Today is my birthday! Wish me well. Or better yet, donate to the site (see right hand sidebar) to keep it healthy. That's my only birthday request since I have a roof over my head and food in the fridge and friends to have weekend activities with and really that's the important stuff in the grand scheme of things so I'm hashtag blessed... without the icky religious connotations! My only church is the cinema.
Anyway, here's what was happening in showbiz history on June 6th throughout the years!
1933 The first ever drive-in movie theater (location: Camden, New Jersey) opened starting a popular but now essentially lost tradition.
1944 D-Day a World War II and inspiration for many filmmakers since.
1950 Director Chantal Akerman born in Belgium
1954 Multiple Tony winner and queer icon Harvey Fierstein is born in Brooklyn. I love that one of my heroes shares my special day. Credits include Torch Song Trilogy, La Cage Aux Folles, Hairspray, and more...
Most of his plays have been made into movies with the exception of Casa de Valentina which would make a good one, I think. Sadly I can't see it happening as it would likely be ripped to shreds in the media. It's a period drama about cross-dressing men but it's neither a trans nor a gay drama, really, which would totally confuse people. And we all know that people have a really hard time lately separating modern understanding of identity, sexuality, and gender from the historical context of period pieces.
1955 Comedienne/actress/singer Sandra Bernhard born. She should've been Oscar nominated for terrorizing Jerry Lewis in King of Comedy (1983) and should be worshipped in perpetuity for her magnum opus one-woman show Without You I'm Nothing.
1962 Hirokazu Koreeda born in Tokyo. He just won the Palme d'Or for Shoplifters (2017). Past classics include Nobody Knows (2004) and Like Father Like Son (2013)
1963 Wonderful British actor Jason Isaacs is born.
1974 Herbie Rides Again speeds into theaters, the second film in Disney's franchise about a sentient Volkswagen Beetle (commonly referred to in the 70s as "lovebugs"). Remember when they tried to resurrect that franchise via Lindsay Lohan's brief teen stardom?
← 1978 Damien: Omen II supposedly arrived on June 6th in movie theaters though that was a Tuesday in '78 so I'm not sure that it's true! At any rate the world premiere was the day before in Chicago. For those who don't know Damien's birthday was June 6th, 1966 within the film series so this installment was about a 12 year-old Antichrist. Little Nathaniel will eventually watch this very movie on late night television in the 1980s and absolutely freak out because his birthday is also June 6th and he will have trouble sleeping for days afterwards. Yes, yes, today is my birthday. I've said. Don't make too much of a fuss.
1980 Urban Cowboy starring John Travolta and Debra Winger opens in theaters. Interesting trivia note that I didn't know until I was typing this post: the movie was choreographed by Patsy Swayze, Patrick's mother (!). Patrick had just made his own movie debut the year prior in Skatetown USA .
1982 The 36th annual Tony Awards are held at the Imperial Theater. Nine is named Best Musical and The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby wins Best play. Jennifer Holliday wins Best Actress in a Musical for Dreamgirls and Amanda Plummer Best Featured Actress in a Play for Agnes of God. Both of those roles will go on to be Oscar players via Jennifer Hudson and Meg Tilly in the eventual film versions. And Nine gets a film version, too, though it takes 27 years to happen and people don't really like it when it does.
2001 Swordfish hits theaters (semi-forgotton now in the Jackman and Berry filmographies) and audiences learn that Halle Berry was paid an extra half a million to expose her breasts! It was a HUGE year for Halle since Monster's Ball arrived on the coasts the day after Christmas and pretty soon she'd be locking lips with Adrien Brody while holding an Oscar.
2003 Whale Rider arrives in theaters in limited release. It's only June and people really like it but did anybody imagine right then that 13 year old Keisha Castle-Hughes would be Oscar nominated at year's end? I can't recall but I don't think so. 2003 was a very strange Best Actress journey!
2008 Happy 10th anniversary to Kung Fu Panda, released on this day, and the first sign that Dreamworks Animation could actually do fine and not wholly obnoxious work.
Okay that's all for today. Happy birthday to any of you who share this special day with Harvey, Jason, Sandra, and me! Here is a gif of Natalie Wood blowing out birthday candles just because!