Today is the birthday
… of Senator James Inhofe (R-OK). Inhofe is the senator who has said, “man-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.” He’s 75, his age having now exceeded his IQ.
… of Gordon Lightfoot. The singer is 71.
I can see her lyin’ back in her satin dress
In a room where you do what you don’t confess
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you bin creepin’ round my back stairs
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you bin creepin’ round my back stairs
… of Martin Scorsese. The Oscar-winning director is 67.
… of Danny DeVito. The actor/director/producer is 65. Very early in his career DeVito played Martini in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
… of Lorne Michaels. The producer of Saturday Night Live is 65.
So he moved back to Canada, where he formed a comedy duo with Hart Pomerantz, and they had a television variety show on Canadian television, The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour. They contracted their talents to comedic acts in the United States, writing for Phyllis Diller, Lily Tomlin, Joan Rivers, and Woody Allen. They also wrote for the NBC show Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, and then NBC asked Michaels to come up with a comedy show to replace the Johnny Carson reruns that aired Saturday nights at 11 p.m.
Michaels recruited talent from all sorts of places. Dan Aykroyd was a fellow Canadian, and Chevy Chase, John Belushi, and Gilda Radner had worked on the National Lampoon show. Muppet creator Jim Henson created sketches for the show, and recent Harvard grad Al Franken was signed on as a writer. And so Michaels put together the first season, 1975–1976, and won an Emmy for it.
… of Tom Seaver. Tom Terrific, the baseball hall-of-famer is 65.
… of Elvin Hayes. The basketball hall-of-famer is 64.
… of Howard Dean. The physician politician is 61.
… of Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. The actress is 51. Mastrantonio was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar for “The Color of Money.”
… of Daisy Fuentes, 43. Sophie Marceau is 43, too.
Rock Hudson was born on this date in 1925; he died in 1985. Hudson got a best actor Oscar nomination for “Giant.”
Soichiro Honda was born on this date in 1906; he died in 1991. Honda started as an auto mechanic at age 15.