March 22 Dateline

Birthdays

1599 - Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. Van Dyck worked in London for some months in 1621, then returned to Flanders briefly, before travelling to Italy, where he stayed until 1627. In the late 1620s he completed his greatly admired Iconography series of portrait etchings. In 1632 he returned to London to be the main court painter, at the request of Charles I of England. With the exception of Holbein, van Dyck and Diego Velázquez were the first painters to work mainly as court portraitists, revolutionising the genre. He is best known for his portraits of the aristocracy, most notably Charles I, his family and associates. Van Dyck became the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next 150 years. He also painted mythological and biblical subjects, including altarpieces,and was an important innovator in watercolour and etching. The Van Dyke beard is named after him. Charles I granted him a knighthood, and he was buried in St Paul's Cathedral.

1887 - Chico Marx (born Leonard Joseph Marx),  American Comedian, Musician, Actor and Film star.  He was a member of the Marx Brothers (with Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, and Zeppo Marx). His persona in the act was that of a charming, uneducated but crafty con artist, seemingly of rural Italian origin, who wore shabby clothes and sported a curly-haired wig and Tyrolean hat. On screen, Chico is often in alliance with Harpo, usually as partners in crime, and is also frequently seen trying to con or outfox Groucho. He was the oldest of the Marx Brothers to live past early childhood (first-born Manfred Marx died in infancy). Chico Marx playing piano. 10 films. Complete. Uploaded by FairDealDan. Accessed March 22, 2018.

1923 - Marcel Marceau, French actor and mime artist most famous for his stage persona as "Bip the Clown". He referred to mime as the "art of silence" and he performed professionally worldwide for over 60 years. As a youth, he lived in hiding and worked with the French Resistance during most of World War II, giving his first major performance to 3,000 troops after the liberation of Paris in August 1944.  Following the war, he studied dramatic art and mime in Paris. Marceau established his own pantomime school in Paris, and set up the Marceau Foundation to promote the art in the U.S. Among his various awards and honours he was made "Grand Officier de la Légion d'Honneur" and was awarded the National Order of Merit in France. He won the Emmy Award for his work on television, was elected member of the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin and was declared a "National treasure" in Japan.

1930 - Stephen Sondheim, American songwriter/lyricist and composer, known for his work in musical theater.  He's considered one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater. His best-known works as composer and lyricist include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Sunday in the Park with George, and Into the Woods. He is also  known for writing the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy. Sondheim has received an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards (more than any other composer, including a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre), eight Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, a Laurence Olivier Award, a 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom, and more.

1931 - William Shatner,  Canadian actor, author, producer, director, screenwriter, and singer. He became a cultural icon for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise in the Star Trek franchise. He has written a series of books chronicling his experiences playing Captain Kirk, being a part of Star Trek, and life after Star Trek. Shatner has also co-written several novels set in the Star Trek universe, and a series of science fiction novels called TekWar, that were adapted for television. Shatner also played the eponymous veteran police sergeant in T. J. Hooker (1982–1986) and hosted the reality-based television series Rescue 911 (1989–1996), which won a People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Dramatic Series. Among others, he starred as attorney Denny Crane both in the final season of the legal drama The Practice and in its spinoff series Boston Legal, a role that earned him two Emmy Awards. Shatner has also pursued a career in music and spoken word recordings since the late 1960s, having released eight albums. 

1943 - George Washington Benson, American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, playing jazz guitar, and soul jazz with Jack McDuff and others. He then launched a successful solo career, alternating between jazz, pop, R&B singing, and scat singing. His album Breezin' was certified triple-platinum, hitting no. 1 on the Billboard album chart in 1976. Benson has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1948 - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber, English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. Multi-awarded, including a knighthood, several of Andrew Lloyd Webber's songs have been widely recorded and were hits, "The Music of the Night" and "All I Ask of You" from The Phantom of the Opera, "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar, "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" from Evita, "Any Dream Will Do" from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and "Memory" from Cats.

1976 - Laura Jeanne Reece Witherspoon, American actress, producer, and entrepreneur. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award, she is one of the highest-paid actresses in the world as of 2019. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2006 and 2015, and Forbes listed her among the World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2019. Her breakthrough came in 1999 with a supporting role in Cruel Intentions, and for her portrayal of Tracy Flick in the black comedy Election. Other wider recognition followed with critical acclaim including her starring role in the romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama. Her portrayal of June Carter Cash in the biographical musical film Walk the Line, won her the Academy Award for Best Actress. Witherspoon has since begun work in television, by producing and starring in the HBO drama series.

Lefties:
None known

More birthdays and historical events, March 22 - On This Day
 

 

Featuring the music of two great composers of musicals:  Stephen Sondheim (1930) and Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948):

Judi Dench - The Definitive "Send in the Clowns - South Bank Show 1995. The video features Dame Judi Dench on the South Bank Show in 1995, which centers around her appearance in the revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music. Its a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. The profile ends with this performance of the ever popular "Send In The Clowns."



Phantom of the Opera Live - 1988 Tony Awards. The Phantom of the Opera musical is composed by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Charles Hart, with additions from Richard Stilgoe. It is based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux. Its central plot revolves around Christine, a beautiful soprano, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured musical genius living in the subterranean labyrinth beneath the Palais Garnier.

Historical Events

1457 - The Gutenberg Bible, the first printed book, is published. It is named after the inventor of the printing press, Johannes Gutenberg.

1834 - Horace Greeley and Jonas Winchester establish a weekly literary and new journal, the New Yorker. 

March 21 Dateline

Birthdays

1685 - Johann Sebastian Bach or JS Bach, (N.S. 31 March [O.S. 21 March]), German composer and Organist of the Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations, and for vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.

1839 - Modest Mussorgsky, (N.S. 21 March [O.S. 9 March]), Russian composer and member of the group known as "The Five" and famous for his work Pictures at an Exhibition. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period. He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity (history, folklore, and other national theme), often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music. uch works include the opera Boris Godunov, the orchestral tone poem Night on Bald Mountain and the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition.

1905 - Phyllis McGinley, American author of children's books and poetry. She was a 1961 Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet (Times Three: Selected Verse from Three Decades). Her poetry was in the style of light verse, specializing in humor, satiric tone and the positive aspects of suburban life. McGinley enjoyed a wide readership in her lifetime, publishing her work in newspapers and women's magazines such as the Ladies Home Journal, and literary periodicals, including The New Yorker, The Saturday Review and The Atlantic.

1906 - John D. Rockefeller III, American billionaire philanthropist, the eldest son of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. He was engaged in a wide range of philanthropic projects, many of which his famous Rockefeller family had launched, as well as supporting organizations related to East Asian affairs. Rockefeller was also a major supporter of the Population Council, and the committee that created the Lincoln Center in Manhattan.

1916 - Harold Robbins, American author of popular novels. One of the best-selling writers of all time, he wrote over 25 best-sellers, selling over 750 million copies in 32 languages. His first book was Never Love a Stranger. Usually, Robbins blended his own life experiences with history, melodrama, sex, and glossy high society into a fast-moving story. His 1952 novel, A Stone for Danny Fisher, was adapted into a 1958 motion picture King Creole, which starred Elvis Presley. Among his best-known books is The Carpetbaggers – featuring a protagonist who was a loose composite of Howard Hughes, Bill Lear, Harry Cohn, and Louis B. Mayer. The Carpetbaggers takes the reader from New York to California, from the prosperity of the aeronautical industry to the glamor of Hollywood. A sequel, The Raiders, was released in 1995.
 

1921 - Arthur Grumiaux, Belgian violinist. He had a long-standing relationship with Philips Records, and recordings are available from them of him performing works by famous composers including Handel, Bach, Vivaldi, Michael Haydn, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, and more. A recording of Grumiaux;s performance of one movement from Bach's Sonatas & Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin, the "Gavotte en rondeaux" from the Partita No. 3, is included on the Voyager Golden Record, attached to the Voyager spacecraft, as a sample of the culture of Earth. 

 
1958 - Gary Leonard Oldman (born Gary Leonard Oldman), English actor and filmmaker who has performed in theatre, film, and television. Known for his versatility and expressive acting style, Oldman is regarded as one of the greatest actors of his generation. He has received several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and three British Academy Film Awards. His films have grossed over $11 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing actors. Oldman made his film debut in Remembrance. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, and was also nominated for his portrayals of George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Herman J. Mankiewicz in Mank. Oldman has served as executive producer of various films; wrote and directed. He has also featured in television shows. He provided the voice of Viktor Reznov in the Call of Duty video games and appeared in music videos for artists such as David Bowie, Guns N' Roses and Annie Lennox.

1962 - Matthew Broderick (born Matthew John Broderick), American actor, comedian, and singer. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off , the voice of the adult Simba in Disney's The Lion King, and Leo Bloom in both the Broadway musical The Producers and its 2005 film adaptation. Broderick has won two Tony Awards, one for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Brighton Beach Memoirs, and one for Best Actor in a Musical for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. As of 2020, Broderick remains the youngest winner of the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In 2006, he was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and 11 years later, he earned induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Leftie:
Actor Matthew Broderick

More birthdays and historical events, March 21 - On This Day

 

Featuring: 
JS Bach's Mass in D minor  (Proms 2012)
Performers:  Joélle Harvey soprano, Carolyn Sampson soprano, Iestyn Davies counter-tenor, Ed Lyon tenor, Matthew Rose bass. Choir of the English Concert. The English Concert. Harry Bicket conductor.
Venue & Place: Royal Albert Hall 2 August 2012. (YouTube, uploaded by Manderiens. Accessed March 21, 2018.)

Historical Events

 1556 - The Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cramner, is burned at the stake as a heretic. Hundreds more Protestants were executed during the reign of "Bloody Mary," the Catholic daughter of Henry VIII.

1851 - The Yosemite Valley is discovered in California, U.S.