1956 Entertainment

Academy Awards

Best Movie: "Around the World in 80 Days"

Best Actor: Yul Brynner ("The King and I")

Best Actress: Ingrid Bergman ("Anastasia")

TV Ratings

1. "I Love Lucy"

2. "Ed Sullivan Show"

3. "GE Theater"

4. "$64,000 Question

5. "December Bride"

6. "Alfred Hitchcock Presents"

7. "I've Got a Secret"

8. "Gunsmoke"

9. "Perry Como Show"

10."Jack Benny Show"

Billboard Ratings [Hits]

1. "Heartbreak Hotel" Elvis Presley

2. "Don't be Cruel" Elvis Presley

3. "Lisbon Antigua" Nelson Riddle

(note: The above links are audio clips that may require considerable transfer time)

Albums

1. Calypso Harry Belafonte

2. My Fair Lady Original Cast

3. Elvis Presley Elvis Presley

4. Belafonte Harry Belafonte

5. Elvis Elvis Presley

Top Vocal Artists

Female: Ella Fitzgerald

Male: Frank Sinatra

Group: Four Freshmen

Fiction

1. Don't Go Near the Water William Brinkley

2. The Last Hurrah Edwin O'Connor

3. Peyton Place Grace Metalious

4. Auntie Mame Patrick Dennis

5. Eloise Kay Thompson

6. Andersonville MacKinlay Kantor

7. A Certain Smile FranÁoise Sagan

8. The Tribe That Lost Its Head Nicholas Monsarrat

9. The Mandarins Simone de Beauvoir

10. Boon Island Kenneth Roberts

Non-Fiction

1. Arthritis and Common Sense; rev. ed. Dan Dale Alexander

2. Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, concise ed.; David B. Guralnik

3. Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book, 2nd. ed.

4. Etiquette; Frances Benton

5. Better Homes and Gardens Barbecue Book

6. The Search for Bridey Murphy; Morey Bernstein

7. Love or Perish; Smiley Blanton, M.D.

8. Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book

9. How To Live 365 Days a Year; John A. Schindler

10. The Nun's Story; Kathryn Hulme

Pulitzer Prize

Biography: Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy

Popular Singles

"Blue Suede Shoes"

"Friendly Persuasion"

"Hound Dog"

"Love me Tender"

"Mack the Knive"

Other Movies from 1956

"Anastasia" Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner

"Baby Doll" Carroll Baker, Eli Wallach

"Bus Stop" Marilyn Monroe

"Giant" Rock Hudson, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor

"High Society" Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly

"Love Me Tender" Elvis Presley

"Ten Commandments" Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter

"War and Peace" Audrey Hepburn, Mel Ferrer, Henry Fonda.

Fashion in 1956

Girl's Fashion: Guy's Fashion:

Chignon and pompador Crew cut and ducktail

Sac dress t-shirts with rolled up sleeves

Rose Marie Reid's swimsuit Black leather jackets

Miss America: Sharon Ritchie (Miss Colorado)