John Leguizamo, born July 22, 1960 in Bogota, Columbia, began his career as an extra in Madonna's Borderline video in 1984. His breakout performance was his role as Chi-Chi in To Wong Fu, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, which garnered him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Since then, he has shown his immense talent for a variety of genres. He has voiced Sid the Sloth in the animated Ice Age franchise, appeared as Scrooge in comedy-horror Violent Night, and most recently, The Odyssey.
He has been nominated for four Primetime Emmys and won the Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Music Program in 1999 for his performance in John Leguizamo: Freak. He was nominated for two Tony Awards in 1998 for Freak.
He frequently appears as a host for The Daily Show.
Steve Clark, born April 23, 1960 in Sheffield, England, was a guitarist for super-rock group Def Leppard until his death in 1991. He joined Def Leppard in 1978 and played on all their albums until Hysteria, the last album released before his death. He contributed to songwriting and demos for Adrenalize which was released in 1992.
He passed away in January 1991 after years of drug and alcohol abuse.
Mirror Image, the twenty-first episode of the first season of The Twilight Zone aired February 26, 1960. It starred Vera Miles as Millicent Barnes, waiting at a bus stop for the bus to Cortland, but due to bad weather, it is half an hour late.
When she asks the station clerk about when it will arrive, he scolds her for constantly asking him, even though she thinks it's the first time she's asked him. When she goes into the ladies' room, the cleaning woman suggests she was just in there. She sees a bag that resembles hers behind the counter. The gripey clerk insists she just checked it, but when she turns around her back isn't there.
Creepy things continue to happen. Then a man, played by Martin Milner, tries to help her figure out what's going on. Until strange things start happening to him.
On February 1, 1960, Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Joseph MacNeil, entered the Woolworth's store on South Elm Street in Greensboro, North Carolina. They purchased items from a desegregated counter, with no issues, and each ordered a cup of coffee and a donut from the lunch counter. They were refused service. A white waitress said, "We don't serve Negroes here". The men were also harassed by the African-American employees.
The A&T Four or the Greensboro Four, as they became to be known as, stayed until closing. The next day, over twenty black students showed up to sit at the counter. Again they were refused service, but they stayed and worked on homework from 11am - 3pm. They were harassed by the white customers, however, the local news was now alerted.
On February 3, more than 60 black students showed up, with about one third being female. The lunch counter still refused service and members of the local KKK were there. Woolworth's stated it would abide by its segregation policy.
February 4, over 300 people took part, including students from across the Greensboro area. Organizers agreed to expand the sit-ins to include the lunch counter at the S.H Kress & Co. store that day as well.
On February 5, 50 white men sat at the counter to protest the sit-ins, which now included white students. Police arrested three white patrons for yelling and swearing.
Saturday, February 6, over 1000 protestors and counter-protesters filled the store, until a bomb threat was phoned in, forcing the store to close.
The sit-ins continued, and the students began a boycott of stores with segregated lunch counters. Those stores saw a drop in revenue by a third, which led to them dropping their segregation policies.
Ben-Hur, the epic religious-based film, won a record 11 Academy Awards at the 32nd annual ceremony, held April 4, 1960. It won Best Motion Picture for producer Sam Zimbalist, who passed away suddenly during the filming of Ben-Hur in 1958. He is the only person to ever posthumously receive a Best Picture Award. His wife, Mary, accepted the award and made a speech in honor of her late husband.
William Wyler won Best Director. Charlton Heston won Best Actor for his portrayal as Judah Ben-Hur. Hugh Griffith won Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Sheik Ildermin. The film won Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture for Miklos Rozsa and Best Sound for Frank Milton.
William A. Horning was awarded Best Art Direction, Color with Edward Carfagno and Hugh Hunt. Like Zimbalist, Horning died during the filming of Ben-Hur and was awarded the Oscar posthumously.
Robert Surtees won Best Cinemtaography, Color. Elizabeth Haffenden won Best Costume Design, Color. Ralph E. Winters and John D. Dunning were awarded Best Film Editing. Ben-Hur won Best Special Effects for Arnold Gillesie, Robert MacDonald and Milo Lory.
The only category for which Ben-Hur received a nomination but did not win was Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. That award went to Room at the Top.
Brian Hyland's recording of Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, August 8, 1960. It was his first and only #1 hit. He went on to have more hits over the years, but this one remains his biggest hit. The song was written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss.
Theme from A Summer Place was written for the 1959 movie of the same name by Max Steiner and lyrics by Mack Discant. Hugo Winterhalter recorded the song as an instrumental for the film.
However, it is Percy Faith's recording that is the most popular. He released it in September 1959, and it began a slow rise to #1, reaching the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, February 22, 1960. It remained there for a record 9 weeks, a record which wouldn't be broken until Debby Boone's You Light Up My Life in 1977.
Billboard ranked Faith's version as the Number One song for 1960. Percy Faith won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year, becoming the first movie theme and first instrumental to win a Grammy for Record of the Year.
Beautiful actress Andrea Thompson, born January 6, 1960 in Dayton, Ohio, is probably best known for her work on NYPD Blue, but my favorite is her appearance as Psi Officer Talia Winters on Babylon 5. She also appeared in an episode of Murder, She Wrote with Angela Lansbury.
Thompson was only in two seasons of Babylon 5, appearing in 44 episodes, and her character was written out of the series rather rudely, but I understand there were some extenuating circumstances.
