Born on this day – Ludwig van Beethoven:

Ludwig van Beethoven

Composer

Musician

December 16, 1770 – March 26, 1827

Immortal Beloved (1994) – the spiritual and the sensual:

Review by Jack Kost

 

Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.

– Ludwig van Beethoven.

 

This was an easy movie for me to love, because I’ve always loved Beethoven’s music.

I first heard Moonlight Sonata when I was a young kid and couldn’t get it out of my head.

As I heard more, I quickly became a fan.

In Immortal Beloved (1994), Ludwig van Beethoven wrote a last will and testament, leaving everything to his “Immortal Beloved”, but doesn’t name her specifically in the letter.

The identity of Beethoven’s true love and heir is still speculated to this day.

Immortal Beloved, directed and written by Bernard Rose, offers a possible theory as to how it might have been.

The movie opens with Beethoven (Gary Oldman), at the moment of his death.

Lightning flashes illuminate his face and coincide with the powerful opening of Beethoven’s majestic Fifth Symphony, booming on the soundtrack.

The opening credits and music rise as Beethoven’s coffin is carried out of his home and through crowded streets.

Anton Schindler (Jeroen Krabbé), Beethoven’s – at times – long-suffering secretary and biographer, reads his eulogy at the graveside:

Anton Schindler:

“Ludwig van Beethoven, the man who inherited and increased the immortal fame of Handel and Bach, of Haydn and Mozart, is now no more.

He was an artist, and who will stand beside him?

He was an artist, and what he was, he was only through music.

The thorns of life had wounded him deeply, so he held fast to his art, even when the gate through which it entered was shut.

Music spoke through a deafened ear to he who could no longer hear it.

He carried the music in his heart.

Because he shut himself off from the world, they called him hostile.

They said he was unfeeling, and called him callous.

But he was not hard of heart.

It is the finest blades that are most easily blunted, bent or broken.

He withdrew from his fellow man after he had given them everything, and had received nothing in return.

He lived alone, because he found no second self.

Thus he was, thus he died.

Thus he will live for all time.”

While fending off aggressive money-grubbers, grasping for the inheritance, Schindler travels through Austria.

His personal mission is to seek out the women involved with Beethoven, discover the identity of the rightful recipient, and deliver the letter to her.

During his quest, he meets and interviews Giulietta Guicciardi (Valeria Golino), Anna-Marie Erdödy (Isabella Rossellini), Johanna Reiss (Johanna ter Steege) and Nanette Streicherova (Miriam Margolyes), the owner of a hotel where Beethoven stayed and trashed the room.

We learn about Beethoven’s childhood at the hands of his brutish father.

His progressive deafness.

Failing health.

Reclusiveness.

His failed attempt to mentor his nephew, Karl (Marco Hofschneider), possibly wishing to vicariously experience success again.

The supporting cast includes:

Gerard Horan, Christopher Fulford, Michael Culkin, Barry Humphries, Alexandra Pigg, Geno Lechner, and Claudia Solti.

Immortal Beloved was released on December 16, 1994,

coinciding with Ludwig van Beethoven’s birthday: December 16, 1770.

Gary Oldman’s performance, as Beethoven, is intense and faultless.

Oldman is a talented character actor, possessing a chameleon ability to transform himself, physically and psychologically, into any role he portrays.

He becomes the part.

I watch Oldman in this movie, and I feel like I’m watching the real Beethoven.

There are many unforgettable scenes: Beethoven resting his head on the piano, as he plays Moonlight Sonata … the Ode to Joy debut … the young Beethoven, floating in the shallows of the lake, the night sky reflected in the water, giving the illusion that he is suspended in the universe.

Since its release, Immortal Beloved has been compared with Amadeus (1984), directed by Miloš Forman, another fictionalized drama about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

I also enjoyed Amadeus.

However, I can’t compare it to Immortal Beloved.

These are two separate movies, about different composers, made by different directors.

No matter whether the events depicted are historically accurate, or not, Immortal Beloved is the perfect merging of several genres: romance, love story, biopic, mystery, drama, tragedy.

The one question I was left with, a question that negates the theory of this movie, was why Beethoven didn’t go after Johanna Reiss after he arrived at the hotel and discovered she had left.

Beethoven could have followed her, even after venting and trashing the room.

That out of his system, he could have simply followed Johanna back to her home, caught up with her, and explained what happened during his journey and the reason for his late arrival.

The circumstances were out of Beethoven’s control.

I’m sure Johanna would have understood.

The mystery remains unsolved, but the movie is still a beautifully filmed drama from Mel Gibson's Icon production company.

An engaging, enthralling, and moving experience, with flawless performances throughout, and superb cinematography.

Like Ridley Scott’s The Duellists (1977), another true story of the Napoleonic era, the attention to period detail and costume design takes the viewer back in time to Beethoven’s world.

On a trivia note, Beethoven’s music is also a major theme of A Clockwork Orange (1971), directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on the novel by Anthony Burgess.

The Thieving Magpie, by Gioachino Rossini, is also on the soundtrack.

Beethoven’s Ode to Joy is also covered on the soundtrack to Die Hard (1988), directed by John McTiernan.

Beethoven’s music can also be heard in: A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), The Breakfast Club (1985), Dead Poets Society (1989), Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995), and The King’s Speech (2010), and A Ghost Story (2017).

Ludwig van Beethoven was a genius.

