Today in History: Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Television
Actor James Dean began his career with an appearance in a Pepsi commercial in 1950…The first time NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” used a delay was in 1975. The host was Richard Pryor…Made-for television movie “Charles and Diana: Unhappily Ever After,” starring Roger Rees and Catherine Oxenberg as the troubled royal couple aired on ABC in 1992. Four days earlier, the media reported that the couple had separated…In 1999, Ray (Ray Romano) foolishly thought that a family portrait was the perfect holiday gift on CBS sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond.” For more on Christmas-themed episodes of television series, click here.

Movies
Darla Hood made her final appearance on the “Our Gang” (aka “The Little Rascals”) film short series in “Wedding Worries” in 1941. When she outgrew her role in “Our Gang”, Hood appeared in several other movies and attended school in Los Angeles…The film drama “Anastasia” opened on this day in 1956. This marked the Hollywood comeback of actress Ingrid Bergman, whose extramarital affair had caused a scandal, and it resulted in an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role…“Peyton Place”, based on the novel by Grace Metalious and starring Lana Turner and Hope Lange opened in 1957. It spun-off into a TV drama on ABC from 1964 to 1969…“Driving Miss Daisy” was released in theaters in 1989. It won four Oscars including Best Picture and Best Actress in a Leading Role (Jessica Tandy)…“A Beautiful Mind”, based on the biography by Sylvia Nasar, directed by Ron Howard and starring Russell Crowe premiered in Los Angeles in 2001. It won four Oscars including Best Picture and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Jennifer Connelly).

Celebrity Birthdays
Legendary actor Dick Van Dyke is 98; actor-singer John Davidson is 82; actress Kathy Garver (“Family Affair”) is 78; singer Ted Nugent is 75; country singer-guitarist Randy Owen of Alabama is 74, actress Wendie Malick (“Hot in Cleveland,” ″Just Shoot Me”) is 73; actor Steve Buscemi (“Fargo”) is 66; actor Johnny Whitaker (“Family Affair”) is 64; reality TV star NeNe Leakes (“The New Normal,” ″The Real Housewives of Atlanta”) is 57; actor-comedian Jamie Foxx is 56; TV personality Debbie Matenopoulos is 49; singer-guitarist Tom Delonge of Blink-182 (and Angels and Airwaves) is 48; actor James Kyson Lee (“Heroes”) is 48; singer Amy Lee of Evanescence is 42; singer Taylor Swift is 33.

Did You Know?
Peter Boyle was the only regular cast member on “Everybody Loves Raymond” (from the inception_ not to win an Emmy Award. Doris Roberts won four times, followed by Brad Garrett with three trophies, Patricia Heaton with two and Ray Romano with one. But Boyle did take home an Emmy in 1996 for a guest appearance on Fox’s “The X-Files.”