A fateful dive into the James River in Virginia to get across the rapids cost Cole Sydnor the use of his arms and legs when he hit his head on a rock in August 2011. Cole was only 16 years old. Sydnor’s recollection of the accident is vivid. He recalls floating face down with his eyes open, in murky water.
He recalls trying to swim and being puzzled by his inability to do so, by the refusal of his arms and legs to obey his brain’s commands. Cole remembers watching as the water changed color to a bright red. Luckily, a friend saw Cole in the river and jumped in and saved him.
The impact shattered Cole’s neck at C5 and C6, rendering him a quadriplegic. Cole lost all function below those levels of his vertebrae. He’s unable to use his hands and triceps as well so he’s a complete quadriplegic. Cole is now able to use his shoulders, biceps and a little bit of his wrists. Cole believes that the Epidural Stimulation is the most promising surgery out there right now for those with spinal cord injuries and he is exploring the possibility of same. Cole has worked, and continues to work, with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, which plays a critical role in the Epidural Stimulation project in various capacities.
After the Shepherd Center, Cole went back to the University of Richmond (Cole was on the crew team!) and ultimately graduated. In November 2017, Cole first crossed paths with Charisma Jamison at Sheltering Arms Physical Rehabilitation in Virginia, where Cole was undergoing rehab therapy. Charisma was a Rehabilitation Technician. Cole states, “I saw this beautiful girl walking around [Sheltering Arms].” From there, love was born.
You might remember Squirmy and Grubs, Shane and Hannah Burcaw. They are also an interabled couple with over a million subscribers on YouTube. We talked about them a few years ago, and we can talk about them more in the future. Here is a video of Cole and Charisma hanging out with Shane and Hannah.
Candice Bergen starred on Murphy Brown as a smart, independent anchorwoman. She won five Emmys during the show’s 10 year time on the air.
Who is Candice Bergen?
She was born on May 9, 1946, in Beverly Hills, California.
Candice started out as a model before she decided to change careers and be an actor.
She received an Oscar nomination for her role in the 1979 film called Starting Over.
She is best known for her title role in the sitcom Murphy Brown she won five Emmys during the show’s 10 year run.
She also worked with William Shatner on ABC’s show called Boston Legal that started in 2005.
Early Years and Career
She is the daughter of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and model Francis Westerman Bergen.
Candice started her career as part of her father’s act with his puppets Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd.
She began modelling as a teenager before graduating and going into acting with the 1966 film called The Group.
Movies
She gained a lot of success for her work in several films including Carnal Knowledge in 1971, Starting Over in 1979, which gained her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress Academy Award and Gandhi in 1982.
In 1984 she published a memoir called Knock Wood.
Murphy Brown
In 1998, Candice found her niche in the politically charged sitcom called Murphy Brown. She launched the role that made her the most famous of her career.
She played Murphy, an independent, sarcastic, liberal anchorwoman. It earned her eight Emmy nominations and she won five times in 1989, 1998, 1992, 1993 and 1995. The show ended in 1998.
The show and its title character became nationally famous in 1992 when Vice President Dan Quayle attacked a single mother TV character for being a poor role model.
Candice’s portrayal of Murphy as a hard-hitting journalist was so convincing that after Murphy Brown ended she was considered by the real-life TV news show 60 minutes for position as a correspondent.
It wouldn’t have been a bad fit because she is an accomplished photojournalist with work appearing in magazines such as Life and Playboy.
In January 2018 it was announced that she would return for a revival of Murphy Brown scheduled to debut as part of the CBS fall schedule later that same year.
Boston Legal and Other Work
In 2000, she began hosting her own talk show called Exhale with Candice Bergen. It was on the oxygen network, the woman’s cable network founded by Oprah Winfrey. It was later cancelled but she didn’t stay off the air for long.
She returned in 2005 on the ABC comedy called Boston Legal. She starred with William Shatner and James Spader. She played a high-powered attorney and she earned both Emmy and Golden Globe nominations during the shows five season success.
She appeared in other primetime programs such as House and The Michael J Fox Show.
She appeared in films like Bride Wars 2010, Rules Don’t Apply in 2016 and Home Again in 2017.
I thought we could and class but watching a couple short funny videos with Candice.
Personal Life, Husbands and Daughter
Her brother is Kris Bergen. He is a film and TV editor.
She was married to the French filmmaker Louis Malle from 1980 to 1995 however he unfortunately died of cancer at the age of 63.
Their daughter was named Chloe and was born in 1985.
In June 2000, she married her longtime boyfriend the New York real estate executive and philanthropist Marshall Rose.
More than 30 years later after writing her first memoir she published the second one. It was called a Fine Romance in 2015.
Stephen is an American Internet personality. He publishes vlogs on YouTube.
Early Life and Career
His full name is Stephen Patrick Sharer. He was born on March 1, 1998, and is 26 years old.
He was born in Pennsylvania in the United States.
His occupation is Internet personality and he has been active on the Internet since 2017.
He has 11 million subscribers and 6 billion views for his videos.
He spent his childhood creating video content and performing at local events with friends.
Stephen uploaded His First YouTube video called Unboxing Two Hoverboards and was encouraged to keep uploading videos to the site.
