Cliff Robertson is 87. Robertson won the best acting Oscar in 1969 for Charly. Most recently he played Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben.
Joe Theismann is 61. Allegedly his name was pronounced Thees-man until he went to Notre Dame and they realized that Thighs-man rhymed with Heisman (as in the Trophy). No, really. (Theismann was runner-up to Jim Plunkett of Stanford for the Heisman in 1970.) NewMexiKen was at RFK that Monday night in 1985 when Lawrence Taylor broke Theismann’s leg.
Once-upon-a-time child star Angela Cartwright is 58. She was Danny Thomas’s step-daughter, Brigitta in Sound of Music, and Penny Robinson in Lost in Space.
Hugh Grant is 50. Is it just me, or do he and Phil Mickelson have the same goofy look?
Adam Sandler turns 44 today.
Best supporting actress nominee for Brokeback Mountain, Michelle Williams is 30.
Otis Redding was born on this date in 1941.
Though his career was relatively brief, cut short by a tragic plane crash, Otis Redding was a singer of such commanding stature that to this day he embodies the essence of soul music in its purist form. His name is synonymous with the term soul, music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, secular testifying. Redding left behind a legacy of recordings made during the four-year period from his first sessions for Stax/Volt Records in 1963 until his death in 1967. Ironically, although he consistently impacted the R&B charts beginning with the Top Ten appearance of “Mr. Pitiful” in 1965, none of his singles fared better than #21 on the pop Top Forty until the posthumous release of “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” That landmark song, recorded just four days before Redding’s death, went to #1 and stayed there for four weeks in early 1968.
Redding wrote the song known as Aretha Franklin’s signature hit, “Respect.”
Tolstoy was born 182 years ago today.
Elvis Presley’s first famous TV appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show was 54 years ago tonight.
And the Compromise of 1850 was put in place 160 years ago today with the admission of California as the 31st state and the creation of New Mexico and Utah territories.
I was watching that game on TV. The memory of that horrible, sickening play stays with me today. Don’t take this the wrong way, Ken, (I love your Blog and you) but … posting a link to that abomination was just plain sadistic! I just clicked the link to make sure that is what you did. I didn’t actually watch the train wreck again.
I didn’t realize it was his birthday this week, but on the recommendation of a friend, I just watched a movie about Tolstoy’s last days and what would happen with regards to his movement, legacy, and book rights. It’s called “The Last Station” with Christopher Plummer (as Tolstoy), Helen Mirren, and Paul Giamatti. It was a pretty good movie, if you go for that sort of period piece. Well done production, very dramatic in parts.
I saw The Last Station recently. Fine, fine acting — both Plummer and Mirren were nominated for best acting Oscars. I found the screenplay confusing — when I have to stop the movie to check Wikipedia I figure something is amiss. But maybe that’s just me.