Frederick Kohner penned a novel about his young daughter, who was emersed in the growing surfing community as a teen in the 1950s. Her summer experiences inspired the book. Kohner likely never imagined that his book would spawn a cultural phenomenon. It did just that. The book eventually spawned a franchise of films and television projects that brought viewers on Francie ‘Gidget’ Lawrence’s summer adventures. Over the years, several actors have taken on the role of Gidget. Do you remember them all?
Sandra Dee was the first actor to portray the famed character
Sandra Dee was the first actor to take on the role of Gidget. She appeared in the first film adaptation of the bestselling book. By the time Dee landed the role in Gidget, she was a veteran in the entertainment industry. According to The Bad and the Beautiful: Hollywood in the Fifties, Dee earned the equivalent...
Sandra Dee was the first actor to portray the famed character
Sandra Dee was the first actor to take on the role of Gidget. She appeared in the first film adaptation of the bestselling book. By the time Dee landed the role in Gidget, she was a veteran in the entertainment industry. According to The Bad and the Beautiful: Hollywood in the Fifties, Dee earned the equivalent...
- 5/20/2023
- by Andrea Francese
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Gabrielle Upton, who wrote the screenplay for the classic California surfing movie Gidget, starring Sandra Dee, Cliff Robertson and James Darren, has died. She was 101.
Upton died Sept. 13 in Santa Rosa, California, her daughter, Greer Upton, told The Hollywood Reporter. News of her death had not been reported until now.
A three-time WGA Award nominee, Upton wrote for such network shows as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour/Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Ben Casey, Convoy, One Step Beyond, The Bold Ones: The New Doctors, The Virginian, The Big Valley and The High Chaparral.
She also worked on several daytime soap operas during her career, including Guiding Light, As the World Turns, Edge of Night, Search for Tomorrow, The Secret Storm and Love of Life.
After Frederick Kohner took a crack at adapting his best-selling 1957 novel Gidget, the Little Girl With Big Ideas for Columbia Pictures’ Gidget (1959), Upton came on and received sole screenplay credit.
Upton died Sept. 13 in Santa Rosa, California, her daughter, Greer Upton, told The Hollywood Reporter. News of her death had not been reported until now.
A three-time WGA Award nominee, Upton wrote for such network shows as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour/Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Ben Casey, Convoy, One Step Beyond, The Bold Ones: The New Doctors, The Virginian, The Big Valley and The High Chaparral.
She also worked on several daytime soap operas during her career, including Guiding Light, As the World Turns, Edge of Night, Search for Tomorrow, The Secret Storm and Love of Life.
After Frederick Kohner took a crack at adapting his best-selling 1957 novel Gidget, the Little Girl With Big Ideas for Columbia Pictures’ Gidget (1959), Upton came on and received sole screenplay credit.
- 2/24/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Screen Actors Guild presented legendary comic actor Eddie Cantor with the first annual Life Achievement Award back in 1962. Over the past six decades, the award for ‘outstanding achievement in fostering ideals of the acting profession” has been given to such Hollywood icons as Stan Laurel, Bob Hope, Barbara Stanwyck, Gregory Peck, Jimmy Stewart, Frank Sinatra, James Cagney, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. More recently, Mary Tyler Moore, Charles Durning, Debbie Reynolds, Rita Moreno, Carol Burnett, Helen Mirren and Robert De Niro have received the honor.
Two-time Oscar and three-time Emmy Award winning Sally Field is the latest recipient of the Life Achievement Award. The 76-year-old actress, who came to fame as the ultimate teenager “Gidget” in the 1965-66 ABC sitcom, is currently starring with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Rita Moreno in the hit feature comedy “80 for Brady.” She appeared with Jim Parsons last year in the drama...
Two-time Oscar and three-time Emmy Award winning Sally Field is the latest recipient of the Life Achievement Award. The 76-year-old actress, who came to fame as the ultimate teenager “Gidget” in the 1965-66 ABC sitcom, is currently starring with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Rita Moreno in the hit feature comedy “80 for Brady.” She appeared with Jim Parsons last year in the drama...
- 2/22/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Viavision’s second deluxe Film Noir boxed finds real variety in the film style, with entries that range from low-budget efforts to a picture filmed on location in Mexico. Richard Conte solves a notorious movie studio murder in Hollywood Story, Gig Young is a cop who considers going crooked in City that Never Sleeps, Glenn Ford dodges murderous treasure hunters in Plunder of the Sun and Steve Cochran’s cop really does go rogue in Private Hell 36.
