Born on this day – Shashawnee Hall:

Shashawnee Hall

Actor

Director

Producer

December 27, 1961 – March 29, 2021

Born on this day – John Amos:

John Amos

Actor

Writer

Producer, December 27, 1939 – August 21, 2024

Credits:

20/20 (2018); 30 Rock (2010); 3rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (1997); 704 Hauser (1994); A Woman Like That (1997); Act of Faith (2014); Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story (1980); All About the Andersons (2003–2004); All Over Again (2001); Althea (2014); American Flyers (1985); American Lowrider (2010); American Masters (2002 / 2015 / 2016); Ascension Day (2007); Bad Asses on the Bayou (2015); Ballers (2019); Beauty and the Beast (1988); Because of Charley (2021); Bicentennial Minutes (1975); Block Party (2022); Bonanza: The Next Generation (1988); Booo Chapter One (2025); CBS at 75 (2003); Christmas Belles (2019); Christmas in Miami (2021); Clippers (1991); Coming 2 America (2021); Coming to America (1988); Contrast of Evil (2013); Cops and Robin (1978); Crossing Over: How Roots Captivated an Entire Nation (2007); Dance of the Dwarfs (1983); Die Hard 2 (1990); Die Hard 2: The Bad Guys - Villains' Profile (1990); Dinah! (1975–1976); Disappearing Acts (2000); Dr. Dolittle 3 (2006); E! True Hollywood Story (2000); Ebony/Jet Showcase (1989); Entertainment Tonight (2020); Extra (2015–2019); For Better or Worse (1995); For Love of Liberty: The Story of America's Black Patriots (2010); Future Cop (1976–1977); Get Gotti (2023); Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast (2016–2017); Good Morning America (1977); Good Times (1974–1976); Hardcastle and McCormick (1984); Hauntsville (2016); Here's Boomer (1981); History of the Sitcom (2021); Hollywood Priest: The Story of Fr. Bud Kieser (2021); Hologram Man (1995); Hunter (1984–1985); I Love the '70s (2003); I Love the '80s Strikes Back (2003); In the House (1995–1997); Indie Cinema Showcase (2021); Information Processing (1971); Inside TV Land (2001); Insight (1982); Janet Russell Presents STAR POWER (2015); Johnny Staccato (1989); Judge Amos (2015); Keeping Up with the Joneses (1972); King of the Hill (1998); Let's Do It Again (1975); Lichnyy nomer (2004); Lie to Me (2010); Life After (2012); Live in Front of a Studio Audience: 'All in the Family' and 'Good Times' (2019); Live with Kelly and Mark (1989); Lock Up (1989); Love, American Style / Segments: Love and the Split-Up; Love and the Hiccups (1971–1972); Mac (1992); Madea's Witness Protection (2012); Mafia's Greatest Hits (2012); Martin (1997); Mary Tyler Moore: A Celebration (2015); Maude (1973–1974); Me Time (2022); Men in Trees (2006–2008); Mercy for Angels (2015); Mr. Dugan (1979); Murder Was the Case: The Movie / Segment: Natural Born Killaz (1995); Murder, She Wrote (1987); My Baby's Daddy (2004); My Name Is Earl (2008); Night Trap (1993); Norman Lear: A Life on Television (2023); Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You (2016); Nubbin & Friends (2016–2017); NYC 22 (2012); One Life to Live (1968); Oprah: Where Are They Now? (2017); Pioneers of Television (2013–2014); Police Story (1976); Prime Nostalgia Podcast (2021); Psych (2007); Remembering 'Roots' (2002); Ricochet (1991); Roots (1977); Royal Pains (2010); Sanford and Son (1973); See It Loud: The History of Black Television (2023); Shadow Hills (2011); Sister Circle Live (2018); Something to Sing About (2000); Speechless (2008); Sports Theater with Shaquille O'Neal (1998); Stills of the Movement: The Civil Rights Photojournalism of Flip Schulke (2009); Stingray (1987); Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971); Tamales and Gumbo (2015); Tavis Smiley (2006); The 11th Annual Publicists Guild of America Awards (1975); The 1st TV Academy Hall of Fame (1984); The 2nd Annual Black Achievement Awards (1979); The 2nd Annual TV Land Awards (2004); The 3rd Annual People's Choice Awards (1977); The 4th Annual TV Land Awards (2006); The 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2007); The 5th Annual TV Land Awards (2007); The Arsenio Hall Show (1990); The A-Team (1984); The Beastmaster (1982); The Beastmaster Chronicles (2020); The Bob Show (2012); The Chris Rock Show (1997); The District (2000–2001); The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1994–1995); The Funny Side (1971); The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1974–1978); The Howard Stern Show (1990); The Interviews: An Oral History of Television (2014); The Last O.G. (2018); The Last Rifleman (2023); The Law (2009); The Leslie Uggams Show (1969); The Love Boat (1983); The Magical World of Disney (1983); The Marsha Warfield Show (1990); The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977); The Merv Griffin Show (1971); The Mike Douglas Show (1975); The Mo'Nique Show (2010); The Movies That Made Us (2021); The National Disaster Survival Test (1977); The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1972); The Nicole Barrett Show (2015); The Outer Limits (2000); The Players Club (1998); The President's Plane Is Missing (1973); The Ranch (2016–2017); The Righteous Gemstones (2022); The Rockford Files: Shoot-Out at the Golden Pagoda (1997); The Seventies (2015); The Tim Conway Comedy Hour (1970); The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1974); The Truth About Santa Claus (2020); The Watermelon Heist (2003); The Wendy Williams Show (2017); The West Wing (1999–2004); The World's Greatest Athlete (1973); Today (2016); Tony Orlando and Dawn (1975); Touched by an Angel (1995); Touched by Love (1980); Trapper John, M.D. (1984); TV in Black: The First Fifty Years (2004); TV Land Confidential (2005–2007); TV Land Moguls (2009); Two and a Half Men (2010); Two Evil Eyes (1993); Two Evil Eyes / Segment: The Black Cat (1990); Two's Company (1973); Uncle Tom II: An American Odyssey (2022); Uncut Gems (2019); Vanishing Point (1971); Voodoo Moon (2006); Walker, Texas Ranger (1997); Willa (1979); Without a Pass (1991); You Are the Jury (1987); Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell (2019); Zombie Hamlet (2012).

