Suited & Connected Issue 42

NBA Hall of Famer “Pistol Pete” Maravich (June 22, 1947-January 5, 1988) was a spectacular showman who helped open up the game of basketball in the 1970s. After a legendary college career at Louisiana State University, he played 10 productive seasons in the NBA, earning five trips to the NBA All-Star Game and one league scoring title.

Pete Maravich, born June 22 (same day as Kris Kristofferson), was the 8 of Clubs/Ace of Diamonds. Maravich wasn’t the first player to dribble behind his back or make a deft between-the-legs pass. But his playground moves, circus shots, and hotdog passes were considered outrageous during his era and, perhaps because he cultivated a freewheeling image, some basketball purists felt he was more style than substance. But Maravich produced huge numbers, first as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA men’s basketball history and later as a potent force for both the Atlanta Hawks and the New Orleans Jazz. Maravich, ailing with injuries, would eventually finish his career playing for the Boston Celtics, brought to the team by Celtic general manager and president Red Auerbach. Shockingly, less than eight years after his last game with the Celtics, Pete Maravich died playing pickup basketball January 5, 1988 of an apparent heart attack at just age 40. He passed away doing what he had loved most, and his last words before falling to the court were reportedly, "I feel great." An autopsy showed Pistol Pete was born with an undiagnosed congenital heart defect that normally kills its victims by age 20. To think that Maravich had been one of the greatest players ever in the most athletic and physically-demanding sport in the world, despite basically having half heart blockage, shows what a huge heart Pete Maravich really possessed. A great competitive heart on top of incredible talent, drive, basketball intelligence, imagination and repetitive-practice-earned skills developed as a result of fanatical passion for the game of basketball.

Patrick Swayze, the 8 of Clubs/Ace of Hearts and Demi Moore, the 9 of Clubs/King of Hearts — are seen here embracing in a movie photo. The two are ‘suited and connected’ in their birth cards (8 of Clubs to the 9 of Clubs).

Whoopi Goldberg, as psychic Oda Mae Brown in Ghost (1990).

Consider the birthdays compatibility of Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg. Demi Moore is the 9 of Clubs/King of Hearts; Patrick Swayze is the 8 of Clubs/Ace of Hearts; and Whoopie Goldberg is the 7 of Clubs/Jack of Clubs. Swayze and Moore are suited and connected in their birth cards (9 of Clubs to the 8 of Clubs), and Swayze and Goldberg are suited and connected in their birth cards (8 of Clubs to 7 of Clubs). It is interesting to note that Kris Kristofferson (the 8 of Clubs/Ace of Diamonds) had identical birth card with Patrick Swayze, and the two had same number (Ace of Hearts/1) for their respective astrological ruling card.

Lauren Weisberger wrote the 2003 bestseller The Devil Wears Prada, borrowing from her experience as an assistant to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. After premiering at the LA Film Festival on June 22, 2006, The Devil Wears Prada movie was theatrically released in the United States on June 30. The film received positive reviews from critics, with Meryl Streep's performance receiving widespread critical acclaim, thus earning her numerous awards and nominations, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress — Motion Picture Comedy or Musical and nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.

Lauren Weisberger, author of the bestseller book The Devil Wears Prada.

Meryl Streep (left) is the 8 of Clubs/Ace of Diamonds (same as Kris Kristofferson); Anne Hathaway (right), born November 12, is the 8 of Clubs/10 of Heart), and Lauren Weisberger, born March 28, has identical birth and astrological ruling cards to Hathaway. With same birth card — the 8 of Clubs —Streep, Hathaway, Weisberger chemistry for the movie The Devil Wears Prada translated into a Box Office success — the film grossed over $326 million worldwide, against its $41 million budget, and was the 12th highest grossing film worldwide in 2006.

Meryl Streep, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2021, revealed she was devoted to getting Miranda Priestly's character just right. Streep confessed she never came out of character while working on the movie, but said it was the last time she tried method acting, after becoming too wrapped up in perfecting her role as the supposed villain.

