Today's Birthdays 7/28

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 7/28/04 at 10:59am

Beatrix (Helen) Potter 07/28/1866 - 12/22/1943 writer - PETER RABBIT books

Richard "Skeets" Gallagher 07/28/1891 - May 22, 1955 performer - LUCKY (Ruby Keeler)

Joe E. Brown 07/28/1892 - 7/6/1973 performer - JIM JAM JEMS (Frank Fay, Ned Sparks); film's It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Around the World in 80 Days, Show Boat, Some like It Hot ("Nobody's perfect!")

Rudy Vallee 07/28/1901 - 7/3/1986 performer, band leader, the 1st person to ever receive a singing telegram (it was his 32nd birthday) - GEO WHITE SCANDALS 1931 (Ray Bolger, Ethel Merman) & 1935 (Bert Lahr); HOW TO SUCCEED IN BIZ

Brenda De Banzie 07/28/1915 - Mar 5, 1981 performer - SPEAKING OF MURDER (Lorne Greene, Estelle Winwood); THE ENTERTAINER (Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, Peter Donat)

David Brown 07/28/1916 producer - A FEW GOOD MEN; TRU; SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS; film's JAWS; STING; CHOCOLAT

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis 07/28/1929 - 5/19/1994 First Lady: wife of 35th U.S. President John F. Kennedy; wife of Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis; editor: Doubleday Publishing - truly, grace under fire. IMHO the most philanthropic 1st Lady & supporter of the arts. "Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot. . . There'll never be another Camelot again."

Darryl Hickman 07/28/1931 performer, Dwayne Hickman's brother - orig. HOW TO SUCCEED IN BIZ (replacement); films LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN; TEA & SYMPATHY; TINGLER; tv's THE MANY LOVES OF DOBIE GILLIS

Jacques d'Amboise 07/28/1934 performer father of Charlotte & Christopher, partner to Suzanne Farrell at NYC Ballet - SHINBONE ALLEY (Eddie Bracken, Eartha Kitt, Reri Grist)

Philip Proctor 07/28/1940 performer - A TIME FOR SINGING (George Hearn, Tessie O'Shea)

Sally Struthers 7/28/1948 performer - tv's Emmy Award-winning actress: All in the Family [1971-72, 1978]; Five Easy Pieces, The Odd Couple; promoter of the Christian Children’s Fund

Georgia Engel 07/28/1948 performer - 2002 BOYS FR SYRACUSE; tv's The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Betty White Show, Goodtime Girls, Jennifer Slept Here, Coach; EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND

Michael Hayden 07/28/1963 performer - JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG; ENCHANTED APRIL

Elizabeth Berkley 07/28/1972 performer - Sly Fox

Happy Birthday to seeseveryshow - make it a magical day!

SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

1920 Two of Broadway's greatest talents make their mainstem debuts today: lyricst Lorenz Hart, age 25, and composer Richard Rodgers, age 18, open their first musical, Poor Little Ritz Girl, at the Central Theatre.

1998 An Evening With Jerry Herman opens at Broadway's Booth Theatre. Featuring the composer himself, along with Florence Lacey and Lee Roy Reams, this musical revue highlights some of Herman's greatest songs from his musicals, both hits (Hello, Dolly!, Mame, La Cage Aux Folles) and flops (Mack and Mabel and Dear World). After failing to find an audience during the slow summer months, however, the show will be forced to close in late August, about a month earlier than originally announced.

ON THIS DAY:

1540 King Henry VIII's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, was executed. The same day, Henry married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard.

1750 Composer Johann Sebastian Bach died in Leipzig, Germany.

1794 Maximilien Robespierre, a leading figure of the French Revolution, was sent to the guillotine.

1939 - Judy Garland sang one of the most famous songs of the century with the Victor Young Orchestra. The tune became her signature song and will forever be associated with the singer-actress. Garland recorded Over the Rainbow for Decca Records. It was the musical highlight of the film, The Wizard of Oz.

1969 Broadway composer Frank Loesser dies today at age 59. First a Hollywood lyricist, Loesser began to write his own music in 1942. He's remembered for his wide variety of musical styles displayed in the five musicals he composed for Broadway: Where's Charley?, Guys And Dolls, The Most Happy Fella, Greenwillow, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Among the most enduring songs written by Loesser are such Broadway and popular standards as "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat," "Standing on the Corner," and "I Believe in You."

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

Milla Updated On: 7/28/04 at 10:59 AM