6 random things that happened on this day, February 6th, in showbiz history
1942 The comic western Valley of the Sun hits theaters. Hollywood was struggling to figure out what to do with Lucille Ball that decade. This was one of those 'well, how about this genre?' attempts...
1972 The 29th Golden Globes honoring the films of 1971 are held with The French Connection (Drama) and Fiddler on the Roof (musical) emerging triumphant. All the acting winners (barring comedy/musical categories) would repeat at the Oscars except Best Supporting Actress category; The Globes liked Ann-Margret in Carnal Knowledge best but Oscar later chose Cloris Leachman in The Last Picture Show.
Paul Newman in Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981)
1981 Fort Apache, The Bronx a cop drama starring Paul Newman, is released and runs into protests (due to the its depiction of the Bronx) and legal troubles (it was inspired by a true story).
1987 Two new female led thrillers Black Widow starring Theresa Russell and Debra Winger and Dead of Winter starring Mary Steenburgen open in theaters along with Michael J Fox and Joan Jett in the rock drama Light of Day and Judd Nelson in the comedy From the Hip. That weekend was all over the place, tonally. I remember renting three of those on VHS a couple of years after the fact. Have you seen any of them?
2009 Laika's masterful enchanting debut Coraline, based on the Neil Gaiman book, opens in theaters. We're still pissed that Laika has yet to win an Oscar despite nominations every time they've made a film.
2015 Two out-there poorly reviewed fantasy films, Jupiter Ascending and The Seventh Son open in movie theaters co-starring recent same night Oscar winners and former onscreen mother and son gingers (Savage Grace) Eddie Redmayne and Julianne Moore as their respective villains.
Today's Birthday Suit
Silent film star Ramon Novarro (the original Ben-Hur) was born on this day in 1899. The Mexican actor was instrumental in the creation of Hollywood's "latin lover" archetype and very successful in the 1920s and 1930s. His costars included a who's who of female stars of the time including Greta Garbo, Myrna Loy, Lupe Velez, Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford. Eight years after his last film he was murdered by two young men offering him sex (a pretense to rob his home), a tragic end to an originally glamorous life.
Roman Novarro (in the swimsuit) with fellow Mexican actor who hit it big in Hollywood, Gilbert Roland (in the suit)
Other Showbiz birthdays today: Legendary Oscar winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Matewan, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), Auteur François Truffaut (Day For Night, the 400 Blows), Russia's amazing director Andrey Zvyagintsev (Leviathan, Loveless), Colombia's director Ciro Guerra (Embrace of the Serpent) Kathy Najimy (Sister Act), Director Debra Granik (Winter's Bone, Leave No Trace), Zsa Zsa Gabor (Queen of Outer Space, Moulin Rouge), Oscar nominee Rip Torn (Cross Creek, Men in Black), Mamie Van Doren (Teacher's Pet, Voyage of the Prehistoric Women), Dane Dehaan (Chronicle), Alice Eve (Before We Go), Crystal Reed (Swamp Thing), Anna Diop (Titans), Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things), Colombia's Natalia Reyes (Terminator Dark Fate), former president and movie star Ronadld Reagan (Hasty Heart, Bedtime for Bonzo), Barry Miller (Fame, Peggy Sue Got Married), Oscar nominated Writer/Director Jim Sheridan (In America, In the Name of the Father), multi-hyphenate filmmaker Robert Townsend (Hollywood Shuffle, The Meteor Man), Elmo Lincoln (silent film Tarzan of the Apes), baseball legend Babe Ruth, and music stars Natalie Cole, Bob Marley, Rick Astley, and Axl Rose.