Charles Gounod
On this day in 1893, composer Charles Gounod died from a stroke in Saint-Cloud, France at the age of 75. Born Charles-François Gounod on 17 June 1818 in Paris.
Perhaps best known for his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette, his much recorded setting of the Latin text Ave Maria and his Funeral March of a Marionette, known as the theme song for the television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
In April 1851 Gounod married Anna Zimmerman, daughter of his former piano professor at the Conservatoire.
In February 1871, Julius Benedict, the director of the Philharmonic Society, introduced Gounod to a singer and music teacher, Georgina Weldon. She quickly became a dominant influence in Gounod’s professional and personal life. There was much inconclusive conjecture about the nature of their relationship.
The Final Footprint – His funeral took place ten days later at the Church of the Madeleine, with Camille Saint-Saëns playing the organ and Gabriel Fauré conducting. Gounod is entombed in a private mausoleum in Cimetiere d’Auteuil in Paris.
#RIP #OTD in 1975 actor (Virgil Sollozzo in The Godfather; Pulp; Mr Majestyk; Getaway) Al Lettieri died from a heart attack in New York City aged 47. Saint John Cemetery, Middle Village, New York
#RIP #OTD in 2000 singer (“Cry Me a River”), actress (The Fat Man, Saddle the Wind, Man of the West, The Wonderful Country, Emergency!) Julie London died Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center, Los Angelesng from cardiac arrest aged 74. Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills Cemetery
On this day in 2000 actress, dancer, wife-dancer-collaborator-muse of Bob Fosse, 4x Tony winner, Gwen Verdon died from a heart attack at her daughter Nicole Fosse’s home in Woodstock, Vermont, age 75.
Verdon was a critically acclaimed performer on Broadway in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, having originated many roles in musicals, including Lola in Damn Yankees, the title character in Sweet Charity and Roxie Hart in Chicago. She is also strongly identified with her second husband, director-choreographer Bob Fosse, remembered as the dancer-collaborator-muse for whom he choreographed much of his work and as the guardian of his legacy after his death.
The Final Footprint – On the night of her death, at 8 pm, all marquee lights on Broadway were dimmed in a tribute to Verdon. Verdon was cremated.
#RIP #OTD in 2000 singer (“Cry Me a River”), actress (The Fat Man, Saddle the Wind, Man of the West, The Wonderful Country, Emergency!) Julie London died; Encino-Tarzana Med Center, Los Angeles; cardiac arrest aged 74. Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills Cemetery
On this day in 2012, actress and model Sylvia Kristel died at age 60 from esophageal and lung cancer in Amsterdam. Born Sylvia Maria Kristel on 28 September 1952 in Utrecht, Netherlands. She appeared in over 50 films, perhaps best known as the lead character in five of the seven Emmanuelle films.
Kristel gained international attention in 1974 for playing the title character in the softcore film Emmanuelle, which remains one of the most successful French films ever produced. After the success of Emmanuelle, she often played roles that capitalised on that sexually provocative image, most notably starring in an adaptation of Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1981), and a nudity-filled biopic of the World War I spy in Mata Hari (1985). Her Emmanuelle typecasting image followed her to the United States, where she played Nicole Mallow, a maid who seduces a teenage boy in the sex comedy Private Lessons (1981).
at the Cannes Film Festival, 1990
In September 2006, Kristel’s autobiography Nue (Nude) was published in France. The writing was translated into English as Undressing Emmanuelle: A Memoir, by Fourth Estate, 2 July 2007 (ISBN 978-0007256952), in which she described a turbulent personal life blighted by addictions to drugs, alcohol, and her quest for a father figure, which resulted in some destructive relationships with older men.
She had her first major relationship with Belgian author Hugo Claus, who was more than two decades her senior. The union produced her only child, a son named Arthur who was born in 1975. She left her husband for British actor Ian McShane, whom she had met on the set of the film The Fifth Musketeer (1979). She also had a relationship with French singer Michel Polnareff. After McShane, she married twice, first to an American businessman. That marriage ended after five months, and she later married film producer Phillippe Blot. She spent a decade with Belgian radio producer Fred De Vree, until his death.
The Final Footprint – Kristel is buried in Utrecht Sint-Barbara Roman Catholic Cemetery, Utrecht, the Netherlands. Her epitaph…
“Je ster zal altijd blijven stralen”
(Your star will always continue to shine)
Have you planned yours yet?
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