The Ages of the Actors on "Friends"

Here are the answers to the Friends Quiz:


Lisa Kudrow.........................Phoebe Buffay (30 July 1963)
Courteney Cox .....................Monica Geller Bing (15 June1964)
David Schwimmer..................Ross Geller (12 November 1966)
Matt LeBlanc .......................Joey Tribbiani (25 July 1967)
Jennifer Aniston....................Rachel Green (11 February 1969)
Matthew Perry .....................Chandler Bing (19 August 1969)


--Spencer

Who needs a life when you've got "Friends"

Okay, Spencer, I am rising to the challenge. You knew I couldn't resist. I am guessing here... I would say that Lisa Kudrow is the oldest among the cast members and is 39, today. Next I would pick Jennifer Aniston or Matthew LeBlanc as the youngest. If I had to guess... which I am doing (without looking this up) I would rank them from oldest to youngest: Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, Courtney Cox Arquette, Matthew LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston.

The order from oldest to youngest (still guessing) of the characters which is all I really care about, is as follows... Ross, Chandler, Phoebe, Joey, Monica, Rachel. Really, Spencer, Friends trivia is much more fun when it is focused on the show. For example, what name appears on the label of Chandler's TV guide subscription which is accidentally delivered every day to the girls' apartment? What are the names of each of the women to whom Ross was married? With whom was Chandler unknowingly communicating online? What is Phoebe's brother Frank's favorite hobby as stated in the episode in which he first comes to visit her? What is Joey's favorite food? Why did Monica and Richard's relationship finally end? What was the name of Rachel's Italian lover?

I randomly selected little factoids that I happen to know without looking them up and I could go on forever, though I don't know as much about the actual actors in the show. I will sheepishly admit that I own all nine seasons, regularly watch the reruns on TV, and consider those six to be my "friends." It would seem I have no life of my own.

Truth be told, I think Seinfeld might be equally as great in my personal sitcom loves. (Seinfeld loves Superman and either he or George once checked out a copy of a Henry Miller book they didn't return to the library) Reality TV has pretty much ended my already slim interest in television, and I find that I simply watch reruns of old favorites or movie channels if I watch it at all. We really are doing a birthday tribute theme here... I love it. It gives one a reason to celebrate the lives of strangers, though I suspect I'd do that without the actual holiday.
--Kate

What If Frasier Became Friends With Seinfeld And They Began Making A Home Improvement For Better Northern Exposure In The West Wing?

The past couple of decades have certainly proven to be no "golden age" for television. In fact, it seems that every successive year has given us, the viewing public, ever worsening "new lows" in broadcast TV! Take this phenomenon of "Reality TV," for instance: what is that, if not an extremely cheap formula for producing "real crap." It is fairly sad when one realizes that the best written, best acted, and most amusing TV show of the last 20 years has probably been "Frasier," a spin-off from the older show, "Cheers."

There are certain people, I imagine, who might be inclined to nominate some other show, instead of "Frasier," for that honored position of "Best Show" of the past two decades: "The West Wing" is one show that comes to mind, as does "Seinfeld," and "The Cosby Show," and "Home Improvement," and "The Wonder Years," and "Northern Exposure," and "Married With Children," and "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and "E.R.," and "Everybody Loves Raymond," as does the show called, "Friends." Yet from among that group of a dozen more-or-less watchable TV shows, I suspect that it may well be the last title, "Friends," which has some of the most ardent supporters.

Now that nine of the ten seasons of "Friends" are available on DVD, with the final season coming soon I'd imagine, I have even heard rumors of people gathering together in groups, for the sole purpose of playing "Friends Trivia" games! This fact almost amazes me. I say "almost" because people frequently do far stranger things than that. Still, it seems to me, that in a show about the relatively unremarkable lives of six close friends who move, over the course of the entire series, from supposedly being in their mid- to late-twenties, to being in their mid- to late-thirties, that such a trivia game would be nearly impossible for anyone who actually had a real life of their own, to ever win! The ultimate winner of such a game would basically need to have memorized virtually every aspect from each and every one of the 238 (or so) episode of the series. That would be quite some task.

Even though my mind boggles at the thought of undertaking such a task-- considering that I've probably already seen only about 1/5th of the total number of episodes-- I am not usually a "party-pooper." So, in the fine spirit of participating in the current "Friends" trivia fad-- and in honor of Lisa Kudrow's birthday, today-- I have a couple of "Friends" trivia questions of my own, to be answered by anyone who'd like to respond, without looking up the answers before replying, that is! Easy questions these:

First, how old is Lisa Kudrow today? And, second, what is the age ranking of the cast: Who's the oldest member of the six main actors, and who is next oldest, and so on, down to the youngest of the six principals? Any takers?

--Spencer

William Powell As Philo Vance

Ah, "The Thin Man." What an amazing, wonderful book (as are all five of Dashiell Hammett's novels); and what a glorious, truly stellar film-- one of Hollywood's greatest achievements! Indeed, the entire series of six "Thin Man" films is certainly worth viewing. And very soon-- as of August 2, 2005-- all six Thin Man films will be available on DVD, collected together in a Box Set with a 7th disc of special features. A "must" purchase for any true movie buff.

