df_f_dancers_2_para_w_chatgpt: 7
This data as json
rowid | first_name | last_name | gender | career_sec | personal_sec | info | seed_first_name | seed_last_name | occupation | chatgpt_gen |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7 | Katherine | Fowler | f | With the death of her stepfather and a bleak future ahead, she left high school after completing two and half years, to seek jobs as a dancer. Her first $60-a-week job was as a tap dancer at the Lido Club in Montreal. Returning to New York, she found work as an actress in movie short subjects filmed by Educational Pictures at its Astoria, Queens NY, studio. Fiercely ambitious, Allyson tried her hand at modeling, but to her consternation became the "sad-looking before part" in a before-and-after bathing suit magazine ad. Her first career break came when Educational cast her as an ingenue opposite singer Lee Sullivan, comic dancers Herman Timberg, Jr., and Pat Rooney, Jr., and future comedy star Danny Kaye in a series of shorts. These included Swing for Sale (1937), Pixilated (1937), Ups and Downs (1937), Dime a Dance (1938), Dates and Nuts (1938) and Sing for Sweetie (1938). When Educational ceased operations, Allyson moved to Vitaphone in Brooklyn and starred or co-starred (with dancer Hal Le Roy) in musical shorts. These included The Prisoner of Swing (1938), The Knight Is Young (1938), Rollin' in Rhythm (1939) and All Girl Revue (1940). Interspersing jobs in the chorus line at the Copacabana Club with acting roles at Vitaphone, the diminutive 5'1" (1.55 m), weighing less than 100 pounds, red-headed Allyson landed a chorus job in the Broadway show Sing out the News in 1938. The legend is that the choreographer gave her a job and a new name: Allyson, a family name, and June, for the month, although like many aspects of her career resume, the story is highly unlikely as she was already dubbing herself "June Allyson" prior to her Broadway engagement and has even attributed the name to a later director. Allyson subsequently appeared in the chorus in the Jerome Kern–Oscar Hammerstein II musical Very Warm for May (1939). When Vitaphone discontinued New York production in 1940, Allyson returned to the New York stage to take on more chorus roles in Rodgers and Hart's Higher and Higher (1940) and Cole Porter's Panama Hattie (1940). Her dancing and musical talent led to a stint as an understudy for the lead, Betty Hutton, and when Hutton contracted measles, Allyson appeared in five performances of Panama Hattie. Broadway director George Abbott caught one of the nights, and offered Allyson one of the lead roles in his production of Best Foot Forward (1941). After her appearance in the Broadway musical, Allyson was selected for the 1943 film version of Best Foot Forward. When she arrived in Hollywood, the production had not started, so MGM "placed her on the payroll" of Girl Crazy (1943). Despite playing a "bit part", Allyson received good reviews as a sidekick to Best Foot Forward's star, Lucille Ball, but was still relegated to the "drop list". MGM's musical supervisor, Arthur Freed, saw her test sent up by an agent and insisted that Allyson be put on contract immediately. Another musical, Thousands Cheer (1943), was again a showcase for her singing, albeit still in a minor role. As a new starlet, although Allyson had already been a performer on stage and screen for more than five years, she was presented as an "overnight sensation", with Hollywood press agents attempting to portray her as an ingenue, selectively slicing years off her true age. Studio bios listed her variously as being born in 1922 and 1923. Allyson's breakthrough was in Two Girls and a Sailor (1944) where the studio image of the "girl next door" was fostered by her being cast alongside long-time acting chum Van Johnson, the quintessential "boy next door." As the "sweetheart team", Johnson and Allyson were to appear together in four later films. Allyson supported Lucille Ball again in Meet the People (1944), a flop. It was on this film she met Dick Powell who became her husband. She supported Margaret O'Brien in Music for Millions (1944) and was billed after Robert Walker and Hedy Lamarr in the romantic comedy Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945). Allyson was top billed along with Walker in The Sailor Takes a Wife (1945). She did Two Sisters from Boston (1946) with Kathryn Grayson and Peter Lawford, and was one of several MGM stars in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946). Allyson did her first drama, The Secret Heart (1946) with Claudette Colbert and Walter Pidgeon. She was reunited with Johnson in High Barbaree (1947) and followed that with the musical Good News (1947). She did a comedy with Johnson, The Bride Goes Wild (1948) then played Constance in the hugely popular The Three Musketeers (1948). Her "Thou Swell" was a high point of the Rodgers and Hart biopic Words and Music (1948), as performed in the "A Connecticut Yankee" segment with the Blackburn Twins. Allyson played the tomboy Jo March in Little Women (1949), a huge hit. She was adept at crying on cue, and many of her films incorporated a