Short takes/Celeb birthdays: Friday, October 30, 2009

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Published: October 30, 2009

BIRTHDAYS

→Singer Grace Slick, 70.

→Actor Ed Lauter, 69.

→Singer Otis Williams (The Temptations), 68.

Multimedia

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→Actor Henry Winkler, 64.

→Actor Harry Hamlin, 58.

→Actor Charles Martin Smith, 56.

→Country singer T. Graham Brown, 55.

→Actor Kevin Pollak, 52.

→Actor Michael Beach ("Soul Food,” "Third Watch”), 46.

→Singer-guitarist Gavin Rossdale (Bush, Institute), 42.

→Actor Jack Plotnick ("Reno 911!”), 41.

→ "Cash Cab” host Ben Bailey, 39.

→Actress Nia Long, 39.

→Country singer Kassidy Osborn (SHeDAISY), 33.

→Actor Matthew Morrison ("Glee”), 31.

→Actor Tequan Richmond ("Everybody Hates Chris”), 17.

TV BRIEF

Oscar winner delving into obscure history

Academy Award-winning director Oliver Stone is creator and executive producer of a new 10-episode documentary series titled "Oliver Stone’s Secret History of America,” which will premiere on Showtime in 2010.

The hourlong shows, narrated by Stone, will feature episodes that focus on events that, at the time, went under-reported but crucially shaped America’s history during the past 60 years.

Stone and a small group of historians and archivists have meticulously combed through national archives in the U.S., Russia, South Africa, England and Japan in search of papers, letters, memoranda, film and photos to assist in their documentation of little-known historical figures and events that have rarely, if ever, been revealed.

Topics range from President Harry Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan to the origins and reasons for the Cold War with the Soviet Union, to the fierce struggle between war and peace in America’s national security complex.

From Staff and Wire Reports