Birthdays
1516 - Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. After the death of her half-bother, Edward VI, she's next in line to become queen of England and Ireland. Referred to as "Bloody Mary," she's a devout Catholic. Her struggle between her equally ruthless sister Elizabeth tears the realm apart in religious war. Although she's married to Philip II of Spain, she has no heirs, paving the way for her sister to come to power.
1741 - André (Ernest Modeste) Grétry, French opera composer, famous for his opéras comiques. He was from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, Belgium, who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous for his opéras. (Two operas, in French language (apology to my English-speaking readers, I can't find videos in English: Zémire et Azor (André Modeste Grétry). Uploaded by Opéra royal de Wallonie. Guillaume Tell by A.M.Grétry. Uploaded by Dynamic Opera and Classical Music. Both videos accessed February 8, 2020. Note: The legend of the Swiss national hero William Tell has not been that popular a subject with opera composers. Lovers of music probably only remember Gioachino Rossini's famous Guillaume Tell. However, it's not the only one that revolves around the famous archer's legend, having been preceded, thirty-eight years earlier, by this one composed in 1791 by the Belgian composer André-Modeste Grétry for Paris's Comédie Italienne. Grétry's Guillaume Tell was revived in June 2013 at Liège's Opéra Royal de Wallonie to celebrate the bicentenary of the composer's death in 1813.)
1828 - Jules Verne, French novelist, poet, and playwright. Initially trained to follow in his father's footsteps as a lawyer, he quit the profession early in life to write for magazines and the stage. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the Voyages extraordinaires, a widely popular series of scrupulously researched adventure novels including Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873).
1851 - Kate O'Flaherty Chopin (born Katherine O'Flaherty), American author of short stories and novels based in Louisiana. She is considered by scholars to have been a forerunner of American 20th-century feminist authors of Southern or Catholic background, such as Zelda Fitzgerald, and is one of the most frequently read and recognized writers of Louisiana Creole heritage. Her major works were two short story collections: Bayou Folk and A Night in Acadie. Her important short stories included "Désirée's Baby", a tale of miscegenation in antebellum Louisiana and "The Storm" among others. "The Storm" is a sequel to "At the Cadian Ball," which appeared in her first collection of short stories, Bayou Folk. Chopin also wrote two novels: At Fault and The Awakening, which are set in New Orleans and Grand Isle, respectively. Chopin was widely recognized as one of the leading writers of her time.
1921 - Lana Turner (born Julia Jean Turner), American actress. In the mid-1940s, she was one of the highest-paid actresses in the United States, and one of MGM's biggest stars, with her films earning more than $50 million during her 18-year contract with them. Frequently cited as a popular culture icon of Hollywood glamour and a screen legend of classical Hollywood cinema, Turner's reputation as a glamorous femme fatale was enhanced by her critically acclaimed performance in the noir The Postman Always Rings Twice, a role which established her as a serious dramatic actress. Her popularity continued in dramas such as The Bad and the Beautiful and Peyton Place, the latter for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. Her film, Imitation of Life, was one of the greatest commercial successes of her career, and her final starring role in Madame X earned her a David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actress.
1925 - Jack Lemmon (born John Uhler Lemmon III), American actor, film director, and musician who was nominated for an Academy Award eight times, winning twice. He starred in over 60 films, such as Mister Roberts (1955, for which he won the year's Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Days of Wine and Roses, Irma la Douce, The Great Race, The Odd Couple, and its sequel The Odd Couple II, (both with frequent co-star Walter Matthau), Save the Tiger, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, The China Syndrome, Missing, Long Day's Journey into Night, for which he won a Golden Globe, and Glengarry Glen Ross.
1931 - James Byron Dean, American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause, in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were loner Cal Trask in East of Eden and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in Giant. After his death in a car crash, Dean became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the 18th best male movie star of Golden Age Hollywood in AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list.
1932 - John Williams, American composer, conductor, and pianist, famous for film music. His career spans over six decades, composing some of the most popular and critically acclaimed film scores in cinematic history, including those of the Star Wars series, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the Indiana Jones series, the first two Home Alone films, Hook, the first two Jurassic Park films, Schindler's List, and the first three Harry Potter films, and more... Williams has been associated with director Steven Spielberg since 1974, composing music for all but three of his feature films. (Best Star Wars Music by John Williams. (10 hours). Uploaded by Dualme. Accessed February 8, 2019.
1938 - Elisabeth Sara "Elly" Ameling, Dutch soprano, known mainly as a concert and lieder singer with some excursions into opera, and became world-renowned for her recitals of French and German songs and for her superlative interpretive gifts. Listen to her sing Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs (complete with text). Live in 1982, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Sawallisch conducting. The songs are "Frühling" (Spring), "September", "Beim Schlafengehen" (When Falling Asleep) and "Im Abendrot" (At Sunset). The title 'Four Last Songs' was provided posthumously by Strauss's friend Ernst Roth, who published the four songs as a single unit in 1950 after Strauss's death in September 1949. (Play List - Elly Ameling. Youtube, accessed February 8, 2022.)
