Look who's turning 65 this month
Find out which celebrities are turning 65 this month!
August 3 - Todd Christensen, NFL player and sportscaster
A fantastic athlete from his youth, Todd Christensen had an outstanding career as tight end for the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders. After signing with them in 1979 he became a key player on special teams, finally agreeing to play tight end. After three so-so seasons, he shined in 1982 when he caught 42 passes for 510 yards and four touchdowns in a season cut short by a strike. The next year, he caught 92 passes for 1247 yards and twelve touchdowns and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl, the first of five.
Christensen was an athletically talented kid, setting world records in track and field events when he was nine years old. He got selected in the 1974 draft for Major League Baseball, but instead headed to Brigham Young University to play football. He started all four years at fullback and was an All-Western Athletic Conference selection his last year. His degree was in social work, and Christensen enjoyed scholarly works and a broad vocabulary. He was known to quote famous authors and even recite poems he’d written, a skill that helped him fit in after he was signed by the Raiders.
After several strong seasons, Christensen missed more than half of his last year due to injuries. Catching 349 receptions from 1983 to the end of 1986, he set an NFL record. After his career on the gridiron, Christensen turned to his old love, track and field, where he set age-group world records in the Heptathlon at the Master’s level and was the top decathlete in the world for ages 45 and above. He also made a second career as a sportscaster, working for NBC Sports, ESPN and CBS Sports Network for both professional and collegiate games.
Christensen was married with four sons. He passed away on November 13, 2013 due to complications from liver transplant surgery after suffering from liver disease for two years, the result of a botched gallbladder surgery 25 years earlier.
August 5 - Maureen McCormick, actress
“And that’s the way they all became the Brady Bunch!”
Every baby boomer will recognize the song lyrics above from the popular television show, The Brady Bunch, that ran from 1969 to 1974, and for countless years of reruns after that where Maureen McCormick played Marcia Brady.
McCormick spent years after the show struggling with drug abuse, depression and an eating disorder. She did appear in a large number of Brady spin-offs and revivals, and even released a country music album.
McCormick married in 1985 and began to work at sobering up. She appeared in small roles in film and television products, but her struggles with addiction and depression often left her out of the running on bigger projects. Since 2007, she found some footing in reality shows, and was an individual winner of the 2007 Celebrity Fit Club. She lost 34 pounds that she’d put on after her mother died of cancer and she had to move her disabled brother into an assisted living facility.
August 21 - Kim Cattrall, actress
Best known for her role as Samantha in Sex and the City, Kim Cattrall is a veteran of a vast number of films and television productions. Her first movie role was in 1975’s action thriller Rosebud. Most recently, she returned to TV in Filthy Rich to play Margaret Monreaux, the mother of a Southern family that has created a fortune via a Christian television network. Cattrall also produces the series, for which she won the Icon Award at the 2020 Atlanta TV festival.
Cattrall was raised alternately in Liverpool and Canada. She left home at 16 for New York City and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. The rest, as they say, is history. Most of us know her via Sex and the City, which ran from 1998 to 2004. Cosmopolitan, anyone? She garnered five nominations for an Emmy Award and four for a Golden Globe Award for her work on the show and won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in 2002.
Cattrall has been married three times, and has been dating Russell Thomas since 2016.
August 31 - Tsai Ing-wen, 7th president of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
The first female president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen grew up in Taipei and was a student of law and international trade. She earned a Ph.D. in law from the University of London. Her policies support a strong and stable relationship with the United States.
Tsai supports “freedom and democracy” for Taiwanese citizens apropos to “cross-strait” relations with mainland China. When a Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate died in government custody, Tsai urged China to “show confidence in engaging in political reform so that the Chinese can enjoy the God-given rights of freedom and democracy.” And when the General secretary of the Communist Party of China proposed a “one country, two systems” approach for eventual unification of China and Taiwan, Tsai stood solidly behind Hong Kong protesters and stated she would never accept such a policy.
Tsai is also supportive of disadvantaged social groups including the poor, women, and children. Tsai herself is descended in part from Hakka people and native aborigines. She has adopted a plurality of national languages and supports LGBTQ rights.
Tsai wants to transition the country toward high-tech industries including semiconductors, cybersecurity, biotechnology, and healthcare. She also champions a strong defense sector and military spending has risen each year under her administration. In 2020, the country produced its first rapid mine-laying ship and began work on a diesel submarine. The first amphibious transport dock produced in Taiwan came out in April 2021.
Sources:
https://www.wikipedia.org
Blog posting provided by Society of Certified Senior Advisors
