Today's Birthdays 1/24
Today's Birthdays 1/24
Today's Birthdays 1/24#1
Posted: 1/24/08 at 10:49am
Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais 1/24/1732 - 5/18/1799 brilliant, but brilliant French author, source mat'l; Beaumarchais is also remembered for his essential support for the American Revolution. For example, Louis XVI, who did not want to break openly with England, allowed Beaumarchais to found a commercial enterprise, Roderigue Hortalez and Co., supported by the French and Spanish crowns, whose real purpose was to supply the American rebels with weapons, munitions, clothes, and provisions. - Once Over Lightly; The Barber of Seville; The Marriage of Figaro
E. T. A. Hoffmann 01/24/1776 - Jun 25, 1822 writer, source mat'l - whose stories formed the basis of Tales of Hoffman & the ballets Coppelia and The Nutcracker.
Edith Wharton 01/24/1862 - Aug 11, 1937 Cousin of Verree Teasdale, writer, source mat'l; Pulitzer Prize winning author: The Age of Innocence [1921] - The Joy of Living; The House of Mirth; The Age of Innocence; The Old Maid; Ethan From (Ruth Gordon, Raymond Massey); film's The House of Mirth; The Age of Innocence
Estelle Winwood 01/24/1883 - Jun 20, 1984 Producer, Director, Performer, wife of Guthrie McClintic (divorced), Arthur Chesney (divorced) - 1938 The Merry Wives of Windsor; The Importance of Being Earnest (Clifton Webb); Ten Little Indians; Nathan Weinstein, Mystic, Connecticut (Zohra Lampert, Sam Levene); film’s The Producers
Ann Todd 1/24/1909 - May 6, 1993 performer - film's The Human Factor, Scream of Fear, Madeleine, The Seventh Veil
Ernest Borgnine 01/24/1917 performer, husband of Katy Jurado (1959 - 1963) divorced, Ethel Merman (1964 - 1964) divorced after being married for 32 days - Mrs. McThing (Helen Hayes, Brandon de Wilde, Fred Gwynne [debut]; film's Academy Award-winning actor: Marty [1955], The Poseidon Adventure, The Dirty Dozen, McHale’s Navy
Donald Saddler 01/24/1918 Choreographer, Director, Performer, Production Crew; talked w/DS last Aug., interesting tid bit: When Marge Champion comes to town, they rent a dance studio & ballroom dance. WOW! That's what I call staying in shape! - Call Me Madam; Wonderful Town; Shangri-La; Milk and Honey; Sophie (Art Lund); 1971 No, No, Nanette; 1983 On Your Toes; 2001 Follies; tv's & film's April in Paris; By the Light of the Silvery Moon; Shower of Stars
Maria Tallchief 01/24/1925 prima ballerina: Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, New York City Ballet; formed ballet troupe and school (1974) which became Chicago City Ballet [1980]; wife of choreographer George Balanchine; tv's & film's Million Dollar Mermaid; Ballets russes; Bell Telephone Hour
George Bartenieff 01/24/1933 performer - The Whole World Over (Uta Hagen, Sandy Meisner, Jo Van Fleet); Montserrat (Julie Harris, Emlyn Williams); The Death of Bessie Smith / The American Dream; tv's & film's 1974 tv Paradise Lost (Bernadette Peters, Jo Van Fleet, Eli Wallach); See No Evil, Hear No Evil; Law & Order; Conviction
Barton Heyman 01/24/1937 - May 15, 1996 performer - Indians (Stacey Keach,Charles Durning, Raul Julia); The Trial of the Catonsville Nine; 1975 A Doll's House (Liv Ullmann, Sam Waterston); A Talent for Murder
Sharon Tate 1/24/1943 - 8/9/1969 murdered by members of the Manson family; performer - film's Valley of the Dolls, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Fearless Vampire Killers, The Wrecking Crew
John (Adam) Belushi 1/24/1949 - Mar 5, 1982 performer - tv's & film's Second City improvisational troupe, original cast: Saturday Night Live; actor: 1941, The Blues Brothers
Nastassja Kinski 1/24/1959 performer - film's Terminal Velocity, The Hotel New Hampshire, Paris Texas, Exposed, Tess, For Your Love Only
Mary Lou Retton 1/24/1968 gymnist; tv's & film's Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult; Scrooged; Flip Flop Shop
SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:
1929 Rose-Marie
1933 U.S. premiere of Noel Coward's Design for Living, in which he co-stars with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Depression-era audiences are scandalized and titillated by the story of a menage a trois. It runs 135 performances at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
1950 The Happy Time with Eva Gabor, Claude Dauphin
1963 The School for Scandal with John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Richard Easton
ON THIS DAY IN:
1848 James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter's Mill in northern California, sparking the gold rush of '49.
On Jan. 24, 1965, Winston Churchill died in London at age 90.
1979 Mabel Taliaferro, a stage veteran of numerous shows including George Washington Slept Here, dies today at age 91.
1986 - Singer and actor Gordon MacRae died of cancer in Lincoln, Nebraska at the age of 64. MacRae starred in many memorable movies, such as Tea for Two, On Moonlight Bay, Oklahoma! and Carousel. He also starred on television as host of the Colgate Comedy Hour and Lux Television Theatre. And he recorded many show tunes, primarily for Capitol Records. He fought a long battle against alcoholism, and once said that he had been so drunk during a concert in Greenville, South Carolina that he couldn’t remember any song lyrics. MacRae suffered a stroke in 1982 but struggled to keep performing until the cancer overtook him in 1985.
2006 Chita Rivera reunites with Bye Bye Birdie co-star Dick Van Dyke for the first of four special performances of her show, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life. I was there. It was wonderful!
2006 Fayard Nicholas, the surviving half of the athletic tap duo of stage and screen known as The Nicholas Brothers, and a Tony Award winning choreographer for Black and Blue, dies of pneumonia and other complications of a stroke at age 91.
(sources: IBDB, IMDB, NYT's ON THIS DAY, 440.com’s Those Were The Days, Playbill.com, Wikipedia)
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