Entertainment History
On Dec. 2, 1933, “Dancing Lady,” Fred Astaire’s first film, was released. Joan Crawford was his dance partner.
In 1943, “Carmen Jones” opened on Broadway. It was a contemporary reworking of the Bizet (bee-ZAY’) opera “Carmen” with an all-black cast by Oscar Hammerstein II.
In 1949, Gene Autry’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” first hit the pop charts.
In 1973, mail-in tickets for a Bob Dylan U.S. tour went on sale. At one San Francisco post office, there was a five-block-long traffic jam.
Also in 1973, The Who spent the night in jail in Montreal after causing $6,000 worth of damage to a hotel room. The incident inspired John Entwistle to write “Cell Block Number Seven.”
In 1983, MTV first aired Michael Jackson’s 14-minute “Thriller” video.
In 1986, Jerry Lee Lewis checked into the Betty Ford Clinic to overcome an addiction to painkillers.
In 1990, composer Aaron Copland (KOHP’-land) died at age 90.
Also in 1990, actor Katharine Hepburn made a rare appearance in Washington to accept the Kennedy Center Honor for Lifetime Achievement.
In 1996, actor Burt Reynolds filed for bankruptcy.
In 2000, Smashing Pumpkins played their last concert with the original lineup, at the Metro concert hall in Chicago. It was the same club where they had played their first show 13 years earlier.
In 2004, Brian Williams anchored his first “Nightly News” on NBC. He took over for Tom Brokaw.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Cathy Lee Crosby (“That’s Incredible”) is 80. Director Penelope Spheeris (“Wayne’s World,” “The Decline of Western Civilization”) is 79. Actor Ron Raines (“Guiding Light”) is 75. Country singer John Wesley Ryles is 74. Actor Keith Szarabajka (zayr-ah-BY’-kah) (”Angel,” “The Equalizer”) is 72. Actor Dan Butler (“Frasier”) is 70. News anchor Stone Phillips is 70. Actor Dennis Christopher (“Breaking Away,” ″Chariots of Fire”) is 69. Actor Steven Bauer (“Scarface”) is 68. Bassist Rick Savage of Def Leppard is 64. Actor Brendan Coyle (“Downton Abbey”) is 61. Actor Lucy Liu is 56. Bassist Nate Mendel of Foo Fighters is 56. Actor Suzy Nakamura (“Dr. Ken”) is 56. Actor Rena Sofer (“24,” ″Just Shoot Me”) is 56. Rapper Treach of Naughty By Nature is 54. Actor Joe Lo Truglio (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) is 54. Singer Nelly Furtado is 46. Singer Britney Spears is 43. Singer-actor Jana Kramer is 41. Actor-comedian Yvonne Orji is 41. Actor Daniela Ruah (“NCIS: Los Angeles”) is 41. Actor Alfred Enoch (“How To Get Away With Murder”) is 36. Singer Charlie Puth is 33.
