November 16

Today's birthday girl is Missy Pyle, who was starting to enter 'Oh Yeah, That Girl...' status [that actress you see on-screen that you immediately recognize as soon as somebody tells you another movie she was in that you LOVED...]
She's almost 6 feet tall, with those eyes that are two sizes away from those people in Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun video. Add to this her knack for fearless physical comedy, and you got a go-to girl whenever you need an interesting female in the supporting cast. She was the alien girl Lailari in "Galaxy Quest"; she went toe-to-toe with Queen Latifah in "Bringing Down the House"; she rocked the unibrow as Fran Stalinofskivitchdavitovichsky (sound it out) in "Dodgeball"... She even gave it a shot in direct-to-video paychecks like "Home Alone 4" and "Still Waiting." She's a pleasant addition to any film comedy, like finding out your TV dinner's got tater tots instead of crinkle cut fries. A couple of the right roles, and she might be another Carol Burnett...
Her real life's almost as funny: In 2008, she got married, and the grizzly bear that her husband-to-be had raised as a cub (part of his job with National Geographic, perhaps?) was a guest. In the same year, her high-profile role in a Broadway play presented her the chance to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange - on September 29th, a day the market dropped almost 800 points; she declined the opportunity.

I missed the Pacquaio-Cotto fight last night, so here's Pyle-Latifah: