Photoplay magazine was founded in Chicago in 1911. It reached its zenith in the 1920s and 1930s, becoming quite influential in the early film industry. The magazine was renowned for its beautiful cover portraits of film stars by artists such as Rolf Armstrong, Earl Christy, and Charles Sheldon. By 1937, however, with the advancement of color photography, the magazine began using photographs of the stars.

     Anna Quirentia Nilsson, shown here on Photoplay’s November 1920 cover, became a star of the silent screen and was the first Swedish-born actress to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Nilsson’s story, however, is quite American in many ways; a story of immigrant dreams, determination, and New York city happenstance.  Nilsson’s arrival also came precisely at a time when America’s young film industry was exploding with possibility.

     Born in Sweden in March 1888, it is believed Nilsson emigrated to the U.S. about 1907. As a teenager in Sweden, she had done a bit of acting, but early on young Anna had set her sights on America as the land of opportunity.  Arriving at Ellis Island with thousands of other immigrants, Nilsson found work as nursemaid and learned English.  She then began working as a model posing for magazine illustrations and posters.  This exposure helped send the 5′-7” Swedish beauty to the emerging film industry.

 

One Immigrant To Another

      Anna Nilsson’s fortunes, in fact, became linked to another immigrant, a magazine illustrator named Penrhyn Stanlaws. Stanlaws was born in Scotland but came to America in 1890 at the age of 13. By 1893 he became an illustrator for the Chicago Daily News. He earned enough money from his art work to put himself through Princeton University. In 1901 he moved to Paris and enrolled at the Academie Julian, studied under Benjamin Constant and Jean-Paul Laurens and exhibited his first paintings at The Paris Salon of 1904. Three year later he returned to New York and became a cover artist for magazines such as

May 1915 Saturday Evening Post cover with model believed to be A. Nilsson.

The Saturday Evening Post, Hearst’s, Life, Metro- politan, and others. Stanlaws became one of the most successful and sought after cover artists of his day. And Anna Q. Nilsson became one of his models, in fact, somewhat famously as the “Stanlaws Girl,” rivaling the popular “Gibson Girl” of that era. It was on the basis of these illustrations and her modeling that Nilsson was encouraged to try movie acting.

     Either through Stanlaws, who became well connected in New York, or others, Nilsson landed her first movie role in 1911, in the film Molly Pitcher, a “two reeler” produced by Kalem Studios. She soon became one of the silent era’s “overnight sensations” and a bonafide film star in the first decade of the 20th century.

The early silent films of that era were cranked out at prodigious rate, and Nilsson found her way into a good share of them. She appeared in more than 200 films, about 100 of which were made in the 1910s, including those made by Goldwyn, Paramount (Famous Players), Metro, and First National. At Kalem Studios, she would become the second-ranked actress behind top star Alice Joyce. Nilsson’s movie career flourish through the 1910s and 1920s. Among the early silent films in which she starred or played a prominent role were: Regeneration(1915), the story of a poor orphan boy who rises to a life of a gangster until he meets Marie ‘Mamie Rose’ Deering, played by Nilsson, for whom he wants to change; Seven Keys To Baldpate (1917), a classic story from Charlie Chan creator Earl Derr Biggers adapted by Broadway legend George M. Cohan who also starred in the film with Nilsson and plays a soon-to-be wed novelist who becomes caught up in a mystery; The Love Burglar (1919),opposite Wallace Reid, in which she helps foil an underworld villain played by Wallace Beery; The Toll Gate (1920), a western co-starring William S. Hart as a former military man who becomes a criminal and gang leader seeking revenge; and The Spoilers (1923), a story set in Nome, Alaska during the 1898 Gold Rush based upon Rex Beach’s 1906 novel. Other films she appeared in included: Soldiers of Fortune (1919), The Luck of the Irish (1920), and The Lotus Eater (1921). In 1923, a banner year, she made a number of films, including: The Isle of Lost Ships, Innocence, Thundering Dawn and Ponjola. In Ponjola — the South African Kaffir word for “whiskey” — the story is about a mining expert who is lost to the bottle. Nilsson plays the woman, who helps with the mining expert’s “regeneration” from alcoholism.

Anna Q. Nilsson 1920s: Films & Roles Played _______________________ 1920 The Brute Master - Madeline Grey In the Heart of a Fool - Margaret Muller The Fighting Chance - Sylvia Landis One Hour Before Dawn - Ellen Aldrich The Figurehead - Mary Forbes The Toll Gate - Mary Brown The Luck of the Irish - Ruth Warren The 13th Commandment - Leila Kip 1921 10 Nights in a Bar Room - unavailable The Lotus Eater - Madge Vance Why Girls Leave Home - Anna Hedder The Oath - Irene Lansing Without Limit - Ember Edwards What Women Will Do - Lily Gibbs Värmlänningarna - Anna 1922 Pink Gods Lady - Margot Cork The Man from Home - Genevieve… Three Live Ghosts - Ivis 1923 Enemies of Children- unavailable Innocence - Fay Leslie Thundering Dawn - Mary Rogers Ponjola - Lady Desmond Adam’s Rib Mrs. Ramsay The Spoilers- - Cherry Malotte The Rustle of Silk - Lady Feo The Isle of Lost Ships - Dorothy Fairfax Hearts Aflame - Helen Foraker Hollywood - unavailable 1924 Inez from Hollywood - Inez Laranetta Hello, ‘Frisco - unavailable Vanity’s Price - Vaana Du Maurier The Breath of Scandal - unavailable The Fire Patrol - Mary Ferguson The Side Show of Life - Lady A. Dayne Broadway After Dark - Helen Tremaine Between Friends - Jessica Drene Flowing Gold - Allegheny Briskow Painted People - Leslie Carter Half-a-Dollar Bill - The Stranger… 1925 The Splendid Road - Sandra De Hault Winds of Chance - Countess Courteau The Talker - Kate Lennox One Way Street - Lady Sylvia Hutton The Top of the World - Sylvia Ingleton If I Marry Again - Alicia Wingate 1926 Midnight Lovers - Diana Fothergill Miss Nobody - Barbara Brown The Greater - Glory Fanny Her Second Chance - C. Lee/C. Logan Too Much Money - Annabel Broadley 1927 Sorrell and Son - Dora Sorrell The Thirteenth Juror - Helen Marsden Lonesome Ladies - Polly Fosdick The Babe Comes Home - Vernie Easy Pickings - Mry Ryan The Masked Woman - Diane Delatour 1928 The Whip - Iris d’Aquila Blockade - Bess _________________ Source: Internet Movie Database. Not a complete list of all Anna Q. Nilsson films; 1920s only.

 

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Review of Regeneration
by Hal Erickson

     One of the finest films of the pre-1920 era, The Regeneration was the first truly important directorial effort by Raoul Walsh. Spanning several years, this remarkable social document traces the life and times of Irish-American “child of the slums” Owen Conway (Rockliffe Fellowes), who grows up to become a ruthless gangster. Owen’s story is paralleled with that of Mamie Rose (Anna Q. Nilsson), who, though born into luxury, abandons her high-society environs to become a settlement worker in the city’s slum district. When Owen meets Mamie, who takes it upon himself to teach the surly gangster how to read and write, he begins to realize that he has charted the wrong course in life, thereby taking the first tentative step on the road to regeneration. Complicating the story is the fact that Owen’s bitterest enemy, the city’s crusading District Attorney (Carl Harbaugh), is also in love with Mamie. Filmed on location in New York’s Bowery district (just as seedy-looking in 1915 as it is today), The Regeneration boasts thoroughly believable performances and an astonishing variety of fascinating camera angles (including one dizzying shot of a man falling from a fourth-story window). Long available only for archival showings, the film has become a perennial attraction on the Turner Classic Movies cable-TV service. ~ All Movie Guide. 

     In 1923, Nilsson also made Hollywood, one of the first film satires of Hollywood life, followed in 1924 by a similar production, Innez of Hollywood, with co-actors Mary Astor and Lewis Stone. In The Splendid Road of 1925, Nilsson is among fortune seekers lured to the California gold fields traveling the long water route around Cape Horn to get there. Once arrived, she encounters Lionel Barrymore, a gambler, and suffers other travails. In another 1923 film, The Talker, Nilsson does some early work on behalf of women’s liberation, in which a woman’s yearning for a career is broached amid old-world family values and the male double standard. In 1925, Nilsson was seriously injured when thrown by a horse onto a stone wall. She suffered a temporary paralysis and spent a year or more in Europe seeking treatment and therapy. Through the latter 1920s, during a determined comeback, Nilsson appeared in a number of silent films, including The Babe Comes Home in 1927, filmed with the actual baseball immortal himself, Babe Ruth. The film was a romantic comedy produced by First National Pictures, which one newspaper report of January 1927 said might net $100,000. Nilsson played Ruth’s love interest in the film.

