Born on this day – Ruth Johnson Colvin:

Ruth Johnson Colvin

Literacy Advocate

Writer

Teacher

Philanthropist

December 16, 1916 – August 18, 2024

Credits:

Founder of the non-profit organization Literacy Volunteers of America / renamed ProLiteracy Worldwide.

Awarded the Volunteer Action Award by President Ronald Reagan in 1987,

and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2006 by President George W. Bush.

Books and educational videos:

Basic Reading Workshop (video); English as a Second Language Tutor Training Workshop; Great Traveling After 55 (1989); How to Add Family Literacy to Your Program; I Speak English (1962); LVA Works: A Guide to Workplace Education; Maintaining the Balance: A Guide to 50/50 Management; My Travels Through Life, Love, and Literacy: A Memoir (2020); Off the Beaten Path: Stories of People Around the World (2011); Reading to Children (video); Student Involvement Guidelines; Tutor (1962); Tutoring Small Groups Handbook.

Born on this day – Margaret Hamilton:

Margaret Hamilton

Actress

Teacher

December 9, 1902 – May 16, 1985

Credits:

13 Ghosts (1960); A Slight Case of Murder (1938); A String of Blue Beads (1953); ABC News Breakfast (2024); Angel in My Pocket (1969); Angels Wash Their Faces (1939); Another Language (1933); As the World Turns (1956–2010); Babes in Arms (1939); Because of the Wonderful Things It Does: The Legacy of Oz (2005); Bicentennial Minutes (1976); Breaking the Ice (1938); Brewster McCloud (1970); Broadway Bill (1934); Bungalow 13 (1948); By Your Leave (1934); Camera Three (1956–1961); Campbell Summer Soundstage (1954); Car 54, Where Are You? (1963); Center Stage (1954); Chatterbox (1936); Childhood Thoughts (2016); City Without Men (1943); Comin' Round the Mountain (1951); Discovery '70 (1964); Dishonored Lady (1947); Donahue (1975); Double Toasted (2022); Dow Hour of Great Mysteries (1960); Driftwood (1947); Ethel and Albert (1953–1955); Faithful in My Fashion (1946); Ford Star Jubilee (1956); Four's a Crowd (1938); George White's Scandals (1945); Ghostbreakers (1967); Goodyear Playhouse (1955); Great Performances (1996); Guest in the House (1944); Gunsmoke (1973); Hat, Coat, and Glove (1934); Here's Boomer (1980); Here's Hollywood (1962); Hollywood Horrors (2018); Hollywood Insider (2021); Hollywood: The Dream Factory (1972); Hollywood: The Gift of Laughter (1982); Horrible Horror (1986); Ichabod and Me (1961); I'll Take Romance (1937); I'm Nobody's Sweetheart Now (1940); Is There a Doctor in the House (1971); I've Got a Secret (1957); Janie Gets Married (1946); Johnny Come Lately (1943); Journey Back to Oz (1972); Kraft Theatre (1954–1956); Kraft Theatre / The United States Steel Hour (1954–1961); Lamp Unto My Feet (1955); Laramie (1962); Laughing at Trouble (1936); Letters from Frank (1979); Lou Grant (1979–1982); Lux Video Theatre (1953); Mack & Myer for Hire (1963); Main Street Lawyer (1939); Man Against Crime (1953); Medallion Theatre (1953); Meet the Stewarts (1942); Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1975–1976); Mister Rogers: It's You I Like (2018); Modern Romances (1954–1955); Mother Carey's Chickens (1938); Mountain Justice (1937); Movietown USA (1950); My Hero (1952); My Little Chickadee (1940); Night of 100 Stars (1982); Nothing Sacred (1937); Nurse (1981); Off to See the Wizard (1967); Omnibus / Segments: The Trial of Lizzie Borden; A Different Drummer; Figgerin' of Aunt Wilma (1953–1957); On Borrowed Time (1957); Once Upon a Christmas Time (1959); Paradise Alley (1962); Pardon Me for Living (1982); People Will Talk (1951); Pet Peeves (1947); Play Girl (1941); Play of the Week (1960); Playhouse 90 (1959); Prettier Than Ever: The Restoration of Oz (2005); Reaching from Heaven (1948); Remembering Gene Wilder (2023); Rendezvous (1958); Riding High (1950); Rock Legends (2016); Rosie! (1967); Saratoga (1937); Sesame Street (1976); Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (1973); Stablemates (1938); Startime (1960); State of the Union (1948); Studio One (1953–1957); Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven (1948); That Was the Week That Was (1963–1985); The 100 Greatest Scary Moments (2003); The Addams Family (1965–1966); The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938); The Affairs of Martha (1942); The Alcoa Hour (1956); The Anderson Tapes (1971); The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949); The Best of Broadway (1954–1955); The Bigelow Theatre (1950–1951); The Bob Braun Show (1973); The Christmas Tree (1958);  The Comedy Spot (1962); The Danny Thomas Show (1962); The Dark Side of the Rainbow (2000); The David Frost Show (1970); The Daydreamer (1966); The Devil's Disciple (1955); The Elgin Hour (1954); The Farmer Takes a Wife (1935); The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna (1958); The Gay Vagabond (1941); The Good Old Soak (1937); The Good Years (1962); The Great Plane Robbery (1950); The Gulf Playhouse (1952); The Invisible Woman (1940 / 1966); The Jackie Gleason Show (1954); The Making of 'the Wizard of Oz' (1979); The Merv Griffin Show (1969); The Mike Douglas Show (1970–1977); The Moon's Our Home (1936); The Night Strangler (1973); The Ox-Bow Incident (1942); The Partridge Family (1973); The Patty Duke Show (1963–1964); The Paul Lynde Halloween Special (1976); The Paul Winchell Show (1954); The Phil Silvers Show (1957); The Project (2024); The Red Buttons Show (1954); The Red Pony (1949); The Secret Storm (1954–1974); The Secret World of Eddie Hodges (1960); The Shari Lewis Show (1963); The Silver Theatre (1950); The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947); The Stu Erwin Show (1950); The Sun Comes Up (1949); The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1968); The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (2009); The Villain Still Pursued Her (1940); The Way of the World (1955); The Witness Chair (1936); The Wizard of Oz (1939); The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic (1990); The World of Abbott and Costello (1965); The Yellow Brick Road and Beyond (2009); There's Always Tomorrow (1934); These Amazing Shadows (2011); These Three (1936); This Side of Heaven (1934); To Oz! The Making of a Classic (2009); Today Tonight (2009); Twin Beds (1942); Valiant Lady (1953–1957); Wabash Avenue (1950); Way Down East (1935); We Haven't Really Met Properly...: Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West/Miss Gulch (2005); When's Your Birthday? (1937); You Only Live Once (1937); Zoo in Budapest (1933).

