Today is the birthday of a bunch of characters. Character-actors, that is.
Doris Roberts is 78. She was Raymond’s mom.
Loretta Swit is 71. She was Major Houlihan.
Art Carney was born on this date in 1918. He’s most famous for playing Ed Norton opposite Jackie Gleason’s Ralph Kramden but he won the Oscar for best actor for Harry and Tonto. Carney died in 2003.
Martin Balsam was born on this date in 1914. Balsam was also a character actor. NewMexiKen’s favorite Balsam roles: Juror #1 in 12 Angry Men, Henry Mendez in Hombre, Mr. Green in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, and his Oscar-winning Arnold Burns (best supporting actor) in A Thousand Clowns. Balsam died in 1996.
It’s also the birthday of Walter Cronkite; he’s 92. What I wouldn’t give for a newsman of Cronkite’s integrity to be on the air these days.
The man who taught John Lennon how to play harmonica, Delbert McClinton, is 68.
The First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush, is 62 today.
The novelist Charles Frazier is 58.
Kathy Griffin is 48.
The Karate Kid, Ralph Macchio, is 47.
And Matthew McConaughey is 39, as is Diddy.
Will Rogers was born in Oologah, Oklahoma, on this date in 1879.
H.L. Mencken called him “the most dangerous writer alive.” Damon Runyan dubbed him “America’s most complete document.” And Franklin D. Roosevelt credited him with bringing his fellow Americans “back to a sense of proportion.” He was a ranch hand, rodeo rider, vaudeville performer, film star, columnist and author, radio personality, pioneer of aviation, tireless master of ceremonies, friend to presidents, and unofficial ambassador of good will under three administrations. He was Will Rogers, and during his lifetime he was the single most popular and beloved man in America.
A little of Rogers’ “cowboy philosophy” —
- A fool and his money are soon elected.
- I bet after seeing us, George Washington would sue us for calling him “father.”
- There is no credit to being a comedian, when you have the whole government working for you. All you have to do is report the facts. I don’t even have to exaggerate.
- Everything is changing. People are taking the comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke. [Take note Jon Stewart.]
- Don’t gamble; take all your savings and buy some good stock and hold it till it goes up, then sell it. If it don’t go up, don’t buy it.
- I never met a man I didn’t like.
Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd were married on November 4, 1842.