April 1- Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and has served on the court since Jan. 31, 2006. Educated at Princeton University and Yale Law School, Alito served as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey and a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit before joining the Supreme Court. He is the 110th justice, the second Italian American and the 11th Roman Catholic to serve on the court. Alito is considered “one of the most conservative justices on the Court,” but with a libertarian streak. At Princeton, Alito led a student conference in 1971 which, among other things, supported curbs on domestic intelligence gathering, called for the decriminalization of sodomy and urged an end to discrimination against gays in hiring by employers. After graduating from Yale Law School in 1975, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal, Alito clerked for a Third Circuit appeals judge in Newark in 1976 and 1977. Between 1977 and 1981, while serving as an assistant U.S. attorney for New Jersey, he prosecuted many cases that involved drug trafficking and organized crime. From 1981- 1985, Alito argued 12 cases before the Supreme Court for the federal government during his tenure as assistant to the Solicitor General. From 1985 to 1987, Alito was deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel during the tenure of Edwin Meese. In 1990, Alito joined the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and he was adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law in Newark from 1999 to 2004. He has been a member of the Federalist Society, a group of conservatives and libertarian lawyers and legal students interested in conservative legal theory. In 2005, Alito was nominated by President George W. Bush to replace Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court. Although Alito’s voting record is conservative, he does not always join the most conservative Justices on the Court.
April 12- David Cassidy an actor, singer-songwriter and guitarist, is widely known for his role as Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical/sitcom The Partridge Family. One of pop culture’s celebrated teen idols, Cassidy enjoyed a successful pop career in the 1970s, and he still performs today. Growing up, both his father and stepmother, Shirley Jones, were singers and actors. Cassidy started on Broadway and then went to Los Angeles in 1969 and signed with Universal Studios, where he was featured in episodes of the TV series Ironside, Marcus Welby, M.D., Adam-12 and Bonanza. In 1970, he took the part of Keith Partridge, son of Shirley Partridge, who was played by Cassidy’s real stepmother and series’ lead, Shirley Jones. Hired for his androgynous good looks, Cassidy convinced the show’s music producer that he could sing and he was promoted to lead singer for the show’s recordings. Once “I Think I Love You” became a hit, Cassidy began work on solo albums as well. Within the first year, he had produced his own single, “Cherish” (from the album of the same title), which reached No. 9 in the United States. He began tours that featured Partridge tunes and his own hits. Though he strove to become a respected rock musician along the lines of Mick Jagger or Alice Cooper, his channel to stardom launched him into the ranks of teen idol, a brand he loathed until much later in life when he managed to come to terms with his bubblegum pop beginnings. Ten albums by The Partridge Family and five solo albums were produced during the show with most selling more than a million copies each. Internationally, Cassidy’s solo career eclipsed the already phenomenal success of The Partridge Family. He became an instant draw with spectacular sellout concert successes in major arenas around the world. These concerts produced mass hysteria resulting in the media coining the term “Cassidymania.” A turning point in his live concerts was a gate stampede which killed a teenage girl. Cassidy stated at the time that this would haunt him until the day he died. He decided to quit both touring and acting in The Partridge Family, concentrating instead on recording and song-writing. International success continued, mostly in Great Britain, Germany and Japan. In the years since then, Cassidy has maintained a regular tour schedule with concert appearances across the U.S. and the U.K. Cassidy has been arrested for DUIs three times. In 2008, he publicly admitted he had an alcohol problem.
April 22 – Peter Frampton is an English-American rock musician, singer, songwriter, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. His international breakthrough album was his live release, Frampton Comes Alive!, which sold more than six million copies in the United States and spawned several hits. Since then he has released several major albums. He has also worked with David Bowie and both Matt Cameron and Mike McCready from Pearl Jam, among others. Frampton is best known for such hits as “Breaking All The Rules,” “Show Me the Way,” “Baby, I Love Your Way,” “Do You Feel Like We Do” and “I’m in You,” which remain staples on classic-rock radio. He has also appeared as himself in television shows such as The Simpsons and Family Guy. Frampton is known for his work as a guitar player and particularly with a “talk box” that has become one of his trademark guitar effects. Frampton was born in Bromley, U.K., and attended Bromley Technical School, where he became friends with David Bowie. He was a successful child singer, and in 1966 he became a member of The Herd. In early 1969, when Frampton was 18 years old, he joined with Steve Marriott of The Small Faces to form Humble Pie. After four studio albums and one live album with Humble Pie, Frampton left the band and went solo in 1971, just in time to see Rockin’ The Fillmore rise up the U.S. charts. His own debut was 1972’s Wind of Change, with guest artists Ringo Starr and Billy Preston, followed by three other albums, including in 1975, the Frampton album, which went to No. 32 in the U.S. charts and is certified Gold by the RIAA. His breakthrough best-selling live album, Frampton Comes Alive!, in 1976, produced the hit singles “Baby, I Love Your Way,” “Show Me the Way” and an edited version of “Do You Feel Like We Do.” With sales of six million copies, it was the biggest selling live album at the time; it is now the fourth biggest. Frampton Comes Alive! has been certified as six times platinum. The success of the album put him on the cover of Rolling Stone in a famous shirtless photo. Frampton later said he regrets the photo because it changed his image as a credible artist into a teen idol. In 1978, Frampton suffered a near-fatal car accident in the Bahamas that marked the end of his prolific period. He continues to record and tour, including throughout North America and Europe, in 2013. His most recent album was Hummingbird in a Box in June 2014. Although he has lived both in London and various places in the U.S., he currently resides in Nashville.
April 28 – Jay Leno, a comedian, actor, writer, producer, voice actor and television host, is best known as host of NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which was canceled in January 2010 amid controversy. Leno returned to host The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 1, 2010. He made his first appearance on The Tonight Show on March 2, 1977, performing a comedy routine. During the 1970s, Leno appeared in minor roles in several television series and films, including an uncredited appearance in the 1977 film Fun with Dick and Jane. After that, he played more prominent parts, including One Day at a Time, Americathon (1979) and Polyester (1981). Starting in 1987, Leno was a regular substitute host for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. In 1992, he replaced Carson as host.Leno’s final show as the host of The Tonight Show was on Feb. 6, 2014, with guest Billy Crystal and musical guest Garth Brooks, along with a few surprise guests, including Jack Black, Kim Kardashian, Jim Parsons, Sheryl Crow, Chris Paul, Carol Burnett and Oprah Winfrey. That same year, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Leno was replaced on The Tonight Show by Jimmy Fallon. Known for his prominent jaw, Leno also has a reputation for clean living. He does not drink, smoke or gamble. When he was host of The Tonight Show, he said that he didn’t spend a penny of his earnings from the show but lived off his money from his stand-up routines. In 2005, Leno reportedly earned $32 million. Apparently, he spends much of his money on the 286 vehicles (169 automobiles and 117 motorcycles) he owns. Among his collection are two Doble steam cars, a sedan and a roadster that were owned by Howard Hughes, and one of nine remaining 1963 Chrysler Turbine Cars.