"Hello, Dolly" wins 10 Tony Awards 1964

Hello, Dolly, which debuted at the Fisher Theater in Detroit in November 1963 and moved to Broadway in 1964, won ten Tony Awards at the 18th annual ceremony May 24, 1964.

Hello, Dolly won:

Best Musical

Best Producer (Musical) for David Merrick

Best Book (Musical) for Michael Stewart

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theater for Jerry Herman

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for Carol Channing

Best Direction of a Musical for Gower Champion

Best Choreography for Gower Champion

Best Conductor and Musical Director for Shepard Coleman

Best Scenic Design for Oliver Smith

Best Costume Design for Freddy Wittop

The only category for which Hello, Dolly was nominated but lost was Best Performance by a Supporting or Featured Actor in a Musical for Charles Nelson Reilly.  (I demand a recount!)

Happy birthday, astronaut Paul Richards!

Paul Richards, born May 20, 1964 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, went into space aboard the space shuttle Discovery (STS-102) to the International Space Station as a mission specialist in March 2001.  The mission was to carry the crew of Expedition 2 to the ISS and bring home Expedition 1.  

During the mission, Richards and fellow astronaut Andrew Thomas performed an EVA which lasted 6 hours and 21 minutes. 

Richards returned to Earth after almost 13 days in space. He retired from NASA in February 2002 to pursue private interests.

Happy birthday, astronaut James Kelly!

James Kelly, born May 14, 1964 in Burlington, Iowa, traveled into space twice on Space Shuttle missions.  He received his BS degree in astronautical engineering from the US Air Force Academy in 1986, and a MS in aerospace engineering from the University of Alabama in 1996.

His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-102) in March 2001 as pilot to the International Space Station.  He spent over 12 days in space.

His second and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-114), the "Return to Flight" mission, the first after the Columbia disaster, to the International Space Station in July-August 2005. He spent almost 2 weeks in space before returning to Earth. 

Twilight Zone episode "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" airs 1964

A bit of a departure from the usual Twilight Zone fare, Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge was a short film presented at a French film festival, in which Rod Serling was in attendance. It is reported that he hunted down the producers and bought it for a one-time showing on the Twilight Zone.  The film is based on a short story written by Ambrose Bierce, originally published in 1890. The film won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject.

The story, set during the Civil War, a Confederate prisoner is due to be hanged.  French actor Roger Jacquet plays the prisoner Peyton Farquhar.  The Twilight Zone episode aired February 28, 1964. 

I've only seen it a couple of times but it is one of my favorites.

Hasbro introduces G.I. Joe 1964

The toy company Hasbro introduced its line of action figures, G.I. Joe February 2, 1964. Initially, it represented four branches of the US military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines.  The action figures were 12" in the beginning, but reintroduced in 1982 as a 3.75" scale and a background story involving the evil Cobra organization. 

Since the mindset in the 60s was that boys did not play with dolls, parents wouldn't buy their sons dolls, since they were for girls.  Hasbro always used the term "action figure" and never "doll" in the marketing of G.I. Joe. 

I remember the sailor figure had a beard (I think). I enjoyed many hours of playing with my G.I. Joe toys.  I watched the animated series in the 1980s some, and fell in love with Shipwreck.  He's still my favorite even though he wasn't in the original release.

G.I. Joe was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Pop Culture Hall of Fame in 2017.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Albert Paulsen, first Latin American to win a Primetime Emmy

Albert Paulsen, born in Ecuador December 13, 1925, became the first Latin American actor to win a Primetime Emmy.  Other Latin actors had been nominated before, but Paulsen's was the first win.  He won the award in 1964 for Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role by an Actor for his portrayal as Lt. Volkoval in Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, in the episode One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

He also appeared in The Manchurian Candidate with Angela Lansbury!  He also appeared in Eyewitness with Signourney Weaver!  

I couldn't find a clip of his Emmy-winning role, but here is a clip from when he appeared on the Odd Couple with Roy Clark.

First Pink Panther episode "Pink Phink" airs 1964

The first Pink Panther episode, Pink Phink, aired December 18, 1964.  The animated short would win Best Animated Short at the 37th Academy Awards.

