Today's Birthdays 12/31

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 12/31/05 at 4:41pm

Henri Matisse 12/31/1869 - 11/3/1954 one of the foremost painters of 20th century French art

Jason Robards Sr. 12/31/1892 - Apr 4, 1963 performer, father of Jason Robards Jr., grandfather of Sam Robards & Jake Robards - The Disenchanted (Rosemary Harris, Jason Robards Jr., Salome Jens)

Jule Styne 12/31/1905 - 9/20/1994 Producer, Composer, Writer, Lyricist, Director, Performer - High Button Shoes; Gentlemen Prefer Blondes; 2 on the Aisle; Hazel Flagg; Bells Are Ringing; Miss Lonelyhearts; Say, Darling; Gypsy; Do Re Mi; Subways Are for Sleeping; Darling of the Day (Patricia Routledge, Vincent Price); Lorelei; The Red Shoes

Joan McCracken 12/31/1922 - Nov 1, 1961 performer, wife of Bob Fosse (1951 - 1959) divorced, Jack Dunphy (divorced) - origs: Oklahoma!; Bloomer Girl; Billion Dollar Baby; The Big Knife (John Garfield); Dance Me a Song (Bob Fosse, Wally Cox); Angel in the Pawnshop; Me & Juliet

Sir Anthony Hopkins 12/31/1937 composer, performer - Romanoff and Juliet; Equus(Peter Firth, Roberta Maxwell, Marian Seldes); film's Academy Award-winning actor: Silence of the Lambs [1991]; Emmy for Best Actor: The Bunker [1981] and The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case [1976]; Howards End, The Remains of the Day, Amistad, The Mask of Zorro, Meet Joe Black, Mission: Impossible II, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Hannibal

Sarah Miles 12/31/1941 - performer; Suffers from dyslexia - tv's & film's Poirot: The Hollow; Dynasty, Queenie, Hope and Glory, Blow-Up, The Servant, Ryan’s Daughter & White Mischief; my fav: The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing

Ben Kingsley 12/31/1943 performer - 1971 A Midsummer Night's Dream (Patrick Stewart); Edmund Kean; film's Academy Award-winning actor: Gandhi [1982]; Schindler’s List, Sneakers, Joseph, Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Moses, Rules of Engagement

Tim Matheson 12/31/1947 - performer - tv's & film's National Lampoon’s Animal House, Yours Mine and Ours, Magnum Force, Fletch, The Virginian, Bonanza, my fav: West Wing

Bebe Neuwirth 12/31/1958 performer, attended Juilliard - replacement A Chorus Line & Fosse; 1986 Sweet Charity; 1994 Damn Yankees; 1996 Chicago; tv's & film's Cheers, Frasier, The Adventures of Pinocchio, Dash and Lilly, Liberty Heights, The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina; Law & Order

Val Kilmer 12/31/1959 performer, attended Juilliard - Slab Boys (Kevin Bacon, Sean Penn); film's Moscow Zero; The Island of Dr. Moreau, Heat, Batman Forever, Tombstone, The Doors, Gore Vidal’s Billy the Kid, Top Gun, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Top Secret!

Joey McIntyre 12/31/1972 performer - Wicked [replacement]; tv's & film's The Fantasticks; Boston Public; Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding

SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

1879 The Pirates of Penzance

1906 Brewster's Millions is the tale of a lucky young man who must spend a million dollars in order to earn another million. Adapted from George Barr McCutcheon's story by Winchell Smith and Byron Ongley, the show has a cast that includes John Drew Devereaux and the debut of the fictitious actor George Spelvin. Spelvin, a favorite of author Smith's, would be employed whenever a name is needed for a dead body on stage, a doll used as a babe-in arms, or when an actor is 'doubling' parts.

1923 The Song and Dance Man is, not surprisingly, George M. Cohan, who also wrote and produced this comedy at the Hudson Theatre. The story highlights the redemption of an unemployed entertainer who turned to robbery [instead of waiting tables].

1973 An Evening With Josephine Baker

ON THIS DAY IN:

1879 Thomas Edison first publicly demonstrated his electric incandescent light in Menlo Park, N.J.

1925 Playwright Lillian Hellman marries writer Arthur Kober.

1946 President Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II.

1999 Usually a big night on Broadway, this New Year's Eve sees many shows cancelling performances owing to the size of expected crowds ushering in the 2000's.

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

Milla