A PERFORMER'S LIFE FILLED TO OVERFLOWING.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
``My dad's life was a lot like a champagne glass overflowing.'' - Casse Forczek What a wonderful life James Waldman Wolfe had. For more than 50 years, he was Jimmy Casanova, a nightclub performer and opening comedy act for such stars as the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Ella Fitzgerald Noun 1. Ella Fitzgerald - United States scat singer (1917-1996) Fitzgerald , Sarah Vaughn and Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett (born Anthony Dominick Benedetto on August 3 1926) is an American singer of popular music, standards and jazz who is widely considered to be one of . Only in the 1990s did he become the star, the main act. Not as Jimmy Casanova, but as Jamie the Storyteller. Instead of the nightclubs, he played the grammar-school circuit, children's hospitals This is a list of children's hospitals. See also Pediatric Care. International
New South Wales
First presented by students of the Imperial Ballet School on April 4/16 (Julian/Gregorian calendar dates), 1891 in the to get lost in for awhile. I never knew Jimmy Casanova, but I knew Jamie the Storyteller, and he was exactly as his daughter remembers him - a champagne glass overflowing. Full of life, bubbling over. When illness and a serious car accident laid Wolfe low in the '80s, Jimmy Casanova's career waned. The phone stopped ringing. He didn't get bitter or try to hang on to the past like most old entertainers do. No, Wolfe buried Casanova and found another stage on which to perform - a bigger, more important stage than he ever appeared on as an opening act. I saw that firsthand, following his new act from room to room at Shriners Children's Hospital A children's hospital is a hospital which offers its services exclusively to children. The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th century, as pediatric medical and surgical specialties separated from internal medicine and adult surgical specialties. , then over to the Braille Institute, where Jamie the Storyteller put beautiful smiles on the faces of kids who couldn't see him. But they could hear him, be touched by him, laugh with him. They didn't need eyes to tell them Jamie the Storyteller was a good man. ``In the '60s, I was comedy upfront for a lot of acts in Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. . I opened for the Beatles on their 1964 Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. tour, and for Elvis a few times. They wanted clean comedy and that was my act. ``I played London and many of the big houses of the world. All that and half-a-buck gets me a ride on a bus today,'' Wolfe told me at the time. When Jimmy Casanova died, he didn't have far to look to find Jamie the Storyteller. Every time he played with his grandkids and worried about their futures in an uncertain world, he knew exactly where he had to take his talent. He started working the literacy circuit at local elementary and junior high schools, introducing kids to Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm. He offered teachers help assisting kids who had learning disabilities and problems. ``It's absolutely wonderful to look out there and see their shy little faces enthralled en·thrall tr.v. en·thralled, en·thrall·ing, en·thralls 1. To hold spellbound; captivate: The magic show enthralled the audience. 2. To enslave. by the same stories my kids were growing up to,'' Wolfe said. ``After the stories, we play games and talk about the dangers of smoking, drinking and drugs.'' Wolfe also took his act to senior citizen centers, taking his audience for a walk down memory lane. He reprised his ``Old Man Bit'' - an 85-year-old man watching the world go by from his front porch. He died on Thanksgiving Day at age 85, still working on his act, says his daughter, Casse Forczek. One of her favorite pictures is of her dad and John Lennon in 1964, hamming it up by imitating Napoleon. ``My father's cremation cremation, disposal of a corpse by fire. It is an ancient and widespread practice, second only to burial. It has been found among the chiefdoms of the Pacific Northwest, among Northern Athapascan bands in Alaska, and among Canadian cultural groups. occurred on the same day that the 25th anniversary of John's tragic death was being honored at Strawberry Fields, Central Park in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , Dec. 8,'' she said. Jimmy Casanova's last opening act for a big star. ``God gave my father a tremendous sense and gift of wit, humor and a great voice to make people laugh, and, at times, shed a tear,'' Forczek said. Yeah, what a wonderful life James Waldman Wolfe had. Like a champagne glass overflowing. Dennis McCarthy, (818) 713-3749 dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- 2) James Waldman Wolfe, in character as Jamie the Storyteller, spins a yarn at Woodland Hills Elementary School in 1997, above. Wolfe, known as Jimmy Casanova in his heydey as opening comic for the likes of the Beatles and Elvis Presley, clowns with John Lennon in 1964. Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer |
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