Day in History 23 May – Henrik Ibsen – John D. Rockefeller – Sterling Hayden – Anne Meara – Roger Moore – Eric Carle

#RIP #OTD in 1906 playwright (Brand, Peer Gynt, An Enemy of the People, A Doll’s House, Hedda Gabler, Ghosts, The Wild Duck, When We Dead Awaken, Rosmersholm, The Master Builder), Henrik Ibsen died at home in Kristiania (now Oslo), aged 78. Vår Frelsers gravlund, Oslo

On this day in 1937, oil magnate, investor, philanthropist, founder of the Standard Oil Company, the University of Chicago and Rockefeller University, John Davison Rockefeller died of arteriosclerosis at the Casements, his home in Ormond Beach, Florida at the age of 97.  Born on 8 July 1839 in Richford, New York.  He rose from his first job as an assistant bookkeeper to become perhaps the richest person who ever lived.  Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy.  In 1911, the Supreme Court of the United States found Standard Oil Company of New Jersey in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.  As a result of the ruling Standard Oil was broken up into 34 new companies which included: Continental Oil, which became Conoco, now part of ConocoPhillips; Standard of Indiana, which became Amoco, now part of BP; Standard of California, which became Chevron; Standard of New Jersey, which became Esso (and later, Exxon), now part of ExxonMobil; Standard of New York, which became Mobil, now part of ExxonMobil; and Standard of Ohio, which became Sohio, now part of BP.  Rockefeller married Laura Celestia “Cettie” Spelman (1864-1915 her death).  The Rockefeller wealth, distributed through the foundations and trusts, continued to fund family philanthropic, commercial, and political aspirations throughout the 20th century.  Grandson David Rockefeller was a leading New York banker, serving for over 20 years as CEO of Chase Manhattan (now part of JPMorgan Chase).  Another grandson, Nelson A. Rockefeller, was Republican governor of New York and the 41st Vice President of the United States.  A third grandson, Winthrop Rockefeller, served as Republican Governor of Arkansas. Great-grandson, John D. “Jay” Rockefeller IV is currently a Democratic Senator from West Virginia and a former governor of West Virginia, and another, Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, served ten years as Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas.

The Final Footprint – Rockefeller is interred next to his wife in the Rockefeller estate in Lake View Cemetery (known locally as Cleveland’s outdoor museum) in Cleveland, Ohio.   The estate is marked by the Rockefeller Obelisk.  His grave is marked by an individual upright stone marker.  Other notable Final Footprints at Lake View include; James A. Garfield, Eliot Ness and Rod Serling.

#RIP #OTD in 1986 Marine Corps & OSS officer, actor (The Asphalt Jungle, Johnny Guitar, The Killing, Dr. Strangelove, The Godfather, The Long Goodbye), sailor, Sterling Hayden died; prostate cancer in Sausalito, California, aged 70. Cremated remains scattered in San Francisco Bay

#RIP #OTD in 2015 comedian, actress, with her husband Jerry Stiller, one-half of the prominent 1960s comedy team Stiller and Meara, mother of Ben Stiller, Anne Meara died from a stroke at her home in Manhattan, aged 85. Cremated remains scattered, Hessian Lake, Bear Mountain State Park, New York

Roger Moore

Sir Roger Moore 3.jpg

in 1973

On this day in 2017 actor Roger Moore died from prostrate cancer at his home in Crans-Montana, Switzerland at the age of 89. Born Roger George Moore on 14 October 1927 in Stockwell, London. Perhaps best known for playing Ian Fleming’s fictional British secret agent James Bond in seven feature films from 1973 to 1985.

Moore took over the role of Bond from Sean Connery in 1972, made his first appearance as 007 in Live and Let Die (1973), and went on to portray the spy in six more films until his retirement from the role in 1985. Appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1991, Moore was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003 for “services to charity”. In 2007, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in television and in film. In 2008, the French government appointed Moore a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

in 1971

as Beau Maverick, 1960

with Earl Green in The Saint

in 1973

in 1979

in 2012

Moore married four times. In 1946, aged 18, Moore married a fellow RADA student, the actress and ice skater Doorn Van Steyn (born Lucy Woodard), who was six years his senior.

In 1952, Moore met the Welsh singer Dorothy Squires, who was 12 years his senior, and Van Steyn and Moore divorced the following year. Squires and Moore were married in New York. They moved to the United States in 1954 to develop their careers, but tension developed in their marriage due to their age difference and Moore’s infatuation with starlet Dorothy Provine, and they moved back to the United Kingdom in 1961. Squires suffered a series of miscarriages during their marriage, and Moore later said the outcome of their marriage might have been different if they had been able to have children.

In their tempestuous relationship, Squires smashed a guitar over his head, and after learning of his affair with the Italian actress Luisa Mattioli, who became Moore’s third wife, Moore said, “She threw a brick through my window. She reached through the glass and grabbed my shirt and she cut her arms doing it…The police came and they said, ‘Madam, you’re bleeding’ and she said, ‘It’s my heart that’s bleeding’.”

at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival with wife Luisa Mattioli

In 1961, while filming The Rape of the Sabine Women in Italy, Moore left Squires for the Italian actress Mattioli. Moore and Mattioli lived together until 1969, when Squires finally granted him a divorce, after they had been separated for seven years. At Moore and Mattioli’s marriage in April 1969 at the Caxton Hall in Westminster, London, a crowd of 600 people was outside, with women screaming his name.

Moore and Mattioli separated in 1993 after Moore developed feelings for a Swedish-born Danish socialite, Kristina “Kiki” Tholstrup. Moore later described his prostate cancer diagnosis in 1993 as “life-changing”, which led him to reassess his life and marriage. Moore and Mattioli divorced in 2000. Moore subsequently married Tholstrup in 2002.

The Final Footprint

Moore’s final resting place is in Cimetière de Monaco. Other notable final footprints at Cimetière de Monaco include Josephine Baker.

#RIP #OTD in 2021 author, designer and illustrator of children’s books (The Very Hungry Caterpillar; The Grouchy Ladybug; Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me) Eric Carle died at his summer studio in Northampton, Massachusetts, from kidney failure, at the age of 91.

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