July 23rd Birthdays:


Emil Jannings (1884-1950) actor - first one, in fact, to recieve the Academy Award for Best Actor (The Way of All Flesh)(lost film) and for The Last Command. He was the attendant in The Last Laugh, and the Professor in The Blue Angel. It's best not to ask what he did during WWII...



Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) - author, serious drinker.One of the best openings to a story I've ever read:"There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge." — Raymond Chandler (Red Wind: A Collection of Short Stories)

 and then there's his way with a line:'


"I don't mind your showing me your legs. They're very swell legs and it's a pleasure to make their acquaintace. I don't mind if you don't like my manners. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter nights." — Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep)


"It seemed like a nice neighborhood to have bad habits in." — Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep)

"Dead men are heavier than broken hearts." — Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep)

"You talk too damn much and too damn much of it is about you." — Raymond Chandler (The Long Goodbye)
 
"I'm an occasional drinker, the kind of guy who goes out for a beer and wakes up in Singapore with a full beard." — Raymond Chandler (Philip Marlowe's Guide to Life)

"Tall, aren't you?" she said.
I didn't mean to be."
Her eyes rounded. She was puzzled. She was thinking. I could see, even on that short acquaintance, that thinking was always going to be a bother to her." — Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep)





Harry Cohn (1891-1958) - President of Columbia Pictures. Not very well liked. For good reasons. One star went to his funeral "to see if he was really dead". Another commented on the large crowd: "It just proves what Harry always said. Give the people what they want and they'll turn out for it".




Daniel Radcliffe - actor/Harry Potter
He sure growed up nice.