Born on this day – Anton Leader:

Anton Leader

Director

December 23, 1913 – July 1, 1988

Credits:

Movin' On (1976); Nichols (1972); Hawaii Five-O (1970–1971); The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County (1970); The Virginian (1965–1970); Get Smart (1970); Ironside (1967–1969); The Survivors (1969); It Takes a Thief (1969); Star Trek (1968); Iron Horse (1967); The Road West (1967); Mr. Terrific (1967); Tarzan (1966–1967); I Spy (1966); It's About Time (1966); Gilligan's Island (1965–1966); Daniel Boone (1966); The Legend of Jesse James (1966); Laredo (1965); Lost in Space (1965); Rawhide (1961–1965); Espionage (1964); Children of the Damned (1964); Zero One (1962–1963); Father of the Bride (1962); Leave It to Beaver (1961–1962); The Twilight Zone (1960–1961); The Brothers Brannagan (1960–1961); National Velvet (1960); Sea Hunt (1958–1960); The Man from Blackhawk (1960); Bold Venture (1959); Mr. Lucky (1959); Sugarfoot (1959); Schlitz Playhouse (1959); Zane Grey Theatre (1959); Lawman (1958); Perry Mason (1958); The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1957–1958); The Adventures of McGraw (1957); The O. Henry Playhouse (1957); The Web (1957); Wire Service (1957); The Ford Television Theatre (1955–1957); Cavalcade of America (1956–1957); The Eighty Yard Run (Playhouse 90) (1956); Four Star Playhouse (1956); The Millionaire (1956); Celebrity Playhouse (1955–1956); Damon Runyon Theater (1955); TV Reader's Digest (1955); Medic (1955); The Man Behind the Badge (1955).

Born on this day – Howard Breslin:

Howard Breslin

Writer

December 23, 1912 – May 30, 1964

Credits:

Books:

A Hundred Hills; Autumn Comes Early; Bad Day at Black Rock / aka Bad Day at Honda; Concert Grand; Let Go of Yesterday; Run Like a Thief; Shad Run; The Bright Battalions; The Gallowglass; The Piper's Son; The Silver Oar; The Tamarack Tree; Thunder on the River.

Movies:

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955); Platinum High School (1960).

Born on this day – Fredi Washington:

Fredi Washington

Actress

December 23, 1903 – June 28, 1994

Credits:

Black and Tan (1929); Black Shadows on the Silver Screen (1975); Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho (1934); CBS News Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley (2021); Imitation of Life (1934); Mills Blue Rhythm Band (1934); One Mile from Heaven (1937); Ouanga (1936); She's Gotta Have It (2017); Square Joe (1922); That's Black Entertainment (1990); The Emperor Jones (1933); The Ethel Waters Show (1939); The Goldbergs (1949); The Letter (1929); TV in Black: The First Fifty Years (2004).

Born on this day – Marie Bell:

Marie Bell

Actress

Theatre director

December 23, 1900 – August 14, 1985

Credits:

Don't cut down my trees (1975); Closed Shutters (1973); Les yeux crevés (1968); Phèdre (1968); Hotel Paradiso (1966); Sandra (1965); The Good Soup (1964); The Leopard (1963); The Colonel Chabert (1943); Private Life (1942); Those of the Sky (1941); The Phantom Wagon (1939); Coconut (1939); La Glu (1938); Legions of Honour (1938); One Carnet de bal (1937); Pantins d'amour (1937); Blanchette (1937); Fiordalisi D'oro (1936); The Temptation (1936); The Half-Virgins (1936); When midnight Sonnera (1936); The Flapper (1936); The Novel of a Poor Young Man (1936); Under The Terror (1935); Poliche (1934); The Great Game (1934); Fedora (1934); Whim of Princess (1934); The Man with the Hispano (1933); Luck (1931); The crazy adventure (1931); The Man Who Murdered (1931); The Joker (1930); The night is ours (1930); Figaro (1929); The Farewell Waltz (1928); Madame Récamier (1928); Paris (1924); The Bad Boy (1923).

Born on this day – Harriet Monroe:

Harriet Monroe

Writer

December 23, 1860 – September 26, 1936

Credits:

Books:

A Poet's Life - Seventy Years in a Changing World (1938); Dance of the Seasons (1911); John Wellborn Root: A Study of His Life and Work (1896); Poets And Their Art (1926); The New Poetry: Anthology of 20th Century Verse (1921); The Passing Show - Five Modern Plays in Verse (1903); Valeria and other Poems (1892); You and I - Poems (1914).

The Blue Ridge, poem by Harriet Monroe:

The Blue Ridge

Poem by Harriet Monroe.

Still and calm,
In purple robes of kings,
The low-lying mountains sleep at the edge of the world.
The forests cover them like mantles;
Day and night
Rise and fall over them like the wash of waves.
Asleep, they reign.
Silent, they say all.
Hush me, O slumbering mountains –
Send me dreams.

Harriet Monroe

December 23, 1860 – September 26, 1936

Video by Jack Kost
2025

Blue Ridge Mountains (2019)
Photographs by Jack Kost.

Sound effect credit:
Forest wind and birds
by freesound_community
from Pixabay.

James Patterson, on reading:

Reading is not work, not a chore, not a drudgery;
reading is the most joyful thing, yet, in the world.

- James Patterson.