On this day in history as it applies to showbiz...
1874 silent film regular Mary Carr (who played Auntie Em in the silent Wizard of Oz) born in Pennsylvania). She lived to be almost 100 and appeared in nearly 100 silent films
1885 The Mikado, Gilbert & Sullivan's beloved comic opera, premieres in London. The Oscar winning film Topsy Turvy (1999) depicts its production in exquisite detail...
Topsy-Turvy was a very late entry in the 1999 Oscar race and threw a lot of categories out of whack -- proving a formidable competitor to design heavy films like The Talented Mr Ripley and Sleepy Hollow. In the end it won Costume Design and Makeup and received nominations for Screenplay and Production Design. 1999 was a damn good film year, even if the actual Best Picture list was a sorry slate.
1916 Oscar winning writer Horton Foote (Trip to Bountiful, To Kill a Mockingbird, Tender Mercies) born in Texas
1927 French star Philippe Lemaire, who peaked in the 50s, was born.
Quincy Jones with Lupita Nyong'o at the afterparty for the 2013 Oscars
1933 Oscar regulars and showbiz giants actor Michael Caine and composer / producer Quincy Jones (the most nominated person of all time at the Grammys!) were both born on this day. Happy 84th to both men who are still active in the industry! Quincy just posted this photo to Facebook and Caine will next appear in Going in Style with Morgan Freeman opening next month
1941 Director Wolfgang Peterson born in Germany. His classics are Das Boot and NeverEnding Story but he's also known for action films like Air Force One, Outbreak, and Troy
1943 Broadway baby Anita Morris, the original "Carla" in Nine ('Call from the Vatican,' anyone?), was born in North Carolina. Though she died young at only 50 she passed her talented genes on; her son James Badge Dale is now a terrific rising actor in Hollywood (Iron Man 3, World War Z, Flight, etc...).
1943 The Krakow Ghetto was liquidated in World War II, an event that was harrowingly depicted in one of Schindler's List's finest scenes.
1948 Billy Crystal born. He goes on to become a major figure in showbiz, acting in two seminal shows (SNL & Soap), making movies including When Harry Met Sally and hosting the Oscars 9 times.
1965 Aamir Khan, Bollywood star of Oscar nominated Lagaan fame, is born
1974 Grace Park, "Athena/Boomer" on Battlestar Galactica - god I miss that show. Anyone else?
1975 Oscar favorite Susan Hayward (I Want to Live!) dies of brain cancer at only 56 years old. One wonders what she might have done had she lived. I sense the hugely popular nighttime soaps of the 1980s where a lot of older female stars went.
1975 Same Time Next Year opened on Broadway. It won Ellen Burstyn the Tony Award for leading actress and she took it to the movies too for an Oscar nomination in 1978
1976 Sex god [AHEM] excuse me... character actor Corey Stoll is born
1980 Mercedes McNab, "Harmony" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer born in Vancouver
1986 Undervalued Jamie Bell is born. The former Billy Eliott will next co-star opposite Annette Bening in Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool. Above is a promotional photo that should whet the appetite for Bening & Bell paired in this film about the death of Oscar winner Gloria Grahame.
1991 Howard Ashman dies of AIDS at 40 but his work lives on forever. Such awesome musicals: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Little Shop of Horrors.
1994 Ansel Elgort is born. He's currently starring in Edgar Wright's Baby Driver which got great reviews at its premiere this week at SXSW
1997 The "special edition" of Return of the Jedi opens in theaters, adding yet more millions to the Lucasfilm coffers and amping up audiences for the prequels