Happy Birthday to Swedish musician Eagle Eye Cherry (1969), actress Traci Lords (1968), late WWE star Owen Hart (1965; d. 1999), film director Amy Heckerling (1954), singer/songwriter Janis Ian (1951),

I'm sitting with my family at the Thanksgiving table. At the focus is the bird carcass, a bulging centerpiece surrounded by newly stuffed bodies. The cranberry jello, still quivering in the shape of the can, is the only untouched side dish. There is a settling quiet as the full-stomached groans subside and give way to satisfied smiles, until finally somebody strikes up a conversation. Like the feeding frenzy that preceded it, it starts out slow and steadily grows more frantic.

Happy Birthday to Swedish musician Eagle Eye Cherry (1969), actress Traci Lords (1968), late WWE star Owen Hart (1965; d. 1999), film director Amy Heckerling (1954), singer/songwriter Janis Ian (1951), character actor Randall "Tex" Cobb (1950), Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann (1946), singer Thelma Houston (1946), singer Harvey Andrews (1943), soul singer Jimmy Ruffin (1939), Baltimore Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas (1933; d. 2002), actress Anne Baxter (1923; d. 1985), "A Christmas Story" actor Darren McGavin (1922; d. 2006), Argentine first lady Eva Peron (1919; d. 1952), "High Noon" star Jackie Cooper (1901; d. 1961), Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840; d. 1893), and German composer Johannes Brahms (1833; d. 1897).

2006 was a great year in the entertainment world; however, let us not forget those who entertained us for generations but have moved on. We look back on those entertainers and cultural icons who left us in 2006 to pay our respects... Jazz, R&B and pop singer Lou Rawls, lost a two year fight with brain and lung cancer (1/6). He was 72. Prolific film star of the 50s, 60s and 70s and star of such hits as Alfie and The Poseidon Adventure, Shelley Winters at age 85 (1/14). 60s soul star Wilson Pickett, who brought us such hits as Mustang Sally and In The Midnight Hour age 64; of a heart attack (1/19); and actor Anthony Franciosa, 77 (1/19). Country singer Janette Carter, of cuuntry music's founding family, the Carters, 82 (1/22); and actor Chris Penn, 40, brother of actor Sean Penn who starred in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1/24). And Coretta Scott King (76), civil rights activist and wife of Martin Luther King, Jr (1/30).

Happy Birthday to Swedish musician Eagle Eye Cherry (1969), actress Traci Lords (1968), late WWE star Owen Hart (1965; d. 1999), film director Amy Heckerling (1954), singer/songwriter Janis Ian (1951), character actor Randall "Tex" Cobb (1950), Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann (1946), singer Thelma Houston (1946), singer Harvey Andrews (1943), soul singer Jimmy Ruffin (1939), Baltimore Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas (1933; d. 2002), actress Anne Baxter (1923; d. 1985), "A Christmas Story" actor Darren McGavin (1922; d. 2006), Argentine first lady Eva Peron (1919; d. 1952), "High Noon" star Jackie Cooper (1901; d. 1961), Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840; d. 1893), and German composer Johannes Brahms (1833; d. 1897).

Actor Darren McGavin died of natural causes at a Los Angeles hospital on Saturday. He was 83. McGavin was famed for his roles in television shows Riverboat and Kolchak: The Night Stalker and won an Emmy award in 1990 for his appearance as Candice Bergen's father in an episode of Murphy Brown. He also played Ralphie's dad in the film A Christmas Story.