1908 or 1909 or 1912 There's no birthday like Merm's birthday. Ethel Zimmermann is born in Astoria N.Y. today. In years to come she will be acting and belting all over town as Ethel …
SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM1927 Birthday of Robert Louis Fosse, better known as Bob Fosse (1927-1987), master director-choreographer known for his sexy hip-swiveling dances in shows including The Pajama Ga…
SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM1961 American ideals and and practices are put on trial as The Red Eye of Love opens at New York's Living Theatre. The satire by Arnold Weinstein will last 169 performances.
SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM1922 Birthday of Frances Ethel Gumm, better known as Judy Garland (1922-1969), star of numerous Hollywood film musicals including "The Wizard of Oz." Her Broadway experience co…
SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM1891 Birthday of composer Cole Porter (1891-1964), whose witty, urbane songs will grace five decades of musicals, including Anything Goes, Can-Can, Gay Divorce, Silk Stockings and hi…
SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM1925 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart make their lyric and songwriting debut in The Garrick Gaieties at Broadway's Garrick Theatre. In the cast are Sterling Holloway, Sanford Meisner, Phi…
SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM1909 Birthday of Broadway star Jessica Tandy (1909-1994), who created many landmark roles including Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, Agnes in A Delicate Balance and Fonsia in …
SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM1954 Playwright and actor Harvey Fierstein is born today. Fierstein will win Tony Awards for writing and performing in his play Torch Song Trilogy, as well as for his book for the musical La…
SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM1939 Actor James Barton, a star of the Broadway hit Tobacco Road, returns to the show today after having been fired the previous February after quarreling with his co-stars backstage. Bo…
SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM1968 Stage and screen actress Dorothy Gish dies today in Rapallo, Italy. Her first New York stage appearance was in 1903 in East Lynne. She began her film career in 1912, but resumed her sta…
SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM1866 Birthday of playwright and producer George Broadhurst (1866-1952), responsible for dozens of plays and musicals, including the first stage adaptation of Tarzan of the Apes. Also, na…
SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM1954 Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's Carousel is revived for a ten-week run at the New York City Center. In the cast are Barbara Cook and Jo Sullivan.
SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM1914 The Ziegfeld Follies of 1914 stars Ed Wynn. Leon Errol dances and co-directs with Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. There will be 112 performances at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York.
SOURCE: Playbill at 01:00AM1951 Performer Fanny Brice dies today in Hollywood at age 60. She started in showbiz by winning a series of amateur nights at vaudeville theatres in Brooklyn, then graduated to Burlesque as …
SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM1940 Victor Moore, William Gaxton and Vera Zorina star in the Irving Berlin musical Louisiana Purchase, which runs 444 performances at the Imperial Theatre.
SOURCE: Playbill at 01:00AM1953 John Mills is The Uninvited Guest at London's St. James's Theatre. Written by his wife, Mary Hayley Bell, and co-starring Cathleen Nesbitt and Joan Greenwood, this story of …
SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM1913 One hundred and twelve actors gather at the Pabst Grand Circle Hotel near Columbus Circle in New York City and vote to form Actors’ Equity Association, the union representing …
SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM1903 Birthday of Broadway leading man Todd Duncan (1903-1998), who will create the role of Porgy in Porgy and Bess, and star in the original productions of Lost in the Stars and Cabin in the…
SOURCE: Playbill at 05:58PM1922 It's booze, jazz and The National Anthem. J. Hartley Manners' work showcases his wife, Laurette Taylor, and Ralph Morgan. This drama will run at the Henry Miller Theatre for 114 perform…
SOURCE: Playbill at 05:58PM1903 Future actress Tallulah Bankhead, who can count two U.S. Senators and a Congressman in her family, is born today.
SOURCE: Playbill at 05:58PM1960 The Dublin Gate Theatre will hear Chimes at Midnight. Orson Welles directs his adaptation of Shakespeare and Holinshead.
SOURCE: Playbill at 05:58PM1900 Birthday of legendary Broadway producer and director Jed Harris (1900-1979), who will present The Royal Family, Broadway, Our Town, The Heiress and The Crucible. Also said to be the mod…
SOURCE: Playbill at 05:58PM1908 Actor Rex Harrison is born today. He will make his London debut in Florence Kilpatrick's Getting George Married. He will star in the London production of Noel Coward's Design for Living…
SOURCE: Playbill at 05:58PM1912 Birthday of composer Burton Lane (1912-1997), who will go on to write On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Hold on to Your Hats, Laffing Room Only and his great hit, Finian's Rainbow.
SOURCE: Playbill at 05:58PM1812 Birthday of author Charles Dickens (1812-1870), whose "A Christmas Carol" has been adapted to the stage dozens of times and provides a durable annuity for theatre troupes everywhere. Am…
SOURCE: Playbill at 05:58PM1908 J. Lucifer Mephisto tempts a sculptor to be unfaithful in The Soul Kiss. Produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, this musical comedy stars Ralph Herz, Adeline Genee, and Cecil Lean. Harry B. Smit…
SOURCE: Playbill at 05:58PM1900 A week-long engagement at Dublin's Gaiety Theatre by the Irish Literary Theatre does not cause much of a stir. The company stages The Bending of the Bough by George Moore, Maeve by Edwa…
SOURCE: Playbill at 05:58PM1922 Arthur Wing Pinero's The Enchanted Cottage constructs the story of a couple who find themselves transformed by their love for one another. Owen Nares and Laura Cowie are the lucky pair.…
SOURCE: Playbill at 05:58PM1873 Birthday of singer/actress Anna Held, future wife of Florenz Ziegfeld, and the classic sexy French flirt of her era. She will play this role in a series of musical vehicles including La…
SOURCE: Playbill at 05:58PM
