Sunday, April 12, 2026

Born on this day – Patt Shea:


Patt Shea


Writer

April 12, 1931 – April 12, 2024

Credits:

All in the Family (1979); Archie Bunker's Place (1979–1983); Bagdad Cafe (1990); Cagney & Lacey (1982); Gloria (1982–1983); Happy Days (1980); Hell Town (1985); I Married Dora (1987); In the Beginning (1978); In the Heat of the Night (1992); Lou Grant (1980–1981); Mama Malone (1984); Marblehead Manor (1987–1988); Nothing Is Easy (1987); Sanford (1980); The Egg Plant Lady (2000); The Golden Girls (1987); The Jeffersons (1977–1978); Valerie (1987).

Born on this day – Ann Miller:


Ann Miller


Actress

Dancer

Singer

April 12, 1923 – January 22, 2004

Credits:

A Century of Cinema (1994); A Show Business Salute to Milton Berle (1973); Allen Ludden's Gallery (1969); America After Dark (1957); American Masters (2004); America's All-Star Tribute to Elizabeth Taylor (1989); America's Dance Honors (1990); Angela Rippon Meets (1981); Anne of Green Gables (1934); At Long Last Cole (1975); Begin the Beguine (2003); Biography (1993–2000); Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There (2003); Carolina Blues (1944); Cole Porter in Hollywood: Too Darn Hot (2003); Dames at Sea (1971); Deep in My Heart (1954); Donahue (1973); E! Mysteries & Scandals (1998); E! True Hollywood Story (2001); Eadie Was a Lady (1945); Easter Parade (1948); Easter Parade: On the Avenue (2005); Eve Knew Her Apples (1945); George Jessel's Here Come the Stars (1968); Girl Talk (1967); Go West, Young Lady (1941); Good Morning America (1989); Goodnight, We Love You (2004); Great Performances (1996–1998); Gypsy (1966–1968); Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood (1987); Having Wonderful Time (1938); Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 2 (1941); Hey, Rookie (1944); Hit Parade of 1941 (1940); Hit the Deck (1955); Hollywood goes to a World Premiere (1964); Hollywood the Golden Years: The RKO Story (1987); Home Improvement (1993); Hour Magazine (1982–1984); Inside the Dream Factory (1995); Inside the Marx Brothers (2003); It's Your Bet (1970); Jam Session (1944); Joanne Carson's VIPs (1973); Kiss Me Kate (1953); Larry King Live (2001); Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1994); Late Night with David Letterman (1986); Life with Linkletter (1970); Lights, Camera, Action!: A Century of the Cinema (1996); Love, American Style / Love and the Christmas Punch (1972); Lovely to Look At (1952); Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie (1993); Lux Video Theatre (1953); Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1979); Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1981); Meet the Stars #3: Variety Reel #1 (1941); Meet the Stars #8: Stars Past and Present (1941); Melody Ranch (1940); Mighty Manhattan, New York's Wonder City (1949); Movie Memories with Debbie Reynolds (1991); Mulholland Drive (2001); New Faces of 1937 (1937); Night of 100 Stars (1982); Omnibus (2001); On the Town (1949); Out of This World (1990); Pat Boone in Hollywood (1968); Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall (1958); Philbin's People (1970); Priorities on Parade (1942); Private Screenings (1997); Radio City Music Hall's Grand Re-Opening Gala (1999); Radio City Revels (1938); Reveille with Beverly (1943); Rita (2003); Room Service (1938); Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1969); Sailor's Holiday (1944); Sally Jessy Raphael (1991); Screen Snapshots Series 15, No. 12 (1941); Screen Snapshots Series 15, No. 12 (1958); Screen Snapshots, Series 19, No. 4 (1940); Small Town Girl (1953); Stage Door (1937); Talking Pictures (1968); Tarnished Angel (1938); Texas Carnival (1951); That Regis Philbin Show (1965); That's Dancing! (1985); That's Entertainment III: Behind the Screen (1994); That's Entertainment! (1974); That's Entertainment! III (1994); That's Entertainment!: The Masters Behind the Musicals (2004); That's Entertainment, Part II (1976); The 100 Greatest Musicals (2003); The 1994 Annual Diversity Awards (1994); The 19th Annual Nosotros Golden Eagle Awards (1989); The 26th Annual Grammy Awards (1984); The 34th Annual Tony Awards (1980); The 35th Annual Thalians Gala (1990); The 35th Annual Tony Awards (1981); The 36th Annual Tony Awards (1982); The 52nd Annual Academy Awards (1980); The 58th Annual Academy Awards (1986); The 9th Annual American Cinema Awards (1992); The Arthur Murray Party (1958); The Bell Telephone Hour (1966); The Big Record (1957); The Bob Braun Show (1972); The Bob Hope Show (1957); The Colgate Comedy Hour (1955); The Desilu Story (2003); The Devil on Horseback (1936); The Dick Cavett Show (1969–1971); The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1957); The Ed Sullivan Show (1953–1954); The Ed Sullivan Show (1960); The Good Fairy (1935); The Great American Pastime (1956); The Hollywood Palace (1964–1967); The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1968–1971); The Joey Bishop Show (1968); The John Davidson Show (1981); The John Gary Show (1967); The Jonathan Winters Show (1968); The Juke Box Jury (1959); The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1998); The Kissing Bandit (1948); The Kissing Bandit (1948); The Lady with the Torch (1999); The Life of the Party (1937); The Linkletter Show (1967); The Love Boat (1982); The Magical World of Disney (1989); The Merv Griffin Show (1968–1984); The Mike Douglas Show (1967–1979); The Opposite Sex (1956); The Rosey Grier Show (1970); The Rosie O'Donnell Show (1998); The Royal Variety Performance 1988 (1988); The Thrill of Brazil (1946); The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1965); The Virginia Graham Show (1971); The Woody Woodbury Show (1968); The18th Annual Nosotros Golden Eagle Awards (1988); This Is Your Life (1980–1995); This Is Your Life (1984); Time Out for Rhythm (1941); Today (1972); Too Many Girls (1940); True to the Army (1942); Two Tickets to Broadway (1951); Unhinged (1982); Vicki! (1992); Watch the Birdie (1950); What's Buzzin', Cousin? (1943); What's My Line? (1956); Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976); You Can't Take It with You (1938); Your Choice for the Film Awards (1973–1975).

