If they were alive today....

....these notables would be celebrating their birthday:


Walter Huston would be 127.  The patriarch of the famed Huston family of filmdom (John, Angelica, Danny and others), Walter Huston was one of the finest character actors of the 20th century.  He capped his long career with an Oscar-winning performance (directed by his son, John) in the classic, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, in which he played the grizzled, corrupt old prospector.  Here's a clip of the scene that probably got him the award.




Joi Lansing would be 82.  Her career was pretty inconsequential and most of her films are forgettable or forgotten.  She's rather known as one of the numerous would-be Marilyn Monroes that popped up seemingly by the dozens in the mid-1950's.  Couldn't act her way out of a paper sack...but she was one of the prettiest of the lot.



Self-portrait of Raphael,



The Sistine Madonna, 1513



Madonna of the Pinks, 1506

Raphael would be 528.  Universally known only by his first name, the great Renaissance master is considered, along with Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo to be one of the three greatest Italian artists of the 16th century (and, thus, of all time).  He was a very prolific artist and his many works populate the great museums of the world and are enormously valuable.  He also died on this date, in 1520, at the very young age of 37, and is buried in the Pantheon in Rome.

Mulligan (left) with Chet Baker (right)

Jazz saxophonist Gerry Mulligan would be 84.  He and his group, The Gerry Mulligan Quartet was considered the height of "cool" in the 1950's.  His trumpeter and sometime vocalist, Chet Baker, became the beau ideal of the jazz set and helped bring international renown to Mulligan's group.  He was said to be engaged to actress Judy Holliday when she died in 1965.  His very starry career was much marred by his on/off love affair with heroin.