Born Today

Actor/Actress Born Today 4-08-2014

Billy Bob Thornton



Meghan Markle



Abigail Spencer



Greta Gerwig



Richard Belzer

Also born on August 4th:

Barack Obama - 44th President of the United States of America

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother - Wife of King George VI and the mother of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. She was queen consort of the United Kingdom from her husband's accession in 1936 until his death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, another Queen Elizabeth.

Meg Whitman - Former CEO of eBay.

Louis Armstrong - Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1978 (charter member). Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 (under the category Early Influence). Pictured on a 32¢ US commemorative postage stamp in the Legends of American Music series, issued 1 September 1995. Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Long Island Hall of Fame in 2008.

Jeff Gordon - NASCAR Driver

Kurt Busch - NASCAR Driver

Cleon Jones - Former MLB Outfielder for the New York Mets. He caught the ball for the last out of the 1969 World Series.

Roger Clemens - Former MLB Pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.

Louie Armstrong has 31 acting credits and has appeared in some great films. I've seen him in:

1969 Hello, Dolly!
1956 High Society
1954 The Glenn Miller Story
1948 A Song Is Born
1943 Cabin in the Sky
1937 Artists & Models

Actor/Actress Born Today 5-08-2014

John Huston



Jesse Williams



Mark Strong



Olivia Holt



James Gunn

Also born on August 5th:

Neil Armstrong - Astronaut. On July 20, 1969, at 10:56 pm EDT, he stepped down from the Lunar Excursion Module Eagle and became the first man to set foot on the moon. On Apollo 11 in 1969, with Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, became the first men to land on the moon. Astronauts Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted a plaque on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969. It reads: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 AD. We came in peace for all mankind.". Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, California on January 14, 1993. Known for the famous quote, (the first words spoken on the moon), "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." (The speech as written by his wife read "That's one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind." Unfortunately, he forgot the "a" in between "for" and "man", thus changing the meaning.)

Reginald Owen - Actor, best known for "Mary Poppins" and "Bedknobs and Broomsticks".

John Saxon - Character actor, mostly known for many supporting roles in movies and on TV.

Selma Diamond - Actress, best known as the court bailiff on the TV show "Night Court".

Loni Anderson - Actress, best known as Jennifer Marlowe on the TV show "WKRP in Cincinnati".

Maureen McCormick - Actress, best known as Marcia Brady on the TV show "The Brady Bunch".

Jonathan Silverman - Actor, best known for "Weekend at Bernie's" and "Brighton Beach Memoirs".

Patrick Ewing - Professional NBA basketball player. He played center for the New York Knicks for 15 seasons and was named one of the 50 greatest players in 1996. Two-time Olympic gold medalist in men's basketball, in 1984 in L.A. and 1992 in Barcelona (as part of the celebrated original Dream Team). He was the first ever "lottery pick" in the NBA draft. The New York Knicks won the rights to the first pick (which became Ewing) in the 1986 NBA Draft by means of a "ping-pong ball" lottery involving the teams that had failed to qualify for the NBA playoffs the previous season. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 (first year eligible).

Herb Brooks - Former professional hockey player, coach. Played on the U.S. Olympic Hockey teams in the 1964 and 1968 Winter Olympics. Coach of the U.S. Hockey team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics, and the silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990. Inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2005.

John Olerud - Former MLB baseball player. All-American at both 1st base and pitcher, and Baseball America College Player of the Year (1988). Toronto Blue Jays All-Time On-Base Percentage Leader (.395). One of only 91 players in Major League Baseball history who went directly to the majors without playing a game in the minors. Through 16 and a half seasons he's a career .295 with 249 home runs and 1203 RBIs.

Several notable country music singers/musicians were also born on August 5th:

Vern Gosdin - Country music singer. His song "Chiseled in Stone" won the Country Music Association Song of the Year award in 1989. In addition to "Chiseled in Stone", his other hit songs included "I Can Tell by the Way You Dance", "I'm Still Crazy", and "Set 'em Up, Joe".




Mark O'Connor - Country music musician. He plays the violin, guitar, and the mandolin (which he picked up on a lark in the early 80's, winning the World Mandolin Championship soon after). In 1990, he embarked on a solo career, and won numerous CMA Awards the following year for his "The New Nashville Cats" album. In 1992, he released "Heroes, " an album of duets with his violin-playing heroes.




