RIP The Final Impression

On this day 7 September death of John Greenleaf Whittier – Karen Blixen – Keith Moon – James Clavell – Terence Young – Bibi Besch – Warren Zevon – Mac Miller

Posted on 29 SepamMon, 07 Sep 2026 00:03:00 -05002026-09-07T00:03:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1892, influential Quaker poet, ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States, , John Greenleaf Whittier died at the age of 84 at a friend’s home in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. Born near Haverhill, Massachusetts, on 17 December 1807. He is usually listed as one of the Fireside Poets along with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William Cullen Bryant, James Russell Lowell, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Whittier appears to have been strongly influenced by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Perhaps best remembered for his poem Snow-Bound, and the words of the hymn Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, from his poem “The Brewing of Soma”, sung to music by Hubert Parry.

The Final Footprint – Whittier is interred in Union Cemetery in Amesbury, Massachusetts. Whittier’s family farm, known as the John Greenleaf Whittier Homestead or simply “Whittier’s Birthplace”, is now a historic site open to the public. His later residence in Amesbury, where he lived for 56 years, is also open to the public, now known as the John Greenleaf Whittier Home. Whittier’s hometown of Haverhill has named many buildings and landmarks in his honor including J.G. Whittier Middle School, Greenleaf Elementary, and Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School. Numerous other schools around the country also bear his name.

On this day in 1962, author Karen Blixen, Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke, died at Rungstedlund, her family’s estate in Denmark, at the age of 77. Born Karen Christenze Dinesen on 17 April 1885 in Rungsted, Denmark. Best known for her book Out of Africa, which was made into a movie starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford as the English big game hunter Denys Finch Hatton. In 1913 Karen Dinesen became engaged to her second-cousin, the Swedish Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke, after a failed love affair with his brother. The couple moved to Kenya, where in early 1914 they used family money to establish a coffee plantation, hiring African workers, predominantly the Kikuyu tribes people who lived on the farmlands at the time of their arrival. The Blixens separated in 1921, and were divorced in 1925. During her early years in Kenya, Blixen met Hatton and after her separation she and Hatton developed a close friendship which eventually became a long-term love affair.

The Final Footprint – Blixen was buried at Rungstedlund under a large beech tree. Her full ledger flat marker simply states her name – Karen Blixen. In addition, the family estate has been turned into a museum and is open to the public.

On this day in 1978, musician, drummer, member of The Who, Keith Moon died at the age of 32 from an overdose of prescription medication in Harry Nilsson’s flat, No.12 at 9 Curzon Place (now called Curzon Square), Shepherd Market, Mayfair. Perhaps the greatest drummer in the history of rock. The Who emerged in 1964 with singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle, and Moon. They combined popular singles, such as “My Generation” (1965), “Substitute” (1966), “I Can See for Miles” (1967), “Pinball Wizard” (1969), and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (1971), with critically acclaimed albums such as the rock operas Tommy (1969), and Quadrophenia (1973). They are known for energetic live performances which, since a performance at the Railway Hotel in Wealdstone in June 1964 when Townshend smashed his guitar in anger and frustration, often include smashing their instruments. For much of their career they have been regarded as the third most important British rock act after the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Moon died shortly after the release of Who Are You. On the album cover, he is seated on a chair back-to-front. The words “NOT TO BE TAKEN AWAY” appear on the back of the chair. Born Keith John Moon on 23 August 1946 in Wembley, Middlesex, London.

The Final Footprint – Moon was cremated on 13 September 1978, at Golders Green Crematorium in London and his ashes scattered in its Gardens of Remembrance. GGC was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The crematorium, the Philipson Family mausoleum, designed by Edwin Lutyens, the wall, along with memorials and gates, the Martin Smith Mausoleum, and Into The Silent Land statue are all Grade II listed buildings. The gardens are included in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. GGC is in Hoop Lane, off Finchley Road, Golders Green, London NW11, ten minutes’ walk from Golders Green tube station. It is directly opposite the Golders Green Jewish Cemetery. The crematorium is secular, accepts all faiths and non-believers; clients may arrange their own type of service or remembrance event and choose whatever music they wish. Other notable cremations at GGC include; Kingsley Amis, Marc Bolan, Neville Chamberlain, T. S. Eliot, Sigmund Freud, Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, Vivien Leigh, Peter Sellers, Bram Stoker, H. G. Wells, and Amy Winehouse.

#RIP #OTD in 1994 writer (King Rat, Shōgun), screenwriter (The Fly, The Great Escape), director (To Sir, with Love) James Clavell died in Switzerland from a stroke while suffering from cancer aged 72. Cremated

#RIP #OTD in 1994 (Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Thunderball, Wait Until Dark, Cold Sweat, Red Sun, The Valachi Papers) Terence Young died of a heart attack while working on a documentary at the age of 79 in Cannes

#RIP 1996 actress (Dr. Carol Marcus in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Who’s That Girl, Steel Magnolias, Tremors) Bibi Besch died of breast cancer at Daniel Freeman Hospital in Los Angeles aged 54. Cremation

On this day in 2003, singer, songwriter, musician Warren Zevon died, aged 56, at his home in Los Angeles, California from cancer. Born Warren William Zevon on 24 January 1947 in Chicago. Perhaps his best-known compositions include “Werewolves of London”, “Excitable Boy”, “Lawyers, Guns and Money”, “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” and “Johnny Strikes Up the Band”, all of which are featured on his third album, Excitable Boy (1978). Other well-known songs written by Zevon have been recorded by other artists, including “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” (a top 40 hit by Linda Ronstadt), “Accidentally Like a Martyr”, “Mohammed’s Radio”, “Carmelita”, and “Hasten Down the Wind”. Along with his own compositions, Zevon recorded or performed occasional covers, including Allen Toussaint’s A Certain Girl, Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and Leonard Cohen’s “First We Take Manhattan”. He was a frequent guest on Late Night with David Letterman and the Late Show with David Letterman. Letterman later performed guest vocals on “Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)” with Paul Shaffer and members of the CBS Orchestra on Zevon’s My Ride’s Here album.

The Final Footprint – Zevon was cremated and his cremains were scattered in the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles. His album, The Wind was released 12 days before his death. The Wind was certified gold by the RIAA in December 2003 and Zevon received five posthumous Grammy nominations, including Song of the Year for the ballad “Keep Me In Your Heart”. The Wind won two Grammys, with the album itself receiving the award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, while “Disorder in the House”, Zevon’s duet with Bruce Springsteen, was awarded Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal. These posthumous awards were the first Grammys of Zevon’s thirty-plus year career.

#RIP #OTD in 2018 rapper, songwriter (“Good News”, “Blue World”) and record producer Mac Miller died from an accidental drug overdose of cocaine, fentanyl, and alcohol in his Studio City, Los Angeles home, aged 26. Homewood Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Miller began his career in Pittsburgh’s hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of fifteen. In 2010, he signed a record deal with independent label Rostrum Records and released his breakthrough mixtapes K.I.D.S. (2010) and Best Day Ever (2011). Miller’s debut studio album, Blue Slide Park (2011), became the first independently distributed debut album to top the US Billboard 200 since 1995.

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Posted in Day in History, Extravagant Footprints, Literary Footprints, Musical Footprints | Tagged Bibi Besch, bruce springsteen, Buried, Cemetery, Cremation, david letterman, denys finch hatton, excitable boy, fireside poets, Golders Green Crematorium, Ground Burial, harry nilsson, History, Homewood Cemetery, isak dinesen, James Clavell, john greenleaf whittier, karen blizen, keith moon, linda ronstadt, Mac Miller, meryl streep, out of africa, paul shaffer, Private Estates, riptff, robert redford, rungstedlund, Terence Young, tff, the final footprint, The Who, union cemetery, warren zevon, werewolves of london, who are you | Leave a comment

On this day 6 September death of Sully Prudhomme – Margaret Sanger – Christy Brown – Ernest Tubb – Akira Kurosawa – Luciano Pavarotti – Burt Reynolds – Jean-Paul Belmondo – Michael K. Williams – Will Jennings – Rick Davies

Posted on 29 SepamSun, 06 Sep 2026 00:24:00 -05002026-09-06T00:24:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1907, French poet and essayist, recipient of the first Nobel Prize in Literature, Sully Prudhomme died at Châtenay-Malabry, at the age of 68. Born René François Armand Prudhomme on 16 March 1839 in Paris. The first ever winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1901. Prudhomme originally studied to be an engineer, but turned to philosophy and later to poetry; he declared it as his intent to create scientific poetry for modern times. In character sincere and melancholic, he was linked to the Parnassus school, although his work displays characteristics of its own.

