Arts & Entertainment 1963

Arts & Entertainment 1963

Below are some of the popular BOOKS, MUSIC, TV & FILMS of 1963...

The January 1963 first edition of poet Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar" (published initially under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas). Tragically, Plath took her own life just one month after it's publication.

ON THE BOOKSHELF:

"The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" by John LeCarre

"Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut

"The Collector" by John Fowles

"The Guns of August" by Barbara Tuchman

"The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath

"The Feminine Mystique" by Betty Friedan

Ian Fleming's 11th James Bond novel, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" is published

1963 Literature Prizes:

1963 Nobel Laureate for Literature: Giorgos Seferis (Greece)

Pulitzer for Fiction: "The Reivers" by William Faulkner

National (U.S.) Book Award: "Morte D'Urban" by J.F. Powers

Newberry: "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeline L'Engle

Caldecott: "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats

ON THE STAGE:

1963 Tony Winner (play): "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" by Edward Albee

1963 Tony Winner (musical): "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" book by Burt Shevelove & Larry Gelbart, Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

England's National Theatre began life on October 22nd, 1963 with a production of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, directed by Laurence Olivier and starring Peter O'Toole, Frank Finlay, Michael Gambon, Rosemary Harris and Derek Jacobi.

On The Radio:

The top 20 U.S. singles from 1963...

"Sugar Shack"	"He's So Fine"	"Dominique"
Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs	The Chiffons	The Singing Nun
"Go Away Little Girl"	"Walk Right In"	"Hey Paula"
Steve Lawrence	The Rooftop Singers	Paul & Paula
"Walk Like A Man"	"Our Day Will Come"	"I Will Follow Him"
The 4 Seasons	Ruby & The Romantics	Little Peggy March
"If You Wanna Be Happy"	"It's My Party"	"Sukiyaki"
Jimmy Soul	Lesley Gore	Kyu Sakamoto
"Easier Said Than Done"	"Surf City"	"So Much In Love"
The Essex	Jan & Dean	The Tymes
"Fingertips Pt. 2"	"My Boyfriend's Back"	"Blue Velvet"
Little Stevie Wonder	The Angels	Bobby Vinton
"Deep Purple"		"I'm Leaving It Up To You"
Nino Tempo & April Stevens		Dale & Grace

The Beatles UK Debut Album, "Please Please Me"

The Beatles already had two hit songs on the radio in the UK when they stepped into Abbey Road studio to record their first album. It was captured in a marathon one day, 14-hour recording session on February 11th, 1963.

March 22nd- The Fab Four's debut album, "Please Please Me", was released one month later. It took 7 weeks to hit #1 in the UK but remained there for the next 29. "Beatlemania" had just begun overseas...

October 31st- Showman Ed Sullivan, passing through London's Heathrow Airport, is impressed by screaming crowds of fans welcoming the Beatles home from a recent Scandinavian tour. The lads from Liverpool would make their U.S. television debut on Sullivan's popular C.B.S. variety program just a few months later on February 9th, 1964.

December 28th- In the U.S., the latest issue of the industry trade paper Billboard hits newsstands, containing intriguing adverts announcing "The Beatles Are Coming!". Capitol Records would release the group's U.S. debut album, "Meet The Beatles" a month later on January 20th, 1964.

Henry Mancini's "Days of Wine & Roses" wins the Grammy for "Record of the Year"

"The Barbra Streisand Album" wins the Grammy for "Album of the Year"

NEW ON TV IN '63

Doctor Who	The Fugitive	General Hospital	Wild Kingdom
My Favorite Martian	The Outer Limits	Petticoat Junction	East Side, West Side

Emmy Winners:

"The Defenders" was voted Best Drama and "The Dick van Dyke Show was named Best Comedy of 1963

American Bandstand

pop music showcase American Bandstand switched from airing 5 days a week (monday through friday afternoons) to once weekly airings on saturday afternoons beginning on September 7th, 1963---where it would remain until September 5th, 1987!

Miss America 1963:

Jacquelyn Mayer (Miss Ohio), crowned September 8th, 1962 to reign as Miss America 1963. At the time, Miss Mayer was a 20 year-old student at Northwestern University.

At The Cinema:

Popular Films of 1963 included:

The Birds	It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World	Cleopatra

The Great Escape	The Haunting	Bye Bye Birdie
From Russia With Love	Jason and the Argonauts	The Nutty Professor

THE ACADEMY AWARD winners from 1963

Winners are in Bold Type...

Best Picture

America, America

Cleopatra

How the West Was Won

Lilies of the Field

TOM JONES

Best Director

Federico Fellini for "8�"

Elia Kazan for "America, America"

Otto Preminger for "The Cardinal"

TONY RICHARDSON for "Tom Jones"

Martin Ritt for "Hud"

Best Actor

Albert Finney in "Tom Jones"

Richard Harris in "This Sporting Life"

Rex Harrison in "Cleopatra"

Paul Newman in "Hud"

SIDNEY POITIER in "Lilies of the Field"

Best Actress

Leslie Caron in "The L-Shaped Room"

Shirley MacLaine in "Irma La Douce"

PATRICIA NEAL in "Hud"

Rachel Roberts in "This Sporting Life"

Natalie Wood in "Love With the Proper Stranger"

Best Supporting Actor

Nick Adams in "Twilight of Honor"

Bobby Darin in "Captain Newman, M.D."

MELVIN DOUGLAS in "Hud"

Hugh Griffith in "Tom Jones"

John Huston in "The Cardinal"

Best Supporting Actress

Diane Cilento in "Tom Jones"

Edith Evans in "Tom Jones"

Joyce Richardson in "Tom Jones"

MARGARET RUTHERFORD in "The V.I.P's"

Lilia Skala in "Lilies of the Field"

Best Foreign Film:

"Knife in the Water" (Poland-Roman Polanski)

"The Red Lanterns"

"Los Tarantos"

"Twin Sisters of Kyoto"

FEDERICO FELLINI'S "8�" (Italy)

Best Screenplay-Adapted:

Captain Newman, M.D.

Hud

Lilies of the Field

Sundays and Cybele

TOM JONES(adapted by John Osborne)

Best Screenplay-Original

America, America

8�

The Four Days of Naples

HOW THE WEST WAS WON(by James R. Webb)

Love With The Proper Stranger

Best Cinematography-B&W:

JAMES WONG HOWE for "Hud"

Best Cinematography-Color

LEON SHAMROYfor "Cleopatra"

Note: The preceeding nominees & winners were judged among the best of films released in 1963 and honored at the Academy Awards Ceremony on April 13th, 1964

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