crying scene. Fellow MGM player Margaret O'Brien recalled that she and Allyson were known as "the town criers". "I cried once in a picture and they said 'let's do it again' and I cried for the rest of my career", she later said. MGM announced Allyson would be in Forever by Mildred Crann, but it was not made. Instead she went into The Stratton Story (1949) with James Stewart which would be her favorite film. She made two films with Dick Powell, The Reformer and the Redhead (1950) and Right Cross (1950) then was reunited with Johnson in Too Young to Kiss (1951). In 1950 Allyson had been signed to appear opposite her childhood idol Fred Astaire in Royal Wedding, but had to leave the production because of pregnancy. (She was replaced initially by Judy Garland, who in turn was replaced by Jane Powell.) Allyson played a doctor in The Girl in White (1952), which lost money, and a nurse in Battle Circus (1953), a hit. She did Remains to Be Seen (1953) with Johnson, which was a flop. In May 1953 she and MGM agreed to part ways by mutual consent. Allyson had a huge hit at Universal with The Glenn Miller Story (1954). At MGM she was in another big success, Executive Suite (1954). She went to Fox for Woman's World (1954) which did less well. Allyson was teamed with Stewart again in Strategic Air Command (1955), at Paramount, another success. She had a change of pace in The Shrike (1955) with José Ferrer at Universal; it flopped. More popular was The McConnell Story (1955) with Alan Ladd at Warner Bros. Allyson did some musical remakes of classic films, The Opposite Sex (1956) at MGM and You Can't Run Away from It (1956) at Columbia, directed by Powell. She signed with Universal and did two more remakes: Interlude (1957), a drama for Douglas Sirk, and My Man Godfrey (1957) a comedy with David Niven. She then made A Stranger in My Arms (1958) with Jeff Chandler. The box office failure of these films effectively ended her reign as a movie star. The DuPont Show with June Allyson (1959–60) ran for two seasons on CBS and was an attempt to use a "high budget" formula. She later called it "the hardest thing I ever did." Her efforts were dismissed by the entertainment reviewer in the LA Examiner as "reaching down to the level of mag fiction." However, TV Guide and other fan magazines such as TV considered Allyson's foray into television as revitalizing her fame and career for a younger audience, and remarked that her stereotyping by the movie industry as the "girl next door" was the "waste and neglect of talent on its own doorstep." She also appeared on shows like Zane Grey Theater, The Dick Powell Theatre and Burke's Law before retiring for several years in the death of Powell in 1963. Allyson returned to acting with an appearance in The Name of the Game. In 1970, she briefly starred in Forty Carats on Broadway. Throughout the 1970s, she appeared regularly on television on shows such as See the Man Run (1971), The Sixth Sense (1972), and Letters from Three Lovers (1973), as well as in the film They Only Kill Their Masters (1972). Later appearances include Curse of the Black Widow (1977), Three on a Date (1978), Vega$ (1978), Blackout (1978), House Calls, The Kid with the Broken Halo (1982) Simon & Simon, The Love Boat, Hart to Hart, Murder, She Wrote, Misfits of Science, Crazy Like a Fox, and Airwolf. Her last appearance was in These Old Broads (2001). | On her arrival in Hollywood, studio heads attempted to enhance the pairing of Van Johnson and Allyson by sending out the two contracted players on a series of "official dates", which were highly publicized and led to a public perception that a romance had been kindled. Although dating David Rose, Peter Lawford, and John F. Kennedy, Allyson was actually being courted by Dick Powell, who was 13 years her senior and had been previously married to Mildred Maund and Joan Blondell. On August 19, 1945, Allyson caused MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer some consternation by marrying Dick Powell. After defying him twice by refusing to stop seeing Powell, in a "tactical master stroke", she asked Mayer to give her away at the wedding. He was so disarmed that he agreed but put Allyson on suspension anyway. The Powells had two children, Pamela Allyson Powell (adopted in 1948 through the Tennessee Children's Home Society in an adoption arranged by Georgia Tann) and Richard Powell, Jr., born December 24, 1950. In the mid 1950s, Allyson reportedly had an affair with Alan Ladd. In 1961, Allyson underwent a kidney operation and later, throat surgery, temporarily affecting her trademark raspy voice. The couple divorced in 1961, the reason being Powell's devotion to work. In February 1961 she was awarded $2.5 million in settlement, along with custody of their children. They reconciled and remained married until his death on January 2, 1963. Later, Allyson reflected on how the loss of Powell affected her:.