Even without including Lincoln (and Darwin) today deserves national holiday status. It’s the birthday of Bill Russell for heaven’s sake! And Omar Bradley.
Bill Russell is 75. Back-to-back NCAA championships at the University of San Francisco, 1955-1956 — 55 consecutive wins. Eleven NBA championships with the Celtics in 13 years, 1957-1969 — Russell was the only player there for all 11. Simply the greatest winner in basketball history. (And the best laugh.)
Today is also the birthday
… of Joe Garagiola, 83.
… of author Judy Blume. She’s 71.
… of Ray Manzarek. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is 70.
The Doors formed in the summer of 1965 around Morrison and Manzarek, who’d met at UCLA’s film school. A year later the group signed with Elektra Records, recording six landmark studio LPs and a live album for the label. They achieved popular success and critical acclaim for their 1967 debut, The Doors (which included their eleven-minute epic “The End” and “Light My Fire,” a Number One hit at the height of the Summer of Love), and all the other albums that followed.
… of actress Maud Adams. Octopussy is 64.
… of Arsenio Hall, 54.
… of Josh Brolin, 41. I wonder if his stepmom will sing “Happy Birthday” to him.
… of actress Christina Ricci. Wednesday Addams is 29.
Lorne Greene (aka Ben Cartwright) was born on this date in 1915.
Omar Bradley, the G.I General, was born on this date in 1893.
Except for his original division assignments, Bradley won his wartime advancement on the battlefield, commanding American soldiers in North Africa, Sicily, across the Normandy beaches, and into Germany itself. His understated personal style of command left newsmen with little to write about, especially when they compared him to the more flamboyant among the Allied commanders, but his reputation as a fighter was secure among his peers and particularly with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander, who considered him indispensable.
Self-effacing and quiet, Bradley showed a concern for the men he led that gave him the reputation as the “soldier’s general.” That same concern made him the ideal choice in 1945 to reinvigorate the Veterans Administration and prepare it to meet the needs of millions of demobilized servicemen. After he left active duty, both political and military leaders continued to seek Bradley’s advice. Perhaps more importantly, he remained in close touch with the Army and served its succeeding generations as the ideal model of a professional soldier.
And it’s the birthday of artist Thomas Moran, born on this date in 1837. The National Gallery of Art has an outstanding online exhibit on Moran. Click the image for a larger replica of his classic painting Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Manzarek was always the real talent in The Doors. For all of Jim Morrison’s weirdness and other-worldliness, Manzarek was the best part.
As proven by this Fresh Air interview from a couple years back.