If they were alive today...

...these notables would be singing "Happy Birthday to Me":



Deadpan comic Jack Benny would be 117.


Nearly everyone's favorite character actress, Thelma Ritter, would be 106 today. Perhaps best-remembered for her wonderful performance as Bette Davis's long-suffering assistant, "Birdie" in All About Eve.

Jimmy Hoffa would be 98 if he were still alive...or maybe he IS still alive??  And legendary Ohio State football coach, Woody Hayes, would also be 98, and he is most assuredly dead.



"Gone-too-soon" tap dancing great, Gregory Hines would be 65.  One of the first Broadway shows I ever saw was Sophisticated Ladies, starring Gregory, and he was unforgettably great...he was a fantastic singer as well.




1930's film sidekick, Stu Erwin would be 108.


Handsome Brian Kelly, the dad on Flipper, was born in Detroit 80 years ago today.

*****************************************




And in the "living happy birthday" department, eternally likeable television presenter, Hugh Downs turns 90 today.  And increasingly un-likeable New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg turns 69.