Born on this day – Beverly Cleary:


Beverly Cleary


Writer

April 12, 1916 – March 25, 2021

Credits:

Books:

A Girl from Yamhill (1988); A Newbery Halloween (1993); Beaver and Wally (1961); Beezus and Ramona (1955); Dear Mr. Henshaw (1983); Ellen Tebbits (1951); Emily's Runaway Imagination (1961); Fifteen (1956); Golden Treasure (1976); Henry and Beezus (1952); Henry and Ribsy (1954); Henry and the Clubhouse (1962); Henry and the Paper Route (1957); Henry Huggins (1950); Here Come the Twins (1989); Here's Beaver! (1961); Janet's Thingamajigs (1987); Jean and Johnny (1959); Just for Me: My Ramona Quimby Journal (2013); Leave It to Beaver (1978); Lucky Chuck (1984); Mitch and Amy (1967); Mouse House Trio (1989); My Own Two Feet (1995); Otis Spofford (1953); Petey's Bedtime Story (1993); Ralph S. Mouse (1982); Ramona and Her Father (1977); Ramona and Her Mother (1979); Ramona Forever (1984); Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (1981); Ramona the Brave (1975); Ramona the Pest (1968); Ramona's World (1999); Ribsy (1964); Ribsy and the P.T.A (1963); Runaway Ralph (1970); School's In! (2001); Sister of the Bride (1963); Socks (1973); Strider (1991); The Beezus and Ramona Diary (1986); The Best of Ramona (2002); The Complete Ramona Collection (2009); The Growing-Up Feet (1987); The Hullabaloo ABC (1960); The Luckiest Girl (1958); The Mouse and the Motor Cycle (1965); The Ralph Mouse Collection (2001); The Ramona Collection: Vol 1 (2006); The Ramona Collection: Vol 2 (2009); The Real Hole (1962); The Trouble with Beezus and Ramona (2010); The Twins Again (1989); The Unstoppable Beezus and Ramona (2010); The World of Beverly Cleary Collection (2016); Two Dog Biscuits (1963); Two Times the Fun (2005); Young Love by Beverly Cleary (1982).

Movies and television:

ABC Weekend Specials (1986–1990); Ramona (1988–1989); Ramona and Beezus (2010); Today (2016).

Born on this day – Virginia Cherrill:


Virginia Cherrill


Actress

April 12, 1908 – November 14, 1996

Credits:

Charlie Chan's Greatest Case (1933); City Lights (1931); Delicious (1931); Fast Workers (1933); Girls Demand Excitement (1931); He Couldn't Take It (1933); Hollywood on Parade No. B-1 (1934); Ladies Must Love (1933); Late Extra (1935); Money Mad (1934); The Air Circus (1928); The Brat (1931); The Nuisance (1933); Troubled Waters (1936); Unknown Chaplin (1983); What Price Crime (1935); White Heat (1934).

Joseph Conrad, on writing:


My task, which I am trying to achieve is,
by the power of the written word,
to make you hear, to make you feel -
it is, before all, to make you see.

- Joseph Conrad.

