April 6th in history:
On April 6th, 1909, explorers Robert Peary and Matthew Henson reported reaching the North Pole. Henson was African-American, and Peary has been criticized for not treating Henson as an equal member of the expedition.
Baseball executive Al Campanis was accused of making racist remarks on a broadcast of “Nightline” on April 6th, 1987. Campanis was general manager of the Dodgers until the TV interview, when he said blacks “may not have some of the necessities” to be baseball managers. He later said that he meant many blacks might not have the proper experience for the job.
Famous baseball stadiums that opened on April 6th include Miller Park in Milwaukee (2001) and Camden Yards in Baltimore (1992). It’s also the birthday of Baltimore native Barry Levinson (1942), who directed the classic baseball movie “The Natural,” starring Robert Redford and Kim Basinger.
“The Natural” was Basinger’s follow-up to the Burt Reynolds comedy “The Man Who Loved Women.” That film also featured Burt’s future TV wife on “Evening Shade,” Marilu Henner, born April 6th, 1952. Best known as Elaine on “Taxi,” Henner has written several books about health and fitness, and is one of the small group of Americans identified as having “highly superior autobiographical memory.”
Cliff Clavin also remembers lots of things, but he’s fictional. John Ratzenberger, who played know-it-all mailman Cliff on “Cheers,” was born on this date in 1947. “Cheers” and “Taxi” aired back to back Thursday nights on NBC in 1982 and ’83, and had a number of producers and writers in common.
Watch Marilu Henner, along with Triviazoids’ Brad Williams, on “60 Minutes”:
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