Today CIX

Birthdays:

• Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, aka Mata Hari, exotic dancer and courtesan, executed by firing squad for espionage during World War I, August 7, 1876 – October 15, 1917


• Mary William Ethelbert Appleton BILLIE Burke, Oscar-nominated actress, known for her role as Glinda, the Good Witch of the North in The Wizard of Oz, August 7, 1884 – May 14, 1970


• Ralph Johnson Bunche, political scientist and diplomat, received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his mediation in Palestine in the late 1940's that led to an armistice agreement between the Jews and Arabs in the region, August 7, 1904 – December 9, 1971


• Raymond Nicholas Kienzle, aka Nicholas Ray, film director, August 7, 1911 – June 16, 1979


• Ricardo Baliardo, aka Manitas de Plata, gypsy flamenco guitarist, 1921


• Stanley Victor STAN Freberg, voice actor and comedian, known for his use of satire and parody, 1926


• Arthur Joseph ART Houtteman, MLB pitcher, played for twelve seasons in the American League, August 7, 1927 – May 6, 2003


• Randall James Hamilton Zwinge, aka James Randi, aka The Amazing Randi, stage magician and skeptic, known as a debunker of pseudoscience, 1928


• Donald James DON Larsen, MLB pitcher for 14 seasons, pitched a perfect game in the 1956 World Series; in 1956, was the World Series MVP and won the Babe Ruth Award, 1929


• Ronald Kirk, aka Rahsaan Roland Kirk, blind jazz saxophonist, known for his ability to play more than one saxophone at a time, August 7th, 1936 - December 5th, 1977


• Gary Edward GARRISON Keillor, author, humorist, columnist, musician, satirist, and radio personality, known as founder and host of the show A Prairie Home Companion, 1942


• Billy Joe [B. J.] Thomas, country singer, famous for Hooked on a Feeling and Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head, 1942


• Caetano Veloso, composer and singer, 1942


• Chester William Powers, Jr., aka Dino Valente, singer/songwriter, an original member of Quicksilver Messenger Service, wrote Get Together, later recorded by The Youngbloods and many others, August 7, 1943 - November 16, 1994


• Alain Corneau, musician, movie director, and writer, 1943


• David Rasche, actor, 1944


• Alexei David Sayle, comedian, actor, and author, 1952


• Wayne Knight, actor and voice actor, known for his roles as Newman in Seinfeld and as police officer Don Orville in 3rd Rock from the Sun, 1955


• David William Duchovny, television and film actor, famous for playing Fox Mulder on The X-Files, 1960


• Jimmy Donal JIMBO Wales, founder and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit corporation that operates the Wikipedia project, and several other wiki projects, 1966


• Daniel Peter Graves, MLB relief pitcher, received the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award in 2002, 1973


• Edgar Enrique Rentería, MLB shortstop, currently plays for the Atlanta Braves, a five-time All-Star (1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2006), two-time Gold Glove Award winner (2002 and 2003), and three-time Silver Slugger Award (2000, 2002, and 2003), 1975


• Charlize Theron, actress and former model, 1975


• Linsey Dawn McKenzie, model and actress, 1978


• Cirroc Lofton, actor, played Jake Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 1978

RIP:

• Joseph Marie Jacquard, weaver and inventor, who improved on the original punched card design of Jacques de Vaucanson's loom to invent the Jacquard loom, July 7, 1752 – August 7, 1834


• Jöns Jakob Berzelius, chemist, invented the modern chemical notation, August 20, 1779 – August 7, 1848


• Squadron Commander Edwin Harris Dunning, DSC, the first pilot to land an aircraft on a moving ship, July 17, 1892 - August 7, 1917


• Constantin Sergeievich Alexeyev, aka Konstantin Sergejevitch Stanislavski, theatre and acting innovator, whose Method developed a systematic approach to training actors to work from the inside outward, proposing that actors study and experience subjective emotions and feelings and manifest them to audiences by physical and vocal means; Method Acting was developed from this, January 5, 1863–August 7, 1938


• Rabindranath Tagore, aka Gurudev, poet, philosopher, visual artist, playwright, composer, and novelist, whose avant-garde works reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; became Asia's first Nobel laureate when he won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature, May 7, 1861 – August 7, 1941


• Norvell Hardy, aka Oliver Hardy, actor, most famous as part of Laurel and Hardy, with his friend Stan Laurel, January 18, 1892– August 7, 1957


• Joseph Kosma, composer, famous for his film scores and for Autumn Leaves, with lyrics by Jacques Prévert, October 22, 1905 - August 7, 1969


• Esther Mae Jones, aka Little Esther, aka Esther Phillips, singer, performed in the pop, country, jazz, soul, and rhythm and blues fields, December 23, 1935 – August 7, 1984


• John Anderson, actor and director, October 20, 1922 – August 7, 1992


• Brion James, character actor, played Leon Kowalski in Blade Runner, February 20, 1945 - August 7, 1999


• Maurice Joseph MICKEY McDermott, Jr., MLB left-handed pitcher, April 29, 1929 - August 7, 2003


• Paul Neal RED Adair, oil field firefighter, June 18, 1915 – August 7, 2004


• Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings, CM, broadcaster and news anchor, July 29, 1938 – August 7, 2005