Today CLVIII

Birthdays:

• Jean-Philippe Rameau, composer and music theorist of the Baroque era, replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera, September 25, 1683 - September 12, 1764


• Fletcher Christian, a Master's Mate, who seized command of the Bounty from Captain Bligh in 1789, September 25, 1764 – October 3, 1793


• Thomas Hunt Morgan, geneticist and embryologist, whose discoveries formed the basis of the modern science of genetics; he was awarded the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the first Nobel Prize given for genetics, for demonstrating hereditary transmission mechanisms in fruit flies, September 25, 1866 – December 4, 1945


• William Falkner, aka William Cuthbert Faulkner, novelist and screenwriter, recipient of the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature, September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962


• Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich, composer, whose greatest works are generally considered to be his symphonies and string quartets, fifteen of each; other works include operas, six concertos, and a substantial quantity of film music, September 25 – August 9, 1975


• Fiero Francis Rizzuto, aka Philip Francis Rizzuto, nicknamed The Scooter, former MLB shortstop and radio/television sports announcer, played his first major-league game on April 14, 1941; he played for the New York Yankees for his entire 13-year career; was the 1950 AL Most Valuable Player; five-time All-Star in 1942 and from 1950 to 1953; starting in 1957, he broadcast Yankee games on radio and television for the next 40 years; he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994, 1916


• John Franklin Sain, former MLB pitcher and one of the top pitching coaches in the majors; he pitched for 11 years, winning 136 and losing 116 games in his career, and compiled an earned-run average of 3.49; was an All-Star in 1947, 1948, and 1953; after retiring as a player, he spent many years as a pitching coach, 1917


• Aldo DaRe, aka Aldo Ray, actor, September 25, 1926 - March 27, 1991


• Sir Colin Rex Davis, CH, CBE, clarinetist and conductor, Chief Conductor, BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1967 to 1971; Music Director, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden from 1971 to 1987; Chief Conductor, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1983 to 1993; Principal Conductor, London Symphony Orchestra from 1995 to 2006, 1927


• Ronald William George RONNIE Barker, OBE, comic actor and writer, best-known for his work alongside his long-time comedy partner, Ronnie Corbett, in the TV variety show The Two Ronnies, September 25, 1929 – October 3, 2005


• Sheldon Alan "Shel" Silverstein, aka "Uncle Shelby," poet, songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter, and author of children's books, September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999


• Glenn Herbert Gould, pianist, noted especially for his recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach's keyboard music, who gave up live performance in 1964, dedicating himself to the recording studio for the rest of his career, September 25, 1932 – October 4, 1982


• Juliet Prowse, dancer and actress, played the part of Claudine in the 1960 film Can-Can; appeared in G.I. Blues; was the first guest on The Muppet Show; had her own sitcom, 1965's Mona McCluskey, for one season, September 25, 1936 – September 14, 1996


• Michael Kirk Douglas, actor and producer, son of Kirk Douglas, 1944


• Mark Richard Hamill, actor and voice actor, best known as Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars films, and as the voice of The Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, 1951


• Christopher Reeve, actor, director, producer, who portrayed Superman in four films between 1978 and 1987; he was rendered a quadriplegic during an equestrian competition and was confined to a wheelchair for the remainder of his life; he became a spokesman for disabled people and a vocal supporter of stem cell research; There's more to say, but it's too painful, September 25, 1952 – October 10, 2004


• Anson William Heimlich, aka Anson Williams, actor and director, known for his role as Potsie on Happy Days, the nephew of Dr. Henry Heimlich, 1949


• Steven John Bailey, aka Steven Severin, bassist and founding member of Siouxsie & the Banshees, 1955


• Michael Joe Madsen, actor, has appeared in over one hundred films; known for his roles as Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs and Budd in Kill Bill, 1958


• Heather Deen Locklear, model and actress, 1961


• Jason Bergmann, MLB pitcher for the Washington Nationals, 1981

RIP:

• Johann Strauss I, aka Johann Strauss, Sr., composer, known especially for his waltzes; his most famous piece is the Radetzky March, March 14, 1804 – September 25, 1849


• Miller James Huggins, MLB second baseman and manager; over a 13-year career, he led the league in walks four times and regularly posted an on base percentage near .400; he scored 100 or more runs three times, and regularly stole 30 or more bases, for a career total of 324 steals; he finished his managerial career with a 1413-1134 record; he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964; on May 30, 1932, the New York Yankees, whose manager he was from 1918 to 1929, dedicated a monument to Huggins, and placed it in front of the flagpole in centre field at Yankee Stadium - this was the first such honour granted by the team, the beginning of what would become the monuments and later Monument Park, March 27, 1879 – September 25, 1929


• Ringgold Wilmer RING Lardner, sports columnist and short story writer, known for his satirical takes on the sports world, marriage, and the theatre, March 6, 1885 - September 25, 1933


• Emily Price Post, author, who promoted proper etiquette; she wrote in various styles, including humorous travel books, early in her career; in 1922, her book Etiquette was a best seller, and updated versions continued to be popular for decades, October 27, 1873 - September 25, 1960


• Erich Paul Remark, aka Erich Maria Remarque, author, known for his All Quiet on the Western Front, June 22, 1898 – September 25, 1970


• John Henry BONZO Bonham, drummer for Led Zeppelin, May 31, 1948 – September 25, 1980


• Walter Davis Pidgeon, actor, a classicaly trained baritone, studied at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston; he made his Broadway debut in 1925, and made several silent movies in the 1920's; remembered for How Green Was My Valley, Mrs. Miniver, Madame Curie, Forbidden Planet, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Advise and Consent, September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984


• Nikolay Nikolayevich Semyonov, physicist and chemist, shared the 1956 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, with Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood, for his work on the mechanism of chemical transformation, April 15, 1896 – September 25, 1986


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


• Dr. Annie Elizabeth BESSIE Delany, dentist and author, September 3, 1891 - September 25, 1995


• Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley, fantasy author, June 3, 1930 – September 25, 1999


• Herb Gardner, commercial artist, cartoonist, playwright, and screenwriter, December 28, 1934 - September 25, 2003


• Franco Modigliani Ph.D., economist at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and winner of the 1985 Nobel Prize in Economics, June 18, 1918 – September 25, 2003


• George Ames Plimpton, journalist, writer, editor, and actor, March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003


• Donald James Yarmy, aka Don Adams, actor, writer, and director, known for his role as Maxwell Smart on the TV sitcom Get Smart, for which he also directed and wrote, and for which he won three Emmy Awards from 1967 to 1969, April 13, 1923 – September 25, 2005


• Morgan Scott [M. Scott] Peck, M.D., psychiatrist and author, May 22, 1936 – September 25, 2005