February 9

This Day in Humor with Mike Durrett

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Born 1909: Carmen Miranda, "The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat," Brazilian musical superstar, turned to Hollywood and became a planetary icon during WWII, even so far as to influencing the public's attire with her flamboyant outfits and wild headgear. Some of her popular film work can be seen in "Down Argentine Way" (1940), "Weekend in Havana" (1941), "The Gang's All Here" (1943), and "Scared Stiff" (1951). Died 1955, hours after a heart attack believed suffered during her appearance on TV's "The Jimmy Durante Show."

Mae West, the notorious screen comedienne of the 1930s, saw two of her best-loved motion pictures open on this day: "She Done Him Wrong" (1933) with Cary Grant and "My Little Chickadee" (1940) with W.C. Fields.

Born 1943: Joe Pesci, actor. His comic movie favorites include "Easy Money" (1983), "My Cousin Vinny" (1992), plus the "Home Alone" and "Lethal Weapon" series.

Born 1945: Mia Farrow, actress, enjoyed bright successes in comedy films written by her offscreen mate, Woody Allen, among them: "A Midsummer's Night Sex Comedy" (1982), "Broadway Danny Rose" (1984), "The Purple Rose of Cairo" (1985), "Hannah and Her Sisters" (1986), and "Alice" (1990).

Born 1949: Judith Light, actress, fought weekly in Sitcomland opposited Tony Danza to discover "Who's the Boss?" (1984-92).

Born 1955: JM J. Bullock, actor, best recalled as Monroe on "Too Close for Comfort" (1980-85).

1997: With the airing of episode 167 on Fox-TV, "The Simpsons" surpassed "The Flintstones" to become the longest-running prime time animated series.

Copyright ©2003 Mike Durrett. All rights reserved.