Alexander Scourby
Also Known As: Alex Scourby, Alexander Scorby
Biography: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Alexander Scourby (November 13, 1913 – February 22, 1985) was an American film, television, and voice actor known for his deep and resonant voice. He is best known for his film role as the ruthless mob boss Mike Lagana in Fritz Lang's The Big Heat (1953), and is also particularly well-remembered in the English-speaking world for his landmark recordings of the entire King James Version audio Bible, which have been released in numerous editions. He later recorded the entire Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Scourby recorded 422 audiobooks for the blind which he considered his most important work. He has a reputation in the audiobook industry as being one of the greatest narrators: "He is heralded as having the greatest voice ever recorded."
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Birthday: November 13, 1913
Deathday: February 22, 1985
Adult: No
Gender: Male
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Known For:
Giant
Overview: Wealthy rancher Bick Benedict and dirt-poor cowboy Jett Rink both woo Leslie Lynnton, a beautiful young woman from Maryland who is new to Texas. She marries Benedict, but she is shocked by the racial bigotry of the White Texans against the local people of Mexican descent. Rink discovers oil on a small plot of land, and while he uses his vast, new wealth to buy all the land surrounding the Benedict ranch, the Benedict's disagreement over prejudice fuels conflict that runs across generations.
Genres: Drama Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-11-08
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Merton: A Film Biography
Overview: In his lifetime, Thomas Merton was hailed as a prophet and censured for his outspoken social criticism. For nearly 27 years he was a monk of the austere Trappist order, where he became an eloquent spiritual writer and mystic as well as an anti-war advocate and witness to peace. Merton: A Film Biography provides the first comprehensive look at this remarkable 20th century religious philosopher who wrote, in addition to his immensely popular autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain, over 60 books on some of the most pressing social issues of our time, some of which are excerpted here. Merton offers an engaging profile of a man whose presence in the world touched millions of people and whose words and thoughts continue to have a profound impact and relevance today.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1984-01-01
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The Devil at 4 O'Clock
Overview: A crusty, eccentric priest recruits three reluctant convicts to help him rescue a children's leper colony from a Pacific island menaced by a smoldering volcano.
Genres: Adventure Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-10-18
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The Big Heat
Overview: After the suspicious suicide of a fellow cop, tough homicide detective Dave Bannion takes the law into his own hands when he sets out to smash a vicious crime syndicate.
Genres: Crime Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1953-10-14
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Affair in Trinidad
Overview: A nightclub singer enlists her brother-in-law to track down her husband's killer.
Genres: Romance Thriller Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1952-07-29
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Jesus
Overview: Three and a half years of Jesus' ministry, as told in the Gospel of Luke.
Genres: Drama Fantasy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1979-10-19
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Seven Thieves
Overview: A discredited professor and a sophisticated thief decide to join together and pick a team to pull off one last job--the casino vault in Monte Carlo.
Genres: Crime Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1960-03-11
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The Silver Chalice
Overview: A Greek artisan is commissioned to cast the cup of Christ in silver and sculpt around its rim the faces of the disciples and Jesus himself. He travels to Jerusalem and eventually to Rome to complete the task. Meanwhile, a nefarious interloper is trying to convince the crowds that he is the new Messiah by using nothing more than cheap parlor tricks.
Genres: Drama Romance History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1954-12-20
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Man on a String
Overview: U.S. spies catch a Moscow-born U.S. citizen helping spies, and they force him to counterspy.
Genres: Crime Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1960-05-20
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The Glory Brigade
Overview: During the Korean War Lt. Sam Pryor volunteers his platoon to escort Greek troops to perform a reconnaissance mission behind Communist lines. Due to his Greek heritage Pryor is initially proud to accompany the Greek contingent but his feelings change to scorn and mistrust when what he believes is cowardice shown by the Greek soldiers and their leaders results in the near annihiliation of his own platoon. An uneasy alliance is maintained between the US and Greek troops as the enemy's true objective is learned.
Genres: War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1953-05-20
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Hell Gate: The Watery Grave
Overview: A documentary covering many aspects of the Hell Gate waterway history, including the clearing of the channel, the building of Hell Gate Bridge, and the General Slocum steamship disaster.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date:
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Ransom!
Overview: A wealthy business man stuns his wife and town with a televised response to his son's kidnappers.
