On this day in 1969, actress and singer, mother of actress Lorna Luft, mother of singer/actress Liza Minnelli, Judy Garland, died from an accidental overdose of barbiturates at her Chelsea, London home at the age of 47. Born Frances Ethel Gumm on 10 June 1922 in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Perhaps best remembered for her role as Dorothy Gale in Victor Fleming‘s The Wizard of Oz (1939), based on L. Frank Baum’s novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), and her unforgettable performance singing the Academy Award-winning song “Over the Rainbow”. Her post Oz career was highlighted by her vaudeville-style, two-a-day engagement at Broadway’s newly refurbished Palace Theatre. The 19-week engagement was considered a huge triumph and garnered Garland a Special Tony Award. Also notable was her Oscar nominated performance in the 1954 musical remake of the 1937 film, A Star is Born. Garland was married five times; David Rose (1941-1944 divorce), Vincent Minnelli (1945-1951 divorce), Sid Luft (1952-1965 divorce), Mark Herron (1965-1969 divorce) and Mickey Deans (1969-1969 her death).
The Final Footprint – Garland was initially entombed in the mausoleum at Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum in Hartsdale, New York. Other notable Final Footprints at Ferncliff include: Aaliyah, Joan Crawford, Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern, Thelonious Monk, and Ed Sullivan. In addition, John Lennon and Nelson Rockefeller were cremated at Ferncliff. In January 2017, Garland’s family had her remains relocated to Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood. The move will ensure that Garland’s family will someday be with her. Other notable Final Footprints at Hollywood Forever include: Mel Blanc (yes, his epitaph is “That’s All Folks!”), Chris Cornell, Cecil B. DeMille, Victor Fleming, Joan Hackett, John Huston, Jayne Mansfield’s cenotaph, Hattie McDaniel‘s cenotaph, Tyrone Power, Nelson Riddle, Mickey Rooney, Bugsy Siegel, Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer, Rudolph Valentino, Fay Wray, and Anton Yelchin.
| Fred Astaire | |
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 In You’ll Never Get Rich (1941) |
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On this day in 1987, dancer, singer, actor, choreographer, Fred Astaire died of pneumonia in Los Angeles at the age of 88. Born Frederick Austerlitz on May 10, 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska. In my opinion, he is one of the most influential dancers in the history of film and television musicals.
His stage and subsequent film and television careers spanned a total of 76 years, during which he starred in more than 10 Broadway and London musicals, made 31 musical films, 4 television specials, and issued numerous recordings. As a dancer, he is best remembered for his sense of rhythm, his perfectionism, and as the dancing partner and on-screen romantic interest of Ginger Rogers, with whom he co-starred in a series of ten Hollywood musicals.
Gene Kelly, another renowned star of filmed dance, said that “the history of dance on film begins with Astaire.” Later, he asserted that Astaire was “the only one of today’s dancers who will be remembered.”
with Adele Astaire in 1921
with Ginger Rogers in Top Hat (1935)
An RKO publicity still of with Rogers dancing to “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” in Roberta (1935)
With Eleanor Powell in Broadway Melody of 1940
With Rita Hayworth in You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
In Daddy Long Legs (1955)
dancing on the walls and ceiling for “You’re All the World to Me” from Royal Wedding (1951)
in Second Chorus (1940)
Astaire’s hand and foot prints at Grauman’s Chinese Theater
Plaque honoring Astaire in Lismore, Waterford, Ireland
Always immaculately turned out, he and Cary Grant were the best dressed actors in American movies. Astaire remained a male fashion icon even into his later years, eschewing his trademark top hat, white tie, and tails (for which he never really cared) in favor of a breezy casual style of tailored sports jackets, colored shirts and slacks—the latter usually held up by the idiosyncratic use of an old tie or silk scarf in place of a belt.
Astaire married 25-year-old Phyllis Potter in 1933 (formerly Phyllis Livingston Baker; born 1908, died September 13, 1954), a Boston-born New York socialite and former wife of Eliphalet Nott Potter III (1906–1981), after pursuing her ardently for about two years, and despite his mother and sister’s objections. Phyllis’s death from lung cancer, at the age of 46, ended 21 years of a marriage and left Astaire devastated. Astaire attempted to drop out of the film Daddy Long Legs (1955), which he was in the process of filming, offering to pay the production costs to date, but was persuaded to stay.
On June 24, 1980, at the age of 81, he married a second time. Robyn Smith (born August 14, 1944), was 45 years his junior and a jockey who rode for Alfred G. Vanderbilt II and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated July 31, 1972.
His friend, David Niven, described him as “a pixie—timid, always warm-hearted, with a penchant for schoolboy jokes.” Astaire was a lifelong golf and thoroughbred horse racing enthusiast. In 1946 his horse Triplicate won the Hollywood Gold Cup and San Juan Capistrano Handicap. He remained physically active well into his eighties.
Shortly before his death, Astaire said: “I didn’t want to leave this world without knowing who my descendant was, thank you Michael”—referring to Michael Jackson.
His body was buried at Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth, California. One of his last requests was to thank his fans for their years of support. His old dance partner, Ginger Rogers is interred there as well.
Astaire’s life has never been portrayed on film. He always refused permission for such portrayals, saying, “However much they offer me—and offers come in all the time—I shall not sell.” Astaire’s will included a clause requesting that no such portrayal ever take place; he commented, “It is there because I have no particular desire to have my life misinterpreted, which it would be.”
