#RIP #OTD in 1970 actress (Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz, Merrily We Live) Billie Burke died in Los Angeles of natural causes, at the age of 85. Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, Westchester County, New York
On this day in 1987, dancer and actress, beauty icon, Rita Hayworth died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 68 in New York City. Born Margarita Carmen Cansino on 17 October 1918 in Brooklyn. Hayworth achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era’s top stars. Appearing first as Rita Cansino, she agreed to change her name to Rita Hayworth and her natural dark brown hair color to dark red to attract a greater range of roles. Her appeal led to her being featured on the cover of Life magazine five times, beginning in 1940. She appeared in a total of 61 films over 37 years. Hayworth married five times, apparently none of them happily; Edward C. Judson (1937–1942 divorce), Orson Welles
(1943–1948 divorce), Prince Aly Khan (1949–1953 divorce), Dick Haymes (1953–1955 divorce), James Hill (1958–1961 divorce).
The Final Footprint – A funeral service was held on 19 May 1987, at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills. Pallbearers included actors Ricardo Montalbán, Glenn Ford, Don Ameche, agent Budd Burton Moss, and the choreographer Hermes Pan. She was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City. Her headstone includes the inscription: “To yesterday’s companionship and tomorrow’s reunion.” Hayworth’s pin-up poster is portrayed in Stephen King’s novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (1982), and was later brought to the screen in the film The Shawshank Redemption (1994) directed by Frank Darabont (which itself features a video clip of Hayworth in Gilda, shown as a film the prisoners are watching). Other notable final footprints at Holy Cross include; John Candy, Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante, John Ford, Chick Hearn, Bela Lugosi, Al Martino, Audrey Meadows, Ricardo Montalbán, Evelyn Nesbit, Hermes Pan, Chris Penn, Jo Stafford, and Sharon Tate.
#RIP #OTD in 1998 journalist, author (The Everglades: River of Grass (1947)), women’s suffrage advocate, Everglades conservationist, Marjory Stoneman Douglas died; Coconut Grove, Miami, aged 108. Cremated remains scattered in the
On this day in 1998, legendary and iconic singer and actor; Academy Award winner, Grammy Award winner, producer, director, conductor, member of the Rat Pack, Ol’ Blue Eyes, The Chairman of the Board, The Voice, Frankie, Frank Sinatra died at 10:50 P.M. on a Thursday at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, with his wife Barbara by his side, at the age of 82. Born Francis Albert Sinatra on 12 December 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Oh my, where to begin. This could take awhile. Sinatra is perhaps my favorite entertainer.
Sinatra was the only child of Italian immigrants Natalie Della “Dolly” Garaventa and Antonino Martino “Marty” Sinatra and was raised Catholic. His mother was from Northern Italy and his father was Sicilian. He left high school without graduating.
Sinatra began his musical career in the swing era first with bandleader Harry James and then with bandleader Tommy Dorsey. Sinatra became unhappy with his contract with Dorsey which awarded Dorsey one-third of Sinatra’s lifetime earnings from entertainment. Dorsey let Sinatra out of his contract which sparked rumours of Sinatra’s involment with the Mafia. A newspaper reported that Chicago mob boss, Sam Giancana coerced Dorsey. The incident was later fictionalized in Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. Sinatra went on to become a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, becoming the idol of the “bobby soxers”. His career had stalled by the 1950s, but it was reborn in 1954 after he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (for his performance as Private Angelo Maggio in From Here to Eternity (1953). This incident was later fictionalized in The Godfather as well. Sinatra received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his role as Frankie Machine in The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), and he recevied critical acclaim for his performance as Captain Bennett Marco in The Manchurian Candidate.
Sinatra was an original member of the Holmby Hills Rat Pack along with, Judy Garland, Lauren Bacall, Sid Luft, Humphrey Bogart, Swifty Lazar, Nathaniel Benchley, David Niven, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, George Cukor, Cary Grant, Rex Harrison, and Jimmy Van Heusen. The 1960’s version of the Rat Pack included Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford. Reportedly Marilyn Monroe, Angie Dickinson, Juliet Prowse, and Shirley MacLaine were often referred to as the “Rat Pack Mascots”. This version of the Rat Pack did not use that term to describe themselves. They referred to the group as The Summit or The Clan.
My favorite Sinatra albums include; In the Wee Small Hours, Songs for Swingin’ Lovers, Come Fly with Me, Only the Lonely and Nice ‘n’ Easy, Ring-A-Ding-Ding, Sinatra at the Sands, Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim, and September of My Years. Sinatra was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997. Sinatra was also the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Sinatra was married four times: Nancy Barbato (1939-1951 divorce), Ava Gardner (1951-1957 divorce), Mia Farrow (1966-1968 divorce, and Barbara Blakeley Marx (1976-1998 his death).
The Final Footprint – The night after Sinatra’s death, the lights on the Empire State Building in New York City were turned blue, the lights at the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed in his honor, and the casinos stopped spinning for a minute.
Sinatra’s funeral was held at the Roman Catholic Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, California, on May 20, 1998, with 400 mourners in attendance and thousands of fans outside. Gregory Peck, Tony Bennett, and Sinatra’s son, Frank Jr., addressed the mourners, who included many notable people from film and entertainment. Sinatra was buried in a blue business suit with mementos from family members—cherry-flavored Life Savers, Tootsie Rolls, a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, a pack of Camel cigarettes, a Zippo lighter, stuffed toys, a dog biscuit, and a roll of dimes that he always carried—next to his parents in section B-8 of Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California. Frank Jr. was interred there when he died in 2016.
