23 November 2014

Birthdays
Lucas Grabeel b. 1984 (I Kissed a Vampire, Halloweentown High)
Ricky White b. 1981 (The 100)
Kelly Brook b. 1979 (Metal Hurlant Chronicles, Piranha 3D, Fishtales, Smallville)
Lateef Crowder b. 1977 (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, Tekken, The Book of Eli, Heroes)
Lisa Arch b. 1971 (Charmed, The X Files)
Chris Hardwick b. 1971 (Video Game High School, The Talking Dead, Halloween II, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines)
Oded Fehr b. 1970 (Resident Evil, V, The Mummy, Charmed)
Salli Richardson-Whitfield b. 1967 (Eureka, I Am Legend, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, Stargate SG-1, Deep Space Nine, Space Rangers)
Brennan Brown b. 1968 (Beauty and the Beast, Sleepy Hollow)
Vincent Cassel b. 1966 (Beauty and the Beast [2014 France])
Don Frye b. 1965 (Godzilla: Final Wars)
Maxwell Caulfield b. 1959 (Nightmare City 2035, Oblivion 2: Backlash, Waxwork II: Lost in Time, Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, The Supernaturals, The Powers of Matthew Star)
Dominique Dunne b. 1959 died 4 November 1982 (Poltergeist)
Sue Giosa b. 1953 (After the Wizard, Beauty and the Beast [1988 TV], America 3000)
Carl Gabriel Yorke b. 1952 (Sliders, Apollo 13, Ghost in the Machine)
David Rappaport b. 1951 died 2 May 1990 (The Wizard, Amazing Stories, Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Bride, Time Bandits)
Peter Maloney b. 1944 (Gotham, K-PAX, Thinner, Robot in the Family, The Thing [1982], Revenge of the Stepford Wives, The Amityville Horror)
Susan Anspach b. 1942 (Deadly Nightmares, Space, The Devil and Max Devlin)
Franco Nero b. 1941 (Megiddo: The Omega Code 2, Deadly Nightmares, The War of the Planets)
Steve Landesberg b. 1936 died 20 December 2010 (Harry and the Hendersons)
Tom Neyman b. 1935 (Manos: The Hands of Fate)
Robert Towne b. 1934 (writer, Orca, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Outer Limits)
Robert Easton b. 1930 died 16 December 2011 (Horrorween, Lost, Needful Things, Pet Sematary II, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered County, The Bionic Woman, The Giant Spider Invasion, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Touch of Satan, My Mother the Car, Lost in Space, The Munsters, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Neanderthal Man, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Adventures of Superman)
Paul Richards b. 1924 died 10 December 1974 (Beneath the Planet of the Apes, ‘Way Out, The Unknown Terror)
Paula Raymond b. 1924 died 31 December 2003 (Blood of Dracula’s Castle, Hand of Death, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms)
John Newland b. 1917 died 10 January 2000 (director, Star Trek)
Michael Gough b. 1916 died 17 March 2011 (Batman, Sleepy Hollow [1999 film], The Little Vampire, A Christmas Carol [1984 TV], Doctor Who, Blakes 7, The Boys from Brazil, Moonbase 3, Trog, Alice in Wonderland [1966 TV], Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors, They Came From Beyond Space, Phantom of the Opera, Horror of Dracula, The Man in the White Suit)
John Dehner b. 1915 died 4 February 1992 (Creator, The Right Stuff, The Boys from Brazil, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Day of the Dolphin, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Immortal, Land of the Giants, Captain Nice, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Twilight Zone, Aladdin and his Lamp)
Ellen Drew b. 1915 died 3 December 2003 (Isle of the Dead)
Victor Jory b. 1902 died 12 February 1982 (Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, The Green Hornet, Cat-Women of the Moon, The Shadow [1940 serial])
Boris Karloff b. 1887 died 2 February 1969 (Alien Terror, Isle of the Snake People, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Monster of Terror, The Comedy of Terrors, Black Sabbath, The Terror, The Raven, Corridors of Blood, Frankenstein – 1970, Voodoo Island, The Island Monster, Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, Isle of the Dead, The Body Snatcher, House of Frankenstein, The Boogie Man Will Get You, The Ape, The Son of Frankenstein, The Walking Dead, The Invisible Ray, The Raven, Bride of Frankenstein, The Black Cat, The Mask of Fu Manchu, The Mummy, Frankenstein)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year it was Boris Karloff and he's iconic enough I could have said he gets the Picture Slot for every November 23rd, but being a huge Twilight Zone fan, I instead went with the great Oh That Guy John Dehner, standing across the bar from Stanley Adams in the episode Mr. Garrity and the Graves. Dehner has 285 credits on imdb.com. I admit my geezerhood, but it would be hard for me to put any of the living actors today in the Picture Slot next year, with the possible exception of Tom Neyman, who played The Master in "Manos": The Hands of Fate. I wish I could come up with an excuse to use a picture of Kelly Brook because... purdy, but not iconic in genre.

2. Wait... he's dead? Steve Landesberg. I did not get the memo. Except for Jack Soo, most of the cast from Barney Miller is still alive, including Abe Vigoda. This one definitely surprised me this morning.

3. Wait... he wrote genre? Robert Towne was one of the great screenwriters of the 1970s (Chinatown, Shampoo, Heaven Can Wait), but he also wrote genre back in the 1960s. I didn't know that until this morning.

4. Living Canadian free. No Canadians to spot today. It's rare, but it happens.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.
 

Predictor: Peter Dagmar in The Sands of Time, published 1963

Prediction: In this time-travel story, people from the future seek to destroy a supercomputer which was built by the surviving crews aboard nuclear submarines in the wake of a devastating global firestorm caused by nuclear war in 2016. A reactor disaster of 2015 is also mentioned.

Reality: Wait, they go back to destroy a supercomputer that was built after the war, but they don't try to stop the war itself? Weird priorities.

As usual, I learned about this prediction from Paul Brians great nuclear fiction database, and once again I thank him.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

How about a fabulous babe from Star Trek in the Picture Slot? The proposal is passed by proclamation.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!