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The Babe Comes Home
From review by Hal Erickson

     “. . .Babe Ruth plays Babe Dugan, home run whiz of the Los Angeles Angels (a minor-league team in 1927). Babe’s habit of chewing tobacco makes him the bane of the Snow White Laundry, which has to clean his juice-stained uniforms after every game. Laundress Vernie (Anna Q. Nilsson) attends an Angels game to see for herself just how one man can be so messy. Babe hits a fly ball, which hits Vernie in the eye. From this bad start, a romance develops, culminating in an engagement. On the eve of the wedding, Babe and Vernie have a rhubarb over his tobacco habit. She walks out, and Babe goes into a slump. But during a crucial game (bases loaded in the ninth, natch!) Vernie shows up in the stands and tosses Babe a flesh plug of tobacco. He stuffs the wad in his mouth and hits the deciding homer. Conceding that it was Vernie’s love and not the “chew” that inspired him to win, Babe swears off tobacco forever… Based on a magazine story by Wid Gunning, The Babe Comes Home was a success with both movie and baseball fans alike …, but it’s likely that it had no bigger fan than Babe Ruth himself, who later confessed to having sat through the 6-reeler ten times.” ~ All Movie Guide.

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      In 1928, Anna Nilsson made her last film of the silent era, Blockade. Later that year, she had a second horse-riding accident, this time breaking her hip, but recovering once again and returning to film. In the 1930s, however, as the “talkies” began to take over, Nilsson and other silent stars found it harder to find suitable roles. Still, Nilsson found roles in The World Changes(1933) with Paul Muni, and also in Prison Farm (1938) in which she played a matron. She then retired for a time, but returned to film in the 1940s and 1950s, often playing uncredited and bit roles. During World War II, she joined forces with Bette Davies and Marlene Dietrich to collect money for the American war effort. In her movie career, she had a supporting role in the The Great Man’s Lady (1942) and played Loretta Young’s Swedish immigrant grandmother in the successful The Farmers Daughter (1947). She continued to take smaller parts, some in successful films that showcased other stars, such as Cynthia (1947) featuring then-rising teen star Elizabeth Taylor; George Cukor’s Adam’s Rib (1949) with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn; An American in Paris (1951) starring Gene Kelly; and 1950’s Sunset Boulevard, in which she and other silent film stars including Gloria Swanson and Buster Keaton, appeared in the film as idolized “waxworks” figures. Nilsson’s last movie appearance was in 1954’s Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Anna Q. Nilsson died in Hemet, California, February 11, 1974. A few of her film roles survive today on DVD, and at least one, Regeneration (1915), was selected by the Library of Congress in 2000 as “culturally significant” and designated for preservation.

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Date Posted: 29 March 2008
Last Update: 12 July 2010
Comments to: jdoyle@pophistorydig.com

Article Citation:
Jack Doyle, “Anna Q. Nilsson, November 1920,”
PopHistoryDig.com, March 29, 2008. 

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Sources, Links & Additional Information

“Anna Q. Nilsson, Swedish Star In Many Early Films, Dies at 85,” New York Times, Wednesday, February 13, 1974, p. 42.

“Anna Q. Nilsson,” Wikipedia.org.

“Biography of Anna Q Nilsson,” Internet Movie Database, Imdb.com.

“Anna Q. Nilsson,” @ GoldenSilents.com

“Penrhyn Stanlaws (Penrhyn Stanley Adamson),” at ArtNet.com

Tammy Stone, “The Silent Collection - Anna Q. Nilsson,” Movie Profiles & Premiums Volume 3, Number 8, March 15, 2005.

Press Release, “Babe Ruth Movie Poster Sells for $138,000,” Heritage Art Galleries, Dallas, Texas - November 24, 2003.

“Ruth’s Film Venture, ‘Babe Comes Home,’ May Net $100,000,” The Washington Post, Sports Section, January 24, 1927.

“New Pictures,” Time, Monday, January 25, 1926.

“The New Pictures,” Time, Monday, May 18, 1925

“The New Pictures,” Time, Monday, November 26, 1923.

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     Profiles in Courage is the name of a Pulitzer Prize- winning book by former U.S. President John F. Kennedy written in 1954 and 1955 while he was a U.S. Senator. The book chronicles acts of bravery and integrity in the careers of eight U.S. Senators in American history. Profiles in Courage became a best-seller and was ground-breaking in its day, becoming one of the first books used to advance a political career aimed at the White House. Yet apart from its politics, Profiles in Courage remains popular, not only for its attachment to the Kennedy legacy, but also as an important book on political courage and U.S. Senate history. Sometimes forgotten is the fact that Kennedy’s book also spawned a Peabody Award-winning television series in 1964. Profiles in Courage also had numerous print runs including a 50th anniversary edition in 2004, inspired several new books and ongoing research on the history of political courage, and also led to the creation of the “Profiles in Courage” award, given annually since 1990.

     “Jack” Kennedy was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1946 as a Congressman from Massachusetts. He was 29 years old at the time. In 1952, he ran for and won a U.S. Senate seat. However, as a freshman Senator in 1954 and 1955, Kennedy took leave from the Senate to recover from surgery to treat a perennial back problem. It was during this period that he undertook Profiles in Courage. In the book, the senators that Kennedy profiled were mavericks of a kind who took courageous stands or stood apart from the safe and conventional norms of their day. They crossed party lines, defied their constituents, or ran counter to public opinion to do what they felt was right. Among Kennedy’s featured senators were: John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Thomas Hart Benton, Sam Houston, Edmund G. Ross, Lucius Lamar, George Norris, and Robert A. Taft. Each of these, and others Kennedy mentions in his book, suffered severe criticism and losses in popularity because of the particular stance or action each took, which was the point of Kennedy’s “courage” argument.

 

Becoming A Best-Seller

     By the late fall of 1955, advance notice of the book’s publication began appearing in some national newspapers. Kennedy himself also penned a long piece in the New York Times Magazine in December 1955 that previewed the book’s themes. On Sunday, January 1st, 1956, the book was reviewed on the front page of the New York Times Book Review along with a large photo of Kennedy. Cabell Philips, the reviewer, noting that politicians themselves often criticized their own profession, wrote: “it is refreshing and enlightening to have a first rate politician write a thoughtful and persuasive book about political integrity.” Profiles in Courage generally received good reviews and was widely acclaimed. It became a best seller and remained on the best-sellers’ list for some 95 weeks. The book gave Kennedy a certain political gravitas and national recognition he did not have before, lifting him from the ranks of unknown senators. And the book’s arrival was well-timed too, as 1956 was a presidential election year; a time when national political campaigns were in full swing.

The book gave Kennedy a certain political gravitas and national recognition he did not have before, lifting him from the ranks of unknown senators.

     Although Kennedy was not a presidential candidate in 1956, he took center stage for a time at the Democratic National Convention that August in Chicago. Political conventions then were just beginning to receive more coverage by television. NBC, for example, pre-empted its day time soap operas and assigned two of its reporters, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, to co-anchor the convention coverage. Kennedy, meanwhile, gave the nomination speech for Adlai Stevenson, who became the party’s presidential nominee. Stevenson liked Kennedy and thought about making the young senator his running mate, but decided instead to throw open the nomination for Vice President to the entire convention. Several candidates were then vying for the VP slot: Senator Hubert Humphrey, Senator Al Gore, Sr., Senator Estes Kefauver, and Kennedy. All mounted instant campaigns on the floor of the convention. Some of Kennedy’s campaign paraphernalia tagged him as “a profile in courage.”

     The scramble for convention votes among the candidates proved dramatic with television capturing a series of roll-call ballots. Three separate ballots were needed. On the second ballot, Kennedy led 618 to 551½. At one point, the Chicago Daily News reported that Kennedy and Kefauver were tied, each falling short of the number to nominate. Kennedy then came to the floor and asked for Kefauver to be put on the ticket by acclamation. Stevenson, watching on TV at his hotel, was reportedly disappointed in the outcome. In the general election that followed that fall, the Stevenson-Kefauver ticket was crushed by the re-election of President Dwight Eisenhower and his running mate, Richard Nixon. For Kennedy, however, the national exposure he had received at the convention provided a springboard for 1960. Kennedy biographer James MacGregor Burns would write of the Kennedy’s vice presidential bid at the convention: “The dramatic race had glued millions to their television sets. Kennedy’s near-victory and sudden loss . . . struck at people’s hearts in living rooms across the nation. In this moment of triumphant defeat, his campaign for the [1960] presidency was born.” One of those who watched on TV was a young Bill Clinton in Arkansas, who years later recalled: “The Kennedy-Kefauver thing, oh, yeah. I remember that,” he said, “– and Kennedy’s gracious concession speech.”

