Sidney Poitier is 83 today.
American Masters from PBS sums it up nicely:
More than an actor (and Academy-Award winner), Sidney Poitier is an artist. A writer and director, a thinker and critic, a humanitarian and diplomat, his presence as a cultural icon has long been one of protest and humanity. His career defined and documented the modern history of blacks in American film, and his depiction of proud and powerful characters was and remains revolutionary.
Lilies of the Field — with Poitier’s Oscar winning performance — has been one of NewMexiKen’s favorites since it was released nearly 50 years ago. If you don’t know the film, you should.
Ansel Adams was born on this date in 1902.
In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Mr. Adams combined a passion for natural landscape, meticulous craftsmanship as a printmaker and a missionary’s zeal for his medium to become the most widely exhibited and recognized photographer of his generation.
His photographs have been published in more than 35 books and portfolios, and they have been seen in hundreds of exhibitions, including a one-man show, ”Ansel Adams and the West,” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1979. That same year he was the subject of a cover story in Time magazine, and in 1980 he received the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
In addition to being acclaimed for his dramatic landscapes of the American West, he was held in esteem for his contributions to photographic technology and to the recognition of photography as an art form.
Horror and science fiction writer Richard Matheson is 84 today.
“When people talk about genre, I guess they mention my name first, but without Richard Matheson I wouldn’t be around. He is as much my father as Bessie Smith was Elvis Presley’s mother.” … He wrote for television shows, including The Twilight Zone and Star Trek, and he wrote more than 20 novels and 100 short stories. His most famous books include I Am Legend (1954), The Shrinking Man (1956), later retitled The Incredible Shrinking Man, and What Dreams May Come (1978).
Nancy Wilson is 73. Buffy Sainte-Marie is 69. Sandy Duncan is 64. J. Geils is 64, as well. Patty Hearst is 56. Charles Barkley is 47. And Cindy Crawford is 44.
I couldn’t even guess how many times I’ve seen “Lilies of the Field” and I hope I see it that many more.
I always get such a giddy thrill when I’m looking at Ansel Adams’s photographs and recognize places I’ve been.