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Primary reference source: Wikipedia.org Latest revision: June 19, 2014, 3:00AM; retroactive from September 11, 2012, to perpetuity. |
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She was born the daughter of "Carver Ashwell Price" and "Erica Iyanna Price" on Friday, June 10, 1994. Her name, "Andante Ayanna-Mari Price." Andante also has two brothers and one sister. She is the oldest of the four. With ceremonies held at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, LA., Andante graduated from Baton Rouge Magnet High School on May 16, 2012. Staying ever focused, Andante maintained her studies continuing on to Louisiana State University. She first started out in the "Nursing" field. On June 3, 2016, at 2:39 PM CDT Andante sent a text to her grandpa which read, ["Hey Grandpa I was wondering if I emailed you my appeal for school could you proofread it for me?"] No doubt since there were dangerous, hostile and negative forces lurking in the backdrop, lying in wait at every turn of the way, she too did not have much success in her initial studies, per se. Yet, Andante remained undaunted. She then moved on into another field. Finally, in her own words and with much pride and confidence, Andante makes the following statement. ["On May 11, 2019, I will be graduating from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor's in Nutrition and Food Science with a concentration in Dietetics! I used to feel that I was unworthy and that I wouldn’t experience this moment. As adversity comes so does strength and wisdom. Learning from all of my setbacks and allowing it to be an opportunity of growth was important! My journey was challenging and that negative thought of "giving up" came but I had truly pray for God to humble me and trust wholeheartedly in him, "and do not rely on your own understanding, in all ways take notice of him, and he will make your paths straight."] I am Mr. Sammy Johnson, Andante's maternal grandfather. I am also the person that composed Andante's unique profile on this Webpage. Along with Andante, the remainder of my grandchildren are shown below only by their first name and date of birth. On or about April 15, 2020, it was announced that the 2019-20 academic school year must come to an official end here in the state due to the world situation dubbed the "COVID-19 Pandemic." This is a worldwide pandemic allegedly infecting some "184" countries. To the best of my knowledge and belief, all but the youngest two(2) of my nine(9) grandchildren are now high school graduates as of the 2019-2020, official classroom closings.
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 187486261”
"William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918–February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist, a significant evangelical Christian figure, and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. One of his biographers has placed him "among the most influential Christian leaders" of the 20th century. A preacher who held large indoor and outdoor rallies with sermons broadcast on radio and television, some were still being rebroadcast into the 21st century. In his six decades of television, Graham hosted annual Billy Graham Crusades, which ran from 1947 until his retirement in 2005. He also hosted the radio show Hour of Decision from 1950 to 1954. He repudiated racial segregation. In addition to his religious aims, he helped shape the worldview of a huge number of people who came from different backgrounds, leading them to find a relationship between the Bible and contemporary secular viewpoints. According to his website, Graham preached to live audiences of 210 million people in more than 185 countries and territories through various meetings, including BMS World Mission and Global Mission. Graham was a spiritual adviser to American presidents and provided spiritual counsel for every president from Harry Truman to Barack Obama. He was particularly close to Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson (one of Graham's closest friends) and Richard Nixon. He insisted on racial integration for his revivals and crusades, starting in 1953, and invited Martin Luther King Jr. to preach jointly at a revival in New York City in 1957. Graham once bailed King out of jail in the 1960s when he was arrested during demonstrations. He was also lifelong friends with another televangelist, the founding pastor of the Crystal Cathedral, Robert H. Schuller, whom Graham talked into starting his own television ministry. Graham operated a variety of media and publishing outlets. According to his staff, more than 3.2 million people have responded to the invitation at Billy Graham Crusades to "accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior." Graham's evangelism was appreciated by mainline Christian denominations as he encouraged new converts to become members of these Churches. As of 2008, Graham's estimated lifetime audience, including radio and television broadcasts, topped 2.2 billion. One special televised broadcast in 1996 alone may have reached a television audience of as many as 2.5 billion people worldwide. Because of his crusades, Graham preached the gospel to more people in person than anyone in the history of Christianity. Graham was repeatedly on Gallup's list of most admired men and women. He appeared on the list 60 times since 1955, more than any other individual in the world. William Franklin Graham Jr. was born on November 7, 1918, in the downstairs bedroom of a farmhouse near Charlotte, North Carolina. He was of Scots-Irish descent and was the eldest of four children born to Morrow Coffey and William Franklin Graham Sr., a dairy farmer. Graham was raised on a family dairy farm with his two younger sisters, Catherine Morrow and Jean and a younger brother, Melvin Thomas. When he was eight years old in 1927, the family moved about 75 yards from their white frame house to a newly built red brick home. He was raised by his parents in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. Graham attended the Sharon Grammar School. He started to read books from an early age and loved to read novels for boys, especially Tarzan. Like Tarzan, he would hang on the trees and gave the popular Tarzan yell, scaring both horses and drivers. According to his father, that yelling had led him to become a minister. When he was fourteen in 1933, Prohibition ended in December, and Graham's father forced him and his sister, Katherine, to drink beer until they got sick. This created such an aversion that Graham and his sister avoided alcohol and drugs for the rest of their lives. Graham's early crusades were segregated, but he began adjusting his approach in the 50s. During a 1953 rally in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Graham tore down the ropes that organizers had erected in order to segregate the audience into racial sections. In his memoirs, he recounted that he told two ushers to leave the barriers down "or you can go on and have the revival without me." He warned a white audience, "we have been proud and thought we were better than any other race, any other people. Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to stumble into hell because of our pride." In 1957, Graham's stance towards integration became more publicly shown when he allowed black ministers Thomas Kilgore and Gardner Taylor to serve as members of his New York Crusade's executive committee and invited the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., whom he first met during the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955, to join him in the pulpit at his 16-week revival in New York City, where 2.3 million gathered at Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium, and Times Square to hear them. Graham recalled in his autobiography that during this time, he and King developed a close friendship and that he was eventually one of the few people who referred to King as "Mike," a nickname which King asked only his closest friends to call him. Following King's assassination in 1968, Graham mourned that the US had lost "a social leader and a prophet." In private, Graham advised King and other members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Graham was a registered member of the Democratic Party. In 1960 he was opposed to the candidacy of John F. Kennedy, fearing that because Kennedy was a Catholic, he would be bound to follow the Pope. Graham worked "behind the scenes" to encourage influential Protestant ministers to speak out against him. Graham regarded homosexuality as a sin, and in 1974 described it as "a sinister form of perversion." In 1993 he said that he thought AIDS might be a "judgment" from God, but two weeks later he retracted the remark, saying, "I don't believe that, and I don't know why I said it." Graham opposed same-sex marriage, and in 2012, he took out full-page ads in favor of North Carolina Amendment 1, which banned it in North Carolina."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Friday, March 2, 2018, 11:59PM CDT  “Find a Grave Memorial ID 12299”
"Mother Teresa (26 August 1910–5 September 1997) known in the Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta. She was born in Skopje then part of the Kosovo Vilayet in the Ottoman Empire, into a Kosovar Albanian family. After having lived in Macedonia for some eighteen years, she moved to Ireland and then to India, where she lived for most of her life. Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation, which in 2012 consisted of over 4,500 sisters and was active in 133 countries. They run hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis; soup kitchens; dispensaries and mobile clinics; children's and family counseling programmes; orphanages; and schools. Members must adhere to the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, as well as a fourth vow, to give "wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor." Mother Teresa was the recipient of numerous honors, including the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. In 2003, she was beatified as "Blessed Teresa of Calcutta." A second miracle was credited to her intercession by Pope Francis, in December 2015, paving the way for her to be recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. A controversial figure both during her life and after her death, Mother Teresa was widely admired by many for her charitable works, but was also widely criticized, particularly for her opposing contraception and for substandard conditions in the hospices for which she was responsible. Born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu; gonxhe meaning "rosebud" or "little flower" in Albanian on 26 August 1910, she considered 27 August, the day she was baptized, to be her "true birthday." Her birthplace of Skopje, now capital of the Republic of Macedonia, was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1918, when it became a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. She was the youngest of the children of Nikollë and Dranafile Bojaxhiu (Bernai). Her father, who was involved in Albanian politics, died in 1919 when she was eight years old. Her father may have been from Prizren, Kosovo, while her mother may have been from a village near Gjakova. On 17 December 2015, the Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis recognized a second miracle attributed to her involving the healing of a Brazilian man with multiple brain tumors. Pope Francis canonised her at a ceremony on 4 September 2016 in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. Tens of thousands of people gathered for the ceremony, including 15 official government delegations and 1,500 homeless people from across Italy. The ceremony was televised live on the Vatican channel and streamed online; Skopje, Mother Teresa's hometown, announced a week-long celebration of her canonisation. In India, a special Mass was celebrated at the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta."
"Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956) better known by his stage name Kenny G, is an American adult contemporary and smooth jazz saxophonist. His fourth album, Duotones, brought him breakthrough success in 1986. Kenny G is the biggest-selling instrumental musician of the modern era, with global sales totaling more than 75 million albums. Kenny G was born in Seattle, Washington to Jewish parents and grew up in the city's Seward Park neighborhood, which is a center of the city's Jewish community. He came into contact with a saxophone when he heard someone performing with one on The Ed Sullivan Show. He started playing the saxophone in 1966 when he was 10 years old."
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 95929698"
"Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930–August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also an aerospace engineer, naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. Before becoming an astronaut, Armstrong was an officer in the U. S. Navy and served in the Korean War. After the war, he earned his bachelor's degree at Purdue University and served as a test pilot at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics High-Speed Flight Station, now known as the Dryden Flight Research Center, where he logged over 900 flights. He later completed graduate studies at the University of Southern California. Armstrong's second and last spaceflight was as mission commander of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, in July 1969. On this mission, Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descended to the lunar surface and spent two and a half hours exploring, while Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit in the Command Module. Along with Collins and Aldrin, Armstrong was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard Nixon; President Jimmy Carter presented Armstrong the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978; he and his former crewmates received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009. Armstrong died in Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 25, 2012, at the age of 82, after complications from coronary artery bypass surgery. Neil Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, to Stephen Koenig Armstrong and Viola Louise Engel in Auglaize County, near Wapakoneta, Ohio. He was of Scottish, Scots-Irish, Northern Irish, and German ancestry and had two younger siblings, June and Dean. Stephen Armstrong worked as an auditor for the Ohio state government; the family moved around the state repeatedly after Armstrong's birth, living in 20 towns. Neil's love for flying grew during this time, having gotten off to an early start when his father took his two-year-old son to the Cleveland Air Races. When he was five, he experienced his first airplane flight in Warren, Ohio on July 20, 1936 when he and his father took a ride in a Ford Trimotor, also known as the "Tin Goose." Unlike former astronauts who actively sought political careers after leaving NASA Armstrong was approached by political groups from both parties, but declined all offers. He described his political leanings as favoring states' rights and opposing the United States acting as the "world's policeman." In the late 1950s, Armstrong applied at a local Methodist church to lead a Boy Scout troop. When asked for his religious affiliation, he labeled himself as a deist. His mother later said that Armstrong's religious views caused her grief and distress in later life as she was more religious. His official biography also describes him as a deist. Throughout the United States, there are more than a dozen elementary, middle and high schools named in his honor and many places around the world have streets, buildings, schools, and other places named for Armstrong and/or Apollo. In 1969, folk songwriter and singer John Stewart recorded "Armstrong," a tribute to Armstrong and his first steps on the Moon. Purdue University announced in October 2004 that its new engineering building would be named Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering in his honor; the building cost $53.2 million and was dedicated on October 27, 2007, during a ceremony at which Armstrong was joined by fourteen other Purdue Astronauts. In 1971, Armstrong was awarded the Sylvanus Thayer Award by the United States Military Academy at West Point for his service to the country. The Armstrong Air and Space Museum, in Armstong's hometown of Wapakoneta, Ohio, and the airport in New Knoxville, where he took his first flying lessons when he was fifteen, were named after him. On September 14, [2012] Armstrong's cremated remains were scattered in the Atlantic Ocean during a burial-at-sea ceremony aboard the USS Philippine Sea. Flags were flown at half-staff on the day of Armstrong's funeral."
"Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, film director, and narrator. Morgan Freeman was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on June 1, 1937. He is the son of Mayme Edna, a teacher, and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, a barber who died April 27, 1961, from cirrhosis. He has three older siblings. According to a DNA analysis, some of his ancestors were from Niger. Freeman was sent as an infant to his paternal grandmother in Charleston, Mississippi. He moved frequently during his childhood, living in Greenwood, Mississippi; Gary, Indiana; and finally Chicago, Illinois. Freeman made his acting debut at age nine, playing the lead role in a school play. He then attended Broad Street High School, a building which serves today as Threadgill Elementary School, in Greenwood, Mississippi. In 1955, he graduated from Broad Street, but turned down a partial drama scholarship from Jackson State University, opting instead to enlist in the United States Air Force. Freeman served in the U. S. Air Force as an Automatic Tracking Radar Repairman and rose to the rank of Airman 1st Class. After four years in the military, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he took acting lessons at the Pasadena Playhouse and dancing lessons in San Francisco in the early 1960s and worked as a transcript clerk at Los Angeles City College. Freeman made his off-Broadway debut in 1967, opposite Viveca Lindfors in The Nigger Lovers before debuting on Broadway in 1968's all-black version of Hello, Dolly! which also starred Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway. Freeman was married to Jeanette Adair Bradshaw from October 22, 1967, until 1979. He married Myrna Colley-Lee on June 16, 1984. The couple separated in December 2007. Freeman and Colley-Lee had adopted Freeman's step-granddaughter from his first marriage and together helped to raise her. Freeman's attorney and business partner Bill Luckett announced in August 2008 that Freeman and his wife were in divorce proceedings. On September 15, 2010, their divorce was finalized in Mississippi. In 2008, the TV series African American Lives 2 revealed that some of Freeman's great-great-grandparents were slaves who migrated from North Carolina to Mississippi. Freeman also discovered that his Caucasian maternal great-great-grandfather had lived with, and was buried beside, Freeman's African-American great-great-grandmother, the two could not legally marry at the time, in the segregated South. A DNA test on the series stated that he is descended from the Songhai and Tuareg peoples of Niger. Freeman lives in Charleston, Mississippi, and New York City. He owns and operates Ground Zero, a blues club, located in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Freeman has publicly criticized the celebration of Black History Month and does not participate in any related events, saying, "I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history." He says the only way to end racism is to stop talking about it, and he notes that there is no "white history month." Freeman once said on an interview with 60 Minutes [with] Mike Wallace, "I am going to stop calling you a white man and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man. When a CNN interviewer suggested Freeman had previously said he was a "man of God," he replied "When did I ever say I was a man of God?" "You're not?" "No ...no no no no no!" He instead explained how he considers his faith in science, "We take a lot of what we're talking about in science on faith; we posit a theory, and until it's disproved we have faith that it's true. If the mathematics work out, then it's true, until it's proven to be untrue."
 Find a Grave Memorial ID unavailable
"Franz Ferdinand (18 December 1863–28 June 1914) was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1896 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia. This caused the Central Powers including Germany and Austria-Hungary and Serbia's allies to declare war on each other, starting World War I. He was born in Graz, Austria, the eldest son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria and of his second wife, Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. In 1875, when he was only eleven years old, his cousin Duke Francis V of Modena died, naming Franz Ferdinand his heir on condition that he add the name Este to his own. Franz Ferdinand thus became one of the wealthiest men in Austria. In 1889, Franz Ferdinand's life changed dramatically. His cousin Crown Prince Rudolf committed suicide at his hunting lodge in Mayerling. This left Franz Ferdinand's father, Karl Ludwig, as first in line to the throne. Karl Ludwig died of typhoid fever in 1896. Henceforth, Franz Ferdinand was groomed to succeed to the throne. In 1889, Franz Ferdinand's life changed dramatically. His cousin Crown Prince Rudolf committed suicide at his hunting lodge in Mayerling. This left Franz Ferdinand's father, Karl Ludwig, as first in line to the throne. Karl Ludwig died of typhoid fever in 1896. Henceforth, Franz Ferdinand was groomed to succeed to the throne. After a short rest at the Governor's residence, the royal couple insisted on seeing all those who had been injured by the bomb at the local hospital. However, no one told the drivers that the itinerary had been changed. When the error was discovered, the drivers had to turn around. As the cars backed down the street and onto a side street, the line of cars stalled. At this same time, Princip was sitting at a cafe across the street. He instantly seized his opportunity and walked across the street and shot the royal couple. He first shot Sophie in the abdomen and then shot Franz Ferdinand in the neck. Franz leaned over his wife crying. He was still alive when witnesses arrived to render aid. His dying words to Sophie were, 'Don't die darling, live for our children.' Princip's weapon was the pocket-sized FN Model 1910 pistol chambered for the .380 ACP cartridge provided him by Serbian Army Colonel and Black Hand member Dragutin Dimitrijevic. The archduke's aides attempted to undo his coat but realized they needed scissors to cut it open. It was too late; he died within minutes. Sophie also died en route to the hospital. The assassinations, along with the arms race, nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and the alliance system all contributed to the origins of World War I, which began a month after Franz Ferdinand's death, with Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia. The assassination of Ferdinand is considered the most immediate cause of World War I. Franz Ferdinand is interred with his wife Sophie in Artstetten Castle, Austria."
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 24390886"
"Herbert Morse (10 June 1918–2 February 2008) was an English Canadian actor of stage, screen and radio best known for his roles in the ABC television series The Fugitive and the British sci-fi drama Space: 1999. His performing career spanned seven decades and he had thousands of roles to his credit, including work for the BBC and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Born to a Cockney family, Morse was a 15 year old school dropout and errand boy when he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. After a short courtship, Morse married actress Sydney Sturgess on 26 March 1939, during their work together in repertory theatre in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. The couple had two children, Melanie Morse and Hayward Morse. In 1951, the Morse family moved to Canada, where he worked in radio and theatre, and participated in the first television broadcasts of CBC Television from Montreal, and later Toronto. Morse became a Canadian citizen in 1953. Barry Morse died 2 February 2008 at University College London Hospital, aged 89, from undisclosed causes. His body was donated to medical science."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 129063100”
"Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., (November 30, 1918–May 2, 2014) was a Golden Globe-winning American actor known for his starring roles in the television series 77 Sunset Strip and The F. B. I. He is also known as recurring character "Dandy Jim Buckley" in the series Maverick and as the voice behind the character Alfred Pennyworth in Batman: The Animated Series and associated spin-offs. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. was born in New York, New York, the son of Jewish parents, Russian-born violinist Efrem Zimbalist, Sr. and Romanian-born operatic soprano Alma Gluck. His stepmother was Mary Louise Curtis Bok Zimbalist, the founder of the Curtis Institute of Music. He attended Fay School in Southborough, Massachusetts. Zimbalist attended Yale University in the late 1930s, worked as a page for NBC radio in New York, and served in the United States Army for five years during World War II, where he became friends with Garson Kanin. He was awarded the Purple Heart for a leg wound received during the battle of Hürtgen Forest. In 1956, Zimbalist was put under contract by Warner Bros. and moved to Hollywood. Zimbalist's first recurring role in a Warner Bros. Television series was as roguish gambler "Dandy Jim Buckley" on Maverick opposite James Garner in 1957; making five appearances as the character. In 1958 Zimbalist played the co-lead, Stuart "Stu" Bailey, in 77 Sunset Strip, a popular detective series running until 1964. Zimbalist was arguably most widely known for his starring role as Inspector Lewis Erskine in the Quinn Martin television production, The F. B. I., which premiered on September 19, 1965 and ended with its final episode on September 8, 1974. Zimbalist was generous in his praise of producer Martin and of his own experience starring in the show. Those who worked with Zimbalist on the show were equally admiring of the star's professionalism and likable personality. Zimbalist maintained a strong personal relationship with J. Edgar Hoover, who requested technical accuracy for the show, and that agents be portrayed in the best possible light. Actors who played F. B. I. employees were required by Hoover to undergo a background check. Zimbalist passed his background check with ease. He subsequently spent a week in Washington, D. C., where he was interviewed by Hoover, and at the F. B. I. academy in Quantico, Virginia. Hoover and Zimbalist remained mutual admirers for the rest of Hoover's life. Hoover would later hold Zimbalist up as an image role model for F. B. I. employees to emulate in their personal appearance. Efrem Zimbalist married his first wife, Emily Munroe McNair, in 1945 and she died of cancer five years later, in 1950. Zimbalist's second marriage was to Loranda Stephanie Spaulding, in 1956. She died of lung cancer on February 5, 2007, at the age of 73. Zimbalist was the father of Efrem Zimbalist III and Nancy Zimbalist by Emily McNair and actress Stephanie Zimbalist by Stephanie Spaulding. Zimbalist considered himself to be a man of abiding faith and was involved in a number of Christian media productions. His parents, Alma Gluck and Efrem Zimbalist, Sr., were assimilated non-practicing Jews who rejected their Jewish heritage. Zimbalist died on May 2, 2014 from natural causes at the age of 95. His daughter Stephanie announced the news, saying, "He was 95 years old, a devout Christian. He actively enjoyed his life to the last day, showering love on his extended family, playing golf and visiting with close friends." His interment was at Town Hill Cemetery in New Hartford, Connecticut, near his parents."
"Patrice Fisher (born January 5, 1978) in Del Rio, Texas, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Sex Chronicles, Austin Powers in Goldmember and How High. Originally from Del Rio, Texas, Patrice Fisher was raised in a military family. At a young age she decided she wanted to be an entertainer. She moved to Los Angeles to model but soon discovered her love of acting, and picked up her first role as one of the prostitutes in the movie How High, featuring rappers Method Man and Redman. Fisher appears on the Cinemax TV series Zane's Sex Chronicles as the lead character Patience James. She has also guest starred on the TV series Boston Public; Yes, Dear; CSI and a recurring role in the TV series Charmed as the character Avatar Beta. She appears in the music video for Avant's single "4 Minutes."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 32398636”
"Eartha Mae Kitt (January 17, 1927–December 25, 2008) was an American actress, singer, cabaret star, dancer, stand-up comedian, activist and voice artist, known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby" which were both US Top 10 hits. She starred in 1967 as Catwoman, in the third and final season of the television series Batman. Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the world." Kitt was born Eartha Mae Keith on a cotton plantation near the small town of North, in Orangeburg County South Carolina on January 17, 1927. Kitt's mother was of Cherokee and African descent. Though it remains unconfirmed, it has been widely reported that her father was of German descent and that Kitt was conceived by rape. Kitt was raised by Anna Mae Riley, a black woman whom she believed to be her mother. When she was eight, Anna Mae went to live with a black man, but he refused to accept Kitt because of her relatively pale complexion, so the girl lived with another family until Riley's death. She was then sent to live in New York City with Mamie Kitt. She had no knowledge of her father, except that his surname was Kitt and that he was supposedly a son of the owner of the farm where she had been born. Newspaper obituaries state that her white father was "a poor cotton farmer." In an August 2013 biography, British journalist John Williams claimed that Kitt's father was a white man, a local doctor named Daniel Sturkie. However, Kitt's daughter Kitt Shapiro has questioned the accuracy of the claim. Kitt began her career as a member of the Katherine Dunham Company in 1943 and remained a member of the troupe until 1948. Kitt's unique style was enhanced as she became fluent in French during her years performing in Europe. She spoke four languages and sang in seven, which she effortlessly demonstrated in many of the live recordings of her cabaret performances. In 1968, during Lyndon B. Johnson's administration, Kitt encountered a substantial professional setback after she made anti-war statements during a White House luncheon. Kitt was invited to the White House luncheon and was asked by Lady Bird Johnson about the Vietnam War. She replied: "You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. No wonder the kids rebel and take pot." After romances with the cosmetics magnate Charles Revson and banking heir John Barry Ryan III, she married John William McDonald, an associate of a real estate investment company, on June 6, 1960. They had one child, a daughter named Kitt McDonald, born on November 26, 1961. They divorced in 1965. A long-time Connecticut resident, Eartha Kitt lived in a converted barn on a sprawling farm in the Merryall section of New Milford for many years and was active in local charities and causes throughout Litchfield County. She later moved to Pound Ridge, New York, but returned in 2002 to the southern Fairfield County Connecticut town of Weston, in order to be near her daughter Kitt and family. Her daughter, Kitt McDonald, had married Charles Lawrence Shapiro in 1987 and has two children: Jason Shapiro and Rachel Shapiro. Like many politically active public figures of her time, Kitt was under surveillance by the CIA, beginning in 1956. After the New York Times discovered the CIA file on Kitt in 1975, she granted the paper permission to print portions of the report, stating: "I have nothing to be afraid of and I have nothing to hide." Kitt died from colon cancer on Christmas Day 2008, at her home in Weston, Connecticut."
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 166439712"
"Noel Darleen Neill (November 25, 1920–July 3, 2016) was an American actress. She is known for playing Lois Lane in the film serials Superman and Atom Man vs. Superman as well as the 1950s television series Adventures of Superman. She appeared in 80 films and television series in her career spanning 66 years. Following high school graduation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Neill took up professional acting and modeling in the early 1940s before landing the role of Lois Lane. She later appeared in various productions of the Superman franchise. Frequently cast as the parent or another relative of the main character: Neill appeared in the 1978 Superman feature film, the 1980s TV series Superboy and the 2006 film Superman Returns. Noel Darleen Neill was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the daughter of journalist David Holland Neill and stage dancer Lavere Gorsboth. When she was 4 years old, her parents enrolled her at "a school for aspiring performers." During her teen years, Neill "danced, sang and even played the banjo at county fairs throughout the midwest." When she graduated from high school in 1938, her first job was writing articles for Women's Wear Daily. In her teens, Neill was a popular photographic model. While Betty Grable's pin-up was number one among GIs during World War II, Neill's was ranked number two. After she signed a contract with Paramount Pictures, it led to appearances in many of the studio's feature films and short subjects. In the mid-1940s, Noel had a leading role in one of Monogram Pictures' wayward-youth melodramas, and she became a familiar face in Monogram features for the next several years, especially in the recurring role of Betty Rogers. She appeared in the last of the original Charlie Chan movies, Sky Dragon, and also played damsels in distress in Monogram Westerns and Republic Pictures serials. Neill sang with Bob Crosby and his orchestra. She also sang at the Del Mar Turf Club, which was owned by Bing Crosby. In 1945, producer Sam Katzman gave Neill the recurring role of Betty Rogers, an aggressive reporter for a high-school newspaper, in his series of "Teen Agers" musical comedies, beginning with Junior Prom in 1946. When Katzman was casting his Superman serial for Columbia Pictures, he remembered Noel Neill's news-hawk portrayals and signed her to playLois Lane. She played the role in the film serials Superman and Atom Man vs. Superman, with Kirk Alyn portraying Superman/Clark Kent. When Adventures of Superman came to television in 1951, veteran movie actors George Reeves and Phyllis Coates took the leading roles for the first season. By the time the series found a sponsor and a network time slot, Coates had committed herself to another production, so the producers called on Noel Neill, who had played Lois Lane in the movies. She continued in the role for five seasons until the series went off the air in 1958. She was scheduled to appear in the seventh season with co-star Jack Larson in 1960, but after Reeves's tragic and sudden death, the seventh season was canceled, officially ending the show. While Phyllis Coates generally distanced herself from the role, Neill embraced her association with Lois Lane, giving frequent talks on college campuses during the 1970s, when interest in the series was revived, endearing herself to audiences with her warmth and humor. Neill and Superman actor Jack Larson donated their time to record commentaries for the DVD releases of the Superman TV episodes. On the documentary Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, Neill remarked that a frequent question she would get from children was, "Why don't you know that Clark Kent was Superman, just wearing a pair of those darn eyeglasses?" She replied to the children and later to college audiences, "I don't want to lose my job!" On June 15, 2010, the southern Illinois city of Metropolis, the city that calls itself the "official home of Superman," unveiled a statue of Lois Lane. The Lois Lane statue is modeled on Noel Neill. Neill stated that she was honored to be memorialized with the statue. In 2003, writer Larry Ward wrote an authorized biography of Neill, Truth, Justice, & The American Way: The Life And Times Of Noel Neill, The Original Lois Lane. A limited-edition, expanded version of the book was released in 2006. In 2007, Ward wrote another book on Neill, Beyond Lois Lane, which focused on the actresses' other acting and modeling work. In 2004, Neill received a Golden Boot Award for her work in Western films. In 1943, Neill married makeup artist Harold Lierley in Hollywood, California. The marriage was annulled shortly afterward. Neill then married William Behrens in 1953 in Santa Monica, California; the marriage ended in divorce in 1962. While still married to Behrens, the Superman television program was canceled. It was then that her acting career diminished and Neill became a homemaker, later working in the television department at United Artists. Following her divorce from Behrens, Neill married Joel Taylor. The marriage lasted seven years and ended with the couple divorcing in 1971. A fall at her Tucson, Arizona home in 2010 resulted in Neill suffering from a hip fracture. She was hospitalized following surgery to repair the fracture at Tucson Medical Center. Following an extended illness, Neill died in Tucson on July 3, 2016, at age 95. Her publicist and biographer, Larry Ward, paid tribute to her role as Lois Lane, as did actor Mark Hamill. Neill had no immediate surviving family members."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Monday, June 18, 2018, 12:00AM 
"Tina Louise (born February 11, 1934) is an American actress best known for playing movie star Ginger Grant in the CBS television situation comedy Gilligan's Island. She began her career on stage during the mid-1950s, before landing her breakthrough role in 1958 drama film God's Little Acre for which she received Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year. Tina Blacker was born in New York City. By the time she was four years of age, her parents had divorced. An only child, she was raised by her mother, Sylvia Horn (Myers) Blacker (1916–2011), a fashion model. Tina's father, Joseph Blacker, was a candy store owner in Brooklyn and later an accountant. The name "Louise" was allegedly added during her senior year in high school when she mentioned to her drama teacher that she was the only girl in the class without a middle name. He selected the name "Louise" and it stuck. She attended Miami University in Ohio. At the early age of just two years, Tina got her first role, after being seen in an ad for her father's candy store. She played numerous roles until she decided it was best to focus on school work. By the age of 17, Louise began studying acting, singing and dancing. She studied acting under Sanford Meisner at the prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse in Manhattan. During her early acting years, she was offered modeling jobs, including as a rising starlet, who along with Jayne Mansfield, was a product advocate in the 1958 Frederick's of Hollywood catalog, and appeared on the cover of several pinup magazines such as Adam, Sir! and Modern Man. Her later pictorials for Playboy (May 1958; April 1959) were arranged by Columbia Pictures studio in an effort to further promote the young actress. Louise with Gene Barry from the television series Burke's Law. Her acting debut came in 1952 in the Bette Davis musical revue Two's Company, followed by roles in other Broadway productions, such as John Murray Anderson's Almanac, The Fifth Season, and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? She appeared in such early live television dramas as Studio One, Producers' Showcase, and Appointment with Adventure. In 1957, she appeared on Broadway in the hit musical Li'l Abner. Her album, It's Time for Tina, was released that year, with songs such as "Embraceable You" and "I'm in the Mood for Love." From 1966 to 1971, Louise was married to radio and TV announcer/interviewer Les Crane, with whom she has one daughter, Caprice Crane, who became an MTV producer and a novelist. Crane's first novel, Stupid and Contagious, was published in 2006, and was dedicated to her mother. Louise now resides in New York City. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a lifetime member of the Actors Studio.[18] Louise has been a vocal advocate for improving child literacy. She donated a portion of the proceeds of her 2007 book, When I Grow Up, to literacy programs and said in a 2013 interview that she had been volunteering at local public schools since 1996. She has written three books including Sunday: A Memoir (1997) and When I Grow Up (2007).The latter is a children's book that inspires children to believe they can become whatever they choose through creative and humorous comparisons of animal kingdom achievements. She also published a second children's book titled What Does a Bee Do? Louise is quoted as saying, "The best movie you'll ever be in is your own life because that's what matters in the end." A Democrat, she campaigned for John F. Kennedy during the 1960 presidential election."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Sunday, April 21, 2019 |
"Paula Abdul," born "Paula Julie Abdul" on Tuesday, June 19, 1962, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality. Her career began as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers before rising to prominence in the 1980s as a highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era. Abdul later scored a string of pop music hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Her six number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 tie her with Diana Ross for sixth among the female solo performers who have topped the chart. She won a Grammy for 'Best Music Video,' "Opposites Attract" and twice won the "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography." Abdul was born in San Fernando, California to Jewish parents. Abdul's father, [the Late Mr. Harry Abdul was born into the Syrian Jewish community in Aleppo, Syria, raised in Brazil and subsequently immigrated to the United States.] [Her mother, the Late concert pianist Ms. Lorraine M. Rykiss] grew up in one of two Jewish families in Minnedosa, Manitoba in Canada, with ancestors from the Ashkenazi Jewish minority in Russia and Ukraine, and Abdul derives Canadian citizenship through her. She has a sister named Wendy, who is seven years her senior."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 3566”
"Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912–February 2, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer. Kelly was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style, his good looks and the likeable characters that he played on screen. Although he is known today for his performances in Singin' in the Rain and An American in Paris, he was a dominant force in Hollywood musical films from the mid-1940s until this art form fell out of fashion in the late 1950s. His many innovations transformed the Hollywood musical film, and he is credited with almost single-handedly making the ballet form commercially acceptable to film audiences. Kelly was born in the Highland Park neighborhood of Pittsburgh. He was the third son of Harriet Catherine Curran and James Patrick Joseph Kelly, a phonograph salesman. His father was born in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, to a family of Irish descent. His maternal grandfather was an immigrant from Derry in Northern Ireland and his maternal grandmother was of German ancestry. At the age of eight, Kelly was enrolled by his mother in dance classes, along with his elder brother James. They both rebelled, and, according to Kelly: "We didn't like it much and were continually involved in fistfights with the neighborhood boys who called us sissies...I didn't dance again until I was fifteen." He graduated from Peabody High School in 1929 at the age of sixteen. He enrolled in Pennsylvania State College to study journalism but the economic crash obliged him to seek employment to help with the family's finances. At this time, he worked up dance routines with his younger brother Fred in order to earn prize money in local talent contests, and they also performed in local nightclubs. Kelly married actress Betsy Blair in 1941. They had one child, Kerry, and divorced in April 1957. In 1960, Kelly married his choreographic assistant Jeanne Coyne, who had divorced Stanley Donen in 1949 after a brief marriage. He remained married to Coyne from 1960 until her death in 1973. They had two children, Bridget and Tim. He was married to Patricia Ward from 1990 until his death in 1996. Kelly was a lifelong supporter of the Democratic Party which occasionally created difficulty for him as his period of greatest prominence coincided with the McCarthy era in the U. S. He was raised as a Roman Catholic, but after becoming disenchanted by the Roman Catholic Church's support for Francisco Franco against the Spanish Republic, he officially severed his ties with the church in September 1939. This separation was prompted, in part, by a trip Kelly made to Mexico in which he became convinced of the Church’s failure in helping the poor. After his departure from the Catholic Church, Kelly became an agnostic and remained so, for the rest of his life. Kelly's health declined steadily in the late 1980s, and a stroke in July 1994 resulted in a seven-week hospital stay. Another stroke in early 1995 left Kelly mostly bedridden in his Beverly Hills home. He died in his sleep on February 2, 1996, and his body was subsequently cremated, without any funeral or memorial services."
