Buffalo’s Kathleen Howard included in 2010 National FIlm Registry (winner of Buffalo Film Fest Comedy Award)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 28, 2010
Washington, D.C, Buffalo, NY "It's A Gift" (1934) starring the late Kathleen Howard of Buffalo, NY and W.C. Fields was added to National Film Registry this morning, December 28, 2010 at The Library of Congress in Washington, DC.
Kathleen Howard is also a 2009 recipient of The Al Boasberg Comedy Award presented by The Buffalo International Film Festival for Lifetime Achievement in Comedy Performance.
The National Registry picks only 25 films a year to be preserved in the Library of Congress, so Buffalo, NY is a big winner. http://www.loc.gov/film/nfr2010.html
Ms. Howard plays Amelia Bissonette the nagging wife of W.C. Fields in “It’s A Gift,” often considered to be Fields’ comic masterpiece. Howard complains endlessly about Fields’ “ill-advised” purchase of an orange grove. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_a_Gift
Ms. Howard (July 27, 1884 - April 15, 1956) was actually born in Clifton, Ontario, Canada, but she spent her childhood in Buffalo, NY, United States and is buried there in Forest Lawn Cemetery.
She started her career as an opera singer, notably appearing as Zita at the Metropolitan Opera in 1918. Her fine, powerful voice made her a desirable performer in early sound films (which didn’t have the best microphones) and she ultimately appeared in more than 50 films and television programs including two with W.C. Fields: “It’s a Gift” and “Man on the Flying Trapeze.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_howard
In 2009, The Buffalo International Film Festival presented her posthumously with the Al Boasberg Comedy Award in a ceremony that took play at the Comedy Spotz Arena. Other honorees were Larry Gelbart, Joseph Stein, Everett Greenbaum and Harvey Kurtzman. The winner of the 2010 Al Boasberg Comedy Award will be announced this month. (2009 Boasberg Awards http://www.buffalofilmfestival.com/buffalofilmfest2009/1011boasbergcomedy.html )
The yearly Al Boasberg Comedy Award is named in honor of one of the greatest comedy writers of the 20th Century who was both born and buried in Buffalo, NY. Boasberg (1891-1937) created the enduring personalities of Jack Benny, Bob Hope, George Burns and Gracie Allen, The Three Stooges, and many more as well as writing for Buster Keaton and The Mark Brothers (“A Night at the Opera”). He invented the the idea of the modern stand-up comedian who only tells jokes instead of singing, dancing and joking. Boasberg was largely forgotten because he died so young and was eclipsed by other long-lived writers. But there is no doubt that he was the founder of modern comedy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Boasberg He is the subject of a new biography being written by Ben Schwartz.
It’s a Gift (1934) The popularity and influence of W.C. Fields continues with each succeeding generation, distinguishing him as one of the greatest American comedians of the 20th century. "It’s a Gift" has survived a perilous preservation history and is the third Fields film to be named to the National Film Registry. The film’s extended comic sequence featuring Baby LeRoy, and depicting Fields’ travails while trying to sleep on the open-air back porch of a rooming house, was adapted from one of his most successful live theatrical sketches.
The Buffalo International Film Festival is a 501c3 not-for-profit charity dedicated to bringing a major film festival to the Western New York region and the world. The Fourth Annual Buffalo Film Festival ran from October 1-10, 2010 and screened 60 motion pictures including World Premieres. The Fifth Annual Buffalo Film Festival will take place in October 2011.
-- Buffalo International Film Festival, Inc. a 501c3 not-for-profit charity
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