Free Women's Blog

Happy Birthday to WWE Diva Ashley Massaro (1979)

“South Park” co-creator Matt Stone (1971)

“The Corpse Bride” actress Helena Bonham Carter (1966)

Rock star Lenny Kravitz (1964)

“General Hospital” actress Genie Francis (1962)

Comedian and actor Bobcat Goldthwait (1962)

Professional wrestler Pat Kenney (1968)

British actress Patsy Palmer (1972)

American actress Nicki Aycox (1975)

Film and TV actress Margaret Colin (1957)

“Jackie Brown” star Pam Grier (1949)

Country superstar Hank Williams Jr. (1949)

“Miami Vice” actor Philip Michael Thomas (1949)

Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks (1948)

“Motion City Soundtrack” American singer Justin Pierre (1976)

“Chimaira” musician Mark Hunter (1977)

Japanese actress Misaki Ito (1977)

American actress Elisabeth Harnois (1979)

“The Fray” musician Isaac Slade (1981)

British writer and comedian David Reed (1982)

American actress Julianna Rose Mauriello (1991)

“The Band” drummer Levon Helm (1940)

British actor Roy Dotrice (1923)

Danish actor Dirch Passer (1926)

Canadian author Phyllis Gotlieb (1926)

“The Guess Who” drummer Garry Peterson (1945)

“The Fall, Tom Hingley and the Lovers” musician Steve Hanley (1959)

“OSI” musician Kevin Moore (1967)

“Gunsmoke” star James Arness (1923; d. 2011)

Singer Peggy Lee (1920; d. 2002)

“Little House On The Prairie” actor Sam Edwards (1915; d. 2004)

“Star Wars” actor Peter Cushing (1913; d. 1994)

“The Lone Ranger” ‘Tonto’ portrayer Jay Silverheels (1912; d. 1980)

“Dragnet” actor Ben Alexander (1911; d. 1969)

British actor Robert Morley (1908; d. 1992)

British guitarist Mick Ronson (1946; d. 1993)

Western legend John Wayne (1907; d. 1979)

Great Depression photographer Dorothea Lange (1895; d. 1965)

Jazz singer Al Jolson (1886; d. 1950)

American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (1926; d. 1991)

Bulgarian actor Grigor Vachkov (1932; d. 1980)

American actress Norma Talmadge (1893; d. 1957)

Hungarian actor Paul Lukas (1895; d. 1971)

English singer and comedian George Formby (1904; d. 1961)

Pope Clement VII (1478; d. 1534)

Happy Birthday All

Brett Anderson (30 January 1958, Montgomery, Alabama, USA) has seduced comedy audiences with her baritone speaking-voice, an singular blend of candor, vulnerability and scathing Southern wit. Best known for playing the title role in comedy series “Grace Under Fire.”

Born in Alabama and raised in Georgia, the comedienne that some have dubbed “a Southern Lenny Bruce” grew up alongside four younger sisters: Tana, Toren, Kristen and Katy. whom Butler calls “all brilliant and funny.” Named for Hemingway’s Lady Brett Ashley from “The Sun Also Rises,” but with her mother’s remarriage to Bob Butler gave the 6-year-old a new name, an unintentional twist on another literary figure, albeit male, from “Gone with the Wind.”

“We were poor, but my mother was cultured and left-wing – just the thing they admire so much in the deep South,” recalls Butler, who performed her first comedy routine during a school pageant at the age of 8. At 19, Butler endured a brief and turbulent marriage to Charles Michael Wilson (July 1978 – 1981), divorcing after three years. On her own again, she cocktail waitress at a honky-tonk in Texas, where Open Mike Night became a welcomed catharsis. Two years and a thousand shows later, Butler had honed her act to a razor sharpness and, at the urging of fellow comedian and supporter Robert Klein, she loaded up her 1969 Grand Prix and drove to New York City. It was the first time Butler had ever left the South. “I had all these years of Southern white guilt, and then I moved to New York and found that people are the same everywhere,” says Butler, who calls New York “my brave new world.” Her act translated well to the New York stage, and within two years she was performing for Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show,” returning a mere six months later. She appeared as a guest star or performer on more than 70 television comedy series and specials before landing her own one-woman show, the highly rated Showtime comedy special, “Brett Butler: The Child Ain’t Right.” In 1994, she followed this with a second Showtime special, “Brett Butler: Sold Out.” She has also been honored to host several prestigious television events and specials, among them the 1995 People’s Choice Awards and 1995 Ford Theater Gala for the President.

Butler’s career came to a turning point when ABC approached The Carsey-Werner Company about developing a comedy series around a single mother. Company vice president David Tochterman saw Butler in New York and was immediately taken with her honest style and original writing. Twelve years of talking about her life onstage paid off with the starring role on ABC’s “Grace Under Fire.”

In the series “Grace Under Fire,” Butler portrays a recently divorced mother of three facing the perils of single parenthood. Butler’s portrayal of the sharp-tongued and resourceful oil refinery worker earned a 1994 People’s Choice Award for Favorite Female in a New Series, with the show itself honored as Favorite New Comedy and, in 1995, Butler was voted Best Actress in a Comedy Series by Viewers for Quality Television. She also received a 1994 Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy Series and, in 1995, was nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy Series by The People’s Choice Awards and American Comedy Awards. Recently, Butler’s autobiography “Knee Deep in Paradise” was published by Hyperion and received unanimous praise from critics for its ‘distinctive literary voice’ as well as for its honest portrayal of her life.

Before the end of “Grace Under Fire” (1993), she went into rehab for painkiller addiction.

A comedienne by trade, Butler 5′ 9″ 36C-25-36 is still eagerly learning the nuances of acting. She offers: “Stand-up is like drawing with a primary color crayon – it’s a beautiful and satisfying world – but acting is like having the big box of 148!”

It remains no mystery that what satisfies Brett Butler most is prodding others to abandon their armchair comfort for a dose of selfexamination, though she has yet to exorcise all of her own demons. Had she been born in another time, Butler admits “I’d probably be trying to outdrink Dorothy Parker at the Algonquin Roundtable.”

Ken Zieger (August 1987 – 1999) (divorced)

Filmography

Firedog (2010) (filming) (voice) …. Norma Jean
The Last Guy on Earth (2006)
Moochers (2006) (TV) …. Host
“My Name Is Earl” …. Connie Darville (1 episode, 2005)
Vampire Bats (2005) (TV) …. Shelly Beaudraux
Mrs. Harris (2005) (TV) …. Tarnower Ex #1
Militia (2000) …. Bobbi
Bruno (2000) …. Sister Della Rosa
“Chicken Soup for the Soul” (1 episode, 1999)
“Grace Under Fire” …. Grace Kelly (112 episodes, 1993-1998)
“Ellen” …. Grace Kelly (1 episode, 1997)
“The Drew Carey Show” …. Grace Kelly (1 episode, 1997)
The Child Ain’t Right (1993) (TV)
“Dolly” …. Rhonda (1 episode, 1988)