Source: Wikipedia.org | FindAGrave.com | Monday, December 31, 2018, 11:59PM  “Find a Grave Memorial ID 4283”
"Allison Hayes (March 6, 1930–February 27, 1977) was an American film and television actress and model. Allison Hayes was born Mary Jane Hayes to William E. Hayes and Charlotte Gibson Hayes in Charleston, West Virginia. She was in the class of 1948 at Calvin Coolidge High School. Hayes won the title of Miss District of Columbia. She went on to represent D. C. in the 1949 Miss America pageant. Although she did not win the competition, it provided her with the opportunity to work in local television before moving to Hollywood to work for Universal Pictures in 1954. Hayes made her film debut in the 1954 comedy Francis Joins the WACS. Her second film, Sign of the Pagan, provided her with an important role in a relatively minor film. Opposite Jack Palance, she played the part of a siren who ultimately kills him. Despite the strength of her second film role, she played minor roles in her next few films. Originally cast in Foxfire she was removed from the film during a lawsuit filed against Universal Pictures for injuries, including broken ribs, that she had sustained during the filming of Sign of the Pagan. Released from her contract, she was signed by Columbia Pictures in 1955. Her first film for Columbia, Chicago Syndicate, did not require her to do more than look glamorous in a series of evening gowns. Her next film Count Three and Pray, however, gave her the role that she later described as the best of her career. Hayes played with Van Heflin, co-starring with Raymond Burr and Joanne Woodward in her debut. As an arrogant Southern belle she was in love with Heflin, returning from the Civil War as a minister. After being spurned by him, Hayes is reduced to becoming Burr’s live-in "housekeeper." Hayes had several well-played dramatic scenes. However, when the film was released much of the attention of reviewers was focused on Woodward, and Hayes was largely ignored. She appeared in films such as Steel Jungle, Mohawk, and Gunslinger, but a fall from a horse during the filming of the latter left Hayes with a broken arm and unable to work. After she recovered she began appearing in supporting roles in television productions. In 1958, she played in several B movies, including Wolf Dog, shot in Canada, as well as taking the lead role in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, where she plays the part of an abused socialite who grows to giant size because of an alien encounter. In this film, she starred with Yvette Vickers and William Hudson, and it is probably her best-known role. With its science fiction storyline and low budget, the film attained popularity with some movie fans, and in the subsequent years has attracted a cult film following based primarily on Hayes spending almost all the time she’s enlarged calling for "Harry!" as she angrily searches for her philandering husband. Hayes later said that the pain of her illness caused her to contemplate suicide, and that her symptoms were not taken seriously by doctors. Reading a medical book about the metal poisoning of factory workers, Hayes recognized the symptoms described as being similar to her own. Hayes began to question the ingredients of a calcium supplement she had been taking for a long time and when she employed a toxicologist to test a sample of the product, he determined that it had an extremely high content of lead and concluded that Hayes was most likely suffering from lead poisoning. Hayes mounted a campaign to have the FDA ban the import or sale of the food supplement. An invalid, Hayes moved to San Clemente, California and her health continued to deteriorate. In 1976, she was diagnosed with leukemia and was treated regularly at La Jolla. While at the hospital receiving a blood transfusion, her condition unexpectedly and rapidly deteriorated as she experienced chills, flu-like symptoms and intense pain. She was transferred to the University of California Medical Center in San Diego on February 26, 1977, where she died the following day, one week before her 47th birthday. Allison Hayes was interred with her father at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Her mother Charlotte died 8 months later and was buried in a nearby unmarked grave. In a letter that arrived after her death, the FDA advised her that amendments were being made to the laws governing the importation of nutritional supplements, largely as a result of her situation."
"Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson (born 30 October 1956) is an English actress of stage and screen. She is known for her role in the film Truly, Madly, Deeply for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Her other film appearances include Emma, Bend it Like Beckham, Mona Lisa Smile, Being Julia and Infamous. Stevenson was born in Kelvedon, Essex, England, the daughter of Virginia Ruth Marshall, a teacher, and Michael Guy Stevenson, an army officer. Stevenson's father was assigned a new posting every two and a half years. When Stevenson was nine, she attended Berkshire's Hurst Lodge School, and she was later educated at the independent St Catherine's School in Bramley, near Guildford in Surrey, and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Stevenson was part of the 'new wave’ of actors to emerge from the Academy. Others included Jonathan Pryce, Bruce Payne, Alan Rickman, Anton Lesser, Kenneth Branagh, Imelda Staunton and Fiona Shaw. This led to a stage career starting in 1978 with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Stevenson lives with anthropologist Hugh Brody, her partner since 1993. The couple live in Highgate, North London. They have two children, both born in Camden, London: Rosalind Hannah Brody (born 1994) and Gabriel Jonathan Brody (born late 2000/early 2001). She is an atheist but considers herself a spiritual and superstitious person."
"William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate, philanthropist, investor, computer programmer, and inventor. In 1975, Gates co-founded Microsoft, the world’s largest PC software company, with Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of chairman, CEO and chief software architect, and was the largest individual shareholder until May 2014. Gates has authored and co-authored several books. Starting in 1987, Gates was included in the Forbes list of the world's wealthiest people and was the wealthiest overall from 1995 to 2014—excluding a few years after the Financial crisis of 2007–08. Between 2009 and 2014 his wealth more than doubled from $40 billion to more than $82 billion. Between 2013 and 2014 his wealth increased by $15 billion. Gates is currently the richest man in the world. Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution. Gates has been criticized for his business tactics, which have been considered anti-competitive, an opinion which has in some cases been upheld by numerous court rulings. Later in his career Gates pursued a number of philanthropic endeavors, donating large amounts of money to various charitable organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, established in 2000. Gates stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft in January 2000. He remained as Chairman and created the position of Chief Software Architect for himself. In June 2006, Gates announced that he would be transitioning from full-time work at Microsoft to part-time work, and full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He gradually transferred his duties to Ray Ozzie, chief software architect and Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer. Ozzie later left the company. Gates's last full-time day at Microsoft was June 27, 2008. He stepped down as Chairman of Microsoft in February 2014, taking on a new post as technology advisor to support newly appointed CEO Satya Nadella. Gates was born in Seattle, Washington. He is the son of William H. Gates, Sr.[b] and Mary Maxwell Gates. Gates' ancestral origin includes English, German, and Scots-Irish. His father was a prominent lawyer, and his mother served on the board of directors for First Interstate BancSystem and the United Way. Gates's maternal grandfather was JW Maxwell, anational bank president. Gates has one elder sister, Kristianne and one younger sister, Libby. He was the fourth of his name in his family, but was known as William Gates III or "Trey" because his father had the "II" suffix. Early on in his life, Gates's parents had a law career in mind for him. When Gates was young, his family regularly attended a Protestant Congregational church. The family encouraged competition; one visitor reported that "it didn't matter whether it was hearts or pickle-ball or swimming to the dock ...there was always a reward for winning and there was always a penalty for losing." After being named one of Good Housekeeping "50 Most Eligible Bachelors" in 1985, Gates married Melinda French on January 1, 1994. They have three children: daughters Jennifer Katharine, Phoebe Adele and son Rory John. The family resides in the Gates's' home, an earth-sheltered house in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington in Medina. According to King County public records, as of 2006 the total assessed value of the property land and house is $125 million, and the annual property tax is $991,000. The 66,000 sq ft estate has a 60-foot swimming pool with an underwater music system, as well as a 2,500 sq ft gym and a 1,000 sq ft dining room. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Gates stated in regard to his faith: The moral systems of religion, I think, are super important. We've raised our kids in a religious way; they've gone to the Catholic church that Melinda goes to and I participate in. I've been very lucky, and therefore I owe it to try and reduce the inequity in the world. And that's kind of a religious belief. I mean, it's at least a moral belief. Gates's wife urged people to learn a lesson from the philanthropic efforts of the Salwen family, which had sold its home and given away half of its value, as detailed in The Power of Half. Gates and his wife invited Joan Salwen to Seattle to speak about what the family had done, and on December 9, 2010, Gates, investor Warren Buffett, and Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg signed a commitment they called the "Gates-Buffet Giving Pledge." The pledge is a commitment by all three to donate at least half of their wealth over the course of time to charity."
"Joni Kay Ernst (born July 1, 1970) is an American politician who serves as a Republican member of the Iowa Senate, and was elected a United States senator in the United States Senate election in Iowa in November 2014, defeating Bruce Braley, her Democratic opponent. She is also a lieutenant colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard. Ernst is the first woman to represent Iowa in the United States Congress, the first woman elected on a statewide level in Iowa, and the first female veteran in the U. S. Senate. Among her policy positions, Ernst supports a balanced budget, free-market health care, gun rights, partial privatization of Social Security accounts and protection of social security for seniors, and federal tax reform. She opposes cap and trade, a federal minimum wage, and same-sex marriage. Ernst was born Joni Kay Culver in Montgomery County, Iowa, the daughter of Marilyn and Richard Culver. She was valedictorian of her class at Stanton High School. Ernst earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Iowa State University and a Master of Public Administration degree from Columbus College. While in college, Ernst took part in an agricultural exchange to the Soviet Union. Ernst is a lieutenant colonel in the logistics branch and currently commands the 185th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion at Camp Dodge, the largest battalion in the Iowa Army National Guard. As of 2014, Ernst had served 21 years between the Army Reserve and the National Guard. She spent 14 months in Kuwait in 2003-2004 as a company commander during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Ernst has said she believes marriage is a "state issue." She co-sponsored a failed bill to amend the Iowa constitution to have marriage legally defined as between one man and one woman. She opposes same-sex marriage. Ernst is pro-life, believing that life begins at conception. She voted for a fetal personhood amendment in the Iowa Senate in 2013 and has said that she would support a federal personhood bill. In 2013, Ernst voted against bringing Senate File 79 up for a vote in the Iowa Senate, a bill that would legalize medical marijuana. Ernst expressed concerns that the drug "would ultimately end up in the hands of minors." Ernst is a lifetime member of the Montgomery County Republican Women, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2265, Montgomery County Court of Honor, Altrusa, PEO Chapter HB, a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, and member of and the Montgomery County Farm Bureau. She is a member of the Mamrelund Lutheran Church of Stanton, Iowa."
 'Find a Grave Memorial ID 252741031"
"Leonard Gordon Goodman (25 April 1944-22 April 2023) is a British professional ballroom dancer, dance judge, and coach. He is a leading personality on television dance programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing with the Stars. He also runs a ballroom dance school in Dartford, Kent. Goodman was born in Bromley, London the son of Louisa Adelaide Eldridge and Leonard Gordon Goodman, an electrician. One of his maternal great-great-grandfathers was a Polish immigrant. Goodman moved to Blackfen near Welling (then in Kent) when he was six years old and attended Westwood Secondary Modern School where he was a member of the cricket team. Goodman started dancing at the age of 19 after a short time as an apprentice welder for Harland and Wolff in Woolwich. He tried dancing only in an attempt to recover from a foot injury sustained while playing football. Goodman turned professional, won various competitions, and retired from dancing after winning the British Championships at Blackpool in his late twenties. Goodman is a recipient of the Carl Alan Award, in recognition of outstanding contributions to dance and, in 2006 and 2007, was nominated for the Emmy Award in the Outstanding Reality/Competition Program category. Goodman married his dancing partner, Cherry Kingston, but they were later divorced. He then had a long term relationship with a woman named Lesley who, he wrote, "decided to give up nursing and live with me and help me run the dance school–which was great, because she was full of ideas. Things rolled along pretty nicely for a year until out of the blue Lesley dropped a bombshell. She was pregnant!" Goodman was 36 at this time. Lesley, he wrote, was the ex-wife of "a bloke called Wilf Pine who had managed [the band] Black Sabbath. Lesley and Wilf got married in Connecticut." Goodman and Lesley's son James William Goodman was born 26 January 1981, but at age 12 moved with his mother back to her native Isle of Wight after Lesley and Goodman broke up. As of 2012, James teaches Latin and ballroom dancing at his father's Goodman Dance Centre. On 30 December 2012, Goodman married his companion of over ten years, Sue Barrett, a 47-year-old dance teacher, in a small ceremony at a London dining club Mosimann's. Goodman was diagnosed with prostate cancer in March 2009, which was treated surgically at a London hospital. In 2020, he underwent surgery for a small facial melanoma. Goodman had been the sole head judge on Strictly Come Dancing's American adaptation, Dancing with the Stars. He had appeared with fellow judges Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli since the show's inception, and for five seasons with alternating fourth judges Julianne Hough and Derek Hough. He did not appear as a judge in season 21 and season 29, but presented short segments on dance styles during the latter season. On 14 November 2022, Goodman announced during the season 31 semifinals broadcast that he would be retiring from the show to spend more time with his family in Great Britain. Goodman died from bone cancer in a hospice in Royal Tunbridge Wells, on 22 April 2023; just three days before what would have been his 79th birthday."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Monday, April 24, 2023, 7:39 AM CDT This post and/or page contains affiliate links,
at no additional cost to you I am compensated only if you purchase after clicking on the links.  "Find a Grave Memorial ID 2125"
"Alexander Graham Bell (March 3, 1847–August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone. Bell's father, grandfather, and brother had all been associated with work on elocution and speech, and both his mother and wife were deaf, profoundly influencing Bell's life's work. His research on hearing and speech further led him to experiment with hearing devices which eventually culminated in Bell being awarded the first U. S. patent for the telephone in 1876. Bell considered his most famous invention an intrusion on his real work as a scientist and refused to have a telephone in his study. Many other inventions marked Bell's later life, including groundbreaking work in optical telecommunications, hydrofoils and aeronautics. In 1888, Bell became one of the founding members of the National Geographic Society. Alexander Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 3, 1847. The family home was at 16 South Charlotte Street, and has a stone inscription marking it as Alexander Graham Bell's birthplace. He had two brothers: Melville James Bell and Edward Charles Bell both of whom would die of tuberculosis. His father was Professor Alexander Melville Bell, a phonetician, and his mother was Eliza Grace Symonds. Born as just "Alexander Bell," at age 10 he made a plea to his father to have a middle name like his two brothers. For his 11th birthday, his father acquiesced and allowed him to adopt the name "Graham," chosen out of respect for Alexander Graham, a Canadian being treated by his father who had become a family friend. To close relatives and friends he remained "Aleck." As a child, young Bell displayed a natural curiosity about his world, resulting in gathering botanical specimens as well as experimenting even at an early age. His best friend was Ben Herdman, a neighbor whose family operated a flour mill, the scene of many forays. Young Bell asked what needed to be done at the mill. He was told wheat had to be dehusked through a laborious process and at the age of 12, Bell built a homemade device that combined rotating paddles with sets of nail brushes, creating a simple dehusking machine that was put into operation and used steadily for a number of years. In return, John Herdman gave both boys the run of a small workshop in which to "invent." From his early years, Bell showed a sensitive nature and a talent for art, poetry, and music that was encouraged by his mother. With no formal training, he mastered the piano and became the family's pianist. Despite being normally quiet and introspective, he reveled in mimicry and "voice tricks" akin to ventriloquism that continually entertained family guests during their occasional visits. As a young child, Bell, like his brothers, received his early schooling at home from his father. At an early age, however, he was enrolled at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, Scotland, which he left at age 15, completing only the first four forms. His school record was undistinguished, marked by absenteeism and lack lustre grades. His main interest remained in the sciences, especially biology, while he treated other school subjects with indifference, to the dismay of his demanding father. Upon leaving school, Bell traveled to London to live with his grandfather, Alexander Bell. Bell died of complications arising from diabetes on August 2, 1922, at his private estate, Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia, at age 75. Bell had also been afflicted with pernicious anemia. His last view of the land he had inhabited was by moonlight on his mountain estate at 2:00 a.m. While tending to him after his long illness, Mabel, his wife, whispered, "Don't leave me." By way of reply, Bell traced the sign for "no" in the air —and then he died. Upon the conclusion of Bell's funeral, "every phone on the continent of North America was silenced in honor of the man who had given to mankind the means for direct communication at a distance." Dr. Alexander Graham Bell was buried atop Beinn Bhreagh mountain, on his estate where he had resided increasingly for the last 35 years of his life, overlooking Bras d'Or Lake."
"Brian Joseph White (born April 21, 1975) is an American actor, producer, model, dancer, and stockbroker. White was born near Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Estelle Bowser, a financial advisor, and Jo Jo White, a Hall of Fame basketball player for the Boston Celtics, sports executive, and restaurateur. He is the oldest of six children. White attended Newton South High School and was a graduate of Dartmouth College, where he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. White began acting in a number of television series such as Moesha, The Parkers, Spyder Games, Second Time Around, and The Shield. He then moved into film roles, appearing in The Family Stone, Brick, Stomp the Yard, The Game Plan and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale. He had a recurring role as Lieutenant Carl Davis on Moonlight. In 2009, White appeared in Fighting and 12 Rounds. He starred in I Can Do Bad All By Myself, and followed this with a regular role in the series Men of a Certain Age. In 2011, White starred in The Heart Specialist and Politics of Love. He then began touring with the David E. Talbert stage-play What My Husband Doesn't Know. The tour ran from May 8 to December 18. White became the co-host of the UNCF national "Empower Me" tour and starred in the music video for Monica's song "Until it's Gone." In 2012, he appeared in Good Deeds and The Cabin in the Woods. In 2015 he appeared in the television series "Scandal" as the love interest of Olivia Pope. He currently has a recurring role as "Captain Dallas Patterson" in season 4 of NBC's Chicago Fire. White married his wife Paula Da Silva in 2010. They have a daughter named Layla."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 162821996”
"Morley Safer (November 8, 1931–May 19, 2016) was a Canadian American broadcast journalist, reporter and correspondent for CBS News. He was best known for his long tenure on the news magazine 60 Minutes, whose cast he joined in 1970 after its second year on television. He was the longest-serving reporter on 60 Minutes, the most watched and most profitable program in television history. During his 60-year career as a broadcast journalist, Safer received numerous awards, including twelve Emmys, such as the Lifetime Achievement Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, along with three Overseas Press Awards, three Peabody Awards, two Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Awards, and the Paul White Award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association. Jeff Fager, executive producer of 60 Minutes, said "Morley has had a brilliant career as a reporter and as one of the most significant figures in CBS News history, on our broadcast and in many of our lives. Morley’s curiosity, his sense of adventure and his superb writing, all made for exceptional work done by a remarkable man." Safer was born to an Austrian Jewish family in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Anna Cohn and Max Safer, an upholsterer. He had a brother, Leon Safer, and a sister, Esther Safer. After reading works by Ernest Hemingway, he had decided in his youth that like Hemingway, he wanted to be a foreign correspondent. He attended Harbord Collegiate Institute in Toronto, Ontario, and briefly attended the University of Western Ontario before he dropped out to become a newspaper reporter. He said, "I was a reporter on the street at 19 and never went to college." He retired after 46 years with CBS, a week before his death; by then Safer had set the record for the show's longest-serving correspondent. A few days after he retired, CBS broadcast an hour-long special, Morley Safer: A Reporter's Life. He married Jane Fearer, an anthropology student, in 1968 in London, where he was serving as bureau chief for CBS News. Their daughter, Sarah Alice Anne Safer is a 1992 graduate of Brown University and a freelance journalist. Safer maintained dual Canadian/American citizenship. Safer died at his Manhattan home from pneumonia on May 19, 2016, just eight days after announcing his retirement from 60 Minutes following 46 seasons with the show. Four days prior to his death, CBS aired a special 60 Minutes episode covering Safer's 61-year journalism career. Besides his wife, he leaves a brother, a sister, a daughter, and three grandchildren."
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 260564281"
"Phyllis Coates (born Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell) (January 15, 1927-October 11, 2023) [was] an American film and television actress. She [was] best known for her portrayal of reporter Lois Lane in the 1951 film Superman and the Mole Men and in the first season of the television series Adventures of Superman. Born in Wichita Falls, Texas, Coates was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Stell. After graduating from high school in her native Wichita Falls, Texas, she went to Los Angeles to study at UCLA. Another source says that she attended Odessa high school in 1942 and 1943 but "graduated from Hollywood high school" after moving with her mother to Los Angeles. Coates is listed as Gypsy Stell among the alumni of Los Angeles City College. Originally billed as Gypsy Stell, Coates was allegedly discovered in 1943 by vaudeville comedian Ken Murray in a Hollywood and Vine restaurant from whom she learned comic timing. She subsequently appeared as a dancer and a comedienne in skits for ten months in Blackouts, his "racy" mildly risqué variety show. Along with Murray and other comedians, the show included showgirls, tap dancers, bird acts and Marie Wilson as the stereotypical "dumb blonde." She later performed as one of Earl Carroll's showgirls at his Earl Carroll Theatre. In 1946, she toured with a USO production of Anything Goes. On July 13, 1944, she began her work with 20th Century Fox after receiving a seven year contract with option. "In 1952 she guest-starred in "How Death Valley Got Its Name," the first episode of the anthology television series Death Valley Days, and then again in 1954 episode "The Light On The Mountain" of Death Valley Days. She appeared on The Lone Ranger in 1953, and then again on that popular series in 1955. Coates was cast too in 1955 as Madge in the CBS sitcom Professional Father. In 1955, she portrayed Medora De More in the two-part episode "King of the Dakotas" of the NBC western anthology series Frontier. In 1956, she was cast in the episode "God in the Street" of another anthology series, Crossroads, based on the lives of American clergymen. That same year, she appeared in a second religious drama, This Is the Life, as Betty in the episode "I Killed Lieutenant Hartwell." She was also cast in 1956 as Marge in the episode "Web Feet" of the military drama Navy Log. She guest-starred in David Janssen's crime drama Richard Diamond, Private Detective. In 1958, she played Clarissa Holliday in all 39 episodes of the short-lived sitcom This Is Alice. She made guest appearances in three episodes of Perry Mason "The Case of the Black-Eyed Blonde" in 1958, "The Case of the Cowardly Lion" in 1961, and in "The Case of the Ice-Cold Hands" in 1964. In 1961, she was cast as Elizabeth Gwynn in the episode "The Little Fishes" on CBS's Rawhide. Coates guest-starred as well on three episodes of the television series Gunsmoke between 1958 and 1964. Coates played a strong-willed Lois Lane in the first twenty-six episodes of Adventures of Superman, in which she was given equal billing with George Reeves, insisted upon by Reeves, even for episodes in which she did not appear. Her powerful "damsel in distress" scream was used to good effect in several episodes. After shooting wrapped on the first season, the Superman producers suspended production until they found a national sponsor. When in 1953 it was possible to film more Superman episodes, Coates was already committed to another series. Noel Neill, who had played Lois Lane in two Columbia Superman serials, in 1948 and 1950, replaced Coates. Coates married director Richard L. Bare in 1948. They divorced in January 1949. She married jazz pianist Robert Nelms in 1950, gave birth to a daughter, and divorced in 1953. Coates married director Norman Tokar in 1955 and gave birth to a son in 1957. She was married to Dr. Howard Press from 1962 to 1986, during which time she gave birth to another daughter. With the death of Noel Neill on July 3, 2016, Coates [was] the last surviving cast member from the Adventures of Superman TV series. Coates died on October 11, 2023, at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills. She was 96."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Sunday, June 17, 2018, 12:00AM | Thursday, December 28, 2023, 6:30PM  "Find a Grave Memorial ID 1284"
"George Keefer Brewer (January 5, 1914–June 16, 1959) was an American actor best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman. His death at age 45 from a gunshot remains a polarizing issue; the official finding was suicide, but some believe he was murdered or the victim of an accidental shooting. Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer in Woolstock, Iowa, the son of Don Brewer and Helen Lescher. Reeves was born five months into their marriage. They separated soon afterward and Helen moved back to her home at Galesburg, Illinois. Later, Reeves's mother moved to California to stay with her sister. There, Helen met and married Frank Bessolo. George's father married Helen Schultz in 1925 and had children with her. Don Brewer apparently never saw his son again. In 1927, Frank Bessolo adopted George as his own son, and the boy took on his new stepfather's last name to become George Bessolo. Frank and Helen Bessolo's marriage lasted fifteen years and ended in divorce while Reeves was away visiting relatives. His mother told Reeves that Frank had committed suicide. Reeves's cousin, Catherine Chase, told biographer Jim Beaver that Reeves did not know for several years that Bessolo was still alive, nor that he was his stepfather and not his biological father. George began acting and singing in high school and continued performing on stage as a student at Pasadena Junior College. He also boxed as a heavyweight in amateur matches until his mother Helen ordered him to stop, fearing his good looks might be damaged. According to the Los Angeles Police Department report, between approximately 1:30 and 2:00 a.m. on June 16, 1959, George Reeves died of a gunshot wound to his head in the upstairs bedroom at his home in Benedict Canyon. Many people have refused to believe that George Reeves would kill himself and have pointed out that no gunpowder from the gun's discharge was found on the actor's skin, leading them to believe that the weapon would therefore have to have been held several inches away from his head when it was fired; however, forensic professionals say that gunpowder tattooing is left only when the weapon is not in contact with the skin, while Reeves's skull fracture pattern shows that it was a contact wound. Followers of the case also point to the absence of fingerprints on the gun and of gunshot-residue testing on the actor's hands as evidence in support of one theory or another. Police, however, found the gun too thickly coated in oil to hold fingerprints, and gunshot-residue testing was not commonly performed by the Los Angeles Police Department in 1959." "Cause of death: Suicide or murder by gunshot, in dispute."
Source: Wikipedia.org | FindAGrave.com | September 11, 2012  "Find a Grave Memorial ID 8280308"
"Faith Marie Doumergue (June 16, 1924 or 1925–April 4, 1999) was an American film and television actress. Discovered at age sixteen by media and aircraft mogul Howard Hughes, she was signed to a contract with Hughes' RKO Radio Pictures and cast as the lead in the studio's thriller Vendetta, which had a troubled four-year production before finally being released in 1950. Domergue went on to appear in a multitude of science fiction and horror pictures, such as Cult of the Cobra, This Island Earth, It Came from Beneath the Sea, and The Atomic Man, all released in 1955, earning her a reputation as an early "scream queen." Domergue's later career consisted of B movies, television guest roles, and European productions. Domergue was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on June 16, 1924 or 1925 (sources differ) of part-Creole descent. She was adopted by Adabelle Wemet when six weeks old. When Faith was 18 months old, Adabelle married Leo Domergue. The family moved to California in 1928 where Domergue attended Beverly Hills Catholic School and St. Monica's Convent School. While a sophomore at University High School, she signed a contract with Warner Bros., and made her first on-screen appearance with an uncredited walk-on role in Blues in the Night (1941). The same year, she appeared on the cover of Photoplay as Faith Dorn; the name change, she later claimed, was "because Jack Warner was too stupid to pronounce Domergue." After having lived briefly in England with her husband, Domergue returned to the United States in 1953, when she signed a contract with Universal Pictures. Her final credit for RKO was the 1954 drama This Is My Love, which was shot after the release in 1952 of her first film with Universal, The Duel at Silver Creek, in which she appeared opposite Audie Murphy. In 1955, Domergue appeared in another Western, Santa Fe Passage, playing an ammunition retailer opposite John Payne and George Keymas. Domergue then appeared in a series of science fiction, monster, and horror films. The first of these was Cult of the Cobra (Universal Pictures 1955), in which six American Air Force officers discover a Lamian cult of snake worshippers. This was followed with a role in Columbia Pictures's It Came from Beneath the Sea, a science fiction-monster film which was a major commercial success, grossing $1.7 million at the box office. The following year, Domergue starred in This Island Earth (1955), Universal's first color science fiction film. The film received moderate critical praise for its performances and writing, as well as its inventive special effects. Domergue's tenure in these pictures earned her a reputation as an early scream queen. From late in 1955, Domergue appeared in a string of European productions: the British science fiction film The Atomic Man, directed by Ken Hughes; British noir films Soho Incident and Man in the Shadow, released in the United States as Violent Stranger; and the Italian production, The Sky Burns. In 1942, Domergue began an intermittent relationship with Howard Hughes. After she discovered that Hughes was also seeing Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, and Lana Turner, the couple broke up in 1943. She later wrote a book about the experience, titled My Life with Howard Hughes (1972). In 1946, Domergue married bandleader Teddy Stauffer. The marriage lasted six months, ending in 1947. That same year, she married director Hugo Fregonese with whom she had two children, Diana Maria and John Anthony. The couple divorced in 1958. In 1966, she married Paolo Cossa, with whom she remained until his death in 1992. Despite the divorces, Domergue otherwise remained a practicing Roman Catholic. Her many television credits included "Fireside Theatre," "State Trooper," "Cheyenne," "Perry Mason" and "Bonanza." In 1966, she married director Paolo Cossa, whom she remained with until his death in 1992. Domergue spent her later years in retirement in Palo Alto, California. On April 4, 1999, she died from an unspecified cancer at age 74 in Santa Barbara and was cremated."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Find A Grave | Sunday, November 10, 2019, 12:00 PM CDT 
Out with the sleaze. A person to look up to please?
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 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 209809010”
"Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg (March 15, 1933-September 18, 2020) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton and took the oath of office on August 10, 1993. She is the second female justice and the first Jewish female justice. Born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, Ruth Joan Bader was the second daughter of Nathan and Celia Bader. The family nicknamed her "Kiki." They belonged to the East Midwood Jewish Center, where she took her religious confirmation seriously. At age thirteen, Ruth acted as the "camp rabbi" at a Jewish summer program at Camp Che-Na-Wah in Minerva, New York. Her mother took an active role in her education, taking her to the library often. Bader attended James Madison High School, whose law program later dedicated a courtroom in her honor. Her older sister died when she was very young. Her mother struggled with cancer throughout Ruth's high school years and died the day before her graduation. Ginsburg died from complications of pancreatic cancer on September 18, 2020, at age 87. Just days before her death, aware of the United States presidential election scheduled in less than two months, and hoping for the inauguration of a new president to replace Donald Trump in just over four months, she dictated a final statement to her granddaughter: "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed." One day before her death, Ginsburg was honored on Constitution Day and was awarded the 2020 Liberty Medal by the National Constitution Center. It was reported that she will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Updated Friday, September 18, 2020, 10:03 PM CDT | Saturday, September 19, 2020, 6:35 PM CDT |
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 4069”
"John Rummel Hamilton (January 16, 1887–October 15, 1958) was an American actor, who played in many movies and television programs. He is probably remembered best for his role as the blustery newspaper editor Perry White for the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman. John Hamilton was born in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania to John M. Hamilton and his wife Cornelia J. Hamilton. Hamilton was the youngest of four children, and his mother died eight days after his birth. His father remarried and Rosa, his stepmother, was the only mother the young Hamilton knew. Hamilton grew up in neighboring Southampton Township Pennsylvania, where his father worked as a store clerk. Hamilton's father was also appointed Shippensburg's trustee for the State Superintendent of Public Education, so it was a foregone conclusion that Hamilton would receive extensive schooling. Unlike most others of his generation and background, Southampton being a farming community, Hamilton attended Dickinson College and Shippensburg State Teacher's College. However, he opted to forego teaching for a stage career. After becoming an actor, he worked in Broadway plays and in touring theatrical companies for many years prior to his 1930 movie debut. He was in the original Broadway company of the 1922 play Seventh Heaven and would appear in the movie remake during 1937. He featured with Donald Meek in a series of short mysteries based on S. S. Van Dine stories for Warner Bros. He was often typecast in the role of an authority figure; to wit, prison warden, judge, politician or police chief, but played various types of characters, appearing in more than three hundred movies, movie serials or television programs from the 1930s through the 1950s. As an example, he does a brief turn in robes as the judge who passes sentence on soon-to-be-racketeer James Cagney for violation of the Volstead Act in "The Roaring Twenties." Hamilton appeared as a police inspector in the John Huston film In This Our Life in 1942. Modern-day serial fans can see Hamilton's iconic persona already developing as Professor Gordon, the outwardly no-nonsense but secretly compassionate father of young, man-of-action Flash Gordon in Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe. He became much more widely known when he was cast as the irascible Daily Planet newspaper editor Perry White for the 1950s TV classic Adventures of Superman. After that, he appeared in television commercials for a brand of bifocals termed "Inviso No-Line Glasses." The idea was to render invisible the seam in the lens "that tells the world you're over forty." Hamilton is often confused with John F. Hamilton, an American actor who made a few films, and with John Hamilton, a British actor who played juvenile roles in the UK and Europe in the 1930s. John Hamilton died on October 15, 1958 in Glendale, California of heart failure at the age of 71. He was survived by a son. He was interred in Hollywood Forever Cemetery."
Source: Wikipedia.org | FindAGrave.com | Friday, August 3, 2018, 4:45PM |
"Alfredo James Pacino (born April 25, 1940) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is well known for playing mobsters, especially Michael Corleone in The Godfather films and Tony Montana in Scarface, but also portrayed characters on the other side of the law—as a police officer, a detective and a lawyer. Pacino was born in New York City to Sicilian-American parents Salvatore Pacino and Rose, who divorced when he was two years old. His mother moved near the Bronx Zoo to live with her parents, Kate and James Gerardi, who, coincidentally, had come from a town in Sicily named Corleone. His father, who was from San Fratello in the Province of Messina, moved to Covina, California, and worked as an insurance salesman and restaurateur. In his teen years "Sonny," as he was known to his friends, aimed to become a baseball player, and was also nicknamed "The Actor." Pacino dropped out of many classes, but not English. He dropped out of school at age 17. His mother disagreed with his decision; they argued and he left home. He worked at low-paying jobs, messenger, busboy, janitor, and postal clerk, to finance his acting studies. He once worked in the mail room for Commentary magazine. He began smoking at age nine, and drinking, and took up casual cannabis use at age thirteen, but never used hard drugs. His two closest friends died from drug abuse at the ages of 19 and 30. Growing up in The Bronx, he got into occasional fights and was considered something of a troublemaker at school. In 1962, his mother died at the age of 43. The following year, Pacino's grandfather James Gerardi, one of the most influential people in his life, also died. Pacino found acting enjoyable and realized he had a gift for it while studying at The Actors Studio. However, his early work was not financially rewarding. After his success on stage, Pacino made his movie debut in 1969 with a brief appearance in Me, Natalie, an independent film starring Patty Duke. In 1970, Pacino signed with the talent agency Creative Management Associates. Although he has never married, Pacino has three children. The eldest, Julie Marie is his daughter with acting coach Jan Tarrant. He also has twins, son Anton James and daughter Olivia Rose born with actress Beverly D'Angelo, with whom he had a relationship from 1996 until 2003. Pacino had a relationship with Diane Keaton, his co-star in the Godfather trilogy. The on-again, off-again relationship ended following the filming of The Godfather Part III. He has had relationships with Tuesday Weld, Jill Clayburgh, Marthe Keller, Kathleen Quinlan and Lyndall Hobbs. The Internal Revenue Service filed a tax lien against Pacino, claiming he owes the government a total of $188,000 for 2008 and 2009. A representative for Pacino blamed his former business manager Kenneth Starr for the discrepancy."
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"Cynthia Ann Crawford (born February 20, 1966) is an American model. Crawford is known for her trademark mole just above her lip, and has adorned hundreds of magazine covers throughout her career. Her success at modeling made her an international celebrity that has led to roles in television and film, and to work as a spokesperson. In 1995, Forbes magazine named her the highest paid model on the planet. She was named No. 3 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the 90s and was named one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time" by Men's Health. Crawford was born in DeKalb, Illinois on February 20, 1966, the daughter of Jennifer Sue Crawford and John Dan Crawford. She also has two sisters, Chris and Danielle. She has stated that her family has been in the U. S. for generations and that her ancestry is mostly German, English and French. Crawford graduated from DeKalb High School in 1984, as valedictorian. She won an academic scholarship to study chemical engineering at Northwestern University, which she attended for only one quarter. She dropped out in order to pursue a full-time modeling career. After working for photographer Victor Skrebneski in Chicago, Crawford moved to Manhattan in 1986 and signed with the Elite New York modeling agency. Crawford has consistently ranked highly on lists of the world's sexiest people. She was ranked number 5 on Playboy's list of the 100 Sexiest Stars of the 20th century. A 1997 Shape magazine survey of 4,000 picked her as the second most beautiful woman in the world. In 2002, Crawford was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People by People magazine. In her forties, she claimed No. 26 in the 2006 Hot 100 issue of Maxim magazine. Crawford was married to actor Richard Gere from 1991 to 1995. Crawford was married to actor Richard Gere from 1991 to 1995. When Crawford was 10 years old, her younger brother Jeff—whom she continues to praise as "the fourth most influential person in my life" died of leukemia. Since becoming a model, Crawford has made childhood leukemia a focal point of her charity work, donating proceeds of her calendars to medical research. Crawford has been a long-time supporter of the pediatric oncology program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where Jeff was treated, stating that she believes he received the best care possible. Crawford is on the Honorary Committee of the California Wildlife Center."
