Today's Birthdays 6/18

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 6/18/08 at 3:46pm

Anastasia 6/18/1901 - 7/16/1918 Russian daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, murdered along with her immediate family by the Bolsheviks on July 16, 1918

Jeanette (Anna) MacDonald 6/18/1901 - 1/14/1965 performer, wife of Gene Raymond; my dear friend Ken Richards was a close friend to Jeanette. I enjoy reading the letters and cards she sent to him & the stories he tells about her & her career. Jeanette & Gene were devoted to 1 another & were wonderful friends to Ken. He also shared stories about her rabidly loyal fan clubs. Sadly the 2 ladies who were in charge of the biggest fan club, dissolved it in the past 5 yrs or so. Very sad for me, because Jeanette was 1 of my film idols & it was comforting to know that they were still around. There is a much newer maverick club which disseminates possibly dubious info.

Edward Baron Turk's book, Hollywood Diva: A Biography of Jeanette MacDonald is a pretty good read on her life. Eleanor Knowles Dugan reprinted her book on MacDonald & Eddy. Yes, Ken told me, she was an Iron Butterfly, but that's because she had impeccable integrity & high morals. She was also well-loved for her many kindnesses. She appeared in numerous kiddie shows including James H. Littlefield's "The Kiddie Revue" and "Al White's Song Birds." In 1919, she followed her older sister, Blossom, to New York and managed to land a job in the chorus of a deluxe "tab show" directed by prominent choreographer Ned Wayburn. (This revue introduced George Gershwin's song, "Swanee.")

Here are her stage credits:

1919 - Ned Wayburn's "The Demi-Tasse Revue" a musical entertainment presented between films at the Capital Theatre.

1920 - Jerome Kern's "Night Boat" chorus replacement.

1920 - "Irene" on the road, as the second female lead. (Irene Dunne played the title role during part of the tour.)

1921 - "Tangerine" as one of "Six Wives." Julia Sanderson starred.

1922 - "Fantastic Fricassee" featured singer in a Greenwich Village revue.

1923 - "The Magic Ring" in which she played second female lead in this long running musical which starred Mitzi.

1925 - "Tip Toes" a hit with songs by George Gershwin. Again, Jeanette had second female lead, supporting star Queenie Smith.

1926 - "Bubblin' Over" musical version of "Brewster's Millions," Jeanette is the second female lead.

1927 - "Yes, Yes, Yvette" with Jeanette in title role. Planned as a sequel to producer H.H. Frazee's "No, No, Nanette."

1928 - "Sunny Days" her first Shubert show. Jeanette played the lead.

1928 - "Angela" in title role. Critics panned the show, but Hollywood star Richard Dix saw her and had her screen-tested for his next film. However, she couldn't get out of her Shubert contract.

1929 - "Boom Boom" with Jeanette's name above the title. (Cast included young Archie Leach who later changed his name to Cary Grant.)

In the 30's Hollywood would sometimes refilm movies in French or Spanish. Jeanette was fluent in French & she remade "1 Hour With You" and "The Merry Widow" in French w/Maurice Chevalier. Some of my happiest memories w/my mom were when I was 5 & we went to the movies to watch the Golden Age of Hollywood Movie Musical Series. I could go on & on about Jeanette! - Oh! For A Man; The Vagabond King; The Lottery Bride, Love Me Tonight (Maurice Chevalier), The Firefly (Alan Jones), Cairo, The Cat and the Fiddle (Ramone Novarro), One Hour with You, The Merry Widow (Maurice Chevalier), Naughty Marietta (Nelson Eddy); Rose Marie (Nelson Eddy); I Married An Angel; 3 Daring Daughters; The Sun Comes Up; also starred in the operas Faust & Roméo et Juliette

E.G. (Edda/Everett Gunnar) Marshall 6/18/1910 - 8/24/1998 performer - origs The Skin of Our Teeth; The Iceman Cometh; The Crucible; Waiting for Godot; Nash at 9; Emmy Award-winning actor: The Defenders [1961-62, 1962-63}; Chicago Hope, The New Doctors, Twelve Angry Men, The CBS Radio Mystery Theatre

Sammy Cahn 6/18/1913 - 1/15/1993 Lyricist, Writer, Composer, Performer - High Button Shoes; 2's Company; Come on Strong (Caroll Baker, Van Johnson); Skyscraper; Walking Happy; Words & Music; Those Were the Days

Richard Boone 6/18/1917 - 1/10/1981 performer - Medea; The Rivalry (Nancy Kelly); tv's & film's Have Gun Will Travel, Winter Kills, The Robe, Rio Conchos, Ten Wanted Men, The War Lord, Big Jake