(Mark O'Connor playing the fiddle, Steve Wariner singing)



Sammi Smith - Country music singer. Her biggest hit was the million-selling definitive version of Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make it Through the Night" which earned her the Grammy for "Best Country Vocalist Performance - Female" and "Single of the Year" from the Country Music Association in 1971. The song was a number one country record in Billboard magazine and also made the pop top ten.

Good list guys!

Hey it's Marcia's Birthday...Marcia...Marcia...Marcia!

Born on August 6th:

Lucille Ball - Actress, best known as Lucy Ricardo on the TV show "I Love Lucy". She was the first woman to own her own film studio as the head of Desilu Productions. She was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6436 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Television at 6100 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award posthumously in 1990.

Vera Farmiga - Actress, best known as Norma Bates on the TV show "Bates Motel".

M. Night Shyamalan - Director, Writer, Producer. Best known for "The Sixth Sense", Unbreakable" and "Signs".

Andy Warhol - Artist. Pictured on a USA 37¢ commemorative postage stamp issued 9 August 2002.

Alfred Lord Tennyson - Writer, best known for the poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade".

Michael Deeley - Producer, best known for "Blade Runner", "The Italian Job" and The Deer Hunter".

Robert Mitchum - Actor, best known for "The Night of the Hunter", "The Story of G.I. Joe", "Out of the Past", "Cape Fear", and much more.

Peter Bonerz - Actor, Director. Best known as Dr. Jerry Robinson on the TV show "The Bob Newhart Show".

Charles Crichton - Director, best known for "A Fish Called Wanda".

Michelle Yeoh - Actress, best known for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Tomorrow Never Dies".

Soleil Moon Frye - Actress, best known for the TV shows "Punky Brewster" and "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch".

Catherine Hicks - Actress, best known for "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home", and the TV show "7th Heaven"..

Dorian Harewood - Actor, best known for "Full Metal Jacket", "Gothika" and "The Jesse Owens Story".

Moosie Drier - Actor, best known as Howie Borden, (Howard Borden's son), on the TV show "The Bob Newhart Show".

Jonbenet Ramsey - She was only six years old when she was murdered on the night of December 25th, 1996. Her murder remains unsolved. JonBenet held a number of child beauty contest titles, including (in alphabetical order) America's Royal Miss, Colorado State All-Star Kids Cover Girl, Little Miss Charlevoix Michigan, Little Miss Colorado, Little Miss Merry Christmas, Little Miss Sunburst, and National Tiny Miss Beauty.

Joran van der Sloot - Cconvicted murderer. He pleaded guilty in Peru to the murder and robbery of Stephany Flores, who was found murdered in his hotel room in Lima on May 30, 2010. Five years earlier, while living in Aruba, Van der Sloot had been the primary suspect in the disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway, who disappeared in Aruba on May 30, 2005, exactly five years before Flores' murder. Van der Sloot was indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States for wire fraud and extortion related to Holloway's whereabouts. Holloway's disappearance remains unsolved.

Born on August 7th:

Stan Freberg - Composer, singer, actor, author, comedian and advertising executive. His popular-song compositions include "John and Marsha" (he did both voices), "St. George and the Dragonet" and "Little Blue Riding Hood". He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995. He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6145 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

Garrison Keillor - Author, storyteller, performance artist, radio host and comedian. Best known for "A Prarie Home Companion". He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1994.

Romeo Muller - Writer, best known for "Puff the Magic Dragon", "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "The Little Drummer Boy", "Frosty the Snowman", "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town", "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" and "Jack Frost".

Richard Levinson - Writer, Producer. Best known for the TV shows "Columbo", "Murder, She Wrote", "Ellery Queen" and "Mannix".

Nicholas Ray - Director, best known for "Rebel Without a Cause".

Robert Moore - Director, best known for "Murder by Death" and "The Cheap Detective".

Joseph M. Newman - Director, best known for "This Island Earth" and "Tarzan, the Ape Man".

Kermit Love - Costume designer. He helped puppeteer Jim Henson create Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch and other Sesame Street (1969) characters. He insisted that he was not the namesake of Kermit the Frog. He began making puppets in 1935 for a Works Progress Administration (WPA) theater. He also designed costumes for Orson Welles' Mercury Theater. He was also a designer for some of ballet's most prominent choreographers, including Twyla Tharp, Agnes de Mille, Jerome Robbins and George Balanchine. He also designed costumes and puppets for film and advertising, including the Snuggle bear from the fabric softener commercials.

