Beauty Break: Born on New Year's Day
Friday, January 1, 2021 at 1:00PM No "showbiz history" today but, as with Christmas, how strange would it be to have your birthday fall directly on a holiday. Some of you know out there. Do tell in the comments. It must be especially weird to be a New Year's Day baby since people pack so much importance on to this day as a fresh start. And here comes a long a baby with a literal fresh start on everyone's collective fresh start day.
Here are a dozen showbiz beauties born on this day...
Happy 20th birthday to Angourie Rice, Betty in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Holly in The Nice Guys and Jane in The Beguiled. Next up is the Kate Winslet led HBO Miniseries Mare of Easttown, where she plays Winslet's daughter.
Happy 30th to Nymphomaniac Vol 1 star Stacy Martin. Other film credits include High-Rise, All the Money in the World. Next up for Martin is The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, a biopic starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy.
Happy 32nd to out French queen Adèle Haenel of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Love at First Fight, and BPM fame. Next up for Haenel: Unknown but she's just reached a new level of international fame ...*crosses fingers for something great*
Happy 35th to stage and TV star Colin Morgan born on this day in Ireland. Credits include TV series The Fall, Humans, and the titular role in Merlin, and his most recent stage work was the National Theater's All My Sons with Bill Pullman and Sally Field.
Happy 36th to Bollywood's Akshay Oberoi (Piku, Junglee) born on this day in New Jersey. We appreciate the creative way he gets his shirt off in the "Live Out Loud" musical number in In This Life (2010). He can currently be seen in Chote Nawab (2020).
Happy 42nd to Norwegian star Anders Danielsen Lie of Reprise, 22 July, Rodin, and Oslo August 31st fame. Next up for Lie is the Norwegian Holocaust epic, Den største forbrytelsen, and Mia Hansen-Løve's Bergman Island about American filmmakers (Mia Wasikowskaw & Tim Roth) travelling to Sweden for a summer as a pilgrimage to the place that inspired Ingmar Bergman.
Happy 52nd to Morris Chestnut who made his debut in the seminal Boyz n the Hood (1991). Other credits include: G.I. Jane, Identity Thief, Girls Trip and series regular gigs on Nurse Jackie, Rosewood and more. Next up for Chestnut: Season 4 of The Resident.
Happy 57th to Michelle's little sister Dedee Pfeiffer born on this day in Midway City, California. She's currently a regular on her brother in law David E Kelley's new procedural series on ABC, Big Sky playing assistant to the lead detective Ryan Phillipe.
Happy 65th birthday to Kôji Yakusho born on this day in 1956 Japan. You haven't lived until you've seen his movie star food-fetish love-making in Tampopo (1985). And it wasn't his only international hit. He also headlined Shall We Dance? in the 1990s and has basically never stopped working in the cinema since 1979. Next up for Koji: a leading role in Under the Open Sky (2021) which opens in Japan in February about a former yakuza struggling to adapt to life after a long prison sentence.
Happy 82nd birthday to Michèle Mercier (Shoot the Pianist) who became a popular sex symbol of the 1960s with the film series centered around Angelique (1964-1968) a role for which basically every French speaking famous beauty of he time was considered (including Bardot, Deneuve and Fonda.)
Happy 83rd to four-time Tony winner and Oscar nominee Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) born on this day in Bayonne, New Jersey. Other film and TV credits include Dairy of a Mad Housewife (debut), the titular Dracula, Skeletor in Masters of the Universe, and The Americans. He's currently the evil partisan judge in The Trial of the Chicago 7 on Netflix.
Gone but not forgotten...
Actress Carole Landis born on this day in 1919 Wisconsin, was a bit contract player until she got attention for her considerable beauty via sexy outfits in One Million BC (1940) at the age of 21. Her fame began to rise and you can watch as her name gets higher on movie posters through the early 1940s in films like Topper Returns, Road Show, Hot Spot (also known as I Wake Up Screaming), and Manila Calling Her last two films were leading roles, Brass Monkey and The Silk Noose (1948) but released after her death. She sadly committed suicide at the age of 29.
Finally...
Film star Dana Andrews was born on this day in 1909 in Mississippi. Though the everyman rough handsome star gave an Oscar worthy performance in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) as a shellshocked army vet and was memorable in many other films like Laura, The Westerner, Zero Hour, and The Ox-Bow Incident, he was never really recognized for his talent, apart from getting work (the best recognition, actually) except for one industry prize "Most Cooperative Actor" from the Golden Apple Awards. He later served as SAG President for two years. He died in 1992.
Reader Comments (13)
I don't know about the others, but Angourie Rice actually turns 20 and Frank Langella 83.
I don't know what it's like to be born on a real holiday but my RAF Dad always resented the fact I was born on Battle of Britain day and was reason for him missing the mess function.
Getting some Elizabeth Montgomery vibes off that Angourie Rice photo. Maybe it’s time to do a proper “Bewitched” reboot? Just find a pair of brunette twins in their 20s to play the Darrins.
Born in St. Patrick's day and not a drinker, fun to watch people drinking and celebrating to imagine it is for me.
KC -- love that story. that's fun.
Paul -- omg. i was doing 2020 math. figures as a way to start the new year off right. lol. fixed.
brevity -- i can totally see it.
BJT -- aww.
I could just sit here and stare at Adele for hours...
We'll forgive you no Showbiz History for today. Still shaking my head how you almost fucking axed a TFE lynchpin.
I am a Christmas Eve baby, but I'm happy to share it. Family and Friends are together, there is Magic in the air, and there is, hopefully, Peace on Earth. I love my birthday.
Fine collection though I'm not familiar with all of them.
Carole Landis was a complex, troubled knockout who could be a fine comedienne and a sultry femme fatale. Her messy private life (she racked up five marriages and four divorces-she was estranged from her last husband at the time of her death-and many other romantic entanglements between the ages of 15 and 29) got in the way of her achieving more in her career. She was also a tireless volunteer during WWII touring army camps throughout the world covering more miles than any other actress. It came at a price though at some point she contracted a form of chronic malaria which plagued her throughout the remainder of her life.
Dana Andrews had to deal with that weird stigma of the consistently excellent like Myrna Loy, Ida Lupino, Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett. He was always so good his skill was taken for granted and he never received his deserved acknowledgement.
Other notable lookers born today: the wonderful and quirky Chloe Webb, Jonas Armstrong-probably best known for playing Robin Hood in the British series. And the expansive Viveca Lindfors.
The Dedee Pfeiffer blurb is clearly written by someone that does not watch Big Sky.
i was born on olivia newton-john's birthday, which i've long contended should be a holiday here in australia
par -- i totally concur!
John -- i confess i haven't watched it. Dont have cable so only get streaming. what is wrong? i read a synopsis and looked up what her role is but happy to correct.