Birthdays: August 17

In America, the early performing arts accomplishments of young Maureen FitzSimons (who we know as Maureen O'Hara) would definitely have put her in the child prodigy category. However, for a child of Irish heritage surrounded by gifted parents and family, these were very natural traits. Maureen made her entrance into this caring haven on August 17, 1920, in Ranelagh (a suburb of Dublin), Ireland. Her mother, Marguerita Lilburn FitzSimons, was an accomplished contralto. Her father, Charles FitzSimons, managed a business in Dublin and also owned part of the renowned Irish soccer team "The Shamrock Rovers." Maureen was the second of six FitzSimons children - Peggy, Florrie, Charles B. Fitzsimons, Margot Fitzsimons and James O'Hara completed this beautiful family.

Maureen loved playing rough athletic games as a child and excelled in sports. She combined this interest with an equally natural gift for performing. This was demonstrated by her winning pretty much every Feis award for drama and theatrical performing her country offered. By age 14 she was accepted to the prestigious Abbey Theater and pursued her dream of classical theater and operatic singing. This course was to be altered, however, when Charles Laughton, after seeing a screen test of Maureen, became mesmerized by her hauntingly beautiful eyes. Before casting her to star in Jamaica Inn (1939), Laughton and his partner, Erich Pommer, changed her name from Maureen FitzSimons to "Maureen O'Hara" - a bit shorter last name for the marquee.

Under contract to Laughton, Maureen's next picture was to be filmed in America (The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)) at RKO Pictures. The epic film was an extraordinary success and Maureen's contract was eventually bought from Laughton by RKO. At 19, Maureen had already starred in two major motion pictures with Laughton. Unlike most stars of her era, she started at the top, and remained there - with her skills and talents only getting better and better with the passing years.

Maureen has an enviable string of all-time classics to her credit that include the aforementioned "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," How Green Was My Valley (1941), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Sitting Pretty (1948), The Quiet Man (1952), and The Parent Trap (1961). Add to this the distinction of being voted one of the five most beautiful women in the world and you have a film star who was as gorgeous as she was talented.

Although at times early in her career Hollywood didn't seem to notice, there was much more to Maureen O'Hara than her dynamic beauty. She not only had a wonderful lyric soprano voice, but she could use her inherent athletic ability to perform physical feats that most actresses couldn't begin to attempt, from fencing to fisticuffs. She was a natural athlete.

In her career Maureen starred with some of Hollywood's most dashing leading men, including Tyrone Power, John Payne, Rex Harrison, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Brian Keith, Sir Alec Guinness and, of course, her famed pairings with "The Duke" himself, John Wayne. She starred in five films with Wayne, the most beloved being The Quiet Man (1952).

In addition to famed director John Ford, Maureen was also fortunate to have worked for some other great directors in the business: Alfred Hitchcock, William Dieterle, Henry Hathaway, Henry King, Jean Renoir, John M. Stahl, William A. Wellman, Frank Borzage, Walter Lang, George Seaton, George Sherman, Carol Reed, Delmer Daves, David Swift, Andrew V. McLaglen and Chris Columbus.

In 1968 Maureen found much deserved personal happiness when she married Charles Blair. Gen. Blair was a famous aviator whom she had known as a friend of her family for many years. A new career began for Maureen, that of a full-time wife. Her marriage to Blair, however, was again far from typical. Blair was the real-life version of what John Wayne had been on the screen. He had been a Brigadier General in the Air Force, a Senior Pilot with Pan American, and held many incredible record-breaking aeronautic achievements. Maureen happily retired from films in 1973 after making the TV movie The Red Pony (1973) (which won the prestigious Peabody Award for Excellence) with Henry Fonda. With Blair, Maureen managed Antilles Airboats, a commuter sea plane service in the Caribbean. She not only made trips around the world with her pilot husband, but owned and published a magazine, "The Virgin Islander," writing a monthly column called "Maureen O'Hara Says."

