23 years ago Today in Movie History – February 8 – the domestic violence thriller Sleeping with the Enemy debuted in theaters. Fresh off the massive success of Pretty Woman the year prior, Julia Roberts would catapult the meagerly budgeted $19 million pic to big results at the box office. Enemy would end Home Alone‘s 11 week reign at the top spot with a $13.7M opening on its way to a $101M domestic run. Nowadays the film is best known for its use of Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” in a montage sequence.
As for birthdays, today would’ve marked the 89th birthday for Jack Lemmon. He had one of the most impressive filmographies of any performer, winning Oscars for Supporting Actor in Mister Roberts in 1955 and Actor in 1973 for Save the Tiger. He received a total of eight nominations. There’s many other notable projects including his collaborations with Walter Matthau – among them The Fortune Cookie, The Odd Couple, and Grumpy Old Men. There’s also Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Days of Wine and Roses, Irma la Douce, The Out-of-Towners, The China Syndrome, Missing, and Glengarry Glen Ross. Lemmon passed away in 2001.
Nick Nolte is 73 today. He’s been nominated for three Oscars – twice for Actor in 1991’s The Prince of Tides and 1998’s Affliction and Supporting Actor in 2011 for Warrior. Among his many other notable roles: Who’ll Stop the Rain, North Dallas Forty, 48 Hrs., Under Fire, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Q&A, Cape Fear, The Thin Red Line, and Tropic Thunder.
As for Six Degrees of Separation between the two gentlemen:
Jack Lemmon was in Missing with Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek was in Affliction with Nick Nolte
And that’s today – February 8 – in Movie History!
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