Today CCXXIII

Birthdays:

• Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti, opera composer, a leading composer of bel canto opera, whose most famous work is Lucia di Lammermoor, November 29, 1797 – April 8, 1848


• Johann Christian Andreas Doppler, mathematician and physicist, famous for the hypothesis of what is now known as the Doppler effect, November 29, 1803 – March 17, 1853


• Louisa May Alcott, novelist, known for her novel Little Women, loosely based on her childhood experiences with her three sisters, November 29, 1832 – March 6, 1888


• Sir John Ambrose Fleming, electrical engineer and physicist, who invented and patented the two-electrode vacuum-tube rectifier, aka the vacuum diode; the first vacuum tube, this invention is often considered to have been the beginning of electronics; he also contributed in the fields of photometry, electronics, wireless telegraphy, and electrical measurements, November 29, 1849 - April 18, 1945


• António Caetano de Abreu Freire Egas Moniz, psychiatrist and neurosurgeon, who shared the 1949 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Walter Rudolf Hess, November 29, 1874 - December 13, 1955


• Lucille Nelson Hegemin, singer and entertainer, a pioneer blues recording artist, November 29, 1894 - March 1, 1970


• William Berkeley Enos, aka Busby Berkeley, Hollywood movie director and musical choreographer, November 29, 1895 – March 14, 1976


• Enos Edward YAKIMA Canutt, actor and stuntman; as a young man, he gained fame as a successful rodeo rider; he met actor Tom Mix at a rodeo, and was persuaded to work as a cowboy in films; he staged some memorable action scenes in film, including the chariot race in the 1959 film Ben-Hur; in 1967, he was given an Honorary Academy Award for achievements as a stunt man, and for developing safety devices to protect stunt men, November 29, 1896 - May 24, 1986


• Clive Staples [C. S.] Lewis, author and scholar, known for his work on medieval literature, Christian apologetics, literary criticism, and fiction; he is known today for his children’s series The Chronicles of Narnia, November 29, 1898 – November 22, 1963


• Mildred Harris, silent film actress, November 29, 1901 - July 20, 1944


• Rev Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., politician; he was elected to the US House of Representatives from Harlem in 1945, and became chair of the Labor and Education Committee in 1961, November 29, 1908 – April 4, 1972


• William Thomas BILLY Strayhorn, composer and pianist, known for his long and successful collaboration with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington; he composed the Ellington Band's theme, Take The A Train, and a number of other pieces that became part of the band’s repertoire. November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967


• Fran Ryan, character actress, who appeared as Aggie Thompson on The Doris Day Show, Doris Ziffel on Green Acres, and Miss Hannah Cobb on Gunsmoke, November 29, 1916 – January 15, 2000


• Merle Robert Travis, country and western singer, songwriter, and musician, known for his guitar playing; Travis picking, a style of guitar picking, is named after him; he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1977, November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983


• Virginia Ruth Egnor, aka Jennie Lewis, aka Dagmar, model and television personality, November 29, 1921 – October 9, 2001


• Saturnino Orestes Armas MINNIE Miñoso Arrieta, former MLB left fielder, who had been a third baseman in the Negro Leagues, and played several seasons in Mexican baseball; he was an All-Star in 1951 to 1954, 1957, 1959, and 1960, and a Gold Glove Award winner in 1957, 1959, and 1960 (AL), 1922


• Vincent Edward VIN Scully, sportscaster, known as the play-by-play voice of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, 1927


• John Mayall, OBE, blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, and influential in the careers of many musicians, including Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Peter Green, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood, 1933


• Peter Bergman, comedian and playwright, a founding member of The Firesign Theatre, 1939


• Chuck Mangione, flugelhorn player and composer, 1940


• Dennis Gerrard Stephen DENNY Doherty,singer and songwriter, a member of The Mamas & the Papas, 1940


• Philippe Huttenlocher, baritone singer, 1942


• Rose Diane Lanier, aka Diane Ladd, television and film actress, and author, 1942


