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On this day in 1972, Baseball Hall of Famer, a man of courage, the man who broke baseball’s color line, Jackie Robinson died in Stamford, Connecticut at the age of 53. Born Jack Roosevelt Robinson on 31 January 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. He made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. World Series Champion 1955, recipient of the inaugural MLB Rookie of the Year Award, six-time All-Star, National League MVP 1949, posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. A hero for all people. I own a number 42 replica Dodger’s jersey.
The Final Footprint – Robinson is interred in the Robinson Family Private Estate in Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn.
Robinson Estate
The estate is marked by a large upright granite marker inscribed with ROBINSON and this quote from him; “A LIFE IS NOT IMPORTANT EXCEPT IN THE IMPACT IT HAS ON OTHER LIVES.” He is interred between his mother-in-law and his son, Jackie Jr. Other notable final footprints at Cypress Hills; Eubie Blake and Mae West.
On this day in 1991 United States Army Air Forces veteran, screenwriter, producer, futurist, Gene Roddenberry died from cardiopulmonary arrest in Santa Monica, California at the age of 70. Born Eugene Wesley Roddenberry on 19 August 1921 in El Paso, Texas. Perhaps best known for creating the original Star Trek television series and thus the Star Trek science fiction franchise. In 1964, Roddenberry created Star Trek, which premiered in 1966 and ran for three seasons before being canceled. Syndication of Star Trek led to increasing popularity, and Roddenberry continued to create, produce and consult on the Star Trek films and the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation until his death. In 1985 he became the first TV writer with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and he was later inducted by both the Science Fiction Hall of Fame and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. The Star Trek franchise created has produced story material for almost five decades; resulting in six television series consisting of 726 episodes, and twelve feature films, so far. Additionally, the popularity of the Star Trek universe and films inspired the parody/homage/cult film Galaxy Quest in 1999, as well as many books, video games and fan films set in the various “eras” of the Star Trek universe. Roddenberry married Eileen Rexroat (1942 – 1969 divorce). During the 1960s, Roddenberry reportedly had affairs with Nichelle Nichols (who played Lt. Uhura on the original series) and Majel Barrett (who played Nurse Christine Chapel in the original series, Lwaxana Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the voice of most onboard computer interfaces throughout the series). Roddenberry married Barrett in Japan in a traditional Shinto ceremony on 6 August 1969. They remained married until his death.
The Final Footprint – Roddenberry was cremated. After his death, Star Trek: The Next Generation aired a two-part episode of season five, called “Unification”, which featured a dedication to Roddenberry. In 1992, a portion of Roddenberry’s ashes flew and returned to earth on the Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-52. On 21 April 21 1997, a Celestis spacecraft — carrying portions of the cremated remains of Roddenberry, of Timothy Leary and of 22 other individuals — was launched into Earth orbit aboard a Pegasus XL rocket from near the Canary Islands. On 20 May 2002, the spacecraft’s orbit deteriorated and it disintegrated in the atmosphere. Another flight to launch more of his ashes into deep space along with those of Barrett, who died in 2008, is planned for launch at a late date.
On this day in 1994 actor Raul Julia died from complications of a stroke at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, Long Island, aged 54. Born Raúl Rafael Juliá Arcelay on March 9, 1940 in Floral Park, San Juan, Puerto Rico, he took an interest in acting while still in school and pursued the career upon completion of his studies. After performing locally for some time, he was convinced by actor and entertainment personality Orson Bean to move and work in New York City. Juliá, who had been bilingual since his childhood, soon gained interest in Broadway and Off-Broadway plays. He took over the role of Orson in the Off-Broadway hit Your Own Thing, a rock musical update of Twelfth Night. He performed in mobile projects, including the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater.
Juliá was eventually noticed by producer Joseph Papp, who offered him work in the New York Shakespeare Festival. After gaining visibility, he received roles in two television series, Love of Life and Sesame Street. In 1978, he famously starred alongside Meryl Streep in an electric revival of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew at the Delacorte Theater. In 1979, Juliá starred in the original Broadway production of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal alongside Roy Scheider and Blythe Danner. For his performance in Two Gentlemen of Verona, he received a nomination for the Tony Award and won a Drama Desk Award. Between 1974 and 1982, Juliá received Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical nominations for Where’s Charley?, The Threepenny Opera and Nine. In 1991, Juliá acted alongside Christopher Walken in a revival of Othello and in 1984, he starred in Design for Living with Frank Langella and Jill Clayburgh.
