Birthdays: April 2008 Archives

...the fabulous Leslie Jordan! The man best known as Karen Walker's nemesis Beverly Leslie on "Will & Grace" turns 53 today. He's one of the stars of the upcoming Logo series "Private Lives" (based on the cult fave movie). I will update this post later today with an interview I did with Leslie a few nights ago at the GLAAD Media Awards.

...the legend turns 66 today. So many of us have loved Barbra for so long - virtually all our lives - and stuck with her through every hairstyle, every musical genre, every husband or boyfriend. She's always sang one helluva number and there really is no one else like her - no one.

Some Barbra videos, through the years:

Here is a wonderful 1997 visit to "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" where Rosie was overcome with emotion to be welcoming her childhood idol to the show. Barbra's music filled Rosie's house when she was a kid and was an absolute favorite of her late mother:

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One of my favorites: Streisand singing "As If We Never Said Goodbye" from "Sunset Boulevard" during her 1994 comeback tour...It's like buttah...

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Another fave: Barbra, in character as Esther Hoffman, singing "I Believe in Love" in a concert scene from 1976's "A Star is Born." Love the curly hair!

..."Ugly Betty" star Eric Mabius!!! So what the heck am I doing in this picture? Hey, it's my birthday too! We're both Earth Day babies! Yeah, I'm blogging on my birthday because, to me, Out In Hollywood is the real gift...

...Patti Lupone! The great star who has played Eva Peron ("Evita"), Maria Callas ("Master Class"), Mrs. Lovett ("Sweeney Todd") and now Mama Rose ("Gypsy") on Broadway as well as Norma Desmond ("Sunset Boulevard") on the London stage, turns 59 today. What a magnificant talent. Still, to my old pal Danny Sullivan, visiting from London this month, she will always be Libby from TV's "Life Goes On."

..."Star Trek" icon George Takei who turns 71 years old today. It's only been in recent years that George has been quite public about being gay but he's been in a committed relationship for more than 20 years. He's also been enjoying a terrific resurgence professionally with a recurring role on NBC's "Heroes" and a frequent gig on Howard Stern's radio show and the announcer and foil...

...the sensational Cynthia Nixon! She turns 42 today and continues to dazzle us with her amazing acting talent and her advocacy for gay causes and public education. She's forever Miranda on "Sex and the City" but if you've seen her in "Warm Springs" and other movies or on stage (she won the Tony for "Rabbit Hole"), you realize what a great actress she is and how she will continue have a very long and successful career. She also started very young, appearing in "Little Darlings" with Tatum O'Neal and Kristy McNichol!

Holy cow! I was so excited about Doris Day's 84th birthday today that I totally neglected David Hyde Pierce! The Tony winner ("Curtains") and multiple Emmy winner ("Frasier") has always been a genius as a performer but my respect for him grew by leaps and bounds when he quietly acknowledged his longtime relationship with a man. He surprised no one but it helps us all each time someone famous comes out.

...movie legend Doris Day who turns 84 today!

Both my parents were big fans of Miss Day so whenever her movies were showing on television, we watched them. Particular favorites of ours were "Move Over Darling," "With Six You Get Egg Roll" and "Pillow Talk." Later, as an adult, I became more familiar witrh her pre-60s films including "On Moonlight Bay," "By the Light of the Silvery Moon," "Tea For Two" and - most significantly - "Calamity Jane" and "Love Me or Leave Me."
Here is Doris singing the Oscar-winning song "Secret Love" in a scene from "Calamity Jane"

And here is a funny scene from "Move Over Darling": with Polly Bergen who marries James Garner who doesn't realize his last-at-sea first wife (Doris) is not dead:

Miss Day followed up her movie career with five seasons of "The Doris Day Show" then later several pet-themed talk shows. She was also a major recording star for decades as well as the top box office star for a time.

So here's an idea: Why not award the great Doris Day with an honorary Academy Award next year. She was only nominated once and her body of work is stellar. Also, it is ridiculous that she has never been among those selected for the annual Kennedy Center Honors.

Let's honor this legend while we still have her around!

...the unsinkable Debbie Reynolds! On-screen, she was Grace's mom on "Will & Grace" (we all love the "I Told You So" dance!) and off-screen, the mother of Carrie Fisher who is just an interesting in her own right. I love Debbie in "Singing in the Rain" and really love Debbie in her Oscar-nominated role in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown." But It's been so great to see her later role including playing Albert Brooks' mother in... "Mother" which my sister swears was really about our own mother and me.

She also played Kevin Kline's mother in "In & Out" and starred with Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley MacLaine and Joan Collins in the critically-panned "These Old Broads" written by Carrie Fisher. "Broads" is worth watching mostly for the touching scene between Debbie and Elizabeth when they talk about the ex-husband they have in common: "Freddie Hunter." It was a poke at Eddie Fisher who famously left Debbie (and their two kids) for Elizabeth in the late 50s. It made her the Jennifer Aniston in the Brad and Angelina triangle. Whatever her private pain, Debbie always had a sense of humor about it in public and never stopped smiling.

Debbie, a star for nearly six decades, 76 today. She's still performing on stage and on screen, still dazzling us with her unsinkable personality.