On this day in 2008, stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, actor and writer/author, George Carlin died of heart failure at Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica at the age of 71. Born George Denis Patrick Carlin on 12 May 1937 in New York City.
In my opinion, one of the most important and influential stand-up comics of all time, he was once dubbed “the dean of counterculture comedians”. He was well known for his dark comedy and reflections on politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and various taboo subjects. His “seven dirty words” routine was central to the 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, in which a 5–4 decision affirmed the government’s power to censor indecent material on the public airwaves.
The first of Carlin’s 14 stand-up comedy specials for HBO was filmed in 1977. From the late 1980s onward, his routines focused on sociocultural criticism of American society. He often commented on American political issues and satirized the negative aspects of American culture. He was a frequent performer and guest host on The Tonight Show during the three-decade Johnny Carson era and hosted the first episode of Saturday Night Live in 1975. His final comedy special, It’s Bad for Ya, was filmed less than four months before his death. In 2008, he was posthumously awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Carlin met Brenda Hosbrook in August 1960 while touring in Dayton, Ohio. They were married at her parents’ home in Dayton on June 3, 1961. The two renewed their wedding vows in Las Vegas in 1971. Hosbrook died of liver cancer on May 11, 1997, the day before Carlin’s 60th birthday. Six months later, Carlin met Hollywood-based comedy writer Sally Wade, and later described it as “love at first sight” but admitted that he was hesitant to act on his feelings so soon after his wife’s death. He eventually married Wade in a private and unregistered ceremony on June 24, 1998. The marriage lasted until Carlin’s death in 2008, two days before their 10-year anniversary.
In a 2008 interview, Carlin stated that using cannabis, LSD, and mescaline had helped him cope with events in his personal life. He also stated several times that he had battled addictions to alcohol, Vicodin, and cocaine, and spent some time in a rehab facility in late 2004. Although born to a Catholic family, he vocally rejected religion in all of its forms, and frequently criticized and mocked it in his comedy routines.
The Final Footprint – In accordance with his wishes he was cremated, his cremated remains were scattered, and no public or religious services of any kind were held.
#RIP #OTD in 2015 composer (Titanic, Avatar, Aliens, Field of Dreams, Apollo 13, Braveheart, A Beautiful Mind, House of Sand and Fog, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Legends of the Fall) James Horner died in a single-fatality plane crash in Los Padres National Forest, California, aged 61. Cremation
On this day in 2018, musician, songwriter, producer, drummer, Vinnie Paul died at his Las Vegas home from a dilated cardiomyopathy and coronary artery disease, at the age of 54. Born Vincent Paul Abbott on March 11, 1964 in Abilene, Texas. Perhaps best known for being the drummer and co-founder of the heavy metal band Pantera. He was a member of Hellyeah for 12 years from 2006 until his death in 2018. He also co-founded the heavy metal band Damageplan in 2003 with his younger brother, Dimebag Darrell.
The Final Footprint
News of his death was initially released on the official Pantera Facebook page, stating only his association with the bands Pantera, Damageplan, and Hellyeah, along with a statement requesting that the privacy of his family be respected. Five days before his death, Abbott’s final performance took place at The Vinyl at the Hard Rock Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas. Following his death, tributes from all over the metal community began pouring in, including members of Black Sabbath, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Megadeth, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God, Periphery, Slipknot, the Acacia Strain, In Flames, and many others. He is buried beside his mother, Carolyn, and brother, Darrell, at Moore Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Arlington, Texas.
#RIP #OTD in 2020 screenwriter (Car Wash, The Wiz), director (St. Elmo’s Fire, The Lost Boys, Falling Down, The Client, Batman Forever, 8mm, Flatliners, A Time to Kill), Joel Schumacher died from cancer in New York City. Cremation
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On this day in 1937, author and dramatist, J. M. Barrie died of pneumonia in London at the age of 77. Born James Matthew Barrie on 9 May 1860 in in Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland. Perhaps best remembered as the author of Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up (1904) the play about the ageless boy and an ordinary girl named Wendy who have adventures in the fantasy setting of Neverland. The play was developed by Barrie into the 1911 novel Peter and Wendy. George Bernard Shaw described the play as “ostensibly a holiday entertainment for children but really a play for grown-up people.”
The Final Footprint – Barrie is interred in the Barrie and Ogilivie family plot in Kirriemuir Cemetery. The family plot is marked by three large upright markers. A bronze Peter Pan statue was erected in Kensington Gardens, London. Barrie was portrayed in the semi-biographical film, Finding Neverland (2004), by Johnny Depp. The film was nominated for an Oscar, as was Depp, and also stars Kate Winslet and Hoffman. Neverland Valley Ranch was named by Michael Jackson after Barrie’s Neverland.
On this day in 1975, Sicilian American mobster and boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957–1966, “Momo”, “Mooney”, “Sam the Cigar”, “Sammy”, Sam Giancana died from multiple gunshot wounds in his home in Oak Park, Illinois at the age of 67. Giancana was killed shortly before he was scheduled to appear before a U. S. Senate committee investigating supposed CIA and Cosa Nostra collusion in plots to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. Born Salvatore Giangana to Sicilian immigrants in Little Italy, Chicago.
On this day in 2013, actor James Gandolfini died of an apparent heart attack in Rome at the age of 51. Born James Joseph Gandolfini, Jr. on 18 September 1961 in Westwood, New Jersey. Perhaps best known for his role in The Sopranos as Tony Soprano, a troubled crime boss struggling to balance his family life and career in the Mafia. Gandolfini garnered enormous praise for this role, winning both the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series three times.
