On this day in movie history - The Natural (1984 movie & novel):

The Natural

directed by Barry Levinson,

written by Roger Towne and Phil Dusenberry,

based on the novel by Bernard Malamud,

was released in the United States on May 11, 1984.
Music by Randy Newman.

Cast:

Robert Redford, Paul Sullivan Jr., Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Rachel Hall, Kim Basinger, Wilford Brimley, Barbara Hershey, Robert Prosky, Richard Farnsworth, Joe Don Baker, Darren McGavin, Michael Madsen, John Finnegan, Alan Fudge, Ken Grassano, Mike Starr, Mickey Treanor, Jon Van Ness, Anthony J. Ferrara, George Wilkosz, Robert Rich III, Sibby Sisti.

Recommended reading:

The Natural

By Bernard Malamud.

Filmed as The Natural (1984), directed by Barry Levinson.

Paperback.

Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

First published 1952.

ISBN: 9780374502003

ISBN 10: 0374502005

ASIN: 0374502005

Description:

The Natural, Bernard Malamud's first novel, published in 1952, is also the first – and some would say still the best – novel ever written about baseball. In it, Malamud, usually appreciated for his unerring portrayals of postwar Jewish life, took on very different material – the story of a superbly gifted "natural" at play in the fields of the old daylight baseball era – and invested it with the hardscrabble poetry, at once grand and altogether believable, that runs through all his best work. Four decades later, Alfred Kazin's comment still holds true: "Malamud has done something which – now that he has done it! – looks as if we have been waiting for it all our lives. He has really raised the whole passion and craziness and fanaticism of baseball as a popular spectacle to its ordained place in mythology."

On this day in movie history - Fantastic Planet (1973 movie & novel):

Fantastic Planet

directed by René Laloux,

written by Roland Topor, René Laloux,

based on the novel Oms en série a.k.a. Oms Linked Together and Fantastic Planet by Stefan Wul,

released at the Cannes Film Festival in France on May 11, 1973.

Music by Alain Goraguer.

Cast: Jennifer Drake, Eric Baugin, Jean Topart, Jean Valmont, Sylvie Lenoir, Michèle Chahan, Yves Barsacq, Hubert de Lapparent, Gérard Hernandez, Claude Joseph, Philippe Ogouz, Jacques Ruisseau, Max Amyl, Denis Boileau, Madeleine Clervanne, William Coryn, Christian Echelard, Jeanine Forney, Pascal Kominakis, André Lambert, Mark Lesser, Serge Netter, Yvette Robin, André Rouyer, Irina Tarassov, Julien Thomast, Gilbert Vilhon, Paul Villé, Poupy de Monneron, Christian de Tillière, Cynthia Adler, Barry Bostwick, Mark Gruner, Nora Heflin, Marvin Miller, Monika Ramirez, Hal Smith, Olan Soule, Janet Waldo.

Recommended reading:

Fantastic Planet

By Stephan Wul.

Published by Creation Oneiros.

First published 1957.

ISBN-10: 1902197313

ISBN-13: 9781902197319

Description:

Now published for the very first time in English, Stephan Wul's Fantastic Planet (Oms En Serie) is a classic of Science Fiction and the inspiration for the award-winning 1973 animated film La Planete Sauvage (Fantastic Planet).

The last surviving humans are taken from Earth to the wild planet Ygam by the traags, a race of blue-skinned, red-eyed giants. Here they become known as oms, used as lowly servants and regarded as savages.

But little by little, led by a young man of superior intelligence named Terr, the oms regain their thirst for liberty and rise up against the draags to affirm their humanity in the face of oppression.

This deceptively simple story-line is vividly depicted by author Wul with fantastic detail and a stirring mythopoeic resonance.

The film Fantastic Planet won the Grand Prix at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival and remains a mind-bendingly entertaining touchstone of counterculture art; at last, English-language readers can enjoy the classic Sci-Fi novel that it was based on.