Tragically, Charles Blair died in a plane crash in 1978. Though completely devastated, Maureen pulled herself together and, with memories of ten of the happiest years of her life, continued on. She was elected President and CEO of Antilles Airboats, which brought her the distinction of being the first woman president of a scheduled airline in the United States.

Fortunately, she was coaxed out of retirement several times - once in 1991 to star with John Candy in Only the Lonely (1991) and again, in 1995, in a made-for-TV movie, The Christmas Box (1995) on CBS. In the spring of 1998, Maureen accepted the second of what would be three projects for Polson Productions and CBS: Cab to Canada (1998) - and, in October, 2000, The Last Dance (2000).

On St. Patrick's Day in 2004, she published her New York Times bestselling memoir, 'Tis Herself, co-authored with her longtime biographer and manager Johnny Nicoletti.

On November 4, 2014 Maureen was honored by a long overdue Oscar for "Lifetime Achievement" at the annual Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Governors Awards.

Maureen O'Hara was absolutely stunning, with that trademark red hair, dazzling smile and those huge, expressive eyes. She has fans from all over the world of all ages who are utterly devoted to her legacy of films and her persona as a strong, courageous and intelligent woman.

Ada Falcon was born on 17 August 1905 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was an actress, known for Idols of the Radio (1934), Tu cuna fue un conventillo (1925) and Innocent Lies (1995). She died on 4 January 2002 in Salsipuedes, Córdoba, Argentina.

Adam Litovitz was born on 17 August 1982 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was a composer and writer, known for Octavio Is Dead! (2018), Year of the Carnivore (2009) and Three Movements (2013). He died on 16 June 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Ahmet Mekin was born on 6 August 1932 in Istanbul, Turkey. He is an actor, known for The Girl with the Red Scarf (1977), Görünmeyen (2011) and Kardes Kani (1964). He is married to Sükran Sabuncu. He was previously married to Sükran Sabuncu.

Allan Royal was born on 17 August 1944 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is an actor and writer, known for Night Heat (1985), Star Trek: Voyager (1995) and The Firm (2012).

Andrés Pastrana Arango is known for Finding Escobar's Millions (2017), Yo soy Betty, la fea (1999) and The Colombian Ignominy (2016).

Andrew Koenig was born on 17 August 1968 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Batman: Dead End (2003), InAlienable (2007) and Growing Pains (1985). He died on 16 February 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Angela Dohrmann was born on 17 August 1965 in West Hollywood, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Nash Bridges (1996), Star Trek: Voyager (1995) and Seinfeld (1989).

Anthony E. Zuiker is the creator of television's hugely successful "CSI" franchise, currently serving as executive producer of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and the newest series in the franchise, "CSI: Cyber." In December of 2014, Zuiker made his debut in the kids market with "Mysteryopolis," a seven part animated video series which was the first original series to launch exclusively on nabi tablets. "Mysteryopolis" also introduced the world to a whole new category of kids entertainment called the "gamified narrative," which combines Hollywood-style scripted narrative with top-notch interactive gameplay, so that kids don't watch the episode, they "play" through the episode.

Last year, Zuiker pushed the envelope on both scripted and reality television with his first foray into the reality genre, "Whodunnit?" for ABC. One of the most groundbreaking cross-platform storytellers today, Zuiker created and executive produced "Cybergeddon," a digital blockbuster for Yahoo! The project caught the attention of the International Digital Emmy Awards, and in April of 2013, Zuiker was recognized as the recipient of the 2013 Pioneer Prize at MIPTV in Cannes. Zuiker is also credited as pioneering the "Digi-novel" genre and is the author of the best-selling series "Level 26," published by Dutton/Penguin Group. In 2011, Zuiker published his personal memoir, Mr. CSI: How a Vegas Dreamer Made a Killing in Hollywood, One Body at a Time, with Harper Collins.

Anthony Valentine was born on 17 August 1939 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Scobie in September (1969), Callan (1967) and The Fifth Corner (1992). He was married to Susan Valentine. He died on 2 December 2015 in Guildford, Surrey, England, UK.

Antonio Rios is known for Pasapalabra (2016), Antonio Rios: Nunca me faltes (1996) and Todo x 2 pesos (1999).

