Showbiz history: Glynis Johns, Dr. No, Taylour Paige, Pitch Perfect
Monday, October 5, 2020 at 9:00AM 
10 random things that happened on this day (October 5th) in showbiz history...
1923 The great Oscar nominated and Tony-winning actress Glynis Johns (Miranda, Mary Poppins, The Court Jester, The Sundowners, The Ref) born in South Africa. The picture to the left is at the Tony Awards in 1974. She turns 97 years old today. Happy birthday, Sister Suffragette! Glynis is currently the fifth oldest living Oscar nominee.
1945 A strike by set decorators turns into a riot "Blood Friday" at Warner Brothers studios. Aren't you glad Daniel's series "The Furniture" on the work of production designers and set decorators is back? I missed it so much when it went on hiatus.
1946 The very first Cannes film festival wraps up...
There was not yet a Palme D'Or (that started in 1955) but René Clément's The Battle of the Rails and Oscar favorite The Lost Weekend both won prizes.
1956 "OH MOSES, MOSES. YOU STUBBORN SPLENDID ADORABLE FOOL." Holiday perennial The Ten Commandments opens in theaters to gargantuan box office returns. When adjusted for inflation it's just a smidgeon less of a blockbuster than Titanic (1997) and a bigger success than Avatar (2009) or Avengers: Endgame (2019)
1962 THE BRITISH INVASION BEGINS. Dr No has its world premiere introducing moviegoers to Agent 007, "Bond... James Bond" On the same day the Beatles release their first record "Love Me Do"
1981 Young actors Michelle Pfeiffer (then 23) and Peter Horton (then 28) marry. Neither are famous yet but both are about to be. On this same exact day Oscar winning noir actress Gloria Grahame (who we recently discussed) dies at only 55 years of age. The movie about her last months of life, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool came out a couple of years ago.
2001 Training Day opens in theaters. It will win Denzel Washington his second Oscar a few months later ("I love my life"), the same night Sidney Poiter gets his second, an Honorary. Denzel remarks that he's always chasing Sidney.
2007 Michael Clayton premieres in theaters. Tilda Swinton goes on to win the Oscar in one of the tightest supporting actresses races Oscar has ever known. If only all years were that exciting with precursors going every which way.
2012 Pitch Perfect opens in theaters turning into a sleeper hit and making a musical star of Anna Kendrick (though some of us with eagle eyes for musical talent had already LOVED her in Camp).
2017 The New York Times investigation of the allegations against Harvey Weinstein is published sending shockwaves through showbiz.
Today's Birthday Suit
Happy 30th birthday to Hit the Floor actress/dancer Taylour Paige. Currently she's arguably most famous as Jesse Williams' girlfriend but that will soon change. This year she's the titular character in Zola (which Murtada loved at Sundance) and is part of the supporting cast of Netflix's high profile adaptation of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.
Other Actors Born on this day: Jacob Tremblay (14), Taylour Paige (30), Nathalie Kelly (36), Jessie Eisenberg (37), Song Seung-heon (44), pictured left in a suit for his birthday ;), Kate Winslet (45), Parminder Nagra (45), Guy Pearce (53), Ángela Molina (65), and Karen Allen (69)
Other Showbiz Types: Tony winner Heather Headley (46), Director Tom Hooper (48), Oscar nominated screenwriter Ron Nyswaner (64), Horror novelist Clive Barker (68), Oscar winning cinematographer John Seale (78)
Gone But Not Forgotten: Character actor John Hoyt (Spartacus, When Worlds Collide, Gimme a Break) born on this day in 1905, Oscar winning costume designer Jean Louis (Thoroughly Modern Millie, From Here to Eternity) born on this day in 1907, Oscar favourite Producer/Director Joshua Logan (Picnic, Sayonara) born on this day in 1908, Character actor Donald Pleasence (Halloween, The Great Escape) born on this day in 1919, Grease's 'Kenicki' Jeff Conaway born on this day in 1950, and comic actor Bernie Mac born on this day in 1957.
Reader Comments (7)
Aww, Glynis Johns. Can we get Disney Plus to do a "Tea with the Dames" type doc of her doing a Zoom call with Julie Andrews and Angela Lansbury? Let's hear those stories about the set of "The Court Jester".
Wait, a set decorator riot at Warner Bros. at the end of World War 2? How come I've never heard of that? And please, please don't tell Ryan Murphy. Let's get someone a bit more, um, respectful on that right away.
Anne Baxter is a queen in Ten Commandments. The best part of the film.
As an ironic side, the pandemic caused many to miss seeing Jesse Williams in his birthday suit since the Broadway play Take Me Out was postponed.
Beatlest?
Glynis looks ultra glamorous!! A very happy 97th to her and hope she has many more. Where's her damn honorary Oscar?!
@Dave in Hollywood: There was a lot of labor unrest in the mid-1940s, part of a nationwide movement against exploitation in multiple industries including oil, automobiles, meatpacking, and steel. The moguls saw their "We're all in it together" image tarnished by the strikes and it fueled their 1940s/50s red-baiting/blacklisting.
BAXTER4EVA