Look who's turning 65 this month
Find out which celebrities are turning 65 this month!
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| Image Source: Wikipedia |
January 10 - Chandra Cheeseborough, sprinter
Chandra Cheesborough earned her place in history by becoming only the second athlete (the other was Paavo Nurmi who competed 60 years earlier) to bring home gold in two different Olympic running events held on the same day. It was the 1984 Games, and Cheesborough became the first woman to win in two relays, which were held less than an hour apart!
As you might expect, her stellar achievement was predicated on an extraordinary running career that pushed her into the international spotlight at the age of 16 when she won two golds at the 1975 Pan American Games, including setting a new American record of 22.77 seconds in the 200m race.
A year later, Cheesborough burned up the track at the US Olympic trials by coming in second at the 100m in a blazing 11.3 seconds. She took sixth place in the event at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. She also ranks No. 10 of all time for her time of 49.05 while earning a silver medal in the 400m at the Los Angeles Olympics.
Cheeseborough retired from her career to become head coach for men and women at her alma mater, Tennessee State, leading the Tigerbelles to six Ohio Valley Conference championships. She was an assistant coach for America’s 2008 Olympic team and coached sprinters and hurdlers headed to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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| Image Source: Wikipedia |
January 13 - Alan Taylor, television and film director, screenwriter, and TV producer
With a career spanning decades, Alan Taylor may be most familiar to you for his work in television, which includes well-known series such as “The Sopranos”, “Sex and the City”, “Mad Men” and “Game of Thrones”. Less familiar may be the films he directed, which include “Palookaville”, “Thor: The Dark World”, “Terminator Genisys” and “The Many Saints of Newark”.
Taylor grew up in Canada and spent his first college years studying history at the University of Toronto, later transferring to Columbia University before studying film at New York University. Fun fact: one of his instructors was Martin Scorsese.
Taylor is a resident of Brooklyn, where he lives with wife Nicki Lederman, a talented make-up artist. The pair have three children. As eminent as Taylor is, it’s fun to check out his sister, Anna Domino, who’s an indie rock musician.
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| Image Source: Wikipedia |
January 22 - Linda Blair, actress
Who can forget the head-spinning, terrifying performance of Linda Blair in the iconic 1973 horror film “The Exorcist”?! The actor’s portrayal of Regan MacNeil won her a Golden Globe Award and a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards. Blair went on to become a scream queen and sex symbol.
Her career in the limelight began as a virtual toddler; at age five she was posing for Sears, JC Penney and Macy’s catalogs. By age nine, she was a regular on the soap opera “Hidden Faces”. At 11, she had a part in a film, followed by a bit part in a comedy a year later. But 1972 was the big year; Blair won the role in “The Exorcist” from 600 other applicants.
While her performance won critical acclaim, some viewers could not separate the part from the actor. She got dissed for appearing in a “blasphemous” film and even received death threats. The studio sent her out on an international press tour at the age of 14 to show the world that she was just a “normal teenager”.
Today, the vegan actor continues to perform while advocating for her animal charity organization, the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation Rescue and Wellness Center.
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| Image Source: Wikipedia |
January 27 - Chris Collinsworth, NFL wide receiver and TV sportscaster
Spending his entire eight-season pro career with the Cincinnati Bengals NFL team, Collinsworth capped his achievements by catching a trio of passes for 40 yards in Super Bowl XXIII, his last time to walk out on the gridiron as a player. He could leave with his head held high and a record of 417 receptions for a total of 6,698 yards and 36 touchdowns over 107 games.
The 6’5” Collinsworth could often use his height and speed to his advantage in games. He was always an athletic kid (his dad, Lincoln, was a standout basketball player and was part of the team that won the 1958 national championship for Kentucky) and competed in a number of sports in high school. In his senior year, Collinsworth was dubbed a high school All-American quarterback as well as winning a 100-yard dash at the 3A state championship meet.
The Florida Gators recruited him out of high school to be a quarterback who would strengthen their running game. Ironically, Collinsworth passed for 99 yards and a touchdown in his first college outing, tying a record for longest touchdown pass in NCAA history. The next year, he got moved to wide receiver, where he found new enthusiasm and talent. Collinsworth spent the last game of his college career earning MVP honors at the 1980 Tangerine Bowl.
His winning ways didn’t stop there. He transitioned quickly to broadcasting and appeared on a slew of sports shows with the biggest names in the business. Collinsworth was selected as a commentator at the 1980 Beijing Summer Olympics for NBC and has won 17 Sports Emmy Awards. No slouch at business, he is the majority owner of Pro Football Focus.
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Blog posting provided by Society of Certified Senior Advisors
