Judy Garland (Grammy for Album of the Year) Judy’s concert appearance at Carnegie Hall on April 23, 1961, which produced the 2-record Judy at Carnegie Hall lasted 13 weeks at number one and earned a total of four Grammys. It has been described as “the greatest night in show business history”.
Moon River—Henry Mancini (Grammy for Record of the Year) Although Audrey Hepburn originally sang it in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Andy Williams performed it at the 1962 Grammy ceremony. His version is best known today, although dozens of artists have recorded it.
2. Where did the cartoon character Yogi Bear live?
3. This company used the advertising line “We Try Harder” – name the company.
4. Name the fictional town where the musical The Music Man occurs.
5. In 1962, what was the average life expectancy in the United States?
5. What was the Bestselling Fiction Book in 1962?
6. What was the highest-grossing film of 1962?
7. Which company did NOT open in 1962 – Walton, Walmart, Woolco, Target, Sears, or Kmart?
8. Can you tell us the name of Cocoa Puffs cereal mascot?
9. Who was the President of the United States in 1962?
10. 1962 Catchphrase: Who said, “Here’s Johnny”?
11. Who won the Stanley Cup in 1962?
12. What was the Top-Rated TV Show in the 1961/1962 season?
13. How much did a Loaf of Bread cost in 1962?
14. How many people lived in the United States in 1962?
15. How many people lived in the World in 1962?
16. To the nearest quarter, what was the average movie theater ticket price in 1962?
17. Created by Bob Kane as a spoof of his earlier creations, Batman and Robin, can you name this cartoon crime-fighting duo?
18. Who was the regular host of The Tonight Show before Johnny Carson took over on October 1, 1962?
19. What record label executives were quoted to have said that “guitar groups are on the way out” and “the Beatles have no future in show business”?
20. Who won the 1962 World Series?
21. Although she died at 36 on August 4, 1962, Marilyn Monroe was born with another name. What was Marilyn’s real name?
22. Founded in 1962 in Minnesota, this consumer chain is considered a discount-chic shopping experience. Name that retailer.
23. What was the name of the robot maid on The Jetsons?
24. What country claims to be the birthplace of the “Hawaiian pizza”?
25. Name the first actor to be paid $1,000,000 for a single film.
26. Who did Sonny Liston defeat to become the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion in 1962?
27. This sandwich was first brought to the McDonald’s in 1962.
28. How much was a Gallon of Milk in 1962?
29. Where did The Beatles record almost all of their studio material?
30. This science fiction-themed trading card series, first released in 1962 by Topps, was the basis for a 1996 film starring Jack Nicholson and a host of Hollywood guest stars.
31. Who was the Time Magazine Man of the Year in 1962?
32. First appearing in 1961, this flying kaiju (giant monster) made her debut, along with two fairies, who spoke and sang for her.
33. At a White House dinner, he said, “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and human knowledge ever gathered at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.” Who said it?
34. This comic book character, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1952, was inspired by a combination of Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Name him.
35. He was later called “the most trusted man in America,” and on April 16, 1962, he became the anchor for The CBS Evening News. Who was he?
36. California native Glen Bell began the restaurant chain in Downey, California. It is still around today. Name that fast food restaurant.
37. 1962 Catchphrase: In what movie did James first say, “The name is Bond, James Bond”?
38. On March 2, 1962, who scored a record 100 points in an NBA game in Hershey, Pennsylvania?
39. How much did a gallon of gas cost in 1962?
40. What was the topic of Andy Warhol’s earliest, but popular, silkscreen paintings?
41. This very popular show became the number-one sitcom within three weeks of its debut in 1962. Name that comedy.
42. Name the two Major League Baseball expansion teams that started playing in 1962.
43. Originally a serialization in The New Yorker, this book is often credited for the rise of the modern environmentalist movement.
44. The 606-foot-tall Space Needle building has become a symbol of Seattle. Why was it built?
45. Who was the Pope in 1962?
46. What was the name of Rob Petrie’s wife on the Dick Van Dyke Show, and who played her?
47. Who was the first African-American to be elected to the Baseball Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
48. What beverage company used the slogan: “Schh…You Know Who”?
49. United States Navy SEALs were founded in 1962; how did they come up with their name?
50. Catchphrase: Who said “Ruh-roh”? (Before Scooby-Doo!)
51. Where did the cartoon character Yogi Bear like to find his food?
52. Some people call him the fifth Beatle, but others know he was The Beatles’ drummer before Ringo Starr. Name that drummer.
53. Which celebrity was NOT born in 1962: Jim Carrey, Axl Rose, Garth Brooks, or George Clooney?
54. This meeting, between 1962 and 1965, addressed relations between the Catholic Church and the modern world.
55. This Broadway play by Edward Albee examines the complexities of a middle-aged couple’s marriage, Martha and George. It was first staged on October 13, 1962.
56. Trinidad and Tobago gained its independence from WHERE on August 31, 1962?
57. On The Lucy Show, which ran from 1962 through 1968, what was Lucy’s surname?
58. This was the world’s first commercial communications satellite. It was also the title of a Billboard number-one instrumental song by The Tornados.
59. Founded in 1962, this hospital is a pediatric treatment and research facility focused on children’s catastrophic diseases, particularly leukemia and other cancers. Patients are not charged for their care. Name that famous hospital.
60. What unusual headgear did Beany wear in the cartoon Beany and Cecil?
61. Who is considered the protagonist in To Kill a Mockingbird?
62. Airing on ABC, McHale’s Navy occurred during what war?
Trivia Team Bonus Questions:
1. This instrumental recording was the first Britsh recording to reach the number one position on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart. Name that song.
2. Mutiny on the Bounty is a fictionalized 1962 movie of the real-life mutiny led by Fletcher Christian against William Bligh. What year did the actual event take place?
3. Who was the American Vice-President in 1962?
4. What book was the film Lawrence of Arabia based on?
5. Who were the 1962 NBA Champions?
6. What team won the FIFA World Cup in 1962?
7. Yogi Bear’s personality was based on another, but live-action, character. Name the character or the actor who played him.
8. What Horse won the Kentucky Derby in 1962?
9. What was the name of Rob Petrie’s son on the Dick Van Dyke Show?
10. Who were the 1962 NFL Champions?
The Answers:
62 Trivia Answers for 1962 History
1. What was the Biggest Number One Song of 1962? I Can’t Stop Lovin’ You by Ray Charles
2. Where did the cartoon character Yogi Bear live?
Jellystone Park
3. This company used the advertising line “We Try Harder” – name the company.
Hertz Rent-a-car. (They were #2 to Avis, the largest company)
4. Name the fictional town where the musical The Music Man occurs.
River City (Iowa)
5. In 1962, what was the average life expectancy in the United States?
Men – 66.8 years, Women – 73.4 years.
5. What was the Bestselling Fiction Book in 1962? Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter
6. What was the highest-grossing film of 1962? The Longest Day (2nd place: Lawrence of Arabia)
7. Which company did NOT open in 1962 – Walton opened Walmart, Woolco, Target, Sears, or Kmart?
Sears
8. Can you tell us the name of Cocoa Puffs cereal mascot?
Sonny the Cuckoo Bird
9. Who was the President of the United States in 1962?
John F. Kennedy (January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963)
10. 1962 Catchphrase: Who said, “Here’s Johnny”?
Ed McMahon on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
11. Who won the Stanley Cup in 1962?
In 1962, The Toronto Maple Leafs won over the Chicago Black Hawks (4 games to 2)
12. What was the Top-Rated TV Show in the 1961/1962 season? Wagon Train (NBC)
13. How much did a Loaf of Bread cost in 1962?
21 cents
14. How many people lived in the United States in 1962?
The population was an estimated 186,537,737 people.
15. How many people lived in the World in 1962?
The estimated world population in 1962 was 3,141,071,531 people.
16. To the nearest quarter, what was the average movie theater ticket price in 1962?
75 cents
17. Created by Bob Kane as a spoof of his earlier creations, Batman and Robin, can you name this cartoon crime-fighting duo? Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse. They lived in the Cat Cave.
18. Who was the regular host of The Tonight Show before Johnny Carson took over on October 1, 1962?
Jack Parr
19. What record label executives were quoted to have said that “guitar groups are on the way out” and “the Beatles have no future in show business”?
