April 3 Dateline

Birthdays

1783 - Washington Irving, American Short-story Writer, Essayist, Biographer, Historian, and Diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", both of which appear in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (Washington Irving - Rip VanWinkle. Uploaded by Lance Eaton. Accessed April 3, 2015.)

1880 - Otto Weininger, Austrian Philosopher, who lived in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1903, he published the book Geschlecht und Charakter (Sex and Character), which gained popularity after his suicide at the age of 23. Parts of his work were adapted for use by the Nazi regime (while at the same time denouncing him). Weininger was a large influence on Ludwig Wittgenstein, August Strindberg, and, via his lesser-known work Über die letzten Dinge, on James Joyce.

1893 -Leslie Howard Steiner, English actor, director and producer. He wrote many stories and articles for The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Vanity Fair and was one of the biggest box-office draws and movie idols of the 1930s. Active in both Britain and Hollywood, Howard played Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind (1939). He had roles in many other films, often playing the quintessential Englishman, including Berkeley Square, Of Human Bondage, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Petrified Forest, Pygmalion, Intermezzo, "Pimpernel" Smith, and The First of the Few. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Berkeley Square and Pygmalion. After his death, British exhibitors voted him the second-most popular local star at the box office.

 

1895 - Mario Castelnuove-Tedesco, Italian-American Composer, Pianist and Writer. He was known as one of the foremost guitar composers in the 20th-century with almost one hundred guitar compositions.  (Castelnuovo Tedesco's "Tarantella" is interpreted by Gulio Tampalini. Accessed April 3, 2019.) 

1905 - Lili Kraus, Hungarian-English Pianist. During World War II she was imprisoned by the Japanese in Southeast Asia, where she had been on concert tour.  After the war,  she became a New Zealand citizen and resumed her career, teaching and touring extensively. In the early 1950s she performed the entire Beethoven sonata cycle with violinist Henri Temianka. From 1967 to 1983, she taught as artist-in-residence at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.  She served on the jury of the Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition.  She then made her home in Asheville, North Carolina, where she died in 1986. (Listen and enjoy the Mozart Piano Sonatas she played - here.)

1924 - Marlon Brando, Jr., American actor and film director. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice. One of the greatest and most influential actor in 20th-century film, Brando was also an activist for many causes, notably the civil rights movement and various Native American movements. Having studied with Stella Adler in the 1940s, he is credited with being one of the first actors to bring the Stanislavski system of acting and method acting, derived from the Stanislavski system, to mainstream audiences. He initially gained acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for reprising the role of Stanley Kowalski in the 1951 film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire, a role that he originated successfully on Broadway. He received further praise, and an Academy Award, for his performance as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront, and his portrayal of the rebellious motorcycle gang leader Johnny Strabler in The Wild One proved to be a lasting image in popular culture. Brando also received various Academy Award nominations.

1924 - Doris Day (born Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff), American actress, singer, and animal welfare activist. She began her career as a big band singer, with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey" and "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time". Day was one of the biggest film stars in the 1950s–1960s era. Her film career began during the Golden Age of Hollywood with the film Romance on the High Seas. She starred in films of many genres, including musicals, comedies, dramas, and thrillers. She played the title role in Calamity Jane, Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much. Her best-known films are those in which she co-starred with Rock Hudson, among them 1959's Pillow Talk, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She worked with many more prominent movie actors. She received various awards including: Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, among others.

1930 - Helmut Josef Michael Kohl, German statesman and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 (of West Germany, 1982–1990; and of reunified Germany, 1990–1998) and as chairman of the CDU from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longest of any German Chancellor since Otto von Bismarck, and oversaw the end of the Cold War, the German reunification and the creation of the European Union.

1934 - Jane Morris Goodall, DBE (born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall; formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English Zoologist, Primatologist and Anthropologist. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 60-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees since she first went to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania in 1960. She is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and the Roots & Shoots programme, and she has worked extensively on conservation and animal welfare issues. She has served on the board of the Nonhuman Rights Project since its founding in 1996. In April 2002, she was named a UN Messenger of Peace. Dr. Goodall is also honorary member of the World Future Council.

1958 - Alec Baldwin, (born Alexander Rae Baldwin III), American actor, writer, producer, comedian, and political activist. He is the eldest of the four actor brothers in the Baldwin family. Baldwin first gained recognition appearing on the sixth and seventh seasons of the CBS primetime soap opera Knots Landing. In his early career he then played both leading and supporting roles in a variety of films. Baldwin gained critical acclaim starring as Jack Donaghy on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, winning two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and seven Screen Actors Guild Awards, making him the male performer with the most SAG Awards in history. On stage, he portrayed Stanley Kowalski in the 1992 Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire and the title character in a 1998 Off-Broadway production of Macbeth, the former earning him a Tony Award nomination. Baldwin has received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Donald Trump on the long-running sketch series Saturday Night Live, a role that won him his third Primetime Emmy.

 

1961 - Eddie Murphy (born Edward Regan Murphy), American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has also worked as a stand-up comedian and was ranked No. 10 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time. In films, Murphy has received Golden Globe Award nominations for his performances in 48 Hrs., the Beverly Hills Cop series (1984–present), Trading Places, amongothers. In 2007, Murphy won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of soul singer James "Thunder" Early in the musical film Dreamgirls. As a singer, Murphy has released three studio albums, including How Could It Be, So Happy, and Love's Alright. He has won numerous awards for his work.
 

