Today XXIX

Birthdays:

• Omar Khayyám, poet, May 18, 1048 – December 4, 1131


• Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS, philosopher, logician, and mathematician; in this tiny entry, what can I say cconcerning what Bertrand Russell has accomplished, known, and thought; I offer one quote from 1947: "War does not determine who is right. Only who is left," May 18, 1872 – February 2, 1970


• Walter Adolph Gropius, architect and founder of Bauhaus, May 18, 1883 – July 5, 1969


• Ezio Pinza, opera singer, who spent twenty-two seasons at New York's Metropolitan Opera, appearing in more than 750 performances of fifty operas, May 18, 1892 - 9 May 9, 1957


• Francesco Rosario FRANK Capra, film director, May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991


• Robert Meredith Reiniger, aka Robert Meredith Willson, musician, composer, and playwright, best known as the writer of The Music Man, May 18, 1902 – June 15, 1984


• Joseph Vernon BIG JOE Turner, Jr., blues singer, May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985


• Pierino Ronaldo PERRY Como, crooner, May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001


• Ruben Sax, aka Richard Brooks, film writer, director, and producer, May 18, 1912 – March 11, 1992


• Margaret Hookham, aka Dame Margot Fonteyn, DBE, ballerina, May 18, 1919 - February 21, 1991


• Kai Chresten Winding, trombonist and jazz composer, May 18, 1922 - May 6, 1983


• Pernell Roberts, actor, 1928


• Don Martin, cartoon artist, whose best-known work appeared in MAD magazine, May 18, 1931 – January 6, 2000


• Robert Morse, actor, 1931


• Dwayne Hickman, actor and television executive, 1934


• Brooks Calbert Robinson, Jr., former MLB third baseman, played his entire 23-year career with the Baltimore Orioles; elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983; generally acclaimed as the greatest defensive third-baseman of all time, winning 16 consecutive Gold Glove Awards during his career, tied with pitcher Jim Kaat for the most for any player at any position, 1937


• Reginald Martinez REGGIE Jackson, nicknamed "Mr. October" for his post-season clutch hitting ability; former MLB right fielder; in 1993, inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, 1946


• Andrew C. ANDREAS Katsulas, actor, best known for his roles as Ambassador G'Kar on Babylon 5, and as Commander Tomalak on Star Trek: The Next Generation, May 18, 1946 – February 13, 2006


• Richard Christopher RICK Wakeman, rock keyboard player, best known for his work with Yes, 1949


• Chow Yun-Fat, actor, 1955


• John Higgins, professional snooker player, 1998 World Champion, 1975

RIP:

• Georg Böhm, Baroque organist and composer, September 2, 1661 - May 18, 1733


• Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz, pianist and composer, May 29, 1860 – May 18, 1909


• Gustav Mahler, composer and conductor, July 7, 1860 – May 18, 1911


• Leroy Anderson, composer, June 29, 1908 – May 18, 1975


• William Saroyan, author, August 31, 1908 - May 18, 1981


• Charles Dawson DAWS Butler, voice actor, who created and played the voices of many famous animated cartoon characters, including Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound, November 16, 1916 – May 18, 1988


• Jill Ireland, actress, April 24, 1936 – May 18, 1990


• Elisha Cook, Jr., character actor, December 26, 1903 - May 18, 1995


• Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery, movie and television actress, April 15, 1933 – May 18, 1995


• Elvin Ray Jones, jazz drummer; as well as his hundreds of live performances and recordings, he played the role of outlaw Job Cain in the 1971 "western rock opera," Zachariah, September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004