Showbiz History: 12 Years a Slave, Mama Rose, and More...
Monday, January 4, 2021 at 10:00AM 5 random things that happened on this day, January 4th, in history...
1853 New York born Solomon Northup regains his freedom after abduction and enslavery in 1841 in Washington DC. The abolitionist thankfully recorded his life story in the memoir 12 Years a Slave which became an instant best-seller. Over a century and a half later, the film version by the British auteur Steve McQueen deservedly won the 2013 Best Picture Oscar.
1903 A horrific end to a story of animal cruelty and a shameful event in the then nascent film-industry, too. Topsy, a 27 or so year-old elephant, who was ripped from her family as a baby in Southeast Asia and never adjusted well to life in the America circus, is famously electrocuted in Coney Island...
The event is filmed (for profit). Contrary to many reports the electrocution had nothing to do with The Current War which had already ended by that time.
1975 The first Broadway revival of Gypsy closes after just 120 performances. Nevertheless come Tony time that summer, Angela Lansbury wins her third statue. Here's a bit of trivia for you: Gypsy has been on Broadway five times and every opening-night Rose has been Tony nominated: Ethel Merman ('59), Angela Lansbury ('74), Tyne Daly ('89), Bernadette Peters ('03), and Patti Lupone ('08). But get this -- of the two that lost the Best Actress Tony one of them was the original Rose, Ethel Merman! My favourite Rose ever is Imelda Staunton though her show sadly didn't transfer from the West End... we guess that's because there'd already been two revivals of Gypsy in the Aughts and she was doing it in 2014 so not much time had passed.
1984 Eighties sitcom mainstay Night Court premieres on NBC as a mid-season replacement and would run for nine seasons. Emmy voters would mostly ignore its first short season (2 craft nominations and Supporting Actress nomination for Paula Kelly) but for seasons two through five they loved it with three nominations in Comedy Series and four consecutive trophies for John Larroquette in Supporting Actor. Emmy voters would mostly ignore the series from season six onward.
2007 Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female Speaker of the House, and the closest in line of succession that any woman has been to the Presidency. Until Kamala Harris later this month of course. Provided the seditious Republican party isn't successful in their attempts to overthrow Democracy this month.
Today's Birthday Suit
Happy 63rd to Julian Sands who was flaunting his body constantly in 1980s and 1990s movies.
Lightning is the fundamental force of the universe, the ether, the spirit!
He's still working consistently nearly 40 years into his screen career partially because he seems to be entirely unprecious about what kind of films he'll appear in. He's always alternated between artful costume dramas and B genre movies (or sometimes both simultaneously as in Ken Russell's insane Gothic, 1986, pictured above). Sands was recently in Crooked House with Glenn Close, and the Czech Oscar finalist The Painted Bird. Next up are two horror films Death Rider in the House of Vampires and The Ghosts of Borley Rectory.
Dyan Cannon in one of our all time favourite movies "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice"Other showbiz people celebrating birthdays today:
Delightful Oscar nominee Dyan Cannon (Heaven Can Wait, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice), wonderfully talented German actor August Diehl (A Hidden Life, Inglourious Basterds), brilliant Emmy nominee D'Arcy Carden (The Good Place), Oscar and Emmy nominated screenwriter Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich, Unbelievable).
Plus: Dafne Keen (Logan), June Diane Raphael (Grace & Frankie, Long Shot), Julia Ormond (Sabrina), Michelle Mylette (Letterkenny), Graham McTavish (Outlander, The Hobbit), Matt Frewer (Max Headroom, Altered Carbon), Emma Mackey (Sex Education), Ann Magnuson (The Hunger), Dave Foley (Kids in the Hall), Kerry Condon (Rome, Better Call Saul), Jaeden Martell (St Vincent, It), Sterling Holloway (the voice of Winnie the Pooh), director Harmony Korine (Spring Breakers, Gummo), Dot Marie-Jones (Glee), French-Israeli star Yvan Attal (My Wife is an Actress, Munich) who is also Charlotte Gainsbourg's longtime partner, Spanish writer/director Carlos Saura (Cria Cuervos, Carmen), Lee Currerri (Fame), and Vanity of "Vanity 6" Prince-adjacent fame.
