Every day of the calendar brings us new beginnings and ends and everything else in between and this was how it went down on January 9 through the years too. In yet another edition of Top 10 Events This Day in Movie and Television History, we bring to you some of the most interesting happenings from the entertainment industry. The lineup we bring you today is a mix of just about everything from births and new releases to awards shows that honor the work done by stalwarts of the movie and television world. So, let’s get down to business and peek into the list we’ve put together for you!
10. January 10, 1904: Ray Bolger is Born
Born Raymond Wallace Bolger on January 10, 1904, in Dorchester, Massachusetts, was one of the most popular entertainment all-rounders of his time, bringing to the stage several of his talents and building quite a name for himself. A dancer, a singer, an actor, a vaudevillian, and a prolific performer on the stage, Ray mostly showcased his talents in musical theater but also has to his name several other works. With beginnings in the era of silent films, Ray’s versatility comes across in several roles, especially in movies like The Wizard of Oz in which he plays the roles of Scarecrow and Hunk and the role of the antagonist in Babes in Toyland, a musical fantasy from Walt Disney in which he plays the role of Barnaby. Honoring him for his endearing contributions to the world of entertainment, Ray was awarded a Golden Palm Star on the Walk of Stars in Palm Springs, California, and the City of Boston even had a mural of the entertainer commissioned in 2016.
9. January 10, 1930: Roy E. Disney is Born
The son of Roy O. Disney and the nephew of the man who changed the way we saw stories, Walt Disney, Roy E. Disney was born on January 10, 1930, in Los Angeles, California. Even as a Disney descendant and heir to at least a senior position in the production company, Roy began his journey as an assistant director and producer on the project True-Life Adventure. He worked the ropes in various positions at Walt Disney Productions before making his way on to the board of directors in 1967. As a pioneer in the Walt Disney company’s revival and growth, Roy played a major role in the two Save Disney campaigns, the first one in 1984 and the second one from 2003 to 2005, and was one of the people responsible for saving a great production company that has been proven a groundbreaking entity in creative entertainment. One of the most popular titles that the Disney banner created under Roy’s leadership included The Lion King, a movie that garnered $1 billion at the box office and despite being unable to save the year’s balance sheet, was still quite useful in keeping the brand afloat. Some of the accolades that came Roy’s way included the Annie Award, the Disney Legend Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award in Animation. Roy passed on in December 2009, at the age of 79. He was the last name from the Disney family tree to be directly engaged in the company’s workings.
8. January 10, 1952: The Greatest Show on Earth Premieres in New York
When Cecil B. DeMille was directing and producing his way around the American drama film The Greatest Show on Earth, even he must not have anticipated the amount of popularity, success, monetary gains, and awards the film would garner. One of the most successful yet highly ridiculed films of the time, the Paramount Pictures title, made on a budget of $4 million, went on to gather nine times the amount at the box office with final collections amounting to a whopping $36 million. With a starry lineup that included Charles Heston as the circus manager of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and other stars such as Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Dorothy Lamour, Gloria Grahame, Henry Wilcoxon, Lyle Bettger, Lawrence Tierney, Emmett Kelly, Cucciola, Antoinette Concello, and James Stewart, the movie is still considered one of the biggest movies of all time. Despite the DeMille tag, the film was not considered one of his best works, which is why the Academy Award that came his way was simply seen as a formality than a true win. This was especially a topic of discussion when the movie won the Best Picture and Best Story Oscars over other highly engrossing works such as Singin’ In The Rain, The Quiet Man, Ivanhoe, and High Noon. Despite the controversy around it, the movie is still considered a must-watch for its extravagant works.
7. January 10, 1986: Tommy Lee Jones Starrer Black Moon Rising Releases
A science fiction film that also had enough dollops of action and thrill to tag it a sci-fi action thriller, Black Moon Rising was first released on January 10, 1986, and was directed by Harley Cokliss. Led by a star cast consisting of Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Hamilton, Robert Vaughn, Richard Jaeckal, and Bubba Smith, the plot of the film is based around the prototype vehicle, the Black Moon, its theft, and eventual recovery. This story was written by John Carpenter around the same time John created his work Escape From New York, and tagged by the filmmaker as a simple “my car is stolen and I’m going to get it back” plot. Reviews from critics and fans alike pointed out that although the storyline of the movie was a pretty disappointing one, the way it was filmed made it tolerable and watchable. Well, if not anything else, you could give it a try if you’re a Tommy Lee Jones fan and can watch the actor irrespective of what he’s doing on screen!
6. January 10, 1992: 8th Soap Opera Digest Awards
The 8th Soap Opera Digest Awards were held on January 10, 1992, and featured a host of awards for the cast and crew of the best American daytime soap operas and primetime soaps. The event was hosted by Deidre Hall, Emma Samms, and George Hamilton, and had a long lineup of winners from several popular shows. The shows that took away top honors included All My Children, Another World, The Young and the Restless, General Hospital, Guiding Light, Days of Our Lives, Knots Landing, and Dallas. Entertainers who put their list on the list of winners for the night with their exceptional talents and performances included William J. Bell, Sheree J. Wilson, Michele Lee, Kevin Dobson, Marcy Walker, Robert Mailhouse, Michael Zaslow, Tricia Cast, Lynn Herring, Ricky Paull Goldin, Alla Korot, Paul Michael Valley, Jane Elliot, Doug Davidson, Anne Heche, and David Canary.
