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Today is Ginger Rogers' 115th birthday. Born Virginia Katherine McMath in Independence, Missouri, on July 16, 1911, she began her entertainment career as a teenager, performing in a travelling vaudeville act. In 1930, she became an overnight star with a lead role in the Broadway musical Girl Crazy by George and Ira Gershwin. Her success on the stage soon led to a contract with Paramount Pictures, and she made her feature film debut in Monta Bell's Young Man of Manhattan (1930). Dissatisfied with the parts she was given, she moved to RKO and was put to work with Fred Astaire in Flying Down to Rio (1933), which started a highly successful partnership between the two stars. In their ten films together, they redefined the movie musical with their graceful performances and memorable dance routines. Beyond musicals, Rogers proved her versatility as a dramatic actress, winning an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Kitty Foyle (1940).

Today is Errol Flynn's 117th birthday. Renowned for his charisma, good looks and adventurous screen presence, he established himself as one of the most celebrated stars of Hollywood's Golden Age. Born in Hobart, Tasmania, on June 20, 1909, he spent his early years travelling and working various jobs, before pursuing a career in acting. His breakthrough came with Captain Blood (1935), a role that established as a leading man and launched a successful partnership with Olivia de Havilland . Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Flynn became synonymous with swashbuckling adventures films, starring in a series of popular classics, including The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Sea Hawk (1940) and Adventures of Don Juan (1948). Known for his athleticism, charm and screen presence, he embodied the romantic hero and became one of the era's biggest box-office attractions. Off-screen, Flynn was equally famous for his adventurous lifestyle and reputation as a playboy. His personal ...

Today is Katharine Hepburn 's 119th birthday. From her motion picture debut in A Bill of Divorcement (1932) to iconic performances in such films as Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Philadelphia Story (1940), The African Queen (1951), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) and On Golden Pond (1981), she had a career like no other. She won four Academy Awards, the most out of any other performer, and got nominated for eight more. She was intelligent, headstrong, independent and outspoken, at a time when women were generally regarded as being the opposite. She was always unapologetically herself; there were no airs about her, no pretense, no façade. She was always just Kate. This is her life in photos. At the age of four, in 1911.   With fellow Bryn Mawr students Margaret Barker (left) and Elizabeth Stewart (middle) in a production of A. A. Milne's The Truth About Blayds , in April 1927.    In costume for the Broadway play The Lake , in November 1934.    With Ginge...

Today is Gregory Peck's 110th birthday. Born in San Diego, California, on April 5, 1916, Peck grew up with an ambition to become a doctor. After graduating high school, he enrolled at the San Diego State Teacher's College, and later transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, as an English major and pre-medical student. His deep, well-modulated voice soon got him attention and he was encouraged to try acting, having appeared in five plays during his senior year at Berkeley. In 1939, lacking one course to receive his degree, he headed to New York City to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse with the legendary acting coach Sanford Meisner. His stage career began two years later, when he appeared in a Katharine Cornell production of George Bernard Shaw's play The Doctor's Dilemma , which opened in San Francisco just one week before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He made his Broadway debut in 1942, playing the lead in Emlyn Williams' The Morning Star . Peck'...