 

Pulitzer Prize

     In 1957, following the election, Kennedy began his unofficial campaign for the White House as he continued his duties in the U.S. Senate. Among fellow Democrats in the Senate who were also presidential contenders at the time were Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey. Profiles in Courage, meanwhile, returned to the news in May 1957 as the book picked up a Pulitzer prize. The award came as something of surprise, however, as the Pulitzer board rejected the jury nominations and gave the prize instead to Kennedy’s book. In fact, a few critics charged that Kennedy’s father had been involved behind the scenes on his son’s behalf. New York Times columnist Arthur Krock, a friend of Joe Kennedy’s, boasted that he had lobbied hard for the Kennedy book. But no evidence of impropriety was found Through 1957, Kennedy continued to travel the country, with numerous speaking engagements. He appeared on the cover of Time magazine’s December 2nd, 1957 issue, with the feature story, “Democrat’s Man Out Front.” About that same time, however, some charges surfaced that Profiles in Courage had been written by others working with Kennedy. On December 7, 1957, syndicated columnist Drew Pearson, interviewed on TV by Mike Wallace, said the book was ghostwritten for Kennedy, suggesting that Kennedy’s aide, Ted Sorensen, had written much of the book. Kennedy did not take kindly to the charge and hired lawyer Clark Clifford, who produced Kennedy’s handwritten notes and statements from people saying they had seen Kennedy working on the book. Sorenson also denied the allegation and signed an affidavit attesting to Kennedy’s authorship.

Kennedy’s Writing      John Kennedy, before he entered politics, had aspired briefly to a career in journalism and had written on history and public policy. As a student at Harvard in the 1930s, Kennedy had studied international relations and history. In his senior year, he wrote a college thesis that examined the failures of the British government to take steps to prevent World War II, entitled “Appeasement in Munich.” Kennedy’s paper did not castigate Britain’s appeasement policy, and suggested that an earlier confrontation between the U.K. and Nazi Germany might have been more disastrous in the long run. That paper was written in the spring of 1940.      Kennedy’s father, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., looking out for his son’s political future, was able to get that senior thesis paper released from Harvard and had it published as a book. Joseph Kennedy, as ambassador to Britain, had supported Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement during the late 1930s, which many believe cost the senior Kennedy his own political career. At any rate, John Kennedy graduated from Harvard with a degree in international affairs in June 1940. A month later, his thesis was published by Willard Funk, Inc., in New York in July 1940 as Why England Slept - a play on Winston Churchill’s 1938 title, While England Slept, which also examined the buildup of German power.      Although there has been a long running dispute over how much of Profiles in Courage Jack Kennedy actually wrote, it does appear that he formulated the idea, wrote a number of memos on the project, did oversee the book’s structure and production, and did write and/or dictate much of it. Wife Jacqueline also appears to have contributed to the concept for the book, and helped engage the research and writing assistance of a history professor at Georgetown University named Jules Davids, whom she had met taking his history course. Library of Congress researchers also assisted Kennedy, as they would any Senator requesting background research from the Library. But because of his back problem - according to one of Kennedy’s secretaries at the time, Gloria Sitrin - Kennedy could not sit for long periods of time writing or typing, and instead, dictated much of the material. Still, Ted Sorensen, Kennedy’s assistant, is believed by many to have written at least some of the book, while others say he only provided research and constructive editing. In any case, in the final book, Kennedy acknowledged all of these participants and contributors.

     About a week after the allegation had been aired by Pearson, ABC executive Oliver Treyz read a retraction of the charge on the air of Wallace’s December 14th TV show. The statement was reprinted in the New York Times, Sunday December 15th, as follows: “I wish to state that this company [ABC] has inquired into the charge made by Mr. Pearson and has satisfied itself that such charge is unfounded and that the book in question was written by Senator Kennedy.” Kennedy had also acknowledged Sorensen’s involvement in the book, crediting him in the preface and also acknowledging other contributions. Kennedy and Sorensen insisted that Kennedy was the book’s author and the initial controversy died down, although it would emerge again years later. Kennedy, meanwhile, was re-elected to a second term in the U. S. Senate in 1958 by a wide margin, and continued to draw national attention through the Democratic front runner for the White House. In January 1960, he formally declared his bid for the Presidency. During the campaign, and after Kennedy won the election, there was continuing interest in Profiles in Courage. By the time of Kennedy’s Presidential inauguration in January 1961, the book was being prepared for sale as a Pocket Books paperback. A young reader’s edition was also produced in March 1961. By then, Profiles in Courage had sold 2 million copies since its original 1956 publication.

     In June 1963, midway into Kennedy’s presidential term, the television rights for Profiles in Courage were sold for an estimated $3.5 million (1963 dollars). The NBC television network planned to film and air a series of 26 hour-long TV programs based on the book. Several months later, however, national tragedy came with the president’s assassination in Texas in late November 1963. After Kennedy’s assassination, Harper & Row was besieged for copies of Profiles in Courage, with orders in excess of 10,000 copies by late November. A Perennial Library Memorial Edition of Profiles in Courage was prepared by Harper for 1964, which included a moving introduction by Kennedy’s brother and then U.S. Attorney General, Robert Kennedy.

Television Series

     The following year, in mid-November, the planned NBC television series, ”Profiles in Courage,” began airing on Sunday evenings. However, with 26 episodes, additional characters beyond those in Kennedy’s book were needed for the series. All of the additional characters subsequenlty profiled in the TV series had been previously approved by JFK. The producer of the TV show, Robert Saudek, was known for his serious television productions, and had also produced the much-praised OmnibusTV series as well as concerts by the New York Philharmonic. Saudek had a clear grasp of Kennedy’s message for the Profiles TV series. One of the additional historic politicians, for example, was that of Oscar Underwood, an Alabama Senator who in 1924 was in the running for the Democratic presidential nomination. Underwood, however, chose to condemn the Ku Klux Klan, losing southern support, thereby ruining his chances of winning the nomination and later losing his Senate seat and his political career.

Profiles in Courage-TV Episode List, 1964-1965
Episode Oscar W. Underwood Mary S. McDowell Thomas Hart Benton Richard T. Ely Sam Houston Gov. John M. Slaton John Adams Robert A. Taft Anne Hutchinson Gen. A. Doniphan John Peter Altgeld Frederick Douglass Daniel Webster Woodrow Wilson Prudence Crandall Andrew Johnson Hamilton Fish Charles Evans Hughes Edmund G. Ross George W. Norris Grover Cleveland John Quincy Adams John Marshall Judge Ben B. Lindsey George Mason Thomas Corwin	Air Date 11/8/64 11/15/64 11/29/64 12/6/64 12/13/64 12/20/64 12/27/64 1/3/65 1/10/65 1/17/65 1/24/65 1/31/65 2/7/65 2/14/65 2/21/65 2/28/65 3/7/65 3/14/65 3/21/65 3/28/65 4/4/65 4/11/65 4/18/65 4/25/65 5/2/65 5/9/65
____________________ Aired on NBC, Sundays, 6:30-7:30pm.

     Time magazine called the Profiles in Courage TV series “a bracing antidote to the plethora of two- dimensional tele- dramas in which tinsel laurels automatically crown the good guy.” The TV series ended in mid-1965, but received a Peabody Award for “distinguished and meritorious public service rendered by radio and television.” The book, meanwhile, remained in print and continued to be used in schools and beyond.

 

Award & New Books

     The Profiles in Courage legacy, however, continued through the remainder of the 20th century and into the 21st Century. In 1989, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation established an award for political courage called “The Profile in Courage Award.” The annual award is made to recognize displays of political and moral courage similar to those that Kennedy originally wrote about in his book. It is given to individuals, and often elected officials, who have risked their careers or lives by pursuing a larger vision of the national, state, or local interest in opposition to popular opinion or pressure from constituents or other interests. Winners are selected by a bi-partisan committee named by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, which typically includes members of the Kennedy family as well as other prominent Americans. The award is generally made around the time of JFK’s birthday, May 29th. From the early 1990s, the award has been presented at the Kennedy Library in Boston by Kennedy family members, including JFK daughter Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, the late John F. Kennedy, Jr., and Senator Ted Kennedy. In addition to honoring those with political courage, the award had also helped kindle continuing interest in the original book.

