Showbiz History: Drew makes history on SNL and more...
Friday, November 20, 2020 at 8:00AM 6 random things that happened on this day, November 20th, in showbiz history
1982 Drew Barrymore hosts SNL in the year of E.T.'s mega-pop culture dominance. She's still the youngest host of all time. She was just 7 years old and one of the first jokes was about her famous family's alcoholism "Milk? I'm a Barrymore. Get me a drink... and make it a double!" (Julia Louis-Dreyfus was on the show back then ?!?)
1983 Terms of Endearment premieres. Wins Best Picture and Best Actress the following April with Shirley Maclaine famously quipping "this show has been as long as my career"
1987 A truly bizarre day at movie theaters when all of these films opened: Disney's Cinderella in re-release (back when they used to rotate those in theaters), Emmanuelle Beart in the American picture Date with an Angel, the adaptation of bestseller Flowers in the Attic, the Prince concert movie Sign O' the Times, the Barbra Streisand misfire Nuts, and the comedy Teen Wolf Too. None of which we covered in our 1987 retrospective for probably obvious reasons!
2002 Die Another Day, the 20th film in the James Bond series, is released in the UK (the US follows two days later in time for Thanksgiving).
2006 A sad day for TFE when we were just a toddler site. The beloved auteur Robert Altman (MASH, Nashville, Gosford Park) passed away at 81 of leukemia
2015 Adele releases her album "25" and Todd Haynes masterpiece Carol opens in limited release. Obama was still president. It was a very good day.
Today's Birthday Suit
Happy 61st to the inimitable Sean Young of Blade Runner (1982) and No Way Out (1987) fame.
Look at that suit!!! On a related note do you ever stop to fume into the void that Blade Runner's Michael Kaplan and Charles Knode didn't receive a Costume Design nomination when they should have won the damn trophy?! Literally the only group that recognized the costuming was BAFTA where it was not only nominated but won the prize. Yes, BAFTA was the only one. It wasn't even nominated for costumes at the Saturn Awards, which are meant for sci-fi!
Actors celebrating birthdays today: Sergei Polunin (31), Rhys Wakefield (32), João Vicente (33), Jeremy Jordan (36), Andrea Riseborough (39), Nadine Velazquez (42), Florian David Fitz (46), Joel McHale (49), Ming-Na Wen (57), Bo Derek (64), Veronica Hamel (77), Mie Hama (77), Dick Smothers (81), and Estelle Parsons (93) one of the oldest living Oscar nominees.
Other celebrities celebrating birthdays today: Screenwriter and Academy member Larry Karaszewski (59), Director Phil Joanou (59), and President-Elect Joe Biden (78)
Gone but not forgotten: Director HG Clouzot (Diaboliques, Quai des Orfevres) born on this day in 1907, Director Kon Ichikawa (47 Ronin) born on this day in 1915, Actress Evelyn Keyes (Gone With the Wind, Here Comes Mr Jordan) born on this day in 1916, Cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli (Bitter Moon, Once Upon a Time in America) born on this day in 1922, Musical comedy star Kaye Ballard (The Girl Most Likely, Freaky Friday) born on this day in 1925, Game show host Richard Dawson (Family Feud) born on this day in 1932, Broadway star Jan Maxwell (Follies, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) born on this day in 1956
Reader Comments (5)
Larry Karaszewski has one of the best film-related accounts on twitter... consistently fun posts and interesting film recs.
Joe Biden in the first Silent Generation president. Occasionally I wonder if Generation X will get its first president when we're all old.
Jules -- Generations can be hard to solidly define. Generation X was originally termed by Douglas Coupland, who was writing about people born in the early 1960s. Those people are now generally considered to be part of the Baby Boomer generation. Some people say babies born in 1946 were also Boomers. Do you think they feel like they're part of the same generation as those born in 1964? I was born at the end of 1979. That makes me a member of Gen X by a handful of weeks. When I talk to my cousin who was born in 1965, I don't feel like we grew up in the same generation. But we technically did. If it makes you feel any better, take consolation in the fact that Kamala Harris is close to Gen X and the man who invented the term would probably categorize her there anyway. Or imagine a 40-year-old like me who could in the next decade or two become a Gen X president.
Cash - Oh, I agree. I've thought about this a lot because my parents are in Biden's generation, and so many others have come close and failed (Dukakis, Kerry, McCain, Mondale, even people like Mario Cuomo and Gary Hart, who were once thought to be anointed "next presidents"), so it's ironic that this late in their lives, a president from such an overlooked generation, sandwiched between the Greatest Generation and the Boomers, is finally elected.
Two questions:
1) What's the "probably obvious reason" Sign O' the Times wasn't covered in the retrospective?
2) How did Florian David Fitz rate a mention in the actors celebrating birthdays list? I know he's pretty, but...
I am so thankful to have a few minutes of my day to return to a happy warm 2015 bubble of Adeles pipes, Obama’s steady hand, and Edward Lachman filming Cate Blanchett. I’m just gonna go ahead and live there a while 😍😍😍😍😍😍