Essential Film Noir Collection 1
Blu-ray (Region-Free)
Viavision [Imprint] 18, 19, 20, 21
1947-1957 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 327 min. / Street Date October 28, 2020 / Available from Viavision [Imprint] / 149.99
Starring: Richard Conte, Julia Adams; Gig Young, Mala Powers, Marie Windsor; Glenn Ford, Diana Lynn, Patricia Medina; Ida Lupino, Steve Cochran, Howard Duff.
Directed by William Castle, John H. Auer, John Farrow, Don Siegel
Viavision’s noir series throws a wide net, with two debuts on Blu-ray and one full debut on home video.
Essential Film Noir Collection 1
Blu-ray (Region-Free)
Viavision [Imprint] 18, 19, 20, 21
1947-1957 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 327 min. / Street Date October 28, 2020 / Available from Viavision [Imprint] / 149.99
Starring: Richard Conte, Julia Adams; Gig Young, Mala Powers, Marie Windsor; Glenn Ford, Diana Lynn, Patricia Medina; Ida Lupino, Steve Cochran, Howard Duff.
Directed by William Castle, John H. Auer, John Farrow, Don Siegel
Viavision’s noir series throws a wide net, with two debuts on Blu-ray and one full debut on home video.
- 6/29/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Christian movies: Starring Nicolas Cage, the widely panned 2014 apocalyptic thriller 'Left Behind' was a box office bomb – unlike (relatively) recent popular 'faith movies' such as 'Heaven Is for Real,' 'Son of God' and 'War Room.' A thought on the New Christian American Cinema: Tired of the blatant propaganda found in 'mainstream' Christian movies Two films that might be called “Christian movies” opened last week, and I decided that I wouldn't watch them, write about them, or review them – at least directly. I'm not even going to mention their titles here because I don't promote propaganda films, and that's what this recent advent of Christian movies has become: propaganda. After all, since nearly all American cinema is Christian cinema, the New Christian American Cinema is in fact pure propaganda – not cinema. Worse yet, it bores me. So, here's the thing about what we've come to call...
- 4/14/2017
- by Tim Cogshell
- Alt Film Guide
The producer of 300 is teaming with a film studio to revive surf icon character Gidget. Producer Mark Canton and Pterodactyl Pictures are behind the projects, reports Variety. They are developing the property, licensed from Gidget Worldwide, for cinema and TV. The productions will mark the character's first TV or film appearance in more than two decades. Writer Frederick Kohner created Gidget in 1957. Her (more)...
- 5/19/2010
- by By Mike Moody
- Digital Spy
Producer Mark Canton ("300") and Pterodactyl Prods. are teaming for a reboot surfer girl icon "Gidget" reports Variety.
Gidget originated in Frederick Kohner's 1957 novel which followed the adventures of a teenage girl and her surfing friends on the beach at Malibu.
The character however became a cultural icon in the late 1950s and 1960s thanks to three movies and a TV series - properties that launched the careers of Sandra Dee and Sally Field. Her last onscreen appearance was the 1988 sitcom "The New Gidget" starring Caryn Richman.
The character has seen a revival in recent years through various lifestyle merchandising. As a result the intention is to bring the character to life in both TV and film form, albeit re-imagined in contemporary form.
Don't expect a the girl to go too dark though, the target audience is "teens, tweens and pre-tweens".
Gidget originated in Frederick Kohner's 1957 novel which followed the adventures of a teenage girl and her surfing friends on the beach at Malibu.
The character however became a cultural icon in the late 1950s and 1960s thanks to three movies and a TV series - properties that launched the careers of Sandra Dee and Sally Field. Her last onscreen appearance was the 1988 sitcom "The New Gidget" starring Caryn Richman.
The character has seen a revival in recent years through various lifestyle merchandising. As a result the intention is to bring the character to life in both TV and film form, albeit re-imagined in contemporary form.
Don't expect a the girl to go too dark though, the target audience is "teens, tweens and pre-tweens".
