Monday, May 18, 2015

HAL BATES WITH HAL FISHMAN AND GRANT GRIFFIN


Hal in group photo. Grant Griffin center, Hal to his right. Others include: Joe Sade (far left) and Hal Fishman (2nd from left). Others unknown.

Harold "Hal" Fishman (August 25, 1931 – August 7, 2007) was a local news anchor in the Los Angeles area, serving on-air with Los Angeles-area television stations continuously between 1960 until his death in 2007. Fishman was the longest-running news anchor in the history of American television before Dave Ward surpassed him in 2015.. He was also a record-holding aviator. "The Simpsons" cartoon television anchorman Kent Brockman was partially inspired by Hal Fishman.


From Grant Griffin's Web site:

Grant Griffin is considered one of the finest lyric baritones in the world.  His career spans 40 Years of show business.  His ability to sing from Opera to Broadway to Pop has brought a new dimension to the concert stage.  Because  of his vocal range, passion for musical interpretation and versatility, critics have called Grant "a singer's singer."
Grant has had the pleasure of performing for President's Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, as well as the Royalty of England and European heads of state  in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Spain and Italy.

He has performed in over 300 concerts throughout the world and the United States.  These include a command performance at the Hollywood Bowl for Princess Ari of Saudi Arabia, five seasons with the Los Angeles, San Francisco Civic Light Operas, San Diego and St. Louis Civic Light Opera.

Grant has been guest on the Johnny Carson, Joey Bishop and Merv Griffin television shows and has produced his own TV musical special hosted by Milton Berle entitled "Meet Grant Griffin."  The show was sold to Lipton Tea and aired for over two years.  Recently Grant was a guest on the Discovery Channel Episode "Inside Las Vegas."  Over the years Grant has produced more than 80 musical revues,  His annual Las Vegas "Magical Night of Music" concert is entering it's 5th year and will be performed in April 2007.  His company, Griffin Productions Group (GPG) is a full service company designed for corporate events as well as private venues.

Grant first appeared on the Las Vegas scene at the Sahara Hotel in 1956.  Later he replaced the star in the Dunes Hotel and Casino Broadway show version of Tenderloin.  He returned once again to the Dunes Hotel as the star in the spectacular Casino De Paris show.  Performances in recent years have taken place in major nightclubs and concert stages throughout the world.