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- Welcome to the Archive for March, 2007
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- March 1
SCIFI.COM launches (1995). SCIFI.COM, known throughout its formative years as "The Dominion," launches on the World Wide Web, heralding a new era in science fiction history. And if you believe that last bit, we have a black hole we'd like to sell you.
Ghostbusters opens (1984). This big-budget comedy stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis as three parapsychology professors who turn into high-tech ghost-chasers in order to protect Sigourney Weaver from an evil entity in her refrigerator and the whole of New York City from an onslaught of mischievous spirits. The movie, directed by Ivan Reitman, is a huge hit that eventually spawns a 1989 sequel as well as an animated television series.
Ron Howard is born (1954). Red-haired Ron began as a child star on television, and grew up to become a big-time Hollywood director with such projects as How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), the Oscar-nominated Apollo 13 (1995), the whimsical Willow (1988), the original Cocoon (1985), and the mermaid romance Splash (1984). As a kid, Ron starred in an episode of The Twilight Zone titled "Walking Distance." Ron was born in Duncan, Oklahoma.
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- March 2
Lyle Talbot dies (1996). Lyle will forever be remembered for his roles in two Ed Wood classics. Lyle played General Roberts in Plan Nine from Outer Space (1958) and Inspector Warren in Glen or Glenda? (1953). Lyle's lengthy résumé also includes The Haunted World of Edward D. Wood Jr. (1995), The Mad Magician (1954), Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), Batman and Robin (1949), Return of the Terror (1934), A Shriek in the Night (1933) and The Thirteenth Guest (1932). Lyle was born Lisle Henderson in 1902 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Willis H. O'Brien was born (1886). Pioneer special-effects wizard Willis is best known for his early work on such genre classics as The Lost World (1925), and King Kong (1933). Willis also worked as an effects technician or supervisor on such genre features as Behemoth, The Sea Monster (1959), The Black Scorpion (1957), The Animal World (1956), Mighty Joe Young (1949), and The Son of Kong (1933). Willis also had his turns as a genre director on such early silent films as Morpheus Mike (1915), The Ghost of Slumber Mountain (1918), and Along the Moonbeam Trail (1920). His screenwriting credits include The Valley of Gwangi (1969, uncredited, based on his story Valley in the Mist), Kingukongu tai Gojira, aka King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), and The Beast of Hollow Mountain (1956). Willis, who died in 1962, was born in Oakland, California.
Theodor Seuss Geisel was born (1904). Known as Dr. Seuss, Geisel created a panoply of outlandish and compelling characters in his 46 books for children. Some of his most cherished works include The Cat and the Hat (1957), The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (1957), Horton Hears a Who (1954), and too many more to mention, with numerous spin-off television specials and feature films. His career brought him multiple Academy awards and Emmy awards, and a Pulitzer Prize. Dr. Seuss, who died September 24, 1991, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts.
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- March 3
Sony irradiates the screen with Ultraviolet (2006). Vampire thriller Ultraviolet stars Milla Jovovich as Violet Song jat Shariff, a beautiful vampire in a futuristic world, with glowing young star Cameron Bright as a boy named Six who embodies a cure for the hemophagia that has given the vampires their uncanny strength and speed. Written and directed by Kurt Wimmer.
The Abominable Dr. Phibes opens (1971). Genre legend Vincent Price has one of his greatest roles in this baroque horror movie in which he plays Dr. Anton Phibes, a scientist, organist, and scholar who exacts a hideous revenge on the nine doctors he considers responsible for the untimely death of his beloved wife. The murders, all carefully based on Biblical plagues, include death by bees, locusts, and bloodletting. The movie is successful enough to warrant a 1972 sequel, Dr. Phibes Rises Again, for which both Price and director Robert Fuest return.
