Born Today

Also born on July 26th:

George Bernard Shaw - Writer, best known for the original play "Pygmalion" which was made into the movie musical "My Fair Lady". Nobel Prize for Literature 1925. Only person to receive a Nobel Prize and an Oscar (Pygmalion (1938)).

Blake Edwards - Writer, Producer, Director, best known for "The Pink Panther", "The Great Race", "S.O.B.", "Victor Victoria", and much more.

Gracie Allen - Actress, best known as the scatterbrained half of the comedy team of Burns & Allen with her husband George Burns.

Jason Robards - Actor, best known for "All the President's Men", "Julia", and "Melvin and Howard"

Vivian Vance - Actress, best known as Lucy's best friend, Ethel Mertz in the TV show "I Love Lucy"

James Best - Actor, best known as Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on the TV show "The Dukes of Hazzard"

Jeremy Piven - Actor, best known for the TV shows "Entourage" and "Ellen"

Nana Visitor - Actress, best known as Major Kira on the TV show "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"

Mick Jagger - Singer, songwriter, Elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Rolling Stones (1989).

Roger Taylor - Musician, Drummer for the rock group Queen. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 (as a member of Queen).

Dorothy Hamill - World Champion Figure Skater, Won a gold medal in women's figure skating in the 1976 Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria. Inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, 1991. Inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1991. Inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2000.

Born on July 27th:

Norman Lear - Writer, Producer, best known for the TV shows "All in the Family", "Maude", "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman", "One Day at a Time", "The Jeffersons" and more.

Gary Kurtz - Producer, best known for "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back".

Bryan Fuller - Writer, Producer, best known for the TV shows "Star Trek: Voyager", "Pushing Daisies", "Dead Like Me" and "Hannibal".

Ilya Salkind - Producer, best known for "Superman the Movie".

Keenan Wynn - Actor, best known for "Dr. Strangelove", "The Great Race", and much more.

Jerry Van Dyke - Actor, best known for the TV shows "My Mother the Car", "Coach" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show".

John Pleshette - Actor, best known as Richard Avery on the TV show "Knots Landing".

Julian McMahon - Actor, best known as Dr. Doom in "Fantastic Four", and for the TV show "Nip/Tuck".

Maya Rudolph - Actress, best known for "Grown Ups", "Bridesmaids", and the TV show "Saturday Night Live".

Jonathan Rhys Meyers - Actor, best known for the mini-series "Elvis", the TV show "The Tudors" and the short-lived TV show "Dracula".

Seamus Dever - Actor, best known as Detective Kevin Ryan on the TV show "Castle".

John Putch - Actor, Director, best known as Bob Morton on the TV show "One Day at a Time", and for the movies "Mojave Phone Booth" and "Route 30". He is the son of actress, Jean Stapleton, and late producer/director, William Putch.

Maureen McGovern - Singer, best known for her #1 hit song "The Morning After" from the movie "The Poseidon Adventure".

Bobbie Gentry - Country singer, songwriter, best known for the song "Ode to Billy Joe", which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

Peggy Fleming - Professional figure skater. Five-time U.S. National champ. Won the Olympic gold medal in figure skating in 1968. Inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, 1983 (charter member).

Leo Durocher - Former professional baseball player and manager, best known for the saying "Nice guys finish last". Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, 1994.

Alex Rodríguez - Major League Baseball player, 14-time All Star. Agreed to a 10 year $275 million contract with the New York Yankees. (November 2007). Became highest paid player in baseball history.

Two of my personal favorites who were also born on July 27th:

Bill Engvall - Comedian, Actor, best known for his catchphrase: "Here's Your Sign", and for the TV show "The Jeff Foxworthy Show". He is a member of the "Blue Collar Comedy Group".





Christopher Dean - Professional Ice Dancer. Won an Olympic Gold Medal with skating partner Jayne Torvill at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. They subsequently became the highest scoring ice dancers in the competition, scoring 9 6.0s for artistic impression for their skate to Ravel's Bolero, a score never seen before or since.

Actor/Actress Born Today 28-07-2014

Alexis Arquette



Elizabeth Berkley



Lori Loughlin



Peter Cullen



Sally Struthers

Richard Wright - Played the keys for Pink Floyd



Gerald Casale - Co-wrote Whip It. Did vocals and bass for Devo.



Manu Ginobili - Depending on who you are rooting for, he is your most/least favorite player in the NBA. He is one of the most exciting players of all-time.

Also born on July 28th:

Jim Davis - Writer, best known for "Garfield".

Beatrix Potter - Writer, best known for "The Tale of Peter Rabbit".

Georgia Engel - Actress, best known as Georgette on the TV show "The Mary Tyler Moore Show".

Jacqueline Kennedy - Widow of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. She was sitting next to him in the open-air limousine on November 22, 1963, when JFK was assassinated. Mother of John Kennedy Jr. and Caroline Kennedy.

