Tuesday, April 28, 2015

28 April 2015

Birthdays
Taylor Anne Reid b. 1991 (Taken, The 6th Day, Dark Angel, Resurrection, The X Files, Millennium)
Addie Land b. 1988 (The Sasquatch Gang)
Samantha Lockwood b. 1982 (Star Trek Equinox: The Night of Time, Sci-Fighter)
Jessica Alba, b. 1981 (Sin City, Spy Kids, Fantastic Four, Dark Angel, Venus Rising)
Jonathan Silver Scott b. 1978 (Being Human, Atomic Train, Millennium, The X Files)
Drew Scott b. 1978 (Smallville)
Robert Oliveri b. 1978 (Honey I Blew Up the Kid, Edward Scissorhands, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids)
Peta-Maree Rixon b. 1975 (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie)
Penélope Cruz b. 1974 (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Vanilla Sky, The Butterfly Effect)
Elisabeth Röhm b. 1973 (Beauty and the Beast [2014], Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark, Lake Placid: The Final Chapter, Heroes, Angel, The Invisible Man [TV movie])
Jorge Garcia b. 1973 (Lost, Once Upon a Time, Fringe)
Bridget Moynahan b. 1971 (Battle Los Angeles, I, Robot)
Kari Wuhrer b. 1967 (Sharknado 2: The Second One, Stargate: Atlantis, Berserker: Hell’s Warrior, King of the Ants, Eight Legged Freaks, Sliders, Anaconda, Thinner, Swamp Thing, Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time)
Mary McDonnell b. 1952 (Battlestar Galactica, Donnie Darko, Independence Day)
Bob Rumnock b. 1953 (Divergent, World’s End, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Angel, Fallen)
Stuart Gillard b. 1950 (director, Beauty and the Beast [TV], Girl vs. Monster, Riverworld, Charmed, Poltergeist: The Legacy, RocketMan, Creature, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, My Secret Identity)
Paul Guilfoyle b. 1949 (The Burning Zone, M.A.N.T.I.S., Howard the Duck)
Bruno Kirby b. 1949 died 14 August 2006 (Tales from the Crypt)
Marcia Strassman b. 1948 died 25 October 2014 (Tremors [TV], Earth Minus Zero, Highlander, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird, Brave New World, Time Express)
Sir Terry Pratchett b. 1948 died 12 March 2015 (author, Discworld, Hogfather)
Ann-Margret b. 1941 (The 10th Kingdom)
Emily Yancy b. 1939 (The Abyss, Sword and the Sorcerer, Blacula)
Madge Sinclair b. 1938 died 20 December 1995 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Tales from the Crypt, Starman [TV], Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
Carolyn Jones b. 1930 died 3 August 1983 (Wonder Woman, Batman, The Addams Family, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The War of the Worlds, House of Wax)
Robert Cornthwaite b. 1917 died 20 July 2006 (The Naked Monster, White Dwarf, Time Trackers, Beauty and the Beast, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Futureworld, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Six Million Dollar Man, Colossus: The Forbin Project, Land of the Giants, Batman, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Munsters, Twilight Zone, Destination Space, The War of the Worlds, The Thing from Another World)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. There are quite a few names here that have had their pictures on the blog. On previous April 28s, I used Jessica Alba, famous, iconic and fabulous and Robert Cornthwaite, a great Oh That Guy, or more accurately a great Oh That Scientist. Besides them, both Marcia Strassman and Sir Terry Pratchett have had Never to Be Forgotten posts in the past year. Even with these worthies out of consideration, there are many other actors with iconic roles. I decided to go with Carolyn Jones as Morticia Addams because... reasons. I expect few complaints.

2. Nepotism FTW. Bruno Kirby is the son of Bruce Kirby. Samantha Lockwood is the daughter of Gary Lockwood. They both count.

3. Wait... he's dead? I completely forgot that Bruno Kirby died.

4. Everyone leaving so soon? We have a lot of people on this list who died young. Carolyn Jones, Madge Sinclair and Bruno Kirby were all in their 50s and Marcia Strassman and Sir Terry Pratchett were in their 60s.

Let me say it here and now. Cut it out.

5. Spot the Canadians! Jonathan Silver Scott and Drew Scott are twins and they are also Canadians. So is the youngest person on our list, Taylor Anne Reid.

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

 
Predictor: John Langdon-Davies in in 1936 book A Short History of the Future

Prediction: Democracy will be dead by 1950.

Reality: Langdon-Davies covered the Spanish Civil War and it messed with his head. It should be noted that when we wrote this, the bombing of Guernica was still a year away. Still, he was of the opinion a worldwide worker's revolution was only a few years away. No points awarded here.

Never to be Forgotten: Andrew Lesnie (1956-2015) I just asked people to cut out all this dying young stuff and I get the news than Andrew Lesnie, the Australian born, Oscar-winning cinematographer has died at the age of 59. Working with Peter Jackson, Lesnie shot the Hobbit films, King Kong and all the Lord of the Rings. He was also director of photography on Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Last Airbender, I Am Legend, Babe and Babe: Pig in the City.

I am not technically savvy enough to tell how much of a beautiful shot in a fantasy film can be credited to the cinematography and how much to special effects afterwards, but I definitely remember how pretty so many of the films on this list are, most especially Babe and his work with Peter Jackson. That's too many examples to be coincidence.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Andrew Lesnie, from a fan. He is never to be forgotten.


Never to be Forgotten: Jayne Meadows Allen (1919-2015) As melancholy as these remembrances can be, let it be noted that Jayne Meadows Allen, who died at home this Sunday, was 95 when she passed, a refreshing change for all the people on the list today that didn't make it to 70. She was the wife of Steve Allen and the older sister of Audrey Meadows of Honeymooners fame. She did a lot of stage work as well as movies and TV, but is remembered here for roles in the 1985 Irwin Allen produced TV musical version of Alice in Wonderland (pictured here as The Red Queen) and on the TV shows Project U.F.O. and The Girl with Something Extra.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Jayne Meadows Allen, from a fan. She is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another visit from our sensible friend George Sutherland and his 1901 book Twentieth Century Inventions.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

2 comments:

  1. Does Steve Allen's "Meeting of Minds" count as sf? Meadows was in several of those episodes, iirc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's kinda sorta time travel, but I'm going to say no.

      Delete

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