In February 2020, it was announced that Henderson had contracted kidney cancer and opted not to receive treatment. Don married Bunny. The reality behind the scenes ofAmerican Bandstandwas quite different than what viewers saw on national television. The marker stands opposite 4548 Market Street (not shown here), which once housed WFIL-TVand its Studio B, the original home of American Bandstand. Remember, these Regulars werent paid actors or dancers. What they didnt know was that Arlene and several of the other female dancers, and most of the handsome teen boys, were gay. Of course we didn't realize it at the time but these kids were really the first reality stars.". American Bandstand - Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia . As music styles evolved, American Bandstand incorporated more emerging genres. She and her husband, Richard Spada, lived in Philadelphia and Lansdowne before moving to Newtown Square. In other parts of the country, if you were a gay kid growing up, you were probably the only one in town who was gay, Sullivan said. Dancing with the American Bandstand Stars Fundraiser, July 15, 2009 She was 36. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune). Where things are poppin'(Pop!) Norman passed away on December 6, 1990. 8 Surprising Facts About The Legendary Dance Show American Bandstand At the height of its popularity, it was watched daily by 20 million people (by contrast, "Dancing With the Stars" drew 13 million viewers weekly last season), with an estimated half of them adults; its teenage dancers got as many as 45,000 fan letters a week. They were hurting him. I think after several decades he actually believed the myth. e9.size = "300x250"; Pat Molittieri Gallery - Marsha'S Vintage Such white Philadelphia-area teens (many from South Philadelphia or near the shows production site in West Philadelphia), among others, regularly appeared on American Bandstand. Parents across America would never, NEVER have allowed their kids to put Bandstand on, she writes. american bandstand regulars who have died - mazoutdft.com You want to know about the guy! The soft, almost cooed vocals of singer Katie Haley bring a pop veneer. Pat Molitteeri was credited with inventing the dance, "The Hop" by combining elements of the Slop and the Bop, Pat died in the mid -1970s of a heart attack at age 36, Carmen Jimenez still lives in Philadelphia today and recollects the fun she had being on the show. First called Bandstand, the program premiered October 6, 1952, hosted by Philadelphia radio DJ Bob Horn (1916-66). Barbara finally came back and said I had to come to the front because the back was only for colored people. They werent playing basketball. But to his credit and diligence, he brilliantly created his own myth, and he stuck to it for the rest of his life. . Bunny Gibson was a kid when Dick Clark came into her life - or, rather, when she entered his world in Studio B at 46th and Market Streets in West Philadelphia. In 2019, a trio of formerAmerican Bandstandregulars assembled a book on their experiences on the popular show. . Arlene Sullivan and Kenny Rossi on the cover of Teen magazine in 1959. Dick Clark gave her a committee card, which all Regulars had to have to get into the building. Clark was known for integrating his audiences as well as his performers unusual in the late 50s. But . Teen idol Bobby Rydell, whose music career is still going strong 60 years after American Bandstand, wrote the books introduction; but former Regular Arlene Sullivan, who shares her memories and personal images, is a standout as well as a co-author of the book. He was a brilliant man. Kelly said he avoided Rittenhouse Square, knowing if he were seen there, theyd be banished, but it was an open secret that most of the boys on the show were gay. The Philadelphia high school Regulars who danced on Dick Clark's American Bandstand in the late 1950s and early 1960s became national celebrities and America's first reality stars. His name was Dick Clark and in the next year the show was transformed from a local show to a syndicated. Via this network, which advertised itself as WFIL-adelphia, the show reached almost six million viewers in the Delaware Valley, the nations third-largest market at the time. Steve Colanero, 66, a West Philadelphia transplant in Palm Beach, Fla., posted on Facebook a picture from the 1980s of himself with Clark. In the early years of American Bandstand, African Americans were rarely seen on television. "So many of the regulars who jitterbugged on the show way, way back were there. Clark "was very all-American, handsome, and nice, a father figure to us," she recalled. Who died from American Bandstand? - Daily Justnow during those wonderful days. The followed the trend of solo (open) dancing started by Chubby Checker and The Twist. Some solo dances had animal names, for example, The Pony and The Monkey; others were named for motions, for example, The Mashed Potato and The Loco-Motion. Two of the biggest record hits of the early 1960s, both of which received a huge boost from airtime onAmerican Bandstand, were Dee Dee Sharps Mashed Potato Time and Freddy Cannons Palisades