September 25 Dateline

Birthdays

1683 - Jean Philippe Rameau, French composer and organist, one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François Couperin. Enjoy some of his orchestral suites - here.

 

1889 -  C.K. Scott Moncrieff, MC (born Charles Kenneth Scott Moncrieff), Scottish writer and translator, most famous for his English translation of most of Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu, which he published under the Shakespearean title Remembrance of Things Past. His family name is the double-barrelled name "Scott Moncrieff". (Lost in Translation: Proust and Scott Moncrieff by William C. Carter. The Public Domain Review. Accessed September 29, 2020)

1906 - Dmitry Shostakovich, (traditional English: Dmitri) Russian composer and pianist, regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is characterised by sharp contrasts, elements of the grotesque, and ambivalent tonality. He achieved fame in the Soviet Union under the patronage of Soviet chief of staff Mikhail Tukhachevsky, but later had a complex and difficult relationship with the government. Despite it, he received accolades and state awards and served in the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR (1947) and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (from 1962 until his death). A polystylist, he developed a hybrid voice, combining a variety of different musical techniques into his works. He was also heavily influenced by the neo-classical style pioneered by Igor Stravinsky; and in symphonies, by the late Romanticism of Gustav Mahler.

1929 - Ronnie Barker, OBE, (born Ronald William George Barker), English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as Porridge, The Two Ronnies, and Open All Hours. Barker began acting in repertory theatre and decided he was best suited to comic roles.

1931 - Barbara Jill Walters, American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. Respected for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, Walters appeared as the host of numerous television programs, including Today, The View, 20/20, and the ABC Evening News. Since retiring as a full-time host and contributor, she continued to occasionally report for ABC News through 2015. In 1996, Walters was ranked #34 on the TV Guide "50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time" list, and in 2000 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

1944 - Michael Kirk Douglas, American actor and producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the AFI Life Achievement Award. Apart from his acting career, Douglas has received notice for his humanitarian and political activism, as well as media attention for his marriage to Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. He's the eldest son of Kirk Douglas, a leading box-office star in his time.

 
1946 - Felicity Kendall,  CBE, English actress in television and theatre over more than 50-year career, but the role that brought attention to her career was that of Barbara Good in the 1975 television series The Good Life, and later in 2003, as Rosemary Boxer in Rosemary & Thyme.

1951 - Mark Richard Hamill, American actor, voice actor, and writer. He is best known for playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars film series. His other notable film appearances include Corvette Summer and The Big Red One. He also appeared on stage in several theater productions, primarily during the 1980s. Hamill is a prolific voice actor who has portrayed characters in many animated television series, films, and video games.

1952 - Christopher D'Olier Reeve, American actor, writer, and director, best known for playing the DC Comics character Superman, beginning with the acclaimed Superman (1978), for which he won a BAFTA Award. He appeared in other critically acclaimed films such as The Bostonians, Street Smart, and The Remains of the Day. He received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance in the television remake of Rear Window. On May 27, 1995, Reeve was left quadriplegic after being thrown from a horse during an equestrian competition in Culpeper, Virginia. He lobbied on behalf of people with spinal cord injuries and for human embryonic stem cell research, founding the Christopher Reeve Foundation and co-founding the Reeve-Irvine Research Center.

 
1952 - Colin Friels, Scottish-born Australian actor. He believes that social and political awareness comes with acting, and is known for his engagement in policy debates, including industrial issues such as workplace relations and free trade. His engagement with social issues has been evident in his acting work, with two prominent examples being his lead role in Ground Zero, in which he played a cameraman investigating British nuclear testing in South Australia, and his appearance in the ABC television drama Bastard Boys, in which he played union official John Coombs.

1961 - Heather Deen Locklear, American actress, best known for her role as Amanda Woodward on Melrose Place (1993–99), for which she received four consecutive Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress – Television Series Drama. She is also known for her role as Sammy Jo Carrington on Dynasty from 1981 to 1989, her first major television role, which began a longtime collaboration with producer Aaron Spelling. Other notable television roles include Officer Stacy Sheridan on T. J. Hooker, and Caitlin Moore on Spin City, for which she earned two more Golden Globe nominations, this time for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy.

1969 - Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE, Welsh actress. She went on to greater success in the British television series The Darling Buds of May, before establishing herself in Hollywood with roles that highlighted her sex appeal. She was acclaimed for her performances as a vengeful pregnant woman in Traffic and a murderous singer in the musical Chicago; for the latter she won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Supporting Actress. For much of the decade, she starred in high-profile films, then parts in smaller-scale features were followed by a decrease in workload, during which she returned to the stage and played an aging actress in A Little Night Music, winning a Tony Award. Zeta-Jones continued to work intermittently in the 2010s, as well as the television miniseries Feud, in which she portrayed Olivia de Havilland.  Zeta-Jones' other accolades include an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award and a Tony Award. In 2010, she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her film and humanitarian endeavours. 

