Showbiz History: Emmys repeating Oscars, Divine's passing, Bigelow's win.

6 random things that happened on this day, March 7th, in showbiz history

Loretta Young, the first actress to chase an Oscar with an Emmy.

1946 The 18th Academy Awards are held honoring the films of 1945 with The Lost Weekend taking Best Picture. We'll discuss this Oscar night later today given that it's the 75th anniversary. 

1955 The 7th annual Primetime Emmys are held. Loretta Young becomes the first Best Actress Oscar winner to then win a Best Actress Emmy prize for a continuing series. Only one other actress ever did this with Shirley Booth following her the next decade (Sally Field would make this a three person list except she actually won an Emmy before her Oscars and subsequent Best Actress Drama series Emmy). In those days TV and Movies were very separate showbiz forms and once you started doing television on the regular, the movie offers dried up. It's different nowadays though not completely; almost everyone who wins the Oscar first and then an Emmy wins the latter for a miniseries or one-off appearance of some kind...

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Showbiz History: Matt Dillon endures, Reality Bites opens, and Three Billboards peaks

6 random things that happened on this day, February 18th, in showbiz history...

1928 Sonja Henie wins her first of three consecutive gold medals in women's figure skating (a feat that's never been equalled in women's figure skating). Hollywood comes calling in the mid 30s (back when they used to make movie stars of famous athletes -- see also Buster Crabbe, Esther Williams, and Johnny Weismuller) and she headlines several hit films, starring with One in a Million in 1936...

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Hal Holbrook (1925-2021)

by Nathaniel R

Do you occassionally think of Hal Holbrook in Into the Wild (2007) and just tear up? It's a common completely understandable affliction! Here's another reason to tear up. The Oscar nominated and Emmy and Tony-winning actor passed away just a few weeks shy of his 96th birthday. (He actually died before Cloris Leachman and Cicely Tyson but the news has only recently arrived; we lost three beloved acting legends in just a five-day stretch). Holbrook had become a widower 11 years ago when his wife of 26 years, Dixie Carter (Designing Women) passed away.

But what a long life and enduring career this man had. Born and raised in Ohio, a project in college (still in Ohio) led him to his greatest role:  Mark Twain. He first played the famous writer/wit when he was in his twenties and began developing his famous solo show Hal Holbrook: Mark Twain Tonight! by the age of 30. What's your favourite Holbrook performance? Twain and a dozen other key roles are after the jump... 

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Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford? We're so ready!

by Nathaniel R

As all of you pfans now, Michelle Pfeiffer is not easy to pin down. She's been skittish about projects for her entire career, regularly turning down big deal stuff. That became especially true after the mid 90s when she turned her attention to raising her two children and only sporadically made movies, taking some very long breaks from cameras. With the kids left for college she finally started acting again. Her return has been pretty slow but it's now speeding up. Her renewed public profile began with the launch of her perfume line "Henry Rose" and a wonderful Instagram account (social media is not something we ever thought she'd embrace!). We're now in the middle of French Exit's awards run (we're crossing our pfingers hard for a Globe nomination as they've historically loved her more than Oscar voters have). There's so much Pfeiffer to enjoy lately including an amazing new interview with George Clooney in which she reveals she feels exactly the opposite as critics do when it comes to what she thinks are her best performances, and a long conversation with Scott Feinberg at the Hollywood Reporter.

Now comes news that she's signed on for the Showtime series The First Lady to be directed by Danish director and Oscar winner Susanne Bier. Emmy nomination #2 here she comes! The anthology series will reportedly focus on multiple first ladies per season...

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Showbiz History: 12 Years a Slave, Mama Rose, and More...

5 random things that happened on this day, January 4th, in history...

1853 New York born Solomon Northup regains his freedom after abduction and enslavery in 1841 in Washington DC. The abolitionist thankfully recorded his life story in the memoir 12 Years a Slave which became an instant best-seller. Over a century and a half later, the film version by the British auteur Steve McQueen deservedly won the 2013 Best Picture Oscar. 

1903 A horrific end to a story of animal cruelty and a shameful event in the then nascent film-industry, too. Topsy, a 27 or so year-old elephant, who was ripped from her family as a baby in Southeast Asia and never adjusted well to life in the America circus, is famously electrocuted in Coney Island...

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