff sings "Those Were the Good Old Days" from Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees is a musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League...
, and MacKenzie solos "Give Me the Simple Life". Desmond croons "Keep Me In Mind". The finale includes the trio in "Girl Friend of the Whirling Dervish
Girl Friend of the Whirling Dervish
"Girlfriend of the Whirling Dervish" was written by Harry Warren, Al Dubin and Johnny Mercer, and first appeared in the 1938 film Garden of the Moon where it was performed by a turban-wearing big band, and a drag "girlfriend." The song was recorded in 1960 by lounge artist Martin Denny, used in...
". Margaret Truman Daniel
Margaret Truman
Mary Margaret Truman Daniel , also known as Margaret Truman or Margaret Daniel, was an American singer who later became a successful writer. The only child of US President Harry S...
appears too, having joined MacKenzie and the Curfew Kids in the song and dance "The Huckle Buck". MacKenzie solos with "Them There Eyes
Them There Eyes
"Them There Eyes" is a jazz song written by Maceo Pinkard, Doris Tauber, and William Tracey. It was published in 1930. One of the early recorded versions was done by Louis Armstrong in 1931...
". She and Truman perform the duet of "I Only Have Eyes For You
I Only Have Eyes for You
"I Only Have Eyes for You" is a popular song by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin, written in 1934 for the film Dames where it was introduced by Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler....
" and play the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
together in a version of "Sisters". Anna Maria Alberghetti
Anna Maria Alberghetti
Anna Maria Alberghetti is an Italian-born operatic singer and actress.Born in Pesaro, Marche, she starred on Broadway and won a Tony Award in 1962 as Best Actress for Carnival! .Alberghetti was a child prodigy. Her father was an opera singer and concert master of the Rome Opera Company...
, another program guest, performs "I’ve Got a Crush on You", and MacKenzie solos with "Till" and "Never Go Away". In another episode, Cesar Romero
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
and MacKenzie dance the mambo
Mambo (dance)
Mambo .In the late 1940s, Perez Prado came up with the dance for the mambo music and became the first person to market his music as "mambo". After Havana, Prado moved his music to Mexico, where his music and the dance was adopted. The original mambo dance was characterized by freedom and...
to "Who's Got the Pain". MacKenzie dances with the Curfew Kids to "The Lord Loves a Laughing Man" and performs a Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
song, "Too Fat For the Chimney".
The Christmas program on December 21, 1957, features Edgar Bergen
Edgar Bergen
Edgar John Bergen was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist.-Early life:...
as the guest. MacKenzie and the Curfew Kids, perform a song-and-dance version of "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
Parade of the Wooden Soldiers is a 1933 Fleischer Studios animated short film starring Betty Boop. It is now public domain.The instrumental title theme, "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" , was composed by Leon Jessel.-Synopsis:A large factory complex struggles to produce a single package, which is...
". She also performs "The Christmas Waltz", "Frosty the Snowman
Frosty the Snowman
"Frosty the Snowman" is a popular song written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson, and first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950. It was written after the success of Autry's recording of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" the previous year; Rollins and Nelson shipped the...
", and a French version of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer".
Edie Adams
Edie Adams
Edie Adams was an American singer, Broadway, television and film actress and comedienne. Adams, a Tony Award winner, "both embodied and winked at the stereotypes of fetching chanteuse and sexpot blonde." She was well-known for her impersonations of female stars on stage and television, most...
and MacKenzie perform a duet of "It's So Nice to Have a Man Around the House" and "It's Delightful to be Married". The Curfew Kids join MacKenzie for "Tip Toe Through the Tulips".
Other MacKenzie guests include June Hutton
June Hutton
June Hutton was an American popular singer.-Career:Born in Chicago of African American descent, in the late 1930s, Hutton joined the band of her older sister, Ina Ray Hutton, singing under the name of Elaine Merritt...
, Molly Bee
Molly Bee
Molly Bee , born Mollie Gene Beachboard, was an American country music singer famous for her 1952 recording of the early perennial, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", and as Pinky Lee's sidekick on The Pinky Lee Show.Bee was also well known in the 1950s in Los Angeles, California as a regular on...