 

New Profiles     

     In 2002, Caroline Kennedy gave the “profiles of courage” concept a new focus, teaming up with publisher Hyperion and serving as editor for a new book, Profiles in Courage for Our Time, offering a collection of essays profiling recent winners of the Profile in Courage award. In this book, award winners are profiled by a variety of writers, historians. and journalists, some of well-known stature such as Michael Beschloss, E. J. Dionne, Anna Quindlen, and Bob Woodward. Famous award winners, as well as lesser known recipients, are profiled in the book. Among some of the well-know recipients profiled, for example are: New Jersey Governor James Florio, former U.S. Senator Lowell Weicker, and former president Gerald Ford. Among the less well-known are activists and community heroes such as Corkin Cherubini, Nickolas C. Murnion, and Hilda Solis.

     In April 2006, a special 50th anniversary edition of Profiles in Courage was published by Harper. This special “P.S.”edition, as the publisher called it, commemorated the 50th anniversary of the book’s publication and also included a number of extras, such as vintage photographs, an extensive JFK biography, Kennedy’s correspondence about the project, reviews of the book, a letter from Ernest Hemingway, and two speeches from recipients of the Profiles in Courage Award. Elsewhere in the Kennedy family, the “heroes theme” was also being explored by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who with publisher Hyperion in September 2007, launched the first of “Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s American Heroes Series” of children’s books, Joshua Chamberlain and the American Civil War. A second book in the series, focusing on another Civil War hero, Robert Smalls, a slave who hijacked a Confederate steamer and turned it over to the Union Navy, and later became a U.S. Congressman, will be published by Hyperion in 2008.

 

65 Printings     

     JFK’s Profiles in Courage, meanwhile, compiled quite a track record over more than 50 years. The book has had at least 65 printings, sold more than 3 million copies, and hit the bestsellers list three times: in the late 1950s when JFK was an up-and-coming Senator; after he was elected President in 1960-61; and following his assassination in 1963-64. The book also spawned a successful television series in 1964-65, inspired the annual Profiles in Courage Awards, and sparked new research and subsequent books on political integrity and the history of heroism. Whatever criticism may still linger about the JFK’s Profiles in Courage, there is no doubt that this book instigated an important concept and way of evaluating political courage, fostered a respectable progeny of good and useful history, and helped bring into the spotlight contemporary careers of exemplary public service and good works.

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Date Posted: 20 February 2008
Last Update: 27 August 2009
Comments to: jdoyle@pophistorydig.com
 

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Sources, Links & Additional Information

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum, National Archives and Records Administration, Boston, MA.John F. Kennedy, “The Challenge Of Political Courage; A Senator Analyzes the Pressures Confronting the Conscientious Lawmaker,” The New York Times Magazine, Sunday, December 18, 1955, p. 13.

Cabell Phillips, “Men Who Dared to Stand Alone; Political Integrity and the Price Paid For It Is Discussed by Senator Kennedy,” The New York Times Book Review, Sunday, January 1, 1956, p.1.

Charles Poore, “Books of The Times; Two Who Put Whole Nation First Assaying a Cause Championed,” New York Times, January 7, 1956, Saturday, p. 15.

John F. Kennedy, “Search for the Five Greatest Senators,” The New York Times Magazine, April 14, 1957.

Harrison E. Salisbury, “O’Neill Play, Kennan Book Awarded Pulitzer Prizes,” New York Times, Tuesday, May 7, 1957, p. 1.

“Democrats: Man Out Front,” Cover Story, Time, Monday, December 2, 1957.

A.B.C. Answers Pearson; Apologizes for Charge About Kennedy on Wallace Show,” New York Times, Sunday, December 15, 1957, p. 73.

Lewis Nichols, “In and Out of Paperbacks,” Book Review, New York Times, January 15, 1961, Sunday, p. BR, A-2.

Harry Gilroy, “Publishers Rush President Books; Revised Works on Kennedy and Johnson Planned, Johnson Book Updated, Memorial Editor Set,” New York Times, November 27, 1963, Wednesday, p. 35.

“Through a Brother’s Eyes,” Time, Friday, February 21, 1964.

Jack Gould, “TV: ‘Profiles in Courage’; First Program Based on Kennedy Book Is Presented on N.B.C.,” New York Times, November 9, 1964.

“The Badge of Courage,” Time, Friday, November 20, 1964.

“A Year for Teen-Agers,” Time, Friday, May 7, 1965.

Robert McG. Thomas, Jr., “Jules Davids Dies at 75; Helped Kennedy With ‘Profiles’ Book,” New York Times, December 12, 1996.

Patricia Cohen, “An Old Letter Backs a Claim of Helping Kennedy Write ‘Profiles’,” New York Times, October 18, 1997.

Curtis Wilkie, “The Spirit of ‘56: Recollections of A Convention Worth Watching,” Boston Globe, July 25, 2004.

Joe Queenan, “Ghosts in the Machine,” Books, New York Times, March 20, 2005.

Shannon Maughan, “Profiles in Courage: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s American Heroes,” Children’s Bookshelf, Publishers Weekly, September 27, 2007.

Caroline Kennedy, Profiles in Courage for Our Time, @ Hyperion Books.

      Elvis Presley in the mid-1950s, before he became a fully-known national rock ’n roll star, was constantly on the road. During 1955 and 1956, Elvis and his band performed widely, especially in the south, making numerous personal appearances, from high schools to county fairs. His 1955 itinerary, reprinted below, reveals an unyielding schedule of nearly daily performances.  Elvis and his band were a hard-working, ever-on-the-move group of performers. Still, at that time, Elvis Presley was essentially a regional phenome- non, known primarily in the south.  Elvis would not appear on national television until January 1956 — first on The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show, and later in September 1956, on the Ed Sullivan Show.  Although he would have great success with RCA Records in 1956, it was his August 1955 release of “I Forgot To Remember To Forget”  with Sun Studios of Memphis, Tennessee that first made Elvis a nationally-known country  music star.  That single, which also had “Mystery Train” on its B side, rose to No. 1 on the Country & Western charts in February 1956. 

     Elvis Presley’s first  No. 1 pop hit on the Billboard charts, “Heartbreak Hotel,” came on May 3rd, 1956.  A month earlier he had performed the song on The Milton Berle Show on national TV with an estimated 25 percent of the U.S. population watching.  By then he had moved to RCA Records.

     Yet in 1955, before the first crush of national fame, Elvis and his band were on the road constantly, also doing radio shows and some regional television, such as Louisiana Hayride. His 1955 schedule was truly grueling, and 1956 was similar, plus more recording sessions.  The torrid pace did take a toll.  On February 23rd, 1956, after a performance in Jacksonville, Florida, Presley collapsed from exhaustion and was rushed to a hospital.  He was 21 years old.

     What follows below is the 1955 day-by-day performance itinerary of Elvis Presley and his band as they traveled across the U.S.A., with location and venue listed in most cases.  The series of “record sleeves” shown in the right-hand column are all bootleg editions — i.e., composites made by fans in later years using the RCA and Sun logos with Elvis photos from the 1950s.  They are used here only as photographic illustrations to accompany the issue date of the 1955 Elvis songs indicated.