An artist, driven to create by composing and expressing himself through music.

His brilliance is reflected in his work.

Work that has endured over centuries.

In the majestic music he gave to the world.

Created as he battled with his own flaws, inner demons, physical disability, and worsening health.

Finally, if the theory presented in this movie is accurate, Immortal Beloved is the story of love lost and rediscovered, even though too late for those involved.

As Dylan Thomas wrote:

Though lovers be lost, love shall not;

and death shall have no dominion.

Ludwig van Beethoven

December 16, 1770 – March 26, 1827

Holbrook Jackson, on reading:

Never put off till tomorrow the book you can read today.

- Holbrook Jackson.

James Patterson, on reading:

Better readers are better thinkers.
- James Patterson.

Recommended reading: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

 

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

by Philip K. Dick.

Filmed as Blade Runner (1982), directed by Ridley Scott.

ASIN: 0586036059

Published by Voyager.

First published 1968.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0006482805

ISBN-13: 978-0586036051

 

Description:

21st Century Bounty Hunter.

Through the mean streets of a grim 21st century megalopolis, bounty hunter Rick Deckard stalked, searching out the renegade replicants who were his prey. But this assignment involved Nexus-6 targets and as a result Deckard quickly found himself involved in a nightmare kaleidoscope of violence and subterfuge – and the threat of death for the hunter rather than the hunted…

“A marvelous and complex book, simply written but leaving all kinds of resonance in the mind.” – Brian W. Aldiss.

Born on this day – Jane Austen:

Jane Austen

Writer

December 16, 1775 – July 18, 1817

Credits:

The Watsons (1804); Sense and Sensibility (1811); Pride and Prejudice (1813); Mansfield Park (1814); Emma (1815); Sanditon (1817); Northanger Abbey (1818); Persuasion (1818); The Beautifull Cassandra (1793); Lesley Castle: An Unfinished Novel In Letters (1793); Lady Susan (1794); Love and Freindship (2015); The Wit and Wisdom of Jane Austen (2017); A Memoir of Jane Austen (2017); The Letters of Jane Austen (2018); Juvenilia Volume I Annotated (1787); Juvenilia Volume II Annotated (2021); Identity And Self Respect (1952); 50 Classic Novellas (2011); Writers: Their Lives and Works (2018); 30 Eternal Masterpieces of Humorous Stories (2019); Women Who Wrote (2020); Love, Lust and Passion in Regency Times (2021); The Bridgerthonian Novels (2022); The Greatest Tales of Regency Romance (2023); Hungry for Blood – Ultimate Halloween Collection (2023).

Born on this day – William Duncan:

 

William Duncan

Actor

Director

December 16, 1879 – February 8, 1961

Credits:

