Born on this day – Charles Willeford:

Charles Willeford

Writer

January 2, 1919 – March 27, 1988

Credits:

Miami Blues (1984); New Hope for the Dead (1985); Sideswipe (1987); The Way We Die Now (1988); High Priest of California (1953); Pick Up (1954); Wild Wives (1956); The Black Mass of Brother Springer (aka Honey Gal) (1958); Lust Is a Woman (aka Made in Miami) (1958); The Woman Chaser (1960); Deliver Me from Dallas (aka The Whip Hand) (1961); Understudy for Death (1961); Cockfighter (1962); No Experience Necessary (1962); The Hombre From Sonora (aka The Difference) (1971); The Burnt Orange Heresy (1971); Kiss Your Ass Goodbye (1987); The Shark Infested Custard (1993); The Machine in Ward Eleven (1963); Everybody's Metamorphosis (1988); Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s (1997); The Second Half of the Double Feature (2003); Poontang (poems) (2011); The Ordainment of Brother Springer (play) (2009); The Old Man at the Bridge (2009); Strange (2011); Sentences (2013); Off the Wall (1980); Something About a Soldier (1986); New Forms of Ugly (1987); I Was Looking for a Street (1988); Cockfighter Journal (1989); The Collected Memoirs of Charles Willeford (2000); Writing and Other Blood Sports (2000); Wild Wives / High Priest of California (1956); Charles Willeford Omnibus (1991).

Born on this day – David McKee:

David McKee

Writer

Director

January 2, 1935 – April 6, 2022

Credits:
 
Books:

123456789 Benn (1970); Bronto's Wings (1964); Charlotte's Piggy Bank (1996); Denver (2010); Elmer (1989); Elmer Again (1991); Elmer and Butterfly (2002); Elmer and Grandpa Eldo (2001); Elmer and the Hippos (2003); Elmer and the Lost Teddy (1999); Elmer and the Stranger (2000); Elmer and the Wind (1997); Elmer and Wilbur (1994); Elmer in the Snow (1995); Elmer on Stilts (1993); Elmer Plays Hide and Seek (1998); Elmer's Concert (2001); Elmer's New Friend (2002); Elmer's Walk (2018); I Hate My Teddybear (1983); Isabel's Noisy Tummy (1994); King Rollo and the birthday (1979); King Rollo and the bread (1979); King Rollo and the Letter (1984); King Rollo and the new shoes (1979); King Rollo and the New Stockings (2001); Look! There's Elmer (2000); Mary's Secret (1999); Mr Benn – Gladiator (2001); Not Now, Bernard (1980); Prince Peter and the Teddy Bear (1997); Six Men (1972, 2011); Snow Woman (1987); The Adventures of Charmin the Bear (2003); The Conquerors (2004); The Elmer Pop up Book (1996); The Hill and the Rock (1984); The Magician and the Sorcerer (1974); The Monster and the Teddy Bear (1989); The Poor Farmer and the Robber Knights (1969); The Sad Story of Veronica (1987); The School Bus Comes At 8 O’clock (1993); Tusk Tusk (1978); Two Can Toucan (1964); Two Can Toucan (1985); Two Monsters (1985); Who is Mrs. Green? (2003); Who's a Clever Baby Then? (1988); Zebra's Hiccups (1991).

Movies and television:

50 Greatest Kids Shows (2013); Anytime Tales (1991); Breakfast (2005); CBeebies Bedtime Story (2011–2015); Children's TV on Trial (2007); Greenback Hill (1974); Immer Elmar (2008); Jackanory (1984); King Rollo (1980); Mr Benn (1971–2005); NBeebies Bedtime Story (2011); Ric the Raven (1989–1991); Spot's Magical Christmas (1995); The 100 Greatest Kids TV Shows (2001); The Adventures of Spot (1987); Towser (1982); Victor & Maria (1983); Words and Pictures (1983).

Born on this day – Peter Henry Schroeder:

Peter Henry Schroeder

Actor

January 2, 1935 – June 7, 2025

Credits:

Argo (2012); B.J. and the Bear (1981); Big Shamus, Little Shamus (1979); Break of Dawn (1988); Cheers (1989); Fire in the Night (1985); Gunslinger (2010); Hider in the House (1989); Hotshot (1986); Journey to the Center of the Earth (1988); Mark Twain: Beneath the Laughter (1979); Sammy-Gate (2020); Star Trek: Enterprise (2001); The Protector (2011); The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979); Thirtysomething (1991); Three Days of Rain (2002); White Cargo (1996).

Born on this day – Ron Hale:

Ron Hale

Actor

January 2, 1946 – August 27, 2024

Credits:

A Lovely Way to Die (1968); All the President's Men (1976); Easy (2016); Entertainment Tonight (1989); General Hospital (1995–2010); Intimate Portrait (2003); Live with Kelly and Mark (1989); Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1973); MacGyver (1990); Matlock (1989); Me, Natalie (1969); N.Y.P.D. (1968); Original Intent (1990); Port Charles (1997–2000); Rodney (2004); Ryan's Hope (1975–1989); Search for Tomorrow (1969); Shattered Steel (1996); SoapTalk (2004–2006); Sunstorm (2001); The Adventures of Loop & Rhett (2011); The Brothers Flub (1999); The Ghost and the Whale (2017); The Lord Protector (1996); Trial by Jury (1994).

On this day in television history - M Squad (1959)

M Squad
Season 2. Episode 15.

Episode entitled: The Teacher.

Released January 2, 1959.

Directed by Don Medford.

Written by Frank Moss.

Music by John Williams.

Cast:

Lee Marvin, Paul Newlan, Tom Laughlin, Sue George, Burt Reynolds, Stanley Dyrector, Stuart Randall, Maida Severn, Ron Gorton.

On this day in television history - Space 1999 (1977)

Space 1999
Season 2. Episode 15.

Episode entitled: A Matter of Balance.

Released January 2, 1977.

Directed by Charles Crichton.

Written by Pip Baker, Jane Baker.

Series created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson.

Music by Derek Wadsworth.

Cast:

Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Catherine Schell, Tony Anholt, Lynne Frederick, Stuart Wilson, John Hug, Nicholas Campbell, Brian Osborne, Jenny Cresswell, Robert Reeves, Terry Richards.

On this day in television history - Blade Runner: Black Lotus (2022)

Blade Runner: Black Lotus
Season 1. Episode 8.

Episode entitled: The Davis Report.

Released January 2, 2022.

Developed by Kenji Kamiyama, Shinji Aramaki.

Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, Shinji Aramaki.

Written by Brandon Auman, Margaret Dunlap, Eugene Son, Alex de Campi.

Based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.

Opening theme: Feel You Now by Alessia Cara.

Music by Michael Hodges, Gerald Trottman.

Cast:

Jessica Henwick, Samira Wiley, Greg Chun, Josh Duhamel, Stephen Root, Elias Toufexis, Jim Pirri, Charles Halford, Laura Post, Sunil Malhotra, Keith Ferguson, Zehra Fazal, Takako Honda, Taiten Kusunoki, Arisa Shida, Yûya Uchida, Hôchû Ôtsuka.