The Final Footprint – Prudhomme is interred at Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Other notable Final Footprints at Père Lachaise include; Guillaume Apollinaire, Honoré de Balzac, Georges Bizet, Jean-Dominique Bauby, Maria Callas, Frédéric Chopin, Colette, Auguste Comte, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Max Ernst, Molière, Jim Morrison, Édith Piaf, Camille Pissarro, Marcel Proust, Gioachino Rossini, Georges-Pierre Seurat, Gertrude Stein, Dorothea Tanning, Alice B. Toklas, Oscar Wilde, and Richard Wright.

#RIP #OTD in 1966 birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse, Margaret Sanger died of congestive heart failure in Tucson, Arizona, aged 86. Fishkill Rural Cemetery, Fishkill, New York

#RIP #OTD in 1981 painter, poet, writer (My Left Foot, Down All the Days) Christy Brown died at his home in Parbrook, Somerset, England, after choking while eating aged 49. Glasnevin Cemetery, Glasnevin, County Dublin, Ireland

Ernest_Tubb_publicity_portrait_-_Cropped

On this day in 1984, singer songwriter, The Texas Troubadour, the original E.T., Ernest Tubb died from emphysema in Nashville at the age of 70. Born Ernest Dale Tubb on 9 February 1914 in Ellis County Texas. One of the pioneers of country music, his biggest career hit song, “Walking the Floor Over You” (1941), marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music. In 1948, he was the first singer to record a hit version of “Blue Christmas”. Another well-known Tubb hit was “Waltz Across Texas” (1965), which became one of his most requested songs and is often used in dance halls throughout Texas during waltz lessons. Tubb recorded duets with the then up-and-coming Loretta Lynn in the early 1960s, including their hit “Sweet Thang”. Tubb is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. My favorite E.T. song is Waltz across Texas.

The Final Footprint – Tubb was buried at Hermitage Memorial Gardens, a Dignity Memorial property, in Old Hickory, Tennessee. His grave is marked by a large custom flat bronze on granite memorial.

#RIP #OTD in 1998 filmmaker (Drunken Angel, Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo, High and Low), painter Akira Kurosawa died of a stroke in Setagaya, Tokyo, at the age of 88. Anyo-In Temple Cemetery, Kamakura, Japan

On this day in 2007, one of the greatest opera tenors, The King of the High C’s, Luciano Pavarotti, died of kidney failure brought on by pancreatic cancer, at his home in Modena, Italy, at the age of 71. Born 12 October 1935 in Modena. One of the most commercially successful tenors of all time. He made numerous recordings of complete operas and individual arias, gaining worldwide fame for the brilliance and beauty of his tone, especially into the upper register, and eventually established himself as one of the finest tenors of the 20th century. As one of The Three Tenors, Pavarotti became well known for his televised concerts and media appearances. From the beginning of his professional career as a tenor in 1961 in Italy to his final performance of “Nessun dorma” at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Pavarotti was at his best in bel operas, pre-Aida Verdi roles and Puccini works such as La bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly. Pavarotti was also noted for his charity work on behalf of refugees and the Red Cross, amongst others. He made his opera debut in April 1961, in the role of Rudolfo in the opera La bohème. In 1963, he made his international debut in the same role at London’s Royal Opera House. He became the first tenor in opera history to hit all nine high C notes in the aria Quel Destin in the opera The Daughter of the Regiment by Gaetano Donizetti.

Grave of Luciano Pavarotti and his family in Montale (near Modena)

The Final Footprint – Pavarotti’s funeral was held in Modena Cathedral. Romano Prodi and Kofi Annan attended. The Frecce Tricolori, the aerobatic demonstration team of the Italian Air Force, flew overhead, leaving green-white-red smoke trails. After a funeral procession through the centre of Modena, Pavarotti’s coffin was taken the final ten kilometres to Montale Rangone, a village part of Castelnuovo Rangone, and was entombed in the Pavarotti family crypt. The funeral, in its entirety, was also telecast live on CNN. The Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival Hall flew black flags in mourning. Tributes were published by many opera houses, such as London’s Royal Opera House. The Italian football giant Juventus F.C., of which Pavarotti was a lifelong fan, was represented at the funeral and posted a farewell message on its website which said: “Ciao Luciano, black-and-white heart” referring to the team’s famous stripes when they play on their home ground. Luciano Pavarotti: Bravo!

On this day in 2018, actor, director, producer, sex symbol and icon of American popular culture, Burt Reynolds died of a heart attack at the Jupiter Medical Center in Jupiter, Florida at the age of 82.. Born Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. on February 11, 1936 in Lansing, Michigan.

Reynolds first rose to prominence starring in several different television series such as Gunsmoke (1962–1965), Hawk (1966), and Dan August (1970–1971). Reynolds had leading roles in such films as Navajo Joe (1966), but his breakthrough role was as Lewis Medlock in Deliverance (1972). Reynolds starred in a number of subsequent box office hits, such as The Longest Yard (1974), Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Semi-Tough (1977), The End (1978), Hooper (1978), Starting Over (1979), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), The Cannonball Run (1981), Sharky’s Machine (1981), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), and Cannonball Run II (1984). He was nominated twice for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

Reynolds was voted the world’s number one box office star for five consecutive years (from 1978 to 1982) in the annual Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll. His performance as high-minded pornographer Jack Horner in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights (1997) brought him renewed critical attention, earning him another Golden Globe (for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture), with nominations for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Reynolds was married to English actress Judy Carne from 1963 to 1965. He and American singer-actress Dinah Shore were in a relationship from early 1971 until 1976. In the mid-1970s, Reynolds briefly dated singer Tammy Wynette. He had a relationship from 1977 to 1980 (then off-and-on until 1982) with American actress Sally Field, during which time they appeared together in four films. In the later part of his life, he regarded Field as the love of his life. Reynolds was married to American actress Loni Anderson from 1988 to 1994.

The Final Footprint

On September 20, 2018, a private memorial service for Reynolds was held at a funeral home in North Palm Beach, Florida. Those in attendance included Sally Field, FSU coach Bobby Bowden, friend Lee Corso, and quarterback Doug Flutie. Reynolds’ body was cremated and his cremated remains were given to his family.

#RIP #OTD in 2021 actor (À bout de souffle, L’Homme de Rio, Pierrot le Fou, Borsalino, Le Professionnel) Jean-Paul Belmondo died at his home in Paris, aged 88. Cremated remains Cimetière du Montparnasse, Paris

On this day in 2021 actor (The Wire, Boardwalk Empire) Michael K. Williams died in his apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn from an overdose of heroin laced with fentanyl, aged 54. Born Michael Kenneth Williams on November 22, 1966 in Brooklyn. He rose to fame in 2002 through his critically acclaimed role as Omar Little on the HBO drama series The Wire. He has been described as a “singular presence, onscreen and off, who made every role his own.”

The Final Footprint

Williams was found dead by his nephew. On September 24, 2021, the NYC Office of Chief Medical Examiner confirmed that Williams died of a combination of fentanyl, p-fluorofentanyl, heroin, and cocaine, and ruled the death by overdose. His private funeral was held at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Cathedral in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where his mother lives. The Baltimore Ravens played a tribute to Williams by playing his character Omar Little’s whistle of the song “A Hunting We Will Go” as part of the team intro all throughout the M&T Bank Stadium. In February 2022, police arrested four men in connection with Williams’ death. His final resting place is in East Harrisburg Cemetery, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

#RIP #OTD in 2024 lyricist (Up Where We Belong, Higher Love, Back in the High Life Again, Looks Like We Made It, Tears in Heaven, My Heart Will Go On, I’ll Never Love this way Again) Will Jennings died at his home in Tyler, Texas aged 80.