As written earlier in 2017, Stephen began creating YouTube videos full time with his brother Carter Sharer.
His contact includes videos of his day today activities and other videos of him doing stunts, experiments, challenges and adventures. He is now based in Los Angeles, which is now the setting of most of his videos.
His channel experienced very fast growth. It had 2 million subscribers within only one year and reached 6 million subscribers in only two years.
He has been featured in Newsweek, CBS Local and Yahoo Finance.
As of 2022 his channel has engaged over 6 billion viewers with almost every video going mega viral.
He created a music video called Share The Love which became his most viewed video ever.
He produced two more music videos called Jump In and Snow Day after the success of his first song.
Other Work
Stephen has been a guest speaker at CVX Live, VidSummit, and VidCon Conferences. He was there to discuss YouTube and social media growth methods.
In 2019 he granted the wish of a terminally ill child. He was eight-year-old James through the Make-A-Wish foundation. He took him on a backyard adventure in search of the Pond Monster. It was a character created That has been the focal point of numerous videos.
He has also been able to connect with fans through interviews with news outlets such as Sweetie High and Young Hollywood.
Kris Kristofferson Latest News: actor and musician Dies at Age 88
Kris died at his home in Maui, Hawaii on September 28. He was 88 years old and surrounded by family. He is survived by his wife, Lisa and his eight children.
He was best known for his leading role in the 1976 musical drama called A Star is born.
His songwriting contributions were to folk and country music and they included his hits Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down, Help Me Make It Through the Night, and Me and Bobby McGee.
Who Was Kris Kristofferson?
Although he was an award-winning musician and actor, he had a slow start in country music until artists like Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis began to record his songs.
His big breakthrough came in 1971 when Janis Joplin’s version of his song Me and Bobby McGee reached the top of the charts.
Around the same time Kris launched a successful career as an actor with roles in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, the 1976 remake of A Star Is Born with Barbra Streisand, Lone Star, and the Blade movies.
At the same time, he was maintaining his legendary career as a songwriter and performer. He won three Grammy awards, was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Country Music Hall of Fame, and he saw his songs at the top of the charts throughout his most of his life.
Early Life
He was born in Brownsville, Texas on June 22, 1936. He was the first of three children in a conservative military family. When Kris was a small child, his family moved around often but eventually they settled in San Mateo, California when he was in junior high.
After he graduated from high school in 1954 He attended Pomona College in Southern California where he studied creative writing and poetry by William Blake. He learned how to write poems and short stories by studying him. He won several awards for his work including first prize in a short story contest held by the Atlantic Monthly. He also played football for the school and was a Golden Gloves boxer.
He graduated with honours from Pomona University in 1958 and got a Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford University. He moved to England later that year to pursue his master’s degree in literature. He began writing songs and soon performed at local clubs as Kris Carson. Even though he eventually recorded a few songs for a small label, they didn’t give him recognition and return and he returned home after completing his studies.
He was at a crossroads in his life and chose to change the direction of career and decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the military. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and was trained as a Ranger and helicopter pilot. He was stationed in West Germany. While he was in service he continued writing poems in music and eventually organized a soldier’s band that performed at various functions.
In 1965 Kris achieved the rank of captain and was offered a position as an English instructor at the West Point military Academy. However, after taking a trip to Nashville that June he decided to change the course of his life again, he rejected his job offer, resigned from the military and was charting the course to become a country music songwriter.
Music Career: Songs, Grammys, and More
Kris’s chosen path wasn’t an easy one. His parents were so upset by his decision that their relationship with him became extremely strained. He didn’t speak to his mother for more than 20 years. He said, “it was actually a very liberating thing to be cut loose from any expectations from anybody.”
Although he signed with the publisher Bighorn Music shortly after moving with his wife and young daughter to Nashville, the income that he made wasn’t enough to support his family. He worked a lot of odd jobs including a janitor over the next few years just to make ends meet.
During this period, Kris did have some success because other artists recorded his songs such as Vietnam Blues and Jody and the Kid. They made it onto the country charts. His debut single as a performer in 1967 called Golden Idol didn’t do very well. It didn’t make it on the charts.
His struggles became even harder when his second child was born with health problems that gave the family very high medical bills.
Even with everything going on Kris’s talent as a songwriter only got stronger and in 1969 his luck began to change when Roger Miller’s cover of his song Me and Bobby McGee reached the top 20 on the country charts. His songs were known for vivid narratives and piercing lyrics.
Johnny Cash was also interested in his songs. Chris personally delivered a song to Johnny Cash by landing a helicopter in his yard. Because of his determination Johnny Cash asked him to be a guest on the Johnny Cash show and offered to introduce him at the Newport folk Festival. It was these big breaks given to him by Johnny Cash that started his very successful career off.
Debut Album Kristofferson
In 1970, he released his debut self-titled album. He supported it by performing at shows like the Troubadour in Los Angeles, the Isle of Wight Festival in England, and the Bitter End in New York City. Even with all that work his efforts were not very successful.
However, cover versions of his songs were being released on the country charts including Waylon Jennings version of The Taker, Jerry Lee Lewis’s recording of Once More with Feeling and Sammi Smith’s version of Help Me Make It Through the Night.
