Pop Culture Flashback: Happy Birthday Harry Potter (July 31)

The fictional Harry Potter was born on this day in 1980.

1980 – Harry Potter is Born

Though he is a fictional character, the star of the Harry Potter book series was born on this day in 1980. He first appeared on the pages of J.K. Rowling’s book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 1997. (The book didn’t arrive in the U.S. until 1998.) Hugely popular, the book spawned six sequels ending with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows which was published in 2007.

Though there are only seven books in the series, Warner Bros. produced eight Harry Potter movies from 2001 to 2011. Two more books were released in October of 2017 to coincide with the British Library’s Harry Potter exhibition celebrating the 20th anniversary of the book series.

Incidentally, Daniel Radcliffe who portrays Harry Potter in the movies, is almost the same age. His birthday is July 23, 1989.

OTHER EVENTS THAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY:

1930 – ‘The Shadow’ Makes His First Appearance on Radio

Orson Welles as "The Shadow" — Orson Welles was the voice of *The Shadow in 1937. (Wikimedia Commons)*

Created by Harry Engman Charlot, “The Shadow” debuted on CBS radio on this day as a radio-show narrator for the program Detective Story Hour. The gimmick was used to promote Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine. Soon, the narrator became a hit, and fans wanted to know more about this mysterious person. The Living Shadow magazine went on sale on April 1, 1931. Over the next 20 years, Walter B. Gibson wrote 282 of the printed 325 stories.

James La Curto was the radio show’s original narrator, but it was Seattle actor, Frank Readrick Jr.’s take on the character reading the line, “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!” that made the character famous. He made his voice extra spooky by reading his lines into a glass for an echo effect.

In 1937, Orson Welles became the voice of The Shadow, but Readrick continued with the show’s signature line. (Readrick also voiced the fictional radio news reporter for Welles radio production of The War of the Worlds in 1938.)

The Shadow has been adapted for comic books, comic strips, TV, and at least five motion pictures. The most recent was made in 1994 and starred Alec Baldwin.

The Shadow was a collection of serialized dramas originally published as pulp novels. On this day in 1930, the Shadow aired his first radio show which was followed by a magazine series, comic books, comic strips, television, serials, video games, and at least five motion pictures, the most recent being 1994’s starring Alec Baldwin.

1975 – Goofy Gameshow, ‘Almost Anything Goes’, Premieres on ABC

Intervilles was a French comedy game show that pitted towns against each other with a series of silly games, some of which included interacting with live cows and bulls. It was first broadcast in 1962 and continued on and off until 2009.

Intervilles inspired the British game show, It’s a Knockout! which aired from 1966 to 1982. And that show helped to create Almost Anything Goes which premiered here in America on ABC in 1975. For AAG, three teams representing their hometowns would compete for money and prizes. The competitions included wacky obstacle courses, pie throwing contests, swing relays and other hijinks. The second (and last) season ran from January to May 1976. Sports announcers Charlie Jones and Lynn Shackelford did the play-by-play. It was followed by the Junior Almost Anything Goes, hosted by Soupy Sales, (which ran on Saturday mornings from 1976 to 1977) and All Star Anything Goes from 1977 to 1978.