On this day in movie history - Contact (1997):

Contact,

directed by Robert Zemeckis,

written by James V. Hart and Michael Goldenberg,

based on the novel by Carl Sagan,

was released in the United States on July 11, 1997.
Music by Alan Silvestri.

Cast:
Jodie Foster, Jena Malone, Matthew McConaughey, David Morse, Tom Skerritt, James Woods, John Hurt, William Fichtner, Angela Bassett, Jake Busey, Rob Lowe, Geoffrey Blake, Max Martini, Steven Ford, Jay Leno, Larry King, Ann Druyan.

On this day in music history - Music by Ry Cooder, by Ry Cooder (1995):

The album Music by Ry Cooder,

by Ry Cooder,

was released on July 11, 1995.

On this day in music history - Space Oddity, by David Bowie (1969):

The song Space Oddity,

by David Bowie,

was released on July 11, 1969.

Born on this day – Pamela Gidley:

Pamela Gidley

Actress

Director

Writer

July 11, 1965 – April 16, 2018

Credits:

Aberration (1997); Angel Street (1992 / 1993); Bad Love (1992); Blue Bayou (1990); Bombshell (1997); Cake Boy (2005); Celebrity Page (2018); Cherry 2000 (1987); Crime Story (1987); CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000–2002); Disturbed (1990); Dudes (1987); Freefall (1994); Glory Days (1988); Goodbye, Casanova (2000); Highway to Hell (1991); I Just Forgot (2004); Kiss & Tell (1997); Landspeed (2002); Liar's Poker (1999); Liebestraum (1991); Luster (2002); MacGyver (1986); Mafia! (1998); Man Made (1998); Moving Through Time: Fire Walk with Me Memories (2014); Paper Hearts (1993); Permanent Record (1988); Puzzled (2001); S.F.W. (1994); Scratch the Surface (1997); Skin (2003–2005); Strange Luck (1995–1996); The Blue Iguana (1988); The Closer (2006); The Crew (1994); The Last of the Finest (1990); The Little Death (1996); The Little Vampire (2000); The Maze (1997); The Pretender (1997–2000); The Treat (1998); Thrashin' (1986); Tour of Duty (1987–1988); True Blue (2001); Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992); Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces (2014).

Born on this day – Yul Brynner:

Yul Brynner

Actor

Singer

Director

July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985

Born on this day – Sally Blane:

Sally Blane

Actress

July 11, 1910 – August 27, 1997

Credits:

A Bullet for Joey (1955); A Dangerous Affair (1931); A Trip Through the Paramount Studio (1927); Adventures of the Falcon (1954); Advice to the Forlorn (1933); Against the Law (1934); All for a Lady (1930); Angel's Holiday (1937); Annabelle's Affairs (1931); Arabian Knights (1931); Around the Bases (1927); Biography (1998); Boys Will Be Boys (1932); Casey at the Bat (1927); Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939); City Limits (1934); City Park (1934); Code 3 (1957); Crashing Through Danger (1936); Crime on the Hill (1933); Cross Country Run (1929); Cross-Examination (1932); Crossroads (1955); Dead Man's Curve (1928); Disorderly Conduct (1932); Escapade (1932); Eyes of the Underworld (1929); Fashion News (1930); Fighting Mad (1939); Flashing Oars (1927); Fools for Luck (1928); Forbidden Company (1932); Framed! (1931); Good Sport (1931); Gregory Porter's Popular Voices (2017); Half a Sinner (1934); Half Marriage (1929); Hammer and Tongs (1930); Hello, Everybody! (1933); Her Summer Hero (1928); Heritage of the Desert (1932); Hollywood and the Stars (1963–1964); Hollywood My Home Town (1965); Hollywood on Parade No. B-5 (1933); Hollywood Without Make-Up (1963); Horseman of the Plains (1928); I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932); Kane Meets Abel (1931); Kid Roberts (1930); King Cowboy (1928); La fuga (1944); Little Accident (1930); Mayfair Girl (1933); Meet the Stars #2: Baby Stars (1941); Night of Terror (1933); No More Women (1934); Numbered Woman (1938); Once a Sinner (1931); One Mile from Heaven (1937); Outlawed (1929); Probation (1932); Rolled Stockings (1927); Running Hollywood (1932); Schlitz Playhouse (1956); Shanghaied Love (1931); She Had to Choose (1934); Shootin' Irons (1927); Show of Shows (1929); Sirens of the Sea (1917); Star Stage (1955); Stolen Sweets (1934); Sunday Night at the Trocadero (1937); Tanned Legs (1929); Ten Cents a Dance (1931); The Champion (1931); The Cinder Path (1927); The Circus Show-Up (1932); The Comeback (1930); The Great Hospital Mystery (1937); The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial (1955); The Knockout (1930); The Lady Killer (1931); The Last Lap (1926); The Law of the Sea (1931); The Leather Pushers (1930); The Local Bad Man (1932); The Loretta Young Show (1954–1960); The Mardi Gras (1930); The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse (1954); The Phantom Express (1932); The Pride of the Legion (1932); The Reckoning (1932); The Relay (1927); The Secret Hour (1928); The Sheik (1921); The Silver Streak (1934); The Spirit of Notre Dame (1931); The Star Witness (1931); The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939); The Vagabond Lover (1929); The Vanishing Pioneer (1928); The Very Idea (1929); The Voice of Hollywood No. 6 (1930); This Is the Life (1935); Trick for Trick (1933); Way Down South (1939); Who, Me? (1932); Wife Savers (1928); Wild Horse Mesa (1932); Wolves of the City (1929); Women Men Marry (1931); X Marks the Spot (1931).

