Animation Fun Facts for Aug 11, 2017

Birthdays: Antonio Salieri, Frederick Ludwig Jahn 1778- founder of the Gymnastics Movement, Alex Haley, Jack Haley, Rev Jerry Falwell, Hulk Hogan- real name Terry Bollier-is 68, Dick Browne the creator of Hagar the Horrible, Steve Wozniak the co-founder of Apple Computers, Raymond Leppard, Lloyd Nolan, Mike Douglas, Patti Duke Astin, Chris Hemsworth is 33

1932- The original Rin Tin Tin died. The German shepherd dog was the first animal movie star. Legend was he was rescued from a WWI battlefield by a doughboy named Lee Duncan who called him "Rinty". Later in Hollywood they said he was more spoiled than any human star. Before sound he was the mainstay of struggling little Warner Bros studio. Jack Warner called him “our little rent check.” 
In 1967 Warner also admitted they had bred 16 duplicate dogs in case anything happened to him.

1934- The Mickey Mouse cartoon The Orphan’s Benefit. The first cartoon where Donald Duck lost his temper and did his fighting stance, and they started calling Dippy Dog by his new name- The Goof, or Goofy.

1946- Playwright Moss Hart married Miss America Kittie Carlisle.

1949- Margaret Mitchell, author of "Gone With the Wind" was hit by a taxicab and died 5 days later.

1956- Abstract Artist Jackson Pollack died when he drunkenly crashed his car into a tree near East Hampton Long Island. He was 44.

1962- Actor Sir Lawrence Olivier founded the National Theatre in London.

1972- San Antonio Texas holds its first annual Cheech & Chong Day.

1995- The Walt Disney short Runaway Brain, featuring Mickey Mouse, premiered.

1997- LA police wrestle down and arrest actor Christian Slater. They encountered him in a drug-induced delirium, shouting “The Germans are coming to kill us all!”

2001-First day shooting on the film Hero, directed by Zhang Yimou.

2014- Comedian Robin Williams committed suicide in his San Francisco home.  He had been battling depression over a diagnosis of early onset Parkinson’s disease. He was 63.