4 things that happened on this day, December 31st, in showbiz history
1992 Czechoslovakia is peacefully dissolved and the Czech Republic and Slovakia both emerge from the split. Which means, for our purposes here at TFE that they started all new Oscar submission histories ;) Czechoslovakia had had six Oscar nominations and two wins from 23 submissions the bulk of which were in Czech (though one of their winners, The Shop on Main Street was Slovakian). Interestingly enough just after the split in 1993 only Slovakia submitted to the Oscars while the Czech Republic took a year off. The Czech Repubic has since won one Oscar (Kolya) and had two additional nominations (Divided We Fall and Zelary) and a finalist (The Painted Bird last season). The Czech submission this year is Charlatan. Slovakia has yet to be nominated though they have a Holocaust drama this year, The Auschwitz Report...
Boy George and Leigh Bowery
1994 Performance artist/club kid/designer Leigh Bowery dies at just 33 of AIDS related ilness in London. His story is told in the undervalued Broadway musical Taboo which is also about Boy George's rise to fame (Boy George played Leigh Bowery, who was his friend in real life as they were pre-fame clubkids). The sound you hear is us tapping our fingers wondering when some filmmaker is going to be brave enough to make Taboo into a movie, or at least make a Leigh Bowery biopic! Fascinating influential character.
New Year's Eve weddings
1997 Not one but TWO enduring power couple Hollywood weddings on New Years Eve this very day: Will Smith marries Jada Pinkett in Baltimore and Helen Mirren marries director Taylor Hackford (on his birthday) in Scotland. Happy 23rd anniversary to both couples!
2013 After nearly 42 years together comedian/actress Lily Tomlin and her frequent collaborator and screenwriter Jane Wagner marry in Los Angeles.
Today's Birthday Suit
Happy 60th to Val Kilmer, pictured here with the other stars of Top Gun. It's weird that we've never really talked about Top Gun on this site but here's a fun insightful piece from Consequence of Sound about its unique place as the beginning of the high concept action film and the beginning of the end of the homoerotic action film.
Bonus Birthday Suit
We mention Gong Li a lot so we should give you a break but happy 55th birthday to one of the great film stars, pictured here in one of her rare US movies, Miami Vice. Gong Li rarely does nude scenes but she's so sexually powerful onscreen that perhaps its redundant. For a prime example see Wong Kar Wai's The Hand which is all about her complete sexual power over her tailor and she's fully clothed in every second.
Other birthdays and anniversaries on this day: Oscar winning costume design giant Orry-Kelly (Some Like It Hot, An American in Paris, Les Girls), Two time Tony and two-time Emmy winner Bebe Neuwirth (Frasier, Chicago), James Remar (Sex & the City, The Warrior), Oscar winner Sir Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Sexy Beast), Oscar winner Sir Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs, The Father), Bond Girl Barbara Carrera (Never Say Never Again), Stage and tv star Erich Bergen (Jersey Boys, Madam Secretary), Oscar winning Producter/Director Taylor Hackford (Ray, White Nights), Oscar nominee Sarah Miles (Ryan's Daughter, Hope and Glory), Tim Matheson (Animal House, The West Wing), underutilized golden age actress Theresa Harris (Baby Face, Jezebel), Oscar winning screenwriter Chris Terrio (Argo), screenwriter Charles Lederer (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, His Girl Friday), Pixar talent Ronnie Del Carmen (Inside Out, One Man Band), best-selling author Nicholas Sparks, former boybander Joey McIntyre (New Years Eve), fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg, the late great Disco star Donna Summer, Oscar winning songwriter Jule Styne (Three Coins in the Fountain), and the late singer/songwriter John Denver.