Born on this day – Lara Parker:

Lara Parker

Actress

Writer

Teacher

October 27, 1938 – October 12, 2023

Credits:

The Job Interview (2016); Theatre Fantastique (2014); Doctor Mabuse: Etiopomar (2014); Doctor Mabuse (2013); Dark Shadows (2012); P.S.I. Luv U (1991); People Like Us (1990); The China Lake Murders (1990); The Highwayman (1988); Highway to Heaven (1987); One Life to Live (1985); Remington Steele (1983); Manimal (1983); Foxfire Light (1983); A New Day in Eden (1982); Rooster (1982); Capitol (1985-1986); Jessica Novak (1981); The Fall Guy (1981); This Is the Life (1980); Desperate Voyage (1980); Galactica 1980 (1980); Hagen (1980); Mrs. Columbo (1980); Hawaii Five-O (1978–1980); Once Upon a Family (1980); Barnaby Jones (1980); The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo (1979); The Solitary Man (1979); The Lazarus Syndrome (1979); Sword of Justice (1979); The Lazarus Syndrome (1978); Quincy M.E. (1977–1978); Baretta (1978); Switch (1976–1977); The Incredible Hulk (1977); Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977); Alice (1976); Kojak (1973–1976); Stranded (1976); City of Angels (1976); Jigsaw John (1976); The Six Million Dollar Man (1974–1976); Doctors' Hospital (1976); Emergency! (1975); Mobile One (1975); Race with the Devil (1975); S.W.A.T. (1975); Adventures of the Queen (1975); Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1975); The Rockford Files (1975); Police Woman (1975); Lucas Tanner (1975); Airport 1975 (1974); The Chadwick Family (1974); Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (1974); My Darling Daughters' Anniversary (1973); Medical Center (1973); Insight (1973); Save the Tiger (1973); The F.B.I. (1972); Kung Fu (1972); Night of Dark Shadows (1971); Dark Shadows (1967–1971); April in the Wind (1970); Hi, Mom! (1970); N.Y.P.D. (1968).

