On the last day of the show, January 4, 1964, all the most popular Committee members through the years came back for one last appearance. John Waters wrote the screenplay under the title of White Lipstick, with the story loosely based on real events.The Corny Collins Show is based on the real-life Buddy Deane Show, a local dance party program which pre-empted Dick Clark's American Bandstand in the Baltimore area during the 1950s and . Ninfa O. Barnard wrote this article for explorepinebluff.com. The very first day on the set, I didnt recognize Divine, the filmmaker said. John Waters with Divine (Harris Glen Milstead) at the Baltimore premiere of Hairspray, Originally, I had it, the idea was Divine was gonna play the mother and the daughter like in The Parent Trap. New Line [Cinema] wouldnt let me, he said. With the rising pressures of integration, the producers decided that the show must either be integrated or canceled. But it went something like this: Buddy Deane was an exclusively white show. This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC. And according to Arlene, Buddy encouraged one popular Committee member (Buzzy Bennet) to teach himself to read so he could realize his dream of being a disc jockey. From 1957-1965, Deane was chosen as host of WJZ-TV, Baltimore's "The . "Buddy" Deane was a broadcaster for more than 50 years, beginning his career in Little Rock, Arkansas, then moving to the Memphis, Tennessee market, before moving on to Baltimore, where he worked at WITH radio. I wasnt going to go on and not be seen. But even Evanne turned bashful on one show, when Buddy made a surprise announcement: I was voted prettiest girl on this whole Army base. Mary Lou, the Annette Funicello of the show, was the talk of teenage Baltimore. Buddy Deane used to boast that every major rock 'n' roll star of the era appeared on the show, except Elvis Presley and Rick Nelson. Special appearances. The films executive producer Craig Zadan argued that what makes Hairspray work is, you never feel like were on a soap box, or were preaching to you, or were saying this is a lesson you need to learn and yet, hopefully, you come away from it with something serious to talk about afterwards. There is no guarantee that viewers will take up these discussions, but Hairspray offers plenty of material for those who choose to do so. It ran two hours a day, six days a week. Deaners seem to come out of the woodwork, drawn by the memory of their stardom. This page was last edited on 29 July 2022, at 06:25. On the other, Hairspray Live! The school tried to throw me out before. The film would spawn a 2002 Broadway musical adaptation starring Harvey Fierstein and Marissa Jaret Winokur, and a 2007 film adaptation of the musical starring John Travolta and Nikki Blonsky. IndieWire is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Buddy himself, the high priest, returned for the event. The Buddy Deane Show was taken off the air because home station WJZ-TV was unwilling to integrate black and white dancers. He also left the Army in 1948 and began his radio broadcast career at KLXR station in North Little Rock. His childhood nickname was Buddy. Because Buddy Deanes competition was soap operas, the budding teenage romances were sometimes played up for the camera. This town just wasnt ready for that. There were threats and bomb scares; integrationists smuggled whites into the all-black shows to dance cheek to cheek on camera with blacks, and that was it. Some of the local teens who danced on the show became local celebrities and had fans of their own. Friday, February 24, 2023. In 1948, Deane married Helen Stevenson, his childhood sweetheart, whom he first met when he was just four years old. So a year later when he had his own show, it seemed only right that "Rock Around the Clock" premiered on "The Buddy Deane Show.". But an intrepid group of local and . Some fifty years later, the mindset is STILL the same. Ironically, The Buddy Deane Show introduced black music and artists into the lives of white Baltimore teenagers, many of whom learned to dance from black friends and listened to black radio. Black and white together on local TV. This program is a tribute to long-time Maryland radio announcer Buddy Deane, who passed away in August, 2003. Over lunch at the Thunderball Lounge, in East Baltimore, Kathy remembers, I could never get used to signing autographs. The Hairspray Live! Once a month the show was all black. I dont think Ill ever get over missing it, if you want to know the truth., Many of the Committee members spouses faced an even bigger adjustment. Image Credit: OzNet.com. The Buddy Deane Show: With Channing Wilroy, Buddy Deane. The show's format mirrored Philadelphia's . We used to go to stand in front of Reads Drugstore, and people would ask for our autograph.. Not show biz, Arlene answers, hesitating, but the record