5 random things that happened on this day in showbiz history
1937 Nothing Sacred, one of the great screwball comedies of the 30s (but there are so many of them, he said with glee) opens in theaters after its NYC premiere the previous day. It was a personal favourite of Carole Lombard so in addition to being a genius actress, she had good taste in her own work.
1942 Casablanca premieres in NYC. It has one of the weirdest Oscar timetables ever for a Best Picture winner...
It played in NYC the calendar year before its Oscar eligibility and then opened in general theaters two months later which was fourteen months before its eventual crowning as the Best Picture of 1943. It is of course considered one of the greatest movies of all time, though no one expected it to be that while making it... or even thought of it that way in its release year where it was a semi-surprise winner (For Whom the Bell Tolls was the biggest hit among the BP nominees and The Song of Bernadette led the nomination count, won the most awards, and was also a bigger hit than Casablanca).
1945 Speaking of long Oscar-gestations... Brief Encounter opened in British movie theaters on this day. The following summer it premiered in the States and went on to three major Oscar nominations though it didn't win any statues in March of 1947 when the ceremony hit.
2010 The King's Speech opens in limited release and quickly overtakes then-Oscar frontrunner The Social Network (sigh) as the film to beat for Best Picture of 2010.
2011 "We Found Love" by Rihanna was the #1 song in America. It would become Rihanna's longest running #1 single, and sold over 10 million copies (!!!). The following year it was featured in the hit film Magic Mike and won MTV's "Video of the Year" award. The video was directed by Melina Matsoukas who went on to shoot Beyoncé's "Formation" and is now a film director (Queen & Slim).
Today's Birthday Suit
Happy 24th to Norwegian star Thea Sofie Loch Naess who you may have seen in one of two unrelated but very similarly titled Viking movies / tv series... the third season of the British series The Last Kingdom (2018) streaming on Netflix and The Last King (2016) a Norwegian film with several famous Scandinavians. She currently starts in the Norwegian TV series Hjerteslag. She has three new movies and one new TV series all in post-production so you might say the career is going well.
Actors celebrating birthdays today: Rob Raco (31), Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (32), Tamsin Egerton (32), Trevor Morgan (34), Jessica Camacho (38), Peter Facinelli (47), Arjun Rampal (48), Kristin Bauer van Straten (54), Don Lake (64), and Mark Margolis (79)
Other showbiz people with birthday today: Singer-Songwriter Rita Ora (30), Writer/Director Leslye Headland (40), DJ Haled (45), Documentarian Jonathan Caouette (48), Director Hannes Holm (58), Producer Don Hahn (65), Director Julien Temple (67), Director Mark Lester (74), Rock star Tina Turner (79)
French film stars Michele Morgan & Henri Vidal in Fabiola (1949)... months before they married (and 10 years before his tragic sudden death)
Gone but not forgotten: Oscar winning screenwriter/producer Charles Brackett (Sunset Blvd, The Lost Weekend) born on this day in 1892, Actor Henri Vidal (Fabiola, Pension Edelweiss) born on this day in 1919, Cartoonist Charles M Schultz (Peanuts) born on this day in 1922, Documentarian Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens) born on this day in 1926, and actress Marian Mercer (9 to 5, It's a Living) born on this day in 1935