May 7

Anne Baxter was born this day. She

was an American actress known for her performances in films such as The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), The Razor's Edge (1946), All About Eve (1950) and The Ten Commandments (1956).

At 16, Baxter screen-tested for the role of Mrs. DeWinter in Rebecca, losing to Joan Fontaine because director Alfred Hitchcock deemed Baxter too young for the role, but she soon secured a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox. Her first movie role was in 20 Mule Team in 1940. She was chosen by director Orson Welles to appear in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). Baxter co-starred with Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney in 1946's The Razor's Edge, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Baxter later recounted that The Razor's Edgecontained her only great performance which was a hospital scene where the character, Sophie, "loses her husband, child and everything else". She said she relived the death of her brother, who had died at age three. She played Mike in the 1948 Western film Yellow Sky with Gregory Peck and Richard Widmark.

In 1950, Baxter was chosen to co-star in All About Eve, largely because of a resemblance to Claudette Colbert, who was originally set to star in the film, but dropped out and was replaced by Bette Davis. The original idea was to have Baxter's character gradually come to mirror Colbert's over the course of the film. Baxter received a nomination for Best Actress for the title role of Eve Harrington. She said she modeled the role on a bitchy understudy she had for her debut performance in the Broadway play Seen But Not Heard at the age of thirteen and who had threatened to "finish her off".Through the 1950s she continued to act on stage. In 1953 Baxter contracted a two picture deal for Warner Brothers. Her first was opposite Montgomery Clift in Alfred Hitchcock's I Confess; the second was the whodunit The Blue Gardenia as a woman accused of murder.

Baxter is also remembered for her role as the Egyptian Queen Nefertari opposite Charlton Heston's portrayal of Moses inCecil B. DeMille's award winning The Ten Commandments (1956). She appeared regularly on television in the 1960s. She did a stint as one of the What's My Line? "Mystery Guests" on the popular Sunday night CBS-TV quiz program. She also starred as guest villain "Zelda the Great" in two episodes of the superhero show Batman. She appeared as another villain, "Olga, Queen of the Cossacks", opposite Vincent Price's "Egghead" in three episodes of the show's third season. She also played an old flame of Raymond Burr on his crime series Ironside.

Baxter returned to Broadway during the 1970s in Applause, the musical version of All About Eve, but this time in the "Margo Channing" role played byBette Davis in the film (succeeding Lauren Bacall, who won a Tony Award in the role).

In the 1970s, Baxter was a frequent guest and stand-in host on The Mike Douglas Show, since Baxter and host Mike Douglas were friends. She portrayed a murderous film star on an episode of Columbo, called "Requiem for a Fallen Star". In 1971, she also had a role in Fool's Parade, as an aging prostitute who helps characters played by Jimmy Stewart, Strother Martin, and Kurt Russell escape from George Kennedy. In 1983, Baxter starred in the television series Hotel, replacing Bette Davis after Davis became ill.

Baxter has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6741 Hollywood Blvd.

May 6

George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received three Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award. Clooney is also noted for his political activism, and has served as one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace since January 31, 2008. Clooney was married to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 until they divorced in 1993. He has said that he will never marry again. After meeting British model Lisa Snowdon on the set of a Martini advertisement in 2000, he had a five-year on-again, off-again relationship with her. In June 2007, he started dating reality personality Sarah Larson but the couple broke up in May 2008.  In July 2009, Clooney was in a relationship with Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis until they split in June 2011. Since July 2011, Clooney has been dating former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler.Clooney has also dated actresses Kelly Preston (1987–1989), Renée Zellweger (2001) and Krista Allen (2002–2008) as well as French reality TV personality Céline Balitran (1996–1999). Often featured in People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" issue, Clooney's marital status and availability are a running joke among female fans who still fantasize they have a chance to bring him to the altar. Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in Las Vegas has a "Marrying George Clooney" photo-op, in which museum visitors can put on a wedding gown and stand next to a wax statue of the actor in a tuxedo. Despite his highly publicized relationships with women, Clooney's sexual orientation has been the subject of media scrutiny. When asked about the subject in an interview with The Advocate Clooney stated, "The last thing you’ll ever see me do is jump up and down, saying, ‘These are lies!’ That would be unfair and unkind to my good friends in the gay community. I’m not going to let anyone make it seem like being gay is a bad thing."

May 5

                                                      Cinco de Mayo
   Cinco de Mayo is annually observed on May 5, the anniversary of a victory in 1862 in the fight for independence from French forces. It is a festival of Mexican pride and heritage in the United States.
What do people do?
   Cinco de Mayo is seen as a day to celebrate the culture, achievements and experiences of people with a Mexican background, who live in the United States. There is a large commercial element to the day, with businesses promoting Mexican services and goods, particularly food, drinks and music. Other aspects of the day center around traditional symbols of Mexican life, such as the Virgin de Guadalupe, and Mexican-Americans who have achieved fame, fortune and influence in the United States.
    One of the largest Cinco de Mayo celebrations are in cities such as Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco, San Antonio, Sacramento, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Denver and El Paso in the USA's south-western regions. In these cities, a large proportion of the population has Mexican origins. Many people hang up banners and school districts organize lessons and special events to educate their pupils about the culture of Americans of Mexican descent. In some areas, particularly in Pubelo de Los Angeles, celebrations of regional Mexican music and dancing are held.
Public life
     Cinco de Mayo is not a federal holiday in the United States. Organizations, businesses and schools are open as usual. Public transit systems run on their usual schedule. In some areas of some cities, especially those in the Southwest, local parades and street events may cause some local congestion to traffic.