Born on this day – Nicky Katt:

Nicky Katt

Actor

Producer

May 11, 1970 – April 12, 2025

Credits:

21 Years: Richard Linklater (2014); A Time to Kill (1996); American Yakuza (1993); Astoria (1998); Batman & Robin (1997); Behind the Candelabra (2013); Boiler Room (2000); Boston Public (2000–2002); Casual (2018); CBS Schoolbreak Special (1984); CHiPs (1981); Code Red (1982); Dazed and Confused (1993); Dear John (1989–1990); Death Proof (2007); Delivered (1998); Double Rush (1995); Fan des années 80 (2012); Fantasy Island (1980); Father Murphy (1981); Found Footage Festival Volume 4: Live in Tucson (2009); Friends (1996); Friends: The One Before the Last One - Ten Years of Friends (2004); Full Frontal (2002); Goldie and Kids: Listen to Us (1982); Great Directors (2009); Gremlins (1984); Grindhouse / Segments: Planet Terror; Death Proof (2007); Harold (2008); Herbie, the Love Bug (1982); I Love Your Work (2003); Insomnia (2002); Johns (1996); Kindred: The Embraced (1996); King of the Hill (2003–2004); Knight Rider 2010 (1994); Law & Order (2007); Lifestories (1990); Love & War (1992); Love Monkey (2006); Martians Go Home (1989); Monk (2006); Mutiny (1999); Once Upon a River (2019); One True Thing (1998); Phantoms (1998); Planet Terror (2007); Quincy, M.E. (1983); Richard Linklater: Dream Is Destiny (2016); Riding the Bullet (2004); Rules of Engagement (2000); Say You'll Be Mine (1999); School of Rock (2003); Scotch and Milk (1998); Secondhand Lions (2003); Secondhand Lions: Deleted/Alternate Scenes (2004); Sin City (2005); Sister Act (1992); Skins (1994); Snow Angels (2007); Speakeasy (2002); Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords (2004); Strange Days (1995); SubUrbia (1996); The Babysitter (1995); The Brave One (2007); The 'Burbs (1989); The Cure (1995); The Dark Knight (2008); The Doom Generation (1995); The Facts of Life (1988); The Get Along Gang (1984); The Guardian (2003); The Limey (1999); The Sitter (2011); The Way of the Gun (2000); Trapper John, M.D. (1982); Uncle Buck (1990); Underground Aces (1981); V (1984); Voyagers! (1982); Waking Life (2001); World Trade Center (2006).

Born on this day – Natasha Richardson:

Natasha Richardson

Actress

May 11, 1963 – March 18, 2009

Credits:

16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2010); 2006 Asian Excellence Awards (2006); 3rd Irish Film and Television Awards (2005); 54th Golden Globe Awards (1997); A Month in the Country (1987); A Taste of My Life (2006); Absolument cinema (2000); American Experience (2006); Aspel & Company (1991); Asylum (2005); BBC World News (2009); Biography (1997); Blow Dry (2001); Bravo Profiles (2002); Britain's Finest (2005); Caiga quien caiga (2005); Cannes Film Festival (1990); Cartelera (1998); CBS Evening News with Bob Schieffer (2009); Channel 4 News (2009); Charlie Rose (1998–2005); Charlie Rose (2009); Chelsea Walls (2001); Cinema 3 (2009); Constantine's Sword (2007); Días de cine (2009); Ellis Island (1984); Entertainment Tonight (2009–2020); Evening (2007); Every Picture Tells a Story (1984); Fat Man and Little Boy (aka Shadow Makers) (1989); Film 2005 (2005); Good Morning America (1993–2009); Gothic (1986); Great Performances (1993); Haven (2001); Helicopter Heroes (2008); High Crime (1973); Hostages (1992); Inside Edition (2009); Intimate Portrait (1999); ITV Lunchtime News (2009); ITV News (2009); ITV Premiere Special: The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian (2008); J-lo: Behind the Behind (2003); John Osborne and the Gift of Friendship (2006); Jornal da Noite (2009); Larry King Live (2006–2009); Late Night with David Letterman (1990); Late Show with David Letterman (2002); Lights, Camera, Action!: A Century of the Cinema (1996); Live & Kicking (1998); Live with Kelly and Mark (2005); Loser (2000); Maid in Manhattan (2002); Martha (2007); Moving Image Salutes Steven Spielberg (1994); Nell (1994); Oxbridge Blues (1984); Past Midnight (1991); Patty Hearst (1988); PIX 11 Morning News (2007); Saturday Night Live (2004); Screen Two (1985); Sean Connery Close Up (1997); Tales from the Crypt (1996); The 47th Annual Tony Awards (1993); The 51st Annual Golden Globe Awards (1994); The 52nd Annual Tony Awards (1998); The 55th Annual Tony Awards (2001); The 56th Annual Tony Awards (2002); The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards (2009); The 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards 2005 (2005); The 66th Annual Academy Awards (1994); The 68th Annual Academy Awards (1996); The 71st Annual Academy Awards (1999); The 82nd Annual Academy Awards (2010); The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1985); The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968); The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian T4 Movie Special (2008); The Comfort of Strangers (1990); The Comfort of Strangers: Interview with Actor Natasha Richardson (2001); The Dennis Miller Show (1992); The Directors (2002); The Early Show (2009); The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish (1991); The Fever (2004); The Good, the Bad & the Beautiful (1996); The Great War: 1914-1918 (1996); The Handmaid's Tale (1990); The Man Who Came to Dinner (2000); The Mastersons of Manhattan (2007); The Oprah Winfrey Show (2009); The Orange British Academy Film Awards (2010); The Parent Trap (1998); The Reichen Show (2006); The Rosie O'Donnell Show (1998–1999); The Syndrome (2014); The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1998); The View (2006); The White Countess (2005); The Wildest Dream (2010); The Word (1992); Theatre Night (1987); Today (2005 / 2009); Top Chef (2008); Waking Up in Reno (2002); Widows' Peak (1994); Wild Child (2008); Wogan (1985–1992); Working in the Theatre (1993–2005); Worlds Beyond (1987); Zelda (1993).

