Birthdays: December 23

Manelck de la Parra (known as Mane de la Parra) was born in Mexico City on December 23rd, 1982. Actor, musician, composer and singer; he started at 15 years old his musical studies with singing and guitar classes. Then he traveled to the U.S. to study at Berklee College of Music, where he graduated on the major in Music in 2005. He was awarded by this same institution as distinguished alumni in 2009. Mane was also awarded by BMI on 2013 for his composition "El Mentiroso" sung by Banda Carnaval, which stayed for 14 consecutive weeks in the top 5 of the Billboard chart of Regional music. Mane has composed songs with Jorge Villamizar, Miguel Luna and Marco Godoy. These and other Mane's songs, have been recorded by very popular and successful artists such as Margarita, la Diosa de la Cumbia, Julión Álvarez, Napoleón, Francisco Céspedes, Rayito Colombiano, Aaron y su Grupo Ilusión, Grupo Cañaveral, among many others. In 2011 Mane was invited to participate in the concert of the Philarmonic of the Americas Orchestra, conducted by his sister Alondra de la Parra in the Auditorio Nacional of Mexico City. Mane has taken his music to the most important carnivals and regional fairs of Mexico and has done concerts in some of the most important venues in Mexico like the Teatro Metropolitan and Teatro Diana in Guadalajara. Mane is currently promoting his most recent album "Girando" produced by Warner Music. In 2013, Mane participated in Univision's "Mira Quien Baila" where he get the finals.

As an actor, Mane has participated in the main roles in: Verano de Amor (2009) Niña de mi Corazón (2010) Esperanza del Corazón (2011-2012) Cachito de Cielo (2012) La MalQuerida (2012 - 2013) Corona de Lágrimas (2014) Amor de Barrio (2015) El Vuelo de la Victoria (2017)

In film, Mane has performed in: El Cielo en tu Mirada in the main role along with Aislinn Derbez, Jaime Camil and Natalia Lafourcade. El Origen de los Guardinas (Voice Over in Spanish for Latin America) A la Mala Juán Apóstol, El Más Amado (Mane as Juan)

Mane has also participated in theater in the role of Emmanuel Mijares, the main of one of the most successful plays in Mexico "Mentiras"

To stay in touch directly with Mane, his verified social networks are: Twitter, facebook and Instagram: ManeDeLaParra

Adnan Haskovic was born on 23 December 1984 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia. He is an actor and producer, known for Snowpiercer (2013), Legends (2014) and The Librarians: The Next Chapter (2025).

Akihito was born on 23 December 1933 in Tokyo, Japan. He has been married to Michiko since 10 April 1959. They have three children.

After wartime naval service, Alan North began his show business career as a stage manager in New York. He first worked on Broadway in "Plain and Fancy", doubling up as understudy for the small part of Isaac Miller. The play had a successful run between 1955 and 1956 (461 performances) and this led to further acting work in diverse productions, ranging from musical comedy to straight dramatic parts, both on and off Broadway. Alan last appeared as a quaint curmudgeonly character in "Lake Hollywood" at the Signature Theater in 1999.

Early in his career, Alan, an avid baseball fan, hosted a television program for the Baltimore Orioles as well as doing a regular sports broadcast at WRC-TV in Washington. However, he did not become a regular feature on the screen until the early 1970's, when he appeared in two big budget films, Plaza Suite (1971) and Serpico (1973). After that, Alan became a more familiar presence on the small screen, invariably portraying cops, priests and academics. He is most fondly remembered as the perpetually vague Chief Ed Hocken in the hilarious, sadly short-lived, spoof Police Squad! (1982), starring Leslie Nielsen. Alan was given some very funny lines to deliver and he did so in a perfect dead-pan manner. He was not afforded the chance to repeat his role for the 'Naked Gun' series (the studio insisted on a higher marquee value actor, casting Academy Award-winner George Kennedy instead).

Alan North died of cancer at the age of 79 in January 2000.