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 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 25772172"
"John Charles Carter (October 4, 1923–April 5, 2008) was an American actor in film, theater and television and a political activist. As a Hollywood star he appeared in 100 films over the course of 60 years. He is best known for his roles in The Ten Commandments Heston's political activism had four stages. In the first stage, 1955-61, he endorsed the Democratic candidates for president, and signed onto petitions and liberal political causes. From 1961 to 1972, the second stage, he continued to endorse Democratic candidates for president. In 1965-71, he served as the elected president of the Screen Actors Guild, and clashed with his liberal rival Ed Asner. Moving beyond Hollywood, he became nationally visible in 1963 in support of the Civil Rights bill, and in 1968 used his "cowboy" persona to publicize gun control measures. The third stage began in 1972. Like many neoconservatives of the same era who moved from liberal Democrat to conservative Republican, he rejected the liberalism of George McGovern and supported Richard Nixon in 1972 for President. In the 1980s, he gave strong support to his friend Ronald Reagan in his conservative presidency. In 1995, Heston entered his fourth stage by establishing his own political action fund fund-raising committee, and jumped into the internal politics of the National Rifle Association. He implied he would die for his Second Amendment rights, rousing his audiences with his signature line, holding a rifle above his head and pledging that he would never surrender it—they would have to pry it from "my cold dead hands." Heston was born John Charles Carter, the son of Lilla Charlton; and Russell Whitford Carter, a sawmill operator. Most sources state that he was born in Evanston, Illinois. Heston's autobiography, however, and some other sources place his birth in No Man's Land, Illinois, which usually refers to a then-unincorporated area now part of Wilmette, a wealthy northern suburb of Chicago. In his autobiography, Heston refers to his father participating in his family's construction business. When Heston was an infant, his father's work moved the family to St. Helen, Michigan. It was a rural, heavily forested part of the state, and Heston lived an isolated yet idyllic existence spending much time hunting and fishing in the backwoods of the area. When Heston was 10 years old, his parents divorced. Shortly thereafter, his mother married Chester Heston. The new family moved back to Wilmette. Heston died on April 5, 2008, at his home in Beverly Hills, California, with Lydia, his wife of 64 years, by his side. Heston was cremated and his ashes were given to his family. Early tributes came in from leading figures; President George W. Bush called Heston "a man of character and integrity, with a big heart", adding, "He served his country during World War II, marched in the civil rights movement, led a labor union and vigorously defended Americans’ Second Amendment rights." Actor Charlton Heston once held a "Q" Clearance for six years when he served as a nuclear armament topics training film narrator for the military during his post-World War II military service years. As of 1993 Q clearances required a single-scope background investigation of the previous ten years of the applicant's life by both the Office of Personnel Management and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and as of 1998 cost $3,225."
"Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress, film producer, and former fashion model. She achieved international recognition for her role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct by Paul Verhoeven. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama for her performance in Casino. Stone was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania. The second of four children, she is the daughter of Dorothy Lawson, an accountant and homemaker and Joseph William Stone II, a tool and die manufacturer and factory worker. Stone graduated in 1975 from Saegertown High School in Saegertown, Pennsylvania. Her appearance in Dutch film director Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger gave Stone's career a boost. To coincide with the film's release, she posed nude for Playboy, showing off the muscles she developed in preparation for the film. In 1999, she was rated among the 25 sexiest stars of the century by Playboy. In another Verhoeven film was the role that made her a star, playing Catherine Tramell, a brilliant, bisexual, alleged serial killer, in Basic Instinct. Several better known actresses of the time turned down the part, mostly because of the nudity required. In the film's most notorious scene, Tramell is being questioned by the police, and she crosses and uncrosses her legs, exposing her genitalia, which are not covered by underwear. According to Stone, she agreed to film the flashing scene with no panties, and although she and Verhoeven had discussed the scene from the beginning of production, she was unaware just how explicit the infamous shot would be: "I knew that we were going to do this leg-crossing thing and I knew that we were going to allude to the concept that I was nude, but I did not think that you would see my vagina in the scene. Later, when I saw it in the screening I was shocked. I think seeing it in a room full of strangers was so disrespectful and so shocking, so I went into the booth and slapped him and left. Following Basic Instinct, she was listed by People magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. Stone was hospitalized on September 29, 2001 for a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which was diagnosed as a vertebral artery dissection rather than the more common ruptured aneurysm, and treated with an endovascular coil embolization. Stone currently lives in Beverly Hills, California and owns a ranch in New Zealand. It was announced on January 30, 2013, Stone, concerned about their huge age difference, had split with her boyfriend Martin Mica after dating for eight months. Stone is a convert to Tibetan Buddhism. She believes in God and is religious by self-description. She is an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church."
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 7661451"
"Buddy Ebsen, born Christian Ludolph Ebsen, Jr. (April 2, 1908-July 6, 2003) was an American character actor and dancer. A performer for seven decades, he had starring roles as Jed Clampett in the long-running CBS television series The Beverly Hillbillies and as the title character in the 1970s detective series Barnaby Jones. Ebsen also played Fess Parker's sidekick in Walt Disney's Davy Crockett miniseries and was cast as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz until he fell ill from an allergy to the makeup. Ebsen was born Christian Ludolph Ebsen, Jr. in Belleville, Illinois. His father, Christian Ludolph Ebsen, Sr., was Danish, and his mother, Frances, was Latvian. Ebsen was raised in Belleville until the age of 10, when his family moved to Palm Beach County, Florida. In 1920, Ebsen and his family relocated to Orlando, Florida. Ebsen and his sisters learned to dance at a dance studio his father operated in Orlando. Ebsen graduated from Orlando High School in 1926. Ebsen left Orlando in the summer of 1928 to try his luck as a dancer in New York City, arriving with only $26.75 in his pocket, equal to $358 in 2012, and worked at a soda fountain shop. Ebsen became famous as Jed Clampett, an easygoing backwoods mountaineer who strikes oil and moves with his family to Beverly Hills, California in the long-running, fish-out-of-water CBS sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies. Ebsen married Ruth Cambridge in 1936 and had two daughters, Elizabeth and Alix. The couple divorced in 1942. In 1944, Ebsen met and married Nancy Wolcott. They had five children: Susannah, Cathy, Bonnie, Kiersten, and Dustin. In 1985, the 41-year marriage ended in divorce. That same year, Ebsen met his third wife, Dorothy Knott. The couple had one child. Throughout his long life, Ebsen had many hobbies: public speaking, traveling, singing, playing guitar, golfing, spending time with his family, riding horses, swimming, gardening, fishing, sailing, painting and building sailboats. He became a folk artist and, as an avid coin collector, co-founded the Beverly Hills Coin Club in 1987 with much younger actor Chris Aable. Ebsen's favorite leisure time activity undoubtedly was dancing. As Ebsen entered his nineties, he continued to keep active, and there were media reports that he had begun work on his first novel about a year before his death. Ebsen died of pneumonia at Torrance Memorial Medical Center in Torrance, California, on July 6, 2003, at the age of 95. He was "cremated" and his ashes were "scattered at sea."
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 258"
"Ruth Elizabeth Davis (April 5, 1908–October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic, sardonic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, although her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas. Ruth Elizabeth Davis, known from early childhood as "Betty," was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, at 55 Cedar Street, the daughter of Ruth Augusta Favor born in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, and Harlow Morrell Davis, a law student born in Augusta, Maine. Her sister, Barbara Harriet "Bobby," was born October 25, 1909 at 55 Ward Street in Somerville, Massachusetts, their father is now a patent attorney/lawyer. The family was Protestant, of English, French, and Welsh ancestry. In 1915, Davis's parents separated and Betty and Bobby attended a Spartan boarding school called Crestalban in Lanesborough, which is located in the Berkshires. In 1921, Ruth Davis moved to New York City with her daughters, where she worked as a portrait photographer. Betty was inspired to become an actress after seeing Rudolph Valentino in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and Mary Pickford in Little Lord Fauntleroy and changed the spelling of her name to "Bette" after Honoré de Balzac's La Cousine Bette. She received encouragement from her mother, who had aspired to become an actress. In 1983, after filming the pilot episode for the television series Hotel, Davis was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy. Within two weeks of her surgery she suffered four strokes which caused paralysis in the left side of her face and in her left arm, and left her with slurred speech. She commenced a lengthy period of physical therapy and, aided by her personal assistant, Kathryn Sermak, gained partial recovery from the paralysis. During 1988 and 1989, Davis was fêted for her career achievements, receiving the Kennedy Center Honor, the Legion of Honor from France, the Campione d'Italia from Italy and the Film Society of Lincoln Center Lifetime Achievement Award. She collapsed during the American Cinema Awards in 1989 and later discovered that her cancer had returned. She recovered sufficiently to travel to Spain where she was honored at the Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival, but during her visit her health rapidly deteriorated. Too weak to make the long journey back to the U.S., she traveled to France where she died on October 6, 1989, at 11:20 pm, at the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Davis was 81 years old. She was interred in Forest Lawn—Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, alongside her mother, Ruthie, and sister, Bobby, with her name in larger type size. On her tombstone is written: "She did it the hard way," an epitaph that she mentioned in her memoir Mother Goddam as having been suggested to her by Joseph L. Mankiewicz shortly after they had filmed, "All About Eve."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 1891”
"Raymond Bidwell Collins (December 10, 1889–July 11, 1965) was an American character actor in stock and Broadway theatre, radio, films and television. With 900 stage roles to his credit, he became one of the most successful actors in the developing field of radio drama. A friend and associate of Orson Welles for many years, Collins went to Hollywood with the Mercury Theatre company and made his feature film debut in Citizen Kane, as Kane's ruthless political rival. Collins appeared in more than 75 films and had one of his best remembered roles on television, as the irascible Lieutenant Arthur Tragg on the long-running series, Perry Mason. Ray Bidwell Collins was born December 10, 1889, in Sacramento, California, to Lillie Bidwell and William Calderwood Collins. His father was a newspaper reporter and dramatic editor on The Sacramento Bee. His mother was the niece of John Bidwell, pioneer, statesman and founder of society in the Sacramento Valley area of California in the 19th century. The descendant of gold rush-era pioneers, he was born Raymond Bidwell Collins in Sacramento, California. Collins was inspired as a young boy to become an actor after seeing a stage performance by his uncle, Ulric Collins, who had performed the role of Dave Bartlett in the Broadway production of Way Down East. He began putting on plays with neighborhood children in Sacramento. On television, Collins was a regular in The Halls of Ivy starring Ronald Colman. He appeared as Judge Harper in a 1955 TV adaptation of the holiday classic, Miracle on 34th Street, starring Thomas Mitchell, Teresa Wright and MacDonald Carey. In 1957 Collins joined the cast of the CBS-TV series Perry Mason and gained fame as Los Angeles police homicide detective Lieutenant Arthur Tragg. By 1960, Collins found his physical health declining and his memory waning, problems which in the next few years brought an end to his career. On the difficulty he was beginning to encounter in remembering his lines, he commented, "Years ago, when I was on the Broadway stage, I could memorize 80 pages in eight hours. I had a photographic memory. When I got out on the stage, I could actually—in my mind—see the lines written on top of the page, the middle or the bottom. But then radio came along, and we read most of our lines, and I got out of the habit of memorizing. I lost my natural gift. Today it's hard for me. My wife works as hard as I do, cueing me at home." In October 1963 Collins filmed his last Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Capering Camera," broadcast January 16, 1964. Although it was clear Collins would not return to work on the series, his name appeared in the opening title sequence through the eighth season, which ended in May 1965. Executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson was aware that Collins watched the show every week and did not wish to discourage him. On July 11, 1965, Collins died of emphysema at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California, at age 75. Masonic services were held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills."
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 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 274"
"Cecil Blount DeMille (August 12, 1881–January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker. Between 1913 and 1956, he made seventy features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the Hollywood film industry, the most commercially successful producer-director in cinema history. DeMille began his career as a stage actor in 1900. One of his first acting jobs was in 1905 at the Historic Elitch Theatre in Denver, CO. He later moved to writing and directing stage productions, some with Jesse Lasky, who was then a vaudeville producer. DeMille's first film, The Squaw Man was also the first feature film shot in Hollywood. Its interracial love story made it a phenomenal hit and it "put Hollywood on the map." The continued success of his productions led to the founding of Paramount Pictures with Lasky and Adolph Zukor. His first biblical epic, The Ten Commandments (1923) was both a critical and financial success; it held the Paramount revenue record for twenty-five years. The immense popularity of DeMille's silent films enabled him to branch out. The Roaring Twenties were the boom years and DeMille took full advantage, opening the Mercury Aviation Company, one of America's first commercial airlines. He was also a real estate speculator, an underwriter of political campaigns, and a Bank of America executive, approving loans for other filmmakers. After more than thirty years in Hollywood, DeMille reached the pinnacle of his career with Samson and Delilah, a biblical epic which did "an all-time record business." He went on to receive his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director, this for his circus drama The Greatest Show on Earth, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. His last and most famous film, The Ten Commandments (1956) is currently the seventh highest-grossing film of all-time adjusted for inflatio. Cecil Blount DeMille was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts, while his parents were vacationing there, and grew up in Washington, North Carolina. His father, Henry Churchill de Mille was a North Carolina-born dramatist and lay reader in the Episcopal Church, who had earlier begun a career as a playwright, writing his first play at age 15. His mother was Matilda Beatrice DeMille whose parents were both of German Jewish heritage. She emigrated from England with her parents in 1871 when she was 18, where they settled in Brooklyn. Beatrice grew up in a middle-class English household. DeMille's mother was related to British politician Herbert Louis Samuel. DeMille married Constance Adams on August 16, 1902 and had one child, Cecilia. The couple also adopted an orphan child, Katherine Lester in the early 1920s; her father had been killed in World War I and her mother had died of tuberculosis. Without DeMille's permission, Katherine became an actress at Paramount Pictures, ultimately gaining his approval. On October 3, 1937, Katherine married actor Anthony Quinn. In the 1920s the DeMilles adopted two sons, John and Richard, the latter of whom became a notable filmmaker, writer, and psychologist. DeMille drew on his Jewish and Protestant heritage to convey a message of tolerance. The Crusades was the first to show accord between Christians and Muslims. DeMille received more than a dozen awards from Jewish religious and cultural groups, including B’nai B’rith. In the early hours of January 21, 1959, DeMille died of heart failure. DeMille's funeral was held on January 23[rd] at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. He was entombed at the Hollywood Memorial Cemetery. Cecil B. DeMille was one of the most successful filmmakers in Hollywood history. Out of the seventy films he claimed as his personal productions, all but six turned a profit, and he remained a leading director of "A" list features from his first film in 1914 to his last in 1956. Cecil suffered a heart attack on location in Egypt during the making of the "The Ten Commandments," but managed to recover sufficiently to finish the picture. He served as [UN-credited] executive producer on "The Buccaneer" leaving the direction to his son-in-law Anthony Quin. Cecil B. DeMille was planning a film on space exploration at the time of his death on January 21, 1959, at age 77."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 6815463”
"Granville Tailer Woods (April 23, 1856–January 30, 1910) was an American inventor who held more than 50 patents. He is also the first American of African ancestry to be a mechanical and electrical engineer after the Civil War. Self-taught, he concentrated most of his work on trains and streetcars. One of his notable inventions was the Multiplex Telegraph, a device that sent messages between train stations and moving trains. His work assured a safer and better public transportation system for the cities of the United States. Granville T. Woods was born to Martha J. Brown and Cyrus Woods. He also had a brother named Lyates. His mother was part Native American, and his father was black. Granville attended school in Columbus until age 10, but had to leave due to his family's poverty, which necessitated in his need to work; he served an apprenticeship in a machine shop and learned the trades of machinist and blacksmith. Some sources of his day asserted that he also received two years of college-level training in "electrical and mechanical engineering," but little is known about where he might have studied. In 1872, Woods obtained a job as a fireman on the Danville and Southern Railroad in Missouri, eventually becoming an engineer. In 1876, he moved to Springfield, Illinois, and worked at a rolling mill, the Springfield Iron Works. He studied mechanical and electrical engineering in college from 1876-1878. In 1878, he took a job aboard the "Ironsides," and, within two years, became Chief Engineer of the steamer. When he returned to America, he became an engineer with the Dayton and Southwestern Railroad in southwestern Ohio. In 1880, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and established his business as an electrical engineer and an inventor. After receiving the patent for the multiplex telegraph, he reorganized his Cincinnati company as the Woods Electric Co, but in 1892 he moved his own research operations to New York City, where he was joined by a brother, Lyates Woods, who also had several inventions of his own. Some internet sources claim he was married. However, the newspapers of his day generally referred to him as a "bachelor." The one indication that he had been married at some point was a brief mention in 1891 that said he was being sued for divorce by a woman identified as Ada Woods. But while little more was said of his personal life, Granville T. Woods was often described as an articulate and well-spoken man, as well as meticulous and stylish in his choice of clothing, and a man who preferred to dress in black. At times, he would refer to himself as an immigrant from Australia, in the belief that he would be given more respect if people thought he was from a foreign country, as opposed to being an American Negro. In his day, the black newspapers frequently expressed their pride in his achievements, saying he was "the greatest of Negro inventors," and sometimes even calling him "professor," although there is no evidence he ever received a college degree. Woods invented and patented Tunnel Construction for the electric railroad system, and was referred to by some as the "Black Edison." In 1885, Woods patented an apparatus which was a combination of a telephone and a telegraph. The device, which he called "telegraphing," would allow a telegraph station to send voice and telegraph messages over a single wire. He sold the rights to this device to the American Bell Telephone Company. In 1887, he patented the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph which allowed communications between train stations from moving trains, a technology pioneered by Lucius Phelps in 1884. Thomas Edison later filed a claim to the ownership of this patent. In 1888, Woods manufactured a system of overhead electric conducting lines for railroads modeled after the system pioneered by Charles van Depoele, a famed inventor who had by then installed his electric railway system in thirteen U. S. cities. In 1889, he filed a patent for an improvement to the steam-boiler furnace. Granville Woods often had difficulties in enjoying his success as other inventors made claims to his devices. Over the course of his lifetime Granville Woods would obtain more than 50 patents for inventions including an automatic brake and an egg incubator and for improvements to other inventions such as safety circuits, telegraph, telephone, and phonograph. He died on January 30, 1910 in New York City, having sold a number of his devices to such companies as Westinghouse, General Electric and American Engineering. Until 1975, his resting place was an unmarked grave, but historian M. A. Harris helped to raise funds, and persuaded several of the corporations that used Woods's inventions to donate towards a headstone. It was erected at St. Michael's Cemetery in Elmhurst, Queens NY."
"Mae Carol Jemison (born October 17, 1956) is an American physician and NASA astronaut. She became the first black woman to travel in space when she went into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on September 12, 1992. After her medical education and a brief general practice, Jemison served in the Peace Corps from 1985 to 1987, when she was selected by NASA to join the astronaut corps. She resigned from NASA in 1993 to form a company researching the application of technology to daily life. She has appeared on television several times, including as an actress in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. She is a dancer, and holds nine honorary doctorates in science, engineering, letters, and the humanities. Mae Carol Jemison was born in Decatur, Alabama on October 17, 1956, the youngest child of Charlie Jemison and Dorothy Green. Her father was a maintenance supervisor for a charity organization, and her mother worked most of her career as an elementary school teacher of English and math at the Beethoven School in Chicago. According to a DNA analysis, she descended from people of Cameroon, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Senegal. The family moved to Chicago, Illinois, when Jemison was three years old, to take advantage of better educational opportunities there. Jemison graduated from Chicago's Morgan Park High School in 1973 and entered Stanford University at age 16. Jemison loved science growing up but she also loved the arts. Jemison began dancing at the age of eleven "I love dancing! I took all kinds of dance—African dancing, ballet, jazz, modern—even Japanese dancing. I wanted to become a professional dancer," said Jemison. Jemison said that majoring in engineering as a black woman was difficult because race was always an issue in the United States. "Some professors would just pretend I wasn't there. I would ask a question and a professor would act as if it was just so dumb, the dumbest question he had ever heard. Then, when a white guy would ask the same question, the professor would say, "That's a very astute observation." Jemison obtained her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1981 from Cornell Medical College (now Weill Medical College of Cornell University) She interned at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center and later worked as a general practitioner. During medical school Jemison traveled to Cuba, Kenya and Thailand, to provide primary medical care to people living there. In the spring of 1996, Jemison filed a complaint against a Texas police officer accusing him of police brutality during a traffic stop that ended in her arrest. She was pulled over by Nassau Bay, Texas officer Henry Hughes for allegedly making an illegal U-turn and arrested after Hughes learned of a warrant on Jemison for a speeding charge. In her complaint, Jemison said the officer physically and emotionally mistreated her and Jemison's attorney said she was forced to the ground and handcuffed. Jemison said in a televised interview that the incident has altered her feelings about police there. In 1993 Jemison founded her own company, the Jemison Group that researches, markets, and develops science and technology for daily life. On February 2, 2013, Jemison appeared as the "Not My Job" guest on NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, answering questions about airport shuttles."
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"Gabrielle Monique Union (born October 29, 1972) is an American actress and former model. Union was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1972, the middle child in a family of four daughters. She is the daughter of Theresa Glass, a former dancer, social worker, and phone company manager, and Sylvester C. Union, an AT&T manager and military sergeant. Union's early childhood years were spent as part of a rich African American community. Her large family had been in the Omaha area for many generations. She was raised Catholic. When Union was eight years old, she and her family moved to Pleasanton, California, where she grew up and attended Foothill High School. In high school, Union was an all-star point guard in basketball and a year-round athlete, also playing in soccer and ran track. Union is an Ambassador in Susan G. Komen for the Cure's Circle of Promise. She ran in the Global Race for the Cure in Washington D. C. on Saturday, June 2, 2012, in honor of her late friend Kristen Martinez, who lost her battle with breast cancer. In 1992, at age 19, Union was attacked and raped at her part-time job in a shoe store. Her attacker later turned himself in and was sentenced to 33 years in prison. She has since become an advocate for survivors of assault."
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 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 1661"
"Raymond William Stacey Burr (May 21, 1917–September 12, 1993) Raymond Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain. He won two Emmy Awards in 1959 and 1961 for the role of Perry Mason, which he played for nine seasons between 1957 and 1966. His second hit series, Ironside, earned him six Emmy nominations, and two Golden Globe nominations. He is also widely known for his role as Steve Martin in both Godzilla, King of the Monsters! and Godzilla 1985. In addition to acting, Burr owned an orchid business and had begun to grow a vineyard. He was a collector of wines and art, and was very fond of cooking. He was also a dedicated seashell collector whose financial support and gift of cowries and cones from Fiji helped to create the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum on Sanibel, Florida. After his death from cancer in 1993, Burr's personal life came into question as details of his known biography appeared to be unverifiable. In 1996, Raymond Burr was ranked #44 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time."
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 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 3691”
"Amanda Blake (February 20, 1929– August 16, 1989) was an American actress best known for the role of the red-haired saloon proprietress "Miss Kitty Russell" on the television western Gunsmoke. Along with her third husband Frank Gilbert, she ran one of the first successful programs for breeding cheetahs in captivity. Amanda Blake was born Beverly Louise Neill in Buffalo, New York, the only child of Jesse and Louise Neill. Her father was a banker, and she was a telephone operator before taking up acting. Catherine "Kate" Moore Barry one of her ancestors, was a heroine of the American Revolutionary War. She warned local patriots of Banastre Tarleton's approach, giving them time to group and prepare for the Battle of Cowpens a major American victory that helped pave the way for the British defeat at Yorktown. Nicknamed "the Young Greer Garson," she became best known for her 19-year stint as the saloon-keeper Miss Kitty on the television series Gunsmoke from 1955 to 1974. In 1968, Blake was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. She was the third performer inducted after Tom Mix and Gary Cooper, selected in 1958 and 1966, respectively. After Gunsmoke, Blake went into semi-retirement at her home in Phoenix, taking on only a few film and TV projects. She said she wanted to devote more time to her animals. She had been known for bringing her pet lion Kemo onto the Gunsmoke set. He lived in an animal compound at her home where her husband Frank Gilbert and she also ran an experimental breeding program for cheetahs. They were some of the first to breed cheetahs successfully in captivity, and raised seven generations of cheetahs. Blake had been a heavy cigarette smoker and had surgery for oral cancer in 1977. She became a supporter of the American Cancer Society and made fundraising appearances throughout the country. In 1984, she was the recipient of the society's annual Courage Award. According to The New York Times, Blake died on August 16, 1989, from complications of AIDS. Some confusion existed over the exact cause of her death. When she died at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento, California, a statement by the hospital and some of her friends reported the cause of death as cancer. Blake's death certificate, however, listed the immediate cause as cardiopulmonary arrest due to liver failure and cytomegalovirus hepatitis. CMV hepatitis is AIDS-related. The facts of her death from AIDS-related complications were reported in People the same year she died, being detailed by other friends and her main doctor. She reportedly contracted AIDS from her fourth husband, Mark Spaeth, who predeceased her by four years."
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 284"
"Walter Elias Disney (December 5, 1901–December 15, 1966) was an American entrepreneur, cartoonist, animator, voice actor and film producer. As a prominent figure within the American animation industry and throughout the world, he is regarded as a cultural icon, known for his influence and contributions to entertainment during the 20th century. As a Hollywood business mogul, he and his brother Roy O. Disney co-founded The Walt Disney Company. Disney was born on December 5, 1901, at 2156 North Tripp Avenue in Chicago's Hermosa community area, to Elias Charles Disney, who was Irish-Canadian, and Flora Call Disney, who was of German and English descent. His great-grandfather, Arundel Elias Disney, had emigrated from Gowran, County Kilkenny, Ireland where he was born in 1801. Arundel Disney was a descendant of Robert d'Isigny, a Frenchman who had traveled to England with William the Conqueror in 1066. With the d'Isigny name anglicized as "Disney," the family settled in a village now known as Norton Disney, south of the city of Lincoln, in the county of Lincolnshire. Disney was a founding member of the anti-communist group Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. On January 12, 1955, Disney was approved from the Federal Bureau of Investigation as an official SAC (special agent in charge). The title was used in-house by the Bureau for a trusted person they could contact for information or further assistance. Memos indicate that he remained a source of information to his death. Walt Disney was a chain smoker his entire adult life, although he made sure he was not seen smoking around children. In 1966, Disney was scheduled to undergo surgery to repair an old neck injury caused by many years of playing polo at the Riviera Club in Hollywood. On November 2, during pre-operative X-rays, doctors at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, across the street from the Disney Studio, discovered a tumor in his left lung. Five days later a biopsy showed the tumor to be malignant and to have spread throughout the entire left lung. After removing the lung on November 11, the surgeons informed Disney that his life expectancy was six months to two years. After several cobalt therapy sessions, Disney and his wife spent a short time in Palm Springs, California. On November 30, Disney collapsed at his home. He was revived by fire department personnel and rushed to St. Joseph's. Disney's spokesperson said he was there for a "postoperative checkup." On December 15, 1966, ten days after his 65th birthday, at 9:30am, Disney died of acute circulatory collapse, caused by lung cancer."
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 1440"
"Nicole Brown Simpson (May 19, 1959–June 12, 1994) was the ex-wife of professional football player O. J. Simpson. She was killed in her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, along with her friend, restaurant waiter Ronald Goldman. Brown was born May 19, 1959 in Frankfurt, West Germany, to Juditha Anne (Baur) and Louis Hezekiel Brown. Her mother was German and her father was American. She attended Rancho Alamitos High School in Garden Grove, California and Dana Hills High School in Dana Point. Brown met Simpson in 1977 while working as a waitress at Jack Hanson's Beverly Hills / Rodeo Drive nightclub "The Daisy." Although he was still married to his first wife, Marguerite, they began dating. He and Marguerite divorced in March 1979. He and Brown were married on February 2, 1985, five years after his retirement from professional football. The marriage lasted seven years, during which Simpson pleaded no contest to spousal abuse in 1989. Brown filed for divorce on February 25, 1992 citing "irreconcilable differences." On the evening of June 12, 1994, at the age of 35, Brown was killed at her home in Los Angeles, California, along with her friend, restaurant waiter Ronald Goldman. She had been stabbed multiple times in the head and neck and had defensive wounds on her hands. The wound on her neck was gaping, through which the larynx could be seen, and vertebra C3 was also incised. O. J. Simpson was arrested and found not guilty in a controversial criminal trial. He was later found liable for the deaths in a civil suit brought by the two victims' families. In 1994, Brown's sister, Denise, established the Nicole Brown Charitable Foundation to help victims of domestic violence. In 1996, after the conclusion of the trial, a judge granted Simpson's petition to give him full custody of his children. Brown's parents continued unsuccessfully to fight for custody."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 2410”
"Hugh Milburn Stone, sometimes known as Milly Stone (July 5, 1904–June 12, 1980) was an American film and television actor best known as "Doc" on the CBS Western series Gunsmoke. Stone was born in Burrton in Harvey County near Hutchinson in central Kansas, to Herbert Stone and the former Laura Belfield. There, he graduated from Burrton High School, where he was active in the drama club, played basketball, and sang in a barbershop quartet. In the 1930s, Stone came to Los Angeles to launch his own screen career. He was featured in the "Tailspin Tommy" adventure serial for Monogram Pictures. In 1940, he appeared with Marjorie Reynolds, Tristram Coffin, and I. Stanford Jolley in the comedy espionage film Chasing Trouble. That same year, he co-starred with Roy Rogers in the film Colorado in the role of Rogers' brother-gone-wrong. In 1955, one of CBS Radio's hit series, the Western Gunsmoke, was adapted for television and recast with experienced screen actors. Howard McNear, the radio "Doc Adams," was replaced by Stone, who gave the role a harder edge consistent with his screen portrayals. He stayed with Gunsmoke through its entire television run, appearing in 604 episodes through 1975, often shown sparring in a friendly manner with co-stars Dennis Weaver and Ken Curtis, who played, respectively, deputies Chester Goode and Festus Haggen. In March 1971, Stone had heart bypass surgery at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. In June 1980, Stone died of a heart attack in La Jolla. He was survived by his second wife, the former Jane Garrison, a native of Hutchinson, Kansas, who died in 2002. Stone had married, divorced, and remarried Garrison. Stone had a surviving daughter, Shirley Stone Gleason of Costa Mesa, California, from his first marriage of 12 years to Ellen Morrison, formerly of Delphos, Kansas, who died in 1937. He was buried at the El Camino Memorial Park in Sorrento Valley, San Diego. In 1975, Stone received an honorary doctorate from St. Mary of the Plains College in Dodge City, Kansas, where Gunsmoke was set but not filmed. A painting of the Doc Adams character was commissioned from Gary Hawk, a painter from Stone's home state of Kansas. When then U. S. President Ronald W. Reagan, a friend of Stone's, heard about the painting, Hawk was invited to the Oval Office to present the artwork to the President. Stone lived to see Reagan emerge as the likely Republican nominee for President in 1980, but not to witness Reagan's defeat of Jimmy Carter. Stone died in 1980 and Reagan was not inaugurated until 1981. For his contribution to the television industry, Milburn Stone has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1981, Stone was inducted posthumously into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. After his death, he left a legacy for the performing arts in Cecil County in northeastern Maryland, by way of the Milburn Stone Theatre in North East, Maryland."
 Find a Grave Memorial ID unavailable
"Isaac Jefferson, also likely known as Isaac Granger (1775–c.1850) was a valued, enslaved artisan of U. S. President Thomas Jefferson; he crafted and repaired products as a tinsmith, blacksmith, and nailer at Monticello. Although Thomas Jefferson gave Isaac and his family to his daughter Maria and her husband John Wayles Eppes in 1797 as a wedding gift, Isaac Jefferson/Granger appeared to gain his freedom by 1822, according to his memoir. In the 1840 census he was recorded as Isaac Granger, a free man working in Petersburg, Virginia. The Rev. Charles Campbell interviewed him there and published his memoir under the name of Isaac Jefferson in 1847. Granger/Jefferson describes Thomas Jefferson as a master, and his part in the lives of his slaves. Born into slavery in 1775, Isaac was the third son of Ursula and Great George. His father rose in the hierarchy from foreman of labor to become overseer of Monticello in 1797, the only slave to reach that position under Thomas Jefferson. He was paid an annual wage of £20. In 1773 Jefferson had purchased Isaac's mother Ursula, and she became a highly trusted domestic servant. She served as a pastry cook and laundress, with duties including meat preservation and the bottling of cider. Isaac's older brothers were George and Bagwell. Isaac spent his childhood on the plantation near his parents. His early tasks included carrying fuel, lighting fires, and opening gates. Because Jefferson took Great George, Ursula and their family with him to Williamsburg and Richmond when he was elected governor, the boy Isaac witnessed dramatic events during the Revolutionary War. He later recounted vivid memories of 1781, including Benedict Arnold's raid on Richmond and seeing the internment camp for captured slaves at Yorktown. Probably about 1790 at the age of 15, Isaac began his apprentice training in the metalworking trades. As president, Jefferson took Isaac as part of his household to Philadelphia. He arranged to have the youth apprenticed for several years to a tinsmith, a skilled and valued trade. Isaac Jefferson's account is the only source for this aspect of his working life. He learned to make graters, pepper boxes and tin cups, about four dozen a day. After the household's return to Monticello, the president set up a tin shop. Isaac Granger/Jefferson recalled that it did not succeed economically. Training as a blacksmith under his older brother Little George, Isaac added to his skills. Sometime after 1794, he became a nailer as well, and was assigned to both nail making and smithing.By 1796, Granger had a wife named Iris and a son Joyce. He was working extra hours in the blacksmith shop to make chain traces, for which Jefferson paid him three pence a pair. According to Jefferson's records, Granger was a most productive nailer. In the first three months of that year, he made 507 pounds of nails in 47 days, wasting the least amount of nail rod in the process. He earned the highest daily return for his master: the equivalent of eighty-five cents a day. How Isaac gained his freedom is unknown. His memoir recounts that he left Albemarle County about four years before Jefferson's death, or around 1822. He met and talked to the French general, the Marquis de Lafayette, in Richmond in 1824. Twenty-first century research by the staff at Monticello discovered that Isaac Jefferson may have taken the name Isaac Granger in freedom, or used it before that in the slave community. Someone else may have later mistakenly assigned him the name of Jefferson. The 1840 census of Petersburg, Virginia includes a free black man, Isaac Granger, whose family members and age match what is known of Isaac Jefferson. In 1847, Granger was working as a free man in Petersburg as a blacksmith, at the age of seventy-two, when he was interviewed by the Rev. Charles Campbell; Campbell published the account that year as the memoir of Isaac Jefferson. Granger did not say whether he took the surname Jefferson by choice or whether a white man imposed it, as was the case with his fellow Monticello slave Israel Jefferson. His memoir was rediscovered and published again in 1951 by the historian Rayford Logan. In the interview, Granger recounted details about the relationship of Thomas Jefferson and the Hemings (or Hemmings) family. He said that "folks said that" Sally Hemings and at least some of her siblings "was old Mr. Wayles' children", referring to Jefferson's father-in-law John Wayles. Some scholars think that this adds weight to other historic testimony that Sally Hemings and her five full siblings were half-siblings of the president's wife Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. The memoir describes the integral role which the Betty Hemings family played at Monticello as domestic servants, skilled artisans and craftsmen, and staff who ran the president's mansion. The fate of Isaac's wife Iris and their two sons is unknown. In 1847 at the time of his memoir, Isaac was married to his second wife. Rev. Charles Campbell wrote that Isaac Jefferson died "a few years after these his recollections were taken down. He bore a good character." Campbell may have imposed the name Jefferson to attract more attention to his published memoir. The Monticello staff have found another reference to the Granger surname in Monticello and related records: in the 1870 census of Albemarle County, an Archy Granger and his family were living at Edgehill Plantation, then owned by Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Thomas Jefferson's grandson. They worked for Randolph's sister Septimia Randolph Meikleham. Thomas J. Randolph had purchased Archy from Monticello after his grandfather Jefferson's death in 1826, when 130 slaves were sold to pay off debts of the estate. Archy Granger matches in age the plantation records of Archy, the son of the slaves Bagwell and Minerva of Monticello. (He was the grandson of Great George and Ursula.) In addition, Randolph family letters document [a] Archy Granger and his family at their plantation of Edgehill. He appears to have been the nephew of Isaac (Jefferson) Granger, and his use of the Granger name is another indication that it was originally adopted within the family."