Lefties:
None known.

More birthdays and historical events today, 3 April - On This Day.

 

Historical Events

1885 - Gottlieb Daimler patents the first water-cooled engine.

1897 - Johannes Brahms dies of cancer in Vienna, aged 63. Although I love Brahms' famous German Requiem and Symphony No. 1,  an emotional attachment goes to Brahms' Symphony No.3 In F major, Op.90 (Complete, 4 movements). Conductor: Professor Nicolás Pasquet. The Orchestra of the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar, Neue Weimarhalle on May 10th, 2012. (Uploaded by Nathaniel Adams. Accessed April 3, 2017)

April 2 Dateline

Birthdays

1725 - Casanova (born Giacomo Girolamo Casanova), Italian adventurer, philanderer and author. Casanova's autobiography, Histoire de ma vie (Story of My Life), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of the customs and norms of European social life during the 18th century. Depending on circumstances, he used fictitious names, such as Baron or Count of Farussi (the name of his mother) or Chevalier de Seingalt. He often signed his works Jacques Casanova de Seingalt after he began writing in French following his second exile from Venice. He became so famous for his complicated and elaborate affairs with women that his name is now synonymous with "womanizer". He associated with European royalty, popes, and cardinals, along with luminaries such as Voltaire, Goethe, and Mozart. He spent his last years in the Dux Chateau (Bohemia) as a librarian in Count Waldstein's household, where he also wrote the story of his life.

1805 - Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen's popularity is not limited to children. His stories express themes that transcend age and nationality. (Hans Christian Andersen: The Man Behind the Writer. Uploaded by FutureLearn. Hans Christian Andersen. Uploaded by Steven Ward. Accessed April 2, 2016.)

1840 - Émile Zola (born Édouard Charles Antoine Zola), French novelist, playwright, journalist, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. He was a major 19th-century novelist known for his realist novels dealing with the working-class. (Zola's Therese Raquin BBC Drama 1979: Part 1/3, Part 2/3, Part 3/3. A disturbing but excellently made, forgotten BBC drama. I think the best adaptation from the book Therese Raquin written by Emile Zola. It's disturbing story set in Paris 1875. Surrounded by a seedy & grimy environment, two people find real love but whose affair is doomed. Uploaded by James Deann. Accessed April 2, 2016. )

1851 - Adolf Davidovich Brodsky, Russian-born violinist, most of his professional life spent in England. He enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a performer and teacher, starting early in Vienna, going on to Moscow, Leipzig, and New York City and finally Manchester. During its course he met and worked with composers such as Tchaikovsky and Elgar. The first performance of Tchaikovsky's famous Violin Concert   was given by Adolph Brodsky on December 4, 1881 in Vienna, under the baton of Hans Richter. (Adolph Brodsky (1851-1929). Accessed April 2, 2021.)

1891 - Max Ernst, German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. He is noted for his novels consisting of collages. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism. He had no formal artistic training, but his experimental attitude toward the making of art resulted in his invention of frottage—a technique that uses pencil rubbings of objects as a source of images—and grattage, an analogous technique in which paint is scraped across canvas to reveal the imprints of the objects placed beneath.

1905 - Kurt Herbert Adler, Austrian-born American Conductor and Opera House Director. The Adler Fellowship program was started in his name by Terence A. McEwen to support young singers managed by the San Francisco Opera.

1939 - Martin Gaye (born Marvin Pentz Gay Jr.), American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He helped to shape the sound of Motown, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo artist with a string of hits, earning him the nicknames "Prince of Motown" and "Prince of Soul". His hits include "Ain't That Peculiar", "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". Gaye also recorded duets with Diana Ross, among others. He also recorded the albums What's Going On and Let's Get It On. His later recordings influenced several contemporary R&B sub-genres, such as quiet storm and neo soul. He he released "Sexual Healing" the 1982 hit which won his first two Grammy Awards on the album Midnight Love. 

1971 - Todd Andrew Woodbridge, Australian Tennis Player, retired Australian professional Tennis Player and Sports Broadcaster with the Nine Network. He is best known for his successful Doubles partnerships with Mark Woodforde (nicknamed "The Woodies") and later with Jonas Björkman. He is among the most successful doubles players of all time, having won 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles (nine Wimbledons, three US Opens, three Australian Opens and one French Open), and a further six Grand Slam mixed doubles titles (three US Opens, one French Opens, one Wimbledon, one Australian Open). Additionally, he was a gold medalist with Woodforde at the 1996 Summer Olympics to complete a career Golden Slam. In total he has won 83 ATP doubles titles. Woodbridge reached the World No. 1 doubles ranking in July 1992. In 2002, he was inducted into the Australian Institute of Sport 'Best of the Best'.

Leftie:
Author Hans Christian Andersen 

More birthdays and historical events today, 2 April - On This Day.

 

Historical Events

1513 - Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon discovers Florida.

1930 - Haile Selassie becomes Emperor of Ethiopia.