Today's Birthdays 10/16

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 10/16/07 at 11:24pm

Oscar Wilde 10/16/1854 - Nov 30, 1900 Source Material, Writer - LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN; AN IDEAL HUSBAND (loved the 1996 prod'n); THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST; SALOME; OH, EARNEST!; THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, EARNEST IN LOVE

Eugene O'Neill 10/16/1888 - Nov 27, 1953 Producer, Writer, Source Material, father of Oona O'Neill Chaplin, father-in-law Charles Chaplin, grandfather of Geraldine Chaplin, husband of Carlotta Monterey (Third marriage), son of James O'Neill - THE EMPEROR JONES; ANNA CHRISTIE; DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS; MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA; AH, WILDERNESS!; A TOUCH OF THE POET; A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN; HUGHIE; THE ICEMAN COMETH

Linda Darnell 10/16/1923 - 4/10/1965 performer (breathtakingly beautiful) - Dakota Incident, Blackbeard the Pirate, Anna and the King of Siam, MY FAV'S Forever Amber, Buffalo Bill, The Mark of Zorro

Angela Lansbury 10/16/1925 Aunt of David Lansbury, daughter of Moyna MacGill, grandniece of Robert B. Mantell, mother of Anthony Shaw, sister of Bruce Lansbury, sister of Edgar Lansbury, wife of Richard Cromwell (1945 - 1946) divorced, wife of Peter Shaw (1949 - 2003) his death; She has one half-sister, Isolde, from her mother's first marriage to Reginald Denham. Isolde was married to Peter Ustinov, with whom she had one daughter, Tamara Ustinov, Lansbury's niece; She and Mildred Natwick were both in The Court Jester (1956) and were reunited in an episode of "Murder, She Wrote" (1984) ("Murder in the Electric Cathedral") 30 years later; Reunited with The Court Jester (1956) co-star Glynis Johns in the "Murder, She Wrote" (1984) episode "Sing a Song of Murder" (#27) 29 years after that film; Was offered the role of "Nurse Ratchet" in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) but turned it down because she didn't think she could handle the role; To date (2006), has hosted (or co-hosted) more Tony Awards telecasts than any other individual: (1968, 1971, 1987, 1988, and 1989). - performer - HOTEL PARADISO; A TASTE OF HONEY (Billy Dee Williams, Joan Plowright); ANYONE CAN WHISTLE (Lee Remick, Harry Guardino); MAME (Bea Arthur, Jane Connell); DEAR WORLD (Jane Connell, Milo O'Shea); 1974 GYPSY; 1977 THE KING & I [replacement]; SWEENEY TODD; A LITTLE FAMILY BUSINESS (John McMartin); SHORT TALKS ON THE UNIVERSE; tv's & film's MURDER SHE WROTE; THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE; THE HARVEY GIRLS; NATIONAL VELVET; Law & Order

Daniel Gerroll 10/16/1951 performer; Husband of Patricia Kalember (1986 - present) - PLENTY ; HIGH SOCIETY (Melissa Errico, Marc Kudish); ENCHANTED APRIL

Ron Taylor 10/16/1952 - 1/16/2001 Performer, Writer, Conception, Production Crew - 1984 The Three Musketeers; It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues

Janet Aldrich 10/16/1956 performer - 1984 THE 3 MUSKETEERS (Liz Calloway); 1987 BROADWAY (Lonny Price); STARMITES (Liz Larsen, Victor Trent Cook, Gabriel Barre, Sharon McNight)

Tim Robbins 10/16/1958 performer, director, Susan Sarandon's partner; His father, Gil Robbins, was a member of the folk music group The Highwaymen; Graduated Stuyvesant H.S. in New York City - film's Academy Award-winning actor: Mystic River [2003]; The Shawshank Redemption, Bull Durham, Short Cuts, Hudsucker Proxy; director: Dead Man Walking, Cradle Will Rock, Queens Supreme; Noise; The Lucky Ones

SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

1939 Acid-tongued New York Times theatre critic Alexander Woolcott is parodied in the Broadway comedy The Man Who Came To Dinner, which stars Monty Woolley and runs for 739 performances.

1951 Judy Garland at the Palace "Two-A-Day" - Judy Garland opens her legendary concert stand at the Palace Theatre, Judy Garland: Two a Day.

1966 Alan Arkin directs Dustin Hoffman in Henry Living's comedy Eh?, which opens tonight at the Circle in the Square (downtown). A chaotic office staff is the subject of this show, which will run 232 performances.

1969 Three Men on a Horse

1983 Zorba with Anthony Quinn and Leila Kedrova

1984 Cyrano de Bergerac with Derek Jacobi and Sinéad Cusack

1997 Side Show, a musical about the real-life conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, who became vaudeville and Follies stars, opens on Broadway today. Though it will run only 93 performances, it attracts a small but dedicated cult of fans, many of whom see it again and again during its short run. The twins are played by Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner, who go on to appear in many Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals.

2002 First preview today for the gothic horror musical Dance of the Vampires, which goes on to suffer critical stakes in the heart before closing Jan. 25, 2003 at an estimated loss of $12 million, one of the costliest Broadway flops ever.

2003 The Boy From Oz with Hugh Jackman, Stephanie J. Block and Beth Fowler

ON THIS DAY IN:

1793 During the French Revolution, Queen Marie Antoinette was beheaded.

1916 Margaret Sanger opened the first birth-control clinic, in New York City.

1976 - Stevie Wonder’s album, Songs in the Key of Life wound up at number one in the U.S. It turned out to be no fluke. With greats, such as Sir Duke, Isn’t She Lovely and I Wish, the double-album stayed at #1 for 14 weeks. Other tracks: Love’s in Need of Love Today, Have a Talk with God, Village Ghetto Land, Contusion, Knocks Me Off My Feet, Pastime Paradise, Summer Soft, Ordinary Pain, Saturn, Ebony Eyes, Joy Inside My Tears, Black Man, Ngiculela - Es Una Historia/I Am S inging, If It’s Magic, As, Another Star, All Day Sucker, Easy Goin’ Evening (My Mama’s Call).

1992 Actress Shirley Booth dies today. When she was 18, she made her debut on Broadway as the Ingenue in Hell's Bells. Her leading man? A young guy named Humphrey Bogart. She went on to star in shows such as Come Back, Little Sheba and Hay Fever (with Roberta Maxwell and Sam Waterston), winning three Tonys and an Academy Award.

1997 Author James Michener died in Austin, Texas, at age 90.

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

Milla