Ariadne Díaz was born on 17 August 1986 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. She is an actress, known for Mañana es para siempre (2008), La malquerida (2014) and Te juro que yo no fui (2018). She has been married to Marcus Ornellas since 2015. They have one child.

Actress and comedienne Ashlie Rhey was born in Wheeling, West Virginia and grew up in Navarre, Ohio, where she graduated from Fairless High School with the Class of 1979.

Ashlie was cast in her very first acting role while working as a model with Wilhelmina Models, for that role she portrayed movie starlet with Edd Byrnes of 77 Sunset Strip (1958) in a commercial.

Ashlie's modeling career took her to Europe and upon returning to the west coast she began pursuing her career as an actress. It was at that time that her theatrical agent received a casting call from Playboy landing Ashlie in seven newsstand specials and a pictorial for Playboy Australia. She went on to fill numerous roles for film and television productions for Playboy Enterprises.

During her studies for acting she also worked as a hand model and body double. She poked the Pillsbury Doughboy and was the hands of supermodels Rachel Hunter, Niki Taylor and others in their cosmetics commercials. Kelly Lynch, Lara Flynn Boyle, Sarah Jessica Parker and Valeria Golino are a few of the actresses for whom Ashlie body-doubled in their movie posters and video box covers.

One of Ashlie's early roles was as Shannon Thronton in the Telley Award winning Soap Opera Secrets. She then obtained some small roles and quickly landed her first starring role in the independent horror film The Summoned (1992). Her next break came when she was cast as the star of Bikini Drive-in (1995), she subsequently co-starred as April in the sequel, Mystery On Makeout Mountain (1997) and landed the role of Tye Dye in Babe Watch: Forbidden Parody (1996).

In 2008 Ashlie began performing stand up comedy for the Spiritual, but not Religious in Sanctimonious Comedy and she created, wrote, produced, directed and starred in the sitcom pilot Daisy Power (2008).

Along with her performance work Ashlie has followed a life long interest in alternative medicine, spiritual growth and the healing arts. She is a Reiki Master, an L.M.T. and a certified Laughter Yoga Leader. Ashlie also studied at the School for Enlightenment and Healing and she follows a path of personal transformation.

Augie Blunt was born on 17 August 1929 in Michigan, USA. He was an actor, known for Ghost (1990), The American President (1995) and Life (1999). He was married to Dolores Scott. He died on 2 May 1999.

Austin Robert Butler was born in Anaheim, California, to Lori Anne (Howell), an aesthetician, and David Butler. He has always enjoyed movies of all types. When he was 13 he was walking around at the Orange County Fair and was approached by a representative from a background-acting management company, who helped him get started in the entertainment industry. He found that he really enjoyed it, and began taking a few acting classes. Soon, he landed a rather permanent (2005-2007) background-acting gig on Nickelodeon's Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (2004), and a friend on the show, Lindsey Shaw, introduced him to her manager, who offered to represent him. From that point on, he considered himself to be a serious actor.

His first named (albeit uncredited) character was "Toby" in the Hannah Montana (2006) episode "Oops, I Meddled Again" in 2006 (girl broke up with him). First speaking role was in Zoey 101 (2005), as "Dannifer" or "Wrong Danny" (a few lines, and a girl poured soda down his shirt). He got a meatier role on Hannah Montana (2006) in 2007, still a small part, but very fun (a few more lines, and he got to fling popcorn on Miley Cyrus).

His big break (relatively speaking) was in 2007, as casting directors started to recognize him from his many, many auditions, and he was given an opportunity to play the part of "Jake Krandle" in the new Nickelodeon series iCarly (2007), which should start airing late in 2007. His first episode is called "iLike Jake."