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0} This prompted Allyson to start drinking heavily. In 1963 she was going to elope with Powell's barber, Glenn Maxwell, but decided against it. She and Maxwell would get married and divorced, then married and divorced again. She also went through a bitter court battle with her mother over custody of the children she had with Powell. Reports at the time revealed that writer/director Dirk Summers, with whom Allyson was romantically involved from 1963 to 1975, was named legal guardian for Ricky and Pamela as a result of a court petition. Members of the nascent jet-set, Allyson and Summers were frequently seen in Cap d'Antibes, Madrid, Rome, and London. However, Summers refused to marry her and the relationship did not last. During this time, Allyson struggled with alcoholism, which she overcame in the mid-1970s. In 1976, Allyson married David Ashrow, a dentist turned actor. The couple occasionally performed together in regional theater, and in the late 1970s and early 1980s, toured the United States with the stage play My Daughter, Your Son. They also appeared on celebrity cruise ship tours on the Royal Viking Sky, in a program that highlighted Allyson's movie career. After Dick Powell's death, Allyson committed herself to charitable work on his behalf, championing the importance of research in urological and gynecological diseases in seniors, and represented the Kimberly-Clark Corporation in commercials for adult incontinence products. Following a lifelong interest in health and medical research (Allyson had initially wanted to use her acting career to fund her own training as a doctor), she was instrumental in establishing the June Allyson Foundation for Public Awareness and Medical Research. Allyson also financially supported her brother, Dr. Arthur Peters, through his medical training, and he went on to specialize in otolaryngology. Allyson was a staunch Republican and strong supporter of Richard Nixon. Allyson also supported Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential election. | With the death of her stepfather and a bleak future ahead, she left high school after completing two and half years, to seek jobs as a dancer. Her first $60-a-week job was as a tap dancer at the Lido Club in Montreal. Returning to New York, she found work as an actress in movie short subjects filmed by Educational Pictures at its Astoria, Queens NY, studio. Fiercely ambitious, Fowler tried her hand at modeling, but to her consternation became the "sad-looking before part" in a before-and-after bathing suit magazine ad. Her first career break came when Educational cast her as an ingenue opposite singer Lee Sullivan, comic dancers Herman Timberg, Jr., and Pat Rooney, Jr., and future comedy star Danny Kaye in a series of shorts. These included Swing for Sale (1937), Pixilated (1937), Ups and Downs (1937), Dime a Dance (1938), Dates and Nuts (1938) and Sing for Sweetie (1938). When Educational ceased operations, Fowler moved to Vitaphone in Brooklyn and starred or co-starred (with dancer Hal Le Roy) in musical shorts. These included The Prisoner of Swing (1938), The Knight Is Young (1938), Rollin' in Rhythm (1939) and All Girl Revue (1940). Interspersing jobs in the chorus line at the Copacabana Club with acting roles at Vitaphone, the diminutive 5'1" (1.55 m), weighing less than 100 pounds, red-headed Fowler landed a chorus job in the Broadway show Sing out the News in 1938. The legend is that the choreographer gave her a job and a new name: Fowler, a family name, and Katherine, for the month, although like many aspects of her career resume, the story is highly unlikely as she was already dubbing herself "Katherine Fowler" prior to her Broadway engagement and has even attributed the name to a later director. Fowler subsequently appeared in the chorus in the Jerome Kern–Oscar Hammerstein II musical Very Warm for May (1939). When Vitaphone discontinued New York production in 1940, Fowler returned to the New York stage to take on more chorus roles in Rodgers and Hart's Higher and Higher (1940) and Cole Porter's Panama Hattie (1940). Her dancing and musical talent led to a stint as an understudy for the lead, Betty Hutton, and when Hutton contracted measles, Fowler appeared in five performances of Panama Hattie. Broadway director George Abbott caught one of the nights, and offered Fowler one of the lead roles in his production of Best Foot Forward (1941). After her appearance in the Broadway musical, Fowler was selected for the 1943 film version of Best Foot Forward. When she arrived in Hollywood, the production had not started, so MGM "placed her on the payroll" of Girl Crazy (1943). Despite playing a "bit part", Fowler received good reviews as a sidekick to Best Foot Forward's star, Lucille Ball, but was still relegated to the "drop list". MGM's musical supervisor, Arthur Freed, saw her test sent up by an agent and insisted that Fowler be put on contract immediately. Another musical, Thousands Cheer (1943), was again a showcase for her singing, albeit still in a minor role. As a new starlet, although Fowler had already been a performer on stage and screen for more than five years, she was presented as an "overnight sensation", with Hollywood press agents attempting to portray her as an ingenue, selectively slicing years off her true age. Studio bios