A Canine Matchmaker; or, Leave It to a Dog (1913); A Child of the North (1915); A Citizen in the Making (1912); A Cowboy's Best Girl (1912); A Cowboy's Mother (1912); A Cripple Creek Cinderella (1916); A Fight for Millions (1918); A Friend in Need (1914); A Matrimonial Deluge (1913); A Mix-Up on the Plains (1914); A Modern Ananias (1912); A Motorcycle Adventure (1912); A New York Cowboy (1911); A Romance of the Forest Reserve (1914); A Romance of the Rio Grande (1911); A Rough Ride with Nitroglycerine (1912); A Scandal in Hickville (1915); A Tennessee Love Story (1911); A Wartime Romance (1912); Aladdin from Broadway (1917); An Apache's Gratitude (1913); An Embarrassed Bridegroom (1913); An Equine Hero (1912); An Innocent Delilah (1914); An Unexpected Fortune (1912); Ann, the Blacksmith (1914); Anne of the Mines (1914); Bar 20 Justice (1938); Between Love and the Law (1912); Bill Peter's Kid (1916); Bill's Birthday Present (1913); Billy Smoke (1917); Buck's Romance (1912); Bud's Heiress (1913); Buster's Little Game (1913); By Unseen Hand (1914); Cal Marvin's Wife (1915); Circumstantial Evidence (1912); Cupid in the Cow Camp (1913); Dead Shot Baker (1917); Detective and Matchmaker (1914); Dishwash Dick's Counterfeit (1913); Driftwood (1912); Everything Against Him (1914); Exposed by the Dictograph (1912); Fighting Fate (1921); Forlorn River (1937); God's Country and the Woman (1916); Good Resolutions (1914); Hello, 'Frisco (1924); He's a Bear (1915); His Chance to Make Good (1912); His Father's Deputy (1913); His Golden Grain (1915); Hopalong Rides Again (1937); How Betty Made Good (1913); How It Happened (1913); Howlin' Jones (1913); Hypnotized (1912); In Little Italy (1912); Jim's Vindication (1912); Juggling with Fate (1913); Kidding the Boss (1914); Law of the Pampas (1939); Love and Law (1915); Made a Coward (1913); Man of Might (1919); Mareea, the Foster Mother (1914); Marian, the Holy Terror (1914); Marrying Gretchen (1914); Money Magic (1917); Monte Cristo (1912); Mother Love vs Gold (1913); Nevada (1935); No Defense (1921); No Defense (1921); Physical Culture on the Quarter Circle V Bar (1913); Playing It Wild (1923); Pure Gold (1914); Queen of the Mob (1940); Religion and Gun Practice (1913); Risen from the Ashes (1914); Sallie's Sure Shot (1913); Saved from the Vigilantes (1913); Screen Snapshots, Series 1, No. 6 (1920); Sisters (1914); Smashing Barriers (1919 / 1923); So-Jun-Wah and the Tribal Law (1912); Steelheart (1921); Taming a Tenderfoot (1913); Texas Rangers Ride Again (1940); That Mail Order Suit (1913); The Bank's Messenger (1913); The Boob (1912); The Brand Blotter (1912); The Brotherhood of Man (1912); The Bully of Bingo Gulch (1911); The Capture of Bad Brown (1913); The Cattle Rustlers (1912); The Cattle Thief's Escape (1913); The Chalice of Courage (1915); The Child of the Prairies (1913); The Choice (1914); The Cost of High Living (1916); The Cowboy Editor (1913); The Dawn of the New Day (1914); The Decision (1918); The Deputy's Sweetheart (1913); The Double Cross (1912); The Dynamiters (1912); The Ebony Casket (1915); The Escape of Jim Dolan (1913); The Farmer's Daughter (1940); The Fast Express (1924); The Fighting Guide (1922); The Fighting Instinct (1912); The Fighting Trail (1917); The Frontiersmen (1938); The Galloping Romeo (1913); The Game of Life (1915); The Girl He Left Behind (1912); The Good Indian (1913); The Gray Wolves (1911); The Gunfighter's Son (1913); The Horseshoe (1912); The Jealousy of Miguel and Isabella (1913); The Last Man (1916); The Law and the Outlaw (1913); The Law of the North (1912); The Level (1914); The Life Timer (1913); The Little Sister (1914); The Man from the Desert (1915); The Marshal's Capture (1913); The Mystery of Lake Lethe (1917); The Navajo Ring (1915); The New Editor (1911); The Only Chance (1913); The Opium Smugglers (1912); The Other Woman (1912); The Peculiar Nature of the White Man's Burden (1912); The Polo Substitute (1912); The Quarrel (1915); The Range Law (1913); The Ranger and His Horse (1912); The Red Stephano (1915); The Rejected Lover's Luck (1913); The Renegade's Vengeance (1914); The Repentance of Dr. Blinn (1915); The Rustler's Reformation (1913); The Scapegoat (1912); The Schoolmarm's Shooting Match (1913); The Señorita's Repentance (1913); The Servant Question Out West (1914); The Sheriff and the Rustler (1913); The Sheriff of Yavapai County (1913); The Shotgun Man and the Stage Driver (1913); The Silent Avenger (1920); The Silent Vow (1922); The Silver Grindstone (1913); The Steel Trail (1923); The Stolen Moccasins (1913); The Suffragette (1913); The Taming of Texas Pete (1913); The Telltale Knife (1911); The Tenderfoot (1917); The Vagabonds (1912); The Wanderers (1916); The Warrant (1911); The Wayfarer (1912); The Wheels of Justice (1911); The Whiskey Runners (1912); The Widow of Rickie O'Neal (1912); Three on the Trail (1936); Thrills of Yesterday (1931); Through the Wall (1916); Thunder Trail (1937); Told in Colorado (1911); Two Lives (1911); Two Men and a Girl (1912); Two Sacks of Potatoes (1913); Vengeance - and the Woman (1917); Ward's Claim (1914); Western Hearts (1911); When Danger Smiles (1922); When the Gods Forgive (1914); When the Heart Calls (1912); Where Men Are Men (1921); Why Jim Reformed (1912); Why the Sheriff Is a Bachelor (1911); Wolves of the North (1924).

 

Born on this day – Max Linder:

Max Linder

Actor

Director

Writer

Producer

Comedian

December 16, 1883 – November 1, 1925

Credits:

