- James Pearsall came from Shingle-house, Pennsylvania to study art at Manhattan's Pratt School of Art and Design in New York City after graduating from high school. At the Manhattan campus of Pratt School of Art and Design Jim Pearsall was given the moniker and nick-name "Jimbo" by his class mates and friends that stuck with him for the rest of his life. Pearsall began his design and art career employed by advertising agencies on Madison Avenue. Jimbo moved into 115 West 71st Street around 1962, and used his rear north west ground floor apartment as his studio and living quarters. His apartment was next to the superintendents apartment, behind the mailbox, elevator, and main apartment building access staircase. Jim always was interested in theatre attending everything that was produced. Jim Pearsall's desire and ambition was to be connected with show business in any way possible. When "Leave It To Jane" opened off-Broadway, a revival in May 1959 at the Sheridan Square Playhouse; "Leave It To Jane" became a major off-Broadway show success. The producers decided to issue an original Broadway Cast album, a 12" - 33 rpm vinyl cast recording, giving Jim "Jimbo" Pearsall his first opportunity to art direct/design a record cast-album cover skin. Designing the album cover, Pearsall, during the show's performances, did many quick sketches of the cast. Pearsal became smitten by one of the male chorus-boys, a young lad who went by his actual name, Harvey Honiker. Jim did many sketches of all the performers, basing his album cover design on all the singers and dancers in their costumes. Jim always was fascinated by the New York Times Sunday theatre page sketch artist "Hirschfield". Hirschfeld always included his daughter's name NINA into his finished featured drawings. As a result, if you examine the "Leave It To Jane" record album cover design/art work, discover how Jim worked the initials "H.H.", for "Harvey Honiker", in the right hand corner of the record album design. Jim made friends with Harvey and followed his career meticulously. The show album/cover was issued in 1959, with "Leave It To Jane" moving to Broadway, an extended run, for two years.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
- The big advertising agency assignment Jim Pearsall received in 1960 was to design the three-sheet Broadway show-poster for the Frank Loesser Broadway musical "Greenwillow". The musical had a preliminary Broadway try-out at the Shubert Theatre in Philadelphia. The musical opened on Broadway on March 8, 1960, at the Alvin Theatre. Hampered by lukewarm reviews, it closed on May 28, 1960, after 97 performances. The director was George Roy Hill, choreographer was Joe Layton, scenery by Peter Larkin and costumes by Alvin Colt. The cast included Anthony Perkins as Gideon Briggs, Cecil Kellaway, Pert Kelton, Ellen McCown as Dorrie Whitbred, William Chapman and Marian Mercer. The musical play was being rehearsed in New York while Anthony Perkins was simultaneously filming the Alfred Hitchcock classic shocker Psycho (1960) in Los Angeles. Anthony Perkins was flying back and forth to Hollywood. Over the years in interviews about the infamous shower scene in that film, Anthony Perkins said that during the whole week of filming required for that scene, his stand-in was used, because he was in New York rehearsing for the Broadway "Greenwillow" play. Jim Pearsall resembled star Anthony Perkins and could have been Tony Perkins' double, being very tall, lanky, a generous laugh, outgoing with a heavy head of shock black hair that he was always pushing back from hanging over his face and forehead. Jimbo attending cast rehearsals quickly made friends with Anthony Perkins. The "Greenwillow" theatre poster and original Broadway cast album cover designed by Jimbo also has the secret code "H.H." in the art work-design! During this time period, much of the condemned buildings in the Lincoln Square area were still standing. "West Side Story" had opened on Broadway. Director and choreographer Jerome Robbins was filming the movie version of "West Side Story" that began in New York, filmed in and amongst the condemned buildings that were still standing on the upper West side of New York. Havey Honiker, cast in a feature role as one of the male dancers, was in the opening New York City sequences of the choreographed dancers. Upon completion of the New York location principle photography, everybody used in the opening dance sequence, moved out to the west coast to complete the film, including Harvey Honiker and the cast of dancers hired in NY for the opening sequences. Harvey, on moving to the coast, changed his name to "Harvey Evans", being advised 'Honiker' was not an acceptable showbiz 'marquee' name!, Changing "H.H." to "H.E." devastated Jimbo!.