RIP #OTD in 2025, musician, founder, vocalist, keyboardist of the rock band Supertramp, songwriter (wrote or co-wrote; “Bloody Well Right”, “Goodbye Stranger”, “My Kind of Lady”, “Cannonball”, “I’m Beggin’ You”), Rick Davies died from complications of multiple myeloma, at the age of 81, at his home in East Hampton, New York. his family and the band chose to keep the funeral arrangements and final resting details private

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Posted in Day in History, Extravagant Footprints, Literary Footprints, Musical Footprints | Tagged Akira Kurosawa, Anyo-In Temple Cemetery, Christy Brown, Cimetière du Montparnasse, Crypts, Entomb, Ernest Tubb, hermitage memorail gardens, History, Jean-Paul Belmondo, juventus f c, Luciano Pavarotti, Margaret Sanger, Mausoleum, opera, Pere Lachaise Cemetery, Private Mausoleum, Rick Davies, riptff, sully prudhomme, tenor, tff, the final footprint, the three tenors, walking the floor over you, waltz across texas | 3 Comments

On this Day 5 September death of Auguste Comte – Crazy Horse – Gert Fröbe – Mother Teresa – Sérgio Mendes

Posted on 29 SepamSat, 05 Sep 2026 00:21:00 -05002026-09-05T00:21:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1857, French philosopher, founder of the discipline of sociology and of the doctrine of positivism, Auguste Comte died in Paris at the age of 59 from stomach cancer. Born Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte in Montpellier, Hérault, in southern France on 19 January 1798. He was a founder of the discipline of sociology and of the doctrine of positivism. He is sometimes regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense of the term. Strongly influenced by the utopian socialist Henri Saint-Simon, Comte developed the positive philosophy in an attempt to remedy the social malaise of the French Revolution, calling for a new social doctrine based on the sciences. Comte was a major influence on 19th-century thought. Comte’s social theories culminated in the “Religion of Humanity”, which influenced the development of religious humanist and secular humanist organizations in the 19th century. Comte coined the word altruisme (altruism).

The Final Footprint – Comte is interred in Père Lachaise Cemetery, surrounded by cenotaphs in memory of his mother, Rosalie Boyer, and of Clotilde de Vaux, his muse. Other notable Final Footprints at Père Lachaise include; Guillaume Apollinaire, Georges Bizet, Honoré de Balzac, Jean-Dominique Bauby, Maria Callas, Frédéric Chopin, Colette, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Eugène Delacroix, Max Ernst, Molière, Jim Morrison, Édith Piaf, Camille Pissarro, Marcel Proust, Sully Prudhomme, Gioachino Rossini, Georges-Pierre Seurat, Gertrude Stein, Dorothea Tanning, Alice B. Toklas, Oscar Wilde, and Richard Wright.

On this day in 1877, Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota, Tasunke Witko (literally “His-Horse-Is-Crazy” or “His-Horse-Is-Spirited”), Crazy Horse, was fatally wounded, after surrendering to U.S. troops under General George Crook, while allegedly resisting imprisonment at Camp Robinson in present-day Nebraska (in the Pine Ridge region of northwest Nebraska). Born Cha-O-Ha (“In the Wilderness” or “Among the Trees”, meaning he was one with nature) sometime between 1840 and 1845 possibly somewhere on the South Cheyenne River. He took up arms against the U.S. Federal government to fight against encroachments on the territories and way of life of the Lakota people, including leading a war party to victory over George Armstrong Custer and his men at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876. Crazy Horse ranks among the most notable and iconic of Native American tribal members and has been honored by the U.S. Postal Service with a 13¢ Great Americans series postage stamp.

Model of the planned statue with a the Memorial in the background

The Final Footprint – His body was taken to Camp Sheridan and placed on a scaffold. The following month when the Spotted Tail Agency was moved to the Missouri River, his parents had his body moved to an undisclosed location. There are at least four possible locations as noted on a state highway memorial near Wounded Knee, South Dakota. His final resting place remains unknown. Crazy Horse has been memorialized by the Crazy Horse Memorial, carved into the side of a mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

On this day in 1988, actor (Goldfinger in the James Bond film Goldfinger, as Peachum in The Threepenny Opera, as Baron Bomburst in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, as Hotzenplotz in Der Räuber Hotzenplotz, General Dietrich von Choltitz in Is Paris Burning?, Colonel Manfred von Holstein in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines) Gert Fröbe died in Munich in September 1988 at age 75 from a heart attack.

Born Karl Gerhart Fröbe on 25 February 1913 in Oberplanitz (near Zwickau) Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire. Fröbe was a three-time German Film Award nominee, twice for Best Leading Actor and once for Best Supporting Actor. In 1978, he won an honorary award for “outstanding individual contributions to the German cinema over the years.”

Fröbe was married five times; Karin Kuderer-Pistorius (1970–?), Beate Bach (1962-1968), Hannelore Görtz (1953–1959), Tatjana Iwanow, and Clara Peter.

The Final Footprint – Waldfriedhof cemetery in Icking, Bavaria, Germany.

On this day in 1997, Mother Teresa, known in the Roman Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta died in Calcutta at the age of 87. Born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu on 26 August 1910 in Üsküp, Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire. After living in Macedonia for eighteen years she moved to Ireland and then to India, where she lived for most of her life.

In 1950 Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation which had over 4,500 sisters and was active in 133 countries in 2012. The congregation manages homes for people dying of HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis; soup kitchens; dispensaries and mobile clinics; children’s- and family-counselling programmes; orphanages, and schools. Members, who take vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, also profess a fourth vow: to give “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor”.

Teresa received a number of honours, including the 1962 Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize and 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. She was canonised (recognised by the church as a saint) on 4 September 2016, and the anniversary of her death (5 September) is her feast day.

A controversial figure during her life and after her death, Teresa was admired by many for her charitable work. She was praised and criticised for her opposition to abortion, and criticised for poor conditions in her houses for the dying. Her authorised biography was written by Navin Chawla and published in 1992, and she has been the subject of films and other books. On September 6, 2017, Teresa was named co-patron of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta, alongside St. Francis Xavier.

The Final Footprint

Teresa lay in repose in St Thomas, Calcutta, for a week before her funeral. She received a state funeral from the Indian government in gratitude for her service to the poor of all religions in the country. Teresa’s death was mourned in the secular and religious communities. Her final resting place is the Motherhouse Convent in Calcutta.

RIP #OTD in 2024, Brazilian musician, founder of the band Brasil ’66 (Mas Que Nada, The Look of Love, That Heat, Real in Rio), Sérgio Mendes died from complications of long COVID at a hospital in Los Angeles at the age of 83. Cremated

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Posted in Day in History, Extravagant Footprints, Literary Footprints, Religious Footprints | Tagged auguste comte, battle of the little big horn, black hills, camp robinson, Cemetery, crazy horse, crazy horse memorial, Cremation, george armstrong custer, Ground Burial, History, mother teresa, oglala lakota, Pere Lachaise Cemetery, philosopher, riptff, Sérgio Mendes, Statue, tff, the final footprint | Leave a comment

On this day 4 September death of Edvard Grieg – Charles Péguy – Georges Simenon – Irene Dunne – Dottie West – Joan Rivers – Gary Wright – Giorgio Armani

Posted on 29 SepamFri, 04 Sep 2026 00:18:00 -05002026-09-04T00:18:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1207, Provençal troubadour, poet, knight Raimbaut de Vaqueiras or Vaqueyras died in an ambush in Greece by Bulgarian insurgents. His body was lost or destroyed.

