Today CCXVII

Birthdays:

• Prospero Alpini, physician and botanist, who seems to have deduced the doctrine of the sexual difference of plants, November 23, 1553 - February 6, 1617


• John Wallis, mathematician, who is given partial credit for the development of modern calculus; between 1643 and 1689, he served as chief cryptographer for Parliament and, later, the royal court; he is credited with introducing the symbol ∞ for infinity, November 23, 1616 - October 28, 1703


• Isaac Todhunter, mathematician, who wrote treatises on Differential Calculus, Analytical Statics, Integral Calculus, Algebra, and Plane Coordinate Geometry, among other subjects, November 23, 1820 – March 1, 1884


• Johannes Diderik van der Waals, awarded the 1910 Nobel Prize in Physics, for his work on the equation of state for gases and liquids, November 23, 1837 – March 8, 1923


• Karl Hjalmar Branting, statesman; the first Prime Minister of Sweden elected through universal suffrage, he served for three separate periods - 1920, 1922-1923, and 1924 to 1925; he shared the 1921 Nobel Peace Prize with Christian Lous Lange, November 23, 1860 – February 24, 1925


• Valdemar Poulsen, engineer, who developed a magnetic wire recorder in 1899, November 23, 1869 – July 23, 1942


• Manuel de Falla y Matheu, composer of classical music, November 23, 1876 – November 14, 1946


• William Pratt, aka Boris Karloff, actor, known for his roles in horror films, especially that of the Monster in 1931's Frankenstein, November 23, 1887 – February 2, 1969)


• Adolph Arthur HARPO Marx, actor and comedian, one of the Marx Brothers; in 1955, he made an appearance on I Love Lucy, in which he and Lucille Ball re-enacted the famous mirror scene from the movie Duck Soup, November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964


• Romain de Tirtoff, aka Erté, artist and designer, November 23, 1892 – April 21, 1990


• Victor Jory, actor, remembered for his role as Jonas Wilkerson in Gone with the Wind, and as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow in the 1942 serial The Shadow, November 23, 1902 – February 12, 1982


• Lars Leksell, physician and Professor of Neurosurgery at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, the inventor of radiosurgery, November 23, 1907 - 1986


• Nelson Slade Bond, writer of science fiction and fantasy, and sports and crime fiction; his fiction is mainly short stories, most of which appeared in pulp magazines in the 1930's and 1940's, November 23, 1908 - November 4, 2006


• Michael Gough, character actor, known for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth in four Batman; he made his film debut in 1947, and has since appeared extensively on British television; he has guest-starred on Doctor Who, as the villain in the serial The Celestial Toymaker, and in Arc of Infinity as Councillor Hedin; he was once married to Anneke Wills, aka the Doctor's companion Polly, 1917


• Ferdinando FRED Buscaglione, singer and actor, November 23, 1921 - February 3, 1960


• Robert Lee [R. L.] Burnside, blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist, November 21 or November 23, 1926 - September 1, 2005


• Johnny Mandel, composer and arranger of popular songs, film music, and jazz; among the musicians with whom he has worked are Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, and Shirley Horn, 1925


• Gloria Alleyne, aka Gloria Lynne, rhythm and blues singer, 1931


• Krzysztof Penderecki, composer and conductor of classical music, 1933


• Robert Towne, actor, screenwriter, and director, the author of many film scripts, including Chinatown, for which he received an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, its sequel, The Two Jakes, and Shampoo, 1934


• Vladislav Nikolayevich Volkov, cosmonaut, who flew on the Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 11 missions, November 23, 1935 – June 30, 1971


• Esko Nikkari, actor, 1938


• Betty Everett, R&B singer and pianist, whose biggest hit single was The Shoop Shoop Song, November 23, 1939 - August 19, 2001


• Francesco Sparanero, aka Franco Nero, actor, 1941


• Andrew Goodman, civil rights worker, murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan, November 23, 1943 – June 21, 1964


• Steve Landesberg, actor, comedian, and voice actor, known for the role of Arthur P. Dietrich on Barney Miller, 1945


