Today's Birthdays 3/20 - Late Edition

[do_re_milla]

Posted: 3/21/09 at 2:58pm

Henrik Ibsen 03/20/1828 - May 23, 1906 writer - revolutionized world theatre with his realistic dramas A Doll's House, Hedda Gabler, Ghosts, Rosmersholm and Peer Gynt. The only Ibsen I've seen is Janet McTeer's Doll house and Kate Burton's Hedda Gabler. I know it's gilding the lily to say the plays are brilliant, but I must also add that both actresses were enthralling, especially McTeer.

Michael Redgrave 03/20/1908 - 3/21/1985 - He will play opposite the likes of Olivier and Gielgud. His wife is actress Rachel Kempson and their children are Vanessa, Corin and Lynn. Natasha Richardson, star of the revival of Cabaret, is their granddaughter. Knighted in 1959 - 1948 Macbeth; Tiger at the Gates; The Sleeping Prince; The Complaisant Lover (Gene Wilder, Sandy Dennis); film's The Importance of Being Earnest; Genevieve; Blithe Spirit; The Lady Vanishes

Jack Kruschen 03/20/1922 - Apr 2, 2002 performer - I Can Get It for You Wholesale (Elliot Gould & Barbra you-know-who); tv's & film's Dragnet; Zorro; The Rifleman; Batman; Bonanza; The Rockford Files; The War of the Worlds; The Apartment; orig Cape Fear; Lover Come Back; McLintock!; Unsinkable Molly Brown

Carl Reiner 03/20/1922 Source Material, Writer, Director, Performer; Rob's pop; Made a best-selling album with Mel Brooks called "2000 Years with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks" which earned a Grammy nomination and ignited Carl's writing career. - Inside U.S.A.; Alive and Kicking (Gwen Verdon, Mickey Deems, Jack Gilford, Bobby Van); Enter Laughing; Something Different; Tough to get Help; So Long, 174th Street; The Roast; tv's & film's The Gazebo [good for a musical]; Ocean's 11 & 12; The Dick Van Dyke Show; Your Show of Shows; Caesar's Hour; Caesar Invites You; It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World; Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

Hal Linden 03/20/1931 performer; In his late teens and played classical clarinet regularly with symphony orchestras. Graduated fr High School of Music and Art in Manhattan; studied music at Queens College, moving later to City College to pursue business. Toured w/Sammy Kaye. In the Army, he sang and provided entertainment for the troops. After discharge, enrolled at New York's American Theatre Wing where he trained in voice and drama. - Bells Are Ringing; On a Clear Day; Something More! (Barbara Cook, Joan Copeland, Arthur Hill); Ilya Darling; The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N; The Rothschilds; The Gathering; Love Match (Patricia Routledge, Michael Allinson, Ken Richards)[didn't make it to NYC]; tv's & film's Barney Miller; I Do! I Do!; Blacke's Magic; Freezerburn

Ted Bessell 03/20/1935 - Oct 6, 1996 performer - Same Time, Next Year [replacement]; tv's That Girl

Chip Zien 03/20/1947 performer - Ride the Winds (Irving Lee); All Over Town (Michael Gorrin, Jill Eikenberry, Pamela Payton-Wright); The Suicide (Derek Jacobi); Into The Woods; Falsettos; 2002 The Boys from Syracuse; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

William Hurt 03/20/1950 performer; Juilliard alumna; He is the stepson of Henry Luce III, who is the son of Henry Luce who founded "Time". Turned down leads in "Misery" & "Jurrassic Park" - Hurlyburly; tv's & film's Body Heat; The Big Chill [my fav]; Dune; Artificial Intelligence: AI; Jane Eyre; Kiss of the Spider Woman; Gorky Park; Altered States; Eyewitness; Syriana; The Good Shepherd

Neal Ben-Ari 03/20/1952 performer; Graduate of University of Pennsylvania. Master's Degree in Educational Theatre from NYU. - Roza (Georgia Borwn); Chess; The Merchant of Venice (Dustin Hoffman)[What was Peter Hall thinking?]; 1993 Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; Aida

Holly Hunter 03/20/1958 performer; went to Pittsburgh to pursue a degree in drama from Carnegie Mellon University. After graduating in 1980, she went to New York City, where she met playwright Beth Henley in a stalled elevator. Hunter went on to get roles in a number of Henley's southern gothic plays, including Impossible Marriage, Crimes of the Heart and The Miss Firecracker Contest. - The Wake of Jamey Foster; tv's & film's Raising Arizona; Grace; O Brother, Where Art Thou?; Broadcast News; The Fugitive; The Piano [An accomplished pianist, she actually performed all of the piano music for her Oscar performance in The Piano]; Thirteen

SHOWS THAT OPENED ON THIS DATE:

1911 The Winter Garden, a 1,600 seat Shubert theatre, opens with La Belle Paree. Al Jolson is in the cast.

1936 Long before Cats, T.S. Eliot gets music by Lehman Engel for his religious drama, Murder in the Cathedral. It runs 38 performances at the Manhattan Theatre.

1945 Go ahead and Kiss Them for Me. Luther Davis bases his comedy on Frederic Wakeman's Shore Leave. Judy Holliday, Richard Widmark, and Paul Ford are in the cast at the Belasco Theatre. There will be 111 performances.

1988 David Henry Hwang's gender-bending drama, M. Butterfly, opens at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on Broadway. John Lithgow and B. D. Wong star as the diplomat and his lover in the work, which wins the Best Play Tony Award.

ON THIS DAY IN:

1413 England's King Henry IV died; he was succeeded by Henry V.

On March 20, 1995, in Tokyo, 12 people were killed, more than 5,500 others sickened when packages containing the poisonous gas sarin leaked on five separate subway trains.

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

Milla