#1956 olympics

[slidesworthseeing]

Found slide: Olympic Games street decorations at night, intersection of Bourke and Swanston Street, Naarm Melbourne, December 1956. Photo by John W Smith

[chunkletskhl]

The USSR versus the USA at the 1956 Olympics.  That’s Nikolai Puchkov in goal for the Soviet team, with, I think, defenceman Ivan Tregubov right in front of him and forward Viktor Shuvalov behind Tregubov.  Not sure who the Soviet player behind the net is.  (Image Source)

[ooklarocksii]

[illustratus]

Swedish high jumper Gunhild Larking at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia

[cosmonautroger]

Gunhild Larking, 1956 Olympic Games

[fayegonnaslay]

Sweedish high jumper Gunhild Larking, awaiting her turn to compete at the Melbourne Olympics, Australia, 1956.

Photo by Geoge Silk; LIFE Magazine.

[tatsukimachida]

Tenley Albright at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina-d'Ampezzo

The Winter Olympics: an insider's guide to the legends, the lore, and the game (Vancouver Edition) by Ron C. Judd

[aiiaiiiyo]

[chicinsilk]

US Vogue June 1956

Alongside the famous Thoroughbred "Rising Fast" and the no less famous Australian jockey, Bill Williamson, a model wearing a red worsted Jasco suit. By Marquise. John frederics hat.

Aux côtés du célèbre pur sang "Rising Fast" et du non moins célèbre jockey australien, Bill Williamson , un modèle portant un tailleur rouge en laine peignée Jasco. Par Marquise. Chapeau de John frederics.

Photo Laurence Le Guay

vogue archive

[susiecards]

Jack of clubs

Q: Why were the (1956) Summer Olympics held in two places?

A: Quarantine laws for Olympic horses caused the equestrian events to be held in Stockholm.

[slidesworthseeing]

Found slide: The Canberra leg of the Olympic Torch relay, on its way to Melbourne, approaches the Australian Capital Territory border at Sutton, Ngunnawal and Ngambri country, 19 November 1956 (photographer unknown)

[stevemackyoutube]

1956 Melbourne Olympic Games Mini Diary

[omgthatdress]

Jim Bailey as Barbara Streisand on the Carol Burnett Show. Jim Bailey was a late night TV fixture with his spot-on impersonations of Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Phyllis Diller, and Mae West.

(Jim Bailey with Barbara Streisand)

In 1973, he did a Las Vegas show "The Judy and Liza Show" starring alongside the real Liza Minelli. In 1978, he brought his Barbara impersonation to Super Bowl XII. In 1984, he performed at the opening ceremonies at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics.

The first drag queen to make regular appearances on TV was celebrity impersonator TC Jones on the Ed Sullivan show in 1956, but I haven't been able to find much information about Jones outside of newspaper clippings.

[shewhoworshipscarlin]

Earlene Dennis Brown

Earlene Dennis Brown, a three-time Olympian, was the first African American woman to win a medal in the shot put. Throughout her life Brown excelled in a variety of sports, gaining attention, recognition, and honors. She is the only shot-putter to compete in three consecutive Olympics (1956, 1960, 1964). Brown won Olympic bronze for Women’s shot put in 1960; was Amateur Athletic Union Champion in shot put (1956-62, 1964); won Amateur Athletic Union Championship, discus (1958-59, 1961); won gold medal in shot put, silver medal in discus, USA-USSR dual meet (1958); was shot put and discus champion, Pan-American Games (1959); and placed 12th in shot put, Tokyo Olympics (1964).

Earlene Dennis, born July 11, 1935, in Latexo, Texas to Espenola Tillis Dennis, a domestic servant, and Willie Dennis, a semipro baseball player with the Negro League in Texas. When her parents separated in 1938, Dennis remained with her mother and they moved to Los Angeles in 1945. Dennis’s mother married Julius Walker in 1946. Dennis attended Jordan High School in South Central Los Angeles, where she excelled in track and field. Her athletic ability was noticed by many, including Adeline Valdez, Dennis’s high school gym teacher, Josephine Spearman, and Coach Clarence Mackey, who tried to get her to compete in the Helsinki Olympics (in 1952 in Helsinki, Finland). Valdez is credited with putting the first discus in Dennis’ hands while her history teacher taught her to shot put. Before competing in shot put and discus, Dennis anchored the relay team.

In 1956, Brown finished in the top ten in the shot put and the discus. In 1958 Brown received the #1 world ranking and became the first American to break the 50-foot barrier. Brown won gold medals in the shot put as well as discus events at the Pan American Games in 1959. At the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 Brown placed 12th in the shot put.

Brown retired from the shot put competition in 1965. The same year she took up another sport, roller derby. Brown’s career in skating began as a blocker for the New York Bombers.

In 1975, Brown retired from all athletic ventures and worked as a beautician to provide for herself and family. On May 1, 1983, Earlene Dennis Brown passed away in Compton, California at the age of 47. On December 1, 2005, Earlene Brown was posthumously inducted in the National Track and Field Hall of Fame by the USA Track and Field (USATF) Association during the Jesse Owens Awards and the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Jacksonville, Florida.

[illustratus]

Swedish high jumper Gunhild Larking at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia

[philibetexcerpts]

17 June 1956: The Queen, Princess Margaret, Prince Henry and Princess Alice of Gloucester, alongside other members of the British Royal Household attended the Equestrian Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden.