Jan. 20 in history

21 Years Ago --- He Won't Dance, Don't Ask Him Boston Globe January 20, 1985 Gene Kelly was more like a boxer than a dancer. He weaved and bobbed and jabbed his way around the dance floor as if he were going 15 rounds with Joe Louis. Unlike Fred Astaire, who moved as if he were dancing on teacups, Kelly pummeled the floor into submission. But not anymore. He's retired. ... Kelly names his friend Michael Jackson as a "great" talent. "Michael is one of the brightest, wittiest dancers to come along in quite a while," he said. "He's obviously a big talent, but I hope he doesn't rest on his laurels and keeps working at it." Kelly pauses. "Most of the young people don't like the working part," he said. "Training. Diligence. But I guess those words are as old as I am." Kelly managed a slight smile, pulled himself out of the chair and walked with a sprightly step out of the room into the glare of waiting television cameras. Like Willie Mays, he may not be able to chase down those fly balls to deep center anymore, but his movies will continue to show us how an all-star performed in his heyday. --- --- Vincent Price Finds New Career Los Angeles Times January 20, 1985 At 73, Vincent Price, "The Merchant of Menace," has found a new generation of fans because of his monologue on Michael Jackson's hit song, "Thriller," and the current film festivals and late-night TV broadcasts featuring his old horror flicks. "You really feel ancient when they start showing retrospectives of your work," said Price. "That, and when you're in a wax museum. It all makes you feel as if you've been buried." Back from the casket, Price's career received a boost from the spooky verse he performed on "Thriller." All it took was one day to tape his rap, and now kids are turning up at his lectures, where he performs a campy version of Jackson's trademark dance, the moonwalk. "I'm finally famous," he told the newsletter for his alma mater, Yale University. ... And TV buffs might remember him for appearances on "Batman," "The Brady Bunch" and "Ellery Queen." "I always wanted my two children to see me do some things that are identified with their generation," he said. What could be more now-generation than singing a duet, of sorts, with Michael Jackson? --- 18 Years Ago --- Richie Song Goes To Court USA Today January 20, 1988 A jury will decide whether pop star Lionel Richie pilfered his 1984 hit song Stuck on You from another songwriter. ... Richie isn't the only big-name pop star to face legal action. In 1984, Michael Jackson was found innocent after a songwriter claimed Jackson's The Girl Is Mine, recorded with Paul McCartney, was based on a song called Please Love Me Now. --- 17 Years Ago --- A Thriller For Disabled Boy The Ottawa Citizen January 20, 1989 It was a real thriller this week for Andrew Wigglesworth of Squamish, B.C., when he had a backstage date with rock star Michael Jackson at a Los Angeles concert. The meeting was arranged by Martin Sheen who met the 10-year-old boy when he appeared as an extra in November when Sheen was filming in Vancouver. In 1983, doctors discovered Wigglesworth had a rare, non-cancerous tumor that was strangling muscles and blood vessels in his abdomen. Four years later, doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., removed his left leg above the pelvis, his bladder and his bowel in an effort to stop the tumor's growth. This summer they removed his left kidney. Wigglesworth said the meeting with Jackson was especially exciting because he wants to be a rock star. "I used to play the guitar but I quit," he said. "I want to be a singer." --- 12 Years Ago --- Houston and Jackson Share Spotlight At NAACP Awards Call & Post January 20, 1994 Entertainer of the Year Whitney Houston received top honors at the 26th Annual NAACP Image Awards, which took placer on Wednesday, January 5, 1994, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The yearly black-tie event honors in dividuals and organizations who have contributed to the positive portrayal of African-Americans in motion pictures, television, literature and recording, earning the description, "the Oscars, Emmys and Grammys all rolled into one." Escorted by her husband, singer Bobby Brown, Hoston was given a musical tribute, performed by her mother, Cissy Houston, and her brother, Gary Houston. Whitney received an additional four Image Awards, sweeping the recording categories for Outstanding Female Artist, Outstanding Soundtrack Album and Outstanding Album ("The Bodyguard"), and Outstanding Music Video ("I'm Every Woman"). Visibly moved by the multiple awards, Houston treated the audience with an impromptu a capella version of "Yes, Jesus Loves Me," and dedicated an award to both of her parents. The highlight of the evening was the arrival of surprise presenter Michael Jackson, who made his first official appearance since canceling his "Dangerous" tour. Jackson, who was