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Five-time Oscar nominee Denzel Washington is 55 today. He’s won twice — leading for Training Day and supporting for Glory.

Six-time Oscar nominee Maggie Smith is 75. She’s won twice — leading for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and supporting for California Suite.

Martin Milner, the senior police officer on “Adam-12” is 78.

Stan Lee (Stanley Martin Lieber), the creator of “Spider-Man” and “The Incredible Hulk” is 87.

Mackenzie Rosman of 7th Heaven is 20.

Earl Kenneth Hines was born on December 28, 1903.

A brilliant keyboard virtuoso, Earl “Fatha” Hines was one of the first great piano soloists in jazz, and one of the very few musicians who could hold his own with Louis Armstrong. His so-called ‘trumpet’ style used doubled octaves in the right hand to produce a clear melodic line that stood out over the sound of a whole band, but he also had a magnificent technical command of the entire range of the keyboard.

Earl Hines at All About Jazz

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton, Virginia, on this date in 1856. After graduating from Princeton in 1879, Wilson studied law at the University of Virginia for one year. He received a Ph.D. in political science from Johns Hopkins University in 1886. Wilson remains the only American president to have earned a doctoral degree.

Wilson served on the faculties of Bryn Mawr College and Wesleyan University before joining the Princeton faculty as professor of jurisprudence and political economy in 1890. He became President of Princeton in 1902. His commentary on contemporary political matters led to his election as Governor of New Jersey in 1910 and as President in 1912.

Wilson was the second of three sitting American Presidents to win the Nobel Prize for Peace. (Theodore Roosevelt was the first, Barack Obama the third.)

Today is the birthday

… of Scotty Moore. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is 78.

Scotty Moore served as Elvis Presley’s guitarist from 1954 to 1958, widely regarded as Presley’s golden years. Moore was a participant in the historic early sessions at Sun Recording Studio that mark the birth of rock and roll. It was on Monday, July 5th, 1954, that Presley, Moore and bassist Bill Black broke into bluesman Arthur Cruddup’s “That’s All Right” in a freewheeling style that brought together country and blues. They took a similarly approach to bluegrass legend Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” With these spontaneous breakthroughs, conceived in the most innocent and intuitive way, both sides of Elvis Presley’s legendary first single—and the first new strains of rock and roll—were in the can. Notably, the single (Sun 209) was credited to “Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill.”

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

… of John Amos. Adm. Percy Fitzwallace (West Wing), Toby (Kunta Kinte as adult) and J.J.’s father (Good Times) is 70.

… of Cokie Roberts. The daughter of Hale and Lindy Boggs is 66.

… of Gerard Depardieu. The actor who has played more famous characters than even Charlton Heston (Cyrano De Bergerac, Jean de Florette, Christopher Columbus, Honoré de Balzac, Le Comte de Monte Cristo, Porthos, Auguste Rodin, Franco, Danton) is 61.

… of David Knopfler. The other Knopfler is 57, not old enough to be in dire straits yet.

Sarah Vowell, an Okie from Muskogee, is 40 today.

Her essay collection Take the Cannoli: Stories from the New World (2000) starts with a piece called “Shooting Dad,” which begins: “If you were passing by the house where I grew up during my teenage years and it happened to be before Election Day, you wouldn’t have needed to come inside to see that it was a house divided. You could have looked at the Democratic campaign poster in the upstairs window and the Republican one in the downstairs window and seen our home for the Civil War battleground it was. I’m not saying who was the Democrat or who was the Republican — my father or I — but I will tell you that I have never subscribed to Guns & Ammo, that I did not plaster the family vehicle with National Rifle Association stickers, and that hunter’s orange was never my color.”

The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor

Marlene Dietrich was born on this date in 1901. Miss Dietrich was nominated for an Oscar for best actress for the 1930 film Morocco.

For crying out loud, what kind of country is this that today is not a national holiday? It’s a holiday in Canada for pete’s sake!