However, before Nick and Nora Charles ever first debuted on the printed page in 1934, and before William Powell and Myrna Loy were able to bring them to life on the silver screen, later that same year, there was another very famous series of detective books written by "S.S. Van Dine" (Willard Huntington Wright) about the mystery-solving adventures of one, "Philo Vance." And guess who played Philo Vance in the movies? That's correct: it was William Powell. Powell appeared as Philo Vance in at least five films between 1929 and 1933. The first three Philo Vance movies, "The Canary Murder Case" (1929), "The Greene Murder Case" (1929), and "The Benson Murder Case" (1930) are not very good-- they are mainly interesting for being some of the earliest examples of Hollywood's rather awkward transition to "talking pictures." The fourth appearance of Powell's Philo Vance was in "Murder Will Out" which was a short "skit" that was included in the Hollywood Review film called, "Paramount on Parade" (1930). It was quite well done, but very short.

It is not until the final appearance of Powell as Philo Vance in "The Kennel Murder Case" (1933) that this character truly comes into full bloom. "The Kennel Murder Case" is a good film in its own right, and it is a fitting introduction to the film, "The Thin Man," which came out only a year later. Of course, William Powell went on to star in many great films, up until his final film, "Mr. Roberts" (1955), after which he retired from the movies. Interestingly enough, Powell lived almost thirty years beyond his retirement, and died in 1984 at the age of 91. Even though Powell appeared in some excellent films prior to "The Kennel Murder Case," such as, "One Way Passage" of 1932, and "The Road to Singapore" of 1931 (not the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby film), a most excellent place to begin viewing his films is with "The Kennel Murder Case."

--Spencer

Nick and Nora Charles--one of my favorite film couples

In honor of William Powell's birthday, July 29, I would like to recognize 1/2 of one of my favorite duos--William Powell and Myrna Loy. Though he's appeared in countless movies, all of which Spencer has seen, I am only familiar with The Thin Man movies. And they are delicious. Rarely seen without a drink is his hand, Nick Charles offers witty banter with his wife, Nora, who is unfailingly stylish even in her dressing gowns and together they manage to solve mysteries no one else can. And who can forget Asta, a dog with such personality? I love the audio clips on this website and my very favorite is from After the Thin Man at the New Year's Party right after Nick is kissed by another woman in the confusion of midnight. Click here and then select "Made Any New Year's Resolutions?"

"You finished with this?"
"Yes, and I know as much about the murder as they do. So, I'm a hero. I was shot twice in the Tribune."
"I read you were shot five times in the tabloids."
"It's not true. He didn't come anywhere near my tabloids."
-- Nick and Nora in The Thin Man

Perhaps it's not the best example of that amusing wit I treasure so much. Still, coupled with his mannerisms, facial expression, and Nora's wry comments at every turn, I think nearly every scene in this film is gold. I can't imagine how I lived so long without these films... Thank you, Spencer.... you are my north star.
--Kate

Hers Is A World Worth Revisiting, Over And Over...

In honor of her 139th birthday, today, I intend to spend a bit of time this evening, at my local bookstore in the children's section, paging through the complete collected works of Beatrix Potter. It's been too long since I have visited the world of Peter Rabbit and all of his assorted animal compatriots. It is a world not without its own traumas and upheavals, but it is also a world that is infinitely more pleasant than our own, most of the time. It's time for a happy little vacation -- the sort that only can be found in certain books!

--Spencer

".....Curiouser and curiouser," cried Alice.

Right now I am reading about Lewis Carroll and his most famous work and I am intrigued. I had no idea that the persona we know as "Lewis Carroll" was so different from the man of Charles Dodgson. Having never really studied his novels or his life I guess I had certain expectations for the author who created Wonderland. Sure, there were Carroll-esque elements in Dodgson for he learned nonsense, exaggeration, and puns from his own father and it appears to have been part of their daily lives. I particularly like this snippet of a letter our author writes to Tennyson's son, Hallam, in January 1862.

"I am glad you liked the knife, and I think it a pity you should not be allowed to use it 'till you are older'. However, as you are older now, perhaps you have begun to use it by this time: if you were allowed to cut your finger with it, once a week, just a little, you know, till it began to bleed, and a good deep cut every birthday, I should think that would be enough, and it would last a long time so. Only I hope that if Lionel ever wants to have his fingers cut with it, you will be kind to your brother, and hurt him as much as he likes."

I was always led to believe (possibly by Sarah Ellis in From Reader to Writer Teaching Writing through Classic Children's Books) that Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was the result of a boating trip with the Liddel sisters in which he was prompted to tell a story that he later transcribed into his most famous work. Humphrey Carpenter suggests otherwise in his book Secret Gardens The Golden Age of Literature in his chapter called "Alice and the Mockery of God." I may have to start reading Martin Gardner's Annotated Alice that's been collecting dust on my shelf or possibly an real biography of Carroll/Dodgson. Regardless of Dodgson's inspiration, I believe he achieved a bit of greatness. --Kate

“There’s no use trying,” said Alice: “one can’t believe impossible things”.
“I dare say you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen…
“Why sometimes, I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
~ Lewis Carroll Alice in Wonderland

Welcome

A big warm welcome to all who enter here!

--Spencer