On this day in 1907, composer and pianist Edvard Grieg died at the Municipal Hospital in Bergen, Norway at age 64 from heart failure. Born Edvard Hagerup Grieg on 15 June 1843 in Bergen. In my opinion, he is one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use and development of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions brought the music of Norway to international consciousness, as well as helping to develop a national identity.

Perhaps best known for his “Peer Gynt Suite” (1876), adapted from an incidental score he created for a Henrik Ibsen play. It contains such popular numbers as “Morning”, “Anitra’s Dance”, and “In the Hall of the Mountain King”. Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor (1869) is still frequently performed. The “Lyric Pieces” for solo piano, collected in ten volumes throughout his life, reveal his gifts as a miniaturist and led Hans von Bulow to call him “The Chopin of the North”.

The Final Footprint

His last words were “Well, if it must be so.”

The funeral drew between 30,000 and 40,000 people to the streets of his home town to honor him. Following his wish, his own Funeral March in Memory of Rikard Nordraak was played with orchestration by his friend Johan Halvorsen, who had married Grieg’s niece. In addition, the Funeral March movement from Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 2 was played. Grieg was cremated, and his ashes were entombed in a mountain crypt near his house, Troldhaugen. After the death of his wife, her ashes were placed alongside his.

A century after his death, Grieg’s legacy extends beyond the field of music. There is a large statue of Grieg in Seattle, while one of the largest hotels in Bergen is named Quality Hotel Edvard Grieg, and a large crater on the planet Mercury is named after Grieg.

Grieg is the most celebrated person from the city of Bergen, with numerous statues depicting his image, and many cultural entities named after him: the city’s largest concert building (Grieg Hall), its most advanced music school (Grieg Academy) and its professional choir (Edvard Grieg Kor). The Edvard Grieg Museum at Grieg’s former home, Troldhaugen, is dedicated to his legacy.

On this day in 1914, French poet, essayist, and editor Charles Péguy died in battle, shot in the forehead, in Villeroy, Seine-et-Marne during World War I, on the day before the beginning of the Battle of the Marne. Born on 7 January 1873 in Orléans. His two main philosophies were socialism and nationalism, but by 1908 at the latest, after years of uneasy agnosticism, he had become a believing but non-practicing Roman Catholic. From that time, Catholicism strongly influenced his works. In 1897, Péguy married Charlotte-Françoise Baudoin; they had one daughter and three sons, one of whom was born after Péguy’s death. Around 1910 he fell deeply in love with Blanche Raphael, a young Jewish friend; however, he was faithful to his wife.

The Final Footprint – He is interred in a communal grave in the Grande Tombe de Villeroy, Seine-et-Marne, Ile-de-France, France. Péguy wrote: “There will be things that I do that no one will be left to understand.”

#RIP #OTD in 1989 writer who created the fictional detective Jules Maigret, Georges Simenon died in Lausanne aged 86. Cremated remains scattered under a tree at his home in Lausanne with his daughter Marie-Jo

RIP #OTD in 1990, actress (Cimarron, Showboat, Theodora Goes Wild, The Awful Truth, Love Affair, I Remember Mama), Irene Dunne died at the age of 91 in her Holmby Hills, California home. entombed next to her husband, Francis Griffin, in the Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles.

On this day in 1991, singer and songwriter Dottie West died at the age of 58 from injuries sustained in a car accident at the Opryland exit on Briley Parkway in Nashville. Born Dorothy Marie Marsh outside McMinnville, Tennessee on 11 October 1932. In my opinion, West is one of country music’s most influential and groundbreaking female artists. Her career started in the early 1960s, with her Top 10 hit, “Here Comes My Baby Back Again,” which won her the first Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1965. In the 1960s, West was one of the few female country singers working in what was then a male-dominated industry. Throughout the 1960s, West had country hits within the Top 10 and 20. In the early 1970s, West wrote a popular commercial for the Coca-Cola company, titled “Country Sunshine”. She teamed up with country-pop superstar, Kenny Rogers for a series of duets earning Platinum selling albums and No. 1 records. Her duet recordings with Rogers, like “Every Time Two Fools Collide,” “All I Ever Need Is You,” and “What Are We Doin’ In Love,” eventually became country-pop standards. Her image and music came to the peak of her popularity as a solo act, and reaching No. 1 for the very first time on her own, in 1980 with her version of the Randy Goodrum and Brent Haher song, “A Lesson in Leavin’.

The Final Footprint – Her funeral was held at Christ Church on Old Hickory Boulevard. There were 600 friends and family attendees, including Emmylou Harris, Connie Smith, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash and Larry Gatlin. Her friend and fellow artist, Steve Wariner, whom she had helped make it to Nashville as a young man, sang “Amazing Grace”. West is interred in Mount View Cemetery in McMinnville. Her grave is marked by an individual upright granite marker with the term of endearment; Beloved Daughter, Wife and Monther and Our Country Sunshine. On the back is the following; I was born a country girl I will die a country girl. My world is made of blue skies and sunshine, green fields and butterflies. I’m so glad I’m a country girl. McMinnville dedicated Highway 56 to her memory, naming it the Dottie West Memorial Highway. In 1995, actress Michele Lee, with the help of West’s daughter Shelly, produced and starred in the made-for-TV biopic Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story.

On this day in 2014, comedian, actress, writer, producer, and television host Joan Rivers died at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York from complications from a minor throat surgery, at the age of 81. Born Joan Alexandra Molinsky on June 8, 1933 in Brooklyn. She was noted for her often controversial comedic persona—heavily self-deprecating and sharply acerbic, especially towards celebrities and politicians.

Rivers rose to prominence in 1965 as a guest on The Tonight Show. Hosted by her mentor, Johnny Carson, the show established Rivers’ comedic style. In 1986, with her own rival program, The Late Show with Joan Rivers, Rivers became the first woman to host a late night network television talk show. She subsequently hosted The Joan Rivers Show (1989–1993), winning a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host. From the mid-1990s, she became known for her comedic red carpet awards show celebrity interviews, and in 2009, she was the Celebrity Apprentice Winner. Rivers co-hosted the E! celebrity fashion show Fashion Police from 2010 to 2014 and starred in the reality series Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best? (2011–2014) with daughter Melissa Rivers. She was the subject of the documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010).

In addition to marketing a line of jewelry and apparel on the QVC shopping channel, Rivers authored 12 best-selling books and three LP comedy albums under her own name: Mr. Phyllis And Other Funny Stories (Warner Bros 1965), The Next To Last Joan Rivers Album (Buddah 1969), and What Becomes A Semi-Legend Most? (Geffen 1983). She was nominated in 1984 for a Grammy Award for her album What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most?; and was nominated in 1994 for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance of the title role in Sally Marr … and Her Escorts. In 2015, Rivers posthumously received a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for her book, Diary of a Mad Diva.

Rivers’ first marriage was in 1955 to James Sanger, the son of a Bond Clothing Stores merchandise manager. The marriage lasted six months and was annulled on the basis that Sanger did not want children and had not informed Rivers before the wedding.

Rivers married Edgar Rosenberg on July 15, 1965. Their only child, Melissa Rivers, was born on January 20, 1968. Rivers was married to Rosenberg until his suicide in 1987, four days after she asked him for a separation.

The Final Footprint

On September 7, after the cremation of Rivers’ body at Garden State Crematory in North Bergan, New Jersey, a private memorial service took place at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan. The service was attended by an estimated 1,500 people. The guest list included Rivers’ many celebrity friends, and public figures such as Howard Stern, Louis C.K., Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Joy Behar, Michael Kors, Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rosie O’Donnell, Kathy Griffin, and Donald Trump. The musical performances included Hugh Jackman singing “Quiet Please, There’s a Lady On Stage” as well as the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus singing old show tunes. Talk show host Howard Stern, delivering the eulogy, described Rivers as “brassy in public [and] classy in private … a troublemaker, trail blazer, pioneer for comics everywhere, … [who] fought the stereotypes that women can’t be funny.” Daughter Melissa read a comedic note to her mother as part of her eulogy. Some of Rivers’ ashes were scattered by her daughter in Wyoming.