A Bashful Young Man (1908); A Case of Lumbago (1909); A Conquest (1909); A Country Lad (1908); A Cure for Timidity (1910); A Drama in Seville (1907); A Farm House Romance (1912); A Glorious Start (1907); A Hooligan Idea (1907); A Jockey for Love (1913); A Prince of Worth (1910); A Ringer for Max (1915); A Romantic Girl (1910); A Set of Teeth (1909); A Waterplane Elopement (1912); Ah! Quel malheur d'avoir un gendre (1907); All for a Necklace (1907); Amateur Acrobat (1908); Amoureux de la femme à barbe (1909); Amoureux de la teinturière (1912); An Escape of Gas (1912); Artful Husband (1907); At the Music Hall (1907); Attempted Suicide (1906); Be My Wife (1921); Before and After (1909); Beginning of the Serpentine Dance (1908); Busy Fiance (1908); C'est Papa qui a pris la Purge (1907); Chaussure trop étroite (1907); Chevalier Barkas (1925); Contagious Nervous Twitching (1908); Cuisinier par amour (1914); Dick est un chien savant (1914); Doings of a Maniac (1907); En compagnie de Max Linder (1963); Entente cordiale (1912); First Night Out (1905); For the Children (1916); From Jealousy to Madness (1907); Hairdresser of Love (1915); Harlequin's Story (1907); Help! (1924); His First Cigar (1908); How Max Went Around the World (1910); Hunchback Brings Luck (1908); In a Difficult Position (1908); Je voudrais un enfant (1910); Joined Lips (1907); Julot va dans le monde (1906); King of the Circus (1924); La bonne à tout faire (1911); La maîtresse de piano (1910); La malle au marriage (1912); La médaille de sauvetage (1913); La rivalité de Max (1913); La ruse de Max (1913); La vengeance du domestique (1912); Lady Doctor's Husband (1907); Lady-Killer Foiled (1908); L'amour mouillé (1911); L'âne jaloux (1912); Le baromètre de la fidélité (1915); Le Bridge au plafond (1909); Le cauchemar de Max (1910); Le chapeau-claque (1909); Le chasseur de chez Maxim's (1927); Le duel de Max (1913); Le mal de mer (1912); Le pendu (1914); Le rendez-vous (1913); Le roman de Max (1912); Les contrebandiers (1906); Les débuts d'un yachtman (1913); Les effets des pilules de Max (1910); Les escarpins de Max (1914); Les escarpins de Max (1914); Les exploits du jeune Tartarin (1910); Love and Cheese (1910); Love Unconquerable (1912); Lover's Ill Luck (1907); Love's Surprises (1915); Madame a ses vapeurs (1907); Mariage au puzzle (1910); Mariage force (1914); Max a peur de l'eau (1912); Max and His Dog (1912); Max and His Mother-in-Law (1911); Max and the Lady Doctor (1914); Max and the Purse (1917); Max and the Statue (1912); Max as a Chiropodist (1914); Max asthmatique (1914); Max au couvent (1914); Max bandit par amour (1912); Max célibataire (1912); Max cocher de fiacre (1912); Max collectioneur de chaussures (1914); Max Comes Across (1917); Max Comes Home (1910); Max dans les airs (1916); Max devrait porter des bretelles (1917); Max Embarrassed (1910); Max émule de Tartarin (1912); Max est charitable (1913); Max et Clancy tombent d'accord (1910); Max et la belle négresse (1910); Max et la Main-qui-étreint (1916); Max et le bâton de rouge (1914); Max et le commissaire (1914); Max et le mari jaloux (1912); Max et les crêpes (1913); Max et ses trois mariages (1910); Max Fears the Dogs (1912); Max Fights a Duel (1911); Max Foils the Police (1910); Max Gets the Reward (1912); Max Goes Ski-ing (1910); Max Has the Boxing Fever (1910); Max Has to Change (1910); Max Hits the High Spots (1914); Max hypnotisé (1910); Max illusionniste (1914); Max in a Dilemma (1910); Max in a Taxi (1917); Max in a Wardrobe (1912); Max in the Alps (1910); Max Is Absent Minded (1910); Max Is Convalescent (1911); Max Is Forced to Work (1911); Max Is Stood Up (1910); Max Joins the Giants (1912); Max joue le drame (1914); Max Juggles for Love (1912); Max Leads Them a Novel Chase (1909); Max Learns to Skate (1907); Max Linder Does All the Sports (1913); Max maître d'hôtel (1914); Max Makes a Touch (1910); Max Makes Music (1910); Max médécin malgré lui (1917); Max n'aime pas les chats (1913); Max on the Briny (1915); Max Plays Detective (1916); Max Sets the Fashion (1912); Max Sets the Style (1914); Max Soldat de 2Me Classe (1914); Max Speaks English (1914); Max Takes a Bath (1910); Max Takes a Picture (1913); Max Takes Tonics (1911); Max toréador (1913); Max virtuose (1913); Max Wants a Divorce (1917); Max, professeur de tango (1914); Max, the Heartbreaker (1917); Max, the Lady Killer (1913); Max, the Magician (1912); Max's Divorce Case (1911); Max's Feet Are Pinched (1910); Max's First Job (1910); Max's Hat (1913); Max's Tragedy (1911); Max's Vacation (1914); Miss Moneybags Wishes to Wed (1909); Mon chien rapporte (1910); Music Teacher (1908); My Watch Is Slow (1908); N'embrassez pas votre bonne (1914); Noisy Neighbors (1908); Nourrice par nécessité (1907); Oh! Les femmes (1912); On a Racket (1909); One Can't Believe One's Eyes (1910); One Exciting Night (1912); One on Max (1909); Over the 'Phone (1912); Par habitude (1911); Par habitude (1923); Peintre par amour (1912); Perseverance Rewarded (1910); Phial of Poison (1907); Premier rendez-vous (1910); Private Atkins Minds a Baby (1907); Prospective Heirs (1908); Que peut-il avoir? (1912); Retour inattendu (1908); Romeo Turns Bandit (1909); Sam's Artistic Beard (1909); Sandwich Woman (1908); See the Picture! (1909); Seven Years Bad Luck (1921); Sganarelle (1907); Shame on Max (1910); Soldat par amour (1910); Soldier's Antics (1908); Surprise Package (1908); The Cupboard (1907); The Dog and the Pipe (1908); The Fake Doctor (1908); The Hanging Lamp (1908); The Little Cafe (1919); The Little Vixen (1909); The Love Letter (1913); The Paris Students (1906); The Second of August (1914); The Servant Hypnotist (1907); The Servant's Good Joke (1909); The Surprises of a Flirtation (1909); The Three Must-Get-Theres (1922); The Troublesome Flea (1906); Tormented by His Mother-in-Law (1908); Travels of a Flea (1908); Troubles of a Grass Widower (1908); Troubles of a Grasswidower (1912); Two Great Griefs (1908); Un cross-country original (1910); Un idiot qui se croit Max Linder (1914); Un mari peu vienard (1908); Un mariage imprévu (1913); Un pari original (1912); Une bonne pour monsieur, un domestique pour madame (1910); Une campagne électorale (1909); Une mariée qui se fait attendre (1911); Une poursuite mouvementée (1909); Une représentation au cinéma (1910); Une ruse de Mari (1910); Unforeseen Meeting (1905); Unwilling Chiropodist (1908); Voisin... voisine (1911); Voyage de noces en Espagne (1912); Who Killed Max? (1910); Who Will Win My Heart (1909); Willyboy Gets His (1909).

