Kristin Chenoweth, Judi Dench win their first Tony Awards 1999

Kristin Chenoweth and Judi Dench each won their first Tony Awards at the 53rd annual ceremony held June 6, 1999.

Kristin won Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

Judi Dench won Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her role as Esme Allen in Amy's View.  

Bernadette Peters won her second Tony for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for her role as Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun.  

Stockard Channing was nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her role as Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter. I would have loved to have seen her performance. 

Raquel Welch wins Golden Globe for Best Actress 1975

I've always liked Raquel Welch. Though I'm not familiar with much of her work, my favorite movies of hers are The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers, which unfortunately her character does not survive.

But the movies let her showcase her talent and it worked.  Ms. Welch won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical for her work as Constance Bonacieux in The Three Musketeers.  She had some stiff competition for the award.  Lucille Ball, Helen Hayes, and Cloris Leachman (Young Frankenstein).

The Three Musketeers was nominated for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical. I'm a little shocked that these were the only two nominations this movie received.  Faye Dunaway was nominated for her work in Chinatown, but got snubbed for her work on The Three Musketeers.

I could not find an image or a clip of her accepting her win, so I settled for a still from the movie and the catfight between her and Faye Dunaway.

Angela Lansbury wins fifth Golden Globe 1990

Multi-talented actress Dame Angela Lansbury won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama for her role as Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote, at the 47th ceremony held January 20, 1990.  It was her third win for playing Fletcher and fifth Golden Globe overall.  

Happy birthday, Raquel Welch!

Raquel Welch, born September 5, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois, burst onto the scene in a skimpy, furry bikini in the movie One Million Years B.C. in 1966.  She became an international sex symbol and every boy's adolescent fantasy. 

I enjoyed her in The Three Musketeers, her role in which won her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical. I also loved The Four Musketeers, except that her character got killed off.

"The Sound of Music" wins 5 Tony Awards 1960

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.

Angela Lansbury wins Tony for Best Actress in a Musical 1969

Angela Lansbury won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a musical for her role as Countess Aurelia in Dear World, April 20, 1969. It was the only nomination for the musical and Angela took it home!

This was her second win of five total Tony Awards.

"Mary Poppins" wins 5 Academy Awards 1965

Walt Disney's bround-breaking motion picture Mary Poppins took home five Academy Awards on April 5, 1965, being nominated for thirteen, the most for any movie that year.  It won for Best Actress for Julie Andrews, Best Song for Chim Chim Cher-ee, Best Music Score - Substantially Original, Best Film Editing and Best Special Visual Effects.

It had been nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium; Best Scoring of Music - Adaption or Treatment; Best Sound; Best Art Direction, Color; Best Cinematography, Color, and;Best Costume Design, Color.

My Fair Lady was nominated for 12 Oscars and took home eight.  Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte was nominated for seven, including Best Supporting Actress for Agnes Moorehead, but did not win any.  Ms. Moorehead was robbed.

Celebrating Black History Month: Halle Berry, first African-American woman to win Oscar for Best Actress

Halle Berry, born August 14, 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio, is the first and only African-American woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her role in the 2001 movie Monster's Ball.  She previously won a Primetime Emmy and a Golden Globe for her performance in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. I like her best for her portrayal of Ororo Munroe (Storm) in the X-Men movies.

Curse of the Golden Flower released 2006

Curse of the Golden Flower, released January 12, 2007, is a tale of ancient China, the Tang Dynasty in the 10th century.  It's one of the best foreign films I've seen.  It stars Chow Yun-Fat as the Emperor and Jay Chou as Prince Jai.  It wasdirected by Yimou Zhang who directed House of Flying Daggers.

It was nominated for an Academy Award for Costume Design but won the Saturn Award for Best Costume.  It also won four Hong Kong Film Awards (out of 14 nominations) in 2007: Best Actress for Gong Li; Best Art Direction, Best Costume and Make-up Design and Best Original Song.

"Murder, She Wrote" premieres 1984

Murder, She Wrote, a whodunit series, starring the awesome Angela Lansbury premiered September 30, 1984.  I remember watching it.

The show was so popular it lasted for twelve seasons.  It won 6 Golden Globes: 4 for Angela Lansbury for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series; and 2 for Best Television Series - Drama.  The series won 2 Primetime Emmys.  Angela Lansbury holds the record for most Primetime Emmys at twelve, one for each season but did not win any of them, another record.

Celebrating Black History Month: Halle Berry, first African-American to win Oscar for Best Actress

The most recent Academy Awards saw an unprecedented number of African-American winners, riding the strength of Black Panther, which was a totally awesome film.  But way back in 2002, Halle Berry became the first African-American woman to take home the Oscar for Best Actress, for her performance in the movie Monster's Ball.

Born August 14, 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio, she won Miss Teen All-American Pageant in 1985, representing Ohio.  She was the first runner-up in the Miss U.S.A pageant in 1986.  She started modeling which led to her acting career.  Her performance in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever was her big screen breakthrough. 

The year before Monster's Ball, she appeared as Storm (first African-American female superhero) in the X-Men movie series, playing in four movies.

"Gone with the Wind" released 1940

Although Atlanta, New York City and Los Angeles got to see it in December 1939, the rest of the US saw the Civil War era pic Gone With the Wind in theaters January 17, 1940.  It won 8 (or 10, depending upon who you believe) Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director (Victor Fleming) and Best Actress in a Leading Role for Vivien Leigh.

Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to be nominated for and win an Academy Award, Best Supporting Actress.

Adjusted for inflation, Gone With the Wind is the highest-grossing movie of all time.  It is in the top 100 movies on about 8 different lists by American Film Institute. In 1989, Gone With the Wind was chosen for preservation by the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Happy birthday, Dame Julie Andrews!

The gigantically talented and beautiful Dame Julie Andrews turns 80 today!   She won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in "Mary Poppins".  The soundtrack to "Mary Poppins" won a Grammy the same year.   Although she initiated the role of Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady" on stage, studio execs at Warner Brothers didn't think she had enough film experience and cast Audrey Hepburn for the movie.  "My Fair Lady" took home 8 Oscars that night but wasn't even nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role, which went to Dame Julie Andrews for "Mary Poppins".  Gotta watch that karma!

Happy birthday, Halle Berry!

Halle Berry, born August 14, 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio, is the perfect actress to play Ororo Munroe (Storm) in the X-men movies and she's one of the most beautiful women ever!

She won an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Monster's Ball.

Happy birthday, Gillian Anderson!

Just a few days ago, David Duchovny celebrated his birthday and today is his X-files' co-star Gillian Anderson's birthday, born August 9, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois.  As Special Agent Dana Scully, she was the perfect counterpart, always cynical and forever skeptical, to Duchovny's Fox "Conspiracies are Us" Mulder.  I think she surprised us X-philes when she recognized an informant's story as an episode from a "Rocky and Bullwinkle Show"!  I always thought Mulder should've figured that one out.

She won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama, Television for her performance as Dana Scully