Born on this day – Gail Bonney:

Gail Bonney

Actress

December 15, 1901 – December 7, 1984

Credits:

Delta House (1979); Project U.F.O. (1978); The Six Million Dollar Man (1977); Quincy M.E. (1977); Kingston: Confidential (1976); Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969–1976); Death Scream (1975); Lincoln (1975); Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1975); Lucas Tanner (1974); Planet of the Apes (1974); Barnaby Jones (1974); Herbie Rides Again (1974); Doc Elliot (1974); Emergency! (1973); My Darling Daughters' Anniversary (1973); Gunsmoke (1962–1973); he Devil's Daughter (1973); The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (1972–1973); Get to Know Your Rabbit (1972); Night Gallery (1971); The Smith Family (1971); The Late Liz (1971); Ironside (1967–1971); The Young Lawyers (1971); The Bold Ones: The Senator (1970); That Girl (1970); Pieces of Dreams (1970); R.P.M. (1970); The Name of the Game (1968–1970); My Three Sons (1965–1970); Blondie (1969); The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969); Mannix (1968); Something for a Lonely Man (1968); Mod Squad (1968); Here's Lucy (1968); Rosemary's Baby (1968); It Takes a Thief (1968); The Virginian (1964–1968); I Spy (1968); Dragnet 1967 (1967–1968); The Beverly Hillbillies (1967); The Big Valley (1967); Star Trek (1967); Tammy and the Millionaire (1967); The Road West (1966); Petticoat Junction (1965–1966); Pistols 'n' Petticoats (1966);  Fine Madness (1966); Run for Your Life (1966); My Brother the Angel (1965); Convoy (1965); Green Acres (1965); Tammy (1965); Cat Ballou (1965); The Addams Family (1965); The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962–1965); The Lucy Show (1965); Wagon Train (1959–1965); Burke's Law (1964); Bonanza (1960–1964); The Jack Benny Program (1957–1964); Arrest and Trial (1963); Mary, Mary (1963); Glynis (1963); Going My Way (1963); The Dakotas (1963); Days of Wine and Roses (1962); Ben Casey (1962); Gypsy (1962); Tales of Wells Fargo (1958–1962); Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1959–1962); General Electric Theater (1956–1962); Rome Adventure (1962); Lawman (1961–1962); Rawhide (1962); Checkmate (1962); Maverick (1960–1961); 87th Precinct (1961); Leave It to Beaver (1961); The Untouchables (1961); Pete and Gladys (1961); Whispering Smith (1961); Angel (1961); Hawaiian Eye (1961); Bronco (1961); Lock Up (1961); Dante (1960); Bachelor Father (1960); Markham (1959–1960); Tate (1960); Inherit the Wind (1960); Bells Are Ringing (1960); Perry Mason (1957–1960); One Step Beyond (1960); Johnny Midnight (1960); The DuPont Show with June Allyson (1959–1960); Death Valley Days (1954–1960); Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960); Laramie (1960); Riverboat (1959); Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (1959); M Squad (1959); The Deputy (1959); The Tingler (1959); Richard Diamond, Private Detective (1959); The Perfect Furlough (1958); Home Before Dark (1958); Bell Book and Candle (1958); The Last Hurrah (1958); Shirley Temple's Storybook (1958); 77 Sunset Strip (1958); Flying Saucer Daffy (1958); Too Much, Too Soon (1958); Highway Patrol (1958); The Restless Gun (1958); Sky King (1958); Going Steady (1958); The World Was His Jury (1958); The Female Animal (1958); Studio 57 (1957); Pal Joey (1957); The Mickey Mouse Club (1957); The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Ghost Farm (1957); The Careless Years (1957); The Loretta Young Show (1953–1957); Lux Video Theatre (1957); Dragnet (1957); Crime of Passion (1956); The 20th Century-Fox Hour (1955); The Opposite Sex (1956); Written on the Wind (1956); The Best Things in Life Are Free (1956); Bigger Than Life (1956); Red Sundown (1956); December Bride (1955–1956); The Killer Is Loose (1956); The People's Choice (1956); Come Next Spring (1956); Climax! (1955); The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1953–1955); The Millionaire (1955); Our Miss Brooks (1955); Not as a Stranger (1955); Ain't Misbehavin' (1955); The Mickey Rooney Show (1955); The Glass Slipper (1955); It's a Great Life (1955); I Led 3 Lives (1954); Space Patrol (1954); Deep in My Heart (1954); The Donald O'Connor Show (1954); Magnificent Obsession (1954); The Red Skelton Hour (1954); Tooting Tooters (1954); Dream Wife (1953); So You Want a Television Set (1953); It Happens Every Thursday (1953); The Ford Television Theatre (1953); The Lady Wants Mink (1953); The Blue Gardenia (1953); Schlitz Playhouse (1953); Biff Baker, U.S.A. (1953); The Cisco Kid (1953); The Member of the Wedding (1952); Million Dollar Mermaid (1952); Because of You (1952); Bonzo Goes to College (1952); Assignment: Paris (1952); Carrie (1952); Gobs and Gals (1952); My Son John (1952); Singin' in the Rain (1952); The Colgate Comedy Hour (1952); The Sniper (1952); Flesh and Fury (1952); Love Is Better Than Ever (1952); I Love Lucy (1952); Boston Blackie (1951); Death of a Salesman (1951); Here Comes the Groom (1951); Orangey in Rhubarb (1951); People Will Talk (1951); The Stu Erwin Show (1951); The Company She Keeps (1951); The Killer That Stalked New York (1950); Sunset in the West (1950); The Fuller Brush Girl (1950); 11 Ocean Drive (1950); Love That Brute (1950); Caged (1950); A Woman of Distinction (1950); The Secret Fury (1950); Whirlpool (1950); Side Street (1949); Beyond the Forest (1949); Prison Warden (1949); Alias the Champ (1949); The Reckless Moment (1949); The Doctor and the Girl (1949); Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff (1949); The Red Menace (1949); The Fountainhead (1949); Baltimore (1949); One Sunday Afternoon (1948); Slippy McGee (1948).