By the end of the year, Ray Price’s version of For the Good Times and Johnny Cash’s version of Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ down both reached number one and even crossed into the pop Top 20 Charts. For the Good Times was named song of the year at the Academy of country music awards.
Kris won his only country music Association award when Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down was honoured as Song of the Year.
Me and Bobby McGee
In 1971 Kristofferson’s first musical breakthrough happened when Janis Joplin’s album called Pearl was released after death. She covered the song Me and Bobby McGee. It reached number one on the Billboard hot 100 and it gave Janice and Chris their biggest hits ever.
This song has been recorded by many other artists over the years such as Kenny Rogers, Chet Atkins, Olivia Newton John, and Dolly Parton.
It helped boost the sales of his next album called The Silver Tongued Devil and I. It was released in 1971 and eventually became Gold certified and caused his label to release his first album.
Another one of his albums that was released in 1971 called Border Lord was at number six on Billboard’s top country albums chart.
By the end of 1971 he had gone from being unknown to songwriting stardom. Three of the songs competed in multiple categories including Song of the Year at the following Grammy awards. He won best country song for Help Me Make It Through the Night at the March 1972 awards show.
Chart Topping Albums and Songs
In 1972 he released his fourth album called Jesus Is a Capricorn. It was one of the more successful albums. The number one country single and Grammy nominated song called Why Me Lord off the Jesus is a Capricorn album sold 500,000 copies and became a number 1 Country Album in November 1973.
His personal life was changing as well. He divorced his first wife and got remarried to fellow singer Rita Coolidge.
They recorded a successful string of duet albums. Their first was in 1973 and it was called Full Moon. It went to number one on the country album chart.
They earned two Grammy awards for the duets called From the Bottom to the Bottom and Lover Please. Both songs won best country vocal performance By a Duo or Group.
2.56He released some solo efforts around this time as well. They were called Spooky Ladies Sideshow in 1974, Who’s to Bless and Who’s to Blame in 1975, and To Surreal Thing in 1976. They were somewhat successful but they were not nearly as successful as the soundtrack for A Star Is Born in 1976. This was a movie soundtrack which featured Chris and his costar Barbara Streisand. It was on top of the Billboard 200 and was a platinum certified record in January 1977. As of today, it has sold more than 4 million.
He released them album called Easter Island in 1978 and Shake Hands with the Devil in 1979.
He also released Natural Act in 1978. It was the last duets album he recorded with Rita and they divorced soon after the album was released.
Cover versions of his songs continued to be very successful. Willie Nelson collaborated with Chris Kristofferson on some of his most memorable work and the decade.
The Highwaymen
Kris continued releasing solo albums such as To the Bone in 1981, Third World Warrior in 1990, and A Moment of Forever in 1995.
However, his collaborations with other people and movie soundtrack contributions were more successful.
The Winning Hand in 1983 was an effort with Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Brenda Lee went to number four on the Billboard’s top country albums chart.
After that the soundtrack for the 1984 Nashville movie called Songwriter got Kris, one of its stars, and Academy award nomination for best music Original Song Score.
In 1985 when Kris was inducted into the songwriters Hall of Fame he went out with the country group called the Highwaymen with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings.
Their debut album called Highwayman was released with great success. The number one country album produced several hit songs that included the Grammy nominated title track and eventually sold 1 million copies.
Highwayman Two was released in 1990 and bought another Grammy nomination. Their final album together called The Road Goes on Forever in 1995 was not nearly as successful.
Later Albums
Between the late 1990s and 2022 he released mostly live albums, re-recordings, and records featuring unreleased songs.
In 2006 he released the album This Old World. It was his first new music collection in more than a decade.
In 2009 he released Closer to the Bone and in 2013 he released the more reflective album called Feeling Mortal.
Kris tends to write songs and albums about what he is going through at the time.
In 2004 he was inducted into the country music Hall of Fame.
In 2014 the recording Academy presented him with its Lifetime Achievement award.
He retired in 2020 when he was in his mid-80s
Movies
In 1971 he appeared on the big screen in the movie called The Last Movie.
He also offered his musical talents when he wrote some songs to be included in movies as well.
He was in the movie called Cisco Pike in 1972 with Gene Hackman.
He portrayed Billy the Kid in the movie called Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid in 1973 and had a costarring role in the movie called Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore in 1974.
A Star Is Born
Kris portrayed an aging rockstar with Barbara Streisand’s role as a singer on the rise in the movie A Star Is Born. It was a great success in the box office and the soundtrack which featured songs by the costars Barbara and Kris.
Kris one of Golden Globe for the best actor role for his role as John in the movie.
In 1990 he was in the movie Heaven’s Gate and in 1992 he was in the movie called No Place to Hide. Both of the movies did Not do very well.
Lone Star
In 1996, Kris was cast as the Sheriff Charlie Wade in the movie Lone Star. He acted alongside Matthew McConaughey.
In 1998 he was in the movie called A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries with Mel Gibson.
Wife and Children
Kris was married twice before and he was married to Attorney Lisa Myers for more than 41 years. They met at a gym. She asked him to go on a run and he refused but she didn’t give up. She continued to ask and said to him that she wasn’t talking about changing his life she only wanted to go for a run. Later Chris said that she did change his life but for the better. They married on February 18, 1983, and raised Kris’s three children and Lisa and Kris had five children of their own.
Declining Health
In the early 2000’s he was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and his painful muscle spasms caused him to take eight months off work.
In the later years he lost his sense of smell, he began having trouble with spatial awareness and started to lose his memory.
In 2014 he publicly revealed he was suffering from a form of dementia that was almost like Alzheimer’s.
However later it was found out that it was misdiagnosed.
In February 2016 he did a test for a lyme disease that came back positive so he stopped taking his medicine for Alzheimer’s and depression and started Lyme disease treatment. Even his fibromyalgia was later said to be caused by his Lyme disease which can cause muscle pain.
Bob starred in two long-running sitcoms. In 1972 after he starred on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour he was approached by his agent and his managers to work on a series called the Bob Newhart show. He was very interested in this role of psychologist Bob Hartley. The Bob Newhart show was part of the CBS comedy lineup on Saturday nights. Other shows during this time were All in the Family, Mash, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and the Carol Burnett show. The Bob Newhart Show was an immediate hit.
Although Bob was mostly at television star, he appeared in a number of popular films beginning with the 1959 war story called Hell Is for Heroes.
In 1968 he played an annoying software specialist in the film called Hot Millions.
His other films included 1970s musical called On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, in 1971 the comedy called Cold Turkey, Mike Nichols war satire Catch-22, the 1977 Disney animated feature called The Rescuers and its 1990 sequel The Rescuers Down Under. He was the voice of Bernard and he played the President of the United States in the comedy First Family in 1980.
1982 to 1990: Newhart
In 1982 Bob was interested in a new project. He had discussions with CBS and the show Newhart was created. He played a Vermont innkeeper and TV talk show host Dick Loudon.
Mary Frann was cast as his wife Joanna.
The show lasted for eight seasons and it earned three primetime Emmy award nominations for four Outstanding Supporting Actor in a comedy series in 1994 1986 and 1987. The show was immediate hit and it was also nominated as a show for primetime Emmy awards but unfortunately didn’t win any.
While he was filming the show in 1985 his smoking habit finally caught up to him and he was taken to the emergency room and the doctors ordered him to stop smoking.
In 1987 the ratings began to drop for the show. Newhart ended in 1990 after eight seasons and 182 episodes.
1991 to 2012: Established Career
While having a great career in stand-up comedy Bob became a dedicated character actor in film and television. He played a school principal in the show In and Out in 1997, he acted with Will Ferrell in the Christmas comedy film Elf in 2003 and made a cameo appearance as a sadistic but appreciative CEO at the end of the comedy Horrible Bosses in 2011.
He appeared on Its Gary Shandling’s Show and Committed, he continued his role as Dr. Bob Hartley on Murphy Brown and appeared as himself on the Simpsons.
He also had a role on NCIS as Ducky’s mentor and predecessor, a retired forensic pathologist who was discovered to have Alzheimer’s disease.
In 1992 he returned to television with a series about a cartoonist called Bob. Lisa Kudrow was also on the show but it didn’t develop a strong audience and was cancelled shortly after the start of its second season.
In 1997 he returned to television again with the show called George and Leo on CBS with Judd Hirsch and Jason Bateman. However, the show was not successful and cancelled after during its first season.
In 1995 he was approached by Showtime to make the first comedy special of his 35 year career. It was called Off The Record which he performed material from his first and second albums in front of an audience in Pasadena California.
In 2003, Newhart guest starred on three episodes of ER in a rare dramatic role that earned him a primetime Emmy award nomination. It was his first in nearly 20 years.
In 2005, he began a role on Desperate Housewives as Morty, the on-again off-again boyfriend of Sophie.
In 2009, he received another primetime Emmy award nomination for his role as Judson in The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice.
On August 27, 2006, At the 58th primetime Emmy awards hosted by Conan O’Brien, Bob was placed in a supposedly airtight glass prison that contain three hours of air. if the Emmy’s went over the time of three hours he would die. This stunt was only to show the frustration that award shows usually run on past their allotted time, usually three hours. Bob survived his containment and helped present the award for outstanding comedy series.
In 2011 he appeared in a small but pivotal role as a doctor in Lifetime’s anthology film on breast cancer called Five.
2013 to 2020: The Big Bang Theory and Final Roles
In 2013, Bob appeared in an episode of the 6th season of The Big Bang Theory and he played the old professor Proton, a former science show host turned children’s party entertainer. He got a primetime Emmy award for this role. He went to that year’s Emmy awards dressed up in costume with fellow actor Jim Parsons and received a standing ovation. He played the character through the show’s 12th and final season and even on its spinoff program called Young Sheldon.
In 2015, Bob appeared on another series finale. It was called Hot In Cleveland. He played the father-in-law of Joy’s cogs. It caused a reunion with Betty White who was a cast member during the second season of Bob 23 years earlier.
Personal Life – Family Life
On January 12, 1963, Bob married his wife Virginia. She was a daughter of a character actor and met Bob because of an introduction by comedian Buddy Hackett.
The couple had four children: Robert, Timothy, Jennifer and Courtney, and followed by 10 grandchildren. They were both Roman Catholics and raised their children and that faith. His wife Ginnie died at 82 on April 23, 2023.
Bob was the uncle of actor and comedian Paul Britton. The Newhart and Rickles families were very close and often vacationed together.
Their friendship was memorialized in Bob and Don: A Love Story. It was a 2023 short documentary film that featured interviews as well as home videos with both families.
For over 25 years, Bob family lived in a mansion in Bel Air. It was a French country style. It had 9169 ft.², five bedrooms with formal gardens, a lagoon style pool with a water fall and a guest apartment. He sold the property in 2016 for the price of $14.5 million.
Health and Death
In 1985, Bob was hospitalized for a condition attributed to his years of heavy smoking. He recovered after several weeks and eventually quit smoking. He died from complications of several short illnesses at his home in Los Angeles on July 18, 2024, at the age of 94.
President Joe Biden released a statement which read, “today, we mourn the loss of Bob Newhart, a comedy legend and a beloved performer who kept Americans laughing for decades.” People like Reese Witherspoon, James Woods, Julie Bowen, Carol Burnett, Conan O’Brien, Alec Baldwin and Jamie Lee Curtis were among many celebrities who paid tribute.
His full name was George Robert Newhart. He was born on September 5, 1929, and passed away on July 18, 2024.
He was an American comedian and actor. He was very well-known for his straight no-nonsense type of humour.
He began his career as a standup comedian and then slowly changed into an actor on television. He received many awards that included three Grammy awards, an Emmy award, and a Golden Globe award.
He also received the Mark Twain prize for American Humour in 2002.
His career began in 1960 when he released his record album of monologues called The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart. It became a bestseller and reached number one on the Billboard pop album charts and won two Grammy awards for Album of the Year, and Best New Artist.
Also, That Year He Released His Follow-Up Album Called The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back. It was also a big success and the two albums held the Billboard number one and number two spots. He released several other comedy albums.
He hosted an NBC variety show called the Bob Newhart Show in 1961 and then starred as a Chicago psychologist named Robert Hartley on the Bob Newhart Show from 1972 to 1978. He won a Golden Globe award for Best male TV star for the show.
Then he starred as an innkeeper in Vermont named Dick Loudin on the TV series Newhart from 1982 to 1990 and received three nominations for the Prime Time Emmy Award For Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.
He also starred in two shows that weren’t as successful called Bob from 1992 to 1993 and George and Leo from 1997 to 1998.
He also starred in many movies. They were called Hot Millions in 1968, Catch-22 in 1970, Cold Turkey in 1971, In and Out in 1997, and Elf in 2003.
He was the voice of Bernard in the Disney animated film The Rescuers in 1977.
He was on the CBS show The Big Bang Theory and played Professor Proton from 2013 to 2018. He received his first Emmy Award for this show it was the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. He also brought back that role when he was in the show Young Sheldon from 2017 to 2020.
Early Life and Education
George Robert Newhart was born on September 5, 1929, in Oak Park, Illinois. His parents were Julia Pauline and she was a housewife, and George David Newhart who was a part owner of a plumbing supply business.
His mother was Irish and his father was German and Irish. He decided to use his middle name to avoid confusion with his father’s name. The name Newhart is of German origin. One of his grandmothers was from St. Catherine’s Ontario Canada. He had three sisters.
He Went to School at Roman Catholic Schools in the Chicago Area. He Went to St. Catherine of Siena Grammar School in Oak Park and attended St. Ignatius College Prep High School. He Graduated in 1947. He decided to go to Loyola University Chicago and graduated in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in business management.
He was drafted into US Army and then he was discharged in 1954, he served as a US-based clerk in the Korean War.
He briefly attended Loyola University Chicago School of Law but didn’t get a degree because he admitted that he’d been asked to behave unethically during an internship. He was very uncomfortable with that.
1958 to 1971: Country Albums and Stardom
After the war, Bob worked for United States Gypsum as an accountant. He said later that his motto in life, “that’s close enough”, and his habit of adjusting petty cash imbalances with his own money showed him that he lacked the temperament of an accountant.
In 1958 he became an advertising copywriter for Fred A. Niles. He was a major independent film and television producer in Chicago. While he was working there he and a coworker entertained each other with long telephone calls about funny scenarios which they later recorded and sent to radio stations in order to audition. Bob’s coworker ended his participation in the fun by taking a job in New York so he continued doing the recordings alone and developed his own routines.
Dan Sorkin, a radio station disc jockey, who later became the announcer sidekick on Newhart’s NBC series, introduced Bob to the head of talent at Warner Brothers Records.
Because of his recordings the label signed him in 1959. He expanded his comedy material into a standup routine and then began to perform at nightclubs. His routine was to portray one end of the conversation, which was usually a phone call, playing the comedic straight man while implying what the other person was saying.
Bob’s 1960 comedy album called The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart was the first comedy album to make it to number one on the Billboard charts and it peaked at number two in the UK albums chart. It also 12 Grammy awards for album of the year and best new artist.