"Tara Leigh Patrick (born April 20, 1972) better known by her stage name Carmen Electra, is an American glamour model, actress, television personality, singer, and dancer. She gained fame for her appearances in Playboy magazine, on the MTV game show Singled Out, on the TV series Baywatch, and dancing with the Pussycat Dolls, and has since had roles in the parody films Scary Movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, and Disaster Movie. Carmen Electra was born in Sharonville, Ohio near Cincinnati to Harry Patrick, a guitarist and entertainer, and his wife Patricia, a singer. The youngest of six children four brothers and one sister, plus her. Electra attended Ann Weigel Elementary School and studied dance under Gloria J. Simpson at Dance Artists studio in Western Hills until age nine, when she enrolled in the School for Creative and Performing Arts, a magnet arts school in the Cincinnati Public School District. Electra has Irish, German and Cherokee ancestry, and was incredibly close to her family. She said of her mother, "My mom was my rock," and described her older sister Debbie as being "like a second mother to me." After Debbie moved to Illinois, Electra said her life "revolved around my mom. She was my best friend, in my life 24/7 whether I wanted her there or not." Electra was featured in Playboy four more times: June 1997, December 2000, April 2003, and the January 2009 anniversary issue. She was on the cover of the last three of these issues. In the 1990s, Carmen Electra was romantically linked with musicians Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe and Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit. However, Electra was dating NBA star Dennis Rodman in August 1998 when her mother and sister died within weeks of each other. She and Rodman wed in November 1998 at Little Chapel of the Flowers in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nine days later, Rodman filed for annulment, claiming he was of "unsound mind" when the pair wed. Electra explained, "It's easy to get caught up in a moment. You think it's romantic, but then you realize, God, we did it in Vegas? It's like getting a cheeseburger at a fast-food restaurant." The couple reconciled and celebrated New Year's Eve together, but four months later they mutually agreed to end their marriage in April 1999 under "amicable circumstances. "Carmen Electra organized a fundraiser for Head to Hollywood, a non-profit organization which offers support to brain tumor survivors. Other charities which she supports include Elevate Hope, a charity which supports abused and abandoned children, and the HollyRod Foundation, which provides medical, physical, and emotional support to those suffering from debilitating life circumstances, especially Parkinson's disease."
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 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 8437598”
"Whitney Blake February 20, 1926–September 28, 2002) was an American film and television actress, director and producer. She is known for her four seasons as Dorothy Baxter, the mother, on the early 1960s sitcom Hazel, and as co-creator and writer of the sitcom One Day at a Time. With her first husband she had three children, including actress Meredith Baxter. Blake was born Nancy Ann Whitney in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California. She was the first child of Martha Mae Whitney and Harry C. Whitney, a United States Secret Service agent who had guarded President Woodrow Wilson, his wife, and other political officials. Blake and her younger brother traveled around the country extensively, during which time she attended sixteen different schools. While attending Pasadena City College, she worked in small-theater groups in the Los Angeles area. In the summer she worked at her mother's ice-cream stand in McMinnville, Oregon. She appeared in a "Gunsmoke" episode called "Wind" in March 1959. Blake played a gambler's lady who tried to shoot Matt Dillon in the back. This was Season 4, episode 28 of the popular half-hour series. She also guest-starred on an episode of the detective series 77 Sunset Strip. Blake is best remembered for having portrayed Dorothy Baxter, an interior designer and the wife of George Baxte, a lawyer, on the NBC sitcom Hazel starring Shirley Booth in the title role as a bossy maid. Bobby Buntrock played her son, Harold Baxter. Oddly, Blake played Mrs. Baxter on Hazel, which had also been the name of her first husband and the surname of her three children in real life. Following the show's cancellation by NBC in 1965, DeFore and Blake were dropped from the series when CBS picked up the show for one more season. They were replaced by Ray Fulmer and Lynn Borden, respectively in the roles of Steve and Barbara Baxter, the younger brother and sister-in-law of George Baxter. After Hazel, Blake guest-starred in an episode of the ABC western series The Legend of Jesse James. In 1966 she appeared in the episode, "Nice Day for a Hanging" of Chuck Connors's NBC western series, Branded. She guest starred in a 1974 episode of Cannon, starring William Conrad. Blake married Tom Baxter in early 1944. They had three children, sons, Richard Whitney Baxter, Brian Thomas Baxter and daughter, Meredith Ann Baxter. In 1988 her son Brian began co-ownership with Blake in a Minneapolis bookstore, Baxter's Books, which closed in 1998. Her daughter, Meredith, became an actress, starring in the 1980s hit sitcom Family Ties. In 1957 Blake married talent agent Jack X Fields; they divorced in 1967. From August 24, 1968, until her death in 2002, she was married to writer/collaborator Allan Manings. According to the book Untied, by Blake's daughter, Meredith Baxter, on Blake's 76th birthday Blake's children took her and Manings to dinner. Later that evening Blake revealed that she had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer. She expressed confidence that she would beat the disease but died seven months later. She experienced great discomfort during her final months. Manings told Baxter, his stepdaughter, that the most difficult day was when he told Blake that he had to hire hospice care for her, at which time Blake realized that her condition was terminal. Whitney Blake died at her home on September 28, 2002, in Edgartown, Massachusetts. She was survived by her husband, Allan Manings, and the three children from her first marriage. Manings also later died of esophageal cancer."
Source: Wikipedia.org, Friday, April 20, 2018, 4:04PM 
"Penélope Cruz Sánchez (born April 28, 1974) is a Spanish actress and model. Signed by an agent at age 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón, jamón (1992) to critical acclaim. Cruz has modeled for Mango, Ralph Lauren and L'Oréal. Penélope and her younger sister Mónica Cruz have designed clothing for Mango. Cruz has volunteered
in Uganda and India, where she spent one week working with Mother Teresa; she donated her salary from The Hi-Lo Country to help fund the late nun's mission. Penélope Cruz Sánchez was born in Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain, the daughter of Encarna Sánchez, a hairdresser and personal manager, and Eduardo Cruz, a retailer and auto mechanic. She was raised Roman Catholic. Cruz grew up in Alcobendas, a working-class town, and she spent long hours at her grandmother's apartment. Cruz is the oldest of three siblings; she has a younger brother, Eduardo, a singer, and a younger sister, Mónica, an actress. She says she had a happy childhood. Cruz remembers "playing with some friends and being aware that I was acting as I was playing with them. I would think of a character and pretend to be someone else." In 2006, Cruz became spokes-model for French cosmetics company L'Oréal to promote products such as the L'Oréal Paris hair dye Natural Match and L'Oreal mascara products. She receives $2 million a year for her work for the company. Cruz ranked as No. 58 in Maxim's "Hot 100" of 2007 list, and was chosen by Empire magazine as being one of the 100 Sexiest Movie Stars in the world. Cruz is a friend of Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, whom she has known for more than two decades and with whom she has worked on films. Cruz is known to friends as Pe. Cruz owns a clothing store in Madrid and designed jewelry and handbags with her younger sister for a company in Japan. In 2007, Cruz began dating Spanish actor Javier Bardem, who was her co-star in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. They married in early July 2010 in a private ceremony at a friend's home in the Bahamas. They have a son, Leonardo (born January 22, 2011 in Los Angeles) and a daughter, Luna (born July 22, 2013 in Madrid) Esquire magazine named her the Sexiest Woman Alive in 2014." 
"Malala Yousafzai (born 12 July 1997) is a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest-ever Nobel Prize recipient. She is known mainly for human rights advocacy for education and for women in her native Swat Valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of northwest Pakistan, where the local Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. Yousafzai's advocacy has since grown into an international movement. Her family runs a chain of schools in the region. In early 2009, when she was 11–12, Yousafzai wrote a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC detailing her life under Taliban occupation, their attempts to take control of the valley, and her views on promoting education for girls in the Swat Valley. The following summer, journalist Adam B. Ellick made a New York Times documentary about her life as the Pakistani military intervened in the region, culminating in the Second Battle of Swat. Yousafzai rose in prominence, giving interviews in print and on television, and she was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize by South African activist Desmond Tutu. On the afternoon of 9 October 2012, Yousafzai boarded her school bus in the northwest Pakistani district of Swat. A gunman asked for her by name, then pointed a pistol at her and fired three shots. One bullet hit the left side of Yousafzai's forehead, travelled under her skin through the length of her face, and then went into her shoulder. In the days immediately following the attack, she remained unconscious and in critical condition, but later her condition improved enough for her to be sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, for intensive rehabilitation. On 12 October, a group of 50 Islamic clerics in Pakistan issued a fatwa against those who tried to kill her, but the Taliban reiterated their intent to kill Yousafzai and her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai. Some Pakistanis believe the shooting was a CIA setup and many conspiracy theories exist. Yousafzai was born on 12 July 1997 in the Swat District of Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, into a Sunni Muslim family of Pashtun ethnicity. She was given her first name Malala (meaning "grief-stricken") after Malalai of Maiwand, a famous Pashtun poetess and warrior woman from southern Afghanistan. Her last name, Yousafzai, is that of a large Pashtun tribal confederation that is predominant in Pakistan's Swat Valley, where she grew up. At her house in Mingora, she lived with her two younger brothers, her parents, Ziauddin and Tor Pekai, and two pet chickens. Swat has always remained a popular tourist spot and attracted thousands of tourists due to its natural and scenic beauty. Queen Elizabeth II once during her visit to the area called it "the Switzerland of the east." Fluent in Pashto, English, and Urdu, Yousafzai was educated in large part by her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, who is a poet, school owner and an educational activist himself, running a chain of schools known as the Khushal Public School. She once stated to an interviewer that she would like to become a doctor, though later her father encouraged her to become a politician instead. Ziauddin referred to his daughter as something entirely special, permitting her to stay up at night and talk about politics after her two brothers had been sent to bed."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 1201”
"Eric Fleming, born Edward Heddy, Jr. (July 4, 1925–September 28, 1966) was an American actor, known primarily for his role as Gil Favor in the long running CBS television series Rawhide. Fleming was born in Santa Paula, California, an only child with an unhappy childhood. Born with a club foot, he needed crutches to get around and was often severely beaten by his father. At the age of eight he attempted to kill his father with a gun, which jammed. He ran away from home shortly after, fleeing to Los Angeles and then Chicago where he lived roughly and associated with gangsters, doing odd jobs for them to make money. At the age of eleven, after being wounded in a gun fight between some gangsters and hospitalized, he was returned home to his mother, who had recently divorced. During the years of The Depression he dropped out of school and worked at various jobs until he joined the Merchant Marine, before joining the United States Navy in 1942 for World War II. He served as a Seabee in a naval construction battalion. He received severe facial injuries during a bet in which he was attempting to lift a 200 pounds weight and had to undergo extensive plastic surgery to reconstruct his forehead, nose and jaw. Before this, Fleming had always thought himself "ugly" and considered the incident a "wonderful balance of values." In 1958, the 6 foot 31/2 inch, half-an-inch shorter than his co-star Clint Eastwood, Fleming landed the starring role as trail boss Gil Favor in Rawhide. Set in the 1860s, Rawhide portrayed the challenges faced by the men of the cattle drive from San Antonio, Texas, to Sedalia, Missouri. Producer Charles Marquis Warren called on the diary written in 1866 by trail boss George C. Duffield to shape the character of Favor: a savvy, strong and fair leader who persevered and got the job done. The top-rated Western, with co-stars Clint Eastwood, Sheb Wooley, and Paul Brinegar, ran from 1959 to 1966. Fleming and Eastwood more or less rotated in playing the lead from week-to-week in the episodes but Fleming was always billed over Eastwood. After Fleming left Rawhide at the end of the 1964–65 season he took part in a Doris Day vehicle The Glass Bottom Boat where he played a suave spy, and then was signed to star in High Jungle, an MGM adventure film shot in Peru. During the final stages of shooting, Fleming and costar Nico Minardo dugout canoe overturned in the Huallaga River. Actor Nico Minardos managed to swim to safety, but Fleming was swept away by the current and drowned on September 28, 1966. Fleming was 41 when he died. He had planned to marry Lynne Garber and become a teacher when the film was completed. His will left money to his mother, his cousin and a friend but specifically excluded his father from any bequest. In his will he donated his body to medical science, but it is unknown if his remains were sent to UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, or if they were buried on the grounds of the University of Peru in Lima, Peru. Stories continue to spread about piranhas but according to Sherry Hensley's 2004 biography sources told her that piranhas only thrive in the lower regions where the pools remain calm and that according to the source who grew up in the area there are no piranhas in the rapids where Fleming drowned."
"Maximilian Adalbert Baer Jr. (born December 4, 1937) is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, and director. He is best known for playing Jethro Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies and in January 2015, after the death of Donna Douglas, Baer became the last surviving member of the show's main cast. Baer was born Maximilian Adalbert Baer Jr. in Oakland, California, the son of boxing champion Max Baer and his wife Mary Ellen Sullivan. His father was of German, Jewish and Scots-Irish descent. His brother and sister are James Manny Baer and Maude Baer. His uncle was boxer and actor Buddy Baer. He attended Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento, where he earned letters in four sports, and twice won the junior title at the Sacramento Open golf tournament. Playing with Charlie Sifford, he later won the pro-am tournament at the 1968 Andy Williams - San Diego Open. Baer earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Santa Clara University, with a minor in philosophy. In 1962, Baer was cast in the role of the doltish "Jethro Bodine," Jed Clampett's sister's son. It proved to be the highpoint of his acting career and the role for which he is best remembered. He continued to take other parts during the nine-year run of The Beverly Hillbillies and appeared on the television programs Vacation Playhouse and Love, American Style, as well as in the western A Time for Killing. With the 2015 death of co-star Donna Douglas, Baer is the only surviving cast member. With a sad tone in his voice, Max says, "I’m the last man standing. All the actors, producers—everybody on the show is gone."
"Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Her debut album, Some Hearts, was released in 2005. Bolstered by the huge crossover success of the singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats," it became the best-selling solo female debut album in country music history, the fastest-selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history and the best-selling country album of the last 14 years. Underwood won three Grammy Awards for the album, including Best New Artist. Underwood was born March 10, 1983, in Muskogee, Oklahoma, to Carole Shatswell and Stephen Underwood. She was raised on her parents' farm in the nearby rural town of Checotah. Her father worked in a sawmill while her mother taught elementary school. She has two older sisters, Shanna and Stephanie. Extremely hyperactive, she was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder at age 5 and was prescribed Ritalin and Dexedrine, medicines she still takes as an adult. During her childhood, Underwood performed at Robbins Memorial Talent Show, and sang at her local church, First Free Will Baptist Church. She later sang for local events in Checotah, including Old Settler's Day and the Lion's Club. A local admirer arranged for her to go to Nashville when she was 14 to audition for Capitol Records. In 1996, Capitol Records was preparing a contract for Underwood but canceled it when company management changed. Underwood said of the event, "I honestly think it's a lot better that nothing came out of it now, because I wouldn't have been ready then. Everything has a way of working out." While at Checotah High School, she was an Honor Society member, a cheerleader, and played basketball and softball. Underwood graduated from Checotah High School in 2001 as salutatorian. She chose not to pursue singing after graduation. She said, "After high school, I pretty much gave up on the dream of singing. I had reached a point in my life where I had to be practical and prepare for my future in the 'real world.'" She attended Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, graduating magna cum laude in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in mass communication and an emphasis in journalism. She spent part of one of her summers as a page for Oklahoma State Representative Bobby Frame. She also waited tables at a pizzeria, worked at a zoo, and at a veterinary clinic. Underwood is an alumna of the Alpha Iota chapter of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority. In the summer of 2004, Underwood auditioned for American Idol in St. Louis, Missouri, singing Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me." After she sang "Could've Been" by Tiffany on the top 12 girls night, judge Simon Cowell commented that she would be one of the favorites to win the competition. During the top 11 finalists' performance on the March 22, 2005, Idol episode, Underwood sang a rendition of the number-one 1980s rock hit "Alone," made famous by Heart, and Cowell predicted that Underwood would not only win the competition, but she would also outsell all previous Idol winners. One of the show's producers later said she dominated the voting, winning every week handily. She gained a fan base known as "Carrie's Care Bears" during the course of the show. During the final, she sang with Rascal Flatts on "Bless the Broken Road." On May 25, 2005, Underwood became the season four winner. Her winnings included a recording contract worth at least a million dollars, use of a private jet for a year, and a Ford Mustang convertible. Underwood is a practicing Christian. She and her mother are both fans of writer Stephen King. His 1980s best-selling book-turned-to-movie Christine inspired the video for her single "Two Black Cadillacs." Underwood is a fan of musical drama show Nashville and horror-themed TV shows The Following and The Walking Dead, having stated, in an interview with Marie Claire, that she would like to play a zombie on The Walking Dead. One of her favorite artists is Brandon Heath. Underwood began dating NHL player Mike Fisher after they met at one of her concerts in late 2008, and she became engaged to him in December 2009. On July 10, 2010, Underwood and Fisher wed at The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, Georgia, with more than 250 people in attendance. Together, the couple have one son. Fisher retired from professional hockey on August 3, 2017. In January 2014, it was reported that Underwood topped the 2013 list of the highest-paid American Idol alumni, reportedly earning $31 million. This was not only more than any American Idol contestant, but it exceeded the annual earnings of 2013 judges Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, and Keith Urban. Underwood is an animal lover and a vegan. She stopped eating meat at the age of thirteen because she could not stand the thought of eating one of her own animals. She was voted "World's Sexiest Vegetarian." On May 7, 2013, it was announced that Underwood will perform the opening theme song for NBC Sunday Night Football, replacing Faith Hill. Hill later expressed full support for Underwood, congratulating her via Twitter and stating that it was "an awesome choice" by NBC/SNF and that Underwood "will rock it."
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["Pumla Makaziwe Mandela-Amuah (born 1954) is the daughter of Nelson Mandela and his first wife Evelyn Mase. She was named after her older sister, born in 1947, who died aged just nine months. Of the four children born to Nelson and Evelyn Mandela, Makaziwe is the only one still living. She is married to Dr. Isaac Amuah, who is of Ghanaian origin. She received her secondary education at Waterford Kamhlaba UWC of Southern Africa before going to the University of Fort Hare in South Africa. In 1993, she earned a Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts, in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. She has held senior posts at the University of the Witwatersrand and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, and now heads the Industrial Development Group, with interests in mining and petroleum."] ["Nelson Mandela shared with his first wife, Evelyn, a passionate commitment to a cause. Unfortunately, it was not the same cause. Evelyn, who has died aged 82, was a Jehovah's Witness with no interest in politics. As Mandela wrote in his autobiography, Long Walk To Freedom: "When I would tell her that I was serving the nation, she would reply that serving God was above serving the nation. A man and woman who hold such different views of their respective roles in life cannot remain close." Nevertheless, they were married for 13 years and had four children, one of whom died in infancy. Apolitical though she was, Evelyn continued to pay the price of being a Mandela: the apartheid regime denied her a passport so she could not accompany her children to their private schools in neighboring Swaziland. It was also Evelyn who had to find the money to pay their fees. Born Evelyn Mase, in Engcobo, in the Transkei, she lost her father, a mineworker, while still a baby. Her mother died when Evelyn was 12, and she was sent to Soweto to join her brother, Sam, who was living with Mandela's great friend and mentor, Walter Sisulu (obituary, May 7 2003). Evelyn's mother and Walter's mother were sisters, and the families were very close. After high school in Soweto, Evelyn trained as a nurse. It was in the early 1940s that she caught the eye of Mandela, then a frequent visitor to the Sisulu home. "She was a quiet, pretty girl, who did not seem overawed by the comings and goings," he wrote. They were married at the native commissioner's court in 1944, with Walter and Albertina Sisulu as witnesses. The wedding was a spartan affair because the couple could not afford a feast. Nor could they afford a home of their own, living first with her brother in Orlando East and then with her sister. Their first child, Thembi, was born a year later. As Mandela became more involved with the ANC, he spent less and less time at home. Martin Meredith, in his biography of Mandela, claims he had affairs. In 1952, Evelyn spent several months in Durban training to become a midwife, while her husband's mother and sister took care of the children. Meredith reports that Evelyn returned to find Mandela's secretary installed in her home. Evelyn, a tough woman, threatened to throw boiling water over her and the woman left the house, but the affair continued. Evelyn was never reconciled to living in Johannesburg. She wanted the family to return to the Transkei, where Mandela could take his place in the local Xhosa aristocracy. But it was her religious activities that caused the most trouble between them. The loss of her first daughter, Makaziwe, devastated Evelyn, and when another daughter, also named Makaziwe, was born in 1954, she took it as a sign from God and became a Jehovah's Witness. The house became a battleground between religion and politics, with the children as cannon fodder. Evelyn took them to church and made them sell the Watchtower magazine around Soweto. Mandela lectured them on politics. Sisulu tried to intervene, but was told by a furious Mandela that he no longer loved his wife. Evelyn gave him an ultimatum: choose between me and the ANC. It was no contest, and she and the children moved out. Shortly afterwards, Mandela met Winnie Madikizela, who became his second-and much more high-profile-wife in 1958. Evelyn returned with the children to Cofimvaba, in the Eastern Cape, where she opened a grocery store. Tragedy struck again in 1969 when her oldest son, Thembi, was killed in a road accident. Mandela, by then serving life imprisonment on Robben Island, wrote of his pain at not being allowed to attend his son's funeral. He wrote, he said, to Evelyn, to do his best to comfort her. She remained a Mandela until 1998, when she married a fellow Jehovah's Witness and retired Sowetan businessman, Simon Rakeepile. She is [now] survived [only] by her daughter Makaziwe."]
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 8620”
"Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840–11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, especially William Wordsworth. He was highly critical of much in Victorian society, especially on the declining status of rural people in Britain, such as those from his native South West England. Thomas Hardy was born on 2 June 1840 in Higher Bockhampton, a hamlet in the parish of Stinsford to the east of Dorchester in Dorset, England, where his father Thomas worked as a stonemason and local builder, and married his mother Jemima Hand in Beaminster towards the end of 1839. Jemima was well-read, and she educated Thomas until he went to his first school at Bockhampton at the age of eight. For several years he attended Mr. Last's Academy for Young Gentlemen in Dorchester, where he learned Latin and demonstrated academic potential. Because Hardy's family lacked the means for a university education, his formal education ended at the age of sixteen, when he became apprenticed to James Hicks, a local architect. In 1870, while on an architectural mission to restore the parish church of St Juliot in Cornwall, Hardy met and fell in love with Emma Gifford, whom he married in Kensington in the autumn of 1874. renting St David's Villa, Southborough for a year. In 1885 Thomas and his wife moved into Max Gate, a house designed by Hardy and built by his brother. Although they later became estranged, Emma's subsequent death in 1912 had a traumatic effect on him and after her death, Hardy made a trip to Cornwall to revisit places linked with their courtship; his Poems 1912–13 reflect upon her death. In 1914, Hardy married his secretary Florence Emily Dugdale, who was 39 years his junior. However, he remained preoccupied with his first wife's death and tried to overcome his remorse by writing poetry. In his later years, he kept a dog named Wessex, who was notoriously ill-tempered. Wessex's grave stone can be found on the Max Gate grounds. In 1910, Hardy had been appointed a Member of the Order of Merit and was also for the first time nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He would be nominated again for the prize eleven years later. Hardy became ill with pleurisy in December 1927 and died at Max Gate just after 9 pm on 11 January 1928, having dictated his final poem to his wife on his deathbed; the cause of death was cited, on his death certificate, as "cardiac syncope," with "old age" given as a contributory factor. His funeral was on 16 January at Westminster Abbey, and it proved a controversial occasion because Hardy had wished for his body to be interred at Stinsford in the same grave as his first wife, Emma. His family and friends concurred; however, his executor, Sir Sydney Carlyle Cockerell, insisted that he be placed in the abbey's famous Poets' Corner. A compromise was reached whereby his heart was buried at Stinsford with Emma, and his ashes in Poets' Corner. Hardy's estate at death was valued at £95,41. Shortly after Hardy's death, the executors of his estate burnt his letters and notebooks, but twelve notebooks survived, one of them containing notes and extracts of newspaper stories from the 1820s, and research into these has provided insight into how Hardy used them in his works. In the year of his death Mrs Hardy published The Early Life of Thomas Hardy, 1841–1891, compiled largely from contemporary notes, letters, diaries, and biographical memoranda, as well as from oral information in conversations extending over many years."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Sunday, January 20, 2019, 2:05 PM CDT-5:23 PM CDT |
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 640"
"Huey Pierce Long, Jr. (August 30, 1893–September 10, 1935) nicknamed The Kingfish, was an American politician who served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a member of the United States Senate from 1932 until his assassination in 1935. A Democrat, he was an outspoken populist, partially inspired by sansepolcrista Italian fascism. During his tenure, he commanded large networks of supporters and was willing to take forceful action, influencing claims that he was a political boss. He established the political prominence of the Long political family. Long is best known for his Share Our Wealth program, created in 1934 under the motto "Every Man a King." It proposed new wealth redistribution measures in the form of a net asset tax on corporations and individuals to curb the poverty and homelessness endemic nationwide during the Great Depression. To stimulate the economy, Long advocated federal spending on public works, schools and colleges, and old age pensions. He was an ardent critic of the policies of the Federal Reserve System. A supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election, Long split with Roosevelt in June 1933 to plan his own presidential bid for 1936 in alliance with the influential Catholic priest and radio commentator Charles Coughlin. However, Long was assassinated in 1935 and his national movement soon faded. However, his legacy continued in Louisiana through his wife, Senator Rose McConnell Long, and his son, Senator Russell B. Long. Under Long's leadership, hospitals and educational institutions were expanded, a system of charity hospitals was set up that provided health care for the poor, massive highway construction and free bridges brought an end to rural isolationism, and free textbooks for schoolchildren were introduced to tackle illiteracy. Long was born on August 30, 1893, in Winnfield, the seat of Winn Parish, a small town in the north-central part of the state. He was the son of Huey Pierce Long, Sr. and the former Caledonia Palestine Tison. He was the seventh of nine surviving children in a farm-owning middle-class family. He was home-schooled as a young child and later attended local schools, where he was an excellent student and was said to have a photographic memory. In 1908, upon completing the eleventh grade, Long circulated a petition protesting the addition of a 12th-grade graduation requirement, which resulted in his expulsion. On the day of his assassination, September 8, 1935, Long was at the State Capitol attempting to oust a long-time opponent, Judge Benjamin Henry Pavy. "House Bill Number One," a re-redistricting plan, was Long's top priority. If it passed, Judge Pavy would be removed from the bench. At 9 p.m., the session was still going strong. Judge Pavy's son-in-law, Dr. Carl Weiss, had been at the State Capitol waiting to speak to Long. He tried to see him three times to talk to him but was brushed off each time in the hallway by Long and his bodyguards. At 9:20 p.m., Dr. Weiss approached Long for the third time and, according to the generally accepted version of events, fired a handgun at Long from four feet away, striking him in the abdomen. Long's bodyguards returned fire, hitting Weiss 62 times and killing him. Long was rushed to the hospital but died two days later. Historians do not accept the strong speculation that Long actually died after accidentally being struck by a bullet fired by one of his own bodyguards as they fired at Weiss."
"Scarlett Johansson (born November 22, 1984) is an American actress, model and singer. Scarlett Johansson was born in New York City, New York on November 22, 1984. Her father, Karsten Johansson, is a Danish-born architect originally from Copenhagen, and her paternal grandfather, Ejner Johansson, was a screenwriter and director. Her mother, Melanie Sloan, a producer, comes from an Ashkenazi Jewish family from the Bronx. Melanie's ancestors emigrated to New York from Minsk, Tsarist Russia. She has an older sister, Vanessa, also an actress; an older brother, Adrian; a twin brother, Hunter and an older half-brother, Christian, from her father's first marriage. Johansson grew up in a household with "little money," and with a mother who was a "film buff." She and her brother, Hunter, attended P. S. 41 in the upper-middle-class Greenwich Village neighborhood, in Manhattan, for elementary school. Johansson began her theatrical training by attending and graduating from Professional Children's School in Manhattan in 2002. "For the second time, Scarlett Johansson has been bestowed the title of Sexiest Woman Alive by Esquire mag. She previously won the honor in 2006. The "Avengers" star, 28, who was married to Ryan Reynolds from 2008 to 2011 and just got engaged to journalist Romain Dauriac, is the first woman to be named sexiest twice by the magazine, which hits newsstands Oct. 15. "What I want to do right now is sleep late, read the paper," she told Esquire of her busy 2013, including movies such as "Don Jon" about a porn addict and a stint on Broadway in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." 'Scarlett Johansson Is Engaged.' Johansson knows this might be her last time taking home a title like this because she's in an industry that ages actresses quite quickly. "I'm a twenty-eight-year-old woman in the movie business, right?" she said. "Pretty soon the roles you're offered all become mothers. Then they just sort of stop. I have to hedge against that with work, theater, producing, this thing with Esquire." Johansson also gave the magazine a little insight into her sometimes "jealous" relationship. "I'm with a Frenchman. I think jealousy comes with the territory," she added. "But I'd rather be with someone who's a little jealous than someone who's never jealous. There's something a little dead fish about them. A little bit depressing."
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 817"
"Allan Pinkerton (25 August 1819–1 July 1884) was a Scottish American detective and spy, best known for creating the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. Pinkerton was born in the Gorbals, Glasgow, Scotland, to William Pinkerton and his wife, Isobel McQueen, on August 25, 1819. The location of the house he was born in is now occupied by the Glasgow Central Mosque. A cooper by trade, Pinkerton was active in the British Chartist movement as a young man. He secretly married Joan Carfrae, a singer, in Glasgow on 13 March 1842. Pinkerton emigrated to the United States in 1842. In 1843, Pinkerton heard of Dundee, Illinois, fifty miles northwest of Chicago, on the Fox River. He built a cabin and started a cooperage, sending for his wife in Chicago when their cabin was complete. As early as 1844, Pinkerton worked for the Chicago abolitionist leaders, and his Dundee home was a stop on the Underground Railroad. In 1849 Pinkerton was appointed as the first detective in Chicago. In 1850 he partnered with Chicago attorney Edward Rucker in forming the North-Western Police Agency, which later became Pinkerton & Co, and finally Pinkerton National Detective Agency, still in existence today as Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations, a subsidiary of Securitas AB. Pinkerton's business insignia was a wide open eye with the caption "We never sleep." As the US expanded in territory, rail transport increased. Pinkerton's agency solved a series of train robberies during the 1850s, first bringing Pinkerton into contact with George McClellan, then Chief Engineer and Vice President of the Illinois Central Railroad, and Abraham Lincoln, the company's lawyer. Prior to the war, he developed several investigative techniques still used today. Among them are "shadowing" (surveillance of a suspect) and "assuming a role" (undercover work). When the Civil War began, Pinkerton served as head of the Union Intelligence Service during the first two years, foiling an assassination plot in Baltimore, Maryland while guarding Abraham Lincoln on his way to Washington, D. C. His agents often worked undercover as Confederate soldiers and sympathizers to gather military intelligence. Pinkerton served on several undercover missions as a Union soldier using the alias Major E. J. Allen. He was succeeded as Intelligence Service chief by Lafayette Baker. The Intelligence Service was the predecessor [to] the U. S. Secret Service. Allan Pinkerton died in Chicago on July 1, 1884. It is usually said that Pinkerton slipped on the pavement and bit his tongue, resulting in gangrene. Contemporary reports give conflicting causes, such as that he succumbed to a stroke or to malaria, which he had contracted during a trip to the Southern United States. At the time of his death, he was working on a system to centralize all criminal identification records, a database now maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Pinkerton is buried in Graceland Cemetery, Chicago. He is a member of the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame."
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 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 70791188"
"James King Arness (May 26, 1923–June 3, 2011) was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke for 20 years. Arness has the distinction of having played the role of Dillon in five separate decades: 1955 to 1975 in the weekly series, then in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge and for more made-for-TV Gunsmoke movies in the 1990s. In Europe Arness reached cult status for his role as Zeb Macahan in the western series How the West Was Won. His younger brother was actor Peter Graves. Arness was born James Aurness in Minneapolis in 1923; he dropped the "u" when he started acting. His parents were Rolf Cirkler Aurness, a businessman, and his wife Ruth Duesler, a journalist. His father’s ancestry was Norwegian; his mother's was German. The family name had been Aursnes, but when Rolf's father, Peter Aursnes, emigrated from Norway in 1887, he changed it to Aurness. Arness and his family were Methodists. Arness' younger brother was actor Peter Graves. Peter used the stage name "Graves," a maternal family name. Arness attended John Burroughs Grade School, Washburn High School and West High School in Minneapolis. During this time, Arness worked as a courier for a jewelry wholesaler, loading and unloading railway boxcars at the Burlington freight yards in Minneapolis, and logging in Pierce, Idaho. Despite "being a poor student and skipping many classes," he graduated from high school in June 1942. Arness wanted to be a naval fighter pilot, but he felt his poor eyesight would bar him. His height of 6 feet 7 inches ended his hopes, since 6 feet 2 inches was the limit for aviators. Instead, he was called for the Army and reported to Fort Snelling, Minnesota in March 1943. Arness served as a rifleman with the U. S. 3rd Infantry Division, and was severely wounded during Operation Shingle, at Anzio, Italy. On January 29, 1945, having undergone surgery several times, Arness was honorably discharged. His wounds continued to bother him, and in later years Arness suffered from chronic leg pain, which sometimes hurt when mounting a horse. His decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze battle stars, the World War II Victory Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge. After his discharge, Arness entered Beloit College in Wisconsin. He began his performing career as a radio announcer at Minneapolis station WLOL in 1945. Arness came to Hollywood by hitchhiking and soon began acting and appearing in films. He began with RKO, which immediately changed his name from "Aurness." Arness was married twice, first to Virginia Chapman from 1948 until their divorce in 1960. He adopted her son. She died of a drug overdose in 1976. Arness was married to Janet Surtees from 1978 until his death although they did separate for a short time but got back together. When asked why he went back to her Arness said, "Women, can't live with them, can't live without them. Might as well suffer and live with them." He had two sons, Rolf and Craig. His daughter Jenny Lee Aurness committed suicide by overdose. Rolf Aurness became World Surfing Champion in 1970. Craig Aurness founded the stock photography agency Westlight and also was a photographer for National Geographic. Arness is survived by Rolf and by his adopted son. Despite his stoic character, according to Ben Bates, his Gunsmoke stunt double, Arness laughed "from his toes to the top of his head." Shooting on the Gunsmoke set was suspended because Arness got a case of the uncontrollable giggles. James Arness disdained publicity and banned reporters from the Gunsmoke set. He was said to be a shy and sensitive man who enjoyed poetry, sailboat racing, and surfing. TV Guide dubbed him "The Greta Garbo of Dodge City." Buck Taylor (Newly on Gunsmoke) thought so highly of Arness that he named his second son, Matthew, after Arness' character. Arness died of natural causes at his Brentwood home in Los Angeles on June 3, 2011. He is interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 1892”
"William Whitney Talman, Jr. (February 4, 1915–August 30, 1968) was an American television and movie actor, who played Los Angeles District Attorney Hamilton Burger in the long-running series Perry Mason. Talman was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Ada Barber and William Whitney Talman, a vice president of an electronics company. His maternal grandparents, Catherine Gandy and James Wells Barber, were immigrants from England. Talman served for 30 months in the United States Army in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, beginning his service as a private on February 4, 1942, at Camp Upton in Yaphank, Long Island, New York City. He was ultimately commissioned a major during the war. Talman was fired from Perry Mason for a short period in 1960. Sheriff's deputies, suspicious of marijuana use, raided a party on March 13, 1960, in a private home in Beverly Hills at which Talman was a guest. The deputies reported finding Talman and seven other defendants either nude or seminude. All were arrested for possession of marijuana and lewd vagrancy, but municipal judge Adolph Alexander dismissed the lewd vagrancy charges against Talman and the others on June 17 for lack of proof. "I don’t approve of their conduct," the judge ruled, "but it is not for you and me to approve but to enforce the statutes." Despite this Talman was fired by CBS which refused to give a reason. Talman was later rehired after Perry Mason producer Gail Patrick Jackson made a request to CBS following a massive letter-writing campaign by viewers. Talman was married three times. His third wife was Margaret Flanagan whom he married in 1963. Talman is also known for being the first actor in Hollywood to film an antismoking public service announcement for the American Cancer Society. A lifelong heavy smoker, he was diagnosed with lung cancer, and knew he was dying when he filmed the commercial. The short film began with the words, "Before I die, I want to do what I can to leave a world free of cancer for my six children” Talman requested that the commercial not be aired until after his death. He had made another such public service announcement, which opened with his voice-over and a picture of his home, followed by filmed shots of his wife and kids, then a still of himself " with a friend of mine you might recognize," Raymond Burr, from the Perry Mason TV series. He then said, "You know, I didn't really mind losing those courtroom battles, but I'm in a battle now I don't want to lose at all. Because if I lose it, it means losing my wife and those kids you just met. I've got lung cancer…So take some advice about smoking and losing from someone who's been doing both for years … If you don't smoke, don't start. If you do smoke, quit! … Don't be a loser." Four weeks after filming the second public service announcement, Talman died on August 30, 1968, at the age of 53, and was buried in the Court of Liberty, lot 833, at Forest Lawn–Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. His widow, Margaret Louise Talman, joined him there at the time of her death in January 2002, aged 73 [some 34 years later]. After William Talman's death, she continued his antismoking efforts. Unfortunately, by a few years later, she had resumed smoking, and her cause of death was also lung cancer."
"Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor, producer, and semi-retired professional wrestler. Johnson was a professional wrestler in the WWE for eight years prior to pursuing an acting career. His films have since earned over $3.4 billion in North America, making him one of the highest-grossing actors of all-time. Johnson was born on May 2, 1972, in Hayward, California, to Ata Johnson and former professional wrestler Rocky Johnson Wayde Douglas Bowles. Growing up, Johnson briefly lived in New Zealand with his mother's family where he attended Richmond Road Primary School in Grey Lynn before returning to the United States. He then attended Montclaire Elementary School in Charlotte, North Carolina before moving to Hamden, Connecticut where he spent a couple years at Shepherd Glen Elementary School and Hamden Middle School. Johnson spent his high school years in Honolulu, Hawaii at President William McKinley High School, in Nashville, Tennessee at Glencliff High School and McGavock High School, and in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania at Freedom High School. He was arrested multiple times for fighting, theft, and check fraud before the age of 17. Johnson also began playing sports, joining his high schools' gridiron football, track and field and wrestling teams. Johnson is half-Black and half-Samoan. His father, Rocky Johnson, is a Black Canadian, from Nova Scotia, and part of the first Black tag team champions in WWE history along with Tony Atlas. His mother is Samoan and the daughter of Peter Maivia, who was also a pro wrestler. Maivia's wife, Lia, was the first female pro wrestling promoter, taking over Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling after her husband's death in 1982, until 1988. Through his grandfather Maivia, Johnson is considered a non-blood relative to the Anoa'i wrestling family. In 2008, Johnson inducted his father and grandfather into the WWE Hall of Fame. Johnson married Dany García on May 3, 1997. Their only child together, a daughter named Simone, was born in August 2001. On June 1, 2007, they announced they were splitting up amicably. Johnson then began dating Lauren Hashian, daughter of Boston drummer Sib Hashian. They first met in 2006 while Johnson was filming The Game Plan. Their first child together, Jasmine, was born in December 2015; their second child, Tiana, was born in April 2018. As of 2014, Johnson has a home in Southwest Ranches, Florida, as well as Los Angeles, California. He also owns a farm in Virginia. In 2009, Johnson gained citizenship in Canada in honor of his father's background. In 2006, Johnson founded the Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation, a charity working with at-risk and terminally ill children. On October 2, 2007, he and his ex-wife donated $1 million to the University of Miami to support the renovation of its football facilities. The University of Miami renamed the Hurricanes' locker room in Johnson's honor. In 2015, Johnson donated $1,500 to a GoFundMe to pay for an abandoned dog's surgery. In 2017, he donated $25,000 to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. In 2018, Johnson donated a gym to a military base in Oahu, Hawaii. After the 2018 Hawaii floods, he worked with Malama Kauai, a nonprofit organization, to help repair damages caused by the floods. Johnson has also worked with Make-A-Wish Foundation on a number of occasions. Hashian and Johnson were married on August 18, 2019, in Hawaii. They have two children. Though Johnson was previously registered as a Republican, he voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 United States presidential elections and is now an independent voter. He stated he did not vote in the 2016 U. S. election."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Monday, August 19, 2019, 7:00 PM CDT |
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 49713393"
"Peter Aurness (March 18, 1926–March 14, 2010) known professionally as Peter Graves, was a American film and television actor. He was best known for his starring role in the CBS television series Mission: Impossible from 1967 to 1973 (original) and from 1988 to 1990 (revival). His elder brother was actor James Arness. Graves was born Peter Duesler Aurness in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a son of Methodist parents Rolf Cirkler Aurness, a businessman, and his wife Ruth Duesler, a journalist. Graves' ancestry was Norwegian and German. The family name originally was "Aursnes," but when Rolf's Norwegian father, Peter Aursnes, immigrated to New York City in 1887, he changed the spelling. Peter used the stage name "Graves," a maternal family name. He used the name Graves to honor his mother's family, and also so as to not be confused with his older brother, James Arness, who was the star of the television series Gunsmoke. Graves graduated from Southwest High School in 1944, and spent two years in the United States Army Air Forces near the end of World War II. He then enrolled at the University of Minnesota on the G. I. Bill, and was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. On October 30, 2009, Graves was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He participated in athletics and was an accomplished musician before beginning his career as a radio announcer, where he utilized his robust speaking voice. After studying drama at the University of Minnesota, he followed his older brother James Arness into the entertainment industry, when he broke into films with his motion picture debut in "Rogue River." After returning from a brunch on March 14, 2010, Graves collapsed and died of a heart attack at the age of 83, four days before his 84th birthday. It was reported that one of his daughters attempted to revive him, but was unsuccessful."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 24820915”
"Mort Mills (January 11, 1919–June 6, 1993). He was born Mortimer Morris Kaplan. He was an American film and television actor who had roles in over 200 movies and television episodes. He was often the town lawman or the local bad guy in many popular westerns of the 1950s and 1960s. From 1957–1959 he had a recurring co-starring role as Marshal Frank Tallman in Man Without a Gun. Other recurring roles were as Sergeant Ben Landro in the Perry Mason series and Sheriff Fred Madden in The Big Valley. In 1958, he guest starred as a particularly greedy bounty hunter who clashes with Steve McQueen's character of Josh Randall in the CBS western series, Wanted: Dead or Alive. Though Mills did much television work, he also found regular work in motion pictures. He is probably best known as the suspicious highway patrolman who follows Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller Psycho. A few years later, he worked again with Hitchcock, playing a spy in East Germany under the cover of being a farmer in Torn Curtain. Mills also appeared with Charlton Heston in Orson Welles's Touch of Evil. In 1955, he appeared as Samuel Mason on ABC's Disneyland miniseries Davy Crockett, starring Fess Parker. From 1957–1959, Mills co-starred with Rex Reason in the syndicated western series Man Without a Gun. He portrayed Marshal Frank Tillman. Reason played his friend, Adam MacLean, editor of the Yellowstone Sentinel newspaper. In the 1965 Three Stooges film, The Outlaws Is Coming, Mills played Trigger Mortis. Mills was a regular as police Lieutenant Bob Malone in Howard Duff's NBC-Four Star Television series, Dante, set at a San Francisco, California, nightclub called "Dante's Inferno." He appeared in eight episodes of Perry Mason, seven of them as Police Sgt. Ben Landro between 1961 and 1965. His cousin, Mary Treen, was a film actress."
Source: Wikipedia.org | February 25, 2018, 6:13PM  “Find a Grave Memorial ID 1099”
"Eli Whitney (December 8, 1765–January 8, 1825) was an American inventor best known for inventing the cotton gin. This was one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution and shaped the economy of the Antebellum South. Whitney's invention made upland short cotton into a profitable crop, which strengthened the economic foundation of slavery in the United States. Despite the social and economic impact of his invention, Whitney lost many profits in legal battles over patent infringement for the cotton gin. Thereafter, he turned his attention into securing contracts with the government in the manufacture of muskets for the newly formed United States Army. He continued making arms and inventing until his death in 1825. Whitney was born in Westborough, Massachusetts, on December 8, 1765, the eldest child of Eli Whitney Sr., a prosperous farmer, and his wife Elizabeth Fay, also of Westborough. Although the younger Eli, born in 1765, could technically be called a "Junior," history has never known him as such. He was famous during his lifetime and afterward by the name "Eli Whitney." His son, born in 1820, also named Eli, was well known during his lifetime and afterward by the name "Eli Whitney, Jr." Whitney's mother, Elizabeth Fay, died in 1777, when he was 11. At age 14 he operated a profitable nail manufacturing operation in his father's workshop during the Revolutionary War. Whitney is most famous for two innovations which later divided the United States in the mid-19th century: the cotton gin (1793) and his advocacy of interchangeable parts. In the South, the cotton gin revolutionized the way cotton was harvested and reinvigorated slavery. In the North the adoption of interchangeable parts revolutionized the manufacturing industry, and contributed greatly to the U. S. victory in the Civil War. The cotton gin is a mechanical device that removes the seeds from cotton, a process that had previously been extremely labor-intensive. The word gin is short for engine. The cotton gin was a wooden drum stuck with hooks that pulled the cotton fibers through a mesh. The cotton seeds would not fit through the mesh and fell outside. Whitney occasionally told a story wherein he was pondering an improved method of seeding the cotton when he was inspired by observing a cat attempting to pull a chicken through a fence, and could only pull through some of the feathers. A single cotton gin could generate up to 55 pounds of cleaned cotton daily. This contributed to the economic development of the Southern states of the United States, a prime cotton growing area; some historians believe that this invention allowed for the African slavery system in the Southern United States to become more sustainable at a critical point in its development. While the cotton gin did not earn Whitney the fortune he had hoped for, it did give him fame. It has been argued by some historians that Whitney's cotton gin was an important if unintended cause of the American Civil War. After Whitney's invention, the plantation slavery industry was rejuvenated, eventually culminating in the Civil War. Whitney died of prostate cancer on January 8, 1825, in New Haven, Connecticut, just a month after his 59th birthday. He left a widow and his four children behind. During the course of his illness, he invented and constructed several devices to mechanically ease his pain. These devices, drawings of which are in his collected papers, were effective but were never manufactured for use of others due to his heirs' reluctance to trade in "indelicate" items."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 21194”
"Bertrand Arthur William Russell (18 May 1872–2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, social critic, political activist and Nobel laureate. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had "never been any of these things, in any profound sense." He was born in Monmouthshire into one of the most prominent aristocratic families in the United Kingdom. In the early 20th century, Russell led the British "revolt against idealism." He is considered one of the founders of analytic philosophy. He is widely held to be one of the 20th century's premier logicians. His work has had a considerable influence on logic, mathematics, set theory, linguistics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, computer science and philosophy, especially the philosophy of language, epistemology, and metaphysics. Russell was a prominent anti-war activist; he championed anti-imperialism and went to prison for his pacifism during World War I. Later, he campaigned against Adolf Hitler, then criticized Stalinist totalitarianism, attacked the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War, and was an outspoken proponent of nuclear disarmament. In 1950 Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought." Bertrand Russell was born on 18 May 1872 at Ravenscroft, Trellech, Monmouthshire, into an influential and liberal family of the British aristocracy. His parents, Viscount and Viscountess Amberley, were radical for their times. Lord Amberley consented to his wife's affair with their children's tutor, the biologist Douglas Spalding. Both were early advocates of birth control at a time when this was considered scandalous. Lord Amberley was an atheist and his atheism was evident when he asked the philosopher John Stuart Mill to act as Russell's secular godfather. Mill died the year after Russell's birth, but his writings had a great effect on Russell's life. Russell described himself as an agnostic, "speaking to a purely philosophical audience," but as an atheist "speaking popularly," on the basis that he could not disprove the Christian God–similar to the way that he could not disprove the Olympic gods either. For most of his adult life, Russell maintained that religion is little more than superstition and, despite any positive effects that religion might have, it is largely harmful to people. He believed that religion and the religious outlook serve to impede knowledge and foster fear and dependency, and are responsible for much of our world's wars, oppression, and misery. Russell argued for a "scientific society," where war would be abolished, population growth would be limited, and prosperity would be shared. He suggested the establishment of a "single supreme world government" able to enforce peace, claiming that "the only thing that will redeem mankind is co-operation." He was a member of the Advisory Council of the British Humanist Association and President of Cardiff Humanists until his death. Russell died of influenza on 2 February 1970 at his home, Plas Penrhyn, in Penrhyndeudraeth, Merionethshire, Wales. His body was cremated in Colwyn Bay on 5 February 1970. In accordance with his will, there was no religious ceremony; his ashes were scattered over the Welsh mountains later that year."
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"William December Williams, Jr. (born April 6, 1937) is an American actor, artist, singer, and writer known for his work as a leading man in 1970s African-American cinema, in movies including Mahogany and Lady Sings the Blues, and for playing the character of Lando Calrissian in the movies Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and The Lego Movie. Williams was born in New York City, New York, the son of Loretta Anne, a West Indian-born from Montserrat and William December Williams, Sr., an African-American caretaker from Texas ["a janitor"]. He has a twin sister, Loretta, and grew up in Harlem, where he was raised by his maternal grandmother while his parents worked at several jobs. Williams graduated from the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art in Manhattan, where he was a classmate of Diahann Carroll, who coincidentally played the wife of his character Brady Lloyd on the 1980s prime-time soap opera Dynasty. In 1961, Williams ventured into the music industry when he recorded a jazz LP produced by Prestige Records entitled Let's Misbehave, on which he sang several swing standards. The album, which was a commercial success at the time, made Williams eligible for an appearance in the legendary Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. Williams has been married three times: First to Audrey Sellers in 1959, with whom he had a son Corey. They were divorced some years later, after which he apparently became quite depressed, "there was a period when I was very despondent, broke, depressed, my first marriage was on the rocks." Williams was briefly married to actress Marlene Clark in the late 1960s, and divorced in 1971. He married Teruko Nakagami on December 27, 1972. She brought a daughter, Miyako from her previous marriage to musician Wayne Shorter. They have a daughter Hanako. They filed for divorce in 1993, but were reported to have reconciled in 1997. Williams was arrested on January 30, 1996 after allegedly beating his live-in girlfriend, whom the police did not identify. He was freed from custody the following day after posting a US$50,000 bail. Williams stated through his attorney that he expected to be fully exonerated of the charges. The Los Angeles city attorney's office filed misdemeanor charges of spousal battery and dissuading a witness against Williams. The woman, identified only as 'Patricia,' later stated the incident was her fault and that she hoped the police would drop the case. In a plea bargain agreement to dismiss the charges, Williams was ordered to undergo 52 counseling sessions. Billy Dee Williams has been called the black Clark Gable and, if pressed, he'll agree that the comparison has some merit."
"Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga (born Ronald McKinley Everett on July 14, 1941) is an African-American professor of Africana Studies, activist, and author, best known as the creator of the pan-African and African-American holiday of Kwanzaa [to] "give Blacks an alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society." Karenga was a major figure in the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s and co-founded with Hakim Jamal the black nationalism and social change organization US. Ron Everett was born in Parsonsburg, Maryland, the fourteenth child and seventh son in the family. His father was a tenant farmer and Baptist minister who employed the family to work fields under an effective sharecropping arrangement. Everett moved to Los Angeles in 1959, joining his older brother who was a teacher there, and attended Los Angeles City College. He became active with civil rights organizations CORE and SNCC, took an interest in African studies, and was elected as LACC's first African-American student president. After earning his associate degree, he matriculated at the University of California, Los Angeles and earned BA and MA degrees in political science. He studied Swahili, Arabic and other African-related subjects. Among his influences at UCLA was Jamaican anthropologist and Negritudist Councill Taylor who contested the Eurocentric view of alien cultures as primitive. During this period he took the name Karenga (Swahili for "keeper of tradition") and the title Maulana (Swahili-Arabic for "master teacher"). While pursuing his doctorate at UCLA, he taught African culture classes for local African-Americans and joined a study group called the Circle of Seven. In 1971, Karenga was sentenced to one to ten years in prison on counts of felonious assault and false imprisonment. One of the victims gave testimony of how Karenga and other men tortured her and another woman. The woman described having been stripped and beaten with an electrical cord. Karenga's estranged wife, Brenda Lorraine Karenga, testified that she sat on the other woman’s stomach while another man forced water into her mouth through a hose. Karenga has declined to discuss the convictions with reporters and does not mention them in biographical materials. During a 2007 appearance at Wabash College he again denied the charges and described himself as a former political prisoner. The convictions nonetheless continue to generate controversy during Kwanzaa celebrations. Dr. Karenga is widely recognized as the father of Afrocentrism. He has written twelve books, including Introduction to Black Studies, Kawaida: A Communitarian African Philosophy, Selections from the Husia: Sacred Wisdom of Ancient Egypt, and Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family Community, and Culture."
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 479"
"James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837–August 2, 1876)—known as "Wild Bill" Hickok—was a folk character of the American Old West. Some of his exploits as reported at the time were fiction but his skill as a gunfighter and gambler provided the basis for his fame, along with his reputation as a lawman. Hickok was born and raised on a farm in rural Illinois. He went west at age 18 as a fugitive from justice, first working as a stagecoach driver, then as a lawman in the frontier territories of Kansas and Nebraska. He fought and spied for the Union Army during the American Civil War and gained publicity after the war as a scout, marksman, actor and professional gambler. Hickok was involved in several notable shootouts. He was shot from behind and killed while playing poker in a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory by an unsuccessful gambler, Jack McCall. The card hand which he held at the time of his death aces and eights has come to be known as the "Dead Man's Hand." Hickok was born in Homer, Illinois on May 27, 1837, to William and Polly Hickok. He is a known descendant of Rev. John Robinson. His birthplace is now the Wild Bill Hickok Memorial, a listed historic site under the supervision of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Hickok was a good shot from a very young age and was recognized locally as an outstanding marksman with a pistol. Photographs of Hickok indicate that he had dark hair, but all contemporaneous descriptions confirm that he was red-haired. In 1855, at age 18, Hickok moved to Leavenworth in the Kansas Territory, following a fight with Charles Hudson, during which both fell into a canal each thought—mistakenly—that he had killed the other. Hickok fled the area and joined "General" Jim Lane's "Free State Army" also known as the "Jayhawkers," a vigilante group then active in the Kansas Territory. While a Jayhawker, he met 12-year-old William Cody later known as "Buffalo Bill" who, despite his age, was a scout for the U. S. Army during the Utah War. It is reported that Hickok had a premonition that Deadwood would be his last camp, and expressed this belief to his friend Charlie Utter and the others who were traveling with them at the time. On August 2, 1876, Hickok was playing poker at Nuttal & Mann's Saloon in Deadwood, in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory. Hickok usually sat with his back to a wall. The only seat available when he joined the poker game that afternoon was a chair that put his back to a door. Twice he asked another player, Charles Rich, to change seats with him, and on both occasions Rich refused. A former buffalo hunter, Jack McCall better known as "Crooked Nose Jack" entered the saloon unnoticed by Hickok. McCall walked to within a few feet of Hickok, drew a pistol and shouted, "Damn you! Take that!" before firing at Hickok point blank. McCall's bullet hit Hickok in the back of the head, killing him instantly. The bullet emerged through Hickok's right cheek, striking another player, Captain Massie, in the left wrist. When shot, Hickok was playing five card draw, and was holding a pair of aces and a pair of eights (the final card had been discarded and its replacement had possibly not yet been dealt). The fifth card's identity remains the subject of debate. In 1979, Hickok was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. Hickok's favorite guns were a pair of Colt 1851 Navy Model .36 caliber cap-and-ball revolvers. They had ivory grips and silver plating, and were ornately engraved with "J. B. Hickok-1869" on the backstrap. He wore his revolvers butt-forward in a belt or sash and seldom used holsters per se; he drew the pistols using a "reverse," "twist" or cavalry draw, as would a cavalryman. At the time of his death Hickok was wearing a Smith & Wesson Model 2 Army Revolver. Bonhams auction company offered this very pistol on November 18, 2013, at its San Francisco, California auction, described as Hickok's Smith & Wesson No. 2, Serial No. 29963, a .32 rimfire with a 6 inch barrel, blued finish and varnished rosewood grips. However, the gun did not sell because the high bid ($220,000) did not meet the reserve price set by the gun's owners."
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 9960"
"Antoni Gaudí i Cornet (25 June 1852–10 June 1926) was a Spanish Catalan architect from Reus/Riudoms and the best known practitioner of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works reflect an individualized and distinctive style. Most are located in Barcelona, including his magnum opus, the Sagrada Família. Gaudí's work was influenced by his passions in life: architecture, nature, and religion. Gaudí considered every detail of his creations and integrated into his architecture such crafts as ceramics, stained glass, wrought iron work forging and carpentry. He also introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as trencadís which used waste ceramic pieces. Under the influence of neo-Gothic art and Oriental techniques, Gaudí became part of the Modernista movement which was reaching its peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work transcended mainstream Modernisme, culminating in an organic style inspired by natural forms. Gaudí rarely drew detailed plans of his works, instead preferring to create them as three-dimensional scale models and molding the details as he conceived them. Gaudí's work enjoys global popularity and continuing admiration and study by architects. His masterpiece, the still-incomplete Sagrada Família, is the most-visited monument in Spain. Between 1984 and 2005, seven of his works were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Gaudí's Roman Catholic faith intensified during his life and religious images appear in many of his works. This earned him the nickname "God's Architect" and led to calls for his beatification. Antoni Gaudi was born in 1852 in Riudoms or Reus, to the coppersmith Francesc Gaudí i Serra and Antònia Cornet i Bertran. He was the youngest of five children, of whom three survived to adulthood: Rosa, Francesc and Antoni. Gaudí's family originated in the Auvergne region in southern France. One of his ancestors, Joan Gaudí, a hawker, moved to Catalonia in the 17th century; possible origins of Gaudí's family name include Gaudy or Gaudin. El Mas de la Calderera, home of the Gaudí family in Riudoms Gaudí's exact birthplace is unknown because no supporting documents have been found, leading to a controversy about whether he was born in Reus or Riudoms, two neighboring municipalities of the Baix Camp district. Most of Gaudí's identification documents from both his student and professional years gave Reus as his birthplace. Gaudí stated on various occasions that he was born in Riudoms, his paternal family's village. Gaudí was baptised in the church of Sant Pere Apòstol in Reus the day after his birth under the name "Antoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudí i Cornet." After his death, Gaudí's works suffered a period of neglect and were largely unpopular among international critics, who regarded them as baroque and excessively imaginative. In his homeland he was equally disdained by Noucentisme, the new movement which took the place of Modernisme. In 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, Gaudí's workshop in the Sagrada Família was ransacked and a great number of his documents, plans and scale models were destroyed."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 2160”
"Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896–September 1, 1977) was an American blues, jazz and gospel singer and actress. She frequently performed jazz, big band, and pop music, on the Broadway stage and in concerts, but she began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her best-known recordings include "Dinah," "Stormy Weather," "Taking a Chance on Love," "Heat Wave," "Supper Time," "Am I Blue?" and "Cabin in the Sky," as well as her version of the spiritual "His Eye Is on the Sparrow." Waters was the second African American, after Hattie McDaniel, to be nominated for an Academy Award. She was also the first African-American woman to be nominated for an Emmy Award, in 1962. Waters was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, on October 31, 1896, as a result of the rape of her teenaged mother, Louise Anderson (believed to have been 13 years old at the time, although some sources indicate she may have been slightly older), by John Waters, a pianist and family acquaintance from a mixed-race middle-class background. He played no role in raising Ethel. She was raised in poverty and never lived in the same place for more than 15 months. She said of her difficult childhood, "I never was a child. I never was cuddled, or liked, or understood by my family." Waters grew tall, standing 5' 9½" in her teens. According to women-in-jazz historian and archivist Rosetta Reitz, Waters's birth in the North and her peripatetic life exposed her to many cultures. Waters married at the age of 13, but her husband was abusive, and she soon left the marriage and became a maid in a Philadelphia hotel, working for $4.75 per week. On her 17th birthday, she attended a costume party at a nightclub on Juniper Street. She was persuaded to sing two songs and impressed the audience so much that she was offered professional work at the Lincoln Theatre in Baltimore. She later recalled that she earned the rich sum of ten dollars a week, but her managers cheated her out of the tips her admirers threw on the stage. Waters had romantic relationships with women as well as men. In her later years, she often toured with Billy Graham on his crusades. Waters died on September 1, 1977, aged 80, from uterine cancer, kidney failure, and other ailments, in Chatsworth, California. She was the great-aunt of the singer-songwriter Crystal Waters. Three recordings by Waters were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, a special Grammy Award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old and have "qualitative or historical significance." Waters' recording of "Stormy Weather" (1933) was listed in the National Recording Registry by the National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress in 2003. Waters was approved for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004. However, as of 2014, the star has not been funded, and public fundraising efforts continue."
"Edward Willis Levert (born June 16, 1942) is an American singer–songwriter and actor. Levert is best known as the lead vocalist of the R&B/Soul vocal group, The O'Jays. Levert was born in Birmingham, Alabama, but was raised in Canton, Ohio. While attending high school, he met buddies Walter Williams, Bill Isles, Bobby Massey, and William Powell. They were motivated to sing after seeing a performance from Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers. They formed in 1958. The O'Jays were originally known as The Triumphs and The Mascots. They were officially known as The O'Jays after they got their name from DJ Eddie O'Jay. Their first big hit was "Lonely Drifter" in 1963 which was lifted off their debut album Comin Through. The O'Jays are mainly known by their hits "Back Stabbers," "Love Train" and "For the Love of Money." Levert and his group members received the BET Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 BET Awards. Levert is the father of the late R&B singers Gerald Levert, who died on November 10, 2006, Sean Levert, who died on March 30, 2008 and Eddie Levert Jr., CEO of Levert Entertainment Group, a Music label headquartered in Los Angeles, CA. The relationships between Eddie Sr. and Gerald became a subject of a book."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 16601470”
"Gerald Edward Levert (July 13, 1966–November 10, 2006) was an American singer–songwriter, producer and actor. Levert is best known for singing with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon of the vocal group LeVert. Levert was also a member of LSG, a supergroup comprising Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, and himself. Levert is the son of Eddie Levert, who is the lead singer of the R&B/Soul vocal group The O'Jays. Levert was born to The O'Jays frontman Eddie Levert and his wife Martha in Philadelphia on July 13, 1966. Levert grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. Due to his father's career, Levert would travel with the band regularly. While in high school, Levert's inclination towards music became apparent when he formed the trio LeVert, with his younger brother Sean Levert and friend Marc Gordon in 1983. Four of the group's seven albums went gold. On November 10, 2006, Gerald Levert was found dead in his bed at his Cleveland, Ohio home when his cousin tried to wake him. Initial reports stated that Levert had died of an apparent heart attack. In February 2007, an autopsy report conducted by the Cuyahoga County coroner's office concluded that Levert's death was caused by a fatal combination of prescription narcotics and over-the-counter drugs. The drugs in his bloodstream included the narcotic pain relievers Vicodin, Percocet, and Darvocet, along with anxiety medication Xanax and two over-the-counter antihistamines. The autopsy also revealed that Levert had pneumonia. The official cause of death was acute intoxication, and the death was ruled accidental. Gerald Levert was only 40 years old. Following the disclosure of Gerald Levert's cause of death, a family spokesman stated that all the drugs found in Levert's bloodstream were prescribed to the singer. Levert was taking the pain medication because of chronic pain from a lingering shoulder problem and surgery in 2005 to repair a severed Achilles tendon. Levert had three children: LeMicah, Camryn, and Carlysia. Carlysia, an aspiring singer, appeared on the MTV series My Super Sweet 16, with her father in 2005. His father is the third cousin of Michigan basketball star, Caris LeVert. On December 7, 2006, it was announced that Levert, along with Chaka Khan, Yolanda Adams and Carl Thomas were nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best R&B Performance by [a Group With Vocals for their collaboration on "Everyday (Family Reunion),"] a song from the soundtrack of Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion. He was nominated again for the Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for his single, "In My Songs." At the 50th annual Grammy Awards, it was announced that Levert had won the award for "In My Songs." Levert's brother and former founding LeVert member Sean Levert accepted in his late brother's behalf. On August 17, 2013 in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio Gerald Levert was inducted into the 2013 inaugural class of The Official R&B Music Hall of Fame along with The O'Jays."
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 6598253"
"Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942–August 22, 1989) was an African-American political activist and revolutionary who, along with Bobby Seale, co-founded the Black Panther Party in 1966. He continued to pursue an education, eventually earning a Ph.D. in social philosophy. In 1989 he was shot and killed in Oakland, California. Newton was born in Monroe, Louisiana. He was the youngest of seven children of Armelia Johnson and Walter Newton, a sharecropper and Baptist lay preacher. His parents named him after former Governor of Louisiana Huey Long. In 1945, the family migrated to Oakland, California, as part of the second wave of the Great Migration of African Americans out of the South to the Midwest and West. The Newton family was close-knit, but quite poor, and often relocated throughout the San Francisco Bay Area during Newton's childhood. Despite this, Newton said he never went without food and shelter as a child. Growing up in Oakland, Newton stated that he was "made to feel ashamed of being black." Newton graduated from Oakland Technical High School, in 1959, without being able to read, although he later taught himself; The Republic by Plato was the first book he read. Newton also attended Merritt College, San Francisco Law School, and the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he earned a bachelor's degree and, later, a Ph.D. As a teenager, he was arrested several times for minor offenses, including gun possession and vandalism at age 14. In January 1977, Peoples Temple leader Jim Jones visited Newton in Havana. After Jones fled to Jonestown, Guyana, Newton spoke to Temple members in Jonestown via telephone expressing support for Jones during one of the Temple's earliest "White Nights." Newton's cousin, Stanley Clayton, was one of the few residents of Jonestown to escape the 1978 tragedy, during which more than 900 Temple members committed suicide after being ordered to do so by Jones. Newton received a bachelor's degree from University of California, Santa Cruz in 1974. He was enrolled as a graduate student in History of Consciousness at UC Santa Cruz in 1978, when he arranged to take a reading course from famed evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers, while in prison. He and Trivers became close friends. Trivers and Newton published an analysis of the role of flight crew self-deception in the crash of Air Florida Flight 90. Relations between Newton and factions within the Black Guerrilla Family had been strained for nearly two decades. Former Black Panther members who became BGF members in prison had become disenchanted with Newton for his perceived abandonment of imprisoned Black Panther members and allegations of Newton's fratricide within the party. On August 22, 1989, Newton was fatally shot on Center Street in the Lower Bottoms neighborhood of West Oakland by 24-year-old BGF member and drug dealer Tyrone Robinson shortly after Newton left a crack house. The murder occurred in a neighborhood where Newton, as minister of defense for the Black Panthers, once organized social programs that helped destitute African Americans. Robinson said that Newton pulled a gun when the two met at the street corner, but Oakland police officers found no evidence that Newton had been armed. Newton's last words, as he stood facing his killer, were, "You can kill my body, and you can take my life but you can never kill my soul. My soul will live forever!" Robinson then shot Newton twice in the face. Huey Newton was interred at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland. Tyrone Robinson was convicted of the murder in 1991. He was sentenced to a prison term of 32 years to life."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 38733716”
Ms. "Farrah Leni Fawcett," born "Ferrah Leni Fawcett" (February 2, 1947–June 25, 2009) was an American actress and artist. A four-time Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she posed for her iconic red swimsuit poster–which became the best selling pin-up poster in history–and starred as private investigator Jill Munroe in the first season of the television series Charlie's Angels. In 1996, she was ranked No. 26 on TV Guide's "50 Greatest TV stars of All-Time." Fawcett began her career in 1968 in commercials and guest roles on television. During the 1970s, she appeared in numerous television series, including recurring roles on Harry O and The Six Million Dollar Man with then husband, film and television star Lee Majors. Her breakthrough role came in 1976, when she was cast as Jill Munroe in the ABC series Charlie's Angels, alongside Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith. The show propelled all three to stardom, but especially Fawcett. After appearing in only the first season, Fawcett decided to leave the show which led to legal disputes. Eventually she signed a contract requiring her to make six guest appearances in the show's third and fourth seasons. For her role in Charlie's Angels she received her first Golden Globe nomination. Fawcett was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006; the 2009 NBC documentary Farrah's Story chronicled her battle with the disease. She posthumously earned her fourth Emmy nomination for her work as a producer on the documentary. Fawcett was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, the younger of two daughters. Her mother, Pauline Alice Fawcett Evans, was a homemaker, and her father, James William Fawcett, was an oil field contractor. Her elder sister was Diane Fawcett Walls, a graphic artist. She was of Irish, French, English and Choctaw Native American ancestry. Fawcett once said the name "Farrah" was "made up" by her mother because it went well with their last name. Another theory is that her father, an oilman, reportedly named her "Farah" for the Arabic word for "joy," and she reportedly asked to change the spelling to "Farrah." A Roman Catholic, Fawcett's early education was at the parish school of the church her family attended, St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Corpus Christi. She graduated from W. B. Ray High School in Corpus Christi, where she was voted "most beautiful" by her classmates her freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years of high school. For three years she attended the University of Texas at Austin, studying art. She lived at Madison House on 22nd street, west of campus. During her freshman year, she was named one of the "ten most beautiful coeds on campus," the first time a freshman had been chosen. Their photos were sent to various agencies in Hollywood. David Mirisch, a Hollywood agent, called her and urged her to come to Los Angeles. She turned him down, but he called her for the next two years. Finally, in 1968, the summer following her junior year, with her parents' permission to "try her luck" in Hollywood, Fawcett moved to Hollywood. Upon arriving in Hollywood in 1968, Fawcett was signed to a $350-a-week contract with Screen Gems. She began to appear in commercials for such products as Noxzema, Max Factor, Mercury Cougar automobiles, and Beautyrest mattresses, among others. Fawcett began dating Lee Majors in the late 1960s. Fawcett was married to Majors from 1973 to 1982, although the couple separated in 1979. During her marriage, she was known and credited in her roles as Farrah Fawcett-Majors. From 1979 until 1997, Fawcett was involved romantically with actor Ryan O'Neal. The relationship produced a son, Redmond James Fawcett-O'Neal, born January 30, 1985, in Los Angeles. In April 2009, on probation for driving under the influence, Redmond was arrested for possession of narcotics while Fawcett was in the hospital. On June 22, 2009, The Los Angeles Times and Reuters reported that Ryan O'Neal had said that Fawcett had agreed to marry him as soon as she felt strong enough. From 1997 to 1998, Fawcett had a relationship with Canadian filmmaker James Orr, writer and producer of the Disney feature film in which she co-starred with Chevy Chase and Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Man of the House. The relationship ended when Orr was charged with and later convicted of beating Fawcett during a 1998 fight between the two. Fawcett was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006 and began treatment, including chemotherapy and surgery. Four months later, on her 60th birthday, the Associated Press reported that Fawcett was, at that point, cancer-free. However, in May 2007, Fawcett experienced a recurrence and was diagnosed with stage IV cancer that had metastasized to her liver; a malignant polyp was found where she had been treated for the initial cancer. Doctors contemplated whether to implant a radiation seeder. Fawcett died at age 62 on June 25, 2009, at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, with O'Neal and Stewart by her side. A private funeral was held in Los Angeles on June 30, 2009 with her son Redmond permitted to leave his California detention center to attend the funeral, where he gave the first reading. Fawcett is buried at the Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles. News of Fawcett's death was largely overshadowed by the death of music legend Michael Jackson, who died hours later the same day. In 2011, Men's Health named Fawcett in its list of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 1377”
"Sigmund Freud (6 May 1856–23 September 1939) born Sigismund Schlomo, was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst. Freud was born to Galician Jewish parents in the Moravian town of Freiberg, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He qualified as a doctor of medicine in 1881 at the University of Vienna. Upon completing his habilitation in 1885, he was appointed a docent in neuropathology and became an affiliated professor in 1902. Freud lived and worked in Vienna, having set up his clinical practice there in 1886. In 1938 Freud left Austria to escape the Nazis. He died in exile in the United Kingdom in 1939. In creating psychoanalysis, Freud developed therapeutic techniques such as the use of free association and discovered transference, establishing its central role in the analytic process. Freud's redefinition of sexuality to include its infantile forms led him to formulate the Oedipus complex as the central tenet of psychoanalytical theory. Freud was born to Jewish parents in the Moravian town of Freiberg, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the first of eight children. Both of his parents were from Galicia, in modern-day Ukraine. His father, Jakob Freud, a wool merchant, had two sons, Emanuel and Philipp by his first marriage. Jakob's family were Hasidic Jews, and although Jakob himself had moved away from the tradition, he came to be known for his Torah study. He and Freud's mother, Amalia Nathansohn, who was 20 years younger and his third wife, were married by Rabbi Isaac Noah Mannheimer on 29 July 1855. They were struggling financially and living in a rented room, in a locksmith's house at Schlossergasse 117 when their son Sigmund was born. He was born with a caul, which his mother saw as a positive omen for the boy's future. In February 1923, Freud detected a leukoplakia, a benign growth associated with heavy smoking, on his mouth. Freud initially kept this secret, but in April 1923 he informed Ernest Jones, telling him that the growth had been removed. Freud consulted the dermatologist Maximilian Steiner, who advised him to quit smoking but lied about the growth's seriousness, minimizing its importance. As a medical researcher, Freud was an early user and proponent of cocaine as a stimulant as well as analgesic. He believed that cocaine was a cure for many mental and physical problems, and in his 1884 paper "On Coca" he extolled its virtues. Between 1883 and 1887 he wrote several articles recommending medical applications, including its use as an antidepressant. He narrowly missed out on obtaining scientific priority for discovering its anesthetic properties of which he was aware but had mentioned only in passing. Freud regarded the monotheistic God as an illusion based upon the infantile emotional need for a powerful, supernatural pater familias. He maintained that religion–once necessary to restrain man's violent nature in the early stages of civilization–in modern times, can be set aside in favor of reason and science. Totem and Taboo proposes that society and religion begin with the patricide and eating of the powerful paternal figure, who then becomes a revered collective memory. These arguments were further developed in The Future of an Illusion in which Freud argued that religious belief serves the function of psychological consolation. Freud argues the belief of a supernatural protector serves as a buffer from man's "fear of nature" just as the belief in an afterlife serves as a buffer from man's fear of death. The core idea of the work is that all of religious belief can be explained through its function to society, not for its relation to the truth. This is why, according to Freud, religious beliefs are "illusions." Freud regarded the monotheistic God as an illusion based upon the infantile emotional need for a powerful, supernatural pater familias. He maintained that religion–once necessary to restrain man's violent nature in the early stages of civilization–in modern times, can be set aside in favor of reason and science. "Obsessive Actions and Religious Practices" notes the likeness between faith [or] religious belief and neurotic obsession. Totem and Taboo proposes that society and religion begin with the patricide and eating of the powerful paternal figure, who then becomes a revered collective memory. These arguments were further developed in The Future of an Illusion in which Freud argued that religious belief serves the function of psychological consolation. Freud argues the belief of a supernatural protector serves as a buffer from man's "fear of nature" just as the belief in an afterlife serves as a buffer from man's fear of death. The core idea of the work is that all of religious belief can be explained through its function to society, not for its relation to the truth."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 512”
"Moses Harry Horwitz (June 19, 1897–May 4, 1975) known professionally as Moe Howard, was an American actor and comedian best known as the de facto leader of the Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television for four decades. That group originally started out as Ted Healy and His Stooges, an act that toured the vaudeville circuit. Moe's distinctive hairstyle came about when he was a boy and cut off his curls with a pair of scissors, producing a ragged shape approximating a bowl cut. Horwitz was born on June 19, 1897 in the Brooklyn, New York neighborhood of Benson hurst to Solomon Horwitz and Jennie Gorovitz, the fourth-born of five brothers of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry. He was named Moe when still very young and later called himself Harry. His parents were not involved in show business, but Moe, older brother Shemp Howard, and younger brother Curly Howard all eventually became known as members of The Three Stooges. He loved to read as older brother Jack recalled: "I had many Horatio Alger books, and it was Moe's greatest pleasure to read them. They started his imaginative mind working and gave him ideas by the dozen. I think they were instrumental in putting thoughts into his head to become a person of good character and to become successful." This helped him in his acting career in later years, such as in memorizing his lines quickly and easily. His "bowl cut" hairstyle became his trademark, but Moe's mother refused to cut his hair in childhood, letting it grow to shoulder length. Finally he could not take his classmates' years of teasing any longer, sneaked off to a shed in the back yard and cut his own hair. He was so afraid that his mother would be upset [since] she enjoyed curling his hair that he hid under the house for several hours while causing a panic. He finally came out, and his mother was so glad to see him that she did not even mention the haircut. On June 7, 1925, Moe Howard married Helen Schonberger, a cousin of magician Harry Houdini. The next year, Helen pressured Moe to leave the stage since she was pregnant and wanted Moe nearer to home. Moe attempted to earn a living in a succession of "normal" jobs, none of which was very successful, and he soon returned to working with Ted Healy. Moe and Helen had two children, Joan Howard and Paul Howard. Howard died of lung cancer at age 77 on May 4, 1975 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centerin Los Angeles, where he had been admitted a week earlier in April, just over three months after Larry Fine's death. He was a heavy smoker for much of his adult life. He was interred in an outdoor crypt at Culver City's Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery. Helen died of a heart attack later that year on October 31, 1975 at age 75 and was interred in the crypt next to him on the right. At the time of his death, Moe was working on his autobiography titled I Stooged to Conquer. It was released in 1977 as Moe Howard and the Three Stooges."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 338”
"Louis Feinberg (October 5, 1902–January 24, 1975) known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American comedian, actor, violinist, and boxer, who is best known as a member of the comedy act The Three Stooges. Fine was born to a Jewish family as Louis Feinberg, at 3rd and South Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Joseph Feinberg who was Russian Jewish and mother Fanny Lieberman owned a watch repair and jewelry shop. In early childhood, Larry's arm was burned with acid that his father used to test whether or not gold was real. Having mistaken it for a beverage, Larry had raised the acid bottle to his lips when his father noticed, and knocked it from his hand, accidentally splashing Larry's forearm. He was later given violin lessons to help strengthen the damaged muscles, a skill which would be put to use in many of the Stooge films. He became proficient on the instrument, and his parents wanted to send him to a European music conservatory, but the plan was prevented by the outbreak of World War I. In scenes where all three Stooges are playing fiddles, only Larry is actually playing, while the other two are pantomiming. To strengthen his arm further, Larry took up boxing in his teens, fighting in and winning one professional bout. His father, opposed to Larry's fighting in public, put an end to his brief career as a boxer. Rejoining Healy in July 1932, Shemp left soon after on August 19 to attempt a solo career, and was in turn replaced by another brother, Curly Howard almost immediately. The new lineup premiered at Cleveland's RKO Palace Theatre on August 27, 1932. The Stooges became a big hit on television in 1959, when Columbia Pictures released a batch of the trio's films, whose popularity brought them to a new audience and revitalized their careers. Offstage, Larry was a social butterfly. He liked a good time and surrounded himself with friends. He and his wife, Mabel, loved to party, and every Christmas served lavish midnight meals. Some of his friends called him a "yes man" since he was always so agreeable, no matter what the circumstances. Larry's devil-may-care personality carried over to the world of finance. He was a terrible businessman and spent his money as soon as he earned it. He had a significant gambling addiction, leading him to gamble away all the money he had on him either at racetracks or high-stakes gin rummy card games. In an interview, Fine even admitted that he often gave money to actors and friends who needed help, and never asked to be repaid. As Joe Besser and director Edward Bernds recall, because of his constant and free spending and gambling, Larry was almost forced into bankruptcy when Columbia stopped filming new Three Stooges films in December 1957. Because of his profligate ways and Mabel's dislike for housekeeping, Larry and his family lived in hotels—first in the President Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where his daughter Phyllis was raised, then the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood. He did not own a house until the late 1940s, when he purchased one in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles, California. On May 30, 1967, Mabel died of a sudden heart attack at age 63. Larry was on the road and about to take the stage for a live show at Rocky Point Amusement Park in Warwick, Rhode Island when he heard the news. He immediately flew home to California, leaving the other two stooges to improvise their remaining shows at the park. Mabel's death came nearly six years after the death of their only son, John, in a car crash on November 17, 1961, at age 24. Their only daughter, Phyllis, died of cancer on April 3, 1989, at 60. In 1965, the Three Stooges tried their hand at a new comedy show entitled The New Three Stooges, a mixture of live and animated segments. While it produced good ratings, they were too old by this point to do slapstick comedy well, and Larry also began showing early signs of the stroke that would eventually kill him, such as frequent trouble delivering his lines properly. Returning to work, Fine and the other two Stooges were working on a new TV series entitled Kook's Tour, when on January 9, 1970, Larry suffered a debilitating stroke that paralyzed the left side of his body. Fine eventually moved to live at the Motion Picture Country House, an industry retirement community in Woodland Hills, where he spent his remaining years, and used a wheelchair during the last five. Even in his paralyzed state, Fine did what he could to entertain the other patients, completed his "as told to" autobiography Stroke of Luck, and was visited regularly by his old partner Moe Howard. After suffering several additional strokes, Fine died on January 24, 1975, at Motion Picture Country House, at age 72. He was interred with his wife and son in a crypt at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in the Freedom Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Liberation."
