Top 10 April 23 Birthdays

10. April 23, 1888: Georges Vanier. Having lost a leg while serving in World War I, he became a diplomat, and eventually the 1st French-Canadian to be appointed as Governor-General of Canada. The Vanier Cup, the trophy for the championship of Canadian college football, is named for him.

Honorable Mention: April 23, 1947: Bernadette Devlin McAliskey. At the start of Northern Ireland's "Troubles" in 1969, just before her 22nd birthday, she was elected to Britain's Parliament, and became a prominent activist for Catholic self-determination in Northern Ireland.

 

Dishonorable Mention: April 23, 1791: James Buchanan. In 1856, with America falling apart over the issue of slavery, the Democratic Party nominated him for President, mainly because he'd been out of the country and had offended hardly anybody over the last few years.

He had served in Pennsylvania's House of Representatives from 1814 to 1816, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1821 to 1831, and as a U.S. Senator from 1834 to 1845. He had served President Andrew Jackson as U.S. Minister to Russia in 1832 and 1833, President James K. Polk as Secretary of State from 1845 to 1849, and outgoing President Franklin Pierce as U.S. Minister to Britain from 1853 to 1856. So he was thoroughly qualified. And he won the Presidency easily.

He was sworn in on March 4, 1857. Two days later came the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, ruling that no one had any authority to abolish or restrict the spread of slavery, and that black people, even those born in America, were not American citizens. Six months after that, the Panic of 1857 threw the country into a depression.

He had disappointed both the North and the South, believed he could do nothing to alleviate the country's collapse, and knew he had no chance at being renominated in 1860. On March 4, 1861, he told incoming President Abraham Lincoln, "If you are as happy in entering the White House as I shall feel on returning to Wheatland, you are a happy man indeed."

He has been called America's worst President, since a depression and a civil war effectively began on his watch. But that was before Richard Nixon, George W. Bush and Donald Trump.

Somewhat Honorable Mention: April 23, 1813: Stephen A. Douglas. Only 5-foot-4, the Senator from Illinois was known as the Little Giant. He believed in "popular sovereignty," that the States should decide difficult issues like slavery for themselves, without the interference of the federal government. This policy allowed him to be re-elected to the U.S. Senate from Illinois in 1858, against Abraham Lincoln.

Two years later, in 1860, Douglas was nominated for President by the national Democratic Party. But because he wasn't anti-slavery enough, 2 splinter parties nominated others. This resulted in the Republican nominee winning a majority of Electoral Votes, despite winning only 39 percent of the popular vote, a record low. That nominee was Lincoln.

Douglas supported Lincoln and the Union during the Civil War, and went on a national speaking tour, but contracted typhoid fever, and died on June 3, 1861, only 48 years old.

Dishonorable Mention: April 23, 1968: Timothy McVeigh. He bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, killing 168 people. It was enough for the federal government to make him the 1st prisoner to whom they administered the death penalty in 38 years.

9. April 23, 1932: Halston. Roy Halston Frowick was one of the leading fashion designers of his generation.

8. April 23, 1977: John Oliver. The English comedian hosts the news parody show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO.

Dishonorable Mention: April 23, 1954: Michael Moore. His documentaries Roger and Me, Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine, Sicko and Fahrenheit 11/9 (reversing the digits of the World Trade Center attack to represent the day after Donald Trump was "elected") would make him a big hero of mine.

But in 2000, he went around the country telling people on the left side of the political spectrum not to vote for Al Gore, because he wasn't progressive enough, and it was enough to give George W. Bush the election. In a 2004 guest appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, he said he'd learned his lesson, and would support John Kerry.

He hadn't learned a damn thing: In 2016, he went around the country telling people on the left side of the political spectrum not to vote for Hillary Clinton, because she wasn't progressive enough, and it was enough to give Trump the election.

7. April 23, 1939: Lee Majors. He was The Six Million Dollar Man in the 1970s, and The Fall Guy in the 1980s.

Honorable Mention: April 23, 1910: Simone Simon. The French actress starred in the original 1942 version of Cat People.

Honorable Mention: April 23, 1942: Sandra Dee. A teen idol in the late 1950s and early 1960s, she is probably now better known for being married to singer Bobby Darin.

Honorable Mention: April 23, 1943: Hervé Villechaize. Only 3-foot-10, he played Nick Nack in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, and Tattoo on Fantasy Island.

Honorable Mention: April 23, 1946: Blair Brown. She starred on The Days and Night of Molly Dodd, after previously playing Jacqueline Kennedy in the 1983 NBC miniseries Kennedy.

Honorable Mention: April 23, 1955: Judy Davis. The Australian actress has played George Sand, Hedda Hopper, Lillian Hellman, Judy Garland and Nancy Reagan.

