Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday: Shelley Duvall

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shelleyduvallHappy Birthday actor Shelley Duvall

Born: July 7, 1949 in Houston, Texas, USA

Was discovered in 1970 by Brian McKay and Tommy Thompson, who spotted her at a party while scouting locations for Robert Altman’s Brewster McCloud (1970) in Houston, Texas. At the time, she was majoring in nutrition and diet therapy at South Texas Junior College and working as a cosmetics salesperson at a Foley’s department store. Although she had no prior acting experience, she was casted by Altman in the film and won a three-picture contract with MGM for her performance.

MOVIE POSTERTHE SHINING
1980
dir. by Stanley Kubrick
Stars:
Jack Nicholson
Shelley Duvall

Annie HallAnnie Hall
1977
dir. Allen
starring
Diane Keaton
Woody
Time Bandits
1981
dir. Terry Gilliam
Starring
Craig Warnok
David Rappaport

 

Happy Birthday: Billy Campbell

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billycampbell.jpgHappy Birthday actor Billy Campbell

Born: July 7, 1959 in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

QUOTES:

I would make a horrible politician, because I wouldn’t enjoy my work.
I think it would be lovely to see some features on a disc of ‘The Rocketeer,’ with some reminiscing. I think that would be dynamite.

I don’t have any complex plans for playing a character. I think all I try to do is not make too many bad guy faces and not ever try to seem too good. I just try to put it in the middle somewhere.

The first trip I remember taking was on the train from Virginia up to New York City, watching the summertime countryside rolling past the window. They used white linen tablecloths in the dining car in those days, and real silver. I love trains to this day. Maybe that was the beginning of my fixation with leisurely modes of travel.

Aside from what it teaches you, there is simply the indescribable degree of peace that can be achieved on a sailing vessel at sea. I guess a combination of hard work and the seemingly infinite expanse of the sea – the profound solitude – that does it for me.

When I first came to Hollywood, I used to dream of doing films and escaping television.

To me, the AMC brand is great storytelling – they call it slow-burn storytelling.

Happy Birthday: Jim Gaffigan

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jimgaffigan.jpgHappy Birthay actor Jim Gaffigan

Born: July 7, 1966 in Chesterton, Indiana, USA

Married to:
Jeannie Gaffigan (26 July 2003 – present) (5 children)

QUOTES:

I’m from Indiana. I know what you’re thinking, Indiana…Mafia. But in Indiana it’s not like New York where everyone’s like, ‘We’re from New York and we’re the best’ or ‘We’re from Texas and we like things big’ it’s more like ‘We’re from Indiana and we’re gonna move.

Manhattan’s probably one of the bluest parts in the country, and Indiana’s definitely one of the redder states. I have sympathy for both sides.

That’s not to say that I’m anything but a Democrat, but I think there’s this condescension to middle America that’s in some ways based on myth. Every now and then you hear, “Will it play in middle America?” It’s really derogatory. “Will those dumb idiots think it’s interesting?”

Ever read a book that changed your life? Me neither.

For me, relaxing might be spending an hour on Twitter, as weird as that might sound. I’ll come up with an idea and we will rewrite it, and it’s fun to see the response. A lot of comedian friends are on there, like Andy Kindler, Michael Ian Black and ‘Rob Delaney’, and we’re spread throughout the country.

I think of my wife as kind of a secret weapon. Without her I certainly wouldn’t have become as successful as I am. In a way, I feel like I brainwashed her to my point-of-view so she’ll come up with lines that are great, that I might have come with later on. Every comedian deals with people coming up and saying, ‘what about this or that?’ And 90 percent of the time it’s not useful information. But with my wife, 90 percent of the time it’s useful.

I like the idea of hitting people after you’ve hit them. There’s nothing funnier than laughing and then you have to catch your breath again before you can catch your breath. Some of it is just the style of how it works for me. Some people go for the big home runs. I’m a singles hitter.

Happy Birthday: Dylan Sprayberry

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dylansprayberry.jpgHappy Birthday actor Dylan Sprayberry

Born: July 7, 1998 in Houston, Texas, USA

Dylan Sprayberry is an American actor and musician known for Man of Steel (2013), Teen Wolf (2011), Shuffle (2011) and Old Dogs (2009). Dylan attended West University Elementary until 2005 when his family moved to California. He has a younger sister, Ellery Sprayberry, who is also an actress. His most recent work (January 2015) has been starring in the fourth and fifth season of Teen Wolf.

Happy Birthday: Robin Weigert

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robinweigert.jpgHappy Birthday actor Robin Weigert

Born: July 7, 1969 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Her father, Wolfgang Oscar Weigert, a psychiatrist, was born in 1932 in Berlin, Germany, to a German Jewish family, and arrived in Maryland in 1938. Her mother, Dionne Laufman, is a pianist. Her mother’s family were Jewish immigrants from Russia and Germany.

