It was on this date, June 4, 1975, that American actress, film director, and screenwriter Angelina Jolie was born. Daughter of Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight (Midnight Cowboy, 1969; Deliverance, 1972; The Odessa File, 1974; Coming Home, 1978), Jolie won herself an Oscar for her supporting role in Girl, Interrupted (1999), as well as Golden Globes […]

It was on his date, May 27, 1971, that English actor Paul Bettany was born. He first came to the attention of American audiences when he appeared in Brian Helgeland's 2001 film A Knight's Tale. His later films include A Beautiful Mind (2001), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), Dogville (2003), […]

It was on this date, December 18, 1963, that American actor and film producer Brad Pitt was born. A leading man nominated for five Academy Awards and five Golden Globes, and winning one of the latter, Pitt is noted for commercial film successes in Troy (2004) and Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) and Academy Award-nominated […]

It was on this date, October 18, 1927, that American actor George C. Scott, winner of four Oscar nominations, was born George Campbell Scott in Wise, VA. Generally considered an actor’s actor, and known for his distinctive raspy voice, Scott was nominated for Broadway’s Tony Award five times and created memorable film characters in Anatomy […]

Richard Burton (1925) It was on this date, November 10, 1925, that Welsh actor Richard Burton was born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr. in Pontrydyfen, the twelfth of thirteen children, born to a hard-drinking miner. He took his stage and screen name from a schoolmaster who helped him enter Oxford, Philip Burton, and studied acting there. […]

Jesus Christ Superstar opens (1971) It was on this date, October 12, 1971, that the rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar opened on Broadway in New York's Mark Hellinger Theater. Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice were hardly household names at the time – they initially couldn't get backing to put up a show, […]

Roman Polanski (1933) It was on this date, September 18, 1933, that director Roman Polanski was born Rajmund Roman Thierry Polański in Paris to Polish Jewish parents, neither of whom practiced their religion seriously. The family got caught in Poland as the Nazis overran the country. Polanski's mother, a Roman Catholic, died in the concentration […]

Sean Penn (1960) It was on this date, August 17, 1960, that actor and director Sean Penn was born Sean Justin Penn in Santa Monica, California. As Penn himself put it, "I was brought up in a country that relished fear-based religion, corrupt government, and an entire white population living on stolen property that they […]

The Last Temptation of Christ Released (1988) It was on this date, August 12, 1988, that Martin Scorsese's film, The Last Temptation of Christ, was released in the United States. Even before it opened in nine theaters across the US (initially), the film had inspired controversy – not only from the usual, narrow-minded fundamentalists, who […]

No Kissing on Screen (1910) It was on this date, July 20, 1910, that the Christian Endeavor Society of Missouri began a campaign to ban all motion pictures that depicted kissing between non-relatives – coincidentally on the same year and month that sultry silent screen actress Theda Bara turned 20. Movies were only just beginning […]