birthdays: december 19

Edith Piaf, (1915-1963), well known in France and the rest of the world as the little lady with the distinctive and powerful voice, or simply as "La Mome" (The Little Sparrow), she's most famous for her songs "La Vie En Rose," "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien," "Milord," and "Hymne a l'Amour"; in addition, she was portrayed (with a resulting Oscar win) by Marion Cotillard in the 2007 film La Vie En Rose
Jake Gyllenhaal, 30, though his biggest critical success came with his Oscar nomination for the doomed romance Brokeback Mountain in 2005, he's had a fairly prominent film career in the past 10 years, having starred in Donnie Darko, The Day After Tomorrow, Jarhead, Zodiac, Prince of Persia, and Love and Other Drugs
Cicely Tyson, 77, prominent black actress who notably landed an Oscar nod for the acclaimed 1972 flick Sounder, she's probably most famous as the title character of the TV movie The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman; she also starred in the 1960s series East Side/West Side and the movies The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Diary of a Mad Black Woman - plus she's got the film adaptation of the hit book The Help coming up next year


...aaaaand because I'm getting tired, I'm going to shorthand the rest of today's birthdays just this once.


Jennifer Beals, 47, Flashdance boogier and L Word frontwoman
Tim Reid, 66, one-time WKRP in Cincinnati DJ and Sister Sister patriarch
Mike Lookinland, 50, oft-forgotten Brady Bunch kid Bobby
Alyssa Milano, 38, kept Tony Danza in line on Who's the Boss and headlined Charmed
Kristy Swanson, 41, has a long list of credits, most notably the original film version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Graham King, 49, Academy Award-winning producer of The Departed and The Aviator, et al.
Robert MacNaughton, 44, one-time kid star most famous for playing older brother Mike on E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
Ralph Richardson, (1902-1983), British thespian who managed an Oscar nod for Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
Ken Marino, 42, ill-fated sixth-toe guy on Will & Grace and the bumbling Ron Donald on Party Down
Jessica Steen, 45, played an astronaut in Armageddon but more importantly played a brainy inventor in the Disney Channel movie Smart House
Robert B. Sherman, 85, Oscar go-to songwriter responsible for music from The Sword in the Stone, Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and The Aristocats