Today's Birthdays 12/23

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 12/23/08 at 10:46pm

Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko 12/23/1858 - 4/25/1943 Russian playwright & director - film's 1953 Anna Karenina

Fredi Washington 12/23/1903 - 6/28/1994 performer - Mamba's Daughters (Jose Ferrer, Alberta Hunter, Ethel Waters); How Long Till Summer; film's Imitation of Life, Ouanga, One Mile From Heaven

James Gregory 12/23/1911 - Sep 16, 2002 Performer, Stage Manager, Husband of Anne Gregory (1944 - 2002) his death - origs Key Largo; All My Sons; Death of a Salesman; The Desperate Hours (Karl Malden, Paul Newman, Geo. Grizzard); tv's & film's The Manchurian Candidate, PT 109, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Captain Newman, M.D., Played Inspector Luger on the television show "Barney Miller".

José Greco 12/23/1918 - Dec 31, 2000 flamenco dancer, Choreographer, Director, Performer - Jose Greco Ballet; Jose Greco; A Gift of Time [replacement]; film's Ship of Fools, The Proud and the Damned

Ruth Roman 12/23/1922 - 9/9/1999 [Woh! Talk about numbers!] performer - tv's & film's The Killing Kind, Love has Many Faces, Since You Went Away, The Window, Knots Landing

Buzz Miller 12/23/1923 - Feb 23, 1999 Choreographer, Performer; Partner of Jerome Robbins (broken off during "Bells Are Ringing") - 1952 Pal Joey; Two's Company; Me and Juliet; The Pajama Game; Redhead; Hot Spot (Joseph Campanella, Carmen De Lavallade, Mary Louise Wilson, George Furth, Judy Holliday); Funny Girl

Harry Guardino 12/23/1925 - Jul 17, 1995 performer - A Hatful of Rain; 1 More River (Lloyd Nolan); Anyone Can Whistle; Natural Affection (Tom Bosley, Kim Stanley); 1966 Rose Tatoo (Maureen Stapleton, Peggy Pope); The Seven Descents of Myrtle (Brian Bedford, Estelle Parsons); Woman of the Year; film's Hell is for Heroes, Dirty Harry, The Enforcer, Fist of Honor; my fav: House Boat {I would'a had a tough time choosing btwn him & Cary, for about a minute [which is a record])

Elizabeth Hartman 12/23/1941 - 6/10/1987 (suicide, sadly she jumped to her death) performer - 1969 Our Town (Henry Fonda); film's Secret of NIMH, Full Moon High, Walking Tall, Patch of Blue, The Beguiled, You're a Big Boy Now

Simon Brooking 12/23/1960 performer - Candida (Robert Foxworth, Robert Sean Leonard, Mary Steenburgen); The Judas Kiss (Liam Neeson

SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

1915 Very Good Eddie, one of the first smash successes among the intimate Princess Theatre shows, opens a 341-performance run today. Jerome Kern and Schuyler Green wrote the score to the musical comedy about newlyweds who run into trouble aboard a Hudson River cruise.

1921 Engaged couples travel The Dover Road for a glimpse at married life. This A. A. Milne comedy at the Bijou Theatre stars Charles Cherry and will run through the season and beyond.

1974 Good News - Alice Faye, Stubby Kaye, Gene Nelson, Jimmy Brennan, Jana Robbins

1982 Alice in Wonderland - Kate Burton, Eva Le Gallienne, Mary Louise Wilson

1998 Nicole Kidman opens on Broadway in The Blue Room, David Hare's adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's La Ronde. She creates a sensation by a scene in which she briefly appears nude.

ON THIS DAY IN:

1823 The poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement C. Moore was first published, in the Troy (N.Y.) Sentinel.

1888 - Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh arrived at House of Tolerance (brothel), asked for one Rachel, and handed her -- his ear, saying “Keep this and treasure it.” Then he disappeared. Informed of this action, which could only be that of a poor lunatic, the police went to the man’s address the next morning and found him lying in bed and giving almost no sign of life. The unfortunate was admitted to hospital as an emergency case.

1930 - An unknown actress, like so many others, arrived in Hollywood, under contract to Universal Studios. She was Ruth Elizabeth Davis. Universal changed her name for the movies. Five years later, the actress won an Academy Award for her performance in Dangerous; followed by another Oscar in 1938 for Jezebel. We remember Bette Davis. Nice eyes!

1954 - The classic movie, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, was released. The film was one of Walt Disney’s most successful. Kirk Douglas and James Mason starred.

1963 Vida Hope, British director of Sandy Wilson's The Boy Friend, dies at the age of 43.

1982 Eva LeGallienne ends her seven-decade Broadway acting career, appearing as the White Queen in a recreation of her 1932 hit, Alice in Wonderland. It runs just 21 performances at the Virginia Theatre. Kate Burton plays Alice.

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

Milla