honored last year with the Entertainer of the Year Award, was greeted with a five-minute standing ovation and cheers of "Michael! Michael!" as he appeared on stage to present the Outstanding Choreography Award to winner Debbie Allen ("The 65th Annual Academy Awards"). ... --- --- Sound Off! The Oregonian January 20, 1994 "A childhood illness is what Michael Jackson had as a child. He didn't have a childhood because he was so famous." -- Michael York, age 11 --- 11 Years Ago --- Michael Jackson to Host King From Ivory Coast Los Angeles Times January 20, 1995 Pop star Michael Jackson will be hosting an African king-whom he met during a trip to the Ivory Coast three years ago-during the king's four-day visit to Los Angeles, Jackson's publicist said Thursday. "Michael Jackson was a guest of King Nana Amon Ndoufou IV, the most important ruler on the Ivory Coast, ruling the kingdom of Sanwi in Ghana," Lee Solters said. "In a special ceremony, King Ndoufou officially made Jackson a Sanwi king. The ceremony also meant, according to Sanwi rituals and beliefs, that Jackson was King Ndoufou's `son.' " Included in the Los Angeles visit will be a trip to Universal Studios. "The visit is a personal one," Solters said. "Michael wants to repay the generosity and hospitality that King Ndoufou bestowed on him during his African visit." --- 6 Years Ago --- Michael Jackson, From Pop to Poe USA Today January 20, 2000 Michael Jackson's first starring feature film is rapidly becoming a reality, and naturally, it's a thriller. He's due to get the script next month for The Nightmares of Edgar Allan Poe, with the singer as the tortured writer, and production should begin in September. Jackson is co-producing with Gary Pudney and Jim Green, producers of November's Julie Andrews-James Garner CBS movie, One Special Night. Pudney, in the first official confirmation of the deal, says of Jackson: "His whole new thrust is going to be films. He has sold the most records, made the most money on tours, and this is the one genre he has the desire to excel in." Jackson is deeply interested as always in the technical aspects of the project. A major makeup job will turn him into Poe, and the ad campaign "will be based on his image morphing into Poe through technology," Pudney says. Meanwhile, Jackson is at his California ranch, wrapping his new album for Sony, due out this spring. He'll perform a single from it at the World Music Awards (produced by Pudney) May 10 in Monaco, where he'll be honored as "world's best-selling pop artist of the millennium." He may do a title song for Poe. Jackson is 41; in 1849, Poe was found dead at age 40 after a mysterious disappearance. The focus will be on the characters from his writings returning to haunt him in his last days. There's a love interest -- a teen girl -- and Pudney plans a number of star cameos. Jackson's only previous theatrical release was the 1978 musical The Wiz, with Diana Ross, though he has made videos galore. --- 5 Years Ago --- Judge Orders Hindujas to Stay in India The Times January 20, 2001 The billionaire Hinduja brothers were prevented yesterday from leaving India by a judge presiding over hearings into the Bofors corruption scandal. After flying in for what they hoped would be a 24-hour visit to attend a brief bail hearing, Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja and their brother, Prakash, were told that they could not leave the country without the court's permission and had to submit to questioning by detectives if required. The humiliation took the Hindujas by surprise. The brothers are among the wealthiest people in Britain. Tony and Cherie Blair were guests of honour at a Diwali party they threw at Alexandra Palace two years ago and they took the pop singer Michael Jackson on a tour of the Millennium Dome. ... Indian police confirmed that they want to question them over allegations that they received bribes of Pounds 6million to help to secure the Swedish arms company an Pounds 802 million deal to supply howitzers to India in 1986. The Central Bureau of Intelligence has accused the three of criminal conspiracy, cheating and corruption, claiming that they received illegal payments into three Swiss bank accounts. The Hindujas insist that the money had nothing to do with the arms deal. They have not been formally charged but flew to India on Thursday after being ordered to attend yesterday's hearing. --- --- Cobbler To The Stars National Post January 20, 2001 He sees those parts of Hollywood the stars don't want anyone to see. On screen they might have perfect bodies and flawless faces but beneath the makeup many celebrities have a very whiffy secret: ugly, sweaty feet. Millionaire cobbler Andre Rostomyan has seen and sniffed them all. Demi Moore has corns, Barbra Streisand has a bunion, George Clooney has distinctly hairy toes. ... Rostomyan also caters to vegan celebrities who refuse to wear leather, such as