"Michael Brown (born August 3, 1973) professionally known as Michael Ealy, is an American actor. He is known for his roles in Barbershop, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Takers, About Last Night, and The Perfect Guy. Ealy starred as Dorian the android in the Fox TV science fiction police drama series Almost Human. Ealy was born in Washington, D. C., and was raised in Silver Spring, Maryland. Ealy graduated from Springbrook High School and attended the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. His mother worked for IBM and his father was in the grocery business. He started his acting career in the late 1990s, appearing in a number of off-Broadway stage productions. Among his first film roles were Bad Company and Kissing Jessica Stein. His breakout role came in 2002's Barbershop, in which he plays reformed street thug Ricky Nash, a role that he reprised in the 2004 sequel, Barbershop 2: Back in Business. In 2003, he played the role of Slap Jack in the second installment of the Fast and the Furious film series, 2 Fast 2 Furious. Later in 2004, Ealy appeared in Never Die Alone with DMX. He also appeared in Mariah Carey's music video for her hit single "Get Your Number" from her 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi. In 2005, Ealy co-starred in the Television film version of Their Eyes Were Watching God, produced by Oprah Winfrey and Quincy Jones, and starring Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry. The same year, he starred in the independent film Jellysmoke, directed by Mark Banning. He starred in the Showtime television series Sleeper Cell. On December 14, 2006, Ealy was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his role in Sleeper Cell: American Terror in the category Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. In December 2008 he was featured in the movie Seven Pounds alongside Will Smith as Ben Thomas. He also starred as the male lead in Beyoncé's "Halo" music video, and as CIA Field Officer Marshall Vogel in the ABC television series Flash Forward. In 2015, Ealy played serial killer "Theo" in season 3 of the television series The Following. Ealy [has joined] season 2 of the ABC crime mystery show Secrets and Lies, which will air in fall 2016. The series was renewed for a second season on May 7, 2015. The second season premiered on September 25, 2016. In October 2012, Ealy married Khatira Rafiqzada, his girlfriend of four years, in a ceremony in Los Angeles and together they have a son."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 18239”
"Sarah Breedlove (December 23, 1867–May 25, 1919) known as Madam C. J. Walker, was an African American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and a political and social activist. Eulogized as the first female self-made millionaire in America, she became one of the wealthiest African American women in the country, "the world's most successful female entrepreneur of her time," and one of the most successful African American business owners ever. Walker made her fortune by developing and marketing a line of beauty and hair products for black women through Madame C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company, the successful business she founded. Walker was also known for her philanthropy and activism. She made financial donations to numerous organizations and became a patron of the arts. Villa Lewaro, Walker’s lavish estate in Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, served as a social gathering place for the African American community. Breedlove was born on December 23, 1867, near Delta, Louisiana, to Owen and Minerva Breedlove. Sarah was one of six children, which included an older sister, Louvenia, and four brothers: Alexander, James, Solomon, and Owen Jr. Breedlove's parents and her older siblings were enslaved on Robert W. Burney's Madison Parish plantation, but Sarah was the first child in her family born into freedom after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. Her mother died, possibly from cholera, in 1872; her father remarried, but he died within a few years. Orphaned at the age of seven, Sarah moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi, at the age of ten and worked as a domestic. Prior to her first marriage, she lived with her older sister, Louvenia, and brother-in-law, Jesse Powell. As was common among black women of her era, Sarah experienced severe dandruff and other scalp ailments, including baldness, due to skin disorders and the application of harsh products such as lye that were included in soaps to cleanse hair and wash clothes. Other contributing factors to her hair loss included poor diet, illnesses, and infrequent bathing and hair washing during a time when most Americans lacked indoor plumbing, central heating and electricity. Initially, Sarah learned about hair care from her brothers, who were barbers in Saint Louis. Around the time of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (World's Fair at St. Louis in 1904), she became a commission agent selling products for Annie Turnbo Malone, an African American hair-care entrepreneur and owner of the Poro Company. While working for Malone, who would later become Walker’s largest rival in the hair-care industry, Sarah began to adapt her knowledge of hair and hair products to develop her own product line. In July 1905, when she was thirty-seven years old, Sarah and her daughter moved to Denver, Colorado, where she continued to sell products for Malone and develop her own hair-care business. Following her marriage to Charles Walker in 1906, she became known as Madam C. J. Walker and marketed herself as an independent hairdresser and retailer of cosmetic creams. ("Madam" was adopted from women pioneers of the French beauty industry). Her husband, who was also her business partner, provided advice on advertising and promotion; Sarah sold her products door to door, teaching other black women how to groom and style their hair. As Walker's wealth and notoriety increased, she became more vocal about her views. In 1912 Walker addressed an annual gathering of the National Negro Business League from the convention floor, where she declared: "I am a woman who came [from] the cotton fields of the South. From there I was promoted to the washtub. From there, I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there, I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations. I have built my own factory on my own ground." Walker died on May 25, 1919, from kidney failure and complications of hypertension at the age of fifty-one. Walker's remains are interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City. At the time of her death Walker was considered to be the wealthiest African American woman in America. She was eulogized as the first female self-made millionaire in America, but Walker's estate was only worth an estimated $600,000 (approximately $8 million in present-day dollars) upon her death. According to Walker's New York Times obituary, "she said herself two years ago [in 1917] that she was not yet a millionaire, but hoped to be some time." Her daughter, A'Lelia Walker, became the president of the Madame C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company. Walker was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca, New York, in 1993. In 1998 the U. S. Postal Service issued a Madam Walker commemorative stamp as part of its Black Heritage Series."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 1337”
"Eva Gabor (February 11, 1919–July 4, 1995) was a Hungarian American actress, comedian, singer and socialite. She was widely known for her role on the 1965–71 television sitcom Green Acres as Lisa Douglas, the wife of Eddie Albert's character, Oliver Wendell Douglas. She voiced "Duchess" in the 1970 Disney film The Aristocats, and Miss Bianca in Disney’s The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under. Gabor was successful as an actress in film, on Broadway and on television. She was also a successful businessperson, marketing wigs, clothing and beauty products. Her elder sisters, Zsa Zsa and Magda Gabor, were also actresses and socialites. Gabor was born in Budapest, Hungary, the youngest of three daughters of Vilmos Gábor, a soldier, and his wife Jolie born Janka Tilleman, a jeweler. Her parents were both from Jewish families. She was the first of the sisters to immigrate to the US, shortly after her first marriage, to a Swedish osteopath, Dr. Eric Drimmer, whom she married in 1939 when she was 20 years old. In 1965 Gabor got the role for which she is best remembered: Lisa Douglas, whose attorney husband Oliver Wendell Douglas (Eddie Albert) decides to leave the "rat race" of city life. He buys a farm in a rural community, forcing Lisa to leave her beloved big-city urban life, in the Paul Henning sitcom Green Acres, which aired on CBS. Green Acres was set in Hooterville, the same backdrop for Petticoat Junction and would occasionally cross over with its sister sitcom. Despite proving to be a ratings hit, staying in the top 20 for its first four seasons, Green Acres, along with another sister show, The Beverly Hillbillies, was cancelled in 1971 in the CBS network's infamous "rural purge," a policy to get rid of the network's rural-based television shows. Eva Gabor was married five times. She had no children. Gabor died in Los Angeles on July 4, 1995, from respiratory failure and pneumonia, following a fall in a bathtub in Mexico, where she had been on vacation. Her funeral was held on July 11, 1995, at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills. The youngest sister, Eva predeceased her elder sisters and her mother. Eldest sister Magda and mother Jolie Gabor both died two years later, in 1997. Elder sister Zsa Zsa died in 2016. Gabor is interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery and is buried just yards from both her niece, Francesca Hilton, and her friend and former co-star Eddie Albert."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 174144146”
"Zsa Zsa Gabor born Sári Gábor (February 6, 1917–December 18, 2016) was a Hungarian American actress and socialite. Her sisters were actresses Eva and Magda Gabor. Gabor began her stage career in Vienna and was crowned Miss Hungary in 1936. She emigrated from Hungary to the United States in 1941. Becoming a sought-after actress with "European flair and style," she was considered to have a personality that "exuded charm and grace." Her first film role was a supporting role in Lovely to Look At. She later acted in We're Not Married! and played one of her few leading roles in the John Huston-directed film, Moulin Rouge. Huston would later describe her as a "creditable" actress. Outside her acting career, Gabor was known for her extravagant Hollywood lifestyle, her glamorous personality, and her many marriages. In total, Gabor had nine husbands, including hotel magnate Conrad Hilton and actor George Sanders. She once stated, "Men have always liked me and I have always liked men. But I like a mannish man, a man who knows how to talk to and treat a woman—not just a man with muscles. Zsa Zsa Gabor was born Sári Gábor on February 6, 1917 in Budapest,Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The middle of three daughters, her parents were Vilmos, a soldier, and Jolie Gabor (Janka Tilleman). Her parents were both of Jewish ancestry. While her mother escaped Hungary during the same time period of the Nazi occupation of Budapest, Gabor left the country in 1941, three years prior to the takeover. Gabor was married nine times. She was divorced seven times, and one marriage was annulled. “All in all—I love being married,” she wrote in her autobiography. "I love the companionship, I love cooking for a man (simple things like chicken soup and my special Dracula's goulash from Hungary) and spending all my time with a man. Of course I love being in love—but it is marriage that really fulfills me. Gabor's divorces inspired her to make numerous quotable puns and innuendos about her marital and extramarital history. She commented, "I am a marvelous housekeeper, every time I leave a man I keep his house." When asked, "How many husbands have you had?" She was quoted as responding, "You mean other than my own?" Gabor later claimed to have had a sexual encounter with her stepson, Nicky. In 1970, Gabor purchased a nearly 9,000-square-foot Hollywood Regency-style home in Bel Air, which once belonged to Elvis Presley, and where the Beatles visited him in 1965. It was originally built by Howard Hughes and featured a unique-looking French style roof. Gabor's only child, daughter Constance Francesca Hilton, was born on March 10, 1947. According to Gabor's 1991 autobiography One Lifetime Is Not Enough, her pregnancy resulted from rape by then-husband Conrad Hilton. She was the onlyGabor sister who had a child. In 2005, a lawsuit was filed accusing her daughter of larceny and fraud, alleging that she had forged her signature to get a US$2 million loan on her mother's Bel Air house. However, the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Santa Monica, threw out the case due to Gabor's failure to appear in court or to sign an affidavit that she indeed was a co-plaintiff on the original lawsuit filed by her husband, Frédéric von Anhalt. Francesca Hilton died in 2015 at the age of 67 from a stroke. Gabor's husband never told her about her daughter's death, out of concern for her physical and emotional state. Gabor died at the age of 99 of a heart attack at her home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, on December 18, 2016, less than two months before she would have become a centenarian. She had been on life support for the previous five years. She is survived by husband Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, whom she wed in 1986."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 6404886”
"Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (19 February 1893–6 August 1964) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly fifty years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and his film work included leading roles in a number of adapted literary classics. Hardwicke was born in Lye, Worcestershire to Dr Edwin Webster Hardwicke and his wife Jessie Masterson. He attended Bridgnorth Grammar School in Shropshire, after which he intended to train as a doctor but failed to pass the necessary examinations. He turned to the theatre and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In 1928, he married the English actress Helena Pickard. They divorced in 1948. Their son was actor Edward Hardwicke. His second marriage, which also produced one child and ended in divorce was to, Mary Scott from 1950 to 1961. Hardwicke made his first appearance on stage at the Lyceum Theatre, London in 1912 during the run of Frederick Melville's melodrama The Monk and the Woman, when he took over the part of Brother John. During that year he was at Her Majesty's Theatre understudying, and subsequently appeared at the Garrick Theatre in Charles Klein's play Find the Woman, and Trust the People. In 1913 he joined Benson's Company and toured in the provinces, South Africa and Rhodesia. During 1914 he toured with Miss Darragh in Laurence Irving's play The Unwritten Law, and he appeared at the Old Vic in 1914 as Malcolm in Macbeth, Tranio in The Taming of the Shrew, and the gravedigger in Hamlet, among other roles. World War I intervened in his career, and from 1914 to 1921 he served as an officer in the Judge Advocate's branch of the British Army in France. He was one of the last members of the British Expeditionary Force to leave France. Following his discharge, in January 1922 he joined the Birmingham Repertory Company, playing a range of parts from the drooping young lover Faulkland in The Rivals to the roistering Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night. Hardwicke's first appearance in a British film was in 1931, and from the late 1930s he was in great demand in Hollywood. He played David Livingstone opposite Spencer Tracy's Henry Morton Stanley in Stanley and Livingstone in 1939, and also played Judge Jean Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame that same year. In 1940 he played Mr Jones in a screen version of Joseph Conrad's novel Victory. He starred in The Ghost of Frankenstein, as the unfortunate Ludwig von Frankenstein, alongside Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi. Hardwicke played in such films as Les Misérables, King Solomon's Mines, The Keys of the Kingdom, The Winslow Boy, Alfred Hitchcock's Rope, and Olivier's Richard III. He was also featured as King Arthur in the comedy/musical, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, singing Busy Doing Nothing in a trio with Bing Crosby and William Bendix, and as the Pharaoh Seti I in Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 film The Ten Commandments. Hardwicke died 6 August 1964 at the age of 71 in New York from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Sir Cedric Hardwicke has a motion pictures star and a television star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 94144440”
"Sherman Alexander Hemsley (February 1, 1938–July 24, 2012) was an American actor and comedian best known for his role as George Jefferson on the CBS television series All in the Family and The Jeffersons, Deacon Ernest Frye on the NBC series Amen and B. P. Richfield on the ABC series Dinosaurs. For his work on the The Jeffersons, Hemsley was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award. He won a NAACP Image Award. Hemsley was born and raised in South Philadelphia by his mother, who worked in a lamp factory. He did not meet his father until he was 14. He attended Barrat Middle School, Central High School for 9th grade and Bok Technical High School for 10th, when he dropped out of school and joined the United States Air Force, where he served for four years. On leaving the Air Force, he returned to Philadelphia, where he worked for the Post Office during the day while attending the Academy of Dramatic Arts at night. He then moved to New York, continuing to work for the Post Office during the day while working as an actor at night. He starred as "Gitlow" in the early 1970s Broadway musical Purlie. While Hemsley was on Broadway with Purlie, Norman Lear called him in 1971 to play the recurring role of George Jefferson in his new sitcom, All in the Family. Hemsley was reluctant to leave his theatre role, but Lear told him that he would hold the role open for him. Hemsley joined the cast two years later. The characters of Hemsley and co-star Isabel Sanford were supporting occasional roles on All in the Family, but were given their own spin-off, The Jeffersons, two years after Hemsley made his debut on the show. The Jeffersons proved to be one of Lear's most successful shows, enjoying a run of 11 seasons through 1985. Hemsley continued to work steadily after the show's cancellation, largely typecast in George Jefferson–like roles. He teamed up with the show's original cast members when The Jeffersons moved to Broadway for a brief run.[citation needed] He later joined the cast of NBC's Amen in 1986 as Deacon Ernest Frye, a church deacon. In 2001, Hemsley appeared as a contestant of the Celebrity Classic TV Edition special of ABC's hit primetime quizzer Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and won $US 125,000 for his charity. He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2012. Hemsley was a shy and intensely private man, described by some as reclusive. He avoided the Hollywood limelight and little of his personal life was public knowledge beyond the facts that he never married and he had no children. In 2003, however, Hemsley granted a rare video interview to the Archive of American Television. "It [playing George Jefferson] was hard for me. But he was the character. I had to do it." On July 24, 2012, Hemsley died at his home in El Paso, Texas, aged 74. The cause of death was given as superior vena cava syndrome, a complication associated with lung and bronchial carcinomas. He had had a malignant mass on one of his lungs for which chemotherapy and radiation had been recommended, according to the El Paso County Texas Medical Examiner's report. On August 28, 2012, an El Paso news anchor interviewed Flora Isela Enchinton, the sole beneficiary of Hemsley's will, who said they were friends and had been business partners for more than two decades. During this time she lived with Hemsley and Hemsley's friend Kenny Johnston. Enchinton told the Associated Press Hemsley never mentioned any relatives. "Some people come out of the woodwork—they think Sherman, they think money," Enchinton tells AP. "But the fact is that I did not know Sherman when he was in the limelight. I met them when they [Hemsley and Johnston] came running from Los Angeles with not one penny, when there was nothing but struggle." A Philadelphia man named Richard Thornton claimed to be the brother of Hemsley and the true heir to his estate. After contesting the will, Thornton halted progress on funeral arrangements, and as a result, Hemsley's body remained at the San Jose Funeral Home in El Paso and unburied for months. On November 9, 2012, the legal battle over Hemsley's body ended when Judge Patricia Chew ruled in favor of Enchinton. A military funeral was planned for Hemsley. He was interred at Fort Bliss National Cemetery in his adopted hometown of El Paso, Texas."
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"Demons" & "Witches," for real?
"The Witch of Endor, sometimes called the Medium of Endor, was a medium who apparently summoned the prophet Samuel's spirit, at the demand of King Saul of the Kingdom of Israel. After Samuel had died, he was buried in Ramah. After Samuel's death, Saul received no answer from God from dreams, prophets, or the Urim and Thummim as to his best course of action against the assembled forces of the Philistines. Consequently Saul, who has earlier driven out all necromancers and magicians from Israel, seeks out a medium, anonymously and in disguise. Following the instruction of her visitor, the woman claims that she sees the ghost of Samuel rising from the abode of the dead. The voice of the prophet's ghost, after complaining of being disturbed, berates Saul for disobeying God, and predicts Saul's downfall, with his whole army, in battle the next day, then adds that Saul and his sons will join him, then, in the abode of the dead. Saul is shocked and afraid, and following the encounter his army is defeated and Saul commits suicide after being wounded. The woman is described as "a woman with an ob" (or perhaps wineskin) in Hebrew, which may be a reference to ventriloquism, and claims to see "elohim arising" from the ground. The Church Fathers and some modern Christian writers have debated the theological issues raised by this text. The story of King Saul and the Medium of Endor would appear at first sight to affirm that it is possible for humans to summon the spirits of the dead by magic. Medieval glosses to the Bible suggested that what the witch actually summoned was not the ghost of Samuel, but a demon taking his shape or an illusion crafted by the witch. Martin Luther, who believed that the dead were unconscious, read that it was "the Devil's ghost," whereas John Calvin, who did believe in the immortal soul, read that "it was not the real Samuel, but a spectre." The modern Christian author Hank Hanegraaff argues that although it is impossible for humans to summon the dead, Samuel did, in fact, by a sovereign act of God, appear before Saul and the witch. Hanegraaff interprets the passage to mean that the witch was surprised by these events. Mortalist denominations, such as Seventh-day Adventists, generally teach that the story is but one example of ancient witchcraft or sorcery in the Bible, which is founded on an unholy belief that people can communicate with the dead. Adventists believe that the Bible teaches repeatedly, "For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." Seventh-day Adventists believe that communication with the dead is a form of magic, divination, sorcery, necromancy, and spiritualism, which are all condemned in scripture. Adventists assert that since the scriptures teach that the dead know not anything, Saul was not communicating with the prophet Samuel, but with Satan. Jehovah's Witnesses have a similar view: the New World Translation places the name Samuel in double-quotes (unique among Bibles) implying that a demon was impersonating the deceased prophet?"
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 112795926"
"Robert Calvin Brooks (January 27, 1930–June 23, 2013) also known professionally as Bobby "Blue" Bland, was an American singer of blues and soul. Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R & B. He was described as "among the great storytellers of blues and soul music... [who] created tempestuous arias of love, betrayal and resignation, set against roiling, dramatic orchestrations, and left the listener drained but awed." He was sometimes referred to as the "Lion of the Blues" and as the "Sinatra of the Blues." [His] music was also influenced by Nat King Cole. Bland was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1981, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame described him as "second in stature only to B. B. King as a product of Memphis's Beale Street blues scene." Bland was born Robert Calvin Brooks in the small town of Rosemark, Tennessee. His father was I. J. Brooks, who abandoned the family not long after Robert's birth. Robert later acquired the name "Bland" from his stepfather, Leroy Bridgeforth, who was also called Leroy Bland. Bobby Bland never went to school, and remained illiterate throughout his life. After moving to Memphis with his mother in 1947, Bland started singing with local gospel groups there, including amongst others The Miniatures. Eager to expand his interests, he began frequenting the city's famous Beale Street where he became associated with an ad hoc circle of aspiring musicians including B. B. King, Rosco Gordon, Junior Parker and Johnny Ace, who collectively took the name of the Beale Streeters. Bland continued performing until shortly before his death. He died on June 23, 2013, at his home in Germantown, Tennessee, a suburb of Memphis, after what family members described as "an ongoing illness." He was 83."
"Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress, filmmaker, and businesswoman. She gained worldwide recognition for portraying Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends a role which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2012, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Jennifer Joanna Aniston was born on February 11, 1969, in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California to actors John Aniston and Nancy Dow. Her father is Greek and a native of Crete, while her mother was born in New York City. One of her maternal great-grandfathers was an Italian immigrant, and her mother's other ancestry is Scottish, Irish, and a small amount of Greek. Aniston has two half-brothers, John Melick, her maternal older half-brother, and Alex Aniston, her younger paternal half-brother. Aniston's godfather was actor Telly Savalas, one of her father's best friends. As a child, Aniston lived in Greece for a year with her family. They moved to Eddystone, Pennsylvania, then to New York City. Despite her father's television career, Aniston was discouraged from watching TV, though she found ways around the prohibition. When she was six, Aniston began attending the Rudolf Steiner School, a Waldorf educational school that applied the Rudolf Steiner philosophy. During that time, Aniston's father and mother split when she was nine years old. Meanwhile, after discovering acting at eleven while attending Rudolf Steiner, Aniston enrolled and graduated at Manhattan's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she joined the school's drama society. Aniston has previously dated musician Adam Duritz, and was engaged to actor Tate Donovan. Her high-profile relationship with actor Brad Pitt was frequently publicized in the press. She married Pitt on July 29, 2000, in a lavish Malibu wedding. For a few years, their marriage was considered the rare Hollywood success. But on January 7, 2005 they announced their separation. A divorce was finalized on October 2, 2005. Aniston has been having a relationship with actor Justin Theroux since May 2011. In January 2012, Aniston and Theroux purchased a home in Los Angeles's Bel-Air neighborhood for roughly $22 million. On August 12, 2012, Aniston and Theroux announced their engagement. In 2007, Forbes rated Aniston as one of the top 10 richest women in entertainment and estimated her net worth to be about $110 million. Aniston was also included in the annual Star Salary Top 10 of trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter for 2006. According to Forbes, in October 2007, Aniston was the top-selling celebrity face of the entertainment industry. She was also Hollywood's most profitable actress. Aniston has been on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list, based on "earnings and fame," every year since 2001, topping the list in 2003. For the year of 2008, Forbes listed Aniston's earnings as $27 million. In 2005, Aniston became the first-ever GQ Woman of the Year. She has frequently appeared on People's annual list of The Most Beautiful, and came in at number one in 2004. She also topped the magazine's Best Dressed List in 2006. She has been a regular on FHM's 100 Sexiest Women list since 1996, ranking at number 79 in 2012, number 81 in 2010, number 24 in 2009 and number 27 in 2008. In 2011, The Telegraph reported the most sought after body parts of the rich and famous revealed by two Hollywood plastic surgeons who carried out a survey among their patients to build up the picture of what the perfect woman would look like. Under the category of the most sought after body shape Aniston was voted in the top three alongside Gisele Bündchen and Penélope Cruz. In the same year, readers of Men's Health magazine voted Aniston the "Sexiest Woman of All Time."
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 31"
"Susan Brownell Anthony (February 15, 1820–March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and feminist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to social equality, she collected anti-slavery petitions at the age of 17. In 1856, she became the New York state agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society. In 1872, Anthony was arrested for voting in her hometown of Rochester, New York, and convicted in a widely publicized trial. Although she refused to pay the fine, the authorities declined to take further action. In 1878, Anthony and Stanton arranged for Congress to be presented with an amendment giving women the right to vote. Popularly known as the Anthony Amendment and introduced by Sen. Aaron A. Sargent (R-CA) it became the Nineteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution in 1920. Susan Brownell Anthony was born on February 15, 1820, to Daniel Anthony and Lucy Read in Adams, Massachusetts, the second oldest of seven children. Her family shared a passion for social reform. Her brothers Daniel and Merritt moved to Kansas to support the anti-slavery movement there. Merritt fought with John Brown against pro-slavery forces during the Bleeding Kansas crisis. Daniel eventually owned a newspaper and became mayor of Leavenworth. Anthony's sister Mary, with whom she shared a home in later years, became a public school principal in Rochester, and a woman's rights activist. Anthony's father was an abolitionist and a temperance advocate. A Quaker, he had a difficult relationship with his traditionalist congregation, which rebuked him for marrying a non-Quaker and then disowned him for allowing a dance school to operate in his home. He continued to attend Quaker meetings anyway and became even more radical in his beliefs. Anthony's mother was not a Quaker but helped raise their children in a more tolerant version of her husband's religious tradition. Their father encouraged them all, girls as well as boys, to be self-supporting, teaching them business principles and giving them responsibilities at an early age. In 1837, at age 16, Anthony collected petitions against slavery as part of organized resistance to the newly established gag rule that prohibited anti-slavery petitions in the U. S. House of Representatives. In 1851, she played a key role in organizing an anti-slavery convention in Rochester. She was also part of the Underground Railroad. An entry in her diary in 1861 read, "Fitted out a fugitive slave for Canada with the help of Harriet Tubman." In 1856, Anthony agreed to become the New York State agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society with the understanding that she would also continue her advocacy of women's rights. Anthony organized anti-slavery meetings throughout the state under banners that read "No compromise with slaveholders. Immediate and Unconditional Emancipation." She developed a reputation for fearlessness in facing down attempts to disrupt her meetings, but opposition became overwhelming on the eve of the Civil War. Mob action shut down her meetings in every town from Buffalo to Albany in early 1861. In Rochester, the police had to escort Anthony and other speakers from the building for their own safety. In Syracuse, according to a local newspaper, "Rotten eggs were thrown, benches broken, and knives and pistols gleamed in every direction." Anthony expressed a vision of a racially integrated society that was radical for a time when abolitionists were debating the question of what was to become of the slaves after they were freed, and when people like Abraham Lincoln were calling for African Americans to be shipped to newly established colonies in Africa. In a speech in 1861, Anthony said, "Let us open to the colored man all our schools...Let us admit him into all our mechanic shops, stores, offices, and lucrative business avocations...let him rent such pew in the church, and occupy such seat in the theatre...Extend to him all the rights of Citizenship." The NWSA convention of 1871 adopted a strategy of urging women to attempt to vote, and then, after being turned away, to file suits in federal courts demanding that their right to vote be recognized. The legal basis for the challenge would be the recently adopted Fourteenth Amendment. Section 1 of that amendment reads, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
"Bindi Sue Irwin (born 24 July 1998) is an Australian actress, television presenter, and conservationist. She is the daughter of the late Steve Irwin and Terri Irwin. She has been involved in acting, singing, songwriting, game show hosting, and has created an instructional fitness DVD. She is also known for winning season 21 of Dancing with the Stars, U. S. Her first name comes from the name of her father's favorite female crocodile at the Australia Zoo, and her middle name, Sue, is from the family's dog Sui. According to her father, Bindi is an Australian Aboriginal word that means "young girl." Bindi Irwin was born in Buderim, Queensland. She began appearing on television shows as early as age two. She appeared regularly in her father's television shows, including The Crocodile Hunter Diaries, and also appeared in the 2002 film The Wiggles: Wiggly Safari in a credited cast role. She is of English and Irish ancestry, with abundance of Irish ancestry on her father's side. In August 2015, Irwin was announced as a competitor on Dancing with the Stars–season 21, paired with five-time champion Derek Hough. On 20 September 2006, Irwin received a standing ovation after delivering a eulogy for her father in front of a crowd of 5,000 and a worldwide television audience of more than 300 million viewers. In the 2006 TV Week readers' poll, her speech received 43 percent of votes and was voted the television moment of the year. Her mother stated that, apart from some assistance with typing, Irwin had written the speech herself. On 5 November, a judge in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County ordered the producers of the show [DWTS] to withdraw Irwin from the competition due to a California state law that prevents minors from getting paid unless a minor's contract is signed. Since Irwin was a minor during the competition, she was required to have both of her parents release their rights to her money before she could get paid. Terri subsequently signed a form saying she would give up all rights to any money her daughter made on the show. However, as Steve died in 2006, the judge asked for a legal death certificate to let Irwin continue in the competition. Irwin and Hough were declared the winners of the season on 24 November 2015."