Born on this day – Nick Dimitri:

Nick Dimitri

Actor

Stuntman

December 27, 1932 – October 20, 2021

Born on this day – Dorris Bowdon:

Dorris Bowdon

Actress

December 27, 1914 – August 9, 2005

Credits:

The Moon Is Down (1943); Jennie (1940); The Grapes of Wrath (1940); Drums Along the Mohawk (1939); Young Mr. Lincoln (1939); Down on the Farm (1938); Always Goodbye (1938).

Born on this day – Marlene Dietrich:

Marlene Dietrich

Actress

Singer

December 27, 1901 – May 6, 1992

Credits:

Just a Gigolo (1978); Paris When It Sizzles (1964); Judgment at Nuremberg (1961); Touch of Evil (1958); Witness for the Prosecution (1957); The Montecarlo Story (1956); Around the World in 80 Days (1956); Rancho Notorious (1952); No Highway in the Sky (1951); Stage Fright (1950); Jigsaw (1949); A Foreign Affair (1948); Golden Earrings (1947); The Room Upstairs (1946); Kismet (1944); Follow the Boys (1944); Pittsburgh (1942); The Spoilers (1942); The Lady Is Willing (1942); Manpower (1941); The Flame of New Orleans (1941); Seven Sinners (1940); Destry Rides Again (1939); Angel (1937); Knight Without Armor (1937); I Loved a Soldier (1936); The Garden of Allah (1936); Desire (1936); The Devil Is a Woman (1935); The Scarlet Empress (1934); The Song of Songs (1933); Blonde Venus (1932); Shanghai Express (1932); Dishonored (1931); Morocco (1930); The Blue Angel (1930); Nights of Love (1930); The Ship of Lost Men (1929); Three Loves (1929); I Kiss Your Hand Madame (1929); The Art of Love (1928); Café Elektric (1927); Sein größter Bluff (1927); Kopf hoch, Charly! (1927); Der Juxbaron (1927); A Modern Du Barry (1926); Madame Doesn't Want Children (1926); Manon Lescaut (1926); Dance Fever (1925); Der Sprung ins Leben (1924); The Countess of Paris (1923); The Tragedy of Love (1923); Man by the Roadside (1923); So sind die Männer (1923); Im Schatten des Glücks (1919).

Born on this day – Sydney Greenstreet:

Sydney Greenstreet

Actor

December 27, 1879 – January 18, 1954

Credits:

Malaya (1949); It's a Great Feeling (1949); Flamingo Road (1949); The Velvet Touch (1948); The Woman in White (1948); Ruthless (1948); The Hucksters (1947); That Way with Women (1947); The Verdict (1946); Devotion (1946); Three Strangers (1946); Christmas in Connecticut (1945); Pillow to Post (1945); Conflict (1945); Hollywood Canteen (1944); The Conspirators (1944); The Mask of Dimitrios (1944); Between Two Worlds (1944); Passage to Marseille (1944); Background to Danger (1943); Casablanca (1942); Across the Pacific (1942); They Died with Their Boots On (1941); The Maltese Falcon (1941).

Recommended reading - Film Noir Reader 4: The Crucial Films and Themes (2004):

Film Noir Reader 4: The Crucial Films and Themes

by Alain Silver and James Ursini.

Published by Limelight.
Published 2004.
Paperback.
ISBN-10: 0879103051
ISBN-13: 978-0879103057

Description:

The earlier Film Noir Readers, which now boast a combined sale of well over 30 000 copies, have all quite deliberately conveyed a sweeping overview of the classic period, demonstrating how broad and inclusive noir movies are. Film Noir Reader 4 moves in a different direction. Its purpose is to identify the key films and motifs of noir and to analyze in depth the prototypical pictures that, while vivid examples of certain cinematic themes, bend and break their molds to find new ways to enthrall and frighten us. Like its predecessors, Film Noir Reader 4 is generously illustrated and features essays by such respected film critics and scholars as Robin Wood, J.P. Telotte, R. Barton Palmer, and Robert Porfirio. All have as their purpose to explain why and how these classic films work; the way screenplay, direction, acting, cinematography, editing and all the other filmmaking crafts blended together to produce work that exemplifies both a particular movement in film history and the innovations that keep the noir style fresh and compelling.