Today CCXXX

Birthdays:

• Orazio Vecchi, composer of the late Renaissance, famous for his madrigal comedies, baptized December 6, 1550 – February 19, 1605


• Johann Christoph Bach, composer of the Baroque period, the son of Heinrich Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach's great uncle; he had a reputation as a composer that was only equalled by that of Johann Sebastian within the Bach family during his lifetime; he was organist at Eisenach, and later a member of the court chamber orchestra there, December 6, 1642 – March 31, 1703


• Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, chemist and physicist, known mostly for his contributions to the physical chemistry of gases, December 6, 1778 – May 10, 1850


• Adolf Reubke, organ builder, December 6, 1805 - March 3, 1875


• Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, magician, watchmaker, and maker of mechanical toys and machines, considered to be the pioneer in the modern performance art of illusion; from an early age, he was interested in juggling and sleight of hand and, in 1845, he began to exhibit his skill, December 6, 1805 - 1871


• Charles Martin Hall, inventor and engineer, known for his discovery in 1886 of an inexpensive method for producing aluminum, which became the first metal to attain widespread use since the prehistoric discovery of iron, December 6, 1863 – December 27, 1914


• William Surrey Hart, stage and silent film actor, screenwriter, director, and producer; a successful Shakespearian actor on Broadway, he became one of the first great stars of the motion picture western, after making his film debut in 1914, December 6, 1864 – June 23, 1946


• Yoshio Nishina, physicist, a friend of Niels Bohr, and a close associate of Albert Einstein, whose research was concerned with cosmic rays and particle accelerator development; he co-authored the Klein-Nishina Formula; the Nishina crater on the moon is named after him, December 6, 1890–January 10, 1951


• Israel Gershowitz, aka Ira Gershwin, lyricist, collaborated with his brother, composer George Gershwin, December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983


• Alfred Eisenstaedt, photographer and photojournalist, remembered for his photograph of a sailor and a woman kissing, capturing the celebration of V-J Day, December 6, 1898 - August 24, 1995


• Gunnar Myrdal, economist and politician, who shared the 1974 Nobel Prize in Economics with Friedrich August von Hayek; his wife, Alva Myrdal, whom he married in 1924, won the 1982 Nobel Peace Prize, December 6, 1898 – May 17, 1987


• Agnes Robertson Moorehead, actress, December 6, 1900 – April 30, 1974


• Anthony Michael TONY Lazzeri, MLB second baseman, a member of the original [1933] American League All-Star team; holds the American League record for most RBI in a game with 11, set May 24, 1936, the same day on which he became the first major league player to hit two grand slams in one game; inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, December 6, 1903 - August 6, 1946


• Hugo Peretti, songwriter and record producer, December 6, 1916 - May 1, 1986


• David Warren DAVE Brubeck, jazz pianist and composer, who has written a number of jazz standards; much of his music employs unusual time signatures; he studyied compositiom with Darius Milhaud, 1920


• George Porter, Baron Porter of Luddenham, OM, FRS, chemist, shared the 1967 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Manfred Eigen and Ronald George Wreyford Norrish; President of the Royal Society from 1985 to 1990; Director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain from 1966 to 1986; Chancellor of the University of Leicester from 1984 to 1995, December 6, 1920 – August 31, 2002


• Piero Piccioni, pianist, organist, conductor, composer, and author of more than 300 film soundtracks, December 6, 1921 - July 23, 2004


• Wallace Maynard WALLY Cox, television and motion picture actor; his boyhood friend, Marlon Brando, encouraged him to study acting with Stella Adler; he is known for the title role in the early 1950's live TV sitcom Mr. Peepers, December 6, 1924 - February 15, 1973


• Robert Jack Stein, aka Bobby Van, musician, singer, and actor, who began his career as a musician, playing trumpet, December 6, 1928 – July 31, 1980


• Alain Tanner, film director, 1929


• Johann Nicolaus Graf de la Fontaine und d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt, aka Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor, 1929


