Ed Sullivan Show

Clayton "Peg Leg" Bates, 91, a tap dancer who overcame losing a leg in a childhood accident and had a long career that included frequent performances on "The Ed Sullivan Show," died of a heart attack Sunday in Greenville, S.C., a day after being honored in his hometown.Pub Date: 12/08/98

Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre celebrated a successful $200,000 fundraising campaign and the start of its 45th season with a reception for about 150 donors and friends before the opening performance of "Forever Plaid." The play reprises the ASGT's 2008 production, which was shortened when an injured cast member had to be replaced and several shows were rained out. The funds raised will be used to complete the first phase of the restoration of its circa-1800 building. With the four 2008 cast members reprising their roles, "Forever Plaid" is a pleasant return to 1950s pop music, when groups like the Four Aces and the Four Freshmen topped the charts.

1825: The House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes. 1950: Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., charged that the State Department was riddled with Communists. 1964: The Beatles made their first live appearance on American television on The Ed Sullivan Show. Associated Press

COMEDY ROLLIN' WITH ROCK Chris Rock, first discovered by Eddie Murphy in the '80s, caught his break when he got a small part in Beverly Hills Cop II. Since then, he has gone on to garner success in the realms of stand-up, film and television. The comedian / actor / producer has won three Emmys, two Grammys and released a best-selling book. The Saturday Night Live alum brings his special brand of oft-times controversial humor to the Lyric Opera House this weekend for the No Apologies Tour.

* May Davies Hopkins Martenet, 85, a novelist and short-story writer, died of complications stemming from lung cancer June 6 at the Westminster-Canterbury retirement home in Virginia Beach, Va., where she had lived since 1985.* Frantz Casseus, 77, a guitarist and composer, died of heart failure June 3 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan.* Marlo Lewis, 77, a TV producer who was co-creator of "The Ed Sullivan Show," died of heart failure Tuesday at a hospital in Palm Springs, Calif.

TERESA BREWER, 76 Singer had hits in 1950s Singer Teresa Brewer, who topped the charts in the 1950s with such hits as "Till I Waltz Again with You" and performed with jazz legends Count Basie and Duke Ellington, died Wednesday. She was 76. She died at her home in New Rochelle of a neuromuscular disease, said family spokesman Bill Munroe. Ms. Brewer had scores of hits in the 1950s and a burgeoning film career but pared down her public life to raise her children. She re-emerged a decade later to perform with jazz greats Mr. Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and Wynton Marsalis.

Jay Marshall, 85, a magician-ventriloquist, dean of the Society of American Magicians and the first entertainer to open for Frank Sinatra in Las Vegas, died Tuesday at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, his family said. Mr. Marshall had suffered a series of heart attacks. Although he was a noted historian of stage magic and wrote several books on the subject, his own act did not incorporate the spectacular illusions and escape stunts that were popular when he was a young vaudevillian.

Wanda Sykes does it all. She writes, produces, acts and makes people laugh. She even worked at the National Security Agency before her life as a comedian. If you're not careful, she'll take your job and make you laugh while she does it. That's exactly what she does on Comedy Central's Wanda Does It. Every Tuesday she works a different job, from photography and coaching women's basketball to working at a brothel and a Chinese restaurant to show us there's nothing she can't do. The Emmy Award-winning funny lady known for her work on The Chris Rock Show, Inside the NFL and Curb Your Enthusiasm is super busy.

Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre celebrated a successful $200,000 fundraising campaign and the start of its 45th season with a reception for about 150 donors and friends before the opening performance of "Forever Plaid." The play reprises the ASGT's 2008 production, which was shortened when an injured cast member had to be replaced and several shows were rained out. The funds raised will be used to complete the first phase of the restoration of its circa-1800 building. With the four 2008 cast members reprising their roles, "Forever Plaid" is a pleasant return to 1950s pop music, when groups like the Four Aces and the Four Freshmen topped the charts.

"In The Life" looked as if it might be headed for a quick death before the first episode ever aired.It was June 1992, halfway through an election year, and conservatives in Congress were feeling their oats in their attempt to cut funding for public television.PBS executives, meanwhile, seemed to be running scared, trying to avoid any future projects that might play into the "liberal bias" line, when Bob Dole took to the floor of the Senate to try to "zero them out," in the language of the day."

TERESA BREWER, 76 Singer had hits in 1950s Singer Teresa Brewer, who topped the charts in the 1950s with such hits as "Till I Waltz Again with You" and performed with jazz legends Count Basie and Duke Ellington, died Wednesday. She was 76. She died at her home in New Rochelle of a neuromuscular disease, said family spokesman Bill Munroe. Ms. Brewer had scores of hits in the 1950s and a burgeoning film career but pared down her public life to raise her children. She re-emerged a decade later to perform with jazz greats Mr. Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and Wynton Marsalis.

Rickie Layne, 81, a ventriloquist who frequently appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show with his Yiddish-accented dummy Velvel, died of heart failure Feb. 11 at a hospital in Tarzana, Calif. Singer Nat "King" Cole discovered Mr. Layne in 1955 at Ciro's nightclub on the Sunset Strip and urged Mr. Sullivan to put the act on his popular Sunday night variety show. Mr. Cole even made an unusual guarantee: If Mr. Layne bombed, Mr. Cole would appear on the show for free. Mr. Layne made his Sullivan debut Jan. 1, 1956, and returned several dozen times.

Feb. 9 1825: The House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes. 1870: The U.S. Weather Bureau was established. 1964: The Beatles made their first live American television appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS.

Jay Marshall, 85, a magician-ventriloquist, dean of the Society of American Magicians and the first entertainer to open for Frank Sinatra in Las Vegas, died Tuesday at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, his family said. Mr. Marshall had suffered a series of heart attacks. Although he was a noted historian of stage magic and wrote several books on the subject, his own act did not incorporate the spectacular illusions and escape stunts that were popular when he was a young vaudevillian.

Wanda Sykes does it all. She writes, produces, acts and makes people laugh. She even worked at the National Security Agency before her life as a comedian. If you're not careful, she'll take your job and make you laugh while she does it. That's exactly what she does on Comedy Central's Wanda Does It. Every Tuesday she works a different job, from photography and coaching women's basketball to working at a brothel and a Chinese restaurant to show us there's nothing she can't do. The Emmy Award-winning funny lady known for her work on The Chris Rock Show, Inside the NFL and Curb Your Enthusiasm is super busy.