birthdays: december 12

Frank Sinatra, (1915-1998), three-time Academy Award winner (a special award for the short The House I Live In, Best Supporting Actor for From Here to Eternity, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1970) and 34-time Grammy nominee (13-time winner), he's probably one of the most famous figures of the 20th Century pop culture popularizing countless iconic songs including "Witchcraft," "Come Fly with Me," "High Hopes," "It Was a Very Good Year," "My Way," and "Strangers in the Night" and starring in such films as Anchors Aweigh, On the Town, The Man with the Golden Arm, and the original Ocean's Eleven
Bob Barker, 87, he hosted The Price is Right for 35 years, becoming one of the most recognizable figures in the last four decades of television; he also famously portrayed himself in that unfortunate movie Happy Gilmore
Jennifer Connelly, 40, though I first fell in love with her aspiring actress in the little-seen The Rocketeer in 1991, she got her big start as a kid star in the David Bowie fantasy flick Labyrinth, and since had roles in Requiem for a Dream, A Beautiful Mind (for which she won an Oscar), Little Children, Blood Diamond, and the upcoming What's Wrong with Virginia
Tom Wilkinson, 62, though his Oscar-nominated roles were in 2001's In the Bedroom and 2007's Michael Clayton, this British star got his start on television before transitioning to films in Priest, Sense and Sensibility, Shakespeare in Love, The Patriot, Batman Begins, and The Ghost Writer
Bill Nighy, 61, much like Wilkinson, this Brit started off on television in the late 1970s and is best known by American audiences for his film work in Love Actually, Shaun of the Dead, The Girl in the Cafe, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, and Notes on a Scandal; this year he's appeared as an aging assassin Wild Target and as Rufus Scrimgeour, the short-lived Minister of Magic in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I
Mayim Bialik, 35, she's the quintessential girl's girl in the '90s series Blossom, though most recently she's known for her now series regular position as Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang Theory and for her intelligence, having been accepted at both Harvard and Yale before settling on UCLA
Edward G. Robinson, (1893-1973), the go-to "wiseguy" for gangster movies of early filmdom, he played the title character in 1931's Little Caesar, Barton Keyes in Double Indemnity, and Johnny Rocco in Key Largo, while gracing screens with his impossibly unique voice
Regina Hall, 40, though she's unfortunately best-known as Brenda in the Scary Movie franchise, I like to remember her for playing Corretta in the last two seasons of Ally McBeal; in addition, she recently took the role as deputy district attorney in Law & Order: Los Angeles
Duane Chase, 60, though his film career was singular, he played the role of Kurt von Trapp in 1965's The Sound of Music, before changing careers to computer programming for earth scientists
Don Gummer, 64, though he has no relation to the entertainment industry directly, I had to include him as he's the father of The Good Wife actress Mamie Gummer and wife to the one and only Meryl Streep; he works as a sculptor and has been married to Streep for 32 years