Saturday, October 4, 2025

Born on this day – Damon Runyon:


Damon Runyon


Writer

October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946

Credits:

The Tents of Trouble (1911); Rhymes of the Firing Line (1912); Guys and Dolls (1932); Little Miss Marker (1934); Money From Home (1935); More Than Somewhat (1937); Furthermore (1938); Take It Easy (1938); My Wife Ethel (1939); The Best of Runyon (1940); Damon Runyon Favorites (1942); Runyon a la Carte (1944); In Our Town (1946); The Three Wise Guys and Other Stories (1946); Poems for Men (1947); More Guys and Dolls (1950); Runyon On Broadway (1950); The Turps (1951); From First to Last (1954); A Treasury of Damon Runyon (1958); Slow Horses and Fast Women (1979); Guys and Dolls of Broadway (1986); Romance in the Roaring Forties and Other Stories (1986); Stories of Damon Runyan (1988); The Bloodhounds of Broadway and Other Stories (1990); Trials and Other Tribulations (1991); The Damon Runyon Omnibus (2001); Guys and Dolls and Other Writings (2008); The Informal Execution of Soupbone Pew (2010); A Slight Case of Murder (1940); My Old Man (1939); Short Takes (1946).

Movies and television:

40 Pounds of Trouble (1962); A New York State of Mind: Written by Damon Runyon (2007); A Slight Case of Murder (1938); A Very Honorable Guy (1934); Arm, aber Ehrlich (1964); At the Round Table (1930); At the Stroke of Twelve (1941); Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952 / 1989); Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists (2018); Broadway Stories (1994); Butch Minds the Baby (1942 / 1979); Butch passt aufs Baby auf (1961); Continental Showcase (1966); Daisy Kenyon (1947); Damon Runyon Theater (1955); Die Gräfin vom Naschmarkt (1980); George White's 1935 Scandals (1935); Guys and Dolls (1955); Hold 'Em Yale (1935); Irish Eyes Are Smiling (1944); It Ain't Hay (1943); Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President (1939); Johnny One-Eye (1950); Just a Cute Kid (1940); Lady for a Day (1933); Little Miss Marker (1934 / 1980); Madison Square Garden (1932); Midnight Alibi (1934); Million Dollar Ransom (1934); Miracles: The Canton Godfather (1989); Money from Home (1953); No Ransom (1934); Oh, Baby! (1926); Pocketful of Miracles (1961); Princess O'Hara (1935); Professional Soldier (1935); Racing Lady (1937); Sorrowful Jones (1949); Stop, You're Killing Me (1952); Straight Place and Show (1938); Suspense (1950); Talisman (1968); The 3 Wise Guys (1936); The Big Street (1942); The Ed Sullivan Show (1953); The Ford Television Theatre (1954); The Great White Way (1924); The Lemon Drop Kid (1934 / 1951); The Pride of the Yankees (1942); Three Wise Guys (2004); Tight Shoes (1941).

Recommended reading - The Longest Day: The Classic Epic of D-Day (1959):


The Longest Day:
The Classic Epic of D-Day

By Cornelius Ryan.

First published 1959.
Published by Simon & Schuster.
Paperback.
ISBN-10: 0671890913
ISBN-13: 978-0671890919

Description:

The unparalleled, classic work of history that recreates the battle that changed World War II – the Allied invasion of Normandy.

The Longest Day is Cornelius Ryan’s unsurpassed account of D-Day, a book that endures as a masterpiece of military history. In this compelling tale of courage and heroism, glory and tragedy, Ryan painstakingly recreates the fateful hours that preceded and followed the massive invasion of Normandy to retell the story of an epic battle that would turn the tide against world fascism and free Europe from the grip of Nazi Germany.

This book, first published in 1959, is a must for anyone who loves history, as well as for anyone who wants to better understand how free nations prevailed at a time when darkness enshrouded the earth.

Betsy Byars, on writing:


Writing is like anything – baseball playing, piano playing, sewing, hammering nails.
The more you work on it, the better you get.
But it seems to take a longer time to get better at writing than hammering nails.

- Betsy Byars.

Friday, October 3, 2025

On this day in television history - Pushing Daisies (2007):


Pushing Daisies

Season 1. Episode 1.
Episode entitled: Pie-lette.
Released October 3, 2007.
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld.
Written by Bryan Fuller.
Series created by Bryan Fuller.
Music by Jim Dooley.
Narrated by Jim Dale.


Cast:

Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Chi McBride, Jim Dale, Kristin Chenoweth, Ellen Greene, Swoosie Kurtz, Patrick Breen, Terry Anzur, Ed Brigadier, Field Cate, Ted Garcia, Murray Gershenz, Tina Gloss, Brad Grunberg, Samantha Hanratty, Geraud Moncure, Leyna Nguyen, Sy Richardson, Greg Suddeth, David Trice, Julie Wittner, Jeff Wolfe.

On this day in movie history - Red, White and Blues (2003):


Red, White and Blues

documentary directed by Mike Figgis,
part 6 of the documentary series The Blues,
produced by Martin Scorsese,
was released in the United States on October 3, 2003.
Additional music by Davis Coen and John McCullough.

Cast:

Ginger Baker, Chris Barber, Jeff Beck, Booker T. & the M.G.s, Big Bill Broonzy, Jack Bruce, Eric Burdon, Eric Clapton, Jon Cleary, Elvis Costello, James Cotton, Cream, Lonnie Donegan, Jack Elliott, Georgie Fame, Chris Farlowe, Mick Fleetwood, Davy Graham, Peter Green, Bert Jansch, Ian Jennings, Tom Jones, B.B. King, Pete King, Alexis Korner, Leadbelly, Albert Lee, John Lennon, Lulu, Humphrey Lyttelton, John Mayall, Brownie McGhee, Joe Meek, George Melly, Mark Mondesir, Van Morrison, The Plastic Ono Band, The Rolling Stones, Otis Spann, Sonny Terry, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Christine Tobin, Muddy Waters, Steve Winwood.

On this day in movie history - Out of Time (2003):


Out of Time

directed by Carl Franklin,
written by David Collard,
was released in the United States on October 3, 2003.
Music by Graeme Revell.


Cast:

Denzel Washington, Eva Mendes, Sanaa Lathan, Dean Cain, John Billingsley, Robert Baker, Alex Carter, Antoni Corone, Terry Loughlin, Nora Dunn, James Murtaugh, Peggy Sheffield, Evelyn Brooks, Eric Hissom, Tom Hillmann, Parris Buckner, Arian Ash, Mike Pniewski, Veryl Jones, Tim Ware, Jesse Beaton, Ed Amatrudo, Neil Brown Jr., Elena Maria Garcia, David J. Negron, O.L. Duke, Sharlene Garcia, Ron Madoff, Steve Raulerson, Suzanne Grant, Dottie Healy.

On this day in music history - Runaway Horses, by Belinda Carlisle (1989):


Runaway Horses

Album by Belinda Carlisle,
released October 3, 1989.

Track list:

Leave A Light On; Runaway Horses; Vision Of You; Summer Rain; La Luna; (We Want) The Same Thing; Deep Deep Ocean; Valentine; What Ever It Takes; Shades Of Michaelangelo.