Born on this day – Irene Hervey:

Irene Hervey

Actress

July 11, 1909 – December 20, 1998

Credits:

77 Sunset Strip (1962); A Cry in the Night (1956); A Thrill for Thelma (1935); Absolute Quiet (1936); Alibi Racket (1935); Along Came Love (1936); Attention Suckers (1934); Bombay Clipper (1941); Bourbon Street Beat (1960); Buried Loot (1935); Burke's Law (1964); Cactus Flower (1969); Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935); Charlie's Angels (1978); Chevron Hall of Stars (1956); Chicago Deadline (1949); Circus Boy (1957); Climax! (1955–1957); Crash Landing (1958); Damon Runyon Theater (1955); Delta House (1979); Destination Unknown (1942); Destry Rides Again (1939); Dr. Kildare (1962); East Side of Heaven (1939); Family Affair (1968–1970); Fireside Theatre (1954–1955); Follow the Sun (1962); Frisco Lil (1942); Gang Busters (1942); Going Steady (1958); Goliath Awaits (1981); Halfway to Shanghai (1942); Hard Rock Harrigan (1935); Hawaiian Eye (1961–1963); Here's Hollywood (1962); He's My Guy (1943); His Night Out (1935); Hollywood Hobbies (1939); Hollywood Party (1934); Honey West (1965–1966); Honeymoon Limited (1935); Ironside (1968); Keeping Fit (1942); Let's Try Again (1934); Love on a Rooftop (1967); Lux Video Theatre (1953–1956); Manhandled (1949); Markham (1960); Matinee Theatre (1955–1958); Mickey (1948); Missing Evidence (1939); Mod Squad (1968); Monsanto Night Presents Jack Jones (1974); Most Wanted (1976); Motive for Revenge (1935); Mr. Dynamite (1941); Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948); My Three Sons (1969–1972); Night Monster (1942); O'Conner's Ocean (1960); Panic! (1957); Perry Mason (1958–1963); Peter Gunn (1961); Pirate Party on Catalina Isle (1935); Play Misty for Me (1971); Playhouse 90 (1959); Public Defender (1955); Richard Diamond, Private Detective (1959); Roberta (1969); San Francisco Docks (1940); Say It in French (1938); Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 2 (1937); Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 5 (1938); Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 9 (1939); Shirley Temple's Storybook (1961); Sneak Preview (1956); Soaring Stars (1942); Society Smugglers (1939); Stage 7 (1955); Straightaway (1962); Studio 57 (1955); Studio One (1958); Surfside 6 (1961); Taking Care of Baby (1934); Target: The Corruptors (1962); Teenage Rebel (1956); The Ann Sothern Show (1959); The Baileys of Balboa (1964); The Boys from Syracuse (1940); The Case of the Dangerous Robin (1960); The Charles Farrell Show (1956); The Count of Monte Cristo (1934); The Crooked Road (1940); The Donna Reed Show (1959); The Dude Ranger (1934); The DuPont Show with June Allyson (1961); The Ed Wynn Show (1950); The Eleventh Hour (1963); The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1955–1958); The Girl Said No (1937); The Gulf Playhouse (1952); The Hollywood Movie Parade (1934); The House of Fear (1939); The Lady Fights Back (1937); The League of Frightened Men (1937); The Lone Wolf (1955); The Lucky Stiff (1949); The Merv Griffin Show (1972); The Millionaire (1956); The Milton Berle Show (1949); The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse (1953–1955); The Smith Family (1972); The Stranger's Return (1933); The Twilight Zone (1964); The Winning Ticket (1935); The Women in His Life (1933); The Young Marrieds (1964–1965); 3 Cheers for the Irish (1940); Three Godfathers (1936); Three on a Honeymoon (1934); Thriller (1960); Turn Back the Clock (1933); Unseen Enemy (1942); White Lies (1934); Wide Country (1962); Woman in Distress (1937); Your Play Time (1954).

Born on this day – Evi Maltagliati:

Evi Maltagliati

Actress

July 11, 1908 – April 27, 1986

Born on this day – E. B. White:

E. B. White

Writer

July 11, 1899 – October 1, 1985

Credits:

Stuart Little (1945); Charlotte's Web (1952); The Points of My Compass (1962); The Trumpet of the Swan (1970); The Fox of Peapack (poems) (1928); The Lady Is Cold (1928); The Second Tree from the Corner (1954); E. B. White Reader (1966); Poems and Sketches of E. B. White (poems) (1981); The Subtreasury of American Humor (1941); Wilbur's Adventure (2007); Ho-hum (1931); Another Ho-hum (1932); Every Day Is Saturday (1934); Quo Vadimus (1939); One Man's Meat (1942); The Wild Flag (1946); The Elements of Style (1959); Is Sex Necessary? (1960); Letters of E. B. White (1976); Essays of E. B. White (1977); Writings from the New Yorker, 1925-76 (1990); On Democracy (2019); Reading I've Liked (1946); Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow (1952); Circus of Dr. Lao and Other Improbable Stories (1956); A Treasury of Great Science Fiction, Volume 2 (1959); American Gothic Tales (1996); The Supremacy of Uraguay (1933); The Door (1939); The Morning of the Day They Did It (1950); The Hour of Letdown (1952).

Movies, television and video:

Alien Tales (1995); Armstrong Circle Theatre (1954); Charlotte's Web (1973 / 2003 / 2006); Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure (2002); Here Is New York (2000); Jackanory (1966–1990); NBC Children's Theatre (1966); Omnibus / Segment: A Maine Lobsterman (1954); Stuart Little (1999 / 2003); Stuart Little 2 (2002); Stuart Little 2 (PlayStation Commerical) (2002); Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild (2005); The Family That Dwelt Apart (1973); The French Dispatch (2021); The Trumpet of the Swan (2001); Wilbur und Charlotte (2007).

Born on this day – Amleto Palermi:

Amleto Palermi

Director

Writer

July 11, 1889 – April 20, 1941

Born on this day – Alfred E. Green:

Alfred E. Green

Director

July 11, 1889 – September 4, 1960

Born on this day – Howard Estabrook:

Howard Estabrook

Actor

Director

Producer

Writer

July 11, 1884 – July 16, 1978

Credits:

A Bill of Divorcement (1932); Are These Our Children (1931); Behind the Make-Up (1930); Cattle Queen of Montana (1954); Chasing Choo Choos (1927); Cimarron (1931); Dakota (1945); David Copperfield (1935); Double Cross Roads (1930); Dressed to Kill (1928); El hombre malo (1930); Forgotten Faces (1928); Four Feathers (1915); Giving Becky a Chance (1917); Heavenly Days (1944); Hell's Angels (1930); International Lady (1941); Kismet (1930); Lone Star (1952); Lopez, le bandit (1930); Maid of Salem (1937); Maquillage (1932); M'Liss (1915); New Wine (1941); North Star (1925); Officer 666 (1914); Orchids to You (1935); Passion (1954); Play Safe (1927); Roar of the Dragon (1932); She Goes to War (1929); Slightly Scarlet (1930); Street of Chance (1930); Sweepings (1933); That's Entertainment, Part II (1976); The Adventurous Sex (1925); The Bad Man (1930); The Big Fisherman (1959); The Bowery (1933); The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944); The Butterfly (1915); The Closing Net (1915); The Conquerors (1932); The Corsican Brothers (1941); The Cowboy and the Lady (1938); The Devil's in Love (1933); The DuPont Show of the Month (1959); The Ford Television Theatre (1957); The Four Feathers (1929); The Girl from Manhattan (1948); The Highway of Hope (1917); The Human Comedy (1943); The Masquerader (1933); The Master Smiles (1916); The Millionaire (1957–1958); The Mysteries of Myra (1916); The Port of Missing Girls (1928); The Price of a Party (1924); The Shopworn Angel (1938); The Virginian (1929 / 1946); The Wild Girl (1917); The Woman Between (1931); Varsity (1928); Way Down East (1935); Wells Fargo (1937); Woman Hungry (1931).

Margaret Atwood, on reading:

I read for pleasure and that is the moment I learn the most.

– Margaret Atwood.