Daily Birthdays and Events in Sci-Fi, Comics and related areas

April 27, 2011

Casey Kasem, Shaggy, Zeta Project, Fringe, The Cleveland Show, Jupiter Moon, Doctor Who, Walter Lantz, Woody Woodpecker, Damnation Alley, Space: 1999.

What would the world be like if we didn't have these talented people to have brought us joy, imagination and vision. Some of my favorites for today are Casey Kasem, Walter Lantz, and Russell T. Davies.


Enjoy !!!



Birthdays

Casey Kasem 1932, actor/voice actor, Robin - Batman cartoons (1968, TV, voice), Groove - The Chatanooga Cats (1968, TV, voice), Shaggy - Scooby-Doo Where are You! (1969, TV, voice), Alexander Cabot III - Josie and the Pussycats (1970, 1972, TV, voice), Robin - Superfriends (1973, TV, voice), Mark - Battle of the Planets (1978, TV, voice), Pippin Took - The Return of the King (1980, animated film, voice), a number of voices from Transformers in the 1980's.
Eugenie Bondurant 1961, actress, Bio-Mechanical-Warrior - Space Truckers (1996), Devidian in female human form - Star Trek:TNG, "Time's Arrow", Female marauder - Star Trek:TNG, "Gambit, Part I", "Gambit, Part II".
Michael Mahonen 1964, actor, Brone - Star Trek: Voyager (1 episode, "Nemesis", 1997).
Lisa Wilcox 1964, actress, Yuta - Star Trek: The Next Generation (1 episode, "The Vengeance Factor", 1989).
Hilary Bader 1952, writer, best-known for works in the animation community for Superman and various Batman-themed shows for Warner Bros. Her early works included scripts for the Batman/Superman Adventures, and she would later go on to write many scripts for Batman Beyond, as well as The Zeta Project. Hilary also wrote for animation-related venues such as the Batman Beyond comic book and the Gotham Girls webisodes at Warner Bros. website.
Ari Graynor 1983, actress, Rachel Dunham - Fringe (8 episodes, 2009), Unknown Role - American Dad! (3 episodes, 2008-2009), BigSkeez - The Cleveland Show (1 episode, "Our Gang", 2010).
Anna Chancellor 1965, actress, Mercedes Page - Jupiter Moon (47 episodes, 1990-1996), Questular Rontok - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005).
Kevin McNally 1956, actor, Hugo Lang - Doctor Who (4 episodes, "The Twin Dilemma: Part 1 - 4", 1984).
Walter Lantz 1899, cartoonist, animator, film producer, and director. As the head of his own animation studio, Lantz was responsible for the creation of the first Technicolor cartoon. He also introduced the cartoon characters Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Andy Panda, Chilly Willy, and Woody Woodpecker. By the age of 16, Lantz was working in the animation department under director Gregory La Cava. Lantz then worked at the John R. Bray Studios on the Jerry On The Job series. In 1924, Lantz directed, animated, and even starred in his first cartoon series, Dinky Doodle. In 1928, Lantz was hired by Charles B. Mintz as a director on the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon series for Universal. Earlier that year, Mintz and his brother-in-law George Winkler had succeeded in snatching Oswald from the character's original creator, Walt Disney. Universal president Carl Laemmle became dissatisfied with the Mintz-Winkler product and fired them, deciding instead to produce the Oswalds directly on the Universal lot. While schmoozing with Laemmle, Lantz wagered that if he could beat Laemmle in a game of poker, the character would be his. As fate would have it, Lantz won the bet, and Oswald was now his character. In September 1929, Lantz finally put out his first cartoon, Race Riot. When Oswald had worn out his welcome, Lantz decided that he needed a new character. Meany, Miny and Moe (three ne'er-do-well chimps), Baby-Face Mouse, Snuffy Skunk, Doxie (a comic dachshund) and Jock and Jill (monkeys that resembled Warner Brothers' Bosko) were some of the personalities Lantz and his staff had come up with. However, one character, Andy Panda, stood out from the rest and soon became Lantz's headline star for the 1939-1940 production season. Lantz debuted Woody Woodpecker in an Andy Panda short, Knock Knock. The brash woodpecker character was similar to the early Daffy Duck, and Lantz liked the results enough to build a series around it. Mel Blanc supplied Woody's voice for his first three cartoons. The voice talent then fell on Ben Hardaway, who was the main force responsible for Knock Knock. Despite this change, Blanc's distinctive laugh was still used throughout the cartoons. In 1950, Lantz held anonymous auditions. Grace, Lantz's wife, had offered to do Woody's voice; however, Lantz turned her down because Woody was a male character. Not discouraged in the least, Grace went about secretly making her own anonymous audition tape, and submitted it with the others for the studio to listen to. Not knowing whose voice was being heard, Lantz picked Grace's voice to do Woody Woodpecker. Grace supplied Woody's voice until the end of production in 1972.
Harry Stockwell 1902, actor, Prince - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) (voice). Father of actor Dean Stockwell.
Kitty Kelly 1902, actress, Mama - Ella's Mother - The Lost Missile (1958), Mrs. Bowers - Dennis the Menace (1 episode, "Haunted House", 1961), Third Poor Person - Batman (1 episode, "Shoot a Crooked Arrow", 1966).
Robert Donner 1931, actor, Roy Kirsh - The Intruders (1970) (TV), Horace Milser / Hermit (2 episodes, "Stranger in Broken Folk", "The White Lightning War", 1974-1975), Man/Guard - Damnation Alley (1977), Mr. Benedict / Bernard Devlin - The Incredible Hulk (2 episodes, "Sideshow", "The Phenom", 1980-1981), Exidor - Mork & Mindy (21 episodes, 1978-1982), Buffalo Bill Cody - Voyagers! (1 episode, "Buffalo Bill & Annie Oakley Play the Palace", 1983), Joe Connell - Starman (1 episode, "One for the Road", 1986), Hawkhead - The Rocket Boy (1989) (TV), Sheriff - Alien Nation: Dark Horizon (1994) (TV).
John Shrapnel 1942, actor, Capt. Jack Tanner - Space: 1999 (1 episode, "Death's Other Dominion", 1975), Air Marshal Bentley - Invasion: Earth (1998) TV mini-series, Michael Kuhn - Alien Autopsy (2006).
Russell T. Davies 1963, was the chief writer and executive producer of the BBC's revival of "Doctor Who" from 2005 - 2009. As executive producer and writer of "Doctor Who" (2005) he broke some of the conventions of the original series, "Doctor Who" (1963), by the introduction of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) characters and the use of flatulence jokes.


Events

1951, The Man from Planet X is released.
1955, Devil Girl from Mars is released.
1963, Invasion of the Triffids is released.
1968, Dr. Who, six-part serial "The Wheel in Space" airs.
1992, Star Trek:TNG, "The Perfect Mate" airs.
1994, Babylon 5 Episode 10 - "Believers" first aired

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