On this day in television history - Murder in the Heartland (1993):

Murder in the Heartland

a made-for-TV miniseries directed by Robert Markowitz,

written by Michael O'Hara,

was released in the United States on May 3, 1993.
Based on the true Charles Starkweather murder case (1957-1958).
Music by Patrick Williams.

Cast:

Tim Roth, Fairuza Balk, Kate Reid, Brian Dennehy, Randy Quaid, Roberts Blossom, Tom Bower, Rondi Reed, Bob Gunton, Ryan Cutrona, Angie Bolling, Jake Carpenter, Heather Kafka, Don Bloomfield, John Hussey, James Hansen Prince, John S. Davies, Mark Walters, Jennifer Griffin, Milo O'Shea, Gerry Bamman, Jeff Perry, Connie Cooper, Jimmy Ray Pickens, Valentina Marie Lomborg, Tom Smith, Renée Zellweger, Darryl Cox, Marco Perella, John Cantwell, Chamblee Ferguson, Gary Mitchell Carter, Suzi McLaughlin, Joan Arenstein.

On this day in movie history - The Andromeda Strain (movie & novel):

The Andromeda Strain

directed by Robert Wise,

written by Nelson Gidding and Robert Wise,

based on the novel by Michael Crichton,

was released in the United States on March 12, 1971.
Music by Gil Mellé.

Cast:

Arthur Hill, James Olson, David Wayne, Kate Reid, Paula Kelly, George Mitchell, Mark Jenkins, Peter Helm, Joe Di Reda, Ramon Bieri, Carl Reindel, Frances Reid, Peter Hobbs, Kermit Murdock, Richard O'Brien, Eric Christmas, Ken Swofford, John Carter, Richard Bull, James W. Gavin, Garry Walberg, Emory Parnell, Georgia Schmidt, Victoria Paige Meyerink, Don Messick, Michael Crichton.

Recommended reading:

The Andromeda Strain

By Michael Crichton.

First published 1969.

ISBN-10: 1101974494

ISBN-13: 978-1101974490

Description:

A military space probe, sent to collect extraterrestrial organisms from the upper atmosphere, is knocked out of orbit and falls to Earth. Twelve miles from the crash site, an inexplicable and deadly phenomenon terrorizes the residents of a sleepy desert town in Arizona, leaving only two survivors: an elderly addict and a newborn infant.

The United States government is forced to mobilize Project Wildfire, a top-secret emergency response protocol. Four of the nation’s most elite biophysicists are summoned to a clandestine underground laboratory located five stories beneath the desert and fitted with an automated atomic self-destruction mechanism for cases of irremediable contamination. Under conditions of total news blackout and the utmost urgency, the scientists race to understand and contain the crisis. But the Andromeda Strain proves different from anything they’ve ever seen—and what they don’t know could not only hurt them, but lead to unprecedented worldwide catastrophe.

Born on this day – Kate Reid:

Kate Reid

Actress

November 4, 1930 – March 27, 1993