Niamh Wilson b. 1997 (Good Witch, Hemlock Grove, Warehouse 13, My Babysitter’s a Vampire, Haven, Falling Skies, Saw III though VI)
Brenna O’Brien b. 1991 (Supernatural, Zixx, Kyle XY, Tin Man, Stargate SG-1, X-Men: The Last Stand, Merlin’s Apprentice, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Stephen King’s Dead Zone)
Shad Moss a.k.a. Bow Wow b. 1987 (Smallville)
Brittany Snow b. 1986 (From the Earth to the Moon, SeaQuest 2032)
Joseph Gilgun b. 1984 (The Last Witch Hunter)
Bobby Campo b. 1983 (Being Human, Vampire Bats)
Oscar Isaac b. 1980 (Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Ex Machina, Sucker Punch)
Chaske Spencer b. 1975 (Twilight)
Kerr Smith b. 1972 (Charmed, The Forsaken)
Juliette Binoche b. 1964 (Godzilla [2014])
Kirk B.R. Woller b. 1962 (Extant, Touch, The Event, Resident Evil: Extinction, Charmed, Hulk, Minority Report, The X-Files, Sliders, Mercury Rising, Dark Skies)
Finn Carter b. 1960 (FreakyLinks, Tremors)
Rodney A. Grant b. 1959 (Ghosts of Mars, Stargate SG-1)
Linda Fiorentino b. 1958 (What Planet are You From, Dogma, Men in Black)
Pat Murphy b. 1955 (won 1988 Nebula for The Falling Woman)
Ornella Muti b. 1955 (Deadly Nightmares, Flash Gordon)
Kevin Wade b. 1954 (writer, Meet Joe Black)
Alexandra Bastedo b. 1946 died 12 January 2014 (Batman Begins, The Starlost, The Champions)
Linda Gillen b. 1949 (Big, Terror House)
Trish Van Devere b. 1943 (The Hearse, The Changeling, Beauty and the Beast [1976], The Day of the Dolphin)
Raul Julia b. 1940 died 24 October 1994 (Street Fighter, The Addams Family, Frankenstein Unbound, Overdrawn at the Memory Bank)
Marty Ingels b. 1936 (The Munsters Today, The Ghost Busters [1975], Bewitched, The Addams Family)
Del Close b. 1934 died 4 March 1999 (The Blob [1988], Beware! The Blob [1972], My Mother the Car)
Joyce Van Patten b. 1934 (Amazing Stories, The Martian Chronicles, Mr. Terrific, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Carl Betz b. 1921 died 18 January 1978 (Killdozer)
Will Geer b. 1902 died 22 April 1978 (Bewitched, The Sixth Sense [1972], The Invaders)
Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot was filled by Finn carter of Tremors and the author Pat Murphy. This year, I was considering Raul Julia from The Addams Family and Ornella Muti from Flash Gordon and for once, the fabulous babe didn't win. Raul Julia was a favorite of mine and I still miss him even twenty one years later.
2. Spot the Canadians! There are two. That's the only hint I will give.
3. Nepotism or not? Joyce Van Patten is Dick Van Patten's sister. They both got started because they had the same pushy stage mom. IMDB says she's as well known as her brother, but I wouldn't go that far. Still, she has 147 screen credits ranging from 1948 to 2014. Good on ya, Ms. Van Patten.
And then there's Trish Van Devere, George C. Scott's wife, very pretty and 16 years his junior. She worked with him several times after they married, so as Ken Houghton pointed out in the comments, nepotism has to be considered.
4. Hey... no Star Trek! For every day in February and the first eight of March, at least one of our birthday boys or girls has worked on something from the Star Trek franchise, but today there's nobody on today's list. Star Trek is far and away the most used label on the blog, so I decided to note its absence as well.
5. Carl Betz? Will Geer? I was surprised, too. I clicked on their respective credit lists not actually knowing anything either of them did in genre, only their best known work as regulars on non-genre TV shows. Geer played George Washington on Bewitched and Betz is the guy who finally kills the Killdozer. It still amazes me that Killdozer never got the MST3K treatment.
Many happy returns to all the living on the list and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.
Movies released
John Carter released, 2012
Knowing released 2009
Prediction: Cinerama-like panoramic screens may make a comeback, but will similarly disappear. The scope and scale has already proven unsuitable for almost any movie story, save for the occasional movie spectaculars - biblical epics, science fiction extravaganzas and broad horizon westerns. The fact that such projects make up only a small percentage of the total number of movie releases will make broad-screen installation unprofitable.
Reality: Imax already existed when this book was written, but the first permanent theater wasn't built until 1986. Now that sci-fi and animation are major genres, there is a market for the big screen versions, though it's possible the format might disappear. It's had a longer run than Cinerama did, which debuted in 1952 and the last film made for the format was released in 1974.
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!
We get the swan song prediction from W. Warren Wagar and his 1991 book A Short History of the Future.
Join us then... INTO THE FUTURE!
Nepotism check: Isn't Trish Van Devere George C. Scott's once-wife? Two of her four credits are with him, post-Patton. (Not certain aboot the first two.)
ReplyDeleteIn a semi-related comment, Brenna O’Brien and Niamh Wilson.
Thanks, Ken. I added Ms. Van Devere and also did a little explaining about two names that surprised me, Will Geer and Carl Betz.
DeleteAnd of course, you got both Canadians on the first pass. Nice work.
I loved Raul Julia as Gomez Addams. It was so different from John Astin's portrayal, and not as goblin-esque as the original comics, but it worked really well. For a fun non-genre movie of his, I recommend "The Gumball Rally" - it's such a 70s movie but it's far more entertaining than any of the other cross-country car race movies in that time period.
ReplyDeleteÓscar Isaac whose real name is Hernández Estrada went on to star in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens as Poe Dameron and X-Men: Apocalypse as Apocalypse, and I must agree with James I loved Raul as Gomez, he made it his like it was written only for him!!!
ReplyDelete