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- Welcome to the Archive for April, 2008
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- April 1
Grace Lee Whitney is born (1930). American actress Grace Lee Whitney is best known for her role in the original Star Trek series and related films as the attractive beehived yeoman Janice Rand. Whitney was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Lon Chaney is born (1883). Actor and makeup specialist Leonidas Frank Chaney was one of the genre's first screen legends thanks to his classic performances as the title monsters in the silent versions of The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923). Lon's other projects include London After Midnight (1927), The Unknown (1927), The Monster (1925), and The Shock (1923). Chaney, who died in 1930, was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
First vampire story written (1819). "The Vampyre" is a short story written by John William Polidori and is a progenitor of the romantic vampire genre of fantasy fiction. It was first published in the New Monthly Magazine with the false attribution "A Tale by Lord Byron." The story was an immediate success. Polidori transformed the vampire from a character in folklore into the form we recognize today—an aristocratic fiend who preys among high society.
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- April 2
Kindred: The Embraced debuts (1996). Kindred: The Embraced was a short-lived FOX TV series created by John Leekly and produced by Aaron Spelling. Based on the White Wolf roleplaying game Vampire: The Masquerade, the series followed the machinations of Julian Luna, the vampire prince of the vampire clans based in San Francisco, as he worked to maintain control over his clans, keep the peace, and ensure they all followed the rules. The show starred C. Thomas Howell as Detective Frank Kohanek.
Brian Glover is born (1934). Brian Glover was a professional wrestler and a teacher before he took up the actor's mantle. His genre credits include Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997), Alien3 (1992), The Company of Wolves (1984), and the Doctor Who episode "Attack of the Cybermen, Part 1" (1985). Glover was born in Sheffield, England, and died July 24, 1997.
Linda Hunt is born (1945). This diminutive Oscar winner, respected for her work on stage and screen, played Shadout Mapes in David Lynch's 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune. Her other genre credits include The Relic (1997) and voice roles as Commander Chennault for television's Space Rangers (1993) and in the series Carnivale. Hunt was born in Morristown, New Jersey.
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- April 3
The Lawnmower Man opens (1992). Experiments with intelligence-enhancing drugs and virtual reality transform a simple-minded gardener into a genius—but at what price?—in this adaptation of a story by Stephen King. The cast includes Jeff Fahey (Psycho II) and Pierce Brosnan (Nomads). Though the reviews are decidedly mixed, the movie does well enough at the box office to warrant a 1996 sequel.
Marlon Brando is born (1924). One of this screen legend's most recent roles was that of the title madman in the ill-fated 1996 version of The Island of Dr. Moreau. Brando's other credits include starring opposite George C. Scott in The Formula (1980), portraying the title hero's father in Superman (1978), and playing Peter Quint in The Nightcomers (1972), a prequel to Henry James's haunting The Turn of the Screw. Brando was born in Omaha, Nebraska.
Washington Irving is born (1783). Washington Irving, one of American literature's first genre specialists, penned such classics as Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which has been adapted countless times to television and the big screen, most recently in 1999 by genre auteur Tim Burton (who cast Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane). Irving, who died in 1859, was born in New York, New York.
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- April 4
Heath Ledger is born (1979). Heathcliff Andrew Ledger was an Academy Award–nominated actor born in Perth, Australia. Genre roles include Roar (TV series, 1997), A Knight's Tale (2001),The Brothers Grimm (2005), and the upcoming The Dark Knight (as The Joker) (2008). Ledger died on January 22, 2008 in New York City.
Mike Raven dies (1997). Mike Raven (Austin Fairman) was a former disc jockey on BBC Radio who made an unsuccessful attempt to turn himself into a horror star during the early 1970s. Despite looking like a combination of Vincent Price and Christopher Lee, his career fizzled out when it became clear that he couldn't act. He was dubbed by Valentine Dyall (1908 - 1985) in Hammer's Lust for a Vampire (1970), and his other credits include I, Monster (1971), Crucible of Terror (1971) and Disciple of Death Raven was born November 15, 1924.
