Author: jonathanhwinchell

Today Paul Rudd is 50. Today is also the birthday of Zach Braff, Billy Dee Williams, John Ratzenberger, Barry Levinson, Michael Rooker, Marilu Henner, Candace Cameron Bure, Jason Hervey, Philippe Garrel, Eliza Coupe, Teddy Sears, Charlie McDermott, and the late Merle Haggard (who died on his birthday three years ago in 2016 at age 79), Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Joi Lansing, Ivan Dixon, and Phil Leeds. Isaac Asimov died 27 year ago in 1992 at age 72. Greer Garson died 23 years ago in 1996 at age 91. Tammy Wynette died 21 years ago in 1998 at age 55. Mickey Rooney died five years ago in 2014 at age 93. Don Rickles died two years ago in 2017 at age 90.

Today Lily James is 30. Today is also the birthday of Roger Corman, Hayley Atwell, Pharrell Williams, Krista Allen, Michael Moriarty, Jane Asher, Max Gail, Stewart Lee, Mitch Pileggi, Peter Greenaway, Andrea Arnold, General Colin L. Powell, and the late Spencer Tracy, Gregory Peck, Bette Davis, Melvyn Douglas, Walter Huston, Frank Gorshin, Nigel Hawthorne, John Le Mesurier, Christopher Hewett, Michael V. Gazzo, Grady Sutton, Robert Bloch, and Albert R. Broccoli. Howard Hughes died 43 years ago in 1976 at age 70. Kurt Cobain died 25 years ago in 1994 at age 27. Allen Ginsberg died 22 years ago in 1997 at age 70. Charlton Heston died eleven years ago in 2008 at age 84.

Today Gene Reynolds is 96, Craig T. Nelson is 75, and Natasha Lyonne is 40. Today is also the birthday of Robert Downey Jr., David Cross, Barry Pepper, Hugo Weaving, Sarah Gadon, Clive Davis, Estelle Harris, Graham Norton, David Blaine, David E. Kelley, Christine Lahti, Nancy McKeon, Aki Kaurismäki, Lorraine Toussaint, Jill Scott, Rachel Korine, Jamie Lynn Spears, and the late Heath Ledger, who would be 40, Anthony Perkins, Andrei Tarkovsky, Éric Rohmer, Muddy Waters, Maya Angelou, Kenneth Mars, Elmer Bernstein, Marguerite Duras, Peter Vaughan, Elizabeth Wilson, Bea Benaderet, and David White. Jason Robards Sr. died 66 years ago in 1963 at age 70. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated 51 years ago. He was 39. Gloria Swanson died 36 years ago in 1983 at age 84. Roger Ebert died six years ago at age 70.

Today Doris Day is 97, Dr. Jane Goodall is 85, Tony Orlando and Lamberto Bava are 75, David Hyde Pierce is 60, and Ben Mendelsohn is 50. Today is also the birthday of Eddie Murphy, Alec Baldwin, Matthew Goode, Sofia Boutella, Marsha Mason, Cobie Smulders, Adam Scott, Amanda Bynes, Wayne Newton, Rachel Bloom, Jamie Bamber, Catherine McCormack, Eric Braeden, Marisa Paredes, Josh Safdie, Cristi Puiu, Alice Lowe, Pat Proft, and the late Marlon Brando, Leslie Howard, Dooley Wilson, Washington Irving, Jan Sterling, Richard Manuel, Iron Eyes Cody, George Jessel, Ray Combs, Mary Anderson, Harry Earles, and Allan Dwan. Conrad Veidt died 76 years ago in 1943 at age 50. Warren Oates died 37 years ago in 1982 at age 53.

Today Pamela Reed is 70, and David Frankel is 60. Today is also the birthday of Michael Fassbender, Chris Meloni, Emmylou Harris, Linda Hunt, Adam Rodriguez, Dr. Demento (Barret Hansen), Pedro Pascal, Jesse Plemons, Clark Gregg, Gloria Henry, Allan Corduner, Donald Petrie, Marc Caro, and the late Alec Guinness, Marvin Gaye, Buddy Ebsen, Jack Webb, Hans Christian Andersen, Émile Zola, Giacomo Casanova, Charlemagne, Leon Russell, Dabbs Greer, Debralee Scott, Ron Palillo, and Rodney King. Jean Epstein died 66 years ago in 1953 at age 56. Buddy Rich died 32 years ago in 1987 at age 69. Jesús Franco died six years ago in 2013 at age 82.

Today Jane Powell is 90, Ali MacGraw is 80, and Rob Bottin is 60. Today is also the birthday of David Oyelowo, Asa Butterfield, Method Man, Rachel Maddow, Mackenzie Davis, Taran Killam, Jane Adams, Bijou Phillips, Barry Sonnenfeld, Tomas Alfredson, Albert and Allen Hughes, Chang-dong Lee, Annette O’Toole, Susan Boyle, Richard Christy, and the late Debbie Reynolds, Toshirô Mifune, Lon Chaney, Wallace Beery, Otto von Bismarck, Grace Lee Whitney, Gordon Jump, and Harry Lewis. Noah Beery died 73 years ago in 1946 at age 64 on the birthday his brother, Wallace Beery. Marvin Gaye was murdered 35 years ago in 1984 at age 44, one day before his birthday. Leslie Cheung committed suicide sixteen years ago in 2003 at age 46. Steven Bochco died one year ago in 2018 at age 74.

Today Richard Chamberlain and Shirley Jones are 85, and Volker Schlöndroff is 80. Today is also the birthday of Christopher Walken, Ewan McGregor, Rhea Perlman, Al Gore, Tony Cox, Gabe Kaplan, William Daniels, Marc McClure, Kate Micucci, Daniel Mays, Roy Andersson, Alejandro Amenábar, Jack Antonoff, Paul Mecurio, Angus Young, Barney Frank, and the late René Descartes, Nagisa Ôshima, Richard Kiley, Patrick Magee, Cesar Chavez, Eddie Quillan, Dermot Morgan, Henry Morgan, Robert Stevenson, and Ted Post. Brandon Lee died 26 years ago in 1993 at age 28.

Today Norah Jones is 40. Today is also the birthday of Warren Beatty, Eric Clapton, John Astin, Paul Reiser, Céline Dion, Robbie Coltrane, Kenneth Welsh, Peter Marshall, Katy Mixon, Ian Ziering, Juliet Landau, M.C. Hammer, Tracy Chapman, Maurice LaMarche, Michael Lehmann, Mark Consuelos, Bill Corbett, Piers Morgan, and the late Vincent van Gogh, Francisco Goya, Herbert Anderson, Richard Dysart, Anna Q. Nilsson, Anna Sewell, Sydney Chaplin, Jean-Claude Brialy, Shirley Stoler, and Ray McAnally. James Cagney died 33 years ago in 1986 at age 86. Michael Jeter died sixteen years ago in 2003 at age 50.

Today is the birthday of Eric Idle, Brendan Gleeson, Amy Sedaris, Lucy Lawless, Annabella Sciorra, Bud Cort, Vangelis, Marina Sirtis, Christopher Lambert, Michael Winterbottom, Michel Hazanavicius, Godfrey Reggio, Victor Salva, and the late Pearl Bailey, Arthur O’Connell, Scott Wilson, Jackie Vernon, Dennis O’Keefe, Warner Baxter, Bobby ‘Wheezer’ Hutchins, Onslow Stevens, John McLaughlin, John Tyler, and Sam Walton. Harry Ritz from the Ritz Brothers died 33 years ago in 1986 at age 78. Paul Henreid died 27 years ago in 1992 at age 84. Mitch Hedberg died fourteen years ago in 2005 at age 37. Patty Duke died three years ago in 2016 at age 69.

Today Brett Ratner is 50. Today is also the birthday of Lady Gaga, Reba McEntire, Vince Vaughn, Dianne Wiest, Nick Frost, Julia Stiles, Conchata Ferrell, Richard Kelly, Mike Newell, Richard Eyre, Michael Parkinson, Alexandra Billings, Mya Taylor, James Bidgood, Albert S. Ruddy, and the late Ken Howard, Dirk Bogarde, Freddie Bartholomew, and Flora Robson. Virginia Woolf died 78 years ago in 1941 at age 59. Peter Ustinov died fifteen years ago in 2004 at age 82.