Today CLX

Birthdays:

• Abraham Gotthelf Kästner, mathematician, known mostly for writing textbooks and compiling encyclopedias rather than for original research; Kästner crater on the Moon is named after him, September 27, 1719 – June 20, 1800


• Samuel Adams, politican and revolutionary, the chief Massachusetts leader of the Patriot cause leading to the American Revolution, September 27, 1722 – October 2, 1803


• Thomas Nast, caricaturist and editorial cartoonist, the father of American political cartooning, September 27, 1840 – December 7, 1902


• Grazia Deledda, writer, awarded the 1926 Nobel Prize for Literature, September 27, 1871 – August 15, 1936


• Hans Hahn, mathematician, who made contributions to functional analysis, topology, set theory, the calculus of variations, real analysis, and order theory, September 27, 1879 - July 24, 1934


• Cyril Meir Scott, composer, writer, and poet, September 27, 1879 – December 31, 1970


• Harry Bouton, aka Harry Blackstone, Sr., magician, often billed as The Great Blackstone; he began his career in his teens and was popular during World War II as a USO entertainer, September 27, 1885 - November 16, 1965


• Vincent Youmans, composer and Broadway producer, September 27, 1898 - April 5, 1946


• Albert Ellis, cognitive-behavioral therapist who developed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy in 1955, 1913


• Sir Martin Ryle, radio astronomer who developed revolutionary radio telescope systems, and used them for accurate location and imaging of weak radio sources; he shared the 1974 Nobel Prize for Physics with Antony Hewish, September 27, 1918 – October 14, 1984


• James Hardy Wilkinson, mathematician, a prominent figure in the field of numerical analysis; he worked with Alan Turing on the ACE computer project; he received the Turing Award in 1970, September 27, 1919 – October 5, 1986


• William Cann, aka William Conrad, actor and narrator in radio, film and television, known for his signature baritone voice; he started working in radio in the late 1930's, returning after the war, playing over 7,000 roles in radio by his own estimate; he originated the role of Marshal Matt Dillon on the radio program Gunsmoke from 1952 to 1961; on TV, he starred in Cannon, Nero Wolfe, and Jake and the Fatman, September 27, 1920 – February 11, 1994


• Jayne Cotter, aka Jayne Meadows, movie and stage actress, and author, a regular panelist on the original version of I've Got a Secret and an occasional panelist on What's My Line?; she was married to Steve Allen from 1954 until his death in 2000, 1920


• Carl Ballantine, actor, magician, and comedian, 1922


• Arthur Penn, film director and producer, directed Alice's Restaurant, among many other films, 1922


• Siegfried Frederick Singer Ph.D., atmospheric physicist, who was involved in designing one of the first instruments used in a satellite to measure ozone, 1924


• Earl Rudolph BUD Powell, jazz pianist; along with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, he was a pioneer in the development of bebop, September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966


• Roger Charles Carmel, character actor, best remembered for playing Harry Mudd on Star Trek, September 27, 1932–November 11, 1986


• Will Sampson, actor and painter, portrayed Chief Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, September 27, 1933 - June 3, 1987


• Francis Gregory Alan GREG Morris, television and movie actor, known for his role as Barney Collier in the Mission: Impossible TV series; he and co-star Peter Lupus were the only actors to appear on the series for its entire run, September 27, 1933 - August 27, 1996


• Allen WILFORD Brimley, character actor, appeared in Cocoon and Cocoon: The Return, 1934


• Randolph Charles RANDY Bachman, OM, D.Mus (hon.), lead guitarist and songwriter of The Guess Who, and founder of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, 1943


• Tom Braidwood, actor, known for the role of Melvin Frohike, one of the conspiracy theorists known as the Lone Gunmen on The X-Files, and its spin-off series The Lone Gunmen, 1948


• Michael Jack MIKE Schmidt, former MLB third baseman, playing his entire career for the Philadelphia Phillies; he is widely regarded as being one of the greatest third basemen in the history of baseball; 14-time All Star; NL MVP in 1980, 1981, and 1986; won 10 Gold Gloves; his 404 assists in 1974 remain a record for third basemen; hit four home runs in one game on April 17, 1976; was World Series MVP in 1980; he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995, 1949


• Jim Shooter, comic book writer, fill-in artist, editor, and publisher, 1951


• Gwyneth Katherine Paltrow, actress and singer, 1972


• Jon Erich Rauch, MLB pitcher with the Washington Nationals, at 6'11", the tallest player in the history of the major leagues, 1978


• Avril Ramona Lavigne, pop singer-songwriter, 1984

RIP:

• Edgar Degas, painter, sculptor, and draughtsman, one of the fathers of Impressionism, July 19, 1834 – September 27, 1917


• Engelbert Humperdinck, composer, best known for his opera Hänsel und Gretel, September 1, 1854 – September 27, 1921


• Julius Wagner-Jauregg, physician, awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, March 7, 1857 – September 27, 1940


• Gerald Raphael Finzi, composer, July 14, 1901 – September 27, 1956


• Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias, Olympic athlete and golfer, June 26, 1911 – September 27, 1956


• Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst, activist in the suffragette movement in the United Kingdom, and author, May 5, 1882 - September 27, 1960


• Clara Bow, actress, best known for her silent film work in the 1920's; referred to as the original "It girl," July 29, 1905 - September 27, 1965


• Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov, nobleman, best known for murdering Grigori Rasputin, March 23, 1887 – September 27, 1967


• Grace Stansfield, aka Dame Gracie Fields, DBE, singer and comedian, January 9, 1898– September 27 1979


• Henry Montgomery, Jr., aka Robert Montgomery, actor and director, father of Elizabeth Montgomery, May 21, 1904 – September 27, 1981


• Lloyd Nolan, film and television actor, August 11, 1902 – September 27, 1985


• Oona O'Neill, Lady Chaplin, the daughter of Eugene O'Neill, and the fourth wife of Charlie Chaplin, May 13, 1926 – September 27, 1991


• Walter Trampler, performer and teacher of the viola and viola d'amore, August 25, 1915 - September 27, 1997


• Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor, singer, dancer, and actor, appeared in a series of movies in which he co-starred with Francis the Talking Mule; best known for his performance in the movie musical Singin' in the Rain, had a separate Hollywood career in the late 1930's, in which he played such roles as Beau Geste; during World War II, he was re-invented as a star of musical films, August 28, 1925 – September 27, 2003