Born on this day – Barbara Kent:

 

Barbara Kent

Actress

December 16, 1907 – October 13, 2011

Credits:

Beauty Parlor (1932); Chinatown After Dark (1931); Dumbbells in Ermine (1930); Emma (1932); Exposed (1932); Feet First (1930); Flesh and the Devil (1926); Freighters of Destiny (1931); Grief Street (1931); Guard That Girl (1935); Her Forgotten Past (1933); His Destiny (1928); Indiscreet (1931); Lonesome (1928); Marriage on Approval (1933); Modern Mothers (1928); No Living Witness (1932); No Man's Law (1927); Old Man Rhythm (1935); Oliver Twist (1933); Prowlers of the Night (1926); Self Defense (1932); Stop That Man! (1928); Swellhead (1935); That's My Daddy (1927); The Drop Kick (1927); The Lone Eagle (1927); The Night Ride (1930); The Peace Deputy (1927); The Pride of the Legion (1932); The Shakedown (1929); The Small Bachelor (1927); Under Age (1941); Vanity Fair (1932); Welcome Danger (1929); What Men Want (1930).

Born on this day – Charles Marquis Warren:

Charles Marquis Warren

Writer

Producer

Director

December 16, 1912 – August 11, 1990

Born on this day – Nelly Corradi:

Nelly Corradi

Opera singer

Soprano

Actress

December 16, 1914 – April 16, 1968

Credits:

Gli orizzonti del sole (1955); House of Ricordi (1954); Puccini (1953); The Count of Saint Elmo (1951); La forza del destino (1950); Faust and the Devil (1949); The Lost One (1947); Barber of Seville (1947); Elixir of Love (1947); Lucia di Lammermoor (1946); La danza del fuoco (1943); Measure for Measure (1943); Fari nella nebbia (1942); Barbablù (1941); La zia smemorata (1940); Il ladro sono io (1940); Nobody's Land (1939); Il torrente (1938); Dimmed Lights (1936); Le scarpe al sole (1935); Everybody's Woman (1934).

Born on this day – Birgitta Valberg:

Birgitta Valberg

Actress

Director

December 16, 1916 – March 29, 2014

Born on this day – Arthur C. Clarke:

Arthur C. Clarke

Writer

Inventor

Undersea explorer

Television series host

December 16, 1917 – March 19, 2008

Credits:

Books:

