As you can see from the opening frame, this is not titled "Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood" as listed elsewhere, it's simply "Happy Birthday Hollywood" as anyone who had actually seen the production could attest.This whole thing is absolutely fabulous start to finish. As I watched, keeping an eye for special frames to capture, there were at least 40 different places that would have been appropriate. Too much work, so I settled on just one. It would have been 15 frames just to get the cast roll call! Almost everyone is here;
Debbie Allen, June Allyson, Bea Arthur, Edward Asner, Lucille Ball, Gene Barry, Drew Barrymore, Hinton Battle, Shari Belafonte, Sandahl Bergman, Tom Bosley, Morgan Brittany, Charles Bronson, Gregg Burge, Carol Burnett, Sid Caesar, Lynda Carter, Cyd Charisse, James Coburn, Dabney Coleman, Mike Connors, Bert Convy, Don Correia, Arlene Dahl, Tony Danza, Sammy Davis Jr., Angie Dickinson, Nancy Dussault, Clint Eastwood, Barbara Eden, Morgan Fairchild, Alice Faye, Bonnie Franklin, Mary Frann, Gil Gerard, Lillian Gish, Whoopi Goldberg, Louis Gossett Jr., Robert Goulet, Gregory Harrison, Mary Hart, Florence Henderson, Katharine Hepburn, Charlton Heston, Bob Hope, Jill Ireland, Van Johnson, Shirley Jones, Ruby Keeler, Sally Kellerman, Jayne Kennedy, Stepfanie Kramer, Patti LaBelle, Dorothy Lamour, Burt Lancaster, Michele Lee, Janet Leigh, Shari Lewis, Gloria Loring, Lorna Luft, Tony Martin, Marlee Matlin, Marilyn McCoo, Roddy McDowall, Ann Miller, Donna Mills, Liza Minnelli, Roger Moore, Joe Namath, Donald O'Connor, Maureen O'Sullivan, Gregory Peck, Nia Peeples, Bernadette Peters, Jane Powell, Stefanie Powers, Luise Rainer, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Lou Rawls, Lee Roy Reams, Burt Reynolds, Debbie Reynolds, Alfonso Ribeiro, John Ritter, Jason Robards, Ginger Rogers, Cesar Romero, Eva Marie Saint, Tracy Scoggins, William Shatner, Ally Sheedy, Jaclyn Smith, Robert Stack, Lionel Stander, James Stewart, Jill St. John, Susan Sullivan, Loretta Swit, Alan Thicke, Lana Turner, Joan Van Ark, Dick Van Dyke, Robert Wagner, Dee Wallace, Betty White, Jesse White, Esther Williams, Treat Williams, Henry Winkler, Jane Wyman, and Loretta Young.
Audacious musical numbers, a terrific opening medley featuring Liza herself and a huge group-sing of (what else?) "Hooray For Hollywood" with the likes of Chuck Bronson, Burt Lancaster and James Coburn among MANY others.
Happy Birthday Hollywood (1987) (TV)
Cast: Almost everybody who was alive in 1987
Happy Birthday Hollywood (1987) (TV)
Cast: Almost everybody who was alive in 1987
I was there. I had arrived in California from southern Ohio in August of 1986 upon my college graduation. At this time, I was working in the mailroom at MGM/UA. A friend of mine, an agent from William Morris, Aaron Cohen, was my host. He represented Lorna Luft, Judy Garland's daughter, and Liza's sister. At one point, he said to me, "You are sitting next to Margaret O'Brien." Of course, I had seen Meet Me in St. Louis with Judy Garland Margaret O'Brien, as well as, Little Women with Elizabeth Taylor and June Allyson, and Margaret O'Brien. She is a legend. I immediately turned to her to tell her how much I have enjoyed her work. She was surprised I knew who she was, as she turned to her husband and said, "Honey, this young man knows who I am!" Natalie Schafer, who played Mrs. Howell on Gilligan's Island was sitting right behind me. I saw Candy Spelling walking up and down the aisle before the show began. The party afterward was wonderful. Jaqueline Smith, from Charlies Angels, was on the dance floor a mere feet away from me. There was also Ginger Rogers and Van Johnson! It was the eighties. What a wonderful time it was that night.
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