Charlize Theron - Actress, best known for "Monster".

David Duchovny - Actor, best known for the TV shows "The X Files" and "Californication".

Michael Shannon - Actor, best known for "Man of Steel". and the TV show "Boardwalk Empire".

Wayne Knight - Actor, best known for "Jurassic Park", and for the TV shows "3rd Rock from the Sun" and "Seinfeld".

Maggie Wheeler - Actress, best known as Janice on the TV show "Friends".

John Glover - Actor, best known as Lionel Luthor on the TV show "Smallville".

David Rasche - Actor, best known for the TV show "Sledge Hammer!".

Billie Burke - Actress, best known as Glinda, the Good Witch of the North in "The Wizard of Oz".

Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer - Actor, best known as Alfalfa in the "Our Gang" comedies.

B.J. Thomas - Singer, best known for "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head".

Rodney Crowell - Country music singer, songwriter. Best known for the song "Making Memories of Us" which he wrote and recorded. It was written for his wife Claudia, and it was also recorded by Keith Urban - who released it as a single, which became a #1 hit.

Don Larsen - Former MLB Pitcher. Only pitcher in World Series history to throw a no-hitter. On 8 October 1956, Larsen pitched a perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers; the New York Yankees won, 2-0. His perfect game in the 1956 World Series was the only no-hitter in the post season for more than fifty years. Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies later no-hit the Cincinnati Reds in the 2010 National League Division Series.

Edgar Renteria - MLB Shortstop. Had series-winning hit in the 1997 World Series.

James Van Allen - American physicist, whose discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts, two zones of radiation encircling Earth, brought about new understanding of cosmic radiation and its effects on Earth. In 1987, President Reagan presented Van Allen with the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest honor for scientific achievement. In 1989, he received the Crafoord Prize, awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm each year for scientific research in areas not recognized by the Nobel Prizes.

Jenny Craig - Weight loss guru and founder of Jenny Craig, Inc. In 1983, she and her husband created a nutrition, fitness, and weight loss program in Australia and began offering the program in the United States in 1985. The company became a part of Nestlé Nutrition in 2006.

Mata Hari (Born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle) - The most infamous double agent in spy history. Debuted her exotic dance act as "Mata Hari" at the Musée Guimet (Paris) on 13 March 1905. She was an overnight sensation. Has been portrayed in films by Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Sylvia Kristel, and Jeanne Moreau. It has been estimated that her espionage activities caused the deaths of 50,000 Allied soldiers. The French arrested Margaretha on February 13 1917 and imprisoned her. She was convicted that summer of spying for an enemy nation and sentenced to death. On October 15 1917, Margaretha Geertruida Zelle faced the firing squad. She refused a blindfold and blew one last kiss to her killers. Mata Hari was killed by a bullet to the heart, and her body was donated to medical science.

Born on August 8th:

Dustin Hoffman - Actor, best known for "The Graduate", "Midnight Cowboy", "Little Big Man", "Straw Dogs", "All the President's Men", "Marathon Man", "Kramer vs. Kramer", "Tootsie", "Rain Man" and much more.

Keith Carradine - Actor, best known for "Nashville", "The Duellists", "Pretty Baby", "The Long Riders".

Esther Williams - Actress, best know for "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", "Ziegfeld Follies", "Neptune's Daughter" and "Million Dollar Mermaid". MGM created a special subgenre for her known as "Aqua Musicals". Her movie career played a major role in the promotion of competitive and synchronized swimming, which she is credited with popularizing.

Donald P. Bellisario - Writer, Producer, Director. Best known for the TV shows "Battlestar Galactica", "Tales of the Gold Monkey", "Airwolf", "Magnum, P.I.", "Quantum Leap", "JAG" and "NCIS". Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday, March 2nd 2004.

Dino De Laurentiis - Producer, best known for "Barbarella", "Serpico", "Three Days of the Condor", "King Kong" (1976), "The Brink's Job", "Flash Gordon", "Conan the Barbarian" and more.

William Asher - Director, Producer, Writer. Best known for "Beach Blanket Bingo", "Muscle Beach Party", "Bikini Beach", "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini", and the TV shows "Bewitched", "I Love Lucy" and "Alice".

Connie Stevens - Singer, Actress. Best known for the song "Sixteen Reasons" and the novelty song "Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb, and for the TV show "Hawaiian Eye".