Elvis Presley-1955
Appearances & Performances
 

January-1955 Jan 1: Eagles Hall, Houston, TX Jan 4: Odessa High School, Odessa, TX Jan 5: City Auditorium, San Angelo, TX Jan 6: Fair Park Coliseum, Lubbock, TX Jan 7: Midland High School, Midland, TX Jan 8: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA Jan 11: High School, New Boston, TX Jan 12: Civic Auditorium, Clarksdale, MS Jan 13: Catholic Club, Helena, AR Jan 14: Futrell High School, Marianna, AR Jan 17: N.E. Miss Com. Colg., Booneville, MS Jan 18: Alcorn Co. Courthse Hall, Corinth, MS Jan 19: Sheffield Com. Center, Sheffield, AL Jan 20: Leachville High School, Leachville, AL Jan 21: National Guard Armory, Sikeston, MO Jan 22: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA Jan 24: Humble Oil Rec. Hall, Hawkins, TX Jan 25: Mayfair Bldg. Fairgrounds, Tyler, TX Jan 26: Rural Electric Admin. Bldg, Gilmer, TX Jan 27: Reo Palm Isle Club, Longview, TX Jan 28: Gaston High School, Joinerville, TX February-1955 Feb 4: Golden Cadillac Club, New Orleans, LA Feb 5: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA Feb 6: Ellis Auditorium, Memphis, TN Feb 7: Ripley High School, Ripley, MS Feb 10: Alpine High School, Alpine, TX Feb 11: Carlsbad Sports Arena, Carlsbad, NM Feb 12: American Legion Hall, Carlsbad, NM Feb 13: Fair Park Coliseum, Lubbock, TX Feb 13: Cotton Club, Lubbock, TX Feb 14: No. Junior H. S., Roswell, NM Feb 15: Fair Park Auditorium, Abilene, TX Feb 16: Odessa Senior H.S., Odessa, TX Feb 17: City Auditorium, San Angelo, TX Feb 18: W. Monroe H.S., West Monroe, LA Feb 19: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA Feb 20: Robinson Aud., Little Rock, AR Feb 21: City Hall, Camden, AR Feb 22: City Hall, Hope, AR Feb 23: Pine Bluff H.S., Pine Bluff, AR Feb 24: So. Side Elem. School, Bastrop, LA Feb 25: Municipal Aud., Texarkana, AR Feb 26: Circle Theatre, Cleveland, OH March-1955 March 2: Newport Armory, Newport, AR March 2: Porky’s Rooftop Club, Newport, AR March 4: DeKalb High School, DeKalb, TX March 5: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA March 7: City Auditorium, Paris, TN March 8: Catholic Club, Helena, AR March 9: Poplar Bluff Armory, Poplar Bluff, MO March 10: Civic Auditorium, Clarksdale, MS March 11: J. Thompson Arena, Alexandria, LA March 12: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA Mar 19: G. Rolle White Colsm., College Sta., TX March 19: Eagles Hall, Houston, TX March 20: Magnolia Gardens, Houston, TX March 20: Cook’s Hoedown Club, Houston, TX March 21: Parkin High School, Parkin, AR March 25: Dermott High School, Dermott, AR March 26: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA March 28: Big Creek H.S., Big Creek, MS March 29: Tocopola H.S., Tocopola, MS March 30: High School, El Dorado, AR March 31: Reo Palm Isle Club, Longview, TX April-1955 April 1: Ector County Aud., Odessa, TX April 2: Municipal Auditorium, Houston, TX April 7: Corinth Co. Courthouse, Corinth, MS April 8: B&B Club, Glober, MO April 9: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA April 10: Magnolia Gardens, Houston, TX April 10: Cook’s Hoedown Club, Houston, TX April 13: Breckenridge H.S., Breckenridge, TX April 14: Owl Park, Gainesville, TX April 15: Stamford High School, Stamford, TX April 15: Roundup Hall, Stamford, TX April 16: Sportatorium, Dallas, TX April 16: Roundup Club, Dallas, TX April 19: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA April 20: American Legion Hut, Grenada, MS April 22: Arkansas Mun. Stadium, Texarkana, AR April 23: Heart O’ Texas Coliseum, Waco, TX April 24: Magnolia Gardens, Houston, TX April 24: Cook’s Hoedown Club, Houston, TX April 25: M-B Corral Club, Wichita Falls, TX April 25: Texas High School, Seymour, TX April 26: City Auditorium, Big Spring, TX April 27: American Legion Hall, Hobbs, NM April 29: Cotton Club, Lubbock, TX April 30: High School, Gladewater, TX May-1955 May 1: Municipal Aud., New Orleans, LA May 2: Baton Rouge H.S., Baton Rouge, LA May 4: Ladd Stadium, Mobile, AL May 5: Ladd Stadium, Mobile, AL May 7: Peabody Aud., Daytona Beach, FL May 8: Ft. Homer Hesterly Armory, Tampa, FL May 9: City Auditorium, Fort Myers, FL May 10: Southeastern Pavilion, Ocala, FL May 11: Municipal Auditorium, Orlando, FL May 12: GatorBowl Bseball Pk., Jacksonville, FL May 13: GatorBowl Bseball Pk., Jacksonville, FL May 14: Shrine Auditorium, New Bern, NC May 15: Norfolk City Auditorium, Norfolk, VA May 16: Mosque Theater, Richmond, VA May 17: City Auditorium, Asheville, NC May 18: American Legion Aud., Roanoke, VA May 19: Memorial Auditorium, Raleigh, NC May 20: KOCA Radio, Kilgore, TX May 21: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA May 22: Magnolia Gardens, Houston, TX May 22: Cook’s Hoedown Club, Houston, TX May 25: American Legion Hall, Meridian, MS May 26: Meridian Jun. College, Meridian, MS May 28: Sportatorium, Dallas, TX May 29: North Side Colsm., Fort Worth, TX May 29: Sportatorium, Dallas, TX May 31: High School, Midland, TX June-1955 June 1: Guymon High School, Guymon, OK June 3: J. Connelley Pontiac, Lubbock, TX June 3: Fair Park Coliseum, Lubbock, TX June 4: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA June 5: Hope Fair Park, Hope, AR June 8: Municipal Auditorium, Sweetwater, TX June 10: Am. Legion Hall, Breckenridge, TX June 11: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA June 14: Bruce High School, Bruce, MS June 15: Belden High School, Belden, MS June 17: Roundup Hall, Stamford, TX June 18: Sportatorium, Dallas, TX June 19: Magnolia Gardens, Houston, TX June 19: Cook’s Hoedown Club, Houston, TX June 20: City Auditorium, Beaumont, TX June 21: City Auditorium, Beaumont, TX June 23: McMahon Mem. Aud., Lawton, OK June 23: Southern Club, Lawton, OK June 24: Altus, OK June 25: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA June 26: Slavonian Lodge Aud., Biloxi, MS June 27: Keesler AFB, Biloxi, MS June 28: Keesler AFB, Biloxi, MS June 29: C. Gordon’s Radio Ranch, Mobile, AL June 30: C. Gordon’s Radio Ranch, Mobile, AL July-1955 July 1: Casino Club, Plaquemines, LA July 2: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA July 3: Hoedown Club, Corpus Christi, TX July 4: City Recreation Hall, Stephenville, TX July 4: Hodges Park, DeLeon, TX July 4: Soldiers & Sailors Hall, Brownwood, TX July 20: Cape Arena, Cape Girardeau, MO July 21: Silver Moon Club, Newport, AR July 25: City Auditorium, Fort Myers, FL July 26: Municipal Auditorium, Orlando, FL July 27: Municipal Auditorium, Orlando, FL July 28: Gator Stadium Park, Jacksonville, FL July 29: Gator Stadium Park, Jacksonville, FL July 30: Peabody Aud., Daytona Beach, FL July 31: Ft. Homer Hesterly Armory, Tampa, FL August-1955 August 1: Tupelo Fairgrounds, Tupelo, MS August 2: Sheffield Center, Muscle Shoals, AL August 3: Robinson Auditorium, Little Rock, AR August 4: Municipal Auditorium, Camden, AR August 5: Overton Park Shell, Memphis, TN August 6: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA August 7: Magnolia Gardens, Houston, TX August 7: Cook’s Hoedown Club, Houston, TX August 8: Mayfair Building, Tyler, TX August 9: Rodeo Arena, Henderson, TX August 10: Bear Stadium, Gladewater, TX August 11: Reo Palm Isle Club, Longview, TX August 12: Driller Park, Kilgore, TX August 13: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA August 20: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA August 22: Spudder Park, Wichita Falls, TX August 23: Saddle Club, Bryan, TX August 24: Davy Crockett H.S., Conroe, TX August 25: Sportcenter, Austin, TX August 26: Gonzales Baseball Pk., Gonzales, TX August 27: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA September-1955 Sept 1: Pontchartrain Bch, New Orleans, LA Sept 2: Arkansas Mun. Stad., Texarkana, AR Sept 3: Sportatorium, Dallas, TX Sept 3: Roundup Club, Dallas, TX Sept 5: St. Francis Co. Fair, Forrest City, AR Sept 6: Bono High School, Bono, AR Sept 7: Nat’l Guard Armory, Sikeston, AR Sept 8: Municipal Aud., Clarksdale, MS Sept 9: McComb H.S., McComb, MS Sept 10: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA Sept 11: Municipal Aud., Norfolk, VA Sept 12: Municipal Aud., Norfolk, VA Sept 13: Shrine Auditorium, New Bern, NC Sept 14: Fleming Stadium, Wilson, NC Sept 15: Am. Legion Aud., Roanoke, VA Sept 16: City Auditorium, Asheville, NC Sept 17: Thomasville H.S., Thomasville, NC Sept 18: WRVA Theater, Richmond, VA Sept 19: WRVA Theater, Richmond, VA Sept 20: Danville Fairgrounds, Danville, VA Sept 21: Memorial Auditorium, Raleigh, NC Sept 22: Civic Auditorium, Kingsport, TN Sept 24: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA Sept 26: Gilmer Junior H.S., Gilmer, TX Sept 28: B&B Club, Gobler, MO October-1955 Oct 1: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA Oct 3: G. Rolle White Colsm., College Sta., TX Oct 4: Boys Club, Paris, TX Oct 5: City Auditorium, Greenville, TX Oct 6: S.W. Texas St Univ., San Marcos, TX Oct 6: Skyline Club, Austin, TX Oct 8: City Auditorium, Houston, TX Oct 10: Soldiers-Sailors Hall, Brownwood, TX Oct 11: Fair Park Auditorium, Abilene, TX Oct 12: Midland High School, Midland, TX Oct 13: Municipal Auditorium, Amarillo, TX Oct 14: Odessa High School, Odessa, TX Oct 11: Fair Park Auditorium, Lubbock, TX Oct 15: Cotton Club, Lubbock, TX Oct 16: Mun. Aud., Oklahoma City, OK Oct 17: Memorial Aud., El Dorado, AR Oct 19: Circle Theatre, Cleveland, OH Oct 20: Brooklyn H.S., Cleveland, OH Oct 20: St. Michaels’ Hall, Cleveland, OH Oct 21: Missouri Theatre, St. Louis, MO Oct 22: Missouri Theatre, St. Louis, MO Oct 23: Missouri Theatre, St. Louis, MO Oct 24: Silver Moon Club, Newport, AR Oct 25: Houston Armory, Houston, MS Oct 26: Greater Gulf States Fair, Prichard, AL Oct 28: C.Gordon’s Radio Ranch, Mobile, AL Oct 29: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA November-1955 November 5: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA November 6: Community House, Biloxi, MS November 7: Keesler AFB, Biloxi, MS November 8: Keesler AFB, Biloxi, MS November 12: Carthage Milling Co., Carthage, TX November 12: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA November 13: Ellis Auditorium, Memphis, TN November 14: Forrest City H. S., Forrest City, AR November 15: Community Center, Sheffield, AL November 16: City Auditorium, Camden, AR November 17: Municipal Aud., Texarkana, AR November 18: Reo Palm Isle Club, Longview, TX November 19: Gladewater H.S., Gladewater, TX November 25: W. Wilson Jun.H.S., P. Arthur, TX November 26: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA November 29: Mosque Theater, Richmond, VA December-1955 December 2: Atlanta Sports Arena, Atlanta, GA December 3: State Coliseum, Montgomery, AL December 4: Lyric Theater, Indianapolis, IN December 5: Lyric Theater, Indianapolis, IN December 6: Lyric Theater, Indianapolis, IN December 7: Lyric Theater, Indianapolis, IN December 8: Rialto Theater, Louisville, KY December 9: Swifton High School, Swifton, AR December 9: B&I Club, Swifton, AR December 10: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA December 12: Nat’l Guard Armory, Amory, MS December 17: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA December 19: Ellis Auditorium, Memphis, TN December 31: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA

