Radio Show For July 9, 2021
Special Holidays…July 9
National Sugar Cookie Day
Today we are acknowledging the ever popular Sugar Cookie. The Sugar Cookie is like the vanilla ice cream of cookies, everybody likes it but few claim it as their favorite. After all it competes with the Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal, Peanut Butter and Snickerdoodle cookies. It is one of the easiest cookie to decorate for any holiday and is still great plain. In the U.S. the sugar cookie is believed to have originated in the mid 1700’s in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. German settlers created a round, crumbly and buttery cookie that came to be known as the Nazareth Sugar Cookie. They baked their cookies in the shape of a keystone, the state’s symbol.
Collector Car Appreciation Day
This day celebrates the role that automotive restoration and collection play in American society, its music, literature, photography and cinema.
The car took us from rough country roads to highways and byways. The car collectors restore and maintain old metal, engines and blinkers once rusting in a barn back to life.
There may be car cruises, shows and other events close to you. Here are some suggested car movies you may want to watch…The Great Race, The French Connection, Christine, Back to the Future, American Graffiti, Ford vs. Ferrari, and Duel. The first Collector Car Appreciation Day was recognized on July 9, 2010. Hundreds of events were staged nationwide with thousands in attendance, they were organized by the Automotive Restoration Market Organization and Hot Rod Industry Alliance Council.
Birthdays….July 9
Tom Hanks…July 9, 1956
Hanks is an American actor and filmmaker, a most popular and recognizable film star worldwide, making him the fourth-highest grossing actor in North America.
Thomas Jeffery Hanks was born in Concord, CA to a hospital worker and cook. After his parent’s divorce he and three of his siblings went to live with his father. In his childhood his family moved often, by the time he was 10 he lived in 10 houses.
Growing up he was unpopular with students and teachers alike. He said he was… “a geek, and horribly, terribly shy. At the same time I was the guy who would yell out funny captions during filmstrips, but I didn’t get into trouble. I was a good kid and responsible.”
While attending high school in Oakland he acted in school plays. He studied theater in college then transferred to California State University in Sacramento. He became involved in the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio where he learned every aspect of theater production, lighting set design, etc. In 1979 he moved to New York City where he made his film debut in “He Knows You’re Alone.”
In the late 80’s he landed a lead role in a tv pilot “Bosom Buddies” and moved to Los Angeles as the show lasted two seasons. It was that show and an appearance on “Happy Days” where he first met friend, Ron Howard. Next, he starred in the lead role in Ron Howard’s film “Splash” and went on to become an established star.
Hanks has starred in close to 100 motion picture films and has produced several limited series and television films. He has played everything from an astronaut, a cast away, train conductor and cowboy doll in a pile of talking toys. He won two AA awards for Best Actor back to back in “Philadelphia” (1994) and “Forrest Gump” (1995) and nominated for six. He has won 7 Primetime Emmys and has over 50 other awards on his list.
Hanks received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2006 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 by President Obama.
Did you know?
Hanks is a distant relative of President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln’s great, great grandfather was John Hanks who was also Tom’s great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather.
Hanks worked as a bellhop for Hilton hotels during college. He said he was thrilled when he carried Cher’s bags and gave Sidney Poitier a ride to the airport. He also sold popcorn and peanuts at the Oakland Coliseum.
Hanks is a typewriter collector with 250 in the collection and all in perfect working order. His hobby created another collection that… of short stories that he wrote called “Uncommon Type.” He developed an app in 2014 called the Hanx Writer, which replicates the sound and feel of antique typewriters.
Hanks’ number one favorite film is “2001:A Space Odyssey”.
Short List of Tom Hanks films
Splash…1984..director Ron Howard, co-starred Daryl Hannah and Eugene Levy, film nominated for AA award for Best Writing
Philadelphia…1993…director Johnathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs), film won 2 AA awards Best Actor, Best Song, nominated for 3 other AA awards
Forrest Gump..1994…director Robert Zemeckis, film won 6 AA awards, nominated for 7 other AA awards
Apollo 13…1995…director Ron Howard, film won 2 AA awards, Best Sound, Best Editing, nominated for 7 other AA awards
Toy Story..1995…director John Lasseter (his directorial debut), film won 1 AA award the Special Achievement Award to director, nominated for 3 other Oscars.