Sylvia Sidney - Actress, best known for "Alfred Hitchcock's Sabotage ", "Fritz Lang's Fury", "You Only Live Once", "Dead End" and "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine".

Rory Calhoun - Actor, best known for "How to Marry a Millionaire", "With a Song in My Heart" and many western films.

Richard Anderson - Actor, best known as Oscar Goldman on the TV shows "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "The Bionic Woman".

Don Most - Actor, best known as Ralph Malph on the TV show "Happy Days".

Larry Wilcox - Actor, best known as Officer Jon Baker on the TV show "CHiPs".

Mel Tillis - Country music singer, songwriter. He is known for stuttering, which disappears when he sings. He has had nearly six dozen hits on Billboard magazine's country singles charts between 1958 and 1988. The Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year for 1976. He was awarded the 2011 American National Medal of the Arts for his services to music on February 13, 2012. He wrote the song "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town", a hit for Kenny Rogers in 1968. The song was based on a couple who lived near his family home in Florida, who were having marital troubles. Tillis left out of the song the real-life ending: the husband murdered his wife and then killed himself.

Webb Pierce - Country music singer. Recorded his famous hit song, "In the Jailhouse Now" with legendary Nashville session guitarist Hank Garland. It was number 1 on the charts for 21 weeks in a row in 1955. He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 1600 Vine Street in Hollywood, California. Elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

Mark Wills - Country music singer. Best known for the songs "Wish You Were Here", "Jacob's Ladder", "Places I've Never Been", "I Do (Cherish You)", "Don't Laugh at Me", "She's in Love" and "Back at One". In 2003, Mark Wills' song "19 Something" was Number One for 7 weeks. It would probably have been there for 9 weeks, but was taken off the air by some stations after the space shuttle tragedy.

The Edge - Guitarist and keyboardist of the Irish rock group, U2.

Roger Federer - Professional tennis player. is the former #1 ranked tennis player in the world, having held the number one position for a record 237 consecutive weeks. Has won 17 Grand Slam titles in the men's singles competition, making him the first man to win at least three separate Grand Slam tournaments four times. After surpassing Jimmy Connors, he holds the all-time record for most consecutive weeks as top-ranked male player (February 2007).

GB good list as always!

There's an Esther Williams DVD collection. I watched it and was surprised at how natural she was as an actress, some fun movies too. Have you seen any of her movies? I bet you would enjoy them.

Sylvia Sidney, one of my favorite actresses! I'll never forget her performance in City Streets (1931).
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936) is the first 3-strip technicolor film to be shot outdoors. Made 3 years before Wizard of Oz too.

I've seen a couple of her movies, but not enough. I'll have to fix that when I have more time. (Right now, I'm busy working on movies from 1960 for that list, and I'm surprised at some of the hidden gems that I've found.)

My favorite on today's list is Donald Bellisario. "Quantum Leap" is one of my all-time favorite TV shows. I may even like it more than "Star Trek", (but you didn't hear that from me. )

Ha what would Mr Spock say to that?

Ya know, I've never seen Quantum Leap. But then I don't have TV. A lot of people really like it so I'm sure it was a good show.

Shh. Don't tell Mr. Spock.

You should definitely watch "Quantum Leap". All five seasons are available on DVD, and they're well worth it. They changed some of the music on the season 2 DVDs due to copyright issues, but since you've never seen the episodes with original music, you probably won't notice.

Oh great I just hit the back button and erased my post

I will request Quantum Leap but it won't be for awhile as I just requested Kung Fu and Third Rock From the Sun.

I just finished watching last season 8 of Laverne & Shirley
I like that show so much that I watched each season twice.

I'm not a big fan of "Kung Fu", but hubby loves it.

"Third Rock From the Sun" is hysterical, especially the 1st season when everything is so new to them, and they're all still trying to figure everything out.

Born on August 9th:

P.L. Travers - Writer, best known for "Mary Poppins" (based on: The "Mary Poppins" books by)

Daniel Keyes - Writer, best known for "Charly" (novel "Flowers for Algernon")

David Steinberg - Comedian, Director, Producer, Writer, Actor. Best known for "Paternity" and "The Wrong Guy", and the TV shows "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour", "The David Steinberg Show", "Designing Women", "The Golden Girls", "Mad About You", "Weeds" and "Curb your Enthusiasm".

