January 31 is the birthday of Austrian composer FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828).

"When I wished to sing of love, it turned to sorrow. And when I wished to sing of sorrow, it was transformed for me into love."

Schubert "was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a vast oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works (mainly Lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music, and a large body of piano and chamber music. His major works include the art songs 'Erlkönig,', 'Gretchen am Spinnrade,' and 'Ave Maria,' the Trout Quintet; the Symphony No. 8 in B minor (Unfinished); the Symphony No. 9 in C major (Great); the String Quartet No. 14 in D minor (Death and the Maiden); the String Quintet in C major; the Impromptus for solo piano; the last three piano sonatas; the Fantasia in F minor for piano four hands; the opera Fierrabras; the incidental music to the play Rosamunde; and the song cycles Die schöne Müllerin, Winterreise and Schwanengesang." (Wikipedia)

January 31 is the birthday of American actress TALLULAH BANKHEAD (1902-1968).

"I'm as pure as the driven slush."

"I'll come and make love to you at five o'clock. If I'm late, start without me."

Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944). She also had a brief but successful career on radio and made appearances on television. In all, Bankhead amassed nearly 300 film, stage, television and radio roles during her career. She was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1972 and the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1981." (Wikipedia)

She was also the Black Widow, a villainess on the Batman TV series.

January 31 is the birthday of American tenor and actor MARIO LANZA (1921-1959).

“I sing from the heart... I sing the words of a song and really feel them, from the top of my head to the tip of my toes... I sing as though my life depends on it, and if I ever stop doing that then I'll stop living”

Lanza "was known to be 'rebellious, tough, and ambitious.'] During most of his film career, he suffered from addictions to overeating and alcohol which had a serious effect on his health and his relationships with directors, producers and, occasionally, other cast members. Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper writes that 'his smile, which was as big as his voice, was matched with the habits of a tiger cub, impossible to housebreak.' She adds that he was the 'last of the great romantic performers.' He made three more films before dying of an apparent pulmonary embolism at the age of 38. At the time of his death in 1959, he was still 'the most famous tenor in the world.' Author Eleonora Kimmel concludes that Lanza 'blazed like a meteor whose light lasts a brief moment in time.'" (Wikipedia)

January 31 is the birthday of American author NORMAN MAILER (1923-2007).

“Every day of one’s existence is growing into more or retreating into less.”

Mailer "was an American novelist, journalist, playwright, and filmmaker. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer had 11 best-selling books, at least one in each of the seven decades after World War II.

His novel The Naked and the Dead was published in 1948 and brought him early renown. His 1968 nonfiction novel The Armies of the Night won the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction as well as the National Book Award. Among his other well-known works are An American Dream (1965), The Fight (1975) and The Executioner's Song (1979), which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction." (Wikipedia)