In Julie Miller’s Vanity Fair March 25, 2024 feature on Anne Hathaway (pictured, above), Miller writes, “Hollywood used to tell her she wasn’t sexy. She knew better: Said Hathaway, “I was like, ‘I’m a Scorpio. I know what I’m like on a Saturday night.’”

Canadian singer-songwriter and musician Neil Young, born November 12, is the 8 of Clubs/10 of Hearts (same birthday as Anne Hathaway). Young became a household name in the 1960s, both as a solo artist and as part of bands such as Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The song "Heart of Gold", from Young’s fourth album Harvest, is Young's only U.S. No. 1 single. In Young’s native Canada, the song hit Number 1 on the RPM national singles chart twice in 1972. The influential songwriter has released almost 50 studio albums and is a two-time member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, as a solo artist and as a member of Buffalo Springfield. Hipgnosis Songs Funds purchased 50 percent of the rights to Neil Young’s entire back catalog in a deal that's said to be worth $150 million.

The relationship between Robert Redford and Paul Newman — two of the most legendary actors of all time — blossomed on-screen while working on an iconic movie together. “The Sting” wasn’t their first work gig. Paul Newman was signed on to star in 1968's "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," and the studio wanted another established name to co-star with him on the buddy film. Both Steve McQueen and Marlon Brando were names executives wanted on the project, but Newman fought to have Redford – who was a newcomer at the time — play his sidekick. The two brought the best out of each other, which led to a blossoming friendship. "As the film went on, we both pushed aside our movie personas and just became friends," Redford told Esquire. In 1973, Redford and Newman once again teamed up on the big screen for "The Sting" which was beloved by critics and audiences. "After 'Butch Cassidy' we became very close friends,” said Redford in an interview with the Toronto Star in 2015. “'The Sting’ just sort of fell into place naturally," Joint career success helped, but what truly cemented their friendship was the fact that Redford moved to Connecticut at the time, and lived only a mile away from Newman. This period made the actors incredibly close friends as they learned more about each other.

The Sting grossed $156 million (the equivalent of $1.1 billion in 2023), while Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid earned $102 million ($889 million today). Both films were stylishly directed by George Roy Hill and proved enormously popular with the Academy: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was nominated for seven Oscars and won four (including best original screenplay), but The Sting won seven of its 10 nominations, including best picture, original screenplay and director for Hill.

Paul Newman (left) and Robert Redford (right) in their first movie together, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid

Robert Redford (left) and Paul Newman (right) had great chemistry on and off the screen. Redford, born August 18, is the 8 of Clubs/Ace of Hearts; Newman, born January 26, is the Ace of Diamonds/7 of Clubs. Amongst their birth and astrological ruling cards, the two leading men had same number (Ace/1). Furthermore, the two friends were ‘suited and connected — Redford’s birth card (8 of Clubs) to Newman’s astrological ruling card, the 7 of Clubs. In the decades that followed Paul Newman and Robert Redford's two films together, it was clear that they forged a lifelong friendship through them. This bond went on to solidify the impact of the two films in each of their careers, serving as a sentimental backdrop amid their real life friendship off-screen.

While Paul Newman and Robert Redford’s birthday compatibility was strong, Newman didn’t align well with Steve McQueen nor Marlon Brando, the options the studios initially presented to Newman for his sidekick in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” Indeed, Newman’s Ace of Diamonds/7 of Clubs did not align with Steve McQueen (the Queen of Clubs/3 of Diamonds) and Marlon Brando (the 5 of Spades/9 of Spades).

Robert Redford

Paul Newman

Paul Newman (pictured here in red racer’s suit and sunglasses) loved racing cars, particularly Porsches. That fact fueled Redford when he would prank his long-time actor friend. Redford recalled buying Newman a trashed Porsche when Newman turned 50-years-old. Redford put a bow on the mangled car and left it outside Newman's house. "I had them wrap it up and leave it on his kitchen back step ... with a ribbon around it, that said 'Happy 50th.," said Redford.  Weeks later, Redford then came home to a surprise box in his home, which was filled with that same Porsche that had been compacted. Redford had to hire workers to move the metal-filled box, which he then had commissioned by a sculptor to create an art piece that was left in Newman's garden.