Born on this day – William Redfield:

William Redfield

Actor

Writer

January 26, 1927 – August 17, 1976

Credits:

Mr. Billion (1977); Spencer's Pilots (1976); Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II (1976); Medical Center (1976); The Bob Newhart Show (1972–1976); One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975); Maude (1972–1975); Fear on Trial (1975); Death Wish (1974); For Pete's Sake (1974); The Odd Couple (1974); The Hot Rock (1972); Such Good Friends (1971); A New Leaf (1971); Dragon Country (1970); NET Playhouse (1970); The Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker (1970); Companions in Nightmare (1968); Androcles and the Lion (1967); All Woman (1967); Fantastic Voyage (1966); Duel at Diablo (1966); Bewitched (1965); Morituri (1965); Instant Love (1964); The Defenders (1963–1964); Mr. Broadway (1964); Hamlet (1964); Armstrong Circle Theatre (1952–1963); Naked City (1961); Great Ghost Tales (1961); The Connection (1961); The Million Dollar Incident (1961); Frontiers of Faith (1961); Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1957–1961); Gunsmoke (1961); Encounter (1960); The Comedy Spot (1960); Wrangler (1960); Deadline (1960); General Electric Theater (1959); Startime (1959); Kitty Foyle (1958); Colgate Theatre (1958); Kraft Theatre (1952–1958); I Married a Woman (1958); True Story (1957); Modern Romances (1957); Goodyear Playhouse (1954–1957); Studio One (1956–1957); The Big Story (1951–1957); The Kaiser Aluminum Hour (1957); Omnibus (1957); The Proud and Profane (1956); As the World Turns (1956); Kraft Theatre (1954–1956); Robert Montgomery Presents (1956); The Alcoa Hour (1955); Mr. Citizen (1955); Conquest of Space (1955); Justice (1954–1955); The Elgin Hour (1954–1955); Producers' Showcase (1955); The Marriage (1954); Jimmy Hughes, Rookie Cop (1953); Family Affair (1952); Lux Video Theatre (1952); Lights Out (1952); Tales of Tomorrow (1952); Suspense (1950–1952); Mr. District Attorney (1952); The Web (1951–1952); Schlitz Playhouse (1952); Somerset Maugham TV Theatre (1951); Hands of Mystery (1951); Pulitzer Prize Playhouse (1951); Treasury Men in Action (1950); The Ford Theatre Hour (1950); Kraft Theatre (1949); Actor's Studio (1948–1949); Back Door to Heaven (1939).

Born on this day – Paul Newman:

Paul Newman

Actor

Director

January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008

Credits:

The Meerkats (2008); Mater and the Ghostlight (2006); Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 1 (2006); Cars (2006); Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon (2005); Empire Falls (2005); Freedom: A History of US (2003); Our Town (2003); Road to Perdition (2002); The Simpsons (1989); Where the Money Is (2000); Message in a Bottle (1999); Twilight (1998); Nobody's Fool (1994); The Hudsucker Proxy (1994); Mr. & Mrs. Bridge (1990); Blaze (1989); Fat Man and Little Boy (aka Shadow Makers) (1989); The Color of Money (1986); Harry & Son (1984); The Verdict (1982); American Playhouse (1982); Absence of Malice (1981); Fort Apache the Bronx (1981); When Time Ran Out... (1980); Quintet (1979); Slap Shot (1977); Two by Dove (1976); Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976); Silent Movie (1976); The Drowning Pool (1975); The Towering Inferno (1974); The Sting (1973); The MacKintosh Man (1973); The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972); Pocket Money (1972); Sometimes a Great Notion (aka Never Give an Inch) (1971); WUSA (1970); Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969); Winning (1969); The Secret War of Harry Frigg (1968); Cool Hand Luke (1967); Hombre (1967); Torn Curtain (1966); Harper (aka The Moving Target) (1966); Lady L (1965); The Outrage (1964); What a Way to Go! (1964); The Prize (1963); A New Kind of Love (1963); Hud (1963); Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962); Sweet Bird of Youth (1962); The Hustler (1961); Paris Blues (1961); Exodus (1960); From the Terrace (1960); The Young Philadelphians (1959); Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958); The Left Handed Gun (1958); The Long, Hot Summer (1958); The Eighty Yard Run (Playhouse 90 (1958); The Helen Morgan Story (1957); Until They Sail (1957); The Kaiser Aluminum Hour (1956); Kraft Theatre (1954–1956); Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956); The Rack (1956); Playwrights '56 (1955); Producers' Showcase (1955); Kraft Theatre (1955); Appointment with Adventure (1955); The Silver Chalice (1954); Danger (1954); Armstrong Circle Theatre (1954); Goodyear Playhouse (1954); The Mask (1954); The Man Behind the Badge (1953); The Web (1950); You Are There (1953); Suspense (1949); Tales of Tomorrow (1951); The Aldrich Family (1952-1953).

