James Madison would be 260 today. He was the 4th President of the United States. He was also our shortest president, at only 5'4". He was also our skinniest president, weighing only 100 pounds, dripping wet (he was just an itty-bitty little thing!). His legacy has been somewhat outshone by that of his vivacious wife, Dolley. She was considered something of a beauty in her day. Maybe her portraitists got her wrong...or maybe she's just not my type.
In any case, I'd be too tall for her, too.
He was known as "The Father of the Constitution" and "The Father of the Bill of Rights"...but in fact, never fathered a child.
Conrad Nagel, a major silent film matinee idol, would be 113. Strangely, he's nearly forgotten today. But in his day, he was quite popular, and was one of MGM's top "leading men" in the late silent film era, even appearing opposite Greta Garbo in her final silent film, The Kiss. As he was trained on the stage, his voice was well-suited for talking films, unlike some of his fellow leading players (most notably, John Gilbert, whose career was ruined with the advent of sound). He continued appearing in films through 1959. What does he have in common with James Franco? They both only hosted the Oscars once--Nagel, in 1930, Franco in 2011.
Violin-playing comedian Henny Youngman would be 105. His signature line, "Take my wife....please!" is his most lasting legacy. He died in 1998.
Mercedes McCambridge would be 95. She was a fine and powerful actress, winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1949 for her performance in All The King's Men, the story of Huey Long. One of her other legacies is providing the voice of the devil-possessed "Regan" in the 1973 film, The Exorcist. Perhaps her most memorable film was the 1953 "lesbian western," Johnny Guitar, in which she co-starred opposite Joan Crawford at her most butch. Their final showdown is really something else! Weird movie...don't feel compelled to watch this whole clip...it'll give you an idea of what it's about:
Henry B. Walthall would be 133. He achieved fame for being the lead player in D. W. Griffith's epic tale, Birth of a Nation. It's a film I've always considered virtually unwatchable. Film scholars try to defend Griffith's many new innovations in story-telling and film-making. But I'm sorry: Any film where the Ku Klux Klan rides in to the rescue is not a film I care to invest my time in. It clearly demonizes blacks and paints the Klan as heroic--plain and simple. I find it rather appalling that it's still taken seriously at all, quite frankly.
But happy birthday, Henry...it wasn't your fault!
Speaking of hateful racism, Traudl Junge would be 90 today. Anyone know who she was? She was Adolph Hitler's private secretary (geez...and I thought I had some weird gigs!). She said of Hitler, "He was a pleasant boss and a fatherly friend". She was exonerated after WWII, judged to be unaware of the atrocities going on in her midst. She died in 2002.
Poor, long-suffering Pat Nixon would be 99 today. She was the wife of evil, reptilian liar, Richard Milhous Nixon; to date, the only U.S. president who was shamed out of office. Born Thelma Catherine Ryan (where did she get "Pat" from?), she had her sights set on a career in movies. In fact, she appeared in walk-on roles in the films Becky Sharp (1935) and "Best Picture of 1936", The Great Ziegfeld. But she met Richard Nixon in 1940, and that was that. I find it so hard to look at pictures of her, especially photos after Nixon resigned. Her face is just a hardened map of sadness and despair. Rumor has it that she drank quite a bit. I don't blame her.
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