James Montgomery Doohan is born (1920). This gifted actor is best known to genre fans the world over as Montgomery Scott, aka "Scotty," of Star Trek. James starred as Lieutenant Commander Scott—the hard-drinking, bare-knuckles-fighting chief engineer of the starship Enterprise—on all three seasons of the original Star Trek television series, and reprised the role in the franchise's first seven theatrical films, as well as in a special guest-starring role on Star Trek: The Next Generation (episode 6.04, "Relics"). In addition to his now-immortal turn as Scotty, James also provided a veritable legion of voice characterizations for the series, as well as returning to provide the voice of Scotty for the 1973 animated Star Trek series. James's non-Trek turns on the big screen have included Bug Buster (1998, as Sheriff Carlson), Storybook (1995, as Uncle Monty) and an uncredited role as Bit in The Satan Bug (1965). His notable TV appearances include episodes of Homeboys in Outer Space ("There's No Space Like Home, or Return of the Jed Eye"), MacGyver ("Harry's Will"), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea ("Hail to the Chief," "Hot Line"), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("The Shark Affair"), The Outer Limits ("Expanding Human"), and The Twilight Zone ("Valley of the Shadow"). James also had regular roles on such series as Space Command (1953, as Phil Mitchell) and Jason of Star Command (1979, as Commander Canarvin). James was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
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- March 4
Adrian Lyne is born (1941). This British director's credits include Jacob's Ladder (1990), which stars Tim Robbins as a Vietnam vet plagued by nightmarish flashbacks, and the trend-setting, Oscar-nominated Fatal Attraction (1987), which stars Glenn Close as the mistress from Hell and Michael Douglas as her prey. Adrian was born in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England.
Paula Prentiss is born (1939). Paula gave a memorable performance as loud-mouthed Bobbie Markowe, a transplanted city dweller and feminist who become a suburban automaton in the popular big-screen adaptation of Ira Levin's The Stepford Wives. Her other genre appearances include the comic Saturday the 14th (1981), the short-lived television series Mr. and Mrs. Dracula (1980), and the political thriller The Parallax View (1974). Paula was born Paula Ragusa in San Antonio, Texas.
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- March 5
Silver Surfer debuts in Fantastic Four No. 48 (1966). Norrin Radd saves his home planet Zenn-La by becoming Silver Surfer, energy procurer for Galactus. A scouting trip to Earth, however, sours the working relationship.
Nosferatu opens (1922). F. W. Murnau's unauthorized gloss on Dracula takes a dark, expressionistic tack. Max Schreck stars as the titular villain, and delivers an immortal and chilling performance. Although the film was photographed in black-and-white, the original prints of Nosferatu were tinted, casting different colors for the stages of day and night.
Rex Harrison is born (1908). Academy Award-winning actor Rex was the classy leading man who played the deceased—but nonetheless romantically inclined—Captain Daniel Gregg in the original big-screen The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947). His other credits include Doctor Dolittle (1967), the suspenseful Midnight Lace (1960), and Noel Coward's ghostly comedy, Blithe Spirit (1945). Rex, who died in 1990, was born in Huyton, Lancashire, England.
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- March 6
Edward Van Sloan dies (1964). This early-period Hollywood character actor played Professor Van Helsing in Tod Browning's seminal Dracula (1931) and its sequel, Dracula's Daughter (1936). Edward also played Doctor Waldman in James Whale's Frankenstein (1931) and Doctor Muller in The Mummy (1932). Other titles on Edward's résumé include Murder on the Campus (1934) and The Man Who Reclaimed His Head (1934). Edward was born in 1881 in San Francisco, California.
Rob Reiner is born (1947). Comic actor-turned-director Rob steered Kathy Bates toward an Academy Award when he directed her opposite James Caan in his screen adaptation of Stephen King's Misery (1990). Rob's other directorial credits include the family-oriented fantasy North (1994), and the popular The Princess Bride (1987). Early in his acting career, Rob starred in an episode of the original Alfred Hitchcock Presents ("Thanatos Palace Hotel"). Rob was born in The Bronx, New York.
