On this day (April 19th) in history as it relates to showbiz...
1770 Marie Antoinette married by proxy to Louis-Auguste. A month later she travels from Austria to the forest of Compiègne to meet her husband (essentially where Sofia Coppola's great 2006 film starring Kirsten Dunst begins) and the two soon have a ceremonial wedding.
1898 Silent screen star Constance Talmadge born (the year is disputed but around there!). One of many silent giants whose fame didn't transfer to "the talkies"...
1899 George O'Brien, aka "The Man" in silent classic Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans born
1927 Mae West sentenced to 10 days in jail for her play "Sex" - you can read about this arrest and other early trouble for the provocateur here. Already famous for her stage antics, she becomes a superstar in Hollywood in the 30s.
1933 Jayne Mansfield (The Girl Can't Help It, pictured above) born in Bryn Mawr. Becomes the B movie answer to Marilyn Monroe in the 1950s...
On this note may I say that I'm terribly disappointed in Jaymes Mansfield, the drag queen, for coming up with such a brilliant big blonde drag queen name and then tanking on Drag Race. The name deserves better. (Thankfully Jaymes's YouTube channel is fun so godspeed moving forward Jaymes)
1934 The premiere of musical comedy Stand Up and Cheer, Shirley Temple's feature breakthrough after performing in several one and two reelers. She was 7th billed. Immediately after filming her big number in 1933 her two week contract was extended to one year with a seven year option.
1946 The incomparable Tim Curry born in the UK
1948 ABC begins broadcasting, the last of the "big three" networks. CBS, NBC, and ABC reigned for decades until cable television came calling
1956 Grace Kelly gets married to Prince Rainier (in a church this time - see previous on this day)
1957 Chinese star You Ge born (Cannes Best Actor winner for the Gong Li picture To Live). Recently starred in The Wasted Times with Zhang Ziyi and the crime picture Let the Bullets Fly
1958 Actor/Writer Steve Antin born. We thank him for bringing us Burlesque since no one else will and it's so ever rewatchable - "air rights!"
1968 Ashley Judd born in California. Her mother and sister preceded her to superstardom as the country hit makers "The Judds"
1975 Hugh O'Conor (Chocolat, The Young Poisoner's Handbook) born in Dublin. He first came to fame playing the young version of Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot. Next up for O'Conor: playing Samuel Coleridge in Mary Shelley a pre-Frankenstein bio starring Elle Fanning
1978 James Franco born in Palo Alto. He won't go away ever since.
1985 Don Cheadle makes his debut as "Juicy Burgers Worker" in Moving Violations, a new comedy in theaters. Everyone's gotta start somewhere!
Oksana in HIPSTERS (2008)
1987 Terrific Russian actress Oksana Akinshina (Lilya 4-Ever, Hipsters, Bourne Supremacy) born in St Petersburg. She hasn't been in anything that came to the US in so long now and her filmography in Russia looks so spotty. What gives? Any Russian readers wanna fill us in?
1989 Boran Jing (Rise of the Legend, Monster Hunt) born in China.
2002 The Scorpion King starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson reprising his first film role, opens at #1 at the movies with $36 million eventually grossing $165 million globally. Meanwhile in limited release My Big Fat Greek Wedding debuts with just half a million and no stars. In one of the most incredible success stories of all time, the latter just keeps playing and playing eventually grossing $368 million globally on a budget of just $5 million.
2019 The Fast and the Furious 9 is scheduled to open. No, it's never going away. Eventually they'll just lift Vin Diesel from wheelchairs and place him behind the wheel since you can't see his legs anyway.