6 random things that happened on this day, December 14th, in showbiz history
1916 Shirley Jackson, the famed horror writer, was born on this day. Shirley, the artful biopic (of sorts) starring Elisabeth Moss, celebrated her earlier this year. You really should queue it up if you haven't yet seen it.
1945 National Velvet hit movie theaters 75 years ago on this very day, making a major star of 13 year-old Elizabeth Taylor. Unlike many a child star, her stardom would never dim but grow blindingly year by year...
1979 A big weekend in movie theater. Steven Spielberg's war comedy 1941, the Neil Simon / Marsha Mason romantic drama Chapter Two, and Steve Martin's oft-quoted hit comedy The Jerk all opened in movie theaters on this day.
1983 Silkwood opens in limited release. It's among the best films of the 80s and arguably Meryl Streep's best film. Curiously it landed in the dread "sixth spot" with Oscar voters, somehow not landing a Best Picture nod. Terms of Endearment, Tender Mercies, The Big Chill, The Dresser, and The Right Stuff were the Academy's choices but if you ask us, none stand up to Silkwood.
1984 A volatile movie weekend begins. David Lynch's Dune and Francis Coppola's The Cotton Club two very expensive productions get a semi-cold opening weekend reception from critics and audiences, tanking their big blockbuster and/or Oscar winning dreams. Meanwhile the then low profile sci-fi drama Starman starring Jeff Bridges proves a sleeper hit and wins Bridges a Best Actor nomination (a rarity for sci-fi films). In limited release, the gay priest drama Mass Appeal and future Oscar contender A Passage to India emerge.
2018 Two Oscar-winners emerge on this day in movie theaters: Best Animated Feature winner Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse and Best Supporting Actress winner If Beale Street Could Talk. Were you at either of them that weekend? Doesn't it seem like Untitled Spider-Man 3 starring Tom Holland is just going to be a remake of Into the Spider-Verse since so many actors from the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield Spider-Man movies recreating their roles?
Today's Birthday (Swim) Suit
Today would have been Oscar-nominated Lee Remick's 85th birthday. She died far too young at just 55 but left us with several classics like Anatomy of a Murder, Wild River, The Omen, Days of Wine and Roses, and A Face in the Crowd.
Other showbiz types born on this day - a selection: The very talent Swedish-Georgian director Levan Akin (And Then We Danced), Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel (Zama, The Holy Girl), freshly-minted Oscar winner Matthew A Cherry (Hair Love), Vanessa Hudgens (Spring Breakers, High School Musical), Natascha McElhone (Laurel Canyon, Californication), Jackson Rathbone (The Last Airbender, The Twilight Saga), Michaela Watkins (The Unicorn, Transparent), 80s star Dee Wallace (E.T., Cujo), Miranda Hart (Spy, Call the Midwife), Tony nominee and Emmy winner Tammy Blanchard (Life with Judy Garland, Rabbit Hole), Oscar winner Patty Duke (The Miracle Worker), Matthew McNulty (The Terror, Deadwater Fell), Character actress Celia Weston (Junebug, Observe and Report), and Oscar nominee Dan Dailey (When My Baby Smiles at Me)