Saturday, November 04, 2006

Today CXCVIII - Happy Birthday, Mom

I Love You, Mom!


Birthdays:

  • Pierre Simon Girard, mathematician and engineer, who worked on fluids, November 4, 1765 - November 30, 1836

  • William Penn Adair WILL Rogers, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, and actor, November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935

  • Henry George HARRY Ferguson, pioneering aviator and businessman, whose company merged with Massey-Harris to become Massey-Harris-Ferguson Co., later Massey-Ferguson Co., November 4, 1884 - October 25, 1960

  • Józef Rotblat, aka Professor Sir Joseph Rotblat KCMG FRS, physicist, received the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize; knighted in 1998; a Fellow of the Royal Society; winner of the Albert Einstein Peace Prize in 1992, November 4, 1908 – August 31, 2005

  • James L. SKEETER Webb, MLB shortstop, played for 12 seasons, November 4, 1909 - July 8, 1986

  • Vadim Nikolayevich Salmanov, composer, November 4, 1912 - February 27, 1978

  • Byron Elsworth Barr, aka Gig Young, film actor, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1969 for They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, November 4, 1913 – October 19, 1978

  • Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr., retired journalist, best known for his work as a television news anchorman; he is a supporter of the anti-War on Drugs Drug Policy Alliance and the nonprofit world hunger organization Heifer International; he is an avid sailor and a member of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, with the honorary rank of commodore, 1996

  • Arthur William Matthew ART Carney, film, stage, television, and radio actor, who gained lifelong fame for his portrayal of Ed Norton on The Honeymooners; he had many screen and stage roles, including the portrayal on Broadway of Felix Unger in The Odd Couple; in 1974 he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Harry and Tonto, November 4, 1918 – November 9, 2003

  • Cameron Mitchell, film, television, and Broadway actor, November 4, 1918 – July 6, 1994

  • Martin Henry Balsam, actor, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1965 for A Thousand Clowns, November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996

  • René-Benjamin BENNO Besson, actor and director, November 4, 1922 - February 23, 2006

  • Howard HOWIE Meeker, former NHL right winger, television sports announcer, and Member of Parliament, 1924

  • Doris May Roberts, actress, usually cast in the role of a Mother, or of a motherly figure; she played newsstand owner, Theresa Falco, mother of Donna Pescow on the sitcom Angie; she appeared as Mildred Krebs on Remington Steele; she appeared on Alice playing Alice Hyatt's mother, Mona Spivak, and as Danny Tanner's mother on Full House; she best known for her work as Marie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond, for which she was nominated for seven Emmy Awards, winning four times, for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, 1930

  • Richard Morrow DICK Groat, former MLB shortstop, who was the 1960 NL Most Valuable Player after winning the batting title with a .325 average; he was a five-time All-Star, 1959, 1960, and 1962 to 1964; in a fourteen-season career, he compiled a .286 batting average with 2138 hits, 39 home runs, 829 runs, 707 runs batted in, 352 doubles, and 14 stolen bases in 1929 games, 1930

  • John Patsy TITO Francona, former MLB outfielder/first baseman from 1956 through 1970; he was an AL All-Star in 1961; in a 15-season career, he posted a .272 batting average with 125 home runs and 656 RBI in 1719 games played; he is the father of Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona, 1933

  • Loretta Swit, actress, best known for her portrayal of Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan on M*A*S*H, 1937

  • Marlène Jobert, actress and author, the author and/or narrator of children's audio books; she also has written a series of books as introductions to the appreciation of classical music, 1943

  • Scherrie Payne, singer; she was lead singer of The Supremes from 1973 to 1977; she is the younger sister of singer/actress Freda Payne, 1944

  • Linda Gary, voice-over artist for many animated projects, November 4, 1944 - October 5, 1995

  • Robert Mapplethorpe, photographer, famous for his large-scale, highly-stylized black & white portraits, photos of flowers, and photos of male nudes, November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989

