Today's Famous Birthdays

[IceWizard]

Walter Lantz
(April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994)

was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding
Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker. Lantz was born in
New Rochelle, New York, to Italian immigrant parents Francesco Paolo Lantz
(formerly Lanza) from Castiglione, Cosentino, Italy and Maria Gervasi
(changed to Jarvis to avoid prejudice) from Calitri.








Jack Klugman
(April 27, 1922 – December 24, 2012)

was an American actor of stage, film, and television. He began his career in 1950 and
started television and film work with roles in 12 Angry Men (1957) and Cry Terror! (1958).
During the 1960s, he guest-starred on numerous television series. Klugman won his first
Primetime Emmy Award for his guest-starring role on The Defenders in 1964. He also
made a total of four appearances on The Twilight Zone from 1960 to 1963. In 1965,
Klugman replaced Walter Matthau as Oscar Madison in the Broadway play The Odd Couple.
Five years later, he reprised that role in the television adaptation of The Odd Couple
opposite Tony Randall. The series aired from 1970 to 1975. Klugman won his second and
third Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award for his work on the series.
From 1976 to 1983, he starred in the title role in Quincy, M.E., for which he earned
four Primetime Emmy Award nominations.









Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem
(April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014)

was an American disc jockey, actor and radio presenter, who created and hosted several radio
countdown programs, notably American Top 40. He was the first actor to voice
Norville "Shaggy" Rogers in the Scooby-Doo franchise (1969 to 1997 and 2002 to 2009)
and as Dick Grayson/Robin in Super Friends (1973–1985).










Joyce Audrey Botterill
(27 April 1939 – 3 September 2015),

known professionally as Judy Carne, was an English actress best remembered for the phrase
"Sock it to me!" on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. On Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
(Monday nights, 1968–1970), Carne gained stardom. Her most popular routine ended with
her saying "Sock it to me!," at which point she was doused with water or assaulted in some
other way. Carne was a regular in the first two seasons (1968–1969); then, having decided
the show had become "a big, bloody bore," made occasional guest appearances in the
remaining 1969–1970 seasons.










Samuel Finley Breese Morse
(April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872)

was an American inventor and painter. After having established his reputation as a portrait
painter, in his middle age Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system
based on European telegraphs. He was a co-developer of Morse code and helped to develop
the commercial use of telegraphy. Samuel F. B. Morse was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts,
the first child of the pastor Jedidiah Morse (1761–1826), who was also a geographer, and his
wife Elizabeth Ann Finley Breese (1766–1828). His father was a great preacher of the Calvinist
faith and supporter of the Federalist Party. He thought it helped preserve Puritan traditions
(strict observance of Sabbath, among other things), and believed in the Federalist support of
an alliance with Britain and a strong central government. Morse strongly believed in education
within a Federalist framework, alongside the instillation of Calvinist virtues, morals,
and prayers for his first son.









Ulysses S. Grant
(born Hiram Ulysses Grant, April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885)

was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the
United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Army to
victory in the American Civil War in 1865 and thereafter briefly served as U.S. Secretary
of War. Later, as president, Grant was an effective civil rights executive who signed the
bill that created the Justice Department and worked with Radical Republicans to protect
African Americans during Reconstruction.









Sheila Christine Scott OBE
(27 April 1922 – 20 October 1988)

was an English aviator who broke over 100 aviation records through her long-distance flight
endeavors, which included a 34,000-mile (55,000 km) "world and a half" flight in 1971.
On this flight, she became the first person to fly over the North Pole in a small aircraft.
Born Sheila Christine Hopkins in Worcester, Worcestershire, England, she had a turbulent
childhood and did not do well at the Alice Ottley School, nearly being expelled several times.
During World War II, she joined the services as a nurse in a naval hospital.








Catherine Elizabeth Pierson
(born April 27, 1948)

is an American singer, lyricist, and founding member of the B-52's. She plays guitar, bass
and various keyboard instruments. In the B-52s, she has performed alongside Cindy Wilson,
Fred Schneider, Ricky Wilson, and Keith Strickland. In the early years, as well as being a
vocalist, Pierson was the main keyboard player and performed on a keyboard bass during
live shows and on many of the band's recordings, taking on a role usually filled by a
bass guitar player, which differentiated the band from their contemporaries. This, along
with Pierson's distinctive wide-ranging singing voice, remains a trademark of the B-52's'
unique sound. Pierson has also collaborated with many other artists including the
Ramones, Iggy Pop and R.E.M. Pierson possesses a soprano vocal range.









Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley
(born April 27, 1951)

is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist and co-founding member
of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. Space Ace) and
played with the group from its inception in 1973 until his departure in 1982. After leaving Kiss,
Frehley formed his own band named Frehley's Comet and released two albums with this group.
He subsequently embarked on a solo career, which was put on hold when he rejoined Kiss in
1996 for a highly successful reunion tour.








Laurence Allen Elder
(born April 27, 1952)

is an American right-wing political commentator and conservative talk radio host. Elder hosts
The Larry Elder Show, based in California. The show began as a local program on Los Angeles
radio station KABC in 1993 and ran until 2008, followed by a second run on KABC from
2010 to 2014. The show is nationally syndicated, first through ABC Radio Networks from
2002 to 2007 and then Salem Media Group from 2015 to 2022. He maintains ties to
The Epoch Times, a far-right newspaper published by the Falun Gong movement.








Sheena Shirley Easton
(born 27 April 1959)

is a Scottish singer and actress. She came into the public eye in an episode of the first British
musical reality television series The Big Time: Pop Singer, which recorded her attempts to gain
a record deal and her eventual signing with the EMI label. Easton's first two singles, "Modern Girl"
and "9 to 5" (later released as "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" in the United States), both entered
the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart simultaneously. She became one of the most successful
British female recording artists of the 1980s. Easton's other hit singles include the
James Bond-theme "For Your Eyes Only", "You Could Have Been with Me", "Telefone
(Long Distance Love Affair)", "Almost Over You", "Strut", "U Got the Look" and
"The Arms of Orion" with Prince, "The Lover in Me" and "What Comes Naturally". She has
worked with prominent singers, writers and producers, such as Prince, Christopher Neil,
Kenny Rogers, David Foster, Luis Miguel, L.A. Reid, Babyface, Patrice Rushen and Nile Rodgers.