There are worse things I could do

It's a day of "milestone birthdays" today, dear reader - the eternally elfin Robbie Williams is (gulp!) 50 years old, Jerry Springer would have been 80, and the lovely George Segal would have been 90...

...but most significant of all, scarily, today is the simply faboo "friend of the gays" Miss Stockard Channing's 80th birthday!!

As I said way back in 2008:

One of my favourite actresses, she is probably best known for her tour de force part of Rizzo in Grease, but I particularly love her for her roles in To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar and for the made-for-TV drama Tidy Endings, in which she starred with the fantastic Harvey Fiersten [a film that to this day, shockingly, has never been released on DVD!].

After four decades in the business, Stockard went on to become a household name as the First Lady in The West Wing until the series ended in 2006. But we queens will always hold her close to our hearts when we sing along with this classic number:

Stockard Channing - There Are Worse Things I Could Do

Many happy returns, Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard, 13th February 1944)!

"I cook like Betty Crocker and I look like Donna Reed"

Convoluted connections, #274 in a series...

I was fascinated to note a link between two of today's celebrity birthdays. For born on this day were both that surprisingly sexless hunk who starred in A Summer Place Troy Donahue (1936-2001)*, and the doyenne of Hollywood's ideal "American housewives", the actress Donna Reed (1921-1986).

The connection? Both were name-checked in songs of which I am particularly fond... And here are those very songs, from Grease and Little Shop Of Horrors, respectively. Enjoy!

Grease - Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee

Little Shop of Horrors - Somewhere that's Green

[* Mr Donahue, of course, also appeared in Grease as "Teen Angel"]

There are worse things I could do

Happy birthday to the beautiful and mega-talented Stockard Channing, 64 years old! One of my favourite actresses, she is probably best known for her tour de force part of Rizzo in Grease, but I particularly love her for her roles in To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar and for the made-for-TV drama Tidy Endings, in which she starred with the fantastic Harvey Fiersten [a film that to this day, shockingly, has never been released on DVD!].

After four decades in the business, Stockard went on to become a household name as the First Lady in The West Wing until the series ended in 2006. But we queens will always hold her close to our hearts when we sing along with this classic number:

Stockard Channing - There Are Worse Things I Could Do

Stockard Channing on Wikipedia