Born on this day – Zasu Pitts:

Zasu Pitts

Actress

January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963

Credits:

13 Hours by Air (1936); 13 Washington Square (1928); 1925 Studio Tour (1925); '49-'17 (1917); 52nd Street (1937); A Daughter of Luxury (1922); A Desert Dilemma (1917); A Lady's Name (1918); A Little Princess (1917); A Match in Quarantine (1917); A Modern Musketeer (1917); A Society Sensation (1918); A Trip Through the Paramount Studio (1927); A Woman of Experience (1931); A Woman's Faith (1925); About Faces (1961); Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men (1933); All Quiet on the Western Front (1930); Alum and Eve (1932); America's Clown: An Intimate Biography of Red Skelton (2014); And She Learned About Dames (1934); As the Sun Went Down (1919); Asleep in the Feet (1933); Back Street (1932); Bad Sister (1931); Behind the Map (1917); Better Times (1919); Beyond Victory (1931); Blondie of the Follies (1932); Breakfast in Hollywood (1946); Bright Skies (1920); Broadway Limited (1941); Broken Lullaby (1932); Buck Privates (1928); Burke's Law (1963); Canning the Cannibal King (1917); Casey at the Bat (1927); Catch-As Catch-Can (1931); Changing Husbands (1924); Dames (1934); Daughters of Today (1924); Dear Miss Gloria (1946); Delta Kappa Alpha Silver Anniversary Banquet (1963); Denver & Rio Grande (1952); Destry Rides Again (1932); Discords in 'A' Flat (1917); Disneyland '59 (1959); Early to Wed (1926); Eternally Yours (1939); Finn and Hattie (1931); For the Defense (1922); Forty Naughty Girls (1937); Francis (1950); Francis Joins the WACS (1954); Free Love (1930); General Electric Theater (1954); Going Highbrow (1935); Greed (1924); Guestward Ho! (1961); Hal Roach: Hollywood's King of Laughter (1994); He Had 'em Buffaloed (1917); Heart of Twenty (1920); Hello, Sister! (1933); Her Big Night (1926); Her First Mate (1933); Her Private Life (1929); Here's Hollywood (1962); His Fatal Beauty (1917); Hollywood (1923); Hollywood maudit (2020); Hollywoods Spaßfabrik - Als die Bilder Lachen lernten (2014); Honey (1930); Hot Tip (1935); How Could You, Jean? (1918); Is Matrimony a Failure? (1922); Is My Face Red? (1932); It All Came True (1940); It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963); I've Got a Secret (1952); Kraft Theatre (1954); Kraft Theatre / The Philco Television Playhouse (1949); Lazybones (1925); Legend of Hollywood (1924); Let's Do Things (1931); Let's Face It (1943); Life with Father (1947); Little Accident (1930); Love Birds (1934); Love, Honor and Oh, Baby! (1933); Lum and Abner (1949); Mad Holiday (1936); Madison Square Garden (1932); Maids a la Mode (1933); Make Me a Star (1932); Mannequin (1926); Mary of the Movies (1923); Meet the Baron (1933); Men, Women, and Money (1919); Merry Comes to Town (1937); Mexican Spitfire at Sea (1942); Mickey the Kid (1939); Miss Polly (1941); Monte Carlo (1926 / 1930); Mr. Skitch (1933); Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1934); Naughty But Nice (1939); Niagara Falls (1941); No, No, Nanette (1930 / 1940); Nurse Edith Cavell (1939); Oh, Yeah? (1929); Old Shoes (1925); O-My the Tent Mover (1917); On the Loose (1931); Once in a Lifetime (1932); One Track Minds (1933); Out All Night (1933); Paris (1929); Passion Flower (1930); Patsy (1921); Penrod and Sam (1931); Perry Mason (1962); Poor Men's Wives (1923); Poor Relations (1919); Pretty Ladies (1925); Private Scandal (1934); Private Secretary (1957); Professional Sweetheart (1933); Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917); Red Noses (1932); Risky Business (1926); River's End (1930); Roar of the Dragon (1932); Ruggles of Red Gap (1935); Screen Directors Playhouse (1955); Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 6 (1931); Screen Snapshots Series 15, No. 9 - A Day at the Races (1936); Screen Snapshots, Series 1, No. 14 (1920); Screen Snapshots, Series 4, No. 2 (1923); Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Party (1948); Screen Snapshots: Memories of Famous Hollywood Comedians (1952); Sealskins (1932); Secrets of the Night (1924); Seed (1931); Seeing It Through (1920); She Gets Her Man (1935); Shopworn (1932); Show Business (1932); Sin Takes a Holiday (1930); Sing and Like It (1934); Sing Me a Love Song (1936); Sins of the Fathers (1928); Sneak Easily (1932); So's Your Aunt Emma! (1942); Souls for Sale (1923); Spring Tonic (1935); Steady Company (1932); Strangers of the Evening (1932); Strictly Unreliable (1932); Sunlight (1928); Sunlight of Paris (1924); Sunny Side Up (1926); Tea: With a Kick! (1923); Teenage Millionaire (1961); The 20th Century-Fox Hour (1956); The Affair of Susan (1935); The Argyle Case (1929); The Bargain of the Century (1933); The Bashful Bachelor (1942); The Battling Bellboy (1917); The Best of Broadway (1954); The Big Gamble (1931); The Big Parade of Comedy (1964); The Business of Love (1925); The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre (1948); The Crooked Circle (1932); The Dennis O'Keefe Show (1960); The Devil's Holiday (1930); The Dummy (1929); The Fast Set (1924); The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna (1956–1960); The Gay Bride (1934); The Girl Who Came Back (1923); The Goldfish (1924); The Great Divide (1925); The Great Love (1925); The Greatest Thing in Life (1918); The Green Fog (2017); The Guardsman (1931); The Honeymoon (1929); The James Melton Show (1951–1952); The Jim Backus Show (1961); The Lady's from Kentucky (1939); The Locked Door (1929); The Lottery Bride (1930); The Meanest Gal in Town (1934); The Mexican Spitfire's Baby (1941); The Milton Berle Show (1950); The Naked Archaeologist (2008); The Name's the Same (1952); The Old Bull (1932); The Other Half (1919); The Pajama Party (1931); The Perfect Marriage (1946); The Pie Eyed Piper (1918); The Plot Thickens (1936); The Radio Broadcast Vault (2019); The Re-Creation of Brian Kent (1925); The Red Skelton Hour (1956); The Secret Witness (1931); The Soilers (1932); The Spike Jones Show (1954); The Squall (1929); The Squealer (1930); The Talk of the Town (1918); The Thrill of It All (1963); The Trial of Vivienne Ware (1932); The Unexpected Father (1932); The Vanishing Frontier (1932); The Wedding March (1928); Their Big Moment (1934); Their Mad Moment (1931); They Just Had to Get Married (1932); This Could Be the Night (1957); This Thing Called Love (1929); Three on a Honeymoon (1934); Three Wise Fools (1923); Thunder Mountain (1925); Tillie of the Nine Lives (1917); Tish (1942); Triumph (1924); Twin Beds (1929); Two Alone (1934); Uncle Joe (1941); Uneasy Money (1917); Wages for Wives (1925); Wanted! (1937); War Mamas (1931); War Nurse (1930); Weekend for Three (1941); West of the Water Tower (1923); Westward Passage (1932); What Happened to Jones? (1925); What's My Line? (1952); Who's Your Wife? (1918); Why They Left Home (1917); Wife Savers (1928); Wine of Youth (1924); Youth to Youth (1922).

