----------------------------------------------------------------
Birthdays: Genghis Khan, Byzantine Emperor Leo IV the Khazar, Robert Burns, Somerset Maugham, Virginia Woolf, Vice Pres Charles “Goodtime Charlie” Curtis, Edwin Newman, Jean Image, Dean Jones, Ava Gardner, Etta James, Corazon Aquino, Anita Pallenberg, Disney Animator John Sibley, Tobe Hooper
1824- Artist Theodore Gericault was famous for his paintings of horses. This day he died, from a fall off a horse.
1925- In Prague, Karel Capek’s futuristic play R.U.R. opened. It featured electronic mechanical men, called by the Czech word for workers, “ roboti”, so robots.
1938- Walt Disney attempted to head off the rising tide of unionizing workers in Hollywood by forming a dummy company union called the Federation of Screen Cartoonists. No other artists but Disney employees joined, and Disney's chief attorney Gunther Lessing could veto any vote Walt or he did not like.
1949- The first Emmy Awards ceremony was held at the LA Athletic Club. Five awards were given out for shows like Mabel’s Fables, and Treasures of Literature. Rudy Vallee hosted. Tickets were $5 each. Mayor Fletcher Bowron declared it “ TV Day” in LA.
1960- Actress Diana Barrymore, the daughter of John Barrymore, overdosed on sleeping pills. The Barrymore family that had dominated the American theater since the 1850’s had a history of drug and alcohol abuse. Ancestor after ancestor drank themselves to death. Current leader of the family Drew Barrymore recovered after rehab at age 12.
1961- John F. Kennedy has the first televised Presidential press conference.
1961- Walt Disney’s 101 Dalmatians premiered. “Cruella, Cruella da Ville,.. “
1970- Robert Altman’s groovy movie M*A*S*H premiered.
No comments:
Post a Comment