Born on this day – Rae Randall:

Rae Randall

Actress

December 15, 1897 – May 4, 1934

Credits:

Cleopatra (1934); The Godless Girl (1928); The King of Kings (1927); The Sign of the Cross (1932).

Introvert insight:

The secret to life is to put yourself in the right lighting.

For some, it’s a Broadway spotlight; for others, a lamplit desk.

Use your natural powers – of persistence, concentration, and insight – to do work you love and work that matters.

Solve problems.

Make art.

Think deeply.

– Susan Cain.
 
I prefer tongue-tied knowledge to ignorant loquacity.

– Marcus Tullius Cicero.
 
Our culture made a virtue of living only as extroverts.

We discouraged the inner journey, the quest for a center.

So we lost our center and have to find it again.

– Anaïs Nin.

 
He’s a wallflower.

You see things.

You keep quiet about them.

And you understand.

– Stephen Chbosky.

Ayelet Waldman, on writers and inspiration:

Most writers spend their lives standing a little apart from the crowd,

watching and listening and hoping to catch that tiny hint of despair,

that sliver of malice,

that makes them think,

'Aha, here is the story.'

- Ayelet Waldman.

On this day in music history - Top 20 Solo Piano, by Michele McLaughlin (2015):

Top 20 Solo Piano

Album by Michele McLaughlin,

released December 14, 2015.

Track list:

A Beautiful Distraction; Across the Burren; Breathing in the Moment; Celtic Christmas; Cheryl’s Hope; Dedication; Finn McCool; Full of Love; Irish Rain; Melancholy Snowfall; Midwinter Memories; Out of the Darkness; Perseverance; Spiritual Awakening; Stargazing; The Druid’s Prayer; The Eternal City; The Space Between; Waking the Muse; Winter Solstice.

On this day in movie history - Vanilla Sky (2001):

Vanilla Sky

directed and written by Cameron Crowe,

was released in the United States on December 14, 2001.
Based on Open Your Eyes (1997), Spanish title: Abre los ojos, directed by Alejandro Amenábar.
Music by Nancy Wilson.

Cast:

Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kurt Russell, Jason Lee, Noah Taylor, Timothy Spall, Tilda Swinton, Michael Shannon, Delaina Hlavin, Shalom Harlow, Oona Hart, Ivana Milicevic, Johnny Galecki, Jhaemi Willens, Armand Schultz, Cameron Watson, Robertson Dean, W. Earl Brown, Ray Proscia, Tim Hopper, Alicia Witt, Ken Leung, Carolyn Byrne, Mark Pinter, Jeff Weiss, Conan O’Brien, James Murtaugh, Mark Kozelek, John Fedevich, Bobby Walsh, Stacey Sher, Fred Schruers, Jessica Siemens, Julia Carothers Hughes, Holly Raye, Marty Collins, Mark Bramhall, Jack Hall, David Lewison, Jennifer Griffin, Adam LeGrant, John Kepley, Robin Van Sharner, Laurel Wiley, Nicole Taylor Hart, Julia Decker, Jennifer Marie Kelley, Erin McElmurry, Alice Marie Crowe, Jonathan Sanger, Tommy Lee, Ana Maria Quintana, Paul Haggar, Randy Woodside, Robert F. Harrison, Carly Starr Brullo Niles, Jane Pratt, Patrick McMullen, Steven Colvin, Cindy Crowe, The Great John Sypolt, Michael G. Kehoe, Danielle Wolf, Scotch Ellis Loring, Brent Sexton, Curt Skaggs, Jennifer Gimenez, Lori Lezama, Todd Harrison, Blossom (Benny the Dog), Laura Fraser, Jennifer Aspen, Celina Belizan, Craig Callow, Christie Campagna, Jean Carol, Tony Collucci, Jimmy Federico, Shane Fenton, Janine Foster, Aracelli Frias, Zach Hudson, Marko Jankovic, Ryan Keating, Zachary Lee, Roger Lim, Tara Lipinski, Lucio Luciano, William Mapother, Christy Meyers, Arnold Montey, Jan Munroe, Marie Paquim, Ronald Rand, Louis E. Rosas, Steven Spielberg, Andrei Sterling, Tasha Tae, Bryan Todd, Michael J. Tomaso, Christie Will Wolf.