Anthony Perkins is born (1932). Perkins gave one of the genre's greatest screen performances as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's classic Psycho (1960). He revived Norman for Psycho II (1983), Psycho III (1986), and the made-for-television Psycho IV: The Beginning (1991).
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- April 5
Gregory Peck is born (1916). This Oscar-winning Hollywood legend played Robert Thorn, the adoptive father of Satan's spawn in the original The Omen (1976). Peck also starred in Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945), the big-screen adaptation of Ira Levin's The Boys from Brazil (1978), Marooned (1969), and in the original Cape Fear (1962) as well as Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake. Peck was born in La Jolla, California.
Kurt Neumann is born (1908). This German-born director hit it big in Hollywood with such genre fare as Rocketship X-M (1950), She Devil (1957), the still impressive Kronos (1957), and the classic original version of The Fly (1958). Kurt, who died in 1958, was born in Nuernberg, Germany.
Mitch Pileggi is born (1952). Mitch Craig Pileggi is an American actor best known for his roles on the TV series The X-Files as AD Walter Skinner and on Stargate Atlantis as Colonel Steven Caldwell. Pileggi was born in Portland, Oregon.
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- April 6
2001: A Space Odyssey is released in U.S. theaters (1968). One of several groundbreaking works by Stanley Kubrick, the director of Dr. Strangelove (1964), A Clockwork Orange (1971), and The Shining (1980), 2001: A Space Odyssey (based on the book of the same name by Arthur C. Clarke) is perhaps the ultimate SF film (or "the ultimate trip," as it was billed).
Ivan Dixon is born (1931). American actor Ivan Dixon was best known to mainstream audiences as communications expert (and mimic) Kinchloe in the POW comedy, Hogan's Heroes. Genre fans may remember him as down-and-out boxer Bolie Jackson in the original The Twilight Zone episode, "The Big Tall Wish." Other genre appearances include a rare two-parter on the original The Outer Limits, and the pilot for the spy fi series, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. In 1987, he appeared in the dystopian miniseries, Amerika. Dixon, who died March 16, 2008, was born in New York City, New York.
Roy Thinnes is born (1938). Popular television actor Roy Thinnes has starred in a wide variety of genre fare, starting with the 1967 series The Invaders. Roy also starred in episodes of Battlestar Galactica ("The Gun on Ice Planet Zero") and Poltergeist: The Legacy ("The Crystal Scarab"), was featured in the 1991 series revival of Dark Shadows, and took on the recurring role of Jeremiah Smith on The X-Files. Roy's other projects include Satan's School for Girls (1973), Horror at 37,000 Feet (1972), and Doppelgänger (1969). Roy was born in Chicago, Illinois.
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- April 7
King Kong opens (1933). The king of all monster movies involves an expedition to a remote island. A group of opportunistic explorers return to New York City with a giant ape in tow. When the monster falls in love with a beautiful actress—the incomparable Fay Wray—he breaks free of his shackles and heads for the Empire State Building for a final showdown. The special effects, state-of-the-art for their time, make this one a huge hit at the box office.
John Agar dies (2002). Actor John Agar had a long career as a star of Westerns and war epics, with plenty of appealing space opera and horror, too. Just a sprinkling of his genre contributions: The Naked Monster (2005), The Vampire Hunters Club (2001), King Kong (1976), Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962), Women of the Prehistoric Planet (1966), The Brain from Planet Arous (1957), Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957), The Mole People (1956), Revenge of the Creature (1955), and The Magic Carpet (1951). Agar was born January 31, 1921, in Chicago, Illinois.
Henry Kuttner is born (1915). Author Henry Kuttner contributed to both fantasy and science fiction from the mid 1930s to the early 1950s. Through a fan circle for H. P. Lovecraft, he met and married Catherine Moore, leading to one of the greatest writing marriages of the 20th century. They collaborated on hundreds of stories and dozens of novels, becoming key writers for John Campbell's Astounding in the 1940s, usually under the pseudonyms Lewis Padgett. Their "Mimsy were the Borogoves" (1943) was the basis for The Last Mimzy, a 2007 family adventure film with a screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin and Toby Emmerich. Kuttner was born February 4, 1958, in Los Angeles, California.
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- April 8
Colossus: The Forbin Project premieres in New York City (1970). Colossus was based on the eponymous 1966 novel by D. F. Jones. Also known simply as The Forbin Project, it was overshadowed by another tale pitting people against a computer, Stanley Kubrick's classic 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Yet despite its relative obscurity, it stands out as one of the most intelligent, unusual, and thought-provoking SF films of the Cold War era.
Douglas Trumbull is born (1942). Trumbull directed two memorable sci-fi features, Brainstorm (1983) and Silent Running (1971), in addition to lending his special-effects expertise to such enduring genre titles as Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), The Andromeda Strain (1971), Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982), Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
Craig Mazin is born (1971). Craig Mazin, a screenwriter, director, and producer, is probably best known for his work on Scary Movie 3 and Scary Movie 4. His other work includes RocketMan (1997) and Superhero! (2008). Mazin was born in Brooklyn, New York.
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- April 9
Ella Enchanted opens in theaters (2004). A romantic fantasy based on the novel of the same name by Gail Carson Levine, Ella Enchanted starred Anne Hathaway as a girl who was cursed as a baby by a absent-minded fairy to be always obedient. As a result, Ella must obey every command given, no matter how absurd.
Dennis Quaid is born (1954). Dennis Quaid (once married to Meg Ryan) has lent his good looks and heroic stature to a variety of popular genre projects. He played Willis Davidge, a space traveler stranded on a strange planet with an intelligent alien in Enemy Mine (1985), and Alex Gardner, a psychic who enters the nightmares of the President of the U.S. in order to stop an assassination plot in Dreamscape (1984). His other genre projects include Frequency (2000), Dragonheart (1996), Wilder Napalm (1993), Innerspace (1987), The Right Stuff, Jaws 3-D (1983) and the made-for-television Are You in the House Alone? (1978). Quaid was born in Houston, Texas.
Matthew Bennett is born (1968). Matthew Bennett is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Len Harper on the series Cold Squad, but has also made appearances on several genre series, including The X-Files, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, Total Recall 2070, Seven Days, Andromeda, Stargate SG-1 as Jarrod Kane, Battlestar Galactica as Cylon agent Aaron Doral, and the TV movie Timeshifters. Bennett was born in Toronto, Ontario.
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- April 10
Gothic opens (1986). Director Ken Russell (Altered States, The Lair of the White Worm) concocted this stylish, hallucinatory fantasy set on the night in 1816 when Frankenstein scribe Mary Shelley and "The Vampyre" author Dr. Polidori were inspired to write their gruesome literary masterpieces. The movie is an amalgamation of drug-induced imagery, bizarre ghost stories, and psychosexual subtext—in other words, pure Ken Russell. The cast includes Gabriel Byrne (Stigmata, Cool World) and Julian Sands (Warlock).
House of Wax opens (1953). Touted by Warner Bros. as the first big-studio 3-D movie, Vincent Price's 34th picture is his first horror film. Ironically, director Andre de Toth couldn't appreciate the 3-D effects—he had only one working eye.
Dawn of the Dead opens (1978). The second part of George A. Romero's Dead trilogy involves a small group of survivors who seek refuge in a suburban shopping mall—and the blood and guts are in vivid color. Romero scores another cult hit.
