6 random things that happened on this day, February 22nd in showbiz history...
1921 Fellini's muse Giulietta Masina (Nights of Cabiria, La Strada) is born in San Giorgia di Plano, Italy. But more on her tonight for her Centennial.
1935 The Little Colonel opens in theaters. The movie featured the first interracial dance in an American movie in the famous staircase tap dance scene between tiny Shirley Temple and trailblazing entertainer Bill Robinson. The innocuous scene was somehow controversial (the 1930s, natch) and was reportedly cut out of the movie when it played in the South...
1951 The 4th annual BAFTAs are held honoring the films of 1950 All About Eve wins Best Film and The Blue Lamp wins Best British film. But there were only five prizes at that point in BAFTA's history (and none for acting!) The acting prizes were added two years later.
Burl Ives and Elsa Lanchester at the Globes
1958 The 15th Golden Globes are held honoring the films of 1957. Bridge on the River Kwai (Drama) and Les Girls (Comedy/Musical) taking the Best Picture prizes. We recently revisited the 1957 film year. Miyoshi Umeki won Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars (and at the Smackdowm right here) but at the Globes that particular prize went to Elsa Lanchester's delightful comic work in Witness for the Prosecution.
2009 The 81st Oscars are held honoring the films of 2008. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button went into the ceremony with the most nominations (13) but the night belonged to Slumdog Millionaire which won 8 of its 10 categories. No film has won that many Oscars since though several had won that many or more in earlier years The number of wins per film has been trending downward as sweeps are less common. We're happy about that though it seems like nomination totals are trending upward which we're not happy about. It's a curious reversal perhaps showing us that voters are watching fewer films than they used to but feeling less utter besottment about any of them?
2015 The 87th Oscars honoring the films of 2014 are held. Grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman won 4 Oscars each with Birdman taking Best Picture. It was also the night when ginger queen Julianne Moore and her former incestuous screenson Eddie Redmayne (they'd co-starred in the queer/racy indie Savage Grace) took the lead acting trophies. Boyhood had been the critical darling of the year bu emerged with only 1 statue: Best Supporting Actress for Patricia Arquette. She holds the non official record for 'Oscar performance with the longest shoot' (haha) since she filmed her scenes across a 13 year time span!
Today's Birthday Suit
Showgirls (1995)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Happy 62nd birthday to Kyle Maclachlan, one of the most consistently employed actors of our lifetime. Projects range from major classics, to tiny indies, cult classics, and obscure forgotten titles in tv and film. He also seems to like being naked onscreen, most infamously in Showgirls but then there's David Lynch's deranged Blue Velvet (1986) and his sexual collision of sorts naked with a knife wielding Isabella Rossellini. Imagine filming that scene with your director's new girlfriend! Being an actor must be quite strange at times.
Thomas JaneOther birthdays today: Thomas Jane (Hung, Boogie Nights), Oscar nominee Julie Walters (Billy Elliott, Educating Rita), Drew Barrymore (Never Been Kissed, Charlie's Angels), Jeri Ryan (Star Trek Voyager), Elodie Young (The Hitman's Bodyguard, Daredevil), Dichen Lachman (Dollhouse, Jurassic World: Dominion), James Hong (Blade Runner, Big Trouble in Little China), Stage legends Ellen Greene (Little Shop of Horrors, Pushing Daisies) and Lea Salonga (Mulan, Miss Saigon), Sheila Hancock (Discovery of Witches, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas), Rachel Dratch (SNL, Spring Breakdown), Paul Dooley (Hairspray, Breaking Away), Jeremy Shamos (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Better Call Saul), Spain's Fele Martínez (Bad Education, Thesis), and France's Miou-Miou (Entre Nous, The Science of Sleep).
And late greats like dubbing artist extraordinaire Marni Nixon (West Side Story, My Fair Lady), director Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs, Married to the Mob), musical star Jules Munshin (On the Town, Sillk Stockings), Sir John Mils (Hobson's Choice, Great Expectations), and one of the greatest auteurs of all time Luis Buñuel (Belle de Jour, Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie).