On this day in 1625, King of Scots James VI and King of England as James I, died at Theobalds House, England at the age of 58. Born on 19 June 1566 at Edinburgh Castle. As the eldest son and heir apparent of the monarchy he automatically became Duke of Rothesay and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland. James was baptised “Charles James” on 17 December 1566 in a Catholic ceremony held at Stirling Castle. He became King of Scotland when he was just thirteen months old on 24 July 1567, succeeding his mother Mary, Queen of Scots, who had been compelled to abdicate in his favour. In 1603, he succeeded the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland, Elizabeth I, who died without issue. He then ruled England, Scotland, and Ireland for 22 years, often using the title King of Great Britain. Under James, the “Golden Age” of Elizabethan literature and drama continued, with writers such as William Shakespeare, John Donne, Ben Jonson, and Sir Francis Bacon contributing to a flourishing literary culture. Sir Anthony Weldon claimed that James had been termed “the wisest fool in Christendom”, an epithet associated with his character ever since. James was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Both Mary and Darnley were great-grandchildren of Henry VII of England through Margaret Tudor, the older sister of Henry VIII. James was the first cousin twice removed Elizabeth I. Mary’s rule over Scotland was insecure, for both she and her husband, being Roman Catholics, faced a rebellion by Protestant noblemen. James married the fourteen-year-old Anne of Denmark, younger daughter of the Protestant King of Denmark Frederick II. The couple were married formally at the Bishop’s Palace in Oslo on 23 November 1589 and, after stays at Elsinore and Copenhagen, returned to Scotland in May 1590. The stability of James’s government in Scotland and in the early part of his English reign, as well as his relatively enlightened views on religion and war, have earned him a positive evaluation from many recent historians.
The Final Footprint – James was entombed in Westminster Abbey. Bishop John Williams of Lincoln preached the sermon, observing, “King Solomon died in Peace, when he had lived about sixty years … and so you know did King James”. “As he lived in peace,” remarked the Earl of Kellie, “so did he die in peace, and I pray God our king [Charles I] may follow him”. Other notable Final Footprints at Westminster include; Robert Browning, Lord Byron, Geoffrey Chaucer, Oliver Cromwell, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, John Dryden, Edward The Confessor, Elizabeth I, George II, George Friederic Handel, Stephen Hawking, Samuel Johnson, Ben Jonson, Charles II, Edward III, Edward VI, Henry III, Henry V, Henry VII, Richard II, Rudyard Kipling, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Milton, Isaac Newton, Laurence Olivier, Henry Purcell, Mary I, Mary II, Mary Queen of Scots, Thomas Shadwell, Edmund Spenser, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Dylan Thomas, and William III.
#RIP #OTD in 1997 adventurer, travel writer and photographer, as well as a sportswoman, Ella Maillart died in Chandolin, Switzerland aged 94. Cremated remains scattered over Calvary of Chandolin (photo with Annemarie Schwarzenbach)
On this day in 2002, actor, comedian, musician and composer Dudley Moore died from pneumonia caused by progressive supranuclear palsy in Plainfield, New Jersey at the age of 66. Born Dudley Stuart John Moore on 19 April 1935 in Charing Cross, London.
Moore first came to prominence in the UK as one of the four writer-performers in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe from 1960, and with one member of that team, Peter Cook, collaborated on the television series Not Only… But Also. The double act worked on other projects until the mid-1970s, by which time Moore had settled in Los Angeles to concentrate on his film acting.
His solo career as a comedy film actor was heightened by the success of hit Hollywood films, particularly Foul Play (1978), 10 (1979) and Arthur (1981). For Arthur, Moore was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won a Golden Globe Award. He received a second Golden Globe for his performance in Micki & Maude (1984).
Moore was married and divorced four times: to actresses Suzy Kendall, Tuesday Weld, Brogan Lane, and Nicole Rothschild.
Moore dated Susan Anton in the early 1980s, with a lot of talk being made of their height difference: Moore at 5 feet 2 1⁄2 inches (1.588 m) and Anton at 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m).
The Final Footprint
Moore died the same day as Milton Berle and Billy Wilder. His friend Rena Fruchter was holding his hand when he died, and she reported his final words were, “I can hear the music all around me”. Moore was interred at Hillside Cemetery in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. Fruchter later wrote a memoir of their relationship (Dudley Moore, Ebury Press, 2004).
Also on this day in 2002, comedian and actor Milton Berle died from colon cancer in Los Angeles at the age of 93. Born Mendel Berlinger on July 12, 1908 in New York City. Berle’s career as an entertainer spanned over 80 years, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and television. As the host of NBC’s Texaco Star Theater (1948–55), he was the first major American television star and was known to millions of viewers as “Uncle Miltie” and “Mr. Television” during TV’s golden age.
Berle and Ruth Cosgrove Berle, 1979.
After twice marrying and divorcing showgirl Joyce Mathews, Berle married publicist Ruth Cosgrove in 1953; she died in 1989. In 1989, Berle stated that his mother was behind the breakup of his marriages to Mathews. He also said that she managed to damage his previous relationships: “My mother never resented me going out with a girl, but if I had more than three dates with one girl, Mama found some way to break it up.” He married a fourth time in 1992 to Lorna Adams, a fashion designer 30 years his junior.
Berle’s autobiography contains many tales of his sexual exploits. He claimed relationships with numerous famous women, including actresses Marilyn Monroe and Betty Hutton, and columnist Dorothy Kilgallen.
The Final Footprint
Berle died the same day as Billy Wilder and Dudley Moore. Berle reportedly left arrangements to be buried with his wife, Ruth, at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Burbank, but his body was cremated and his cremains inurned at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City. Other notable Final Footprints at Hillside Memorial include; Jack Benny, Neil Bogart, Cyd Charisse, Percy Faith, Lorne Greene, Moe Howard, Al Jolson, Michael Landon, Leonard Nimoy, Suzanne Pleshette, Dinah Shore, Lupita Tovar, and Shelley Winters.
Studio publicity photo of Wilder and Gloria Swanson.
Also on this day in 2002, filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and artist Billy Wilder died from pneumonia at his home in Beverly Hills at the age of 95. Born Samuel Wilder on June 22, 1906 in Sucha Beskidzka, Galicia, Austria-Hungary. His career spanned more than five decades. In my opinion, he is one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood’s golden age. With The Apartment, Wilder became the first person to win Academy Awards as producer, director, and screenwriter for the same film.
Wilder became a screenwriter in the late 1920s while living in Berlin. After the rise of the Nazi Party, he left for Paris, where he made his directorial debut. He moved to Hollywood in 1933, and in 1939 he had a hit when he co-wrote the screenplay for the romantic comedy Ninotchka, starring Greta Garbo. Wilder established his directorial reputation with an adaption of James M. Cain’s Double Indemnity (1944), a film noir. Wilder co-wrote the screenplay with crime novelist Raymond Chandler. Wilder earned the Best Director and Best Screenplay Academy Awards for the adaptation of a Charles R. Jackson story The Lost Weekend(1945), about alcoholism. In 1950, Wilder co-wrote and directed the critically acclaimed Sunset Boulevard, as well as Stalag 17 in 1953.
From the mid-1950s on, Wilder made mostly comedies. Among the classics Wilder created in this period are the farces The Seven Year Itch (1955) and Some Like It Hot (1959), and satires such as The Apartment (1960). He directed fourteen different actors in Oscar-nominated performances. Wilder was recognized with the American Film Institute (AFI) Life Achievement Award in 1986. In 1988, Wilder was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. In 1993, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.
Wilder married Judith Coppicus on December 22, 1936. They divorced in 1946. Wilder met Audrey Young at Paramount Pictures on the set of The Lost Weekend in 1945, and she became his second wife on June 30, 1949.
The Final Footprint
He was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery (a Dignity® Memorial property) in Westwood, Los Angeles near Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Wilder died the same day as two comedy legends: Milton Berle and Dudley Moore. The next day, French newspaper Le Monde titled its first-page obituary, “Billy Wilder dies. Nobody’s perfect.” – quoting the final gag line in Some Like It Hot. 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, Carl Wilson, Natalie Wood, and Frank Zappa.
