Today XIX

Birthdays:

• Niccolò Machiavelli, political philosopher, musician, poet, and romantic comedic playwright, May 3, 1469 – June 21, 1527


• Richard D'Oyly Carte, London theatrical impresario, May 3, 1844 – April 3, 1901


• Beulah Bondy, aka Beulah Bondi, actress, May 3, 1888 – January 11, 1981


• Golda Mabovitz, aka Golda Meir, politician, one of the founders of the State of Israel, who served as the Minister of Labor, Foreign Minister, and as the fourth Prime Minister of Israel from March 17, 1969 to April 11, 1974; she was the "Iron Lady" of Israeli politics, years before the epithet was coined for Margaret Thatcher; David Ben-Gurion once described her as "the only man in the Cabinet," May 3, 1898 – December 8, 1978


• Harry Lillis BING Crosby, singer and actor, May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977


• Mary Astor, actress, May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987


• Virgil Fox, organist, May 3, 1912 – October 25, 1980


• Pete Seeger, folksinger and activist, 1919


• Joe Ames, singer, one of the Ames Brothers, 1921


• Walker Smith, Jr, aka Sugar Ray Robinson, champion boxer, May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989


• James Joseph Brown, singer, "soul brother #1," etc., 1933


• Frankie Valli, singer, leader of The Four Seasons, 1937


• David Earl DAVY Lopes, second baseman and manager, 1945


• Doug James Henning, magician, May 3, 1947 - February 7, 2000


• Mary Hopkin, singer, 1950

RIP:

• Milton Arthur Paul Caniff, cartoonist famous for the Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon comic strips, February 28, 1907 - May 3, 1988


• Jerzy Kosiński, novelist, best known for his novels The Painted Bird and Being There, which was made into a 1979 movie, directed by Hal Ashby and starring Peter Sellers; Kosiński was supposed to visit actress Sharon Tate's house on August 9, 1969, but was left stranded in New York after missing a connecting flight - that night Sharon Tate and four guests wer killed by followers of Charles Manson, June 18, 1933 – May 3, 1991


• Cecilia Ann Renee SUZY Parker, model and actress, October 28, 1932 - May 3, 2003


• Anthony Ainley, actor, best known for his work on television, and particularly for his role as The Master in Doctor Who; the first actor to play The Master as a recurring role since the death of Roger Delgado eight years earlier; the renegade Time Lord, Ainley's best-known acting role, had been portrayed with great success by Roger Delgado until his death in a car crash in 1973; Ainley embraced the part with gusto, appearing as a semi-regular on Doctor Who, from the encounter with Tom Baker in 1981, until its 26-year run came to an end in 1989; while Delgado had been an urbane, sinister presence with a steely stare, Ainley's performance was more pantomimic, imbuing his Master with a cat-like purr and malevolent chuckle; lurking in the shadows, he had a line in mellifluous threats and a predilection for sadism that sent a whole generation of children scurrying behind the sofa; he played opposite Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, and Sylvestor McCoy, his appearances occasionally cosmetic rather than plot-driven; fittingly, he was the main villain in the series' last adventure in 1989, August 20, 1932 - May 3, 2004

Also:

• Gone with the Wind, a novel by Margaret Mitchell, published in 1936, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937


• Walter O'Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, agrees to move the team from Brooklyn, New York, to Los Angeles, California, in 1957


• Yom Ha'atzma'ut, Israeli Independence Day, commemorates the declaration of independence of Israel in 1948