Henry Fonda was born May 16, 1905, in Grand Island, Nebraska. Seems hard to believe but Fonda was only nominated for an acting Oscar twice — for Grapes of Wrath and On Golden Pond. He won for the latter in 1982, a few months before his death. Particular favorite Fonda films (other than those two): 12 Angry Men, Mister Roberts, My Darling Clementine (he played Wyatt Earp), The Ox-Bow Incident (with sidekick Harry Morgan, aka Col. Sherman Potter) and, maybe best of all, as Clarence Earl Gideon in Gideon’s Trumpet (made when Fonda was 75).
Actress Debra Winger and gymnast Olga Korbut both turn 56 today. Winger has been nominated for the best actress Oscar three times — Shadowlands (1993), Terms of Endearment (1983) and An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). Korbut is the Belarusian gymnast who, pixie-like, revolutionized gymnastics. She became it’s first TV superstar while winning three gold medals and one silver at the 1972 Olympic Games. For a few days she was the talk of the planet.
Elsewhere, Rep. John Conyers from Detroit is 82, Pierce Brosnan is 58, Janet Jackson is 45, Gabriela Sabatini is 41 and Tori Spelling is 38.
Megan Fox is 25.
Woody Herman (1913) and Billy Martin (1928) were born on May 16. So was William Henry Seward, Lincoln’s secretary of state. Seward was also governor of New York (1839-1842) and U.S. senator (1849-1861). Seward was stabbed several times in the head and neck as part of the Lincoln assassination plot but recovered. He was born in 1801.
“Pet Sounds” was released 45 years ago today; so was “Blonde on Blonde.”