Day Tripping: November 21
Ditzy, Not
Goldie Jene Hawn was born in 1945 in Washington, D.C. and at the age of three, she began ballet and tap lessons. At age ten, she performed in a production of The Nutcracker for Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. She was teaching ballet in 1964 when she got her first professional role in Can-Can at the New York World’s Fair.
To keep working professionally, Goldie worked as a go-go dancer in New York, and then in California. After a short run playing a ‘dumb blonde’ in a sitcom, Hawn landed a recurring role in Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.
“There are only three ages for women in Hollywood — Babe, District Attorney and Driving Miss Daisy.”
In her first major film role as the suicidal fiance of Walter Matthau, Hawn won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in Cactus Flower. For the next three decades, Goldie Hawn became one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.
Musical Ride
In 1980, Don Henley hosted a farewell party for crew members of The Eagles’ final tour before splitting. But the celebration spun out of control when a prostitute aged only 16 was overdosing on cocaine and Quaaludes.
Henley called 911 to save the girl’s life, and he was promptly arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Henley claimed he took the fall for roadies who brought the girl and supplied the drugs.
Interesting Notes
The man who coined the term ‘rock and roll’, disc jockey Alan Freed was fired from his radio station in 1959 over the payola scandal. The world of radio was rocked when DJs were discovered to have taken cash for playing songs without reporting them.
Gone But Not Forgotten
David Cassidy rose to teen idol status starring in The Partridge Family with his stepmother Shirley Jones. For the rest of his career, David tried to shake the pop star image while struggling with alcohol abuse. Cassidy passed away in 2017 at 67.
Notable Births
1937 — Marlo Thomas: “One of the things about equality is not just that you be treated equally to a man, but that you treat yourself equally to the way you treat a man.”
1944 — Harold Ramis: “My characters aren’t losers. They’re rebels. They win by their refusal to play by everyone else’s rules.”
K. Barrett Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr. Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, Ph.D. Terry Trueman Dr. Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS Amy Pierovich David Acaster Nora Thewriteyard David Perlmutter Joe Luca Holly Kellums Michael Burg, MD Lucy Dan Dave Logan
All previous Day Tripping entries are available at the following links:
The Story Of Day Tripping Through History What’s Past Is Often Present
A comprehensive directory for Day Tripping