¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Rita Moreno!

AKA Rosita Dolores Alverio.

Born December 11, 1931.

She was the first Puerto Rican actress to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is most famous for her role as Anita in the 1961 musical movie West Side Story but she has also appeared on many TV shows such as The Electric Company, The Rockford Files and Oz as well as such movies as Night of the Following Day and such Broadway plays as The Ritz. She was the first -- and thus far, the only -- Hispanic to win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. She also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2004.

She has always been one of my favorite actresses and I am glad to see that she is still around to be appreciated.

R.I.P. Geoffrey Holder

Trinidad-born Geoffrey Holder -- a man who seemed equally famous for his acting, dancing, choreography and painting as well as for his famous voice -- uttered his last syllable on October 6 at age 84.

He will be missed.

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Ginger Rogers!

AKA Virginia Katherine McMath.

Born July 16, 1911. Died April 25, 1995.

She was an American actress who virtually defined the word "female dancer" during the short time she dominated the musical genre. Even today, she is identified with the art of dancing the same way Marilyn Monroe is identified with the idea of feminine beauty.

Ginger Rogers is stll pretty memorable today even when she is not dancing, and whenever I see her in a comedy, she rarely fails to make me smile. Of all the movie stars I have "discovered" in the last thirteen years, she is one of my all-time favorites.

Contrary to what the above picture might make you think, she is not really a Latina. Nor is she even a white Hispanic. However, I still think she looks cute in that outfit regardless.

R.I.P. Shirley Temple

American actress Shirley Temple Black, most famous for performing as an actress, singer and dancer in umpteen movie musicals as a child, performed her last tap dance on February 10 at age 85.

She will be missed.

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Rita Moreno!

AKA Rosita Dolores Alverio.

Born December 11, 1931.

She was the first Puerto Rican actress to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is most famous for her role as Anita in the 1961 musical movie West Side Story but she has also appeared on many TV shows such as The Electric Company, The Rockford Files and Oz as well as such movies as Night of the Following Day and such Broadway plays as The Ritz. She was the first -- and thus far, the only -- Hispanic to win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. She also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2004.

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Ginger Rogers!

AKA Virginia Katherine McMath.

Born July 16, 1911. Died April 25, 1995.

She was an American actress who virtually defined the word "female dancer" during the short time she dominated the musical genre. Even today, she is identified with the art of dancing the same way Marilyn Monroe is identified with the idea of feminine beauty.

Ginger Rogers is stll pretty memorable today even when she is not dancing, and whenever I see her in a comedy, she rarely fails to make me smile. Of all the movie stars I have "discovered" in the last thirteen years, she is one of my all-time favorites.

Contrary to what the above picture might make you think, she is not really a Latina. Nor is she even a white Hispanic. However, I still think she looks cute in that outfit regardless.

I Heart Ginger Rogers

Okay, it's obvious. Like all too many people who view YouTube, I'm in love with a dead woman. And the woman in question is actress Ginger Rogers.

I liked her in 42nd Street. I liked her in Gold Diggers of 1933 and I liked her in the Fred Astaire movies. I also liked her in Vivacious Lady, Stage Door, Bachelor Mother and The Major and the Minor but for some reason, I didn't care for her too much in Roxie Hart, Kitty Foyle or I'll Be Seeing You. I guess I like the comic Ginger much more than I like the dramatic Ginger. For that matter, I liked the plebian Ginger better than the patrician Ginger and the blonde Ginger of the 1930s better than the red-headed Ginger (the ginger Ginger?) of the 1940s.

There's something about the expression on her face when she's skating in that "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" number in 1937's Shall We Dance which touches my heart. I don't know if she's actually having as much fun as that expression suggests or whether she's just a really good actress but that scene does tend to sum up Ginger Rogers's basic appeal as the type of woman most people would like to have fun with. Not "fun" in the dubious way fun is normally interpreted by so-called sophisticates but the traditional kind of fun. I love it when she wise-cracks and I love it when she shows she's a good sport. And of course, I love it when she starts singing and dancing.

I don't much care for the movies where she's too obviously the butt of the joke as in the conclusion of Roxie Hart. And I definitely don't care for movies like Kitty Foyle and I'll Be Seeing You. Both of those movies mean well but there's something about the way Ginger Rogers's character in those movies appears to be doing penance for all the "frivolous" musicals she did in her youth that really irritates the hell out of me. I never expected Ginger to make the exact type of movies in the 1940s that she made in the 1930s but I also didn't expect to see her to make movies that were so gloomy.

Oh, well. She won the Oscar and I didn't. As for her most recent work, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

R.I.P. Cyd Charisse

Cyd Charisse, famous dancer and actress who was best known for her roles in Singin' in the Rain and Silk Stockings, has passed away.

She will be missed.