Today's Birthdays 5/23

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 4:14pm

Douglas Fairbanks Sr. 5/23/1883 - 12/12/1939 American film actor and producer; father of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., husband of Anna Beth Sully (1907 - 1920) divorced, mother of Douglas Jr.; Sylvia Hawkes aka Lady Sylvia Ashley (1936 - 1939) his death, Mary Pickford (1920 - 1936) divorced; ; formed United Artists with Mary Pickford, D.W. Griffith & Charlie Chaplin - The Show Shop (Ned Sparks); film's The Americano, He Comes Up Smiling, The Mollycoddle, The Mark of Zorro, The Three Musketeers, Robin Hood, The Thief of Bagdad, The Black Pirate, The Gaucho

Herbert Marshall 05/23/1890 - Jan 22, 1966 performer; father of Sarah Marshall, husband of Edna Best - The Voice From the Minaret (Edmund Gwen); These Charming People (Edna Best); There's Always Juliet (Dame May Whitty); film's The Little Foxes, The Painted Veil, The Razor’s Edge, The Underworld Story, The Virgin Queen; radio serial: A Man Called X

John Payne 5/23/1912 [in Roanoke, Va., a stone's throw away from me] - 12/6/1989 performer; his great uncle wrote the song "Home Sweet Home"; studied singing at Julliard School of Music; Grandfather of actress Katharine Towne; Was the first person in Hollywood interested in making the James Bond novels into a film series. In 1955 paid a $1,000 a month option for 9 months on the Bond novel Moonraker (he eventually gave up the option when he learned he couldn't retain the rights for the entire 007 series). - Abe Lincoln in Illinois (Raymond Massey); At Home Abroad (Bea Lillie); film's Miracle on 34th Street, The Razor’s Edge, Springtime in the Rockies, Tin Pan Alley, To the Shores of Tripoli

Betty Garrett 05/23/1919 performer; Wife of Larry Parks (1944 - 1975) his death - Something for the Boys; Jackpot; orig Bells Are Ringing [replaced Holliday when JH was on vacation]; Beg, Borrow or Steal (Eddie Bracken); Spoon River Anthology (Joyce Van Patten); A Girl Could Get Lucky (Pat Hingle); The Supporting Cast (Sandy Dennis, Jack Gilford, Hope Lange, Claiborne Carey [standby]); Meet Me in St. Louis (Shauna Hicks, George Hearn, Nancy Lemenager [debut], Jason Workman [debut]); 2001 Follies; tv's & film's All in the Family; Laverne and Shirley; My Sister Eileen, On the Town, Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Jeannie Carson [Jean Shufflebottom] 05/23/1928 performer; Wife of Biff McGuire - The Sound of Music [2nd replacement for Mary Martin]; 1960 Finian's Rainbow (Anita Alvarez, Patty Austin, Robert Guillaume); Blood Red Roses

Rosemary Clooney 05/23/1928 - Jun 30, 2002 performer; cabaret performer extraordinaire; wife of José Ferrer (1953 - 1961) divorced, wife of José Ferrer (1966 - 1967) re-divorced; aunt of actor George Clooney; sister of Nick Clooney, TV news anchor - Bing Crosby on Broadway; tv's & film's White Christmas, Deep in My Heart, Red Garters, Mangos, The Rosemary Clooney Show

Barbara Barrie (aka Barbara Ann Berman) 5/23/1931 (also listed as 5/31/1931) performer; mother of Aaron Harnick; sister-in-law of Sheldon Harnick; wife of Jay Harnick (1964 - present) - The Wooden Dish (Louis Calhern, John Randolph); Happily Never After (Karen Black, Ken Krecheval); The Selling of the President (Karen Morrow, Pi Douglass, Robert Darnell, Jamie Carr, John Bentley, Rick Atwell); California Suite; 2004 Fidder on the Roof [replaced in previews]; tv's & film's Barney Miller, Backstairs at the Whitehouse, Private Benjamin, Two of a Kind

Joan Collins 05/23/1933 performer, sister of writer, Jackie Collins, appeared in Playboy at age 50; wife of Maxwell Reed (1952 - 1956) divorced; Ron Kass (1972 - 1984) divorced; 1 daughter; Peter Holm (1985 - 1987) divorced; Anthony Newley (1963 - 1971) divorced, 1 daughter and 1 son; wife of Percy Gibson (Feb 17, 2002 - present) - 1992 Private Lives; tv's & film's Dynasty, The Stud

Charles Kimbrough 05/23/1936 Husband of Beth Howland; performer - orig Company (Barbara Barrie, Dean Jones, Merle Louise, Donna McKechnie, Pamela Myers, Elaine Stritch); 1974 Love for Love (Glenn Close, Mary Beth Hurt, John McMartin); Secret Service (John Lithgow, Meryl Streep); One Night Stand [never officially opened]; Sunday in the Park with George; the recent Encores No, No Nannette; tv's Murphy Brown

Lauren Chapin 5/23/1945 performer - tv's Father Knows Best

Randy Graff 05/23/1955 performer; cousin of Todd Graff; cousin of Ilene Graff; wife of Tim Weil - Saravà (Tovah Feldshuh); Les Misérables; City of Angels; Laughter on the 23rd Floor; Moon Over Buffalo; High Society; A Class Act; 2004 Fiddler on the Roof

SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

1904 The Southerners, with a score by black composer Will Marion Cook, is the first time an entire black chorus is used in a show with a white cast. Lead Eddie Leonard appears in blackface in this musical about the antebellum South. The New York Times is more impressed by the fact the white members of the cast "mingled" with the black performers and that only some audience members trembled in their seats during the curtain call, than the production itself.

1921 Shuffle Along - Noble Sissle

1922 - Abie’s Irish Rose opened at the the Fulton Theatre in New York City. The play continued for 2,327 performances and numerous revivals as well. It is estimated that some 50,000,000 people have seen the play performed somewhere in the world.

1945 Foxhole in the Parlor with Montgomery Clift, Reginald Beane, Flora Campbell, Grace Coppin, Russell Hardie

1979 - Up in One - Peter Allen, Lenora Nemetz, Corky Hale; conceived by Peter Allen and Craig Zadan; music by Peter Allen; additional material by Bruce Vilanch; musical Director: Marc Shaiman; music arranged by Marc Shaiman; special arrangements by Marvin Hamlisch

ON THIS DAY IN:

1430 Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians, who sold her to the English.

1533 The marriage of England's King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon was declared null and void.

1906 Ibsen dies in Kristiania, NORWAY

On May 23, 1934, bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were shot to death in a police ambush as they were driving a stolen Ford Deluxe along a road in Bienville Parish, La.

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

Milla

[thatgirl712]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 4:19pm

Happy Birthday Betty Garrett and all!