Famous People Born In
The Month Of January
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Well known people born on January 3rd - your in good company
Well known people born on January 3rd - your in good company
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE (/ˈtɒlkiːn/ tol-keen;[a] 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high-fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.
He served as the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1925 to 1945 and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature and Fellow of Merton College, Oxford from 1945 to 1959.[1] He was at one time a close friend of C. S. Lewis—they were both members of the informal literary discussion group known as the Inklings. Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972. After Tolkien's death, his son Christopher published a series of works based on his father's extensive notes and unpublished manuscripts, including The Silmarillion. These, together with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings form a connected body of tales, poems, fictional histories, invented languages, and literary essays about a fantasy world calledArda, and Middle-earth[b] within it. Between 1951 and 1955, Tolkien applied the term legendarium to the larger part of these writings.[2] While many other authors had published works of fantasy before Tolkien,[3] the great success of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings led directly to a popular resurgence of the genre. This has caused Tolkien to be popularly identified as the "father" of modern fantasy literature[4][5]—or, more precisely, of high fantasy.[6] In 2008, The Times ranked him sixth on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".[7] Forbes ranked him the 5th top-earning "dead celebrity" in 2009.[8] |
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson AO (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, filmmaker, and screenwriter. He is most well known as an action hero, for roles such as Martin Riggs in the Lethal Weapon buddy cop film series and Max Rockatansky in the first three post-apocalyptic action films in the Mad Max series.
He was born in Peekskill, New York, and moved with his parents to Sydney when he was 12 years old. He studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art. During the 1980s, Gibson founded Icon Entertainment, a production company which independent film director Atom Egoyan has called, "an alternative to the studio system."[2] Director Peter Weir cast Gibson as one of the leads in the critically acclaimed World War I drama Gallipoli (1981), which earned Gibson a Best Actor Award from the Australian Film Institute.[3] The film also helped to earn Gibson the reputation of a serious, versatile actor. In 1995, Gibson produced, directed, and starred in the epic historical drama film Braveheart, for which he won the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Director, along with the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2004, he directed and produced The Passion of the Christ, a financially successful, controversial film depicting the last hours in the life of Jesus. Gibson received further critical acclaim for his directing of the 2006 action-adventure film Apocalypto, [4] which is set in Mesoamerica during the early 16th century. |
Ray Milland (3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986[1]) was a Welsh actor and director.[2] His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend(1945), a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind (1942), the murder-plotting husband in Dial M for Murder (1954), and as Oliver Barrett III in Love Story (1970).
Before becoming an actor Milland served in the Household Cavalry of the British Army, becoming a proficient marksman, horse-rider and plane pilot. He left the army to follow a career in acting and appeared as an extra in several British productions before getting his first major role in The Flying Scotsman. This led to a nine month contract with MGM and he moved to the United States where he appeared as a stock actor. After being released by MGM he was picked up by Paramount, who used Milland in a range of lesser speaking parts, normally as an English character. He was loaned out to Universal in 1936 for a film called Three Smart Girls, and its success saw Milland given a lead role in The Jungle Princess alongside new starlet Dorothy Lamour. The movie was a big success and catapulted both to stardom. Milland remained with Paramount for almost 20 years and as well as his Oscar winning role in The Lost Weekend he is remembered for the films The Big Clock, The Major and the Minor and The Thief, the last of which saw him nominated for a Golden Globe. After leaving Paramount he began directing and ended his career moving into television. Milland, who was at one time Paramount Pictures highest paid actor, co-starred alongside many of the most popular actresses of the time including Gene Tierney, Grace Kelly, Lana Turner, Marlene Dietrich, Ginger Rogers, Jane Wyman,Loretta Young and Veronica Lake. |
Børge Rosenbaum (/ˈbɔrɡə/ bor-gə; 3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000),[4] known professionally as Victor Borge, was a Danish comedian, conductor and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in the United Statesand Europe. His blend of music and comedy earned him the nickname "The Clown Prince of Denmark",[1] "The Unmelancholy Dane",[2] and "The Great Dane".[3]
Rosenbaum was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, into a Jewish family. His parents, Bernhard and Frederikke (Lichtinger) Rosenbaum, were both musicians—his father a violist in the Royal Danish Orchestra[5][6] and his mother a pianist.[7] Like his mother, Borge began piano lessons at the age of two, and it was soon apparent that he was a prodigy. He gave his first piano recital when he was eight years old, and in 1918 was awarded a full scholarship at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, studying under Olivo Krause. Later on, he was taught by Victor Schiøler, Liszt's student Frederic Lamond, and Busoni's pupil Egon Petri. Borge played his first major concert in 1926 at the Danish concert-hall Odd Fellow Palæet (The Odd Fellow's Lodge building). After a few years as a classical concert pianist, he started his now famous "stand up" act, with the signature blend of piano music and jokes. He married American Elsie Chilton in 1933, the same year he debuted with his revue acts.[8] Borge started touring extensively in Europe, where he began telling anti-Nazi jokes. When the Nazis occupied Denmark during World War II, Borge was playing a concert in Sweden, and managed to escape to Finland.[9] He traveled to America on theUSS American Legion, the last neutral ship to make it out of Petsamo, Finland,[10] and arrived 28 August 1940, with only $20 (about $337 today), with $3 (about $50.5 today) going to the customs fee. Disguised as a sailor, Borge returned to Denmark once during the occupation to visit his dying mother.[11] |
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