Army Private James Arness (1943)

Ken Curtis (left) as Festus Hagen and James Arness as Marshal Dillon in Gunsmoke. 

Actor James King Arness is best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon on
Gunsmoke (CBS-TV, 1955-1975). His brother was actor Peter Graves. Prior
to Gunsmoke, Arness appeared in two Science fiction films, The Thing from
Another World (1951), in which he portrayed the title character, and Them
(1954). Arness was a close friend of John Wayne and co-starred with him
in Big Jim McLain (1952), Hondo (1953), Island in the Sky (1953), and
The Sea Chase (1955).

 

James Arness as The Thing

James Arness as FBI agent Robert Graham in Them

In 1999 film icon John Wayne (born Marion Robert Morrison) was named 13th
among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time by the American Film Institute. A
Harris Poll, released January 2011, placed Wayne third among America’s favorite
film stars, the only deceased star on the list and the only one who has appeared
on the poll every year since it began in 1994. Wayne won a Best Actor Oscar for
the 1969 film True Grit. His last film was The Shootist (1976). John Wayne died
of cancer in 1979.

Wayne’s breakthrough role came with director John Ford’s classic
film in 1939.

The Searchers (1956) continues to be widely regarded as Wayne’s
finest and most complex performance.

Leslie Uggams  is a actress and singer, perhaps best known for her 1967
work in Hallelujah! She first started in show business as a child in 1950,
playing the niece of Ethel Waters on the TV series Beulah (CBS/ABC). Leslie
was a regular on Sing Along with Mitch on NBC-TV in the early 1960s. Her list
of credits also includes a lead role (Kizzy) in the ABC-TV miniseries Roots
(Jan. 23-30, 1977). Uggams auditioned for the lead part in the 1963 film
Cleopatra, but lost to Elizabeth Taylor.

1972

An original 1977 release poster

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, written
and directed by George Lucas was the first of six films released in the Star
Wars sage. It earned $460 million in the United States and $337 million 
overseas, surpassing  Jaws (1975) as the highest-grossing film of all time
at that time. The film gained ten Academy Award nominations, winning six;
the nominations included Best Supporting Actor for Alec Guinness and
Best Picture.

Frank Oz (Oznowicz) is a film director, actor, voice actor and puppeteer
who is known for creating and performing the characters Miss Piggy and
Fozzie Bear in the syndicated TV series The Muppet Show (1976-1981). He
also directed Little Shop Of Horrors in 1986 and was the operator and voice
of Yoda in the Star Wars series.

Frank Oz with Miss Piggy

Yoda from Star Wars