Today's Birthdays 5/10

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 5/10/07 at 7:30pm

John Wilkes Booth 05/10/1838 - 4/26/1865 perhaps the most infamous actor in American history, is born today. The son of actor Junius Brutus Booth, and brother of actors Junius Brutus Booth Jr. and Edwin Booth, he will appear on Broadway with his brothers in a special November 1864 production of Shakespeare's assassination tragedy, Julius Caesar with Edwin as Brutus, Junius as Cassius and John as Marc Anthony. Five months later, John will assassinate President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre. In 1991, he will become a character in the musical, Assassins.

Max Steiner 05/10/1888 - Dec 28, 1971 pianist, composer; studied w/Brahms & Mahler - film's Gone With The Wind; Cimarron; The Letter; Now Voyager; Casablanca; Since You Went Away; Mildred Pierce; The Big Sleep; Life With Father; The Treasure of the Sierra Madre; The Searchers

Dimitri Tiomkin 05/10/1899 - Nov 11, 1979 Producer, composer. Gave the first European performance of Gershwin's Piano Concerto in Paris - Keeping Expenses Down; tv's & film's Rawhide; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; Lost Horizon; Dial M For Murder; orig The Alamo; High Noon; Gunfight at the OK Coral; The Corsican Brothers; It's a Wonderful Life; Friendly Persuasion; The Sundowners; The Old Man and the Sea

Fred Astaire 5/10/1899 - 6/22/1987 Along with his sister Adele, who was two years older, they became a popular vaudeville act and would later be featured in such shows as Lady, Be Good, and Funny Face. After Adele retired, Fred appeared opposite Claire Luce in Gay Divorce in 1932. This would be his last Broadway appearance. Fred moved on to Hollywood. my fav film's Shall We Dance; Top Hat; The Bandwagon; Swingtime; Funny Face; oh how I wish he'd done 1 more Bway show at the end of his career!

David O. Selznick 5/10/1902 - 6/22/1965 producer, source mat'l - Moonlight & Magnolias; film's Gone With The Wind; Since You Went Away; King Kong; A Tale of 2 Cities; Little Lord Fontleroy; 1937 The Prisoner of Zenda; Nothing Sacred; Intermezzo; 1937 A Star is Born; 1940 Rebecca; Notorious; The 3d Man; Spellbound; Rear Window

Nancy Walker 05/10/1922 - 3/25/1992 Director, Performer; daughter of Dewey Bart, wife of Gar Moore (1948 - 1949) divorced, David Craig (1951 - 1992) her death; When auditioning for "Best Foot Forward," George Abbot thought she was an actress named Helen Walker auditioning for a bit part. She got the part and it was rewritten into a starring role for her. She kept the name "Walker." - Best Foot Forward (June Alyson, Stanley Donen); orig On the Town (Comden & Green); The Girls Against the Boys (Shelley Berman, Dick Van Dyke, Martin Charnin); Do Re Mi; UTBU (please, please, please SOMEONE musicalize this show!); The Cherry Orchard 1968 (Uta Hagen); tv's McMillan and Wife; Bounty paper towel spots

Arthur Kopit 05/10/1937 writer, performer - origs: Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling so Sad; Indians; Wings; Nine; End of the World (Linda Hunt, John Shea,Barnard Hughes); tv's Wings (Constance Cummings); Hands of a Stranger (Ben Affleck, Armand Assante, Robert Pastorelli, Forest Whitaker), Roswell (Kyle MacLachlan, Martin Sheen, Peter MacNicol, Arthur Kopit, Arthur Hiller)

Bono 5/10/1960 composer - tv's & film's Gangs of NY; In the Name of the Father (Emma Thompson, Daniel Day-Lewis); Gladiator; City of Angels; Runaway Bride; Lara Croft: Tomb Raider; Mr. Deeds; Smallville; The Casino



SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

1956 The Lovers with Morris Carnovsky, Pernell Roberts, Bert Conway, Hurd Hatfield, Robert Lansing & Joanne Woodward

1961 A group of unknowns -- Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennett -- bring their comic revue Beyond the Fringe to London's Fortune Theatre. It will run for 1,184 performances. Even though the show mocks the Prime Minister, the normally censorious Lord Chamberlain attends this evening as part of the Queen's party.

1962 Peter Shaffer's double-bill The Private Ear/The Public Eye will play at London's Globe Theatre for 549 performances. Maggie Smith stars in both plays.

1969 The Front Page with Bert Convy, Robert Ryan, Peggy Cass, Julia Meade, Katharine Houghton

1990 Zoya's Apartment with Robert LuPone, Bronson Pinchot, Linda Thorson, with scenic design by Jim Morgan

1994 Carol Hall follows up The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas with The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public tonight on Broadway at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre. The original lasted 1,584 performances, but its sequel, about a Nevada brothel that tries to sell shares on Wall Street, doesn't fare as well, lasting only 16 performances and closing 11 days following its opening. Yes, I was there.

ON THIS DAY IN:

1872 - The first woman nominated to be President of the United States was Victoria Claflin Woodhull. She was chosen for the ballot by the National Woman Suffrage Association in New York City. Ms. Woodhull was not elected; nor has any woman ever been elected to the office of U.S. President. The closest any woman has come to the top seat of the nation since Victoria Woodhull was Geraldine A. Ferraro who was on the Democratic party slate as the Vice-Presidential candidate in 1984.

1933 The Nazis staged massive public book burnings in Germany.

1964 Dancer-choreographer Carol Haney died today in New York. She is best remembered for the "Steam Heat" number from The Pajama Game. She was 40 years old.

1977 Actress Joan Crawford died in New York. One of a kind.

(sources: IBDB, IMDB, NYT's ON THIS DAY, 440.com’s Those Were The Days, Playbill.com)

Milla