1899 is born. He authors plays such as , , and , scripts for the films Brief Encounter and This Happy Breed, and more than 500 songs, including "Mad Dogs and Englishmen." Coward makes his Broadway debut in 1925 in his own . A first-time Broadway mounting of marks the 100 year anniversary of Coward's birth when it opens at the Walter Kerr Theatre, December 16, 1999.
1936 and are featured in , a comedy by and , which runs 577 performances at the Biltmore Theatre. It's about cadets at the Virginia Military Academy who try to keep the secret that one of them has gotten married. Albert recreates his role for the 1938 film, which co-stars Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman.
1948 , , and in the revue at the National Theatre in New York. and direct the 460 performances.
1953 , starring as a delegate to the UN, presides over the Broadhurst Theatre for 15 weeks. Director also penned the script with .
1954 returns to Broadway with her third, and most successful, thriller: , about an attorney who has survived a near-fatal heart attack only to take on a murder case that turns up the pressure when his client's wife becomes a witness against him. It runs 645 performances at Henry Miller's Theatre. plays the stressed-out attorney.
1959 When a deceased womanizer comes back to life in the body of , co-star says . Written and directed by , the comedy runs for 109 performances at the Lyceum Theatre.
1960 drills for oil in at the Alvin Theatre. hat-tricks by producing, directing, and choreographing the , , and tuner. Lucy leaves after 171 performances and the show closes.
1987 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, a program designed to help fight the threat of the AIDS virus, is launched.
1993 Composing great gives Broadway his final score in a musical adaptation of the ballet classic . It closes after just 5 performances, and the ailing composer dies 10 months later. Lyrics are by Pulitzer-winner and Paul Stryker (aka ). Staging is by .
1999 No毛l Coward's Waiting in the Wings gets its posthumous Broadway debut, with a cast of great doyennes, including , , , , and many more. Sadly, it's also the last of more than 100 Broadway shows produced by titan , who dies the following April while the show is still running. It ends up playing 183 performances.
2003 Shubert Organization Chairman assumes the chairmanship of the League of American Theatres and Producers, replacing .
More of Today's Birthdays: (1892-1967). (1920-1989). (1920-1997). (b. 1938). (b. 1946). (b. 1961). Sam Robards (b. 1961). (b. 1964). (b. 1967).
