Steven Anthony Lawrence b. 1990 (Buffy, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, My Favorite Martian)
Kaitlin Doubleday b. 1984 (Dragon Warriors, Witches of East End)
Jared Padalecki b. 1982 (Supernatural, Friday the 13th, House of Wax)
Mark Webber b. 1980 (Goodbye World)
Chiara Zanni b. 1978 (Riverworld, Smallville, Supernatural, Stargate: Atlantis, X-Men 2, The Immortal, NightMan)
Erin Cummings b. 1977 (The Astronaut Wives Club, Dollhouse, Charmed, Threshold, Star Trek: Enterprise)
Benedict Cumberbatch b. 1976 (Dr. Strange, The Hobbit, Star Trek Into Darkness)
Vinessa Shaw b. 1976 (Hocus Pocus)
Patricia Ja Lee b. 1975 (Power Rangers)
Bodhi Elfman b. 1969 (Touch, Charmed, Armageddon, Sliders, Godzilla, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Nancy Carell b. 1966 (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World)
Anthony Edwards b. 1962 (Zero Hour, Pet Sematary II)
Campbell Scott b. 1961 (The Amazing Spider-Man, Final Days of Planet Earth, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Top of the Food Chain, The Love Letter)
Robbi Morgan b. 1961 (Friday the 13th)
Hideo Nakata b. 1961 (director, Ring [Japanese and American versions])
Terri Treas b. 1957 (Alien Nation [TV], Knight Rider)
K.A. Applegate b. 1956 (author, Animorphs, The One and Only Ivan)
Peter Barton b. 1956 (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, The Powers of Matthew Star)
Dan Hicks b. 1951 (Oz the Great and Powerful, Paranormal, Burbank, My Name is Bruce, Spider-Man 2, Wishmaster, Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero, Darkman, Evil Dead II)
Tom McLoughlin b. 1950 (writer, She-Wolf of London, They Came from Outer Space, Friday’s Cruse, Amazing Stories, Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI)
Richard Pini b. 1950 (writer, Elfquest)
Martin Stephens b. 1949 (The Witches, The Innocents, Village of the Damned)
George Dzundza b. 1945 (Stargate: SG-1, The Twilight Zone [1986], Faerie Tale Theatre, Salem’s Lot)
Tim McIntire b. 1944 died 15 April 1986 (A Boy and His Dog, The Invaders)
Priscilla Allen b. 1938 died 14 August 2008 (Total Recall)
Richard Jordan b. 1937 died 30 August 1993 (Tales from the Crypt, Solar Babies, Dune, Logan’s Run)
Priscilla Montgomery b. 1929 (The Wizard of Oz)
Arthur Rankin Jr. b 1924 died 30 January 2014 (director, The Wind in the Willows, The Last Unicorn, The Return of the King, The Hobbit, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)
Pat Hingle b. 1924 died 3 January 2009 (Muppets from Space, Batman, The Shining [TV], Maximum Overdrive, Amazing Stories, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Invaders, Twilight Zone)
Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In both 2013 and 2014, Benedict Cumberbatch was in the Picture Slot. While I still think he is in the sweet spot of his career, I instead went with a picture of Supernatural star Jared Padalecki. Mr. Padalecki has decided to talk about his battle with depression and the fan reaction, especially at Comic-Con this year, was very heartening. It's a positive thing that people are talking more about mental illness, so good on ya, Mr. Padalecki.
2. Spot the Canadian! Padalecki stars in a Canuck genre TV show, but he was born on this side of the border. The Canuck is Chiara Zanni, who has the almost always telling trifecta of Supernatural, Smallville and Stargate.
3. Nepotism and not. Nancy Carrell and Bodhi Elfman are not as well known as their respective spouses Steve and Jenna, but they have careers of their own and I don't count that as nepotism. The late Tim McIntire was son of the character actor John McIntire, so I would count that.
4. Does she count? Last year, an obit said the last living female Munchkin from The Wizard of Oz was gone. A little known fact is that several Munchkins were kids and not little people, so the "official" Munchkins are the members of the Singer Midget troupe. Priscilla Montgomery was one of the kids and she is still with us. (Betty Ann Bruno, a now retired reporter for KTVU in Oakland, is also an uncounted Munchkin.) Happy birthday to Miss Montgomery. Without her on the list, the Guy at the Door would have been 70 year old George Dzundza, which is way too young for that "honor" in my book.
Many happy returns to all the living on the list and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.
Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in the 1957 book The Door Into Summer
Prediction: A lot of little things from 2000 I missed going back to 1970, I had to go back to shaving! I once even caught a cold.
Reality: In this story, the hero goes into suspended animation to get from 1970 to 2000, then time travel to get back. So the end of shaving and the end of the common cold in the 20th Century. That's 0 for 2 for Bob this week.
Veteran character actor Alex Rocco, pictured here in probably his most iconic role as Moe Greene from The Godfather, has died at the age of 79. His biography mentions that he worked hard to get rid of his thick Boston accent, working with well known genre actors Leonard Nimoy and Jeff Corey. While he played gangsters in a lot of his roles, his genre performances include Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Small & Frye, The Entity, Slither and Batman.
Best wishes to the family and friends of Alex Rocco, from a fan. He is never to be forgotten.
Mark Evanier's webpage reports the death of comic book artist (and sometimes writer and letterer) Alan Kupperberg at the age of 62. As I get older, my definition of "much too young" changes, but younger than my oldest brother has always been much too young in my book.
Kupperberg spent most of his career as a fill-in artist at Marvel, though he worked at other companies as well. The picture included here is the cover of the one-shot Obnoxio the Clown vs. The X-Men, a book where Kupperberg did everything, writing, doing the art and the lettering. That's a rare thing in the comic book industry, though cartoonists do it all the time.
Best wishes to the family and friends of Alan Kupperberg, from a fan. He is never to be forgotten.
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!
My old dependable source OMNI Future Almanac gets center stage tomorrow, a Monday tradition on the blog.
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
