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Today in History: Monday, November 29, 2021

© by Wikimedia Commons

Television and Radio
Children’s puppet classic “Kukla, Fran & Ollie” debuted in 1948. Airing live and featuring the members of the “Kuklapolitan Players,” “Kukla, Fran & Ollie” lived on after its primetime run (on NBC through 1952 and on ABC from 1954 to 1957) in five-minute spots on NBC (1961-62), PBS (1969-71) and in syndication (1975-76)…ABC drama “Breaking Away,” based on the coming-of-age movie of the same name, debuted in 1980. It starred Shaun Cassidy and aired for only eight episodes.

News:
American film actress Natalie Wood drowned under mysterious circumstances while vacationing on a yacht off Santa Catalina Island, California in 1981. She was 42.

Celebrity Birthdays:
Sportcaster Vin Scully is 94; actress Diane Ladd (“Alice”) is 86; musician Chuck Mangione is 81; singer-keyboardist Felix Cavaliere of The Rascals is 79; actor Jeff Fahey (“Lost,” “The Marshal”) is 69; director Joel Coen is 67; actor-comedian Howie Mandel is 66; actress Cathy Moriarty is 61; actress Kim Delaney (“NYPD Blue”) is 60; actor Tom Sizemore is also 60; actor Andrew McCarthy is 59; actor Don Cheadle is 57; actor-producer Neill Barry (“Friends and Lovers”) is 56; singer Jonathan Knight of New Kids on the Block is 53; actor Larry Joe Campbell (“According to Jim”) is 51; actress Gena Lee Nolin (“Sheena,” ″Baywatch”) is 50; actor Brian Baumgartner (“The Office”) is 49; actress Anna Faris (“Mom,” ″Scary Movie”) is 45; actress Lauren German (“Lucifer,” ″Chicago Fire”) is 43; rapper The Game is 42; actor Lucas Black (“NCIS: New Orleans,” ″Sling Blade”) is 39; actress Lovie Simone (“Greenleaf”) is 23.

Did You Know?:
On Aug. 11, 2009, the US Postal Service issued a pane of twenty 44¢ commemorative postage stamps honoring early USA television programs including “Kukla, Fran and Ollie.”  The other stamps featured (in order of the shows in the below image) were “Texaco Star Theater,” “I Love Lucy,” “The Red Skelton Show,” “The Howdy Doody Show,” “Dragnet,” “Lassie,” “Hopalong Cassidy,” “You Bet Your Life,” “The Dinah Shore Show,” “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “The Phil Silvers Show,” “The Lone Ranger,” “Perry Mason,” “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show,” “The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet,” “The Tonight Show,” “The Twilight Zone” and “The Honeymooners.”