Today's Birthdays 8/9

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 8/9/04 at 10:53am

Nat Pendleton 08/09/1895 - Oct 12, 1967 performer, Olympic Silver Medal for wrestling, 1924 World Wrestling Champion - My Girl Friday; THE GREY FOX (Edward Arnold, Geo. Tobias); film's AT THE CIRCUS; LADY FOR A DAY; NORTHWEST PASSAGE

Paul Kelly 08/09/1899 - Nov 6, 1956 performer - THE COUNTRY GIRL (Uta Hagen, Steven Hill); film's THE ROARING 20'S

Edwin Gifford 08/09/1924 Producer, Performer, Press - THE SELLING OF THE PRESIDENT (Barbara Barrie, Richard Goode, Karen Morrow); GODSPELL

Robert Shaw 08/09/1927 - 8/28/1978 performer; husband of Jennifer Bourke (1952 - ?), Virginia Jansen (1976 - 197 his death, Mary Ure (1963 - 1975) her death - GANTRY (Rita Moreno, Beth Fowler); OLD TIMES (Rosemary Harris); The Man in the Glass Booth (F. Murray Abraham, Donald Pleasance, Abe Vigoda); The Caretaker (Alan Bates); Count Me In [a musical revue](Jean Arthur, Charles Butterworth, Gower Champion); The Physicists (Tandy & Cronyn, Doris Rich, Francis Heflin); film's A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS; JAWS; Battle of the Bulge, Black Sunday, The Deep, Force 10 from Navarone, From Russia with Love

Dick Anthony Williams 08/09/1938 performer - We Interrupt This Program... (Miller Lide, Brandon Maggart); WHAT THE WINE-SELLERS BUY (Marilyn Coleman, Sonny Jim Gaines)

Melanie Griffith 08/09/1957 performer, daughter of Tippi Hedren & dir. Peter Griffith, wife of Antonio Banderas (1996 - present), Don Johnson (1976 - 1976) divorced; (1989 - 1996) divorced, Steven Bauer (1980 - 1987) divorced - CHICAGO (replacement); film's WORKING GIRL; Night Moves, Smile, A Stranger Among Us, Born Yesterday, Mulholland Falls, Lolita [1997], Crazy in Alabama

Brandon Espinoza 08/09/1982 performer - BIG; 2003 GYPSY

SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

2000 It wasn't the ballpark, but there was a rain delay for The Public Theater's Central Park production of Julius Caesar which was scheduled to begin performances yesterday. The Bard classic stars Dennis Boutsikaris as Cassius, Jeffrey Wright as Antony, Jamey Sheridan as Brutus and David McCallum as Caesar. It begins previews today and will officially open Aug. 20 for a run through Sept. 3. Barry Edelstein is the director.

2003 Oscar-winner Julie Andrews makes her directing debut at Long Island's Bay Street Theatre with a revival of The Boy Friend, the musical with which she made her Broadway debut in 1954. Meredith Patterson will plays Andrews' role (Polly).

ON THIS DAY IN:

1854 Henry David Thoreau published "Walden," which described his experiences living near Walden Pond in Massachusetts.

1945 - ‘Fat Man’, a plutonium bomb carried by the U.S.A. B-29 bomber, Bock’s Car, was scheduled to be dropped on the Japanese city of Kokura. It was three days after the U.S. had dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The weather made visibility poor, so the aircraft passed Kokura and chose its secondary target, Nagasaki. Fat Man destroyed over half of Nagasaki and killed more than 70,000 people. This was the end of World War II. Japan surrendered unconditionally the following day.

1967 Playwright Joe Orton is found dead today in his London flat. Also found dead is his companion, writer and actor Kenneth Halliwell. It appears that Halliwell murdered the Loot playwright and then killed himself.

1969 - Cult leader Charles Manson and his disciples committed one of Los Angeles’ most heinous crimes. They entered the home of movie director Roman Polanski and brutally murdered Polanski’s wife (actress Sharon Tate), movie director Voityck Frykowski, famous hair stylist Jay Sebring, student Steven Parent and coffee heiress Abigail Folger.

1974 - At noon on this day, U.S. President Richard Nixon’s resignation was official. Mr. Nixon, the subject of the Watergate scandal, had been facing possible impeachment. The previous evening he had given a speech to the American people announcing his resignation. He was the first U.S. President to resign.

2002 Final farewell to musical director, orchestrator, arranger and composer Peter Matz, who died today at age 73; and actor Don Chastain (Floyd Collins) who died at 66.

2003 Tap-dancing actor-singer Gregory Hines, recognized as part of a rich tradition of African-American tap masters, dies today of cancer at age 57. He peformed with his brother Maurice for several years (including in the musical, Eubie!) before they took separate paths. Gregory Hines won the 1992 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for Jelly's Last Jam, for which he was also nominated for a Best Choreography. Hines was nominated for Tonys for Best Actor in a Musical in 1980 and 1981, respectively, for Comin' Uptown and Sophisticated Ladies 1981. He was also nominated in 1979 for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Eubie!. His films included The Cotton Club, Tap, White Nights and Mel Brooks' History of the World, Part 1.

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

Milla Updated On: 8/9/04 at 10:53 AM