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); 2010: Odyssey Two (1982); 2061: Odyssey Three (1987); 3001: The Final Odyssey (1997); 50 Short Science Fiction Tales (1963); A Fall of Moondust (1961); A Meeting With Medusa (1988); Against the Fall of Night (1948); Aliens: 3 Novellas (1977); Alpha 3 (1972); Arthur C. Clarke's July 20, 2019: Life in the 21st Century (1986); Astounding Days (1990); Bangs & Whimpers: Stories about The End of The World (1999); Battlefields Beyond Tomorrow (1987); Beyond the Fall of Night (1990); Boy Beneath the Sea (1958); Bright Messengers (1995); Bug-Eyed Monsters & Bimbos (2011); Childhood's End (1953); City and the Stars (1956); Cradle (1987); Dolphin Island (1963); Double Full Moon Night (1999); Drabble II: Double Century (1990); Earthlight (1955); Elemental: The Tsunami Relief Anthology (2006); Expedition to Earth (1968); Firstborn (2007); Fourth Planet from the Sun (1984); From Narnia To Space Odyssey (2003); From the Pen of Paul: The Fantastic Images of Frank R. Paul (2009); Futures Unlimited (1969); Galaxy Science Fiction - October 1973 (1973); Galaxy Science Fiction, September 1958 (1958); Galileo's Children (2005); Glide Path (1963); Grave Predictions (2016); Great Science Fiction Stories by the World's Greatest Scientists (1985); Great Tales of Action and Adventure (1958); Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds! (1999); How the World Was One (1992); Imperial Earth (1975); In Space No One Can Hear You Scream (2013); Infinite Stars (2019); Interplanetary Flight (1950); Into Space (1971); Isaac Asimov's Aliens (1991); Isaac Asimov's Camelot (1998); Isaac Asimov's Christmas (1997); Isaac Asimov's Cyberdreams (1994); Isaac Asimov's Detectives (1998); Isaac Asimov's Fantasy! (1985); Isaac Asimov's Fantasy! (1989); Isaac Asimov's Father Day (2001); Isaac Asimov's Ghosts (1995); Isaac Asimov's Halloween (2001); Isaac Asimov's Near Futures and Far (1981); Isaac Asimov's Robots (1991); Isaac Asimov's SF-Lite (1993); Isaac Asimov's Skin Deep (1995); Isaac Asimov's Solar System (1999); Isaac Asimov's Space of Her Own (1983); Isaac Asimov's Utopias (2000); Isaac Asimov's War (1993); Isaac Asimov's Werewolves (1999); Isaac Asimov's Worlds of Science Fiction (1980); Islands in the Sky (1952); Man And Space (1964); 1984: Spring - A Choice of Futures (1984); Novelets of Science Fiction (1963); Of Time and Stars (1972); Other Dimensions (1974); Prelude to Space (1950); Profiles of the Future (1962); Rama II (1989); Rama Revealed (1993); Reach for Tomorrow (1956); Rendezvous with Rama (1973); Richter 10 (1996); Science Fiction A to Z (1982); Science Fiction Stories (1988); Space Odyssey (1983); Star Science Fiction Stories 3 (1955); Star Science Fiction Stories No. 2 (1953); Sunstorm (2005); Tales From The White Hart (1957); Tales of Ten Worlds (1962); Tales of Time and Space (1969); The Arbor House Treasury of Great Science Fiction Short Novels (1980); The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction (1980); The Baen Big Book of Monsters (2014); The Bedside Playboy (1963); The Best of British SF 1 (1977); The Best of British SF 2 (1977); The Body (1964); The Coast of the Coral (1956); The Colours of Infinity: The Beauty, The Power and the Sense of Fractals (2004); The Deep Range (1957); The End of the World: Stories of the Apocalypse (2010); The Exploration of Space (1951); The Exploration of the Moon (2020); The Fountains of Paradise (1979); The Futurists (1972); The Garden of Rama (1991); The Ghost from the Grand Banks (1990); The Hammer of God (1993); The Hard SF Renaissance (2003); The Last Theorem (2008); The Light of Other Days (2000); The Lion Of Comarre (1968); The Lost Worlds Of 2001 (1971); The Mammoth Book of Mindblowing SF (2009); The Nine Billion Names of God (1967); The Ninth Science Fiction Megapack (2014); The Promise of Space (1968); The Reefs of Taprobane (1956); The Sands of Mars (1951); The Sentinel (1951); The Sixth Science Fiction Megapack (2013); The Songs of Distant Earth (1986); The Tranquility Wars (2000); The Treasure of the Great Reef (1964); The Trigger (1999); The Ultimate Alien (1995); The View from Serendip (1977); The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction (2010); The Wind From The Sun (1972); The World Turned Upside Down (2005); The Year's Best Science Fiction: Tenth Annual Collection (1993); The Young Oxford Book of Aliens (1999); They Came from Outer Space: 12 Classic Science Fiction Tales That Became Major Motion Pictures (1979); Time's Eye (2003); Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow... (1974); Voice Across The Sea (1958); Voices from the Sky (1966); Worlds to Come: New Science Fiction Adventures (1967).

Movies, television, video games and audio plays:

2001 and Beyond (2001); 2001: A Space Odyssey - A Look Behind the Future (1966); 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); 2001: HAL's Legacy (2001); 2001: Odyseja kosmiczna (Audioplay) (2016); 2001: The Making of a Myth (2001); 2010: Odyseja kosmiczna (Audioplay) (2017); 2010: The Odyssey Continues (1984); 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984); 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984); 2061: Odyseja kosmiczna (Audioplay) (2021); 3001: Odyseja kosmiczna (Audioplay) (2021); 50 Terrible Predictions (2005); 50th Anniversary Brunch Noreascon Three Videotape (1989); A Failed Recluse (1993); Adventure (1964); Adventure (1964); Arthur C. Clarke: Before 2001 (1993); Arthur C. Clarke: Before 2001 (1993); Arthur C. Clarke: The Man Who Saw the Future (1997); Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World (1980); Baddegama (1980); Brave New Worlds: The Science Fiction Phenomenon (1993); Breaking Strain (2019); Camera Three (1970–1972); Captain Video and His Video Rangers (1949); Captain Video and His Video Rangers (1949); Childhood's End (2015); Cold Fusion: Fire from Water (1998); Contact: The Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (1995); Esther (1996); Future Fantastic (1996); God, the Universe and Everything Else (1988); Jännitysnäytelmä (1968); La Estrella (2020); Letadlo (2001); L'odyssée de la survie (1999); Masters of Fantasy (1997); Mysterious Universe (1994); Nova (1978); Odyssey of Survival (1999); People to Watch (1966); Phenomenon: The Lost Archives (1998); Planetary Defense (2007); Rama (1997); Rama (1997); Rendezvous with Rama (2003); Sci-Fi Entertainment (1998); Sightings / The Sci-Fi Prophet (1996); Siskel & Ebert (1997); Stanley Kubrick in Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001); Stanley Kubrick: The Invisible Man (1996); Tales of Tomorrow (1952); Television (1985); Television (1988); The 73rd Annual Academy Awards (2001); The City in the Image of Man: Ideas and Work of Paolo Soleri (1972); The Colours of Infinity (1995); The Colours of Infinity (1995); The David Frost Show (1969–1972); The Day of Five Billion (1987); The Dick Cavett Show (1972); The High Frontier: The Untold Story of Gerard K. O'Neill (2021); The Martians and Us (2006); The Sky at Night (1963–2003); The Twilight Zone (1985); The Unexplained (1970); The Works (1997); This Is Your Life (1995); Time Out of Mind (1979); To Mars by A-Bomb: The Secret History of Project Orion (2003); Trapped in Space / Breaking Strain (1994); Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001 (2007); We Love 'The Sky at Night' (2007); Without Warning (1994); Wogan (1985); World of Strange Powers (1985).

