Today LVII

Birthdays:

• Edvard Hagerup Grieg, composer and pianist, best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor and his incidental music to Peer Gynt, June 15, 1843 – September 4, 1907


• Harry L. Langdon, silent film comedian, June 15, 1884 – December 22, 1944


• Erik Homburger Erikson, developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his theory on social development of human beings, and for coining the phrase identity crisis, June 15, 1902 – May 12, 1994


• David Rose, songwriter, composer, arranger, and orchestra leader, musical director for the Red Skelton Show for 21 years, recipient of four Emmy awards; he was married to Martha Raye and to Judy Garland, June 15, 1910 – August 23, 1990


• The Reverend Wilbert Vere Awdry, OBE, clergyman, railway enthusiast, and children's author, creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, June 15, 1911 – March 21, 1997


• Alfred "Lash" LaRue, actor in Western movies, June 14, 1917 – May 21, 1996


• Erroll Louis Garner, jazz pianist and composer, June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977


• Waylon Arnold Jennings, country music singer and guitarist, June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002


• Billy Leo Williams, former MLB outfielder, 1961 NL Rookie of the Year, elected in 1987 to the Baseball Hall of Fame, 1938


• James Brian Jacques, fantasy author, best known for his Redwall books, 1939


• Harry Edward Nilsson III, singer, songwriter, pianist, usually credited simply as Nilsson, June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994


• Vera de Vries, aka Xaviera Hollander, former call girl/madam, author of The Happy Hooker, 1943


• Mervyn "Muff" Winwood, bassist [Spencer Davis Group], songwriter, producer, and music industry executive, brother of Steve Winwood, 1943


• Johnnie "Dusty" Baker, Jr., former MLB outfielder and current manager of the Chicago Cubs, 1949


• James Albert 'Jim' Varney, Jr., actor, best known for his character Ernest P. Worrel, June 15, 1949 – February 10, 2000


• Paul Rusesabagina, assistant manager of the Hotel des Mille Collines, in Kigali, Rwanda; during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, used his influence and connections as temporary manager of the Mille Collines to shelter over 1,260 Tutsis and moderate Hutus from being slaughtered, 1954


• Wade Anthony Boggs, former MLB third baseman, primarily with the Boston Red Sox, elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005; his 12 straight All-Star appearances are second only to Brooks Robinson in number of consecutive appearances by a third baseman, 1958


• Helen Elizabeth Hunt, Emmy and Academy Award-winning actress, 1963


• Courteney Bass Cox Arquette, actress, 1964


• Eric Stefani, musician and animator, co-founder of No Doubt, brother of Gwen Stefani, 1967


• Andrew Eugene 'Andy' Pettitte, MLB left-handed pitcher, currently with the Houston Astros, 1972


• Neil Patrick Harris, actor, 1973


• Mary Ellen Cook, aka Mary Carey, actress, 1980


• Julia Fischer, violinist, 1983

RIP:

• Louis-Claude Daquin, composer in the Baroque and Galant styles, virtuoso organist and harpsichordist, July 4, 1694 – June 15, 1772


• Samuel Earl 'Sam' Crawford, MLB right fielder, nicknamed "Wahoo Sam", played mostly for the Detroit Tigers, holds the major league record for the most inside-the-park home runs in a season with 12 in 1901, and the most in a career with 51, and major league career record for triples with 309, April 18, 1880 – June 15, 1968


• John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery, jazz guitarist, part of a musical family including his brothers, Monk (bass player) and Buddy (vibes and piano); known for his use of octaves, and as an accomplished single-line player, March 6, 1925 - June 15, 1968


• James Joseph 'Jimmy' Dykes, MLB third and second baseman, manager and coach, played from 1918 to 1939 for the Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago White Sox, November 10, 1896 - June 15, 1976


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


• Victor French, actor, costarred on Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven, December 4, 1934 - June 15, 1989


• Ella Jane Fitzgerald, jazz vocalist, also known as the First Lady of Song, gifted with a three-octave vocal range, and known for her purity of tone, near faultless phrasing and intonation, and improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing; winner of thirteen Grammy Awards, and recipient of the National Medal of Art and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996


• Hume Blake Cronyn, OC , LL.D, stage and film actor, husband of the late actress Jessica Tandy, July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003