Decca Records
20. Who won the 1962 World Series?
In 1962, The New York Yankees won, beating the San Francisco Giants (4 games to 3)
21. Although she died at 36 on August 4, 1962, Marilyn Monroe was born with another name. What was Marilyn’s real name?
Norma Jeane Mortenson
22. Founded in 1962 in Minnesota, this consumer chain is considered a discount-chic shopping experience. Name that retailer.
Target
23. What was the name of the robot maid on The Jetsons?
Rosie
24. What country claims to be the birthplace of the “Hawaiian pizza”?
Canada
25. Name the first actor to be paid $1,000,000 for a single film.
Marlon Brando was the first actor to command a $1 million salary for his starring role in 1962’s Mutiny on the Bounty.
26. Who did Sonny Liston defeat to become the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion in 1962?
Floyd Patterson
27. This sandwich was first brought to the McDonald’s in 1962.
Filet-O-Fish
28. How much was a Gallon of Milk in 1962?
$1.04
29. Where did The Beatles record almost all of their studio material?
Abbey Road Studios in London
30. This science fiction-themed trading card series, first released in 1962 by Topps, was the basis for a 1996 film starring Jack Nicholson and a host of Hollywood guest stars. Mars Attacks!
31. Who was the Time Magazine Man of the Year in 1962?
Pope John XXII
32. First appearing in 1961, this flying kaiju (giant monster) made her debut, along with two fairies, who spoke and sang for her.
Mothra
33. At a White House dinner, he said, “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and human knowledge ever gathered at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.” Who said it?
President John F. Kennedy
34. This comic book character, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1952, was inspired by a combination of Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Name him.
(The Incredible) Hulk, civilian id: Dr. Bruce Banner.
35. He was later called “the most trusted man in America,” and on April 16, 1962, he became the anchor for The CBS Evening News. Who was he?
Walter Cronkite (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009)
36. California native Glen Bell began the restaurant chain in Downey, California. It is still around today. Name that fast food restaurant.
Taco Bell
37. 1962 Catchphrase: In what movie did James first say, “The name is Bond, James Bond”? Dr. No
38. On March 2, 1962, who scored a record 100 points in an NBA game in Hershey, Pennsylvania?
Wilt Chamberlain, for the Philadelphia Warriors, against the New York Knickerbockers.
39. How much did a gallon of gas cost in 1962?
$0.31 per gallon
40. What was the topic of Andy Warhol’s earliest but popular silkscreen paintings? Campbell’s Soup Cans (aka 32 Campbell’s Soup Cans) were produced between November 1961 and March/April 1962.
41. This very popular show became the number-one sitcom within three weeks of its debut in 1962. Name that comedy. The Beverly Hillbillies
42. Name the two Major League Baseball expansion teams that started playing in 1962.
Houston Colt .45s (Astros) and the New York Mets.
43. Originally a serialization in The New Yorker, this book is often credited for the rise of the modern environmentalist movement. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
44. The 606-foot-tall Space Needle building has become a symbol of Seattle. Why was it built?
Century 21 Exposition (Seattle World’s Fair)
45. Who was the Pope in 1962?
Pope John XXIII, from October 28, 1958 – June 3, 1963
46. What was the name of Rob Petrie’s wife on the Dick Van Dyke Show, and who played her?
Laura (Mary Tyler Moore)
47. Who was the first African-American to be elected to the Baseball Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Jackie Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972)
48. What beverage company used the slogan: “Schh…You Know Who”?
Schweppes
49. United States Navy SEALs were founded in 1962; how did they come up with their name?
The United States Navy’s Sea, Air, and Land teams
50. Catchphrase: Who said “Ruh-roh”? (Before Scooby-Doo!)
Astro on The Jetsons
51. Where did the cartoon character Yogi Bear like to find his food?
Picnic baskets (“pic-a-nic baskets”)
52. Some people call him the fifth Beatle, but others know he was The Beatles’ drummer before Ringo Starr. Name that drummer.
Pete Best
53. Which celebrity was NOT born in 1962: Jim Carrey, Axl Rose, Garth Brooks, or George Clooney?
George Clooney (born May 6, 1961)
54. This meeting, between 1962 and 1965, addressed relations between the Catholic Church and the modern world.
Second Vatican Council (aka Vatican II)
55. This Broadway play by Edward Albee examines the complexities of a middle-aged couple’s marriage, Martha and George. It was first staged on October 13, 1962. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
56. Trinidad and Tobago gained its independence from WHERE on August 31, 1962?
The United Kingdom
57. On The Lucy Show, which ran from 1962 through 1968, what was Lucy’s surname?
Lucy Carmichael
58. This was the world’s first commercial communications satellite. It was also the title of a Billboard number-one instrumental song by The Tornados. Telstar
59. Founded in 1962, this hospital is a pediatric treatment and research facility focused on children’s catastrophic diseases, particularly leukemia and other cancers. Patients are not charged for their care. Name that famous hospital.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
60. What unusual headgear did Beany wear in the cartoon Beany and Cecil?
A propeller beanie cap that allowed him to fly (the “Beanycopter”)
61. Who is considered the protagonist in To Kill a Mockingbird?
The protagonist is Jean Louise “Scout” Finch
62. Airing on ABC, McHale’s Navy occurred during what war?
World War II
Trivia Team Bonus Questions:
1. This instrumental recording was the first Britsh recording to reach the number one position on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart. Name that song. Stranger on the Shore by Mr. Acker Bilk
2. Mutiny on the Bounty is a fictionalized 1962 movie of the real-life mutiny led by Fletcher Christian against William Bligh. What year did the actual event take place?
1789
3. Who was the American Vice-President in 1962?
Lyndon B. Johnson (January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963)
4. What book was the film Lawrence of Arabia based on? Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence
5. Who were the 1962 NBA Champions?
For the 1961-62 Season, Champion Boston Celtics won 4 games to 3 over the Los Angeles Lakers
6. What team won the FIFA World Cup in 1962?
Brazil
7. Yogi Bear’s personality was based on another, but live-action, character. Name the character or the actor who played him.
Ed Norton, from The Honeymooners, played by Art Carney.
8. What Horse won the Kentucky Derby in 1962?
Decidedly
9. What was the name of Rob Petrie’s son on the Dick Van Dyke Show?
Ritchie Petrie (played by Larry Mathews)
10. Who were the 1962 NFL Champions?
Green Bay Packers
Oldies: Pre-Beatles The post-50s-pre-Beatles brought an amazing and often under-estimated, even forgotten, selection of quality popular music. This Era of Pop Music brought us the Girl Groups, Phil Spectre, and the post-do-wop sound of rock and roll. After this era, the Beatles changed music again.