McG - Producer, Director. Best known for "Charlie's Angels", "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle", "We Are Marshall" and "Stolen", and the TV shows "Human Target", "Chuck", "Supernatural" and "Nikita".

Nicole Brown - Producer, best known for "This Is the End", "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist", "50/50", "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" and "Last Vegas".

Robert Aldrich - Director, best known for "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?", "4 for Texas", "The Flight of the Phoenix", "The Dirty Dozen", "The Longest Yard", "The Frisco Kid" and "...All the Marbles ".

Adam Nimoy - Director, best known for directing episodes of the TV shows "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "The Outer Limits", "Babylon 5", "Sliders" and "The Huntress". Son of Leonard Nimoy.

Robert Shaw - Actor, best known for "From Russia with Love", "The Sting", "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three", "Jaws" and "Force 10 from Navarone".

Sam Elliott - Actor, best known for "The Sacketts", "The Shadow Riders", "The Quick and the Dead", "Road House", "Tombstone", "The Big Lebowski", "Hulk", "Ghost Rider" and "Up in the Air".

Melanie Griffith - Actress, best known for "Body Double", "Working Girl", "Something Wild", "Paradise" and "Mulholland Falls". Daughter of Tippi Hedren.

Anna Kendrick - Actress, best known for "Up in the Air", "Twilight" and "Pitch Perfect".

Rhona Mitra - Actress, best known for "Sweet Home Alabama", "Stuck on You", "Shooter", and the TV shows "Gideon's Crossing", "The Practice", "Boston Legal" and "The Last Ship".

Gillian Anderson - Actress, best known as Agent Dana Scully on the TV show "The X Files".

Eric Bana - Actor, best known for "Hulk", "Munich", "Star Trek" and "The Time Traveler's Wife".

Ashley Johnson - Actress, best known as Chrissy Seaver on the TV show "Growing Pains", and for voice roles on the TV shows "Recess" and "Ben 10".

Amanda Bearse - Actress, best known as Marcy D'Arcy on the TV show "Married with Children".

Tommie Agee - Professional MLB player. American League Rookie of the Year in 1966. Hit a tremendous home run into the upper deck in left field at Shea Stadium on April 10, 1969, the only player ever to do so. Played a key role during the Mets' miracle year of 1969. Made two spectacular catches in Game 3 of the 1969 World Series, preserving a 5-0 Met victory and robbing the Baltimore Orioles of up to five runs.

Deion Sanders - Professional MLB and NFL player. Only man to play in both a World Series and Super Bowl. First man to hit a Major League home run, and score an NFL touchdown in the same week. He first accomplished this feat as a rookie in 1989, with the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Falcons. Only man to play in an NFL football game and in a Major League Baseball game on the same day. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.

Whitney Houston - Singer. Her debut album, 'Whitney Houston', was released in 1985 and became the biggest-selling album by a debut artist. Several hit singles, including 'Saving All My Love For You', 'How Will I Know', 'You Give Good Love', and 'The Greatest Love of All', were released from the album, setting her up for a Beatles-beating seven consecutive US number ones. The album itself sold 3 million copies in its first year in the US and went on to sell 25 million worldwide, winning her the first of her six Grammies. Multi-Grammy award winning singer; has had an unequaled run of seven consecutive #1 records (1980s) in the USA, and held the #1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 for 14 weeks with "I Will Always Love You" from November 28, 1992 to February 27, 1993. She holds the record for winning the most American Music Awards, twenty-six in total. Her single "I Will Always Love You" is the best-selling single by a female artist, and the biggest- selling non-charity single of all time, with world sales of nearly nine million copies.

My fav for the day is.....Robert Aldrich.

Any director who can direct both Joan Crawford and Bette Davis in the same film, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, must have a stiff will

Then he directs Bette Davis again in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Maybe they got along.

Aldrich is great, but my favorite of his movies is "The Frisco Kid" with Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford. I don't know why it doesn't get the recognition that it deserves. It's such an underrated movie.

My other favorites for today are Robert Shaw, who was fantastic as Quint in "Jaws", and Whitney Houston. She had such an amazing voice. It's such a shame that she died so young.


And who can forget Adam Nimoy in the Star Trek Blooper Reel, when he shows up on the bridge of the Enterprise, with Vulcan ears and eyebrows, he and walks up to his father and says "Hi Daddy".

Ah good choices, I don't think I seen the pic of little Spock. I haven't seen The Frisco Kid. But I'm going to watch the Jaws movies again, one of these days.