If they were alive....

....the following folks would be celebrating their birthday today:


Earl Grey would be 247.  You know....the guy who made the tea?  Oh wait...let me check.  Aha...he did more than that:  He was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1830 to 1834.  They named the tea after him...he didn't make it.

Writer Janet Flanner would be 119.  A famed intellect and American expatriate who was the Paris correspondent for the New Yorker from 1925 to 1975, she wrote under the name "Genet".  She took part in what has become one of the most legendary hours in television history, on The Dick Cavett Show in 1971.  She and Gore Vidal were a part of a panel discussion and were joined by a drunken, belligerent Norman Mailer, who proceeded to insult everyone on the panel...and the audience!  It still makes for captivating viewing...and I strongly suggest you watch this clip (unfortunately, the entire show is no longer available on Youtube):



Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, better known as L. Ron Hubbard's 100 today.  Whether or not he's dead, or possibly still alive on the Planet Xenu is up for debate.  He was, of course, the founder of the controversially cultish religion, Scientology.  Scary.


German lieder composer Hugo Wolf, 151.  He was the composer of some of the most limpidly gorgeous tunes ever written, including the one here, sung by the great Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau...one of my favorite songs of any kind.  Sadly, the sensitive Wolf lost his mind, and spent the last six years of his life in an insane asylum.




Sammy Kaye would be 99.  "Swing and sway with Sammy Kaye," the announcer would say when he'd introduce the friendly bandleader of the 1930's and 40's on the radio.  Their sound was patently a bit corny and sentimental, but they were hugely popular during the WWII "big band era":




Speaking of big band leaders, dishy blonde Ina Ray Hutton would be 95 today.  One of the only (and certainly the most popular) female bandleaders during the big band era, she led an all-girl ensemble  called "The Melodears".  She was immensely appealing and quite a good singer/dancer, too.  I'm crazy for Ina Ray!  Happy 95th, Ina, wherever you are!  There are several other great videos of her and her Melodears on Youtube, if this one here isn't enough for you: