If they were still alive....

...today would be the birthday of these notables--it's (mostly) "ladies' day" today:




"The World's Fastest Tap-Dancer," Ann Miller would be 88.  The forever sparkly and dynamic dancer/actress (born Johnnie Lucille Collier in Houston) started in films by lying about her age (by five years), signing a contract with RKO Pictures at age 13!  She proved her stuff and went on to become one of MGM's top musical stars of the 1940's and 50's, in such classics as On the Town, Kiss Me Kate and Easter Parade.  The term "one-of-a-kind" can most certainly be applied to Miss Ann Miller.  Here she is in one of her finest numbers, from Kiss Me Kate, with Bob Fosse, Bobby Van, Carol Haney and Tommy Rall (HIGHLY underrated actor/singer/dancer--the only one in this scene who is still living--that's him singing the number):




Lily Pons would be 113.  The petite, lovely French coloratura soprano was one of the first female opera singers to bring opera to film audiences (Grace Moore was the first).  She appeared in a few very successful films in the latter half of the 1930's before returning to the stage, mostly at the Metropolitan Opera, where she reigned for 30 years.  Her signature role was " Lakmé" in the opera of that name by Léo Delibes. She performed the most famous aria from that opera, "The Bell Song," in the 1937 film, I Dream Too Much (which was known by wags at the time as I Scream Too Much!).

Imogen Cunningham self-portrait, 1974



Frida Kahlo, 1931 by Cunningham


Imogen Cunningham would be 128.  Brilliant...stylish...ground-breaking...influential...all words that would apply to the noted 20th century photographer, whose works populate the great art museums of the world. 

Tiny Tim would be 79.  What an anomaly this fellow was.  He had a bit of freakish fame in the 1960's, strumming a ukulele and singing in a silly falsetto voice, most famously "Tiptoe Thru the Tulips," which became a hugely successful hit single in 1968.  He appeared regularly on the hit TV series, Laugh-In, as well as Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show, on which he was famously "married," to a woman who went by the name of "Miss Vicki"--whom he quietly divorced eight years later.  It turns out that he was actually quite a knowledgeable musicologist and was something of an expert on the music of the early 20th century.  He released an album of Russ Columbo's songs in 1993, which is surprisingly...er...not bad. 

If they were still alive....

...these three notable fellows would be celebrating a birthday this weekend:



Paul Robeson would be 119.  He was the personification of elegance and class under most difficult circumstances.  A true renaissance man, he was a lawyer, a skilled athlete, powerful singer, talented actor, writer, orator, political activist...and on, and on.  A true crusader for racial equality, he broke down many walls that had stood in the way of Black Americans succeeding in a desperately segregated society.  His gravestone bears the inscription: 
"The Artist Must Fight For Freedom Or Slavery. I Made My Choice. I Had No Alternative."



George Arliss would be 143.  "Distinguished" would be the word for the noted actor, George Arliss.  He made several historical films in the late 1920's-early 1930's, most famously in Disraeli, in which he played the famed British orator, Benjamin Disraeli--and won the Best Actor Academy Award in 1929 for his efforts.  His trademark, which he is rarely seen without, was his monocle.



Brandon de Wilde would be 69.  He was one of the most indelibly memorable of child actors.  He gave two very memorable film performances:  Re-creating the role he originated on Broadway at the age of seven in Member of the Wedding, opposite Julie Harris and Ethel Waters; and as little Joey Starrett in the classic Western, Shane, in which he cried the unforgettable closing line, "Come back, Shane...." (and was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar at the age of 11).  He was tragically killed in a single-vehicle accident near Denver at the age of 30.

If they were still alive today....

....these famed folk would be celebrating their birthday:

Mary Pickford would be 119.  "Little Mary," as she was known worldwide, was the first female "superstar".  At the height of her fame, she was also the highest paid actress in the world--by far.  She formed United Artists with Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith and her equally-popular husband, actor Douglas Fairbanks to escape the bounds of the Hollywood contract system.  Her fall from the pinnacle of stardom had more to do with aging and changing public tastes, rather than her inability in front of a microphone, once silent films came to an end.  The "girl with the curls" was a bit unbelievable playing the juvenile as she approached 40.  She retired from films in the early 30's, divorced Fairbanks, and lived to her 87th year in gilded seclusion at her fabled Beverly Hills estate, Pickfair.



E.Y. "Yip" Harburg would be 115.  The brilliantly clever and witty lyricist teamed up with his equally talented partner, Harold Arlen, to write some of the greatest songs and musical scores ever written.  The pinnacle of their fame and Hollywood success came in 1939, when they were tapped to create the score for The Wizard of Oz for MGM.  They took that ball and ran with it, crafting a sophisticated, yet almost child-like series of songs that are among the most glittering facets of a brilliant gem, indeed---including the 1939 Best Song Oscar-winning song, "Over the Rainbow," which is perennially listed as the "greatest song of the 20th century" on several prominent lists.  The complex simplicity (or vice versa) of Harburg's lyrics is what made him one of the greatest lyricists to ever raise a pen.  Enjoy this clip of the master himself, singing his greatest song:



Sonja Henie would be 99.  She can certainly be called a "one-of-a-kind" star, as no one, before or since, has assumed the same shtick that she had.  She was a petite, blonde figure-skating star who won Olympic gold three times for her native country, Norway.  She then went on to Hollywood in 1936, making a series of enormously popular films that always featured lengthy and increasingly elaborate (and expensive) skating scenes, opposite some of Hollywood's top male stars (like Tyrone Power and John Payne).  Watching her films today, they're just a tiny bit strange and my, but she had a strong Norwegian accent (possibly apocryphal, the story goes that in one of her films, she had to say the line, "But I love you, too, Hugh!" in her garbled accent, leaving audiences in paroxysms of laughter).  But, come on...she was cute, very earnest...and she sure could skate!




Franco Corelli would be 90.  He was opera's matinee idol tenor in the 1950's and 60's, standing 6'4" and having a carved-in-marble  profile found on ancient Roman coins.  But he was far more than just a bel canto hunk--he had one of the most magnificent tenor voices ever recorded.  His career was somewhat limited, and certainly shortened, by an unlikely adversary:  His own battle with stage fright.  Opera mavens have long asked, "Of all people, how could Franco Corelli ever have any self-doubt??"  After a brilliantly successful career singing in the great opera houses of the world, he retired from the stage in 1976 and died in 2003.

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. 

If they were still alive....

....today would be the birthday of the following film greats...quite a banner birthday for filmdom's elite:



Spencer Tracy would be 111.  Perennially named by fellow actors as the greatest film actor of them all.  He won the Best Actor Oscar twice (Captains Courageous and Boys Town) and his roster of great films is a lengthy one, indeed.  Subtlety was his trademark.  His much-quoted advice to other actors:  "Show up to work on time, know your lines and don't bump into the scenery".


With Garbo in Ninotchka.

Melvyn Douglas would be 110.  The sturdy, reliable leading man played the "straight man" opposite some of the greatest female stars of the 1930's:  Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer and many others.  He always had a twinkle in his eye, tongue in his cheek and added the perfect light touch to some pretty great films, notably 1939's Ninotchka:


Gregory Peck would be 95.  Peck was the perfect, idealized all-American "good guy" in films from the 1940's through the 1970's.  His shining hour came in 1961, with his immortal portrayal of Atticus Finch in Harper Lee's classic, To Kill a Mockingbird.



Bette Davis would be 103. 
"WHAT A DUMP!" 
Funny how the line most associated with Bette Davis comes from what is probably the worst film she ever made in her long, illustrious career (a piece of doggerel called Beyond the Forest).  But the list of truly great films she made is almost unmatched in all of film history:  Dark Victory, Of Human Bondage, The Little Foxes, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, All About Eve...and on and on... If I had to choose my favorite of her performances---I'd have to pick two, as I surely couldn't limit it to just one.  I'd have to say Baby Jane and All About Eve , two completely different roles that she totally inhabited and made simply unforgettable.  Her performance as Baby Jane Hudson has sort of a built-in "camp" factor to it, but I don't find anything "campy" about that film--it's a truly great movie, and she's nothing short of brilliant in it.  And Eve would rank in my Top Five best films of all time...right near the top, in fact.

Here's a wonderful clip from her interview with Mike Wallace for 60 Minutes in 1980.

If they were still alive....

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


Anthony Perkins would be 79. Talk about typecast!  He had a steady career, playing quiet, sensitive, somewhat offbeat but likeable young men....and then came Norman Bates and Psycho...and BAM!  He was never the nice, normal young man again.  Psycho is usually rated at or near the top of most lists of the greatest horror/suspense films of all time.  Finally figuring "if you can't beat 'em," he decided to go along with reviving the character that had forever straitjacketed him into the stereotype of wack-job and made Psycho II, III and IV in the 1980's.  Tab Hunter, in his autobiography of a few years ago, spoke of his long-term love affair with the almost pathologically closeted Perkins, who died in 1992 of AIDS.







Arthur Murray, the most successful dance instructor in history, would be 116.  He devised the idea of teaching dance steps with footprint diagrams sent via mail order, and within just a few years, over 500,000 dance courses were sold.  He lent his name to a franchise of dance studios, which still (against all odds) still flourishes around the world to this day.






Film, radio and recording star Frances Langford would be 98.  Her mellifluous voice and warm presence struck a chord with the American public during WWII and she became one of the top-selling recording artists of that era.






Heath Ledger would be 32 today, had he not tragically misjudged his drug intake.  His autopsy revealed an astounding pharmacopia of drugs in his system.  His death was a tragic loss, as he was just coming into his own as an artist, namely, with his astounding performances in Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight--for which he was awarded a multitude of posthumous Best Supporting Actor Awards, including the Oscar, SAG, BAFTA, and Golden Globe Awards.