Pop icon Belinda Carlisle experienced full-blown American success twice in the 1980s, first with the all-female rock band The Go-Go's and then, on an international level (which she always wanted), as a solo artist. The Go-Go's first album, 1981's "Beauty and the Beat", spent six weeks at number 1 and they are still the only all-female band ever to have a number 1 album. (Band meaning where all the members play their own instruments). In 1982, the group released the album "Vacation" and set out on a major sell out tour of the states. The album debuted in the top 10 (one of the first albums to ever do so) peaking at number 8. It would eventually go on to sell over 1 million copies though their record company only had it certified as gold. Problems were rising in the band as tensions grew between member Jane Wiedlin and Belinda as Jane felt too much focus was placed on Belinda as the star. Members Gina Schock and Charlotte Caffey both experienced health problems and all of the members were experiencing drug addiction. The group also consistently had problems with their record label as they were not paid royalties when they should have been. 1984 saw the group releasing "Talk Show" and despite having one of the biggest tours of the summer of 1984, the album was considered a commercial disappointment. The band broke up in spring 1985. 1986 saw Belinda releasing her first solo album called, aptly, "Belinda". Drug free, married, happy, and healthy, she continued to experience major solo success through 1989 with the releases of her albums "Heaven On Earth" (1987) and "Runaway Horses" (1989). With the onslaught of grunge moving in during the early 1990s, Belinda's 1991 effort "Live Your Life Be Free" barely made a dent on the charts and its first single peaked at #83 on the Billboard Hot 100. By 1993, her solo album "Real" also tanked and her American record company MCA Records dropped her a year later. MCA technically should be to blame as they hardly promoted her work and most of it sold on its own. They did the same to Olivia Newton-John some 10 years earlier. But just because a pop star isn't experiencing American success does not mean they are not experiencing it elsewhere. Belinda proves to be a huge commodity in Europe, almost as big as Madonna, and sells out stadiums in the United Kingdom where they truly seem to appreciate her. Today, Belinda only occasionally records both as a solo artist and as a member of The Go-Go's. She considers herself a part-timer in these fields as she prefers her home life as opposed to the nail-biting entertainment industry. She appeared in the 1984 Goldie Hawn vehicle Swing Shift (1984) and, in 2001, she showed that a 43-year-old with no plastic surgery and who isn't a size 0 can still be sexually viable when she posed nude for Playboy.

Bianca Collins was born on 17 August 1988 in San Diego, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Tiger Cruise (2004), House (2004) and Grey's Anatomy (2005).

Bob DeBrino is a member of the Producers, Director's and Writers Guilds of America. He has developed many quality Film and TV projects and has completed several major feature films and TV pilots. He maintains the dramatic rights to several literary properties such as, The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano (by Martin Gosch and Richard Hammer), The Vatican Connection (by Richard Hammer), Rough Magic The Sylvia Plath's Story (by Paul Alexander), Juiced (by Harper Collins) New York Times Bestsellers list for fourteen weeks. The Andy Warhol Estate (by Paul Alexander), Cathedral (by Nelson DeMille), Justice Denied (by Robert K. Tanenbaum) and Murder Machine (by Jerry Capacci).

Bob Debrino has worked in all aspects of development in film and television. He worked as a producer at the following companies, Canon Pictures, Dan Blatt Productions at Warner Brothers Studios, Al Ruddy at the Ruddy-Morgan Organization who produced the (Godfather), Sony Pictures and 20th Century Fox.

He has several projects in development for network and cable television: Trump Tower from Donald Trump, Showtime Television, Rainbows Hallmark Entertainment, The Chameleon CBS TV, Boston Point Shaving Case, ABC TV/New Regency/Warner Bros, Riley for the People, CBS- TV and VJ Records: The Vivienne Carter Story Susan DEPasse Entertainment/Mo Town Music TV, Colony in Space, CBS TV. City of Miracles, NBC TV. He has developed and Co-Produced, The Alyssa Milano Story, Lifetime Television's Bio Pic.

He has completed Shut Up and Shoot, starring Tom Seizemore, Gary Busey, Daniel Baldwin and John Savage, Find Me Guilty starring Vin Diesel and Peter Dinklage, directed by Sidney Lumet. Twister starring Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman. Ivory Keyes starring Martin Landau.

Documentary films include Simon Bolivar's, Path to Glory starring Sal Pacino, Kathy Pacino, Bebsabe Duque and Laureano Olivares.

