March 6

This Day in Humor with Mike Durrett

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Born 1882: Guy Kibbee, actor, "Blonde Crazy" (1931), "42nd Street" (1933), "Gold Diggers of 1933" (1933), "Babbitt" (1934), "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), "The Horn Blows at Midnight" (1945). Died 1956.

Born 1885: Ring Lardner, sportswriter and humorist, came to prominence with his first two volumes of short stories, "You Know Me, Al: A Busher's Letters" (1916) and "Gullible's Travels" (1917). Died 1933.

Born 1891: Victor Kilian, veteran character actor, remembered as the grandfather on "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" (1976-77) and "Forever Fernwood" (1977-78). Died 1979.

Born 1899: Jay C. Flippen, character actor, "The Lemon Drop Kid" (1951), "Ensign O'Toole" (1962-64), "Cat Ballou" (1965). Died 1971.

Born 1906: Lou Costello, comedian, partnered with Bud Abbott to become one of the top comedy teams ever, working in Vaudeville, Burlesque, minstrel shows, movie houses, radio, motion pictures, and television. Their first film was "One Night in the Tropics" (1940), followed by "Buck Privates" (1941), the most successful release to date in Universal's history. Their other movies include "In the Navy" (1941), "Who Done It?" (1942), "In Society" (1944), "The Time of Their Lives" (1946), "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948), and, their last, "Dance With Me Henry" (1956). Lou made one solo film, "30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock" (1959). Died 1959.

Born 1917: Frankie Howerd, British comedian, actor, "The Ladykillers" (1955), "That Was the Week That Was" (1962-64), "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1978). Died 1992.

Born 1920: Lewis Gilbert, film director, "Alfie" (1966), "Educating Rita" (1983), "Shirley Valentine" (1989). He also dabbled with comedy in his James Bond episodes, "You Only Live Twice" (1967), "The Spy Who Loved Me" (1977), and "Moonraker" (1979).

Born 1923: Ed McMahon, announcer, actor, forever recalled as Johnny Carson's sidekick, "Who Do You Trust?" (1957-62), "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (1962-92). Other projects include "Fun With Dick and Jane" (1977), "Star Search" (1983), "TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes" (1984-93).

Born 1931: Hal Needham, film stuntman and bit actor, turned director with Burt Reynolds' monster hit "Smokey and the Bandit" (1977), followed by "Hooper" (1978), "The Villain" (1979), "The Cannonball Run" (1981), and "Stroker Ace" (1983).

1942: Ernst Lubitsch's classic Nazi spoof, "To Be or Not to Be," opened in U.S. theatres, starring Carole Lombard and Jack Benny.

1943: "To Duck ... or Not to Duck" hit theatre screens. In this Warner Bros. cartoon, Daffy challenges Elmer Fudd to a boxing match.

Born 1947: Rob Reiner, actor, "Where's Poppa?" (1970), "All in the Family" (1971-78, Michael "Meathead" Stivic), "Fire Sale" (1977), "This Is Spinal Tap" (1984), "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993). As a film director, his features include "This Is Spinal Tap," "The Sure Thing" (1985), "The Princess Bride" (1987), "When Harry Met Sally..." (1989). Son of Carl Reiner.

Born 1959: Tom Arnold, actor, producer, writer, "Roseanne" (1989-94), "True Lies" (1994), "McHale's Navy" (1997), "The Tom Show" (1997-98).

Born 1963: Suzanne Crough, actress, Tracy on "The Partridge Family" (1970-74).

Born 1963: D.L. Hughley, stand-up comedian, actor, "The Hughleys" (1998-2002), "The Original Kings of Comedy" (2000).

1992: The final episode of "The Cosby Show" was taped.

Copyright ©2003 Mike Durrett. All rights reserved.