Today's Birthdays 12/30

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 12/30/03 at 8:53pm

Asa Griggs Candler 12/30/1851 - 3/12/1929 American developer of Coca-Cola, source mat'l

Rudyard Kipling 12/30/1865 - 1/18/1936 born in Bombay, India; source mat'l, novelist, short story author, poet: Nobel Prize for Literature [1907]; The Jungle Book, Captains Courageous, Wee Willie Winkie and other Stories, Gunga Din; The Light That Failed (C. Aubrey Smith)

Alfred Einstein 12/30/1880 - 2/13/1952 German-born American musicologist and critic, source mat'l

Sir Carol Reed 12/30/1906 - 4/25/1976 English film director - Odd Man Out; Oliver; my favs: The Fallen Idol & The Third Man

Jo Van Fleet 12/30/1914 - 6/10/1996 performer - tv's & film's Academy Award-winning actress: East of Eden [1955]; The Rose Tattoo, Cool Hand Luke, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Cinderella

Jack Lord 12/30/1920 - Jan 21, 1998 performer - The Traveling Lady; tv's & film's Hawaii Five-O, Stoney Burke, God’s Little Acre, Dr. No, The Doomsday Flight

Joseph Bologna Writer, Director, Performer, Husband of Renée Taylor (August 6, 1965 - present) - Lovers and Other Strangers (Mary Louise Wilson, Dick Van Patton, Renee Taylor); It Had to Be You; If you ever leave me...I'm going with you!; tv's & film's Emmy Award-winning writer: Acts of Love -- And Other Comedies [ABC, 1972-73]; Lovers and Other Strangers; actor: Danger of Love, Revenge of the Nerds 4: Nerds in Love, Citizen Cohn, Blame It on Rio, My Favorite Year, Torn Between Two Lovers, The Big Bus, Honor Thy Father, Cops and Robbers, Top of the Heap, Rags to Riches

Russ Tamblyn 12/30j/1934 performer - tv's & film's Twin Peaks, Cabin Boy, The Last Movie, How the West was Won, West Side Story, Cimarron, Peyton Place, Don’t Go Near the Water, Hit the Deck, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Father of the Bride, tom thumb

Michael Nesmith 12/30/1942 - performer tv's The Monkees; movie producer: Repo Man, Elephant Parts: the first Grammy-winning video

Davy Jones 12/30/1945 performer - orig Oliver! (Bruce Prochnik, Georgia Brown); UK version: Godspell; tv's The Monkees

Patricia Kalember 12/30/1956 performer, wife of Daniel Gerroll (1986 - present), Mark Torres (divorced) - The Nerd; Short Talks on the Universe (Mark Hamill, Peter Riegert, Pamela Blair); Short Talks on the Universe (Ellen Barkin, Alec Baldwin)

Tracey Ullman 12/30/1959 performer, wife of Allan McKeown (1983 - present) - The Big Love; played Kate to Morgan Freeman's Petruchio in "Taming of the Shrew" in Central Park in 1990.

Karen Culliver 12/30/1959 performer - 1983 Show Boat; Meet Me in St. Louis (Betty Garrett, Geo. Hearn, Donna Kane [debut], Shauna Hicks, Jason Workman [debut])

SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

1907 In The Comet Alla Nazimova plays a woman who falls in love with her former lover's son, who eventually kills himself. This first play for Owen Johnson will run for seven weeks.

1926 Chicago, Maurine Dallas Watkins' tale of a fast-living woman who shoots her husband will run at the Music Box Theatre for 22 weeks. George Abbott and Francine Larrimore are in the cast. Forty-nine years later Bob Fosse will set this story to the music of Kander and Ebb. In 1996 the newest incarnation began its smash run.

1942 - Frank Sinatra opened at New York’s Paramount Theatre for what was scheduled to be a 4-week engagement (his shows turned out to be so popular that he was booked for an additional 4 weeks). An estimated 400 policemen were called out to help curb the excitement. It is said that some of the teenage girls were hired to scream, but many more screamed for free. Sinatra was dubbed ‘The Sultan of Swoon’, ‘The Voice that Thrills Millions’, and just ‘The Voice’. Whatever he was, it was at this Paramount Theatre engagement that modern pop hysteria was born.

1948 Alfred Drake and Patricia Morison brush up their Shakespeare in Kiss Me Kate, Cole Porter's musical, opening at the New Century Theatre. Cole Porter composed the music for the classic play that was adapted from Shakespeare’s comedy, The Taming of the Shrew. Songs included "Wunderbar," "I Hate Men," "Bianca," "Always True To You (In My Fashion)" and "Too Darn Hot." A smash revival of Kate opened November 18th at Broadway's Martin Beck Theatre, with Brian Stokes Mitchell and Marin Mazzie leading the cast.

1953 The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker knows the geography of Pennsylvania well; he keeps one family in Wilmington and one in Philadelphia. Burgess Meredith plays the well-traveled man in this Liam O'Brien work.

1954 - Pearl Bailey opened on Broadway in the play, House of Flowers, about two madams with rival bordellos. Diahann Carroll was also cast in the play, written by Truman Capote. Harold Arlen provided the musical score.

The Royal Family 12/30/1975 - Rosemary Harris, Geo. Grizzard, Eva Le Gallienne, Sam Levene, Miller Lide [good friend, wonderful dielectition & coach]

ON THIS DAY IN:

1903 About 600 people died when fire broke out at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago.

1970 - Paul McCartney sued the other three Beatles to dissolve the partnership and gain control of his interest. The suit touched off a bitter feud between McCartney and the others, especially his cowriter on many of the Beatles compositions, John Lennon. The partnership officially came to end in 1974.

1980 Richard Rodgers, who collaborated with Lorenz Hart on such shows as Babes in Arms, The Boys From Syracuse, and Pal Joey, and with Oscar Hammerstein II on shows including Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, and The King and I, dies today.

1980 - The longest-running series in prime-time television history was canceled this day by NBC. The Wonderful World of Disney was axed after more than 25 years on the tube. I still miss this show!

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

Milla Updated On: 12/30/03 at 08:53 PM