actress Alicia Silverstone and singer Michael Jackson. "Michael was the first celebrity to use my shop. Once he passed the word around, I started to get famous people visiting me almost every day. But as a man, he is very fussy. He will only wear fake leather or shoes made out of satin, plastic or nylon." "You know, it's very difficult nowadays to tell fake leather from the real stuff. Both Alicia and Drew Barrymore, another vegan, wouldn't believe me at first." --- 4 Years Ago --- Jackson Five the Musical News of the World January 20, 2002 Michael Jackson's older brother Jermaine is turning their life story into a musical. He is writing a book, "The Legacy," about how the brothers found fame as the Jackson Five. And he plans to turn his version of the family history into a lavish Broadway musical with the same title. "This is all about surviving the good and the bad and making the best of it," said Jermaine. --- --- Shows Pile On Goodies The Gazette January 20, 2002 Britney Spears and Michael Jackson certainly can afford a meal for 10 at a fast-food restaurant. And you know that Tom Hanks and Cameron Diaz can splurge on a $1,300 U.S. watch. But that doesn't stop awards shows from lavishing gifts on the celebrities who appear at their ceremonies. And the gifts keep getting gaudier. "It's just one of those (instances of) the rich get richer," joked Steve Stein of Hollywood Connection, a company that puts together gift bags for awards shows. ... At the American Music Awards earlier this month, performers and presenters such as Spears, Jackson and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler got items like electric scooters and digital cameras. Some luminaries get even more. For example, the AMAs threw in a few extra scooters for Jackson, since they know he likes toys; for Spears, an admitted Starbucks addict, they created an extra package with Starbucks products in it. --- 1 Years Ago --- Jackson Witness Wants Out of Trial Chicago Tribune January 20, 2005 Prosecutors called Martin Bashir to testify about things Michael Jackson said that may not have made it into the documentary. Bashir, in a motion filed in Santa Maria, Calif., said that under state law, journalists cannot be forced to testify about what they observe while reporting a story. --- --- Bogus Contestant Fakes Jackson Tune The Gazette January 20, 2005 One of this year's entries for Lithuania's spot in the Eurovision Song Contest sported a familiar hook - because it was recorded by Michael Jackson more than 30 years ago. The song, You and the performer, Juste Kriauzaite, were both fakes, Lithuania's National Commission said yesterday. Two unidentified DJs said they fabricated a bio about Kriauzaite and sent in a fake picture, along with an MP3. It's been disqualified from the contest is scheduled for May. --- --- Support Grows For Michael Jackson The Weekly Gleaner January 20, 2005 Support continues to grow for Michael Jackson even with a key prosecution witness set to testify against the superstar and evidence is disclosed showing the mother of Jackson's accuser alleged to solicit funds for her child's cancer treatment that is claimed to be paid by a health insurance policy. Outrage, lividness and retaliation are just a few of the words of expressions made by celebrities, political leaders and public figures when it was publically disclosed that an estimated 70 California investigators staged a surprised raid at the Los Olivos, CA home of Michael Jackson and pursued a search of two other California venues in search of evidence linking the star to a least one child molestation case. At the time, the beloved international pop icon was working on a video project in Las Vegas, NV. Pursuant to a warrant for a continuous criminal investigation, several dozen officers swooped down on the worldwide renowned pop singer's 2700-acres Neverland Ranch, based upon an alleged statement made by a 12-year-old male cancer survivor to police, a therapist and a lawyer. According to the molestation allegation, Jackson, a father of three young children provided wine then abused the 12-year old at Jackson's Neverland home, where the star is known to open his estate, comprised of a complete amusement park and a zoo - to members of the public. As the parents of the accuser divulged that Jackson provided wine and expensive gifts to their son, legal experts have questioned whether legal action should be brought against the parents of Jackson's recent accuser for a cause of action for gross negligence in the supervision of their child. Indeed, it was public knowledge that almost 10 years ago a 13-year-old filed a child molestation lawsuit against the amiable single-parent superstar. Without adducing any evidence to support his claim, this probe was terminated. Jackson and his early accuser's family entered into a settlement agreement, which was reported to have cost the former child prodigy, star $25 million. ---