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- March 7
Charles Gray dies (2000). This British actor earned his genre wings when he played the Narrator of the all-time 800-pound gorilla of cult cinema, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). Charles's long list of credits also includes the Rocky Horror sequel, Shock Treatment (1981), as well as The Mirror Crack'd (1980), The Legacy (1979), The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976), The Beast Must Die (1974) and You Only Live Twice (1967). Charles was born Donald Marshall Gray in 1928 in Bournemouth, Dorset, England.
Stanley Kubrick dies (1999). Stanley is best known to genre fans for his epic film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which he co-wrote with novelist Arthur C. Clarke and also directed. After scoring a box-office success with 2001 in 1968, Stanley's next genre project was the controversial 1971 film A Clockwork Orange. Stanley also filmed Stephen King's novel The Shining (1980), which was his last genre-related project. Stanley was born July 26, 1928, in New York, New York.
John Heard is born (1945). John has made genre appearances in Mindwalk (1990), Demi Moore's supernatural The Seventh Sign (1988), the fantasy smash Big (1988), Scorsese's surreal After Hours (1985), Too Scared to Scream (1985), the first C.H.U.D. (1984), and Paul Schrader's remake of Cat People (1982). John's television credits include episodes of The Outer Limits ("Dark Matters"), Tales from the Darkside ("Ring Around the Redhead"), and Alfred Hitchcock Presents ("Breakdown"). John was born in Washington, DC.
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- March 8
Freddie Prinze, Jr. is born (1976). Heartthrob Freddie, son of the famous comic actor, played Ray Bronson in the hit slasher flicks I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), as well as leading the pack in Scooby-Doo (2002) and Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004). He also played a role in Michelle Pfeiffer's ghostly romantic fantasy, To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday (1996). Freddie was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Psycho opens (1960). Alfred "Master of Suspense" Hitchcock directs this classic thriller, based on a novel by Robert Bloch. Psycho casts Anthony Perkins as mad, mother-fixated Norman Bates—a role that would cast a shadow over the rest of his career. Sexy Janet Leigh, whose shower scene is still imitated today, goes on to earn an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress for her role as Marion Crane, the woman on the lam who makes an unfortunate stop at the Bates Motel. Other elements that add to the enduring popularity of Psycho are expert supporting turns by Vera Miles and Martin Balsam, and a memorable score by Bernard Herrmann. Though overlooked by many critics during its initial release, the black-and-white Psycho goes on to become one of the American cinema's all-time masterpieces. Years later, Perkins cashes in by starring in three sequels and, in 1998, director Gus Van Sant inexplicably does a shot-by-shot remake—in color.
Aidan Quinn is born (1959). This handsome actor has made genre appearances in In Dreams (1998), Practical Magic (1998), Haunted (1995), Blink (1994), Frankenstein (1994) and The Handmaid's Tale (1990). Aidan was born in Chicago, Illinois.
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- March 9
Tales from the Crypt opens (1972). Genre specialist Freddie Francis directs this British big-screen adaptation of several of the gruesome old E.C. Comics stories. The cast includes horror-movie legend Peter Cushing, along with Joan Collins, Roy Dotrice, and Patrick Magee—all of whom get their proper comeuppance by the film's conclusion. Acclaimed stage actor Ralph Richardson plays The Crypt Keeper. The movie is successful enough to warrant a follow-up (Vault of Horror) and, years later, to inspire the American television series.
