Born on this day – Lizzy Mercier Descloux:

Lizzy Mercier Descloux

Singer

Musician

Writer

Composer

Actress

Painter

December 16, 1956 – April 20, 2004

Credits:

Albums:

Rosa Yemen – Live in N.Y.C July 1978 (1978); Press Color (1979); Mambo Nassau (1981); Zulu Rock (1984); One for the Soul (1985); Suspense (1988).

Movies and television:

Corporate (2019); Cocoricocoboy (1984); 5 Flaschen für Angelika (1981); Beauty Becomes the Beast (1979); Midi-Première (1979).

Born on this day – Julee Cruise:

Julee Cruise

Singer

Songwriter

Actress

December 1, 1956 – June 9, 2022

Credits:

Albums:

Floating into the Night (1989); The Voice of Love (1993); The Art of Being a Girl (2002); My Secret Life (2011).

Movies and television:

Alice in Wonderland (1983); Beavis and Butt-Head (1995); Behind the Music (1992); Blue Velvet (1986); Chromatics: Shadow (2017); Cinéma, de notre temps (1989); El club lento (2023); Free Enterprise (1998); Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Brokenhearted (1992); Kinetica (2001); Nutcracker (2001); Popular Voices at the BBC (2017); Psych (2010); Puss in Boots (1983); Saturday Night Live (1990); Scream (1996); Secrets from Another Place: Creating Twin Peaks (2007); Sometimes I Think About Dying (2023); TCM Remembers 2022 (2022); Tele 5 dígame (1991); The Company (2003); The Dream (2017); The Marvelous Land of Oz (1981); The Media Show (1991); The Music of David Lynch Benefit Concert (2015); The Red Shoes (1985); The Wind in the Willows (1983); Too Young to Die (2012); Top of the Pops (1990); Twin Peaks (1989–1990); Twin Peaks (2017); Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992); Until the End of the World (1991); VIP noche (1991).

Born on this day – Erich Anderson:

Erich Anderson

Actor

Writer

October 24, 1956 – June 1, 2024

Patrick Stewart (left), Erich Anderson (right), in Star Trek: The Next Generation / episode: Conundrum (1992)

Credits:

7th Heaven (1996); A Time to Remember (2003); Baby Talk (1991); Bat*21 (1988); Bay City Blues (1983–1984); Beyond Suspicion (2000); Blood Money (2000); Bones (2007); Boomtown (2002–2003); Bosch (2017–2018); Boston Public (2001); Bum Rap (2009); Chicago Hope (1999); Civil Wars (1993); Class of '96 (1993); Close to Home (2005–2006); Cold Brook (2018); Cold Case (2009); Coroner's Report (2020); Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013); CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000); CSI: Miami (2004); Dallas (1988); Dragnet (2004); Dream West (1986); Due East (2002); ER (1999); Eyes (2007); Family Law (2001); Fearless (2004); Felicity (1998–2002); For Love and Honor (1983); For the People (2002); Franklin & Bash (2012); Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984); Ghost Whisperer (2009); Gramps (1995); Halfway There (2018); Hard Copy (1987); Hi, Dad (2014); His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th (2009); House (2007); I Married Who? (2012); If Looks Could Kill (1996); Infinity (1996); Interrogation (2020); Jack (2004); Jack's Place (1993); JAG (2001); Jason's Unlucky Day: 25 Years After Friday the 13th - The Final Chapter (2009); Journeyman (2007); Knight Rider (2008); L.A. Doctors (1999); Las Vegas (2007); Level 9 (2008); Love Kills (1991); Major Crimes (2012–2016); Matlock (1994); Medical Investigation (2005); Medium (2008); Melrose Place (1994); Missing in Action (1984); Monk (2009); Murder, She Wrote (1986); NCIS (2003); Nightwatch (1997); NYPD Blue (2000); Officer Downe (2016); Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story (1992); Pair of Aces (1990); Parking (1996); Patty Hearst (1988); Police Story: Monster Manor (1988); Quantum Leap (1990); Second Chances (1993); Session Man (1991); Silk Stalkings (1997); Sisters (1995); Slasher Scotty (2020); Special (2006); Sports Theater with Shaquille O'Neal (1998); Star Trek: The Next Generation (1992); The Antagonists (1991); The Big Easy (1997); The Big Lie (2022); The District (2002); The Division (2002); The Final Cut (1995); The Glass Shield (1994); The Guardian (2003); The Marshal (1995); The Mentalist (2010); The Neighbor (2017); The Outer Limits (1996–2001); The Paper Chase (1985); The Riches (2008); The Witches of Eastwick (1992); The X-Files (2000); Thick as Thieves (1999); Thirtysomething (1990–1991); Those Who Wait (2020); Threadbare (2017); Touched by an Angel (1998); Tour of Duty (1989); Unfaithful (2002); Welcome to 18 (1986); Where's Marlowe? (1998); Without a Trace (2002); Without Limits (1998).

Born on this day – Carrie Fisher:

Carrie Fisher

Actress

Writer

October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016

On this day in movie history - Julie (1956):

Julie

directed and written by Andrew L. Stone,

was released in the United States on October 17, 1956.
Music by Leith Stevens, Tom Adair and Leonard Pennario.

Cast:

Doris Day, Louis Jourdan, Barry Sullivan, Frank Lovejoy, Jack Kelly, Ann Robinson, Barney Phillips, Jack Kruschen, John Gallaudet, Carleton Young, Hank Patterson, Ed Hinton, Harlan Warde, Aline Towne, Eddie Marr, Joel Marston, Mae Marsh.

