Happy 235th Birthday Jane Austen!

Watercolor sketch of Jane Austen by her sister Cassandra Austen, 1804

Today is my beloved Jane's birthday.  Happy Birthday Jane!  Thanks for everything!

"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."

Happy 90th Birthday Maureen O'Hara!

Born August 17, 1920

So gorgeous! Love her!

Happy 94th Birthday Olivia De Havilland

Born July 1, 1916

"Famous people feel that they must perpetually be on the crest of the wave, not realising that it is against all the rules of life. You can`t be on top all the time; it isn`t natural."

Among the Multitude

Today is Walt Whitman's Birthday.

Among the Multitudes by Walt Whitman

Among the men and women the multitude,
I perceive one picking me out by secret and divine signs,
Acknowledging none else, not parent, wife, husband, brother, child, any nearer than I am,
Some are baffled, but that one is not--that one knows me.
Ah lover and perfect equal,
I meant that you should discover me so by faint indirections,
And I when I meet you mean to discover you by the like in you.

Happy 51th Birthday Steven Patrick Morrissey!

Born May 22, 1959

"Age shouldn't affect you. It's just like the size of your shoes - they don't determine how you live your life! You're either marvellous or you're boring, regardless of your age."

Happy 102nd Birthday James Stewart!

Born May 20, 1908
Died July 2, 1997

"Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners."

Happy 194th Birthday Charlotte Bronte!

Born April 21, 1816

Died March 31, 1855

"Conventionality is not morality."

Amen, sister.

Happy 167th Birthday Henry James!

Born April 15, 1843

Died February 28, 1916

"Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact."

[photo: wikimedia.org]

Happy 75th Birthday Loretta Lynn!

Born April 14, 1934

"I love people and I love to sing, and that's what keeps me going. "

Happy 95th Birthday Billie Holiday!

Born April 7, 1915

Died July 17, 1959

"If you copy, it means you're working without any real feeling. No two people on earth are alike, and it's got to be that way in music or it isn't music."

[photo: artadox.com]

Happy 86th Birthday Marlon Brando!

Born April 3, 1924

Died July 1, 2004

"Acting is the expression of a neurotic impulse. It's a bum's life. The principal benefit acting has afforded me is the money to pay for my psychoanalysis."

Ah, Marlon.

[photo: thenewyorkseason.com]

Happy 39th Birthday Ewan McGregor!

Born March 31, 1971

"I'm just looking for that moment to drop my Jedi knickers and pull out my real light saber."

CHEEKY MONKEY!  This kind of playfulness is the reason Ewan will always, always have my heart.

Happy 80th Birthday Steve McQueen!

Born March 24, 1930

Died November 7, 1980

"There's something about my shaggy-dog eyes that makes people think I'm good."

Love him.

Happy 52nd Birthday Gary Oldman!

Born March 21, 1958

"I don`t think Hollywood knows what to do with me. I would imagine that when it comes to romantic comedies, my name would be pretty low down on the list."

Isn't that too bad?  I would love to see Gary Oldman in a romantic comedy.  Doesn't Hollywood understand that he can play ANYTHING?

Happy 88th Birthday Jack Kerouac!

Born March 12, 1922

Died October 21, 1969

"Avoid the world, it's just a lot of dust and drag and means nothing in the end."

[photo: Corbis]

Happy 78th Birthday Keely Smith!

Born March 9, 1932

"I used to be very quiet and very shy. I didn't talk. But I got older. My mother always said when you reach a certain age, you're allowed to say certain things you weren't before. And she was right."

Happy 99th Birthday Jean Harlow!

Born March 3, 1911
Died June 7, 1937

"Must I always wear a low-cut dress to be important?"

Happy 78th Birthday Dame Elizabeth Taylor!

Born 27 February 1932

"The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues."

She truly is a national treasure, isn't she?

Her twitter account has been terribly quiet lately. I hope she is well.

Happy 169th Birthday Pierre-Auguste Renoir!

Born February 25, 1841
Died December 3, 1919

"The work of art must seize upon you, wrap you up in itself and carry you away. It is the means by which the artist conveys his passion. It is the current which he puts forth, which sweeps you along in his passion."

Happy 77th birthday Nina Simone!

Born February 21, 1933
Died April 21, 2003

"Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music."