Curated playlist

1974 births

Christian BaleChristian Bale once lived on black coffee, an apple and a can of tuna each day. The English actor began that regimen with nothing but cigarettes and whiskey. By the end he had lost 63 lb and weighed 121 lb. The script for the psychological…
Penélope CruzPenélope Cruz was fifteen years old in 1989 when she won an audition against more than 300 other girls. Only a short time earlier, an agent had sent her away three times because she was too young. Cruz kept coming back anyway, and she says…
Matt HullumMatt Hullum voices Sarge in the online series Red vs. Blue. He also co-founded the company behind it, Rooster Teeth.
Daisuke WatanabeDaisuke Watanabe wrote the Zanarkand Ruins dialog in Final Fantasy X almost entirely in one night.
Leonardo DiCaprioLeonardo DiCaprio owes his first name to a kick. His pregnant mother felt the baby move while she stood before a Leonardo da Vinci painting in the Uffizi museum in Florence, Italy. That child grew up to be an American actor and film…
Amy AdamsAmy Adams finished work on a Steven Spielberg film in 2002 and then went a full year without a job. Careers that stall that early rarely end up looking like hers. Adams was born on the 20th of August 1974. She has since won two Golden…
Olivia ColmanOlivia Colman was born Sarah Caroline Colman, and she had to give up that first name before her career properly began. The actors' union Equity already had a Sarah Colman on its books, so the newcomer needed another. She took the name of a…
Jason Thompson (writer)Jason Thompson edited more than 30 manga series at Viz Media, including Naruto.
D'AngeloD'Angelo, born Michael Eugene Archer, released only three studio albums in his lifetime. Rolling Stone still placed him 75th on its 2023 list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. The same magazine ranked his second album, Voodoo, 28th…
Alex JonesJuries ordered Alex Jones to pay more than a billion dollars in damages for lies about grieving parents.
Joaquin PhoenixJoaquin Phoenix had just flipped his car on a winding canyon road in Hollywood when a voice at the window told him to relax. It was the 26th of January 2006. Gasoline was leaking into the cabin. A shaken Phoenix answered, "I'm fine. I am…
Robbie WilliamsRobbie Williams walked onto a stage at Knebworth on the 1st of August 2003 and faced a crowd of 125,000 people. He then did it again on the 2nd and the 3rd. Three consecutive nights, with that many people each time, made it the biggest…
Meg WhiteMeg White did not attend her own induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025. The White Stripes were honored that year, and Jack White accepted the award and delivered a speech the pair had written together. White was the third…
Kumi TaniokaKumi Tanioka built the Crystal Chronicles sound from the recorder, crumhorn and lute.
Ken JenningsKen Jennings's 74-game quiz show winning streak ended when he answered FedEx to an H&R Block question.
Melanie CIn 1994, Melanie Jayne Chisholm, known as Melanie C, joined around 400 women answering an advertisement in The Stage magazine. The advertisement came from two managers hoping to form a new girl group. That group became the Spice Girls, and…
Victoria BeckhamOn the 8th of July 2000, Victoria Beckham performed alone in public for the first time. The setting was London's Hyde Park, where a crowd of 100,000 had gathered for a Prince's Trust charity concert. She sang "Out of Your Mind", her first…
Marjorie Taylor GreeneMarjorie Taylor Greene walked onto the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on her first day in office wearing a face mask that read “Trump Won.” Donald Trump had lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden. The mask told…
Brian NiccolBrian Niccol, born in 1974, is the American executive whose hiring sent Starbucks shares up 24.5 percent on the 13th of August 2024. That was the day the company named him its incoming chairman and chief executive. The reaction came after…
Dave FiloniDave Filoni thought George Lucas's job offer was a prank. He later became president of Lucasfilm.
Steve NashIn grade eight, Steve Nash told his mother he would become an NBA star.
Matthew RhysFrom the 16th to the 28th of November 2025, Matthew Rhys stood alone on a Welsh stage and played Richard Burton. The one-man play was called Playing Burton. It marked the 100th anniversary of Burton's birth. For an actor best known to many…