Linda Fiorentino is born (1960). Linda, who has a reputation for being both sexy and tough-as-nails, played coroner Dr. Laurel Weaver (a.k.a. Elle) in Barry Sonenfeld's smash hit Men in Black (1997). Linda's other credits include What Planet are You From? (2000), Kevin Smith's Dogma (1999), Unforgettable (1996), Charlie's Ghost Story (1994) and Martin Scorsese's surreal After Hours (1985). Her television credits include an installment of the updated Alfred Hitchcock Presents titled "Night Caller." Linda was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Raul Julia is born (1940). Raul, star of both stage and screen, could play both menacing and suave—often simultaneously. He was especially memorable (and convincingly eccentric) as the pale patriarch Gomez Addams in the big-screen The Addams Family (1991) and its sequel, Addams Family Values (1993). Raul's other genre credits include The Plague (1992), Roger Corman's Frankenstein Unbound (1990), and Eyes of Laura Mars (1978). Raul, who died in 1994, was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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- March 10
Ray Milland dies (1986). Oscar-winning actor Ray Milland was the subject of sinister scientific experiments in both The Thing with Two Heads (1972) and X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes (1963). He also battled vengeful ghosts in the classic The Uninvited (1944) and played Sire Uri in television's original Battlestar Galactica (1978). Ray's other big-screen genre credits include The Attic (1979), The Uncanny (1977), Terror in the Wax Museum (1973), Frogs (1972), The Premature Burial (1962), Panic in Year Zero! (1962), and Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder (1954). Ray's television projects include Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby (1976), Daughter of the Mind (1969), and a 1971 episode of Night Gallery titled "The Hand of Borgus Weems." Ray was born in 1907 in Neath, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.
Dr. Phibes Rises Again opens (1972). In Dr. Phibes Rises Again, genre legend Vincent Price returns to one of his most famous roles as Dr. Anton Phibes, a scientist, scholar, and occultist who here sets out to use the "Scrolls of Life" to resurrect his dead wife. Like the original film, also directed by Robert Fuest, this one is loaded with lots of ghoulish killings and a healthy dose of high-camp humor.
Sharon Stone is born (1958). Early in her career, this Oscar-nominated blonde bombshell starred for director Wes Craven in his Deadly Blessing (1981) and took on Schwarzenegger himself as an ex-wife with a major grudge in the futuristic, special-effects extravaganza Total Recall (1990). Sharon's other credits include Sphere (1998), Diabolique (1996), Sliver (1993), Scissors (1991) and the very revealing Basic Instinct (1992). Sharon also provided the voice of Princess Bala in the animated Antz (1998). Sharon was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania.
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- March 11
THX 1138 opens (1970). This visually stylish debut feature from director George Lucas (who also created a genre franchise known as Star Wars, which you might have heard of) follows three independent thinkers who plot to escape from a futuristic society in which sex is outlawed, drugs are mandatory, and people are encouraged to look and behave like automatons. Adapted from an award-winning short Lucas made while a student at USC, this sci-fi feature stars Academy Award-winning actor Robert Duvall and Donald Pleasence of Halloween fame.
Douglas Adams is born (1952). Douglas is one of the most fiercely beloved authors of a rare hybrid genre, the science-fiction comedy. While Douglas is most famous for his novels—which include The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, and So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish—he rose to genre superstardom following the adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe into a single 1981 BBC-TV miniseries. Douglas's other writing credits include episodes of the British TV series Doctor Who ("The Pirate Planet," "City of Death," "Shada"), on which he worked as a story editor. He also made a guest appearance in an oddly SF-themed sketch ("Mr. Neutron") for Monty Python's Flying Circus, for which he also was a contributing writer. Douglas was born Douglas Noël Adams in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.
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- March 12
The Rage: Carrie 2 opens (1999). This sequel (late in coming) to Brian De Palma's classic 1976 adaptation of Stephen King's Carrie finds a new telekinetic teenage outcast pushed to the brink—and over it—by relentlessly cruel classmates. Stepping in for Sissy Spacek is New York stage actress Emily Bergl. Amy Irving returns as Sue Snell, the sole survivor of the fiery prom in the original, now grown into a guidance counselor haunted by her past.
Fire in the Sky opens (1993). This "fact-based" sci-fi feature, based on Travis Wilson's book The Walton Experience, explores the circumstances of the author's mysterious five-day disappearance. After a group of government-hired workmen return from the Arizona wilderness claiming that one of their number was abducted by aliens, disbelieving authorities treat the disappearance as a case of murder. Five days later, the missing man returns—with strange memories of his extraterrestrial captors. The cast includes D. B. Sweeney, Peter Berg, James Garner, and Henry Thomas (from E.T.).
