Berlin at his first job with a music publisher,
aged 18.

Irving Berlin (Israel Beilin)
(May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989)

Russian born Irving Berlin’s music forms a large
part of the Great American Songbook.

On December 13, 1925, Dick Van Dyke, the actor who would
become known for his performances in such movie classics
as Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, as well as the
popular 1960s TV sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, was born
in West Plains, Missouri.

Van Dyke, who was raised in Danville, Illinois, served in the 
Army Air Force during World War II and in the 1950s took
various acting jobs and hosted a series of TV game shows.

1964

Initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 to June 1, 1966.

    
Starring Mary Martin as Maria and Theodore Bikel as Captain
von Trapp, the original Broadway production of The Sound
of Music premiered at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on November
16, 1959, where it won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical
and Best Leading Actress. It later moved to the Mark Hellinger,
where it would end its lauded run on June 15, 1963 after 1,443
performances.    

(Fox News) – "The Wizard of Oz,"(1939) the Hollywood epic
beloved by generations of Americans for its fantastical
allegory rooted in love of heartland, home and family,
appeared on the CBS television network for the first time
on this date in history, Nov. 3, 1956. 

MIKE GRACIA

Singer John J. (Cougar) Mellencamp is 71 years old today. 

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, followed by an induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
in 2018.