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- April 11
Scream opens (1997). The "slasher" movies of the 1970s and 1980s are revived thanks to the phenomenal box-office success of Scream. Director Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and screenwriter Kevin Williamson breathe new life into the old "masked killer stalks teens" plot by poking fun at the clichés that have come to define the genre. The success of Scream helps move Drew Barrymore to the head of the Hollywood pack, and provides early fuel for the careers of Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich. Craven later remains on board for Scream 2 (1997) and Scream 3 (2000).
Tricia Helfer is born (1974). Tricia Helfer plays Number Six on The SCI FI Channel TV series Battlestar Galactica. Helfer was born in Donalda, Alberta, Canada.
J. C. Kaliszewski sees two UFOs while flying over Minneapolis, Minnesota (1951). The sighting is confirmed from the ground by men using a theodolite, according to Flying Saucers Uncensored (1955) by Harold T. Wilkins.
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- April 12
Dr. Cyclops opens in U.S. theaters (1940). Dr. Cyclops is a adventure film directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack. Four explorers visit Peru at the behest of physicist Dr. Thorkel. They discover a rich source of radium and a mad scientist who shrinks them to a fraction of their normal size when they try to put an end to his experiments.
Space Shuttle Columbia launches (1981). The NASA space shuttle Columbia lifts off from the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on its maiden voyage into space. It is the first manned spacecraft designed for repeated use. Astronauts John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen take Columbia on a two-day mission to test the new space vehicle's capabilities, opening up a program that eventually includes more than 75 missions. This first flight ends as scheduled with a landing April 14, 1981, at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
Nicholas Brendon is born (1971). Nicholas Brendon is best known for his role as Xander Harris on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Other genre contributions include Unholy (2007), Fire Serpent (2007), and Demon Island (2002). Brendon was born in Los Angeles, California.
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- April 13
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter opens in theaters (1984). The fourth movie in the successful slasher series, with many more chapters yet to be opened, The Final Chapter takes Jason Voorhees from the morgue back to Crystal Lake, where skinny-dipping teenagers will soon be in hot water. The stars include Corey Feldman, Kimberly Beck, Erich Anderson, and Crispin Glover.
Painkiller Jane debuts on the Sci Fi Channel (2007). This TV series stars Kristanna Loken in the title role, as a government agent who can't be killed. It's based on a comic book series written by Jimmy Palmiotti and published by Dynamite Entertainment.
Peter Davison is born (1951). Peter Moffett (Peter Davison) is known for primarily for playing the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running British series Doctor Who (1981-1984). Davison has also held the lead role in other memorable British television roles. Peter was born in London, England.
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- April 14
Anthony Michael Hall is born (1968). Anthony Michael Hall is perhaps best known as the star of the USA Network series, The Dead Zone. He is an American actor, producer, and director who also has his own rock band, Hall of Mirror. Anthony was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
Richard Jeni is born (1957). Richard Jeni, primarily known as a comedian, also contributed to sci-fi. Genre fans would know him best as Charlie Shumaker, cynical co-worker and friend of Stanley Ipkiss (Jim Carrey) in the theatrical adaptation of The Mask. He also voiced the host in a comedian-themed episode of Batman: The Animated Series. Richard was born in Brooklyn, New York, and died March 10, 2007.
Julie Christie is born (1941). Oscar winner and perennial leading lady Julie Christie has lent her customary class and intelligence to roles in such genre films as François Truffaut's adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (1966), the haunting Don't Look Now,(1973), directed by Nicholas Roeg, Demon Seed (1977) and Dragonheart (1996). Julie was born in Chukua, Assam, India.
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- April 15
The Evil Dead opens in US theaters (1983). The Evil Dead is a horror movie written and directed by Sam Raimi, and starring Bruce Campbell. The movie made its debut on October 15, 1981, in Detroit, Michigan, and also aired at several film festivals before receiving a full theatrical release in the United States two years later, eventually becoming a cult favorite.
Emma Watson is born (1990). Emma Watson is an English actress known for her role in the Harry Potter films as Hermione Granger. Watson was born in Paris, France.
