1775 ~ J. M. W. TURNER (Joseph Mallord William Turner) the English romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker was born on this 23rd day of April in 1775 (died in 1851 aged 76). Turner was renowned for his oil paintings, and elevated landscape painting to rival history painting. He was also one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting, and commonly known as the painter of light. Turner produced over 550 oil paintings, 2,000 watercolours and 30,000 paper works.

1564 ~ WiLLiAM SHAKESPEARE the English poet, writer and actor regarded as the greatest writer in the Englishlanguage was born on this 23rd day of April in 1564 (according to the Julian calendar) William Shakespeare died on the 23rd April 1616.

1928 ~ SHiRLEY TEMPLE the American actress,  singer and dancer was born in Santa Monica, California on this 23rd day of April in 1928 (died 11th February 2014 aged 85). Shirley Temple was best known for her movie roles in Bright Eyes, The Little Colonel, Curly Top, Wee Willie Winkie, Heidi, A Little Princess, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, and Fort Apache. YouTube video: Shirley Temple : Animal Crackers In My Soup Extended Version…

1936 ~ ROY ORBiSON the American singer and musician was born on this 23rd day of April in 1936 (died in 1988 aged 52).

1939 ~ LEE MAJORS the American actor best known for his roles as Heath Barkley in The Big Valley, Colonel Steve Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man and Colt Seavers in The Fall Guy was born on this 23rd day of April in 1939.

1943 ~ Fighting Harada was born Masahiko Harada in Tokyo, Japan on the 23rd April 1943. YouTube video: Lionel Rose vs Fighting Harada | Lionel Rose (ライオネル・ローズ) 27-2-0 (117¾ lbs) vs Fighting Harada (ファイティング原田) 50-3-0 (117¾ lbs) for the WBC & WBA World Bantamweight Titles (in Colour) 27th February 1968 at Nihon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan with referee: Ko Toyama 71-72 I Judge: Ken Morita 70-72 I Judge: Hiroyuki Tezaki 69-72…

1949~ HARRY BRUS aka “The Doctor” the Austrian born Australian bass player and guitarist was born on this 23rd day of April in 1949, in Graz, Austria. Harry is best known for his work with Matt Finish, Kevin Borich, Renée Geyer, Australian Crawl, Leo Sayer, Marcia Hines, Jimmy Barnes, Ross Wilson and Billy Thorpe. See Harry Brus on Facebook and Harry Brus on Myspace 

1954 ~ CAPTAiN SENSiBLE the English singer in the red beret, songwriter, guitarist and co-founder of The Damned was born on this 23rd day of April in 1954. The video below features the Captain’s hit “Wot” from 1982…

1954 ~ MiCHAEL MOORE the American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist was born on this 23rd day of April in 1954. Michael Moore is best known for being the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, the highest grossing documentary of all time, and his films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko, which where in the top 10 highest grossing documentaries.

1955 ~ JUDY DAViS the Australian actress was born on this 23rd day of April in 1955.

1961 ~ GEORGE LOPEZ the American actor and comedian was born on this 23rd day of April in 1961.

1966 ~ JiM STYNES the Irish born Australian rules football player and philanthropist was born on this 23rd day of April in 1966. During Jim’s 264 game career with the Melbourne Football Club from 1987 to 1998, he became the only non-Australian-born VFL / AFL player to win the Brownlow Medal. Jim Stynes was also the president of the Melbourne Football Club from 2008, and helped bring the club out of debt. In 2009, Jim was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma, but continued to work during his treatment.

Jim Stynes died on the 20th March 2012 aged 45, but his legacy lives on after all the youth work he did in the launch of The REACH FOUNDATiON, which he co-founded in 1994. From this work he was named Victorian of the Year in 2001 and 2003, and awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2007. I like The Reach Foundation Facebook page 

1969 ~ RiCHARD WOLSTENCROFT the Australian filmmaker was born on this 23rd day of April in 1969