Top 10 May 25 Birthdays
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1917: Theodore Hesburgh. From 1952 to 1987, he was the President of the University of Notre Dame. The school's main library, which overlooks Notre Dame Stadium and has a mural of Christ with his hands raised, known as "Touchdown Jesus," is named for him. At the time of his death in 2015, he had more honorary degrees than any living person, 150.
Disclaimer: I'm a Protestant, but I can still admire these two giants of 20th Century Catholicism.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1960: Amy Klobuchar. In 2020, like previous U.S. Senators from Minnesota Hubert Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy and Walter Mondale, she ran for President. She finished 3rd in the New Hampshire Primary, but 6th in South Carolina, and ended her campaign.
10. May 25, 1898: Bennett Cerf. The co-founder of publisher Random House, he won the court case that allowed James Joyce' Ulysses to overcome the charge of obscenity and be published in America. He published collections of jokes and puns, and from 1951 until his death in 1971, he was a regular panelist on the TV show What's My Line?
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1927: Robert Ludlum. He wrote the Jason Bourne novels.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1935: W.P. Kinsella. He wrote Shoeless Joe, the novel that became the film Field of Dreams.
9. May 25, 1878: Bill Robinson. The dancer known as Bojangles was also a part-owner of a Negro League baseball team. The song "Mr. Bojangles" is, apparently, not about him.
8. May 25, 1939: Ian McKellen. He's been good guys: Gandalf the Grey/White, King Lear, Hamlet, Romeo, John Keats, David Copperfield, Uncle Vanya, Dr. Tomas Stockmann, Sherlock Holmes and D.H. Lawrence.
And he's been bad guys: King John, Richard II, Richard III, Iago, Dr. Faustus, Captain Hook, Czar Nicholas II, Adolf Hitler, Kurt Dussander, and the demon in a stage version of The Exorcist. And he's been good guys who became bad guys: Macbeth, Magneto, and John Profumo.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1925: Jeanne Crain. A major actress of the 1940s and '50s.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1926: Claude Akins. He was on TV Westerns a lot: Gunsmoke 10 times, Rawhide 7, Bonanza 4 and The Rifleman 3. Outside of Westerns, he was on 3 episodes of The Untouchables, 2 of The Twilight Zone, and 1 of The Adventures of Superman.
He's best known as Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo on B.J. and the Bear and its spinoff Sheriff Lobo. He also did lots of commercial voiceovers, including as the original voice of the American beef industry: Before Sam Elliott, he was the man who told us, "Beef: It's what's for dinner."
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1939: Dixie Carter. She played District Attorney Olivia Henderson on The Edge of Night, Maggie McKinney on Diff'rent Strokes, Julia Sugarbaker on Designing Women, Randy King on Family Law, and Gloria Hodge on Desperate Housewives. She was long married to actor Hal Holbrook.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1947: Karen Valentine. She won an Emmy Award for playing Alice Johnson on Room 222. She then became "one of those actors who's on every show," and has done mainly stage work the last few years.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1951: Bob Gale. He and Bob Zemeckis, "The Bobs," were the creative forces behind the Back to the Future franchise.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1963: Mike Myers. His Saturday Night Live characters included talk-show hosts Wayne Campbell of Wayne's World, Dieter of Sprockets, and Linda Richman of Coffee Talk (based on his real-life then-mother-in-law). He also played Pat Arnold in the Superfans "Da Bears" sketch.
But he became best known for the Austin Powers film series, about a 1960s secret agent thawed out to face the modern world, playing multiple roles, including good guy Powers, and bad guys Dr. Evil, the Fat Bastard, and Goldmember.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1976: Cillian Murphy. Having starred in the horror film 28 Days Later, he was considered for the role of Batman in the Dark Knight Trilogy, but ended up cast as villain Dr. Jonathan Crane, a.k.a. The Scarecrow, instead. He has since starred as Tommy Shelby on Peaky Blinders, and will soon star in Oppenheimer as the titular scientist who led the atomic bomb project.
7. May 25, 1932: K.C. Jones. As a teammate of Bill Russell, he won National Championships at the University of San Francisco in 1955 and 1956, an Olympic Gold Medal in 1956, and the NBA Championship with the Boston Celtics in 1959, '60, '61, '62, '63, '64, '65 and '66. He later coached the Celtics to the title in 1984 and '86. He is in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1935: Carlton "Cookie" Gilchrist. Due to a technicality, he never played in the NFL. But in the Canadian Football League, he won a Grey Cup (CFL title) with the 1957 Hamilton Tiger-Cats. With the Buffalo Bills, he made 4 AFL All-Star Games, won the league's Most Valuable Player in 1962, and its Championship in 1964. He was named to the AFL's All-Time Team.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1953: Daniel Passarella. The centreback starred for Buenos Aires team River Plate, and was the Captain of the Argentina team that won the 1978 World Cup on home soil.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1953: Gaetano Scirea. Two World Cup-winning defenders, from different countries, on the same day. This one starred for Juventus of Turin, and helped Italy win the 1982 World Cup.
Dishonorable Mention: May 25, 1974: Miguel Tejada. A 6-time All-Star, this shortstop looked like he might be headed for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Then he got caught using steroids. Injuries and suspensions limited him to 307 career home runs.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1978: Brian Urlacher. An 8-time Pro Bowler, he was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2005, and helped the Chicago Bears reach Super Bowl XL. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1979: Carlos Bocanegra. A centreback, he was MLS Rookie of the Year in 2000 and Defender of the Year in 2002 and 2003. He helped the Chicago Fire win the U.S. Open Cup in 2000 and 2003, and the U.S. team win the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2002 and 2007. He played for the U.S. team in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, and in the national leagues of England, France, Scotland and Spain. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Somewhat Honorable Mention: May 25, 1984: Shawne Merriman. A 3-time Pro Bowler, the linebacker led the NFL in sacks in 2006, and was named by the San Diego Chargers to their 50th Anniversary Team.
