On July 2, 1997, the science fiction-comedy movie Men in Black,
starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, opened in theaters
around the United States. The film grossed more than $250
million in America alone and helped establish the former sitcom
star Will Smith as one of Hollywood’s most bankable leading men.
The landmark film "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" was released on
this day in history, June 11, 1982.
Then 34-year-old director Steven Spielberg reportedly drew
on his own experiences as an unusually imaginative, often-
lonely child of divorce for his science-fiction classic.
With Steven Spielberg as its director, the film starred Henry
Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Robert McNaughton and Dee
Wallace.
Director Steven Spielberg with E.T.
On May 25, 1977, Memorial Day weekend opened with an
intergalactic bang as the first of George Lucas’ blockbuster
Star Wars movies hit theaters.
The incredible success of Star Wars–it received seven Oscars,
and earned $461 million in U.S. ticket sales and a gross of close
to $800 million worldwide–began with an extensive, coordinated marketing push by Lucas and his studio, 20th Century Fox,
months before the movie’s release date.
Steven Spielberg and George Lucas
Cindy Morgan and Bill Murray from “Caddyshack” (1980)
Cindy Morgan (Cynthia Ann Cichorski)
(September 29, 1954 – December 30, 2023)
Cindy Morgan, the actress best known for playing Lacey
Underall in "Caddyshack" and Lora/Yori in Disney’s original
"Tron" film, has died.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office in Florida confirmed
the news to the Los Angeles Times, saying Morgan died of
natural causes at her home in Lake Worth Beach, Florida.
Officials were not able to specify when she died.
1982
Orson Welles was only 23 years old when his Mercury Theater
company decided to update H.G. Wells’s 19th-century science
fiction novel The War of the Worlds for national radio. Despite
his age, Welles had been in radio for several years, most notably
as the voice of “The Shadow” in the hit mystery program of the
same name. “War of the Worlds” was not planned as a radio
hoax, and Welles had little idea of how legendary it would
eventually become.
The show began on Sunday, October 30, at 8 p.m. A voice
announced: “The Columbia Broadcasting System and its
affiliated stations present Orson Welles and the Mercury
Theater on the air in ‘War of the Worlds’ by H.G. Wells.”
Sunday evening in 1938 was prime-time in the golden age of
radio, and millions of Americans had their radios turned on.
But most of these Americans were listening to ventriloquist
Edgar Bergen and his dummy “Charlie McCarthy” on NBC
and only turned to CBS at 8:12 p.m. after the comedy sketch
ended and a little-known singer went on. By then, the story
of the Martian invasion was well underway.
The radio play was extremely realistic, with Welles employing sophisticated sound effects and his actors doing an excellent
job portraying terrified announcers and other characters. An
announcer reported that widespread panic had broken out in
the vicinity of the landing sites, with thousands desperately
trying to flee.
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985)
