On this day (April 21st) in history as it relates to showbiz...
Anthony Quinn
1904 Oscar winning cinematographer Daniel L Fapp (West Side Story and Desire Under the Elms, among many films) born in Kansas City
1914 Cinematographer Gilbert Taylor born in England. Though he was BAFTA nominated Oscar never bit despite high profile films and collaborations with famous directors. Credits include: Repulsion, The Omen, Dr Strangelove, Star Wars, Frenzy, Dracula (1979) and MacBeth
1915 Oscar's all time favorite Mexican actor Anthony Quinn born (Lust for Life, Viva Zapata, Wild is the Wind, Zorba the Greek, La Strada, etcetera)
1918 "The Red Baron," the famous German fighter pilot, shot down in World War I. Snoopy in Peanuts fantasizes about him repeatedly and he's also been a character in many films including Wings, Hell's Angels, and Darling Lili
1930 Italian star Silvana Mangano (Death in Venice, Teorema, and that freaking scary nun in Dune) born
1933 Supernatural, a pre-code horror film starring Carole Lombard which she reportedly did not want to star in at all preferring to stick with comedy, premieres in NYC
1944 Oscar winning cinematographer Russell Boyd (Master and Commander) born in Australia. He hasn't made a feature since Peter Weir's The Way Back (2010)
1946 Claire Denis, essential auteur born in Paris. If you haven't seen Beau Travail or White Material get right on that.
1949 Broadway superstar Patti Lupone born in New York. Will she up for another Tony for her new show War Paint?
1951 Who's the Boss? That'd be Tony Danza, star of stage and small screen, who turns 66 today. Did you know he made his film debut opposite Michelle Pfeiffer making her film debut? Now you do! On this same day over in Belgium, Jean-Pierre Dardenne of the Dardenne brothers filmmaking team was born. What's your favorite Dardenne picture?
1956 Director Peter Kosminsky born. He's been doing a lot of television (most notably Wolf Hall) but hasn't made a feature since the undervalued White Oleander 15 years ago!
1958 Andie MacDowell (sex lies and videotape, Magic Mike XXL) born in South Carolina
1959 Robert Smith, he of giant rat-nest hair fame as lead singer of The Cure, born in Blackpool
1963 John Cameron Mitchell, amazing but unprolific director / former actor born in El Paso. Happy 54th to an amazing icon who never seems to age. Everyone knows and loves Hedwig of course but did you know that he was a Broadway baby before that?
I used to listed to his song in "Secret Garden" so much. He's at the 1:00 minute mark here in this medley. It's weird that this musical has never been revived on Broadway. Next up for John Cameron Mitchell as director is How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017)
1964 Writer/Director Anna Muylaert born in São Paulo. We interviewed her for her great film The Second Mother (2015)
1970 Glen Hansard, who we will forever thank for his Oscar winning "Falling Slowly" from Once, born in Dublin. God that movie was amazing.
Sarah Jessica Parker took over the lead role in ANNIE in 1979 on Broadway1977 Annie, a musical comedy based on the comic strip Lil' Orphan Annie, opens on Broadway. It will go on to win 7 Tonys and lead to two feature film versions ('82 and '14), a tv movie version ('99), and two Broadway revivals
1978 The comedy about Beatlemania I Wanna Hold Your Hand opens in movie theaters and flops. Why mention it? Well, it was the feature debut of Spielberg's protege Robert Zemeckis. By his third film (Romancing the Stone) he became a reliable hit-maker
1979 Undervalued wonder James McAvoy born in Glasgow. His most recent success was Split. Next up is Atomic Blonde with Charlize Theron this July.
1983 Gorgeous talented Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Beyond the Lights) born in Oxford. She's onscreen now (well, her voice is) as Plumette in Beauty & The Beast but next up a movie called Fast Color.
1984 "Against All Odds," the theme song for the movie of the same name replaces "Footloose" as the #1 song in the land. A year later they're both up for Best Original Song in a historic shortlist -- all five were #1 hit singles. Could you imagine that today?
1989 Field of Dreams opens, becoming a sleeper hit and a surprise Oscar contender. I always thought the 1989 Oscars had the weirdest Best Picture list.
- Born on the 4th of July
- Dead Poets Society
- Driving Miss Daisy
- Field of Dreams
- My Left Foot
That list has not aged well. And to think they had sex lies and videotape, Do the Right Thing, The Abyss, The Little Mermaid, Crimes and Misdemeanors, When Harry Met Sally, and Fabulous Baker Boys all available to them. And they saw them, too, since they each got at least one nomination.
1995 While You Were Sleeping opens in theaters. It's the second consecutive huge hit from Sandra Bullock (on the heels of Speed) so she officially ascended to "bankable" within Hollywood. More impressively, she still is 22 years later.
2012 Carey Mulligan marries the lead singer of Mumford & Sons
2016 Prince dies. Cue mass mourning.
2017 Free Fire, The Promise, Unforgettable , and Phoenix Forgotten all new in theaters. Today is also declared "Prince Day" in Minnesota.