The Top Instrumentals 1959-1963/4
1. Yakety Sax – Boots Randolph
2. Miserlou – Dick Dale
3. The Stripper – Davis Rose
4. Take Five – Dave Brubeck Quartet
5. Wipe Out – The Surfaris
6. Green Onions – Booker T and the MG’s
7. Desafinado – Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd
8. Raw-Hide – Link Wray
9. Bunny Hop – The Applejacks
10. Alley Cat – Bent Fabric and His Piano
The Top Oldies With Words 1959-1963/4
1. Mack The Knife – Bobby Darin
2. At Last – Etta James
3. The Twist – Chubby Checker
4. Crazy – Patsy Cline
5. Stand By Me – Ben E. King
6. The Lion Sleeps Tonight – The Tokens
7. Under The Boardwalk – The Drifters
8. Runaround Sue – Dion
9. Surfin’ USA – Beach Boys
10. What’d I Say – Ray Charles
11. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do – Neil Sedaka
12. It’s Just A Matter Of Time – Brooke Benton
13. Heat Wave – Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
14. Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen – Neil Sedaka
15. Sleep Walk – Santo and Johnny
16. Surfin’ Safari – Beach Boys
17. La Bamba – Ritchie Valens
18. Big Girls Don’t Cry – The 4 Seasons
19. Chapel Of Love – Dixie Cups
20. Pretty Little Angel Eyes – Curtis Lee
21. Louie Louie – The Kingsmen
22. Volare – Bobby Rydell
23. Beyond The Sea – Bobby Darin
24. Bristol Stomp – The Dovells
25. I Only Have Eyes For You – The Flamingos
26. Do You Love Me – The Contours
27. Wild One – Bobby Rydell
28. Be My Baby – The Ronettes
29. Lonely Teardrops – Jackie Wilson
30. Daddy’s Home – Sheb and the Limelites
31. A Teenager In Love – Dion & the Belmonts
32. South Street – The Orlons
33. The Loco-Motion – Little Eva
34. My Boyfriend’s Back – The Angels
35. Save The Last Dance For Me – The Drifters
36. Sherry – The 4 Seasons
37. Harbor Lights – The Platters
38. Hey! Baby – Bruce Channel
39. Leader of the Pack – Shangri-Las
40. Kansas City – Wilbert Harrison
41. Up On The Roof – The Drifters
42. Some Kind of Wonderful – The Drifters
43. I Fall To Pieces – Patsy Cline
44. Back In The U.S.A. – Chuck Berry
45. Mickey’s Monkey – The Miracles
46. Only Sixteen – Sam Cooke
47. You Can’t Sit Down – Dovells
48. There’s a Moon Out Tonight – The Capris
49. Our Day Will Come – Ruby and the Romantics
50. Come Softly Yo Me – Fleetwoods
51. Misty – Johnny Mathis
52. Johnny Angel – Shelly Fabres
53. Sealed With A Kiss – Brian Hyland
54. Let’s Twist Again – Chubby Checker
55. Pride and Joy – Marvin Gaye
56. Party Lights – Claudine Clark
57. Put Your Head On My Shoulder – Paul Anka
58. Monkey Time – Major Vance
59. The Wah Watusi – The Orlons
60. Denise – Randy and the Rainbows
61. Georgia On My Mind – Ray Charles
62. On Broadway – The Drifters
63. Wonderful World – Sam Cooke
64. Hey Paula – Paul and Paula
65. Dedicated To The One I Love – The Shirelles
66. I Adore Him – The Angels
67. Lovers Who Wander – Dion
68. Surfer Girl – Beach Boys
69. (Night Time Is) The Right Time – Ray Charles
70. Then He Kissed Me – The Crystals
71. Hello Mary Lou – Ricky Nelson
72. Wildwood Days – Bobby Rydell
73. When Will I Be Loved – The Every Brothers
74. One Fine Day – The Chiffons
75. This Magic Moment – The Drifters
76. Remember (Walkin’ In The Sand) – The Shangri-Las
77. Are You Lonesome To-Night? – Elvis Presley
78. Don’t Hang Up – The Orlons
79. Personality – Lloyd Price
80. Having A Party – Sam Cooke
81. He’s A Rebel – The Crystals
82. (The Best Part Of) Breakin’ Up – The Ronettes
83. Hushabye – The Mystics
84. 409 – Beach Boys
85. Will You Love Me Tomorrow – The Shirelles
86. Dream Baby – Roy Orbison
87. It Doesn’t Matter Anymore – Buddy Holly
88. Baby Its You – The Shirelles
89. Tossin’ and Turnin’ – Bobby Lewis
90. The End of the World – Skeeter Davis
91. Hit The Road Jack – Ray Charles
92. Last Kiss – J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers
93. Who Put The Bomp – Barry Mann
94. Busted – Ray Charles
95. There Goes My Baby – The Drifters
96. Surfin – The Beach Boys
97. Swingin’ School – Bobby Rydell
98. 1-2-3 – Len Barry
99. Charlie Brown – The Coasters
100. Shout! Shout! Knock Yourself Out – Ernie Mareska
101. Spanish Harlem – Ben E. King
102. Baby It’s Cold Outside – Ray Charles and Betty Carter
103. Runaway – Del Shannon
104. Let’s Stomp – Bbby Comstock
105. Sweet Nothins – Brenda Lee
106. Dead Man’s Curve – Jan & Dean
107. Sea Cruise – Frankie Ford
108. Be True To Your School – Beach Boys
109. Where Or When – Dion and the Belmonts
110. Chains – The Cookies
111. Money – Barrett Strong
112. Bongo Stomp – Little Joey and the Flips
113. Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop – Little Anthony and the Imperials
December 18, 1961 – January 12, 1962:
The Tokens – The Lion Sleeps Tonight
January 13, 1962 – January 26, 1962:
Chubby Checker – The Twist
January 27, 1962 – February 16, 1962:
Joey Dee and the Starliters – Peppermint Twist – Part 1
February 17, 1962 – March 9, 1962:
Gene Chandler – Duke of Earl
March 10, 1962 – March 30, 1962:
Bruce Channel – Hey! Baby
March 31, 1962 – April 6, 1962:
Connie Francis – Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You
April 7, 1962 – April 20, 1962:
Shelley Fabares – Johnny Angel
April 21, 1962 – May 4, 1962:
Elvis Presley – Good Luck Charm
May 5, 1962 – May 25, 1962:
The Shirelles – Soldier Boy
May 26, 1962 – June 1, 1962:
Mr. Acker Bilk – Stranger on the Shore
June 2, 1962 – July 6, 1962:
Ray Charles – I Can’t Stop Loving You
July 7, 1962 – July 13, 1962:
David Rose – The Stripper
July 14, 1962 – August 10, 1962:
Bobby Vinton – Roses Are Red (My Love)
August 11, 1962 – August 24, 1962:
Neil Sedaka – Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
August 25, 1962 – August 31, 1962:
Little Eva – The Loco-Motion
September 1, 1962 – September 14, 1962:
Tommy Roe – Sheila
September 15, 1962 – October 19, 1962:
The Four Seasons – Sherry
October 20, 1962 – November 2, 1962:
Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers – Monster Mash
November 3, 1962 – November 16, 1962:
The Crystals – He’s a Rebel
November 17, 1962 – December 21, 1962:
The Four Seasons – Big Girls Don’t Cry
December 22, 1962 – January 11, 1963:
The Tornados – Telstar
(Data is compiled from various charts including Billboard’s “Pop,” “Airplay,” “R&B” and “Singles” Charts. “Hot 100” is the primary chart used starting October, 1958)
World Changing Event: The Cuban Missile Crisis between The United States, The USSR, and Cuba between Oct 16, 1962, and Oct 28, 1962.
Space Race: John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth, keeping the Space Race with the USSR about even.
The Top Song was I Can’t Stop Loving You by Ray Charles
The Movies to Watch include Lawrence of Arabia, The Manchurian Candidate, and Girls! Girls! Girls!
The Most Famous Person in America was probably Elvis Presley
Notable books include A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle and Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Price of a Men’s 100% Wool Suit in 1962: $45.00
Price of a movie ticket: 70 cents
The Funny Guys were The Smothers Brothers
The Funny Guy was Ernie Kovacs
The Funny Lady was Moms Mabley
The Funny Late Night Host Johnny Carson
The Other Funny Late Show Host Steve Allen
The Guy Who Had One Successful Funny Album (The First Family): Vaughn Meader
The Superstores: Walton opened Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas. Woolco, Target, and Kmart also opened.
The Crazy Conspiracy: Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her home on August 5, 1962. Did she take her own life as the news reports said? Was it the CIA? The Kennedys? The Mob?
Sean Connery, Robert Goulet, Elvis Presley, Gregory Peck
Oscars: 34th Academy Awards (1962)
Held on April 9, 1962, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, the 34th Academy Awards showcased the power of historical epics. Bob Hope was the emcee of the evening. Lawrence of Arabia dominated the ceremony, winning seven awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for David Lean.
Grammy Awards: 1962 Grammys (4th Annual Grammy Awards)
In the music realm, the 4th Annual Grammy Awards, better known as the 1962 Grammys, took place on May 29. The big winners were Henry Mancini’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s soundtrack for Album of the Year and Tony Bennett for Record of the Year with “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”
Emmy Awards: 14th Primetime Emmy Awards (1962)
Bob Newhart hosted the 14th Primetime Emmy Awards on May 22, 1962. The Bob Newhart Show secured the award for Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Humor, which was the equivalent of today’s Outstanding Comedy Series. The Defenders, a legal drama, received the Emmy for Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Drama.
“The Quotes”
“Heeere’s Johnnny!”
– Ed McMahon on the Tonight Show
“With a name like Smucker’s, it has to be good.”
-Smucker’s Jelly
“We Try Harder”
-Avis
“Think small”
– Volkswagen
“Bond. James Bond.”
– Sean Connery, in Dr. No
Time Magazine’s Man of the Year
Pope John XXIII
Miss America
Maria Fletcher (Asheville, NC)
Miss USA
Macel Leilani (Hawaii)
The Scandals
An overdose of sleeping pills caused Marilyn Monroe’s death. Conspiracy theories involve the mob, President John F. Kennedy, and his brother Robert Kennedy. Ex-husband and baseball great Joe DiMaggio took care of all funeral arrangements, although the couple divorced in 1954.
October 22-28 was probably the closest we ever came to nuclear war – The Cuban Missile Crisis was officially over on November 2.
