7 random things that happened on this day, January 23rd, in showbiz history
1962 François Truffaut's new wave classic Jules et Jim is released in France and Canada. It makes it to the US a couple of months later though it's not immediately embraced in the US. In the UK it's a different story and the film receives two BAFTA nominations: Best Film and Best Foreign Actress for Jeanne Moreau. And it was Moreau's 34th birthday that day, too...
1976 Sidney Poitier (then 48) marries Joanna Shimkus (then 32) who had co-starred in this 1969 film The Lost Man. They're both still with us so happy 45th anniversary to the couple!
click to embiggen - image via National Archives
1977 The epic miniseries "Roots" about slavery in the US, which takes place over a one hundred year span from the mid 18th century to the aftermath of the Civil War begins on ABC. A new episode will arrive daily for 8 nights. It remains one of the most watched television events of all time with numbers that are unfathomable by today's standards: Over 100 million people watched.
1983 The A-Team premieres becoming one of the most popular shows on television. Former film star George Peppard leads with Tim Dunigan 'Faceman', Dwight Schults 'Howling Mad Murdock' and Mr. T (B.A. Baracus) making up the rest of his team. It will run for five seasons.
1988 The 45th Golden Globes are held with The Last Emperor and Hope and Glory taking the Best Film prizes and LA Law and Golden Girls reigning in TV. Yes, unfathomable as it may seem, Moonstruck lost Best Motion Picture Comedy! If you've ever wondered why Sally Kirkland pulled that famous disappointed face when she lost the Oscar to Cher after her hardworking campaign for a brilliant performance, this night is probably why. We recently spent a lot of time discussing 1987 and we had great fun doing so.
1993 The 50th Golden Globes are held with Scent of a Woman and The Player taking the Best Film prizes (neither of which repeated the top win at the Oscars) while Northern Exposure and Roseanne were the TV champs. A Few Good Men and Aladdin had led the nominations but only Aladdin won any prizes (Score and Song).
2000 The 57th Golden Globes are held with American Beauty and Toy Story winning the film prizes and HBO utterly dominating TV with both Sopranos and Sex and the City triumphant. The Best Supporting Actor nominations were the only exact match of the forthcoming Oscar lineups. Tom Cruise won the Globe for Magnolia (yay...and can we talk about how ridiculously hot his haircut was at the time?) but was unfortunately beaten by Michael Caine, a previous winner, come Oscar night. (Second Oscars are such a waste unless the person *really* deserves them.)
Today's Birthday Suit
Happy 29th birthday to Colorado born Irish actor Jack Reynor (Glassland, Sing Street, Free Fire). Remember that insane ritualistic sex scene in Midsommar? Next up for Reynor is Cherry (2021) with Tom Holland and then the action thriller Borderland with John Boyega.
Today's showbiz birthdays: Director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine, Place Beyond the Pines), Rutger Hauer (Bladerunner, Sin City), Richard Roxburgh (Moulin Rouge!, Van Helsing), Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting, Wonder Woman), Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: SVU), Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver, Stargate SG-1), 40s favourite Dan Duryea (The Little Foxes, Scarlet Street), Tiffani Thiessen (Saved by the Bell), Julia Jones (Westworld, Twilight Saga), Rob Garrison (Karate Kid, Prom Night), David Patrick Klly (Twin Peaks, Dreamscape), western star Randolph Scott (Roberta, Ride the High Country), Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers, Airport 77), Spain's Ariadna Gil (Pan's Labyrinth, Belle Epoque), Oscar winning producer Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty), Japan's Shin-ichi Chiba (Kill Bill, The Street Fighter), and dance legend Chita Rivera (Chicago, Sweet Charity) who turns 88 today. Happy birthday Chita!