Today's Birthdays 6/4

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 10:34pm

George III 6/4/1738 - 1/29/1820 King of Great Britain and Ireland (1760-1820) source mat'l - The Madness of King George

Gertrude Lawrence 07/04/1898 - 9/6/1952 performer, wife of Francis Gordon-Howley (1924 - 1927) divorced, Richard Aldrich (1940 - 1952) her death - Andre Charlot's Revue of 1924; Oh Kay!; Private Lives; Lady in the Dark; The King & I

Rosalind Russell 6/4/1907 - 11/28/1976 performer - Garrick Gaieties; Wonderful Town; Auntie Mame; film's My Sister Eileen, Sister Kenny, Auntie Mame, Mourning Becomes Electra, China Seas, Picnic, Gypsy, my fave His Girl Friday

Robert Merrill [Moishe Miller] 6/4/1919 - 10/22/2004 Metropolitan Opera singing star; film Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick ["After 'Aaron Slick' was released in April 1952, it had the peculiar distinction of filling box offices from coast to coast with patrons demanding refunds," Merrill wrote in his autobiography. "The film continues to bedevil me on late, late television. Half the Met chorus and many of the soloists blame me for keeping them up late, but they swear they enjoy it."] Merrill ended his career one of the most beloved singers of his time. Part of this was due to Merrill's personal warmth and decency. He seems to have been a genuinely nice man -- a courteous colleague, a supportive mentor, a funny and unpretentious dinner companion.

Dennis Weaver 6/4/1924 - Feb 24, 2006 performer - Come Back, Little Sheba [u/s]; Out West of Eighth (Barbara Baxley); tv's Gunsmoke, McCloud, Gentle Ben, Disaster at Silo 7, Lonesome Dove: The Series

Bruce Dern 6/4/1936 - performer, husband of Diane Ladd (1960 - 1969) divorced - Sweet Bird of Youth; Strangers; film's Black Sunday, Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Coming Home, The ’Burbs, They Shoot Horses Don’t They?, Middle Age Crazy

Michelle Phillips 6/4/1944 - performer, group: The Mamas and the Papas - film's & tv's The Last Movie, Dillinger, Knot’s Landing

Parker Stevenson 6/4/1952 performer - tv's The Hardy Boys Mysteries, Baywatch, Melrose Place, Falcon Crest

Bill Nolte 06/04/1953 performer - The Secret Garden; Jane Eyre; Amour

Keith David 6/4/1954 performer; 2007 Back Stage Bistro Award Winner; Enrolled in New York's High School of the Performing Arts & studied with Broadway performer Judd Jones. Continued his studies at Juilliard. After graduation he was hired as an understudy for Tullus Aufidius in William Shakespeare's "Coriolanus". In 1992 he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for his role in the Broadway play "Jelly's Last Jam". Following the 1986 film Platoon, Charlie Sheen - who starred in the films - did a TV interview and credits Keith David with saving his life. While shooting dailies in an open doored Huey gunship, the helicopter banked too hard and Sheen was thrown towards - and would have gone through - the open door. Keith David grabbed Sheen by the back and pulled him back in. - The Lady from Dubuque (Irene Worth); Jelly's Last Jam; 1994 Hedda Gabler; Seven Guitars; Hot Feet; film's Dead Presidents, The Quick and the Dead, The Last Outlaw, Final Analysis, Men at Work, Always, Bird, Platoon, The Thing; Barbershop

Mary Testa 06/04/1955 performer - Marilyn; Marie Christine; 2001 42nd St.; Xanadu

Sam Harris 06/04/1961 performer - The Life; The Producers [replacement]

Cecilia Bartoli 6/4/1966 - (mezzo-soprano: Rossina [Il barbiere di Siviglia], title role of La Cenerentola, Zerlina [Don Giovanni], Despina and Dorabella [Cosi fan tutte], Susanna and Cherubino [Le nozze fi Figaro], Euridice and Genio in Haydn's Orfeo ed Euridice; in films: Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Mozart: Requiem, La Cenerentola, Così fan tutte)

SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

1930 Garrick Gaities

1973 Uncle Vanya with Julie Christie, Conrad Bain, Lillian Gish, George C. Scott and Nicol Williamson

ON THIS DAY IN:

1896 Henry Ford made a successful pre-dawn test run of his horseless carriage, called a quadricycle, through the streets of Detroit.

1940 The Allies completed the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk, France.

1942 The Battle of Midway began during World War II.

1968 Stage and screen actress Dorothy Gish dies today in Rapallo, Italy. Her first New York stage appearance was in 1903 in East Lynne. She began her film career in 1912, but resumed her stage career in 1928. She was 70 years old.

1989 - Democracy took a hard blow this day in Peking as the People’s Army of China opened fire on crowds of demonstrators. What began as a student demonstration on behalf of democracy a month and a half earlier, had become a demonstration of hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life defying the government ban on the students’ action. Armored tanks of the People’s Army literally rolled over demonstrators as the world watched in horror as the tragedy unfolded on live TV. The government issued statements claiming that only a few had died. Other estimates of the deaths in Tiananmen Square ranged from hundreds to several thousand. There is no contradiction of the fact that thousands of demonstrators were later jailed. I will never forget watching the protestor climb on the tank & put flowers in the cannon.

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

Milla

Updated On: 6/5/07 at 10:34 PM

[jewishboy]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 10:52pm

Happy Birthday Roz!! Your the Aunt I always wish I had and Auntie Mame is the person I want to become!!!

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 10:58pm

Why did Robert Merrill change his name from Moishe Miller?

Happy Birthday Ms Testa.

[BwayLover]

Posted: 6/4/07 at 7:10am

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Michelle Phillips, the only living member of The Mamas and Papas! Long may you live and shine!

[broadwayjoe476]

Posted: 6/4/07 at 7:16am

It's my 21st also! Any takers on getting me drunk??.....to late, already there =-)

Happy Birthday Everyone

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 6/4/07 at 3:18pm

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