Mae West 125, Evelyn Ankers 100, Robert De Niro 75 -- August 17, 2018

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I was going through my notes and I saw that three actors celebrated their birthdays on August 17.  Mae West was born 125 years ago in 1893.  Evelyn Ankers was born 100 years ago in 1918.  Robert De Niro was born 75 years ago in 1943.

Film Daily, 06-June-1934

Mae West had a long and successful career in vaudeville, on Broadway, in movies, on radio and in nightclubs.  She was a good writer.

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Evelyn Ankers appeared in many Universal horror films, including The Wolf Man with Lon Chaney, Jr.

Film Daily, December 10, 1941

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Robert De Niro has been a great actor for a long time, in movies like The Godfather, Part II and Raging Bull.  He has also done stage work.

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Jake Lamotta, RIP -- September 20, 2017

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Former Middleweight champ Jake Lamotta has died. My wife's first comment was "I thought he was already dead." He wasn't a great human being while he was a fighter, but he was a relentless fighter with a concrete jaw and a powerful killer instinct. Today he would probably be forgotten by everyone but fight fans if not for Martin Scorsese's movie Raging Bull, which starred Robert De Niro as Lamotta.

Lamotta fought Sugar Ray Robinson six times and won only the first fight.

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1900 - May 1, 2017

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Happy International Workers' Day to all. 

I remember going to see Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900 in the theater.  It seemed strange to see Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu and Donald Sutherland in an Italian movie.  The story told of two boys born in 1901,  on the day that Verdi died.  One was the son of the landowner and the other was the son of a peasant.  They grew up friends, but after World War One, the new overseer was a Fascist, who made life terrible for the workers.  He got his after World War Two.  I would like to see it again.