Today in Entertainment History

On March 2, 1933, the movie “King Kong” had its world premiere in New York.

In 1944, “Casablanca” won the best picture Academy Award. Jennifer Jones was named best actress for her role in “The Song of Bernadette.” Paul Lukas won the best actor award for “Watch on the Rhine.”

In 1964, The Beatles began work in London on the film “A Hard Day’s Night.”

In 1967, Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers In The Night” was named record of the year at the Grammy Awards. Sinatra’s “A Man and His Music” was named album of the year. The song of the year award went to John Lennon and Paul McCartney for “Michelle.”

In 1988, Paul Simon won the record of the year Grammy for “Graceland,” the first time a winning record did not hit the top 40. U2’s “The Joshua Tree” won album of the year. Little Richard got a standing ovation for announcing himself as winner for best new artist and complaining the Grammys never gave him anything. Jody Watley was the best new artist winner.

In 1989, Madonna’s Pepsi commercial premiered on TV. It was set to her new single “Like A Prayer.” The ad was pulled a few days later because of its controversial religious images.

Also in 1989, singer J.P. Pennington announced he was leaving the band Exile.

In 1992, actress Sandy Dennis died in Connecticut at age 54.

In 1999, singer Dusty Springfield died at her home in outside London after battling breast cancer. She was 59.

In 2006, singer Gary Glitter was convicted of obscene acts with two young Vietnamese girls. He was sentenced to prison.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor John Cullum (“Northern Exposure”) is 88. Author Tom Wolfe is 88. Actress Barbara Luna is 79. Author John Irving is 76. Actress Cassie Yates is 67. Actress Laraine Newman (“Saturday Night Live”) is 66. Singer Jay Osmond of The Osmonds is 63. Singer John Cowsill of The Cowsills is 62. Singer Larry Stewart of Restless Heart is 59. Singer Jon Bon Jovi is 56. Blues singer Alvin Youngblood Hart is 55. Actor Daniel Craig (“Casino Royale”) is 50. Actor Richard Ruccolo (“Legit” ”Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place”) is 46. Singer Chris Martin of Coldplay is 41. Actress Heather McComb (“The Event,” ”Party of Five”) is 41. Actress Rebel Wilson (“Pitch Perfect” movies) is 38. Actress Bryce Dallas Howard (“The Help”) is 37. Guitarist Mike “McDuck” Olson of Lake Street Dive is 35. Actor Robert Iler (EYE’-lur) (“The Sopranos”) is 33. Actress Nathalie Emmanuel (“Game of Thrones”) is 29. Singer-rapper-actress Becky G is 21.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.