Today's Birthdays 7/5

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 7/5/08 at 7:51pm

P.T. Barnum 07/05/1810 - 4/7/1891 proprietor of The P.T. Barnum Circus, politician serving several terms as a Connecticut State legislator, credited as casting the deciding factor in the senate vote for the abolition of slavery after the Civil War, source material. - Barnum (1 of my fav songs is “Love Makes Such Fools of Us All”)

A. W. Baskcomb 07/05/1880 - Jan 15, 1939 writer, source material - Domino (Rod LaRoque); I KNOW MY LOVE (Lunt & Fontaine, Betty Caulfield); Patate (Tom Ewell); A Shot In The Dark (Julie Harris, Walter Matthau, William Shatner)

Milburn Stone 07/05/1904 - Jun 12, 1980 performer - Around The Corner; Jayhawker (Ludmilla Toretzka); Doc in TV's Gunsmoke

Henry Slate 07/05/1910 - Aug 11, 1996 performer - Ballyhoo of 1930 (W.C. Fields); You Said It (w/Lyda Roberti); orig South Pacific

Mack David 07/05/1912 - Dec 30, 1993 lyricist, bro of Hal - Bright Lights of 1944; Gilbert Becaud On Broadway; Molly (Kaye Ballard, Swen Swenson)

Janos Starker 07/05/1924 Grammy Award-winning cellist Bach: Suites for Solo Cello Nos. 1–6; Grand prix du disque [France: 1948], also former 1st chair of Met Opera Orchestra, 1 of the all-time brilliant cellists.

Shirley Knight 07/05/1936 performer; mother of Kaitlin Hopkins, wife of John Hopkins (1969 - 199 his death, Gene Persson (1959 - 1969) divorced - A lovely, talented, highly promising film ingenue in the early 60s, Shirley was very vocal about her dissatisfaction with the Hollywood scene and abandoned potential film stardom for Broadway roles. She later moved to England and thrived on the London stage for a number of years before returning to Hollywood as a plus-sized character support; a Tony for Kennedy's Children; turned down Ophelia opp. Richard Burton's Hamlet; film's Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood; co-starred opp. Jason Robards in Hallmark Hall of Fame's "The Country Girl" (NBC, 1974); The Three Sisters; tv's & film's Desperate Housewives; Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood; Hawaiian Eye; Ice Palace; Desperate Housewives; Thanks to Gravity; The Other Side of the Tracks

Douglas Sills 07/05/1960 performer, Ken Labey [Pseudonym, according to NYNance: “Back in the first version of "The Scarlet Pimpernel," (SP1), the identity of the character Grappin was a surprise to the audience. (later versions showed Percy assuming his identity from the beginning.) They needed an actor to play Grappin in the program, so they created the name Ken Labey, which is an anagram of Blakeney (Percy's last name).”] - Scarlet Pimpernel ("They seek him here they seek him there, those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven, is he in hell, that demmed elusive Pimpernel?") Saw it 2X's; Little Shop of Horrors; tv's & film's Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo; The Closer; Numb3rs; Funny About Love

Edie Falco 07/05/1963 performer - 2006 2004 'night, Mother; Sideman [replacement]; Frankie & Johnny, tv's & film's The Sopranos; Fargo; Oz; Law & Order; Bullets Over Broadway; Homicide: Life on the Street; Freedomland

SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

Padlocks of 1927 - Texas Guinan, Lillian Roth

1976 It's no Mousetrap, but Agatha Christie's new mystery thriller, Murder in the Vicarage, will run an impressive 1,776 performances. Having already premiered at the West End's Savoy Theatre, the production opens today at the Fortune Theatre.

ON THIS DATE IN:

1935 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act, which authorized labor to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining.

1935 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the American National Theatre and Academy bill today, calling for a self-supporting national theatre. ANTA will get off to a slow start but will eventually be responsible for raising money for both the American Repertory Theatre and the Experimental Theatre. It will also host an annual "ANTA Album" review, highlighting the best of Broadway theatre and beyond. In August 1981 the theatre, located on Broadway, will be renamed the Virginia Theatre after the daughter of Jujamcyn founder William McKnight.

1943 - THE ADVENTURES OF NERO WOLFE debuted on NBC Blue radio network. Nero Wolfe was "the detective genius who rates the knife and fork the greatest tools ever invented by man." The 'gargantuan gourmet' continued on the air until 1951. How awful that A&E for cancelled NERO WOLFE! I still haven't gotten over it. Thank goodness 1 of the Biography channells plays repeats.

1946 The bikini made its debut during an outdoor fashion show at the Molitor Pool in Paris.

1962 Determined & aspiring playwright Lanford Wilson arrives in NYC today. Having nowhere to stay tonight, he sleeps in Central Park. Wilson will become a highly successful, Pulitzer-winning playwright, eventually immortalizing the date of his New York arrival as the title of his 1978 play, Fifth of July.

On July 5, 1975, Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win a Wimbledon singles title as he defeated Jimmy Connors.

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

Milla