Harry Harrison is born (1925). Tuesday is Soylent Green Day—but today is Harry Harrison's birthday. Harry, the author of the Stainless Steel Rat adventures and the Eden dino-series, wrote the novel Make Room! Make Room! which was loosely adapted to film as Soylent Green—very loosely. The novel's soylent green foodstuff is something entirely different from that depicted in the film version.
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- March 13
Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn opens (1987). Director Sam Raimi's follow-up to his low-budget 1982 hit again casts Bruce Campbell as hapless Ash, an average guy who finds himself trapped in the woods with some very nasty spirits. The movie's most memorable sequence finds Ash fighting his own severed hand. Like the first Evil Dead, this one is as stylish as it is stomach-turning. Genre fanatics turn it into another big hit for Raimi, who goes on to end his Dead trilogy with 1993's Army of Darkness.
Deborah Raffin is born (1953). Deborah has starred in a variety of genre projects, including Larry Cohen's creepy cult favorite God Told Me To (1977) and the first Scanners sequel, Scanners II: The New Order (1991). Deborah's other credits include Dance of the Dwarfs (1983), The Sentinel (1977), and a slew of made-for-television features, including Sparkling Cyanide (1983), Mind Over Murder (1979) and Ski Lift to Death (1978). She also starred in an episode of the updated Twilight Zone titled "Something in the Walls." Deborah was born in Los Angeles, California.
William H. Macy is born (1950). This busy Oscar nominee played Ed (aka "The Shoveler") in the big-screen adaptation of Mystery Men (1999) and also starred in the big-budget Jurassic Park III (2001). William's other credits include Panic (2000), Gus Van Sant's remake of Psycho (1998), the allegorical Pleasantville (1998) and the time-travel fantasy Somewhere in Time (1980). He also provided the voice of Ichabod Crane for the 1999 made-for-television Night of the Headless Horseman. William was born in Miami, Florida.
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- March 14
Kevin Williamson is born (1965). Kevin is the screenwriter who single-handedly revived the slasher genre with his script for Wes Craven's original Scream (1996). Kevin's other writing projects include Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999), The Faculty (1998), Scream 2 (1997) and I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). Kevin also served as a producer on Scream 3 (2000) and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998). Kevin was born in New Bern, North Carolina.
Michael Caine is born (1933). This two-time Academy Award-winning actor played a cross-dressing psycho in Brian DePalma's Dressed to Kill (1980) and an author haunted by a severed limb in Oliver Stone's The Hand (1981). Michael's long list of credits also includes playing Captain Nemo in the 1997 made-for-television version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and taking on the genre's most popular two-faced monster in a 1990 version of Jekyll & Hyde. Michael has also been featured in such big-screen projects as A Shock to the System (1990), Without a Clue (1988), Jaws: The Revenge (1987), Deathtrap (1982), The Island (1980), The Swarm (1978,) and Sleuth (1972). Michael was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite in Rotherhithe, London, England.
Val Lewton is born (1904). Producer Val Lewton is remembered for the touch of class he brought to a number of genre films of the 1940s, among them Bedlam (1946), Isle of the Dead (1945), The Body Snatcher (1945), The Curse of the Cat People (1944), and two bona fide classics—I Walked with a Zombie (1943) and Cat People (1942). Val, who died in 1951, was born in Yalta, Russia.
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- March 15
Renny Harlin is born (1959). This big-budget Hollywood director, whose first turn in the genre came at the helm of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), most recently put a trio of mechanical sharks through their paces in the underwater sci-fi thriller Deep Blue Sea (1999). Renny (who used to be married to Geena Davis) also directed such action features as Cutthroat Island (1995), The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), Cliffhanger (1993), Die Hard 2 (1990), and the grisly horror flick Prison (1988). Renny was born in Riihimäki, Finland.
