December 18 Bithday Wishes

George Stevens [1904 - 1975]
Gary Gray [1936 - 2006]

Howdy Manco!!

George Stevens was one of the best directors in Hollywood from the 1930's-1970. He won 2 Academy Awards for his work. His best years were during the 50's, in which he directed, A Place In The Sun, Shane, Giant, and The Diary Of Anne Frank. In 1965, he also directed the film, The Greatest Story Ever Told. His 2 Oscars were for A Place In The Sun and Giant. Both starring Elizabeth Taylor.

Gary Gray was a child star actor, whose career spanned 1941-1962. Like most child actors, Gray was not able to make the transition from child to adult actor, but during his career, he managed to appear with Randolph Scott in, Return Of The Bad Men and with Robert Mitchum and William Holden, in Rachel And The Stranger. He also appeared in Whispering Smith and with Lassie in, The Painted Hills. His last appearance was in the 1962 film, Terror At Black Hills. Gray gave up acting after this and went into the swimming pool business.

Ed

Ed, George Stevens was also in the Army Signal Corps during WWII, in which he filmed the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day, the liberation of Paris, and footage of the Duben labor camp and Dachau concentration camps, which was presented into evidence at the Nuremberg trial.

Also today:

Ossie Davis (1917-2005) was an African-American actor, director, playwright, and civil rights activist who started acting in the early 1950s. He can bee seen in the films The Joe Lewis Story, The Hill (with Sean Connery), The Scalphunters (with Burt Lancaster), Sam Whiskey (with Burt Reynolds), Grumpy Old Men, and several of Spike Lee's films. On TV he was in B.L. Styker and Evening Shade with his friend Burt Reynolds, as well as Roots: The Next Generations, Alex Haley's Queen, and The Stand (with his wife Ruby Dee). His last role was in an episode of the Showtime series The L Word, in which his character, the father of Jennifer Beals' character, dies. He, himself, would pass away before the episode aired.

Brad Pitt (1963-) first significant role in Thelma and Louise in 1991, and would gain stardom in films like A River Runs Through It, Interview with the Vampire, Seven, Legends of the Fall, the Ocean's 11 remake and it's sequels, and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. He's also been the subject of tabloid fodder, thanks to a high profile relationship with Gwyneth Paltrow, his marriage to Jennifer Aniston, and his current relationship with Angelina Jolie.

Gary Gray also played Billy Clanton a time or two on the Wyatt Earp series on TV during the latter part of his career.