Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor David Paul Cronenberg was born on this day, March 15, 1943. One of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or "venereal horror genre," a style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection, he explored these themes mostly through horror and science fiction throughout the first half of his film career. He has been called "the most audacious and challenging narrative director in the English-speaking world.
Cronenberg has appeared on various "Greatest Director" lists. In 2004, Science Fiction magazine Strange Horizons named him the 2nd greatest director in the history of the genre, ahead of better known directors such as Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Jean-Luc Godard and Ridley Scott. In the same year, The Guardian listed him 9th on their list of "The world's 40 best directors". In 2007, Total Film named him as the 17th greatest director of all-time.
Cronenberg received the Special Jury Prize at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival for Crash. In 1999, Cronenberg was inducted onto Canada's Walk of Fame and was awarded with the Silver Bear Award at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival.
In 2002, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and in 2006 he was awarded the Cannes Film Festival's lifetime achievement award, the Carrosse d'Or. Also in 2006, Cronenberg was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the senior national body of distinguished Canadian scientists and scholars. In 2009 Cronenberg received the Légion d'honneur from the government of France. The following year Cronenberg was named an honorary patron of the University Philosophical Society, Trinity College, Dublin. In 2012, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
The opening of the "David Cronenberg: Evolution" Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) exhibition occurred on October 30, 2013. Held at the TIFF Bell Lightbox venue, the exhibition pays tribute to the director's entire filmmaking career and the festival's promotional material refers to Cronenberg as "one of Canada's most prolific and iconic filmmakers". The exhibition will be shown internationally following the conclusion of the TIFF showing on January 19, 2014.
In 2014, he was made a Member of the Order of Ontario in recognition for being "Canada's most celebrated internationally acclaimed filmmaker"
1913 - Macdonald Carey (actor: “Like sands through the hourglass these are the Days of Our Lives”; Comanche Territory, The Rebels, Who is the Black Dahlia, Access Code; died Mar 21, 1994)
1935 - Judd Hirsch (Actor: Taxi (1978), Numb3rs (2005) and Independence Day (1996)
1954 - Craig Wasson (actor: Body Double, Malcolm X, Phyllis, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors)
1975 - Eva Longoria (Actress:The Young and the Restless (1973), Desperate Housewives (2004), Harsh Times (2005), The Sentinel (2006))
Kim Raver (Actress/Director: 24 (2001), Third Watch (1999) and Night at the Museum (2006)