Today CLV

Birthdays:

• Michael Faraday, FRS, English chemist and physicist, contributed significantly to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry; established that magnetism could affect rays of light and that there was an underlying relationship between the two phenomena, September 22, 1791 – August 25, 1867


• Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst DBE, suffragette, the daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, with whom she and others co-founded the Women's Social and Political Union (WPSU) in 1903, September 22, 1880 – February 13, 1958


• Erich von Stroheim, filmmaker and actor, September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957


• Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund, aka Paul Muni, actor, won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1939 for The Story of Louis Pasteur, his fourth Oscar nomination of five that he received; nominated for a Tony Award in 1955 for the role of Henry Drummond in the play Inherit the Wind, September 22, 1895 – August 25, 1967


• Katherine Alexander, film actress and Broadway performer, September 22, 1898 - January 10, 1981


• Dr. Charles Brenton Huggins M.D., physician, physiologist, and cancer researcher, specializing in prostate cancer; he and Peyton Rous were awarded the 1966 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discovering that hormones could be used to control the spread of some cancers, September 22, 1901 – January 12, 1997


• Jacques Haussmann, aka John Houseman, actor and film producer; among the more than two dozen films he produced was the 1946 film noir, The Blue Dahlia; he co-produced the 1938 radio broadcast The War of the Worlds, and cofounded the Mercury Theatre with Orson Welles; he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1973 for The Paper Chase, September 22, 1902 – October 31, 1988


• Joseph "Joe Cargo" Valachi, the first Mafia member to publicly acknowledge the existence of the Mafia, when he testified before Arkansas Senator John L. McClellan's congressional committee on organized crime that the Mafia did exist, September 22, 1903 – April 3, 1971


• Henryk Szeryng, violinist and teacher, made his solo debut in 1933 playing Brahms' Violin Concerto; from 1933 to 1939, he studied composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger; during World War II, he worked as an interpreter for the Polish government in exile, and gave concerts for Allied troops all over the world, September 22, 1918 – March 8, 1988


• Chen Ning Franklin Yang Ph.D., physicist, who worked on statistical mechanics and symmetry principles; he and Tsung-Dao Lee received the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics for their theory that weak force interactions between elementary particles did not have parity symmetry, 1922


• Thomas Charles TOMMY Lasorda, former MLB pitcher and manager, was NL Manager of the Year in 1983 and 1988; in 1997, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager, 1927


• Reverend James Lawson, activist and advocate of nonviolence within the American Civil Rights Movement, 1928


• Serge Garant OC, composer, pianist, and conductor, September 22, 1929 – November 1, 1986


• Ingemar Johansson, heavyweight boxer; in 1959, he defeated Floyd Patterson to win the World Heavyweight Championship, 1932


• Antonia Christina Basilotta, aka Toni Basil, musician, video artist, actress, and choreographer, 1943


• Sunday Adeniyi, aka King Sunny Adé, guitarist and singer, 1946


• Lawrence Edward LARRY Dierker, former MLB pitcher and manager, who had a 14-year playing career from 1964 to 1977 and a 5-year career managing the Houston Astros from 1997 to 2001; in 1969, he became the Astros' first 20-game winner, with a 2.33 ERA and 20 complete games over 305 innings; he was an NL All-Star in 1969 and 1971, and NL Manager of the Year in 1998; from 1979 to 1996, he was a color commentator on the Astros' radio and television broadcasts, a position he returned to in 2004, 1946


• James Thomas JIM Byrnes, blues musician, guitarist, and actor, who appeared in the TV series Highlander as Joe Dawson, a Watcher, a role that he reprised in the films Highlander: Endgame and Highlander: The Source; he starred in his own short-lived TV show, The Jim Byrnes Show, 1948


• David Coverdale, rock vocalist, known for his work with Deep Purple and Whitesnake, 1951


• Shari Belafonte, actress, model, writer, photographer, and singer, daughter of Harry Belafonte, known for her role as Julie Gilette on the TV series Hotel, 1954


• Deborah Ann DEBBY Boone, singer and theatre actress, the daughter of Pat Boone, known for her 1977 cover of You Light Up My Life, 1956


• Nicholas Edward NICK Cave, rock musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and actor, known for his work in the band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, 1957


• Joan Marie Jett, rock and roll guitarist, singer, and actress, 1958


• Tai Reina Babilonia, figure skater, 1959


• Scott Vincent Baio, actor, 1961


• Vincent Maurice VINCE Coleman, former MLB switch-hitting outfielder, who played from 1985 to 1997, and set a number of stolen base records; 1985 NL Rookie of the Year; led the Major Leagues in stolen bases from 1985 to 1987, and in 1990; 1988 and 1989 All-Star, 1961


• Catherine Oxenberg, actress, 1961


• Tony Drago, professional snooker and pool player from Malta, who won the 2003 World Pool Masters Championship, 1965


• Michael Scott MIKE Matheny, MLB catcher for the San Francisco Giants, who won Gold Glove Awards in 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2005, 1970


• Leian BILLIE Paul Piper, actress, who began her career as a pop singer in her teens, but is now best known for portraying Rose Tyler, companion to The Doctor in the TV series Doctor Who until mid-2006, 1982

RIP:

• Frederick Soddy, radiochemist; in 1903, with Sir William Ramsay, verified that the decay of radium produced helium; awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research in radioactive decay, and particularly for his formulation of the theory of isotopes, September 2, 1877 – September 22, 1956


• Salvatore Anthony Guaragna, aka Harry Warren, composer and lyricist, composed music with Ira Gershwin, Johnny Mercer, Billy Rose, and Al Dubin, December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981


• Daniel Hale DAN Rowan, comedian, featured in the TV show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, where he played straight man to Dick Martin, with whom he had teamed after WWII, in a night-club comedy act; they had appeared on television before and, after success in a summer special in 1967, they found fame on Laugh-In, July 22, 1922 – September 22, 1987


• Israel Isidore Beilin, aka Irving Berlin, composer and lyricist, one of the most prodigious and famous American songwriters ever; his G-d Bless America proved so popular that, during the 1930's, it was considered for the American National Anthem, but was rejected by the press in part because it written by a Jewish composer, May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989


• Aurelio Alejandro Rios Lopez, nicknamed Señor Smoke, MLB relief pitcher in an 11-year career in 1974, and from 1978 to 1987; 1983 AL All-Star, September 21, 1948 – September 22, 1992


• Maurice Abravanel, conductor, January 6, 1903 – September 22, 1993


• Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton, aka Dorothy Lamour, singer and motion picture actress, December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996


• Ludmilla Chiriaeff, ballet dancer, choreographer, and director, January 10, 1924 - September 22, 1996


• George Campbell [George C.] Scott, film and stage actor, director, and producer, known for his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the movie Patton, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1970; after declining an Academy Award nomination for his appearance in the The Hustler, he returned his Oscar for Patton, October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999


• Isaac Stern, violin virtuoso, July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001


• Gordon Jump, actor, known for his role as Arthur Carlson in the TV series WKRP in Cincinnati and as the Maytag Repairman in commercials, April 1, 1932 – September 22, 2003