...these folks would be blowing out the candles today:
Peter Graves, of Mission Impossible fame, would be 85. The brother of Gunsmoke's James Arness, Graves had basically two expressions: Handsome and concerned; handsome and determined. He later proved himself a fine comedic actor, lampooning his ultra-serious image in the classic comedy, Airplane ("Bobby, have you ever seen a grown man naked?"). This birthday is the first one that he isn't around for.
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President Grover Cleveland, our 22nd and our 24th U.S. president, would be 174 today. The pride of New Jersey, Cleveland was a bachelor when he was elected the first time, but became the first (and only, to date) U.S. president to marry in the White House while in office. His bride was only 21, 28 years younger than Cleveland and was quite a dish. And how did this not cause a scandal: Grover Cleveland had been her late father's estate executor, and Frances had been Cleveland's "ward" since childhood! Can you imagine a similar scenario occurring in our current tabloid/TMZ/internet era?? Cleveland is also the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms. I don't think they can do that anymore...having an ex-president run for office a second time? Good GOD, I hope not!!
Above: Cleveland, at around the age of 30....say...I'd never seen a picture of him when he wasn't old and portly..and that's the comely Frances Folsom Cleveland, who remains the youngest first lady in history, having married the president when she was only twenty-one!
Robert Donat would be 106. The handsome, sensitive British actor starred in Alfred Hitchcock's first international success, The 39 Steps.
He is most remembered for his touching, artful performance as the title character in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939). In the year that has gone down in history as "Hollywood's greatest year," he shocked almost everyone by winning the Best Actor Oscar for that film, beating out Laurence Olivier (Wuthering Heights), Jimmy Stewart (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) and most surprisingly, Clark Gable, who had been considered something of a shoo-in for his performance as Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind.
George Plimpton would be 84. The wealthy and patrician American journalist was famed for his sports-related essays, and his book, The Paper Lion was a very popular recounting of his "career," playing with the Detroit Lions (it was made into a film with Alan Alda playing him). He achieved wide fame by co-founding the literary quarterly periodical, The Paris Review, which he also edited from 1953 until his death in 2003
Above: Plimpton in his 1944 high school yearbook photo from Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire.
Edward Everett Horton would be 125. Peevish, persnickety and usually the life of any movie in which he appeared--and he appeared in LOTS of films! IMDB credits him (including TV appearances) with 177 credits. He's perhaps best-remembered for his many appearances in the Astaire/Rogers films of the 1930's, in which he usually played a wealthy, fussbudget "confirmed bachelor". He'd rate very high on my list of all-time favorite character actors. Here he is in The Gay Divorcee--he enters at 1:12 in this clip. You'll recognize him, even if you don't necessarily know his name:
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