In an interview in 2005, Bob said that his favourite standup routine was called “A Lincoln Versus Madison Avenue” which appears on this album. in this routine, a promoter has to deal with Lincoln’s reluctance to agree to efforts to boost his image.
He released his follow-up album called The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back six months later and it won Best Comedy Performance – Spoken Word.
He released more comedy albums called Behind The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart in 1961, The Button-Down Mind On TV in 1962, Bob Newhart Faces Bob Newhart in 1964, The Windmills Are Weakening in 1965, This Is It in 1967, Best of Bob Newhart in 1971, and Very Funny Bob Newhart, in 1973.
Years later he released Bob Newhart Off the Record in 1992, The Button-Down Concert in 1997, and Something like This in 2001. The last album in 2001 was basically a compilation of his 1960s albums produced by Warner Brothers.
Because of his success in standup comedy, he starred in his own NBC variety show in 1961 called the Bob Newhart show but it only lasted one season and earned him a Primetime Emmy award nomination and a Peabody award.
The Peabody Board said that his comedy was a breath of fresh air. In a troubled and apprehensive world, he has proved once again that laughter is the best medicine.
He hosted Saturday Night Live twice in 1980 and 1995. He also was a guest host on the Tonight Show with starring Johnny Carson 87 times and appeared at the Royal Variety Performance in London before Queen Elizabeth II.
In April 1998 she received the National Order of Québec. It is her provinces highest honour.
Later that year, she appeared with Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Gloria Estefan, and Shania Twain on the highly advertised televised concert Diva’s Live on VH1.
She toured a lot and recorded several albums including a French album called S’il Suffsait d’aimer and a holiday album called These Are Special Times. Both of these albums were released in 1998.
Her extensive 14 country tour, that began in the summer of 1998 and ended in a gala concert in Montréal on December 31, 1999. It was in honour of the new millennium.
She got her fourth number one hit with I’m Your Angel. It is a duet with R&B singer R. Kelly. It was featured on the album These Are Special Times.
Husband and Children
In 1994, Celine brought together her personal and professional life when she married her manager Rene Angelil. He was 26 years older than she was and divorced his second wife in the 1980s.
Around the same time, he and Celine began their romantic relationship. They got engaged in 1991 and married at Montréal’s Notre Dame Basilica in a ceremony that was celebrated all over Canada.
In early 2000, Celine announced that she was taking time off from her career in order to focus on her family. She and her husband had been trying to have children for years and eventually decided to use in vitro fertilization. In May 2000 Celine had two small operations at a fertility clinic in New York to improve her chances of becoming pregnant.
The procedures were successful and on January 25, 2001, she gave birth to a boy named Rene Charles. She decided to store another fertilized egg in the fertility clinic and planned to give her son a sibling. On October 23, 2010, when she was 42 years, she gave birth to twin boys named Eddy and Nelson.
Global Fame and Vegas Residencies
After two years off Celine returned in March 2002 with A New Day Has Come which was at the top of the charts in more than 17 countries.
In 2001, she began a 36 month engagement at Caesar’s Palace, the famous Las Vegas hotel and casino. At the same time, she released the album called One Heart. It didn’t do as well as her last album did.
She decided to start creating French language albums when she released 1 Fille and 4 Types.
She partnered with photographer Anne Geddes and had a hit with the children’s music album called Miracle: A Celebration of New Life in 2004.
In 2007, she released two albums: Taking Chances which nearly reached the top of the pop album charts, and D’Elles, another French language record.
Even though she was not hitting the top of the charts as she once did, the Celine remained a popular entertainer still.
In June 2009, Forbes reported that the singer had earned approximately $100 million in 2008. This made her the second highest earning musician after Madonna.
She released follow-up albums including the French language album called Sans Attendre in 2012 and Encore un soir in 2016, Loved Me Back to Life 2013.
She also did another residency at Caesar’s Palace in 2011.
Health Problems and Husband’s Death
In August 2014 she cancelled all of her shows scheduled through March 22, 2015, in an effort to focus on her husband and her children. Angelil was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1999 and he was successfully treated for it. But his cancer returned.
In 2014 Celine was also dealing with health problems of her own. She had inflammation in her throat muscles which prevented her from performing in her Las Vegas show.
Her husband was still going through cancer treatment in 2015. On January 14, 2016, her husband died at the age of 73 in the family’s Las Vegas home.
New Tours and Albums
She was still dealing with her grief but decided to return the stage for what became an annual summer tour beginning in 2016.
She also resumed her Las Vegas residency which ended in June 2019.
In September 2019 she released three new singles and started on a world tour in support of her upcoming album. This was her first English-language studio album in six years. Courage debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 in November.
The tour was postponed because of the pandemic in March 2020 and would continue to be postponed and cancelled over the next three years because of her health.
In April 2023 Celine released her first new song in four years called Love Again. This was written for the movie of the same name. She appeared in the film and also contributed four new songs to the movie soundtrack.
Stiff Person Syndrome Diagnosis
in December 2022, she revealed that she had been diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder called Stiff Person Syndrome. It is an autoimmune condition that causes severe muscle tightness and spasms, and some patients experience instance such as double vision, Lack of coordination, and slurred speech. It is very rare and is believed to affect only one to two out of every million people.