, Robert Clary
Robert Clary
Robert Clary is a French-born American actor, published author, and lecturer, best known for his role in the television sitcom Hogan's Heroes as Corporal LeBeau.-Early life and career:...
, George DeWitt
George DeWitt
George DeWitt , born George Florentine, was a nationally acclaimed singer and comedian. DeWitt was the star of the 1950s musical quiz television program, Name That Tune. The program featured contestants guessing the name of popular tunes from a limited amount of notes...
(twice), Eddie Foy, Jr.
Eddie Foy, Jr.
Eddie Foy Jr. was an American character actor.Born Edwin Fitzgerald Jr. in New Rochelle, New York, the son of vaudevillian Eddie Foy and his third wife, Madeline Morando, he was one of the "Seven Little Foys" immortalized in the 1955 film of the same name...
, Stubby Kaye
Stubby Kaye
Stubby Kaye was an American comic actor. He was born Bernard Kotzin in New York City on the last day of the First World War, at West 114th Street in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan to first generation Jewish-Americans originally from Russia and Austria...
, Snooky Lanson
Snooky Lanson
Roy Landman , better known as Snooky Lanson, was an American singer known for co-starring on the NBC television series Your Hit Parade....
, Johnny Mercer
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
, George Montgomery, Jimmie Rodgers
Jimmie Rodgers (pop singer)
James Frederick "Jimmie" Rodgers is an American singer. He is not related to the country singer of the same name.-Career:...
, and folk singer
Folk Singer
Folk Singer is a 1964 album by Muddy Waters. Waters plays acoustic guitar, backed by Willie Dixon on string bass, Clifton James on drums, and Buddy Guy on acoustic guitar...
Randy Sparks
Randy Sparks
Randy Sparks is a musician, singer-songwriter and founder of The New Christy Minstrels and The Back Porch Majority. Prior to that, in the late 1950s he had a solo career and released two albums under the Verve label, a self-titled album in 1958 and Walking the Low Road in 1959...
(twice).
In the series finale, the guests are Miyoshi Umeki
Miyoshi Umeki
was a naturalized American actress and standards singer. She was best known for her roles as Katsumi, the wife of Joe Kelly , in the 1957 film Sayonara, as Mei Li in the 1958 Broadway musical and 1961 film Flower Drum Song, and as Mrs. Livingston, the housekeeper of Bill Bixby's and Brandon Cruz's...
and NBC cameraman Lee Mossman, both in second appearances. Mossman was actually discovered as a singer by MacKenzie. Umekii performs "How Deep Is the Ocean", and MacKenzie sings numbers from The King and I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
. When the series ended, MacKenzie began starring in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, in a stage version of The King and I.
Production notes
Benny and Charles Isaacs were co-executive producers of The Gisele MacKenzie Show.Scheduling
The Gisele MacKenzie Show aired at 9:30 p.m. EST on Saturdays following on NBC The Polly Bergen ShowThe Polly Bergen Show
The Polly Bergen Show is a half-hour 18-episode comedy/variety show, starring then 27-year-old Polly Bergen, which aired on NBC in the 1957-1958 television season. The program is remembered for its impressive guest-star lineup as well as its closing theme song, "The Party's Over" .The Polly Bergen...
, rotating with Club Oasis
Club Oasis
Club Oasis is a 24-episode half-hour comedy-variety show, set in a chic simulated nightclub, which appeared on NBC in the 1957–1958 television season. The series alternated with The Polly Bergen Show in the 9 p.m. EST time slot on Saturday evenings...
. The program was cast opposite the first season of Richard Boone
Richard Boone
Richard Allen Boone was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns and for starring in the TV series Have Gun – Will Travel.-Early life:...
's western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
series Have Gun - Will Travel on CBS and the second-half of Lawrence Welk's Dodge Dancing Party
The Lawrence Welk Show
The Lawrence Welk Show is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years , then nationally for another 27 years via the ABC network and first-run syndication .In the years since first-run syndication...
on ABC. Because of the popularity of those shows, MacKenzie lacked enough viewers to be renewed for an entire 39-week season, and she never headlined another weekly series.