Awesome Celebrity Birthday Of The Day: David Johansen
Posted at 10:30 AM Jan 09, 2009
By Kenny HerzogWelcome to one of NCDSUV's favorite daily features, 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.
And while somebody peed all over yesterday's birthday candles in honor of R. Kelly, today we say "Damn boyfriend, you're almost 60?" to a glam-punk pioneer-cum-cabaret icon.
Today's Awesome Celebrity Birthday Belongs To:
David Johansen
Age: 59
Why She's Sort Of Awesome: Not only did Johansen swagger his way into the punk rock lexicon by fronting sleazy proto-glam alley-dwellers New York Dolls, but he managed to evade the heroin heartbreak of bandmate Johnny Thunders and reinvent himself as postmodern cabaret-lounge performeer Buster Poindexter, and segue that notoriety into memorable film roles, like his portrayal of the posthumous cabbie in the Bill Murray vehicle, Scrooged. Oh, and he even managed to grow his hair back out and hit the studio and tour circuit with a revamped Dolls in the mid-2000s, rivaling Iggy Pop's Stooges on the senior punk circuit.
Most Likely Celebrity Status 20 Birthdays From Now: The decade-marking interval between 59 and 79 would seem to fit Johansen most appropriately. But by the time he's almost hit that 80 mark, one has to imagine the only pace this wildman could handle would be the slowed-down cool-cat stylings of his once-again-resusciated Poindexter alter ego.
All Apologies To: Joan Baez, Jimmy Page, Dave Matthews, Howie Long, Sergio Garcia
Click here for the Awesome Celebrity Birthday archive.