#RIP #OTD in 2033 musician, composer, singer/songwriter (“Dream Weaver”, “Love Is Alive”) Gary Wright died from Lewy body dementia and Parkinson’s at home in Palos Verdes Estates, California at age 80. Cremation

RIP #OTD in 2025, fashion designer and founder of the Armani luxury fashion house, one of the most influential designers in contemporary fashion, Giorgio Armani died from liver failure at his home in Milan at the age of 91. Entombed in a private ceremony at his family’s chapel in Cimitero di Rivalta Trebbia, Rivalta Trebbia, Piacenza Province.

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Posted in Day in History, Literary Footprints, Musical Footprints | Tagged Calvary Cemetery, charles peguy, Cimitero di Rivalta Trebbia, day in history, dottie west, Gary Wright, Georges Simenon, Giorgio Armani, Grande Tombe de Villeroy, Irene Dunne, joan rivers, kenny rogers, michele lee, mount view cemetery, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, riptff, shelly west, tff, the final footprint | 1 Comment

On this Day 3 September death of Oliver Cromwell – E. E. Cummings – Vince Lombardi – Alan Wilson – Frank Capra – Pauline Kael – Michael Clarke Duncan – Judy Carne – John Ashbery – Walter Becker – Carol Lynley

Posted on 29 SepamThu, 03 Sep 2026 00:09:00 -05002026-09-03T00:09:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1658, the man who abolished the monarchy and the 1st Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Oliver Cromwell, died at age 59 in Whitehall. A highly controversial figure in British history. Cromwell led the New Model Army which defeated the Royalists in the English civil war. Some historians regard him as a regicidal dictator, some as a hero of liberty. He was opposed to the Roman Catholic Church and he is widely hated in Ireland. Cromwell was one of the signers of King Charles I’s death warrant. Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. Cromwell suffered from malaria and is thought to have died from a urinary infection.

The Final Footprint – Cromwell was initially entombed in Westminster Abbey. However, the Commonwealth soon fell apart without his leadership and Charles II, the son of Charles I, came back and the monarchy was reestablished. The Royalists had his body exhumed and on 30 January 1661, the 12th anniversary of the execution of Charles I, Cromwell’s body was posthumously executed. His body was hanged in chains at Tyburn. When the body was taken down, the head was severed and displayed on a pole outside Westminster Hall until 1685. Cromwell’s head exchanged hands several times until finally in 1960, it was buried at Sussex College in Cambridge. Several monuments have been erected in Cromwell’s honor;

A floor stone was installed in Westminster Abbey marking his original burial site
In 1875, a statue of Cromwell by Matthew Noble was erected in Manchester outside the cathedral, then during the 1980s the statue was relocated outside Wythenshawe Hall
In addition, there are statutes outside Parliament, in the centre of St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, and outside the Academy on Bridge Street in Warrington
In 1940 “Cromwell” was the codeword warning that German invasion of Britain was imminent

Certainly the most grisly final footprint we have discussed to date. What say you? Cromwell; hero or villain?

On this day in 1962, poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright E. E. Cummings died of a stroke in North Conway, New Hampshire at the Memorial Hospital, at the age of 67. Born Edward Estlin Cummings on 14 October 1894 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His body of work encompasses approximately 2,900 poems, two autobiographical novels, four plays and several essays, as well as numerous drawings and paintings. He is remembered as an eminent voice of 20th century poetry. Cummings married twice; Elaine Orr (1924 – 1924 divorce), Anne Minnerly Barton (1929 – 1934 divorce) and had a long term partner, Marion Morehouse (1932 – 1962 his death).

The Final Footprint – Cummings was cremated and his cremated remains were buried in Forest Hills Cemetery and Crematory in Boston. His grave is marked by a flat engraved stone. Cummings’ papers are held at the Houghton Library at Harvard University and the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

On this day in 1970 legendary football coach, 6x NFL Champion, 2x Super Bowl Champion, Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Vince Lombardi died from cancer at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington D.C. at the age of 57. Born Vincent Thomas Lombardi on 11 June 1913 in Brooklyn; the grandson of Italian immigrants. The National Football League’s Super Bowl trophy is named in his honor. He never had a losing season as a head coach in the NFL, compiling a regular season winning percentage of 73.8% (96-34-6), a preseason winning percentage of 78.6% (44-12), and 90% (9-1) in the postseason for an overall record of 149 wins, 47 losses, and 6 ties in the NFL. Lombardi married Marie Planitz (1940 – 1970 his death).

The Final Footprint – On September 7, the funeral was held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan. People lined Fifth Avenue and between 39th and 50th Street and Fifth Avenue was closed to traffic. Cardinal Terence Cooke delivered the eulogy. In attendance were team owners, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, past and present members of the Packers, Redskins, and Giants, former students, colleagues, players, and classmates. Lombardi is buried next to his wife Marie and his parents Harry and Matilda, in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Middletown Township, New Jersey. His grave is marked by an upright companion granite marker.

On this day in 1970, musician, singer, songwriter, “Blind Owl”, Alan Wilson died of an overdose of barbiturates in Topanga Canyon, California at age 27, thus becoming a member of the 27 Club or Forever 27 Club, a group of musicians who all died at the age of 27. Wilson was a member of the blues band Canned Heat. Two of their songs, “Going Up the Country” and “On the Road Again” became international hits.

The Final Footprint – His cremated remains were scattered in Sequoia National Park, California. Other members of the 27 Club include; Kurt Cobain, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Johnson, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Amy Winehouse, and Anton Yelchin.

And on this day in 1991, Sicilian-born legendary American film director, Frank Capra died in La Quinta, California, of a heart attack in his sleep at the age of 94. Born Francesco Capra on 18 May 1897 in Bisacquino, Sicily, a village near Palermo.

Capra became one of America’s most influential directors during the 1930s, winning three Academy Awards for Best Director from six nominations, along with three other Oscar wins from nine nominations in other categories. Among his leading films were It Happened One Night (1934), You Can’t Take It with You (1938), and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939); Capra was nominated as Best Director and as producer for Academy Award for Best Picture on all three films, winning both awards on the first two. During World War II, Capra served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and produced propaganda films, such as the Why We Fight series.

After World War II, Capra’s career declined as his later films, such as It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), performed poorly when they were first released. In ensuing decades, however, It’s a Wonderful Life and other Capra films were revisited favorably by critics. Outside of directing, Capra was active in the film industry, engaging in various political and social issues. He served as President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, worked alongside the Writers Guild of America, and was head of the Directors Guild of America.

The Final Footprint – He is interred in the Coachella Valley Public Cemetery in Coachella, California. His grave is marked by a flat granite marker.

#RIP #OTD in 2001 film critic for The New Yorker from 1968 to 1991, one of the most influential film critics of her era, Pauline Kael died at her home in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, at the age of 82. Cremated

On this day in 2012, actor Michael Clarke Duncan died at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack at the age of 54. Born December 10, 1957 in Chicago. Perhaps best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in The Green Mile (1999), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and various similar honors. He also appeared in motion pictures such as Armageddon (1998), The Whole Nine Yards (2000), The Scorpion King (2002), Daredevil (2003), and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006). He also had voice roles in films such as Brother Bear (2003), Kung Fu Panda (2008) and Green Lantern (2011).

At the time of his death, Duncan was engaged to reality television personality Omarosa Manigault.

The Final Footprint

Crypt of Duncan at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. Other notable final footprints at Hollywood Hills include; Gene Autry, Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, David Carradine, Scatman Crothers, Bette Davis, Sandra Dee, Ronnie James Dio, Carrie Fisher, Bobby Fuller, Andy Gibb, Michael Hutchence, Jill Ireland, Al Jarreau, Buster Keaton, Lemmy Kilmister, Jack LaLanne, Nicolette Larson, Liberace, Strother Martin, Jayne Meadows, Ricky Nelson, Bill Paxton, Brock Peters, Freddie Prinze, Lou Rawls, Debbie Reynolds, Telly Savalas, Lee Van Cleef, and Paul Walker.

