Top 10 January 3 Birthdays
Honorable Mention: January 3, 1909: Victor Borge. A decent composer, a fine pianist, and a great comedian. The native of Denmark would tell English-speaking audiences, "It's your language, I'm just using it!" He hadn't used it all until 1940: Jewish, he escaped the Nazi invasion of his homeland disguised as a sailor, with $20 in his pocket. Bing Crosby gave him his big break, and Ed Sullivan gave him a bigger one. He thrilled audiences from Carnegie Hall to Sesame Street -- each including me. I also saw him at Lincoln Center. That's right: Twice, I put on a suit and took a bus into New York City to see him perform. That's enough to give somebody a swelled head. I don't think he had one, but he earned it. But he's not the most important musical personality on this list. Honorable Mention: January 3, 1945: Stephen Stills. Before he and Neil Young worked with David Crosby and Graham Nash, as big as that was, they worked together in the band Buffalo ...