He is also known for his performances in films; his film debut came in 1971 acting alongside Al Pacino in The Panic in Needle Park. During the 1980s, he worked in several films; he received two nominations for the Golden Globe Awards, for his performances in Tempest and Kiss of the Spider Woman; he won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actor for the latter. He also appeared in Francis Ford Coppola’s One from the Heart (1982), Sidney Lumet’s The Morning After (1986), Romero (1989) and Clint Eastwood’s The Rookie (1990). In 1991 and 1993, Julia portrayed Gomez Addams in two film adaptations of The Addams Family. In 1994, he filmed The Burning Season and a film adaptation of the Street Fighter video games. The same year Juliá suffered several health afflictions, eventually dying after suffering a stroke. His funeral was held in Puerto Rico, attended by thousands. For his work in The Burning Season, Juliá won a posthumous Golden Globe Award, Primetime Emmy Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award.
The Final Footprint – In accordance with Juliá’s instructions, his body was transported to Puerto Rico. A state funeral was held in San Juan on October 27, 1994, with Juliá’s remains being escorted to the building of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, where a funeral ceremony was held. The service was attended by thousands of Puerto Ricans, with native plena music being played in the background. The burial ceremony was also attended by thousands, with “La Borinqueña” being sung by Lucecita Benítez prior to the procession. After stopping at San Ignacio de Loyola Church, the procession advanced to Buxeda Cemetery, where politician and activist Rubén Berríos offered the final words. As Juliá’s coffin was lowered, a load of carnations was dropped from a helicopter while the crowd shouted “¡Viva Puerto Rico Libre!” Juliá was a lifelong supporter of the Puerto Rican independence movement; on one occasion, he convinced his agent to allow him to do an advertising campaign on behalf of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. Final resting place Buxeda Memorial Park, Rio Piedras, San Juan Municipality, Puerto Rico.
Subsequent memorial ceremonies were held at Joseph Papp Public Theater in New York and in Los Angeles, where several actors and personalities, including Rubén Blades and Edward James Olmos, expressed their grief. A mass in Miami and numerous private ceremonies were also held. The staff of Universal Pictures paid homage to him by dedicating Street Fighter to his memory, adding the phrase “For Raúl. Vaya con Dios.” in the film’s ending credits. Juliá had been set to reprise his role as M. Bison in the video game version of the Street Fighter film, having already met with the production staff. The New York Shakespeare Festival bought an obituary notice in Variety, where his birth and death dates were accompanied by a quote from Shakespeare. The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater established The Raúl Juliá Training Unit, giving free acting classes to young actors.
For his performance in The Burning Season, Juliá was posthumously awarded a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a CableACE Award, and an Emmy Award. Although he did not make his screen debut before 1950, Juliá was a nominee for the American Film Institute’s AFI’s 100 Years…100 Stars. Actors such as Helen Hunt and Jimmy Smits have cited him as a source of inspiration. On November 21, 1994, Rudy Giuliani declared that date Raul Juliá Day. In 1996, he was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame on Broadway. The Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce created the Raúl Juliá Scholarship Fund in 1997, intended to provide college education for teenagers.
On this day in 2005, civil rights activist, “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement”, Rosa Parks died in her apartment on the east side of Detroit at the age of 92. Born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, on 4 February 4 1913. On 1 December 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks refused to obey bus driver James F. Blake’s order that she give up her seat in the colored section to a white passenger, after the white section was filled. Parks’ act of defiance and the Montgomery Bus Boycott became important symbols of the modern Civil Rights Movement. She became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation. Parks organized and collaborated with civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King, Jr., a new minister in town who gained national prominence in the civil rights movement. Parks received national recognition, including the NAACP’s 1979 Spingarn Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal.
The Final Footprint – City officials in Montgomery and Detroit announced on 27 October 2005, that the front seats of their city buses would be reserved with black ribbons in honor of Parks until her funeral. Parks’ casket was flown to Montgomery and taken in a horse-drawn hearse to the St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, where she lay in repose at the altar on 29 October 2005, dressed in the uniform of a church deaconess. A memorial service was held there the following morning. One of the speakers, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said that if it had not been for Parks, she would probably have never become the Secretary of State. In the evening the casket was transported to Washington, D.C. and transported by a bus similar to the one in which she made her protest, to lie in honor in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. Since the founding in 1852 of the practice of lying in state in the rotunda, Parks was the 31st person, the first American who had not been a U.S. government official, and the second private person (after the French planner Pierre L’Enfant) to be honored in this way. She was the first woman and the second black person to lie in state in the Capitol. An estimated 50,000 people viewed the casket there, and the event was broadcast on television on October 31, 2005. A memorial service was held that afternoon at Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, DC. With her body and casket returned to Detroit, for two days, Parks lay in repose at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Her funeral service was seven hours long and was held on 2 November 2005, at the Greater Grace Temple Church in Detroit. After the service, an honor guard from the Michigan National Guard laid the U.S. flag over the casket and carried it to a horse-drawn hearse, which was intended to carry it, in daylight, to the cemetery. As the hearse passed the thousands of people who were viewing the procession, many clapped and cheered loudly and released white balloons. Parks was entombed between her husband and mother at Detroit’s Woodlawn Cemetery in the chapel’s mausoleum. The chapel was renamed the Rosa L. Parks Freedom Chapel in her honor. When Parks died, her fame was such that ESPN noted her death on the “Bottom Line,” its on-screen ticker, on all of its networks. Her birthday, February 4, and the day she was arrested, December 1, have both become Rosa Parks Day, commemorated in the U.S. states of California and Ohio.
