Curated playlist
1932 births
- Little RichardLittle Richard walked away from rock and roll to study theology. A fireball over Sydney in 1957 shook him.
- Elizabeth TaylorAfter Rock Hudson said he was dying of AIDS, Elizabeth Taylor helped found a research foundation in 1985.
- Walter CunninghamWalter Cunningham sat in the lunar module pilot seat on a spacecraft with no lunar module. It was Apollo 7.
- Peter O'ToolePeter O'Toole asked the Academy to wait when it offered him an honorary Oscar. He hoped to win the award outright.
- Johnny CashJohnny Cash never served a prison sentence. He was jailed seven times, one night each.
- François TruffautIn 1958 François Truffaut was the only French critic not invited to Cannes. A year later, Cannes gave him Best Director.
- John WilliamsSteven Spielberg laughed at John Williams's two-note Jaws theme, thinking it was a joke.
- David ScottDavid Scott dropped a hammer and a feather on the Moon. The Apollo 15 commander did it on live television.
- Jaan PuhvelAt twelve, Jaan Puhvel fled Estonia with his family in April 1944.
- Andrei TarkovskyIngmar Bergman called Andrei Tarkovsky the greatest of all filmmakers. Tarkovsky directed only seven feature films.
- Alfred WordenIn 1971, Alfred Worden orbited the Moon alone, farther from any other person than anyone before.
- John JakesJohn Jakes wrote fiction at night while working as an advertising copywriter. His Kent series sold 55 million copies.
- Alan BeanAlan Bean walked on the Moon, then quit NASA to paint it. He pressed Moon dust from his suit patches into canvases.
- Petula ClarkPetula Clark's photo was plastered on British Army tanks as a good-luck charm. She was a child singer during the Blitz.
- Peter Blake (artist)Peter Blake was paid a one-off two hundred pounds for the Sgt. Pepper album cover. He has complained ever since.
- Lamar HuntLamar Hunt first called the Super Bowl by that name as a joke. He wrote that the name "obviously can be improved upon."
- Anthony PerkinsAnthony Perkins was born on the 4th of April 1932 in Manhattan and died on the 12th of September 1992. When Fear Strikes Out reached theaters in 1957, The Hollywood Reporter wrote of his performance: "Every recent young star has been…
- Stuart Hall (cultural theorist)Stuart Hall's Oxford plan to study the poem Piers Plowman ended when J. R. R. Tolkien objected.
- Steve BinderDirector Steve Binder destroyed every other take of a song so NBC had to air it.
- Carl PerkinsCarl Perkins learned guitar on a cigar box and a broomstick. He later wrote "Blue Suede Shoes" for Sun Records.
- Julian SimonJulian Simon bet Paul Ehrlich that five metals would get cheaper. All five did.
- Penelope GilliattPenelope Gilliatt was born Penelope Ann Douglass Conner on the 25th of March 1932, and she died on the 9th of May 1993. The English writer worked as a novelist, a short story writer, a screenwriter and a film critic. She held all four…
- Richard LesterRichard Lester started college at 15 to study psychology, not film. MTV later called him Father of the Music Video.