March 21: Notable Births and Deaths, with Quotes
Let’s explore notable birth and death anniversaries for March 21.
Rosie O’Donnell, comedian and television personality (March 21, 1962–present)
“The time to start a new show for TV now with the social delivery platforms that they have is not a 60-year-old woman. You have to be younger and have the fight in you and be on the cutting edge. So I don’t think that I would do it again.” —Rosie O’Donnell
Towers, Andrea. “Rosie O’Donnell thought Ellen DeGeneres was making a mistake by coming out.” Entertainment Weekly, July 29, 2021, https://ew.com/tv/rosie-odonnell-thought-ellen-degeneres-was-making-a-mistake-by-coming-out/.
“My career has been so unpredictable that you never know what will happen.” —Rosie O’Donnell
Towers, Andrea. “Rosie O’Donnell thought Ellen DeGeneres was making a mistake by coming out.” Entertainment Weekly, July 29, 2021, https://ew.com/tv/rosie-odonnell-thought-ellen-degeneres-was-making-a-mistake-by-coming-out/.
Matthew Broderick, actor and singer (March 21, 1962–present)
“I like comedy. I don’t know that it’s easier than anything else, but it is something I have a feeling for.” —Matthew Broderick
Cinema.com. “Deck the Halls : Matthew Broderick Interview.” Cinema.com, https://www.cinema.com/articles/4500/deck-the-halls-matthew-broderick-interview.phtml.
“I do think people go crazy at Christmas. I don’t think I am like that though. The ones who go crazy are usually people who like to think they are in charge, people who think they are the bosses and like to control everything, so they cannot stand other people getting the glory.” —Matthew Broderick
Cinema.com. “Deck the Halls : Matthew Broderick Interview.” Cinema.com, https://www.cinema.com/articles/4500/deck-the-halls-matthew-broderick-interview.phtml.
“I am half Jewish, but I have always enjoyed Christmas. It is more than a religious holiday, I think. We see it as our winter family holiday. We don’t know how to do Hanukah, really! We get the candles out and do our best.” —Matthew Broderick
Cinema.com. “Deck the Halls : Matthew Broderick Interview.” Cinema.com, https://www.cinema.com/articles/4500/deck-the-halls-matthew-broderick-interview.phtml.
Gary Oldman, actor and filmmaker (March 21, 1958–present)
“I think what it comes down to is that acting is an antidote to self-hatred.” —Gary Oldman
White, Jack. “Gary Oldman.” Interview, November 1, 2017, https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/gary-oldman-november-2017-issue.
“The challenge of playing someone like Winston Churchill is that there’s more footage of him than you might believe, and there’s certainly enough to read about. Next to Washington, I think he has the most biographies about him. And then there’s his own writing, which is something like 50 books.” —Gary Oldman
White, Jack. “Gary Oldman.” Interview, November 1, 2017, https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/gary-oldman-november-2017-issue.
“I love Cary Grant. I love the absolute simplicity of Gary Cooper. I also look at Newman and McQueen and even Redford. I mean, if you watch Redford in ‘All the President’s Men,’ it’s one of the greatest screen performances.” —Gary Oldman
White, Jack. “Gary Oldman.” Interview, November 1, 2017, https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/gary-oldman-november-2017-issue.
Chuck Barris, game show creator and host (June 3, 1929–March 21, 2017)
“When I was in California, I would miss Philadelphia something terrible. I would call information in Philly just to hear the information lady talk, because she had such a Philly accent.” —Chuck Barris
Fiorillo, Victor. “From the Archives: Our Exit Interview With Chuck Barris.” Philadelphia, March 22, 2017, https://www.phillymag.com/news/2017/03/22/chuck-barris-cia-interview/.
“When we auditioned for ‘The Gong Show,’ the number of people who would sing ‘Feelings’ was remarkable. One day I decided to do a show entirely of acts that did ‘Feelings.’ I thought that was hysterical. It was about the third act into the show that they realized they were all singing ‘Feelings.’” —Chuck Barris
Fiorillo, Victor. “From the Archives: Our Exit Interview With Chuck Barris.” Philadelphia, March 22, 2017, https://www.phillymag.com/news/2017/03/22/chuck-barris-cia-interview/.
Chinua Achebe, novelist and poet (November 16, 1930–March 21, 2013)
“My parents were early converts to Christianity in my part of Nigeria. They were not just converts; my father was an evangelist, a religious teacher. He and my mother traveled for thirty-five years to different parts of Igboland, spreading the gospel.” —Chinua Achebe
Brooks, Jerome. “Chinua Achebe, The Art of Fiction No. 139.” The Paris Review, Winter 1994, https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/1720/the-art-of-fiction-no-139-chinua-achebe.
“I grew older and began to read about adventures in which I didn’t know that I was supposed to be on the side of those savages who were encountered by the good white man. I instinctively took sides with the white people. They were fine! They were excellent. They were intelligent. The others were not . . . they were stupid and ugly. That was the way I was introduced to the danger of not having your own stories.” —Chinua Achebe
Brooks, Jerome. “Chinua Achebe, The Art of Fiction No. 139.” The Paris Review, Winter 1994, https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/1720/the-art-of-fiction-no-139-chinua-achebe.
“I really had no idea what I was going to do when I left college. I’m amazed when I think about students today. They know from day one what they are going to be. We didn’t. We just coasted.” —Chinua Achebe
Brooks, Jerome. “Chinua Achebe, The Art of Fiction No. 139.” The Paris Review, Winter 1994, https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/1720/the-art-of-fiction-no-139-chinua-achebe.
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