9 random things that happened on this day (October 30th) in showbiz history
Rudolph Valentino cheekily decides you can't watch him undress in behind the scenes footage about his Sheik movies (he made two of them)1821 Novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky born in Moscow. His work, particularly the Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment, has been adapted to film and television many time.
1921 The Sheik starring Rudolph Valentino premieres, inventing the male movie star sex symbol. The world swoons. Women faint.
1938 Orson Welles radio broadcast of HG Wells "The War of the Worlds" causes mass panic when people are convinced it's real...
Fellini and Masina sometimes in the 1950s
1943 Twenty-three year old Federico Fellini and twenty-two year old Giulietta Masina marry. A scriptwriter and a radio actress at the time, they will become cinematic legends and she'll star or co-star in several of his wildly acclaimed movies, most notably La Strada (1954), Nights of Cabiria (1957) and Juliet of the Spirits (1965). Fellini died the day after their 50th wedding anniversary together in 1993 and Masina soon followed him. Fellini once said of his actress wife:
I don’t remember our first meeting. The truth is I was born the day I first saw Giulietta
1987 Baby Boom opens in theaters nationwide, another success for Diane Keaton. It would go on a Best Picture and Best Actress Comedy nomination at the Golden Globes, losing both categories to surprise contender Hope and Glory and Cher in Moonstruck, respectively.
1998 American History X debuts in limited release with Edward Norton's star continuing to rise while playing a violent white supremacist. It seemed like an ultra niche topic at the time... what a tragedy that the world has regressed so quickly recently to make this topic mainstream.
2003 Happy 15th anniversary to Broadway phenomenon Wicked which opened on this date. That's why they had that TV special honoring it last night which I'm sad to have missed. Did any of you see it? There's still no movie version which is so annoying.
2012 A twentysomething star on star wedding: Evan Rachel Wood marries Jamie Bell. The image above is not from their real wedding but from a Green Day music video they cameo'd in seven years earlier when they were teenagers and dating briefly. It was an off and on relationship. It was on again by 2011 and then off again in 2014. Bell is remarried to actress Kate Mara but he and Wood have a son together who is now 5 years old.
2017 Do you remember that awful moment when Kevin Spacey finally came out as sort of a smokescreen given that he was doing it while apologizing to Anthony Rapp for the accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior when Rapp was a teenager and both of them were starring in Broadway shows. That was one year ago today.
Today's Birthdays
Oscar Winners: Cinematographer Néstor Almendros (Days of Heaven), Actress/Writer Ruth Gordon (Rosemary's Baby), Costume designer Ann Roth (The English Patient)
Oscar Nominees: Ruth Hussey (The Philadelphia Story), Screenwriter Richard LaGravenese (The Fisher King), Director Louis Malle (Atlantic City)
Actors: Michael Beach, Sarah Carter, Adam Copeland, Fiona Dourif, Jon Foo, Harry Hamlin, Jessica Hynes, Jun Ji-hyun, Tony winner Steve Kazee, Nia Long, Matthew Morrison, Kevin Pollak, Clémence Poésy, Charles Martin Smith, Juliet Stevenson, Emmy winner Henry Winkler
Showbiz Peeps: Director Claude Lelouch, Writer/Directors Michael Polish and Mark Polish, Musician Gavin Rossdale, Director Mark Steven Johnson (Ghost Rider). Musician Grace Slick
Today's Birthday Suit
Charles Martin Smith in the solitary man in nature drama Never Cry Wolf (1983). Have any of you seen this? I remember my parents taking me and my brothers to it but I only remember two scenes: one when the hero runs naked with caribou, and one exceptionally gross/comic scene where he decides to try the diet of the wolves he's studying. I believe it's the only film ever made that combined these three elements: Disney + PG rated family film + full frontal male nudity; 1983 was a different time.
Though the Never Cry Wolf cinematography by Hiro Narita was absolutely gorgeous and lauded at the time -- Narita won the BSFC and NSFC prizes and was runner up at NYFCC and LAFCA losing to Zelig and Fanny & Alexander respectively -- he was snubbed come Oscar time. The film's sole nomination was in Best Sound. As for Smith he wasn't a traditional leading man so he never again had this big of a showcase but he still acts on TV occassionally and is now also a director (Dolphin's Tale, Air Bud and the first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer if you can believe it!)