Born on this day – J.R.R. Tolkien:

J.R.R. Tolkien

Writer

January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973

Credits:

Books:

A Middle English Vocabulary; Sir Gawain & The Green Knight; The Hobbit: or There and Back Again; Farmer Giles of Ham; The Fellowship of the Ring; The Two Towers; The Return of the King; The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book; Ancrene Wisse: The English Text of the Ancrene Riwle; Tree and Leaf; Smith of Wootton Major; The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle; Bilbo’s Last Song; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl and Sir Orfeo; The Father Christmas Letters; The Silmarillion; Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien; Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth; Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien; The Old English ‘Exodus’; Mr. Bliss; Finn and Hengest: The Fragment and the Episode; The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays; The Book of Lost Tales, Part I; The Book of Lost Tales, Part II; The Lays of Beleriand; The Shaping of Middle-earth; The Lost Road and Other Writings; The Return of the Shadow; The Treason of Isengard; The War of the Ring; Sauron Defeated; Morgoth’s Ring; The War of the Jewels; The Peoples of Middle-earth; Roverandom; Tales from the Perilous Realm; The Children of Húrin; The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún; The Fall of Arthur; Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, together with Sellic Spell; Tolkien On Fairy-stories; The Story of Kullervo; A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages; The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun; Leaf by Niggle; Beren and Lúthien; The Fall of Gondolin; The Nature of Middle-earth; The Fall of Númenor; The Battle of Maldon, together with The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth.

