November 17, 1925
Roy Harold Scherer-later known as Rock Hudson-is born
in Winnetka, Illinois.
As a
child, Hudson auditioned for school plays but never landed a role. Later, he
worked as a navy mechanic and a truck driver, then pursued an acting career
after World War II. After extensive grooming, which included acting, dancing,
and fencing lessons, Hudson became a leading actor with Universal. In the late
1940s and early 1950s, he frequently starred in action films and melodramas,
including The Desert Hawk (1950) and The Iron Man (1951). Later,
he shone in comedies like Pillow Talk (1959), the first of his three
pictures with Doris Day. He later worked in television, starring in the series McMillan
and Wife from 1971 to 1977 and appearing in Dynasty in 1984 and
1985. Hudson died of AIDS in 1985, at the age of 59. As one of the first major
celebrities to admit to having AIDS, Hudson boosted awareness about the
epidemic.
November 18, 1985
The adults on Sesame Street
finally meet Mr. Snuffleupagus.
Since Mr.
Snuffleupagus made
his first appearance in the Season 3 premiere, the adults had thought that Mr. Snuffleupagus was just an
imaginary friend of Big
Bird's. Big Bird
would often try to arrange for them to see Mr. Snuffleupagus, face-to-face, but
Snuffy would always be gone by the time they finally chose to look at him.
After years of not seeing him and many near-misses, the adults finally got to
see Mr. Snuffleupagus for the first time in this episode, and finally find out
that he is real.
November 20, 1955
Bo Diddley makes
his national television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Bo Diddley opened
his appearance on Ed Sullivan with the eponymously titled song
“Bo Diddley,”. This now-famous number set portions of the children’s rhyme
“Mockingbird” to what is now known as “the Bo Diddley beat”—a syncopated rhythm
in 4/4 time that is the foundation of such rock-and-roll classics as Buddy
Holly’s “Not Fade Away” and the Stangeloves’ “I Want Candy,” among countless
others. Five months before Elvis Presley would make his famous Ed
Sullivandebut, Diddley’s performance gave many Americans their first
exposure to rock and roll, though that term was not yet familiar to mainstream
audiences. Neither was the Bo Diddley beat, yet within just a few seconds of
the drum-and-maraca opening of “Bo Diddley,” the live Ed Sullivan audience
can be heard spontaneously clapping along to the distinctive rhythm in the
surviving kinescope recording of the performance.
As Diddley would later tell the story, Ed Sullivan had expected him to
perform only a cover version of “Tennessee” Ernie Ford’s “Sixteen Tons” and was
furious enough with him for opening with “Bo Diddley” that Sullivan banned him
from future appearances on his show. Be that as it may, Diddley’s appearance on
this day in 1955 introduced a sound that would influence generations of
followers. As blues-rock artist George Thorogood—who performed and recorded
many Bo Diddley covers during his own career—once told Rolling Stone:
“[Chuck Berry's] ‘Maybellene’ is a country song sped up… ‘Johnny B. Goode’ is
blues sped up. But you listen to ‘Bo Diddley,’ and you say, ‘What in the Jesus
is that?'”
November 21
World Television DayWorld Television Day celebrates the daily value of
television as a symbol of communication and globalization. Television is one of
the single greatest technological advances of the 20th century, serving to
educate, inform, entertain and influence our decisions and opinions. It is estimated that approximately 90% of
homes around the world have televisions, however, with the introduction of
internet broadcasting, the number is declining in favor of computers.
World Television Day was proclaimed by the United
Nations in 1996. It is celebrated annually on November 21.
November 21, 1945
Actress Goldie Hawn is born in Washington, D.C.
The daughter of a musician and a dance-studio owner,
Hawn began training as an entertainer at age three, when she took her first
dance lesson. By age 16, she was acting professionally, playing Juliet with a
regional theater company. After studying briefly at American University, she
went to New York to become an actress. She found dancing jobs-first as a
can-can dancer with the World's Fair in 1964 and later as a go-go dancer-while
playing small parts in movies and ill-fated TV shows.
In
1967, Hawn's career picked up thanks to the comedy-variety show Laugh-In,
in which she played a ditzy blonde. In 1969, she won her first featured movie
role, in Cactus Flower, for which she won a Best Supporting Actress
Oscar. She starred in comedies with actor Chevy Chase, including Foul Play
(1978) and Seems Like Old Times (1980). She produced the hit comedy Private
Benjamin (1980), for which she received an Best Actress Academy Award
nomination. Other films include Overboard (1987), Death Becomes Her
(1992), The First Wives Club (1996), and The Banger Sisters (2002). Hawn has had a
romantic relationship with actor Kurt Russell since 1982. Her daughter, Kate
Hudson, is also a well-known actress.
November 21, 1980
Millions tune in to find out who shot J.R.
On November 21, 1980, 350 million people around the world tune in to
television’s popular primetime drama “Dallas” to find out who shot J.R. Ewing,
the character fans loved to hate. J.R. had been shot on the season-ending
episode the previous March 21, which now stands as one of television’s most
famous cliffhangers. The plot twist inspired widespread media coverage and left
America wondering “Who shot J.R.?” for the next eight months. The November 21
episode solved the mystery, identifying Kristin Shepard, J.R.’s wife’s sister
and his former mistress, as the culprit.
As J.R. had many enemies, audiences were hard-pressed to guess who was
responsible for his attempted murder. That summer, the question “Who Shot
J.R.?” entered the national lexicon, becoming a popular t-shirt slogan, and
heightening anticipation of the soap’s third season, which was to air in the
fall. After a much-talked-about contract dispute with Hagman was finally
settled, the season was delayed because of a Screen Actors Guild strike, much
to the dismay of “Dallas” fans. When it finally aired, the episode revealing
J.R.’s shooter became one of television’s most watched shows, with an audience
of 83 million people in the U.S. alone—a full 76 percent of all U.S.
televisions on that night were tuned in—and helped put “Dallas” into greater
worldwide circulation. It also popularized the use of the cliffhanger by
television writers.
November 17, 1925
Roy Harold Scherer-later known as Rock Hudson-is born
in Winnetka, Illinois.
As a
child, Hudson auditioned for school plays but never landed a role. Later, he
worked as a navy mechanic and a truck driver, then pursued an acting career
after World War II. After extensive grooming, which included acting, dancing,
and fencing lessons, Hudson became a leading actor with Universal. In the late
1940s and early 1950s, he frequently starred in action films and melodramas,
including The Desert Hawk (1950) and The Iron Man (1951). Later,
he shone in comedies like Pillow Talk (1959), the first of his three
pictures with Doris Day. He later worked in television, starring in the series McMillan
and Wife from 1971 to 1977 and appearing in Dynasty in 1984 and
1985. Hudson died of AIDS in 1985, at the age of 59. As one of the first major
celebrities to admit to having AIDS, Hudson boosted awareness about the
epidemic.
November 18, 1985
The adults on Sesame Street
finally meet Mr. Snuffleupagus.
Since Mr.
Snuffleupagus made
his first appearance in the Season 3 premiere, the adults had thought that Mr. Snuffleupagus was just an
imaginary friend of Big
Bird's. Big Bird
would often try to arrange for them to see Mr. Snuffleupagus, face-to-face, but
Snuffy would always be gone by the time they finally chose to look at him.
After years of not seeing him and many near-misses, the adults finally got to
see Mr. Snuffleupagus for the first time in this episode, and finally find out
that he is real.
November 20, 1955
Bo Diddley makes his national television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Bo Diddley opened his appearance on Ed Sullivan with the eponymously titled song “Bo Diddley,”. This now-famous number set portions of the children’s rhyme “Mockingbird” to what is now known as “the Bo Diddley beat”—a syncopated rhythm in 4/4 time that is the foundation of such rock-and-roll classics as Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” and the Stangeloves’ “I Want Candy,” among countless others. Five months before Elvis Presley would make his famous Ed Sullivandebut, Diddley’s performance gave many Americans their first exposure to rock and roll, though that term was not yet familiar to mainstream audiences. Neither was the Bo Diddley beat, yet within just a few seconds of the drum-and-maraca opening of “Bo Diddley,” the live Ed Sullivan audience can be heard spontaneously clapping along to the distinctive rhythm in the surviving kinescope recording of the performance.
As Diddley would later tell the story, Ed Sullivan had expected him to
perform only a cover version of “Tennessee” Ernie Ford’s “Sixteen Tons” and was
furious enough with him for opening with “Bo Diddley” that Sullivan banned him
from future appearances on his show. Be that as it may, Diddley’s appearance on
this day in 1955 introduced a sound that would influence generations of
followers. As blues-rock artist George Thorogood—who performed and recorded
many Bo Diddley covers during his own career—once told Rolling Stone:
“[Chuck Berry's] ‘Maybellene’ is a country song sped up… ‘Johnny B. Goode’ is
blues sped up. But you listen to ‘Bo Diddley,’ and you say, ‘What in the Jesus
is that?'”
November 21
World Television Day
World Television Day celebrates the daily value of television as a symbol of communication and globalization. Television is one of the single greatest technological advances of the 20th century, serving to educate, inform, entertain and influence our decisions and opinions. It is estimated that approximately 90% of homes around the world have televisions, however, with the introduction of internet broadcasting, the number is declining in favor of computers.
World Television Day was proclaimed by the United Nations in 1996. It is celebrated annually on November 21.
November 21, 1945
Actress Goldie Hawn is born in Washington, D.C.
The daughter of a musician and a dance-studio owner,
Hawn began training as an entertainer at age three, when she took her first
dance lesson. By age 16, she was acting professionally, playing Juliet with a
regional theater company. After studying briefly at American University, she
went to New York to become an actress. She found dancing jobs-first as a
can-can dancer with the World's Fair in 1964 and later as a go-go dancer-while
playing small parts in movies and ill-fated TV shows.
In
1967, Hawn's career picked up thanks to the comedy-variety show Laugh-In,
in which she played a ditzy blonde. In 1969, she won her first featured movie
role, in Cactus Flower, for which she won a Best Supporting Actress
Oscar. She starred in comedies with actor Chevy Chase, including Foul Play
(1978) and Seems Like Old Times (1980). She produced the hit comedy Private
Benjamin (1980), for which she received an Best Actress Academy Award
nomination. Other films include Overboard (1987), Death Becomes Her
(1992), The First Wives Club (1996), and The Banger Sisters (2002). Hawn has had a
romantic relationship with actor Kurt Russell since 1982. Her daughter, Kate
Hudson, is also a well-known actress.
November 21, 1980
Millions tune in to find out who shot J.R.
As J.R. had many enemies, audiences were hard-pressed to guess who was responsible for his attempted murder. That summer, the question “Who Shot J.R.?” entered the national lexicon, becoming a popular t-shirt slogan, and heightening anticipation of the soap’s third season, which was to air in the fall. After a much-talked-about contract dispute with Hagman was finally settled, the season was delayed because of a Screen Actors Guild strike, much to the dismay of “Dallas” fans. When it finally aired, the episode revealing J.R.’s shooter became one of television’s most watched shows, with an audience of 83 million people in the U.S. alone—a full 76 percent of all U.S. televisions on that night were tuned in—and helped put “Dallas” into greater worldwide circulation. It also popularized the use of the cliffhanger by television writers.
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
Tony Figueroa
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