Happy Birthday: Harpo Marx (1888–1964)

Harpo Marx (1888–1964)

Born: November 23, 1888 in New York City, New York, USA
Died: September 28, 1964 (age 75) in Los Angeles, California, USA

[on ‘Duck Soup’] It was the only time I can remember that I worried about turning in a bad performance. The trouble was not with the script, the director, or the falls I had to take. The trouble was Adolf Hitler. His speeches were being rebroadcast in America. Somebody had a radio on the set, and twice we suspended shooting to listen to him scream.

Happy Birthday: Robert Towne

roberttowne.jpgRobert Towne

Born: November 23, 1934 in Los Angeles, California, USA

Died on July 1, 2024

The [American] dream was more “If you can be similar in that way, you can be American and have equal opportunities.” Whereas today it’s, how can I put it? It’s kind of Balkanized: Black pride. Gay pride. White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant pride. All of these things, you know, they’re more polarized, aren’t they? The red and blue states. Christians, that’s the most insidious aspect of it, giving into this great Christian image of America. That’s the most frightening thing of all. Whereas [in the past] they’re trying to find things that unite us, to minimize the differences. Whereas today there’s this belief in empowerment and entitlement by maximizing differences. I’m not so sure that that’s healthy. I don’t mean that it’s not healthy to want to hang onto your culture. But I think it’s unhealthy to set it up against somebody else’s and say “ours is better.” Then there’s the Christian Right saying that this is a Christian country when it’s not.

Happy Birthday: Chris Hardwick

chrishardwick.jpgChris Hardwick

Born: November 23, 1971 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Married to:
Lydia Hearst (20 August 2016 – present)

[on quitting drinking] Ultimately, it’s the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. There’s an economy of energy that you have in your life. You just have to devote it to things that are good for you, for the most part, that’s more constructive than drinking. And one of them doesn’t end in uncontrollable vomiting and crying…The first thing I noticed about sobriety? I lost about 20 pounds within a couple of months. I started getting compliments. This was highly motivating. Years later, and through much therapy, I would come to discover all of the really bad things (as opposed to weight gain) alcoholism caused, like anxiety, paranoia, and perpetual emotional infancy.

Happy Birthday: Kelly Brook

kellybrook.jpgKelly Brook

Born: November 23, 1979 in Rochester, Kent, England, UK

[on stripping off for the stage play “Calender Girls”] The getting naked is the easy bit. I’ll make sure I have to get naked in every contract. [laughs] In Calendar Girls, I’m working with some fantastic women. We cover ourselves with various props, but obviously there are a couple of slips now and then! Danny is cool with it, he came on the first night and he loved it. But he did tell me: “You need to slow down because you talk too quickly”. I was so nervous the first night, so he gave me constructive criticism.

My mum was never strict. I was allowed to go out to clubs underage, watch TV, listen to whatever music I wanted to, and that made me not rebel. I have never touched a drug in my life. Why would I? My mum used to smoke cannabis in the front room, so I was never curious about it. My mum’s a cool chick and in some ways we are alike. She’s a strong woman, very sharp and perceptive.

Happy Birthday: Vincent Cassel

vincentcassel.jpgVincent Cassel

Born: November 23, 1966 in Paris, France

[on his wife, Monica Bellucci] Her best asset of actress – and woman too! – is not her beauty, but her intelligence. Her intelligence of people and of things. She is very perspicacious, very attentive with the others and has a great faculty to put them at ease. To work with her, I would say, to put besides any concept of couple, that it is as when I find Mathieu [Mathieu Kassovitz]: together, one goes more directly to essence. Plus, she is an incredible hard worker. She has a curiosity of cinema which is rare. She is moved by the directors, she is very listening . . . In general, I recognize it, I am interested more in the actors than in the actresses – is already well to recognize it! But her, she has something that few actresses have. A manner of exceeding reality, of making dream. I like to look at her playing…

Happy Birthday: Miley Cyrus

mileycyrus.jpgMiley Cyrus

Born: November 23, 1992 in Franklin, Tennessee, USA

[on being in the spotlight] I said I was going to take a year off before I made this record. But it’s hard to take a break. It’s almost depressing when you’re not working. You’re so used to people calling your name, and that energy, and when you don’t have it anymore . . . That’s why I never complain about people wanting autographs or pictures. Because if there were a few days where no one asked, I’d probably be like, “What the fuck’s going on? Do people not like me?” I hate the paparazzi – but when they’re not sitting there waiting for you, you’re like “Who’s bigger news? Who are you trying to get a picture of?”