#RIP #OTD in 2011 actor (Rope, Strangers on a Train) Farley Granger died of natural causes in his Manhattan apartment at age 85. Cremation
#RIP #OTD in 2012 poet, essayist and feminist Adrienne Rich died at the age of 82 in her Santa Cruz, California home from rheumatoid arthritis complications. Cremation
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The Final Footprint – Beethoven was initially interred in the Währing cemetery, north-west of Vienna, after a requiem mass at the church of the Holy Trinity (Dreifaltigkeitskirche). The funeral procession on 29 March 1827 was attended by an estimated 20,000 Viennese citizens. Franz Schubert, who would die the following year and would be buried next to Beethoven, was one of the torchbearers. Beethoven’s remains were exhumed for study in 1862, and moved in 1888 to Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof, the largest and most famous cemetery among Vienna’s nearly 50 cemeteries. His grave is marked by a large marble monument. Eddie Van Halen‘s middle name “Lodewijk” was derived from Beethoven (Lodewijk is the Dutch version of Ludwig). Other notable Final Footprints at Zentralfriedhof include; Johannes Brahms, Antonio Salieri, Schubert, Johann Strauss I, and Johann Strauss II. In addition, a cenotaph was erected there in honour of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
On this day in 1892, poet, essayist, journalist, teacher, government clerk, volunteer nurse during the Civil War, The Father of Free Verse, Walt Whitman died in Camden, New Jersey at the age of 72. Born Walter Whitman on 31 May 1819, in West Hills, Town of Huntington, Long Island. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. In my opinion, Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon. His work was very controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sexuality. First published in 1855 with his own money, Leaves of Grass was an attempt at reaching out to the common person with an American epic. He continued expanding and revising it until his death in 1892. Whitman never married.
The Final Footprint – A public viewing of his body was held at his Camden home; over one thousand people visited in three hours. Apparently, Whitman’s oak coffin was barely visible because of all the flowers and wreaths left for him. Four days after his death, he was entombed in the private mausoleum he had built at Harleigh Cemetery in Camden. Another public ceremony was held at the cemetery, with friends giving speeches, live music, and refreshments. Whitman’s friend, the orator Robert Ingersoll, delivered the eulogy. Later, the remains of Whitman’s parents and two of his brothers and their families were moved to the mausoleum. Whitman has been claimed as America’s first “poet of democracy”, a title meant to reflect his ability to write in a singularly American character. A British friend of Walt Whitman, Mary Smith Whitall Costelloe, wrote: “You cannot really understand America without Walt Whitman, without Leaves of Grass… He has expressed that civilization, ‘up to date,’ as he would say, and no student of the philosophy of history can do without him.”. Poet Ezra Pound called Whitman “America’s poet… He is America.”. Andrew Carnegie called him “the great poet of America so far”. Whitman considered himself a messiah-like figure in poetry. William Sloane Kennedy, speculated that “people will be celebrating the birth of Walt Whitman as they are now the birth of Christ”. The literary critic, Harold Bloom wrote, as the introduction for the 150th anniversary of Leaves of Grass:
On this day in 1969, novelist John Kennedy Toole died by suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in Biloxi, Mississippi at the age of 31. Born on December 17, 1937 in New Orleans. His posthumously published novel A Confederacy of Dunces won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981. He also wrote The Neon Bible. Although several people in the literary world felt his writing skills were praiseworthy, Toole’s novels were rejected during his lifetime.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 2016, poet, novelist, and essayist Jim Harrison died from a heart attack in Patagonia, Arizona at the age of 78. Born James Harrison on December 11, 1937 in Grayling, Michigan. He was a prolific and versatile writer publishing over three dozen books in several genres including poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature. He wrote screenplays, book reviews, literary criticism, and published essays on food, travel, and sport. Harrison indicated that, of all his writing, his poetry meant the most to him. He published 24 novellas during his lifetime and is considered “America’s foremost master” of that form. His first commercial success came with the 1979 publication of the trilogy of novellas, Legends of the Fall, two of which were made into movies. He was the recipient of multiple awards and honors including a Guggenheim Fellowship (1969), the Mark Twain Award for distinguished contributions to Midwestern literature (1990), and induction into the American Academy of Arts & Letters (2007). Harrison wrote that “The dream that I could write a good poem, a good novel, or even a good movie for that matter, has devoured my life.”
On this day in 1918, composer Claude Debussy died from cancer at his home in Paris at the age of 55. Born Achille-Claude Debussy on 22 August 1862 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he rejected the term. In my opinion, he was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 2006, singer and songwriter, Buck Owens died in his sleep at his ranch in Bakersfield, California at the age of 76. Born Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. on 12 August 1929 in Sherman, Texas. Evidently Buck was a donkey on the Owens farm and one day Alvis, Jr. announced that his name was also Buck and it stuck. Owens settled in Bakersfield in 1951 and pioneered what came to be known as the Bakersfield sound. From 1969 to 1986, Owens co-hosted the TV series Hee Haw with Roy Clark. My favorite Owens’ songs are “Together Again” and “Love’s Gonna Live Here.”