Rock and Roll Death: ex-Beatle Stuart Sutcliff (brain hemorrhage)
1962 Firsts
Telstar was launched as the first working communications satellite.
The light-emitting diode (LED) was invented by Nick Holonyak while working for General Electric.
Glenn Bell’s first Taco Bell opened in Downey, California.
The first computer video game, Spacewar, was invented.
The first Vail Ski Resort opened in 1962.
The first Target (Tar-zhay) store opened in Roseville, Minnesota.
The Philips Company of the Netherlands invented and released the first audio cassette
The Biggest Films of 1962
1. The Longest Day
2. Lawrence of Arabia (Pop Culture Classic)
3. In Search of Castaways
4. That Touch of Mink
5. The Music Man
6. Mutiny on The Bounty (Pop Culture Classic)
7. To Kill A Mockingbird (Pop Culture Classic)
8. Hatari!
9. Gypsy
10. Lolita
11. The Interns
12. Bon Voyage!
13. The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
14. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
15. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Pop Culture Classic)
16. The Manchurian Candidate (Pop Culture Classic)
17. Days of Wine and Roses
18. State Fair (Pop Culture Classic)
19. Taras Bulba
20. Girls! Girls! Girls!
21. The Premature Burial
22. King Kong vs. Godzilla
23. The Day of the Triffids (Pop Culture Classic)
24. How the West was Won (Pop Culture Classic)
25. The Miracle Worker
26. Hell is for Heroes
27. Dr. No
28. The Tower of London
29. Kid Gahahad (Elvis Presley)
30. Cape Fear
31. Jack The Giant Killer
32. Kid Galahad
33. Carnival of Souls (Pop Culture Classic)
34. Gigot
35. Tales of Terror
36. Pressure POint
37. Something’s Got To Give
38. Requiem for a Heavyweight
39. The Road to Hong Kong
40. Birdman of Alcatraz
Movies beyond the Top Ten are based on (a somewhat subjective) ranking based on how much they had a long-lasting effect on Pop Culture.
Uh-oh
From 1962 to 1977, the US Nuclear Launch code was 00000000. This was due to an effort to allow the weapons to be armed and ready to launch as soon as possible.
A small town called Centralia, PA, is completely abandoned because of a coal-seam fire at depths of up to 300 feet and a stretch of 3,700 acres ignited on May 27, 1962, and is only speculated to be extinguished in the year 2256.
Starfish Prime was the largest nuclear test conducted in outer space. The electromagnetic pulse knocked out streetlights and alarms in Waikiki. The explosion was visible around Hawaii.
The CIA’s concern over soccer fields along the coast of Cuba led to the Cuban Missile Crisis. In September 1962, a CIA analyst noticed the fields and became concerned because, as he put it, “Cubans play baseball, Russians play soccer.”
World News
The US signed the independence treaty for the Philippines on the 4th of July, giving them both the same “Independence Day” until 1962.
Seattle’s Space Needle, Pacific Science Center, Monorail, Seattle Center, and many other buildings were built for the 1962 World Fair.
James Dresnok was an American soldier who defected to North Korea in 1962 and lived there until he died in 2016.
Interesting Politics
US President John F Kennedy got 1200 Cuban cigars for himself in the hours before he banned their import.
The Heroes
Frances Oldham Kelsey received the US President’s Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service in 1962 for not giving FDA approval to Thalidomide. This German medication caused over 10,000 severe birth defects in Europe, Canada, and South America.
On October 27, 1962, Vasili Arkhipov, a senior officer on the Soviet B-59 submarine, refused permission to launch its nuclear torpedo during the Cuban Missile Crisis, avoiding World War III.
The Outliers
Sam Panopoulos, a Greek Canadian restaurateur who owned the Satellite Restaurant in Chatham, Ontario, decided to put ham and pineapple on a pizza, aiming for something sweet and savory. He called it the Hawaiian pizza.
The Tanganyika, Tanzania, laughter epidemic affected 14 schools and over 1000 people. #masshysteria
The White House Correspondent’s Dinner was men-only until 1962 when JFK refused to attend unless women did.
Elephant bones were discovered under the Vatican. Decades later, it was found that they were the bones of Pope Leo X’s pet elephant, Hanno, who died in 1516.
Constance Smith went to jail for stabbing her boyfriend in 1962. She stabbed him again in 1968 and was charged with attempted murder. They married in 1974.
1962 Pop Culture Facts & History
Episode 122 of The Twilight Zone, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, was a French film short that won the Cannes Film Festival in 1962 and an Oscar for Live Action Short Film in 1963. Producers paid $25,000 for rights that limited them to airing the story no more than two times.
The Jetsons’ original run consisted of only 24 episodes that first aired on ABC from September 1962 to March 1963. Reruns of those same 24 episodes were broadcast on Saturday mornings on ABC (1963-64), CBS (1964–65 and 1969–71), and NBC (1965–67, 1971–76, 1979–81 and 1982–83).
Do you remember, before 1962, when you could not get Goldfish Crackers at your local store? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
You could buy a fall-out shelter for as little as $100, feeding your family radiation-free for up to two weeks. Models were priced at $5000 and even higher as well.
Decca Records A&R executive Dick Rowe turned down the Beatles for a record deal and reportedly told their manager, “Guitar groups are on the way out.” He made up for the mistake by signing the Rolling Stones the following year.
James Earl Jones Was in the First Production of NYC’s Shakespeare in the Park in 1962.
Marlon Brando was the first actor to command a $1 million salary for his starring role in 1962’s Mutiny on the Bounty.
The shortest Oscar Speech ever was given by Patty Duke in 1962; at age 16, the youngest person to accept an Oscar in a competitive category, said “Thank You” and walked off the stage.
Decca Records turned down a band auditioning with them by saying, “Guitar groups are on the way out.” The band they turned down: the Beatles.
A question mark superimposed onto an exclamation mark, often seen as ?!, is called an Interrobang. Martin K. Speckter is credited with inventing the mark in 1962, making it the first new punctuation mark to be introduced in 300 years. It hasn’t caught on (yet).
McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish was created in 1962 for Catholics abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent.
The Sedan Crater in Nevada, created in August 1962 using a 104-kiloton nuclear blast, was used by Apollo astronauts in February 1965 to train on geological formations similar to those they might encounter on the moon’s surface.
The first modem was invented in 1962 with a speed of 300 bits per second.
The 1996 movie Mars Attacks was based on a set of controversial trading cards from Topps.
The record for most interceptions in a season is 42, in 1962, by Houston Oiler George Blanda.
The Habit
Spacewar!, a 1962 scientist-only lab game, became the Galaxy game, the first coin-operated video game.
Limbo!
Reading Rachel Carson’s book, ‘Silent Spring’, which started the environmentalist movement.
