Ethel Merman

Acting

Ethel Merman

Born January 16, 1908 · Astoria, New York, USA

Died February 15, 1984 · aged 76

Ethel Merman (January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her powerful voice and roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm", "Everything's Coming Up Roses", "I Get a Kick Out of You", "It's De-Lovely", "F…

Known For

Airplane!Airplane! · 1980
Airplane!
7.31980
MovieComedy
An ex-fighter pilot forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad WorldIt's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World · 1963
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
7.01963
MovieAdventureComedy
A group of strangers come across a man dying after a car crash who proceeds to tell them about the $350,000 he buried in California. What follows is the madcap adventures of those strangers as each attempts to claim the prize for himself.
There's No Business Like Show BusinessThere's No Business Like Show Business · 1954
There's No Business Like Show Business
6.11954
MovieMusicComedy
Molly and Terry Donahue, plus their three children, are The Five Donahues. Youngest son Tim meets hat-check girl Vicky and the family act begins to fall apart.
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in JulyRudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July · 1979
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
6.41979
MovieAnimationFantasy
Winterbolt is trying to make the North Pole his evil wonderland, and it is up to Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and others to stop him.
Happy LandingHappy Landing · 1938
Happy Landing
6.31938
MovieComedyMusic
Bandleader and manager discover skater in Norway. They become rivals as she returns with them to America.
Stage Door CanteenStage Door Canteen · 1943
Stage Door Canteen
6.31943
MovieComedyRomance
A young soldier on a pass in New York City visits the famed Stage Door Canteen, where famous stars of theatre and film appear and host a recreational center for servicemen during the war. The soldier meets a pretty young hostess and they enjoy the many entertainers and a growing romance.
The Art of LoveThe Art of Love · 1965
The Art of Love
5.51965
MovieComedy
Struggling artist fakes his own death so his works will increase in value.
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved HollywoodWon Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood · 1976
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
4.41976
MovieComedy
A would-be filmmaker and actress shake up the industry with a trick dog who gets discovered by a studio bus driver in the 1920s.

Filmography

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Annie Get Your GunAnnie Get Your Gun · 1967
Annie Get Your Gun
7.01967
MovieWesternMusic
This 1967 TV Movie featured the cast of the recent Lincoln Center and Broadway Revival of the classic musical. Starring Ethel Merman, who recreated her original 1946 role as sharp shooter Annie Oakley, the telecast co-starred Bruce Yarnell, Jerry Orbach and Benay Venuta. Running only 90 minutes and with no studio audience, this TV version was the most popular single musical special of the season for NBC. It raked in a total of 60 million viewers. The special retains a certain notoriety as a "lost" program. Seemingly the only surviving videotapes were erased at some point, with no copies found in the collections of Merman or composer Irving Berlin. A complete audio recording captured by a fan off the television can be sourced for listening online.

Annie Oakley

It's a Zabriskie, Zabriskie, Zabriskie, Zabriskie PointIt's a Zabriskie, Zabriskie, Zabriskie, Zabriskie Point · 2023
It's a Zabriskie, Zabriskie, Zabriskie, Zabriskie Point
2023
MovieDocumentary
Worlds collide in this unconventional essay film, when filmmaker, film historian, and archivist Daniel Kremer seamlessly edits Michelangelo Antonioni's legendary but controversial counterculture art film Zabriskie Point (1970) into the same narrative universe as Stanley Kramer's madcap epic comedy extravaganza It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). In creating these new sequences, Kremer comes to recognize that the exercise effortlessly draws cultural and historical parallels in twentieth-century American life that echo in present-day America. The editorial mashups weave a tangled web of social and cinematic history that root our notions of Americana in the mythology of the desert. As Kremer expounds in his narration on these often astonishing and sometimes shocking associations, his very personal ties to the subject matter become manifest.

Mrs. Marcus (archive footage)

The Lucy ShowThe Lucy Show · 1962
The Lucy Show
7.01962
SeriesComedy
The Lucy Show is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962–68. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy. A significant change in cast and premise for the 1965–66 season divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program for its second season, remained. For the first three seasons, Vivian Vance was the co-star. The earliest scripts were entitled The Lucille Ball Show, but when this title was declined, producers thought of calling the show This Is Lucy or The New Adventures of Lucy, before deciding on the title The Lucy Show. Ball won consecutive Emmy Awards as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the series' final two seasons, 1966–67 and 1967–68.

Ethel Merman