His grave is marked with an individual engraved flat granite marker. The inscription reads: THE BEST IS YET TO COME and the term of endearment BELOVED HUSBAND AND FATHER. Other notable final footprints at Desert Memorial include; Sonny Bono, Frederick Loewe, and Jimmy Van Heusen.
| B.B. King | |
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 at the 2009 North Sea Jazz Festival |
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On this day in 2015, blues singer, electric guitarist, songwriter, and record producer, The King of the Blues, B. B. King died in Las Vegas from congestive heart failure and complications from diabetes at the age of 89. Born Riley B. King on September 16, 1925 in Itta Bena, Mississippi. King introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that influenced many later electric blues guitarists.
In my opinion, he is one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, earning the nickname one of the “Three Kings of Orient Are” along with Albert King and Freddie King. King was known for performing tirelessly throughout his musical career, appearing at more than 200 concerts per year on average into his 70s.
King playing his favorite guitar, Lucille, in the 1980s
King at Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, in May 2007
President Obama and King singing “Sweet Home Chicago” on February 21, 2012
King was married twice, to Martha Lee Denton, November 1946 to 1952, and to Sue Carol Hall, 1958 to 1966. The failure of both marriages has been attributed to the heavy demands made by King’s 250 performances a year.
King’s favorite singer was Frank Sinatra. In his autobiography he spoke about how he was a “Sinatra nut” and how he went to bed every night listening to Sinatra’s classic album In the Wee Small Hours. During the 1960s Sinatra had arranged for King to play at the main clubs in Las Vegas. He credited Sinatra for opening doors to black entertainers who were not given the chance to play in “white-dominated” venues.
The Final Footprint
On May 27, 2015, King’s body was flown to Memphis. A funeral procession went down Beale Street, with a brass band marching in front of the hearse, playing “When the Saints Go Marching In”. Thousands lined the streets to pay their last respects. His body was then driven down Route 61 to his hometown of Indianola, Mississippi. He was laid in repose at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, in Indianola, for people to view his open casket. The funeral took place at the Bell Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Indianola, on May 30. He was buried at the B.B. King Museum.
| Powers Boothe | |
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On this day in 2017, actor Powers Boothe died from pancreatic cancer in Los Angeles at the age of 68. Born Powers Allen Boothe in Snyder, Texas on June 1, 1948. Some of his most notable roles include his Emmy-winning portrayal of Jim Jones in Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones and his turns as TV detective Philip Marlowe in the 1980s, Cy Tolliver on Deadwood, “Curly Bill” Brocious in Tombstone, Vice-President and subsequently President Noah Daniels on 24, and Lamar Wyatt in Nashville.
Boothe married his college sweetheart Pam Cole in 1969 and they remained married until his death.
The Final Footprint
Boothe is buried in Deadwood Cemetery, in Deadwood, Texas.
On this day in 2018, author and journalist Tom Wolfe died from an infection in Manhattan, at the age of 88. Born Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. on March 2, 1930 in Richmond, Virginia. Perhaps best known for his association with New Journalism, a style of news writing and journalism developed in the 1960s and 1970s that incorporated literary techniques.
Wolfe began his career as a regional newspaper reporter in the 1950s, achieving national prominence in the 1960s following the publication of such best-selling books as The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (a highly experimental account of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters) and two collections of articles and essays, Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers and The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby. In 1979, he published the influential book The Right Stuff about the Mercury Seven astronauts, which was made into a 1983 film of the same name directed by Philip Kaufman.
His first novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities, published in 1987, was met with critical acclaim and also became a commercial success. It was adapted as a major motion picture of the same name directed by Brian De Palma.
The Final Footprint
Wolfe is interred at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
On this day in 2019, actor, comedian, writer, and director Tim Conway died from complications of normal pressure hydrocephalus in Los Angeles, at the age of 85. Born Thomas Daniel Conway on December 15, 1933 in . Willoughby, Ohio. From 1966 to 2012 he appeared in more than 20 TV shows, TV series and films. Among his more notable roles: Ensign Parker in the 1960s World War II TV situation comedy McHale’s Navy; as a regular cast member (1975–1978) on the TV comedy The Carol Burnett Show where he portrayed his recurrent iconic characters Mister Tudball, the Oldest Man and the Dumb Private; co-starred with Don Knotts in several films (1979–80); was the title character in the Dorf series of eight sports comedy direct-to-video films (1987–1996); and provided the voice of Barnacle Boy in the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants (1999–2012). Twice, in 1970 and in 1980–1981, he had his own TV series.
Conway was admired for his ability to depart from scripts with humorous ad libs and gestures, which frequently caused others in the skit to break character while attempting to control their surprise and laughter. He won six Primetime Emmy Awards during his career, four of which were awarded for The Carol Burnett Show, including one for writing.
Conway was married to Mary Anne Dalton from 1961 until 1978. He was married to Char Fusco from May 18, 1984 until his death.
The Final Footprint
Conway was cremated and his cremated remains are inurned at Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Other notable final footprints at Westwood include; Ray Bradbury, Sammy Cahn, Truman Capote, James Coburn, Rodney Dangerfield, Farrah Fawcett, Eva Gabor, Hugh Hefner, Florence Henderson, Brian Keith, Gene Kelly, Don Knotts, Burt Lancaster, Peter Lawford, Peggy Lee, Janet Leigh, Jack Lemmon, Sondra Locke, Robert Loggia, Karl Malden, Dean Martin, Walter Mathau, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Montgomery, Carroll O’Connor, Roy Orbison, Bettie Page, Buddy Rich, George C. Scott, Dorothy Stratten, Joe Weider, Billy Wilder, Carl Wilson, Natalie Wood, and Frank Zappa.
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