Born on this day – Ruth Johnson Colvin:

Ruth Johnson Colvin

Literacy Advocate

Writer

Teacher

Philanthropist

December 16, 1916 – August 18, 2024

Credits:

Founder of the non-profit organization Literacy Volunteers of America / renamed ProLiteracy Worldwide.

Awarded the Volunteer Action Award by President Ronald Reagan in 1987, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2006 by President George W. Bush.

Books and educational videos:

Basic Reading Workshop (video); English as a Second Language Tutor Training Workshop; Great Traveling After 55 (1989); How to Add Family Literacy to Your Program; I Speak English (1962); LVA Works: A Guide to Workplace Education; Maintaining the Balance: A Guide to 50/50 Management; My Travels Through Life, Love, and Literacy: A Memoir (2020); Off the Beaten Path: Stories of People Around the World (2011); Reading to Children (video); Student Involvement Guidelines; Tutor (1962); Tutoring Small Groups Handbook.

 

Born on this day – Dorothy Abbott:

Dorothy Abbott

Actress

December 16, 1920 – December 15, 1968

Credits:

A Gathering of Eagles (1963); A Life of Her Own (1950); A Virgin in Hollywood (1953); Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick (1952); Angels in Disguise (1949); Annie Get Your Gun (1950); Bachelor in Paradise (1961); Beyond Glory (1948); Copper Canyon (1950); David and Bathsheba (1951); Dear Heart (1964); Dragnet (1953–1954); East Side, West Side (1949); Everything But the Truth (1956); Give a Girl a Break (1953); Going My Way (1963); Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957); His Kind of Woman (1951); If You Knew Susie (1948); It's a Great Life (1955); Jailhouse Rock (1957); Jet Pilot (1957); Leave It to Beaver (1963); Little Women (1949); Love Me or Leave Me (1955); Lover Come Back (1961); Matinee Theatre (1955); My Favorite Spy (1951); Neptune's Daughter (1949); Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948); Palm Springs Weekend (1963); Pardners (1956); Pepe (1960); Quick, Before It Melts (1964); Rebel Without a Cause (1955); Red, Hot and Blue (1949); Road to Rio (1947); Rock-a-Bye Baby (1958); Sergeants 3 (1962); Skirts Ahoy! (1952); South Pacific (1958); Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949); That Touch of Mink (1962); The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1955–1963); The Apartment (1960); The Caddy (1953); The Ford Television Theatre (1953); The Great Man (1956); The Las Vegas Story (1952); The Paleface (1948); The Petty Girl (1950); The Razor's Edge (1946); The Unholy Wife (1957); There's No Business Like Show Business (1954); Vacation Playhouse (1963); Warning Shot (1966); Where Danger Lives (1950); Words and Music (1948).

 

Born on this day – George Schaefer:

George Schaefer

Director

Writer

Producer

December 16, 1920 – September 10, 1997

Born on this day – Philip K. Dick:

Philip K. Dick

Writer

December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982

Credits:

Books:

