Entertainment History
On March 24, 1949, "Hamlet" was named best picture at the Academy
Awards. Its star, Laurence Olivier, won the best actor award. In 1955,
the Tennessee Williams play "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" opened on Broadway.
In 1958, Elvis Presley was inducted into the Army in Memphis,
Tennessee. He was discharged in 1960. In 1965, bassist Bill Wyman of
the Rolling Stones was knocked unconscious by an electrical shock from
a microphone stand on stage in Denmark. In 1973, singer Lou Reed was
bitten on his rear end by a concert-goer who leaped on stage in
Buffalo, New York, and shouted "Leather! Reed commented afterward that,
in his words, "America seems to breed real animals. In 1986, the best
picture award at the Academy Awards went to "Out of Africa.
Singer-songwriter Lionel Richie won an Oscar for "Say You, Say Me" from
the movie "White Knights. Also in 1986, Van Halen released their "5150"
album, their first with Sammy Hagar on vocals. In 1991, the Black
Crowes were dropped as the opening act on ZZ Top's tour for repeatedly
criticizing Miller Beer, who was sponsoring the tour. In 1993, a jury
in Los Angeles decided actress Kim Basinger was guilty of backing out
of a verbal agreement to star in the movie "Boxing Helena. In 1997,
singer Harold Melvin of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes died in his
sleep at his home in Philadelphia. He was 57. Today's Birthdays: Actor
R. Lee Ermey ("Full Metal Jacket") is 73. Singer Nick Lowe is 68.
Bassist Dougie Thomson of Supertramp is 66. Comedian Louie Anderson is
64. Actor Robert Carradine is 63. Actress Donna Pescow is 63. Actress
Kelly LeBrock is 57. DJ Rodney "Kool Kollie" Terry of Ghostown DJs is
56. TV personality Star Jones is 55. Guitarist Patterson Hood of
Drive-By Truckers is 53. Actor Peter Jacobson ("House") is 52.
Singer-violinist Sharon Corr of The Corrs is 47. Actress Lauren Bowles
("True Blood") is 47. Actress Lara Flynn Boyle is 47. Rapper Maceo of
De La Soul is 47. Actress Megyn Price ("Rules of Engagement," 'Grounded
For Life") is 46. Actor Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory") is 44.
Drummer Chad Butler of Switchfoot is 43. Actress Alyson Hannigan ("How
I Met Your Mother," 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer") is 43. Actress Olivia
Burnette ("Sons of Anarchy") is 40. Actress Jessica Chastain ("Zero
Dark Thirty," 'The Help") is 40. Actor Amir Arison ("The Blacklist") is
39. Actress Lake Bell ("The Practice") is 38. Bassist Benj Gershman of
O.A.R. is 37. Bassist Jesse Phillips of St. Paul and the Broken Bones
is 37. Actress Keisha Castle-Hughes ("The Nativity Story," 'Whale
Rider") is 27.