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 6125709"
"James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871–June 26, 1938) was an American author, educator, lawyer, diplomat, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Johnson is best remembered for his leadership of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People where he started working in 1917. In 1920 he was the first African American to be chosen as executive secretary of the organization, effectively the operating officer. He served in that position from 1920 to 1930. Johnson established his reputation as a writer, and was known during the Harlem Renaissance for his poems, novels, and anthologies collecting both poems and spirituals of black culture. He was appointed under President Theodore Roosevelt as US consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua for most of the period from 1906 to 1913. In 1934 he was the first African-American professor to be hired at New York University. Later in life he was a professor of creative literature and writing at Fisk University. Johnson was born in 1871 in Jacksonville, Florida, the son of Helen Louise Dillet, a native of Nassau, Bahamas, and James Johnson. His maternal great-grandmother, Hester Argo, had escaped from Saint-Domingue during the revolutionary upheaval in 1802, along with her three young children, including James's grandfather Stephen Dillet. Although originally headed to Cuba, their boat was intercepted by privateers and they were taken to Nassau, Bahamas, where they permanently settled. In 1833 Stephen Dillet became the first man of color to win election to the Bahamian legislature. James's brother was John Rosamond Johnson, who became a composer. The boys were first educated by their mother, a musician and a public school teacher, before attending Edwin M. Stanton School. Their mother imparted to them her great love and knowledge of English literature and the European tradition in music. At the age of 16, Johnson enrolled at Clark Atlanta University, a historically black college, from which he graduated in 1894. In addition to his studies for the bachelor's degree, he also completed some graduate coursework. He became involved in civil rights activism, especially the campaign to pass federal legislation against lynching, as southern states did not prosecute perpetrators. Starting as a field secretary for the NAACP in 1917, he rose to become one of the most successful officials in the organization. n the summer of 1891, following his freshman year at Atlanta University, Johnson went to a rural district in Georgia to teach the descendants of former slaves. "In all of my experience there has been no period so brief that has meant so much in my education for life as the three months I spent in the backwoods of Georgia," Johnson wrote. "I was thrown for the first time on my own resources and abilities." Johnson graduated from Atlanta University in 1894. After graduation, he returned to Jacksonville, where he taught at Stanton, a school for African-American students (the public schools were segregated) that was the largest of all the schools in the city. In 1906, at the young age of 35, he was promoted to principal. In the segregated system, Johnson was paid less than half of what white colleagues earned. He improved black education by adding the ninth and tenth grades to the school, to extend the years of schooling. He later resigned from this job to pursue other goals. While working as a teacher, Johnson also read the law to prepare for the bar. In 1897, he was the first African American admitted to the Florida Bar Exam since the Reconstruction era ended. He was also the first black in Duval County to seek admission to the state bar. In order to be accepted, Johnson had a two-hour oral examination before three attorneys and a judge. He later recalled that one of the examiners, not wanting to see a black man admitted, left the room. Johnson drew on his law background especially during his years as a civil rights activist and leading the NAACP. The James Weldon Johnson building at Coppin State University is named in his honor. The James Weldon Johnson Middle School is named in his honor."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 25846012”
"Sean Edward Levert (September 28, 1968–March 30, 2008) was an American singer–songwriter and actor. Levert is best known as a member of the R&B vocal group LeVert. Levert was the son of O'Jays lead singer Eddie Levert and younger brother of singer Gerald Levert. Sean Levert was born in Cleveland, Ohio and was the son of Eddie Levert, the lead singer of The O'Jays. He formed the trio LeVert with older brother Gerald Levert and childhood friend Marc Gordon; together they scored several smash hits on the U. S. R&B charts in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1995, Sean launched a solo career with the album The Other Side on Atlantic Records, which peaked at #22 on the US Billboard R&B chart and #146 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album yielded the charting singles "Put Your Body Where Your Mouth Is" and "Same One" that same year. Sean and Gerald Levert appeared in the film New Jack City; Sean also played a part in the direct-to-video Dope Case Pending. Levert was married to Angela Lowe, and had six children: Shareaun Woods, Keith Potts, Sean Levert Jr., Breoni Levert, Brandon Levert, and Chad Levert. His father is the third cousin of Michigan basketball star, Caris LeVert. In 2008, Levert was sentenced to a 22–month prison sentence for failing to pay child support for three of his children, then aged 11, 15, and 17. Levert became ill while incarcerated in the Cuyahoga County Correctional Facility, prior to his transfer to a state prison, reporting high blood pressure and hallucinations; he died six days after being admitted to the jail, on March 30. The Cuyahoga County coroner ruled in May that his death was caused by complications from sarcoidosis. The official Coroner's report also noted issues of high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and withdrawal from Xanax; he was 39 years old. In 2010, his widow was awarded 4 million dollars as a result of lawsuit filed against Cuyahoga County."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 6939”
"Erle Stanley Gardner (July 17, 1889–March 11, 1970) was an American lawyer and author. Though best known for the Perry Mason series of detective stories, he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces, as well as a series of non-fiction books, mostly narrations of his travels through Baja California and other regions in Mexico. Born in Malden, Massachusetts, Erle Stanley Gardner graduated from Palo Alto High School in 1909 and enrolled at Valparaiso University School of Law in Indiana. He was suspended after approximately one month when his interest in boxing became a distraction. He returned to California, pursued his legal education on his own, and passed the state bar exam in 1911. In 1912 Gardner wed Natalie Frances Talbert; they had a daughter, Grace. He opened his first law office in Merced in 1917, but closed it after accepting a position at a sales agency. In 1921 he returned to law as a member of the Ventura firm Sheridan, Orr, Drapeau and Gardner, where he remained until 1933. Gardner enjoyed litigation and the development of trial strategy, but was otherwise bored by legal practice. In his spare time he began writing for pulp magazines; his first story was published in 1923. He created many series characters for the pulps, including the ingenious Lester Leith, a parody of the "gentleman thief" in the tradition of A. J. Raffles; and Ken Corning, crusading lawyer, crime sleuth, and archetype for his most successful creation, Perry Mason. In his early years writing for the pulp magazine market Gardner set himself a quota of 1,200,000 words a year. When asked why his heroes always defeated villains with the last bullet in their guns Gardner answered, "At three cents a word, every time I say ‘Bang’ in the story I get three cents. If you think I’m going to finish the gun battle while my hero still has fifteen cents worth of unexploded ammunition in his gun, you’re nuts." Early on he typed his stories himself using two fingers, but later dictated them to a team of secretaries. In 1957 Perry Mason became a long-running CBS-TV series starring Raymond Burr in the title role. Though Burr originally auditioned for the role of district attorney Hamilton Burger, Gardner reportedly declared he was the embodiment of Perry Mason. Gardner made an [unaccredited] appearance as a judge in "The Case of the Final Fade-Out," the last episode of the series. Gardner and his first wife had separated in the early 1930s, and after her death in 1968 Gardner married Agnes Jean Bethell, his secretary since 1930. The character of Della Street was a composite of Jean and her two sisters, Peggy and Ruth, who also worked as secretaries for Gardner. He held a lifelong fascination with Baja California and wrote a series of non-fiction travel documentaries describing his extensive explorations of the peninsula by boat, truck, airplane and helicopter. Gardner devoted thousands of hours to "The Court of Last Resort," in collaboration with his many friends in the forensic, legal, and investigative communities. The project sought to review and, when appropriate, reverse miscarriages of justice against criminal defendants who had been convicted due to poor legal representation, abuse or misinterpretation of forensic evidence, or careless or malicious actions of police or prosecutors. The resulting 1952 book earned Gardner his only Edgar Award in the Best Fact Crime category and was later made into a TV series, The Court of Last Resort. Gardner died on March 11, 1970, at his ranch in Temecula—the best-selling American writer of the 20th century at the time of his death. He was cremated and his ashes scattered over his beloved Baja California peninsula. The ranch, known as Rancho del Paisano at the time, was sold after his death, then resold in 2001 to the Pechanga Indians, renamed Great Oak Ranch, and eventually absorbed into the Pechanga reservation. The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin holds Gardner's manuscripts, art collection and personal effects. From 1972 to 2010 the Ransom Center featured a full-scale reproduction of Gardner's study that displayed original furnishings, personal memorabilia and artifacts. Although the space and a companion exhibition were dismantled, a panoramic view of the study is available online. In 2003 a new school in the Temecula Valley Unified School District was named Erle Stanley Gardner Middle School."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 1374”
"Ted Knight (December 7, 1923–August 26, 1986) was an American actor and voice artist perhaps best known for playing the comedic role of Ted Baxter in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Henry Rush in Too Close for Comfort, and Judge Elihu Smails in Caddyshack. Knight was born Tadeusz Wladyslaw Konopka in the Terryville section of Plymouth in Litchfield County, Connecticut, to Polish American parents, Sophia Kavaleski and Charles Walter Konopka, a bartender. Knight dropped out of high school to enlist in the United States Army in World War II. He was a member of A Company, 296th Combat Engineer Battalion, earning five battle stars while serving in the European Theatre. He became proficient with puppets and ventriloquism, which led to steady work as a television kiddie-show host at WJAR-TV in Providence, Rhode Island, from 1950 to 1955. In 1955, he left Providence for Albany, New York, where he landed a job at station WROW-TV, now WTEN, hosting The Early Show, featuring MGM movies; and a kids’ variety show, playing a "Gabby Hayes" type character named "Windy Knight." He was also a radio announcer for sister station WROW radio. He left the station in 1957 after receiving advice from station manager Thomas Murphy that he should take his talents to Hollywood. Knight spent most of the 1950s and 1960s doing commercial voice-overs and playing minor television and movie roles. He had a small part playing a police officer seen guarding the room where Norman Bates, now in custody, sat wrapped in a blanket at the end of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. He also guest starred on the syndicated television series Sea Hunt with Lloyd Bridges, during the 1961 season in the episode titled "The Defector." He appeared frequently in television shows such as Highway Patrol, Peter Gunn, The Donna Reed Show, Bonanza, Get Smart, The Twilight Zone, Gunsmoke and The Wild Wild West. His final movie role was in the golf comedy Caddyshack, where he played Judge Elihu Smails, who is fed up with the shenanigans of a guest at his golf club. Knight's distinctive speaking voice brought him work as an announcer, notably as narrator of most of Filmation studios superhero cartoons as well as voice of incidental characters. He was narrator of the first season of the Super Friends, while other animated television series featuring his work included the voices of the opening narrator and team leader Commander Jonathan Kidd in Fantastic Voyage. His role as the vain and untalented WJM newscaster Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show brought Knight widespread recognition and his greatest success. He received six Emmy Award nominations for the role, winning the Emmy for "Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Comedy" in 1973 and 1976. In 1948, he married Dorothy Smith, and the couple had three children: Ted, Jr., Elyse, and Eric. In January 1985, Knight was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the television industry. It is located at 6673 Hollywood Boulevard. A few months after the end of the Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1977, Knight was diagnosed with cancer for which he received various forms of treatment over several years. In 1985, the cancer returned as colon cancer which, despite rigorous treatment, eventually began to spread to his bladder and throughout his lower gastrointestinal tract. Knight continued to work, however, even having surgery to remove a tumor from his urinary tract. However, he experienced complications from the surgery and was advised not to resume work on Too Close For Comfort until he recovered. Knight's condition only worsened, however, and he died on August 26, 1986 at the age of 62. Knight was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. His grave marker bears the name Theodore C. Konopka. His hometown of Terryville, Connecticut, dedicated the bridge on Canal Street over the Pequabuck River in his memory. There is a bronze plaque bearing his likeness on the bridge."
 "Find a Grave Memorial ID 1596"
"John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916–June 24, 1987) was an American comedian, actor, and musician who developed a style and characters in his career from growing up in Brooklyn, New York. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, exemplified by his character Ralph Kramden in the television series The Honeymooners. By filming the episodes with Electronicam, Gleason later could release the series in syndication, building its popularity over the years with new audiences. He also developed The Jackie Gleason Show, which had the second-highest ratings in the country 1954–55, and which he produced over the years in variations, including in the venue of Miami, Florida after moving there. Among his notable film roles were Minnesota Fats. John Herbert Gleason was born in 1916 at 364 Chauncey Street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. He grew up at 328 Chauncey, an address he later used for Ralph and Alice Kramden on The Honeymooners. Originally named Herbert Walton Gleason Jr., he was baptized John Herbert Gleason. His parents were Herbert Walton Gleason, an Irish-American insurance auditor and Mae Kelly, from Farranree, Cork, Ireland. Gleason was one of two children; his brother Clemence died of Meningitis at age 14. He remembered his father as having "beautiful handwriting," and used to watch him work at the family's kitchen table to write policies in the evenings. On the night of December 14, 1925, Gleason's father disposed of any family photos in which he appeared; just after noon on December 15, he collected his hat, coat, and paycheck, and left the insurance company and his family permanently. When it was evident he was not coming back, Mae went to work as a subway attendant for the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation. After his father left, young Gleason began hanging around on the streets with a local gang and hustling pool. He attended elementary school at P. S. 73 in Brooklyn and attended John Adams High School in Queens and Bushwick High School in Brooklyn. Gleason became interested in performing after being part of a class play; when he left school, he got a job as master of ceremonies at a theater that paid $4 per night. Other jobs he held included working in a pool hall, as a stunt driver, and as a carnival barker. After his father's abandonment, Gleason was raised by his mother. When she died in 1935 of sepsis from a large neck carbuncle Gleason was 19, had nowhere to go and 36 cents to his name. The family of his first girlfriend, Julie Dennehy, offered to take him in; Gleason, however, was headstrong and insisted he was going into the heart of the city. His friend Sammy Birch made room for him in the hotel room he shared with another comedian. Birch also told him of a one-week job in Reading, Pennsylvania, that would pay $19, more money than Gleason could imagine. The booking agent advanced him bus fare for the trip against his salary. This was Gleason's first job as a professional comedian, and he had regular work in a number of small clubs after that. Gleason worked his way up to a job at New York's Club 18, where insulting its patrons was the order of the day. Gleason greeted noted skater Sonja Henie by handing her an ice cube and saying, "Okay, now do something." It was here that Jack L. Warner first saw Gleason, signing him to a film contract for $250 a week. Gleason met dancer Genevieve Halford when they were working in vaudeville, and they started to date. Halford wanted to marry but Gleason was not ready to settle down. She said she would see other men if they did not marry. One evening when Gleason went onstage at the Club Miami in Newark, New Jersey, he saw Halford in the front row with a date. At the end of his show, Gleason went to the table and proposed to Halford in front of her date. They were married on September 20, 1936. In 1974 Marilyn Taylor encountered Gleason again when she moved to the Miami area to be near her sister June, whose dancers were part of Gleason's shows for many years. She had been out of show business for nearly 20 years. While touring in the lead role of Larry Gelbart's play Sly Fox in 1978 he suffered chest pains, forcing him to leave the show in Chicago and undergo triple-bypass surgery. Gleason initially went to the hospital for chest pains but was treated and released. After he suffered another bout the following week, it was determined that heart surgery was necessary. Gleason delivered a critically acclaimed performance as an infirm, acerbic, and somewhat Archie Bunker–like character in the Tom Hanks comedy–drama Nothing in Common. This was Gleason's final film role. During production he was suffering from terminal colon cancer, which had metastasized to his liver. "I won't be around much longer," he told his daughter at dinner one evening after a day of filming. Gleason kept his medical problems private, although there were rumors that he was seriously ill. A year later, on June 24, 1987, Gleason died at his Florida home."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 55771279”
"Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911–July 31, 2010) was an American oboist, conductor, recording producer and recording industry executive. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor, and artist and repertoire man. Miller was one of the most influential people in American popular music during the 1950s and early 1960s, both as the head of A&R at Columbia Records and as a best-selling recording artist with an NBC television series, Sing Along with Mitch. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester in the early 1930s, Miller began his musical career as an accomplished player of the oboe and English horn, making numerous highly regarded classical and popular recordings, but he is best remembered as a choral conductor on television and as a recordings executive. Mitch Miller was born in Rochester, New York, on July 4, 1911, to a Jewish family. His mother was Hinda Rosenblum Miller, a former seamstress, and his father, Abram Calmen Miller, a Russian-Jewish immigrant wrought-iron worker. He had four siblings, two of whom, Leon and Joseph, survived him. Miller joined Mercury Records as a classical music producer and served as the head of Artists and Repertoire at Mercury in the late 1940s, and then joined Columbia Records in the same capacity in 1950. This was a pivotal position in a recording company, because the A&R executive decided which musicians and songs would be recorded and promoted by that particular record label. While Miller's methods were resented by some of Columbia's performers, including Frank Sinatra and Rosemary Clooney, the label maintained a high hit-to-release ratio during the 1950s. Sinatra particularly blamed his temporary fall from popularity while at Columbia on Miller; the crooner felt that he was forced by Miller to record material like "Mama Will Bark" and "The Hucklebuck." Miller countered that Sinatra's contract gave him the right to refuse any song. He was married for sixty-five years to the former Frances Alexander, who died in 2000. They had two daughters; Andrea Miller and Margaret Miller Reuther, a son, Mitchell Miller, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Mitch Miller lived in New York City for many years and died there on July 31, 2010, after a short illness."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 6130700”
"Shemp Howard (March 11, 1895– November 22, 1955) was an American actor and comedian. Born Samuel Horwitz, he was called "Shemp" because "Sam" came out that way in his mother's thick Litvak accent. He is best known today for his role as the third stooge in the Three Stooges, a role he first portrayed at the beginning of the act in the early 1920s while the act was still associated with Ted Healy and known as "Ted Healy and his Stooges" and again from 1947 until his death in 1955. Between his times with the Stooges, Shemp had a successful film career as a solo comedian. Shemp was born in Manhattan, New York, and raised in Brooklyn. He was the third-born of the five Horwitz brothers, the sons of their Lithuanian Jewish parents, Solomon Horwitz and Jennie Horwitz. Moe Howard and Curly Howard were his younger brothers. Shemp's brother, Moe Howard, started in show business as a youngster, on stage and in films. Eventually, Moe and Shemp tried their hands as minstrel-show-style "blackface" comedians with an act they called "Howard and Howard—A Study In Black." Meanwhile, they also worked for a rival vaudeville circuit at the same time, by appearing without makeup. Shemp's brother, Moe Howard, started in show business as a youngster, on stage and in films. Eventually, Moe and Shemp tried their hands as minstrel-show-style "blackface" comedians with an act they called "Howard and Howard—A Study In Black". Meanwhile, they also worked for a rival vaudeville circuit at the same time, by appearing without makeup. By the 1920s, Moe had teamed up with boyhood-friend-turned-vaudeville star Ted Healy in a "roughhouse" act. One day Moe spotted his brother Shemp in the audience, and yelled at him from the stage. Quick-witted Shemp yelled right back, and walked onto the stage. From then on he was part of the act, usually known as "Ted Healy and His Stooges." His original stooges were the Howard brothers, and others came and went during 1925-1928, with Larry Fine joining in March 1928. On stage, Healy would sing and tell jokes while his three noisy stooges would get in his way. He would retaliate with physical and verbal abuse. In September 1925, Shemp at age 30 married Gertrude Frank [age] 28, a fellow New Yorker. They had one child, Morton. Shemp used his somewhat homely appearance for comic effect, often mugging grotesquely or allowing his hair to fall in disarray. He even played along with a publicity stunt that named him "The Ugliest Man in Hollywood." Notoriously phobic, his fears included airplanes, automobiles, dogs and water. According to Moe's autobiography, Shemp was involved in a driving accident as a teenager and never obtained a driver's license. On November 22, 1955, Shemp went out with his friends Al Winston and Bobby Silverman to a boxing match at the old Hollywood Legion Stadium located just one block above the Hollywood Palladium. While returning home in a taxicab that evening, he died of a sudden massive heart attack, at the age of 60. He was leaning back and lighting a cigar after telling a joke, when he suddenly slumped over on his friend Al Winston's lap. Al thought Shemp was playing a joke, since Shemp was laughing moments earlier, but realized he was actually dead. Moe's autobiography gives a death date of November 23, 1955, as do most subsequent accounts, because of Moe's book. But much of that book was finished posthumously by his daughter and son-in-law, and some specific details were confused as a result. The Los Angeles county coroner's death certificate states that Shemp Howard died on Tuesday, November 22, 1955, at 11:00 PM PST; confirming that, Shemp's obituary appeared in the November 23 afternoon editions of L. A. newspapers, establishing the night of November 22 as the date of death. A different account is offered by former daughter-in-law Geri Greenbaum, who says Shemp's death happened just as their cab came over the rise on Barham Boulevard heading to his Toluca Lake home. Shemp Howard was entombed in a crypt in the Indoor Mausoleum at the Home of Peace Cemetery in East Los Angeles. His younger brother Curly is also interred there in an outdoor tomb in the Western Jewish Institute section, as well as his parents Solomon & Jennie Horowitz, and older brother Benjamin."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 511”
"Jerome Lester Horwitz (October 22, 1903–January 18, 1952) better known by his stage name Curly Howard, was an American comedian and vaudevillian actor. He was best known as the most outrageous and energetic member of the American farce comedy team the Three Stooges, which also featured his older brothers Moe and Shemp Howard and actor Larry Fine. Curly was generally considered the most popular and recognizable of the Stooges. He was well known for his high-pitched voice and vocal expressions "nyuk-nyuk-nyuk!," "woob-woob-woob!," "soitenly!" (certainly) and barking like a dog as well as his physical comedy e. g., falling on ground and pivoting on his shoulder as he "walked" in circular motion, improvisations, and athleticism. An untrained actor, Curly borrowed and significantly exaggerated the "woob woob" from "nervous" and soft-spoken comedian Hugh Herbert. Curly's unique version of "woob-woob-woob" was firmly established by the time of the Stooges' second Columbia film, Punch Drunks. Curly was forced to leave the Three Stooges act in 1946 when a massive stroke ended his showbusiness career. He suffered through serious health problems and several more strokes until his death in 1952 at age 48. Curly Howard was born Jerome Lester Horwitz in the Bensonhurst section of the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry, he was the fifth of the five Horwitz brothers. Because he was the youngest, his brothers called him "Babe" to tease him. The name "Babe" stuck with him all his life, although when his older brother Shemp Howard married Gertrude Frank, who was also nicknamed "Babe," the brothers called him "Curly" to avoid confusion. His full formal Hebrew name was "Yehudah Lev ben Shlomo Natan ha Levi." A quiet child, Curly rarely caused problems for his parents; something older brothers Moe and Shemp excelled in. He was a mediocre student but excelled as an athlete on the school basketball team. He didn't graduate from high school but kept himself busy with odd jobs and constantly followed his older brothers, whom he idolized. He was also an accomplished ballroom dancer and singer and regularly turned up at the Triangle Ballroom in Brooklyn, occasionally bumping into George Raft. When Curly was 12, he accidentally shot himself in the left ankle while cleaning a rifle. Moe rushed him to the hospital and saved his life. The wound resulted in a noticeably thinner left leg and a slight limp. He was so frightened of surgery that he never had the limp corrected. While with the Stooges, he developed his famous exaggerated walk to mask the limp on screen. Curly was interested in music and comedy and would watch his brothers Shemp and Moe perform as stooges in Ted Healy's vaudeville act. He also liked to hang around backstage, although he never participated in any of the routines. From an early age, Curly was always "in demand socially," as brother Moe put it. He married his first wife, Julia Rosenthal, on August 5, 1930, but the couple had their marriage annulled shortly afterwards. Still not fully recovered from his stroke, Curly met Valerie Newman and married her on July 31, 1947. A friend, Irma Leveton, later recalled, "Valerie was the only decent thing that happened to Curly and the only one that really cared about him." Although his health continued to decline after the marriage, Valerie gave birth to a daughter, Janie, in 1948. Later that year Curly suffered a second massive stroke, which left him partially paralyzed. He used a wheelchair by 1950 and was fed boiled rice and apples as part of his diet to reduce his weight and blood pressure. Valerie admitted him into the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital on August 29, 1950. He was released after several months of treatment and medical tests, although he would return periodically until his death. In February 1951, he was placed in a nursing home, where he suffered another stroke a month later. In April, he went to live at the North Hollywood Hospital and Sanitarium. n December 1951, the North Hollywood Hospital and Sanitarium supervisor advised the Howard family that Curly was becoming a problem to the nursing staff at the facility because of his mental deterioration. They admitted they could no longer care for him and suggested he be placed in a mental hospital. Moe refused and relocated him to the Baldy View Sanitarium in San Gabriel, California. On January 7, 1952, Moe was contacted on the Columbia set while filming He Cooked His Goose to help move Curly for what would be the last time. Eleven days later, on January 18, Curly died at 48. He was given a Jewish funeral and laid to rest at Home of Peace Cemetery in East Los Angeles. Curly's off-screen personality was the antithesis of his onscreen manic persona. An introvert, he generally kept to himself, rarely socializing with people unless he had been drinking (which he would increasingly turn to as the stresses of his career grew). In addition, he came to life when in the presence of brother Shemp. Curly could not be himself around brother Moe, who treated his younger brother with a fatherly wag of the finger. Never an intellectual, Curly simply refrained from engaging in "crazy antics" unless he was in his element, with family, performing or intoxicated. On June 7, 1937, Curly married Elaine Ackerman, who gave birth to their only child, Marilyn, the following year. The couple divorced in 1940, after which he gained a lot of weight and developed hypertension. He was also insecure about his shaved head, believing it made him unappealing to women; he increasingly drank to excess and caroused to cope with his feelings of inferiority. He took to wearing a hat in public to convey an image of masculinity, saying he felt like a little kid with his hair shaved off, even though he was popular with women all his life. In fact, many who knew him said women were his main weakness. Moe's son-in-law Norman Maurer even went so far as to say he "was a pushover for women. If a pretty girl went up to him and gave him a spiel, Curly would marry them. Then she would take his money and runoff." Curly found constant companionship in his dogs and often befriended strays whenever the Stooges were traveling. He would pick up homeless dogs and take them with him from town to town until he found them a home somewhere else on the tour. When not performing, he would usually have a few dogs waiting for him at home as well."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 3219”
"Jolie Gabor, Countess de Szigethy (September 30, 1896–April 1, 1997) was a Hungarian American socialite, jeweler and memoirist, known as the mother of actresses and socialites Magda, Zsa Zsa, and Eva Gabor. Born Janka Tilleman in Budapest, Austria-Hungary, she was the youngest daughter and third of four children, born to a Jewish couple, Jona Harsch Tilleman, who later took the name "Josef" and Chane Faige. Both of Gabor's parents were born in Galicia, then part of the Austrian Empire.The Tillemans were prosperous jewelers who owned a jewelry shop known as "The Diamond House." After her father's death, her mother married Dr. Miksa Kende, a medical doctor and general physician. Jolie's purported birth name "Jancsi" is usually used for males in Hungary. "My parents were so eager to have a son they named me Jancsi, which translated comes out Little John or Johnny," she would claim later in life, although her birth certificate indicates her birth name was Janka. Gabor claimed to have been born in 1900 and once jokingly said she had lied so much about her age she did not remember her actual birth date. Her obituary in The New York Times gave a birth year of 1900. On a passenger manifest dated December 30, 1945, Gabor gave her age as 45 years and two months, which would make her year of birth 1900; however this was fudged by four years as her 1896 birth certificate confirms. Published accounts of her third marriage, in 1957, have Gabor stating her age as 54, which would mean a virtually impossible birth year of 1903. Her first marriage took place in 1914, and her first child Magda was born in 1915. Gabor arrived in the United States on December 30, 1945. She opened a successful costume jewelry business (called simply Jolie Gabor) in New York City in 1946, with $7,200 borrowed from her daughters. It later moved to 699 Madison Avenue. Gabor also established a branch of the firm in Palm Springs, California. Among the company's designers were Elsa Beck and Stephen Kelen d'Oxylion, as well as her own daughter, Magda. She was married three times. Vilmos Gábor, a Hungarian army officer, who achieved the rank of colonel; they married in 1914 and divorced in 1939; Howard Peter Christman, a New York City restaurant manager; they married in 1947 and divorced in 1948; Count Odon Szigethy, a Hungarian refugee, "He's a moneymaker," she said of Szigethy in a 1976 interview. "He takes care of me, he takes care of my business, my three homes in Florida, New York, and Connecticut. When I marry him, darling, he looks younger than me, but now, he looks older." Jolie Gabor was preceded in death by her youngest daughter, Eva, although she apparently was never told of Eva's death. She died less than two years later, in Palm Springs, California on April 1, 1997, at age 100. Two months after Jolie's death, her eldest daughter, Magda, died. Zsa Zsa died on December 18, 2016, aged 99. Jolie had one grandchild, Francesca Hilton (Zsa Zsa's daughter), who died in 2015. Zsa Zsa was reportedly never told about Hilton's death. Jolie Gabor de Szigethy is buried in Desert Memorial Park, Cathedral City, California."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 3220”
"Magdolna Gabor (June 11, 1915–June 6, 1997) was a Hungarian American actress and socialite, and the elder sister of Zsa Zsa and Eva Gabor. The eldest daughter of a jeweler, Jolie and a soldier, Vilmos Gábor. She was born in 1915 in Budapest. Her parents were both from Jewish families. She is listed in Hungary: Jewish Names from the Central Zionist Archives, under her first married name, as Magda Bychowsky. She stood 5'6" tall with red hair and gray eyes. During World War II, Gabor was reported to have been the fiancée of the Portuguese ambassador to Hungary, Carlos Sampaio Garrido; another source claims she was his mistress and another claims she was his aide. After she fled to Portugal in 1944, following the Nazi occupation of Hungary, and, with Sampaio's assistance, she was reportedly the mistress of a Spanish nobleman, José Luis de Vilallonga. Gabor arrived in the United States in February 1946, from Natal, Brazil. Within a year of her arrival she married an American citizen, William Rankin, and remained in the country. Gabor married six times. She was widowed twice, divorced three times, and one marriage was annulled. All the unions were childless. Magda Gabor died on June 6, 1997, five days before her 82nd birthday, from renal failure, two months after the death of her mother, and was interred in Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 11043389”
"Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906–May 26, 2005) known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid. Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing Edwards in the Brother Rat films, traveling salesman Ali Hakim in the musical "Oklahoma!" and the sadistic prison warden in 1974's The Longest Yard. He starred as Oliver Wendell Douglas in the 1960s television sitcom Green Acres and as Frank MacBride in the 1970s crime drama Switch. He also had a recurring role as Carlton Travis on Falcon Crest, opposite Jane Wyman. Edward Albert Heimberger was born in Rock Island, Illinois, on April 22, 1906, the oldest of the five children of Frank Daniel Heimberger, a realtor, and his wife, Julia Jones. His year of birth is often given as 1908, but this is incorrect. His parents were not married when Albert was born, and his mother altered his birth certificate after her marriage. When he was one year old, his family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Young Edward secured his first job as a newspaper boy when he was only six. During World War I, his German name led to taunts as "the enemy" by his classmates. He studied at Central High School in Minneapolis and joined the drama club. Finishing high school in 1926, he entered the University of Minnesota, where he majored in business. n 1965, Albert was approached by producer Paul Henning to star in a new sitcom for CBS called Green Acres. His character, Oliver Wendell Douglas, was a lawyer who left the city to enjoy a simple life as a farmer. Co-starring on the show was Eva Gabor as his urbanite, spoiled wife. The show was an immediate hit, achieving fifth place in the ratings in its first season. The series lasted six seasons with 170 episodes. Albert married Mexican actress "María Margarita Guadalupe Teresa Estela Bolado Castilla y O'Donnell" in 1945. Albert and Margo had a son, Edward Jr., also an actor, and adopted a daughter, Maria, who became her father's business manager. Margo Albert died from brain cancer on July 17, 1985. The Alberts lived in Pacific Palisades, California, in a Spanish-style house on an acre of land with a cornfield in front. Albert grew organic vegetables in a greenhouse and recalled how his parents had a "liberty garden" at home during World War I. Eddie Albert was left-handed. Albert was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in his last years. His son put his acting career aside to care for his father. Despite his illness, Albert exercised regularly until shortly before his death. Eddie Albert died of pneumonia on May 26, 2005, at the age of 99 at his home in Pacific Palisades. He was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, next to his late wife and close to his Green Acres co-star Eva Gabor. Albert's son, Edward Jr., was an actor, musician, singer and linguist/dialectician. Edward Jr. died at age 55, one year after his father. He had been suffering from lung cancer for 18 months. For contributions to the television industry, Eddie Albert was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6441 Hollywood Boulevard."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 79560537”
"Gail Patrick was born Margaret LaVelle Fitzpatrick on June 20, 1911, in Birmingham, Alabama. Her parents were Lawrence C. Fitzpatrick, a municipal fireman, and LaVelle Fitzpatrick. After graduating from Howard College, she remained as acting dean of women. She completed two years of law school at the University of Alabama and aspired to be the state's governor. In 1932, "for a lark," she entered a Paramount Pictures beauty and talent contest and won train fare to Hollywood for herself and her brother. Although she did not win the contest Patrick was offered a standard contract. She visited the studio officials by herself and asked to negotiate. She said that she must have $75 a week instead of the customary $50, and that she would not accept the standard 12-week-layoff provision. "I also read the fine print and blacked out the clause saying I had to do cheesecake stills," Patrick recalled in a 1979 interview. "In the back of my mind I had this idea I could never go home to practice law if such stills were floating around." On December 17, 1936, Patrick married restaurateur Robert H. Cobb, owner of the Brown Derby and principal owner of the Hollywood Stars baseball team. An ardent baseball fan, she was called "Ma Patrick" and threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the team's new Gilmore Field on May 2, 1939. To Hollywood's surprise, the Cobbs separated in October 1940 and were divorced in November 1941. Patrick's patriotic service during World War II included four tours of Canada promoting Victory Loans, making her the only film star to visit the entire nation from coast to coast. On her return from a war bond tour she met Lieutenant Arnold Dean White, a pilot in the U. S. Navy Naval Air Transport Service, and they were married July 11, 1944. In June 1945 she gave premature birth to twins who soon died. She became diabetic and had to take insulin the rest of her life. She and White divorced in March 1946. Longtime CBS executive Anne Nelson, who handled contract negotiation and other business affairs for CBS, called Patrick "my adversary in business, but my friend in life." In a 2008 interview, Nelson reported that Patrick was the only female executive producer in prime time during the years Perry Mason was on the air. "Women today won't believe that things were that tough," Nelson said, "but Gail was alone in her bailiwick, and I was the only female executive not in personnel at CBS at the time." Nelson said that years later Patrick told her she had written up the contract herself, and that it was so wild and favorable to Paisano Productions that she had no idea CBS would accept it. "But we bought it," Nelson said. "And it has been a very big financial success, not only for CBS but for the Paisano partners over this many years." In 1974 she married her fourth husband, John E. Velde Jr. Gail Patrick died from leukemia on July 6, 1980, age 69, at her Hollywood home of more than 30 years. She had been treated for the disease for four years but kept her illness secret from everyone but her husband. She was cremated and her ashes scattered at sea off Santa Monica, California, in a private ceremony."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 46653524”
"Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950–January 13, 2010) was an American singer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he initially rose to musical fame as the lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. After leaving the group over monetary disputes in 1976, Pendergrass launched a successful solo career under the Philadelphia International label, releasing four consecutive platinum albums, then a record for an African-American R&B artist. Pendergrass' career was halted after a near-fatal car crash in March 1982 that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Pendergrass continued his successful solo career until announcing his retirement in 2007. Pendergrass died from respiratory failure in January 2010. He was born Theodore DeReese Pendergrass on Sunday, March 26, 1950, at Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the only child of Jesse and Ida Geraldine Epps Pendergrass. When he was still very young, his father left the family; Jesse was fatally stabbed on June 13, 1962. Pendergrass grew up in Philadelphia and often sang at church. He dreamed of being a pastor and got his wish when, at 10, he was ordained a minister. Pendergrass also took up drums during this time and was a junior deacon of his church. He attended Thomas Edison High School for Boys in North Philadelphia (now closed). He sang with the Edison Mastersingers. He dropped out in the 11th grade to enter the music business, recording his first song, "Angel With Muddy Feet." The recording, however, was not a commercial success. Pendergrass played drums for several local Philadelphia bands, eventually becoming the drummer of The Cadillacs. In 1970, he was spotted by the Blue Notes' founder, Harold Melvin who convinced Pendergrass to play drums in the group. However, during a performance, Pendergrass began singing along, and Melvin, impressed by his vocals, made him the lead singer. Before Pendergrass joined the group, the Blue Notes had struggled to find success. That all changed when they landed a recording deal with Philadelphia International Records in 1971, thus beginning Pendergrass's successful collaboration with label founders Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. On March 18, 1982, in the East Falls section of Philadelphia on Lincoln Drive near Rittenhouse Street, Pendergrass was involved in an automobile accident. He lost control of his Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit - the car hit a guardrail, crossed into the opposite traffic lane, and hit two trees. Pendergrass and his passenger, Tenika Watson, a nightclub performer with whom Pendergrass was not previously acquainted, were trapped in the wreckage for 45 minutes. While Watson walked away from the accident with minor injuries, Pendergrass suffered a spinal cord injury, leaving him a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the chest down. Pendergrass had three children, Tisha, LaDonna, and Theodore Jr. In June 1987, he married a former Philadanco dancer named Karen Still, who had also danced in his shows. The couple amicably divorced in 2002. Pendergrass met Joan Williams in the spring of 2006. Pendergrass proposed to Joan after four months, and they married in a private ceremony officiated by his Pastor Alyn Waller of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church on Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008. A formal wedding was celebrated at The Ocean Cliff Resort in Newport, Rhode Island, on September 6, 2008. As members of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, Joan Pendergrass set up The Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church Youth Fund in the name of Pendergrass to provide assistance and a center for Philadelphia's inner city youth. He published his autobiography, Truly Blessed, with Patricia Romanowski in 1998. On June 5, 2009, Pendergrass underwent successful surgery for colon cancer and returned home to recover. A few weeks later he returned to the hospital with respiratory issues. After seven months, he died of respiratory failure on January 13, 2010, at the age of 59, with his wife Joan by his side, at Bryn Mawr Hospital in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. His body was interred at the West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. There are plans to make a feature film biopic of Pendergrass's life, and Tyrese Gibson is set to star as the late singer. From 2017 there is currently in production from BBC Films a documentary on Singer Teddy Pendergrass."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Monday, March 19, 2018, 12:00 PM CDT |
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 10826431”
"Marjory Stoneman Douglas (April 7, 1890–May 14, 1998) was an American journalist, author, women's suffrage advocate, and conservationist known for her staunch defense of the Everglades against efforts to drain it and reclaim land for development. Moving to Miami as a young woman to work for The Miami Herald, she became a freelance writer, producing over a hundred short stories that were published in popular magazines. Her most influential work was the book The Everglades: River of Grass, which redefined the popular conception of the Everglades as a treasured river instead of a worthless swamp. Her books, stories, and journalism career brought her influence in Miami, enabling her to advance her causes. As a young woman, Douglas was outspoken and politically conscious of the women's suffrage and civil rights movements. She was called upon to take a central role in the protection of the Everglades when she was 79 years old. For the remaining 29 years of her life she was "a relentless reporter and fearless crusader" for the natural preservation and restoration of South Florida. Her tireless efforts earned her several variations of the nickname "Grande Dame of the Everglades" as well as the hostility of agricultural and business interests looking to benefit from land development in Florida. She received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and was inducted into several halls of fame. Douglas lived to 108, working until nearly the end of her life for Everglades restoration. Upon her death, an obituary in The Independent in London stated, "In the history of the American environmental movement, there have been few more remarkable figures than Marjory Stoneman Douglas." Marjory Stoneman was born on April 7, 1890, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the only child of Frank Bryant Stoneman and Lillian Trefethen, a concert violinist. One of her earliest memories was her father reading to her The Song of Hiawatha, at which she burst into sobs upon hearing that the tree had to give its life in order to provide Hiawatha the wood for a canoe. She was an early and voracious reader. Her first book was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which she kept well into adulthood until "some fiend in human form must have borrowed it and not brought it back." She visited Florida when she was four, and her most vivid memory of the trip was picking an orange from a tree at the Tampa Bay Hotel. From there she and her parents embarked on a cruise from Tampa to Havana. Marjory left for college in 1908, despite grave misgivings about her mother's mental state. Her aunt and grandmother shared her concerns, but recognized that she needed to leave in order to begin her own life. She was a straight-A student at Wellesley College, graduating with a BA in English in 1912. She found particular success in a class on elocution, and joined the first suffrage club with six of her classmates. She was elected Class Orator, but was unable to fulfill the office since she was already involved in other activities. During her senior year while visiting home, her mother showed her a lump on her breast. Marjory arranged the surgery to have it removed. After the graduation ceremony, her aunt informed her it had metastasized, and within months her mother was dead. The family left the funeral arrangements up to Marjory. Douglas arrived in South Florida when fewer than 5,000 people lived in Miami and it was "no more than a glorified railroad terminal." Her father, Frank Stoneman, was the first publisher of the paper that later became The Miami Herald. Although Douglas grew up in an Episcopal household, she described herself as agnostic throughout her life, and forbade any religious ceremony at her memorial. Douglas tied her agnosticism to her unanswered prayers when her mother was dying. However, she credited the motivation for her support of women's suffrage to her Quaker paternal grandparents whose dedication to the abolition of slavery she admired, and proudly claimed Levi Coffin, an organizer of the Underground Railroad, was her great-great-uncle. She wrote that his wife was a friend of Harriet Beecher Stowe, and had provided Stowe with the story of Eliza in Uncle Tom's Cabin fleeing slavery because Douglas' great-great-aunt took care of Eliza and her infant after their escape. Frank Stoneman grew up in a Quaker colony, and Douglas maintained he kept touches of his upbringing throughout his life, even after converting to Episcopalianism. Writer Jack Davis and neighbor Helen Muir suggest this Quaker influence was behind Douglas' use of "Friends" in naming the organizations Friends of the Everglades and Friends of the Miami-Dade Public Libraries. As a child, Douglas was very close with her mother after her parents' separation. She witnessed her mother's emotional unraveling that caused her to be institutionalized, and even long after her mother returned to live with her, she exhibited bizarre, childlike behaviors. Following her mother's death, her relocation to Miami, and her displeasure in working as the assistant editor at The Miami Herald, in the 1920s, she suffered the first of three nervous breakdowns. Douglas suggested she had what she referred to as "blank periods" before and during her marriage, but they were brief. She connected these lapses to her mother's insanity. She eventually quit the newspaper, but after her father's death in 1941 she suffered a third and final breakdown, when her neighbors found her roaming the neighborhood one night screaming. She realized she had a "father complex," explaining it by saying, "Having been brought up without him all those years, and then coming back and finding him so sympathetic had a powerful effect." She enjoyed drinking Scotch and sherry; as friend and neighbor Helen Muir remembered her, "She would come up and have a sherry, and then I would walk her home, and then she'd walk me back, and we would have another sherry. She was attached to several men after her divorce, counting one of them as the reason she enlisted in the Red Cross, as he had already gone to France as a soldier. However, she said she did not believe in extramarital sex and would not have dishonored her father by being promiscuous. Marjory Stoneman Douglas died at the age of 108 on May 14, 1998."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Monday, April 9, 2018 
June Lockhart (born June 25, 1925) is an American actress, primarily in 1950s and 1960s television, also with performances on stage and in film. On two television series she played mother roles, Lassie and Lost in Space. She also portrayed Dr. Janet Craig on the CBS television sitcom Petticoat Junction. She is a two-time Emmy Award nominee and a Tony Award winner. Born on June 25, 1925, in New York, Lockhart is the daughter of Canadian-born actor Gene Lockhart, who came to prominence on Broadway in 1933 in Ah, Wilderness!, and English-born actress Kathleen Arthur Lockhart. Her grandfather was John Coates Lockhart, "a concert-singer." She attended the Westlake School for Girls in Beverly Hills, California. Lockhart made her film debut opposite her parents in a film version of A Christmas Carol, in 1938. She also played supporting parts in films including Meet Me in St. Louis, Sergeant York, All This, and Heaven Too and The Yearling. She starred in She-Wolf of London. Lockhart debuted on stage at the age of eight, playing Mimsey in Peter Ibbetson, presented by the Metropolitan Opera. In 1947, her acting in For Love or Money brought her out of her parents' shadow and gained her notice as "a promising movie actress in her own right." One newspaper article began, "June Lockhart has burst on Broadway with the suddenness of an unpredicted comet." In 1951, Lockhart starred in Lawrence Riley's biographical play Kin Hubbard opposite Tom Ewell. In 1955, Lockhart appeared in an episode of CBS's Appointment with Adventure. About this time, she also made several appearances on NBC's legal drama Justice, based on case files of the Legal Aid Society of New York. In the late 1950s, Lockhart guest-starred in several popular television Westerns including: Wagon Train and Cimarron City, Gunsmoke, Have Gun – Will Travel and Rawhide. In 1958, she was the narrator for Playhouse 90 's telecast of the George Balanchine version of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, featuring Balanchine himself as Drosselmeyer, along with the New York City Ballet. Lockhart is best known for her roles as TV mothers, first asRuth Martin, the wife of Paul Martin (portrayed by Hugh Reilly), and the mother of Timmy Martin (played by Jon Provost) in the 1950s CBS series, Lassie (a role that she played from 1958 to 1964). She replaced actress Cloris Leachman, who, in turn, had replaced Jan Clayton – who had played a similar character earlier in the series. Following her five-year run on Lassie Lockhart made a guest appearance on Perry Mason as defendant Mona Stanton Harvey in "The Case of the Scandalous Sculptor." Lockhart then starred as Dr. Maureen Robinson in Lost in Space, which ran from 1965 to 1968 on CBS, opposite veteran actors Guy Williams and Jonathan Harris. In 1965, Lockhart played librarian Ina Coolbrith, first poet laureate of California, in the episode "Magic Locket" of the syndicated western series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Ronald W. Reagan. In the storyline, Coolbrith develops a tenuous friendship with the teenaged "Dorita Duncan," later the dancer Isadora Duncan. The two have identical portions of a broken locket. Lockhart would then appear as Dr. Janet Craig on the final two seasons of the CBS sitcom Petticoat Junction, her character being brought in to fill the void created after Bea Benaderet died during the run of the show; she was a regular in the ABC soap opera General Hospital during the 1980s and 1990s, and was also a voice actor, providing the voice of Martha Day, the lead character in the Hanna-Barbera animated series These Are the Days on ABC during the 1970s. Lockhart appeared as a hostess on the "Miss USA Pageant" on CBS for six years, the "Miss Universe Pageant" on CBS for six years, the "Tournament of Roses Parade" on CBS for eight years and the "Thanksgiving Parade" on CBS for five years. In 2004, she voiced the role of Grandma Emma Fowler in Focus on the Family's The Last Chance Detectives audio cases. Lockhart starred as James Caan's mother in an episode of Las Vegas in 2004. Lockhart has since guest-starred in episodes of Cold Case and Grey's Anatomy, in the 2007 ABC Family television film Holiday in Handcuffs, and in the 2007 feature film Wesley. In February 2013, Lockhart began filming for Tesla Effect, a video game that combines live-action footage with 3D graphics, which was released in May 2014. In 1948, Lockhart won a Tony Award for Outstanding Performance by a Newcomer (a category that no longer exists) for her role on Broadway in For Love or Money. She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures (6323 Hollywood Boulevard) and one for television (6362 Hollywood Boulevard). Both were dedicated on February 8, 1960. In 2013, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) award her the Exceptional Public Achievement Medal for inspiring the public about space exploration. In 1951, Lockhart married Dr. John F. Maloney. They had two daughters, Anne Kathleen Lockhart and June Elizabeth Maloney. The couple divorced in 1959. She married architect John Lindsay that same year, but they divorced in October 1970 and she has not remarried since.
Source: Wikipedia.org | Saturday, September 8, 2018,10:00PM  “Find a Grave Memorial ID 196595362”
"Julie Adams (October 17, 1926-February 3, 2019) is an American actress, primarily in television. She starred in a number of films in the 1950s, including Bend of the River and Creature from the Black Lagoon. She is also known for her roles as Paula Denning on Capitol and as Eve Simpson on Murder, She Wrote. Julie Adams was born Betty May Adams in Waterloo, Iowa. Her family moved a great deal; the longest she lived in one town was eight years in Blytheville, Arkansas. Adams worked as a part-time secretary and began her film career in B-movie westerns. In 1946, at the age of 19, she was crowned "Miss Little Rock" and then moved to Hollywood, California to pursue her acting career. She used her real name until 1949, when she began working for Universal Pictures, the same studio where she met unknown stars such as James Best, Piper Laurie, Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis. She then became "Julia" and eventually "Julie." In 1954, she explained the latter change, "The studio picked Julia, but I never have felt comfortable with it. I just like the name Julie better, and the studio has given me permission to make the change." Her first movie role was a minor part in Red, Hot and Blue followed by a leading role in the Lippert western The Dalton Gang. Adams was featured as the bathing beauty Kay Lawrence in 1954's classic science-fiction film Creature from the Black Lagoon. On television in 1962, Adams portrayed Mary Simpson, a county nurse and romantic interest of Sheriff Andy Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show. She also made four guest appearances on Perry Mason; the most memorable was the 1963 episode, "The Case of the Deadly Verdict," when she played Janice Barton, Perry's only convicted client during the show's nine-year run on CBS. In 1964, she played Janice Blake in “The Case of the Missing Button.” In 1965, she played the role of defendant Pat Kean in "The Case of the Fatal Fortune." Adams appeared on The Rifleman as a dubious vixen and romantic interest of lead character Chuck Connors. She guest-starred in five episodes of 77 Sunset Strip, on Alfred Hitchcock Presents three times, and on Maverick twice. Adams, along with her son Mitchell, has authored a book on her life and career, The Lucky Southern Star: Reflections From The Black Lagoon, which was published in 2011. Adams continues to be busy via making special guest appearances and meeting her fans. In August 2012, she was a guest of honor at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention held at the Shrine Auditorium. She also appeared at the CineCon Classic Film Festival on August 31, 2012 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel. She was a scheduled guest at The Hollywood Show in Chicago from September 7–9, 2012. An additional book signing was held at Century Books in Pasadena, California, on September 20, 2012. On October 13, 2012, she was back in Berwyn, Illinois for a book signing party. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences selected Creature from the Black Lagoon as one of 13 classic horror films to screen during October, 2012, in order to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Universal Pictures. The film was shown (in 3D format) on October 16 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California. After the screening, Adams appeared on stage for a Q&A session where she shared personal memories of her role in the film, as well as several other career projects on which she had worked. Adams was married to screenwriter Leonard B. Stern from 1950/51 to 1953. She was then married to actor-director Ray Danton from 1954/55 until their divorce in 1981. They had two sons: Steven Danton, an assistant director, and Mitchell Danton, an editor."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Friday, December 7, 2018, 11:59PM 
"Norah Morahan O'Donnell (born January 23, 1974) is an American television journalist who is currently anchor of the CBS Evening News and a correspondent for 60 Minutes. She has worked with several mainstream media outlets throughout her career, including as former co-anchor of CBS This Morning, Chief White House Correspondent for CBS News, and a substitute host for CBS's Sunday morning show Face the Nation. O'Donnell was born in Washington, D. C., the daughter of Noreen Bernadette (O'Kane) and Francis Lawrence O'Donnell, a medical doctor and US Army officer. Her parents are both of Irish descent, with roots in Derry, Belfast, and Donegal (meaning she is descended from both sides of the Irish Border). Three of her grandparents were immigrants, and her maternal grandfather lived in the U. S. illegally for 16 years. When Norah was three, her family moved to San Antonio, Texas. When she was 10, the family spent two years in Seoul, living in Yongsan Garrison as her father was assigned to work there. While an elementary student, she started her career in broadcasting by giving videotaped English lessons for the Korean Educational Development Institute. The family moved back to San Antonio, where she attended Douglas MacArthur High School, from which she graduated in 1991. She then went on to attend Georgetown University, where she graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and a Master of Arts degree in liberal studies in 2003. Since joining CBS, she has served as anchor in several of its highest-rated shows, filling in for Scott Pelley on the CBS Evening News multiple times, the first being October 10, 2011. She was chief White House correspondent in 2011 and 2012, and became a co-anchor on CBS This Morning in fall of 2012. On May 6, 2019, Susan Zirinsky, president of CBS News, announced that O'Donnell had been named anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News beginning on July 15, 2019, will also be the lead anchor of political events for the network and continue as a contributing correspondent for 60 Minutes. She becomes the third woman after Connie Chung and Katie Couric to serve as the program's weeknight anchor. Her last broadcast of CBS This Morning was on May 16, 2019. On April 8, 2022, O'Donnell had extended her contract with CBS News to keep as anchor of CBS Evening News, through the 2024 election and afterward. O'Donnell lives in Washington, D. C., and New York City's Upper West Side neighborhood with her husband, restaurateur Geoff Tracy (owner of D. C. restaurant Chef Geoff's), whom she married in June 2001. They met while attending Georgetown together. On May 20, 2007, O'Donnell and Tracy became the parents of twins, whom they named Grace and Henry. Their third child, daughter Riley Norah Tracy, was born on July 5, 2008; O'Donnell noted that her daughter's first name had been suggested by Tim Russert, who died three weeks prior to Riley's birth. O'Donnell and Tracy made a cookbook for parents titled Baby Love: Healthy, Easy, Delicious Meals for Your Baby and Toddler, released on August 31, 2010. In fall 2016, O'Donnell was diagnosed with melanoma 'in situ', meaning the cancer was contained to the epidermis and had not yet spread to the dermis and metastasized. She underwent surgery soon after where a "three-inch-long piece of skin from the upper left corner of [her] back" was excised. She later stated that she now gets regular skin check-ups "every three to four months" and "multiple skin biopsies" due to her high risk. In the years since her diagnosis O'Donnell has become a skin care advocate, encouraging others, especially women, to get regular dermatological check-ups and take better care of their skin by practicing good skin care routines such as using sunscreen. She talked openly about her diagnosis with her dermatologist live on CBS This Morning in 2017. Washingtonian Magazine has named O'Donnell as one of Washington's 100 most powerful women. O'Donnell has also been named to Irish American Magazine's 2000 "Top 100 Irish Americans" list. O'Donnell won the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Breaking News Coverage for the Dateline NBC story "DC In Crisis," which aired on the night of September 11, 2001. She won an Emmy as part of NBC News' Election Night coverage team in 2008 for the category Outstanding Live Coverage of a Breaking News Story – Long Form. She was also awarded an Emmy in 2018 for her six-month investigation and report on "Sexual Assault in the Air Force Academy" for CBS This Morning in the category Outstanding Investigative Report in a Newscast. That same year, this story was given an honorable mention from the White House Correspondents' Association for the Edgar Allan Poe Award."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Friday, January 13, 2023, 9:11 PM CDT |
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 7525”
"Eugene Hugh Beaumont (February 16, 1909–May 14, 1982) was an American actor and television director. He was also licensed to preach by the Methodist church. Beaumont is best known for his portrayal of Ward Cleaver on the television series Leave It to Beaver, originally broadcast from 1957 to 1963. He had earlier played the role of the private detective Michael Shayne in a series of films in the 1940s. Beaumont was born in Lawrence, Kansas. His parents were Ethel Adaline Whitney and Edward H. Beaumont, a traveling salesman whose profession kept the family on the move. After graduating from Baylor School, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, he attended the University of Chattanooga, where he played football. He later studied at the University of Southern California and graduated with a Master of Theology degree in 1946. In 1942, he married Kathryn Adams Doty (Kathryn Elizabeth Hohn), an actress who later earned a master's degree in educational psychology and had a career as a psychologist. The couple had three children, Hunter, Kristy, and Mark. They divorced in 1974. Kathryn later married Fred Doty. She wrote two novels, A Long Year of Silence which won the 2005 Midwest Book Award and Wild Orphan. A third book, Becoming the Mother of Me, described her life growing up as a minister's daughter, her move to Hollywood and her first marriage. She died on October 14, 2016, aged 96. Beaumont began his career in show business in 1931 by performing in theaters, nightclubs and radio. He began acting in motion pictures in 1940, appearing in over three dozen films. Many of these roles were bit parts and minor roles and were not credited. He often worked with the actor William Bendix. In 1946–47, Beaumont starred in five films as the private detective Michael Shayne, taking over the role from Lloyd Nolan. In 1950, he narrated a short film, "A Date with Your Family." From 1950 to 1953, Beaumont was the narrator of the Reed Hadley series, Racket Squad, based on the cases of a fictional detective, Captain John Braddock, in San Francisco. In a 1953 episode of Adventures of Superman called "The Big Squeeze", Beaumont played an ex-convict with a wife and son whose trust he must win back after an apparent return to his criminal past. In July, 1957, Beaumont played a sympathetic characterization of the Western bandit Jesse James on Tales of Wells Fargo. Two months later he acquired his best-known role as the philosophy-dispensing suburban father Ward Cleaver, on the sitcom television series Leave It to Beaver. During the show's six seasons, Beaumont wrote and directed several episodes, including the retrospective episode "Family Scrapbook." His portrayal as head of the Cleaver household ranked number 28 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time," in its issue of June 20, 2004. Beaumont retired from show business in the late 1960s, launching a second career as a Christmas-tree farmer in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. He was forced to retire in 1972 after suffering a stroke from which he never fully recovered. Beaumont and Kathryn Adams divorced in 1974. On May 14, 1982, Beaumont died of a heart attack while visiting his son, a psychologist working in Munich, Germany. His body was cremated and the ashes were scattered on the then family-owned island on Lake Wabana, Minnesota, near Grand Rapids. The 1983 telemovie Still the Beaver was dedicated to Beaumont's memory."
 “Find a Grave Memorial ID 6730”
"Jean Paul Getty (December 15, 1892–June 6, 1976) was an American British industrialist. He founded the Getty Oil Company, and in 1957 Fortune magazine named him the richest living American, while the 1966 Guinness Book of Records named him as the world's richest private citizen, worth an estimated $1.2 billion. At his death, he was worth more than $6 billion. A book published in 1996 ranked him as the 67th richest American who ever lived, based on his wealth as a percentage of the gross national product. Despite his vast wealth, Getty was infamously frugal, notably negotiating his grandson's ransom in 1973. Getty was an avid collector of art and antiquities; his collection formed the basis of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California, and over $661 million of his estate was left to the museum after his death. He established the J. Paul Getty Trust in 1953. The trust is the world's wealthiest art institution, and operates the J. Paul Getty Museum Complexes: The Getty Center, The Getty Villa and the Getty Foundation, the Getty Research Institute, and the Getty Conservation Institute. Getty was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Sarah Catherine McPherson Risher and George Getty, who was an attorney in the insurance industry. Paul was raised to be a Methodist by his parents, his father was a devout Christian Scientist and both were strict teetotalers. In 1903, when Paul was 10 years old, George Getty traveled to Bartlesville, Oklahoma and bought the mineral rights for 1,100 acres of land. Within a few years Getty had established wells on the land which were producing 100,000 barrels of crude oil a month. As newly-minted millionaires, the family moved to Los Angeles to escape the harsh Minnesota winters. At age 14 Paul attended Harvard Military School for a year, followed by Polytechnic High School, where he was given the nickname "Dictionary Getty" because of his love of reading. He became fluent in French, German and Italian-over the course of his business life he would also become conversational in Spanish, Greek, Arabic and Russian. A love of the Classics also led him to acquire reading proficiency in Ancient Greek and Latin. He enrolled at the University of Southern California, then at the University of California, Berkeley, but left both before obtaining a degree. Enamored with Europe after traveling abroad with his parents in 1910, on November 28, 1912, Paul enrolled at the University of Oxford. A letter of introduction by then-President of the United States William Howard Taft enabled him to gain independent instruction from tutors at Magdalen College. Although he did not belong to Magdalen, he claimed that the aristocratic students "accepted me as one of their own," and he would fondly boast of the friends he made, including Edward VIII, the future King of the United Kingdom. He obtained his degree in Economics and Political Science in 1914, then spent months traveling throughout Europe and Egypt, before meeting his parents in Paris and returning with them to America in June 1914. In the autumn of 1914, George Getty gave his son $10,000 to invest in expanding the family's oil field holdings in Oklahoma. The first lot he bought, the Nancy Taylor No. 1 Oil Well Site near Haskell, Oklahoma, was crucial to his early financial success. It struck oil in August 1915 and by the next summer the 40% commission he accrued from it had made him a millionaire. In 1919, Getty returned to business in Oklahoma. During the 1920s, he added about $3 million to his already sizable estate. His succession of marriages and divorces, three during the 1920s, five throughout his life, so distressed his father, however, that J. Paul inherited a mere $500,000 of the $10 million fortune his father George had left at the time of his death in 1930. He was left with one-third of the stock from George Getty Inc., while his mother received the other two thirds, giving her a controlling interest. Just before he died, George Franklin Getty said that Jean Paul would ultimately destroy the family company. Getty was a notorious womanizer from the time of his youth, something which horrified his conservative Christian parents. His lawyer Robin Lund once said that "Paul could hardly ever say ‘no’ to a woman, or ‘yes’ to a man." Lord Beaver brook had called him "Priapic" and "ever-ready" in his sexual habits. In 1917, when he was 25, a paternity suit was filed against Getty in Los Angeles by Elsie Eckstrom, who claimed he was the father of her newborn daughter Paula. Eckstrom claimed that Getty had taken her virginity and fathered the child, while his legal team tried to undermine her credibility by claiming that she had a history of promiscuity. In late 1917 he agreed to a settlement of $10,000, upon which she left town with the baby and was never heard of again. Getty was married and divorced five times. He had five sons with four of his wives. At age 99, in 2013, Getty's fifth wife, Louise—now known as Teddy Getty Gaston—published a memoir reporting how Getty had scolded her for spending money too freely in the 1950s on the treatment of their six-year-old son, Timmy, who had become blind from a brain tumor. Timmy died at age 12, and Getty, living in England apart from his wife and son back in the U.S., did not attend the funeral. Teddy divorced him that year. Teddy Gaston died in April 2017 at the age of 103. Getty was quoted as saying "A lasting relationship with a woman is only possible if you are a business failure," and "I hate to be a failure. I hate and regret the failure of my marriages. I would gladly give all my millions for just one lasting marital success." On July 10, 1973, in Rome, 'Ndrangheta kidnappers abducted Getty's 16-year-old grandson, John Paul Getty III, and demanded by telephone a $17 million payment for the young man's safe return. However, "the family suspected a ploy by the rebellious teenager to extract money from his miserly grandfather." John Paul Getty Jr. asked his father for the money, but was refused. In November 1973, an envelope containing a lock of hair and a human ear arrived at a daily newspaper. The second demand had been delayed three weeks by an Italian postal strike. The demand threatened that Paul would be further mutilated unless the victims paid $3.2 million, "this is Paul’s ear. If we don’t get some money within 10 days, then the other ear will arrive. In other words, he will arrive in little bits." When the kidnappers finally reduced their demands to $3 million, Getty senior agreed to pay no more than $2.2 million the maximum that would be tax-deductible. He lent his son the remaining $800,000, approximately $4.4 million in 2017 at 4% interest. Paul III was found alive in a Lauria filling station, in the province of Potenza, shortly after the ransom was paid. After his release Paul III called his grandfather to thank him for paying the ransom but, it is claimed, Getty refused to come to the phone. Nine people associated with 'Ndrangheta were later arrested for the kidnapping, but only two were convicted. Paul III was permanently affected by the trauma and became a drug addict. After a stroke brought on by a cocktail of drugs and alcohol in 1981, Paul III was rendered speechless, nearly blind and partially paralyzed for the rest of his life. He died 30 years later on February 5, 2011, at the age of 54. Getty defended his initial refusal to pay the ransom on two points. First, he argued that to submit to the kidnappers' demands would immediately place his other fourteen grandchildren at the risk of copy-cat kidnappers. He added, "the second reason for my refusal was much broader-based. I contend that acceding to the demands of criminals and terrorists merely guarantees the continuing increase and spread of lawlessness, violence and such outrageous as terror-bombings, "skyjackings" and the slaughter of hostages that plague our present-day world." His secretary claimed that Getty did his own laundry by hand, because he didn't want to pay for his clothes to be laundered, and when his shirts would become frayed at the cuffs, he would simply trim off the frayed part instead of purchasing new shirts. Reusing stationery was another obsession of Getty's. He had a habit of writing responses to letters on the margins and mailing them back, rather than use a new sheet of paper. He also carefully saved and re-used manila envelopes, rubber bands, and other office supplies. When Getty took a group of friends to a dog show in London, he made them walk around the block for 10 minutes until the tickets became half-priced at 5 pm, because he didn't want to pay the full 5 shillings per head, about $17 in 2018. On June 30, 1960, Getty threw a 21st birthday party for a relation of his friend, the 16th Duke of Norfolk, which served as a housewarming party for the newly-purchased Sutton Place. 1,200 guests consisting of the cream of British society were invited. Party goers were irritated by Getty's stinginess, such as not providing cigarettes and relegating everyone to using creosote portable toilets outside. At about 10pm the party descended into pandemonium as party crashers arrived from London, swelling the already overcrowded halls, causing an estimated £20,000 in damages. A valuable silver ewer by the 18th century silversmith Paul de Lamerie was stolen, but returned anonymously when the London newspapers began covering the theft. The failure of the event made the newly-arrived Getty the object of ridicule, and he never threw another large party again. Getty remained an inveterate hard worker, boasting at age 74 that he often worked 16 to 18 hours per day overseeing his operations across the world. The Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur War of October 1973 caused a worldwide oil shortage for years to come. In this period, the value of Getty Oil shares quadrupled, with Getty enjoying personal earnings of $25.8 million in 1975. His insatiable appetite for women and sex also continued well into his 80s. He used an experimental drug, "H3," to maintain his potency. Getty met the English interior designer Penelope Kitson in the 1950s and entrusted her with decorating his homes and the public rooms of the oil tankers he was launching. From 1960 she resided in a cottage on the grounds of Sutton Place, and, though she did not have a sexual relationship with him, Getty held her in high respect and trust. Other mistresses who resided at Sutton Place included the married Mary Teissier, a distant cousin of the last Tsar of Russia, Lady Ursula d'Abo, who had close connections to the British Royal Family, and Nicaraguan-born Rosabella Burch. The New York Times wrote of Getty's domestic arrangement that: "Getty ended his life with a collection of desperately hopeful women, all living together in his Tudor mansion in England, none of them aware that his favorite pastime was rewriting his will, changing his insultingly small bequests: $209 a month to one, $1,167 to another." Only Penelope Kitson received a handsome bequest upon Getty's death: 5,000 Getty Oil shares, which doubled in value during the 1980s, and a $1,167 monthly income. Getty died June 6, 1976, in Sutton Place near Guildford, Surrey, England. He was buried in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles County, California at the Getty Villa. The gravesite is not open to the public."
Source: Wikipedia.org, Sunday, April 22, 2018, 9:20AM  "Find a Grave Memorial ID 199663559"
"Leah Chase (January 6, 1923–June 1, 2019) born Leyah Lange, was an American chef based in New Orleans, Louisiana. An author and television personality, she was known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine, advocating both African-American art and Creole cooking. Her restaurant, Dooky Chase, was known as a gathering place during the 1960s among many who participated in the Civil Rights Movement, and was known as a gallery due to its extensive African-American art collection. In 2018 it was named one of the 40 most important restaurants of the past 40 years by Food & Wine. Chase was the recipient of a multitude of awards and honors. In her 2002 biography, Chase's awards and honors occupy over two pages. Chase was inducted into the James Beard Foundation's Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America in 2010. She was honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Southern Foodways Alliance in 2000. Chase received honorary degrees from Tulane University, Dillard University, Our Lady of Holy Cross College, Madonna College, Loyola University New Orleans, and Johnson & Wales University. She was awarded Times-Picayune Loving Cup Award in 1997. The Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana named a permanent gallery in Chase's honor in 2009. Leah Chase was born to Catholic Creole parents in New Orleans and grew up [in] Madisonville, Louisiana. Chase's father was a ["Caulker"] at the Jahncke Shipyard and her grandmother was a Registered Nurse and midwife. Chase was one of 11 children. She was six when the Great Depression struck and later recollected surviving on produce they grew themselves— okra, peas, greens —and clothes made of sacks that had held rice and flour. The children helped cultivate the land, especially on the 20-acre strawberry farm her father's family owned, which Chase described as forming an integral part of her knowledge of food: I always say it's good coming up in a small, rural town because you learn about animals. Kids today don't know the food they eat. If you come up in a country town, where there's some farming, some cattle raising, some chicken raising, you know about those things ... When we went to pick strawberries we had to walk maybe four or five miles through the woods and you learned what you could eat. You knew you could eat that mayhaw, you could eat muscadines. You knew that, growing up in the woods. You just knew things. You got to appreciate things. Madisonville, a segregated town, did not have a Catholic high school for black children, so Chase moved to New Orleans to live with relatives and pursue a Catholic education at St. Mary's Academy. Chase's roots were heavily centered in Louisiana, with only one great-grandparent born elsewhere. Her heritage was multicultural, including African American, Spanish, and French. Her ancestors include one of the first African Americans to serve in the Louisiana State House of Representatives (1868–1870). After high school, Chase held many jobs, including managing two amateur boxers, and became the first woman to mark the racehorse board for a local bookie. Chase's favorite job was working as a waitress at the Colonial Restaurant in the French Quarter in New Orleans. In 1946, she married musician Edgar "Dooky" Chase II. His parents owned a street corner stand in Treme, founded in 1941, that sold lottery tickets and homemade po-boy sandwiches. Chase began working in the kitchen at the restaurant during the 1950s, and over time, Leah and Dooky took over the stand and converted it into a sit-down establishment, Dooky Chase's Restaurant. She eventually updated the menu to reflect her own family's Creole recipes as well as recipes—such as Shrimp Clemenceau—otherwise available only in whites-only establishments from which she and her patrons were barred. In 2018, Food & Wine named the restaurant one of the 40 most important restaurants of the past 40 years. During the 1960s, Dooky Chase became one of the only public places in New Orleans where African Americans could meet and discuss strategies during the Civil Rights Movement. Local Civil Rights leaders such as A. P. Tureaud and Ernest "Dutch" Morial would commonly meet at Dooky Chase for secret discussions. Leah Chase would later house the secret meetings and strategy discussions for Martin Luther King Jr. and the Freedom Riders. They would hold meetings and strategy discussions in her upstairs meeting rooms while she served them gumbo and fried chicken. Dooky Chase's Restaurant was key when King and the Freedom Riders came to learn from the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott. As King and the Freedom Riders were beginning to organize their bus boycott in Montgomery, they would hold meetings with civil leaders from New Orleans and Baton Rouge in Dooky Chase's meeting rooms to learn about the bus boycotts in Baton Rouge. The plan and organization of the Montgomery bus boycotts were inspired by the boycotts in Baton Rouge. Dooky Chase became so popular that even though local officials knew about these "illegal" meetings, the city or local law enforcement could not stop them or shut the doors because of the risk of public backlash. Dooky Chase became a staple in the black communities of New Orleans. Leah Chase and her husband Edgar "Dooky" Chase would host black voter registration campaign organizers, the NAACP, black political meetings and many other civil leaders at their restaurant. While there were no black-owned banks in African-American communities, people would commonly go to Dooky Chase on Fridays, where Leah Chase and her husband would cash checks for trusted patrons at the bar. Friday nights became popular, as people would cash their checks, have a drink, and order a po-boy. Chase also developed an interest in African-American art and began to display dozens of paintings and sculptures by African-American artists like Jacob Lawrence and Elizabeth Catlett, as well as hired local musicians to play in her bar. Dooky Chase's 6th Ward of New Orleans location was flooded by Hurricane Katrina, and Chase and her husband spent more than a year living in a FEMA trailer across the street from the restaurant. To save Chase's African-American art collection from damage, her grandson placed the art collection in storage. The New Orleans restaurant community got together on April 14, 2006 (Holy Thursday) to hold a benefit, charging $75 to $500 per person for a gumbo z'herbes, fried chicken, and bread pudding lunch at a posh French Quarter restaurant. The guests consumed 50 gallons of gumbo and raised $40,000 for the 82-year-old Mrs. Chase. Leah Chase died on June 1, 2019 at the age of 96."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Sunday, June 2, 2019, 5:55 PM CDT |
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~Where Class & Distinction Meets~
~Where Class & Distinction Meets~