It features the Pink Panther and a painter known as "Little Man" battling for the color of a house.  Little Man wants it blue, but the Pink Panther undoes his hard work by re-painting everything pink.  

The studio DePatie-Freleng Enterprises is the first studio to win the award for their first short. Pink Phink is the only short from the studio that won any Academy Awards. The Pink Panther shorts used the music from Henry Mancini's Academy Award nominated soundtrack to the Pink Panther movie series staring Peter Sellers. 

"The Creeping Terror" released 1964

The Creeping Terror, released November 20, 1964, has been dubbed the second worse movie ever, after Plan 9 from Outer Space.  But Plan 9 had a coherent plot, albeit a campy one.  Vic Savage directed, produced, and starred in the movie.  It follows an alien, resembling a shag carpet, that eats people, terrorizing a small rural town.  

According to wikipedia.com, the special effects creator was not paid for his work, so he stole the original costume for the alien monster the day before shooting started so Savage and his crew had to throw together a poor recreation of the costume.  

Savage experienced difficulty securing funding so even though filming started in 1962, it wasn't finished until 1963.  The movie is almost completely narrated, with very little dialogue.  There are several theories on why there was so little speaking.  

Savage was sued several times prior to the film's release and disappeared, never to be seen again.  It is rumored that he died of liver failure in 1975.  

William Thourlby, who played Dr. Bradford, was the face of the Marlboro Man advertising campaign in the 1950s. 

The Creeping Terror was featured in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in 1994. 

Happy birthday, astronaut Nicholas Patrick!

Nicholas Patrick, born November 19, 1964 in Yorkshire, England, has spent almost a month in space.

His first mission was aboard Discovery (STS-116) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in December 2006. He spent almost 13 days in space, 7 of those docked at the space station.  

His second and final mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-130) as mission specialist to the ISS in February 2010.  He conducted 3 EVAs with fellow astronaut Robert Behnken for a total of more than 18 hours.  He spent almost 14 days in space and completed 217 orbits.

Happy birthday, Famke Janssen!

Famke Janssen, born November 5, 1964 in the Netherlands, is probably best known for her performance as Jean Grey in the X-Men movies.  She began as a model in New York City and then later became an actress.  She appeared in four of the movies.

She appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Perfect Mate with Patrick Stewart, who plays Professor Xavier in the X-Men movies! 

She won a Saturn Award (Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films) in 2007 for her performance in X-Men: The Last Stand.  She wrote and directed Bringing Up Bobby, a comedy set and filmed in Oklahoma. 

Mariner 3 launched 1964

Mariner 3, which launched November 5, 1964, was NASA's first attempt to study Mars.  Unfortunately, an hour into the flight, telemetry indicated the solar panels were not working.  It seemed that a separation had not taken place properly.  Eight hours later the batteries in the probe died and the mission was scrapped.

Three weeks later, Mariner 4 was launched successfully to the Red Planet.

Happy birthday, MST3K actor and writer, Mike Nelson!

Michael J. Nelson, born October 11, 1964 in St. Charles, Illinois, has been nominated for two Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Variety or Music Program, that program being Mystery Science Theater 3000, one of my favorite shows of all time.

According to imdb.com, he was working as a waiter at T.G.I. Fridays  and doing stand-up comedy when he was offered a job typing for MST3K.  He was allowed to make comments on the movies they were watching, and they were so impressed with his wit, they made him a staff writer.  Later, he became the head writer.  

Joel Hodgson picked him as his replacement when he left the show.   One reason cited was because he looked great standing next to bots Crow, Tom Servo, and Gypsy.

"Gilligan's Island" premieres 1964

The pilot for Gilligan's Island, Marooned was filmed first but by the time it was ready for release onto television, the cast had changed.  The first episode to air was Two on a Raft, in which Gilligan and the Skipper build a raft and set back out to sea to find help.  It debuted September 26, 1964.

The show starred Bob Denver as Gilligan, Alan Hale Jr. as the Skipper, Jim Backus as Thurston Howell III, Natalie Shafer as Mrs. Howell, Tina Louise as Ginger Grant, Russell Johnson as the professor, and Dawn Wells as Mary Ann.  

The show ran for three seasons.

