Happy birthday to one of our finest actresses, Dame Helen Mirren, born on July 26, 1945. If only we all could look so great at age 76!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Mirren

"Hello, Dolly!"

Happy 120th birthday to iconic jazz trumpeter Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, who was born on August 4, 1901.

"Baby, I don't care"...an iconic line uttered by this star in the classic 1947 film noir OUT OF THE PAST, as well as the title of the excellent biography written about him.

Happy 104th birthday to actor Robert Mitchum, born on August 6, 1917.

Happy 101st birthday to my favorite writer, and one of my favorite people, Ray Bradbury, born on August 22, 1920. Celebrate the day by reading one of Ray's novels, stories or poems, and by supporting libraries, reading and literacy as he did!

One of the finest celebrations we were privileged to share was August 22, 2009, when we traveled cross-country with our then young sons for Mr. Bradbury's 89th!

Now August 22, 2021, RB's "101st" Celebrations are still in line!!
RB lived life creatively, generously, and joyfully: https://i.pinimg.com/originals...a8f88c1d1af34a86.jpg

Thank you, Mr. Bradbury!

Happy 120th birthday to the legendary Walt Disney, who also was a dear friend of Ray Bradbury. While I posted the link below some time ago, it's worthy of resurrection. The link will take you to a wonderful article on the website of the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco entitled "Nothing Has to Die", about the friendship between Walt Disney and Ray Bradbury:

https://www.waltdisney.org/blo...-bradbury-friendship

Happy 106th birthday to Ray Bradbury's dear friend and mentor Leigh Brackett, born on December 7, 1915. Ray did only a handful of collaborations with other writers during his career, but one of the best known is "Lorelei of the Red Mist", the completion of which he took over for Ms. Brackett while she wrote the screenplay for the Bogart/Bacall film, THE BIG SLEEP. "Lorelei of the Red Mist" appeared in the Summer, 1946 issue of the pulp magazine, PLANET STORIES. An article on how the collaboration came about can be accessed by clicking on the following link:

http://adventuresfantastic.com...lei-of-the-red-mist/

Happy 95th birthday to actress Barbara Rush, who was born on January 4, 1927. Ms. Rush, of course, starred in the 1953 film IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, for which Ray Bradbury wrote the original screen treatment. (Ray said that what he turned in to the studio was almost a complete script and that Harry Essex, who received screenplay credit, didn't have to make many changes to Ray's work.) The link below will take you to an interview Barbara Rush gave around the time of her 88th birthday, in which she discusses (among other things) Ray Bradbury and IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE:

https://www.cinephiled.com/int...talks-classic-films/

"I've been waiting for you, Obi Wan. We meet again, at last."

Happy 91st birthday to one of America's finest actor, James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader in STAR WARS. I still vividly remember seeing Mr. Jones in Chicago on stage in the early 1980's, playing the title role in Shakespeare's OTHELLO, with the late Christopher Plummer in the role of Iago. What a night of theater that was!

Yesterday also would have been Betty White's 100th birthday.

Happy birthday to Edgar Allan Poe, born on this date in 1809. Poe was one of the favorite authors of Ray Bradbury, who would refer to Poe as his literary "Papa".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe

Happy 91st birthday to the fine actress Claire Bloom, who was born on February 15, 1931. Ms. Bloom, with her then-husband Rod Steiger, starred in the 1969 film THE ILLUSTRATED MAN, directed by Jack Smight. Sadly, Ray Bradbury did not write the screenplay for that film. One can only imagine what might have been if Ray had been allowed to do so.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...lustrated_Man_(film)

Happy 82nd birthday to Julie Christie, who starred in Francois Truffaut's fine 1966 film version of Ray Bradbury's FAHRENHEIT 451, and who also served as the narrator of THE BOOKSHOP, the excellent 2018 film which included mention of several of Ray's novels during the course of the film.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Christie

Happy 123rd birthday to the great writer Ernest Hemingway, who was born on July 21, 1899. And celebrate the occasion by reading Ray Bradbury's wonderful short story, "The Parrot Who Met Papa", which in my personal opinion is the funniest story Ray ever wrote!

quote:

Originally posted by Richard:
Happy 123rd birthday to the great writer Ernest Hemingway, who was born on July 21, 1899. And celebrate the occasion by reading Ray Bradbury's wonderful short story, "The Parrot Who Met Papa", which in my personal opinion is the funniest story Ray ever wrote!

On the audio cassette release, The Stories of Ray Bradbury, during Mr. Bradbury's reading of this story there is a point where you can tell he himself is fighting from keeping to laugh.