Genres: Crime Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-01-24
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Me and the Colonel
Overview: Nazis are about to overrun France, and a Jewish man named Jacobowsky is stranded in Paris. He hitches a ride with reluctant Polish serviceman Colonel Prokoszny, who harbors a bias against Jews. They are soon joined by Prokoszny's bride-to-be, Suzanne, who takes an immediate liking to the engaging Jacobowsky. This furthers the hostility between Jacobowsky and Prokoszny, but they must put their differences aside to evade the Nazis trailing them.
Genres: Comedy War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-10-01
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Buddhism in China
Overview: Documentary exploring the origins and proliferation of Buddhism throughout Chinese history
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1972-01-01
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Uncommon Women and Others
Overview: While at an impromptu reunion lunch, five women reminisce and relive their college days at Mount Holyoke, and weigh their goals and aspirations against their lives.
Genres: Comedy Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1979-06-20
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The Executioner
Overview: A British intelligence agent must track down a fellow spy suspected of being a double agent.
Genres: Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1970-09-06
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The Incredible World of James Bond
Overview: This promotional film was aired on American television on 26 November 1965, one month before the release of Thunderball (1965). Narrated by Alexander Scourby, the 48 minute documentary aired as a one hour special. It included footage of the filming at Silverstone Racetrack, Northamptonshire and of the fight aboard the Disco Volante at Pinewood Studios; media coverage of Martine Beswick, Luciana Paluzzi and Claudine Auger; and archive footage of Ian Fleming at 'Goldeneye', Jamaica.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1965-11-26
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Because of You
Overview: A female ex-con falls in love and hesitates to reveal her past.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1952-12-04
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The Stuff
Overview: Amalgamated Dairies hires David Rutherford, an FBI man turned industrial saboteur, to investigate a popular new product called “the Stuff,” a new dessert product that is blowing ice cream sales out of the water. Nobody knows how it’s made or what’s in it, but people are lining up to buy it. It's got a delicious flavor to die for!
Genres: Horror Science Fiction Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1985-06-14
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The Lonely Dorymen
Overview: For more than four centuries, young Portuguese fishermen have followed their fathers to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and in recent years to Greenland’s banks to fish the cold waters for cod. Intrepid men, set off for the Banks on schooners under full sail, then adrift in a flat-bottomed dory, they bait the hundred of hooks of their long-line, oblivious to fog, rain and Arctic wind, they labour 18 hours a day and haul up cod by the score.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1968-04-16
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The Big Fisherman
Overview: Drama that focuses on the later life of Peter, one of the closest disciples of Jesus.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-08-04
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Sign of the Pagan
Overview: Roman centurion Marcian is captured by Attila the Hun en route to Constantinople, but escapes. On arrival, he finds the eastern Roman emperor Theodosius plotting with Attila to look the other way while the latter marches against Rome. But Marcian gains the favor of Pulcheria, lovely sister of Theodosius, who favors a united Empire.
Genres: History Adventure Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1954-11-24
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The Shadow
Overview: Lamont Cranston, a psychiatrist on retainer to the police department, is asked to assist in the Case of the Cotton Kimono murder investigation. Lamont and his girlfriend Margot Lane are not satisfied with Detective Harris' analysis and call on the two prime suspects: the victim's voice instructor and her boyfriend. When Harris, convinced that the boyfriend is guilty, frames the young man for the crime, Lamont is forced to assume his secret identity as "The Shadow", and cloaked by his power of invisibility, seeks to force the true killer to reveal himself.
Genres: TV Movie Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1954-06-27
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The Shaggy Dog
Overview: Through an ancient spell, a boy changes into a sheepdog and back again. It seems to happen at inopportune times and the spell can only be broken by an act of bravery....
Genres: Comedy Family Fantasy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-03-19
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Atonement
Overview: Canadian wildlife specialists work to preserve and nurture the creatures that remain in our wilderness areas - species such as the whooping crane, prairie falcons, bighorn sheep, bison, polar bears, and grizzlies.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1971-09-12
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The Song of Christmas
Overview: A richly animated, exquisitely scored film and narrated by Alexander Scourby. Roy Ringwald composed "The Song of Christmas" as an original musical work to tell the Nativity Story in songs, carols, and passages from the Bible. The film was produced to creatively integrate Stuart Knickerbocker's artistic visualizations with Roy Ringwald's inspiring music.
