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
Happy National Bubble Wrap Day.
1890- Newspaper reporter Nelly Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) of the New York World was welcomed home after traveling around the world in 72 days. The stunt was inspired by the Jules Verne story Around the World in 80 days, which had become a hit stage play.
1925- In Prague, Karel Capek’s futuristic play R.U.R. opened. It featured electronic mechanical men replacing people, 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 resolution passed that Walt did not like. Art Babbit agreed to be its first president, but after it seemed obvious management was calling all the shots, he resigned.
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- Walt Disney’s 101 Dalmatians premiered.
1970- Robert Altman’s movie M*A*S*H premiered.
1990- Movie star Ava Gardner died in her London apartment. She was 67.
1996- Composer-playwright Jonathan Larson spent years waiting tables and living in a cold water loft in lower New York hoping for his big break. This morning after a night of bar-hopping his roommate returned to find him dead on their kitchen floor. Larson had died of a sudden aortic aneurism at age 35. Just three months after his death Larson’s musical Rent opened and became a major Broadway hit, earning $250 million dollars, Tony awards and a Pulitzer Prize. It ran for 12 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment