on this day in history as it relates to showbiz...
1882 The titular event in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) happened on this very day in Missouri
1893 Leading man of the 1930s Leslie Howard (Gone With the Wind, Of Human Bondage) born in London
1921 Jan Sterling born in NYC. (We recently discussed her Oscar nominated performance in The High and the Mighty )
1922 After years of "which year is it?" it's finally settled... Doris Day was born on this day 1922. So happy 95th birthday to the icon, still with us, today.
1924 Another cinematic icon, Marlon Brando, born in Omaha
1930 The Broadway Melody becomes the first sound film and the first musical to win Best Picture at the 2nd annual Academy Awards
1942 It's the 75th anniversary of the first cinematic adaptation of The Jungle Book. It was nominated for 4 Oscars. UPDATE: Most of the streaming versions available online are of poor quality that don't showcase the movie's Oscar nominated visuals but we're hearing that Filmstruck has a good one, so watch it there! (thx Daniel)
... On this same day Oscar favorite Marsha Mason was born in Missouri (more on her later today)
1958 Alec Baldwin born in New York
1961 Eddie Murphy born in New York
1969 Aussie critics darling Ben Mendelsohn (Bloodline, Animal Kingdom) born
1970 Madonna dancer Luis Camacho born in NYC. Featured heavily in Madonna's work in the early 90s he revisits that time in the new documentary Strike a Pose (read our interview) which is premiering on LOGO this week after touring various film festivals
1973 Adam Scott (Big Little Lies, Parks & Recreation) born in Santa Cruz California
1977 Austrian actress Birgit Minichmayr (Everyone Else, White Ribbon, Perfume) born
1978 Annie Hall is named Best Picture of 1977 but Star Wars wins the most Oscars home that night (6 of its 10 nominations plus a special Oscar for its Sound Effects, not yet a regular category) at the 50th annual Academy Awards. On this same day the world's most perpetually handsome man Matthew Goode born in England
1987 Rachel Bloom, creator and star of the wondrous Crazy Ex Girlfriend born in LA. On this same day the sci-fi romantic comedy Making Mr Right about a PR woman (Ann Magnuson) falling for an android (John Malkovich) with better social skills than the scientist who created him opens in movie theaters. Somehow I think Rachel Bloom would appreciate this connection.
1992 Straight Talk starring overnight radio talk show sensation Dolly Parton opens in movie theaters. Strangely she quit leading motion pictures immediately thereafter, only returning for one more leading role in a theatrical movie (Joyful Noise in 2012)
1998 New Line attempts a new film franchise with the release of Lost in Space based on the TV series. It doesn't take off.
2009 Fast & Furious (the 4th movie in the franchise) opens
2015 Terrible but successful movie Woman in Gold hits movie theaters opposite Furious 7... The Fast and Furious franchise loves April as release month. There doing it again this very month
2020 Warner Bros has claimed this date for Cyborg. That's a long time to wait considering the character is introduced this year in Justice League. ICYMI, since we didn't do a Yes No Maybe So... here's that Justice League trailer.
What will you be celebrating today?