Born on this day – Ruth Donnelly:

 

Ruth Donnelly

Actress

May 17, 1896 – November 17, 1982

Credits:

13 Hours by Air (1936); A Lawless Street (1955); A Slight Case of Murder (1938); Alibi Ike (1935); Annabel Takes a Tour (1938); Army Girl (1938); Autumn Leaves (1956); Behind the Scenes of Cain and Mabel (1936); Blessed Event (1932); Breakdowns of 1944 (1945); Bureau of Missing Persons (1933); Busby Berkeley (1974); Cain and Mabel (1936); Cavalcade of America (1957); Cinderella Jones (1946); Convention City (1933); Cross My Heart (1946); Crossroads (1956); Down to the Sea in Ships (1949); East Side/West Side (1963); Employees' Entrance (1933); Ever in My Heart (1933); Fatal Lady (1936); Female (1933); Fighting Father Dunne (1948); Footlight Parade (1933); Goodbye Again (1933); Hands Across the Table (1935); Happiness Ahead (1934); Hard to Handle (1933); Harris Against the World (1964); Havana Widows (1933); Heat Lightning (1934); Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage (1983); Housewife (1934); How I Play Golf by Bobby Jones, No. 2: 'Chip Shots' (1931); How to Break 90 #6: Fine Points (1933); I'd Climb the Highest Mountain (1951); In All Things Moderation (1914); In Old Sacramento (1946); Jewel Robbery (1932); Johnny Doughboy (1942); Just Around the Corner (1933); Ladies They Talk About (1933); Lilly Turner (1933); Little Miss Broadway (1947); Make Me a Star (1932); Mandalay (1934); Maybe It's Love (1935); Mayor of the Town (1954); Meet the Girls (1938); Meet the Missus (1940); Merry Wives of Reno (1934); Millie's Daughter (1947); Model Wife (1941); More Than a Secretary (1936); Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936); Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939); My Little Chickadee (1940); Personal Maid's Secret (1935); Personal Secretary (1938); Petticoat Politics (1941); Pillow to Post (1945); Portia on Trial (1937); Private Detective 62 (1933); Red Salute (1935); Rise and Shine (1941); Roaring Timber (1937); Romance in the Rain (1934); Rubber Heels (1927); Sailors on Leave (1941); Saved by a Song (1916); Scatterbrain (1940); Sing Sinner Sing (1933); Sleepy Lagoon (1943); Song and Dance Man (1936); Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943); The Affairs of Annabel (1938); The Amazing Mr. Williams (1939); The Bells of St. Mary's (1945); The Doctors and the Nurses (1965); The Fabulous Texan (1947); The Family Next Door (1939); The Gay Vagabond (1941); The Ghost Goes Wild (1947); The Imogene Coca Show (1954–1955); The Imogene Coca Show (1955); The Lady of the Island (1914); The Man Who Lost, But Won (1914); The Rainbow Trail (1932); The Round Up (1941); The Secret of Convict Lake (1951); The Skull (1914); The Snake Pit (1948); The Spider (1931); The Spoilers (1955); The Tenth Commandment (1914); The Way to the Gold (1957); The White Cockatoo (1935); The Wild Blue Yonder (1951); This Is the Army (1943); 'Tis Spring (1933); Transatlantic (1931); Traveling Saleslady (1935); Vacation Daze (1935); When the Heart Calls (1914); Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950); Wicked (1931); Wonder Bar (1934); You Belong to Me (1941).

Born on this day – Jean Gabin:

 

Jean Gabin

Actor

Singer

May 17, 1904 – November 15, 1976

Born on this day – Ralph Wright:

Ralph Wright

Animator

Writer

Director

Actor

May 17, 1908 – December 31, 1983

Born on this day – Marie Déa:

 

Marie Déa

Actress

May 17, 1912 – March 1, 1992

Born on this day – Alice Backes:

 

Alice Backes

Actress

May 17, 1923 – March 15, 2007

Credits:

14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2008); 87th Precinct (1962); Adam-12 (1973–1974); Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1959); Amanda's (1983); Bachelor Father (1957–1958); Baretta (1976); Barnaby Jones (1980); Barney (1965); Barney Miller (1981); Ben Casey (1961); Bewitched (1964–1966); Blondie (1968–1969); Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1964–1965); Breaking Point (1964); Bringing Up Buddy (1961); Burke's Law (1965); Cassie & Co. (1982); Columbo (1974); Columbo: A Trace of Murder (1997); Date with the Angels (1957); Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal (1957); Dr. Kildare (1961); Dragnet (1952); Dragnet 1967 (1969); Fear on Trial (1975); Gable and Lombard (1976); Gang Busters (1952); General Electric Theater (1959–1962); Going My Way (1963); Goodyear Theatre (1960); Gunsmoke (1959–1966); Half a House (1975); Hazel (1961–1966); Hennesey (1960); Here's Lucy (1968–1973); I Want to Live! (1958); Ichabod and Me (1962); Ironside (1974); It Started with a Kiss (1959); It Was a Very Good Year (1971); James at 16 (1977); Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid (1978); Knight Rider (1984); Kolchak: Crackle of Death / Segment: Firefall (1974); Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974); Lancer (1970); Law of the Plainsman (1959); Leave It to Beaver (1959–1962); Lux Playhouse (1958–1959); M Squad (1958); Mannix (1973); Maude (1974); Mayberry R.F.D. (1970–1971); Medic (1955); Mr. & Mrs. North (1954); Mr. Belvedere (1988); My Favorite Martian (1964); Outlaws (1962); Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (1973); Project U.F.O. (1978); Riverboat (1960); Room 222 (1972); Schlitz Playhouse (1959); Snowball Express (1972); Startime (1959–1960); Studio 57 (1958); Switch (1978); That Touch of Mink (1962); The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1957); The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1963–1965); The Andy Griffith Show (1963); The Ann Sothern Show (1959); The Best Place to Be (1979); The Big Valley (1968); The Cat from Outer Space (1978); The Danny Kaye Special (1961); The Detectives (1960–1962); The Dick Powell Theatre (1963); The Donna Reed Show (1959–1966); The Doris Day Show (1969); The Farmer's Daughter (1966); The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (1969); The Glory Guys (1965); The Greatest American Hero (1983); The Jack Benny Program (1962–1963); The Magical World of Disney (1962 / 1982); The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind (1988); The Man from Independence (1974); The Munsters (1965); The Outsider (1969); The Real McCoys (1957); The Rifleman (1960); The Rogues (1965); The Third Day (1965); The Tom Ewell Show (1961); The Twonky (1953); The Virginian (1962); This Is the Life (1984); Thriller (1960); Turnabout (1979); Up in Central Park (1948); Wagon Train (1963–1965); Welcome Back, Kotter (1977); Whatever Happened to Dobie Gillis? (1977); Winner Take All (1975); Women in Chains (1972); You Bet Your Life (1951).

Born on this day – Rose Leiman Goldemberg:

Rose Leiman Goldemberg

Writer

May 17, 1928 – July 21, 2025

Credits:

Books:

All About Jewelry; Antique Jewelry: A Practical and Passionate Guide; Here's Egg on Your Face; New York Times Arts Section: Woman Playwright, Man's World; The Complete Book of Natural Cosmetics; The Way It Happened.

Stage:

Adios, Hollywood; Apples in Eden; Gandhiji; Letters Home; Love One Another; Marching as to War; Picon Pie; Rites of Passage; Sophie; The Merry War; The Rabinowitz Gambit.

Screenplays:

A Celebration of Women; A Velvet Glove; Born Beautiful; Dark Holiday; Death at Dinner; Fight for Freedom; Florence Nightingale; Growing Pains; Land of Hope; Life in the Fast Lane; Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen; Mother and Daughter, the Loving War; Out of Wedlock; Stone Pillow; The Burning Bed; The Desiray Bartak Story; The Jonas Salk Story; The Medicine Men; The Rainbow Warrior; Unnatural Acts; Victory of the Heart.