Elvis songs released by Sun Records, January 1955, in 78 and 45 rpm versions. Record sleeve is a bootleg edition.

Promoter “Colonel” Tom Parker first takes notice of Presley’s name after Texarkana DJ “Uncle Dudley” reports on the crowd frenzy at Elvis’ January 11, 1955 show.

Elvis songs released by Sun Records, April 1955, in 78 and 45 rpm versions. Record sleeve is a bootleg edition.

On March 23rd, 1955, Elvis and his band auditioned for Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts show in New York but were rejected.

Elvis songs released by Sun Records, August 1955, in 78 and 45 rpm versions. Record sleeve is a bootleg edition.

At the Jacksonville, Florida show on May 13, 1955, Elvis tells the girls in the 14,000-plus crowd that he’ll “see [them] backstage,” causing a riot. The incident convinces Colonel Parker about Elvis’ popularity.

Elvis during concert at Tampa, FL's Ft. Homer Hesterly Armory on July 31, 1955 (photo believed to be that of W. Red Robertson).

Elvis songs released by RCA Records, Dec 1955, in 78 and 45 rpm versions. Record sleeve is a bootleg edition.

By late summer 1955, Colonel Parker had taken control of Presley’s career. On Nov. 21st he negotiated a deal with RCA to acquire Elvis’ Sun Studios contract for $35,000 (roughly $275,000 in 2007).

Elvis songs released by RCA Records, Dec 1955, in 78 and 45 rpm versions. Record sleeve is a bootleg edition.

On November 10th, 1955, in his Nashville hotel room, songwriter Mae Axton plays Elvis a demo of a song she’d co-written called “Heartbreak Hotel.”

Elvis songs released by RCA Records, Dec 1955, in 78 and 45 rpm versions. Record sleeve is a bootleg edition.

Elvis songs released by RCA Records, Dec 1955, in 78 and 45 rpm versions. Record sleeve is a bootleg edition.

Elvis songs released by RCA Records, Dec 1955, in 78 and 45 rpm versions. Record sleeve is a bootleg edition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Date Posted:  31 March 2008
Last Update:   1 September 2010
Comments to: jdoyle@pophistorydig.com

Article Citation:
Jack Doyle, “Elvis on the Road, 1955-1956,”
PopHistoryDig.com, March 31, 2008.

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Sources, Links & Additional Information

A 45 rpm single of Elvis Presley’s August 1955 Sun Studios recording of 'I Forgot To Remember To Forget,' the song that first made Elvis a nationally-known country music star, prior to his popular rock ’n roll fame.

Sun Records' 1955 45rpm recording of Elvis Presley's "Mystery Train."

Hank Bordowitz, Turning Points in Rock and Roll, Citadel Press,2004.

Peter Guralnick, “Elvis Presley,” in Anthony De Curtis and James Henke (eds), The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll, Random House, New York, 1992, pp. 21-36.

Robert Fontenot, “Your Guide to Oldies Music–The History of Elvis: 1955,” About. com.

Elvis discography and record sleeves,  Sergent. com.au.

“Teeners’ Hero,”Time, May 14, 1956.

“Sweet Music,” Time, October 8, 1956.

Louis M. Kohlmeier, Wall Street Journal, (front-page story on Elvis), December 31, 1956.

Stephen Holden, “Pop View; a Hillbilly Who Wove a Rock-and-Roll Spell,” The New York Times, July 19, 1987.

“Elvis Presley,” in Holly George-Warren and Patricia Romanowski (eds), The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, Rolling Stone Press, New York, 3rd Edition, 2001, pp. 774-778.

“Elvis Presley,” Wikipedia.org.

For a more detailed look at Elvis Presley performances and other activities in the 1953-55 period see, for example, Elvis PresleyMusic.com.

Greg Williams, “Forever Elvis,”Tampa Tribune, originally published, August 16, 2002.

Ace Collins, Untold Gold: The Stories Behind Elvis’s #1 Hits, Chicago Review Press, 2005.

     It was April 1947.  America was about to begin its post-World War II economic boom.  A few months earlier, Edwin Land had demonstrated his “instant camera”, the Polaroid Land Camera.  Radio was still the principal communications media, with more than 40 million strong.  Television, at a scant 44,000 sets nationwide, was just starting.  As a new baseball season began, a special day was set aside to honor former New York Yankee baseball star, Babe Ruth. More than 58,000 fans packed Yankee stadium on April 27th to honor Ruth, with American and National League baseball officials, Catholic Archbishop Francis Cardinal Spellman, and other VIPs in attendance. The ceremony and speeches were piped into all the other baseball parks around the country that day. Ruth was then 12 years retired from active play; a new generation of players had taken the field such as Joe DiMaggio. Still, Ruth had set baseball’s most revered record 20 years earlier – hitting an unheard of 60 home runs in one season. In the intervening years a few players had hit as many as 58 home runs in one season, but no one had broken Ruth’s record. And his career total of 714 home runs appeared to be invincible. In June 1948, at a second celebration commemorating the

Yankee Stadium crowd on Babe Ruth Day, 27 April 1947.

 25th  anniversary of Yankee Stadium – known as “the House that Ruth Built” – the slugger was again honored (2nd photo, below).  His Yankee uniform playing numeral, No. 3 was formally retired that day.

 

“Saved” Baseball

     Babe Ruth, throughout his career, had made important contributions to the Yankees, New York city, and all of professional baseball. In the 1920s, his hitting prowess not only made millions of dollars for the New York Yankee franchise, but also “saved” baseball from national disgrace.  The 1919 Chicago Black Sox scandal – when players took bribes to throw the World Series – had badly tainted all of baseball. But Babe Ruth, with his home runs and out-sized personality, came along at just the right time. He wasn’t the only factor in the revival, certainly, but his power and celebrity helped energize the game, reclaim its respectability, and renew and expand the fan base. In so doing, he helped make baseball more of business.  Ruth was also a symbol of American optimism in the go-go 1920s before the Stock Market crash; the sports hero with the big smile and big appetite who seemed to make anything possible.  By 1947 and 1948, of course, a lot had changed.  WWII and the Great Depression were then in the past.  But the fans who came out to give their final cheers for Ruth at Yankee Stadium in 1947  and 1948, were also cheering for the 1920s American optimism and derring-do Ruth stood for, as well as his awesome accomplishments.

        George Herman Ruth, born in 1895, had come to baseball via the school of hard knocks.  A Baltimore saloonkeeper’s son, Ruth had been something of a problem child, and at the age of 7, his parents placed him in St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys for his “incorrigible” behavior. The school was run by Catholic Xaverian brothers, and Ruth spent almost his entire youth there. The school became the place where Ruth – with the help and encouragement of Brother Matthias Boutlier — developed into a promising baseball player.  By 1914, he was signed briefly to a minor league team before being sold with others to the Boston Red Sox.

Babe Ruth with the Boston Red Sox, circa 1917-1918.

 

     In Boston, the left-handed Ruth became a formidable pitcher as well as a promising hitter. His pitching, in fact, helped Boston win two World Series in 1916 and 1918. He was later converted to an outfielder in Boston so he could play more often, making use of his hitting power. He did not disappoint. In 1919, his last year with Boston before coming to the Yankees, he hit 29 home runs, breaking the existing record. Before that, no one had ever hit more than 25 home runs in one season. News of Ruth’s batting feats in Boston spread. Wherever he played, large crowds filled the stands. In the winter of 1919, Boston’s owner Harry Frazee, in need of money to finance his business interests on Broadway, sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees for about $100,000 and a $300,000 loan. With the Yankees, Ruth would soon become the dominant player in all of professional baseball and one of the most famous celebrities of the 1920s.

 

“Small Ball” No More 

     In the decade preceding the 1920s, baseball was not a game of drama or home runs. Rather, it was a game of singles, bunts and stolen bases; what might be called “small ball” in today’s lingo – a game of hustle with batters hitting for direction, not distance.  Few players ever hit more than a dozen or so home runs per season prior to 1919.  Pitchers dominated, then using the spitball, often aided by tobacco-juice. In those days, only one ball was used for the entire game – a time known as “the dead ball” era.  By 1920, some rule changes had come to the game.  The spitball was outlawed along with unorthodox pitching deliveries and the ball began to be replaced regularly during a game.  One player, in fact, had been killed after being hit in the head with a dirty, darkened ball.  

     When Ruth began play with the Yankees in 1920, the team then shared the Polo Grounds stadium with the neighboring New York Giants of the National League. On May 1st that year, Ruth hit his first Yankee home run, a ball that left the Polo Grounds. By year’s end, Ruth had hit a prodigious 54 home runs, nearly doubling the existing record. No other player that year had hit more than 19 home runs. Ruth also batted for a .376 average with a slugging average of .847 – the latter a record that would stand for 80 years. The Yankees that year also shattered the league’s annual attendance mark, drawing 1.3 million fans, breaking the old mark of 900,000 set in 1908. In the following year, 1921, Ruth hit 59 home runs. Only the Philadelphia Phillies – as an entire team – hit more at 64.

 

A Good Investment

     In the Yankee front office, meanwhile, Ruth was proving to be a very good investment. Home receipts more than doubled in each of the years 1920-1922, and the Yankees also appeared in the 1921 and 1922 World Series, producing an additional $150,000 in revenues. The Yankee share of road receipts more than doubled in each of those years as well. In 1923, Ruth continued to excel. He set a career-high batting average of .393 that year and led the major leagues with 41 home runs. The 1923 season also saw the opening of Yankee Stadium, with Ruth hitting the stadium’s first home run in the opening game, prompting sportswriter Fred Lieb to nickname the place, “The House That Ruth Built.” In 1923, for the third straight time, the Yankees faced the Giants in the World Series.  Ruth hit .368 for the series, scored eight runs, and hit three home runs.  The Yankees won the series 4 games to 2. 

   

     In New York, and on the road, fans were turning out see Ruth in droves.  One reporter wrote, “This new fan didn’t know where first base was, but he had heard of Babe Ruth and wanted to see him hit a home run. . .” Ruth was also generating a lot of attention with his outsized personality and off-the-field carousing.  He had larger-than-life appetites and eventually became one of the enduring personalities of the roaring ’20s.  The large New York Italian immigrant community gave him the nickname “bambino.”  To many people, Ruth was more than a baseball player, he was a national icon.  Yet some say Ruth never quite grew up as person; at times he could be down right crude.  He drank, gambled, scoffed at training rules, and would argue with umpires and abusive fans.  Still, New York City proved the perfect place for Ruth – the big star on a big stage, with big crowds and big media coverage.  He lived large and earned over $2 million, most of which he spent. Yet Ruth could be very generous and caring, and would go out of his way for some people, and especially for sick children and orphans.

 

Getting it Back

     By December 1925, however, Ruth’s high living was beginning to show; he was overweight at 254 pounds, had a high pulse,  fat stomach, and was generally out of shape. With the help of fitness coach Artie McGovern, Ruth changed his diet and got back into shape. He also kept McGovern as his trainer.  In 1926, Ruth compiled an impressive .372 batting average with 47 home runs and 146 RBIs, leading the Yankees back to the World Series. Though they lost the Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games, Ruth hit three home runs in game 4.

 

Yankee Power

     In 1927, the Yankees had built one of the greatest teams of all time, compiling a 110-44 record, sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series.  That was the year Ruth hit 60 home runs, a time when teammate Lou Gehrig was also becoming a powerhouse.  In addition to his record-setting 60 home runs that year, Ruth also batted .356, drove in 164 runs, and complied a slugging avg of .772 – all impressive baseball feats.  In the following year he had 54 home runs. In fact, from 1928 through 1934, Ruth continued to produce at that level, with very good numbers: batting averages of .300 or more every year except 1934, and hitting 40 or more home runs in each of those years except 1933 and 1934 when he hit respectively, 34 and 22 home runs.
 

    

     In 1930, during spring training in Florida, when Ruth was negotiating for a higher salary – he wanted $100,000 a year, but signed for $80,000 – a reporter pointed out that he was now making a higher salary than President Herbert Hoover.  Ruth replied, “I had a better year.”  By 1935, Ruth’s career was coming to an end.  The Yankees traded him to the National League’s Boston Braves.  But Babe Ruth still had one last hurrah left.

 

 

               

 

 

 

 

 

  

The Last Hurrah

     On May 25,1935, against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field,  the 41-year old Ruth had four hits in the game, a rare feat on its own.  But three of Ruth’s hits that day were home runs:  one in the first inning that went over the right-center field wall; a second in the third inning to deep right field; and a third, monster drive in the ninth inning that the Associated Press then described as “a prodigious clout that carried clear over the right field grandstand, bounded into the street, and rolled into Schenley Park.”  It was the first baseball ever hit out of Forbes Field.  That homer brought a standing ovation for Ruth from the sparse crowd of 10,000 that day as he rounded the bases for his 714th career home run.  It would be Ruth’s final home run.

     In early June 1935, Babe Ruth voluntarily retired from baseball and was released by the Braves.  In the years that followed, Ruth did some coaching but never became a manager, which he had always wanted to do. In 1936, when the Baseball Hall of Fame was instituted, Babe Ruth was among the first five players elected, along with Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson and Honus Wagner.   In retirement, Ruth made special appearances, played in occasional exhibition games in the U.S. and abroad, and endorsed a variety of products.  He also gave talks on the radio, at orphanages and hospitals, and served as a spokesperson for U.S. War Bonds during World War II.  By 1946, however, he had been diagnosed with throat cancer and although treated, doctors could do little to help him.  His treatment had ended just a few months before his appearance at Yankee Stadium for the April 1947 Babe Ruth Day celebration.  It was apparent to most who saw him that day that Ruth was a sick man.  Having lost weight, he was not the robust player most remembered.  Still, he was greeted with a great roar of the crowd after the initial convocation by Cardinal Spellman and the introductions by league executives.

     “Just before he spoke,” explained a New York Times reporter at the ceremony, “Ruth started to cough and it appeared that he might break down because of the thunderous cheers that came his way. But once he started to talk, he was all right, still the champion. It was the many men who surrounded him on the field, players, newspaper and radio persons, who choked up.” Ruth’s Hall of Fame plaque says he was the “greatest drawing card in history of baseball.”Ruth began his speech from the microphone on the field at home plate in a very raspy, painful sounding voice. “Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. You know how bad my voice sounds,” he said. “Well, it feels just as bad.” He proceeded to talk briefly about the game of baseball and how important it was to keep the youth of the country involved in the game. He then thanked the fans and the earlier speakers for their words of praise, and with a wave to the fans, walked from the field down into the Yankee dugout. Beneath the stands he had a few trying minutes, coughing again, before he wa able to join his wife, daughter, and other friends in a boxed seat to watch the game.

