Eugène Ionesco, on writers and writing:

A writer never has a vacation.

For a writer, life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.

- Eugène Ionesco. 

Born on this day – J. D. Short:

J. D. Short

Blues singer

Guitarist

Harmonicist

December 26, 1902 – October 21, 1962

Credits:

Albums:

Blues from the Mississippi Delta, with Son House (1963); Legacy of the Blues Vol. 8 (1973); Stavin' Chain Blues, with Big Joe Williams (1961).

Television:

The Blues (1962).

Born on this day – Elisha Cook Jr.:

 

Elisha Cook, Jr.

Actor

December 26, 1903 – May 18, 1995

Born on this day – Marguerite Churchill:

Marguerite Churchill

Actress

December 26, 1910 – January 9, 2000

Credits:

Fireside Theatre (1952); Bunco Squad (1950); Legion of Terror (1936); Alibi for Murder (1936); The Final Hour (1936); Murder by an Aristocrat (1936); Dracula's Daughter (1936); The Walking Dead (1936); Man Hunt (1936); Speed Devils (1935); Without Children (1935); Girl Without a Room (1933); Forgotten Commandments (1932); Ambassador Bill (1931); Riders of the Purple Sage (1931); Quick Millions (1931); Charlie Chan Carries On (1931); Girls Demand Excitement (1931); The Big Trail (1930); Good Intentions (1930); Born Reckless (1930); Harmony at Home (1930); Seven Faces (1929); They Had to See Paris (1929); Pleasure Crazed (1929); The Valiant (1929); Furnace Trouble (1929); The Diplomats (1929).

Born on this day – Richard Widmark:

Richard Widmark

Actor

Producer

December 26, 1914 – March 24, 2008

Born on this day – Shirley Patterson:

Shirley Patterson

Actress

December 26, 1922 – April 4, 1995

Born on this day – Donald Moffat:

Donald Moffat

Actor

December 26, 1930 – December 20, 2018

Born on this day – Victoria Racimo:

Victoria Racimo

Actress

Writer

Director

Producer

December 26, 1943 – November 29, 2020

Credits:

ABC Weekend Specials (1977); American Playhouse (1986); As the World Turns (1987); Black Sheep Squadron (1977); Brave New World (1980); Cannon (1972); Casi casi (2006); Choke Canyon (1986); Cooperstown (1993); Doc Elliot (1974); Doogie Howser, M.D. (1991); Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1996); Eight Is Enough (1980); Ernest Goes to Camp (1987); Ernest Scared Stupid (1991); Falcon Crest (1983); Fantasy Island (1981); Flamingo Road (1982); Ghost Dancing (1983); Green Eyes (1977); Hawaii Five-O (1977); High Velocity (1976); Ironside (1971); Journey Through Rosebud (1972); Kung Fu (1974); Lincoln (2012); Logan's Run (1978); Lou Grant (1977); Mannix (1973); Mod Squad (1972); Nakia (1974); Nurse (1981); One Day (2015); Prophecy (1979); Red Sky at Morning (1971); Search for the Gods (1975); Serpico (1977); Spenser: For Hire (1986); The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (1972); The Chisholms (1980); The Day of the Dolphin (1973); The Doctors (1963–1982); The G.I. Executioner (1971); The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart (1970); The Mountain Men (1980); The Mystic Warrior (1984); The Rhinemann Exchange (1977); The Violation of Sarah McDavid (1981); What's So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968); White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf (1994).

On this day in movie and book history - Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

Days of Wine and Roses

directed by Blake Edwards,

written by JP Miller,

based on the 1958 teleplay by JP Miller,

was released in the United States on December 26, 1962.

Music by Henry Mancini.