1st Appearances & 1962’s Most Popular Christmas Gifts, Toys and Presents
Tammy fashion doll, Mille Bornes Card Game, King Zor, LEGO Model Sets (with wheels), Boob Tube, Slinky*, Password TV Game home version, smooth & plastic Wiffle bat is introduced, Limbo Party Kit
*Slinky was originally mass-released in 1945. This comeback was due to the catchy “Slinky” Commercial jingle
Best Film Oscar Winner
West Side Story (presented in 1962)
Broadway Show
Never Too Late (Play) Opened on November 27, 1962, and closed on April 24, 1965
Popular and Best-selling Books From 1962
A Shade of Difference by Allen Drury A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman Dearly Beloved by Anne Morrow Lindbergh Fail-Safe by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl The Prize by Irving Wallace The Reivers by William Faulkner Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book by Dr. Seuss Seven Days in May by Fletcher Knebel Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter Silent Spring – Rachel Carson The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats The Spy Who Loved Me by Ian Fleming The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn Youngblood Hawke by Herman Wouk
1962 Most Popular TV Shows
1. Beverly Hillbillies (CBS)
2. Candid Camera (CBS)
3. The Red Skelton Show (CBS)
4. Bonanza (NBC)
5. The Lucy Show (CBS)
6. The Andy Griffith Show (CBS)
7. Ben Casey (ABC)
8. The Danny Thomas Show (CBS)
9. The Dick Van Dyke Show (CBS)
10. Gunsmoke (CBS)
1962 Billboard Number One Songs
December 18, 1961 – January 12, 1962: The Lion Sleeps Tonight – The Tokens
January 13 – January 26: The Twist – Chubby Checker
January 27 – February 16: Peppermint Twist – Part I – Joey Dee & the Starliters
February 17 – March 9: Duke Of Earl – Gene Chandler
March 10 – March 30: Hey! Baby – Bruce Channel
March 31 – April 6: Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You – Connie Francis
April 7 – April 20: Johnny Angel – Shelley Fabares
April 21 – May 4: Good Luck Charm – Elvis Presley
May 5 – May 25: Soldier Boy – The Shirelles
May 26 – June 1: Stranger On The Shore – Mr. Acker Bilk
June 2 – July 6: I Can’t Stop Loving You – Ray Charles
July 7 – July 13: The Stripper – David Rose
July 14 – August 10: Roses Are Red (My Love) – Bobby Vinton
August 11 – August 24: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do – Neil Sedaka
August 25 – August 31: The Loco-Motion – Little Eva
September 1 – September 14: Sheila – Tommy Roe
September 15 – October 19: Sherry – The Four Seasons
October 20 – November 2: Monster Mash – Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers
November 3 – November 16: He’s A Rebel – The Crystals
November 17 – December 21: Big Girls Don’t Cry – The Four Seasons
December 22, 1962 – January 11, 1963: Telstar – The Tornadoes
Sports
World Series Champions: New York Yankees
NFL Champions: Green Bay Packers
AFL Champions: Dallas Texans
NBA Champions: Boston Celtics
Stanley Cup Champs: Toronto Maple Leafs
U.S. Open Golf Jack Nicklaus
U.S. Tennis: (Men/Ladies) Rodney Laver/Margaret Smith
Wimbledon (Men/Women): Rod Laver/Karen Susman
NCAA Football Champions: USC
NCAA Basketball Champions: Cincinnati
Kentucky Derby: Decidedly
World Cup (Soccer): Brazil
President Pitzer, Mr. Vice President, Governor, Congressman Thomas, Senator Wiley, and Congressman Miller, Mr. Webb, Mr. Bell, scientists, distinguished guests, and ladies and gentlemen:
I appreciate your president having made me an honorary visiting professor, and I will assure you that my first lecture will be very brief.
I am delighted to be here, and I’m particularly delighted to be here on this occasion.
We meet at a college noted for knowledge, in a city noted for progress, in a State noted for strength, and we stand in need of all three, for we meet in an hour of change and challenge, in a decade of hope and fear, in an age of both knowledge and ignorance. The greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds.
Despite the striking fact that most of the scientists that the world has ever known are alive and working today, despite the fact that this Nation¹s own scientific manpower is doubling every 12 years in a rate of growth more than three times that of our population as a whole, despite that, the vast stretches of the unknown and the unanswered and the unfinished still far outstrip our collective comprehension.
No man can fully grasp how far and how fast we have come, but condense, if you will, the 50,000 years of man¹s recorded history in a time span of but a half-century. Stated in these terms, we know very little about the first 40 years, except at the end of them advanced man had learned to use the skins of animals to cover them. Then about 10 years ago, under this standard, man emerged from his caves to construct other kinds of shelter. Only five years ago man learned to write and use a cart with wheels. Christianity began less than two years ago. The printing press came this year, and then less than two months ago, during this whole 50-year span of human history, the steam engine provided a new source of power.
Newton explored the meaning of gravity. Last month electric lights and telephones and automobiles and airplanes became available. Only last week did we develop penicillin and television and nuclear power, and now if America’s new spacecraft succeeds in reaching Venus, we will have literally reached the stars before midnight tonight.
This is a breathtaking pace, and such a pace cannot help but create new ills as it dispels old, new ignorance, new problems, new dangers. Surely the opening vistas of space promise high costs and hardships, as well as high reward.
So it is not surprising that some would have us stay where we are a little longer to rest, to wait. But this city of Houston, this State of Texas, this country of the United States was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them. This country was conquered by those who moved forward–and so will space.
William Bradford, speaking in 1630 of the founding of the Plymouth Bay Colony, said that all great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage.
If this capsule history of our progress teaches us anything, it is that man, in his quest for knowledge and progress, is determined and cannot be deterred. The exploration of space will go ahead, whether we join in it or not, and it is one of the great adventures of all time, and no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in the race for space.
Those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolutions, the first waves of modern invention, and the first wave of nuclear power, and this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. We mean to be a part of it–we mean to lead it. For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding.
Yet the vows of this Nation can only be fulfilled if we in this Nation are first, and, therefore, we intend to be first. In short, our leadership in science and in industry, our hopes for peace and security, our obligations to ourselves as well as others, all require us to make this effort, to solve these mysteries, to solve them for the good of all men, and to become the world’s leading space-faring nation.
We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. For space science, like nuclear science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of pre-eminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war. I do not say the we should or will go unprotected against the hostile misuse of space any more than we go unprotected against the hostile use of land or sea, but I do say that space can be explored and mastered without feeding the fires of war, without repeating the mistakes that man has made in extending his writ around this globe of ours.
There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation many never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?
We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.
It is for these reasons that I regard the decision last year to shift our efforts in space from low to high gear as among the most important decisions that will be made during my incumbency in the office of the Presidency.
In the last 24 hours we have seen facilities now being created for the greatest and most complex exploration in man’s history. We have felt the ground shake and the air shattered by the testing of a Saturn C-1 booster rocket, many times as powerful as the Atlas which launched John Glenn, generating power equivalent to 10,000 automobiles with their accelerators on the floor. We have seen the site where the F-1 rocket engines, each one as powerful as all eight engines of the Saturn combined, will be clustered together to make the advanced Saturn missile, assembled in a new building to be built at Cape Canaveral as tall as a 48 story structure, as wide as a city block, and as long as two lengths of this field.
Within these last 19 months at least 45 satellites have circled the earth. Some 40 of them were “made in the United States of America” and they were far more sophisticated and supplied far more knowledge to the people of the world than those of the Soviet Union.
The Mariner spacecraft now on its way to Venus is the most intricate instrument in the history of space science. The accuracy of that shot is comparable to firing a missile from Cape Canaveral and dropping it in this stadium between the the 40-yard lines.
Transit satellites are helping our ships at sea to steer a safer course. Tiros satellites have given us unprecedented warnings of hurricanes and storms, and will do the same for forest fires and icebergs.
We have had our failures, but so have others, even if they do not admit them. And they may be less public.
To be sure, we are behind, and will be behind for some time in manned flight. But we do not intend to stay behind, and in this decade, we shall make up and move ahead.
The growth of our science and education will be enriched by new knowledge of our universe and environment, by new techniques of learning and mapping and observation, by new tools and computers for industry, medicine, the home as well as the school. Technical institutions, such as Rice, will reap the harvest of these gains.
And finally, the space effort itself, while still in its infancy, has already created a great number of new companies, and tens of thousands of new jobs. Space and related industries are generating new demands in investment and skilled personnel, and this city and this State, and this region, will share greatly in this growth. What was once the furthest outpost on the old frontier of the West will be the furthest outpost on the new frontier of science and space. Houston, your City of Houston, with its Manned Spacecraft Center, will become the heart of a large scientific and engineering community. During the next 5 years the National Aeronautics and Space Administration expects to double the number of scientists and engineers in this area, to increase its outlays for salaries and expenses to $60 million a year; to invest some $200 million in plant and laboratory facilities; and to direct or contract for new space efforts over $1 billion from this Center in this City.
To be sure, all this costs us all a good deal of money. This year¹s space budget is three times what it was in January 1961, and it is greater than the space budget of the previous eight years combined. That budget now stands at $5,400 million a year–a staggering sum, though somewhat less than we pay for cigarettes and cigars every year. Space expenditures will soon rise some more, from 40 cents per person per week to more than 50 cents a week for every man, woman and child in the United Stated, for we have given this program a high national priority–even though I realize that this is in some measure an act of faith and vision, for we do not now know what benefits await us.
But if I were to say, my fellow citizens, that we shall send to the moon, 240,000 miles away from the control station in Houston, a giant rocket more than 300 feet tall, the length of this football field, made of new metal alloys, some of which have not yet been invented, capable of standing heat and stresses several times more than have ever been experienced, fitted together with a precision better than the finest watch, carrying all the equipment needed for propulsion, guidance, control, communications, food and survival, on an untried mission, to an unknown celestial body, and then return it safely to earth, re-entering the atmosphere at speeds of over 25,000 miles per hour, causing heat about half that of the temperature of the sun–almost as hot as it is here today–and do all this, and do it right, and do it first before this decade is out–then we must be bold.