Rudy Vallee - Singer, As a singing bandleader in the 1920s and 1930s, he introduced many songs that would ultimately become pop standards, among them "Goodnight, Sweetheart," "The Maine Stein Song," "As Time Goes By," "Would You Like to Take a Walk?," "Betty Co-Ed" and his two theme songs, "Heigh-Ho, Everybody" and "I'm Just a Vagabond Lover."

Rudy Valle also stared in many films in the 40s and 50s. Some are classics.

Gold Diggers in Paris 1938

The Palm Beach Story 1942

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer 1947

I Remember Mama 1948

(The last 3 films should be considered for one's 40s top 25 list.)

Good point. I usually think of him as a singer, but I should have mentioned his acting as well.

Actor/Actress Born Today 29-07-2014

Wil Wheaton



Josh Radnor



Stephen Dorff



Clara Bow



Rachel Miner

Also born on July 29th:

Ken Burns - Producer, Director, best known for the mini-series "The Civil War" and "Baseball".

David Warner - Actor, best known for "Time After Time", "TRON", "Time Bandits", "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", and much more.

William Powell - Actor, best known for "The Thin Man"

Timothy Omundson - Actor, best known for the TV shows "Judging Amy" and "Psych".

Allison Mack - Actress, best known as Chloe on the TV show "Smallville".

Robert Fuller - Actor, best known for the TV shows "Laramie", "Wagon Train" and "Emergency!".

Dean Haglund - Actor, best known as Richard 'Ringo' Langly on the TV shows "The X Files" and "The Lone Gunmen".

Rodney Allen Rippy - Former Child Actor, Best known as the kid in the "Jack In The Box" commercials in the early 1970's.

Martina McBride - Country music singer, Inducted as the 77th member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1995 by her idol, Loretta Lynn. Named CMA female vocalist of the year on September 22, 1999.

Peter Jennings - News anchorman, The only national news anchor to host specials for and with children on a regular basis.

Elizabeth Short - (AKA The Black Dahlia) - She was last seen alive January 9, 1947, when she went to meet her sister at The Regal Biltmore Hotel (506 South Grand Avenue) in Los Angeles. Her body was found at 3925 South Norton Avenue, roughly three miles from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Her infamous murder has been the subject of intense and sometimes bizarre speculation and theorizing. At least six authors claim to have solved the murder, each offering a different solution. Two separate and unrelated people have published sensationalistic books claiming that their fathers committed the crime. Another author suggested filmmaker Orson Welles as the killer. Author and screenwriter Donald H. Wolf has written yet another book on the case, to be published in 2005, promising to implicate an as-yet-unnamed "Hollywood mogul" in the crime.

Elizabeth Dole - U.S. Senator from North Carolina (2003- ). She was U.S. Secretary of Transportation from 1983 to 1987 and U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1989 to 1990. She was president of the American Red Cross from 1991 to 2000.

Benito Mussolini - Fascist dictator of Italy, 1922-1943. Became the youngest Premier in the history of Italy (31 October 1922). His Fascist state would provide a model for Adolf Hitler's later economic and political policies.

Vida Blue - Former Major Leage Baseball player, Pitcher for the Oakland Athletics (1969-1977), San Francisco Giants (1978-1981 and 1985-1986) and Kansas City Royals (1982-1983). Named to 3 American League All Star Teams (1971, 1975 and 1977) and 3 National League All Star Teams (1978 and 1980-1981). He Won 1971 American League Cy Young and MVP Awards for leading League in ERA (1.82), WHIP (.952), Hits Allowed per 9 Innings Pitched (6.03), Strikeouts per 9 Innings Pitched (8.68), Shutouts (8) and having 24-8 Win-Loss record, 39 Games, 39 Games Started, 24 Complete Games, 312 Innings Pitched, 209 Hits Allowed, 73 Runs Allowed, 63 Earned Runs Allowed, 19 Home Runs Allowed, 88 Walks Allowed, 301 Strikeouts and 10 Wild Pitches.

Good Job, LiaBens and GBgoodies!

I like this thread.

Clara Bow is the reason I'm here. If it hadn't been for a chance viewing of Wings back in the early 80s I wouldn't be interested in classic films. I've watched most of her silent films, sadly some are lost.

Almost any documentary I've seen by Ken Burns has been amazing, I've seen many of them too.

Actor/Actress Born Today 30-07-2014

Arnold Schwarzenegger



Yvonne Strahovski



Joey King



Christopher Nolan



Terry Crews

Also born on July 30th:

Peter Bogdanovich - Director, "The Last Picture Show". "Paper Moon" and "Noises Off..."

Richard Linklater - Director, "Before Sunrise", "Before Sunset" and "Before Midnight".

Sid Krofft - Producer, Writer, Brother of producer Marty Krofft.. The Krofft brothers are best known for "H.R. Pufnstuf", "The Bugaloos", "Lidsville", "Land of the Lost" and "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters".

Emily Brontë - Author, best known for the book "Wuthering Heights".