Saving Private Ryan…1998…director Steven Spielberg, film won 5 AA awards, nominated for 6 other AA awards
The Polar Express...2004…director Robert Zemeckis, film nominated for 3 AA awards
The Ladykillers….2004..directors The Coen Bros….original film The Ladykillers (1955) starred Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers (Sellers’ first major film)
The Da Vinci Code..2006…director Ron Howard
Charlie Wilson’s War…2007..director Mike Nichols, co-starred Philip Seymour Hoffman, film nominated for one AA award
Cloud Atlas…2012…director The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer
Bridge Of Spies…2015…director Steven Spielberg, film won 1 AA award for Best Supporting Actor, nominated for 5 other Oscars.
The Post…2017…director Steven Spielberg, co-starred Meryl Streep, film nominated for 2 oscars
Vince Edwards…July 9, 1928-1996
Vince Edwards was an American actor, director and singer best known for his portrayal of tv’s Doctor “Ben Casey.”
Edwards was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father was an Italian brick layer and he and his twin brother were the youngest of 7 children. He studied aviation mechanics in High School and was an excellent swimmer, worked as a lifeguard at Coney Island and swam for the Flatbush Boys Club.
He studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, his classmates included Anne Bancroft, John Cassavetes and Grace Kelly. He signed a contract with Paramount Pictures making his film debut in 1951 and had lead roles in several films including Stanley Kubrick’s “The Killing”.
Vincent reached stardom once he took the role of Doctor Ben Casey on the medical drama tv series which ran from 1961 to 1966 on ABC. In this role he was an idealistic surgeon who had no patience for bureaucratic red tape. He was discovered by Bing Crosby whose production company made Ben Casey. The show’s opening lines…”Man, Woman, Birth, Death, Infinity” became a pop culture mantra. Edward’s dashing neurosurgeon Casey competed more or less with Richard Chamberlain’s Dr. Kildare on rival network, NBC.
He also released several music albums as he had a pleasant, light tenor voice.
Edwards co-wrote the script and directed the tv film “Maneater” (1973), which starred Ben Gazzara, Sheree North and Richard Basehart. This film shot in 11 days was based on his idea about two couples on a camping trip that are chased after by two tigers and a crazed animal trainer.
Edwards was a compulsive gambler for many years. His best friend director William Freidkin said that Vince had “sacrificed a good portion of his career to an addiction.”
Edwards starred in about 40 films.
Short List of Vince Edwards
The Killing….1956, director Stanley Kubrick
The Three Faces of Eve…1957, director Nunnally Johnson ( Man in The Gray Flannel Suit), co-starred Joanne Woodward, Lee J. Cobb, film won AA award Best Actress
The Devil’s Brigade….1968, director Andrew V. McLaglen (Shenandoah, McLintock)
Space Raiders…1983…director Howard Cohen, produced by Roger Corman, film was criticized for the reuse of special effects footage and music from Corman’s film “Battle Beyond the Stars.”
Birthday Honorable Mentions
Dean Koontz…an author of suspense thrillers with elements of horror, science fiction and mystery…July 9, 1945
Over 120 novels and short stories as well as several film adaptations including Phantoms, Odd Thomas and The Passengers
On This Day….July 9
It Came From Beneath The Sea released in month of July, 1955… directed by Robert Gordon, starred Kenneth Tobey (The Thing From Another World, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms), and Faith Domergue (This Island Earth, Cult of the Cobra)…stop motion effects were created by infamous Ray Harryhausen. The story highlights the beast as a giant octopus awakened by nearby nuclear testing. To save money Harryhausen built his octopus model with six legs instead of 8. Much of the filming was done at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard and several naval personnel were given supporting roles. Producer Charles Schneer was refused permission to shoot on the actual Golden Gate Bridge so he put the camera on the back of a bakery truck and drove it back and forth over the bridge several times to get the footage. The film was released in the theatres as part of a double bill with “The Creature with the Atom Brain”.
Voyager 2 Spacecraft flew past the planet Jupiter on July 9, 1978. During 3 months time the spacecraft sent back over 17,000 images of the planet and its moons. Voyager 2 was the first human-made object to fly past Uranus. It discovered that planet’s 10 moons and 2 new rings, as well as the first to fly by Neptune discovering five moons and four rings. Voyager is now more than 11 billion miles from Earth and is studying Interstellar Space.
