Sunday, March 21, 2010
GOD BLESS AMERICA DAY
God Bless America, written by Irving Berlin back in 1918 as a tribute by a successful immigrant to his adopted country, was recorded by Kate Smith for Victor Records on this day in 1939.
Ms. Smith first introduced the song on her Thursday, November 10, 1938 radio show(aired live the day before Armistice Day). God Bless America was a fitting tribute to its composer, who gave all royalties from the very popular and emotional song to the Boy Scouts. The song became Kate Smith’s second signature after When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain; and the second national anthem of the United States of America.
On several occasions, it has even been suggested that the U.S. Congress enact a bill changing the national anthem to God Bless America.
1826 – The Rensselaer School in Troy, New York was incorporated. The school, known today as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, became the first engineering college in the United States. Remember this when crossing over a bridge today…
1868 – The first club for professional women was formed in New York City by writer, Jennie June Croly. The club was called Sorosos.
1925 – The voice of Lowell Thomas was first heard on radio. Thomas was heard talking about “Man’s first flight around the world,” on KDKA in Pittsburgh, PA.
1941 – Singer Paula Kelly joined Glenn Miller’s band. Her husband, also a part of the Miller organization, was one of the four singing Modernaires.
1946 – The Los Angeles Rams signed Kenny Washington, the first black player to join a National Football League teamsince 1933.
1956 – The 28th Academy Awards were celebrated at the RKO Pantages Theater, Los Angeles, California. Hosting the festivities were comedian/actor/singer/producer Jerry Lewis in Hollywood, plus actress Claudette Colbert and writer/producer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz in New York City. Marty, produced by Harold Hecht, was a big winner: BestPicture; Best Director (Delbert Mann); Best Actor (Ernest Borgnine); and Best Writing/Screenplay (Paddy Chayefsky). Best Actress was Anna Magnani for The Rose Tattoo; Best Supporting Actor was Jack Lemmon for Mister Roberts; Best Supporting Actress was Jo Van Fleet for East of Eden; and Best Music/Song to Sammy Fain (music),Paul Francis Webster (lyrics) for Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing from Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing. 1955 was a great year for other great movies, too (some Oscar winners, some not): Picnic; Bad Day at Black Rock; The Man with the Golden Arm; Rebel Without a Cause; Pete Kelly’s Blues; The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell; The Seven Little Foys; Blackboard Jungle; To Catch a Thief; and Oklahoma!, The Bridges at Toko-Ri to name a few…
1957 - Shirley Booth made her TV acting debut in The Hostess with the Mostest on Playhouse 90 on CBS.
1961 – The Beatles made their debut in an appearance at Liverpool’s Cavern Club, where they became regulars in a matter of months.
1963 – A year after opening in the Broadway show, I Can Get It for You Wholesale, Elliott Gould and Barbra Streisand tied the matrimonial knot.
1970 – The Beatles established a new record. Let It Be entered the Billboard chart at number six. This was the highest debuting position ever for a record. Let It Be reached number two a week later and made it to the top spot on April 11, overshadowing Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge over Troubled Water.
1985 - Boy George said he would never marry, settle down, or become a father because he was “too eccentric!” He made this revealing statement in, what else? Women’s World magazine!
1994 – Actress/Comedienne Whoopi Goldberg hosted the 66th Annual Academy Awards show at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The film that was created so the world would never forget the Holocaust — the inhumanity of mankind to other humans — received the highest honors this evening. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) awardedSchindler’s List, nominated in no less than 12 categories, with seven Oscars: beginning with Best Writing/ScreenplayBased on Material from Another Medium (Stephen Zaillian); Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Allan Starski, Ewa Braun); Best Cinematography (Janusz Kaminski); Best Film Editing (Michael Kahn); Best Music/Original Score(John Williams); Best Director (Steven Spielberg); and culminating with Best Picture (Producers Steven Spielberg, Gerald R. Molen and Branko Lustig). Schindler’s List was not the only film to receive multiple golden statuettes.Philadelphia (nominated five times) scored two awards, Best Actor (Tom Hanks) and Best Music/Song, Streets of Philadelphia to Bruce Springsteen. The Piano (nominated in eight categories) won both Best Actress (Holly Hunter)and Best Supporting Actress (Anna Paquin), and Best Writing/Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Jane Campion); Jurassic Park received the Best Sound award (Gary Summers, Gary Rydstrom, Shawn Murphy, Ron Judkins), the Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing award (Gary Rydstrom, Richard Hymns), and the Best Effects, Visual Effects award (Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett, Michael Lantieri). Tommy Lee Jones picked up the BestSupporting Actor award for The Fugitive, a film nominated in seven categories.
1999 – Everything was beautiful at the 71st Annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. There were beautiful people, gowns, and the beautiful words, “The Oscar goes to…” Hosting the festivities which had moved from the traditional Monday night to Sunday evening, was comedienne Whoopi Goldberg, who modeled the beautiful, and sometimes bizarre, costumes from the movies nominated in the Best Costume Design category. (And the Oscar went to Sandy Powell for Shakespeare in Love.) A beautiful lady, Gwyneth Paltrow, emotionally accepted the Best ActressOscar for her role in Shakespeare in Love. It was a beautiful night for the film with 13 nominations and seven wins including the upset win of Best Picture of the 1998 year; Best Supporting Actress (Dame Judi Dench); Best Writing/ScreenplayWritten Directly for the Screen (Marc Norman, Tom Stoppard); Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Martin Childs, Jill Quertier); and Best Music/Original Musical or Comedy Score (Stephen Warbeck). This was the first time in nine years that the film that won Best Picture did not win for Best Director. Steven Spielberg was the winning director for Saving Private Ryan (which also won four more of the golden statuettes). It was a beautiful moment when the Best Supporting Actor Oscar was awarded to James Coburn (Affliction), his first Academy Award nomination in over 70 films. But the most beautiful moment/s of the long (Oscar’s longest to date) evening was when Sophia Loren said, “and the Oscar goes to Roberto!” (Best Actor: La Vita è bella - Roberto Benigni). In plain English, Life is Beautiful. Roberto Benigni was the first actor in a foreign language film to receive an Oscar. Coincidentally, Ms. Loren had been the first actress to be so honored.Benigni had received an Oscar earlier in the evening for Best Foreign Film (Life is Beautiful) when he pirouetted on top of seat backs, hopping and dancing to the stage. Roberto Benigni truly made the evening bella, bella!