Saturday, April 11, 2026

On this day in the Star Trek universe:

Star Trek: Voyager (2001)
Star Trek: Discovery (2019 & 2024)


Star Trek: Voyager
Season 7. Episode 18.
Episode entitled: Q2.
Released April 11, 2001.
Directed by LeVar Burton.
Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor.
Written by Robert Doherty, Kenneth Biller, Michael Taylor, Phyllis Strong, Michael/Mike Sussman.
Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.
Music by Paul Baillargeon.
Cast: Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Robert Duncan McNeill, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo, Tim Russ, Garrett Wang, Jeri Ryan, Keegan de Lancie, Manu Intiraymi, Michael Kagan, Lorna Raver, John de Lancie, Anthony Holiday, Scott Davidson, Majel Barrett, Michael Bailous, David Campagna, Tarik Ergin, Alicia Lewis, Louis Ortiz, Stephen Pisani, Keith Rayve, Richard Sarstedt, Pablo Soriano.


Star Trek: Discovery
Season 2. Episode 13.
Episode entitled: Such Sweet Sorrow.
Released April 11, 2019.
Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi.
Created by Bryan Fuller, Alex Kurtzman.
Written by Michelle Paradise, Jenny Lumet, Alex Kurtzman, Kirsten Beyer, Sean Cochran.
Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.
Music by Jeff Russo.
Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Wilson Cruz, Shazad Latif, Anson Mount, Michelle Yeoh, Jayne Brook, James Frain, Yadira Guevara-Prip, Mia Kirshner, Tig Notaro, Ethan Peck, Rebecca Romijn, Sonja Sohn, Alan Van Sprang, Rachael Ancheril, Emily Coutts, Patrick Kwok-Choon, Oyin Oladejo, Ronnie Rowe, Sara Mitich, Julianne Grossman, Samora Smallwood, Hanneke Talbot, Chai Valladares, Nicole Dickinson, Avaah Blackwell, Ante Dekovic.

Star Trek: Discovery
Season 5. Episode 3.
Episode entitled: Jinaal.
Released April 11, 2024.
Directed by Andi Armaganian.
Created by Bryan Fuller, Alex Kurtzman.
Written by Kyle Jarrow, Lauren Wilkinson, Brandon Schultz, Carlos Cisco, Eric J. Robbins.
Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.
Music by Jeff Russo.
Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Wilson Cruz, Blu del Barrio, Callum Keith Rennie, Tig Notaro, David Ajala, Annabelle Wallis, Tara Rosling, Eve Harlow, Ian Alexander, Patrick Kwok-Choon, Orville Cummings, David Benjamin Tomlinson, Victoria Sawal, Natalie Liconti, Christina Dixon, Raven Dauda, Andreas Apergis, Clare Coulter, Ingrid Rae Doucet, Glen Michael Grant, Victor Andres Turgeon-Trelles.

On this day in movie history - The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974 movie & novel):


The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

directed by Ted Kotcheff,
written by Mordecai Richler and Lionel Chetwynd,
based on the novel by Mordecai Richler,
was released in the United States on April 11, 1974.
Music by Stanley Myers and Andrew Powell.


Cast:

Richard Dreyfuss, Micheline Lanctôt, Jack Warden, Randy Quaid, Joseph Wiseman, Denholm Elliott, Henry Ramer, Joe Silver, Zvee Scooler, Robert Goodier, Alan Rosenthal, Barry Baldaro, Allan Kolman, Barry Pascal, Susan Friedman, Jacques Durette, Jonathan Robinson, Edward Resmini, Henry Gamer, Lou Levitt, Sonny Oppenheim, Lionel Schwartz, Mickey Eichen, Robert Desroches, Judith Gault, Norman Taviss.

Recommended reading:


The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

By Mordecai Richler.

Filmed as The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974), directed by Ted Kotcheff.

Published by Gallery Books.
First published 1959.
Paperback.
ISBN-10: 0671028472
ISBN-13: 978-0671028473

Description:

It is time to recognize Mr. Richler as one of North America's most powerful novelists. – The Washington Times.

A rasping humor pervades the book....It burgeons with its special talent and a vulgar vitality. – Chicago Tribune.

A fast-moving, entertaining, and bawdy novel. – The Washington Times.

Funny in the biting, subversive manner of Joseph Heller and Philip Roth. – Los Angeles Times.

Duddy Kravitz [is] Richler's most famous creation. – Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Richler has been praised for his clear-eyed vision and his realistic style.... The total effect is as brash and blatant as a sports car rally -- and as suggestive of power. It comes off brilliantly. – Alfred Kazin, The New York Times Book Review.

From Mordecai Richler, one of our greatest satirists, comes one of literature's most delightful characters, Duddy Kravitz -- in a novel that belongs in the pantheon of seminal twentieth century books.

Duddy -- the third generation of a Jewish immigrant family in Montreal -- is combative, amoral, scheming, a liar, and totally hilarious. From his street days tormenting teachers at the Jewish academy to his time hustling four jobs at once in a grand plan to "be somebody," Duddy learns about living -- and the lesson is an outrageous roller-coaster ride through the human comedy. As Richler turns his blistering commentary on love, money, and politics, The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz becomes a lesson for us all ... in laughter and in life.