Henry James is born (1843). Legendary American novelist Henry James's classic ghost story, "The Turn of the Screw," has been adapted numerous times to the big screen, to television, and even to the opera stage. The most enduring version, retitled The Innocents (1961), was directed by Jack Clayton and based on an adaptation by Truman Capote and William Archibald. The film starred Deborah Kerr as the repressed governess haunted by the spirits of a pair of demented lovers. James, who died in 1916, was born in New York, New York.
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- April 16
Ellen Barkin is born (1954). Emmy Award-winning actor Ellen Rona Barkin has made appearances in genre movies The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) and Switch (1991). Barkin was born in the Bronx, New York.
Cy Endfield dies (1995). Cy Endfield is an American director and screenwriter who was blacklisted in the 1950s by the House Un-American Activities Commmittee (HUAC) during their search for Communists. Endfield and his family moved to England so he could continue to make a living as a writer and director. Endfield's most notable genre works include Mr. Hex (1946), Night of the Demon (1957, uncredited), and The Mysterious Island. Endfield was born November 10, 1914, in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Lukas Haas is born (1976). After holding his own in his debut performance as an Amish boy opposite Harrison Ford's big-city cop in Peter Weir's Witness (1985), child actor Haas would go on to be haunted by a vengeful ghost in The Lady in White (1988). In recent years, Lukas has also been seen as an imprisoned teen in Solarbabies (1986), as one of the few survivors in Tim Burton's Mars Attacks! (1996), and as part of a real-life party posse led by pal Leonardo DiCaprio. Lukas was born in West Hollywood, California.
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- April 17
The Watcher in the Woods is released in US theaters (1980). Disney released haunted-house movie The Watcher in the Woods, based on the novel of the same name by Florence Engel Randall (1976). John Hough directed a talented cast that included Bette Davis, David McCallum, Carroll Baker, and Lynn-Holly Johnson.
Jennifer Garner is born (1972). Jennifer Anne Garner is best known in the role of Sydney Bristow on the ABC series Alias. In 2003, she played theMarvel Comics character Elektra Natchios in the film version of Daredevil opposite Ben Affleck. She followed up in 2004 with the light comedy 13 Going on 30 and reprised her role as Elektra in the action film Elektra. Garner was born in Houston, Texas.
Olivia Hussey is born (1951). Olivia Hussey has appeared in such thrillers as Black Christmas (1974), The Cat and the Canary (1979) and Ice Cream Man (1995). Her television projects have included Psycho IV: The Beginning (1991), in which she played the notorious mother of Norman Bates, and Stephen King's It (1990). Hussey was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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- April 18
David Tennant is born (1971). David Tennant is the stage name of actor David MacDonald, who has gained recent fame in the fantasy and sci-fi communities both for being the tenth actor to play the title role in long-running series Doctor Who and for portraying bad guy Barty Crouch Jr. in the Harry Potter films. Tennant was born in Bathgate, Lothian, Scotland.
James Schmitz dies (1981). James Henry Schmitz was esteemed for his elaborate space operas, many featuring one of two recurring female characters, Telzey Amberdon or Trigger Argee. Schmitz's single best novel was The Witches of Karres (1966), which was expanded from a short story originally published in 1949. Three young women with psi powers that seem almost like magic take refuge with an amenable starship captain. Schmitz was born in Hamburg, Germany, on October 15, 1911.
David Hewlett is born (1968). Canadian actor David Hewlett is best known in the role of Dr. Rodney McKay on the series Stargate Atlantis. In the late '90s, he starred in several movies, including Cube and Survivor. He is the eldest of six children, and was born in Redhill, Surrey, England.
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- April 19
Soylent Green opens in New York City (1973). Soylent Green was adapted by Stanley R. Greenberg from the 1966 novel Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison. Richard Fleischer directed, with a brawny cast that includes Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, Chuck Connors, Joseph Cotten, Brock Peters, Paula Kelly, and Edward G. Robinson in his final performance.