The thing about L.A. is it’s pretty much always nice out here. Even when it was 100 the other day, I loved it. It felt good. I worked on my album in Philly, and I would take the train to New York on the weekends, and I’d get off the train and immediately want to die. I would just hate my life. And I’m from Nashville, which is kind of similar – when it’s hot, it’s fucking miserable. But Nashville, at least it kind of rains in the summer. I don’t even remember the last time it rained out here. I always wondered how those big-ass fires start in L.A., and then I’ll throw my cigarette out the window or something, and I’m like “There it is.”

Happy Birthday: Scarlett Johansson

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scarlettjohansson.jpgScarlett Johansson

Born: November 22, 1984 in New York City, New York, USA

Married to:

Colin Jost(October 2020 – present) (1 child)

Romain Dauriac(October 1, 2014 – September 12, 2017) (divorced, 1 child)

Ryan Reynolds(September 27, 2008 – July 1, 2011) (divorced)

Everyone in Hollywood is so damn skinny and you constantly feel like you’re not skinny enough. But I have ‘fat days’ and I accept that I’m never going to be rail thin. It’s hard not to feel pressure in this industry and I already use anti-aging products on my skin. I try not to let the pressure get to me but Los Angeles is a very hard place to be unless you have people here that love you. It can be very, very lonely, and it can eat you up if you don’t take care of yourself.

  • I’m so tired of hearing casting directors ask if I have a sore throat. The people who have told me that my voice is distinctive, it’s unusual… those people have always been close to my heart.
  • [on why she was glad that the drama Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) was a small foreign production] It would be hellish to have the pressure of putting on a Hollywood ending or putting in a scene where Vermeer sees Griet washing her breasts.
  • I always check in the mirror to make sure nothing is see-through.
  • I have a lot of actor friends who worked with their parents closely and have had really horrible experiences. They end up suing or being emancipated. The wonderful thing about my mom [who is also her manager] is that she completely respects my creative weirdness and supports any decision I make.
  • As long as people keep buying tabloids, they will keep harassing people in the public eye. They will make up stories.

Happy Birthday: Mads Mikkelsen

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madsmikkelsen.jpgMads Mikkelsen

Born: November 22, 1965 in Østerbro, Copenhagen, Denmark

Married to:
Hanne Jacobsen (2 December 2000 – present) (2 children)

[his version of Hannibal Lecter] He loves fine art. He is a three-piece- suit man. He loves classical music. He hates everything that is banal. And he loves the beauty of everything that’s refined. He’s trying to make friends with people, so I can’t play that one card of being evil. It has to be hidden.

Happy Birthday: Rodney Dangerfield (1921–2004)

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rodneydangerfieldRodney Dangerfield (1921–2004)

Born: November 22, 1921 in Deer Park, Long Island, New York, USA
Died: October 5, 2004 (age 82) in Los Angeles, California, USA

Made 70 appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962).

[in a 1986 interview, explaining the origin of his “no respect” routine] I had this joke: “I played hide and seek; they wouldn’t even look for me”. To make it work better, you look for something to put in front of it: “I was so poor, I was so dumb”, so this, so that. I thought, “Now what fits that joke?” Well, “No one liked me” was all right. But then I thought, “A more profound thing would be, ‘I get no respect!’ “.

Caddyshack
1980
dir. Ramis
starring
Bill Murray
Chevy Chase
Rodney Dangerfield