Richard "Rick" Savage, born December 1960 in Yorkshire, England, is bass guitarist and a founding member of Def Leppard. He and Joe Elliott are the only two remaining original members of the band.
In 1976, Savage was working to form a band, and the group auditioned Joe Elliott. Later they hired guitarist Steve Clark and changed their name to Def Leppard. He has performed on every album.
In 1994, Savage contracted Bell's Palsy, which is a temporary paralysis of facial muscles.
Deb Haaland, born December 2, 1960 in Winslow, Arizona, is the first Native American to be appointed to the US Cabinet. She assumed the office of Secretary of the Interior under President Biden in March 2021, after being confirmed by a vote of 51-40.
Haaland is a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, and earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Mexico, and later earned her Juris Doctor in Indian Law from UNM's School of Law. She ran for Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico in 2014 with Gary King, but lost the election.
She ran for the US House of Representatives for New Mexico in 2018 and won the election. Haaland was one of first two Native American women to be seated in Congress, with Sharice Davids, a representative from Kansas.
Haaland had the support of many Democrats in Congress for the position of Secretary of the Interior before Biden announced her nomination. She wore traditional Laguna Pueblo regalia for her swearing-in ceremony.
Christopher Loria, born July 9, 1960 in Newton, Massachusetts, is a retired NASA astronaut. He was scheduled to pilot the Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-113) in November 2002, but a serious back injury grounded him. In the fall of 2004, his injuries were determined to be inoperable and this resulted in his being medically disqualified from future space flights. He requested to be re-assigned to the Marine Corps. He retired as an astronaut in 2005.
Ultra-suave actor Antonio Banderas, born August 10, 1960 in Malaga, Spain, has one of the sexiest voices in Hollywood, as Steve Colbert proves in the video below.
His made his first appearance in False Eyelash, a Spanish film released in 1982, and has since made over 100 movies to date. His voice-over as Puss 'N Boots from the Shrek movie franchise is one of his most popular roles. He came to fame for his performance in Mambo Kings (1992) and then as Tom Hanks' lover in Philadelphia (1993). He has starred in the Spy Kids franchise and made an appearance in The Expendables 3.
He has been nominated for an Oscar and has plenty of projects on the way, including Indiana Jones 5, which is in post-production.
Takehiro Murata, born March 18, 1960 in Tokyo, Japan, has appeared in five Godzilla movies. His first appearance was in Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth in 1992. He then appeared Godzilla vs. Destroyah (1995), Godzilla 2000 (1999), Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001), and Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla (2002). The last two he only had cameo appearances.
He was nominated by the Japanese Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth.
One of the sexiest men alive, Antonio Banderas, born August 10, 1960 in Malaga, Spain, is a multi-award winning actor. He's been nominated for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy, a Golden Globe among many others.
He has starred in The Mambo Kings, Philadelphia, and the Expendables 3. He is the voice of Puss in Boots in the Shrek movies.
Thomas Marshburn, born August 29, 1960 in Statesville, North Carolina, is a veteran of two space flights and has spent over 161 days in space.
His first flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-127) as mission specialist to the International Space Station. He participated in three EVAs during the mission for a total of about 19 hours.
His second flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-07M as flight engineer to the ISS in December 2012 with birthday twin Chris Hadfield. He participated in Expeditions 34 and 35. He returned to Earth in May 2013.
Sputnik 4, launched May 15, 1960 from the Soviet Union, was the first Vostok spacecraft. It was unmanned, but served as a test for the first human spaceflight. A guidance error sent it into a higher orbit than intended. The descent module ree-entered the atmosphere on September 6, 1962. A piece weighing 20 pounds was found in Manitowoc, Wisconsin by two police officers.
The remaining module re-entered the atmosphere on October 15, 1965.
Douglas Wheelock, born May 5, 1960 in Binghamton, New York, has been in space twice.
His first trip was aboard Discovery (STS-120) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in October-November 2007. During the mission, he conducted three EVAs with fellow astronaut Scott Parazynski. They returned to Earth after about 15 days.
His second flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-19 as flight engineer in June 2010 to the International Space Station. He participated in Expeditions 24 and 25. He remained in space about 150 days.
In June 2004, he participated in expedition NEEMO 6 in NASA's Aquarius Underwater Laboratory.
The Sound of Music won five awards at the 14th Tony Awards held April 24, 1960. It tied with Fiorello for Best Musical.
Mary Martin won Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for her role as Maria Von Trapp, beating Carol Burnett as Princess Winnifred in Once Upon a Mattress. Patricia Neway won Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as the Mother Abbess.
The Sound of Music also won for Best Conductor and Musical Director, and Best Scenic Design (Musical).
Theodore Bikel and Kurt Kasznar were nominated for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. Lauri Peters was nominated for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as Liesl Von Trapp. The musical was also nominated for Best Direction of a Musical.
Yuri Shargin, born March 20, 1960 in the former Soviet Union, went into space once aboard Soyuz TMA-5 in October 2004 to the International Space Station. He remained on board for just over 9 days and returned to Earth on Soyuz TMA-4.
Pioneer 5, launched March 11, 1960, was to be the first probe to fly past Venus. Technical issues delayed the launch until the window of opportunity to Venus had closed. Instead of waiting another 3 years, NASA sent it into space, between the orbits of Earth and Venus.
It measured solar flare particles and cosmic radiation. The last signal from Pioneer 5 was received June 26, 1960 when it was over 36 million miles away.