Born on this day – Anne Jeffreys:

Anne Jeffreys

Actress

Singer

January 26, 1923 – September 27, 2017

Credits:

Getting On (2013); Sins (2012); Empire State Building Murders (2008); Richard III (2007); General Hospital (1984–2004); Port Charles (1999–2003); Baywatch (1993–1998); Clifford (1994); A Message from Holly (1992); L.A. Law (1992); Murder, She Wrote (1986); Finder of Lost Loves (1984–1985); Hotel (1984); Matt Houston (1983); Falcon Crest (1982–1983); Fantasy Island (1978–1982); Mr. Merlin (1982); Beggarman, Thief (1979); Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979); Vega$ (1979); Battlestar Galactica (1979); Flying High (1978); Southern Double Cross (1976); Police Story (1975–1976); The Delphi Bureau (1972–1973); Love, American Style (1972); Bright Promise (1969); My Three Sons (1969); Panic in the City (1968); Tarzan (1967); Ghostbreakers (1967); The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1966); Bonanza (1966); Two's Company (1965); Dr. Kildare (1965); Boys' Night Out (1962); Wagon Train (1957–1962); The Bob Cummings Show (1959); Lux Playhouse (1959); Love That Jill (1958); Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall (1958); Telephone Time (1957); Cavalcade of America (1957); The 20th Century-Fox Hour (1957); The Red Skelton Hour (1956); Star Stage (1956); Lux Video Theatre (1956); Max Liebman Presents: Dearest Enemy (1955); Topper (1953–1955); Max Liebman Presents: The Merry Widow (1955); Musical Comedy Time (1951); All Star Revue (1951); Return of the Bad Men (1948); Riffraff (1947); Trail Street (1947); Reno (1946); Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946); Genius at Work (1946); Step by Step (1946); Ding Dong Williams (1946); Dick Tracy (1945); Sing Your Way Home (1945); Those Endearing Young Charms (1945); Zombies on Broadway (1945); Dillinger (1945); Nevada (1944); Step Lively (1944); Hidden Valley Outlaws (1944); Mojave Firebrand (1944); Death Valley Manhunt (1943); Overland Mail Robbery (1943); Wagon Tracks West (1943); Bordertown Gun Fighters (1943); The Man from Thunder River (1943); Crime Doctor (1943); Calling Wild Bill Elliott (1943); Chatterbox (1943); X Marks the Spot (1942); Flying Tigers (1942); The Old Homestead (1942); Joan of Ozark (1942); I Married an Angel (1942); Olaf Laughs Last (1942); Moonlight Masquerade (1942); Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942); Yokel Boy (1942); Billy the Kid Trapped (1942).

Recommended reading - The Hot Rock (1970):

The Hot Rock

By Donald E. Westlake.

Book # 1 in the Dortmunder series.

Published by Simon & Schuster.

First published 1970.

First Edition.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0671205412

ISBN-13: 978-0671205416

Description:

John Archibald Dortmunder is the archetypal criminal manque. Brought up in an orphanage in the Midwest, he is 37 years old, served in the "police action" in Korea, was arrested twice for robbery following his release from the service, and was briefly married to a nightclub entertainer named Honeybun Bazoom from whom he was granted an uncontested divorce. For reasons totally beyond his comprehension, Dortmunder is chosen to lead a gang of master hoodlums. Their job: to steal an emerald valued at $500,000. Their employer: Major Patrick Iko, a mustached African diplomat whose country has just lost the gem through a thoughtless political decision. The specialists Dortmunder selects for his impossible mission include: Kelp: an ex-con with a penchant for stealing cars with MD license plates. Stan Murch: a crook who lives with his mother, a cab driver, and collects stereo records of "Sounds of Indianapolis." Roger Chefwick: the railroad nut, a skinny man of late middle age, whose three H-O gauge trains constantly couple and uncouple on H-O gauge track in a waist-high plywood platform in his basement. What follows in this delightful new novel by Donald E. Westlake is an unparalleled mixture of laughter and thrills, featuring a car crash into the New York Coliseum, a free-swinging helicopter attack on a police station, and a wild breakout from an insane asylum on a Tom Thumb locomotive stolen from a nearby amusement park.

Jack Vance, on reading:

I read and read and read.

I read everything.

- Jack Vance.

On this day in movie history - Last Days in the Desert (2015):

Last Days in the Desert

directed and written by Rodrigo García,

was released at the Sundance Film Festival in the United States on January 25, 2015.
Music by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans.

Cast:

Ewan McGregor, Susan Gray, Tye Sheridan, Ciarán Hinds, Ayelet Zurer.

On this day in movie history: Rambo (2008):

Rambo

directed by Sylvester Stallone,

written by Art Monterastelli and Sylvester Stallone, 

was released in the United States on January 25, 2008.

Music by Brian Tyler.

Cast:

Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Paul Schulze, Matthew Marsden, Graham McTavish, Tim Kang, Rey Gallegos, Jake La Botz, Maung Maung Khin, Ken Howard, Supakorn Kitsuwon, Aung Aay Noi, Sornram Patchimtasanakarn.