Forbidden Planet opens (1956). This MGM feature—a futuristic, outer-space version of William Shakespeare's The Tempest—follows the adventures of a captain (Leslie Nielsen) and his crew who visit a distant star inhabited by fugitive scientist Professor Morbius (Walter Pidgeon), his nubile daughter (Anne Francis), a friendly robot named Robby, and an invisible but very hostile alien force. Directed by Fred Wilcox McLeod, working from a script by Irving Block and Allen Adler, this trend-setting sci-fi feature includes lively animation effects and an intriguing electronic sound score that was decades ahead of its time. Since its initial release on this day in 1956, Forbidden Planet has remained one of the genre's most enduring titles. Influential (and notoriously hard-to-please) critic Pauline Kael once classified it as "the best of the science fiction interstellar productions of the 1950s."
H. P. Lovecraft dies (1937). H. P. is one of the genre's most accomplished and enduring authors. His work, which combines sci-fi with macabre horror, has been adapted to the screen in scores of movie projects, including director Stuart Gordon's grisly classic, Re-Animator (1985). Other genre films that trace their sources to Lovecraft's literary works are Necronomicon (1994), The Resurrected (1992), The Unnamable (1988), The Curse (1987), From Beyond (1986), The Dunwich Horror (1970), The Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968), The Shuttered Room (1967), Die, Monster, Die! (1965), and Roger Corman's The Haunted Palace (1963). H. P. was born Howard Phillips Lovecraft in 1890 in Providence, Rhode Island.
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- March 16
Kate Nelligan is born (1950). This classy, Oscar-nominated actor has won acclaim for her work on both stage and screen. She is most memorable to genre fans for her performance as Lucy (opposite Frank Langella) in John Badham's romantic 1979 version of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Kate also made appearances in Mike Nichol's Wolf (1994), the made-for-television Terror Stalks the Class Reunion (1992), and the adaptation of Ken Follett's suspenseful Eye of the Needle (1981). Kate was born Patricia Colleen Nelligan in London, Ontario, Canada.
Todd McFarlane is born (1961). Todd is the co-founder of Image Comics and the creator of the popular Spawn, a serial fantasy-adventure about a murdered mercenary who returns from Hell as a reluctant soldier of the Devil. Todd has seen his work adapted to the big screen with Spawn (1997) and Spawn II: Dark Justice (2001), each of which he worked on as both writer and director. Todd also acted as executive producer of the HBO Original animated television series version of Spawn. Todd, a former minor league baseball player, was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Dr. Robert H. Goddard successfully launched the first liquid-fueled rocket (1926). The launch took place at Auburn, Massachusetts, and is regarded by flight historians to be as significant as the Wright Brothers flight at Kitty Hawk.
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- March 17
Final Destination opens (2000). This routine horror flick, clearly aimed at the teenage market, casts death itself as the monster. After a premonition saves a young man and a few of his classmates from a fatal plane crash, they think they've been miraculously spared—but when they start to die one by one in a series of grisly freak accidents, the kids learn they can't cheat death so easily. The writer-director is James Wong, a veteran writer-producer of such genre television series as The X-Files and Millennium (1996).
John Koenig is born (1957). The eventual commander of Space: 1999’s Moonbase Alpha, John Koenig was portrayed by Martin Landau (48 episodes, 1975–1978).
Kurt Russell is born (1951). Kurt is an American actor with a rich history of genre roles. As a boy, he had guest roles on both Gilligan's Island and Lost in Space. Later, he did some solid work for Disney in The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, reprising the role of Dexter Reilly in Now You See Him, Now You Don't and The Strongest Man in the World. In 1981, he starred as Snake Plisken in John Carpenter's Escape From New York. Other outings for Carpenter included the remake of The Thing and Big Trouble in Little China 1986. He originated the role of Colonel Jonathan 'Jack' O'Neil in the movie [[Stargate]] (1994). The watchable star livened up Vanilla Sky (2001), lived down Soldier (1998), flew Sky High (2005), took a bath in Poseidon (2006), and will appear in 2007’s Grindhouse, in a segment directed by Quentin Tarantino ("Death Proof"). Kurt was born in Springfield, Massachusetts.
