ON THIS DAY
April 15, 2017
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE APRIL 15, 1935
‘THERE is cleavage in Reel 1. There is cleavage in Reel 4. There is gross cleavage in Reel 8.’ Thus, sternly, the President of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America rebuked The Scarlet Pimpernel’s film director, announcing it was the last picture committing the crime of ‘cleavage’ that he would pass. Merle Oberon’s costumes (pictured) are considered offensive under the new League of Purity rules.
APRIL 15, 1969
THE Liver Girls on BBC1 [the pilot episode for the sitcom The Liver Birds] was a sort of Likely Lads, but instead of using two men, it featured two girls. Pauline Collins was the classy Dawn, and Polly James was superb as the blousy Beryl.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
JEFFREY ARCHER, 77. The former Tory deputy chairman and best-selling novelist served two years in prison for the wrong kind of fiction: perjury and perverting the course of justice.
MARTY WILDE, 78. The Fifties singer was discovered at 17 and became one of Britain’s first home-grown pop stars. He started in West End clubs, where he was paid £1 a night plus a bowl of spaghetti. He is the father of singer Kim Wilde.
BORN ON THIS DAY
DODI FAYED (1955-1997). The Egyptian-born eldest son of then Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed died in the car crash that killed his lover Princess Diana (right). He was given his first Rolls-Royce at 15 and, at one time, owned five Ferraris, while receiving $100,000 a month from his father.
BESSIE SMITH (1894-1937), regarded as the greatest female blues singer. Her husband, bootlegger Jack Gee, was shot and wounded on their first date. After her death, her grave was unmarked for 33 years because Gee stole the headstone money.
ON APRIL 15 . . .
IN 1945, British troops liberated the Bergen-Belsen Nazi concentration camp. One of the first officers to arrive reported a delivery of lipstick was an unlikely source of hope: ‘At last, someone had done something to make them individuals again.’
IN 1989, the Hillsborough disaster unfolded at Sheffield Wednesday’s ground as Liverpool played Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi-final. The crush on the Leppings Lane terrace — Britain’s worst sporting disaster — claimed the lives of 96 fans and hundreds more were injured.
WORD WIZARDRY
NEW WORD OF THE DAY Twirt: To flirt with someone on Twitter. GUESS THE DEFINITION Orant (coined 1900) a) A religious figure at prayer. b) A small cavity in a rock. c) A wandering beggar posing as a priest.
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Army and Navy: Rhyming slang for gravy, which was plentiful in both Services.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
Why is God making me suffer so much? Just because I don’t believe in him? Sidney Morgenbesser, U.S. philosopher (1921-2004)
JOKE OF THE DAY
HOW do fish always know how much they weigh? Because they take their scales wherever they go. Guess The Definition answer: A