She revealed that a video clip that she had been experiencing muscle spasms that affected her everyday life, including her ability to walk and probably use her vocal cords. She postponed the spring 2023 leg of her world tour to the following year and cancelled eight more performances.
In May 2023 42 dates through April 2024, were cancelled because of her diagnosis.
People were saying that her career was going to suffer and probably end. Celine released a statement telling her fans, “I’m Not giving up, and I can’t wait to see you again!”
Despite many setbacks and challenges she made a surprise appearance At the Grammy awards in February 2024 and presented the album of the year award to Taylor Swift.
She received a standing ovation from everyone there. Celine said, “when I say I’m happy to be here, I really mean it from my heart.”
I realize Celine Dion has been a couple of classes but I wanted to finish off by showing you videos explaining where she has been and her triumph at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
I thought we could end our classes on Celine Dion by watching a video from Jimmy Kimmel.
Celine Dion News: Video Shows Popstar Singing at the Grammy’s
Celine Dion surprised everyone when she came to the Grammy awards.
But an even bigger surprise was backstage because although she isn’t performing due to her neurological disorder stiff person syndrome, she showed off her vocals backstage.
In the clip the 55-year-old is seen sharing riffs and runs with singer and songwriter Sonyae Elise.
Elise wasn’t the only one very excited to see Celine. Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder and Best New Artist winner Victoria Monet all spent time with Celine.
Before arriving Celine was revealed as a mystery presenter for the final award that night, which was Album of the Year. When she arrived onstage she got a standing ovation before presenting the trophy to Taylor Swift and then the two of them hugged each other backstage.
Who Is Celine Dion?
Celine Dion is a French-Canadian singer who is well known for her power ballads, including the theme from the movie Titanic, My Heart Will Go On.
She was a star from a very young age and had by the time she was 18 years old she recorded nine French albums and won numerous Felix and June awards. In 1988 she won the Eurovision song contest in Dublin and her performance was broadcast live in countries throughout Europe, Middle East, Australia, and Japan. After this taste of international success, she began looking to the south and America for stardom. Won numerous awards by the time she was 18.
Her first English album called Unison was released in 1990.
It was in 1992 when she had her real breakthrough into pop music stardom when she recorded the theme to Disney’s hit animated feature Beauty and the Beast.
Her number one hits include The Power of Love, Because You Love Me, and I’m Your Angel.
Early Life and French Albums
Her full name is Celine Marie Claudette Dion. She was born on March 30, 1968, in Charlemagne Québec Canada.
She is the youngest of 14 children. Her parents are Adhemar and Therese Dion. Her family was very close and was a musical family. Her parents formed a singing group called Dion’s Family and they toured Canada when Celine was just a baby. They later opened a piano bar and five-year-old Celine would perform to the delight of customers.
When she was 12 Celine reported a demo tape of a song she wrote with her mother. They sent the tape to the manager and producer Renee Anglil who handled the career of famous French singer Ginette Reno.
When he heard the tape he invited her to perform it for him in person. She was signed immediately under the condition that he would have complete control over her career. He mortgaged his own home to finance her first debut album La Voix du bon Dieu.
By the time she was 18 she had recorded nine French albums and won numerous Felix and June awards.
In 1988 she won the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin and her performance was broadcast live in countries like Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and Japan. After being this successful she began trying her success in the south and America.
American Breakthrough: Beauty and the Beast
She recorded her first English album called Unison in 1990 and like most of her English language albums she worked with songwriter arranger and musician David Foster.
The song called Where Does My Heartbeat Now helped the album sell more than 1 million copies worldwide.
Her real breakthrough into pop music came in 1992 when she recorded the theme to Disney’s hit animated feature Beauty and the Beast. It was a duet with Peabo Bryson. This song made it to number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, a Grammy and an Academy Award.
It was on her second English album called Celine Dion which became her first gold record in the United States and sold more than 12 million copies internationally.
If You Asked Me To was another song from the album that made it to number four on the Billboard hot 100 and number one on the Adult Contemporary Chart.
The success of this self-titled album effort helped her launch her first headlining tour in the United States.
The Power of Love and Because You Love Me
Celine quickly got used to her newfound fame by releasing the top-selling album called The Colour of My Love in 1993.
The album had the romantic power ballads that she had become known for including When I Fall in Love which was featured on the soundtrack for the hit film Sleepless in Seattle and The Power of Love which was her first single to hit number one on the Billboard hot 100.
Her international stardom came when she sang the song The Power of the Dream At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
In the same year her album called Falling into You which included the number one hit song called Because You Love Me which was in the 1996 film with Robert Redford called Up Close and Personal. It won Grammy awards for the Album of the Year and Best Pop Album.
Titanic and My Heart Will Go On
The next year would be even more successful for Celine. In 1997 the blockbuster film called Titanic was released. It starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Celine sang the film’s theme song, My Heart Will Go on. The film got a record number of Oscar nominations. It won 11 including the award for best song.
Celine’s ballad became very well-known in radio stations all around the world.
The song was on the Titanic soundtrack album and Celine’s own Let’s Talk about Love album in 1997.