Movies and television:

A Passage to Middle-earth: The Making of 'Lord of the Rings' (2001); A Simple Walk Into Mordor (2012); Adventure Quest (1983); Allting i ett (2021); An Awfully Big Adventure (1998); An Everyday Tale of a Seeker of Gold (1986); Angband (1993); Arte Journal (2023); Atop the Fourth Wall (2014); Bookstand (1962); Born of Hope (2009); Colossal Adventure (1983); Death Battle (2022); Der kleine Hobbit (1980 / (1984); Die gefährten (2010); Die zwei türme (2010); Dungeon Adventure (1984); Epic Rap Battles of History (2011); Fastitocalon (2006); Golden Moustache (2013); Guardians of Middle-Earth (2012); Hobitit (1993); Horn of Gondor (2020); Icons Unearthed (2024); J.R.R. Tolkien: Master of the Rings - The Definitive Guide to the World of the Rings (2004); J.R.R. Tolkien: The Origin of the Rings (2002); J.R.R.T.: A Film Portrait of J.R.R. Tolkien (1996); Jackanory (1979–1985); Jet Set Willy: Lord of the Rings (2000); Kingdom O' Magic (1996); Kot (2005); La fraternité de l'anneau (2018); La Somme, une bataille mondiale - Documentaire sur la Bataille de la Somme (2024); Lego the Hobbit (2014); Lego the Lord of the Rings (2012); Les deux tours (2018); Lingua Franca (2018); Lord of the Brush (2005); Lord of the Rings (1990); Lord of the Rings: Game One (1986); Making of Hunt for Gollum (2010); Mashup at the Movies (2021); Master of the Rings: The Unauthorized Story Behind J.R.R. Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' (2001); Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (2014); Minecraft Adventure Maps (2012); Moria (1975 / 1983); Mr. Bliss (2004); MultiVersus (2024); National Geographic Explorer (2001); Nerdrotic (2022–2024); Olifaunt (2006); Quest for the Ring (2001); Release (1968); Review (1972); Riders of Rohan (1991); Sagan om ringen (1971); Secrets of Middle-Earth: Inside Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' (2003); Secrets of Middle-Earth: Inside Tolkien's 'the Hobbit' (2003); Seelenjäger (2014); Shadowfax (1982); Skazochnoe puteshestvie mistera Bilbo Begginsa, Khobbita (1985); Sleuths, Sorcerers & Spies: Andrew Marr's Paperback Heroes (2016); Story Box (1964); Super Power Beat Down (2012); Tale of a Timelord (2016); The ABCs of Book Banning (2023); The Crack of Doom (1989); The Fall of Gondolin (2019); The Fellowship of the Ring (1991); The Fellowship of the Ring Animated (2022); The Fellowship of the Ring: Book One of the Lord of the Rings (2012); The Hobbit (1966 / 1968 / 1977 / 1991 / 2003 / 2007 / 2012); The Hobbit Software Adventure (1982); The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Extended Edition Scenes (2013); The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012); The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - Extended Edition Scenes (2015); The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014); The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Extended Edition Scenes (2014); The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013); The Hobbit: The Swedolation of Smaug (2014); The Hunt for Gollum (2009); The Last Journey (2021); The Lord of the Rings (1978); The Lord of the Rings Online (2007); The Lord of the Rings Starring Cats: A Meowy Earth Adventure (2025); The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest (2010); The Lord of the Rings: Conquest (2009); The Lord of the Rings: Gollum (2023); The Lord of the Rings: Sons of Elrond (2005); The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth (2004); The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II - The Rise of the Witch-king (2006); The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II (2006); The Lord of the Rings: The Empire of Saruman (2025); The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Special Extended Edition Scenes (2002); The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001 / 2002); The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Special Extended Edition Scenes (2004); The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003 / 2007); The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022–2024); The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (2004); The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Special Extended Edition Scenes (2003); The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002 / 2021); The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring (2003); The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024); The Lord of the Rings: Vol. I (1990); The Lord of the Rings: Vol. II (1992); The Lord of the Rings: War in the North (2011); The Making of 'The Lord of the Rings' (2002); The Return of the King (1980); The Return of the King: Book Three of the Lord of the Rings (2012); The Shadows of Mordor (1988); The Silmarillion (2015 / 2023); The Standard Deviants: Rings, Kings & Things (2002); The Two Towers: Book Two of the Lord of the Rings (2012); The UnXplained (2022); The Worlds of Fantasy (2008); Tolkien Remembered (1984); War in Middle Earth (1988); Weekend Sunrise (2016); Who the 'Ell Is Tauriel? (2013); Wings Over Arda: The First Age (2011); Wonderland (2022).