I’m the one who is doing all the work, so we just want you to stay cool for a minute. [laughter]
However, I think we’re going to do it, and I think that we must pay what needs to be paid. I don’t think we ought to waste any money, but I think we ought to do the job. And this will be done in the decade of the sixties. It may be done while some of you are still here at school at this college and university. It will be done during the term of office of some of the people who sit here on this platform. But it will be done. And it will be done before the end of this decade.
I am delighted that this university is playing a part in putting a man on the moon as part of a great national effort of the United States of America.
Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, “Because it is there.”
Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.
Winners Announced: May 29, 1962 Held at: Chicago, Los Angeles and New York Host: Frank Sinatra Eligibility Year: December 1, 1960 – November 30, 1961
Music Highlights and Achievements
Sinatra’s Hosting Charm: The Rat Pack’s very own Frank Sinatra took on the hosting duties, adding a layer of elegance and swagger to the ceremony.
Henry Mancini’s Night: Composer Henry Mancini dominated with his Breakfast at Tiffany’s soundtrack, including the iconic song “Moon River.”
Judy Garland’s Comeback: Judy Garland won Album of the Year for her live recording Judy at Carnegie Hall, marking a powerful comeback in her career.
Ernest Gold’s Exodus: The song “Exodus” by Ernest Gold from the movie of the same name grabbed Song of the Year, showing that film music could also steal the Grammy spotlight.
Trivia
Multiple City Hosting: This was one of the early Grammy ceremonies to be held in multiple cities: Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York.
Peter Nero’s Break: Pianist Peter Nero won Best New Artist, a huge boost to his budding career.
Mancini’s Run: Henry Mancini’s “Moon River” also won at the Oscars, a rare feat of capturing both film and music industry accolades.
Sinatra’s Debut: This was Frank Sinatra’s first time hosting the Grammys, making the event particularly special for Ol’ Blue Eyes fans.
Album of the Year:
Judy at Carnegie Hall, Judy Garland (Capitol)
Song of the Year:
Moon River, Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, songwriters
Best New Artist of 1961:
Peter Nero
Best Solo Vocal Performance, Male:
Lollipops and Roses, Jack Jones
Best Solo Vocal Performance, Female:
Judy at Carnegie Hall, Judy Garland
Best Performance By a Vocal Group:
High Flying, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross
Best Performance By a Chorus:
Great Band With Great Voices, Johnny Mann Singers and Si Zentner Orchestra
Best Rock and Roll Recording:
Let’s Twist Again, Chubby Checker (Parkway)
Best Rhythm and Blues Recording:
Hit the Road Jack, Ray Charles (ABC/Paramount)
Best Jazz Performance, Soloist or Small Group (Instrumental):
André Previn Plays Harold Arlen, André Previn
Best Jazz Performance, Large Group:
West Side Story, Stan Kenton
Best Original Jazz Composition:
African Waltz, Galt MacDermott, composer
Best Country and Western Recording:
Big Bad John, Jimmy Dean (Columbia)
Best Gospel or Other Religious Recording:
Everytime I Feel the Spirit, Mahalia Jackson (Columbia)
Best Folk Recording:
Belafonte Folk Singers at Home and Abroad, Belafonte Folk Singers (RCA)
Best Performance By an Orchestra for Dancing:
Up a Lazy River, Si Zentner
Best Performance By an Orchestra for Other Than Dancing:
Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Henry Mancini
Best Arrangement:
Moon River, Henry Mancini, arranger
Best Instrumental Theme or Instrumental Version of a Song:
African Waltz, Galt MacDermott, composer
Best Original Cast Show Album:
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Frank Loesser, composer (RCA)
Best Soundtrack Album or Recording of Score From a Motion Picture or Television:
Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Henry Mancini (RCA)
Best Soundtrack Album or Recording of Original Cast From a Motion Picture or Television:
West Side Story, Johnny Green, Saul Chaplin, Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal (Columbia)
Album of the Year, Classical:
Stravinsky Conducts, 1960: Le Sacre du Printemps; Petrouchka, lgor Stravinsky conducting Columbia Symphony (Columbia)
Best Classical Performance, Orchestra:
Ravel, Daphnis et Chloe, Charles Munch conducting Boston Symphony Orchestra
Best Classical Performance, Chamber Music:
Beethoven, Serenade, Op. 8; Kodaly, Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7, Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky and William Primrose
Best Classical Performance, Instrumental Soloist (With Orchestra):
Bartók, Concerto No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra, Isaac Stern; Eugene Ormandy conducting Philharmonic Orchestra
Best Classical Performance, Instrumental Soloist or Duo (Without Orchestra):
Reverie for Spanish Guitars, Laurindo Almeida
Best Opera Recording:
Puccini, Madame Butterfly, Gabriele Santini conducting Rome Opera Chorus and Orchestra (Capitol)
Best Classical Performance, Choral:
Bach, B Minor Mass, Robert Shaw conducting Robert Shaw Chorale
Best Classical Performance, Vocal Soloist:
The Art of the Prima Donna, Joan Sutherland; Francesco Molinari-Pradelli conducting Royal Opera House Orchestra
Best Contemporary Classical Composition (tie):
Discantus, Laurindo Almeida, composer
Movements for Piano and Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, composer
Best Comedy Performance:
An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May, Mike Nichols and Elaine May
Best Documentary or Spoken Word Recording (Other Than Comedy):
Humor in Music, Leonard Bernstein conducting New York Philharmonic Symphony (Columbia)
Best Recording for Children:
Prokofiev, Peter and the Wolf, Leonard Bernstein conducting New York Philharmonic Orchestra (Columbia)
Best Album Cover:
Judy at Carnegie Hall, Jim Silke, art director (Capitol)
Best Album Cover, Classical:
Puccini, Madame Butterfly, Marvin Schwartz, art director (Angel)
Once on the USS Piper back in 1962, we were operating with a group of navy SEALS. The SEALS had just been formed as a special forces group a year earlier from the navy Underwater Demolition Team or UDT. Usually the UDT teams were culled from the navy seabees or construction battalions. Now, they were in the process of honing their skills in covert insertions using submarines. Our mission was to secure their raft to our periscope fairing and then submerge and transit into a coastal shore line as close as we could under cover of darkness. When we reached the insertion point, the seals were supposed to exit the boat through our forward escape hatch, swim to the surface, get in their raft and paddle to the shore. All went according to plan except when the SEALS detached their raft, and got into it, it started to sink. There was no communication with the team once they left the boat, so we had no idea what was going on. Because the raft was sinking, they did not detach it from the scope.
Since our part of the mission was seemingly over, at least until we were supposed to rendezvous to retrieve the team, we started heading back out to sea. Just by accident, our quartermaster wanted to see the shoreline before we got too far out and snuck a quick look out the scope before lowering it. Had it not been for a curious shipmate, we probably would have dragged the SEAL team back out into the deeper ocean waters where we would have gone a lot deeper than periscope depth.
Then on the USS Croaker two years later, while transiting the Atlantic ocean for our four month Mediterranean cruise, we received a message that one of our planes had gone down and we were ordered to search for the pilot who had successfully bailed out. You never realize how vast the Atlantic is until you have to look for one lone human being.
So, we stayed on the surface and searched and searched well into the night with no success. At around midnight, I got up and made it back to the after engine room to start my six hour watch.
Even with both diesel engines running as well as the two in the forward engine room, I never wore hearing protection. That’s probably why I could enjoy the music at Woodstock. Well, about an hour into my watch, I thought I heard the faint sound of something tapping on the hull, but instantly dismissed it. A few minutes later the tapping was back, so I reported it to the chief of the watch in control, but no one seemed to believe me. Being rather peeved, the next time I called the chief, I used some rather profane language (something I rarely did). The chief notified the lookouts on the bridge to look aft towards the engine rooms. However, old diesel boat engines exhausted sea water coolant and exhaust smoke (we called it “efficiency haze” from the sides of the boat, making it hard to see anything further back from there.
Just by luck, as we were making a maneuver, one of the lookouts noticed something white behind the boat. Several crew members were dispatched topside to investigate. Now all this is happening in total darkness, in the North Atlantic is lightly rough seas.
When the crew walked back to the engine room hatch, they found the airman clinging onto the superstructure yelling his lungs out and frantically banging on the hull. The old diesel submarines were equipped with screw guards and it seems that our screw guard had snagged this poor guy’s parachute and we had actually been dragging him around for over an hour until he could pull himself up close enough to grab part of the superstructure and pull himself close to the engine room where I heard him banging on the hull with his sidearm. Once inside the boat, he was given some medicinal brandy, steak and fresh lobster for a meal.