While still an active player, he was accused of domestic violence by his girlfriend -- "reality star" and, later revealed, neo-Nazi Tila Tequila, not the most reliable of witnesses. Merriman has been accused of misdeeds with other women, but nothing has been proven.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1994: Aly Raisman. The gymnast won the Gold Medal in the floor exercise at the 2012 Olympics in London, and helped the U.S. team win the overall Gold then, and again in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
6. May 25, 1978: Gene Tunney. He learned to box as a Marine in World War I, and was Heavyweight Champion of the World from 1926 to 1930. He only lost 1 fight, to Light Heavyweight Champion Harry Greb. He beat Jack Dempsey twice, and retired as Champion.
5. May 25, 1921: Hal David. With Burt Bacharach, for Dionne Warwick, he wrote these songs: "Don't Make Me Over," "Walk On By," "Anyone Who Had a Heart," "I'll Never Fall In Love Again," "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" and "I Say a Little Prayer."
For movies, they wrote the title songs to "What's New Pussycat?" and "Alfie"; "The Look of Love" for the spoof version of James Bond's Casino Royale; and "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (a Number 1 hit for B.J. Thomas) for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. They also wrote "This Guy's in Love with You" (a Number 1 hit for Herb Alpert), "(They Long to Be) Close to You" (a Number 1 hit for The Carpenters), "What the World News Now Is Love," "One Less Bell to Answer" and "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me."
With Sherman Edwards, David wrote "Broken Hearted Melody" and "Johnny Get Angry." With Archie Jordan, he wrote "It Was Almost Like a Song." And with Albert Hammond, he wrote "To All the Girls I've Loved Before."
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1921: Kitty Kallen. She sang with the big bands of Harry James and Jimmy Dorsey before a solo career, highlighted by having the biggest hit song of 1954, "Little Things Mean a Lot."
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1927: Norman Petty. At his recording studio in Clovis, New Mexico, he produced records for early rock-and-rollers Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Buddy Knox, Waylon Jennings, and Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs, and also for folksinger Carolyn Hester.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1929: Beverly Sills. America's leading female opera singer of the 20th Century.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1936: Tom T. Hall. In the South, he's known for his country novelty songs. In the North, he's known for writing Jeannie C. Riley's 1968 Number 1 hit "Harper Valley P.T.A.," and rewriting it for the later Harper Valley sitcom on NBC.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1943: Leslie Uggams. A former child star, she became a favorite of Ed Sullivan, singing on his show 11 times. She won a Tony Award for Hallelujah, Baby! in 1972, and was nominated for an Emmy as Kizzy Reynolds in Roots. More recently, she has played Blind Al in the Deadpool movies.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1943: Jessi Colter. The wife of Waylon Jennings, the mother of Shooter Jennings, and the former mother-in-law of Drea de Matteo has been a great country singer in her own right.
Honorable Mention: May 25, 1958: Paul Weller. Leader of British rock band The Jam.
4. May 25, 1926: Bill Sharman. He led USC into the 1950 College World Series, but it would be in basketball where he had one of the greatest careers. The greatest shooter of his era, and a teammate of Jones, he helped the Boston Celtics win their 1st 5 NBA Championships. He was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players and its 75th Anniversary 75 Greatest Players.
In back-to-back years, he coached an ABA Champion with the Utah Stars and an NBA Champion with the Los Angeles Lakers. With the 1971-72 Lakers, he won 33 straight games, still a record for all of North American sports, and 69 games in the season, a record that stood for 24 years.
(Alex Hannum was the only other coach to win both leagues' titles: The NBA with the 1958 St. Louis Hawks and the 1967 Philadelphia 76ers, and the ABA with the 1969 Oakland Oaks.)
3. May 25, 1889: Igor Sikorsky. Fleeing Russia during its post-revolution civil war, he founded Sikorsky Aircraft, building seaplanes (he called them "flying boats") and the first practical helicopter.
2. May 25, 1803: Ralph Waldo Emerson. The father of "transcendentalism," he was an advocate for self-reliance, an early environmentalist, and a staunch crusader for the abolition of slavery. He was the leading American lecturer of the 19th Century, and a mentor to Henry David Thoreau.
You know those cards that are handed out at funerals? I chose a quote of Emerson's for my father's. I think he would have approved. But he also would have understood me placing Emerson 2nd behind this man, of whom he was also a fan:
1. May 25, 1944: Frank Oz. You might not know his name, or his face, or even his real voice. But you know his work. He is 2nd only to founder Jim Henson as the greatest performer in The Muppets. On Sesame Street, he was the voice and operator of Bert, Cookie Monster and Grover. On The Muppet Show and its related media, he's been Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal and Sam the Eagle. And, for those of you who are fans of Star Wars, the voice of Yoda he has been, hm?
As himself, he played the prison officer who gives Jake Blues back his stuff at the start of The Blues Brothers, and the police sergeant who books Lewis Winthorpe in Trading Places, both directed by his friend John Landis. And he has directed The Dark Crystal, The Muppets Take Manhattan, the 1986 remake of Little Shop of Horrors, and some films that have nothing to do with puppetry: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, What About Bob?, In & Out, Bowfinger, the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives, and Death at a Funeral.
Still alive as of this writing: Klobuchar, McKellen, Valentine, Gale, Myers, Murphy, Passarella, Tejada, Urlacher, Bocanegra, Merriman, Raisman, Uggams, Colter, Weller, Oz.
Comments
Post a Comment