Innehållsförteckning för December 31, 2023 från Parade

TONY BENNETT Aug. 3, 1926 - July 21, 2023 Best known for “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” and “Fly Me To The Moon,” Tony Bennett survived the Depression, years on the road, personal losses and changes in musical taste in a career that lasted 60+ years. In 1992 he told Parade about his two passions: “From as far back as I can remember, I had to sing and paint, like this is my destiny.” When the legendary crooner spoke to Parade in 2014 with fellow Italian-American Lady Gaga, he was 88, and she was 28. They had a new album, Cheek to Cheek, coming out and they had formed an unlikely bond. “When I came into this with Tony,” Lady Gaga said about performing together, “he didn’t say,…

This is your 25th year hosting. What keeps you coming back? It’s part of the holidays. We do the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, then it’s Christmas in Rockefeller Center. And then to be able to kick off the new year with the grandparent of all of these parades is pretty special. Last year, I had some health issues. A couple years before, we had COVID issues. To be back now to do this for the 25th year is kind of crazy because I think NBC started doing this on radio in 1927. Then the year I was born, 1954, is when NBC started broadcasting it on television. To think that the television broadcast is as old as I am is kind of crazy. What about the Rose Parade stands out…

The irony, of course, is that nobody likes going to the doctor. But watching a doctor? Well, that’s a different story. Unlike flying superheroes, a talented M.D. can save lives based on pure problem-solving intellect. The truly great ones also boast personality to spare as they solve the medical crisis of the week. Think saintly father figures. Acidic misanthropes. Winking charmers. Freewheeling would-be comedians. And yet they all selflessly give 100 percent to their 24/7 profession. “Life or death is the most dramatic fulcrum you can have,” says David Bianculli, the TV critic on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross. The TV doctor can be traced back to the earliest days of television. In 1954, the drama Medic, on NBC, was the first show to focus on a doctor (played…

Dear Marilyn, Why are so many female models taller than average? —Leda Metro, Darien, Connecticut Taller people in general get a little more attention because they’re easier to notice, but that’s only part of the story. The great majority of female models are also thin and have small breasts. Why? Because the clothing being shown can be seen better on a frame (meaning a body) that doesn’t fill it out. Bodies with perfectly natural curves caused by breasts, waists and hips would distort the garment and make a fashion show look like a beauty pageant. That’s not what designers want. They want us to see their creations on a visually appealing human hanger—in other words, a fashion model. The clothes hang on them. Okay, readers may ask, but why do…

GOOD GRIEF (JAN. 5 ON NETFLIX) Dan Levy was a writer, producer and director on his Emmy Award-winning series, Schitt’s Creek, but now the multi-talent is making his feature film debut in all those same categories, as well as acting, with Good Grief. But if you’re expecting a comedy, you’re in for a surprise. In his latest outing, Levy stars as Marc, a children’s book illustrator, who couldn’t be more different than Schitt’s Creek’s David Rose. “A lot of people think I’m a comic, and I’m not,” Levy, 40, says. “I’ve always been a slightly more emo person than people realize.” He gets to display this other side of himself as Marc, who is bereft when his husband dies. Marc and his best friends, Sophie (Ruth Negga) and Thomas (Himesh…

Those who remember the genial Dr. Marcus Welby might be interested to know that the man who played him, Robert Young, struggled for decades with severe depression. In 1985, years after Marcus Welby, M.D. had ended, the 78-year-old told Parade: “I’ve always had a great affinity for the healing profession. I spent most of my life needing help. Consequently, I enjoyed every minute of doing Welby. In 1998, after spending 12 years making TV pilots that weren’t picked up and eight TV series that were, Kentucky boy George Clooney, 37, was finally a star. That’s thanks to his role of Dr. Doug Ross on ER, a hit NBC show that was consistently the top-rated TV drama. Looks like his motto—”The only failure is not to try”—worked! Actress Jane Seymour first…