Emily Rios b. 1989 (Grimm, Almost Human)
Jane Hancock b. 1988 (The Flash, Mythos, Fringe)
William Moseley b. 1987 (The Chronicles of Narnia)
Laura Ortiz b. 1987 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Bite Me, Chillerama, The Hills Have Eyes)
Jenna Coleman b. 1986 (Doctor Who, Captain America: The First Avenger)
Jasmine Lowe b. 1986 (The Hunger Games, Vampiro)
Anna Skellern b. 1985 (Camelot, Siren, The Descent: Part 2)
Janet Lopez b. 1985 (Attack of the 30 Foot Chola, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
Francis Capra b. 1983 (The Strain, Touch, Clear Skies 3, Heroes)
Ari Graynor b. 1983 (Fringe)
Brooke Long b. 1980 (Iron Man 2)
Sally Hawkins b. 1976 (Godzilla [2014])
Elle Downs b. 1973 (Hemlock Grove, Cybergeddon, Earth: Final Conflict, 2103: The Deadly Wake)
Andre Gower b. 1973 (10.0 Earthquake, The Monster Squad, The Wizard, Twilight Zone [1985], Knight Rider)
David Lascher b. 1972 (Sabrina, The Teenage Witch)
Mehmet Kurtulus b. 1972 (Equilibrium)
Elizabeth Marmur b. 1970 (Neverwhere, Forever Knight)
Matt Reeves b. 1966 (writer, Let Me In, Future Shock, director, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)
Anna Chancellor b. 1965 (Penny Dreadful, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, FairyTale: A True Story, Jupiter Moon)
Lisa Wilcox b. 1964 (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures [TV], Star Trek: The Next Generation, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 and 5, Something is Out There)
Russell T. Davies b. 1963 (showrunner, Wizards vs. Aliens, Doctor Who, Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures)
Min-sik Choi b. 1962 (Lucy)
Victoria Price b. 1962 (Edward Scissorhands)
James Le Gros b. 1962 (Phantasm II, *batteries not included, Solarbabies, Near Dark)
Eugenie Bondurant b. 1961 (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, Sorority House Vampires, Space Truckers, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Sheena Easton b. 1959 (TekWar, Highlander [TV])
Kevin McNally b. 1956 (Supernatural, Pirates of the Caribbean, Demons, Doctor Who)
John Shrapnel b. 1942 (Merlin, Alien Autopsy, The Tenth Kingdom, Invasion: Earth, Space: 1999)
Ned Wynn b. 1941 (The Absent Minded Professor, Son of Flubber)
Judy Carne b. 1939 (I Dream of Jeannie)
Sandy Dennis b. 1937 died 2 March 1992 (976-EVIL)
Casey Kasem b. 1932 died 15 June 2014 (Scooby-Doo, Homeboys in Outer Space, Battle of the Planets, Ghostbusters, Doomsday Machine, The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant, 2000 Years Later)
Robert Donner b. 1931 died 8 June 2006 (Alien Nation: Dark Horizon, Starman [TV], Mork & Mindy, The Incredible Hulk, Damnation Alley, Six Million Dollar Man)
Jack Klugman b. 1922 died 24 December 2012 (I Dream of Jeannie, Twilight Zone)
Colin Gordon b. 1911 died 4 October 1972 (UFO, The Prisoner, Doctor Who, Burn, Witch, Burn, H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man, The Man in the White Suit)
Harry Stockwell b. 1902 died 19 July 1984 (The Werewolf of Washington)
Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot skewed young with Jenna Coleman from Doctor Who and William Moseley from Chronicles of Narnia. This year, I go unabashedly old school with Jack Klugman from one of his four appearances on the original Twilight Zone series. There are actors and writers whose work I like on the list, but when it comes to iconic, the choices are few.
2. Spot the Canadians. Jane Hancock and Elle Downs work in the Canadian genre industry, though they don't have quite enough credits to make it obvious.
3. Nepotism, but just a little win. Ned Wynn is Keenan Wynn's son. He did a few movies as a young man and decided being in front of the screen wasn't for him. Victoria Price is Vincent Price's daughter. Her only acting credit is in Edward Scissorhands.
4. Wait... they're dead? I did not realize Sandy Dennis died more than twenty years ago. I had Robert Donner listed last year, but I failed to note he was dead. He's probably best known for the recurring role of Exidor on Mork & Mindy.
5. Deserved a Never to be Forgotten. My Bad. When Casey Kasem died last year, I didn't bother looking up his credit list, but I should have. I probably wanted to avoid all the weirdness surrounding his final days. Of course, he was the voice of Shaggy on Scooby-Doo, but he also had on screen performances and guest shots as himself in several genre productions.
Best wishes to the family and friends of Casey Kasem, from a fan. He is never to be forgotten.
6. The Gal at the Door. Judy Carne turns 76 this year. It's odd to think of someone like her whose career highlighted her youth and vivacious personality as being the oldest living person on the list, but that is the situation. As always when pointing out this morbid coincidence, the blog offers special birthday wishes to The Gal at the Door.
Many happy returns to all the living on the list, most especially Judy Carne, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.
Prediction: Dr. Marvin Clein and his graduate student John Keefe produce a computer simulation to predict the top speeds for fastballs thrown by athletes of several heights and weights
6'3", 210 lbs: 105 mph
6'4", 218 lbs: 107 mph
6'5", 227 lbs: 108.5 mph
6'6", 236 lbs: 110 mph
6'8", 255 lbs: 112 mph
6'10", 275 lbs: 115 mph
7'0", 295 lbs: 117 mph
Reality: This prediction scores at least one point because the fastest fastball recorded by radar in major league history is 106 mph by Cuban born Aroldis Chapman, who is 6'4" and 215 lbs. As for bigger guys throwing even faster, that hasn't happened yet. For example, Randy Johnson was 6'10" and could throw 102 mph, but he only weighed 225 lbs. Most of the very tall pitchers had similarly slim builds. A good athlete standing seven feet tall and nearly 300 lbs. is more likely to choose basketball as his sport.
There are two pitchers from earlier eras who allegedly threw faster than Chapman, but were not recorded with radar guns. Nolan Ryan was supposed to have thrown 108 mph and Bob Feller 107 mph. Ryan was list as 6'2" and Feller at 6'0".
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!
Another visit from John Langdon-Davies and his 1936 book A Short History of the Future.
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
Yes, Casey Kasem was Shaggy and the voice of American Top 40, but for me, he was also the voice of Mark, the leader of G-Force in "Battle of the Planets," the completely bowdlerized and Star-Wars-ripoff-modified first American version of the "Gatchaman" cartoons from Japan. I know you don't normally do voicework but I wanted to mention that one.
ReplyDeleteHi, Jay. Thanks for stopping by. Because you asked nicely and you've read enough to know I only put voicework in sporadically, I added Battle of the Planets to Kasem's credits.
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