• Bruce Randall Hornsby, singer, pianist, accordion player, and songwriter, 1954


• Glenn Edward Brummer, former MLB catcher, from 1981 to 1985, 1954


• Steven Karl Zoltán Brust, fantasy and science fiction author, 1955


• Ludovico Einaudi, composer and pianist, 1955


• Dominique Dunne, actress, best known for her role as the oldest daughter, Dana, in 1982's Poltergeist; she was murdered - I mean, manslaughtered - by an abusive boyfriend - November 23, 1959 – November 4, 1982


• David Alexander Britz Ph.D., scientist and engineer, who is best known for his contributions to the field of materials science and nanotechnology, 1980


• Jonathan Robert Papelbon, MLB pitcher for the Boston Red Sox; he was the Red Sox closer during most of 2006, but is expected to be in the starting rotation in 2007, 1980

R.I.P.:

• Thomas Tallis, composer and church musician, c. 1505 – November 23, 1585


• Walter Reed, M.D., American Army surgeon who led the team which confirmed the theory that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes rather than direct contact; on May 1, 1909, Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington, D.C., named in his honor, was opened, September 13, 1851 - November 23, 1902


• Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, physicist, who pioneered the investigation of radio and microwave optics, November 30, 1858 – November 23, 1937


• Lewis Robert HACK Wilson, MLB centre fielder from 1923 to 1934, known for his major league record-setting 191-RBI season in 1930; he was an NL All-Star in 1933, 1934, and 1935; he led the NL in home runs in 1926, 1927, 1928, and 1930, when he hit 56, and in RBI's in 1929 and 1930 (191); he finished his 12-year career with a lifetime batting average of .307, with 244 home runs, and 1,063 RBI, in 1,348 games; he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, April 26, 1900 – November 23, 1948


• Hayakawa Kintaro, aka Sessue Hayakawa, actor in Japanese and American films, starring in over 80 movies and achieving stardom on three continents, producer, author, martial artist, and ordained Zen monk; he portrayed Colonel Saito in the film The Bridge on the River Kwai in 1957, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, June 10, 1889 - November 23, 1973


• Cornelius Ryan, journalist and author, best known for his writings on popular military history, especially of World War II; his best-known books are 1959's The Longest Day, and 1974's A Bridge Too Far, June 5, 1920 – November 23, 1974


• Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson, aka Merle Oberon, film actress, February 19, 1911 – November 23, 1979


• Judee Sill, singer and songwriter, the first artist signed to the Asylum record label, October 7, 1944 - November 23, 1979


• Roald Dahl, novelist and short story author, known as a writer for both children and adults; among his most popular books are Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, September 13, 1916 – November 23, 1990


• Nikolaus Karl Günther Nakszynski, aka Klaus Kinski, actor, October 18, 1926 – November 23, 1991


• Roy Claxton Acuff, country musician, became a regular on the Grand Ole Opry in 1938, September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992


• Sidney Thomas TOMMY Boyce, songwriter, famous as part of Boyce and Hart songwriting team, September 29, 1939 - November 23, 1994


• Louis Malle, film director, October 30, 1932 – November 23, 1995


• Autry DeWalt Mixon, Jr., aka Junior Walker, saxophone player and singer, June 14, 1931 – November 23, 1995


• Ocie Lee [O.C.] Smith, musician; after a career as a jazz vocalist, he recorded a cover of the Bobby Russell song Little Green Apples, which reached number 2 on the pop charts, and won him a 1969 Grammy Award for Best Song; in 1985, he became Dr O.C. Smith, pastor of the City of Angels Science of Mind Centre in Los Angeles, and continued to preach until his death, June 21, 1932 – November 23, 2001


• Constance Halverstadt, aka Constance Cummings, CBE, screen and stage actress, who began as a stage actress, landing her first Broadway show by the age of eighteen; between 1931 and 1934, she appeared in 21 films, most notably the Harold Lloyd picture Movie Crazy, and Frank Capra's American Madness; in 1979, she won a Tony Award for Best Actress for her performance in the role of Emily Stilson in the play Wings, May 15, 1910 – November 23, 2005


• Philippe Noiret, actor, October 1, 1930 - November 23, 2006