By Jack Houvouras
HQ 79 | AUTUMN 2012
Our cover story this quarter on Michael Cerveris, the Tony-winning actor currently starring in the popular revival of Evita on Broadway, got me thinking. For a city as small as Huntington, it certainly has produced a bevy of famous folks who have called this area home. Some names that immediately jump to mind include basketball greats Hal Greer and Cam Henderson, golfing legend Bill Campbell, and the “Father of Black History,” famed author and educator Carter G. Woodson. But where the Huntington area really shines has been in producing stars in the arts.
Michael Cerveris isn’t the first person from the region to make it big on Broadway. In the early 1990s Mark McVey took the Big Apple by storm when he landed the lead role of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables on Broadway and won the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actor. He then became the first American to play the role in London’s West End. McVey went on to perform in numerous other Broadway shows and has toured the world performing concerts with famed musician Marvin Hamlisch.
In the 1950s Ruthie Egnor, better known as Dagmar, utilized her brains, beauty and gift for comedy to make a name for herself on America’s first late-night talk show, Broadway Open House. She appeared with such stars as Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, Milton Berle, Frank Sinatra and Gloria Swanson. She has been called an American icon – a living, breathing example of the pinups painted on the noses of U.S. military aircraft during World War II. Some have called her TV’s first blonde bombshell. As Bob Hope said, “She was a television pioneer.”
Brad Dourif, the stepson of golfing great Bill Campbell, is a critically acclaimed actor in Hollywood. He burst onto the scene in 1975 when he portrayed Billy Bibbit in the Academy Award-winning film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The role earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. What followed has been a prolific career that has seen him perform in more than 100 film and television productions including Mississippi Burning, Child’s Play, Star Trek: Voyager, The Lord of the Rings and Deadwood.
Contemporary Christian singer Michael W. Smith has won three Grammy Awards and an incredible 40 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards. His biggest success was the 1991 crossover hit Place in this World which reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. He has sold more than 13 million albums, won an American Music Award and was named one of People magazine’s “Most Beautiful People.” A street has been named for him in his hometown of Kenova.
Billy Ray Cyrus got his start at the Ragtime Lounge in Huntington’s West End and went on to become a country music superstar. He has recorded 12 albums and is a multiplatinum-selling recording artist. Though he is best known for the smash hit Achy Breaky Heart and the popular line dance that followed, few know that his album Some Gave All is the best-selling debut album of all time by a solo male artist. He has also been a successful actor, starring in the television series Doc from 2001-2004 as well as co-starring with his daughter Miley Cyrus in the Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana.
Of course no list of famous Huntingtonians would be complete without one Milton Supman, better known to millions of fans around the world as Soupy Sales. Soupy was the king of early morning television, the prince of pies and a jester whose kingdom encompassed radio, television, movies, books, records and the stage. For years, he ruled the airwaves with his own raw style of physical comedy and, along the way, became Huntington;s most famous son. He is best known for The Soupy Sales Show which showcased his one-of-a-kind comedic talents and crazy characters. Millions tuned in to see White Fang and Black Tooth or to watch the likes of Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope or Mickey Rooney get smashed in the face with a pie. During the height of his career, Soupy Sales appeared live on television 5,370 times.
Well, that’s quite a list. And if I’ve forgotten anyone, please let me know. But even with the roll call of stars named here, there’s no denying that while Huntington may be a small dot on the map, it certainly is a big player when you consider its contributions to the world of entertainment.
