film history

This Day in the Arts — March 6 in Film and Stage History

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The word “icon” is bandied about in the entertainment world perhaps too readily. However, I believe there is no question that the achievement in film and stage history we are celebrating today does deserve the term “iconic performance.” On March 6, 1985, Yul Brynner gave his 4,500th stage performance as King Mongkut in The King and I. His final performance, his 4,633rd (!) was on June 30 the same year. Less than four months later he died of lung cancer.

She Shoulda Been a Contender!

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Likely everyone has a film or two, and an actor or two, they think should have won an Oscar. No doubt some of that is cropping up in water cooler and coffee room conversations all over the United States and Canada today, as people talk about last night’s Academy Awards. I want to take you a little further back than last night’s award ceremony, to a film and a performance that I rate as Oscar worthy. The film was released in 1986. The Oscar ceremony for which it was not even a nominee — nor was its star — was held on March 30, 1987. (And I need to say now — sorry, Erik, but it’s a movie you won’t be able to watch for a few more years. You can keep reading this post, though!) Who was missing from the nominees that year?

This Day in the Arts — February 20 in Film History

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Just a word before we get to today’s snippet of history. I am honored to have been asked to do a guest post in Donna Martin’s blog series Writerly Wisdom today. You may read my post about writers and blogging at Donna L. Martin’s On the Write Track. Now to This Day in the Arts: On February 20, 1927, actor Sidney Poitier was born. I confess I find it hard to believe that he is eighty-six years old. I have long admired him as an actor and as an advocate for civil rights. It is a joy to celebrate him today.

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