The Final Footprint – Elizabeth’s coffin was carried downriver at night to Whitehall, on a barge lit with torches. At her funeral on 28 April, the coffin was taken to Westminster Abbey on a hearse drawn by four horses hung with black velvet, where she was entombed. Her death marked the end of the Tudor dynasty. Many books and movies have featured Elizabeth, including Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), both starring Cate Blanchett in the title role. She was nominated for an Academy Award for both films. The first film was nominated for best picture. Other notable Final Footprints at Westminster include; Robert Browning, Lord Byron, Geoffrey Chaucer, Oliver Cromwell, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Edward The Confessor, George II, George Friederic Handel, Stephen Hawking, James I (James VI of Scotland), Samuel Johnson, Ben Jonson, Charles II, Edward III, Edward VI, Henry III, Henry V, Henry VII, Richard II, Rudyard Kipling, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Milton, Sir Isaac Newton, Laurence Olivier, Henry Purcell, Mary I, Mary II, Mary Queen of Scots, Thomas Shadwell, Edmund Spenser, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Dylan Thomas, and William III.
On this day in 1882, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow died from peritonitis at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the age of 75. Born on February 27, 1807 in Portland, Maine. His works include “Paul Revere’s Ride”, The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. He was the first American to translate Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy and was one of the Fireside Poets from New England.
On this day in 2008 actor Richard Widmark died at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, at the age of 93. Born Richard Weedt Widmark on December 26, 1914 in Sunrise Township, Minnesota.
On this day in 2016, stand-up comedian, actor, director, writer, and producer Garry Shandling died in his home in Los Angeles, California at age 66 from a pulmonary embolism. Born Garry Emmanuel Shandling on November 29, 1949 in Chicago. Perhaps best known for his work in It’s Garry Shandling’s Show and The Larry Sanders Show.
On this day in 1842, writer Stendhal died in Paris at the age of 59. Born Marie-Henri Beyle on 23 January 1783 in Grenoble. Perhaps best known for the novels Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black, 1830) and La Chartreuse de Parme (The Charterhouse of Parma, 1839), he is highly regarded for the acute analysis of his characters’ psychology and considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 2006, singer and songwriter Cindy Walker died at the Parkview Regional Hospital in Mexia, Texas at the age of 87. Born July 20, 1918 in Mart, Texas. As a songwriter Walker was responsible for a large number of popular and enduring songs recorded by many different artists.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 2011, multiple Academy Award nominated actress and two-time winner, social activist, champion of AIDS awareness, Liz, Elizabeth Taylor, died from congestive heart failure in Los Angeles at the age of 79. Born Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor on 27 February 1932 in Hampstead Garden Suburb, London. My all-time favorite movie in which she appeared was George Steven‘s epic Giant (1956) based on the Edna Ferber novel and starring Rock Hudson and James Dean. My other favorites include; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) based on the Tennesse Williams play and co-starring Paul Newman; Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) based on the Williams play and co-starring Katharine Hepburn and Montgomery Clift; Cleopatra (1963) co-starring Richard Burton; Relections in a Golden Eye (1967) based on the novel by Carson McCullers and co-starring Marlon Brando. In 1959, Taylor converted from Christian Science to Judaism. Taylor was married eight times to seven men; Conrad Hilton, Jr. (1950-1951 divorce), Michael Wilding (1952-1957 divorce), Mike Todd (1957-1958 his death), Eddie Fisher (1959-1964 divorce), Richard Burton (1964-1974 divorce, 1975-1976 divorce), John Warner (1976-1982 divorce) and Larry Fortensky (1991-1996 divorce). Taylor married Fortensky at Michal Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. Taylor attended Jackson’s private funeral. Long Live Liz!
The Final Footprint – Taylor was entombed in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, the day after her death in accordance with Jewish custom. The Great Mausoleum was fashioned after Campo Santo in Genoa, Italy and contains many of the most highly sought after final resting spaces within Forest Lawn Glendale. Within the Great Mausoleum is the Court of Honor where individuals are inducted as “Immortals” by Forest Lawn’s Council of Regents and the structure is protected by guards and is not accessible by the public. Time Magazine described it as the “New World’s Westminster Abbey”. Other notable Final Footprints at Forest Lawn Glendale include; L. Frank Baum, Humphrey Bogart, Lon Chaney, Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole, Sam Cooke, Dorothy Dandridge, Walt, Disney, Don Drysdale, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Michael Jackson, Louis L’Amour, Lash LaRue, Carole Lombard, Ida Lupino, Tom Mix, Merle Oberon, Red Skelton, Casey Stengel, Jimmy Stewart, Spencer Tracy, and Bobby Womack.
