6 random things that happened on this day (Nov 25th) in showbiz history...
1932 Claudette Colbert infamously bathes in milk in Cecil B DeMille's The Sign of the Cross, new in theaters.
1947 The Hollywood Blacklist begins, denying employment to those with perceived Communist ties or sympathies. This period has haunted ever self-reflecting Hollywood since as witness in Trumbo, The Way We Were, Guilty by Suspicion, Good Night and Good Luck, and numerous other movies.
1984 Bob Geldolf's blockbuster charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" recorded in London...
The song featured a who's who of British pop stars of the time singing the chorus with Sting, Bono, Boy George, Paul Young, and George Michael on lead vocals. (Its success will help inspire the American blockbuster charity single "We are the World" which will be brainstormed by activist and world treasure Harry Belafonte and be recorded just two months later!)
1992 Aladdin and The Bodyguard both open wide in movie theaters, the day before Thanksgiving and become ginormous hits, before battling it out for Best Original Song at the Oscars with "Friend Like Me" and "A Whole New World" versus "I Have Nothing" and "Run To You." "A Whole New World" wins as Disney theme songs tend to. (I was rooting for "I Have Nothing")
1995 Whitney Houston's "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" from the hit movie Waiting to Exhale hits #1 on the Hot 100. The song is nominated at the MTV Movie Awards and the Grammy Awards but not the Oscar.
2013 The soundtrack to Frozen is released, eventually going triple platinum, winning Grammy's Best Soundtrack, Billboard's Album of the Year, and Oscar's Best Original Song for "Let it Go".
Unfortunately that charming movie musical also became a terrible stage musical.
Today's Birthday Suit
Best Actor César and Lumiere winner Gaspard Ulliel (Saint Laurent, It's Only the End of the World, A Very Long Engagement). 100% Not Safe for Work... do you think that scene (among others) is why Oscar didn't bite for Saint Laurent for Best Foreign Film in 2014? I only bring this one up because I talked to him about that scene. I dont know what possessed me.
More Celebrity Birthdays
Oscar Winners: None
Oscar Nominees: Cinematographer Stephen H Burum (Hoffa)
Actors: Christina Applegate, Katie Cassidy, Kathryn Grant, Jill Hennessey, Jeffrey Hunt, Joel Kinnaman, John Laroquette, Ricardo Montalban, Dougray Scott, and Amy Seimetz
Showbiz Peeps: Writer Chris Claremont, Athlete Joe DiMaggio, Comic Cole Escola, Writer Mark Frost, Singer Amy Grant, Writer Charlaine Harris, Director Jonathan Kaplan, Heir Elect John F Kennedy Jr, Singer Percy Sledge, and Makeup artist Robert Kurtzman.