Born on this day – Deborah Coleman:

Deborah Coleman

Blues singer

Guitarist

October 3, 1956 – April 12, 2018

On this day in movie history - A Strange Adventure (1956)

A Strange Adventure,

directed by William Witney,

written by Houston Branch,

was released in the United States on August 24, 1956.
Music by R. Dale Butts.

Cast:
Joan Evans, Ben Cooper, Marla English, Jan Merlin, Nick Adams, Peter Miller, Paul Smith, Emlen Davies, Frank Wilcox, Thomas Browne Henry, John Maxwell, Steve Wayne, Wendell Niles, John Pickard, Jack Shea, Ken Terrell, Al Wyatt Sr.

Recommended reading - The Barbarous Coast (1956):

The Barbarous Coast (1956).

By Ross Macdonald.

Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0307279030

ISBN-13: 978-0307279033

Description:

“Ross Macdonald writes like a son of a bitch.” – Anthony Boucher.

“Not since the novels of Nathanael West has the theme of American innocence grinding to a stop at the polluted waters of the Pacific so consistently reverberated through a body of writing.” – Detroit News.

The beautiful, high-diving blonde had Hollywood dreams and stars in her eyes but now she seems to have disappeared without a trace. Hired by her hotheaded husband and her rummy “uncle,” Lew Archer sniffs around Malibu and finds the stink of blackmail, blood-money, and murder on every pricey silk shirt. Beset by dirty cops, a bumptious boxer turned silver screen pretty boy, and a Hollywood mogul with a dark past, Archer discovers the secret of a grisly murder that just won't stay hidden.

Lew Archer navigates through the watery, violent world of wealth and privilege, in this electrifying story of obsession gone mad.

“Macdonald makes a routine story of ocean-side murder among the rich take on a hard-edged, glistening solidity.” – AudioFile.

Born on this day – Carol Higgins Clark:

Carol Higgins Clark

Writer

Actress

July 28, 1956 – June 12, 2023

Credits:

Books:

A Holiday Collection (2010); A Poison That Leaves No Trace: With Mystery Jigsaw Puzzle (2002); All By Myself, Alone (2017); All Through the Night (1998); As Time Goes by (2016); Burned (2005); Carol Higgins Clark Boxed Set Vol 1 (2011); Cursed (2009); Dashing Through the Snow (2008); Deck the Halls (2000); Deck the Halls / The Christmas Thief (2009); Decked (1991); Fleeced (2001); Gypped / Scammed (2012); He Sees You When You're Sleeping (2001); Hitched (2006); Iced (1994); I'll Walk Alone (2011); Jinxed (2002); Laced (2007); Mobbed (2011); Murder For Love (1996); Popped (2003); Santa Cruise (2006); Snagged (1993); The Christmas Collection (2006); The Christmas Thief (2004); The Lost Years (2012); The Lottery Winner (1994); The Plot Thickens (1997); Twanged (1997); Weep No More, My Lady (1987); Wrecked (2010); Zapped (2008).

Movies and television:

A Cry in the Night (1992); Books Equal Gifts Commercial (2008); Bouillon de culture (1999); C à vous (2011); Café Picouly (2011); Deck the Halls (2011); Deck the Halls (2011); Fatal Charm (1990); Home & Family (2013–2014); Imus in the Morning (2014); My Gal Sunday (2014); Night of the Fox (1990); Party Planner with David Tutera (2005); Secret Service (1993); Stillwatch (1987); The Cradle Will Fall (2004); The Mystery Cruise (2013); The View (2004); Tout le monde en parle (2003); Where Are the Children? (1986); While My Pretty One Sleeps (1997).

On this day in movie history - Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956):

Somebody Up There Likes Me,

directed by Robert Wise,

written by Ernest Lehman,

based on the autobiography by Rocky Graziano with Rowland Barber,

was released in the United States on July 4, 1956.
Music by Bronislau Kaper.

Cast:
Paul Newman, Pier Angeli, Everett Sloane, Eileen Heckart, Harold J. Stone, Joseph Buloff, Sal Mineo, Ray Stricklyn, Robert Loggia, Steve McQueen, Angela Cartwright, Jack Orrison, Frank Campanella, Dean Jones.

On this day in movie history - A Kiss Before Dying (1956):

A Kiss Before Dying,

directed by Gerd Oswald,

written by Lawrence Roman,

based on the novel by Ira Levin,

was released in the United States on June 12, 1956.
Music by Lionel Newman.

Cast:
Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Virginia Leith, Joanne Woodward, Mary Astor, George Macready, Robert Quarry, Howard Petrie, Bill Walker, Molly McCart, Marlene Felton, Albert Cavens, Robert Ivers, Mickey Martin, Joe McGuinn, Edwin Rochelle, Jack Stoney.

On this day in movie history - While the City Sleeps (1956):

While the City Sleeps,

directed by Fritz Lang,

written by Casey Robinson,

based on the novel The Bloody Spur by Charles Einstein,

was released in France on May 30, 1956.
Inspired by the true 1946 case the Chicago serial killer William Heirens.
Music by Herschel Burke Gilbert.

Cast:
Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Howard Duff, Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, Sally Forrest, John Drew Barrymore, James Craig, Ida Lupino, Robert Warwick, Mae Marsh, Ralph Peters, Sandra White, Larry J. Blake, Celia Lovsky, Ed Hinton, Pitt Herbert, Vladimir Sokoloff, David Andrews, Eddie Baker, Ralph Brooks, Leonard Carey, Russell Custer, John Damler, Sayre Dearing, George DeNormand, Joe Devlin, Sam Finn, Mike Lally, Andrew Lupino, Ralph Manza, Mickey Martin, Joey Ray, Cosmo Sardo, Charles Sherlock, Olan Soule, Bert Stevens, Carleton Young.