Park.8, YetAmerican Bandstandsseven-year stint in West Philadelphia was about to end. I do hope you continuing writing about the bandstanders. By clicking Consent you are authorizing advertisers to collect information to personalize the ads you see. "My heart hurts," said Gibson, a regular from 1959 to 1961. Fifty years later, Bandstand fan Sharon Sultan Cutler wondered what had become of the Regulars, the name given to the teens that showed up daily to dance. JUSTINE AND BOB. Its original host was fired after a DWI arrest and in July 1956 a young radio DJ took over. We only had three channels in those days. The original "Bandstand," as it was called in 1952, was first hosted by deejay Bob Horn, who later was fired due to a drunk-driving conviction.. . "American Bandstand" goes national - History Dottie Support+971+2+5530548 Email: sales@mazoutdft.com. Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." Fundraiser for the renovation of the original American Bandstand Studio Floor In March of 1970 we moved to New Jersey. . Still, American Bandstands Philadelphia years are recalled with particularly impassioned nostalgia. Rare photo above is a 1959 Press photo of Pat when she was writing for Teen Magazine. They are extending the honeymoon in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where Duke has called home. He said funeral services are pending. When she was 10 years old, the woman now known as Sharon Sultan Cutler would rush home from school in the town of East Meadow on Long Island in New York. The kids who showed up every day (Bandstand aired every weekday afternoon for the first six years) knew all the most popular steps. Handbags - Formal Wear. Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963 shares the fascinating story of how Dick Clark's American Bandstand and its millions of viewers catapulted its teenage dancers (called "the Regulars") to fame. Anna Russo, 2800 North 7th Street, Apt. Dick Clarks tight control on the sexual expression of his cast extended to a denial years after the show had ended. Finally, we got away and jumped over the turnstile. and they put a drinking cup in front of him and said, This is your cup, and youre the only one who will use this cup. One friend of mine was kicked out of the house.. you could do in half time - the hop, the bop, and the stomp," she wrote. The dancers, as Teen wrote, were the "most famous unknowns on TV today. From that dance on we became steady dance partners until I had to leave the show on my 18th birthday, which was in August of 1961., The Pony Contest In 1960, he attended Penn State as an English major. By then, he was a big-time television producer. The Philadelphia way Were goin drop in (Drop!) Years later, when Clark was asked whether any of the dancers had died of AIDS, he stated that one had, Smith recalled. I never had a crush on her. Teresa Bowling. American Bandstandsrelegation to a weekly schedule stripped it of much of its power as a potential hit song exposer, writes the music historian John Jackson. On the other hand, they had each other. Huge DiscountsThere are savings on everyday items you already buy, and savings on the things youve been waiting for a sale on to spoil your pet with. In 1964, he joined the National Guard and did basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. See more of American Bandstand Dancers on Facebook Clark's sunny smile and cuteness masked a strong will and iron determination. His name is, Champion Polar Images Namron O My-Joy, as recorded with the AKC. He still had that in him until the evening before he passed away. I did get to know Annette Funicello [a Mouseketeer on the original Mickey Mouse Club], who came to the show. The Seven-Year Itch: West Philly Loses American Bandstand ), Lew Klein papers and Evening Bulletin Photographs Collection, Special Collections Research Center of Temple University Libraries, Charles Library, Eye to Eye: American Bandstand (CBS News, YouTube), Interview with Lew Klein, executive producer of American Bandstand (Temple University Television), Lesson Plan: A New "Twist" on Race Relations (ExplorePaHistory.com). June Bouche on November 20, 2018 at 9:12 pm . Wagon Train Website, . Filled with 700-some photographs, both old and new, it is handsomely designed and co-written with Ray Smith, who danced on the show for a short time, and Arlene Sullivan, who became one of the stars of the show, with her own international fan club for a time. (Test Pattern). I purchased this from Historic Photos. Hes a heckuva good dancer who does a mean jitterbug! About Us - American Bandstand Diaries The Philly Years Where American Bandstand only allowed dancers from 14 to 18. A Midlothian-based freelance writer, Martha Steger has received national awards for her journalism, essays, short fiction and poetry. She also mentions a gay dancer who was pushed in the train tracks, and another who was dangled over an elevator shaft. Read the review. When she heard the news of Clark's death Wednesday, Gibson immediately headed to Hollywood to be with other former Bandstand regulars at Clark's star on the Walk of Fame.

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