Hayden Christensen is born (1981). Hayden Christensen is best known to genre audiences for his role as Anakin Skywalker and his Sith alter ego, Darth Vader, in the Star Wars universe. He also appears in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness; makes guest appearances in series Forever Knight , Goosebumps, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?; and in 2008, he stars as Davey in Jumper, based on the Steven Gould novel. Christensen was born in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Dick Sargent is born (1930). The "second Darrin," from 1969–1972, Sargent was Samantha Stephens' mortal husband, replacing Dick York, making the series' perpetual re-runs extra-confusing for everyone: two Darrins played by two Dicks. Sargent also portrayed an officer of the law in The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955).
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- April 20
Spirited Away opens in U.S. theaters (2002). Spirited Away is a 2001 Academy Award-winning anime film from writer and director Hayao Miyazaki. The Japanese title of the film is Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi ("The Spiriting Away of Sen and Chihiro"). The movie won the 2003 Oscar for Best Animated Feature, along with numerous other awards.
Crispin Glover is born (1964). Crispin Glover, the notoriously eccentric actor who played the nerdy George McFly in Back to the Future (1985), also made appearances in Jim Jarmusch's mystical Dead Man (1995) and in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984). Crispin was born in New York, New York.
Veronica Cartwright is born (1950). Throughout her impressively varied career, Veronica Cartwright has specialized in horror and sci-fi roles, beginning with her performance as Cathy Brenner, the terrorized school girl in Alfred Hitchcock's classic The Birds (1963). Veronica was born in Bristol, England.
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- April 21
Pet Sematary opens in US theaters (1989). Pet Sematary, directed by Mary Lambert, was adapted from the 1983 horror novel by Stephen King. When the Creed family moves a new home in Maine, they discover a horror in the woods as powerful as it is terrifying. Pet Sematary II followed in 1992.
Dominic Zamprogna is born (1979). Dominic Zamprogna is a Canadian actor who has appeared in a number of genre series, including a role as Jammer in Battlestar Galactica. Other genre appearances include The Trial of Red Riding Hood, Tales from the Cryptkeeper, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, Odyssey 5, Stargate Atlantis, Supernatural, Bloodsuckers, It Waits, and Blade: The Series. Zamprogna was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Andie MacDowell is born (1958). This model-turned-actress made her screen debut in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan (1984). She has also appeared in Michael (1996), Multiplicity (1996) and Groundhog Day (1993). MacDowell was born in Gaffney, South Carolina.
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- April 22
Michelle Ryan is born (1984). Michelle Claire Ryan took on Lindsay Wagner's role as cyborg Jaime Sommers in the remake series Bionic Woman (NBC). She also guest-starred on The Worst Witch and in 2007 appeared as Katherine Reimer in Jekyll. Ryan was born in Enfield, Middlesex, England.
Sheryl Lee is born (1967). Her beauty as the murdered Laura Palmer haunted viewers of the David Lynch TV series Twin Peaks (1990), and led to another haunting appearance in the series' film continuation, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). In 1997, she herself was haunted by the undead in John Carpenter's Vampires.
Jack Nicholson is born (1937). Actor Jack Nicholson got his start in film with a part in the low-budget horror flick The Cry Baby Killer (1958). He contributed a unique take on The Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 classic Batman and played dual roles as both US President James Dale and Vegas tycoon Art Land in Burton's rollicking Mars Attacks! (1996). Also of note are his performances in Wolf (1994), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), and The Shining (1980). Nicholson was born in Manhattan, New York.
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- April 23
Simone Simon is born (1911). Simone Simon played the seductive Irena in Jacques Tourneur's classic Cat People (1942) and Curse of the Cat People (1944). She also played Satan's sexy seductress in All That Money Can Buy (aka The Devil and Daniel Webster, 1941). Simon was born in Bethune, France.
