On March 15

On this day in ...

... 1956 (55 years ago today), a musical entitled My Fair Lady made its Broadway début. In the lead role was 20-year-old Julie Andrews, who played the Cockney flower-seller Eliza Doolittle, who endures indoctrination, by crusty Professor 'enry 'iggins (played by Rex Harrison), into the ways of a British gentlewoman. Based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, Lady would run for a then-record 2,717 shows, enjoy many stage revivals, and be reprised in a 1964 film starring Audrey Hepburn (prior posts).


(Prior March 15 posts are here, here, here, and here.)

On October 13

On this day in ...
... 1934 (75 years ago today) , a daughter, Ioanna, was born on the Greek island of Crete, to parents who worked in the town's movie theater. The family moved to the Greek capital, where the father became part of the resistance against Nazi occupation. After World War II the girl, known by her nickname, Nana Mouskouri (left), attended the Athens Conservatoire, turned from opera to jazz and contemporary music, and eventually became "one of the world's best-selling female recording artists of all time," having recording in more than 8 languages. (Below, she sings "Adieu Angeline" on a French show.) In 1993 she became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, a position made vacant by the death of Audrey Hepburn. Mouskouri's mission to Bosnia led her to give a series of concerts in Sweden and Belgium to raise funds for Bosnian children; her UNICEF activities have spanned the globe. (credit for photo (c) UNICEF) She served as an elected Member of the European Parliament from 1994-99, and now lives in Switzerland.




(Prior October 13 posts are here and here.)

Lending celebrity

Making the call for more aid for Iraqis displaced by war is this op-ed in the Washington Post. At its core:

I would like to call on each of the presidential candidates and congressional leaders to announce a comprehensive refugee plan with a specific timeline and budget as part of their Iraq strategy.

The author of this commentary, on an issue about which we IntLawGrrls frequently have posted?
Angelina Jolie -- above, the one without the rifle. (photo credit)
The actor's just back from a visit to Iraq as a "goodwill ambassador" for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, a title she's held since summer 2001.
The most recent of "Angelina's Refugee Journals" deals with Iraq; earlier installments described trips to Jordan, Kosovo, Sri Lanka, and the Russian Federation.
Jolie's the latest in a long line of actors -- among them Mia Farrow, Susan Sarandon, the late Audrey Hepburn (right), and others listed here -- to lend her celebrity to a U.N. cause.