Today's Birthdays 7/15

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 4:18pm

Rembrandt Van Rijn 07/15/1606 - 10/4/1669 artist; 300 etchings, 1,400 drawings, 600 paintings: The Night Watch, Man with a Magnifying Glass, The Anatomy Lesson of Professor Tulp, Descent from the Cross, Rape of Ganymede

Dorothy Fields 07/15/1905 - Mar 28, 1974 lyricist/book writer, daughter of Lew M. Fields, sister of Herbert & Joseph Fields; just goes to show ya, you can't keep a good girl down, despite pop's discouragement – I wish I had the space & time to do this lady justice, IMHO she stands toe to toe w/Berlin, Porter, Hammerstein, Hart & Coward. Among her numerous credits over six decades from the 1920s to the 1970s: Blackbirds of 1928, Let's Face It! (book), Annie Get Your Gun (book), Redhead (book and lyrics), Sweet Charity (lyrics) and Seesaw (lyrics). She was nominated for three Tony Awards and won one, for her work on Redhead.

Murvyn Vye 07/15/1913 - Aug 17, 1976 performer – orig. Jigger in CAROUSEL; The Number (Martha Scott)

Joan Roberts 07/15/1918 performer – orig. Laurey in CAROUSEL; 2001 Follies; tv's & film's Barnaby Jones; Emergency; Lovely to Look At

Albert Popwell 07/15/1926 - Apr 9, 1999 performer – orig. BEGGAR’S HOLIDAY (Alfred Drake, Zero Mostel, Dorothy Johnson, Malka Farber, Doris Goodwin); THE BODY BEAUTIFUL; HOUSE OF FLOWERS; Golden Boy

Lee Wallace 07/15/1930 Husband of Marilyn Chris (December 14, 1975 - present), performer – MOLLY (Kaye Ballard, Connie Day, Bob Heath); THE CEMETERY CLUB

Joanna Merlin 07/15/1931 performer, casting - origs Into The Woods; A Doll's Life (musical); Pacific Overtures; On the 20th Century; Follies; Sweeney Todd; Company; Merrily We Roll Along; Evita; orig. Fiddler on the Roof

Julian Bream 7/15/1933 fabulously incredible musician: classical guitar, lute

Ken Kercheval 07/15/1935 performer – SOMETHING ABOUT A SOLDIER (Kevin McCarthy, Sal Mineo, Ralph Meeker); FATHER’S DAY (Biff McGuire, Marian Seldes, Donald Moffat, Brenda Vaccaro, Jennifer Salt); HERE’S WHERE I BELONG (Graciela Daniele, Darrell Askey, Bud Fleming); tv’s DALLAS, Search for Tomorrow

Linda Ronstadt 07/15/1946 performer, can it be that she’s 60!? – PIRATES OF PENZANCE; CANCIONES DE ME PADRE (even if I hated her singing, which I don’t, I’d have to love her musical taste cause she idolizes Maria Callas.); member of The Stone Poneys, songs "You’re No Good," "When Will I Be Loved?"

Forest Whitaker 07/15/1961 performer, director; The athletically-inclined Whitaker initially found his way into college via a football scholarship. Later, however, he transferred to USC where he set his concentration on music and earned two more scholarships training as an operatic tenor. This, in turn, led to another scholarship at Berkeley with a renewed focus on acting and the performing stage. Can't we find something for him to star in on Broadway? – tv's & film's The Shield; Phenomenon, Ready to Wear, The Enemy Within, Body Snatchers, Jason’s Lyric, The Crying Game, Bird, Good Morning Vietnam, Platoon, The Color of Money, Fast Times at Ridgemont High; director: Waiting to Exhale, Strapped

Laura Benanti 07/15/1979 performer – 2003 NINE; 2004 VIOLET HOUR [Was replaced in rehearsals]; The Wedding Singer; Gypsy

SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

The All-Star Idlers of 1921 with Ed Wynn and Ned Sparks

1949 Miss Liberty – 1 of Berlin’s less popular shows. Starred Eddie Albert (I love this guy); Maria Karnilova, Charles Dingle). It's about the sculptor who created the Statue of Liberty. Despite direction by Moss Hart and choreography by Jerome Robbins, the show will run a disappointing 308 performances, but will produce a modest hit tune in "Let's Take an Old-Fashioned Walk."

1982 Nathan Lane makes his Broadway debut today opposite George C. Scott in a revival of Noel Coward's Present Laughter. Also in the blessed cast are other future stars Christine Lahti, Kate Burton and Dana Ivey.

ON THIS DAY IN:

1937 Though it has been moribund for several years, Vaudeville is officially declared dead today, as Variety merges its "vaudeville" and "nite clubs" sections for the first time ever. The entertainment newspaper explains that "the vaudeville department has lately been particularly difficult to fill up."

1981 News stories around the world today state that businessman and sometimes-theatrical producer Claus Von Bulow has been accused of attempting to murder his wife. Reads the Variety headline about the incident: "Von Bulow, B'way Angel, Accused of Attempting to Murder His Wife." Von Bulow was a major investor in the Broadway productions of Deathtrap and Wings. Almost a decade later, Jeremy Irons will win an Academy Award for his portrayal of Von Bulow in Barbet Schroeder's film based on the case, titled "Reversal of Fortune."

1997 - Fashion designer Gianni Versace was shot to death on the steps of his mansion in Miami Beach, Florida. Police believe Andrew Phillip Cunanan shot Versace. Cunanan committed suicide a week later on a houseboat about two miles north of the Versace mansion. Cunanan is suspected of killing four other men in a cross-country shooting spree. Has it been 9 years!

(sources: IBDB, IMDB, NYT On This Day, & 440.com’s Those Were The Days)

Milla