Genres: Animation
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-12-20
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The Spirit of Christmas
Overview: This Christmas film, created as a special for television broadcast throughout the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania viewing region, was produced by puppeteer Mabel Beaton and her husband Les for Bell Telephone Company and first aired in 1953. Following a short live-action opening portion, featured are two extended marionette segments, the first dramatizing Clement Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas", the second reverently telling the Nativity story; the two stories are staged in classic, traditional style. From 1953 onward, for several years, The Spirit of Christmas was broadcast in the intended region multiple times per holiday season. It was also available as a 16mm film licensed to schools for showings to students. This film often is misstated to have originally been broadcast in 1950.
Genres: Animation Family
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1953-12-01
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Montserrat
Overview: The story is set during the South American Wars of Independence. Simón Bolivar, the liberator, has escaped from Spanish custody with the aid of an idealistic Spanish officer, Captain Montserrat. The Spanish commander, Colonel Izquierdo ('left' in Spanish), threatens Montserrat with torture to find out where Bolivar can be recaptured.
Genres: Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1971-03-02
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Among the Wild Chimpanzees
Overview: In 1960 Jane Goodall set out for Tanzania's remote Gombe Stream Game Reserve to study the behavior of man's closest living relative, the chimpanzee. With dedication and perseverance she earned the trust of a wild chimp community, and gradually they revealed their individual personalities and the rich tapestry of their daily life. This program looks at two landmark decades of Jane Goodall's work, including her dramatic discovery of chimpanzees making and using tools.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1984-01-30
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This Other Eden
Overview: A study of England's history, with particular emphasis on the role religion has played in shaping the nation and its people. Includes scenes of Stonehenge, the sanctuary at Glastonbury, the fortress of Maiden Castle, and Bamburg Castle. (worldcat.org)
Genres: History TV Movie Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1979-02-04
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Victory at Sea
Overview: A feature-length, condensed version of the 1952 documentary TV series 'Victory at Sea'.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1954-08-02
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The Wall
Overview: Like the best USIA films, The Wall distills political events into an emotionally clear and compelling ideological "story". In 1962 Walter de Hoog gathered footage from U.S. and German newsreel sources and crafted this taut short film about the first year of the Berlin Wall. Straightforward, keenly balanced narration portrays Berliners as "accepting the wall but never resigned to it". The extraordinary footage of the first escapes was propaganda enough-- His challenge was to make the politics human.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1962-11-08
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The Redhead from Wyoming
Overview: A saloonkeeper sides with the sheriff for justice after she's framed for rustling.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1953-01-08
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The Velvet Alley
Overview: Ernie Pandish has tried to be a writer for years and has never made much money out of it. But now he seems likely to hit the big-time.
Genres: TV Movie Drama Comedy Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-01-22
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1999 A.D.
Overview: A whimsical yet serious-minded look into the future sponsored by the appliance and radio manufacturer Philco-Ford. In the "1999 House of Tomorrow", each family member's activities are enabled by a central computer and revolve around products remarkably similar to those made by the sponsor. Power comes from a self-contained fuel cell which supports environmental controls, an automatic cooking system, and a computer-assisted "education room".
Genres: Documentary Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1967-01-01
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The Twisted Cross
Overview:
Genres: TV Movie Documentary History War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-03-14
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Grizzly!
Overview: The grizzly has roamed North America for nearly a million years. And now, in the last century and a half, he has come dangerously close to extinction. Frank and John Craighead have tracked this extraordinary creature.
