Today CCLIV

Birthdays:

• William Croft, composer and organist, baptized December 30, 1678 - August 14, 1727


• André Charles Prosper Messager, organist and composer, who composed 45 works for the stage, of which eight were ballets, a symphony, and numerous songs and instrumental works, December 30, 1853 - February 24, 1929


• Joseph RUDYARD Kipling, author and poet, known for his children's books, including The Jungle Book, his novel, Kim (1901), his poems, and his short stories, including The Man Who Would Be King; he was awarded the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature; among other honours, he was offered the British Poet Laureateship and a knighthood, both of which he refused, December 30, 1865 – January 18, 1936


• Stephen Butler Leacock, Ph.D , FRSC, writer and economist, who wrote Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town in 1912; in 1947, the Stephen Leacock Award was created to recognize the best in Canadian literary humour, December 30, 1869 – March 28, 1944


• Dmitri Borisovich Kabalevsky, composer, December 30, 1904 - February 14, 1987


• Sir Carol Reed, director, who won the Academy Award for Best Director in 1968 for his film version of the musical Oliver!, December 30, 1906 – April 25, 1976


• Paul Frederic Bowles, composer and author, December 30, 1910 - November 18, 1999


• Jeanette Nolan, actress, December 30, 1911 - June 5, 1998


• Lucio Agostini, cellist, composer, and conductor, December 30, 1913 - February 15, 1996


• Bert Jacobson, aka Bert Parks, actor, singer, and radio and television announcer and host, the host of the Miss America Pageant telecast from 1955 to 1980, December 30, 1914 – February 2, 1992


• Jo Van Fleet, theatre and film actress, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1955 for East of Eden, December 30, 1914 – June 10, 1996


• John Joseph Patrick Ryan, aka Jack Lord, television, film, and Broadway actor, known for his starring role as Steve McGarrett on Hawaii Five-O, and as Felix Leiter in Doctor No, December 30, 1920 – January 21, 1998


• Ellas B. McDaniel, aka Bo Diddley, rock and roll singer, songwriter, and guitarist, 1928


• Barbara Nickeraeur, aka Barbara Nichols, actress, December 30, 1929 - October 5, 1976


• Mary Frances SKEETER Davis, country music singer, a member of the Grand Ole Opry radio show for more than 40 years, best known for her song The End of the World, December 30, 1931 – September 19, 2004


• Joseph Bologna, actor, whose breakthrough film was Lovers and Other Strangers, written with his wife Renee Taylor, 1934


• John Norris Bahcall, Ph.D., astrophysicist, known for his contributions to the solar neutrino problem and the development of the Hubble Space Telescope, December 30, 1934 – August 17, 2005


• Charles Weedon Westover, aka Del Shannon, rock and roll singer and songwriter, known for such hit songs as Runaway, Hats Off to Larry, and Little Town Flirt, December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990


• Russell RUSS Tamblyn, actor and former dancer, who played Gideon in the film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Riff, the leader of the Jets, in West Side Story, 1934


• Sanford Braun, aka Sanford Koufax, former MLB left-handed pitcher, who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966; he is second in career no-hitters with 4; he is one of 17 pitchers to throw a perfect game; he has an 0.95 ERA in 4 World Series; he made 6 All-Star appearances; he was the NL MVP in 1963; he won 3 Cy Young Awards, unanimously selected each time; he was the World Series MVP in 1963 and 1965; in 1972, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, 1935


• Jack Riley, comedic actor and voice actor, who played Elliot Carlin on The Bob Newhart Show, 1935


• John Cowan Hartford, country and bluegrass composer and musician, who played fiddle and banjo, December 30, 1937 – June 4, 2001


• Noel PAUL Stookey, singer-songwriter, Paul in the trio Peter, Paul and Mary, 1937


• James Edward Burrows, television director, who has been working in television since the 1970's; he has directed many shows, including The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show, 1940


• Robert Michael Nesmith, musician, songwriter, actor, producer, novelist, businessman, and philanthropist; his mother was Bette Nesmith Graham, the inventor of Liquid Paper; from 1965 to early 1970, he was a member of The Monkees, 1942


• Frederick FRED Ward, actor, whose first major role was in Escape from Alcatraz; he has appeared in such films as Southern Comfort, The Right Stuff, and Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, in which he had the title role, 1942


• David Thomas DAVY Jones, actor and singer, a member of The Monkees, 1945


• Patricia Lee PATTI Smith, musician, singer, and poet, 1946


• Jeff Lynne, rock songwriter, singer, guitarist, and record producer, known for his work Electric Light Orchestra and the Traveling Wilburys, 1947


• June Anderson, coloratura soprano, 1952


• Meredith Vieira, television personality and journalist, 1953


• Suzy Bogguss, country music singer, 1956


• Tracey Ullman, comedian, actress, singer, dancer, screenwriter, and author, 1959


• Jason Nathaniel Behr, film and television actor, who played Max Evans on Roswell, 1973


• Eldrick TIGER Woods, professional golfer, 1975


• Meredith Leigh Monroe, actress, 1976


• Anthony John [A. J.] Pierzynski, MLB catcher, who has played for the Chicago White Sox since 2005, 1976


• Eliza Patricia Dushku, actress, known for her recurring appearances on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel as Faith, and as the main character on Tru Calling; in 1994, she played the teenage daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies, 1980


• Haley Paige, actress, 1981


• Kristin Laura Kreuk, actress, known for her roles as Lana Lang on Smallville, and as Tenar on the miniseries Legend of Earthsea, 1982

R.I.P.:

• Jan Baptist [Johannes Baptista] van Helmont, chemist, physiologist, and physician, January 12, 1577 – December 30, 1644


• Robert Boyle, natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor, known for his work in physics and chemistry, and regarded today as the first modern chemist, he first stated the principle known as Boyle's Law, January 25, 1627 – December 30, 1691


• Romain Rolland, writer, whose first book was published in 1902; he was awarded the 1915 Nobel Prize for Literature, January 29, 1866 – December 30, 1944


• Charles Vincent Massey, CH, CC, PC, the eighteenth Governor General of Canada, and the first who was born in Canada, February 20, 1887 – December 30, 1967


• Trygve Halvdan Lie, politician, the first Secretary-General of the United Nations [1946 to 1952], July 16, 1896 – December 30, 1968


• Charles SONNY Liston, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, May 8, 1932 – December 30, 1970


• Richard Charles Rodgers, composer of musical theater, known for his song writing partnerships with Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II; he wrote more than 900 published songs, and forty Broadway musicals, June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979


• Giuseppe BEPPO Occhialini, physicist, who contributed to the discovery of the pion or pi-meson decay in 1947, December 5, 1907 - December 30, 1993


• Mack David, lyricist and songwriter, known for his work in film and television in the 1960's, particularly his work on the Disney films Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland; he was the elder brother of Hal David, July 5, 1912 - December 30, 1993


• Maureen Cox Starkey, the wife of Richard Starkey [Ringo Starr] from 1965 to 1975, August 4, 1946 – December 30, 1994


• Doris DOSSY Grau, actress, script supervisor, and voice actress, October 12, 1924 - December 30, 1995


• Lewis Frederick Ayre III, aka Lew Ayres, actor, December 28, 1908 – December 30, 1996


• Johnny Moore, rhythm and blues vocalist, who sang with The Drifters, December 14, 1934 - December 30, 1998


• Arthur Arshawsky, aka Artie Shaw, jazz clarinetist, composer, bandleader, and writer, May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004