Fredric Durrette served one tour in Vietnam, retired as E8 in the navy submarine service after 23 years. Major hobbies are collecting old stuff from the 20s and restoring old racing bicycles. Worked as a commercial photographer at JL Hudsons in Detroit and continue photography as a hobby. Love Sade, sixties soul, seventies rock, and all jazz. Attended Woodstock in 69! http://snakesafe.jalbum.net/
by General Douglas MacArthur
His Sylvanus Thayer Award Acceptance Address on May 12, 1962
General Westmoreland, General Grove, distinguished guests, and gentlemen of the Corps!
As I was leaving the hotel this morning, a doorman asked me, “Where are you bound for, General?” And when I replied, “West Point,” he remarked, “Beautiful place. Have you ever been there before?”
No human being could fail to be deeply moved by such a tribute as this Award. Coming from a profession I have served so long, and a people I have loved so well, it fills me with an emotion I cannot express. But this award is not intended primarily to honor a personality, but to symbolize a great moral code — the code of conduct and chivalry of those who guard this beloved land of culture and ancient descent. That is the animation of this medallion. For all eyes and for all time, it is an expression of the ethics of the American soldier. That I should be integrated in this way with so noble an ideal arouses a sense of pride and yet of humility which will be with me always
Duty, Honor, Country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.
Unhappily, I possess neither that eloquence of diction, that poetry of imagination, nor that brilliance of metaphor to tell you all that they mean.
The unbelievers will say they are but words, but a slogan, but a flamboyant phrase. Every pedant, every demagogue, every cynic, every hypocrite, every troublemaker, and I am sorry to say, some others of an entirely different character, will try to downgrade them even to the extent of mockery and ridicule.
But these are some of the things they do: They build your basic character. They mold you for your future roles as the custodians of the nation’s defense. They make you strong enough to know when you are weak, and brave enough to face yourself when you are afraid. They teach you to be proud and unbending in honest failure, but humble and gentle in success; not to substitute words for actions, not to seek the path of comfort, but to face the stress and spur of difficulty and challenge; to learn to stand up in the storm but to have compassion on those who fall; to master yourself before you seek to master others; to have a heart that is clean, a goal that is high; to learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; to reach into the future yet never neglect the past; to be serious yet never to take yourself too seriously; to be modest so that you will remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength. They give you a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a freshness of the deep springs of life, a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of an appetite for adventure over love of ease. They create in your heart the sense of wonder, the unfailing hope of what next, and the joy and inspiration of life. They teach you in this way to be an officer and a gentleman.
And what sort of soldiers are those you are to lead? Are they reliable? Are they brave? Are they capable of victory? Their story is known to all of you. It is the story of the American man-at-arms. My estimate of him was formed on the battlefield many, many years ago, and has never changed. I regarded him then as I regard him now — as one of the world’s noblest figures, not only as one of the finest military characters, but also as one of the most stainless. His name and fame are the birthright of every American citizen. In his youth and strength, his love and loyalty, he gave all that mortality can give.
He needs no eulogy from me or from any other man. He has written his own history and written it in red on his enemy’s breast. But when I think of his patience under adversity, of his courage under fire, and of his modesty in victory, I am filled with an emotion of admiration I cannot put into words. He belongs to history as furnishing one of the greatest examples of successful patriotism. He belongs to posterity as the instructor of future generations in the principles of liberty and freedom. He belongs to the present, to us, by his virtues and by his achievements. In 20 campaigns, on a hundred battlefields, around a thousand campfires, I have witnessed that enduring fortitude, that patriotic self-abnegation, and that invincible determination which have carved his statue in the hearts of his people. From one end of the world to the other he has drained deep the chalice of courage.
As I listened to those songs [of the glee club], in memory’s eye I could see those staggering columns of the First World War, bending under soggy packs, on many a weary march from dripping dusk to drizzling dawn, slogging ankle-deep through the mire of shell-shocked roads, to form grimly for the attack, blue-lipped, covered with sludge and mud, chilled by the wind and rain, driving home to their objective, and for many, to the judgment seat of God.
I do not know the dignity of their birth, but I do know the glory of their death. They died unquestioning, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the hope that we would go on to victory. Always, for them: Duty, Honor, Country; always their blood and sweat and tears, as we sought the way and the light and the truth.
And 20 years after, on the other side of the globe, again the filth of murky foxholes, the stench of ghostly trenches, the slime of dripping dugouts; those boiling suns of relentless heat, those torrential rains of devastating storms; the loneliness and utter desolation of jungle trails; the bitterness of long separation from those they loved and cherished; the deadly pestilence of tropical disease; the horror of stricken areas of war; their resolute and determined defense, their swift and sure attack, their indomitable purpose, their complete and decisive victory – always victory. Always through the bloody haze of their last reverberating shot, the vision of gaunt, ghastly men reverently following your password of: Duty, Honor, Country.
The code which those words perpetuate embraces the highest moral laws and will stand the test of any ethics or philosophies ever promulgated for the uplift of mankind. Its requirements are for the things that are right, and its restraints are from the things that are wrong.
The soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest act of religious training — sacrifice.
In battle and in the face of danger and death, he discloses those divine attributes which his Maker gave when he created man in his own image. No physical courage and no brute instinct can take the place of the Divine help which alone can sustain him.
However horrible the incidents of war may be, the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his life for his country is the noblest development of mankind.
You now face a new world – a world of change. The thrust into outer space of the satellite, spheres, and missiles mark the beginning of another epoch in the long story of mankind. In the five or more billions of years the scientists tell us it has taken to form the earth, in the three or more billion years of development of the human race, there has never been a more abrupt or staggering evolution. We deal now not with things of this world alone, but with the illimitable distances and as yet unfathomed mysteries of the universe. We are reaching out for a new and boundless frontier.
We speak in strange terms: of harnessing the cosmic energy; of making winds and tides work for us; of creating unheard synthetic materials to supplement or even replace our old standard basics; to purify sea water for our drink; of mining ocean floors for new fields of wealth and food; of disease preventatives to expand life into the hundreds of years; of controlling the weather for a more equitable distribution of heat and cold, of rain and shine; of space ships to the moon; of the primary target in war, no longer limited to the armed forces of an enemy, but instead to include his civil populations; of ultimate conflict between a united human race and the sinister forces of some other planetary galaxy; of such dreams and fantasies as to make life the most exciting of all time.
And through all this welter of change and development, your mission remains fixed, determined, inviolable: it is to win our wars.
Everything else in your professional career is but corollary to this vital dedication. All other public purposes, all other public projects, all other public needs, great or small, will find others for their accomplishment. But you are the ones who are trained to fight. Yours is the profession of arms, the will to win, the sure knowledge that in war there is no substitute for victory; that if you lose, the nation will be destroyed; that the very obsession of your public service must be: Duty, Honor, Country.
Others will debate the controversial issues, national and international, which divide men’s minds; but serene, calm, aloof, you stand as the Nation’s war-guardian, as its lifeguard from the raging tides of international conflict, as its gladiator in the arena of battle. For a century and a half you have defended, guarded, and protected its hallowed traditions of liberty and freedom, of right and justice.
Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of government; whether our strength is being sapped by deficit financing, indulged in too long, by federal paternalism grown too mighty, by power groups grown too arrogant, by politics grown too corrupt, by crime grown too rampant, by morals grown too low, by taxes grown too high, by extremists grown too violent; whether our personal liberties are as thorough and complete as they should be. These great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands out like a ten-fold beacon in the night: Duty, Honor, Country.
You are the leaven which binds together the entire fabric of our national system of defense. From your ranks come the great captains who hold the nation’s destiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sounds. The Long Gray Line has never failed us. Were you to do so, a million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses thundering those magic words: Duty, Honor, Country.
This does not mean that you are war mongers.
On the contrary, the soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.
But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato, that wisest of all philosophers: “Only the dead have seen the end of war.”
The shadows are lengthening for me. The twilight is here. My days of old have vanished, tone and tint. They have gone glimmering through the dreams of things that were. Their memory is one of wondrous beauty, watered by tears, and coaxed and caressed by the smiles of yesterday. I listen vainly, but with thirsty ears, for the witching melody of faint bugles blowing reveille, of far drums beating the long roll. In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield.
But in the evening of my memory, always I come back to West Point.
Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, Honor, Country.