Genres: Documentary TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1967-10-31
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People of the Seal, Part 2: Eskimo Winter
Overview: The second of two coproductions by the British Broadcasting Corporation and the National Film Board of Canada, People of the Seal, Part 2: Eskimo Winter is compiled from some of the most vivid footage ever filmed of the life of the Netsilik Inuit in the Pelly Bay region of the Canadian Arctic. Together, the two films provide insight and understanding of a culture now almost vanished, as they show the incredible resourcefulness of the Netsilik (People of the Seal) who have adapted to one of the world's harshest environments. Part 2: Eskimo Winter shows how Inuit families gather in communities on the sea ice to harpoon seal as they come up through breating holes in the ice. Also seen is the mid-winter season, a time of intense socializing in the communal igloo, with games, contests and ceremonial activities.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1971-01-01
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The Gendarme in New York
Overview: Sergeant Cruchot and his faithful comrades have been sent to the International Congress of Gendarmerie in N.Y.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1965-10-28
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Venice: Theme and Variations
Overview: Ivory's initial effort as a filmmaker was Venice: Theme and Variations, a documentary made as his master's thesis at the USC film school that, although only 28 minutes long, is rich in composition and aesthetic texture.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-03-01
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Etosha: Place of Dry Water
Overview: Records the wildlife in Etosha, a preserve surrounding a huge dry lake bed in the southwest African country of Namibia. Presents nature's interplay of life and death as it happens
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1980-01-01
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Australia's Animal Mysteries
Overview: Enjoy some of the bizarre and unbelievable creatures unique to Australia's shores as investigators and scientists probe the secrets of this infinitely varied wildlife.
Genres: Documentary TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1984-01-01
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The Hemingway Play
Overview: A novel portrait of author Ernest Hemingway, in which four versions of the man from different points of his life exist simultaneously.
Genres: TV Movie Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1976-03-11
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The Night America Trembled
Overview: A recreation and commentary on how people reacted to the radio broadcast of The War Of The Worlds in 1938. [An episode of the CBS anthology series "Studio One".]
Genres: Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-09-09
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People of the Seal, Part 1: Eskimo Summer
Overview: The first of two coproductions by the British Broadcasting Corporation and the National Film Board of Canada, People of the Seal, Part 1: Eskimo Summer is compiled from some of the most vivid footage ever filmed of the life of the Netsilik Inuit in the Kugaaruk region (formerly Pelly Bay) of the Canadian Arctic. The original films of the Netsilik series attempted to recreate the traditional lifestyle of Netsilingmiut living there. They show the incredible resourcefulness of the Netsilik (People of the Seal) who have adapted to one of the world's harshest environments. Part 1: Eskimo Summer shows how Inuit families prepare for winter by hunting seal, birds and caribou and by fishing for Arctic Char during the extended hours of daylight.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1971-01-01
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The Story of Jesus Through the Eyes of Children
Overview: A captivating retelling of the story of Jesus through the eyes of children who might have encountered Him. Follow the lives of Benjamin, Caleb, Sarah, Joel, Leah, and Nathan, living in Jerusalem about 30 A.D. They hear stories of the Man from Nazareth who heals the sick and raises the dead. They struggle to make sense of it all - some from families who believe Jesus is the Son of God, others from families who do not. They watch Jesus from the crowds. They follow Him to see what this incredible Man, who loves children, will do next. They see Him betrayed, wrongly accused, crucified and buried. But they remember the promise of Jesus and believe they will see Him again.
Genres: History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1976-01-01
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Three Two One - Zero!
Overview: The voice of an officer counts out the last tense seconds- 'Three Two One - Zero!' - and another atomic explosion rends the stillness. This film, made in America by the National Broadcasting Company, tells the story of atomic energy and discusses the problem that now confronts the world: "It is the people... who must come to know what atomic energy can and will do, for good and evil... The real problem does not rest in scientific mechanisms, but rather it rests in the minds and hearts of men".
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1954-11-11
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Project XX: Life in the Thirties
Overview: Project XX examines American life in the 1930s from the Depression and election of Franklin D. Roosevelt to the eve of World War II.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-10-16
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The Final Solution
Overview: With archival footage from 16 counties, this Oscar-nominated film presents important facts about the Nazi’s persecution against Jews during WWII
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date:
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The Yellow Star: The Persecution of the Jews in Europe - 1933-1945
Overview: This Oscar nominated documentary serves not only as a remembrance but a lesson and a warning for the future. It follows the plight of Europe's Jews during the terrifying period from 1933 until the final defeat of the Third Reich in 1945. Never before had the world seen such contempt for human life on such a grand scale, the murder of an estimated 6 million Jews, with countless others persecuted. During the 1930s a wave of national fervor swept through a tumultuous Germany; people looked for answers, and the politicians were all too willing to point the finger of blame towards the Jewish population. Few, if any, could have foreseen how the views of one man would unfold…that man was Adolf Hitler.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: de
Release Date: 1981-03-05
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