December 3 is the birthday of Swedish director and cinematographer SVEN NYKVIST (1922-2006). He worked on over 120 films, but is known especially for his work with director Ingmar Bergman. He won Academy Awards for his work on two Bergman films, Cries and Whispers (Viskningar och rop) in 1973 and Fanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander) in 1983, and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography for The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

His work is generally noted for its naturalism and simplicity. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest cinematographers of all time. In 2003, Nykvist was judged one of history's ten most influential cinematographers in a survey conducted by the International Cinematographers Guild.

December 3 is the birthday of film composer NINO ROTA (1911-1979). He is best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti. He also composed the music for two of Franco Zeffirelli's Shakespeare films, and for the first two films of Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather trilogy, receiving the Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Godfather Part II (1974).

December 3 is the birthday of Austrian composer ANTON WEBERN (1883-1945). Along with his mentor, Arnold Schoenberg, and colleague, Alban Berg, Webern formed the core of the New Viennese School of twelve-tone composers. On September 12, 1945, Webern was shot and killed by an American soldier of the Allied occupation of Austria.

"This incident occurred when, three-quarters of an hour before a curfew was to have gone into effect, he stepped outside the house so as not to disturb his sleeping grandchildren, in order to enjoy a few draws on a cigar given him that evening by his son-in-law. The soldier responsible for his death was U. S. Army cook PFC Raymond Norwood Bell of North Carolina, who was overcome by remorse and died of alcoholism in 1955.

Here’s Matthias Pintsher, music director of the Kansas City Symphony, leading the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Webern’s Five Pieces, Opus 10.

On December 3, 1927, the first Laurel and Hardy film, PUTTING PANTS ON PHILIP, was released.

On December 3, 1926, when she was almost at the height of her fame, mystery writer Agatha Christie disappeared. The press speculated that she had been kidnapped, murdered, committed suicide . . . She turned up on December 14 at a hotel in Yorkshire. To this day, what happened to Agatha Christie during those 11 days remains a mystery.