- Looking up Jim Pearsall on Google, reveals there is a movie poster spot that says "Jim Pearsal was a one-hit wonder, but what a hit it was!" While Jim Pearsall was working at the now-defunct movie marketing behemoth, Diener Hauser Bates Advertising, Pearsall created the artwork for the 1974 film "Chinatown", which is arguably the greatest movie poster of all-time. And other than the 1975's B-movie "Breakout" starring Charles Bronson, no other movie poster commission is cited.
- Jim Pearsall designed the Broadway theatre show-bill program cover and theatre poster for "The Grass Harp" 1971 musical composed by Claibe Richardson, book and lyrics by Kenward Elmslie, based upon Truman Capote's novella. The original vinyl 33.3 rpm 1971 Broadway cast album cover art was designed by Kenward Elmslie's fine artist-painter friend and lover Joe Brainard. Jim Pearsall, who lived in the same West side NYC apartment building as Claibe Richardson, agreed to design the musical's advertising art work for his friend Claibe Richardson. The NYC Broadway theatre poster was duplicated for the Chappell Music Publishing's sheet music design-cover art work. Pearsal's twisted china berry tree house poster design, the Chappell Music Publishing sheet music cover art, replaced the original Jim Brainard vinyl record show album "The Grass Harp" cover art work when the Painted Smiles audio CD was issued. Jim Pearsall moved from New York City to the West coast to pursue movie poster projects, which had become his major source of work prospects. In 1973, Jim designed the movie poster for the feature film "Chinatown". In 1976, Jimbo Pearsall produced the West Coast premiere, in North Hollywood, of "The Grass Harp" musical, which was staged in the San Fernando Valley for three months.
- Jim Pearsall designed the twisted china berry tree sheet music graphic cover art-work for the 1971 Broadway musical "The Grass Harp". Jim Pearsall, living in the same West side NYC apartment building as Claibe Richardson, accepted Claibe's request to design the musical's sheet music cover art work for the Chappell Music Publishing's sheet music folio. Pearsal's twisted china berry tree house poster design, the Chappell Music Publishing sheet music cover art, replaced the original Jim Brainard 33.3 vinyl record show album "The Grass Harp" cover art work when the Painted Smiles audio CD was issued. The original NYC theatre show poster and Playbill program cover graphics, for the 1971 Broadway musical play "The Grass Harp" composed by Claibe Richardson, book and lyrics by Kenward Elmslie, based upon Truman Capote's novella, was a simple graphic title "The Grass Harp". The Barr-Woodward producing team did not order any advertising art work for the Broadway bound musical. What made CFR happy, after the show had closed, was that there was no show-poster Joe Allen could put up in his theatrical bar-restaurant on 45th Street, which Joe Allen featured with "bombed show-poster's of closed flopped $$$ musicals. The original vinyl platter 33.3 rpm 1971 Broadway cast album cover art was designed by Kenward Elmslie's fine artist-painter friend and lover Joe Brainard. The original art work lay-out of the Brainard cast album was executed in a 12" x 12" finished design print. Brainard liked to paint and design, using collage cut-outs of pansies and flowers. After Jim Pearsall moved from New York City to the West coast, he pursued movie poster projects, becoming his major source of work prospects. In 1973, Jim designed the movie poster for the feature film "Chinatown". In 1976, Jimbo Pearsall produced the West Coast premiere, in North Hollywood, of "The Grass Harp" musical, which was staged in the San Fernando Valley for three months.
- Jim Pearsall brought Ninon Tallon Karlweiss into the Richardson and Elmslie scenario-story of developing their musical-play "Madwoman of Chaillot" retitled "Crazy Lady". Tallon Karlweiss was married to an actor in Paris where she became a literary agent. Tallon Karlweiss mislead CFR and Kenward by telling them she had the French rights to all of Giraudoux's works, which she did not have!.
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