• Felix Cavaliere, music producer and musician, who played keyboards for the Young Rascals during the 1960's, 1944


• Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez, singer-songwriter and guitarist, 1946


• Garry Shandling , comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director, who was the star of It's Garry Shandling's Show and The Larry Sanders Show, 1949


• Barry Goudreau, musician, one of the original guitarists for Boston, 1951


• Joel Coen, director, screenwriter, producer, and film editor, 1954


• Howie Michael Mandel, comedian and actor, 1955


• Cathy Moriarty, actress, 1960


• Kim Delaney, actress, 1961


• Thomas Edward TOM Sizemore, Jr., film and television actor, 1961


• Andrew McCarthy, actor, 1962


• Don Cheadle, actor, who first became well-known for playing the DA on Picket Fences; in 2005, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Paul Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda, 1964


• Mariano Rivera, MLB relief pitcher for the New York Yankees; he has the fourth most regular season career saves in MLB history, 1969


• Gena Lee Nolin, actress and model, 1971


• Anna Kay Faris, actress, 1976


• Francis Beltrán, MLB relief pitcher, currently in the Washington Nationals farm system, 1979


• Krystal Steal, actress, 1982

R.I.P.:

• Claudio Monteverdi, composer, violinist, and singer, whose work marks the transition from Renaissance to Baroque music, May 15, 1567 – November 29, 1643


• Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini, composer, whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire, December 22, 1858 – November 29, 1924


• Samuel Alfred de Grasse, actor, who appeared in 107 films, including The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance, June 12, 1875 - November 29, 1953


• Milt Gross, comic book writer, illustrator, and animator, who wrote his comics in a Yiddish-inflected English, as in his reworkings of well-known tales, such as Nize ferry-tail from Elledin witt de wanderful lemp, Jack witt de binn stuck, and De Night in De Front From Chreesmas, March 4, 1895 – November 29, 1953


• Oliver DINK Johnson, jazz pianist, clarinetist, drummer, and songwriter, who made his first recordings in 1922 on clarinet with Kid Ory's Band, October 28, 1892 – November 29, 1954


• Erich Wolfgang Korngold, neoromantic composer, who composed a number of film scores, and wrote concert music in a rich, chromatic late Romantic style, May 29, 1897 – November 29, 1957


• Carl W. Stalling, composer and arranger of music for animated cartoons, closely associated with the Looney Tunes shorts produced by Warner Bros, November 10, 1891 – November 29, 1972


• Herbert ZEPPO Marx, one of The Marx Brothers; he appeared in the first five Marx Brothers movies, as a straight man and romantic lead, before leaving the team, February 25, 1901 – November 29, 1979


• Dr. Fredric Wertham, psychiatrist and crusading author, who protested the supposedly harmful effects of mass media — comic books in particular — on the development of children, March 20, 1895 – November 29, 1981


• Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko, aka Natalie Wood, film actress, July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981


• Archibald Alexander Leach, aka Cary Grant, actor, January 18, 1904 – November 29, 1986


• Ralph Rexford Bellamy, actor, June 17, 1904 – November 29, 1991


• Jean-Alexandre-Eugène Dieudonné, mathematician, known for research in abstract algebra and functional analysis, July 1, 1906 - November 29, 1992


• Eugene Rubessa, aka Gene Rayburn, radio and television personality, and game show host, December 22, 1917 – November 29, 1999


• George Harrison, MBE, guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer, and film producer, the lead guitarist of The Beatles, February 25, 1943 – November 29, 2001


• John Blyth Barrymore, Jr., aka John Drew Barrymore, actor, a member of the Barrymore family of actors, the father of Drew Barrymore, June 4, 1929 – November 29, 2004


• Harry Danning, MLB catcher, played his entire career, from 1933 to 1942, with the New York Giants; All-Star from 1938 to 1941; hit for the cycle in 1940, September 6, 1911 - November 29, 2004


• Wendie Jo Sperber, television and movie comedic actress, September 15, 1958 — November 29, 2005