20 December 2014

 Birthdays
Hunter Gomez b. 1991 (Just the Vampire Hunter, National Treasure)
JoJo Levesque b. 1990 (Aquamarine)
Christopher Bertolini b. 1989 (writer, Battle Los Angeles)
Bob Morley b. 1984 (The 100)
Jonah Hill b. 1983 (This Is The End, The Watch, The Invention of Lying, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Click)
Lucy Pinder b. 1983 (Strippers vs Werewolves)
Biljana Misic b. 1983 (Tekken: Kazuya’s Revenge, Dracula: The Dark Prince)
Ramon Rodriguez b. 1979 (Battle Los Angeles, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Day Break)
Ragan Brooks b. 1976 (Eastwick, Charmed)
Carlos Moreno Jr. b. 1971 (Transformers, Mexican Werewolf in Texas)
Nicole de Boer b. 1970 (Reign, Haven, Iron Golem, Stargate: Atlantis, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Phil the Alien, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Cube, Poltergeist: The Legacy, TekWar, Forever Knight, Maniac Mansion)
Brian O’ Halloran b. 1969 (The Happening, Dogma)
Eduardo Sanchez b. 1968 (director, Intruders [2014 TV], From Dusk Till Dawn [TV], The Blair Witch Project)
Joel Gretsch b. 1963 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Zodiac: Signs of the Apocalypse, Witches of East End, Caper, V [2011], Push, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Journeyman, The 4400, Taken, Minority Report)
Iqbal Theba b. 1963 (Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Ghosts/Aliens, Frankenhood, The Tick, The Tomorrow Man, Homeboys in Outer Space, Space: Above and Beyond)
Joyce Hyser b. 1957 (The Flash [1991], Freddy’s Nightmares)
Blanche Baker b. 1956 (Hypothermia, The Handmaid’s Tale)
Jenny Agutter b. 1952 (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel’s The Avengers, Red Dwarf, Darkman, Twilight Zone [1986], An American Werewolf in London, The Six Million Dollar Man, Logan’s Run)
Claudia Jennings b. 1949 died 3 October 1979 (Deathsport, The Man Who Fell to Earth)
John Spencer b. 1946 died 16 December 2005 (Lois & Clark, WarGames, Meteor)
Peter Criss b. 1945 (KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park)
Jacqueline Pearce b. 1943 (Doctor Who, Moondial, Blakes 7, The Reptile, The Plague of the Zombies)
Angel Tompkins b. 1943 (Amazing Stories, Night Rider)
Pamela Austin b. 1941 (Twilight Zone [1964])
Kathryn Joosten b. 1939 died 2 June 2012 (Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, Charmed, The X Files, Buffy, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
John Hillerman b. 1932 (Wonder Woman, The Sixth Sense)
Mala Powers b. 1931 died 11 June 2007 (Doomsday Machine, Bewitched, The Colossus of New York, The Unknown Terror)
John ‘Bud’ Cardos b. 1929 (director, Gor II, The Day Times Ended, Kingdom of the Spiders)
Nicole Maurey b. 1925 (Day of the Triffids)
Rod Amateau b. 1923 died 29 June 2003 (director/producer, My Mother the Car)
George Roy Hill b. 1921 died 27 December 2002 (director, Slaughterhouse-Five)
Albert Dekker b. 1905 died 5 May 1968 (Gammera the Invincible, She Devil, Dr. Cyclops)
Charley Grapewin b. 1869 died 2 February 1956 (The Wizard of Oz)
Edwin A. Abbott b. 1838 died 12 October 1926 (author, Flatland)

1. Notes from the birthday list. Today's list has a few household names, but as regular readers know, I look for iconic roles in genre. Being a huge Twilight Zone nerd, I chose fabulous babe Pamela Austin (pictured on the right) from the episode about beauty and conformity entitled Number 12 Looks Just Like You. Ms. Austin could fairly be called a starlet; besides this episode, her best known roles were in two Elvis pictures, Blue Hawaii and Kissin' Cousins. Last year's Slot was filled by Nicole de Boer from Deep Space Nine. Next year I might go with the cover from the novel Flatland, but if I go with a person, two British fabulous babes are front runners, Jenny Agutter from Logan's Run on Jacqueline Pearce as the main villain Servalan from Blakes 7.

2. Spot the Canadian! There's just one. Knowing Canadian genre show from last century will make it easier.

3. Fun facts to know and tell. Charley Grapewin was Uncle Henry in The Wizard of Oz. I'm not sure he got enough screen time to be iconic.

Several TV regulars are here but not from genre TV. John Hillerman was on Magnum, P.I., John Spencer was on L.A. Law and The West Wing and Kathryn Joosten was on The West Wing and Desperate Housewives.

The first paragraph of George Roy Hill's bio on imdb.com says he was a pain in the ass to work with and highbrow critics hated his work. Besides Slaughterhouse-Five, he also directed Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting. Andrew Sarris can slag Hill all he wants. I liked those movies when I saw them and I still do.


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

Predictor: Drumm, D. B. Traveler #1: First, You Fight. New York: Dell, 1984.

Prediction: A wandering Vietnam and Nicaragua veteran battles the bad guys fifteen years after the Last War of December 20, 1989, for which a former television cowboy star-turned-president was responsible. The veteran roams the landscape in his awesomely fortified van, dubbed "the Meat Wagon," seeking vengeance on the treacherous Captain Vallone and a cure for the neurotoxin whose effects periodically debilitate him. Traveler sets two vicious gangs against each other in a town they have dominated in a dual reign of terror, then helps fight off a third gang led by Vallone. According to Thomas M. Disch's The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of, "D. B. Drumm" was originally a pseudonymn for Ed Naha, but the later volumes were written by cyberpunk writer John Shirley.

Reality: Next week will be the last use of the regular nuclear war predictions from Professor Paul Brians' database, but I will still use the occasional exact date prediction from that source, like this one. Hmm, a cowboy star-turned-president is responsible for nuclear war... I wonder who that could refer to?

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another exact day prediction tomorrow, telling of foreboding events on December 21, 2012.


Join us then... INTO THE FUTURE!