Movies and television:

Born Beautiful (1982); Dark Holiday (1989); Florence Nightingale (1985); Letters Home (1986); Mother and Daughter: The Loving War (1980); Stone Pillow (1985); The Booth / Segment: Death at Dinner (1985); The Burning Bed (1984); The Land of Hope (1976); Working in the Theatre (1979).

Born on this day – Jean Vautrin:

 

Jean Vautrin

Writer

Director

May 17, 1933 – June 16, 2015

Credits:

Books:

À bulletins rouges (1973); Adieu la vie, adieu l’amour (2004); Baby-boom, Prix Goncourt de la Nouvelle 1986 (1986); Billy-Ze-Kick (1974); Bloody-Mary (1979); Boro s’en va-t-en guerre (2000); Canicule (1982); Cher Boro (2005); Courage chacun (1992); Dix-huit tentatives pour devenir un saint (1989); Groom (1981); L’homme qui assassinait sa vie (2001); La Dame de Berlin (1987); La Dame de Jérusalem (2009); La Femme au gant rouge (2004); La Fête à Boro (2007); La grande zigouille (2009); La Vie Ripolin (1987); Le Cri du people (1998); Le Journal de Louise B. (2002); Le Mensonge - Chronique des années de crise (1978); Le Roi des ordures (1997); Le Temps des cerises (1990); Les années Faribole (2012); Les Noces de Guernica (1994); Mademoiselle Chat (1996); Maîtresse Kristal et autres bris de guerre (2009); Mister Love (1977); Patchwork, Prix des Deux Magots 1984 (1983); Si on s’aimait? (2005); Symphonie Grabuge (1994); Typhon gasoline (1977); Un grand pas vers le bon Dieu (1989); Un monsieur bien mis (1987).

Movies and television:

Actua-Tilt (1960); Apostrophes (1979–1989); Banlieue Sud-Est (1977–1978); Barbarous Street (1984); Berlin Lady (1991); Billy Ze Kick (1985); Bleu comme l’enfer (1986); Campus, le magazine de l’écrit (2001–2002); Caractères (1991); C’est encore mieux l’après-midi (1986); Charles Bronson, Hollywood’s Lone Wolf (2020); Charlie Dingo (1987); Ciel mon mardi! (1992); Cinéphiles de notre temps (2012); Cop or Hood (1979); Coucou c’est nous! (1994); Decameron ‘69 (1969); Dog Day (1984); Dossier Souvenirs (1971); Dream On (1992); Droit d’auteurs (1996); Ex Libris (1992–1996); Farewell, Friend (1968); Graf Yoster gibt sich die Ehre (1974); Grandeur et décadence d’un petit commerce de cinéma (1986); Histoires insolites (1979); India: Matri Bhumi (1959); Intrigues (1985); Jamais sans mon livre (1994); ean-Sans-Terre (1980); Jeff (1969); La cinémathèque française (1962); La forteresse assiégée (2006); La pêche miraculeuse (1976); La quille (1961); Le cercle de minuit (1994); Le chemin de la mauvaise route (1963); Le coup de grâce (1965); Le divan (1994); Le grand escogriffe (1976); Le Guignolo (1980); Le Marginal (1983); L’entourloupe (1980); Les après-midi de Monsieur Forestier (1988); Les grands détectives (1974–1975); Les insulaires (1979); Les peupliers de la Prétentaine (1975); Les quarante ans des cahiers du cinema (1991); L’oeuf (1972); Michel Audiard et le mystère du triangle des Bermudes (2002); Miss (1979); Nulle part ailleurs (1999); Ombre et lumière (2002); Paris Belongs to Us (1961); Pif le chien (1965); Plaisir du théâtre (1958); Popsy Pop (1971); Pour le cinéma (1969); Teenage Rebellion (1967); The Grilling (1981); The Last Men (2023); The Longest Day (1962); The Sunday of Life (1967); Tout le monde en parle (2002); Twist parade (1962); Under Suspicion (2000); Urgence (1985); Vivement dimanche (2003); Voyage en Boscavie (1958); Watch Your Lip! (2011).