Born on this day – Isa Pola:

Isa Pola

Actress

December 19, 1909 – December 17, 1984

Credits:

A Country Without Peace (1946); Acciaio (1933); Amore e chiacchiere (Salviamo il panorama) (1958); Boccaccesca (1928); Cavalleria rusticana (1939); Creatures of the Night (1934); First day of spring (1955); Furia / Fury (1947); Giardini che vivono / Living gardens (1930); Gli uomini non sono ingrati / Men are not ungrateful (1937); Him, her and the others (1956); Il moschettiere fantasma (1952); Il ponte di vetro / The glass bridge (1940); In the name of the Kadar sisters (1957); It Was I (1937); La cantante dell'opera / The opera singer (1933); La canzone dell'amore / The song of love (1930); La figlia del forzato (1954); La telefonista (1932); La Wally (1932); L'anonima Roylott / The anonymous Roylott (1936); Le scarpe al sole / Shoes in the sun (1935); Love and chatter (Let's save the view) (1958); Lucrezia Borgia (1940); Lui e lei (1956); L'ultima avventura (1932); Margaret of Cortona (1950); Miryam (1929); Ninna nanna delle dodici mamme/ Lullaby of the twelve mothers (1930); Ombre sul Canal Grande / Shadows on the Grand Canal (1951); Ragazzo (1934); Seeing great (1959); So it is (if you like) (1959); Stella del cinema (1931); Strange Witness (1950); Terra madre (1931); The Children Are Watching Us (1943); The Empress's Rival (1951); The hotel of happiness (1936); The Queen of Sheba (1952); The Sword of Damocles (1958); The Widow (1939); Three Forbidden Stories (1952); Una signora dell'ovest / A lady from the west (1942); Valentina (Una ragazza che ha fretta) (1958); Za-bum Equestrian Circus / Segments: Telephone contact; From the window; Galop finale al circo (1944).

Born on this day – Ralph Richardson:

Ralph Richardson

Actor

December 19, 1902 – October 10, 1983

Credits:

Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984); Six Centuries of Verse (1984); Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984); Wagner (1983); Invitation to the Wedding (1983); Witness for the Prosecution (1982); Early Days (1981); Time Bandits (1981); Dragonslayer (1981); The Double Dealer (1980); A Deadly Game (1979); Watership Down (1978); No Man's Land (1978); Jesus of Nazareth (1977); The Man in the Iron Mask (1977); Comet Amongst the Stars (1975); Rollerball (1975); Frankenstein: The True Story (1973); O Lucky Man! (1973); A Doll's House (1973); ABC Afterschool Specials (1973); Lady Caroline Lamb (1972); Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972); Tales from the Crypt (1972); Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1972); Eagle in a Cage (1972); Play for Today (1972); Great Performances (1971); She Stoops to Conquer (1971); Upon This Rock (1970); ITV Saturday Night Theatre (1970); David Copperfield (1970); The Looking Glass War (1970); The Battle of Britain (1969); The Bed Sitting Room (1969); Midas Run (1969); Oh! What a Lovely War (1969); NET Playhouse (1968); Blandings Castle (1967); Khartoum (1966); The Wrong Box (1966); Chimes at Midnight (1965); Doctor Zhivago (1965); Thursday Theatre (1965); The Great War (1964); Woman of Straw (1964); The Largest Theatre in the World: Heart to Heart (1962); Hedda Gabler (1962); The 300 Spartans (1962); Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962); Exodus (1960); Oscar Wilde (1960); Our Man in Havana (1959); Theatre Night (1958); A Novel Affair (1957); Smiley (1956); Richard III (1955); Richard III (1955); The Holly and the Ivy (1952); The Sound Barrier (1952); Murder on Monday (1952); Fireside Theatre (1951); Outcast of the Islands (1951); The Heiress (1949); The Fallen Idol (1948); Anna Karenina (1948); An Ideal Husband (1947); Everyman (1947); Secret Flight (1946); The Silver Fleet (1943); The Avengers (1942); The Lion Has Wings (1939); The Fugitive (1939); Smith (1939); The Four Feathers (1939); Q Planes (1939); Bees on the Boat-Deck (1939); The Citadel (1938); The Divorce of Lady X (1938); South Riding (1938); Othello (1937); Thunder in the City (1937); The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936); Things to Come (1936); Alias Bulldog Drummond (1935); Thunder in the Air (1934); The King of Paris (1934); Java Head (1934); The Return of Bulldog Drummond (1934); Friday the Thirteenth (1933); The Ghoul (1933).

Recommended reading - Raging Bull: My Story (1970):

Raging Bull: My Story

By Jake LaMotta, Peter Savage and Joseph Carter.

Introduction by Nick Tosches.

Filmed as Raging Bull (1980), directed by Martin Scorsese.

First published 1970.

