Top 10 March 30 Birthdays

van Gogh painted several self-portraits.

This is the only photograph I could find of him.

10. March 30, 1811: Robert Bunsen. The German chemist discovered the elements cesium and rubidium, and invented the Bunsen burner.

9. March 30, 1880: Seán O'Casey. Ireland's struggle for independence inspired him to write about the man on the street in his native Dublin, and he became the Republic of Ireland's greatest playwright. He should not be confused with Cincinnati Reds star Sean Casey.

8. March 30, 1937: Warren Beatty. The jokes about his overactive love-life seemed to end with meeting Annette Bening on the set of Bugsy (which he also produced). Before that, not only did he lead Cher to say, "Warren has probably been with everybody I know," but he'd starred in, among others, Splendor in the Grass, Bonnie and Clyde (also producing it), McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Shampoo (also co-writing it), Heaven Can Wait (also writing, producing and directing it), and Reds (also writing, producing and directing it).

Despite a disastrous 1990 film version, which he also produced and directed, he still holds the film rights to the comic strip character Dick Tracy, and refuses to sell them. During the film, his version of Tracy slaps around a criminal played by Dustin Hoffman. I remember thinking, "Sure, Warren: It was Dustin's fault that Ishtar flopped!" 

Honorable Mention: March 30, 1929: Richard Dysart. He's best known for playing law firm head Leland McKenzie on L.A. Law. Well before that show, and during its run, he did commercials for Bayer aspirin. I remember seeing one with my father, and Dad said, "He's not a doctor, but he plays a lawyer on TV."

Honorable Mention: March 30, 1930: John Astin. He played Gomez Addams on the TV version of The Addams Family, and played the Riddler on one two-part episode of Batman, making him one of the last surviving performers from that series. From 1972 to 1985, he was married to actress Patty Duke.

Honorable Mention: March 30, 1950: Robbie Coltrane. He's been Sir John Falstaff, Dr. Samuel Johnson, the Spirit of Christmas, Mr. Jaggers, Tweedledum, Mr. Hyde (but not Dr. Jekyll) and Rubeus Hagrid.

Honorable Mention: March 30, 1949: Naomi Sims. In 1968, she became the 1st black model on the cover of The Ladies' Home Journal. In 1969, she became the 1st one on the cover of Life. She retired from modeling at only 24, and yet launched a successful beauty products line.

Honorable Mention: March 30, 1971: Mark Consuelos. He is best known for being married to Kelly Ripa, both on and off the TV soap opera All My Children.

7. March 30, 1913: Frankie Laine. One of the top jazz singers of the 1940s and '50s, he became known for singing Western ballads like "Mule Train" and the theme to the TV show Rawhide.

In 1974, when Mel Brooks was making his spoof of Western movies, Blazing Saddles, Mel placed an ad in Variety, calling for "a Frankie Laine type" to sing the theme song, which Mel wrote. Frankie showed up himself. Mel played a dirty trick on him: He didn't tell him the movie was a comedy. So Frankie sang his heart out, and it was spectacular.

Honorable Mention: March 30, 1750: John Stafford Smith. This English composer wrote "The Anacreontic Song," whose music was paired with a poem by Francis Scott Key to produce "The Star-Spangled Banner," the National Anthem of the United States of America.

Honorable Mention: March 30, 1914: Sonny Boy Williamson. John Lee Curtis Williamson was one of the top blues performers of the 1930s and '40s. He died in 1948, and Aleck Miller began recording as "Sonny Boy Williamson," until someone figured it out. John has since been listed as "Sonny Boy Williamson I," and Aleck as "Sonny Boy Williamson II," even though they were not related.

Honorable Mention: March 30, 1962: MC Hammer. Stanley Burrell got his start as a batboy for his hometown baseball team, the Oakland Athletics, whose players called him "Hammer" because of his resemblance to Hank Aaron. Team owner Charlie Finley promoted him to do several front office tasks, including spying on the players.

