Staying Fit
Dec. 2: Lucy Liu, 55
Beloved for her star-making turns in Charlie’s Angels and Kill Bill, Lucy Liu has had an equally impressive career on the small screen, earning an Emmy nomination for her role on Ally McBeal and later playing Sherlock Holmes’ sober companion Joan Watson on the CBS crime drama Elementary. Earlier this year, Liu showcased her more devious side as the villainous Kalypso in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, but she’s also a painter who earlier this year displayed her works in a New York gallery show exploring the themes of memory, identity and family.
Dec. 3: Ozzy Osbourne, 75
The lead vocalist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath rewrote the rules of reality TV when he and his family starred on the Addams Family-come-to-life MTV series The Osbournes. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, and earlier this year, Osbourne’s 13th studio album, Patient Number 9, earned him Grammys for best rock album and best metal performance. Sadly, he had to cancel his planned European-U.K. tour due to physical weakness caused by a spinal injury a few years ago, but he has said that he’s brainstorming ways to continue performing live without the stresses of travel.
Dec. 3: Brendan Fraser, 55
Long known for his roles as ditzy himbos (George of the Jungle, Encino Man) and next-gen matinee idols (the Mummy franchise), Fraser first began to show signs of his dramatic potential in the acclaimed film Gods and Monsters. He shocked audiences with his transformation in The Whale, about a reclusive English professor who is morbidly obese, and won the Academy Award for best actor. This fall, Fraser can be seen as a deliciously over-the-top lawyer in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
Dec. 4: Tyra Banks, 50
The first Black woman to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, Tyra Banks made modeling history as one of the original Victoria’s Secret Angels, then went on to be the host and executive producer of America’s Next Top Model for years. She later launched her own daytime talk show, earning a pair of Daytime Emmys, and more recently emceed Dancing With the Stars for three seasons. Banks is now trying something completely new by founding her own ice cream brand, Smize & Dream, which takes its name from the supermodel’s trademark word for smiling with your eyes.
Dec. 7: Noam Chomsky, 95
While he originally got his start as a linguist, Noam Chomsky long ago ascended to the ranks of America’s most famed public intellectuals, and he’s frequently looked to for his opinions on foreign policy, mass media and capitalism. His most recent work is Illegitimate Authority: Facing the Challenges of Our Time, a collection of interviews conducted by Truthout journalist C.J. Polychroniou about such hot-button topics as the war in Ukraine, climate change, Roe v. Wade and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dec. 8: Kim Basinger, 70
The model-turned-actress emerged as a major star in the 1980s, appearing in such films as The Natural and the 007 flick Never Say Never Again as Bond girl Domino Petachi. Her greatest success came when she won the Academy Award for best supporting actress for the 1997 noir film L.A. Confidential. Basinger, who had once courted controversy with the sexually explicit romance 9½ Weeks, most recently returned to the genre when she appeared in the Fifty Shades franchise, based on the novels by E.L. James.
