Xavier Samuel b. 1983 (Twilight Saga)
Kenneth Brannagh, b. 1960 (Frankenstein, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; director, Thor)
Michael Clarke Duncan b. 1957 Died 3 September 2012 (The Island, Sin City, Daredevil, The Scorpion King, Planet of the Apes, The Green Mile, Armageddon, Weird Science[TV])
Fionnula Flanagan b. 1941 (Lost, Star Trek: Enterprise/The Next Generation/Deep Space Nine)
Tisha Sterling b. 1944 (Breakfast of Champions, Batman[TV], Village of the Giants)
Tommy Kirk b. 1941 (The Absent Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, Village of the Giants, Mars Needs Women, It’s Alive)
Mako b. 1933 died 21 July 2006 (Samurai Jack, Bulletproof Monk, RoboCop 3, Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Destroyer, The Time Tunnel)
John Colicos b. 1928 died 6 March 2000 (Star Trek: Original Series/Deep Space Nine, Battlestar Galactica)
Jean Byron b. 1925 died 3 February 2006 (Invisible Invaders, Jungle Moon Men, Science Fiction Theatre, The Magnetic Monster)
Alexander Courage b. 1919 died 15 may 2008 (music, Star Trek, Deep Rising, Congo, Jurassic Park, Gremlins II, Superman IV, Lost In Space, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom)
Anne Gwynne b. 1918 died 31 March 2003 (Teenage Monster, House of Frankenstein, Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe)
Mary Norton b. 1903 died 29 August 1992 (author, Bed Knobs and Broomsticks, The Borrowers)
Odd birthday list today. There's a lot more sci-fi on both the big and small screen than there used to be, but we have only one birthday boy younger than 50 and sadly, the dead outnumber the living. We have Anne Gwynne, a scream queen from the 1930s, and Jean Byron, a scream queen from the 1950s, better known as the mom on The Patty Duke Show. (The dad William Schallert, an amazingly busy actor, also shows up in small roles in a bunch of 1950s monster movies.) Alexander Courage is often a conductor or orchestrator, but we know him best for compositions on Star Trek.
If not for Michael Dorn yesterday, John Colicos as Kor would have been a great choice for the Picture Slot. Michael Clarke Duncan has some iconic roles as well, as does Mako. But since we have two birthdays from Village of the Giants AND a publicity still that shows both of them AND they are both still alive, you are now looking at Tisha Sterling and Tommy Kirk. Regular readers will note that this is a scene before Ms. Sterling grows to over thirty feet tall, so I have shown some restraint, but not much. (This is also a movie from 48 years ago, my first "Damn, I'm old!" moment of the morning, so... thanks for that.)
Many happy returns to all the living on the list, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.
Movies released
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader released, 2010
Prediction: Save for a few exceptional centres, the diffusion of news by radio died out completely by 1970.
Predictor: H.G. Wells in The Shape of Things to Come, published 1933
Reality: The "money quotes" from this book are Wells' predictions of wars that would start in the 1940s, Germany vs. Poland and the United States vs. Japan. Other than that, his view of the 20th Century is almost completely wrong and very pessimistic. I'm going to give Herbert a couple more predictions this year and then he's going to get a break for a while.
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!
The normal weekly schedule gives Wednesdays to T. Baron Russell, a much more cheery Brit than Wells, looking with anticipation into the 21st Century from his vantage point in 1905.
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
Mako is another one of those hard-working "oh, THAT guy" types who pops up everywhere. I just saw him last night in a MASH episode.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. I probably saw him first on McHale's Navy and remembered him because of the very cool name.
Delete