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- Actor
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Arthur Duncan was drafted into a dance team with two friends while in school. He initially resisted, but they insisted he give it a try. He liked it, and began to take tap lessons.
For a few years Arthur worked in Australia, where he was a popular performer who was even offered his own TV show. Feeling that he was too young and experienced for the responsibility that would have come with the show, he turned it down. He explained that he was working regularly, so he didn't miss much. While in Australia he met and worked with Ken Delo, who he would later work with for many years on the Lawrence Welk show.
After returning to the US, Arthur asked an acquaintance in the business to inquire if Lawrence Welk had any interest in adding a performer like Arthur to his show. After a long wait, he was asked to an audition, and then a few months later to make a guest appearance. After another couple of guest appearances, Arthur appeared with the show during a run in Lake Tahoe. At the end of the last show there, Lawrence asked Arthur out onto the stage, commented to the audience that Arthur had become popular with them, and announced that he'd like Arthur to "join the Welk musical family". Arthur accepted, and thus began a run of decades on the show, during which it was very rare not to see Arthur have a tap solo, along with other dance numbers with fellow members of the cast.
It shouldn't go without mention that when Lawrence Welk put Arthur Duncan on his show, black performers were generally not well received by TV audiences of the time. Welk showed real courage in breaking the color barrier, and Arthur Duncan obviously won the admiration and respect of both live and TV audiences with his incredible talent, good humor, and pleasant personality.
(The above is based on an interview of Arthur Duncan on the Lawrence Welk shows syndicated on PBS).- Director
- Producer
- Editor
Boston-born Herbert Strock's introduction to the movie business was as director of the Fox Newsreel crew, visiting Hollywood stars in their homes. After serving with the Ordnance Motion Picture Division, he found employment as an editor at MGM and later moved into the infant medium of TV, producing and directing The Cases of Eddie Drake (1952), the first-ever motion picture film to become a network series. Strock made the transition to feature film directing in 1953, when (in the midst of production) he took over direction of the SF thriller The Magnetic Monster (1953) from Curt Siodmak. Today he operates his own post-production facilities.- Actor
Louis Brenn was born on 27 February 1922 in Illinois, USA. He was an actor. He died on 25 June 2004 in Moreno Valley, California, USA.- Amkessee was born on 31 July 2003. He was an actor, known for Rich Foever feat. Amkessee: Don't Trip (2020) and Amkessee: Goin In (2021). He died on 27 January 2021 in Moreno Valley, California, USA.