Reader Comments (14)
FYI- Night Court is being revived for 2021 with John Laroquette
Dyan Cannon was my favorite thing in Heaven Can Wait. Even her costumes and the art direction of her bedroom were better than the rest of the movie around her. And the rest of it was pretty good!
Cannon was the Cameron Diaz of her time so beautiful but with a comediennes chops.
I feel like 13 YEARS A SLAVE is so important because it seems like one of the ONLY films (certainly one of the first) that shows what a hellscape the Antebellum South was. After years of films like GONE WITH THE WIND, JEZEBEL, ZENOBIA, that one hits like a bucket of cold water in the face.
Without question, my favorite Mama Rose is the magnificent Tyne Daly. She was breathtaking.
I am still bitter that CBS adapted the show for television after her successful, Tony winning run ended and cast Bette Midler in the role. I love Bette but she was not up to replacing Tyne!
Dyan Cannon - owner of the world's all-time great laugh
Dyan Cannon has the most gloriously midcentury name.
The cruel electrocution of Topsy was also a showcase of early cinema. The actualité of that horrific act can be viewed at the online site of the Library of Congress. I don't think I'll want to watch it again though.
Julian Sands also appeared in the controversial Boxing Helena with Sherilyn Fenn. That film must have a cult following among midnight-theater cinephiles.
I saw the 'Gypsy' production on Broadway directed by Sam Mendes with Bernadette Peters as Mama Rose. I like the bare bones staging and that choreography that transitioned Baby and Dainty June into June and Louise. Tammy Blanchard was wonderful as Gypsy Rose Lee. I wasn't a fan of Bernadette Peters; she must have had an off-night and her cutesy acting did not work for me at all. I guess like the lyric goes: "you either got it, or you ain't".
1978 Best Supporting Actress was a killer line-up. Dyan was never better, but oh that competition. I wish he had been utilized a little better, but I bet she had a fun life.
I never saw them do it of course, but I imagine Angela and Tyne would have been my favorites of the Mama Roses. I bet there are many more great ones to come.
Patti LuPone was a perfect fit for Mama Rose, and if that ends up being the only one I got to experience live, I‘m okay with that. (I think I’ve seen or heard recordings of eight Gypsys, including the Russell and Midler versions.)
If I had a body like Julian Sands I would be naked on screen too
I love Gypsy! It's my favorite stage musical and I have great affection for the Roz Russell/Natalie Wood film and the Bette Midler TV movie. It's true the Angela Lansbury production only ran for 120 performances on Broadway but it was the culmination of the revival's run with her in the lead that started in London the year before and then Angela had toured the States and Canada with it for 6 months before arriving on the Great White Way.
I saw the Bernadette Peters production and it was good but while she gave it her best I never felt that Bernadette was temperamentally right for Madame Rose.
What is a real pity is that right after her huge breakthrough in Funny Girl Barbra Streisand was offered the opportunity to do Gypsy on stage and turned it down for the double reason of feeling she was too young (she wasn't really) and that she didn't like the repetition of appearing in a play for months at a time, plus Hollywood was calling. She would have been phenomenal and considering she waited too long to get to the property and now is too old for it makes it even more of a disappointment.
Saw a recording of Imelda Staunton's performance and she was indeed fantastic.
LOVE Dyan Cannon-love her laugh, love her comic timing, love her sense of humor....hate what she has done to her face. She's nearly unrecognizable. It was always a pleasure to see her name turn up in the credits. My faves of her films-The Last of Sheila, Heaven Can Wait and the TV movie Having It All.
I do love Dyan Cannon and I appreciate the fact that she is a loyal Lakers fan. I maybe an Atlanta Hawks fan but I always preferred the Lakers over the Boston Celtics. At least they're not the New York Knicks.
As a teen student learning about cultures and literature arts, Orwell's novel "12 Years A Slave" left an indelible impression on me. The raw portrayal of Solomon Northup's harrowing journey from freedom to enslavement unveiled the brutality and dehumanization of slavery. On https://edubirdie.com/examples/12-years-a-slave/ I found samples that helped me form deep reflections. So I wanna say that Orwell's vivid storytelling invoked empathy, igniting a fervent desire for justice and a deep appreciation for the resilience of the human spirit.