Alberto Testa was born on 23 December 1922 in Turin, Italy. He was an actor, known for Romeo and Juliet (1968), Laudes Evangelii (1961) and The Kiss of Death (1974). He died on 4 October 2019 in Turin, Piedmont, Italy.

Alison Moir was born on 23 December 1966 in Perth, Western Australia, Australia. She is an actress and director, known for A Little Princess (1995), Concussion (2015) and The Last Word (2008). She is married to Brett Markinson. They have two children.

Alison Sudol is an actress, musician and author based in Los Angeles. Alongside a successful music career, Alison starred in the two-time Golden Globe-winning Amazon hit 'Transparent,' USA network's 'DIG' from the creators of 'Homeland' and 'Heroes' and Rafael Palacio's show 'The Force.' Alison plays Queenie in the new Harry Potter spin-off 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.'

Ana Casares was born on 23 December 1930 in Stanislawów, Stanislawówskie, Poland (now Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine). She was an actress, known for Trampa para un soñador (1980), 1001 Nights (1968) and La vida continúa (1969). She died on 13 March 2007 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Anatole Taubman was born in Zurich, Switzerland and is of Russian-Polish-Slovakian-Austrian-and-former-East-Prussian blood. In 1991 he made his baccalauréat at the renowned Gymnasium of the Benedictine boarding school of the monastery Einsiedeln and in 1994 he graduated from the reputable drama-school 'Circle in the Square' in NYC. He's fluent in five languages (English, French, Swiss-German, German and Italian) and is also truly cosmopolitan in his work. Taubman has starred and co-starred in over 50 feature films and TV productions. Since 1998, he has been busy working and with international success in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland and for the USA throughout Europe and beyond. Among other credits Anatole Taubman is best known for his impressive English-language TV work in Band of Brothers (HBO), Servants (BBC), POW (ITV), Spooks VI (BBC), Waking The Dead VII - Pièta (BBC) or The Tudors II (Showtime) and established himself as a fine character actor in feature films like Mein Name is Bach (CH/D), Luther (D), Marmorera (CH), Fay Grim (USA), Snipers Valley (D), Secret Défense (F), Taken / 96 Hours (F / USA) and in 2009 Pope Joan (D), Same Same But Different (D) or in Chanel & Stravinsky (F).

Anatole Taubman is a member of the German Film Academy and of the European Film Academy. Anatole Taubman is Spokesperson for UNICEF Switzerland.

Anh Hung Tran was born on 23 December 1962 in Da Nang, Vietnam. He is a director and writer, known for The Scent of Green Papaya (1993), The Taste of Things (2023) and Norwegian Wood (2010). He is married to Nu Yên-Khê Tran.

Ann Pennington was born in Wilmington, Delaware. Her family, who were Quakers, moved to Camden, New Jersey when she was a child. She took dancing lessons from ballerina Catherine Littlefield. At the age of seventeen she made her Broadway debut in the musical. She joined the Ziegfeld Follies in 1913. With her long, red hair and great legs she quickly became one of the show's most popular dancers. Her nickname was "The Girl With The Dimpled Knees." Ann became best friends with fellow dancer Fanny Brice. In 1916 she had a starring role in the silent movie Susie Snowflake. Then she appeared in the films The Rainbow Princess, The Antics of Ann, and Sunshine Nan. After six years with the Follies she left to join George's White's Scandals. She began a romance with the show's producer George White. Ann also dated actor Buster West and boxer Jack Dempsey.

While performing in the Scandals she introduced the Black Bottom Dance to Broadway audiences. She returned to the Ziegfeld Follies in 1923. By this time the petite dancer was earning more than $1000 a week. Off stage she was known for her great wit and her generosity. Her biggest vice was betting at the racetrack. In 1929 she appeared in five films including Tanned Legs and Gold Diggers Of Broadway. During the 1930s her popularity started to wane and she performed in vaudeville. Ann had bit parts in the films Unholy Partners and China Girl. Her final stage appearance was a 1946 benefit show for the Armed Forces. After retiring she moved into a modest New York hotel and stayed out of the spotlight. She turned down most interview requests saying "I'd rather be thought of as the way I used to be." Ann spent most of her time socializing with friends and doing charity work. On November 4, 1971 she died from a stroke at the age of seventy-seven. She was buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

