Greer Garson, Peter Finch, Zoolander, and more...
Wednesday, September 28, 2016 at 9:10AM 
1916 Happy Centennial to Best Actor winner Peter Finch (Network), one of only two posthumous acting winners in Oscar history. The other is Heath Ledger. (Curiously they were both Australian)
1924 Marcello Mastroianni (La Dolce Vita, 8½) is born in Italy. Becomes one of the all time great movie stars by his mid 30s. His career spans over 50 years of cinema.
1933 Greer Garson weds Edward Snelson, first of three husbands, though the cohabitation is brief. Ten years later she famously marries her screen son in Mrs Miniver.
1934 ...And God Created Brigitte Bardot in Paris
1945 Mildred Pierce opens. Joan Crawford will win Best Actress for this fabulous noir melodrama
1949 Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis first film together My Friend Irma
1950 American indie icon John Sayles is born in New York. Among his most famous films: Return of the Secaucus 7, Passion Fish, and Lone Star
1951 Franchot Tone marries Barbara Payton, his third wife, a disastrous marriage for both. And he survived Joan Crawford.
1957 The great cinematographer Harris Savides is born. Credits include Zodiac, Milk, and Birth. His last gorgeous film The Bling Ring was released posthumously
Greer Garson is Oscar's 7th Most Beloved Actress
1960 Sunrise at Campobello premieres at the movies. Greer Garson will snag her seventh and final Best Actress nomination as Eleanor Roosevelt. She'll lose to Elizabeth Taylor in BUtterfield 8 though their fates were reversed at the Golden Globes.
1961 Shirley Booth starts her run as Hazel a TV sitcom that lasts five seasons. The next summer she wins the Lead Emmy making her a Triple Crowner after her Tony & Oscar for Come Back Little Sheba.
1964 Janeane Garofalo is born. We don't appreciate her comic brilliance in Reality Bites (1994) enough.
1967 Supporting Actress winner Mira Sorvino is born. If you never read our 1995 Smackdown it was a good one so check it out.
1968 Nicole's bestie Naomi Watts is born (curiously neither were born in Australia but moved there as children). Also "Hey Jude" by the Beatles hits #1 and stays there for 9 weeks
1976 Israeli star Ohad Knoller is born. Credits include Yossi & Jagger, Yossi, Munich, and The Bubble
1984 Jessica Lange's Country opens. Exactly one week after Sally Field's Places in the Heart in the year of the farm wife
1987 Hilary Duff who comes to fame as "Lizzie McGuire" is born. Currently co-starring on the underappreciated Emmy worthy comedy Younger
1992 Keir Gilchrist, who was so wonderful as a gay teenager on The United States of Tara and was last seen in It Follows is born
1994 Tim Burton's Ed Wood premieres. Do you still love it?
1997 Chad Lowe & Hilary Swank marry. Two years later she wins the Oscar and forgets to thank him. She remembers the second time but why was their a second time again. ARGH! (Old wounds - editor)
2001 Ben Stiller first delivers "Blue Steel" in movie theaters in Zoolander
2012 Looper hits theaters. That was a good one though perhaps it was a warning that Joseph Gordon Levitt was always going to try to "alter" himself in some way (face, voice, body whatever) for his future leading roles shaving off parts of his charisma in the process.
Reader Comments (13)
I just can't stand the heartbreaking news that LIEV AND NAOMI ARE BREAKING UP! They seem so fine in those The Bleeder interviews.
JGL is trying SO HARD to get an Oscar nom that it's embarassing. He would have been nice in 127 hours imo
Greer Garson is forever awesome. Sunrise at Campobello is an interesting film in which she does terrific work as Eleanor.
Barbara Payton's life was such a terribly sad total trainwreck. I'd say it would be perfect for a biopic but it was so grindingly dowbeat I think it might be just too much.
According to must ex-post-facto analysts, the Best Actress Oscar for 1960 should have gone to Deborah Kerr for The Sundowners and not Elizabeth Taylor or Greer Garson. Kerr won her third NYFCC award for this Fred Zinnemann film. She had previously won for Black Narcissus and I See a Dark Stranger in 1947 adn Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison in 1957.
Lizzie McGuire should've been nominated for several Emmys tbh.
Shirley MacLaine should have won for the Apartment in 1960. But Kerr was due by that time. Garson had a nice comeback but she already won. But nothing was going to stop Liz that year. She was due (many multiple consecutive nominations) and she almost died. Not enough her salacious personal life would cost her.
There is no more important thing in life than worrying about underserved 2nd Oscars.
Peter Finch in Network really holds up -- to this day it's probably my favorite film ever -- and Joan Crawford deserved that Oscar for Mildred Pierce (and blessedly got it). Two of my favorite wins.
Speaking of Ms. Crawford, does anybody listen to the podcast, You Must Remember This? The six-part series, 'Six Degrees of Joan Crawford,' is a must-listen and also includes an episode about Franchot Tone and Barbara Payton (may she rest).
Harris Savides was such a genius. He should've been Oscar-nominated at least for Birth and Zodiac, and left us far too soon.
Who knew Greer Garson was so lauded! Is her five-year streak of consecutive Best Actress nominations unsurpassed? Hard to imagine anyone outside John Williams matching that streak.
OMG Zoolander!
And even Will Ferell was great in it! *lol*
I can watch this over and over again... it never gets boring.
Mareko: Garson's five-year streak is unsurpassed, though equalled by Bette Davis (1938-1942).
Greer Garson is my second favorite actress ever. She is so underrated and mesmerizing on screen. I could talk about her gorgeous voice all night. I would have awarded her for SAC. Liz is pretty great in B8, but I would have given her spot to Jean Simmons for Elmer Gantry.
Peter Finch--what a magnetic performance. One of my fave Best Actor wins. Network still murderizes.
@ brookesboy- I would have put Jean Simmons in supporting actress category and she would have clearly won that year in my humble opinion.
Speaking off supporting actress, is there going to be a smackdown this month?
@ brookesboy
AGNES NIXON.
This year is relentless...
Paul, it is devastating news. Agnes created the cultural landscape of my youth. Damn you, Grim Reaper! She is now in heaven with your girl, Luna.