May 4

Luther Adler (May 4, 1903 – December 8, 1984) was an American actor best known for his work in theatre, but who also worked in film and television. He also directed plays on Broadway. Adler made his first acting appearance on Broadway in 1921 and appeared in several productions before joining The Group Theatre in 1931. He also appeared in the anti-war musical “Johnny Johnson” (1936). By the early 1940s he was directing but his first production “They Should Have Stood in Bed” closed after only eleven performances in 1942. His next directorial venture, “A Flag is Born”, ran for 120 performances in 1946 and featured newcomer Marlon Brando in one of the major roles. In 1965, when Zero Mostel left the Broadway cast of “Fiddler on the Roof” during a contract dispute, Adler took over the role of Tevye. He also acted frequently on television, in such programs as “Crossroads”, “General Electric Theater”, “Kraft Television Theater”, and “Robert Montgomery Presents”.

James Lance Bass (born May 4, 1979), is an American pop singer, dancer, actor, film and television producer, and author. He grew up in Mississippi and rose to fame as the bass singer for the American pop boy band 'N Sync. 'N Sync's success led Bass to work in film and television. He starred in the 2001 film “On the Line”, which his company, Bacon & Eggs, also produced. Bass later formed a second production company, Lance Bass Productions, as well as a now-defunct music management company, Free Lance Entertainment, a joint venture with Mercury Records.

Richard Dale Jenkins (born May 4, 1947) is an American stage, film, and television actor. After beginning his career in theatre, Jenkins made his film debut in 1974 and appeared in supporting roles in numerous film productions in the 1980s and the 1990s. He gained wide public attention in the early 2000s for playing the deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO funeral drama series “Six Feet Under”. He has since established himself in Hollywood by acquiring lead roles in the films “The Visitor” and “The Cabin in the Woods”. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in “The Visitor”.

May 3

Meagan Yvonne Tandy (born May 3, 1985) is an American actress and model. She was Miss California USA 2007 who was one of 5 finalists competing for the Miss USA title in 2007. She placed 8th in swimsuit which advanced her to the top 10 and then placed 4th in evening gown, which gave her enough points to make the top 5. She finished as 3rd runner up to Rachel Smith, Miss Tennessee USA 2007 and Miss USA 2007. Tandy is currently playing Lulu Pope on the ABC Family show Jane By Design.

Christina Rene Hendricks (born May 3, 1975) is an American actress who plays Joan Harris on the AMC cable television series Mad Men and played Saffron on the FOX series Firefly. A poll of female readers taken by Esquire magazine named Hendricks "the sexiest woman in the world". In 2010, she was voted Best Looking American Woman by Esquire magazine.

May 2

Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known—and sometimes credited—by his ring name The Rock,is an American actor and professional wrestler who works for WWE, where he is the current WWE Champion in his eighth reign.
     Johnson was a college football player. In 1991, he was on the University of Miami's national championship team. He later played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League, and was cut two months into the 1995 season. This led him to become a professional wrestler like his grandfather, Peter Maivia, and his father, Rocky Johnson. He gained mainstream fame as a wrestler in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1996 to 2004, and was the first third-generation wrestler in the company's history. He was quickly pushed as a face in the WWF, originally billed as "Rocky Maivia", then as "The Rock". He turned heel as a member of the Nation of Domination in 1997. Two years after he joined the WWF, he won the WWF Championship and became one of the most popular wrestlers ever, primarily for his charismatic interviews and promos.

May 1

Glenn Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006) was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades. Despite his versatility, Ford was best known for playing ordinary men in unusual circumstances.

Following military service, Ford's breakthrough role was in 1946, starring alongside Rita Hayworth in the noir classic Gilda. The New York Timesmovie reviewer Bosley Crowther praised Ford's "stamina and poise in a thankless role" despite the movie's poor direction. He went on to be a leading man opposite Hayworth in a total of five films.

Ford's film career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s and continued into the 1980s with many television roles. His major roles in thrillers, dramas andaction films include A Stolen Life with Bette Davis, The Secret of Convict Lake with Gene Tierney, The Big Heat, Blackboard Jungle, Framed, Interrupted Melody with Eleanor Parker, Experiment in Terror with Lee Remick, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and westerns such as The Fastest Gun Alive, 3:10 to Yuma and Cimarron. Ford's versatility also allowed him to star in a number of popular comedies, such as The Teahouse of the August Moon, Don't Go Near the Water, The Gazebo, Cry for Happy and The Courtship of Eddie's Father.

In 1971, Ford signed with CBS to star in his first television series, a half hour comedy/drama titled The Glenn Ford Show. However, CBS head Fred Silverman noticed that many of the featured films being shown at a Glenn Ford film festival were westerns. He suggested doing a western series instead, which resulted in the "modern day western" series, Cade's County. Ford played southwestern Sheriff Cade for one season (1971–1972) in a mix of western drama and police mystery. In The Family Holvak (1975–1976), Ford portrayed a depression era preacher in a family drama, reprising the same character he had played in the TV film, The Greatest Gift.

In 1978, Ford had a supporting role in Superman, as Clark Kent's adopted father, Jonathan Kent, a role that introduced Ford to a new generation of film audiences. In Ford's final scene in the film, "Rock Around the Clock", the theme song from Blackboard Jungle, is heard on a car radio.

In 1991, Ford agreed to star in a cable network series, African Skies. However, prior to the start of the series, he developed blood clots in his legs which required a lengthy stay in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Eventually he recovered, but at one time his situation was so severe that he was listed in critical condition. Ford was forced to drop out of the series and was replaced by Robert Mitchum.

The 2006 movie Superman Returns includes a scene where Ma Kent (played by Eva Marie Saint) stands next to the living room mantel after Superman returns from his quest to find remnants of Krypton. On that mantel is a picture of Glenn Ford as Pa Kent.