Timelines for year 1973
Bruce Lee
In his first and only meeting with Enter the Dragon composer Lalo Schifrin, Bruce told him that he often trains to the "Mission: Impossible" theme.
Rock Hudson
Following a right-shoulder injury in 1973, often used his left hand to write and pick up objects on "McMillan & Wife".
Ellen Burstyn
She wrote to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences to protest Liv Ullmann's elimination from Oscar contention in 1974 for her performance in Scenes from a Marriage (aka "Scenes from a Marriage"). AMPAS used a rule under which TV presentations must have appeared in movie theaters in the same year, to prevent Ullmann from being nominated. The result is that Burstyn won the Oscar for her performance in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore .
Received a permanent spinal injury while filming The Exorcist . In the sequence where she is thrown away from her possessed daughter, a harness jerked her hard away from the bed. She fell on her coccyx and screamed in pain, which was filmed for the movie.
Robert De Niro
As of the 5th edition of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (edited by Steven Jay Schneider), De Niro is the most represented actor, by 14 films. Included are the De Niro films Mean Streets , The Godfather: Part II , Taxi Driver , 1900 , The Deer Hunter , Raging Bull , The King of Comedy , Once Upon a Time in America , Brazil , The Untouchables , Goodfellas , Casino , Heat and Meet the Parents .
Was cited as one of the most promising movie personalities of 1973 in John Willis' 1974 Film Annual "Screen World" book.
When they met shortly before making Mean Streets De Niro and Harvey Keitel became fast friends. De Niro was from Greenwich Village in Manhattan and was taught by Stella Adler and Keitel was from the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn and was mainly mentored by Lee Strasberg. But the two guarded actors bonded and remain close to this day.
Brian De Palma
Received a special thanks credit in Mean Streets for introducing Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro to one another.
Elton John
Christmas hits: "Step into Christmas" and "Cold as Christmas (In the Middle of the Year)" .
William Friedkin
Was offered the chance to direct The Exorcist by producer William Peter Blatty after Blatty screened The French Connection . Warner Bros. had been pressuring him to use another director but after seeing the Friedkin's film, Blatty decided he wanted the film of his novel to be infused with as much energy as Friedkin had brought to "The French Connection".
After The Exorcist , he was planning on making a film about Aliens and Atlantis. But, after Close Encounters of the Third Kind went into production, he abandoned the film and made Sorcerer , instead.
David Letterman
His father, Joe Letterman, was a florist who died of a heart attack in 1973. Mother Dorothy remarried in 1983 to Hans Mengering.
He was frequently a celebrity guest on TV game shows of the 1970s, among them "The $20,000 Pyramid" , "The Gong Show" , and "Liar's Club" .
Jim Henson
Founded the "UNIMA Citations of Excellence" in 1973 to provide a peer-judged award for the art of puppetry in North America. In 1966, Jim Henson had previously founded (with other American puppeteers) the USA chapter of the Union Internationale de la Marionette (UNIMA) - the world's oldest international theatre arts organization, and served as the USA Chapter's founding chaiman.
Jack Nicholson
Had a relationship to Anjelica Huston from 1973 to 1989.
He was considered for Jason Miller's role in The Exorcist .
His performance as "Badass" Buddusky in The Last Detail is ranked #12 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time .