Thursday, April 23, 2015

23 April 2015

Birthdays
Alex Ferris b. 1997 (Eureka, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Smallville, X-Men: The Last Stand, Supernatural, Stargate SG-1)
Dev Patel b. 1990 (The Last Airbender)
Aanastasia Baranova b. 1989 (Z Nation, Apocalypse CA, Rise: Blood Hunter)
Rachel Skarsten b. 1985 (Lost Girl, Beauty and the Beast, Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, Birds of Prey)
Jesse Lee Sofer b. 1984 (In Time)
Aaron Hill b. 1983 (Creature, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
Isaiah Robinson b. 1983 (Hook)
Jamie King b. 1979 (Sin City, The Spirit)
Joanna Krupa b. 1979 (Planet of the Apes)
Kal Penn b. 1977 (Superman Returns, Son of the Mask, Angel, Sabina, The Teenage Witch, Buffy)
Gabriel Damon b. 1976 (Eerie, Indiana, RoboCop II, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Amazing Stories)
Barry Watson b. 1974 (My Future Boyfriend, Boogeyman, Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman [1993])
Sonya Smith b. 1972 (Cyxork 7)
Andrew Kreisberg b. 1971 (writer, The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, Warehouse 13, Fringe, The Vampire Diaries)
Scott Bairstow b. 1970 (Android Apocalypse, Tuck Everlasting, Harsh Realm, The Postman. The X Files)
Byron Thames b. 1969 (Chronicle, Star Trek: Enterprise, Monsters, Freddy’s Nightmares, The Powers of Matthew Star)
John Hannah b. 1962 (Atlantis [2013], The Mummy, Carnivale, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [2003], The Mummy and spin-offs)
Valerie Bertinelli b. 1960 (Faerie Tale Theatre, C.H.O.M.P.S.)
Mark Caven b. 1960 (Maleficent, I Love Mummy, Red Dwarf, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace)
Tim Blaney b. 1959 (Angel, Men in Black, Short Circuit)
Jan Hooks b. 1957 died 9 October 2014 (3rd Rock from the Sun, Coneheads, Batman Returns, Superman 50th Anniversary, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure)
Caroline Thompson b. 1956 (writer, Corpse Bride, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Addams Family, Edward Scissorhands)
Blair Brown b. 1946 (Forever, Fringe, Falling Skies, Dark Shadows [TV movie 2005], Smallville, The Astronaut’s Wife, Space, Altered States, Dracula [TV movie 1973])
Herve Villechaize b. 1943 died 4 September 1993 (Faerie Tale Theatre, Forbidden Zone, Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood)
Sheila Gish b. 1942 died 9 March 2005 (Highlander, The Ghostbusters of East Finchley, Worlds Beyond)
Sandra Dee b. 1942 died 20 February 2005 (The Sixth Sense [1972], The Dunwich Horror)
Lee Majors b. 1939 (Lightspeed, Jake 2.0, The Six Million Dollar Man & spin-offs, Starflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Land)
Alan Oppenheimer b. 1930 (Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Invisible: The Chronicles of Benjamin Knight, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Quantum Leap, Knight Rider, The Six Million Dollar Man, Westworld, Bewitched, Gamera the Invincible, I Dream of Jeannie)
Janet Blair b. 1921 died 18 February 2007 (The Outer Limits, Burn, Witch, Burn, One Touch of Venus [TV], A Connecticut Yankee, Once Upon a Time)
Simone Simon b. 1910 died 22 February 2005 (Cat People, Curse of the Cat People)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. This is one of those days when not wanting to repeat a previous Picture Slot and only wanting iconic characters becomes difficult. In 2013, when my research methods were very weak, the only name I had on the list was Kal Penn, so he got the slot. In 2014, I found a picture of both Lee Majors and Alan Oppenheimer from The Six Million Dollar Man. While there are some well-known names on the list, for my money the most iconic role other than Lee Majors is the robot Johnny Five from Short Circuit, voiced by Tim Blaney. I usually leave voice actors out, though I do make exceptions on occasion. Blaney happens to be a relative of a former roommate, so that factored into my decision as well.

2. Wait... she's dead? We have a trio of folks born during World War II who are already dead. I remembered that Herve Villechaize was dead. (You will note I don't count Fantasy Island as genre. I was definitely a fan of genre when it came out and I knew it was more like Love Boat than Star Trek.) I really didn't follow Sheila Gish's career very closely. (By the was, she's British and not related to Lillian and Dorothy Gish.) But I certainly know the name Sandra Dee and was completely unaware she died ten years ago.

3. The Canadians, pre-spotted for your convenience. As often happens, though not always, young Canadians are on the shows that have been produced in Canada over the past few decades while older Canadians came to the States and worked here. Alex Ferris and Rachel Skarsten have credit lists that make their nationality clear, Scott Bairstow and Mark Caven, not so much.

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


Predictor: Lewis Mumford (1895-1990), cultural critic, quoted in 1932

Prediction: “[By 1982] Australia will be abandoned to the Japanese by its white inhabitants, who will return to an England capable of supporting by agriculture almost double its present population.”

Reality: Mumford was a cranky bastard who particularly hated cars and what they did to cities. While I guess he should get some small credit for that now, he was absolutely wrong about Australians giving up and equally wrong about the population of England, which grew by 25% from 1932 to 1982, not 100%.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The regular schedule gives us H.G. Wells on Fridays.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

 

3 comments:

  1. Douglas Adams would have had the exodus go in the other direction.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Is it OK if I also consider your picture slot choice to be subtle and sly recognition of the fact that I am currently in St. Louis at the FIRST Robotics Championship with the little scrappy Robotics team that I mentor?

    ReplyDelete

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