Published by Da Capo Press.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0306808080

ISBN-13: 978-0306808081

Description:

Meet Jake LaMotta: thief, rapist, killer. Raised in the Bronx slums, he fought on the streets, got sent to reform school, and served time in prison. Trusting no one, slugging everyone, he beat his wife, his best friends, even the mobsters who kept the title just out of reach. But the same forces that made him a criminal – fear, rage, jealousy, self-hate, guilt – combined with his drive and intelligence to make him a winner in the ring. At age twenty-seven, after eight years of fighting, he became Middleweight Champion of the World, a hero to thousands. Then, at the peak of success, he fell apart and began a swift, harrowing descent into nightmare. Raging Bull, the Bronx Bull's brutally candid memoir, tells it all – fights, jails, sex, money – surpassing, in hard-hitting prose, even the movie that immortalized it.

Recommended reading - A Clockwork Orange (1962):

A Clockwork Orange

By Anthony Burgess.

Filmed in 1971 by Stanley Kubrick.

First published 1962.

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0393341763

ISBN-13: 978-0393341768

Description:

One of Esquire's 50 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time.

“A brilliant novel.… [A] savage satire on the distortions of the single and collective minds.” – New York Times.

In Anthony Burgess’s influential nightmare vision of the future, where the criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, a teen who talks in a fantastically inventive slang that evocatively renders his and his friends’ intense reaction against their society. Dazzling and transgressive, A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil and the meaning of human freedom. This edition includes the controversial last chapter not published in the first edition, and Burgess’s introduction, “A Clockwork Orange Resucked.”

Kate Atkinson, on words:

In the end, it is my belief, words are the only things that can construct a world that makes sense.

- Kate Atkinson.

Born on this day – Jean Adamson:

Jean Adamson

Writer

Illustrator

February 29, 1928 – December 15, 2024

Credits:

Books:

ABC: A Picture Alphabet (1962); Animal bounce (1969); Busy Builders (1997); Chestnut Tree (1974); Family Tree (1968); Hop Like Me (1972); Neighbours in the Park (1962); People who Help Us Stories (1999); Red Boots, Yellow Boots (1997); Surprises for Topsy & Tim (1971); Topsy & Tim Have Their Hair Cut (1989); Topsy & Tim's Safety Book (1973); Topsy + Tim Meet the Ambulance Crew (1996); Topsy and Tim and the Bully (1994); Topsy and Tim and the New Puppy (1992); Topsy and Tim at Granny and Grandpa's (1996); Topsy and Tim at School (1968); Topsy and Tim at the Bank (1985); Topsy and Tim at the Farm (1970); Topsy and Tim at the Seaside (1965); Topsy and Tim at the Supermarket (1996); Topsy and Tim Can Play Party Games (1981); Topsy and Tim Go for Gold (1977); Topsy and Tim Go Shopping (1977); Topsy And Tim Go Swimming (1973); Topsy and Tim Go to London (2014); Topsy and Tim go to the Hospital (1971); Topsy and Tim go to the zoo (1968); Topsy and Tim move house (1979); Topsy and Tim Stay with a Friend (1987); Topsy and Tim Visit the Tower of London (1976); Topsy and Tim: First Sleepover (2016); Topsy and Tim: Go Camping (1977); Topsy and Tim: Go on a Train (1990); Topsy and Tim: Go on an Aeroplane (1979); Topsy and Tim: Go to the Doctor (1982); Topsy and Tim: Halloween Party; Topsy and Tim: Have a Birthday Party (1971 / 2010); Topsy and Tim: Have Itchy Heads (1996); Topsy and Tim: Have Their Eyes Tested (1982); Topsy and Tim: Help a Friend (2005); Topsy and Tim: Learn to Swim (1973); Topsy and Tim: Meet Father Christmas (2013); Topsy and Tim: Meet the Firefighters (1989); Topsy and Tim: Meet the Police (1989); Topsy and Tim: Our Day Clock Book; Topsy and Tim: Play Football (1991); Topsy and Tim: Start School (2003); Topsy and Tim: the Complete Audio Collection (2017); Topsy and Tim: Visit London (2012); Topsy and Tim's ABC (1982); Topsy and Tim's Big Fun Book; Topsy and Tim's Friday Book (1961); Village Green (1972).

Television:

Topsy and Tim / 64-episode TV series (2013–2015).

On this day in movie history - Barry Lyndon (1975):

Barry Lyndon

directed and written by Stanley Kubrick,

based on the novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray,

was released in the United States on December 18, 1975.
Music by Leonard Rosenman and Ralph Ferraro.
Main theme Sarabande by George Frideric Handel.
Women of Ireland by Peadar Ó Doirnín and Seán Ó Riada, performed by The Chieftains.

Cast:

Michael Hordern, Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Krüger, Gay Hamilton, Godfrey Quigley, Steven Berkoff, Marie Kean, Murray Melvin, Frank Middlemass, Leon Vitali, Dominic Savage, Leonard Rossiter, André Morell, Anthony Sharp, Philip Stone, David Morley, Diana Koerner, Arthur O'Sullivan, Billy Boyle, Jonathan Cecil, Peter Cellier, Geoffrey Chater, Wolf Kahler, Liam Redmond, Roger Booth, Ferdy Mayne, John Sharp, Pat Roach, Hans Meyer.