Born on this day – Barbara Leigh-Hunt:

Barbara Leigh-Hunt

Actress

December 14, 1935 – September 16, 2024

Credits:

A Merry War (1997); A Midsummer Night's Dream (1959); A Perfect Hero (1991); All for Love (1983); An Evening with... (1968); Anna Lee: Headcase (1993); As Time Goes By (1995); BBC Play of the Month (1979); BBC2 Playhouse (1979–1980); Bertie and Elizabeth (2002); Billy Elliot (2000); Bird's-Eye View (1969–1971); Call Oxbridge 2000 (1962); Callan (1969); Charlie Chalk (1988–1989); E! True Hollywood Story (1999); Emergency-Ward 10 (1962); Frenzy (1972); Full House (1972); George Eliot: A Scandalous Life (2002); Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972); Inheritance (1967); Inspector Morse (1990); ITV Play of the Week (1966); ITV Playhouse (1967–1980); ITV Saturday Night Theatre (1969–1970); ITV Sunday Night Drama (1971); Justice (1973); Kavanagh QC (1999–2001); Longitude (2000); Love's Labour's Lost (1965); Macbeth (1970); Midsomer Murders (2002); Mrs. Mouse, Are You Within? (1971); My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock (2022); No Hiding Place (1965); Oh Heavenly Dog (1980); Paper Mask (1990); Play for Today (1973–1979); Playing Shakespeare (1982); Pride and Prejudice (1995); Pride and Prejudice Revisited (2005); Pride and Prejudice: Lasting Impressions (2006); 'Pride and Prejudice': The Making of... (1999); Public Eye (1965); Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1990); Ryan International (1970); Screen Two (1995); Screenplay (1986); Seeing and Believing (1971–1975); Six Days of Justice (1973); Special Branch (1969); Sunburn (1999); Sunday Premiere (1988); Suspicion (1971); The Afternoon Play (1984); The Bestest BBC Children's Video Ever! (1996); The Brontës of Haworth (1973); The Echo (1998); The Inside Man (1969); The Martins (2001); The Nelson Affair (1973); The Old Crowd / One Fine Day (1979); The Plague Dogs (1982); The Recording Angells (1956); The Saturday Play: Separate Tables (2002); The Search for the Nile (1971); The Siegfried Idyll (1969); Theatre 625 (1966); Thirty-Minute Theatre (1971); Thriller (1974); Vanity Fair (2004); Villains (1972); Wagner (1983); Who Killed Lamb? (1974); Wives and Daughters (1999).

Born on this day – Agnes Fink:

Agnes Fink

Actress

December 14, 1919 – October 28, 1994

Credits:

24 Hours from the Life of a Woman (1965); All the Power of the Earth (1962); Old fashioned Comedy (1979); Encounter in Singapore (1958); By day and by night or by the Gardener's Dog (1957); At Day and Night (1964); Bernarda Alba's House (1957); Betrayed Love (1986); Letters of Love (1964); The Wrong Weight (1971); That artificial silk girls (1960); The Smile of Gioconda (1966); The girl and the public prosecutor (1962); Der Berg (1990); The Enemy (1961); The glass sky (1987); The Commissioner (1970–1973); The Man from England (1963); The Misanthrope (1959); The Beautiful Indifferent (1956); Derrick (1978–1982); The lady is nicht fürs Feuer (1960); The Woman with the Carbuncle Stones (1985); The big Reise (1961); The Duchess of Langeais (1960); Die Preußen kommen (1970); The Taube im Schaukelstuhl (1957); Don Giovanni (1957); Thirty Silver Discs (1971); A Game of Death and Love (1957); Ein Tag im April (1965); A Winter's Tale (1965); A Stupidity Is Done Even by the Smartest (1963); Once Upon a Time (1963); Graf Öderland (1968); Ich stellen mich (1980–1993); Interview with history (1970); Everyman Remixed (2011); Jons and Erdme (1959); Karpf's career (1971); Katja Rupé narrates, Part 1: From New Theatre to New Heimatfilm (2024); Crawfish (1989); Power of Darkness (1959); Majesty on the Wrong Track (1958); Mary Stuart (1963); Marie Octobre (1964); Marleneken (1990); Mothers (1992); Napoleon and yoghurt (1971); Personally Introduced (1960); Prisoners of Love (1954); Pygmalion (1956); Schinderhannes (1957); Dirty Hands (1956); Sheer Madness (1983); Sisters or The Balance of Happiness (1979); So ist es - Wie es sie sie schein (1988); Spider's Web (1989); Sternsteinhof (1976); Tatort (1978–1980); The Adventures of Dr. Bayer (1990); The Old Fox (1985–1988); Transit (1965); Unexpectedly, different ... (1961); Under the Pear Tree (1964); What am I? (1965); Zwischen den Züge (1961).