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- March 18
The Flesh Eaters opens (1964). After a plane crash, a small group of travelers find themselves stranded on a remote island infested with flesh-eating micro-organisms—the lingering result of Nazi experimentation in biological warfare—in this grisly, entertaining, low-budget cult favorite.
Luc Besson is born (1959). French writer-producer-director Luc Besson wrote nascent versions of his big-screen hits The Big Blue (1988) and The Fifth Element (1997) as a teenager. Luc's other genre credits include The Final Combat (1983) and the original French thriller La Femme Nikita (1990), which went on to spawn one English-language remake (1993's Point of No Return, starring Bridget Fonda), one sequel (1994's The Professional, which starred future Star Wars: Episode I royal Natalie Portman) and one USA Networks original TV series. Luc was born in Paris, France.
Peter Graves is born (1926). Silver-haired Peter, a longtime staple on television, spent the early part of his pre-Mission Impossible career as the leading man in a variety of memorable, low-budget genre flicks, including Bert I. Gordon's giant-grasshopper epic Beginning of the End (1957), Roger Corman's It Conquered the World (1956), Killers from Space (1954), and Red Planet Mars (1952). Peter's post-M:I genre appearances include Missile X (1978), Parts: The Clonus Horror (1978), The Mysterious Monsters (1975), the made-for-television Scream of the Wolf (1974), and Addams Family Values (1993). Peter was born Peter Aurness in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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- March 19
Bruce Willis is born (1955). This box office king (and ex-hubby to Demi Moore) scored the biggest hit of his career when he played Dr. Malcolm Crowe, the child psychologist who comes to the aid of haunted Haley Joel Osment in M. Night Shyamalan's blockbuster The Sixth Sense (1999). Bruce starred for Shyamalan again in the supernatural Unbreakable (2000), this time opposite Samuel L. Jackson. Bruce's other genre projects include the apocalyptic Armageddon (1998), Luc Besson's The Fifth Element (1997), Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys (1995), and Robert Zemeckis's Death Becomes Her (1992). Early in his career, Bruce was featured in an episode of television's updated Twilight Zone titled "Shatterday." Bruce was born in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany.
Glenn Close is born (1947). Glenn, a five-time Oscar nominee who has yet to take home a statuette, played Alex Forrest, the mistress from Hell in Adrian Lyne's popular thriller, Fatal Attraction (1987). Glenn also starred for Tim Burton in Mars Attacks! (1996), took on the role of Cruella De Vil in 101 Dalmatians (1996) and 102 Dalmatians (2000), and played opposite Julia Roberts in her Jekyll and Hyde project, Mary Reilly (1996). Glenn's other credits include The House of the Spirits (1993), Steven Spielberg's Hook (1991), and the ghostly romantic comedy Maxie (1985). Glenn was born in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Patrick McGoohan is born (1928). This movie and television regular played Dr. Paul Ruth in David Cronenberg's original Scanners (1981) and took on the role of title hero's father in The Phantom (1996). Patrick's other credits include Baby . . . Secret of the Lost Legend (1985) and the 1960s television series The Prisoner. Patrick was born in New York, New York.
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- March 20
Holly Hunter is born (1958). Though she might not like to admit it, diminutive Academy Award winner Holly Hunter made her screen debut in a grisly, little-seen slasher flick, The Burning (1981). Holly's subsequent credits include the bizarre romantic fantasy A Life Less Ordinary (1997), David Cronenberg's controversial Crash (1996), the suspenseful Copycat (1995), and Steven Spielberg's otherworldly love story Always (1989). Holly was born in Conyers, Georgia.
Theresa Russell is born (1957). This sexy leading lady has starred in a handful of quirky titles that flirt with the genre, among them The Grotesque (1995), Being Human (1993), Steven Soderbergh's Kafka (1991), Track 29 (1988), Aria (1987), and Black Widow (1986). Theresa was born in San Diego, California.
