Category: Birthdays

… of Yelberton Abraham Tittle. Football hall-of-famer Y.A. Tittle is 80.

Career record: 2,427 completions, 33,070 yards, 242 TDs, 13 games over 300 yards passing…Paced 1961, 1962, 1963 Giants to division titles…Threw 33 TD passes in 1962, 36 in 1963…NFL’s Most Valuable Player, 1961, 1963.

… of Bill Wyman. The Rolling Stones’ bassist (1962-1992) is 70.

… of F. Murray Abraham. The Oscar-winning actor (best actor for Amadeus) is 67 today.

… of Kevin Kline. The Oscar-winning actor (best supporting actor for A Fish Called Wanda) is 59.

… of William Christopher. Father Francis Mulcahy is 74.

… of Tom Petty; the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is 56.

In a sense, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are America’s band. Durable, resourceful, hard-working, likeable and unpretentious, they rank among the most capable and classic rock bands of the last quarter century. They’ve mastered the idiom’s fundamentals and digested its history while stretching themselves creatively and contributing to rock’s legacy. Moreover they are, like such compatriots as Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, a people’s band, writing of everyday struggles and frustrations while offering redemption through tough-minded, big-hearted, tuneful songs. (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

… of Calvin Cordozar Broadus. Snoop Dogg is 35.

Actor Jerry Orbach was born on this date in 1935.

Hall-of-famer Mickey Mantle was born on this date in 1931 and died in 1995. Click on the plaque to learn more about The Mick (whom NewMexiKen saw play twice).

Bela Lugosi was born on this date in 1882. The Romanian-born actor (part of Austria-Hungary then) was best known for playing Count Dracula in the 1931 film. Lugosi died in 1956.

… of John LeCarre. The author is 75.

… of Peter Max. The artist is 69.

… of John Lithgow. He’s 61. He’s become somewhat a buffoon on TV in the sitcoms and commercials. Makes it hard to remember that he’s twice been nominated for the best supporting actor Oscar — Terms of Endearment and The World According to Garp.

… of Jeannie C. Riley, singer of the hit “Harper Valley P.T.A.” She, too, is 61.

… of Jennifer Holliday. The Tony Award winner is 46.

… of one-time first daughter Amy Carter. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter’s little girl is 39.

Robert Reed was born on this date in 1932. A fine actor but one who will always be remembered best as the dad on The Brady Bunch. Reed’s best TV role was as Kenneth Preston, son in the excellent early 1960s father-son lawyer drama The Defenders. His father was played by E. G. Marshall. Reed died in 1992.

Winston Hubert McIntosh was born on this date in 1944. A founding member of The Wailers, Peter Tosh also was an international solo star and songwriter. He was shot and killed along with five others by a friend during an argument on September 11, 1987.

Keith Jackson is 78 today.

Actor Peter Boyle is 71.

Football hall-of-famer Mike Ditka is 67.

Pam Dawber, Mork’s Mindy, is 55.

Martina Navratilova is 50.

Joanie Cunningham is 46. That’s Erin Moran.

And, as already noted, roll over Beethoven, Charles Edward Anderson Berry is 80 today.

Rita Hayworth, born on this date in 1918.

Arthur Miller, the playwright (The Crucible, Death of a Salesman) and one-time husband of Marilyn Monroe, was born on this date in 1915.

Montgomery Clift was born on October 17 in 1920. Clift was nominated for the best actor Oscar three times and supporting actor once. He played Prewitt, the bugler who won’t box, in From Here to Eternity.

It’s also the birthday

… of Jimmy Breslin. The columnist is 76.

… of Evel Knievel. The daredevil is 68.

… of Margot Kidder. Lois Lane is 58.

… of George Wendt. Norm is 58.
“What’ll you have Norm?”
“Fame, fortune, fast women.”
“How about a beer?”
“Even better.”

… of country singer Alan Jackson; he’s 48.

… of golfer Ernie Els; 37.

And of Marshall Mathers, better known as Eminem. He’s 34.

… of John Wooden. The Wizard of Westwood is 96.

