Awesome Celebrity Birthday Of The Day: Wallace Shawn

Posted at 2:30 PM Nov 12, 2008

By Kenny Herzog

Welcome to NCDSUV's newest daily feature, where we acknowledge another turn of the calendar for a member of Hollywood land, even if it's a celebrity who often goes overlooked by the rest of the blogosphere, and regardless of whether we have a huge affinity for their body of work.

Yesterday, we blew out the candles despite our honoree being a Devil's Reject. And today, we honor a man oft-misconstrued as a walking novelty, but to knowing filmgoers is a fantastic playwright, Woody Allen regular and willing ham. Mmmmm, ham.

Today's Awesome Celebrity Birthday Belongs To:

Wallace Shawn
Age: 65
Why He's Sort Of Awesome: Even though he'll forever be known to many as Miss Geist's meant-to-be in Clueless and the diminutive, lisp-voiced character actor from clunkers like Mom And Dad Save The World, Shawn is best-beloved for co-writing and starring in the influential dialogue piece My Dinner With Andre and stealing a solid five minutes (viewable above) from Cary Elwes and co. in The Princess Bride.
Most Likely Celebrity Status 20 Birthdays From Now: Seen as sort of a highbrow Mel Brooks, Shawn enters the mid-point of his eighth decade by presiding over the successful Broadway adaptation of My Dinner, starring Ryan Gosling and Scott Caan.
All Apologies To: Neil Young, Anne Hathaway, the guitarist of Blue Oyster Cult

Click here for the Awesome Celebrity Birthday archive.