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As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history,
the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.
November 2, 1966
David Schwimmer born in Astoria, Queens,
New York. Schwimmer was raised in
Southern California and attended Beverly Hills High School. He graduated from
Northwestern University and went on to co-found the Lookingglass Theatre
Company in Chicago. In addition to stage work, Schwimmer’s early acting credits
include guest roles on TV shows such as The Wonder Years, L.A. Law and NYPD
Blue. The dark-haired actor’s big break came when he was cast in Friends,
a half-hour comedy about the careers and love lives of six young adults living
in New York City.
Schwimmer played Ross Geller, a neurotic paleontologist and
the older brother of the obsessive-compulsive Monica Geller (Courteney Cox
Arquette). One of the show’s key storylines involved Ross’s on-again, off-again
romantic relationship with Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), Monica’s high
school friend and current roommate who, for a time early in the series, worked
as a waitress at Central Perk, a coffee shop that served as a gathering spot
for the six friends.
Friends, which debuted on September 22, 1994, on NBC, became a
massive hit and a pop-culture icon, propelling Schwimmer and the five other
main cast members--Aniston, Cox Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew
Perry--to Hollywood stardom. The show inspired fashion and hairstyle trends
(notably Aniston’s layered cut, known as “The Rachel”), as well as such
catchphrases as “How you doin’?” and “We were on a break.” After 10
seasons, the final episode of Friends aired on May 6, 2004; more than 50
million viewers reportedly tuned in, one of the all-time largest audiences for
a TV finale. (By comparison, the most-watched last episode in TV history, the
l983 finale of M*A*S*H, drew some 106 million viewers, while the last
episode of Seinfeld, in 1998, was seen by over 76 million people.)
In addition to his work on Friends, Schwimmer has appeared in such
movies as
The Pallbearer (1996), with Gwyneth Paltrow; Six Days Seven Nights
(1998), with Harrison Ford and Anne Heche; Picking Up the Pieces
(2000) with Woody Allen and Kiefer Sutherland; and HBO’s critically acclaimed
World War II miniseries Band of Brothers (2001). Schwimmer played the
title role in the 2005 film Duane Hopwood and voiced the character of
Melman the Giraffe in the animated feature Madagascar (2005).
November 3, 1956
The Wizard of Oz is broadcast on television for the
first time.
Some 45 million people
tuned in to CBS to see the movie, which was broadcast on Ford Star Jubilee.
Judy Garland's 10-year-old daughter, Liza Minnelli, introduced the program.
November 5, 1911
Leonard Slye, later known as Roy Rogers, is born in
Cincinnati, Ohio.
Rogers first came
to Hollywood in the 1920s as a migrant fruit picker. In the early 1930s, he
joined a singing group called Uncle Tom Murray's Hollywood Hillbillies, which
first sang on the radio in 1931. Rogers went on to sing with other similar
groups, including the Sons of the Pioneers, which recorded hits like
"Tumbling Tumbleweeds." The Sons of the Pioneers group was recruited
for low-budget western films, and Rogers was soon playing bit parts for
Republic Pictures, the same studio where cowboy star Gene Autry worked. When
Autry quit over a dispute with the studio in 1937, Rogers gained more exposure.
Starring with his trick horse, Trigger, and his frequent co-star Dale Evans,
Rogers soon became one of the Top 10 moneymakers in Hollywood.
Rogers also followed
Autry into the radio medium, launching The Roy Rogers Show in 1944. The
show, a mix of music and drama, always closed with the song "Happy
Trails," which became known as Rogers' theme song.
After
Rogers' wife died in 1946, he married co-star Dale Evans. His radio program ran
until 1955. In 1951, a TV version of the program debuted and ran until 1957.
Rogers became one of the wealthiest men in Hollywood by diversifying his money:
His empire included a TV production studio, real estate, cattle, horses, a
rodeo show, and a restaurant chain. Roy Rogers died in 1998.
"Until
we meet again on screen or in person, good night, good luck, and may the good
Lord take a likin' to you."
November 6, 1946
Sally Margaret Field is
born.
Field began her career in
television, starring on the sitcoms Gidget (1965–66) and The
Flying Nun (1967–70). She ventured into film with Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and
later Norma Rae (1979), for which she received theAcademy Award for Best Actress. She
later received Golden Globe Award nominations for her performances inAbsence
of Malice (1981) and Kiss Me Goodbye (1982), before
receiving her second Oscar for Best Actress forPlaces in the Heart (1984). Field
received further nominations for a Golden
Globe Award for Best Actress forMurphy's
Romance (1985) and Steel
Magnolias (1989).
November 6, 2001
The TV show "24" aired for the first time.
The television series
produced for the Fox network, created by Joel
Surnow and Robert Cochran, and starring Kiefer
Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) Agent Jack Bauer.
Each season, comprising 24 episodes, covers 24 hours in
Bauer's life using the real
time method of narration. Premiering on November 6, 2001, the show
spanned 192 episodes over eight seasons; the
series finale broadcast on May 24, 2010. In addition, a television film, 24:
Redemption, was broadcast between seasons six and seven, on November
23, 2008. 24 returned as a 12-episode series titled 24: Live Another Day, which aired from May
5 to July 14, 2014. 24: Legacy,
a spin-off series featuring new characters is scheduled to premiere on February
5, 2017, after the Super Bowl.
To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".
Stay Tuned Tony Figueroa |
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