… of Roger Moore. The oldest of the James Bonds in 79.

… of Ralph Lauren. The founder of Polo is 67.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States, was born in Denison, Texas, on this date in 1890.

… of Melinda Dillon. That’s the mom in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. She’s 67. Dillon was nominated for the best supporting actress Oscar for that role and for her part in Absence of Malice.

… of Paul Simon. He’s “Still Crazy After All These Years” at 65.

It’s the birthday of singer and songwriter Paul Simon, born in Newark, New Jersey (1941). His father was a musician and his mother was a music teacher. When he was in sixth grade, he got a part in the school play as the White Rabbit in Alice In Wonderland. A boy named Art Garfunkel played the Mad Hatter. The two became friends after walking home from rehearsal every day. They started a singing duo, playing sock hops and high school dances, and they made a hit record when they were only 16 years old.

The two recorded their first folk album, Wednesday Morning, 3 a.m. in 1964, but it only sold a few thousand copies. They figured their career was probably over, but, unbeknownst to Simon and Garfunkel, their record label had added electric guitars to the song “The Sounds of Silence” and released it as a single. They had just moved back in with their parents and were sitting in Simon’s car, wondering what to do next, when they heard the song come on the radio, and the DJ said it had gone to number one. Simon turned to Garfunkel and said, “That Simon and Garfunkel, they must be having a great time.” (The Writer’s Almanac)

… of Demond Wilson. Sanford’s son is 60.

… of Marie Osmond. She’s 47.

… of Jerry Rice. He’s 44.

… of skater Nancy Kerrigan. She’s 37.

… of Leonard Alfred Schneider, born on this date in 1925. That’s Lenny Bruce, who said, “All my humor is based on destruction and despair. If the whole world were tranquil, I’d be standing in the breadline, right back of J. Edgar Hoover.”

And it’s the third birthday of Sofie, official youngest granddaughter of NewMexiKen. Happy Birthday, Sofie!

… of Elmore Leonard. He’s 81 today.

“Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip” — one of Elmore Leonard’s Ten Rules of Writing.

… of Joan Cusack. The actress is 44. She’s been nominated for best actress in a supporting role twice, Working Girl and In & Out.

And, if they rated first ladies like they rate the presidents, the one who would surely be at the top, Eleanor Roosevelt, was born on this date in 1884. (She died in 1962.)

Eleanor Roosevelt struggled to overcome an unhappy childhood, betrayal in her marriage, a controlling mother-in-law, and gripping depressions—all the while staying true to her passion for social justice. (The American Experience)

The Writer’s Almanac has biographical background today about both Elmore Leonard and Eleanor Roosevelt.

… of Peter Coyote, the actor. He’s 64. Coyote does a lot of voice-over and narration. He’s the one that sounds a lot like Henry Fonda. He’s appeared in more than 100 films and television shows (including recently in “Commander in Chief”), though he began acting only at age 39. He tested for the part of Indiana Jones.

… of “Chicken George.” Actor Ben Vereen is 60. He played Alex Haley’s ancestor, “Chicken George,” in Roots.

… of Bradley Whitford. He’s 47.

… of Brett Favre. He’s 37.

… of Dale Earnhardt. He’s 32. NewMexiKen overheard some of the Talladega 500 television coverage Sunday. Earnhardt was invariably referred to with the “junior” added on as if the broadcasters thought “senior” was somehow driving a competing car. When his father was alive, the father was Dale Earnhardt and the son Dale Earnhardt Jr. Now that the father is deceased, the son is Dale Earnhardt.

Or so says Miss Manners, making an exception for royalty — oh, that explains the Earnhardts, NASCAR royalty for sure.

Goodness gracious, great balls of fire, Jerry Lee Lewis is 71 today.

Ian McShane is 64. Big party at the Gem. (McShane played the c***s**k** Al Swearengen on Deadwood.)

Bryant Gumbel is 58.

Actress Anita Ekberg is 75 today, meaning her age still hasn’t doubled her famous bust size.

Gene Autry was born in Tioga, Texas, on this date 99 years ago today.