Born on this day – Elyse Knox:

Elyse Knox

Actress

December 14, 1917 – February 15, 2012

Credits:

There's a Girl in My Heart (1949); Joe Palooka in the Counterpunch (1949); Forgotten Women (1949); Winner Take All (1948); I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes (1948); Fighting Mad (1948); Linda, Be Good (1947); Joe Palooka in the Knockout (1947); Black Gold (1947); Sweetheart of Sigma Chi (1946); Gentleman Joe Palooka (1946); Joe Palooka, Champ (1946); Army Wives (1944); A Wave, a WAC and a Marine (1944); Moonlight and Cactus (1944); Follow the Boys (1944); Hi Ya, Sailor (1943); So's Your Uncle (1943); Hit the Ice (1943); Mister Big (1943); Don Winslow of the Coast Guard (1943); Keep 'Em Slugging (1943); Arabian Nights (1942); The Mummy's Tomb (1942); Top Sergeant (1942); Hay Foot (1942); Miss Polly (1941); All-American Co-Ed (1941); Tanks a Million (1941); Sheriff of Tombstone (1941); Footlight Fever (1941); Youth Will Be Served (1940); Yesterday's Heroes (1940); Girl from Avenue A (1940); Girl in 313 (1940); Lillian Russell (1940); Star Dust (1940); Free, Blonde and 21 (1940); Wake Up and Live (1937).

Born on this day – Shirley Jackson:

Shirley Jackson

Writer

December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965

Credits:

Books:

9 Magic Wishes (1963); A Fabulous, Formless Darkness (1992); A Little Night Reading (1974); A Moment on the Edge (2002); A Science Fiction Argosy (1972); A Visit (1950); American Christmas Stories (2021); American Gothic Tales (1996); American Midnight (2019); And Baby Makes Three (1960); Best Horror Stories 3 (1972); Brave New Worlds (2010); Chapter and Hearse (1985); Charles (1990); Circus of Dr. Lao and Other Improbable Stories (1956); Classics of the Supernatural (1998); Come along with Me (1968); Dark (2000); Dark Lessons (1985); Dark Tales (2016); Deadlier (2017); Famous Sally (1966); Fifty Great Short Stories (1952); Four Novels of the 1940s & 50s (2020); From Our Porch Swing / poems (1992); Great Tales of Fantasy and Science Fiction (1992); Hangsaman (1951); Haunting Women (1988); Just an Ordinary Day (1996); Let Me Tell You (2015); Life among the Savages (1953); London Tales of Terror (1972); Loss (2013); Masters of Fantasy (1992); Men with Their Big Shoes (1947); Mistresses of the Dark (1998); More Stories Strange and Sinister (1967); Murderous Schemes (1996); Nightshade (2000); One Ordinary Day, with Peanuts (1979); Open at Your Own Risk (1975); Points of View (1966); Raising Demons (1959); Realms of Darkness (1985); Seasons of Terror (2022); Shirley Jackson Collected Short Stories (2001); Shirley Jackson: Novels and Stories (2010); Stories for the Dead of Night (1957); Stories for Winter (2023); Stories of Suspense (1963); Strangeness (1977); Stranger (2002); The 2nd Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories (1966); The 5th Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories (1970); The American Fantasy Tradition (2002); The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century (2000); The Best American Short Stories 1964 (1964); The Best American Short Stories 1966 (1966); The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 4th Series (1955); The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 5th Series (1956); The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 8th Series (1959); The Bird's Nest / aka Lizzie (1954); The Black Magic Omnibus Volume 1 (1976); The Century's Best Horror Fiction Volume One (2004); The Cold Embrace (1966); The Colour of Evil (1987); The Daemon Lover (1948); The Dark Descent (1997); The Evil People (1968); The Fantasy Hall of Fame (1998); The Granta Book of the American Short Story (1992); The Haunting of Hill House / aka The Haunting (1959); The Letters of Shirley Jackson (2021); The Lottery (1949); The Magic of Shirley Jackson (1966); The Masterpieces of Shirley Jackson (1996); The Missing Girl (1957); The Mists From Beyond (1989); The Other Dimension (1972); The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women (1995); The Road through the Wall / aka The Other Side of the Street (1948); The Shirley Jackson Collection (2020); The Short Story (1992); The Summer People (1950); The Sundial (1958); The Very Best of Fantasy and Science Fiction (2009); The Vintage Book of Amnesia (2000); The Web She Weaves (1983); The Weird (2011); The Witchcraft of Salem Village (1956); Three Stories (1991); Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow (1952); Unforgettable Ghost Stories by Women Writers (2008); Urban Horrors (1990); We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962); Witches' Brew (1984); Wolf's Complete Book of Terror (1979).

Movies and television:

American Playhouse (1982); Cameo Theatre (1950); Cineficción Radio (2020); Curtain Call (1952); Danger (1955); Fireside Theatre (1951); Histoires insolites (1974); June (2012); Lizzie (1957); Long Twilight (1997); Loteria (2022); Lux Playhouse (1959); Nothing Important (2018); Shoestring Theatre (1959); The Haunting (1963 / 1999); The Haunting of Hill House (2018); The Lottery (1969 / 1996 / 2007 / 2008 / 2015); The Robert Herridge Theater (1960); Videotape (2017); We Have Always Lived in the Castle (2018); Witch (2024); Zizi (1982).

Born on this day – Laurence Naismith:

Laurence Naismith

Actor

December 14, 1908 – June 5, 1992

Credits:

12 O'Clock High (1965); A Killer Walks (1952); A Night to Remember (1958); A Piece of Cake (1948); Adventure Theater (1956); Amicalement Votre, Hollywood au service de sa majesté (2017); Bad Blonde (1953); Badger's Green (1949); Barriers (1981–1982); BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950); Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1966–1967); Bonanza (1969); Boy on a Dolphin (1957); Calling Bulldog Drummond (1951); Camelot (1967); Chelsea Story (1951); Cineficción Radio (2020); Cleopatra (1963); Compression (2023); Court Martial (1954); Crock of Gold (1948); Danger Man (1960); Dark Secret (1949); Deadlier Than the Male (1967); Diamonds Are Forever (1971); Eye of the Cat (1969); Fall of Eagles (1974); Fan des années 70 (2012); Final Column (1955); Fitzwilly (1967); Gideon of Scotland Yard (1958); Gilbert Harding Speaking of Murder (1953); Great Performances (1993); Greyfriars Bobby: The True Story of a Dog (1961); Gypsy Girl (1966); Hell Is Sold Out (1951); High Treason (1951); His Excellency (1952); I Accuse! (1958); I Believe in You (1952); I Remember Nelson (1982); I Thank a Fool (1962); Jason and the Argonauts (1963); Jason and the Argonauts: An Interview with Ray Harryhausen (1995); Josephine and Men (1955); Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949); Lancer (1968); Late Night Theatre (1972); London Conspiracy (1974); Love in Pawn (1953); Love Story (1969); Lust for Life (1956); Man with a Million (1954); Mannix (1968); Mission: Monte Carlo (1974); Mogambo (1953); Mr. Lord Says No (1952); Oh, Father! (1973); Penny Princess (1952); Pool of London (1951); Profiles in Courage (1965); Quest for Love (1971); Rendezvous (1957); Rétrogaming made in France (2019); Return of the Saint (1978); Richard III (1955); Robbery Under Arms (1957); Room to Let (1950); Run a Crooked Mile (1969); Scrooge (1970); Seven Days from Now (1957); Shoot First (1953); Sink the Bismarck! (1960); Sir Francis Drake (1961); Solomon and Sheba (1959); Special Collector's Edition (2012); Tempest (1958); Terror on a Train (1953); The 300 Spartans (1962); The Admirable Crichton (1968); The Adventures of Robin Hood (1956); The Amazing Mr. Beecham (1949); The Amazing Mr. Blunden (1972); The Angry Silence (1960); The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957); The BBC Television Shakespeare (1978); The Beggar's Opera (1953); The Black Knight (1954); The Bushbaby (1969); The Concrete Jungle (1960); The Dam Busters (1955); The Defenders (1964); The Extra Day (1956); The File on Devlin (1969); The Fugitive (1965–1967); The Gypsy and the Gentleman (1958); The Happiest Days of Your Life (1950); The Invaders (1967); The James Bond Story (1999); The Last Appointment! (1977); The Long Duel (1967); The Long Memory (1953); The Magical World of Disney (1959–1965); The Making of 'A Night to Remember' (1993); The Man Who Never Was (1956); The Masqueraders (1980); The Naked Earth (1958); The Name of the Game (1969); The Persuaders! (1971); The Prince and the Pauper (1962); The Protectors (1972); The Scorpio Letters (1967); The Singer Not the Song (1961); The Slasher (1953); The Switch (1976); The Third Man (1959–1963); The Three Lives of Thomasina (1963); The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960); The Two-Headed Spy (1958); The Valiant (1962); The Valley of Gwangi (1969); The Vise (1954–1955); The Weapon (1956); The World of Suzie Wong (1960); Third Man on the Mountain (1959); Tiger in the Smoke (1956); Timeshift (2006); Train of Events / Segment: The Actor (1949); Trouble in the Air (1948); Vampire Over London (1952); Village of the Damned (1960); Wall of Death (1951); We Joined the Navy (1962); Whispering Smith vs. Scotland Yard (1952); Young Winston (1972).

Born on this day – Marguerite Bertsch:

Marguerite Bertsch

Writer

Director

December 14, 1889 – 1967 (exact date unknown)

Credits:

Shadows of the Past (1919); The Painted World (1919); The Glory of Yolanda (1917); The Soul Master (1917); The Devil's Prize (1916); Through the Wall (1916); The Dawn of Freedom (1916); The Law Decides (1916); Salvation Joan (1916); The Vital Question (1916); For a Woman's Fair Name (1916); The Writing on the Wall (1916); The Cave Man (1915); Mortmain (1915); His Phantom Sweetheart (1915); The Enemies (1915); The Silent Plea (1915); The Man Behind the Door (1914); The Wheat and the Tares (1914); The Painted World (1914); A Florida Enchantment (1914); Uncle Bill (1914); My Official Wife (1914); Shadows of the Past (1914); Too Many Uncles (1914); Captain Alvarez (1914); He Never Knew (1914); Never Again (1914); A Million Bid (1914); The Vavasour Ball (1914); The Trap (1913); The Wreck (1913); The Diver (1913); The Fruits of Vengeance (1913); Bunny for the Cause (1913); The Tiger (1913); The Call (1913); The Flirt (1913); The Prince of Evil (1913); The Carpenter (1913); The Butler's Secret (1913); One Can't Always Tell (1913); The Midget's Revenge (1913); Two's Company, Three's a Crowd (1913); Getting Up a Practice (1913); Cutey and the Twins (1913); Una of the Sierras (1912); Nothing to Wear (1912); The Indian Mutiny (1912); The Troublesome Step-Daughters (1912).

Author of the book How to Write for Moving Pictures: A Manual of Instruction and Information (1917).

Haruki Murakami, on writing:

For me, writing a novel is like having a dream.

Writing a novel lets me intentionally dream while I'm still awake.

I can continue yesterday's dream today,

something you can't normally do in everyday life.

- Haruki Murakami.