My heart Will Go On went to the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
It marked Celine’s third number one hit and sold a combined 50 million records worldwide.
Let’s Talk about Love also featured collaborations with Barbra Streisand, Luciano Pavarotti, the Bee Gees, and Brian Adams.
My Heart Will Go on still remained popular over the following decades. It even became the subject of an internet meme which is played over video clips out of context or to add emphasis to particularly significant moments.
I thought we could finish off by watching a funny video with James Corden.
Is it really possible to fry an egg on the sidewalk?
Have you ever heard the saying that it’s hot enough in the summer that you could fry an egg on the sidewalk? Well, it’s true at least this time. In 2015, when the temperature was a very hot 44°C or around 111°F in Australia, a man successfully fried some eggs by using the heat from the sidewalk. Believe it or not he ate the eggs that he had made!
Monarch Butterfly Spend the Summer in North America Before Migrating South
If you like walking in flower filled fields and spending time gardening you will likely know that the summer is the best time to see butterflies. Monarch butterflies, with their orange and black wings spend the summer months in North America before going south or sometimes west for the winter. You can even track their journey see if they’re passing through your neighbourhood.
There Is A Picnic Related Holiday in August
During the spring, there are cherry blossom viewing picnics in Japan. There is a picnic related holiday in August in Australia. This tradition has been around in Australia in the Northern Territory since at least the 1800s. Picnic day as it’s called takes place on the first Monday of the month. However, in Australia it is not summer.
The Largest Scoop of Ice Cream Ever Weighed Was over 3000 Pounds
Did you know that July is National ice cream month? It’s the perfect time to enjoy the sweet treat but you would need a huge appetite to eat the biggest scoop ever which weighed in at 3010 pounds. It was created by Kemp’s Dairy in Cedarburg Wisconsin as part of their 100th anniversary celebration. The scoop stood 5’6” high and stretched 6’2” wide. It was made of around 733 containers of ice cream. What flavour do you think it was? In fact, it was strawberry.
Frisbie Has Gone from Being Played with an Empty Pie Tin to Being a Full on Sport
People have been playing with Frisbees for years. Frisbees were made at the Whammo Toy Company in 1957 but the story of the Frisbie began in Bridgeport Connecticut where William Frisbie opened the Frisbie Pie Company in 1871. University students would play with empty pie tins which prompted Walter Frederick Morrison and Warren Franscioni to create the flying saucer in 1948. After many changes the Frisbie is now an organized sport that you can play and people have become very competitive.
You Can Watch Bears Fatten up to Become the Fat Bear Week Champion
The fact that bears are able to hibernate through the winter is still a mystery to us. But what helps them survive the cold and food free months is that they pack on the pounds during the summer. You can see bears strolling around the river, feeding on salmon, wrestling with each other and even playing in the water with their cubs at Alaska’s Katmai National Park. Everyone is watching for the bear who puts on the most weight because they might be deemed the champion of Fat Bear Week.
Sunshine Improves Your Brain Function
It’s not a secret that sunshine offers many health benefits and a lot of them are mental. According to research from University of Belgium human brains work better in the summer. After having many volunteers work on attention and memory tests at different times throughout the year, researchers found that brain activities peaked in the summer on attention tasks.
The Term “Dog Days of Summer” Comes from Astronomy
The name comes from Sirius the Dog Star. It rises in the sky during late July as part of the Greater Dog Constellation. To the Greeks and Romans, the “dog days” meant it was the hottest time of the year, a period that was believed to bring fever and other types of sicknesses to the people.
There Is an Annual Underwater Music Festival in the Florida Keys
There is a lot of music festivals checked out in the summer. But if you want to experience something very unique then you need to go to the underwater music Festival. It happens at new Looe Key Reef in Florida. It has been held annually for more than three decades and the festival includes a playlist that is selected before the event and it is streamed live from underwater speakers to an audience of snorkelers and divers.
There Is 100-year-old Midnight Baseball Game Tradition in Alaska
Since 1906, the Alaska Gold Panners of Fairbanks have marked the summer solstice with an annual baseball game. It is known as the Midnight Sun game. and the game starts at 10:30 PM and goes until after midnight. Believe it or not there’s no need to light up the field since the area experiences almost 24 hours of daylight during the summer months.
The Record for the Most People Simultaneously Making Sand Angels Is 1387
It is common to see people making snow angels during the winter but have you ever seen anybody making sand angels in the summer? On June 10, 2017, 1387 people made sand angels on Stearns public beach on Lake Michigan. They set a world record for the most people making sand angels at the same time.
Hawaii Hosts the Largest International Ukulele Festival
The Ukulele Festival in Hawaii started in 1971. Since then, it has attracted approximately 20,000 people each year. It’s not just people from Hawaii that participate. Ukulele artists from around the world attend and perform at the festival to keep the art of playing the ukulele alive. The best part of the celebration is a ukulele band of more than 800 musicians!
I hope everybody enjoyed looking at some interesting places and facts about summer. To finish class, because I know all of you like to watch people eating disgusting things I thought we could watch Justin Bieber and James Corden.
NYDP Communication Enrichment Class 