Illustration by Seeroon Yeretzian.
© 1997 Seeroon Yeretzian.
All rights Reserved

Famous American Armenians

The following are a few of the accomplished American Armenians:

ALAN HOVHANESS

He began to compose at the tender age of four. By age 73, he had written over 500 significant musical works, including over 50 symphonies. He has been commissioned to write music for such greats as Yehudi Menuhin, Leopold Stokowski and Jean Pierre Rampal. With such credits to his name, it is easy to understand why Alan Hovhaness is called a musical genius. He is considered an extraordinary versatile composer as he can successfully write for almost any combination of instruments. One critic wrote, "No other American composer of his generation has absorbed the breadth of musical history as he has nor been so temperamentally equipped to express his response to it so naturally." Hovhaness has always had an interest in Armenian music and this led him to explore the entire world of Oriental music. His love of the Orient and its music has been incorporated in his own compositions which blend the western musical traditions with, the eastern musical ideas. Hovhannes once said, "I want to create a world of endless melody. Something very beautiful which also is healing to the human spirit." One only has to listen to a Hovhannes piece to realize he has
accomplished this goal.

Alex Manoogian arrived at Ellis Island at 19 and settled in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He began working as a machinist in 1924 at a screw machine factory, learning about metalworking and the tools involved.Five years later, along with 2 partners, he founded Masco Screw Products Company which sold screw products to automobile manufacturers. The company was listed on the Detroit Stock Exchange , but its real success was still to come. The idea of a single-handle faucet had arisen, but it soon faded because it simply didn't work. Manoogian, however, continued to study the idea of a faucet which would permit one-hand control of volume and temperature and that didn't need a washer. He pinpointed the flaws and redesigned the faucet from scratch. Sales of the faucet, under the Delta label, soon exceeded $1.000.000.
Manoogian's son, Richard succeeded him as President in 1972, and a year later the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1976, Richard was selected as one of 64 outstanding chief executives in the U.S by Financial World Magazine. The elder Manoogian had served as the life President of the Armenian General Benevolent Union and had contributed generously to various charitable organizations and educational institutions.

ARLENE FRANCIS

Arlene Francis began her acting career working with the Mamoulian Theatre Guild and later as a member of the Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre. She worked in radio on the highly successful show, "What's My Name?" Her work in television started with the program "Blind Date." In 1950, Francis became a panelist on TV's "What's My Name?" NBC recognized the charm and wit of Francis and appointed her mistress of ceremonies of its extravaganza "Home" from 1953-1957. Francis didn't confine her talents only to radio and TV. She has appeared in many plays including stints on Broadway in "Tchin-Tchin," "Beekman Place" and the 1966 revival of "Dinner at Eight." She appeared in the movies "One, Two, Three" with Jimmy Cagney and "The Thrill of It All" with Doris Day and James Garner. New York Times drama critic Clive Barnes has called Francis "a comedienne of great talent and versatility" and has praised her "supreme naturalness." Francis said that she has lived by the simple philosophy, "Give your best and your potential will surprise you. The higher you reach . . . the higher you will go."

"Because I feel very deeply my being an Armenian in exile, I transcend
my emotions in symbolic colors and designs," said the painter Arshile
Gorky. "I deliberately remain mysterious because stark designs and patterns would not express the truth of my horror that humanity can be cruel" born Vosdanig Adoian in Armenia in 1905, Gorky suffered through the Turkish massacres before arriving at Ellis Island in 1920. He was considered the founder of American abstract expressionism and one of the most important painters in the 1930's and 40's. He was at the height of his career when he took his own life in 1948. Many of his paintings reflected the memories of his youth which haunted him throughout his short life. One such painting, "The artist and his Mother", which hangs in the Whitney Museum of America Art, illustrates pain and suffering through the large, sad eyes of his subjects."My deepest emotions about my family and my race inevitably influence my work." he said.