listed her variously as being born in 1922 and 1923. Fowler's breakthrough was in Two Girls and a Sailor (1944) where the studio image of the "girl next door" was fostered by her being cast alongside long-time acting chum Van Johnson, the quintessential "boy next door." As the "sweetheart team", Johnson and Fowler were to appear together in four later films. Fowler supported Lucille Ball again in Meet the People (1944), a flop. It was on this film she met Dick Powell who became her husband. She supported Margaret O'Brien in Music for Millions (1944) and was billed after Robert Walker and Hedy Lamarr in the romantic comedy Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945). Fowler was top billed along with Walker in The Sailor Takes a Wife (1945). She did Two Sisters from Boston (1946) with Kathryn Grayson and Peter Lawford, and was one of several MGM stars in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946). Fowler did her first drama, The Secret Heart (1946) with Claudette Colbert and Walter Pidgeon. She was reunited with Johnson in High Barbaree (1947) and followed that with the musical Good News (1947). She did a comedy with Johnson, The Bride Goes Wild (1948) then played Constance in the hugely popular The Three Musketeers (1948). Her "Thou Swell" was a high point of the Rodgers and Hart biopic Words and Music (1948), as performed in the "A Connecticut Yankee" segment with the Blackburn Twins. Fowler played the tomboy Jo March in Little Women (1949), a huge hit. She was adept at crying on cue, and many of her films incorporated a crying scene. Fellow MGM player Margaret O'Brien recalled that she and Fowler were known as "the town criers". "I cried once in a picture and they said 'let's do it again' and I cried for the rest of my career", she later said. MGM announced Fowler would be in Forever by Mildred Crann, but it was not made. Instead she went into The Stratton Story (1949) with James Stewart which would be her favorite film. She made two films with Dick Powell, The Reformer and the Redhead (1950) and Right Cross (1950) then was reunited with Johnson in Too Young to Kiss (1951). In 1950 Fowler had been signed to appear opposite her childhood idol Fred Astaire in Royal Wedding, but had to leave the production because of pregnancy. (She was replaced initially by Judy Garland, who in turn was replaced by Jane Powell.) Fowler played a doctor in The Girl in White (1952), which lost money, and a nurse in Battle Circus (1953), a hit. She did Remains to Be Seen (1953) with Johnson, which was a flop. In May 1953 she and MGM agreed to part ways by mutual consent. Fowler had a huge hit at Universal with The Glenn Miller Story (1954). At MGM she was in another big success, Executive Suite (1954). She went to Fox for Woman's World (1954) which did less well. Fowler was teamed with Stewart again in Strategic Air Command (1955), at Paramount, another success. She had a change of pace in The Shrike (1955) with José Ferrer at Universal; it flopped. More popular was The McConnell Story (1955) with Alan Ladd at Warner Bros. Fowler did some musical remakes of classic films, The Opposite Sex (1956) at MGM and You Can't Run Away from It (1956) at Columbia, directed by Powell. She signed with Universal and did two more remakes: Interlude (1957), a drama for Douglas Sirk, and My Man Godfrey (1957) a comedy with David Niven. She then made A Stranger in My Arms (1958) with Jeff Chandler. The box office failure of these films effectively ended her reign as a movie star. The DuPont Show with Katherine Fowler (1959–60) ran for two seasons on CBS and was an attempt to use a "high budget" formula. She later called it "the hardest thing I ever did." Her efforts were dismissed by the entertainment reviewer in the LA Examiner as "reaching down to the level of mag fiction." However, TV Guide and other fan magazines such as TV considered Fowler's foray into television as revitalizing her fame and career for a younger audience, and remarked that her stereotyping by the movie industry as the "girl next door" was the "waste and neglect of talent on its own doorstep." She also appeared on shows like Zane Grey Theater, The Dick Powell Theatre and Burke's Law before retiring for several years in the death of Powell in 1963. Fowler returned to acting with an appearance in The Name of the Game. In 1970, she briefly starred in Forty Carats on Broadway. Throughout the 1970s, she appeared regularly on television on shows such as See the Man Run (1971), The Sixth Sense (1972), and Letters from Three Lovers (1973), as well as in the film They Only Kill Their Masters (1972). Later appearances include Curse of the Black Widow (1977), Three on a Date (1978), Vega$ (1978), Blackout (1978), House Calls, The Kid with the Broken Halo (1982) Simon & Simon, The Love Boat, Hart to Hart, Murder, She Wrote, Misfits of Science, Crazy Like a Fox, and Airwolf. Her last appearance was in These Old Broads (2001).On her arrival in Hollywood, studio heads attempted to enhance the pairing of Van Johnson and Fowler by sending out the two contracted players on a series of "official dates", which were highly