The Final Footprint – Goethe is entombed in the Ducal Vault in Weimar’s Historical Cemetery. Friedrich Schiller is entombed there as well. A bronze statue of Goethe and Schiller was erected in Weimar. The Goethe Monument was erected in Chicago’s Lincoln Park.
On this day in 2018, jazz singer and actress Morgana King died, aged 87, of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in Palm Springs, California. Born Maria Grazia Morgana Messina on June 4, 1930 in Pleasantville, New York. She began singing at a young age and a professional singing career at sixteen years old. In her twenties, she was singing at a Greenwich Village nightclub when she was recognized for her unique phrasing and vocal range, described as a four-octave contralto range.
On this day in 1617, Native American woman, Pocahontas died in Gravesend, Kent, England at the approximate age of 21. Born about 1595 in what is now Virginia. She was the daughter of Powhatan, the paramount chief of Tsenacommacah, an alliance of about thirty Algonquian-speaking groups and chiefdoms in Tidewater Virginia. Pocahontas was known for having assisted colonial settlers at Jamestown and for reportedly saving Captain John Smith‘s life. She converted to Christianity and married the English settler John Rolfe. They had a son, Thomas Rolfe and her many descendants include; Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, wife of Woodrow Wilson; Admiral Richard Byrd; Virginia Governor Harry Flood Byrd; fashion-designer and socialite Pauline de Rothschild; former First Lady Nancy Reagan. The Rolfes left Virginia for England in 1616. She died just as they were beginning a return trip to Virginia.
On this day in 1974, transgender actress Candy Darling died of lymphoma, aged 29, at the Columbia University Medical Center division of the Cabrini Health Center in New York City. Born James Lawrence Slattery on November 24, 1944 in Forest Hills, Queens, New York. Perhaps best known as a Warhol Superstar. She starred in Andy Warhol’s films Flesh (1968) and Women in Revolt (1971), and was a muse of the protopunk band The Velvet Underground. She appeared in Klute with Jane Fonda and Lady Liberty with Sophia Loren. Her theatre credits include two Jackie Curtis plays, Glamour, Glory and Gold (1967) and Vain Victory: The Vicissitudes of the Damned (1971). She was also in Tennessee Williams‘ play Small Craft Warnings, at the invitation of Williams himself. Darling and friend Taffy are paid tribute to in the chorus of The Rolling Stones’ 1967 song “Citadel”. Darling is the subject of the song “Candy Says”, the opening track on The Velvet Underground’s third, self-titled album in 1969. The second verse of Lou Reed’s 1972 hit “Walk on the Wild Side” is devoted to Darling.
The Final Footprint
The Final Footprint – Newton is entombed in Westminster Abbey. His monument is north of the entrance to the choir against the choir screen, near his tomb. Executed by the sculptor Michael Rysbrack (1694–1770) in white and grey marble with design by the architect William Kent. The monument features a figure of Newton reclining on top of a sarcophagus, his right elbow resting on several of his great books and his left hand pointing to a scroll with a mathematical design. Above him is a pyramid and a celestial globe showing the signs of the Zodiac and the path of the comet of 1680. The Latin inscription on the base translates as: “Here is buried Isaac Newton, Knight, who by a strength of mind almost divine, and mathematical principles peculiarly his own, explored the course and figures of the planets, the paths of comets, the tides of the sea, the dissimilarities in rays of light, and, what no other scholar has previously imagined, the properties of the colours thus produced. Diligent, sagacious and faithful, in his expositions of nature, antiquity and the holy Scriptures, he vindicated by his philosophy the majesty of God mighty and good, and expressed the simplicity of the Gospel in his manners. Mortals rejoice that there has existed such and so great an ornament of the human race!” Other notable Final Footprints at Westminster include; Robert Browning, Lord Byron, Charles II, Geoffrey Chaucer, Oliver Cromwell, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Edward III, Edward VI, Edward The Confessor, Elizabeth I, George II, George Friederic Handel, Stephen Hawking, Henry III, Henry V, Henry VII, James I (James VI of Scotland), Samuel Johnson, Ben Jonson, Rudyard Kipling, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Mary I, Mary II, Mary Queen of Scots, John Milton, Laurence Olivier, Henry Purcell, Thomas Shadwell, Edmund Spenser, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Dylan Thomas, and William III.
