On August 11, 1973, the nostalgic teenage coming-of-age movie American Graffiti, directed and co-written by George Lucas,
opened  in theaters across the United States. Set in California
in the summer of 1962, American Graffiti was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Picture, and
helped launch the big-screen careers of Richard Dreyfuss and
Harrison Ford, as well as the former child actor and future Oscar-
winning filmmaker Ron Howard. The film’s success enabled
Lucas to get his next movie made, the mega-hit Star Wars (1977).

Robert Weston Smith, known as Wolfman Jack
(January 21, 1938 – July 1, 1995)

SANDY KOZEL

Richard (Dick) Wagstaff Clark
(November 30, 1929 – April 18, 2012)

“American Bandstand” with host Dick Clark  debuted on this
day in 1957.

Taken from “EYES OF A GENERATION…TELEVISION’S LIVING HISTORY

Jackie Mason (born Yacov Moshe Maza0;
(June 9, 1928 – July 24, 2021

(New York Post) – Famed Borscht Belt comedian Jackie Mason,
who rose from a modest childhood on the Lower East Side to
become one of the most famous funnymen of all time, has died.

Mason died at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan Saturday, with
his wife Jyll and a few friends by his side.

On July 24, 1998, director Steven Spielberg’s World War
II epic, Saving Private Ryan, was released in theaters
across the United States. The film, which starred Tom
Hanks and Matt Damon, was praised for its authentic
portrayal of war and was nominated for 11 Academy
Awards. It took home five Oscars, for Best Director,
Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Film Editing
and Best Sound Effects Editing.

The film’s lengthy opening scene was a bloody re-
enactment of American troops landing at Omaha
Beach in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

Actor Harrison Ford is 79 today.