1941 - Nick Nolte (born Nicholas King Nolte), American actor, producer, author, and former model. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1991 film The Prince of Tides. He went on to receive Academy Award nominations for Affliction and Warrior. Numerous films followed. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy for his role in the TV series Graves.
1931 - James Byron Dean, American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause, in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were loner Cal Trask in East of Eden and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in Giant. After his death in a car crash, Dean became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the 18th best male movie star of Golden Age Hollywood in AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list.
1932 - John Williams, American composer, conductor, and pianist, famous for film music. His career spans over six decades, composing some of the most popular and critically acclaimed film scores in cinematic history, including those of the Star Wars series, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the Indiana Jones series, the first two Home Alone films, Hook, the first two Jurassic Park films, Schindler's List, and the first three Harry Potter films, and more... Williams has been associated with director Steven Spielberg since 1974, composing music for all but three of his feature films. (Best Star Wars Music by John Williams. (10 hours). Uploaded by Dualme. Accessed February 8, 2019.
1938 - Elisabeth Sara "Elly" Ameling, Dutch soprano, known mainly as a concert and lieder singer with some excursions into opera, and became world-renowned for her recitals of French and German songs and for her superlative interpretive gifts. Listen to her sing Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs (complete with text). Live in 1982, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Sawallisch conducting. The songs are "Frühling" (Spring), "September", "Beim Schlafengehen" (When Falling Asleep) and "Im Abendrot" (At Sunset). The title 'Four Last Songs' was provided posthumously by Strauss's friend Ernst Roth, who published the four songs as a single unit in 1950 after Strauss's death in September 1949. (Play List - Elly Ameling. Youtube, accessed February 8, 2022.)
1941 - Nick Nolte (born Nicholas King Nolte), American actor, producer, author, and former model. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1991 film The Prince of Tides. He went on to receive Academy Award nominations for Affliction and Warrior. Numerous films followed. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy for his role in the TV series Graves.
1955 - John Ray Grisham, Jr., American novelist, attorney, politician, and activist, best known for his popular legal thrillers. His books have been translated into 42 languages and published worldwide. His first novel, A Time to Kill, was published in June 1989, four years after he began writing it. According to Academy of Achievement his books have sold 300 million copies and he has written 28 consecutive number one bestsellers. A Galaxy British Book Awards winner, Grisham is one of only three authors to sell two million copies on a first printing, the other two being Tom Clancy and J. K. Rowling. Grisham's first bestseller, The Firm, sold more than seven million copies. The book was adapted into a 1993 feature film of the same name, and a 2012 TV series which continues the story ten years after the events of the film and novel. His other novels have also been adapted into films.
Lefties:
None known
More birthdays today, 8 February - On This Day.
John Williams broke through to win his first Academy Award for his film score in the 1971 film Fiddler on the Roof. Below are excerpts from the movie sound track, conducted by John Williams with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl - September 2, 2006.
1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots, is beheaded, accused of plotting against her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England.
1874 - Modest Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov is first staged at the Imperial Opera House in St. Petersburg.
1904 - Jean Sibelius's Violin Concerto is first performed in Helsinki, Finalnd.
1924 - The first state of execution in the U.S. using gas takes place in Nevada State Prison.
1969 - Just after midnight, a large meteorite scatters several tons of material over a massive area of Chihuahua, Mexico. Named after the closest village, Allende, the meteorite is dated at 4.5 billion years old.
1998 - Female ice hockey is played in the Olympics for the first time.
John Williams broke through to win his first Academy Award for his film score in the 1971 film Fiddler on the Roof. Below are excerpts from the movie sound track, conducted by John Williams with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl - September 2, 2006.
Historical Events
1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots, is beheaded, accused of plotting against her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England.
1874 - Modest Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov is first staged at the Imperial Opera House in St. Petersburg.
1904 - Jean Sibelius's Violin Concerto is first performed in Helsinki, Finalnd.
1924 - The first state of execution in the U.S. using gas takes place in Nevada State Prison.
1969 - Just after midnight, a large meteorite scatters several tons of material over a massive area of Chihuahua, Mexico. Named after the closest village, Allende, the meteorite is dated at 4.5 billion years old.
1998 - Female ice hockey is played in the Olympics for the first time.
Video Credit:
John Williams - Excerpts from Fiddler on the Roof (Bock.) YouTube, uploaded by Green Tleaf. Accessed February 8, 2017.
Resources:
1. Asiado, Tel. The World's Movers and Shapers. New Hampshire: Ore Mountain Publishing House (2005)
2. Britannica. www.britannica.com
3. Chambers Biographical Dictionary, 19th Ed. London: Chambers Harrap, 2011
4. Dateline. Sydney: Millennium House, (2006)
5. Grun, Bernard. The Timetables of History, New 3rd Revised Ed. Simon & Schuster/Touchstone (1991)
6. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org
3. Chambers Biographical Dictionary, 19th Ed. London: Chambers Harrap, 2011
4. Dateline. Sydney: Millennium House, (2006)
5. Grun, Bernard. The Timetables of History, New 3rd Revised Ed. Simon & Schuster/Touchstone (1991)
6. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org
(c) June 2007. Updated February 8, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
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