  • Jordan Rudes, aka Jordan Rudess, Juilliard-trained keyboardist, a member of Dream Theater, 1956

  • James Honeyman-Scott, rock guitarist, songwriter, and founding member The Pretenders, November 4, 1956 - June 16, 1982

  • Kathleen KATHY Griffin, stand-up comedienne, actress, and voice actor, a self-prolaimed "D-list celebrity," 1960

  • Edward Knight, composer, 1961

  • Daron Aric Hagen, composer of contemporary classical music and opera, who studied composition at the Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music, and with Leonard Bernstein, 1961

  • Ralph George Macchio, actor, known for his role as Daniel LaRusso in the Karate Kid series of movies, 1961

  • Eric Peter Karros, former MLB first baseman, from 1991 to 2004; he was the 1992 NL Rookie of the Year, and won the 1995 NL Silver Slugger Award at first base; he now works as a color commentator for baseball on ESPN, as well as KCAL-TV in Los Angeles, where he does the pre-game show for the Dodgers games, 1967

  • Carlos Obed Baerga Ortiz, MLB player since 1990, spending most of his career as a second baseman, 1968

  • Matthew David McConaughey, actor, 1969

  • Larry Robert Bigbie, MLB left fielder, who currently plays for the St. Louis Cardinals, 1977

  • Carmen Cali, MLB relief pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, 1978

  • John William Grabow, MLB left-handed relief pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1978

  • Audrey Hollander, actress, 1979


R.I.P.:

  • Rasmus Bartholin, aka Erasmus Bartholinus, scientist and physician, remembered for his 1669 discovery of the double refraction of a light ray by Iceland spar (calcite), August 13, 1625 - November 4, 1698

  • Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, aka Felix Mendelssohn, composer and conductor of the early Romantic period, whose work includes symphonies, concertos, oratorios, and piano and chamber music; he was the grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847

  • Gabriel Urbain Fauré, composer, organist, pianist, and teacher, May 12, 1845 – November 4, 1924

  • Charles BUDDY Bolden, jazz cornetist and the first New Orleans jazz musician to come to prominence; known as King Bolden, his band was a top draw in New Orleans from about 1895 until 1907; never recorded; known for his open tone and very loud sound; credited with creating a looser, more improvised version of ragtime and adding blues to it; "King" Oliver and Louis Armstrong were directly inspired by his playing, September 6, 1877 – November 4, 1931

  • Grover Cleveland Alexander, MLB pitcher, whose 373 wins and 90 shutouts are both National League records; he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938, February 26, 1887 - November 4, 1950

  • Denton True CY Young, MLB pitcher; in his honor, the annual award given to the best major league pitcher of the year in each league is called the Cy Young Award; from 1956, the first full season after his death, until 1966, the award was given to the best pitcher in baseball - starting in 1967, it was given to the best in each league; he records for career wins with 511, and for complete games with 749; he had a career ERA of 2.63, playing 906 games, starting 815 of them, with 2803 strikeouts in 7354 innings pitched; he pitched a perfect game on May 5, 1904; his career 2960 at bats, 623 hits, and 834 total bases are the most for any pitcher; he was the manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1907; he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937, March 29th, 1867 – November 4, 1955

  • Elizabeth Muriel Gregory ELSIE MacGill, aeronautical engineer during World War II, March 27, 1905 – November 4, 1980

  • 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

  • Kurt August Hirsch, mathematician, January 12, 1906 - November 4, 1986

  • Fred SONIC Smith, musician, the rhythm guitar player for MC5; he was married to Patti Smith, September 13, 1949 - November 4, 1994

  • Yitzhak Rabin, politician and general; he was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel from 1974 until 1977, and again from 1992, until his assassination in 1995 by a right-wing activist, who had strenuously opposed Rabin's signing of the Oslo Accords; for his role in the creation of the Oslo Accords, he shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with Yasser Arafat and Shimon Peres, March 1, 1922 – November 4, 1995

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