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What happened in history on this day: December 31?
On December 31 in ...
- 1962 - NBC debuts the game show Match Game, hosted by Gene Rayburn.
- 1972 - ABC TV airs the special program Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve for the first time.
- 1976 - NBC airs the last episode of the TV soap Somerset after a six-year run.
- 1981 - The second CNN cable channel, "Headline News", debuts in the US.
- 1982 - NBC airs the last episode of the TV soap The Doctors, after a 19-year run.
- 1990 - The Sci-Fi Channel on cable TV begins transmitting.
- 1994 - The Discovery Channel cable TV channel debuts in Canada.
- 1994 - The Showcase cable TV channel debuts in Canada.
Births on December 31
- 1892 - Birth of Jason Robards in Hillsdale, Michigan, USA; actor (Acapulco).
- 1894 - Birth of Pola Negri AKA Barbara A Chalupiec; Polish/US actress (Madame Dubarry).
- 1896 - Birth of Ronald Adam in Herefordshire, England; actor (Phantom Shot).
- 1897 - Birth of Rhys Williams in Wales; actor (Nightmare, Okinawa, Cross My Heart).
- 1910 - Birth of Dick Kollmar in Rigewood, New Jersey, USA; actor (Broadway Spotlight, Guess What).
- 1914 - Birth of Pat Brady in Toledo, Ohio, USA; actor (Roy Rogers Show).
- 1916 - Birth of Suzy Delair in Paris, France; actress (Utopia, White Paws).
- 1920 - Birth of Rex Allen on a ranch in Arizona, USA; singer, published over 300 songs, starred in 19 Republic western movies, narrated dozens of Disney films and TV shows.
- 1921 - Birth of Rocky Graziano in New York City, New York, USA; boxer (Middleweight champion), actor (Miami Undercover).
- 1922 - Birth of Joan McCracken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; actress (Claudie - The Story of a Marriage).
- 1937 - Birth of [Philip] Anthony Hopkins in Port Talbot, West Glamorgan, Wales; actor (The Elephant Man, QB VII, Magic, Bounty).
- 1938 - Birth of Rosalind Cash in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA; actress (Omega Man, Wrong is Right).
- 1940 - Birth of Tim Considine; actor (My Three Sons, Disneyland).
- 1941 - Birth of Sarah Miles in Essex, England; actress (Ryan's Hope, Big Sleep, Venom).
- 1943 - Birth of Ben Kingsley in Scarborough, England; actor (Gandhi, Betrayal, Maurice).
- 1943 - Birth of John Denver [Henry John Deutschendorf Junior] in Roswell, New Mexico, USA; singer/songwriter ("Rocky Mountain High", "Thank God I'm a Country Boy"), actor (Oh God!) (dies 1997).
- 1946 - Birth of Barbara Carrera in Managua, Nicaragua; actress (Angelica - Dallas).
- 1947 - Birth of Tim Matheson in California, USA; actor (Animal House, Fletch, Up the Creek).
- 1948 - Birth of Joe Dallesandro in Pensicola, Florida, USA; actor (Heat, Trash, AW Frankenstein, Wiseguy, Fortune Dane).
- 1953 - Birth of James Remar in Boston, Massachusetts, USA; actor (48 Hours, Rent-a-Cop, The Cotton Club, Dexter, Jericho, North Shore).
- 1953 - Birth of Jane Badler in Brooklyn, New York, USA; actress (Fine Gold, Easy Kill, V).
- 1958 - Birth of Bebe Neuwirth; actress (Law & Order: Trial By Jury, Frasier, Cheers).
- 1959 - Birth of Bebe Neuwirth in Princeton, New Jersey, USA; actress (Lilith - Cheers, Damn Yankees).
- 1959 - Birth of Val [Edward] Kilmer; actor (The Saint, Top Gun, The Doors).
- 1961 - Birth of Joanna Johnson; actress (Caroline - The Bold and the Beautiful).
- 1962 - Birth of Don Diamont in New York City, New York, USA; actor (Brad - The Young and the Restless).
- 1966 - Birth of Paula Barbieri; model/girlfriend of OJ Simpson/actress (Dangerous).
- 1969 - Birth of Martha Byrne; actress (Lily - As the World Turns).
- 1972 - Birth of Joseph Mulrey McIntyre AKA Joe McIntyre; singer (New Kids on the Block - "Lovin You Forever"), actor.
Deaths on December 31
- 1960 - Germaine Loosveldt, Flemish actress (Trees die Upright), dies at age 69.
- 1966 - Chief Nipo Strongheart, Native American actor (Pony Soldier), dies at age 75.
- 1969 - Salvatore Baccaloni, opera singer/actor (Full of Life), dies at age 69.
- 1971 - Peter Deuel, actor (Gidget, Love on a Rooftop), commits suicide at age 31.
- 1977 - Death of Nora Marlowe at age 62; actress (Sara - The Governor & JJ, The Waltons, Gunsmoke, Petticoat Junction, Family Affair, Disneyland).
- 1980 - Raoul Walsh, US director (High Sierra), dies at about age 88.
- 1983 - Frank Link, actor (Burns and Schreiber Comedy Show), dies at age 46.
- 1985 - Death of Rick Nelson at age 45; American singer, actor (Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) (born 1940).
- 1986 - Lloyd Haynes, actor (Pete Dixon - Room 222), dies at age 54.
- 1993 - Arthur Dreifuss, director/producer (Murder in Amsterdam), dies at age 85.
- 1994 - Leo Fuchs, Polish/US Yiddish actor (Story of Ruth), dies at age 83.
- 1994 - Woodrow "Woody" Strode, American rugby player/black cowboy actor (Posse, Cotton Club, Vigilante, Oil), dies.
- 1996 - David Sinclair, actor (Love and Hate), dies at age 62.
- 2001 - Death of Eileen Heckart at age 82 from cancer; actress (One Life to Live, Cybil, Annie McGuire, Out of the Blue, Suspense, The Fugitive).
- 2007 - Death of Bill Idelson at age 88; actor/writer (Vic and Sade radio show, Herman Glimscher - The Dick Van Dyke Show TV show, MASH, Andy Griffith, Happy Days, The Flintstones).
- 2021 - Death of Betty White at age 99 of natural causes in Los Angeles, California, USA; American actress (Rose Nylund - The Golden Girls TV show, Sue Ann Niven - The Mary Tyler Moore Show TV show, Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award), host (Saturday Night Live TV show).
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