On this day in movie history - The Hurricane (1999 movie & books):

The Hurricane

directed by Norman Jewison,

written by Armyan Bernstein and Dan Gordon,

was released in the United States on December 14, 1999.
Based on the books:
The Sixteenth Round by Rubin “Hurricane” Carter
and
Lazarus and the Hurricane by Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton.
Music by Jeremy Sweet and Christopher Young.

Cast:

Denzel Washington, Vicellous Shannon, Deborah Kara Unger, Liev Schreiber, John Hannah, Dan Hedaya, Debbi Morgan, Clancy Brown, David Paymer, Harris Yulin, Rod Steiger, Badja Djola, Al Waxman, David Lansbury, Garland Whitt, Chuck Cooper, Brenda Denmark, Marcia Bennett, Beatrice Winde, Mitchell Taylor Jr., Bill Raymond, Merwin Goldsmith, John A. MacKay, Donnique Privott, Moynan King, Gary DeWitt Marshall, John Christopher Jones, Gwendolyn McCann, Richard M. Davidson, George T. Odom, Tonye Patano, Fulvio Cecere, Phillip Jarrett, Rodney ‘Bear’ Jackson, Judi Embden, Terry Claybon, Ben Hernandez Bray, Mike Justus, Kenneth McGregor, Frank Proctor, Peter Wylie, David Wm Gray, Joe Matheson, Bill Lake, Robin Ward, Harry Davis, Pippa Pearthree, Jean Daigle, Rob Evans, Scott Gibson, Ann Holloway, Bruce McFee, Conrad Bergschneider, Satori Shakoor, Zoran Radusinovic, Stephen Lee Wright, Michael Bodnar, Carson Manning, Debrah Ellen Waller, Richard Litt, Adam Large, Peter Graham, George Masswohl, Lawrence Sacco, David Frisch, Ralph Brown, Dyron Holmes, Ryan Williams, Bruce Vavrina, Brenda Braxton, Christopher Riordan, Guy Ale, Muhammad Ali, Ellen Burstyn, Kevin Carrigan, Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter, Bob Dylan, Joe Frazier, Vinson German, Matt Graver, Michael Harkins, David Headon, Robert Mauzell, Alex Oliveira, Craig Snoyer, David Sparrow, Michael Stevens.

Recommended reading:

The Sixteenth Round & Lazarus and the Hurricane

Both books filmed as The Hurricane (1999), directed by Norman Jewison.

The Sixteenth Round

From Number 1 Contender to Number 45472

By Rubin “Hurricane” Carter.

First published 1974.

Published by Chicago Review Press.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1569765677

ISBN-13: 978-1569765678

Description:

A document of life lived in the center of hell. – Sports Illustrated.

When they come to list the greatest boxers, Hurrican's name isn't likely to pop up in the Top 10. But when they come to list the greatest figures of the 20th century, he'll be alone at the peak. – Boston Globe.

A shocking, savage and brilliant indictment of racial injustice and the inhumanity of the prison. – Globe and Mail.

Carter's scorching and poetic autobiography. – Toronto Sun.

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter was riding a wave of success. The survivor of a difficult youth, he rose to become a top contender for the middleweight boxing crown. But his career crashed to a halt on May 26, 1967, when he and another man were found guilty of the murder of three white people and sentenced to three consecutive life terms. Written from prison and first published in 1974, The Sixteenth Round chronicles Hurricane's journey from the ring to solitary confinement. The book was his cry for help to the public, an attempt to set the record straight and force a new trial. Bob Dylan wrote his classic anthem "Hurricane" about his struggle, and Muhammad Ali and thousands of others took up his cause. The power of Carter's voice, as well as his ironic humor, makes this an eloquent, soul-stirring account of a remarkable life.

Lazarus and the Hurricane

The Freeing of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter

By Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton.

First published 1991.

Published by St. Martin's Griffin.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0312253974

ISBN-13: 978-0312253974

Description:

A moving chronicle of the seven-year-battle to free boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter from wrongful imprisonment reveals the role of a group of Canadians in winning Carter's release.