 

 Leftie:
Actor Mark Hamill

Death:

British actor & musician David McCallum, Jr. He gained wide recognition in the 1960s for playing secret agent Illya Kuryakin in the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. In recent years, McCallum has gained renewed international recognition and popularity for his role as medical examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, in the American television series NCIS.
 

 

More birthdays and historical events, September 25 - On This Day

 

Historical Events

1066 - The Battle of Stamford Bridge in York marks the end of the Viking era when  the Saxons, fighting under English King Harold, win a decisive victory over the invading Norwegians, under King Harald Hardraka of Norway.      

1857 - The relief of the first Siege of Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny by Sir Henry Havelock takes place. Havelock and his men also relieved the more famous siege of Cawnpore. His statue stands at the southeast corner of Trafalgar Square, London, one of the surrounding Nelson's Column. 

September 24 Dateline

Birthdays

1717 - Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford, English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, south-west London, reviving the Gothic style some decades before his Victorian successors.

1724 - Sir Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery business. He was also an entrepreneur and philanthropist. At 27, Guinness's godfather Arthur Price, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Cashel, bequeathed him £100 in his will. Guinness invested the money and in 1755 had a brewery at Leixlip, just 17 km from Dublin. In 1759, Guinness went to the city and set up his own business. He took a 9,000-year lease on the 4-acre (16,000 m²) brewery at St. James's Gate from the descendants of Sir Mark Rainsford for an annual rent of £45. 

 

1896 - Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, widely known as F. Scott Fitzgerald or simply Scott Fitzgerald, American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is famous for his book The Great Gatsby also made into a blockbuster film. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age, a term that he popularized in his short story collection Tales of the Jazz Age. He published four novels, four story collections, and 164 short stories. He achieved transient success and fortune in the 1920s, but did not receive critical acclaim until after his death. He is now widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century.

1899 - Sir William "Bill" Dobell, OBE, Australian portrait and landscape artist of the 20th century. Dobell won the Archibald Prize, Australia's premier award for portrait artists on three occasions. The Dobell Prize is named in his honour. 

1914 - Sir Andrzej Panufnik, Polish-English composer and conductor. He became established as one of the leading Polish composers, and as a conductor he was instrumental in the re-establishment of the Warsaw Philharmonic orchestra after World War II. After his increasing frustration with the extra-musical demands made on him by the country's regime, he defected to the United Kingdom in 1954, and took up British citizenship. In 1957, he became chief conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, a post he relinquished after two years to devote all his time to composition.(A. Panufnik - Old Polish Suite, uploaded by Ivancho Rz. Accessed September 24, 2018.)

1945 - John Milford Rutter CBE, English composer, conductor, editor, arranger, and record producer, mainly of choral music. Rutter founded his own choir, the Cambridge Singers, which he conducts and with which he has made many recordings of sacred choral repertoire (including his own works), under his own label Collegium Records. He collaborated with Sir David Willcocks on five volumes of the extraordinarily successful Carols for Choirs anthology series. He was inducted as a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity. My favourite quote from John Rutter: "Choral Music is not one of life's frills. It's something that goes to the very heart of our humanity, our sense of community and our souls.You express, when you sing, your soul in song. And when you get together with a group of other singers, it becomes more than the sum of the parts." (For the Beauty of the Earth - John Rutter, The Cambridge Singers, City of London Sinfonia. Accessed September 24, 2019.)

 

1949 - Pedro Almodóvar Caballero, Spanish filmmaker, director, screenwriter, producer, and former actor. His films are marked by his employment of certain actors and creative personnel, complex narratives, melodrama, pop culture, popular songs, irreverent humour, strong colours, and glossy décor. Desire, passion, family, and identity are among Almodóvar's most prevalent themes. He achieved international recognition for his black comedy-drama film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and went on to more success with the dark romantic comedy film Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, the melodrama High Heels and the romantic drama thriller Live Flesh. Multi-awarded, Almodóvar and his films have gained worldwide interest and developed a cult following. He is one of the most internationally successful Spanish filmmakers.

1966 - Michael J. Varhola, American author, publisher, and lecturer. He has written numerous books, games, and articles, and founded game development company and manufacturer Skirmisher Publishing LLC. He also served as the assistant editor of The Hilltop Reporter, a weekly newspaper located in Texas Hill Country. In 2003, he changed his middle name from James to Odysseus, but did not start using it publicly until 2011.

Lefties:
None known

 

 

More birthdays and historical events, September 24 - On This Day

Historical Events

1948 - The Honda Motor Company is founded in Tokyo, Japan.

1975 - Dougal Haston and Doug Scott climb to the top of Mt. Everest, the first Britons to do so.