• Henryk Mikolaj Górecki, composer of classical music, 1933


• Jean Lapointe, actor, comedian, singer, and Canadian Senator, 1935


• David Ossman, comedian, founding member of The Firesign Theatre, 1936


• Lawrence Robert LARRY Bowa, former MLB shortstop and manager, currently the third-base coach for the New York Yankees; he had a career batting average of .260, with 2191 hits and 318 stolen bases; he won Gold Glove Awards in 1972 and 1978, and led the National League in fielding percentage six times; he was an NL All-Star in 1974 to 1976, and 1978 to 1979; he was NL Manager of the Year in 2001, 1945


• Margaret Jobeth Williams, aka JoBeth Williams, actress, who made her film debut in 1979 in , 1948


• Mamoru Fujisawa, aka Joe Hisaishi, composer and director, responsible for over 100 soundtracks and albums, 1950


• Thomas Edward TOM Hulce, actor; in 1984, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Mozart in Amadeus, 1953


• Gary Lamell Ward, former MLB outfielder, 1953


• Steven Wright, stand-up comedian, actor, and writer, 1955


• Paul Richard RICK Buckler, musician, the drummer and a founding member of The Jam, 1955


• Peter Lawrence Buck, musician, guitarist and co-founder of R.E.M., 1956


• Randall William RANDY Rhoads, guitarist, December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982


• Nicholas Wulstan NICK Park, CBE, filmmaker and animator, known as the creator of Wallace and Gromit, 1958


• Ryan White, AIDS activist, December 6, 1971 – April 8, 1990


• Noel Anthony Clark, actor and writer; in 2003, he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer; he played Mickey Smith on Doctor Who in 2005 and 2006, 1975


• Kevin Forrest Cash, MLB catcher, who played for the Toronto Blue Jays from 2002 to 2004, and joined the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2005, 1977

R.I.P.:

• Huddie William Ledbetter, aka Leadbelly, folk and blues musician, notable for his clear and forceful singing, his virtuosity on the twelve string guitar, and the rich songbook of folk standards he introduced; although his most commonly-played instrument was the twelve string, he could also play the piano, mandolin, harmonica, violin, concertina, and accordion, January 23, 1888 - December 6, 1949


• Harold Wallace Ross, journalist and founder of The New Yorker magazine, which he edited from the magazine's inception in 1925 until his death, November 6, 1892 - December 6, 1951


• Johannes Peter HONUS Wagner, MLB baseball player; in a career that spanned 21 seasons, 1897 to 1917), he led the National League in batting average eight times, and in RBI and stolen bases five times each; in 1936, he was among the first five individuals inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, February 24, 1874 - December 6, 1955


• Franklin BURR Tillstrom, puppeteer, the creator of Kukla, Fran and Ollie, October 13, 1917 - December 6, 1985


• Burleigh Arland Grimes, MLB pitcher over a 19-year career, the last pitcher officially permitted to throw the spitball; managed the Dodgers in 1937 and 1938; remained in baseball for many years as a minor league manager and a scout; inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964, August 18, 1893 - December 6, 1985


• Roy Kelton Orbison, musician, April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988


• Frances Bavier, character actress, best remembered for her role as Aunt Bee on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D., December 14, 1902 – December 6, 1989


• Samuel Feinberg, aka Sammy Fain, composer of popular music, June 17, 1902 - December 6, 1989


• John Payne, movie actor and singer, remembered as a singer in 20th Century Fox film musicals, May 23, 1912 - December 6, 1989


• Sir John Richard Nicholas Stone, economist, received the 1984 Nobel Prize in Economics for developing an accounting model that could be used to track economic activities on a national and, later, an international scale, August 30, 1913 – December 6, 1991


• Mary Elizbeth MIMI Smith, aunt and guardian of John Lennon, 1903 - 6 December 1992


• Dominic Felix DON Ameche, actor, May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993


• Werner Klemperer, comedic actor, known for his role as Colonel Klink on Hogan's Heroes, March 22, 1920 – December 6, 2000