On this day in 2015 native Irish and naturalized American actress and singer, Maureen O’Hara died in her sleep at her home in Boise, Idaho, aged 95. Born Maureen FitzSimons on 17 August 1920.
She became successful in Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural redhead who was known for playing passionate but sensible heroines, often in Westerns and adventure films. She worked with director John Ford and long-time friend John Wayne on numerous projects.
She aspired to become an actress from a very young age. She trained with the Rathmines Theatre Company from the age of 10 and at the Abbey Theatre from the age of 14. She was given a screen test, which was deemed unsatisfactory, but Charles Laughton saw potential in her, and arranged for her to co-star with him in Alfred Hitchcock’s Jamaica Inn in 1939. She moved to Hollywood the same year to appear with him in the production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and was given a contract by RKO Pictures. From there, she went on to enjoy a long and highly successful career, and acquired the nickname “the Queen of Technicolor”.
O’Hara appeared in films such as How Green Was My Valley (1941) (her first collaboration with John Ford), The Black Swan with Tyrone Power (1942), The Spanish Main (1945), Sinbad the Sailor (1947), the Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street (1947) with John Payne and Natalie Wood, and Comanche Territory (1950). O’Hara made her first film with John Wayne, the actor with whom she is most closely associated, in Rio Grande (1950); this was followed by The Quiet Man (1952), The Wings of Eagles (1957), McLintock! (1963), and Big Jake (1971). Such was her strong chemistry with Wayne that many assumed they were married or in a relationship. In the 1960s, O’Hara increasingly turned to more motherly roles as she aged, appearing in films such as The Deadly Companions (1961), The Parent Trap (1961), and The Rare Breed (1966). She retired from the industry in 1971, but returned 20 years later to appear with John Candy in Only the Lonely (1991).
In the late 1970s, O’Hara helped run her third husband Charles F. Blair Jr.’s flying business in Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands, and edited a magazine, but later sold them to spend more time in Glengarriff in Ireland. She was married three times, and had one daughter, Bronwyn, with her second husband. Her autobiography, ‘Tis Herself, published in 2004, became a New York Times bestseller. In 2009, The Guardian named her one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination. In November 2014, she was presented with an Honorary Academy Award with the inscription “To Maureen O’Hara, one of Hollywood’s brightest stars, whose inspiring performances glowed with passion, warmth and strength”. In 2020, she was ranked number one on The Irish Times list of Ireland’s greatest film actors.
In 1939, at the age of 19, O’Hara secretly married Englishman George H. Brown, a film producer, production assistant and occasional scriptwriter whom she had met on the set of Jamaica Inn. They married at St Paul’s Church in Station Road, Harrow on 13 June, shortly before she left for Hollywood. Brown stayed behind in England to shoot a film with Paul Robeson. Brown announced that he and O’Hara had kept the marriage a secret and that they would have a full marriage ceremony in October 1939, but O’Hara never returned. The marriage was annulled in 1941. O’Hara became a naturalised American citizen on 25 January 1946.
In December 1941, O’Hara married American film director William Houston Price, who was the dialogue director in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. She lost her virginity to Price on her wedding night and immediately regretted it, recalling thinking to herself, “What the hell have I done now”. Soon after the honeymoon, O’Hara realized Price was an alcoholic. The couple had one child, a daughter, Bronwyn Bridget Price, born 30 June 1944. O’Hara’s marriage to Price steadily declined throughout the 1940s due to his alcohol abuse, and she often wanted to file for divorce but felt guilty due to her Catholic beliefs. Price eventually realized the marriage was over and filed for divorce in July 1951 on the grounds of “incompatibility”. Price left the house they shared in Bel Air, Los Angeles on 29 December 1951, on their 10th wedding anniversary.
