On this day in Science Fiction history, Steven Spielberg's E.T. - The Extraterrestrial was first released theatrically in 1982. The whimsical modern-day fairly tale of a boy and his -- erm -- alien warmed the hearts of audiences around the world.
BIRTHDAYS
Actor Ed Bishop had a small part in 2001: A Space Odyssey, but he greatly established himself with fans of sci-fi in the series-leading-role of Commander Ed Straker in Gerry Anderson's live action series UFO (1969-1973). Though he's no longer with us, Bishop was born on this day in 1932.
We fanboys take our heroines seriously, and, throughout the late 70's and much of the 80's, Adrienne Barbeau ruled the silver screen. She appeared in John Carpenter's The Fog as well as his Escape from New York, and she was the only beauty capable of taming the beast that was Swamp Thing. Barbeau was born on this day in 1945.
In any account of the Trojan War, it's been said that Helen had a face that launched a thousand ships to war. Well -- in the anals of sci-fi films -- it was the face of Cherry 2000 who launched one man's attempt to bring his own 'Helen' back to life. The android Cherry 2000 was played by the lovely Pamela Gidley, who was born on this day in 1965.
Peter Dinklage is definitely 'ruling the roost' so far as most fanboys are concerned. He's plays a key figure aboard HBO's Games of Thrones, and he definitely upped his game as part of X-Men: Days of Future Past in the summer of 2014. Dinklage was born on this day in 1969 and has been turning in nothing but quality work ever since.
Joshua Jackson was part of the winning ensemble that made Fox TV's Fringe so popular. Throughout the show's tenure, Jackson stayed near the helm, both as an actor as well as a character given the fact that his Peter Bishop was a driving force behind why all of these parallel worlds were originally in collision. Jackson was born on this day in 1978.
Pardon me if I sound a bit snarky: there's been something refreshing about watching Shia Labeouf's public persona implode almost as easily as a plot device in any of the Transformers' flicks he's headlined. (Truth is I enjoyed the first as a guilty popcorn pleasure, but the rest have been awful.) Labeouf was born on this day in 1986.
SCIENCE FICTION FILMS
Just over ten years after Steven Spielberg left his footprint on film history with E.T. (previously mentioned above), he did it again with the very first installment of the Jurassic Park (1993) franchise exploding into theatres. I can still remember the first time I heard the T-Rex roar ... and it still brings me chills!
Vin Diesel loves the character that launched his career, and why not? Riddick is a seminal loner with a penchant for solving problems the old-fashioned way: violently. The man who can see in the dark returned to the silver screen (in a somewhat complex, convoluted plot) with the release of The Chronicles of Riddick on this day in 2004.
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