Tuesday, July 21, 2015

21 July 2015

Birthdays
Jessica Barden b. 1992 (My Parents Are Aliens)
Rory Culkin b. 1989 (Signs)
Juno Temple b. 1989 (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Maleficent, Horns, The Brass Teapot, Mr. Nobody, The Dark Knight Rises)
Jamie Waylett b. 1989 (Harry Potter)
Fernando Tielve b. 1986 (Pan’s Labyrinth)
Sprague Grayden b. 1980 (Touch, Paranormal Activity, Jericho, Biohazardous)
Josh Hartnett b. 1978 (Penny Dreadful, Parts Per Billion, 30 Days of Night, Sin City, The Faculty, Halloween H20)
Justin Bartha b. 1978 (National Treasure)
Jaime Murray b. 1976 (Defiance, Sleepy Hollow, Warehouse 13)
Ray Galletti b. 1974 (Hemlock Grove, Arrow, Smallville, The Core, Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, Jeremiah, The New Addams Family)
Ali Landry b. 1973 (Repli-Kate, Conan)
Charlotte Gainsbourg b. 1971 (Melancholia)
Treva Etienne b. 1965 (Falling Skies, Terminator Salvation, Charmed, Angel, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)
Susan Swift b. 1964 (Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, Amazing Stories, Audrey Rose)
Ike Eisenmann b. 1962 (Race to Witch Mountain, Star Trek II; The Wrath of Khan, Wonder Woman, Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell, Return from Witch Mountain, The Fantastic Journey, Escape to Witch Mountain)
Jim Martin b. 1961 (Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, I Was a Teenage Zombie)
Lance Guest b. 1960 (Jericho, Stepsister from Planet Weird, The Burning Zone, The X Files, The Last Starfighter, Halloween II)
Jon Lovitz b. 1957 (Southland Tales, The Stepford Wives [2004], Little Nicky, Coneheads, Mom and Dad Save the World, My Stepmother is an Alien)
Otto Jesperson b. 1954 (Troll Hunter)
Rory Stevens b. 1954 (Carrie, The Munsters, Bewitched, My Favorite Martian)
Robin Williams b. 1951 died 11 August 2014 (Night at the Museum, The Final Cut, Bicentennial Man, What Dreams May Come, Flubber [1997], Jumanji, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Faerie Tale Theatre, Mork & Mindy)
Art Hindle b. 1948 (Dark Rising: Warrior of Worlds, Mutant X, Total Recall 2070 [TV], Poltergeist: The Legacy, The Brood, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers)
Sergio Calderon b. 1945 (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End)
Edward Herrmann b. 1943 died 31 December 2014 (Wonder Woman [2011], Here Come the Munsters [1995], The Lost Boys, Purple Rose of Cairo, The Electric Grandmother)
John Woodvine b. 1929 (An American Werewolf in London, Doctor Who)
Norman Jewison b. 1926 (director, Rollerball)
Paul Burke b. 1926 died 13 September 2009 (Men Into Space, The Adventures of Superman)
Don Knotts b. 1924 died 24 February 2006 (Pleasantville, The Girl with Something Extra, The Reluctant Astronaut, The Incredible Mr. Limpet)
Ken Maynard b. 1973 died 23 March 1973 (Bigfoot)
C. Aubrey Smith b. 1863 died 20 December 1948 (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [1941])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. As awkward as I feel when we have a Guy at the Door, today's may be more awkward still. I consider that there are three iconic genre actors here, and we've used two of them in the past 365 days in Never to be Forgotten posts, namely Robin Williams and Edward Herrmann. By process of elimination, that leaves Don Knotts in The Incredible Mr. Limpet, seen here with Jack Weston. I loved this movie as a kid, but I haven't seen it in I don't know how long, so I have no idea how it holds up.

2. Spot the Canadian! Norman Jewison is Canadian, but I expect that isn't common knowledge. The other Canuck on the list is very spottable, so I leave it as an exercise for the reader.

3. Nepotism FTW. Rory Culkin is in that gray area, a lesser known sibling who got work in stuff his brother starred in. Juno Temple is Julien Temple's daughter; this is not a gray area.

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


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

Prediction: Mankind, like the social insects, will be divided into four or five different sexual types and will forget the he and she in the needs of physiological and social division of labour.

Reality: As the young people say... I can't even.

Never to be Forgotten: Theodore Bikel 1924-2015

It's been a rough week for character actors. The latest to join the choir invisible is Theodore Bikel, the Austrian born singer, actor and activist. I think his best known role in genre might be as Worf's step-father on Star Trek: The Next Pajamas, but I'm still a sucker for any starring role on the original Twilight Zone, and Bikel was the star of the episode Four O'Clock. Besides those roles, his genre appearances include Babylon 5, The Burning Zone, Beauty and the Beast [TV], Knight Rider and The Amazing Spider-Man [TV].

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

 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The weekly schedule is interrupted by a prediction from a movie.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

6 comments:

  1. FWIW, I still like The Incredible Mr. Limpet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As I said, so did I, but it's been ages. I revisited The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao a few years back and it didn't hold up. I'm a little afraid to break the spell.

      Delete
    2. I saw a clip of Dr. Lao recently, and Tony Randall's performance was kind of awful. Not to mention pretty racist.

      Not problems with Limpet, when I watched it recently...

      Delete
  2. Knotts was also in "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken," which I loved as a kid. Haven't seen it since, but as I recall, it ends up being kind of a Scooby-Do thing, not actually supernatural. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059221/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You mean they would have gotten away with it if not for that damn Don Knotts?

      I don't count every ghost story and I can't even give a good algorithm as what counts and what does not.

      Delete

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