#RIP #OTD 2015 actress perhaps best remembered for the phrase “Sock it to me!” on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, Judy Carne died from pneumonia at a hospital in Northampton, England at the age of 76. Cremation

#RIP #OTD in 2017 poet (“The Skaters”, “Into the Dusk-Charged Air”, “Litany”, “Bridge Poem”, “At North Farm”, “A Snowball in Hell”) John Ashbery died at his home in Hudson, New York aged 90.

#RIP #OTD 2017 co-founder, guitarist, bassist, co-songwriter (“Reelin’ in the Years”, “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number”, “Deacon Blues”, “FM (No Static at All)”, “Hey Nineteen”) of Steely Dan, Walter Becker died of esophageal cancer at his home in Manhattan, age 67. Cremation

RIP #OTD in 2019, actress (Blue Denim, The Poseidon Adventure, Return to Peyton Place, Harlow), Carol Lynley died aged 77 of a heart attack at her home in Pacific Palisades, California. She was cremated and her cremated remains were scattered at sea off the Southern California coast

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Posted in Athletic Footprints, Day in History, Extravagant Footprints, Film Footprints, Literary Footprints, Musical Footprints, Political Footprints | Tagged 27 club, alan wilson, blind owl, Bronze Statue, canned heat, Carol Lynley, Cemetery, Cremation, Crypts, e e cummings, Entomb, Forest Hills Cemetery, forever 27 club, frank capra, green bay packers, History, John Ashbery, Judy Carne, Mount Olivet Cemetery, oliver cromwell, Pauline Kael, st patricks cathedral, Statue, super bowl, vince lombardi, Walter Becker | Leave a comment

On this day 2 September death of Henri Rousseau – Bella Rosenfeld – J. R. R. Tolkien

Posted on 29 SepamWed, 02 Sep 2026 00:39:00 -05002026-09-02T00:39:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1910, post-impressionist painter Henri Rousseau died in Paris at the age of 66. Born Henri Julien Félix Rousseau on May 21, 1844 in Laval, Mavenne. He was also known as Le Douanier (the customs officer), a humorous description of his occupation as a toll and tax collector. He started painting seriously in his early forties; by age 49, he retired from his job to work on his art full-time.

Ridiculed during his lifetime by critics, he came to be recognized as a self-taught genius whose works are of high artistic quality. Rousseau’s work exerted an extensive influence on several generations of avant-garde artists.

In 1868, he married Clémence Boitard, his landlord’s 15-year-old daughter, with whom he had six children (only one survived). In 1871, he was appointed as a collector of the octroi of Paris, collecting taxes on goods entering Paris. His wife died in 1888 and he married Josephine Noury in 1898.

Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!) (1891) was the first of many jungle scenes for which Rousseau is best known.

The Dream (1910), MoMA

The Final Footprint

Cimetière parisien de Bagneux. Another notable footprint at Bagneux is that of Jules Laforgue. At his funeral, seven friends stood at his grave: the painters Paul Signac and Manuel Ortiz de Zárate, the artist couple Robert Delaunay and Sonia Terk, the sculptor Brâncuși, Rousseau’s landlord Armand Queval, and Guillaume Apollinaire who wrote the epitaph Brâncuși put on the tombstone:

We salute you Gentle Rousseau you can hear us.
Delaunay, his wife, Monsieur Queval and myself.
Let our luggage pass duty free through the gates of heaven.
We will bring you brushes paints and canvas.
That you may spend your sacred leisure in the
light and Truth of Painting.
As you once did my portrait facing the stars, lion and the gypsy.

Gallery

The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope, 1905

in 1902

- A Carnival Evening, 1886, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

- Self Portrait, 1890, National Gallery, Prague

- Boy on the Rocks, 1895–97, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

- The Sleeping Gypsy, 1897, MoMA, New York

- La tour Eiffel peinte par Henri Rousseau, 1898, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

- Le Moulin (The Mill), c. 1896, Musée Maillol, Paris

- Self-portrait of the Artist with a Lamp, 1903

- Exotic Landscape, 1908, Private collection

- Fight Between a Tiger and a Buffalo, 1908, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

- In a Tropical Forest Combat of a Tiger and a Buffalo, 1908-1909, Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

- The Flamingoes, 1907, Private collection

- The Football Players, 1908, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

- Muse Inspiring the Poet (Portrait of Guillaume Apollinaire and Marie Laurencin), 1909, Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland

- The Equatorial Jungle, 1909, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

- The Snake Charmer, 1907, Musée d’Orsay, Paris

- The Repast of the Lion, c.1907, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

- Bouquet of Flowers, 1910, Tate Gallery, London

#RIP #OTD in 1944 Jewish Russian writer, the first wife of painter Marc Chagall, subject of his paintings (Bella au col blanc (Bella with White Collar), Bouquet près de la fenêtre) Bella Rosenfeld died from a bacterial infection in Tupper Lake, New York aged 48. Westchester Hills Cemetery, Hastings-on-Hudson, New York

On this day in 1973 writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, J.R.R. Tolkien died in Bournemouth, England at the age of 81. Born John Ronald Reuel Tolkien on 3 January 1892 in Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State (now Free State Province, part of South Africa). Best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. He was at one time a close friend of C. S. Lewis, both members of the informal literary discussion group known as the Inklings. Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972. After his father’s death, Tolkien’s son Christopher published a series of works based on his father’s extensive notes and unpublished manuscripts, including The Silmarillion. These, together with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings form a connected body of tales, poems, fictional histories, invented languages, and literary essays about a fantasy world called Arda, and Middle-earth within it. Between 1951 and 1955, Tolkien applied the term legendarium to the larger part of these writings. While many other authors had published works of fantasy before Tolkien, the great success of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings led directly to a popular resurgence of the genre. This has caused Tolkien to be popularly identified as the “father” of modern fantasy literature or, more precisely, of high fantasy. Tolkien was married to Edith Mary Bratt (1916 – 1971 her death).

The Final Footprint – Tolkien is interred with his wife Edith in Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford, England. Their graves are marked by an upright companion granite marker.

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Posted in Day in History, Literary Footprints | Tagged Bella Rosenfeld, Buried, c s lewis, Cemetery, Ground Burial, henri rousseau, History, jrr tolkien, the hobbit, the lord of the rings, westchester hills cemetery, wolvercote cemetery | Leave a comment

On this Day 1 September death of Giuseppe Giacosa – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor – Toto – Ethel Waters – Nellie Connally – Jerry Reed – Hal David – Jimmy Buffett – Graham Greene

Posted on 29 SepamTue, 01 Sep 2026 00:18:00 -05002026-09-01T00:18:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

RIP #OTD in 1906, poet, playwright, librettist (Puccini’s La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut), Giuseppe Giacosa died in Colleretto Giacosa, Italy aged 58. Cimitero di Colleretto Giacosa

On this day in 1912 composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor died from pneumonia in Holborn, London at the age of 37. Born on 15 August 1875 in Croydon, Surrey, England. Coleridge-Taylor achieved such success that he was referred to by white New York musicians as the “African Mahler” at the time when he had three tours of the United States in the early 1900s. He was particularly known for his three cantatas based on the epic poem, Song of Hiawatha by American Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Coleridge-Taylor premiered the first section in 1898, when he was 22.

He married an Englishwoman, Jessie Walmisley, and both their children had musical careers. Their son Hiawatha adapted his father’s music for a variety of performances. Their daughter Avril Coleridge-Taylor also became a composer-conductor.

In 1899 Coleridge-Taylor married Walmisley, whom he had met as a fellow student at the Royal College of Music. Six years older than him, Jessie had left the college in 1893. Her parents objected to the marriage because Taylor was of mixed-race parentage, but relented and attended the wedding.

His death is often attributed to the stress of his financial situation.