O’Hara always denied having any extramarital affairs, but in his autobiography, frequent collaborator Anthony Quinn claimed to have fallen in love with her on the set of Sinbad the Sailor. He commented that she was “dazzling, and the most understanding woman on this earth” who “brought out the Gaelic in him”, being half Irish. Quinn implied that they had been involved in an affair, adding that “after a while we both tired of the deceit”.
From 1953 to 1967, O’Hara had a relationship with Enrique Parra, a wealthy Mexican politician and banker. She met him at a restaurant during a trip to Mexico in 1951. O’Hara stated that Parra “saved me from the darkness of an abusive marriage and brought me back into the warm light of life again. Leaving him was one of the most painful things I have ever had to do.” As her relationship with Parra progressed, she began to learn Spanish and even enrolled her daughter in a Mexican school. She moved in 1953 to a smaller property at 10677 Somma Way in Bel Air, amid frequent visits to Mexico City, where she and Parra were very well-known celebrities. She hired a detective to follow Parra in Mexico and found that he was being fully honest about the relationship with his ex-wife and that she could trust him. John Ford intensely disliked Parra, and it affected her relationship with Ford in the 1950s as he often interfered in her affairs and frowned upon the demise of her marriage to Price, being a devout Catholic like O’Hara. Price also continued to harass O’Hara for dating Parra and filed a case against her on 20 June 1955, seeking custody of Bronwyn and accusing her of immorality. O’Hara filed a countersuit, charging him with contempt of court for refusing to pay $50 a month in child support and a $7 a month alimony. During the publicity stage of The Long Gray Line in 1955, Ford insulted O’Hara and her brother Charles when he remarked to Charles, “if that whore sister of yours can pull herself away from that Mexican long enough to do a little publicity for us, the film might have a chance at some decent returns”.
O’Hara married her third husband, Charles F. Blair Jr., 11 years her senior, on 12 March 1968. Blair, an immensely popular figure, was a pioneer of transatlantic aviation, a former brigadier general of the United States Air Force, a former chief pilot at Pan Am, and founder and head of the United States Virgin Islands airline Antilles Air Boats. A few years after her marriage to Blair, O’Hara, for the most part, retired from acting. In the special features section to the DVD release of The Quiet Man, a story is recounted that O’Hara retired after longtime collaborators John Wayne and John Ford teased her about being married but not being a good, stay-at-home housewife, though Blair himself wanted her to retire from acting and help run his business. Blair died in 1978 while flying a Grumman Goose for his airline from Saint Croix to St. Thomas, crashing after an engine failure. O’Hara was elected CEO and president of the airline, with the added distinction of becoming the first woman president of a scheduled airline in the United States.
The Final Footprint – O’Hara’s remains were buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia next to her late husband Blair.
Other notable final footprints at Arlington include; the Space Shuttle Columbia, the Space Shuttle Challenger, Medgar Evers, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, JFK, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, RFK, Edward Kennedy, Malcolm MacGregor Kilduff, Jr., Lee Marvin, and Audie Murphy.
On the day in 2017, pianist and singer-songwriter Fats Domino died in Harvey, Louisiana at the age of 89. Born Antoine Domino Jr. on February 26, 1928 in New Orleans. One of the pioneers of rock and roll, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Between 1955 and 1960, he had eleven Top 10 hits. His humility and shyness may be one reason his contribution to the genre has been overlooked.
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During his career, Domino had 35 records in the US Billboard Top 40, and five of his pre-1955 records sold more than a million copies, being certified gold. His musical style was based on traditional rhythym and blues, accompanied by saxophones, bass, piano, electric guitar, and drums.
His 1949 release “The Fat Man” is widely regarded as the first million-selling Rock ‘n Roll record.
Domino was married to Rosemary Domino (nee Hall) from 1947 until her death in 2008.
The Final Footprint
Domino is entombed at Providence Memorial Park, Metairie, Louisiana.
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On this day in 2018 singer-songwriter and guitarist, the Swamp Fox, Tony Joe White died from a heart attack at his home in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee, at the age of 75. Born on July 23, 1943 in Oak Grove, Louisiana. Perhaps best known for his 1969 hit “Polk Salad Annie” and for “Rainy Night in Georgia”, which he wrote but which was first made popular by Brook Benton in 1970. He also wrote “Steamy Windows” and “Undercover Agent for the Blues”, both hits for Tina Turner in 1989; those two songs came by way of Turner’s producer at the time, Mark Knopfler, who was a friend of White. “Polk Salad Annie” was also recorded by Joe Dassin, Elvis Presley, and Tom Jones.
The Final Footprint
Polk Salad Valley Ranch in Stone County, Arkansas.
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