     Ruth made his final Yankee Stadium appearance less than a year later on June 13, 1948, at the 25th anniversary of Yankee Stadium.  Dressed in his old Yankee uniform that day (see earlier photo, above), Ruth again was honored and his Yankee No. 3 jersey retired from service.  The next time he appeared in public, his last, was on July 26th that year for the New York premier of a Hollywood movie, The Babe Ruth Story, with actor William Bendix playing Ruth.  Shortly thereafter he was back in the hospital. On Aug 16, 1948, Babe Ruth died of throat cancer.  He was 53.  For two days Ruth’s body lay in state at the entrance to Yankee Stadium where tens of thousands came to pay their last respects.  A Requiem Mass was held for Ruth at St. Patrick’s Cathedral with Francis Cardinal Spellman presiding.  About 6,000 people attended the service, with New York Governor Thomas Dewey, New York Mayor William O’Dwyer, and Boston Mayor James Michael Curley serving as pallbearers.

 

Impressive Legacy

     Babe Ruth left behind a professional baseball legacy that few other players would ever equal.  His Hall of Fame plaque says, among other things, that he was the “greatest drawing card in history of baseball.”  At the time of his death in 1948, Ruth is said to have set or tied 76 baseball records, a number of which have since been overtaken.  Yet some of Ruth’s achievements stood for decades.

     In addition to setting the single-season home run mark in 1927 at 60 — a record that stood for 34 years until Yankee Roger Maris broke it in September 1961 – Ruth was also the first player to hit respectively more that 30, 40, and 50 home runs in one season.  His career home run record of 714 wasn’t broken until Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves surpassed it in 1974.  And Ruth was surprisingly durable too, considering his living-large habits.  He played more than 20 years in the big leagues.  Along with his home runs, he put in more seasons, had more hits, more extra-base hits, more runs scored, and more runs batted-in than many of the other Yankee greats, including Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle.  Ruth led the Yankees to seven American League pennants and four World Series titles, hitting a total of 15 home runs in World Series play.  He is the only player ever to hit three home runs in a World Series game on two separate occasions – game 4 of the 1926 World Series and game 4 of the 1928 World Series. Unlike many home run hitters, Ruth had a very good batting average.  Wrote the Sporting News in 1999, naming him to its 100 Greatest Players list: “Lost in the fog of Ruth’s 12 American League home run titles, four 50-homer seasons, and six RBI titles was a career .342 average that ties for eighth all-time in baseball’s modern era.” Ruth’s career .690 slugging percentage (calculated by dividing total bases by at-bats) is the highest total in the history of Major League Baseball. Ruth’s “Louisville slugger” baseball bat – used to hit the first home run at Yankee Stadium in 1923 — was sold at Sotheby’s in 2004 for $1.26 million. As a pitcher in his early years with the Red Sox, Ruth won 89 games in six years and set a World Series record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched.  From 1915-17, Ruth won 65 games, the most by any left-handed pitcher in the majors during that time.

     Ruth’s name and legend have been enshrined in baseball history and active baseball play.  In 1953, an organized baseball league for boys aged 13-to-15 was named Babe Ruth League Baseball. In 1969, Ruth was named baseball’s Greatest Player Ever in a ballot commemorating the 100th anniversary of the game.  And in 1999, voting by baseball fans put Ruth on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.  Ruth’s popularity, and indeed his continuing commercial value, is seen in the recent prices paid at auction for Ruth memorabilia. Ruth’s 1923 solid ash, Louisville Slugger baseball bat used to hit the first home run at Yankee Stadium in April 1923 was sold at a Sotheby’s in December 2004 for $1.26 million.  The 1919 contract that sent Ruth from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees was sold by Sotheby’s on June 10, 2005 for $996,000. Ruth’s name and image – used variously in advertising and other commercial uses – continues to be under management by a public relations firm. His life has also been the subject of numerous books and web sites, including the recently published The Big Bam, the cover of which is shown below in “sources”.

 

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Date Posted:  17 April 2008
Last Update:    3 May 2009
Comments to:  jdoyle@pophistorydig.com

Article Citation:
Jack Doyle, “Babe Ruth Days, 1947 & 1948,”
PopHistoryDig.com,  April 17, 2008.

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Sources, Links & Additional Information

Louis Effrat,“58,339 Acclaim Babe Ruth in Rare Tribute at Stadium,” New York Times, April 28, 1947, p. 1.

“Hello, Kid,” Time, Monday, August 23, 1948.

“The Babe Ruth Story,” Time, Monday, August 30, 1948.

Larry Schwartz, “Lovable Ruth Was Everyone’s Babe,” Special to ESPN.com.

“Babe Ruth,” Wikipedia.org.

Jeff Marx, “It’s a Babe-O-Nanza!,”Sports Illustrated, February 6, 1995.

“The Official Web Site of The Sultan of Swat” (Family of Babe Ruth and Babe Ruth League, Inc. by CMG Worldwide).

 

      In 1993, before she graced the cover of Rolling Stone magazine at right, Gisele Bündchen was a skinny 14 year-old kid in southern Brazil who aspired to play professional volleyball. Her friends called her “Olive Oyl” for her likeness to the Popeye cartoon character.  That was also about the same time, as legend has it, that young Gisele was “discovered” by a modeling agent who saw her eating a Big Mac at a local Brazilian MacDonald’s.  Today, the skinny kid doesn’t have to eat Big Macs anymore; she is worth an estimated $150 million and is a text book case of supermodel success and celebrity commerce.  As of mid-2007, Gisele Bündchen was associated with more than 20 brand-name products around the world in Brazil, Italy, France, Mexico, Spain, Turkey, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, and the U.S.  According to Forbes, she made $33 million in 2006.  She has appeared on billboards, magazine covers, TV and print ads, and in Hollywood films.

     Born in July 1980 and raised in a region of Southern Brazil settled by German immigrants, Gisele is one of six children, including a twin sister.  Her mother and father, both of German descent, worked respectively as a bank clerk and university teacher / writer.  As a teenager with her sisters, Bündchen studied modeling.  The 5′-11″ sandy-haired, blue-eyed beauty was soon noticed at national and international beauty contests, modeling shows, and by the Elite Modeling Agency.  She made her way to New York in 1996 to begin modeling at Fashion Week, and by July 1999 made her debut on the cover of Vogue magazine.  Three more Vogue covers followed in late 1999 and early 2000, along with a host of modeling and advertising jobs.  In September 2000, when she did the Rolling Stone cover above, she became only the fourth model to do so at that magazine.

      Since 1999, Gisele Bündchen’s advertising accounts have included a range of the world’s leading fashion, fragrance, and fashion accessory lines, among them, Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Roberto Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni, Versace, Céline, Givenchy, Bvlgari, Lanvin, Guerlain, Valentino, Ralph Lauren, Earl Jean, Zara, Chloé, Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton, and Victoria’s Secret.  She is also involved with several Brazilian brands like Vivo, Brazil’s leading mobile company, Multiplan, Colcci and Credicard.  Her television commercials for clothier C&A Brazil helped their sales increase by 30 percent. In May 2006, Bündchen signed a multi-million dollar deal with Apple Computer to join their “Get a Mac” advertising campaign to promote Macintosh computers.  Another important client had been Victoria’s Secret, where she had modeled for seven years.  But in May 2007 she ended her contract with Victoria’s Secret reportedly because the lingerie firm would not raise her $5 million-a-year salary.  In addition to her modeling and advertising, she also has her own line of Gisele Bündchen Ipanema sandals with the Grendene shoe company.  Custom Ipanemas sell for as much as $230 a pair.  She is also the owner of the Palladium Executive hotel in the south of Brazil. Forbes, which had previously done a 2004 cover on Bündchen for one of its Brazilian editions, named her to its 2007 list of the most powerful celebrities due in part to her business interests.  Bündchen has also appeared in movies, beginning with the 2004 comedy Taxi, starring Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon.  She also appeared in the 2006 hit film, The Devil Wears Prada and is thought to be under consideration for a role in the upcoming Angels & Demons prequel to The Da Vinci Code.

Please Support this Website Donate Now Thank You

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Date Posted: 5 Feb 2008
Last Update: 12 May 2008
Comments to: jdoyle@pophistorydig.com

Article Citation:
Jack Doyle, “The Most Beautiful Girl, 1993-2007,”
PopHistoryDig.com, February 5, 2008.

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  One Hour Photo the movie

Sources, Links & Additional Information

“Gisele Bündchen,” Wikipedia.com.

Kiri Blakeley, “The World’s Top-Earning Models,” Forbes, July 16, 2007.

“Gisele Bündchen – The Glamorous New Ebel Muse,” The Watch Quote, April 12, 2006.

Charlotte Triggs, “Gisele Bündchen, Victoria’s Secret Part Ways,”People, Tuesday, May 1, 2007.

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