The Final Footprint

He was buried in Bandon Hill Cemetery, Wallington, Surrey (today in the London Borough of Sutton). The inscription on the carved headstone includes a quotation from the composition Hiawatha, in words written by his close friend, poet Alfred Noyes:

Too young to die
his great simplicity
his happy courage
in an alien world
his gentleness
made all that knew him
love him.

#RIP #OTD in 1945 female Cairn Terrier performer who appeared in many different movies, most famously as Toto in the film The Wizard of Oz, Terry died at age 11 in Hollywood. Interred at Carl Spitz’s (her owner) ranch in Studio City, Los Angeles, which now lies under the Ventura Freeway. Memorial at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

#RIP #OTD in 1977 singer (“Dinah”, “Stormy Weather”, “Taking a Chance on Love”, “Heat Wave”, “Supper Time”, “Am I Blue?”, “Cabin in the Sky”, “His Eye Is on the Sparrow”) actress, Ethel Waters died from uterine cancer, in Chatsworth, California aged 80. Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)

On this day in 2006, aspiring actress, graduate of the University of Texas, former First Lady of Texas, author and last survivor of the Lincoln limousine that carried President John F. Kennedy, Nellie Connally died peacefully at her home in Austin, Texas at the age of 87. Born Idanell Brill in Austin on 24 February 1919. She auditioned for the roll of Scarlett O’Hara.

While attending the University of Texas she met her future husband, the future Governor of Texas, John B. Connally. Connally’s mentor was Lyndon Baines Johnson. Nellie and LBJ’s wife, Lady Bird, became lifelong friends. It is believed that Nellie spoke the final words JFK heard as she turned to him in the car and said, “Mr. President, you can’t say that Dallas doesn’t love you.” She always maintained that there was a second shooter, stating that no one could argue the point with her because she was in the car. In 2003 her book recounting that fateful day, From Love Field: Our Final Hours with President John F. Kennedy, was released.

The Final Footprint – The Connally’s are buried together at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. Texans widely regard her as a beloved daughter of the great state of Texas. Other notable final footprints at Texas State Cemetery include; Stephen F. Austin, J. Frank Dobie, Barbara Jordan, Tom Landry (cenotaph), James A. Michener (cenotaph), Ann Richards, Edwin “Bud” Shrake, Big Foot Wallace, and Walter Prescott Webb. What are your thoughts on the conspiracy theories surrounding JFK’s assassination?

On this day in 2008 singer, guitarist, songwriter and actor Jerry Reed died in Nashville, Tennessee of complications from emphysema, at the age of 71. Born Jerry Reed Hubbard on 20 March 1937 in Atlanta, Georgia. His signature songs include “Guitar Man,” “U.S. Male”, “A Thing Called Love,” “Alabama Wild Man,” “Amos Moses”, “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” (which garnered a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance), “Ko-Ko Joe”, “Lord, Mr. Ford”, “East Bound and Down” (the theme song for the 1977 blockbuster Smokey and the Bandit, in which Reed co-starred along with Jackie Gleason, Burt Reynolds and Sally Field), “The Bird,” and “She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)”. Reed was married to Priscilla Mitchell (1959 – 2008 his death).

The Final Footprint – Reed is entombed in the Cross Mausoleum in Woodlawn Memorial Park in Nashville. Other notable Final Footprints at Woodlawn include; Eddy Arnold, Little Jimmy Dickens, George Jones, Johnny Paycheck, Webb Pierce, Marty Robbins, Dan Seals, Red Sovine, Porter Wagoner, and Tammy Wynette.

#RIP #OTD in 2022 lyricist (Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head, I’ll Never Fall in Love Again, Do You Know the Way to San Jose, Walk On By, What the World Needs Now Is Love) Hal David died from a stroke at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles aged 91. Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills

#RIP #OTD in 2023 businessman, author, singer/songwriter (Margaritaville, Come Monday, Fins, Volcano, A Pirate Looks at Forty, Cheeseburger in Paradise, Why Don’t We Get Drunk, Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes) died at his home in Sag Harbor, New York, due to complications from Merkel-cell carcinoma, a rare skin cancer aged 76. Cremation

RIP #OTD in 2025, Canadian First Nations (Oneida) actor (Dances With Wolves, Thunderheart, Maverick, Die Hard with a Vengeance, The Green Mile, Longmire, 1883), recording artist, Graham Greene died in Stratford, Ontario, after a long illness, at the age of 73. Saint Peter’s Anglican Church Cemetery, Six Nations, Ontario

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Posted in Day in History, Extravagant Footprints, Longhorn Footprints, Musical Footprints, Political Footprints | Tagged Austin, Cemetery, Estates, Ethel Waters, First Lady of Texas, forest lawn hollywood hills, Giuseppe Giacosa, graham greene, Hal david, History, hollywood forever cemetery, Hook 'em Horns, jerry reed, Jimmy Buffett, John B Connally, John F Kennedy, Kennedy Assassination, Lady Bird, Lyndon B Johnson, Monument, Nellie Connally, Private Estates, riptff, Saint Peter's Anglican Church Cemetery, samuel coleridge-taylor, Scarlett O'Hara, Smokey and the Bandit, Statue, Texas, Texas State Cemetery, tff, the final footprint, Toto, University of Texas at Austin, woodlawn memorial park | Leave a comment

On this Day 31 August death of Charles Baudelaire – Marina Tsvetaeva – Georges Braque – Rocky Marciano – John Ford – Sally Rand – Princess Diana – Lionel Hampton – Tom Seaver

Posted on 29 AugamMon, 31 Aug 2026 00:30:00 -05002026-08-31T00:30:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1867, French poet, essayist, art critic, translator, Charles Baudelaire died in Paris at the age of 46. Born Charles Pierre Baudelaire on 9 April 1821 in Paris. Produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil), expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the 19th century. Baudelaire’s highly original style of prose-poetry influenced a whole generation of poets. He is credited with coining the term “modernity” (modernité) to designate the fleeting, ephemeral experience of life in an urban metropolis, and the responsibility art has to capture that experience. In my opinion, he is one of the major innovators of French literature. For 20 years, Jeanne Duval was the muse of Baudelaire. They met in 1842, when Duval left Haiti for France, and the two remained together, albeit stormily, for the next two decades. Duval is said to have been the woman whom Baudelaire loved most, in his life, after his mother. She was born in Haiti on an unknown date, sometime around 1820. Poems of Baudelaire’s which are dedicated to Duval or pay her homage are: Le balcon, Parfum exotique, La chevelure, Sed non satiata, Le serpent qui danse, and Une charogne. Baudelaire called her “mistress of mistresses” and his “Vénus Noire” (“Black Venus”), and it is believed that, to him, Duval symbolized the dangerous beauty, sexuality, and mystery of a Creole woman in mid-nineteenth century France. He is perhaps my favorite poet.

The Final Footprint – Baudelaire is buried in the Cimetière du Montparnasse, Paris. Other notable Final Footprints at Montparnasse include; Samuel Beckett, Simone de Beauvoir, Emmanuel Chabrier, Guy de Maupassant, Adah Isaacs Menken, Camille Saint-Saëns, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jean Seberg, and Susan Sontag.

#RIP #OTD in 1941 Russian poet (Poem of the End, In the Inmost Hour of the Soul, Other Shepherds) Marina Tsvetaeva died by hanging herself in Yelabuga, Russia aged 41. Petropavlovskoe Cemetery, Yelabuga

#RIP #OTD in 1963 painter, collagist, draughtsman, printmaker, sculptor, Georges Braque died in Paris aged 81. cemetery of the Church of St. Valery in Varengeville-sur-Mer, Normandy

On this day in 1969 Italian-American boxing heavyweight champion of the world, The Brockton Blockbuster, The Rock of Brockton, Rocky Marciano died when the small private plane he was a passenger on crashed near Newton, Iowa, the day before his 46th birthday. Born Rocco Francis Marchegiano on 1 September 1923 in Brockton, Massachusetts. Marciano is the only person to hold the heavyweight title and go untied and undefeated throughout his career. Marciano defended his title six times, against Jersey Joe Walcott, Roland LaStarza, Ezzard Charles (2x), Don Cockell and Archie Moore.

