Today's Birthdays 1/18

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 1/18/05 at 11:25am

A.A. Milne 1/18/1882 - 1/31/1956 author - best-known as creator of the Winne-the-Pooh books, but also a prolific Broadway playwright, author of Mr. Pim Passes By, The Truth About Blayds, Belinda, Give Me Yesterday and Ariadne.

Cary Grant (Archibald Alexander Leach) 1/18/1904 - 11/29/1986 English/American performer; Hollywood heartthrob for 30+ years; husband of Betsy Drake (1949 - 1962) divorced, Barbara Hutton (1942 - 1945) divorced, Dyan Cannon (1965 - 196 divorced, Barbara Harris (1981 - 1986) his death - [all theatrical performances under the name "Archie Leach"] Golden Dawn; Boom Boom (Jeanette MacDonald); A Wonderful Night; Nikki(Fay Wray); film's She Done Him Wrong, Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, Arsenic and Old Lace, To Catch a Thief, North by Northwest; never said, “Judy, Judy, Judy.” Discovered by Oscar Hammerstein I.

Danny Kaye (David Daniel Kaminski) 1/18/1913 - 3/3/1987 father of Dena Kaye; husband of Sylvia Fine (1940 - 1987) his death; performer, star on Broadway in Let's Face It, Lady in the Dark (singing "Tchaikovsky") and other shows before going off to Hollywood for a series of comedies and musicals. He returned to Broadway in 1970 for Richard Rodgers and Martin Charnin's Two by Two; tv's & film's Up In Arms, Hans Christian Anderson, White Christmas, The Danny Kaye Show; UNICEF ambassador.

Kevin Costner 1/18/1955 performer - film's Field of Dreams, JFK, The Bodyguard, The Untouchables, Waterworld, The Postman, Thirteen Days; Academy Award- winning director: Dances with Wolves [1990]

Jesse L. Martin 01/18/1969 performer, Rocky Mountian, VA - Timon of Athens (Brian Bedford, Michael Cumpsty); The Government Inspector; Rent; tv's Law & Order

SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

1945 First the novel. Then a film, then a radio play, now finally Rebecca arrives on Broadway. Daphne Du Maurier adapted her own work. The cast includes Diana Barrymore, Florence Reed, and Bramwell Fletcher, directed by Clarence Derwent. There will be just 20 performances.

1968 Songwriters Kander & Ebb follow their success in Cabaret with this musical, based on a play about a French-Canadian photographer, and his relationship with his adoring nephew. The show runs only 286 performances despite the presence of Robert Goulet, then near the top of his popularity, in the lead.

1998 It's Ragtime at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts. The show's epic journey to a home on Broadway nearly matches that of E.L. Doctorow's novel, adapted by Terrence McNally. Frank Galati directs the cast of 59, led by Brian Stokes Mitchell, Peter Friedman, Marin Mazzie and Audra McDonald. It will go on to win several Tony Awards but ultimately fail to survive the financial turmoil of its producing organization, Livent.

ON THIS DAY IN:

1788 The first English settlers arrived in Australia's Botany Bay to establish a penal colony.

1929 - New York Daily Mirror columnist Walter Winchell made his debut on radio, broadcasting a blend of political commentary and celebrity gossip to “Mr. and Mrs. America...” His quick-jabbing, penetrating manner became his trademark.

1936 Author Rudyard Kipling died in Burwash, England.

1944 - The first jazz concert was held at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. The stars of the concert were Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Roy Eldridge and Jack Teagarden. What a ticket!

1948 - Ted Mack came to television as The Original Amateur Hour debuted on the DuMont network. The program continued on different networks for a 22-year run on the tube. In the TV version, Mack presented many up-and-coming stars who later claimed great fame in show biz. Teresa Brewer and Pat Boone are just a couple.

1951 - Joan Blondell made her debut on TV in the Pot of Gold episode of Airflyte Theatre on CBS-TV. Twenty-one-years earlier she had made her film debut in Sinner’s Holiday with James Cagney. They were both stage performers before Al Jolson discovered them for Warner Brothers.

1954 Stage and film actor Sydney Greenstreet dies in Hollywood today. He acted with Sybil Thorndike, Constance Collier and Tyrone Power Sr. in many classic roles. His film roles were normally supporting but always memorable. He was 75 years old.

1968 - Singer Eartha Kitt made headlines, as she got into a now-famous confrontation with Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson -- wife of the President of the United States -- at a White House luncheon to discuss urban crime. Ms. Kitt told Lady Bird (the First Lady) that American youth were rebelling against the war in Vietnam, linking the crime rate with the war escalation.

1974 Michael Bennett, a choreographer and director, responds to an idea for a show about the lives of dancers in Broadway choruses. Bennett assembles a group of dancers, including Donna McKechnie, and has them discuss their experiences in an all-night session tonight. The show that will become A Chorus Line will begin to take shape tomorrow.

(sources: IBDB, NYT's ON THIS DAY, 440.com’s Those Were The Days, Playbill.com)

Milla