Today is the birthday
… of Clive Cussler, 80.
… of Alex Karras, All-American, Heisman runner-up (and he was a lineman), Outland Award winner, NFL star (1958-1971), Monday Night Football sportscaster, TV sitcom actor and — most notably — Mongo in Blazing Saddles. He’s 76 today.
… of Tucson’s favorite daughter, Linda Ronstadt, 65 today. Miss Ronstadt has sold more than 66 million albums worldwide. The session band behind her on her third album became The Eagles.
… of Arianna Stassinopoulos, 61. Born in Greece, educated at Cambridge, wealthy by her marriage to Michael Huffington, she is an actress, commentator, author of a dozen books, re-born liberal and founder of the Huffington Post.
… of Jesse “The Body” Ventura, 60, professional wrestler and governor of Minnesota. Is this a great country, or what?
… of Forest Whitaker, 50. Whitaker has been in more than 60 films and television productions, most notably Good Morning, Vietnam, The Crying Game and as Charlie “Bird” Parker in Bird (which earned him best actor at Cannes). He won the best actor Oscar, of course, for portraying Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.
… of Ray Toro, guitarist with My Chemical Romance, is 34.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born in Leiden, Netherlands, on this date in 1606.