5. January 10, 1999: 25th People’s Choice Awards
The 25th People’s Choice Awards was held on January 10, 1999, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in California, and was hosted by Ray Romano. Awarding the best entertainers for the year that went by from all of music, movie, and television. Some of the top winning titles for the night from the movies included Titanic and There’s Something About Mary. Top names included Helen Hunt, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, and Harrison Ford, In music, the top winning names included Elton John, Celine Dion, Christina Applegate, and Garth Brooks. In the awards category for winner from television, trophies for the night went to ER, L.A. Doctors, Frasier, and Seinfeld. Winning names from the telly included Nathan Lane, Bill Cosby, and Tim Allen.
4. January 10, 1999: The Sopranos Debuts on HBO
One of the most captivating and successful crime dramas to hit television screens and rule the category in the 90s and the 2000s, The Sopranos first premiered on television on January 10, 1999, and went on to captivate the audiences with regular doses of high drama until its last episode that aired on June 10, 2007. Set in New York and New Jersey, the storyline of the series follows the life of Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano, his dealings with his mafia family, and his struggles with himself and his own family. Among the actors who played leading roles throughout, or at least for most of the series, were James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Dominic Chianese, Steven Van Zandt, Tony Sirico, Robert Iler, and Jamie-Lynn Sigler. Originally created by David Chase, the show was among those that had quite a few writers taking shots at moving the storyline forward in an interesting manner. David started things off writing for 30 episodes, while Terence Winter and Robin Green wrote the scripts for the show for 25 and 22 episodes each. Mitchell Burgess wrote for 22 episodes too while Matthew Weiner brought up the rear with 12 episodes. The show won a great number of awards across different categories and these included top-of-the-line awards shows such as the Golden Globe Awards, the Grammy Awards, the Peabody Awards, the People’s Choice Awards, the Primetime Emmy Awards, the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, the Producer Guild of America Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the American Film Institute Awards, the Television Critics Association Awards, the Writers Guild of America Awards, and more.
3. January 10, 2006: 32nd People’s Choice Awards
The 32nd People’s Choice Awards was held on January 10, 2006, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, and as usual, had quite a string of stars and celebrities making it to the stage to collect their accolades for work done during the past year. Some of the favorite names in pop culture were present to partake in the event and the night was hosted by the dashing and equally humorous Craig Ferguson. Some of the titles from movies, music, and television that made it into the list of winners included My Name is Earl, The Dukes of Hazzard, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Everybody Loves Raymond, Sahara, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Crash, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, Wedding Crashers, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Wedding Crashers, American Idol, Elektra, and Prison Break. The top names to win trophies for the night included Jennifer Garner, Cameron Diaz, Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Brad Pitt, Faith Hill, Reese Witherspoon, Faith Hill, Sandra Bullock, Ellen DeGeneres, Kelly Clarkson, Jay Leno, Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Simpson, the Adam Sandler.
2. January 10, 2016: 73rd Golden Globes Awards
The gut-punching yet hilarious jokes of Ricky Gervais were easily the highlight for the night at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards held on January 10, 2016, at the Beverly Hilton in California, but that didn’t stop a host of actors taking to the stage and grabbing their share of the spotlight. Some of the celebrities who notched their names in Golden Globes history included Leonardo DiCaprio, who spent the year collecting awards for his iconic role in The Revenant, Brie Larson, Matt Damon, Jennifer Lawrence, Sylvester Stallone, Kate Winslet, Alejandro G. Inarritu, Aaron Sorkin, Jon Hamm, Taraji P. Henson, Rachel Bloom, Gael Garcia Bernal, Maura Tierney, Lady Gaga, and Christian Slater. Shows and movies that topped the winning lists for the night and took home trophies included The Affair, Mr. Robot, Show Me a Hero, American Horror Story: Hotel, Mozart in the Jungle, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Mad Men, Empire, Son of Saul, Inside Out, Spectre, The Hateful Eight, Steve Jobs, The Revenant, Creed, Joy, The Martian, and Room.
1. January 10, 2022: The 79th Golden Globes
The 79th Golden Globe Awards was held amidst a lot of controversy on January 10, 2022, and thanks to a boycott of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association by several media outlets, actors, and other creative representatives of the industry, was a very different affair from the usual. There was no red carpet event, no television broadcast, and no live streaming either. The HFPA held the event privately and disclosed the names of winners on its social media handle. Despite the toning down of one of the most popular events that kick off the start of the year for Hollywood, there was no taking away any credit from the winners across different categories, actors, and creative talents from the industry who gave us yet another year of entertainment, despite the pandemic and all the challenges it brought. Some of the titles from the world of movies that took home trophies included The Power of the Dog, West Side Story, Being the Ricardos, King Richard, tick, tick… BOOM!, Belfast, Dune, No Time to Die, Drive My Car, and Encanto. The top names from the film industry that won for the night included Hans Zimmer, Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell, Kenneth Branagh, Jane Campion, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ariana DeBose, Rachel Zegler, Andrew Garfield, Nicole Kidman, and Will Smith. The world of telly wasn’t far behind with titles like Succession, Hacks, The Underground Railroad, Pose, Ted Lasso, Dopesick, Mare of Easttown, and Squid Game and names like O Yeong-su, Sarah Snook, Michael Keaton, Kate Winslet, Jean Smart, Jason Sudeikis, Jeremy Strong, and Mj Rodriguez, taking home top honors.
Uh Oh! That Brings Us to the End of Yet Another List!
We love putting together these lists for you and bringing you a lineup of interesting events that occurred on a calendar day through the years is what we love about our series, Top 10 Events This Day in Movie and Television History. Well, we’ve done our bit for January 10, bringing you a captivating list of events, and now, it’s time for us to move on to January 11! So, don’t forget to join us again as we take you on a trip down memory lane, bringing you the most exciting and headlining happenings from movie and television history.James Gandolfini
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