The zoetrope is patented by William Lincoln of Providence, Rhode Island, in 1867. The machine had a strip of continuous frames or pictures mounted on a cylinder. A viewer peered through a slit and saw the illuminated images animated as they spun upon the drum.
Lee Majors is born (1941). Lee Majors will forever be known as Colonel Steve Austin, television's Six Million Dollar Man. The series ran for four seasons, from 1974 through 1978, and Majors has reprised the role on several occasions, notably opposite Bionic Woman Lindsay Wagner in Bionic Ever After? (1994) and Bionic Showdown (1989). Majors was born in Wyandotte, Michigan.
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- April 24
Scream 2 opens (1997). Director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson waste no time cashing in on the enormous box-office success of their original Scream. Scream 2 stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courtney Cox, the survivors of the original slaughter, along with new victims Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jerry O'Connell, Jada Pinkett, and Timothy Olyphant. Remaining true to the self-referential humor of the original, Scream 2 sets its first scene in a darkened movie theater during a screening of a fictional horror flick called Stab.
Stacy Haiduk is born (1968). This SeaQuest DSV cast member also played a vampire in the short-lived Aaron Spelling series Kindred: The Embraced (1996), and had a small recurring role as dead detective Zeke Stone's wife in Brimstone (1998). Before all that, she starred as Lana Lang in the TV series Superboy and The Adventures of Superboy. Haiduk was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Elizabeth Goudge is born (1900). Elizabeth Goudge is the author of The Little White Horse (1946), a Carnegie Medal winner, which J. K. Rowling has said was her favorite childhood book. Goudge, who died April 1, 1984, was born in Wells, England.
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- April 25
Talia Shire is born (1946). Talia Shire—actress, director, and sister to Francis Coppola—starred in both the Rocky and Godfather series, but she also did time as the victim of a psychotic stalker in Windows (1980) and as the hunter of a mutant beast in Prophecy (1979). Talia was born in New York, New York.
Al Pacino is born (1940). Master thespian Al Pacino has been a favorite leading man since The Godfather (1972) and won his Oscar for Scent of a Woman (1992), but he's also hammed it up as Satan himself opposite Keanu Reeves in The Devil's Advocate (1997) and as Big Boy Caprice in Dick Tracy (1990). Al was born in New York, New York.
Mario Bava dies (1980). Italian horror movie director Mario Bava put his outrageously baroque style to good use in such flicks as House of Exorcism (1974), Baron Blood (1973), Hatchet for the Honeymoon (1971), Curse of the Living Dead (1972), Planet of Blood (1965), The Evil Eye (1963), Black Sabbath (1964) with Boris Karloff, and the classic Black Sunday (1960) with Barbara Steele. Bava helped pave the way for later Italian horror directors such as Lamberto Bava (his son) and Dario Argento. Mario was born in San Remo, Italy.
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- April 26
The Creature Walks Among Us opens in U.S. theaters (1956). The Creature Walks Among Us is the third film in the Creature from the Black Lagoon trilogy, preceded by Revenge of the Creature (1955). It stars Jeff Morrow, Rex Reason, and Leigh Snowden.
Giorgio Moroder is born (1940). This prolific composer scored big throughout his career with The NeverEnding Story (1984), The NeverEnding Story II, Electric Dreams (1984), Superman III (1983), and Cat People (1982). He also created a new film score for the reconstituted Metropolis (1927). Giorgio was born in Ortisei, Italy.
Tom Welling is born (1977). Thomas John Patrick Welling is an American actor and former model best known for playing Clark Kent on the series Smallville. He also starred opposite Maggie Grace in the movie The Fog. Tom was born in Putnam Valley, New York.
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- April 27
The Man from Planet X opens (1951). The Scottish Highlands are invaded by a wandering alien in this classic, low-budget creature feature directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. Ulmer also directed such grade-B favorites as The Amazing Transparent Man (1960), Beyond the Time Barrier (1960), and Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957), but his true fame comes years later when film scholars rediscover his noir masterpiece, Detour (1945).