Today is the birthday of Carroll Spinney; he’s 76. For 40 years Spinney has been one of the most recognized performers on television. He’s won five Emmys and a National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Lifetime Achievement Award.

Carroll Spinney is the puppeteer who plays Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.

Abdul “Duke” Fakir is 74 today. He is the only surviving member of the Four Tops. The quartet performed together for 43 years (1954-1997) without a change in personnel. (Lawrence Payton died in 1997.)

“The Four Tops deserve to be recognized both for their achievements and their longevity. On the latter count, the group performed for over four decades together without a single change in personnel – a record of constancy that is mind-boggling in the notoriously changeable world of popular music. As for their accomplishments, the Four Tops cut some of Motown’s most memorable singles during the label’s creative zenith, including “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “I Can’t Help Myself,” “It’s the Same Old Song,” “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” “Standing in the Shadows of Love” and “Bernadette.” The Four Tops’ greatest records were recorded at Motown with the in-house songwriting and production team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland between 1964 and 1967.

The foursome arrived at Motown in 1963 as seasoned veterans, having already logged nearly a decade in show business. The Detroit-based vocal group – consisting of lead vocalist Levi Stubbs, first tenor Abdul “Duke” Fakir, second tenor Lawrence Payton and baritone Renaldo “Obie” Benson – began singing together as the Four Aims soon after graduating high school in 1954. …

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Phil Spector is 70. He’s doing 19-to-life for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson.

Phil Spector is among the greatest producers of rock and roll, and some would passionately argue that he is the greatest ever. His ambitious approach to the art of record production helped redefine and revitalize rock and roll during its early-Sixties slump. On a string of classic records released between 1961 and 1966 on his Philles label, he elevated the monaural 45 rpm single to an art form. “Little symphonies for the kiddies,” he called them, and they were indeed dramatic pop records possessed of a grandeur and intimacy theretofore uncommon in rock and roll.

Phil Spector

You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling (Righteous Brothers)
River Deep – Mountain High (Ike and Tina Turner)
Be My Baby (Ronettes)
Da Doo Ron Ron (Crystals)
Spanish Harlem (Ben E. King)
He’s a Rebel (Crystals)

Carlton Fisk is 62.

Baseball’s most durable catcher with 24 years behind the plate, Carlton Pudge Fisk caught more games (2,226) than any player in history. The 11-time All-Star hit 376 career home runs, including a record-setting 351 as a catcher, since bested by Mike Piazza. His most memorable home run came in Game Six of the 1975 World Series – a 12th inning blast off the left field foul pole at Fenway Park – giving his Red Sox a 7-6 win over Cincinnati. His tremendous pride and work ethic were respected by both teammates as well as the opposition.

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Ozzie Smith is 55.

Known as “The Wizard of Oz,” Ozzie Smith combined athletic ability with acrobatic skill to become one of the game’s great defensive shortstops. In 19 seasons with the Padres and Cardinals, the 13-time Gold Glove Award winner set major league shortstop records for assists, double plays and total chances. He would develop into an offensive weapon, finishing with over 2,400 hits and 500 stolen bases. His ninth-inning home run won the fifth game of the 1985 National League Championship Series.

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

David Sedaris is 53 today.

He grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. He moved to Chicago, and he made a living painting apartments, squirrel-proofing houses, and working as a house cleaner. Then, in 1992, he read his essay “The SantaLand Diaries” on NPR’s Morning Edition. It was extremely popular. He signed a contract with a publisher, and his books of essays were huge best-sellers — Barrel Fever (1994), Naked (1997), and Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000). But even after he became a successful writer, Sedaris kept his job cleaning apartments for a long time. He said, “I can only write when it’s dark, so basically, my whole day is spent waiting for it to get dark. Cleaning apartments gives me something to do when I get up. Otherwise, I’d feel like a bum.” Also, it allowed him to keep up with his favorite soap operas. David Sedaris has kept a diary for about 30 years. He makes one for every season, and each one has a cover. He says, “It’s a lot of work for something no one’s ever going to see.”

The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor

Mao Tse-tung was born on December 26th in 1893.