Honorable Mention: April 23, 1957: Jan Hooks. On Saturday Night Live, she played Nancy Reagan, Tammy Faye Bakker, Elizabeth Dole, Kitty Dukakis, Diane Sawyer, Sinéad O'Connor and Hillary Clinton.

Honorable Mention: April 23, 1960: Valerie Bertinelli. As Barbara Cooper on the original version of One Day at a Time, she was the first female celebrity I had a crush on. She later married and divorced Eddie Van Halen, starred on Touched by an Angel and Hot In Cleveland, and has written several cookbooks.

At age 18, she was the youngest panelist on the 1973-82 version of Match Game. At 57, she became the 1st panelist from that version to be one on the new version.

Honorable Mention: April 23, 1967: Melina Kanakaredes. She starred on Providence and CSI: NY.

Honorable Mention: April 23, 1977: John Cena. The "professional wrestler" stars on the superhero TV series Peacemaker.

6. April 23, 1858: Max Planck. Before his student, Albert Einstein, the Nobel Prize winner was the byword for German scientists, to the point that the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute was renamed the Max Planck Institute.

5. April 23, 1921: Warren Spahn. With 363 wins, he is the winningest lefthanded pitcher in baseball history, and the winningest pitcher of either hand in the post-1920 Lively Ball Era. He won National League Pennants with the Braves in Boston in 1948, and in Milwaukee in 1957 (winning the World Series) and 1958. Named to the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

Honorable Mention: April 23, 1900: Jim Bottomley. A 1st baseman, Sunny Jim batted .310 for his career, helping the St. Louis Cardinals win NL Pennants in 1926, 1928 and 1932, winning the World Series in 1926 and 1931. He led the NL in RBIs in 1926, and in home runs and RBIs in 1928. He is in the Hall of Fame.

Honorable Mention: April 23, 1924: Chuck Harmon. The 3rd baseman was the 1st black player for the Cincinnati Reds, playing 4 seasons in the major leagues.

Honorable Mention: April 23, 1943: Gail Goodrich. The guard won the National Championship at UCLA in 1964 and 1965, was named College Basketball Player of the Year in 1965, made 5 NBA All-Star Games, and won the NBA Championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1972. He is in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Honorable Mention: April 23, 1943: Tony Esposito. He played just 13 games as a rookie with the Montreal Canadiens in 1968-69, backing up Gump Worsley, but it was enough to get him a Stanley Cup ring. He never won another, but helped the Chicago Black Hawks reach the Finals (losing to the Canadiens) in 1971 and 1973.

He won the Calder Memorial Trophy as Rookie of the Year in 1970; the Vezina Trophy as top goalie in 1970, 1972 and 1974; made 6 NHL All-Star Games, and was named to Team Canada for the 1972 Summit Series and the 1981 Canada Cup. In 1998, The Hockey News ranked him 79th on their list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. He is in the Hockey Hall of Fame, along with his brother Phil Esposito.

Honorable Mention: April 23, 1982: Kyle Beckerman. The midfielder reached 8 MLS All-Star Games, helped Real Salt Lake win the MLS Cup in 2009, and helped the U.S. national team win the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He also played for the U.S. in the 2014 World Cup.

4. April 23, 1898: Lucius Clay. The U.S. Army General orchestrated the Berlin Airlift in 1948, saving West Berlin from starvation by the Soviet Union.

3. April 23, 1928: Shirley Temple. From 1934 to 1938, she was the biggest movie star in the world. Not the tallest -- she was just a child -- but the biggest. But her teen years weren't as lucrative, and she retired from acting at age 22. She later served as an Ambassador under Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush. Upon receiving a lifetime achievement award not long before her death at age 85, she said the secret to a great career was, "Start early!"

2. April 23, 1936: Roy Orbison. The greatest singer in rock and roll history. As Bruce Springsteen put it, "Everybody knows that nobody sings like Roy Orbison."

Honorable Mention: April 23, 1939: Ray Peterson. Less for singing "Tell Laura I Love Her" than for writing Elvis Presley's hit "The Wonder of You."

Honorable Mention: April 23, 1940: Dale Houston. You might not know his full name, or that of his singing partner, Grace Broussard. But together, in 1963, Dale & Grace hit Number 1 with "I'm Leaving It Up to You."

1. April 23, 1897: Lester Pearson. As Canada's Secretary of State for External Affairs, he negotiated the cease-fire in the Suez Canal Crisis, earning him the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1963, he became Prime Minister, serving 5 years. Toronto named its airport after him.

Still alive as of this writing: Devlin, Oliver, Moore, Majors, Brown, Davis, Bertinelli, Kanakeredes, Cena, Goodrich, Beckerman.