According to The Writer’s Almanac and others, Miguel de Cervantes may have been born on this date in 1547.

… of Michael Douglas. He’s 62.

… of Mrs. Douglas. Catherine Zeta-Jones is 37.

… of Will Smith. The Prince MIB is 38.

… of Heather Locklear. She’s 45.

… of Mark Hamill. Luke is 55.

… of Barbara Walters. She’s 75.

… of Phil Rizzuto. “Scooter” is 89.

The Shakespeare of sportswriters was born on this date 101 years ago. That’s Red Smith. Here he is on the 1951 World Series (after the Giants’ miraculous playoff win to be there):

Magic and sorcery and incantation and spells had taken the Giants to the championship of the National League and put them into the World Series … But you don’t beat the Yankees with a witch’s broomstick. Not the Yankees, when there’s hard money to be won.

And on Seabiscuit:

With that established, let’s talk about the death of Seabiscuit the other night. It isn’t mawkish to say there was a racehorse, a horse that gave race fans as much pleasure as any that ever lived, and one that will be remembered as long and as warmly. If someone asked you to list horses which had, apart from speed or endurance, some quality that fixed the imagination and captured the regard of more people than ever saw them run, you’ve had to mention Man o’ War and Equipoise and Exterminator, and Whirlaway, and Seabiscuit. And the honest son of Hard Tack wouldn’t be last.

And: “Writing is easy. All you have to do is sit at a typewriter and open a vein.”

Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, should have been 70 today.

Jim McKay, the long-time Wide World of Sports host, is 85.

Nia Vardalos, the actress-screenwriter from My Big Fat Greek Wedding is 44. She received an Oscar nomination for the screenplay.

University of Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson is 72.

Harry’s daughter Shari is 53 and Pat’s daughter Debby is 50. Belafonte and Boone, respectively.

Joan Jett is 48.

Chachi is 45. That’s Scott Baio.

And NewMexiKen’s baby brother John is 47.

Duke Snider is 80.

Bill Medley is 66.

The vocal duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield virtually defined the term “blue-eyed soul.” As the Righteous Brothers, they cut a string of hits that fared well on both the pop and rhythm and blues charts: “Unchained Melody” (#4 pop, #3 R&B), “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration (#1 pop, #13 R&B) and their masterpiece – and one of the seminal singles of the rock and roll era – “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ (#1 pop, #3 R&B). In the mid-1960s, the Righteous Brothers became a fixture on Top Forty radio and the televised rock and roll variety show Shindig!, on which they guested frequently. Medley’s commanding baritone and Hatfield’s forceful tenor ranked among the most indelible voices of that charmed era. (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

Joe Morgan is 63.

And Aidan is 3.

“If there’s a fire, get out of house.” — Aidan. He also advised not to go back in for any toys.

“I’ve got Hulk in my belly.” — Aidan describing his flu.
 
 

… of Jackie Cooper; he’s 84. Cooper’s first appearance in film was in 1929; his last 60 years later. He played Perry White in the Superman films but his real fame was as a child actor, most notably Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island (1934). He was nominated for the best actor Oscar for Skippy in 1931. This is the role where the director got him to cry on camera by telling Jackie (falsely) that his dog had just been run over by a car.

… of Tommy Lee Jones. He’s 60. Jones has been nominated for the Best Supporting Actor twice, winning for The Fugitive, but not for JFK. NewMexiKen thought he was best in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. Jones and Harvard roommate Al Gore were the inspiration for Oliver Barrett IV in Erich Segal’s best-seller Love Story.

… of Oliver Stone, also 60. Stone has been nominated for seven Oscars and won three — he won for writing for Midnight Express and for best director for Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July.

And humorist Robert Benchley was born on this date in 1889. Last year The Writer’s Almanac wrote:

He started writing humor as a kid in school. Assigned to write an essay about how to do something practical, he wrote one called “How to Embalm a Corpse.” When he was assigned to write about the dispute over Newfoundland fishing rights from the point of view of the United States and Canada, he instead chose to write from the point of view of the fish.

He’s the grandfather of Peter Benchley, author of Jaws.