Entertainment History
On February 15, 1941, Duke Ellington recorded "Take the A Train" with
his big band. It became the orchestra's theme song. In 1950, Disney
released the movie "Cinderella. In 1961, Jackie Wilson was shot twice
by Juanita Jones as he answered the door of his apartment in New York.
Jones had told police she had intended to kill herself if Wilson
rejected her. Wilson spent 21 days in a coma. In 1964, for the first
time one act had five songs on Billboard's Hot 100 list. It was The
Beatles, with "I Want To Hold Your Hand," 'I Saw Her Standing There,"
'She Loves You," 'Please, Please Me" and "My Bonnie. In 1965, singer
Nat "King" Cole died of lung cancer in Santa Monica, California. He was
46. In 1971, Pink Floyd released their "Dark Side of the Moon" album.
In 1981, blues guitarist Mike Bloomfield died in San Francisco of an
accidental drug overdose. Bloomfield was a veteran of the white blues
revival in the 1960s. In 1984, Broadway singer and actress Ethel Merman
died at the age of 76. In 2000, Darva Conger married Rick Rockwell on
the Fox TV show "Who Wants To Marry A Multimillionaire. Fox later
learned an ex-girlfriend accused Rockwell of hitting her, and Conger
asked for an annulment less than a week later. Today's Birthdays:
Actress Claire Bloom is 86. Songwriter Brian Holland
(Holland-Dozier-Holland) is 76. Drummer Mick Avory of The Kinks is 73.
Jazz saxophonist Henry Threadgill is 73. Actress Marisa Berenson
("Barry Lyndon") is 70. Actress Jane Seymour is 66. Singer Melissa
Manchester is 66. Actress Lynn Whitfield ("Madea's Family Reunion") is
64. Cartoonist Matt Groening (GRAY'-ning) ("The Simpsons") is 63. Model
Janice Dickinson is 62. Singer Ali Campbell (UB40) is 58. Actor Joseph
R. Gannascoli ("The Sopranos") is 58. Bassist Mikey Craig of Culture
Club is 57. Actor Steven Michael Quezada ("Breaking Bad") is 54.
Country singer Michael Reynolds of Pinmonkey is 53. Actor Michael
Easton is 50. Actress Renee O'Connor ("Xena: Warrior Princess") is 46.
Actress Sarah Wynter ("24") is 44. Singer Brandon Boyd of Incubus is
41. Drummer Ronnie Vannucci of The Killers is 41. Singer Conor Oberst
of Bright Eyes is 37. Guitarist Gary Clark Junior is 33. Actress
Natalie Morales ("The Grinder," '90210") is 32. Actress Amber Riley
("Glee") is 31.