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? / aka Blade Runner (1968); The Edge of Human (By: K.W. Jeter) (1995); Replicant Night (By: K.W. Jeter) (1996); Eye and Talon (By: K.W. Jeter) (2000); 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories (1996); A Handful of Darkness (1955); A Maze of Death (1970); A Scanner Darkly (1977); A Scanner Darkly (1977); Alien Worlds (1964); Alpha 3 (1972); Alpha 5 (1974); Angels! (1995); Anthology of Sci-Fi V1 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V10 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V11 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V12 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V13 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V15 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V17 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V18 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V19 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V2 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V20 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V22 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V24 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V3 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V4 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V5 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V5, the Pulp Writers (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V6 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V7 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V8 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi V9 (2013); Anthology of Sci-Fi, the Pulp Writers V1 (2013); Bangs & Whimpers: Stories about The End of The World (1999); Battlefields Beyond Tomorrow (1987); bell hooks: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (2023); Beyond Lies the Wub (1951); Beyond the Door (1954); Beyond Tomorrow (1976); Cantata-140 aka The Crack in Space (1964); Christopher Hitchens (2017); Clans of the Alphane Moon (1964); Confessions of a Crap Artist (1975); Contact: Stories of the New World (2013); Counter-Clock World (1967); Dangerous Visions (1967); Dangerous Visions 2 (1967); David Bowie (2016); Deus Irae (1976); Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb (1965); Dr. Futurity (1960); Ernest Hemingway (2015); Eye in the Sky (1957); Fantastic Stories Presents (2014); Final Stage: The Ultimate Science Fiction Anthology (1974); Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said (1974); Fred Rogers: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (2021); Frida Kahlo: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (2020); Gabriel García Márquez (2015); Galactic Pot-Healer (1969); Galaxy Science Fiction, December 1963 (1963); Gather Yourselves Together (1994); Graham Greene: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (2019); Hannah Arendt: The Last Interview and Other Conversations (2013); Human Is? (1955); Humpty Dumpty in Oakland (1986); Hunger for Horror (1988); Hunter S. Thompson (2018); I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon (1985); In Milton Lumky Territory (1984); In Pursuit of VALIS (1991); Inside the Funhouse (1992); Invaders! (1993); J. D. Salinger (2016); James Baldwin: The Last Interview: and other Conversations (2014); Jane Jacobs (2016); Janet Malcolm: The Last Interview: And Other Conversations (2022); John Lewis: The Last Interview and Other Conversations (2021); Johnny Cash: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (2021); Jorge Luis Borges (2012); Julia Child: The Last Interview and Other Conversations (2018); Kathy Acker: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (2018); Kurt Cobain: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (2022); Kurt Vonnegut (2011); Learning to Live Finally (2005); Lies, Inc. (1983); Lieu: Science Fiction Short Stories (2015); Lou Reed (2015); Martian Time-Slip (1964); Martin Luther King, Jr.: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (2017); Mary and the Giant (1987); More Amazing Stories (1998); Nature's Warnings: Classic Stories of Eco-Science Fiction (2020); New Skies: An Anthology of Today's Science Fiction (2003); Nick and the Glimmung (1988); Nora Ephron: The Last Interview (2015); Now Wait for Last Year (1966); Octavia E. Butler: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (2023); Oliver Sacks (2016); Our Friends From Frolix 8 (1970); Peter Davison's Book of Alien Monsters (1982); Philip K. Dick (2015); Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams (2017); Puttering About in a Small Land (1985); Radio Free Albemuth (1985); Ray Bradbury: The Last Interview (2014); Roberto Bolaño: The Last Interview: And Other Conversations (2009); Robots Through the Ages (2023); Science Fiction Super Pack #1 (2013); Second Variety (1987); Shirley Chisholm: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (2021); Small Town (1954); Solar Lottery / World of Chance (1955); Spells of Enchantment (1991); Star Science Fiction Stories 3 (1955); Star Science Fiction Stories No. 2 (1953); Tales of Time Travel - Book Three: Seven Short Science Fiction Stories (2016); The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction (1980); The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 24 (1982); The Book of Philip K. Dick (1972); The Broken Bubble (1988); The Campfire Collection (2005); The Cosmic Puppets (1957); The Crack in Space (1966); The Crystal Crypt (1954); The Dark-Haired Girl (1988); The Defenders (1953); The Defenders and Three Others (1950); The Divine Invasion (1981); The Eighth Galaxy Reader (1965); The Eyes Have It and Other Stories (2022); The Fourth Science Fiction Megapack (2012); The Game-Players of Titan (1963); The Ganymede Takeover (1967); The Golden Man (1980); The Gun (1952); The Last of the Masters (1954); The Lobster's Birthday and Other Stories (2014); The Mammoth Book Of Science Fiction (2002); The Man in the High Castle (1962); The Man Who Japed (1956); The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike (1984); The Minority Report (1956); The Monster Book of Monsters (1988); The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales (1993); The Penultimate Truth (1964); The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick (1995); The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford and Other Classic Stories (1987); The Simulacra (1964); The Sixth Science Fiction Megapack (2013); The Skull (1952); The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1964); The Transmigration of Timothy Archer (1982); The Ultimate Cyberpunk (2002); The Ultimate Short Story Bundle (2020); The Unreconstructed M (1957); The Unteleported Man (1964); The Variable Man and Other Stories (1957); The Vintage Book of Amnesia (2000); The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction (2010); The World Jones Made (1956); The Year's Best Science Fiction No. 3 (1970); The Young Oxford Book of Aliens (1999); The Zap Gun (1967); Time Out of Joint (1959); Toni Morrison: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (2020); Total Recall (1966); Ubik (1969); Ursula K. Le Guin: The Last Interview and Other Conversations (2019); VALIS (1981); Visions of Fear (1992); Voices from the Street (2007); Vulcan's Hammer (1960); War Veteran (1955); We Can Build You (1969); We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (1987); What If Our World is Their Heaven? (1982).

Movies, television and video:

Blade Runner (1982); Blade Runner 2049 (2017); A Scanner Darkly (2006); Andys (2014); Barjo (1992); Beyond the Door (2011); BIOS (2018); Blade Runner (video game) (1997); Blade Runner 60: Director's Cut (2012); Blade Runner(s); Blade Runner(s) (2019); Blade Runner: Black Lotus (2021–2022); Blade Runner: Czy androidy marza o elektrycznych owcach? (Audioplay) (2012); Blow up: Le web magazine cinéma d'Arte (2013); Cineficción Radio / The Defenders (2021); Curious Matter Anthology (2019); Dust (2019); Electric Dreams (2017–2018); Ficción sonora (2014); Impostor (2001); Minority Report (2002); Minority Report (2015); Morning Patrol (1987); Natural City (2003); Next (2007); Out of This World (1962); Pavel Kolev & Icaka: There's No Lie (2019); Paycheck (2003); Paycheck: Alternate Ending (2004); Paycheck: Deleted / Extended Scenes (2004); Philip K. Dick Interview (1977); Philip K. Dick: The Metz Speech (1977); Piper in the Woods (2016); Radio Free Albemuth (2010); Radio Theater Project (2014); Roog (2019); Screamers (1995); Screamers: The Hunting (2009); Second Variety (2014); The Adjustment Bureau (2011); The Crystal Crypt (2013); The Edge of Human (2022); The Great C (2018); The Man in the High Castle (2015–2019); The Pipers (2013); The Religious Experience of Philip K. Dick (1990); The Room 13 (2018); The Skull (2023); The Truth (2011); Total Recall (1990 / 2012); Total Recall 2070 (1999); Vampirismus (1981).