September 20 birthdays
1486 ARTHUR TUDOR Prince of Wales
Arthur was the heir apparent to King Henry VII of England. In a bid to forge an alliance with Spain, Arthur married Catherine of Aragon in 1501 but died soon afterwards.
1872 MAURICE GAMELIN French Army general
Gamelin served with distinction in World War I. But he is best remembered for his disastrous command of the French military during World War II’S Battle of France in 1940. The Vichy regime tried Gamelin for treason.
1880 LOUISE PEETE
American serial killer
Peete was first convicted in 1920 for murder. She was sentenced to life imprisonment but was paroled in 1939. She was then convicted for the murder of her employer in 1945. She was sentenced to death and was executed in 1947.
1911 FRANK DE VOL
American composer
De Vol was nominated for four Academy Awards as a composer. As well as scores for numerous movies, he also did television theme tunes. He composed the themes for The Brady Bunch and My Three Sons.
1924 JOHN VASSALL
British spy
Vassall was a British civil servant who spied for the Soviet Union from 1954 until his arrest in 1962. He was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment.
1925 RAMA VIII (ANANDA MAHIDOL)
King of Siam
Born in Germany, he was recognised as King in 1935 as a nine-year-old boy living in Switzerland. He returned to Thailand in 1945, but six months later was found shot dead in his bed.
1934 SOPHIA LOREN Italian actor
Encouraged to take acting lessons after entering a beauty pageant, Loren made her film debut at the age of 16 in 1950.
A five-film contract with paramount in 1956 launched her international career. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1961 for Two Women, making her the first to win an Oscar in a foreign-language performance.