Recommending reading - The Switch (1978):

The Switch

By Elmore Leonard.

Published by Mariner Books.

First published 1978.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0062206133

ISBN-13: 978-0062206138

Description:

“My favorite Leonard book….He writes the way Hammett and Chandler might write today, if they sharpened their senses of ironic humor and grew better ears for dialogue.” – Dallas Morning News.

“The best writer of crime fiction alive.” – Newsweek.

“The greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever!” – The New York Times Book Review.

“An absolute master.” – The Detroit News.

Dangerously eccentric characters, razor-sharp black humor, brilliant dialog, and suspense all rolled into one tight package – that’s The Switch, Elmore Leonard’s classic tale of a kidnapping gone wrong…or terribly right, depending on how you look at it. The Grand Master whom the New York Times Book Review calls, “the greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever,” has written a wry and twisting tale that any of the other all-time greats – Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, John D. MacDonald, James M. Cain, Robert Parker…every noir author who ever walked a detective, cop, or criminal into a shadowy alley – would be thrilled to call their own. Leonard, the man who has given us U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (currently starring in TV’s Justified) is at his storytelling best, as a spurned wife decides to take a rightful – and profitable – revenge on her deceiving hubby by teaming up with the two thugs he hired to abduct her.

Ordell Robbie and Louis Gara hit it off in prison, where they were both doing time for grand theft auto. Now that they're out, they're joining forces for one big score. The plan is to kidnap the wife of a wealthy Detroit developer and hold her for ransom. Looks good until they learn the lowlife husband doesn't want his wife back. So it's time for Plan B and the opportunity to make a real killing – with the unlikely help of a beautiful, ticked-off housewife who's hungry for a large helping of sweet revenge.

George R. R. Martin, on reading:

I was born in Bayonne, New Jersey.

I grew up in the projects.

I never went anywhere.

But I have lived a thousand lives and I've loved a thousand loves.

I've walked on distant worlds and seen the end of time.

Because I read.

- George R. R. Martin.

On this day in music history: Play, by Roxanne Potvin (2011):

Play

Album by Roxanne Potvin,

released January 2, 2011.

Track list:

Barricades; You Told Me; Let Me Go; Born to Win; Coral Reef Fishes; Magic Rainbows; Dis-Moi Que Tu M'aimes; Pretty Girls; Donnes Ton Mal; Seashells; I'm Too Sexy; Keep Your Head.

On this day in television history - M Squad (1959):

M Squad

Season 2. Episode 15.

Episode entitled: The Teacher.

Released January 2, 1959.

Directed by Don Medford.

Written by Frank Moss.

Music by John Williams.

Cast:

Lee Marvin, Paul Newlan, Tom Laughlin, Sue George, Burt Reynolds, Stanley Dyrector, Stuart Randall, Maida Severn, Ron Gorton.

Born on this day – Ron Hale:

Ron Hale

Actor

January 2, 1946 – August 27, 2024

Credits:

A Lovely Way to Die (1968); All the President's Men (1976); Easy (2016); Entertainment Tonight (1989); General Hospital (1995–2010); Intimate Portrait (2003); Live with Kelly and Mark (1989); Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1973); MacGyver (1990); Matlock (1989); Me, Natalie (1969); N.Y.P.D. (1968); Original Intent (1990); Port Charles (1997–2000); Rodney (2004); Ryan's Hope (1975–1989); Search for Tomorrow (1969); Shattered Steel (1996); SoapTalk (2004–2006); Sunstorm (2001); The Adventures of Loop & Rhett (2011); The Brothers Flub (1999); The Ghost and the Whale (2017); The Lord Protector (1996); Trial by Jury (1994).