Today CLXXIII

Birthdays:

• Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi, composer, mainly of opera, the most influential composer of 19th century Italian opera, October 10, 1813 – January 27, 1901


• Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen, explorer, scientist, and diplomat, awarded the 1922 Nobel Peace Prize for his work as a League of Nations High Commissioner, October 10, 1861 - May 13, 1930


• Cyprien-Noé LOUIS Cyr, strongman, October 10, 1863 – November 10, 1912


• Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin, writer and translator, awarded the 1933 Nobel Prize in Literature, October 10, 1870 – November 8, 1953


• Helen Hayes Brown, actress whose career spanned almost 70 years, one of only nine people who has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar [she won two Oscars] and a Tony Award, October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993


• Vladimir Dukelsky, aka Vernon Duke, composer/songwriter, October 10, 1903 - January 16, 1969


• Giuseppe Guttoveggio, aka Paul Creston, composer of classical music, and author, October 10, 1906 – August 24, 1985


• Johnny Green, songwriter, composer, musical arranger, and conductor, October 10, 1908 – May 15, 1989


• Claude Simon, writer, recipient of the 1985 Nobel Prize in Literature, October 10, 1913 – July 6, 2005


• Thomas Morgan TOMMY Fine, MLB switch-hitting pitcher, who played for the Boston Red Sox in 1947, and the St. Louis Browns in 1950, October 10, 1914 - January 10, 2005


• Ivory Joe Hunter, R&B singer, songwriter, and pianist, best known for his 1956 hit recording Since I Met You, Baby, October 10, 1914 - November 8, 1974


• Thelonious Sphere Monk, jazz pianist and composer, known for his unique improvisational style and many contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982


• Christopher NICHOLAS Parsons OBE, actor, and radio and television presenter; in 1989, he appeared in the Doctor Who serial The Curse of Fenric as vicar Reverend Wainwright, 1923


• Charles Edmund DuMaresq de Clavelle, aka James Clavell, novelist, screenwriter, and World War II POW, famous for such books as Shogun and Tai-Pan, and such films as The Great Escape and To Sir, with Love, October 10, 1924 – September 7, 1994


• Edward Davis ED Wood, Jr., motion picture director, screenwriter, actor, and producer, commonly regarded as one of the worst filmmakers of all time, for which reputation he and his films have a considerable cult following, October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978


• Monika Tchemerzine, aka Ludmilla Tchérina, ballet dancer and actress, October 10, 1924 - March 21, 2004


• Richard Hanley Jaeckel, actor, who played a variety of characters in his 50 years in movies and television, October 10, 1926 - June 14, 1997


• Yves Chauvin, chemist, a member of the French Academy of Science, who shared the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Robert H. Grubbs and Richard R. Schrock, 1930


• Harold Pinter, CH, CBE, playwright, poet, actor, director, and political activist, awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1930


• Robert Peter Cohon, aka Peter Coyote, actor and author, cofounder of the San Francisco Diggers, and a veteran of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, 1941


• John Prine, country/folk singer-songwriter; my brother took me to see him the night before my wedding with my first wife, 1946


• Ben Vereen, actor, dancer, and singer, 1946


• Peter Mahovlich, former NHL hockey forward and head coach, 1946


• James MIDGE Ure OBE, rock and roll guitarist, singer, 1953


• Rumiko Takahashi, manga artist, 1957


• Tanya Denise Tucker, country music singer, 1958


• Jodi Benson, voice actress and singer, 1961


• Daniel Pearl, journalist, kidnapped and murdered in Karachi, Pakistan, October 10, 1963 – February 1, 2002


• Christopher Shannon CHRIS Penn, film actor, October 10, 1965 – January 24, 2006


• Bai Ling, actress, 1970


• Evgeny Igorevich Kissin, pianist, 1971


• Patrick Brian PAT Burrell, MLB outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, 1976


• Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, actress and model, 1978


• Chiaki Kuriyama Japanese actress, played Gogo Yubari in Kill Bill Volume I, 1984

RIP:

• Lipman Emanuel LIP Pike, 19th century baseball player, May 25, 1845 - October 10, 1893


• Israel Iskowitz, aka Eddie Cantor, comedian, singer, actor, songwriter, and popular entertainer, January 31, 1892 - October 10, 1964


• Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus, pianist and educator, April 12, 1888 – October 10, 1964


• Dr Christopher Riche Evans, psychologist, computer scientist, and author; in 1979, he wrote a book about the oncoming microcomputer revolution, The Mighty Micro: The Impact of the Computer Revolution; his other books include Cults of Unreason, an entertaining and perceptive study of Scientology and other pseudoscience, 1931 – October 10, 1979


• Paul Paray, conductor, organist, and composer, May 24, 1886 - October 10, 1979


• Sir Ralph David Richardson, actor, December 19, 1902 – October 10, 1983


• Yul Borisovich Brynner, Academy Award-winning movie and stage actor, July 7, 1915 – October 10, 1985


• George ORSON Welles, director of film and the theatre, actor, screenwriter, broadcaster and producer, May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985


• Teresa Graves, actress and singer, the star of 1974's Get Christie Love!, January 10, 1948 - October 10, 2002


• Eugene George Istomin, pianist, November 26, 1925 – October 10, 2003


• Kenneth Gene KEN Caminiti, MLB baseball player, April 21, 1963 – October 10, 2004


• 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; September 25, 1952 – October 10, 2004