America’s 40th President Ronald Wilson Reagan was born
in Tampico, Illinois, on this day in history, Feb. 6, 1911.
Prior to his presidency, he served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 to 1975 and was the president of the
Screen Actors Guild from 1947 to 1952 and from 1959 until
1960.
On February 5, 1919, Hollywood heavyweights Charlie Chaplin,
Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith joined
forces to create their own film studio, which they called the
United Artists Corporation.
United Artists quickly gained prestige in Hollywood, thanks to
the success of the films of its stars, notably Chaplin’s The Gold
Rush (1925), as well as the work of actors such as Buster
Keaton, Rudolph Valentino and Gloria Swanson. Chaplin
directed UA films as well as acted in them, and Pickford
concentrated on producing after she retired from acting in
the 1930s. With the rise of sound during that decade, UA was
helped by the talents (and bankrolls) of veteran producers
like Joseph Schenck, Samuel Goldwyn, Howard Hughes and
Alexander Korda.
The corporation began to struggle financially in the 1940s,
however, and in 1951 the production studio was sold and
UA became only a financing and distributing facility.
From left, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin
(seated) and Douglas Fairbanks Sr. signing the original
contract that created the United Artists studio in 1919.
Melinda Dillon (October 13, 1939 – January 9, 2023)
Oscar and Tony-nominated actor Melinda Dillon, who played
Mother Parker in “A Christmas Story,” and appeared in
“Magnolia” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,”
died Jan. 9. No mention as to the cause of her death.
Melinda Dillon with Darren McGavin, Ian Petrella, and
Peter Billingsley (1983).
1978
Cynthia Jane Williams (August 22, 1947 – January 25, 2023)
Williams was a actress and producer, known for her role
as Shirley Feeney on the television sitcom Happy Days
(1975–1979), and Laverne & Shirley (1976–1982). She also
appeared in American Graffiti (1973). She died in Los
Angeles following a brief illness.
Cindy Williams and Penny Marshall in Laverne & Shirley
(1976 – 1983)
Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston)
4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993)
One of America’s most beloved actresses, Audrey Hepburn,
died in her sleep at home on January 20, 1993, in Lausanne,
Switzerland. The 63-year-old Hepburn had undergone surgery
for colon cancer the previous November.
Recognized as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked
by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female
screen legend from the Classical Hollywood cinema and was
inducted into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame.
Hepburn’s grave in Tolochenaz, Switzerland.