Anna Maria Perez de Tagle was born on December 23, 1990 in San Francisco, California as Anna Maria Francesca Enriquez Perez de Tagle. She's 1 of today's hottest triple threats, w/ an extensive list of accomplishments like acting, singing & dancing. She has opened for the Jonas Brothers Asia tour in 2012 & starred in Godspell on Broadway. She has been featured on shows such as Late Show with David Letterman (1993), The View (1997) & The Rosie Show (2011). She was also featured in a sold-out concert that took place May 7, 2012 on board the Hornblower Hybrid in New York City, benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

She was voted Best Featured Female Artist in a Musical at the 2012 Broadway World Awards.

She starred in Camp Rock (2008) & Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010) as Ella, then guest starred in Baby Daddy (2012) as Jenna. She also had a recurring role in Hannah Montana (2006) as Ashley Dewitt.

In 2009, she stole the screen in Fame (2009) as Joy. In 2010, she toured w/ Demi Lovato & Jonas Brothers in North as well as South America. She served as an opener & performer.

At the Ronald Reagan Centennial Birthday Celebration, former 1st lady Nancy Reagan requested her to perform 2 of her favorite Broadway songs in front of hundreds of dignitaries at the Ronald Reagan Library: I Dreamed A Dream from Les Misérables & Someone Like You from Jekyll & Hyde.

She enjoys working w/ the Children's Hospital of L.A., St. Jude's Research Hospital & the American Diabetes Association as well as singing, dancing, working out & reading.

She resides in NYC & L.A.

Anne O'Neal was born on 23 December 1893 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. She was an actress, known for Gun Crazy (1950), The Bishop's Wife (1947) and Borrowed Trouble (1948). She died on 24 November 1971 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.

A bundle of bright sunshine and unabashed energy, lovely musical actress Barbara Ruick delighted audiences for over two decades. The brown-eyed singer/actress who admittedly came up short in the dancing department nevertheless toyed with top musical stardom in mid-1950s films and almost nabbed it. A vivacious beauty whose sparkling, fresh-faced appeal reminded one instantly of a Mitzi Gaynor or Vera-Ellen, Barbara's untimely death at age 41 robbed Hollywood of a tried-and-true talent.

She was born on December 23, 1932 in sunny Pasadena, California, the daughter of show biz professionals. Father Mel Ruick was a well respected radio actor and announcer while mother Lurene Tuttle earned equal distinction as a radio player and (later) reliable TV and film performer playing a lovely assortment of fluttery matrons and mothering types. Deeply influenced by her parents' obvious success and fulfillment, the blonde and starry-eyed Barbara started acting on radio and TV as a Hollywood High School teenager. One of her first jobs was in the chorus of Chico Marx's TV show despite the fact she was a lackluster dancer.

Following other TV work, the just-turned-21 Barbara earned the attention of MGM and signed a long-term contract with the topnotch studio. She dutifully apprenticed in starlet parts with bit or not billed roles in both musical and dramatic outings including Invitation (1952), Scaramouche (1952) and Fearless Fagan (1952). Slightly better parts were handed to her in the films You for Me (1952), Above and Beyond (1952) and Apache War Smoke (1952). The last movie mentioned co-starred future husband Robert Horton, known for his rugged appearances in numerous westerns. The twosome married in Las Vegas in 1953.

The next couple of years were quite frustrating for Barbara at MGM. After finally earning a second female lead role in the film The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953) alongside Bobby Van, Debbie Reynolds and Bob Fosse, MGM inexplicably reverted her right back to playing bit parts again in such offerings as Confidentially Connie (1953), I Love Melvin (1953) and The Band Wagon (1953). She finally retreated from both MGM and Hollywood and returned to New York to concentrate on TV. She earned a slew of assignments including a number of variety show appearances. On series TV she was a bright and breezy regular for such stalwarts as Ezio Pinza, Jerry Colonna and Johnny Carson. She also proved her dramatic mettle on such programs as The New Loretta Young Show (1962), Public Defender (1954) and The Lineup (1954).

