1445 Wampanoag Trail, Suite 203, East Providence, RI 02915-1019 | (401) 433-0044 | info@riheritagehalloffame.com
Peter Laudatti was a dominant figure in the history of sports in Rhode Island during the first half of the 20th century. He was involved in numerous sporting ventures, including bicycling, baseball, boxing, football, and soccer. Born in 1884 at Sante Croce del Sannio in Italy, he immigrated to the United States with his family
Lynn Singleton joined the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) as President in 1983, transforming it from near bankruptcy to one of the premier not-for-profit theatres in North America. Over his tenure, PPAC’s number of events has more than tripled, and attendance has increased to over 350,000 patrons annually, accumulating a $50 million reserve from retained
Kenneth R. Dooley was born in Providence in 1931. He graduated from LaSalle Academy and Providence College (Class of 1959). He spent a career in publishing and film production with the media giant Prentice Hall in New Jersey as an executive vice president of the Bureau of Business Practice (1960-1977). He oversaw 600 employees and
Mike Renzi, a master American pianist, arranger, and musical director, was raised in Providence and started piano lessons at the age of eight; the style was classical. Soon he added popular music in the style known as “the American songbook,” consisting of the compositions of such artists as George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Johnny Mercer.
Edward M. Fay spent his life in the entertainment industry as a violinist, conductor, vaudeville impresario, poet, and motion picture theater owner. He owned at least six different theaters between 1928 and 1977 and was called by The Providence Journal the “dean of Rhode Island entertainment.” He was born in South Providence to James T.
Isabelle A. O’Neill was a stage and screen actor of the silent film era, a suffragist, and the first woman elected to the Rhode Island Legislature. She also served in the state Senate and, under President Franklin Roosevelt, in the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. She was born on June 8, 1880, in Woonsocket, Rhode Island,
S. J. Perelman, 1904-1979, was born in Brooklyn, NY, but moved to Smith Hill in Providence at an early age. Perelman attended Classical High School and matriculated at Brown University, but did not graduate. However, he did receive an honorary Doctorate in 1965 from this “Institution on the Hill.” Perelman wrote several screen stories for
Anthony Quinn was born in Chihuahua, Mexico in April 1915 during the Mexican Revolution to a Mexican-Indian mother, Manuela Oaxaca, and a half-Irish father, Francesco, or Frank, whose father had immigrated from Cork, Ireland to work for the Union Pacific Railroad. When Anthony was only eight months old, his mother hid him in a coal
Robert Leo “Bobby” Hackett was a versatile American jazz musician who played swing music, Dixieland jazz and mood music, now called easy listening, on trumpet, cornet, and guitar. He played Swing with the bands of Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman in the late 1930s and early 1940. He played Dixieland from the 1930s into the 1970s in a variety of groups with many of the major
Ruth Buzzi was born on July 24, 1936 in Westerly, Rhode Island to Rena Pauline and Angelo Peter Buzzi, the latter a renowned stone sculptor associated with Westerly famed granite industry. Her father owned Buzzi Memorials. Known for her comedy routines on the 1960s variety show Rowan & Martin Laugh In (1967), Ruth Buzzi studied
Wartime heartthrob Van Johnson was born Charles Van Dell Johnson August 25th, 1916, in Newport, Rhode Island, the only child of Loretta Snyder and Charles E. Johnson. Drawn to the stage even in his early years, Johnson attended Rogers High School, and, as a teenager, frequently performed in local Newport social clubs. Upon his graduation
To those who grew up in Rhode Island, the Outlet Department Store was as familiar and as dominant in the downtown area as were such familiar establishments as the Albee Theater, Gibson’s, the Boston Store, Gladdings, Shepard’s, and Tilden-Thurber. When Joseph and Leon Samuels opened a small store on Westminster Street in 1894, every possible
J. Harold Williams, a man whose name became synonymous with Boy Scouting, served as chief executive of the Narragansett Council of the Boy Scouts for forty-three years. He started scouting at the age of 13, became a scoutmaster at 17, and became chief executive at 21. He was a planner, lecturer, friend, and advisor to
Ruth C. Hussey was a film, stage, and television actress who primarily played witty, sophisticated professional women and strong, noble wives. Hussey appeared in forty feature films. She was a beautiful brunette, standing about five feet, five inches tall, and a reliable actress who projected grace, poise, and intelligence. Those qualities made her a natural
Eddie Dowling was an actor, director, playwright, screenwriter, composer, and theatrical producer. He was one of the all-time greats of the American Theatre. Dowling succeeded in every phase of show business – vaudeville, musical comedy, serious drama, producer, director, and playwright. He won four New York Drama Critics Awards, and his accomplishments ranged from dancing
A life-size bronze statue of George M. Cohan, called the greatest single figure the American theatre ever produced as a playwright, actor, composer, lyricist, singer, dancer, and theatrical producer, sits on the corner of Wickenden and Governor streets in the Fox Point neighborhood of Providence. A plaque on the front of the base is inscribed:
The late Edwin G. O’Connor, a Providence native and former Woonsocket resident, was a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist whose works included The Last Hurrah, The Edge of Sadness, for which he received the Pulizer; and “All in the Family.” A multi-talented individual, he was also a playwright, creating I Was Daning and Traveler for Brazil for
James H. Woods formerly of Warwick, now living in Los Angeles, is a multi-award winning stage and screen actor who has had an extraordinary career. An extremely versatile performer he has excelled across a wide spectrum of acting roles in major movie, television and theater productions. His honored performances in Ghosts of Mississippi and Salvador
Burton “Buster” Bonoff of Phoenix, Arizona and West Warwick was a legendary entertainment entrepreneur who founded the famed Warwick Musical Theatre (WMT), in Warwick, R.I. in 1955. He also served as its general manager and as a promoter of major entertainment talent in Rhode Island and elsewhere for over forty years. Nationally prominent in his
The late Dr. Doris M. Holloway Abels, formerly of North Kingstown accomplished educator, performing artist and advocate of the arts founded her own school of dance and helped to establish the Trinity Reperatory Company. The versatile Dr. Abels was also a long-time choreographer at Theater By the Sea and was a mental health counselor and
Adrian Hall, a native of Texas who made his home in Providence, was the renowned former Artistic Director of Trinity Repertory Company, one of the country’s most recognized resident theaters. He is credited with the development of the internationally acclaimed theater group into a national model for resident theaters. His vision was principle to the
“Nothing makes me happier than an impossible space and an impossible project,” says renowned theater set designer Eugene Lee. When Lee designs a set, he will often reconfigure the theatre, repositioning exits, technical booths, even walls, to accommodate the play. His audiences frequently find themselves inside, on top of, or under sets that don’t stay