Today we celebrate the birthday
. . . of Jane Withers, 82. Withers earned her first fame as an 8-year-old playing the spoiled, doll-ripping, tricycle-riding brat who terrorized sweet, wonderful little Shirley Temple in Bright Eyes.
. . . of Herbie Hancock. He’s 68 today.
. . . of Clarence ‘Lumpy’ Rutherford. Actor Frank Bank of Leave It to Beaver is 66.
. . . of Ed O’Neill. He’s 62. O’Neill was nominated for two Golden Globes for playing shoe salesman Al Bundy on Married … with Children.
. . . of David Letterman. He’s 61, but a part of him seemingly never left the 8th grade.
. . . of Tom Clancy. He’s 61.
He was an insurance salesman, and he was doing well for himself, but he’d always wanted to be a writer. He had spent all his spare time reading magazines about military technology, such as Combat Fleets of the World and A Guide to the Soviet Navy, and one day he began to wonder what would happen if a Soviet submarine tried to defect to the United States. That became the basis for his first novel, The Hunt for Red October (1984).
Instead of focusing on the interactions between his characters, Clancy focused more on the technology. He described the soviet submarine in intricate detail, the way it moved and maneuvered, and all its weaponry and hardware. Since he didn’t think the novel would appeal to a mass audience, he published it with a small military publishing house called the Naval Institute Press. But the book got passed around among officers and generals, and eventually made its way to Ronald Reagan, who said he loved it. That endorsement from the president helped turn The Hunt for Red October into a huge best-seller.
. . . of Scott Turow. He’s 59. He wanted to be a writer but went to law school so he’d have a day job. His first novel was Presumed Innocent, published in 1987.
. . . of David Cassidy. Once a teen heart throb, he’s now 58.
. . . of Andy Garcia. He’s 52. Garcia was nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in The Godfather: Part III.
. . . of Vince Gill. He’s 51.
. . . of Claire Danes, 29.
The photographer Imogen Cunningham was born on this date in 1883.