Cast:

Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles Bickford, Jack Klugman, Alan Hewitt, Tom Palmer, Debbie Megowan, Maxine Stuart, Jack Albertson, Leon Alton, Don Anderson, Carl Arnold, Roger Barrett, Russ Bender, Mary Benoit, Mel Blanc, Gail Bonney, Lynn Borden, Dick Crockett, Russell Custer, George DeNormand, Jennifer Edwards, Ella Ethridge, James Gonzalez, Lisa Guiraut, Chuck Hicks, Barbara Hines, Charlene Holt, Tai Yen Horowitz, Jerry Jensen, Kenner G. Kemp, Rita Kenaston, James Lanphier, Ken Lynch, John Bard Manulis, Mathew McCue, Harold Miller, Richard O'Brien, Doye O'Dell, Pat O'Malley, Alan Paige, Peggy Patten, Jack Riley, Tom Rosqui, Myrna Ross, Doc Scortt, Robert 'Buddy' Shaw, Stanley Sober, Olan Soule, Katherine Squire, Florence Stark, Bert Stevens, Lynn Terry, Arthur Tovey, John Truax, Charles Watts, Charles Wood.

Recommended reading - Day of Wine and Roses

Days of Wine and Roses

by JP Miller.
 
Published by Dramatist's Play Service.
Teleplay first published 1958.
Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0822202816
ISBN-13: 9780822202813
 
Description:
 
In the fast-moving milieu of Madison Avenue, social drinking is almost an occupational necessity, and one that fast-rising young Joe Clay adopts with too ready ease. Unfortunately, the girl he meets and marries shares his proclivity, and while they continue to tell themselves that they drink because they choose to, it is soon apparent that their habit has become a serious problem. But their failure to acknowledge this plunges them headlong into the shattering events of the play a career in shambles, a marriage destroyed, the esteem of friends and family lost, and a child who has become the innocent victim of their obsession. In the poignant ending of the play a spectre of hope arises but, more important, so does a galvanizing awareness of the depth of their torment, and of the lesson which their compulsive self-destruction must have for others.
 

Recommended reading - Days of Wine and Roses

Days of Wine and Roses

By David Westheimer.
 
Mass Market Paperback.
ISBN: B0000CLO9H
Published 1963.
Published by Bantam Books.
 
Description:
 
A story of Brandy Alexander and the insidious way alcohol can destroy a life. Based on JP Miller's play and includes three still pictures on back cover from the movie of the same name.
 

On this day in movie and book history - The Exorcist (1973)

The Exorcist

directed by William Friedkin,

written by and based on the novel by William Peter Blatty,

was released in the United States on December 26, 1973.

Music by Jack Nitzsche.

Excerpt from Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield.

Cast:

Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller, Linda Blair, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowran, Father William O'Malley, Father Thomas Bermingham, Peter Masterson, Robert Symonds, Barton Heyman, Rudolf Schündler, Arthur Storch, Vasiliki Maliaros, Titos Vandis, Dick Callinan, William Peter Blatty, Mercedes McCambridge, Eileen Dietz.

Recommended reading - The Exorcist

The Exorcist: A Novel (1971).

by William Peter Blatty.

Published by Harper Paperbacks

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 006209436X

ISBN-13: 978-0062094360

Description:

Four decades after it first shook the nation, then the world, William Peter Blatty’s thrilling masterwork of faith and demonic possession returns in an even more powerful form. Raw and profane, shocking and blood-chilling, it remains a modern parable of good and evil and perhaps the most terrifying novel ever written.

On this day in television history - M Squad (1958)

M Squad
Season 2. Episode 14.

Episode entitled: Prescription for Murder.

Released December 26, 1958.

Directed by Mark Sandrich Jr.

Written by Palmer Thompson.

Music by Gerald Fried.

Cast:

Lee Marvin, Paul Newlan, George Neise, John Beradino, Barry Russo, Helen Mowery, George Brenlin, David Alpert, Jack Anthony.

On this day in television history - Space 1999 (1976)

Space 1999
Season 2. Episode 14.

Episode entitled: Space Warp.

Released December 26, 1976.

Directed by Peter Medak.

Written by Charles Woodgrove.

Series created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson.

Music by Derek Wadsworth.

Cast:

Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Catherine Schell, Tony Anholt, Nick Tate, Zienia Merton, Jeffery Kissoon, Peter Porteous, Tony Osoba, John Judd, Trevor Thomas, Andrew Lodge, Joe Dunne, Suzanne Heimer, Nick Hobbs, Jack Klaff, Quentin Pierre, Dinny Powell, Robert Reeves, Terry Walsh.