Born on this day – Doug McClure:

Doug McClure

Actor

May 11, 1935 – February 5, 1995

Born on this day – Joan Swift:

Joan Swift

Actress

May 11, 1933 – June 26, 2016

Credits:

77 Sunset Strip (1963–1964); A Majority of One (1961); Adam-12 (1968); Alcoa Premiere (1962); Bewitched (1969); Brainstorm (1965); Death Valley Days (1957); Flower Drum Song (1961); Have Gun - Will Travel (1963); Here's Lucy (1968); I Spy (1965–1966); Insight (1966); Ironside (1969–1970); Laramie (1963); Lock Up (1961); Lucy Gets Lucky (1975); Mr. and Mrs. (1964); One More Train to Rob (1971); Penelope (1966); Pete 'n' Tillie (1972); Run for Your Life (1967); Slaughterhouse-Five (1972); Star Trek (1967); Temple Houston (1963); The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1965); The Andromeda Strain (1971); The Bold Ones: The Lawyers (1971); The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (1969); The Carol Channing Show (1966); The Deadly Trackers (1973); The F.B.I. (1967); The Family Jewels (1965); The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna (1957); The Jack Benny Program (1964–1965); The Joey Bishop Show (1962); The Lively Ones (1962); The Lucy Show (1966–1968); The Munsters (1966); The Patsy (1964); The Red Skelton Hour (1965); Tom, Dick and Mary (1964).

Born on this day – Eva Schloss:

Eva Schloss

Writer

Holocaust survivor

May 11, 1929 – January 3, 2026

Credits:

Books:

After Auschwitz: My Memories of Otto and Anne Frank (2013); Eva's Story: A Survivor's Tale, by the Stepsister of Anne Frank (1988); The Promise (2006).

Movies and television:

A Tale of Two Sisters (2015); And Then They Came for Me (2007); Anne Frank House VR (2018); Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary (2015); BBC World News (2008); Britain's Holocaust Survivors (2013); Call Me Papa: The Letters of Otto Frank (2026); Du sollst leben! - Holocaust-Überlebende im Gespräch mit Markus Lanz (2015); Hate Among Us (2019); History vs. Hollywood (2001); History vs. Hollywood (2001); Horrors of the Holocaust (2023); III nach neun (2016); Jinek (2017); Kaaskoppen & waterlanders (2008); Markus Lanz (2017); My Daughter, Anne Frank (2015); När livet vänder (2020); Nazis on the Run: The Series (2021); No Asylum: The Untold Chapter of Anne Frank's Story (2015); Otto Frank, Father of Anne (2010); Pauw & Witteman (2010); Rendez-vous de l'histoire (2025); Sunday Life (2008); Surviving Hitler's Mad Doctors (2022); The Diary of Anne Frank: A Tale of Two Sisters (2015); The Final Days of the Nazis (2023); This Morning (2013); Times Series Video News: And Then They Came for Me - Remembering the World of Anne Frank (2008); WGN Morning News (2018).