Today in Entertainment History: "Purple Rain" film premiered

On July 27, 1940, Bugs Bunny made his debut when Warner Brothers released the animated short “A Wild Hare.”

In 1961, The Tokens recorded the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” at a studio in New York.

In 1976, John Lennon was granted permanent U.S. residency following a lengthy battle with immigration officials.

Also in 1976, Bruce Springsteen filed a fraud and breach of trust lawsuit against his manager Mike Appel (ah-PEL’). Appel countersued.

Also in 1976, Tina Turner filed for divorce from Ike Turner.

In 1979, a firebomb was thrown through a window of an Indian art store in Scottsdale, Arizona, owned by Alice Cooper. Cooper said maybe a “disco-music freak” was to blame, because he had been making some “anti-disco remarks.”

In 1984, the movie “Purple Rain,” featuring Prince, opened in the U.S. and Canada.

In 1985, a concertgoer stabbed himself with a hunting knife during a Cure concert near Los Angeles. Fans did not know it was not part of the show. The man survived.

In 1987, “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley was released as a single.

In 1995, Selena’s “Dreaming Of You” album made its debut at number one on the Billboard album chart, four months after she was shot to death.

In 2001, Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist Leon Wilkeson was found dead in a hotel room outside Jacksonville, Florida. He was 49.

In 2003, comedian Bob Hope died of pneumonia in Toluca Lake, California. He was 100.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor John Pleshette (“Knots Landing”) is 82. Actor-director Betty Thomas (“Hill Street Blues”) is 77. Singer Maureen McGovern is 75. Actor Roxanne Hart (“The Good Girl,” ″Chicago Hope”) is 70. Guitarist Duncan Cameron (Sawyer Brown) is 68. Comedian Carol Leifer is 68. Comedian Bill Engvall (ENG’-vahl) is 67. Jazz singer Karrin (KAR’-in) Allyson is 62. Country singer Stacy Dean Campbell is 57. Singer Juliana Hatfield is 57. Actor Julian McMahon (“Fantastic Four” films, TV’s “Profiler”) is 56. Actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (NIH’-koh-lye KAH’-stur WAHL’-dah) (“Game of Thrones”) is 54. Comedian Maya Rudolph is 52. Drummer Abe Cunningham of Deftones is 51. Singer Pete Yorn is 50. Actor Seamus Dever (“Castle”) is 48. Actor Jonathan Rhys (REES) Meyers (“The Tudors”) is 47. Comedian Heidi Gardner (“Saturday Night Live”) is 41. Actor Taylor Schilling (“Orange is the New Black”) is 40. Singer Cheyenne Kimball of Gloriana is 34. Actor Alyvia Alyn Lind (“Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors”) is 17.