Sandy Dennis is born (1937). Quirky, Oscar-winning actor Sandy Dennis starred in a wide variety of genre flicks, including Parents (1989), 976-EVIL (1988), and God Told Me To (1977). On television, she was in Steven Spielberg's early haunted-house tale, Something Evil (1972), as well as in episodes of such series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985) and The Fugitive (1963). Sandy, who died in 1992, was born in Hastings, Nebraska.
Casey Kasem is born (1932). To genre fans, Casey, the peripatetic voice of cartoon and radio, is perhaps best known as the voice of mystery-solving Shaggy of Scooby Doo. Besides the Bohemian sherlock, he also has given voice to Robin in his adventures with the animated Superfriends, and the rich teen band manager Sebastian Cabot of Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space. He also did a short stint as the voice of hobbit Merry Brandybuck in the animated made-for-TV film The Return of the King (1980). Casey was born in Detroit, Michigan.
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- April 28
Casino Royale opens in US theaters (1967). Casino Royale is a 1967 movie based on the Ian Fleming novel of the same name. David Niven stars as secret agent James Bond in an all-star spoof that was not produced by the "official" James Bond creative movie team.
The Road Warrior opens (1982). Australian director George Miller's savage and spectacular sequel to Mad Max moved star Mel Gibson even closer to superstardom. The high-speed, post-apocalyptic, stunt-heavy mayhem scores big at the box office, ensuring a third entry, 1985's Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
Ann-Margret is born (1941). Ann-Margret, Hollywood's favorite "kitten with a whip," played the love interest opposite Anthony Hopkins' demented ventriloquist in Magic (1978). She also starred in television's big-budget fantasy, The Tenth Kingdom. She was born in Valsjobyn, Sweden.
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- April 29
Philip Noyce is born (1950). Australian director and suspense specialist Philip Noyce first made a name for himself in the U.S. with Dead Calm (1989), a terror-on-the-high-seas feature starring Sam Neill, Billy Zane, and a then-unknown Nicole Kidman. Philip has since directed such big-screen thrillers as The Bone Collector (1999), The Saint (1997), Clear and Present Danger (1994), and Sliver (1993). Philip was born in Griffith, New South Wales, Australia.
Alfred Hitchcock dies (1980). The "Master of Suspense" left behind an influential and acclaimed body of work. Among his undisputed classics are The Birds (1963), Psycho (1960), Vertigo (1958), Rear Window (1954), and Rebecca (1940), to name a few. Hitchcock also acted as host and frequently directed episodes of television's popular suspense series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Outrageous as it seems, Hitchcock never won an Oscar for Best Director, but he was awarded the Academy's Irving Thalberg Memorial Award in 1967. Alfred was born in 1899 in London, England.
Uma Thurman is born (1970). This sultry Oscar nominee played the villainous Poison Ivy in Batman & Robin (1997). Her other genre projects include The Avengers (1998), Gattaca (1997), in which she starred opposite then-husband Ethan Hawke, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), and Jennifer Eight (1992). Uma was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
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- April 30
Larry Niven is born (1938). Larry Niven is the author of the famous Ringworld series. His original Ringworld novel won both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award. In addition to his contributions to science-fiction literature, he also took a few stabs at writing for television. He penned story treatments for episodes of The Outer Limits ("Inconstant Moon") and the Star Trek animated series ("The Slaver Weapon"). He also wrote an episode of Land of the Lost ("Downstream"). Larry was born Laurence van Cott Niven in Los Angeles, California.
Cloris Leachman is born (1926). Throughout her career, Oscar and Emmy winner Cloris has proved to be as adept at heavy dramatic roles as she is at slapstick comedy. One of her most famous portrayals was Frau Bluecher, Dr. Frankenstein's
