| May 19 |
| 1909 -- Harold Herman Brix is born in Tacoma, Washington. Interestingly, he had significant careers under two names. Using his birth name, he won a Silver Medal for the shotput in the 1928 Olympics and was Edgar Rice Burroughs's pick to play Tarzan in the 1932 film 'Tarzan, the Ape Man' but was forced to drop out when he suffered a separated shoulder during filming of the 1931 movie 'Touchdown.' Ultimately frustrated with being typecast, he dropped out of the business, took acting classes, then re-emerged as Bruce Bennett. Using his stage name, he became a staple series guest star in the '50s and '60s. Ironically, his association with sports didn't end; he was cast as disbelieving manager Saul Hellman in the 1951 film 'Angels in the Outfield.' Harold (and Bruce) died at the age of 90 of complications following a fall. 1931 -- veteran character actor Stephen Young is born in Toronto. For television fans, he is best-known for his role of hot-shot Ben Caldwell, assistant to Carl Betz in the critically-acclaimed '60s legal drama 'Judd for the Defense.' Stephen has also had roles in numerous films, most notably 'Patton' and as a government goon in 'Soylent Green.' Which, of course, was actually 'peeeople . . . . peeeeople!!!!' In 1968, at the 20th Emmy Awards, top honors went to 'Get Smart,' 'Mission: Impossible,' Barbara Bain, Bill Cosby, Lucille Ball and Don Adams. Winners in 'Best Supporting' roles were Barbara Anderson ('Ironside'), Milburn Stone ('Gunsmoke'), Werner Klemperer ('Hogan's Heroes') and Marion Lorne ('Bewitched'). 1973 -- bittersweet folk song "Daisy a Day" by Jud Strunk, formerly of 'Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In,' peaked at #14 on the charts. According to imdb.com, a tape copy of the song was brought along by the astronauts of Apollo 17, making 'Daisy a Day' the first recorded song ever played on the Moon. 1989 -- Sadly, prolific character actor Robert Webber dies of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) at the age of 64. Seen on both big and small screens continuously over three decades, his best-known film roles was as Juror #12 (the irrresolute advertising executive) who tossed out the adage 'Let's toss it on the stoop and see if the cat licks it up.' A good friend of Gig Young, he was a vital source in the book about Young's bizarre last days, Final Gig. By the way, you can contribute to ALS research at alsa.org. 1992 -- Vice President Dan Quayle creates controversy by citing single-mother 'Murphy Brown' as a poor example of family values. 1994 -- the final episode of 'LA Law' airs on NBC following a successful 8-year run. 1996 -- the final episode of "Murder, She Wrote" airs on CBS. Presumably, all the murders in Cabot Cove, Maine, ended as well. |