Bob was a New York City Police Officer and was injured in the line of duty while foiling a bank holdup. He has been wounded and shot four times and has stopped his assailants by returning fire. Bob worked in several units in the NYPD, Patrol, Anti-Crime, Vice, Homicide, and Narcotics. He has approximately 39 citations for bravery and has received the Honor Legion Medal. The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, Cop of the Month Award "several times." Bob retired early from the NYPD due to many line of duty injuries and currently has a successful career as producer-writer in the Film and Television industry.

American actor Brady James Monson Corbet was born on August 17, 1988, in Scottsdale, AZ. Brady made his film debut as Mason Freeland in 2003's "Thirteen" and later had roles as Brian Lackey in "Mysterious Skin" and as Alan Tracy in "Thunderbirds." He also has guest starred on the television shows "Greetings from Tucson," "Oliver Beene" and "The King of Queens," but he is most known for his role as Derek Huxley on the fifth season of "24."

Brock Kelly was born on 17 August 1985 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Pitch Perfect (2012), Costa Rican Summer (2010) and Supernatural (2005).

Bryton James was born on 17 August 1986 in Lakewood, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Young and the Restless (1973), Family Matters (1989) and Hero Factory (2010). He was previously married to Ashley Leisinger.

Charles was born in England, but raised and educated in the United States. At the age of ten, he made his professional acting debut in a production of 'Oliver!' starring Davy Jones of The Monkees. In 2001, he earned his Bachelors degree in History at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. That autumn, Charles returned to England to study drama at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 2004. During his attendance at RADA, he performed in more than twelve theatrical productions including Richard III, Ulysses and Speaking in Tongues.

Within a year he was playing Claude, the male lead, in a revival of 'Hair' at The Gate theatre in Notting Hill. In 2006 he received critical praise for his roles as the Son of God in Oxford Playhouse's touring version of 'Paradise Lost' and as Joe Buck in a stage adaptation of 'Midnight Cowboy' at the Edinburgh Festival. British television viewers were to see lots more of him in February 2007 when he made his TV debut in the fantasy-comedy serial 'Bonkers', playing a sex-obsessed teenager unable to stop himself from bedding every woman he meets. In 2008 he was nominated for the prestigious Ian Charleson Award for his portrayal of Iago in Frantic Assembly's production of 'Othello', which led to his joining the Royal Shakespeare Company for almost 3 years where he played lead roles in 'As You Like It' and 'King Lear'. The company was invited to New York in 2011 as part of the Lincoln Center Festival, where his portrayal of Edgar in 'King Lear' caught people's attention. This would lead to appearances in a number of American television shows including 'Madam Secretary', 'Sleepy Hollow', 'Frontier', and most notably, 'The Knick', directed by Steven Soderbergh, in which Charles played yet another sex obsessed young man. In 2017, he returned to London to rejoin the Royal Shakespeare Company in their production of 'Coriolanus' and cinema audiences got to know Charles as the arrogant lothario Dr Gregory Butler in the hit feature film, 'Happy Death Day'.

Charles Judels or Charles Judel was born in Amsterdam in 1882. Starred on vaudeville in the early 1900s, and made his Broadway stage debut in 'The Ziegfeld Follies of 1912'. Highly talented chubby man who appeared in more than 130 American comedy and drama movies, his expertise with dialects served him well throughout his career. His first film was the comedy Old Dutch (1915) directed by Frank Hall Crane and starring Lew Fields for the Shubert Film Co. He is perhaps best remembered as the cheese-store proprietor in the Laurel & Hardy film Swiss Miss (1938). He also did extensive work as a voice actor in animated films, most notably as the voice of Stromboli in Disney's Pinocchio (1940). His last appearance on screen was as a Danite Merchant in Samson and Delilah (1949).

Chet Allen was born on 17 August 1928 in Chickasha, Oklahoma, USA. He was an art director and actor, known for The Delinquents (1957), P.K. and the Kid (1987) and Honeymoon for Harriet (1950). He died on 19 April 2011 in Topanga, California, USA.