Out of nowhere Barbara was ushered back to Hollywood for the most important film role of her career. In Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic Carousel (1956), it seemed that stardom was just within reach after winning the cute and flighty Carrie Piperidge role alongside Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. Ruick shined in the well-mounted 20th Century-Fox production while offering a lovely rendition of "When I Marry Mr. Snow". Instead of this success propelling Barbara into other films, it would be her last movie for nearly two decades. She also recorded for Columbia Records around this period but, other than a couple of novelty items, none of her songs ever made it to the top of the charts.

Divorced from actor Horton in 1956, Barbara married Academy Award-winning composer and Boston Pops conductor John Williams that same year. They had one daughter and two sons. The boys went on to have musical careers of their own; their daughter became a doctor. She continued to thrive on TV in the late 50s. In 1965 angular Barbara and plump Pat Carroll camped it up and nearly stole the proceedings as the evil stepsisters with their uproarious version of "The Stepsisters Lament" in Rodgers & Hammerstein's star-studded musical special Cinderella (1965) starring Lesley Ann Warren.

Barbara was little seen in the ensuing years but did pop up for a small role as a barmaid in the comedy film California Split (1974) showcasing the then-hot film stars Elliott Gould and George Segal. Barbara died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage on March 3, 1974 in Reno, Nevada. Although her musical gifts were shamefully underused by MGM in the early 1950s, her comeback role in Carousel (1956) will endure and remain a film treasure.

Beatriz Luengo makes her debut as a director in this documentary. She is an actress and 3 times Grammy Winner as a musician. She has been recognized by the European Union for the "European Border Breakers Awards" due to her success in Europe, especially in France. Involved with various social causes, she is one of the most recognized voices in Spain on the empowerment of women. She is also a writer, her first book "El despertar de las Musas" (Badass Muses) has become a bestseller in Europe and has been translated into several languages. She is also a songwriter for other artists like Christina Aguilera, Camila Cabello, Ricky Martin, Daddy Yankee, Ozuna and Ruben Blades among others. As one of the creators of the song "Patria y Vida" she decided to film the historical circumstances around this movement knowing that it was an impressive story to tell. The lyrics of the song became part of the Congressional Records of the United States to ensure that future generations will always remember what music is capable to do for freedom, and then she turned the story into a documentary.

Belinda Lang was born on 23 December 1953 in Marylebone, London, England, UK. She is an actress and director, known for 2point4 Children (1991), Sister Boniface Mysteries (2022) and This England (2022). She has been married to Hugh Fraser since 15 October 1988. They have one child.

Ben Kaplan is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He was born in West Hartford, Connecticut but grew up in Columbia, Missouri. At a young age, Ben showed a love for performing and film. In high school, he began filming sketches and short films with friends. While in college at the University of Missouri, he began performing stand-up comedy and improv. In 2009, Ben was a semi-finalist in Rooftop Comedy's National College Stand-Up Comedy Contest. He was also a frequent finalist and semi-finalist in the Midwest's Last Comic Standing. After graduating from college, he moved to Los Angeles to continue his career.

Billy Hank Hooker was born on 23 December 1943 in Vallejo, California, USA. He is an actor, known for Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) and Volcano (1997).

Bradford Jackson, real-name Herman Budlow, was born on December 23, 1928 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In his childhood during the 1930s he was billed as "The World's Youngest Magician". In 1953, after leaving the service, he signed a contract with Universal-International Studio. Brad Jackson's best-known roles are in the sci-fi classic, "It Came From Outer Space", and, Roger Corman's "The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent".

Chin Y. Lee graduated from National Southwest Associated University, Kunming, China, in 1940 with Bachelor of Arts degree. He entered the United States in 1943, attended Yale University, and by 1947 Lee earned a Master of Fine Arts degree.

Lee's first novel, "The Flower Drum Song: A Novel of San Francisco's Grant Avenue," was published in 1957. The novel formed the basis of Rodgers and Hammerstein musical and the subsequent film.

