Today's Birthdays 8/11

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 9:58pm

Joseph Webber 08/11/1867 - May 10, 1942 performer, producer - Weber of WEBER & FIELDS comedy team; Radio City Music Hall Inaugural Program

Helen Broderick 08/11/1891 - Sep 25, 1959 performer, Broderick Crawford's mom, wonderful character actress - 50 MILLION FRENCHMEN (Genevieve Tobin); orig BAND WAGON (Fred & Adele Astaire, Frank Morgan); AS THOUSANDS CHEER; film's TOP HAT; SWING TIME; NO, NO NANETTE; began the delightful HILDEGARD WITHERS murder mystery series MURDER ON A BRIDLE PATH (later taken over by Dame Edna May Oliver)

Lloyd Nolan 8/11/1902 - Sep 27, 1985 performer - Cape Cod Follies; Gentlewoman (Stella Adler, Morris Carnovsky, Russell Collins); orig The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (Henry Fonda, John Hodiak); One More River; tv's & film's Emmy Award-winning actor: The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial [1955]; Airport, Hannah and Her Sisters, Earthquake, Ice Station Zebra, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Peyton Place, Julia, Martin Kane, Private Eye

Jean Parker [Lois May Green] 08/11/1915 - 11/30/05 performer - LOCO (Elaine Stritch); orig. BORN YESTERDAY (replacement); film's 1933 LITTLE WOMEN; Apache Uprising, The Gunfighter, The Texas Rangers; 1943 The Deerslayer

Mike Douglas (Michael Dowd) 8/11/1925 - talk show host - tv's, film's & radio's THE MIKE DOUGLAS SHOW (saw many wonderful Broaday & film stars on his show); Gator; Birds of Prey; The Music Show, Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge; Dubbed the speaking voice of Prince Charming in Cinderella (1950) in the 50s.

Arlene Dahl 08/11/1928 performer, Wife of Fernando Lamas (1954 - 1960) divorced; Lorenzo's mom - APPLAUSE (replacement); tv's & film's 3 LITTLE WORDS; Night of the Warrior; 1 Life to Live

Jerzy Grotowski 8/11/1933 - 1/14/1999 avant garde Polish director, whose techniques will enjoy a great vogue in the 1960s after publication of his book, "Towards a Poor Theatre."

Anna Massey 08/11/1937 performer, daughter of Raymond Massey & Adrianne Allen, sis to Daniel, & Jeremy Brett's ex - THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANE (Adrianne Allen, John Merivale, Brenda Forbes, dir'd Cyril Ritchard); film's A Little Romance; FRENZY; ANNA KARENINA; BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING; 2002 The Importance of Being Earnest; Angels & Insects; The Gigolos

Kenneth Gamble 08/11/1943 Composer, Lyricist - STREET CORNER SYMPHONY; tv's & film's Soul Train; Dead Presidents; Bridget Jones's Diary40 Days and 40 Nights; 2005 The Honeymooners

Ian McDiarmid 8/11/1944 performer - 2006 The Faith Healer; tv's & film's 2005 Queen Elizabeth; An Unsuitable Job for a Woman; The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles; Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi; Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones; 1997 Rebecca

Cordelia González 08/11/1958 performer - SERIOUS MONEY (Alec Baldwin, Kate Nelligan); tv's & film's Homeboy; Law & Order; The Mambo Kings; Wuthering Heights

SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

1924 Raunchy songstress Sophie Tucker opens at the Palace.

ON THIS DATE IN:

1932- President Herbert Hoover concedes that prohibition...the banning of alcohol, introduced in 1919...should be abolished.

1956 Abstract artist Jackson Pollock died in an automobile accident in East Hampton, N.Y.

1965 - Thirty-four people died, more than 3,000 were arrested and there was over $40 million in damage to property in the Watts area of Los Angeles. All of this was the result of a six-day riot which began on this day, and was caused by a minor confrontation between the California Highway Patrol and two young black men.

1971 - Republican New York mayor John Lindsay had a change of political heart as he made the switch from the GOP to the Democratic Party.

1984 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan was preparing for his weekly radio broadcast when, during testing of the microphone, the President said of the Soviet Union, “...I have signed legislation that will outlaw Russia. We begin bombing in five minutes.“ The remark was made during a time when technicians had the microphone open and the President didn’t think he was being heard. He was just jesting as he was testing. Funny, actually, that this could happen to ‘Dutch’ Reagan -- a former radio sportscaster for WHO in Des Moines, Iowa and other radio stations -- not to mention TV and film. The remark, literally, bombed ... though nothing more serious happened.

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

Milla