"Fiddler On The Roof" debuts on Broadway 1964

Fiddler on the Roof, a musical by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, made its Broadway debut September 22, 1964. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters and other tales by Sholem Aleichem.  

It was the first musical to surpass 3,000 performances and held the record for the longest-running Broadway musical for 10 years until Grease surpassed it. It was nominated for 10 Tony Awards and won 9.

Zero Mostel played Tevye and Bea Arthur appeared as the matchmaker Yente.

The Animals "House of the Rising Sun" reaches #1 1964

The British rock band The Animals' recording of House of the Rising Sun reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 among other charts, September 5, 1964.  It reached #1 in Canada, Finland, Spain and the UK.

The origin of the song is mired in rumor and legend.  It has a resemblance to a 16th century ballad, and the Rising Sun is the name of a "bawdy house" in two English traditional songs.  It has been said that American miners sang it in 1905.  The oldest publish version of the lyrics were printed in 1925 by Robert Winslow Gordon.  The oldest known recording of the song is by Clarence "Tom" Ashley and Gwen Foster was made on September 6, 1933 under the name Rising Sun Blues.  

Woody Guthrie recorded it in 1941, and it has been covered by artists such as Glenn Yarborough, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Andy Griffith, Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, and Dolly Parton.  

But the performance by The Animals is the most recognized version.  It is listed by Rolling Stone magazine as #122 on the list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Times.  It received a Grammy Hall of Fame award in 1999.

Zond 1 launched 1964

Zond 1, launched April 2, 1964, was the second Soviet spacecraft to reach Venus.  On its journey, a slow leak formed in a crack in a sensor window, which caused the compartment to lose air pressure.  The vacuum tubes, used in Soviet electronics, overheat without air to cool them.  Ground control turned on Zond 1's radio system when there was little atmosphere inside. The electronics shorted out.  

By the middle of April 1964, all transmissions from the main spacecraft had ceased, but ground control could still communicate with the lander, and they received space radiation and spectrometer measurements.  

Two course corrections were performed during the flight but the second one was off by 65 ft/sec, and ground controllers placed it into a spin-stabilization mode.  By May 14, all communications failed, and on July 14 it passed within 100,000 km of Venus.

"Hello, Dolly!" opens on Broadway 1964

The original Broadway production of Hello, Dolly! opened on January 16, 1964, starring Carol Channing as Dolly Levi.  It also starred Charles Nelson Reilly and Eileen Brennan.  It won ten Tony Awards that year, winning in ten categories.

It debuted in Detroit in November 1963 before moving to Broadway the following January.

When Channing left the show, Ginger Rogers, Martha Raye, Betty Grable, Pearl Bailey and Ethel Merman all appeared in the title role.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko!

Oleg Kononenko, born June 21, 1964 in the former Soviet Union, has been into space four times.

His first flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-12 to the International Space Station in April 2008.  He participated in Expedition 17 and returned to Earth in October 2008.

His second mission was as commander aboard Soyuz TMA-03M in December 2011 to the ISS.  He participated in Expeditions 30 and 31.  He returned to Earth in July 2012.

Kononenko's third flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-17M as commander to the ISS in July 2015.  He participated in Expeditions 44 and 45.  He returned to Earth in December 2015.

His fourth flight was aboard Soyuz MS-11 as commander to the ISS in June 2018.  He participated in Expeditions 58 and 59. He returned to Earth in December 2018.

He has conducted 4 EVAs for a total of 24 hours and 28 minutes.

Happy birthday, Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa!

Satoshi Furukawa, born April 4, 1964 in Yokohama City, Japan, is a surgeon and a JAXA astronaut.  He went into space aboard Soyuz TMA-02M in June 2011 to the International Space Station.  He participated in Expeditions 28 and 29 before returning to Earth in November 2011.

He was an aquanaut during the NEEMO 13 project in the Aquarius underwater laboratory in August 2007.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Kenneth Ham!

Kenneth Ham, born December 12, 1964 in Plainfield, New Jersey, is a veteran of two space shuttle missions.

His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-124) as pilot in May-June 2008 to the International Space Station.  The flight delivered the Japanese Experiment Module, a pressurized section that is the largest module of the space station.

His second flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-132) as commander in May 2010 to the ISS. It was the penultimate flight of Atlantis.