William Hurt is born (1950). This Oscar winner made his big-screen debut when he played driven researcher Eddie Jessup in 1980's Altered States. William played Duke Leto Atreides in the SCI FI Channel television miniseries version of Frank Herbert's epic Dune (2000) and Professor John Robinson in the update of Lost in Space (1998). William's other genre projects include Dark City (1998), Michael (1996), The Plague (1992), and Wim Wender's globe-trotting sci-fi fantasy Until the End of the World (1992). Other projects include Tuck Everlasting (2002) and Steven Spielberg's AI - Artificial Intelligence (2001). William was born in Washington, DC.
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- March 21
Matthew Broderick is born (1962). This stage and screen actor (and spouse of Sarah Jessica Parker) first lent his boyish charm to the role of a computer hacker who nearly triggers World War III in WarGames (1983). Matthew followed that success with two other genre titles, Ladyhawke (1985) and Project X (1987). More recently, Matthew played the title hero in the high-tech Inspector Gadget (1999) and led the cast of Roland Emmerich's big-budget remake of Godzilla (1998). Matthew was born in New York, New York.
Gary Oldman is born (1958). Gary, who specializes in villains, played Prince Vlad himself in Francis Ford Coppola's baroque version of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). After that, he reinvented the role of Dr. Zachary Smith for the big-screen adaptation of Lost in Space (1998). Gary's other genre credits include Hannibal (2001) and Luc Besson's The Fifth Element (1997). Gary was born in New Cross, London, England.
Timothy Dalton is born (1946). Timothy, who was an especially suave James Bond in Licence to Kill (1989) and The Living Daylights (1987), has starred in such genre fare as The Doctor and the Devils (1985), Flash Gordon (1980), The Rocketeer (1991), and the made-for-television Possessed (2000). Timothy was also featured in an installment of Tales from the Crypt titled "Werewolf Concerto." Timothy was born in Colwyn Bay, Wales.
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- March 22
Raymond Z. Gallun is born (1910). Raymond Zinke Gallun (rhymes with balloon) was among the stalwart group of early sci-fi pulp writers who popularized the genre. Much of his shorter work first appeared in the 1930s. His first book came out in 1957 from Simon & Schuster, People Minus X, followed by The Planet Strappers in 1961 (Pyramid). The Ballantine collection issued in 1978, The Best of Raymond Z. Gallun, provides an excellent selection of his work. Gallun was honored with the I-CON Lifetime Achievement Award in 1985 at I-CON IV; the award was later renamed The Raymond Gallun Award. Gallun, who died April 2, 1994, was born in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.
Reese Witherspoon is born (1976). This star was terrorized by a deranged Mark Wahlberg in Fear (1996) and transported into a fantastical black-and-white world of the 1950s in Pleasantville (1998). Witherspoon's other credits include the adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's bloody American Psycho, Adam Sandler's devilish comedy Little Nicky (2000), and Just Like Heaven (2005). Witherspoon was born in Nashville, Tennessee.
William Shatner is born (1931). Shatner is one of the most famous film and television actors in the world, thanks to his starring role as Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise. Shatner portrayed Kirk in the original 1960s TV series Star Trek, and he reprised the role in the first seven Star Trek feature films. Shatner's other film roles include Incubus (1965), the made-for-TV Horror at 37,000 Feet (1972), Impulse (1974), Kingdom of the Spiders (1977), and the sci-fi-themed comedy Free Enterprise (1998). Shatner also created, executive produced and starred in the sci-fi TV series TekWar. His extensive television résumé includes episodes of such series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents ("The Glass Eye"), the original Twilight Zone ("Nick of Time" and the famous "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"), the original Outer Limits ("Cold Hands, Warm Heart"), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("The Project Strigas Affair"), Mission: Impossible ("Cocaine"), The Six Million Dollar Man ("Burning Bright"), Mork and Mindy ("Mork, Mindy, and Mearth Meet MILT," as himself), The Ray Bradbury Theatre ("The Playground"), SeaQuest DSV ("Hide and Seek"), and 3rd Rock from the Sun ("Dick's Big Giant Headache" and "The Big Giant Head Returns," Parts 1 and 2). Trivia note: In 3rd Rock from the Sun, Shatner appeared opposite