- 5/18/2010
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
As we learned from, say, Transformers and Scooby-Doo, everything we thought was cool when we were kids will inevitably find a way back into contemporary pop culture. (Well, maybe the time has officially passed for a pogs resurgence.) The latest popular character from the past headed back into our lives? Variety reports that groovy 1950s and ’60s surfing icon Gidget is coming back to film and television, courtesy of Pterodactyl Prods., and 300 producer Mark Canton. I suppose that means we’ll see plenty of slow-motion shots of the gal on a surfboard, but also a sporty role model for the young TV-viewing public.
- 5/18/2010
- by Kate Ward
- EW.com - PopWatch
Producer Mark Canton ("300") has teamed with Pterodactyl Productions to reboot the teen surfer character 'Gidget' for both TV and feature films.
The name 'Gidget' is a combination of 'girl and midget'.
The character was created by author Frederick Kohner in his 1957 novel "Gidget, The Little Girl With Big Ideas", written in the first person, based on the accounts of his daughter Kathy and the surf culture of Malibu Point.
Kohner, a prolific screenwriter with one Academy Award nomination, published seven sequels to his first "Gidget" novel, including "Cher Papa" (1959), "The Affairs of Gidget" (1963), "Gidget in Love" (1965), "Gidget Goes Parisienne" (1966) and "Gidget Goes New York" (1968), plus two novelizations based on films including "Gidget Goes Hawaiian" (1961) and "Gidget Goes to Rome" (1963), based on original stories by Ruth Brooks Flippin.
Barney Cohen is in charge of the new projects, working with "Gidget" rights holder Gidget Worldwide.
Click the images...
The name 'Gidget' is a combination of 'girl and midget'.
The character was created by author Frederick Kohner in his 1957 novel "Gidget, The Little Girl With Big Ideas", written in the first person, based on the accounts of his daughter Kathy and the surf culture of Malibu Point.
Kohner, a prolific screenwriter with one Academy Award nomination, published seven sequels to his first "Gidget" novel, including "Cher Papa" (1959), "The Affairs of Gidget" (1963), "Gidget in Love" (1965), "Gidget Goes Parisienne" (1966) and "Gidget Goes New York" (1968), plus two novelizations based on films including "Gidget Goes Hawaiian" (1961) and "Gidget Goes to Rome" (1963), based on original stories by Ruth Brooks Flippin.
Barney Cohen is in charge of the new projects, working with "Gidget" rights holder Gidget Worldwide.
Click the images...
- 5/18/2010
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
I didn’t know there was a real Gidget until I began researching a feature for Surfer Magazine about Hollywood’s long relationship with surfing. The thrust of the article was that many Hollywood figures, including Jackie Coogan, Peter Lawford and James Arness, were surfers. A footnote was that there was an actual Gidget — Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, daughter of Frederick Kohner who wrote the landmark novel “Gidget.”
The real and the unreal Gidget stories are essentially the same: A young girl goes to Malibu, befriends an all-male group of surfers, learns to surf, and falls in love with one of the young men. The novel surpassed Jack Kerouac's “On the Road” on the Los Angeles Times Top Ten Best Sellers list, and inspired a film and TV franchise that spanned almost three decades. In 1999, I began discussing with Kathy an authorized film about her life and the evolution of the Gidget icon.
The real and the unreal Gidget stories are essentially the same: A young girl goes to Malibu, befriends an all-male group of surfers, learns to surf, and falls in love with one of the young men. The novel surpassed Jack Kerouac's “On the Road” on the Los Angeles Times Top Ten Best Sellers list, and inspired a film and TV franchise that spanned almost three decades. In 1999, I began discussing with Kathy an authorized film about her life and the evolution of the Gidget icon.
- 4/20/2010
- Moving Pictures Magazine
Here is one couple that I never saw coming: Zac Efron and Miley Cyrus. Two of Disney's brightest stars are in talks to star as a couple in the remake of the 1959 movie Gidget. Teen Queen Miley Cyrus is set to play Gidget, a role that was played by both Sandra Dee and Sally Field while Zac Efron will play the love interest. Fan favorite Brittany Snow is also slated to appear in the film which at this point is only rumored to be in the works. For those of you who has no idea what or who a Gidget is, let us take you back in time when surfing and sunshine ruled the world. At the time in 1957, Gidget was based off creator's Frederick Kohner's teenage daughter Kathy. The film adaption followed Gidget as we surfed and hung around with her friends in Malibu. After the movie debuted...
- 7/29/2009
- by cjoyce@corp.popstar.com (Colleen Joyce)
- ScreenStar
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