Birthdays: January 2008 Archives

...the beautiful Portia de Rossi!

Why we love her? So many reasons. She's funny and smart and quite talented. She's delighted us with her roles on "Ally McBeal," "Arrested Development" and now on "Nip/Tuck." And, of course, she's the love of Ellen DeGeneres' life. Anyone who makes Ellen that happy, makes us happy...

...the great Greg Louganis who turns 48 today!

Greg is the greatest diver the U.S. has ever had. In 1976, while still in high school, he won the silver medal at the Olympics and Montreal. The U.S. boycott of the Moscow games kept him from competition in 1980 but at the Los Angeles games in 1984, he took home two gold medals then repeated the feat four years later in Seoul, Korea.

It was in Seoul that Greg hit his head on the diving board during preliminary rounds and cut his head. What the world did not know was the he had recently found out that he was HIV-positive. To be dealing with that and trying to compete against the best, I am still in awe of how he came through that situation and went on to win the gold..

Greg is also a six time World Champion and has held 47 National Championship titles.

But even more than his diving accomplishments, there is nothing more important, in my opinion, than when Greg publicly came out at the Gay Games in 1994. This was the year before he released his superb autobiography, "Breaking the Surface." I was struggling with how public to be with my own sexuality at that time and I was so inspired by Greg and his story - particularly an appearance he made on the "The Oprah Winfrey Show" where the reception was so enormous, so warm, and the look on his face was one of such happiness and joy at being out. It was so inspiring. It was still a really big deal to come out in 1995 - Ellen didn't do it until two years later.

I remember thinking how sad it was that he had reached this point but probably would not live to enjoy it much longer. In an interview with Barbara Walters, he had said that he was not just HIV-positive, but had AIDS. And here we are, 13 years later, and Greg is still with us - thank God.

He's been more private in recent years but you still hear about him now and then and it is always a wonderful thing...

P.S. Greg's book was made into a TV movie starring Mario Lopez. It's available on DVD!

...His name is Stefan Edberg and he turns 42 today.

If you don't know, he was once the number one tennis player in the world and I just love that shot of his (above) reacting after winning his first Wimbledon title in 1988. With the Austrlian Open underway, it's fitting that Stefan should have a birthday today since he won the tournament twice and made it to the finals three other times.

He was my favorite player for a long time and not just because of his sensational legs and thighs and handsome face - really! He was always a great sportsman and an absolute joy to watch. I got to see him play at Wimbledon in 1991 when my friend Lorna and I had seats in the 10th row on a magical day that landed us on the front page of The Independent as spectators participating in the first audience wave on Centre Court.

But I had first seen Stefan (pictured, right, being inducted into the Hall of Fame w/Steffi Graf) four years earlier when my college roomie, Scott, took me to an exhibition match he was playing againstJohn McEnroe at the Forum in Los Angeles.
Stefan beat Mac who walked off the court in a bit of a huff. I went courtside after to get Edberg's autograph and when he grabbed my pen, his pinkie brushed across my hand. I nearly fainted on the spot. Then he used my pen to sign several more and after, looked around to find me to return it.

He had no idea that I was an obsessed stalker!

...Betty White!!!

Why we love her: First of all, she was the deliciously slutty Sue Ann Nivens on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" for the show's final four seasons and won two Emmys along the way. Betty was never better than as Sue Ann, the Happy Homemaker with the sweet exterior and horny interior.

Then there is Rose on "The Golden Girls," another Emmy winning performance for Betty. I met her a few years ago at a reunion of the cast (Bea Arthur was chilly to her that night for some reason) and was able to tell her that my favorite scene involving Rose was when she tore the teddy bear out of the little girl's hand and pushed her out the door. (The little girl had been holding the bear hostage for ransom).

You figure, how can you top those two iconic character? Betty has kept on going with a hilarious guest spot on "Ugly Betty" thhis season, a recurring role on "Boston Legal" and "Bold and the Beautiful." She goes on and on and on and still has that perfect comic timing.

What a gem.