NewMexiKen

Today is the birthday

… of Odetta. The folk and blues singer is 77.

… of Anthony Hopkins. The Oscar winner is 70. Hopkins has been nominated for Best Actor three times, winning for The Silence of the Lambs. He was also nominated as Best Supporting Actor for Amistad.

… of Tim Considine. Spin of “Spin and Marty” is 67. Considine was also the oldest of “My Three Sons” and played the soldier slapped by General Patton in the film Patton.

… of Sarah Miles. The Oscar nominee (best actress for Ryan’s Daughter) is 66.

… of Ben Kingsley. The Oscar winner is 64. He won Best Actor for his portrayal of Gandhi. He was also nominated for Best Actor for House of Sand and Fog and twice for Best Supporting Actor.

… of Diane Von Furstenberg. The fashion designer is 61.

… of Tim Matheson. Animal House’s “Otter,” better known recently as Vice President John Hoynes on “West Wing,” is 60.

… of Donna Summer. The Bad Girl is 59.

… of Bebe Neuwirth. Lilith is 49. Ms. Neuwirth won the Emmy twice for this role on Cheers.

… of Val Kilmer. “Iceman” is 48.

… of Gong Li. The actress is 42.

Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. was born in Roswell, New Mexico, on this date in 1943. His grandmother gave him a guitar while he lived in Tucson and eventually he became John Denver. Denver died in 1997 when his experimental plane crashed into Monterey Bay.

George C. Marshall was born on this date in 1880.

Few Americans in the twentieth century have left a greater legacy to world peace than George C. Marshall (1880-1959). As chief of staff of the United States Army during World War II, it fell to Marshall to raise, train, and equip an army of several million men. It was Marshall who selected the officer corps and it was Marshall who played a leading role in planning military operations on a global scale. In the end, it was Marshall whom British Prime Minister Winston Churchill hailed as “the true organizer of victory.”

Yet history will associate Marshall foremost as the author of the Marshall Plan. The idea of extending billions of American dollars for European economic recovery was not his alone. He was only one of many Western leaders who realized the tragic consequences of doing nothing for those war-shattered countries in which basic living conditions were deplorable and still deteriorating two years after the end of the fighting. But Marshall, more than anyone else, led the way. In an address at Harvard University on June 5, 1947, Marshall, in his capacity as secretary of state, articulated the general principles of the Marshall Plan. (National Portrait Gallery)

Marshall won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.

Henri Matisse was born on this date in 1869. With Picasso, Matisse is considered the pinnacle of 20th century painting.

The WebMuseum has details of the life and works of Matisse including several examples.

Matisse died in 1954.

The penultimate day of the year is the birthday

… of Bo Diddley. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is 79.

Music historian Robert Palmer has described Bo Diddley as “one of the most original and fertile rhythmic intelligences of our time.” He will forever be known as the creator of the “Bo Diddley beat,” one of the cornerstone rhythms of rock and roll. He employed it in his namesake song, “Bo Diddley,” as well as other primal rockers like “Mona.” This distinctive African-based rhythm pattern (which goes bomp bomp bomp bomp-bomp) was picked up from Diddley by other artists and has been a distinctive and recurring element in rock and roll through the decades. (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

… of Russ Tamblyn. Riff, “a Jet to his dying day,” is 73.

… of Sandy Koufax. The most dominant pitcher in the game in the early 1960s, the man who threw four no-hitters including a perfect game is 72.

… of Paul (Noel actually) Stookey. Paul of Peter, Paul & Mary is 70.

… of James Burrows. The director of “Taxi,” “Cheers” and “Will and Grace” is 67.

… of Fred Ward. The actor (Gus Grissom in “The Right Stuff”) is 65.

… of Monkees Michael Nesmith (65) and Davy Jones (62).

… of Patti Smith. Punk rock’s poet laureate is 61.

… of Meredith Viera and of Matt Lauer. The Today show hosts are 54 and 50.

… of Tracey Ullman. She’s 48.

… of Eldrick Woods. Tiger is 32.

… of LeBron James. He’s 23 today.

Have a Coke and a smile today.

It’s the birthday of the man who introduced us to Coca-Cola, Asa Griggs Candler, born in Villa Rica, Georgia (1851). He grew up during the Civil War and wanted to be a doctor, but his family was so poor that he could only receive an elementary school education before becoming a pharmacist’s apprentice. But Candler proved to be business savvy, slowly building his own drugstore empire, and in 1886 he bought sole rights to John Pemberton’s original formula of Coca-Cola and formed the Coca-Cola Company in 1890. Candler understood the importance of advertising. He used calendars, billboards, and posters to keep the Coca-Cola trademark prominent in the public’s mind. After selling the patent in 1919, he went on to serve as Atlanta’s mayor and funded a teaching hospital for Emory University’s Medical School.

The Writer’s Almanac from American Public Media

Alfred Einstein was born on December 30, 1880.

Five-time Oscar nominee Denzel Washington is 53 today. He’s won twice — leading for Training Day and supporting for Glory.

Six-time Oscar nominee Maggie Smith is 73. 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 76.

Stan Lee, the creator of “Spider-Man” and “The Incredible Hulk” is 85.

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton, Virginia, on this date in 1856. Wilson was the second of two sitting American Presidents to win the Nobel Prize for Peace. Theodore Roosevelt was the other.

Today is the birthday

… of Hector Elizondo. Better-known perhaps for Chicago Hope, NewMexiKen remembers this fine character actor best as the gracious hotel manager in Pretty Woman. He’s 71.

… of Steve Carlton. Lefty is 63.

Steve Carlton was an extremely focused competitor with complete dedication to excellence. He thrived on the mound by physically and mentally challenging himself off the field. His out-pitch, a hard, biting slider complemented a great fastball. He won 329 games – second only to Warren Spahn among lefties – and his 4,136 strikeouts are exceeded only by Nolan Ryan. Lefty once notched 19 strikeouts in a game, compiled six 20-win seasons, and was the first pitcher to win four Cy Young Awards.

National Baseball Hall of Fame

… of Diane Sawyer. She’s 62. Another person NewMexiKen once met; in Sawyer’s case while she worked for Richard Nixon after he resigned the presidency. It was 33 years ago, but I can still remember the moment and thinking that I wanted to be a former President when I grew up so that women as attractive as she would be on my staff.

… of Robin Gibb. The twin of Maurice (d. 2003) and brother of Barry and Andy (d. 1988) is 58.

… of Ralph Fiennes. The actor, twice nominated for the best actor Oscar, is 45.

Claudia Taylor Johnson was born on this date in 1912. NewMexiKen worked at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library in the mid-1970s where I met and occasionally chatted with Mrs. Johnson. She was a warm, impressive and attractive woman.