Showbiz History: Eartha Kitt, Smooth Talk, From Dusk Till Dawn
Sunday, January 17, 2021 at 10:19AM 6 random things that happened on this day, January 17th, in showbiz history...
1976 "I Write the Songs" by Barry Manilow hits #1. Do you know any 'Fanilows'?
1986 The 3rd Sundance Film Festival kicks off. The Laura Dern led Smooth Talk wins the Grand Jury Prize in the dramatic competition prize, but two queer classics Desert Hearts and Parting Glances, also received jury recognition. Also on this day The Clan of the Cave Bear opened in movie theaters starring Daryl Hannah. I remember it vividly because the poster was cool (Oscar-nominated makeup!) and my mom was reading the best-seller it was based on but wouldn't go to see it because it was rated R...
1996 25th anniversary! The gory energetic vampire flick From Dusk Till Dawn with a very then-cool cast of George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Salma Hayek, Juliette Lewis, and Harvey Keitel opens in theaters. If you ever have the chance to watch the documentary about its making, Full Tilt Boogie, I recommend.
2010 The 67th annual Golden Globe Awards are held with Avatar and The Hangover winning the film prizes and Mad Men, Glee, and Grey Gardens winning the TV prizes. Up in the Air, which had led the film nominations, went home with only Best Screenplay.
2015 'This hit, that ice cold | Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold' 🎵 "Uptown Funk" with that pfabulous first lyric, hits #1
2020 Bad Boys for Life and Dolittle both open in movie theaters. They surprisingly became The #1 and #4 highest grossing films of the year due to the sudden shut down in future competition that happened in March when theaters closed across the country due to the pandemic.
Today's Birthday (Cat) Suit
Today would have been the 94th birthday of the indelibly funny and fierce Eartha Kitt who was born in South Carolina in 1927. Her memorable film and TV roles included Boomerang, St Louis Blues, Holes, Anna Lucasta, Unzipped, the final Catwoman in the 1960s Batman series and the voice of Yzma in The Emperor's New Groove.
Bonus Birthday SuitOther showbiz birthdays today: Tony and Emmy winner and Honorary Oscar recipient James Earl Jones (The Great White Hope, Star Wars) pictured left in Claudine (1974), Song Kang Ho (Parasite, Memories of Murder), Zooey Deschanel (New Girl, Almost Famous), Betty White (Golden Girls, The Proposal), Jim Carrey (Eternal Sunshine, The Truman Show), James Earl Jones (The Great White Hope, Star Wars), Denis O'Hare (American Horror Story), Hale Appleman (The Magicians, Private Romeo) Naveen Andrews (Lost, Planet Terror), Kelly Marie Tran (The Last Jedi, Raya and the Last Dragon), TV creator Amy Sherman-Palladino (Bunheads, Marvelous Mrs Maisel), Germany's Benno Fürman (Princess and the Warrior, Joyeux Noël), Keith Robinson (Dreamgirls, American Dreams) filmmaker and Mr Julianne Moore Bart Freundlich (Myth of Fingerprints, Trust the Man), genius comic Andie Kaufman, animator Genndy Taratkovsky, puppeteer Shari Lewis, iconic First Lady Michelle Obama, talk show host Maury Povich, and Bangles singer Susanna Hoffs.
Reader Comments (27)
How on earth does Betty White only get a teensy tiny mention and no picture for turning 99!!! Criminal *gasp*. Come on Nathaniel!
You also snubbed Michelle Obama’s birthday today :-( *double gasp*
I loved Eartha's 89 camp hit Cha Cha Heels.
David -- lol. i pull my lists from IMDb so if the person doesn't have a lot of film credits they sometimes don't come up until several pages on. as for Betty White. well, the Centennial is next year -- that's the biggie -- so we'll have to celebrate then.
Lol well what film credits did Bangles singer Susanna Hoffs have? Lol she made their list. I was just joking. :)
Michelle Obama still the only First Lady to present the Oscar for best picture! Glad you updated to add her
David -- Susanna Hoffs was actually an actress on and off plus soundtrack credits so she appears pretty quickly on IMDb lists. But anyway. it's hard for me to tell when people are joking on here because there are so many complaints every day ;). but i'm glad you caught that because OF COURSE i should honor Michelle
Hate to be THAT guy but Up in the Air won the Screenplay Globe.
Shmeebs -- fixed.
Zendaya should play Eartha in a biopic.
Up in the Air was, of course, to suffer a worse fate at the Oscars. I can't think of another film that won so many screenplay awards throughout its season and then lost the Oscar.
(Not that I minded - Precious is just as good. It's just something to note for we Oscar obsessives!)
UP IN THE AIR or IN THE LOOP should have won, clearly.
That Smooth Talk poster looks like the cover of a romance novel or Sweet Valley High book.
Love James Earl Jones, and "Claudine" deserves more play.
Zendaya as Eartha Kitt is an inspired idea, but I'm a bit sick of biopics.
"Maaaarcus, dahling" Hat tip & salute, Miss Eartha!
I see Tessa Thompson or (if she really is a good actress) Andra Day as better fits for Eartha Kitt, but I do love Zendaya.
James Earl Jones is so sexy in Claudine, he and Diahann Carroll have amazing chemistry in it!
Keesha Sharp and her
hottiehubby acquired the rights to the Eartha Kitt biography a couple of years ago, but there's been little to no movement on the film adaptation.parting glances features such a breakout performance by steve buscemi i'm surprised it took several more years for him to catch on
I recently bought the new Criterion release of Claudine and I'm looking forward to watching it.
Is anybody having trouble with comments going through or is it just my connection?
Laura Dern and Mary Kay Place deserved nominations for SMOOTH TALK
I saw Smooth Talk for the first time a few months ago and my god what an unsettling final act and unforgettable film. Laura Dern was at full strength at a very young age.
Ken s, not just you.
Nathaniel, if you ever interview Margot Robbie you should pitch het a Barbara Payton biopic. She'd be absolutely perfect.
Vindicating how great of an actress Daryl Hannah is, and how unlucky she's been in her career... Oscar probably should have remembered her at least for Blade Runner, Steel Magnolias and Kill Bill vol.1 and vol. 2.
Also vindicating how AWESOME is QT & Rodriguez's tribute to the master John Carpenter, From Dusk Till Dawn. One of the most rewatchable and enjoyable films of all time... if you are in the joke, of course... some people never seem to get it. And how much I love its bastard follow up/daughter, "Planet Terror".
Thank the maker, he survived 2020.