Today marks my final roll call with you, but I want you to know that when I cross the river my last conscious thoughts will be of The Corps, and The Corps, and The Corps.
Winners Announced: April 9, 1962 Held at: Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California Host: Bob Hope Eligibility Year: 1961
Cinematic Highlights and Achievements
West Side Story Sweeps: The musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet took home 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director for Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, and Best Supporting Actress for Rita Moreno.
First Black Actor to Win: Sidney Poitier made history by becoming the first Black actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field.
Gregory Peck’s Moral High Ground: Peck won Best Actor for his iconic role as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, which also won Best Adapted Screenplay.
Through a Glass Darkly Shines: Ingmar Bergman’s drama won Best Foreign Language Film.
Little-Known Trivia
Musical Firsts: Jerome Robbins became the first director to receive an Oscar specifically for directing a musical, sharing the honor with Robert Wise for West Side Story.
Youngest Supporting Actress: At 16, Patty Duke became the youngest actress to win in a supporting role for The Miracle Worker.
The First Televised Oscars: This was the first Oscars ceremony to be televised live via satellite.
Four-Hour Marathon: The ceremony lasted over four hours, one of the longest in the Academy’s history.
Sophia Loren became the first actress to win an acting Oscar for a non-English-speaking role.
West Side Story and Judgment at Nuremberg each earned 11 nominations. West Side Story won 10 Oscars. Judgment at Nuremberg won 2 Oscars.
Best Motion Picture:
West Side Story – Robert Wise, producer (WINNER)
Fanny – Joshua Logan, producer
The Guns of Navarone – Carl Foreman, producer
The Hustler – Robert Rossen, producer
Judgment at Nuremberg – Stanley Kramer, producer
Best Director:
Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins – West Side Story (WINNER)
Federico Fellini – La Dolce Vita
J. Lee Thompson – The Guns of Navarone
Robert Rossen – The Hustler
Stanley Kramer – Judgment at Nuremberg
Best Actor:
Maximilian Schell – Judgment at Nuremberg (WINNER)
Charles Boyer – Fanny
Paul Newman – The Hustler
Spencer Tracy – Judgment at Nuremberg
Stuart Whitman – The Mark
Best Actress:
Sophia Loren – Two Women (WINNER)
Audrey Hepburn – Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Piper Laurie – The Hustler
Geraldine Page – Summer and Smoke
Natalie Wood – Splendor in the Grass
Best Supporting Actor:
George Chakiris – West Side Story (WINNER)
Montgomery Clift – Judgment at Nuremberg
Peter Falk – Pocketful of Miracles
Jackie Gleason – The Hustler
George C. Scott – The Hustler
Best Supporting Actress:
Rita Moreno – West Side Story (WINNER)
Fay Bainter – The Children’s Hour
Judy Garland – Judgment at Nuremberg
Lotte Lenya – The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
Una Merkel – Summer and Smoke
Best Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen:
Splendor in the Grass – William Inge (WINNER)
Ballad of a Soldier – Valentin Ezhov and Grigori Chukhrai
La Dolce Vita – Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano and Brunello Rondi
General Della Rovere – Sergio Amidei, Diego Fabbri and Indro Montanelli
Lover Come Back – Stanley Shapiro and Paul Henning
Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium:
Judgment at Nuremberg – Abby Mann (WINNER)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s – George Axelrod
The Guns of Navarone – Carl Foreman
The Hustler – Robert Rossen and Sidney Carroll
West Side Story – Ernest Lehman
Best Foreign Language Film:
Through a Glass Darkly (Sweden) (WINNER)
Harry and the Butler (Denmark)
Immortal Love (Japan)
The Important Man (Mexico)
Plácido (Spain)
Best Documentary Feature:
Sky Above and Mud Beneath (WINNER)
The Grand Olympics
Best Documentary Short Subject:
Project Hope (WINNER)
Breaking the Language Barrier
Cradle of Genius
Kahl
The Man in Gray
Best Live Action Short Subject:
Seawards the Great Ships (WINNER)
The Face of Jesus
Play Ball!
Rooftops of New York
Very Nice, Very Nice
Best Short Subject – Cartoons:
Surogat (WINNER)
Aquamania
Beep Prepared
Nelly’s Folly
The Pied Piper of Guadalupe
Best Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture:
Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Henry Mancini (WINNER)
El Cid – Miklós Rózsa
Fanny – Morris Stoloff and Harry Sukman
The Guns of Navarone – Dimitri Tiomkin
Summer and Smoke – Elmer Bernstein
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture:
West Side Story – Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal (WINNER)
Babes in Toyland – George Bruns
Flower Drum Song – Alfred Newman and Ken Darby
Khovanshchina – Dmitri Shostakovich
Paris Blues – Duke Ellington
Best Song:
“Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Music by Henry Mancini; Lyric by Johnny Mercer (WINNER)
“Bachelor in Paradise” from Bachelor in Paradise – Music by Henry Mancini; Lyric by Mack David
“Love Theme from El Cid (The Falcon and the Dove)” from El Cid – Music by Miklós Rózsa; Lyric by Paul Francis Webster
“Pocketful of Miracles” from Pocketful of Miracles – Music by Jimmy Van Heusen; Lyric by Sammy Cahn
“Town Without Pity” from Town Without Pity – Music by Dimitri Tiomkin; Lyric by Ned Washington
Best Sound:
West Side Story – Gordon E. Sawyer and Fred Hynes (WINNERS)
The Children’s Hour – Gordon E. Sawyer
Flower Drum Song – Waldon O. Watson
The Guns of Navarone – John Cox
The Parent Trap – Robert O. Cook
Best Art Direction, Black-and-White:
The Hustler – Art Direction: Harry Horner; Set Decoration: Gene Callahan (WINNERS)
The Absent-Minded Professor – Art Direction: Carroll Clark; Set Decoration: Emile Kuri and Hal Gausman
The Children’s Hour – Art Direction: Fernando Carrere; Set Decoration: Edward G. Boyle
La Dolce Vita – Art Direction and Set Decoration: Piero Gherardi
Judgment at Nuremberg – Art Direction: Rudolph Sternad; Set Decoration: George Milo
Best Art Direction, Color:
West Side Story – Art Direction: Boris Leven; Set Decoration: Victor A. Gangelin (WINNER)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Art Direction: Hal Pereira and Roland Anderson; Set Decoration: Samuel M. Comer and Ray Moyer
El Cid – Art Direction and Set Decoration: Veniero Colasanti and John Moore
Flower Drum Song – Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen and Joseph C. Wright; Set Decoration: Howard Bristol
Summer and Smoke – Art Direction: Hal Pereira and Walter H. Tyler; Set Decoration: Samuel M. Comer and Arthur Krams
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White:
The Hustler – Eugen Schüfftan (WINNER)
The Absent-Minded Professor – Edward Colman
The Children’s Hour – Franz Planer
Judgment at Nuremberg – Ernest Laszlo
One, Two, Three – Daniel L. Fapp
Best Cinematography, Color:
West Side Story – Daniel L. Fapp (WINNER)
Fanny – Jack Cardiff
Flower Drum Song – Russell Metty
A Majority of One – Harry Stradling
One-Eyed Jacks – Charles Lang
Best Costume Design, Black-and-White:
La Dolce Vita – Piero Gherardi (WINNER)
The Children’s Hour – Dorothy Jeakins
Claudelle Inglish – Howard Shoup
Judgment at Nuremberg – Jean Louis
Yojimbo – Yoshiro Muraki
Best Costume Design, Color:
West Side Story – Irene Sharaff (WINNER)
Babes in Toyland – Bill Thomas
Back Street – Jean Louis
Flower Drum Song – Irene Sharaff
Pocketful of Miracles – Edith Head and Walter Plunkett
Best Film Editing:
West Side Story – Thomas Stanford (WINNER)
Fanny – William H. Reynolds
The Guns of Navarone – Alan Osbiston
Judgment at Nuremberg – Frederic Knudtson
The Parent Trap – Philip W. Anderson
Best Special Effects:
The Guns of Navarone – Visual Effects by Bill Warrington; Audible Effects by Vivian C. Greenham (WINNER)
The Absent-Minded Professor – Visual Effects by Robert A. Mattey and Eustace Lycett
Academy Honorary Awards:
William L. Hendricks “for his outstanding patriotic service in the conception, writing and production of the Marine Corps film, A Force in Readiness, which has brought honor to the Academy and the motion picture industry.
Fred L. Metzler “for his dedication and outstanding service to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.”
Jerome Robbins “for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film.”