publicized and led to a public perception that a romance had been kindled. Although dating David Rose, Peter Lawford, and John F. Kennedy, Fowler was actually being courted by Dick Powell, who was 13 years her senior and had been previously married to Mildred Maund and Joan Blondell. On August 19, 1945, Fowler caused MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer some consternation by marrying Dick Powell. After defying him twice by refusing to stop seeing Powell, in a "tactical master stroke", she asked Mayer to give her away at the wedding. He was so disarmed that he agreed but put Fowler on suspension anyway. The Powells had two children, Pamela Fowler Powell (adopted in 1948 through the Tennessee Children's Home Society in an adoption arranged by Georgia Tann) and Richard Powell, Jr., born December 24, 1950. In the mid 1950s, Fowler reportedly had an affair with Alan Ladd. In 1961, Fowler underwent a kidney operation and later, throat surgery, temporarily affecting her trademark raspy voice. The couple divorced in 1961, the reason being Powell's devotion to work. In February 1961 she was awarded $2.5 million in settlement, along with custody of their children. They reconciled and remained married until his death on January 2, 1963. Later, Fowler reflected on how the loss of Powell affected her:.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0} This prompted Fowler to start drinking heavily. In 1963 she was going to elope with Powell's barber, Glenn Maxwell, but decided against it. She and Maxwell would get married and divorced, then married and divorced again. She also went through a bitter court battle with her mother over custody of the children she had with Powell. Reports at the time revealed that writer/director Dirk Summers, with whom Fowler was romantically involved from 1963 to 1975, was named legal guardian for Ricky and Pamela as a result of a court petition. Members of the nascent jet-set, Fowler and Summers were frequently seen in Cap d'Antibes, Madrid, Rome, and London. However, Summers refused to marry her and the relationship did not last. During this time, Fowler struggled with alcoholism, which she overcame in the mid-1970s. In 1976, Fowler married David Ashrow, a dentist turned actor. The couple occasionally performed together in regional theater, and in the late 1970s and early 1980s, toured the United States with the stage play My Daughter, Your Son. They also appeared on celebrity cruise ship tours on the Royal Viking Sky, in a program that highlighted Fowler's movie career. After Dick Powell's death, Fowler committed herself to charitable work on his behalf, championing the importance of research in urological and gynecological diseases in seniors, and represented the Kimberly-Clark Corporation in commercials for adult incontinence products. Following a lifelong interest in health and medical research (Fowler had initially wanted to use her acting career to fund her own training as a doctor), she was instrumental in establishing the Katherine Fowler Foundation for Public Awareness and Medical Research. Fowler also financially supported her brother, Dr. Arthur Peters, through his medical training, and he went on to specialize in otolaryngology. Fowler was a staunch Republican and strong supporter of Richard Nixon. Fowler also supported Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential election. | June | Allyson | dancers | To whom it may concern,<return><return>I am writing this recommendation letter on behalf of Katherine Fowler, a talented and prestigious dancer who I have had the pleasure of working with. Her dedication to the art of dancing is unparalleled, and her ability to convey emotion through movement is truly exceptional.<return><return>Katherine's passion for dance is evident in her career path. Despite facing adversity in her personal life, including the loss of her stepfather and leaving high school early, she pursued her dream of becoming a dancer. She started as a tap dancer in Montreal, working her way up to becoming a star in musical shorts and on Broadway. Eventually, she became a leading lady in Hollywood, starring in hit films such as Two Girls and a Sailor (1944), Little Women (1949), and The Glenn Miller Story (1954).<return><return>Throughout her career, Katherine has shown incredible versatility as a dancer, seamlessly transitioning from tap dancing to musical comedy to dramatic roles. Her talent and dedication have made her a beloved and respected figure in the entertainment industry.<return><return>In addition to her impressive career as a performer, Katherine has also made significant contributions to medical research. She established the Katherine Fowler Foundation for Public Awareness and Medical Research, which supports research on urological and gynecological diseases in seniors.<return><return>I highly recommend Katherine Fowler as a dancer and performer. Her passion for the arts and dedication to making a positive impact on the world make her an exceptional candidate for any role. She is truly a gifted and remarkable individual.<return><return>Sincerely,<return><return>[Your name] |