Books:

Dark Shadows novel series:

Angelique's Descent (1998); The Salem Branch (2006); Wolf Moon Rising (2012); Heiress of Collinwood (2016).

Born on this day – Leonard Bernstein:

Leonard Bernstein

Conductor

Composer

Pianist

Teacher

Writer

Humanitarian

August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990

Born on this day – Gwendolyn Brooks:

Gwendolyn Brooks

Writer

Teacher

June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000

Credits:

A Street in Bronzeville (1945); Aloneness (1971); Annie Allen (1949); Black Love (1982); Bronzeville Boys and Girls (1956); Family Pictures (1970); For Illinois 1968: A Sesquicentennial Poem (1968); In Montgomery, and Other Poems (2003); In the Mecca (1968); Maud Martha (1953); Mayor Harold Washington; and, Chicago, the I Will City (1983); Report from Part One: An Autobiography (1972); Report from Part Two (1996); Riot (1969); The Bean Eaters (1960); The Near-Johannesburg Boy, and Other Poems (1987); We Real Cool (1960); Winnie (1988).

Born on this day – Caitlin Clarke:

Caitlin Clarke

Actress

Teacher

May 3, 1952 – September 9, 2004

Credits:

Movies and television:

A Cure for Serpents (1997); Blown Away (1994); CBS Summer Playhouse (1987); Cost of Living (1997); Crocodile Dundee (1986); Dellaventura (1998); Dragonslayer (1981); Gabriel's Fire (1991); Joe the King (1999); Kiss and Tell (1996); Law & Order (1997–2000); Love, Lies and Murder (1991); Matlock (1990); Mayflower Madam (1987); Moonlighting (1987); Never Again (2001); New York Undercover (1995); Northern Exposure (1991); Nurse (1982); Once a Hero (1987); Penn & Teller Get Killed (1989); Sex and the City (2000); The Big Picture (1989); The Cosby Mysteries (1994); The Equalizer (1986); The Kid Brother (1987); The Stepford Husbands (1996).

On stage:

Aristocrats (2002); Arms and the Man (1985); As You Like It (1984); Bal (1980); Griller (1999); Indiscretions (1997); Mrs. Warren's Profession (1996); No End of Blame (1981); Not Quite Jerusalem (1984); Othello (1979); Our Country's Good (1989); Plenty (1981); Quartermaine's Terms (1984); Strange Interlude (1985); Summer (1983); Summer Vacation Madness (1982); Tales from the Vienna Woods (1978); Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap (1983); The Gigli Concert (2002); The Glass Menagerie (1997); The Marriage of Figaro (1985); The Queen And The Rebels (1991); The Winter's Tale (1979); Thin Ice (1984); Three Birds Alighting On A Field (1994); Titanic: A New Musical (1998); Total Eclipse (1984); Unexpected Tenderness (1994); Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (2000).

Born on this day – Samuel Barber:

Samuel Barber

Composer

Pianist

Conductor

Baritone

Teacher

March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981

Credits:

Compositions:

[First] Essay for Orchestra, Op. 12, 1937; 2nd movement revised as Night Flight, Op. 19a, 1964; A Hand of Bridge, opera in 1 act, 1953; A Stopwatch and an Ordnance Map, Op. 15, 1940; Adagio for Strings, [arr. of 2nd movement of String Quartet], Op. 11, 1938; Agnus Dei, Op. 11, 1967; Andromache's Farewell, Op. 39, 1963; Antony and Cleopatra, opera in 3 acts after Shakespeare, 1966; arr. as orchestral Suite, 1947; Ballade, piano, Op. 46, 1977; Canzone (elegy), flute and piano, Op. 38a, 1961; Canzonetta, Op. 48 [posth.], 1981; Capricorn Concerto, Op. 21, 1944; Cello Concerto, Op. 22, 1945; Cello Sonata, Op. 6, 1932; Despite and Still: A Last Song, Op. 41, 1968-9; Die Natali, chorale preludes for Christmas, Op. 37, 1960; Dover Beach, Op. 3, 1933; Excursions, Op. 20, 1942-4; Fadograph of a Yestern Scene (after Joyce, Finnegans Wake), Op. 44, 1971; Four Songs, Op. 13, 1941; Hermit Songs, Op. 29, 1952-3; Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24, 1947; Medea / Serpent Heart, ballet, Op. 23, 1946; Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance, Op. 23a, 1953; Melodies passagères, Op. 27, 1950-51; Music for a Scene from Shelly, Op. 7, 1933; Nocturne (Homage to John Field), piano, Op. 33, 1959; Nuvoletta, Op. 25, 1947; Piano Concerto, Op. 38, 1962; Prayers of Kirkegaard, Op. 30, 1954; Reincarnations, Op. 16, 1937-40; Rev. as The Cave of the Heart 1947; Second Essay, Op. 17, 1942; Serenade, string quartet/string orchestra, Op. 1, 1930; Solo Instrumental; Sonata, piano, Op. 26, 1949; Souvenirs, ballet, 1955; Stille Nacht [arrangement of Silent Night from Die natali], Op. 37, 1960; String Quartet, Op. 11, 1936; Summer Music, wind quintet, Op. 31, 1956; Symphony [No. 1] in One Movement, Op. 9, 1936; Symphony No. 2, Op. 19, 1944; The Lovers, Op. 43, 1971; The School for Scandal, Op. 5, 1931-3; The Virgin Martyrs, Op. 8/1-2, 1936; Three Songs (Joyce), Op. 10, 1935; Three Songs, Op. 45, 1972; Toccata festiva, Op. 36, 1960; Twelfth Night, Op. 42, 1968; Two Songs, Op. 18, 1942; Vanessa, opera in 4 acts, 1956-7; Violin Concerto, Op. 14, 1939; Violin Sonata, Op. 4, 1928.

Movies and television:

20 Feet from Stardom / Sure On This Shining Night (2013); A Hand of Bridge (2017); A Midsummer Night's Dream (2019); A Nightmare on Sesame Street (1987); A Very Natural Thing (1974); Agnes Day (2009); Agnes Day (2009); Amélie (2001); American Dad! (2009); Antony & Cleopatra (1991); Antony & Cleopatra (1991); Artemis: The Neverending Quartet (2020); At Home with the Braithwaites (2001); Bodies (2023); Bravetown (2015); Camera Three (1971); CBS News Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley (2022); Celeste (1991); Dancing Daze (1986); Donny (2013); Dudamel and the LA Phil Return to the Bowl (2021); El armario (2000); El Norte (1983); ER (1995); Experimenter / Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (2015); Falling for You (1995); Fermeture de l'usine Renault à Vilvoorde (La vie sexuelle des Belges, 3e partie) (1999); Ficció (2006); Hammarskjöld (2023); Happiness (1998); Himizu (2011); How I Met Your Mother (2010–2014); In My Room (2018); Jojo in the Stars (2003); Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000); Liubi (2005); Lorenzo's Oil (1992); Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele (2022); Ma mère (2004); Medea (1954); Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, the Movie (2023); Misfits (2010); Moments Without Proper Names (1987); New World Symphony Wallcast Tm Concert 4 (2013); Nostalgia Critic (2011); Omnibus opera (2016); On Any Saturday (2008); One Symphony Place: A World Premiere Live from Music City (2006); Outlander (2019); Peace One Day (2004); Platoon (1986); Processen (2003); Reconstruction (2003); Red Dwarf (1999); Rusanne (2018); S1m0ne (2002); Sam & Barb's School for Scandal (2016); Samuel Barber in Samuel Barber: Absolute Beauty (2017); Seinfeld (1996); Sicko (2007); Skate Boys (2015); So You Think You Can Dance (2012); South Park (2004); Spaced (1999–2001); Swimming Upstream (2003); Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny (2006); The Ark of Madness (2007); The Bell Telephone Hour (1959); The Bonds of Springtime (2013); The Choir: Unsung Town (2009); The Cine-Masochist (2015); The Deep Blue Sea (2011); The Elephant Man (1980); The Grand Tour (2016); The Horse (1973); The Hunters (1996); The Man with the Wooden Face (2017); The Scarlet Letter (1995); The Simpsons (2003–2017); To Stay Alive: A Method (2016); Top Gear (2008); Vanessa (1978 / 2001 / 2019); Wasteland (2012); Where the Smiling Ends (2004); Wild Reeds (1994).

Born on this day – Adam Beckett:

Adam Beckett

Director

Producer

Animator

Special effects artist

Teacher

February 1, 1950 – March 1979

Credits:

The Cell (2000); Piranha (1978); Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977); Kitsch in Synch (1975); Sausage City (1974); Flesh Flows (1974); Evolution of the Red Star (1973); Heavy-Light (1973); Dear Janice (1972).