Happy birthday, Uncle Marvin!

Yes, today is my Uncle Marv’s (mumble mumble) natal anniversary, and I thought it was only right and proper to announce this to the many reader of this blog.  To those who know him personally, he’s a man who possesses a ready wit, an eye for a shapely form (provided my Aunt Jane isn’t watching) and an insatiable thirst for the good things in life.  I’ve often marveled at how he’s able to sample just a little bit of wine poured into his glass and with one swish, tell you precisely…that he’d like a little more.  Marv is also the author in the family—he’s written two books, The View from Dotsons Point and The Dawn of Division: Philippi-The Beginning…both of which are testaments to his passion for Civil War and WV history and are also available at Amazon.com (no, I don’t get a kickback if you order one).

Naturally, I was beside myself with curiosity as to what famous people shared a birthday with my uncle…and here they are:

Jan Vermeer (1632-1675) – Danish painter

John Keats (1795-1821) – English poet (Ode to a Grecian Urn)

Juliette Gordon Low (1860-1927) – Savannah, GA native and founder of the Girl Scouts of America

Sara Allgood (1879-1950) – Irish stage and screen actress whose vehicles include How Green Was My Valley and The Lodger

Bud Duncan (1883-1960) – Silent and sound film comedian best known as partner to Lloyd Hamilton in a truckload of “Ham and Bud” comedies made in the 1910s

Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) – 20th century Chinese political and military leader

Ethel Waters (1896-1977) – Stage, screen and television singer-actress whose vehicles include Cabin in the Sky and The Member of the Wedding

Eduard Franz (1902-1983) – Stage, screen and television character actor whose vehicles include The Magnificent Yankee and The Ten Commandments

Sy Devore (1907-1966) – Famed tailor who made suits for the likes of Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and other Hollywood actors

Ollie Johnston (1912-2008) – Legendary Disney Studios animator

Dale Evans (1912-2001) – Queen of the Cowgirls and Mrs. Roy Rogers

John Sylvester White (1919-1988) – Television actor remembered for playing the crusty principal Mr. Michael Woodman on Welcome Back, Kotter

Leonard Freeman (1920-1974) – Television writer-producer who created Hawaii Five-O

Dick Francis (1920-2010) – Former jockey who turned to writing mystery novels…about the subject of horse racing

Talfryn Thomas (1922-1982) – British actor best remembered as Private Cheeseman on the classic Britcom Dad’s Army

Barbara Bel Geddes (1922-2005) – TDOY actress fave whose films include I Remember Mama and Vertigo…and whose television immortality was cemented by playing Miss Ellie Ewing on Dallas

Guy Marks (1923-1987) – Standup comedian and impressionist who also scored TV roles on sitcoms like The Joey Bishop Show and Rango

Shirley Dinsdale (1926-1999) – Nearly forgotten female ventriloquist (with dummy Judy Splinters) once tabbed by Edgar Bergen as the best he’d ever seen

Lee Grant (1927-     ) – TDOY actress fave whose vehicles include Detective Story, In the Heat of the Night and TV’s Peyton Place

Andrew Sarris (1928-     ) – Longtime Village Voice film critic and major proponent of the auteur theory; married to film critic Molly Haskell

Cleo Moore (1924-1973) – Cult movie icon who appeared in such films as On Dangerous Ground, Strange Fascination and Women’s Prison

Bud Spencer (1929-     ) – Italian film actor long associated with a series of “spaghetti” westerns co-starring Terence Hill

Dan Rather (1931-     ) – CBS News journalist and anchor of the CBS Evening News from 1981-2005

Norman Beaton (1934-1994) – British comic actor best known for his starring turns in the Britcoms The Fosters and Desmond’s

Michael Landon (1936-1991) – Teenage werewolf and television icon who starred on Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven

Tom Paxton (1937-     ) – Folksinger/songwriter who’d rate a mention here even if the only thing he ever wrote was Bottle of Wine

Ron Rifkin (1939-     ) – Stage, screen and television character actor whose vehicles include The Substance of Fire and L.A. Confidential

Sally Kirkland (1941-     ) – Stage, screen and television character actress whose vehicles include Anna, Steel Magnolias and JFK

David Ogden Stiers (1942-     ) – Stage, screen and television stalwart best known as Major Charles Emerson Winchester on the sitcom M*A*S*H

Brian Doyle-Murray (1945-     ) – Bill Murray sibling and comic actor seen on such TV series as Get a Life, Bakersfield P.D. and Yes, Dear

Stephen Rea (1946-     ) – Irish stage, screen and television character actor whose vehicles include The Crying Game and The Butcher Boy

Deidre Hall (1947-     ) – Soap opera maven (Days of Our Lives) who also played Electra Woman to Judy Strangis’ Dyna Girl

Jane Pauley (1950-     ) – NBC journalist who appeared for long runs on Today and Dateline NBC; married to Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau

John Candy (1950-1994) – Second City funnyman who unfortunately left us far too soon and whose vehicles include Splash, Uncle Buck and Only the Lonely

Lynda Goodfriend (1953-      ) – Cheerful sitcom actress best remembered as Richie Cunningham’s girlfriend (and later wife) Lori Beth Allen on Happy Days

Peter Jackson (1961-     ) – Hairy New Zealand motion picture director who won three Academy Awards in 2004 for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Rob Schneider (1963-     ) – Annoying Saturday Night Live alum who fearlessly embarrasses himself with films like Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and The Hot Chick

Dermot Mulroney (1963-     ) – Stage, screen and television character actor whose vehicles include Living in Oblivion and My Best Friend’s Wedding

Darryl Worley (1964-     ) – Country music vocalist

Vanilla Ice (1967-     ) – Rap music poseur whose name/career has become a punchline from the Gods of Comedy

Piper Perabo (1976-     ) – Film and television actress whose vehicles include Coyote Ugly and Beverly Hills Chihuahua

Willow Smith (2000-     ) – Hair whipper

On behalf of my uncle, I’m sure he would respond to being in such august company by saying: “Who the hell are these people?”