biz, the people. From 1957 to 1963, only white teens were allowed to attend the weekday broadcasts of the Buddy Deane Show, with the exception of one Monday each month when black teenagers filled the The star system was born. Some kids on the show went a little nuts, with stars in their eyes; they thought they were going to go to Hollywood and be moviestars.. They would drive me nuts when theyd come in the door, and Id say Man, youre gone. For many young people, being blocked from swimming pools, skating rinks, or dance shows like the Buddy Deane Show would be one of their first exposures to what King calls the feeling of forever fighting a degenerating sense of nobodiness.. The "Buddy Dean Show" was abruptly cancelled. The Buddy Deane Show was a teen dance television show, created by Zvi Shoubin, hosted by Winston "Buddy" Deane (19242003), and aired on WJZ-TV (Channel 13), the ABC affiliate station in Baltimore from 1957 until 1964. It was similar to Philadelphia's American Bandstand. We faked a feud. Some of the old Committee kept up with the times and made the transition with ease. We hung around with black and whites together, which you couldnt do. Every day Id come to the studio in knee-highs, and Id have to take them off. Hairspray, which started as a camp film with a modest $2.7 million budget, grew into a popular and commercially successful Broadway musical and movie. "How 'The Buddy Deane Show' really went off the air is the white kids crashed Negro Day to integrate it. On Jan. 4, 1964, nearly five months after the first -- and only -- day that black and white kids danced cheek to cheek on TV in WJZ's studios, Buddy Deane put "The Party's Over" on the record player. And because a new dance was introduced practically every week, you had to watch every day to keep up. Pixie was barely five feet tall, but her hair sometimes added a good six to eight inches to her height. Still, as an historian of the television era that Hairspray so lovingly recreates, I believe the story also presents a more nuanced vision of how popular culture helped to educate white and black teenagers about racial hierarchies. Soon after, he and his family moved to Memphis, Tenn. I was with this guy named Jeff. When that little red light came on, so did my smile, she says, laughing. People already were excited about it, but after the election they were saying, Boy, do we need this now, Meron said while promoting the new television musical. That's what really happened, and the show shut down." 3. It was hilarious., Some of the rumors were fanned on purpose. From 1996 to 2003, he hosted dance events in Baltimore, Pennsylvania and aboard cruise ships. I wanted to get into the record businessand years later he did. I remember it well, recalls Evanne. I havent seen her since we made the movie, said Waters. As well, a show was broadcast from a local farm in Westminster, Maryland. Deane began his broadcasting career at KLXR in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Corny Collins Show is now integrated! Waters himself commented on the films revisionist history, I gave it a happy ending that it didnt have., Hairsprays happy ending gave the story an arc that appealed to Broadway and Hollywood producers. They kept their figures, look nice, and are very kind people, says Marie in her lovely home on Falls Road before taking off for the University of Maryland, where she attends law school. Originally aired 11/5/1986. Deane also held dances at various Maryland American Legion posts and National Guard armories which were not taped or broadcast on television. Powers was a particularly special addition, having disappeared in the years since the films release. And who could forget those great ads for the plastic furniture slipcovers that opened with the kids jumping up and down on the sofa and Royal Parker screaming, Hey kids! The show was a teen dance and music show and ran from 1957 to until 1964 on WJZ-TV until the show was canceled. Buddy: Deane in the 50s when she worked for a record wholesaler and he was the top-rated disc jockey on WITHthe only DJ in town who played rock n roll for the kids. When Barry Levinson, another Baltimore native, requested video from the show for his film Diner, the station told him it had no footage. Counter to host Dick Clark's claims that he integrated American Bandstand, this book reveals how the first national television program directed at teens discriminated against black youth during its early years . Even today Gene and Linda are the quintessential Deaner couple, still socializing with many Committee members, very protective of the memory, and among the first to lead a dance at the emotion-packed reunions. An then there was teased hair, replacing the 50s drape with a Buddy Deane look that so pervaded Baltimore culture (especially in East and South Baltimore) that its effect is still seen