Nevertheless, some A's players gave him seed money for a record company, and he became a top rapper in the early 1990s, even if his biggest hit, "U Can't Touch This," was simply a reworking of Rick James' "Super Freak." His bid to "come back hard" and his subsequent bankruptcy from spending so much money on his entourage rendered him something of a joke, so the 1990s nostalgia wave was a godsend for him.

Honorable Mention: March 30, 1964: Tracy Chapman. She arrived in 1988 seemingly with the mission of reminding us that folk music is depressing. Her later work reminded us that it doesn't have to be.

Honorable Mention: March 30, 1968: Celine Dion. With Johnny Hallyday dead, she is probably the world's most renowned living singer in the French language. As for English listeners, most of us were probably sick of her while Titanic was still in theaters.

Honorable Mention: March 30, 1979: Norah Jones. Her music is light, her Grammy Awards are heavy.

6. March 30, 1940: Jerry Lucas. Only a sophomore, he led Ohio State to basketball's National Championship in 1960, then the U.S. team to the Olympic Gold Medal in Rome. He got Ohio State back into the Final the next 2 seasons, but lost both.

He starred for the Cincinnati Royals, putting up rebounding numbers that make today's big men look like children. He finished his career with the New York Knicks, winning the 1973 NBA Championship. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame and the NBA's 50th and 75th Anniversary All-Time Teams.

Honorable Mention: March 30, 1935: Willie Galimore. The running back helped the Chicago  Ears win the 1963 NFL Championship, and looked like he was on the way to the Hall of Fame. But he never played another game, killed in a car crash with teammate Bo Farrington at the next season's training camp. A year later, the Bears drafted Gale Sayers.

Dishonorable Mention: March 30, 1986: Sergio Ramos. The centreback helped Real Madrid win 5 La Liga titles and 4 UEFA Champions League titles. But he was also a serious candidate for the title of dirtiest player of his generation.

Honorable Mention: March 30, 1988: Richard Sherman. Possibly the best cornerback of his generation, he's made 5 Pro Bowls, and helped the Seattle Seahawks win Super Bowl XLVIII.

Somewhat Honorable Mention: March 30, 1989: Chris Sale. A 7-time All-Star, he goes into the 2022 season with a career record of 114-74, and the best career strikeout-to-walk ratio in history: 5.33. He reached 2,000 career strikeouts in fewer innings than any other pitcher. Unfortunately, he has only reached the postseason with the Boston Red Sox, including winning the 2018 World Series, and that success is tainted.

5. March 30, 1945: Eric Clapton. In recent years, his conspiracy theories about COVID vaccines have combined with people recalling some racist statements he'd made to tarnish his legacy. And, let's face it: Stealing your best friend's wife is a very low thing to do, even if your best friend isn't a Beatle. George Harrison was one.

But his legacy is that of an incredible guitar player, and the only person elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 3 times: As a member of The Yardbirds, a member of Cream, and a soloist.

4. March 30, 1746: Francisco Goya. The leading Spanish painter of the early 19th Century, his works dealing with the Peninsular Campaign of the Napoleonic Wars helped move art into the modern era: He has been called the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns.

3. March 30, 1135: Maimonides. Born in Spain as Moses ben Maimon, he became personal physician to Saladin, Sultan of Egypt and Syria. Saladin allowed him to publish in the subjects of medicine, history and astronomy. This spread his fame throughout the Muslim world, making him the most famous Jew of his time. 

2. March 30, 1432: Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire. Only 21 years old, he conquered Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), ending the Byzantine Empire and the Middle Ages, and forcing the powers of Europe to look westward, beginning the age of exploration. Mehmed the Conqueror reigned for 37 years, and expanded Constantinople's status as a capital of world culture. 

1. March 30, 1853: Vincent van Gogh. Perhaps the most acclaimed painter of all time, even though his whole life was, as Pablo Picasso would later say of some of his own early work, a "blue period."

Still alive as of this writing: Beatty, Astin, Coltrane, Consuelos, Hammer, Chapman, Dion, Jones, Lucas, Ramos, Sherman, Sale, Clapton.