Today is the 100th anniversary of Oscar Levant(1906-1972). Levant was not in animation but he was a famous pianist, composer and actor and hosted one of the earliest talk shows on television.He was a piano player who was considered one of the great interpreters of George Gershwin's music. You can see him as the buddy of Gene Kelly in An American in Paris (1951)

He was famous for his witty one-liners like " Meeting you increases my desire to be lonesome." I knew Doris Day before she became a virgin" and " Sure LA is a Tinseltown, but just peel away that tinsel and you'll find geniune tinsel underneath!"

As a young prodigy he was invited to audition for Ignance Paderewski, the greatest pianist of his time. Paderewski listened to his playing, then told him " You're good, but you'll never be great." That crushing critique by such a genius may have contributed to his lifelong feelings of inadeqacy, depression, alcoholism and drug abuse.

So, my fellow old pros, be careful what you say to someone whose portfolio you are critiquing, you don't know what harm or inspiration you may be doing!

" There's a fine line between genius and insanity, and I'm erasing that line.." Oscar Levant.


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Other Birthdays:Marlene Dietrich,Louis Pasteur, Gerard Depardieu is 58, Sidney Greenstreet, Anna Russell, William Masters of Masters & Johnson, Leslie Maguire of the Maguire Sisters, John Amos, Tovah Feldshuh,Heather O’Rourke is 31

1903- The Barbershop Quartet favorite “Sweet Adeline” sung for the first time. It was written in praise of opera star Adelina Patti.

1904-PETER PAN, a play by James Barrie, opened at the Duke of York Theatre in London. Barrie reserved seats in the opening night performance for orphaned children who laughed and cheered all night. Peter llewlyn Davies, the little boy Barrie befriended who was the basis for Pan, used to say:”I am not Peter Pan. Mr Barrie is.”, Davies committed suicide in 1960. James Barrie once said to H.G.Wells:”It’s all right and good to write books, but can you wiggle your ears?”

1927- Broadway musical "ShowBoat" debuts at the Ziegfeld theater. Based on a story by Edna Ferber the music was written by Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein. The play made a star out of a tall black baritone named Paul Robeson.”Ol’ Man River..”

1935- Radio City Music Hall opened. The Art Deco masterpiece was for many years the largest indoor theater in the world, seating over 6,000. Cole Porter sang” They all laughed at Rockefeller Center, now they clamor to get in…..”

1947- The "Howdy-Doody" show debuts on NBC. Buffalo Bob, Howdy and Clarabell the Clown, also known as the Puppet Playhouse.

1951- The Crosley car goes into service for the post office in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is a little jeep with the steering wheel on the right side so the mail deliverer didn’t have to get out of his vehicle to reach every curbside mailbox.

1954- The" Disneyland" television show premieres. Up until then the major Hollywood Studios were all boycotting the new upstart medium of television, then mostly done in New York by blacklisted stage actors and writers. Walt Disney is the first to break ranks with the major film studios and get into television production and even films the show in Technicolor, figuring television will develop color broadcasting eventually.