George Hearn 06/18/1934 performer; "The Visit" @ The Signature" with Chita. Love this guy! - A Time for Singing (Steven Boockvor, Tessie O'Shea); A Doll's Life; Whodunnit; La Cage aux Folles; Meet Me In St. Louis; Sunset Boulevard; Putting It Together; Wicked [replacement]; tv's & film's Law & Order; The Devil's Own; Putting It Together; Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street In Concert

Elizabeth Franz Jun 18, 1941 performer - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead; 1977 The Cherry Orchard (Raul Julia, Mary Beth Hurt, Meryl Streep, Irene Worth)[My second Broadway Show!]; Brighton Beach Memoirs; The Octette Bridge Club (Peggy Cass); The Cemetery Club; 1999 Death of a Salesman (Brian Dennehy); 2002 Morning's at Seven (Frances Sternhagen, Julie Hagerty, Buck Henry, Piper Laurie, Christopher Lloyd, William Biff McGuire, Estelle Parsons); tv's & film's As The World Turns; The Secret of My Succe$s; 2000 Death of a Salesman; Christmas with the Kranks

Paul McCartney 6/18/1942 - performer - Grammy Award-winning [1990] musician, songwriter, singer: group: The Beatles & Wings - film's Yellow Submarine, A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, Let It Be, Magical Mystery Tour, Give My Regards to Broad Street; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [3-15-1999]

Carol Kane 6/18/1952 performer - 2004 Sly Fox [replacement]; origs Ring Around the Bathtub (Elizabeth Ashley, Richard Mulligan); The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds; tv's & film's Emmy Award-winning actress: Taxi [1981-82, 1982-83}; The Princess Bride, Hester Street, Addams Family Values, Carnal Knowledge, Dog Day Afternoon, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Ted & Venus, My Blue Heaven, When a Stranger Calls

Isabella Rossellini 6/18/1952 daughter of Ingrid Bergman & Roberto Rossellini performer, model: over 500 covers - Stendhal Syndrome; tv's & film's Twin Peaks, Fearless, Blue Velvet, Crime of the Century, The Impostors, Alias

The Goodspeed Opera House (Michael P. Price, Executive Producer) 06/18/1963 Opera House built in 1876. Rededicated in 1963. Under the direction of Michael Price since 1968.

Kerry Butler 6/18/1971 performer; married to Joey Mazzarino (1997 - present) - Xanadu; Les Misérables [replacement]; Blood Brothers [looooved this show!](Stephanie Lawrence, Con O'Neill, James Clow, Jan Graveson, Mark Michael Hutchinson, Anne Torsiglieri, Sam Samuelson, Barbara Walsh); Hairspray; Little Shop of Horrors; and my beloved Bat Boy (Devon May, Kaitlin Hopkins); tv's & film's Campfire Stories; Sesame Street; One Life to Live

Mara Hobel 06/18/1971 performer - Moose Murders; tv's & film's 3 by Cheever: The Sorrows of Gin; The Hand; Mommie Dearest; Kinsey; Broadway Damage (Hugh Panaro, Michael Shawn Lucas)

SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

1962 A New York theatregoing tradition is born as the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park first opens, with a production of The Merchant of Venice starring George C. Scott. The construction of the famed home of free Shakespeare is made possible by a $400,000 donation from George Delacorte of Dell Publishing.

1963 The 1876-vintage Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut, reopens after an extensive renovation as a headquarters for musical revivals and new musicals. The first show in the new series will be Oh Lady, Lady. Among Goodspeed productions to land on Broadway will be Man of La Mancha, Shenandoah and Annie.

1998 A New Brain, the latest work from Falsettos composer William Finn, opens at the Mitzi Newhouse Theatre in New York's Lincoln Center. The musical, about a composer who faces the possibility of death from a brain tumor, stars Malcolm Gets, Mary Testa, Kristin Chenoweth, Chip Zien and Penny Fuller.

ON THIS DAY IN:

1812 - The United States issued a declaration of war on Great Britain. And so began the War of 1812, prompted by Britain’s violations of America’s rights on the high seas and the involvement of the British in Indian uprisings on the frontiers.

1815 British and Prussian troops defeated the French under Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo in Belgium.

1873 Suffragist Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election.

1928 Aviator Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean as she completed a flight from Newfoundland to Wales in about 21 hours.

1940 With the World War II Battle of Britain looming, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill urged his countrymen to persevere so that future generations would say, "This was their finest hour."

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

Milla