… of Gavin MacLeod. The captain of the Love Boat and Mary Tyler Moore’s wisecracking news writer is 74.

… of Dean Smith. The hall-of-fame basketball coach is 74. Knew when to retire, too.

… of Mario Andretti. He’s in the left lane with his blinker on at age 65.

… of Bubba Smith. The football star turned actor is 60.

… of Bernadette Lazzara, known to us as Bernadette Peters. The star of stage, screen and television (beginning at age 3) is 57 today.

… of Academy Award winning actress Joanne Woodward. She’s 75 today. Miss Woodward won the best actress Oscar for The Three Faces of Eve (1957). She was nominated for best actress three other times. Woodward and Paul Newman have been married 47 years.

… of two-time Academy Award winning actress Elizabeth Taylor. She’s 73 today. Miss Taylor won best actress Oscars for Butterfield 8 (1960) and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966). Miss Taylor is probably best known, however, for being the voice of Maggie on The Simpsons.

… of Abe Vigoda. Fish on Barney Miller and Sal Tessio of The Godfather is 84.

… of Steven Hill. Adam Schiff on Law and Order is 83.

… of Dominic Chianese. Uncle Junior on The Sopranos is 74.

… of Edward James Olmos. Jaime Escalante of Stand and Deliver is 58.

… of Don Pardo. The original “Jeopardy!” and “Saturday Night Live” announcer is 87.

… of Senator Edward Kennedy. He’s 73.

… of Julius Erving. Dr. J is 55.

… of Steve Irwin. The Crocodile Hunter is 43.

… of Vijay Singh. He’s 42.

… of Blanche Elizabeth Hollingsworth Devereaux. Rue McClanahan is 70 today.

… of Mary Beth Lacey. Tyne Daly is 59.

… of Patricia Nixon Cox. The former first daughter is 59.

… of Frasier Crane. Kelsey Grammer is 50 today.

… of Mary Chapin Carpenter. Celebrating, one hopes, at the Twist and Shout, she’s 47 today.

… of Charlotte Church. She’s 19. Hasn’t she been one of the PBS fund drive specials for about 20 years?

… of “Dragline.” George Kennedy is 80.

… of the woman who broke up the Beatles. She’s 72 today. In 2003 Time Asia published an informative profile of the complex artist Yoko Ono.

… of Vinnie Barbarino. He’s 51 today. So are Vincent Vega, Chili Palmer, Michael, Buford ‘Bud’ Uan Davis, Tod Lubitch, Danny Zuko and Tony Manero. And so is John Travolta.

… of the letter lady. Vanna White is 48 today.

… of Jack Palance (86), Cybill Shepherd (55), Matt Dillon (41), and Molly Ringwald (37).

… of LeVar Burton. Kunta Kinte is 48.

… of Ice-T. Det. Odafin ‘Fin’ Tutuola is 47.

… of John McEnroe. Super-Brat is 46.

… of Ted Koppel. Alfred E. Newman’s brother is 65.

… of Nick Nolte. Twice nominated for the best acting Oscar, he’s 64.

… of Mary Steenburgen. The Oscar-winning actress is 52.

… of John Grisham. The attorney turned best-selling author is 50.

… of Gary Coleman. Arnold is 37.

Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday dear NewMexiKen
Happy birthday to me

It’s also the birthday

… of Byron Nelson. The hall-of-fame golfer is 93.

… of Miss Rosa Parks. The soul of the civil rights movement is 91.

… of Betty Friedan. The feminist leader is 84.

… of Conrad Bain. The actor (Maude, Diff’rent Strokes) is 82.

… of John Steel. The Animals drummer (and therefore Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee) is 64.

… of David Brenner. The comedian is 60. Good day. Good age.

… of Dan Quayle. The former VP is 58.

… of Alice Cooper. The rocker is 57.

… of Clint Black. The country music star is 43.
Ain’t it funny how a melody can bring back a memory,
Take you to another place and time,
Completely change your state of mind.

Charles Lindbergh was born on this date in 1902.

… of Tom Smothers. He’s 68.

… of Graham Nash. The Nash of Crosby, Stills & Nash (or Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) is 63.

… of Farrah Fawcett. Charlie’s Angel is 58.

… of Christie Brinkley. She’s 51.