On this day in 1964, 
He was given a full IRA guard of honour, which escorted his coffin. It was described by several newspapers as the biggest Irish funeral of all time after those of Michael Collins and Charles Stewart Parnell. He is interred at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin. Other notable final footprints at Glasnevin include; Michael Collins, Maud Gonne, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Seán MacBride.
On this day in 1982, heavy metal guitarist Randy Rhoads died in a plane accident in Leesburg, Florida, at the age of 25. Born Randall William Rhoads on December 6, 1956 in Santa Monica, California. Rhoads played with Quiet Riot and Ozzy Osbourne. A devoted student of classical guitar, Rhoads combined his classical music influences with his own heavy metal style. Despite his short career, Rhoads, who was a major influence on neoclassical metal, is cited as an influence by many guitarists.
On this day in 1997, artist Willem de Kooning died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 92 in East Hampton, New York. Born April 24, 1904 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He moved to the United States in 1926, and became an American citizen in 1962. On December 9, 1943, he married painter Elaine Fried.
On this day in 2007, actor and comedian, Larry Bud Melman, died at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, New York at the age of 85. Born Calvert Grant DeForest on 23 July 1921 in Brooklyn. Perhaps best known for his appearances on Late Night with David Letterman and the Late Show with David Letterman. He was the cousin of actor DeForest Kelley of Star Trek fame. His appearances on Letterman were so funny. I used to watch Letterman back in the day when I could stay awake past 2300 hours.
On this day in 2008, science fiction writer, science writer and futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host Arthur C. Clarke died in Colombo, Sri Lanka from respiratory failure at the age of 90. Born Arthur Charles Clarke on 16 December 1917 in Minehead, Somerset, England, UK.
On this day in 1980 artist Tamara de Łempicka died in Cuernavaca, Mexico at the age of 81. Born Tamara Rozalia Gurwik-Górska on 16 May 1898 in Warsaw, Poland. She spent her working life in France and the United States. Perhaps best known for her polished Art Deco portraits of aristocrats and the wealthy, and for her highly stylized paintings of nudes.
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On this day in 2009, actress Natasha Richardson died at the age of 45 at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan from an epidural hematoma, after hitting her head in a skiing accident at the Mont Tremblant Resort in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada. Born Natasha Jane Richardson on 11 May 1963 in Marylebone, London. Richardson was a member of the Redgrave family, being the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director/producer Tony Richardson, and the granddaughter of Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 2010, U. S. Navy and Marine
Corp veteran, Texas Longhorn, actor and wine maker, Fess Parker, died at his home in Santa Ynez, California at the age of 85. Born Fess Elisha Parker, Jr. on 16 August 1924 in Fort Worth, Texas. Parker graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in history in 1950. Perhaps best known for his portrayals of Davy Crockett in the Walt Disney 1955 – 1956 television mini-series and as television’s Daniel Boone from 1964 – 1970. Parker founded and operated the Fess Parker Family Winery and Vineyards in Los Olivos, California. The wine labels have a logo of a golden coonskin cap and the winery sells coonskin caps. Parker was married once to Marcella Belle Rinehart (1960 – 2010 his death).
The Final Footprint – Parker is interred with is parents in Santa Barbara Cemetery in Santa Barbara, California. His grave is marked by and individual bronze marker with a coonskin emblem and the term of endearment; IN LOVING MEMORY. Other notable Final Footprints at Santa Barbara include; Laurence Harvey, Suzy Parker (no relation) and Kenneth Rexroth.
On this day in 2017, musician, singer, songwriter, rock and roll pioneer, Chuck Berry died at his home in St. Charles County, Missouri at the age of 90. Born Charles Edward Anderson Berry on October 18, 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri. With songs such as “Maybellene” (1955), “Roll Over Beethoven” (1956), “Rock and Roll Music” (1957) and “Johnny B. Goode” (1958), Berry refined and developed rhythm and blues into major elements that made rock and roll distinctive. Writing lyrics that focused on teen life and consumerism, and developing a music style that included guitar solos and showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent rock music.
