Today's Birthdays 5/27

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 5/27/04 at 1:25pm

Amelia Bloomer 5/27/1818 - 12/30/1894 women’s rights advocate; newspaper publisher: The Lily; social reformer; led cause for more sensible dress for women: bloomer panties named after her

Wild Bill Hickok 5/27/1837 - 8/2/1876 U.S. Marshall, frontiersman, army scout, gambler, legendary marksman, source mat'l; shot [from behind] and killed while playing poker holding a pair of aces and a pair of eights [known since as the ‘dead man’s hand’]; tv's The Adventures of Bill Hickock, starring Guy Madison - loved this show!

Lucile Watson 05/27/1879 - Jun 24, 1962 performer - 1926 The Importance of Being Earnest (Patricia Collinge, Reginald Owen); orig Pride and Prejudice (Adrianne Allen, Brenda Forbes, Colin Keith-Johnston); Late Love (Frank Albertson, Elizabeth Montgomery, Arlene Francis, Cliff Robertson); film's 1949 Little Women; The Thin Man Goes Home; A Rage in Heaven; Mr. & Mrs. Smith; Waterloo Bridge; The Women; Made For Eachother; Sweethearts; 3 Smart Girls

Dashiell Hammett 5/27/1894 - 1/10/1961 American novelist, source mat'l, Husband of Lillian Hellman (? - ?) - Nick & Nora; film's The Maltese Falcon, The Thin Man, The Glass Key, Red Harvest, The Dain Curse

Rachel Carson May 27, 1907 - April 14, 1964 American biologist whose books helped inspire the environmental movement

Harold J. Rome 05/27/1908 - Oct 26, 1993 composer, lyricist - Pins and Needles; Sing Out The News; Gratefully Yours; Let Freedom Sing; Ziegfeld Follies of 1943; Call Me Mister; Alive and Kicking; Bless You All; Wish You Were Here; Fanny; Destry Rides Again; I Can Get It for You Wholesale; The Zulu and the Zayda; La Grosse Valise

Vincent Price 05/27/1911 - Oct 25, 1993 painter, performer; husband of Mary Grant (1949 - 1973) divorced, Edith Barrett (1938 - 194, divorced, Coral Browne (1974 - 1991) her death - Victoria Regina; The Shoemakers' Holiday (Joseph Cotten, Norman Lloyd); Angel Street (Leo G. Carroll); Black-Eyed Susan (Dana Wynter, Kay Medford, Everett Sloan); Darling of the Day (Patricia Routledge); Diversions and Delights; film's Edward Scissorhands, House of Wax, The Raven, Laura, The Three Musketeers, Twice-told Tales; recording: Thriller [w/Michael Jackson]; author: cookbooks

Herman Wouk 5/27/1915 Novelist - book's, tv's & film's The Winds of War, Marjorie Morningstar (I loved Natalie Wood & Gene Kelly in the film)

Christopher Lee 5/27/1922 performer - tv's & film's Dracula, The Mummy, The Far Pavilions

Lee Meriwether 5/27/1935 Miss America [1955], performer - tv's Barnaby Jones, Batman

Louis Gossett Jr. 5/27/1936 performer - The Desk Set (Shirley Booth, Doris Roberts); orig A Raisin in the Sun; Golden Boy; My Sweet Charlie (John Randolph, Bonnie Bedelia); Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights (Diane Ladd, Cicely Tyson); Murderous Angels (Jean-Pierre Aumont); 1996 Chicago [replacement]; tv's & film's Academy Award-winning actor: An Officer and a Gentleman [1982]; Emmy Award winner: Roots-Part Two [1977]; Sadat, Enemy Mine, Iron Eagle series

Bruce Weitz 05/27/1943 performer; Husband of Cecilia Hart (1970 - 1980) divorced - 1975 Death of a Salesman (Geo. C. Scott); tv's Hill Street Blues; Death of a Centerfold, The Liar’s Club, The O.J. Simpson Story, Molly and Gina

SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

1953 John Mills is The Uninvited Guest at London's St. James's Theatre. Written by his wife, Mary Hayley Bell, and co-starring Cathleen Nesbitt and Joan Greenwood, this story of a man returning home after 20 years in a mental institution will play just 21 performances.

Something's Afoot 05/27/1976 - Somebody please do this show ... Encores, York, Musicals Tonight! Starred Tessie O'Shea, Neva Small, Gary Beach. My dear friend Ed Linderman ("Broadway Juke Box") wrote music for this show.

1982 Well, the title was catchy: Do Black Patent Shoes Really Reflect Up?, but this musical by John R. Powers (book), James Quinn & Alaric Jans (score) shone for only five performances at the Alvin Theatre.

1984 Holly Hunter is crowned a winner in The Miss Firecracker Contest at Off-Broadway's Manhattan Theatre Club. The play, opening tonight, tells of a small-town family that becomes wrapped up in winning a beauty pageant. Stephen Tobolowsky directs. Actress Hunter will also star in the 1989 film version.

1998 Austin Pendleton directs a new Tom Stoppard translation of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, which opens Off-Broadway at Theatre Four. The cast includes Angie Phillips, Mark Blum, Maria Tucci and Greg Naughton.

2003 After being developed at regional theatres, Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife has its Off-Broadway premiere at Playwrights Horizons. It will go on to win the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

ON THIS DAY IN:

1647 The first recorded American execution of a 'witch' took place in Massachusetts.

1941 The German battleship Bismarck sank off France, with a loss of 2,300 lives.

1995 Actor Christopher Reeve was paralyzed when he was thrown from his horse during a jumping event in Charlottesville, Va.

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

Milla
Updated On: 5/26/05 at 01:25 PM

Posted: 5/27/04 at 2:01pm

Me :)