 

 

GLORY ROAD
2006
dir. James Gartner
Stars:
Josh Lucas
Derek Luke

MOVIE POSTERTHE SESSIONS
2012
dir. Ben Lewin
Stars:
John Hawkes
Helen Hunt

 

Happy Birthday: Christian Camargo

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christiancamargo.jpgHappy Birthday actor Christian Camargo

Born: July 7, 1971 in New York City, New York, USA

Married to:
Juliet Rylance (November 2008 – present)

QUOTES:

There’s something about my Mexican-American heritage… I’m proud of it.
I see theater as a simple formula. Audience plus players plus story makes the play.

I’ve played Hamlet and Coriolanus, Orlando in ‘As You like It’ and Ariel in ‘Tempest,’ among others.

My parents had a difficult divorce.

For reasons I don’t fully understand, tragic love has a certain appeal.
Juilliard is wonderful in that they don’t pick just one way of working. They give you a palette. There is method acting. There is a lot of attention to Shakespeare and verse.

Any part I do is a marriage of the words – what the playwright or producer or show runner’s vision is – to how I would play it. It took me a while to get rid of ‘Oh, they want it this way, so I’m going to do it how they want it.’

Actors are the most generous people when it comes to sharing their technique. But if you grew up in a household of carpenters, and you’re making a table, everyone would have a different way of doing it.

Died Today (July 6th): Director John Frankenheimer

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johnfrankenheimerJohn Frankenheimer (1930–2002)

Born: February 19, 1930 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Died: July 6, 2002 (age 72) in Los Angeles, California, USA

Married to: Evans Evans (13 December 1963 – 6 July 2002) (his death)
Carolyn Miller (22 September 1954 – 1962) (divorced) (2 children)

When Burt Lancaster walked onto the set the first day of shooting of The Young Savages (1961), he was startled and dismayed to see the camera on the floor, aiming upward. Lancaster had never before worked with a director who used such innovative camera angles. He grew to trust Frankenhiemer, and they made four more films together.

The Manchurian Candidate
1962
dir. Frankenheimer
starring
Frank Sinatra
Laurence Harvey
BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZBirdman of Alcatraz
1962
dir. John Frankenheimer
Cast
Burt Lancaster
Karl Malden

Seven Days in May
1964
dir. Frankenheimer
starring
Burt Lancaster
Kirk Douglas

Happy Birthday: George W. Bush

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georgewbush.jpgHappy Birthday president George W. Bush

Born: July 6, 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA

The 43rd President of the United States of America, George Walker Bush (known colloquially as “W” to distinguish himself from his father, George Bush, the 41st president of the U.S.), was born two days after the national holiday of the Fourth of July, 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut where his father was attending Yale College in the Class of 1949. His mother was Barbara Bush (the former Barbara Pierce), whom his father had married on January 6, 1945. “W” was their first child named after his father. Bush disliked being called “Junior” or Bush II, or even having the term “Jr.” abbreviated next to his name.

NINE INNINGS FROM GROUND ZERO
2004
dir. Ouisie Shapiro
DOCUMENTARY

WW
dir. Stone
Starring
Josh Brolin
James Cromwell
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO DICK CHENEY
2013
dir. R.J. Cutler
DOCUMENTARY

 

Happy Birthday: Merv Griffin (1925–2007)

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mervgriffin.jpgHappy Birthday producer Merv Griffin (1925–2007)

Born: July 6, 1925 in San Mateo, California, USA

Died: August 12, 2007 (age 82) in Los Angeles, California, USA

QUOTES:

I’ve been in the public eye for more than fifty years as Merv Griffin, not as somebody else’s creation. I’ve never pretended to be someone I wasn’t. If there was anything really important that people didn’t know about me by now, then I would have to be world’s greatest actor. Forget Brando, forget Hoffman, forget DeNiro… I would have to be the best.
(on what he would like his headstone to read) Stay tuned.

If the host is sitting there thinking about his next joke, he isn’t listening.

You know I really never get down. My philosophy is that you have to constantly be turning the page, which prevents me from getting caught up in any negativity. It’s all about change for me. I just keep moving and enjoy the ride.

I tell everybody that I’m a quatre-sexual: I will do anything with anybody for a quarter. – when asked if he was gay

I worked for Mark Goodson early in my career and he was like the

Godfather of game shows. I asked him if it was a business worth getting into. He responded, “If you have an original idea, there’s no format in television that costs less and brings in more profit.” After I had some success, he reached out and congratulated me on “Wheel” and “Jeopardy!”, saying that I took his advice to heart. He was a visionary and a gentleman, a rare find in showbiz.