Filmmaker John Carpenter celebrates his 70th birthday. He began making 8 mm films when still in middle school, and attended USC’s film school for a while before dropping out to start working in the industry. He was a writer and editor on the Oscar-winning short The Resurrection of Broncho Billy, and then made his feature, the low-budget sci-fi comedy Dark Star. He then made the thriller Assault on Precinct 13 on an only slightly larger budget. In 1978, he wrote the screenplay for the thriller Eyes of Laura Mars, and had his first commercial success as a director with a horror film that helped kick off what is sometimes called “the Golden Age of slasher films.”
Carpenter made Halloween on a budget of a little over $300,000—and with Carpenter, “made” does not simply mean directed; he would normally direct, write, compose the score and edit his films, and sometimes produce as well. It took in close to $50 million in US box office—nearly 150 times the production budget even before you get to international receipts.
Carpenter made a number of well-known films during the 1980s. He of course did more horror films, such as The Fog, Christine, and Prince of Darkness. He also made the sci-fi romance Starman, the action-comedy Big Trouble in Little China, and the genre-blending sci-fi horror films The Thing and They Live. More recently he has been less active and successful, but he has released two albums of electronic music and a collection of his movie themes, and will be executive producing and composing on a new Halloween film.
Country star Ronnie Milsap is turning 75. He has been virtually blind since birth; while studying at North Carolina’s Governor Morehead School for the Blind, he learned to play the piano, and formed a rock band with some schoolmates. During the 1960s, he had some success as an R&B singer, but gradually evolved into a country performer over the course of the decade. In the early 1970s, he began to be well-known as an opening act for Charley Pride, and in 1974 he had hit singles with “Pure Love,” his first of a long list of #1 Country hits, and “Please Don’t Tell Me How the Story Ends,” a second #1 hit which brought him the first of his six Grammys.
Milsap had at least one #1 Country hit every year but one from 1974 to 1989; in the sole exception, 1988, his biggest single reached only #2 on the Country chart. Beginning with his 1977 hit “It Was Almost Like a Song,” which reached #16 on the Hot 100, he began to have some crossover success as well. He announced a “final” concert tour in 2014, but it would seem to have gone on for a long time, as his website still lists concert dates for the next several months. 🙂
Richard T. Jones, who turns 46 today, currently stars on CBS’s Wisdom of the Crowd (which is in limbo owing to sexual harassment claims against Jeremy Piven), and was previously a regular on Judging Amy. Mason Gamble, who was known for his work as a child actor in the 1990s in films such as Dennis the Menace (as the title character) and Rushmore, is turning 32.
Susan Sontag (1933-2004) wrote short stories and the novels The Volcano Lover and In America, but was even better known for her collections of criticism, such as Against Interpretation and Under the Sign of Saturn.
Our January 16 headliners last year were Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ethel Merman.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is celebrating his 38th birthday. Last year he saw “How Far I’ll Go,” which he wrote for the movie Moana, receive Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Song. He also received an Emmy nomination for an appearance on Saturday Night Live. He appeared in the feature film Speech & Debate, and will star opposite Emily Blunt in the upcoming Mary Poppins Returns.
Debbie Allen, who is turning 67, continues to appear as the recurring character of Dr. Catherine Avery on Grey’s Anatomy, and also is a director and executive producer on the series. Jake Epstein, who is 31, continues in the role of Chuck Russink on Designated Survivor. Argentine actor Ricardo Darin, who turns 61, starred in The Summit, which screened last year at Cannes. Marwan Kenzari celebrates his 35th. He appeared last year in The Mummy and as Pierre Michel in Murder on the Orient Express, and is schedule to play Jafar in Disney’s live action adaptation of Aladdin. Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, who appeared in a West End revival of Les Liasons Dangereuses, is turning 36. Sidharth Malhotra, who is tuning 33, starred in the Indian mystery-thriller Ittefaq.
Finally, on the birth date of Ethel Merman (1908-1984), let’s look back to the time that she was a guest on The Muppet Show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNpojJxxm7k
If today is your birthday, congratulations on sharing your big day with these notable names. Birthday wishes to everyone celebrating a big day today. Come back tomorrow for more celebrity birthdays.
John Carpenter figure into the sequels article I posted today. Happy coincidence.
I haven’t seen many of John Carpenter’s films, largely from not being into horror, but I have always liked Assault on Precinct 13, a very tense thriller on a tiny budget with a little-known cast (the “big name” is child actress Kim Richards, who is only in a couple of scenes).
There were a couple of years in the late seventies where I was carpooling to school, so songs that got substantial AM airplay during that period, like Ronnie Milsap’s “It Was Almost Like a Song” are permanently stuck in my memory.
Ethel Merman and the Muppets—a great combination.