If they were still alive....

....today, the following notables would be celebrating their birthday:

Anne Sullivan would be 145.  The legendary teacher of the once-thought impenetrably handicapped Helen Keller, stayed with her as teacher, companion and lifelong friend until her own death in 1936 at the age of 70.  Her ashes are interred next to Keller's at the Washington National Cathedral.  Their story was famously told in the Broadway play/film, The Miracle Worker.

Rod Steiger would be 86.  He was a powerful, "method" actor of the first order, giving many memorable, indelible performances in films such as The Pawnbroker, In the Heat of the Night and, most memorably, as Marlon Brando's brother, Charley Malloy, in On the Waterfront. 





Lee Tracy would be 113.  He was the epitome of the 1930's wisecracking, fast-talking "smart guy".  He had quite a career going in the early 30's, starring in such major films as Dinner at Eight, Bombshell and The Blessed Event.  His career ended in a rather unique and spectacular way:  While in Mexico, filming Viva Villa! (starring Wallace Beery as Pancho Villa), he drunkenly urinated off the balcony of his hotel room onto a passing military parade below.  He was fired from the film, his contract with MGM was terminated and his career was, in a word, kaput.  Oops.... 



John Gielgud would be 107.  The fine British Shakespearean actor was considered nearly second-to-none in his portrayals of The Bard's great heroes, from Romeo to King Lear.  He enjoyed a late-life "renaissance" in films in the 1980's, notably in Arthur, in which he played Dudley Moore's veddy proper manservant--and at last won a much-deserved Academy Award.


John Howard would be 98.  He was one of the most reliable, all-purpose Hollywood second-tier actors of the 1930's-40's.  He was always good, usually playing the well-off, spurned suitor type.  That's just what he played in perhaps his most famous film, The Philadelphia Story, opposite Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart.  I tend to think that top-tier stardom may have eluded him because he had such a common name.  And on a personal note, several times, I've been told I look like him.  Since he was a pretty handsome fellow, I won't complain about that one....