Jean Cocteau and Edith Piaf10 random things that happened on this day, October 11th, in showbiz history...
1918 Happy Centennial to Broadway giant and choreographer Jerome Robbins who won a well deserved Oscar for his genius contributions to West Side Story (1961) which we've just discussed at length (in case any of you missed it).
1944 Classic noir Laura, nominated for 5 Oscars, hits movie theaters.
1963 Influential queer artist and filmmaker Jean Cocteau (of the sublime Beauty and the Beast fame) dies, just one day after his friend Edith Piaf. Some myths say it was upon the news of her death that his heart failed him.
1968 Happy 50th to the still-somehow-underrated, Tony-winning but Emmy-less Jane Krakowski born on this day to bless us all with her absurdly genius musical comedy gifts.
1975 Saturday Night Live premieres on NBC with George Carlin as host. Gilda Radner was the first one cast. Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman and Garrett Morris completing the main first season cast. The show just began its 44th season.
1983 Lionel Richie's album "Can't Slow Down" drops. With Grammy's very convoluted eligibility frames it somehow wins Album of the Year for 1985 despite being up against four totally inspired classic albums: "She's So Unusual" by Cyndi Lauper, "Purple Rain" by Prince, "Born in the USA" by Bruce Springsteen and "Private Dancer" by Tina Turner
1988 The first National Coming Out Day is held. Back then there were precious few out queer celebrities. Now we have a ton of them so thanks to all the brave souls who paved the way for the current generation.
2002 White Oleander opens in movie theaters with Michelle Pfeiffer giving one of her all time greatest performances as the sociopathic artist Ingrid Magnussen, whose daughter is forced into foster care when she's imprisoned. To both the Globes and Academy's disgrace she goes unnominated come awards ceremonies but at least SAG came through with a much-deserved nomination. She should've won the Oscar that year and she wasn't even nominated. Grrrr.
2009 Happy 9th anniversary to Christina Hendricks and Geoffrey Arendt, married on this day.
2013 Captain Phillips opens in theaters, goes on to become a big hit and receive 6 nominations and to this day we're still horrified that Tom Hanks wasn't among those nominations.
Celebrity Birthdays Today
Oscar Winners: Director Jerome Robbins (West Side Story)
Oscar Nominees: Actress Joan Cusack (In & Out, Working Girl), Documentarian Brett Morgen (On the Ropes)
Actors: Amitabh Bachchan, Donna Bae, Kim Byeong-ok, Emily Deschanel, Brandon Flynn, Dawn French, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Kane Kosugi, Lennie James, David Morse, Stephen Moyer, Luke Perry, Ciro Petrone, Stephen Spinella, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Constance Zimmer.
Other Showbiz Peeps: Director Hany Abu-Assad, Singer Cardi B, Singer Daryl Hall, Director Justin Lin, Singer MC Lyte, Writer Elmore Leonard,
Today's Birthday Suit:
Matt Bomer - aww, remember how good he was in The Normal Heart? Still so sad I didn't get to see him in Boys in the Band on Broadway. Did any of you? oh and HAPPY NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY FELLOW QUEERS AND ALLIES.