Edd "Kookie" Byrnes - Actor, best known as Kookie on the TV show "77 Sunset Strip".

Lisa Kudrow - Actress, best known as Phoebe on the TV show "Friends".

Hilary Swank - Actress, best known for "The Next Karate Kid" and "Million Dollar Baby".

Laurence Fishburne - Actor, best known for "The Matrix".

Simon Baker - Actor, best known as Thomas Jane on the TV show "The Mentalist".

William Atherton - Actor, best known for "Ghostbusters ", "Real Genius" and "Die Hard".

Delta Burke - Actress, best known as Suzanne Sugarbaker on the TV show "Designing Women".

Philip Quast - Actor, best known as Javert in "Les Misérables in Concert". He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1991 (1990 season) for Best Actor in a Musical for Sunday in the Park with George. He was awarded the 1998 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actor in a Musical of 1997 for his performance in The Fix. He was awarded the 2002 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actor in a Musical of 2001 for his performance in South Pacific at the Royal National Theatre: Olivier.

Paul Anka - Actor, Singer and Songwriter. To date, Paul has recorded 125 albums--including songs in Japanese, German, Spanish, French, and Italian--and sold more than 15 million worldwide. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1993.

Frank Stallone - Actor, Singer and Musician, Brother of Sylvester Stallone.

Kate Bush - Singer, She designed and invented a wireless microphone headset developed to enable her to sing and perform her complicated dancing at the same time. Winner of the 1987 British Phonographic Industry Award for British Female Solo Artist.

Casey Stengel - Former Major League Baseball player and manager. Best known for his unique way of expressing himself which was dubbed "Stengelese" by sportswriters. Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966. His uniform number was 37 retired by both the Yankees and Mets.

Bud Selig - Commissioner of Baseball, 9 July 1998 - present (acting commissioner, 9 September 1992 - 8 July 1998).

Clint Hurdle - Former Major League Baseball player. Outfielder with the American League's Kansas City Royals (1977-1981); and the National League's Cincinnati Reds (1982), New York Mets (1983, 1985, 1987), and St Louis Cardinals (1986). He was the 1st round pick (9th overall) at the age of 17. Named to Baseball Digest magazine's 1978 Rookie All-Star Team.

Chris Mullin - Basketball player, 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). Teammate on the 1984 and 1992 Olympic basketball team was Michael Jordan. One of only three players to win an Olympic gold medal for USA Basketball as both a collegian (1984) and a professional player (1992). Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing are the others. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.

Today's date was a good day for Muscle Men. I should've been born on today's date

Peter Bogdanovich, not only one of the great directors. But the best film commentator I've ever heard.
If you get a chance to listen to a movies DVD extra, movie commentary by Bogdanovich, do it!

It was a pretty good day for TV too. I love the old Saturday morning Krofft shows, and "Friends" and "The Mentalist" are two of my favorite shows.

I liked those Saturday morning Kroft shows too, especially Land of the Lost.

Speaking ofH.R. Pufnstuf (which I use to watch)...did you know that Penny Marshall auditioned for the role of Witchiepoo?

StagBillie Hayes

No, I didn't know that about Penny Marshall. She might have done a good job as Witchiepoo, but I thought Billie Hayes was great in that role. I loved Jack Wild on that show too. There was something special about him

"H.R. Pufnstuf" was a strange show, but it was a lot of fun. I still watch it every week. It's on one of the cable channels every Saturday morning at something like 6 AM. (I have my DVR set to automatically record it every week, so I don't remember the exact time or channel.)

You're just a kid at heart!

I also use to like "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters". The Krofts made some strange but fun shows. I never seen Lidsville. I remember Jack Wild he made the show interesting, him and his magic flute (Jimmy?)

I read that about Penny Marshal a week ago when I was reading random interviews done with her. She said she didn't think she was right for the part and really didn't want it. I guess only her and another actresses showed up for Witchiepoo (who was a great character).

I love "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters". I even have the series on DVD. I've seen a few episodes of "Lidsville", but IMO it's not as good as some of the other Krofft shows. (And the magic flute's name was Freddi. Jimmy was Jack Wild's character's name.)

I met a bunch of the Krofft actors a few years ago when I worked at a special Retro TV themed convention. Many of the actors stayed for a special after-party. I spent most of the night talking to Johnny Whitaker and Jack Wild. It was only about a year or two before Jack Wild died. Both Sid and Marty Krofft were supposed to be there, but only Marty showed up because Sid was sick and couldn't make it. I have a bunch of autographed dolls of H.R. Pufnstuf and Sigmund from that day in my collection.

Butch Patrick (from "Lidsville") was there too, but I had already met him before. He's done a bunch of cons because he also played Eddie Munster.

Wow! GB, that's way cool and it sounds like you had a great time too.

I just read that Jack Wild passed at 53, too young! Have you seen Oliver! (1968) Jack played The Artful Dodger. I might have seen it but as it's a musical Dickens I should watch it again. Sounds like a fun movie.