Carla Bruni was born on 23 December 1967 in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. She is a composer and actress, known for Midnight in Paris (2011), 500 Days of Summer (2009) and The Lake House (2006). She has been married to Nicolas Sarkozy since 2 February 2008. They have one child.

Carlos Andrés Gómez was born on 23 December 1981 in New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor, known for Inside Man (2006), The L Word (2004) and The Third Month Termination (2014).

Carolien Spoor was born on 23 December 1987 in The Hague, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands. She is an actress, known for Bella Donna's (2017), Goede tijden, slechte tijden (1990) and Black Tulip (2015). She has been married to Jon Karthaus since 3 September 2016. They have two children.

Charles Herbert was a mildly popular 1950s child actor with a trademark sulky puss and thick, furrowed eyebrows who was known for playing inquisitive kids besieged by alien beings, including a robot, as well as by a human fly and several house-haunting ghosts. He racked up over 20 films, 50 TV shows, and a number of commercials during his youthful reign.

He was born Charles Herbert Saperstein on December 23, 1948, in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, to Pearl Jean (Diamond) and Louis Saperstein. His mother was an Austrian Jewish immigrant, while his paternal grandparents were Russian Jews. Noticed by a Hollywood talent agent while riding a bus with his mother, Charles began his career at age four, on a 1952 TV show titled "Half Pint Panel".

Elsewhere on TV, he showed up regularly on series fronted by such stars as Robert Cummings and Gale Storm. This period was marked by amazingly high-profile performances such as his blind child on the Science Fiction Theatre (1955) episode The Miracle Hour (1956). On the feature film front, Charles made an inauspicious debut in the Lucille Ball/Desi Arnaz comedy The Long, Long Trailer (1954). Although director Vincente Minnelli had handpicked him for the role, his part was completely deleted from the movie. Other tyke roles turned out more positively and in a variety of genres, including the film noir pieces The Night Holds Terror (1955) and The Tattered Dress (1957), the dramas Ransom! (1956) and No Down Payment (1957), and the comedies Houseboat (1958) and Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960). His most recognized genre, however, was sci-fi, and he appeared in a number of films that are now considered classics of that genre. He started off in a bit part as a boy playing tug-of-war with a dead sailor's cap in The Monster That Challenged the World (1957). Up front and center, he came into his own playing the young son of dead scientific genius Ross Martin, whose brilliant brain is transplanted into what becomes the robot-like The Colossus of New York (1958). He loses another dad (David Hedison) to a botched experiment in The Fly (1958), also starring iconic master of macabre Vincent Price. Lastly, Charles headed up the cast in the somewhat eerie but rather dull and tame William Castle spookfest 13 Ghosts (1960). Castle handpicked Charles for the child role and even offered the busy young actor top-billing over the likes of Donald Woods, Rosemary DeCamp, Jo Morrow, Martin Milner, and Margaret Hamilton if he would appear in his movie. In this haunted-house setting, Castle's trademark gimmick had audiences using 3-D glasses in order to see the ghostly apparitions.

He had another leading role in the fantasy adventure The Boy and the Pirates (1960), then film offers for Charles completely stopped. Growing into that typically awkward teen period, he was forced to subsist on whatever episodic roles he could muster up, including bits on Wagon Train (1957), Rawhide (1959), The Fugitive (1963), Family Affair (1966), and My Three Sons (1960). By the end of the 1960s, however, Charles was completely finished in Hollywood, having lost the essential adorableness that most tyke stars originally possessed. Unable to transition into adult roles, his personal life went downhill as well. With no formal education or training to do anything else, and with no career earnings saved, he led a reckless, wanderlust life and turned to drugs. Never married, it took him nearly 40 years (clean and sober since October, 2005) to turn his life around. During good times and bad, however, he appeared from time to time at sci-fi film festivals.

Charles Herbert died of a heart attack on October 31, 2015, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Cheryl Howard was born on 23 December 1953 in Glendale, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Splash (1984), A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Ransom (1996). She has been married to Ron Howard since 7 June 1975. They have four children.