People (Births)

• 1945 – Concetta Tomei, American actress.
• 1947 – James Kahn, American author, screenwriter, and producer.
• 1982 – Kristin Kreuk, Canadian actress.

People (Deaths)

• 1996 – Lew Ayres, American actor (b. 1908).
• 2000 – Julius J. Epstein, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1909).
• 2014 – Terry Becker, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1921).

Concetta Tomei

Concetta Tomei (born 30 December 1945) is an American theatre, film and television character actress, best known for her roles as Major Lila Garreau on the ABC series China Beach (1988-1991) and as Lynda Hansen on the NBC series Providence (1999-2002).

James Kahn

James Kahn (born December 30, 1947) is an American medical specialist and writer, best known for his novelization of Return of the Jedi. Born in Chicago, Kahn received a degree in medical studies from the University of Chicago. His post-graduate training, specialising in Emergency Medicine, was completed at USC-LA County Hospital and UCLA. His original work includes three novels in the New World series: World Enough, and Time (1980), Time’s Dark Laughter (1982), and Timefall (1987). As well as Return of the Jedi, he wrote the novelisations of the films Poltergeist and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. He has also written for well-known television series such as Melrose Place and Star Trek: The Next Generation. He was the producer of Melrose Place from 1996 to 1998.

Kristin Kreuk

Kristin Laura Kreuk (born 30 December 1982) is a Canadian actress. Debuting on teen drama Edgemont, she became most known for her roles as Lana Lang in the superhero television series Smallville (2001-2011), also as Catherine Chandler in The CW sci-fi series Beauty & the Beast (2012-2016) and as Joanna Hanley in the CBC/CW legal drama series Burden of Truth (2018-2021).

She has also starred in movies such as Snow White: The Fairest of Them All (2001), Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009) and Irvine Welsh’s Ecstasy (2011).

In 2010, she portrayed Judah Ben-Hur’s sister Tirzah in the TV movie Ben Hur, which aired in Canada and later on ABC in the United States.

In 2022, she portrayed Charlene ‘Charlie’ Hubble in the TV series Reacher.

Lew Ayres

Lewis Frederick Ayres III (28 December 1908 to 30 December 1996) was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and for playing Dr. Kildare in nine films. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Johnny Belinda (1948).

Julius J. Epstein

Julius J. Epstein (22 August 1909 to 30 December 2000) was an American screenwriter, who had a long career, best remembered for his screenplay, written with his twin brother, Philip, and Howard E. Koch, of the film Casablanca (1942), for which the writers won an Academy Award. It was adapted from an unpublished play, Everybody Comes to Rick’s, written by Murray Bennett and Joan Alison.

His identical twin died in 1952, a loss that he felt for the rest of his life. He continued writing, receiving two more Oscar nominations. In 1998, he received a Los Angeles Film Critics Association career achievement award. His credits included Four Daughters (1938) for which he received his first Oscar nomination, The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942), Mr. Skeffington (1944), The Tender Trap (1955), Light in the Piazza (1962), Send Me No Flowers (1964), Pete ‘n’ Tillie (1972), Cross of Iron (1977) and Reuben, Reuben (1983).

Epstein had a less successful result as a playwright in Broadway theatre. His play, But, Seriously (starring Richard Dreyfuss and Tom Poston) would prove to be the last to be staged at Henry Miller’s Theatre for more than 30 years, opening on 27 February 1969, and closing after only four performances.

Terry Becker

Terry Becker (05 August 1921 to 30 December 2014) was an American film and television actor, director and producer.

Becker portrayed Chief Francis Ethelbert Sharkey in seasons 2 through 4 of the television series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Becker took the role after the death of actor Henry Kulky, who had played the submarine’s Chief (Curly Jones) during the first season of the series. Becker also made two guest appearances on Perry Mason. In 1958 he played murder victim Philip Larkin in “The Case of the Prodigal Parent”, and in 1960 he played Prosecuting Attorney Everett Ransome in “The Case of the Violent Village.”

Becker’s work behind the camera began with the TV series Room 222, on which he was associate producer. He also directed eight episodes of the series. Becker went on to directing assignments on many other TV series, including Mission: Impossible, M*A*S*H, Love, American Style, The Brady Bunch and others, plus a motion picture, The Thirsty Dead, which he also produced. In 1973, he partnered with actor Carroll O’Connor to form O’Connor-Becker Productions. In 1983, the partnership split up and Becker continued producing as a solo producer under his own Becker Productions and Becker Enterprises banners.