in certain neighborhoods of this great Hairdo Capital of the World. So there you have it. The first big stars were Bobbi Bums and Freddy Oswinkle, according to Arlene, but no matter how big anyone got, someone came along who was even bigger. Joe Cash and Joan Teves became the shows first royalty. ', Although many parents and WJZ insisted that Committee members had to keep up their grades to stay on the show, the reality could be quite different. From 1964 to 1984, Deane hosted a show and owned KOTN-FM and KOTN-AM radio stations at Pine Bluff. It was even in the papers. He left behind his wife, Helen Stevenson Deane; his three daughters, JoEllen, Dawn, and Debbie and their families. I even won the twist contest with Mary Lou Raines (one of the queens of The Buddy Deane Show) at the Valley Country Club. The Deaners didnt mind. John Water's himself said that in his movie, he "gave it the happy ending that it didn't have". Ten seconds to airtime. But something unforeseen happened: The home audience soon grew attached to some of these kids. With the show beginning at 2:30 in some years, cutting out of school early was common. The Committee, initially recruited from local teen centers, was to act as hosts and dance with the guests. They sent cakes on my birthday. I graduated from an HBCU, lived through racism, marched on Washington with Martin Luther King, and was active in fighting injustices in Baltimore County at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. The first page of the essay, for example, features a full-page picture of black protestors in 1962 in Times . He just didnt understand., But some have dealt with the problems in good humor. On Jan. 4, 1964, "The Buddy Deane Show" aired its last episode. Baltimore teenagers rushed home to catch the show daily to listen to the popular music, watch their favorite dancers, copy their style and learn the new dances that were introduced almost every week. Everywhere we went, people would say Theres Mary Lou. I wondered if she had just been released from the penitentiary.. I was a misfit. I thought I was running the world, so they developed a Board, and the Committee began governing itself. Being elected to the Board became the ultimate status symbol. That's what really happened, and the show shut down." 3. Almost all dancers wore swim wear and beach attire, with music provided by WJZ-TV. As you can see from the December thread my question concerning African Americans was totally dismissed by the Committee member who was speaking. From 1957 to 1963, only white teens were allowed to attend the weekday broadcasts of the Buddy Deane Show, with the exception of one Monday each month when black teenagers filled the studio (the so-called Black Monday). When: Summer 1963. The Buddy Deane Show was a teen dance television show, created by Zvi Shoubin, hosted by Winston "Buddy" Deane (1924-2003), and aired on WJZ-TV (Channel 13), the ABC affiliate station in Baltimore from 1957 until 1964. It was a family: Buddy was the father, Arlene was the mother.. The Buddy Deane Show was taken off the air because home station WJZ-TV was unwilling to integrate black and white dancers. So I gave it the happy ending that we had, Waters said. Thats what really happened, and the show shut down.. Sometimes youd wrap your hair at night. The more hair spray, the better. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Winston Joseph Deane was born on Aug. 2, 1924, in Pine Bluff. I was able after a while to afford some clothes from Lees of Broadway (whose selection of belted coats and pegged pants made it the Saks Fifth Avenue of Deaners). The television news reporter covering the Corny Collins Show in the film sums up the climactic scene: Youre seeing history being made today. The black cops would stop us and say: This isnt Greenwich Village, you know. Participants dressed in "country" style, and danced to country and western music as well as pop. Arlene Kozak, Buddys assistant and den mother to the Committee. At 21, I married a professional football player, Helen remembers, and he made me burn all the fan mail. The show featured only white kids dancing, so Scruggs wrote him a letter in the fall of 1958 to . "I still go to the Buddy Deane reunions," he says. Black teens were only allowed to dance on the show one day per month. In fact, "American Bandstand" was not shown on television in Baltimore because Deane's show was so popular. However, unlike during the song "The New Girl in Town" where the Dynamites get there song stolen by 3 committee members, the Buddy . Most Deaner girls wouldnt even tongue-kiss, claims Arlene, remembering the ruckus caused by a Catholic priest when the Committee modeled strapless Etta gowns on TV. Plot. On the air before Dick Clark debuted, the show was a hit from the beginning, says Arlene today. 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