Happy birthdays

July 26, 2022, 9:57 am , by Richard Lutz

Richard Lutz celebrates the arcane world of doublers, triplers and the odd quintet or two and finds out just what Harrison Ford and Byrds frontman Roger McGuinn have in common

We are one of those homes that still has the paper drifting through our front door each morning. It used to thud. Now- lighter, skinnier, more economic- it gently drifts, sometimes it seems, like a printed feather.

It heralds the morning and, immediately, the  rustling to the the least auspicious page. But to us, the most important.

Not the front page- that news is half a day old. Not sports. That too has been mulled over on radio, tv, streamed and downloaded.

No, it’s the birthdays page. Over a second cup of coffee, the list is scoured for shocking ages (‘he can’t be 86….’), doublers (born specifically on the same calendar day), triplers and, pure gold, the bullseye of an eyepopping quintet- five famous folks born on exactly the same calendar day.

Here are some of the best multiples recently discovered, proving, I think, absolutely nothing at all:

Let’s start with June 22 when four famous folk celebrated their joint 73rd: Liz Warren (US politician), Meryl Streep, Brian Levison (noted UK judge), Lindsay Wagner (Tv’s Bionic Woman)

July 6: former prez George W. Bush and Sly Stallone (76)

July 7: golfer Tony Jacklin and UK politician Glenys Kinnock (78)

July 13: Harrison Ford, rock singer Roger McGuinn (80)

July 14: an all British tripler: comic David Mitchell, tv reporter Kathy Newman, actor Maxine Peake (48)

July 21: old tunesmith Cat Stevens and cartoonist Garry Trudeau (74)

July 22: Film director Paul Schraeder, actor Danny Glover, French warbler Mirielle Mathieu (tripler at 76)

Well, boys and girls, the above meaningless listicle could lead to a fruitless argument about astrology or a small shrug of the shoulders. I mean, Bush and Sly drawing their first breathe within minutes of each other 76 years ago? Or in the misty history of British semi popularity, ex Tory leader Michael Howard and Goodie comic Bill Oddie born on the same day 81 years ago?

I leave you with today’s birthdays, unfortunately no triplets, no whiff of a doubler. But some familiar personae that litter our lives nevertheless. Happy birthday Mick Jagger (79), actor Helen Mirren (77), UK Prime Minister candidate Liz Truss (47) and movie star Sandra Bullock (57).