1920 Famed television cartoon producer Jay Ward was born in Berkeley, California. Among the characters he helped popularize are Crusader Rabbit (the first animated series produced for television), Dudley Do-Right, Rocky and Bullwinkle, and George of the Jungle. He died in 1989 at age 69.
1940 Republic Pictures released the first episode of its 12-chapter serial King of the Royal Mounted, based on Stephen Slesinger’s action-adventure comic strip. Co-directed by William Witney and John English, the production starred Allan Lane, Robert Strange, Lita Conway, Robert Kellard, and Herbert Rawlinson. The serial was later edited together and released as The Yukon Patrol on April 30, 1942.
1947 Steve Gerber, co-creator of Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck, was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. The anthropomorphic Howard appeared in his own live-action film in 1978. He died in 2008 at age 60.
1947 Former golfer-turned-actor Joe Kirkwood, Jr., stepped back into the ring as the lovable comic strip boxer Joe Palooka in Joe Palooka in the Knockout. Released by Monogram Pictures, the third live-action outing for Ham Fisher’s heavyweight champ also included the return of Leon Errol as manager Knobby Walsh and Elyse Knox as Joe’s sweetheart Anne Howe.
1967 Kristen Johnston was born in Washington, D.C. She portrayed Wilma Flintstone (née Slaghoople) in 2000 family comedy The Flinstones in Viva Rock Vegas.
1976 Jon Bernthal was born in Washington, D.C. He appeared as Shane Walsh in the first two seasons of The Walking Dead.
1979 NBC launched Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, the second television series based on Philip Francis Nolan’s iconic pulp and comic character Buck Rogers. A follow-up to the eponymous titled film, starring Gil Gerard and Erin Gray, which had debuted earlier the same year, the show ran for two seasons with a total of 37 episodes.
1990 The Flash, based on the DC Comics character, premiered on CBS with John Wesley Shipp cast in the role of the Scarlet Speedster. Though it only last one season, the show managed to showcase a few guest star villains from the Flash’s rogues gallery including Michael Champion as Captain Cold, Mark Hamill as the Trickster, and David Cassidy as Mirror Master.
2010 Momentum Pictures released Tamara Drewe in the United Kingdom. Based on the eponymous comic strip by Posy Simmonds and directed by Stephen Frears, the romantic themed comedy featured Gemme Arterton, Roger Allam, Dominic Cooper, Luke Evans, and Tamsin Greig.
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