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« The New Classics - Blue Ruin | Main | What's eligible for "Outstanding Main Title Design" at the Emmys this Year? »
Tuesday
Jun112019

Showbiz History: On a Clear Day You Can See Peter Dinklage in Jurassic Park?

Six random things that happened on this day (June 11th) in showbiz history

1966 On a Clear Day You Can See Forever starring the great Barbara Harris and John Cullum closes on Broadway shortly before the Tony Awards, where it will lose all three of its nominations. It was snubbed in Best Musical where Man of La Mancha won and Mame, Skyscraper, and Sweet Charity were all nominated. Nevertheless it was quicker than all but Sweet Charity in getting a big screen adaptation. Barbra Streisand starred.

1969 Peter Dinklage is born (Happy 50th!). Do you think he's headed for a fourth Emmy win for Game of Thrones? Do you remember the first time you saw him? For us it was The Station Agent (2003), such a gem from the early Aughts...

On the exact day of Dinklage's birth the John Wayne classic True Grit was released in US movie theaters. Coincidence? Of course but now we're picturing Dinklage as Rooster Cogburn. He could totally pull off an eyepatch and a comic drunken slur. 

1975 One of the greatest movies of all time, Robert Altman's Nashville, is released. It goes on to receive 5 Oscar nominations including Best Picture but only wins for Keith Carradine's sexy song "I'm Easy".

1982 / 1993 Beloved director Steven Spielberg apparently owns June 11th. On this day both E.T the Extraterrestrial and  Jurassic Park opened in their respective years, setting then box office records. They remain adored today. Adjusted for inflation E.T. is still the 4th biggest hit of all time just behind The Sound of Music and just ahead of Titanic. Jurassic Park is the 18th highest grossing picture of all time just behind Avengers Endgame now and just ahead of Star Wars Episode 1: Phantom Menace, and The Lion King.

2002 American Idol premieres on Fox and we've never been able to escape the gawdy, shameless vocal runs of singing competitions ever since. (sigh)

Today's Birthday Suit


Richard Todd in The Hasty Heart (1949). It's his centennial today but he died 10 years back at 90 years of age. That breakthrough role, which he played on stage prior to the film transfer proved to be his only one with awards glory. He won a Golden Globe for "promising newcomer," and received Oscar and Globe nominations for Best Actor for his role as a dying soldier in a British military hospital in Burma who falls in love with his nurse played by future Best Actress winner Patricia Neal. Have you ever seen it? After that success he was a regular in Hollywood pictures of the 1950s including Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright and the Bette Davis picture The Virgin Queen and is one of MANY actors to have played Robin Hood on the big screen in The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952)

Other Showbiz peeps Born on this Day: Oscar and Palme d'Or winning ocean exploring legend Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Oscar nomianted director Michael Cacoyannis; and a slew of actors including Shia Labeouf, Kenjirô Tsuda, Charlie Tahan, Gene Wilder, Yui Aragaki, Joshua Jackson, Ivana Baquero (Pan's Labyrinth), Hugh Laurie, Chad Everett, Robert Hutton, Matt McGrath, Buddy Baer, María Barranco (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown), 80s sex symbol Adrienne Barbeau, and the eldest and least famous of the three Gabor sisters, Magda. 

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Reader Comments (7)

Dinklage is only 50? Not that he looks older than that, it's just since I first saw him way back in Living in Oblivion (ah, the James LeGros is in every indie, or at least it seems that way, era) I assumed so. And yeah, The Station Agent is a gem.

June 11, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterScottC

One day we have to talk about Hitchcock's Stage Fright, Marlene Dietrich and the third person narration.

June 11, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterWimsey

He's a gem in TSA.

June 11, 2019 | Unregistered Commentermarkgordonuk

Never will forget the scene where Michelle Williams drops a stack of books when she sees Peter Dinklage in the library. Her "oh, fu...I'm so sorry" is priceless, as is his reaction. Love TSA.

June 11, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterMareko

The Hasty Heart is a lovely little film, even Reagan is less bland than was his norm. Patricia Neal is very good as expected but it's Todd who makes the biggest impression. His nomination was deserved. He didn't have quite the necessary magnetism to be a huge star but he's quite dashing in both the Robin Hood and Rob Roy roles he essayed.

June 11, 2019 | Unregistered Commenterjoel6

Yes, I think he's going to win that fourth Emmy. I think he's as bas as Guillermo Díaz in Scandal, but that's another story.

June 11, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterPeggy Sue

For fans of classic Doctor Who, Richard Todd has a notable part in the 5th Doctor story Kinda, from 1982.

June 11, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterSteve G
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