The Final Footprint – Marciano is entombed in the mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens Central in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

On this day in 1973, United States Navy veteran, film director, 4x Academy Award winner for Best Director (which is a record), John Ford died in Palm Desert, California at the age of 79. Born John Martin Feeney on 1 February 1894 in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Ford was famous for his Westerns such as Stagecoach (1939), The Searchers (1956), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Ford directed more than 140 films and he is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. Ford’s films and personality were held in high regard by his colleagues. In particular, Ford was a pioneer of location shooting and the long shot which frames his characters against a vast, harsh and rugged natural terrain. Ford was instrumental in launching the career of his friend, John Wayne.

The Final Footprint – Ford’s funeral was held on 5 September at Hollywood’s Church of the Blessed Sacrament. He was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Other notable final footprints at Holy Cross include; John Candy, Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante, Chick Hearn, Rita Hayworth, Bela Lugosi, Al Martino, Audrey Meadows, Ricardo Montalbán, Chris Penn, Jo Stafford, and Sharon Tate.

#RIP #OTD in 1979 burlesque dancer, vedette, actress, noted for oakdaleher ostrich-feather fan dance and balloon bubble dance, Sally Rand died at Foothill Presbyterian Hospital, in Glendora, California, from congestive heart failure aged 75. Oakdale Memorial Park, Glendora

On this day in 1997, the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest child and heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth II, the Princess of Wales, Diana died in a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma road tunnel in Paris along with her then boyfriend, Dodi Al-Fayed and their chauffeur Henri Paul, at the age of 36. Born Diana Frances Spencer on 1 July 1961 in Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk, England into the Spencer family, a British noble family descended in the male line from Henry Spencer (died c. 1478), male-line ancestor of the Earls of Sunderland, the later Dukes of Marlborough, and the Earls Spencer. Sir Winston Churchill was a grandson of the 7th Duke of Marlborough. Diana became Lady Diana Spencer when her father inherited the title of Earl Spencer in 1975. She became a public figure with the announcement of her engagement. Her wedding to Charles on 29 July 1981 was held at St Paul’s Cathedral and seen by a global television audience of over 750 million. While married she bore the titles Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay, Countess of Chester and Baroness of Renfrew. The marriage produced two sons, the princes William and Harry, who were respectively second and third in the line of succession to the British throne throughout her lifetime. After her marriage, she undertook a variety of public engagements. She was well known for her fund-raising work for international charities and as an eminent celebrity of the late 20th century. She also received recognition for her charity work and for her support of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. From 1989, she was the president of Great Ormond Street Hospital for children, in addition to dozens of other charities. Diana remained the object of worldwide media scrutiny during and after her marriage, which ended in divorce on 28 August 1996.

The Final Footprint – The sudden and unexpected death of an extraordinarily popular royal figure brought statements from senior figures worldwide and many tributes by members of the public. People left public offerings of flowers, candles, cards and personal messages outside Kensington Palace for many months. Her coffin, draped with royal flag, was brought to London from Paris by Prince Charles and her two sisters on 31 August 1997. After being taken to a private mortuary it was put at the Chapel Royal, St. James’s Palace. Diana’s funeral took place in Westminster Abbey on 6 September. The previous day Queen Elizabeth II had paid tribute to her in a live television broadcast. Her sons walked in the funeral procession behind her coffin, along with the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh, and with Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer. Lord Spencer said of his sister, “She proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic.” Princess Diana is entombed in a private mausoleum on the Island on the lake Oval on the grounds of the Spencer Estate in Althorp. Permanent memorials include:

The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Gardens in Regent Centre Gardens in Kirkintilloch
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park, London
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens, London
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Walk, a circular path between Kensington Gardens, Green Park, Hyde Park and St. James’s Park, London
There is an unofficial memorial in Paris, Place de l’Alma: it is the flame of liberty, erected here in 1989.
There are two memorials inside Harrods department store in London:
Photos of Diana and Dodi behind a pyramid-shaped display that holds a wine glass still smudged with lipstick from Diana’s last dinner as well as an ‘engagement’ ring Dodi purchased the day before they died and
A bronze statue titled Innocent Victims of the two dancing on a beach beneath the wings of an albatross

In 2006, the movie The Queen was released starring Helen Mirren as HM Queen Elizabeth II. The movie is a behind the scenes look at the interaction between the royal family and Tony Blair’s government as they struggle to deal with a family’s private loss and the public’s loss of a very popular figure. I remember where I was when I heard the news. Do you?

On this day in 2002 jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor, Gates, Hamp, Mad Lionel, Lionel Hampton died from congestive heart failure at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, at the age of 94. Born Lionel Leo Hampton on 20 April 1908 in Louisville, Kentucky. Hampton was one of the first jazz vibraphone players and ranks among the great names in jazz history. Hampton married Gladys Riddle (1936-1971 her death).

The Final Footprint – His funeral was held on 7 September 2002 and featured a performance by Wynton Marsalis and David Ostwald’s Gully Low Jazz Band at Riverside Church in Manhattan; the procession began at The Cotton Club in Harlem. Hampton is interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. His grave is marked by a large upright companion granite marker and a granite foot marker. His epitaph is, “Flying Home.” Other notable Final Footprints at Woodlawn include; Irving Berlin, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Fiorello La Guardia, Rowland Macy, Bat Masterson, Herman Melville, J. C. Penney, and Joseph Pulitzer.

#RIP #OTD in 2020, baseball pitcher, 12× All-Star, World Series champion, 3× NL Cy Young Award winner, Hall of Famer, New York Mets No. 41 retired, “Tom Terrific”, “the Franchise”, Tom Seaver died in his sleep from complications of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19, age 75. Cremated

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Posted in Athletic Footprints, Day in History, Extravagant Footprints, Film Footprints, Literary Footprints, Musical Footprints, Royal Footprints | Tagged Bronze Statue, charles baudelaire, charles prince of wales, Cimetiere du Montparnasse, Cremation, Crypts, Entomb, Estates, forest lawn memoril gardens central, Georges Braque, helen mirren, History, Holy Cross Cemetery, jeanne duval, John Ford, John Wayne, les fleurs du mal, lionel hampton, Marina Tsvetaeva, Mausoleum, Oakdale memorial park, Petropavlovskoe Cemetery, prince harry, prince william, Princess Diana, Private Estates, Private Mausoleum, riptff, rocky marciano, Sally Rand, tff, the final footprint, the queen, Tom Seaver, tony blair, Woodlawn Cemetery | Leave a comment

On this day 30 August death of Abraham Zapruder – Jean Seberg – Vera-Ellen – Charles Bronson – Glenn Ford – Seamus Heaney – Wes Craven – Valerie Harper

Posted on 29 AugamSun, 30 Aug 2026 00:36:00 -05002026-08-30T00:36:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1970, the man who unexpectedly filmed the assassination of JFK, Abraham Zapruder died of stomach cancer in Dallas at the age of 65. Born into a Russian-Jewish family in the city of Kovel in Ukraine on 15 May 1905. The Final Footprint – Zapruder is interred in Emanu-El Cemetery in Dallas. His wife was interred next to him after her death in 1993. Their graves are marked by a companion engraved flat granite marker.

On this day in 1979, actress Jean Seberg died at the age of 40 from an apparent intentional overdose of barbiturates in the back seat of her Renault, which was parked close to her Paris apartment in the 16th arrondissement. Born Jean Dorothy Seberg on 13 November 1938 in Marshalltown, Iowa. She starred in 37 films in Hollywood and in Europe, including Bonjour Tristesse (1958), À bout de soufflé (Breathless) (1960), the musical Paint Your Wagon (1969), and the disaster film Airport (1970). Seberg is also one of the best-known targets of the FBI COINTELPRO project. Her victimization was rendered as a well-documented retaliation for her support of civil rights and activist groups in the 1960s. Seberg married François Moreuil (1958 – 1960 divorce), Romain Gary (1963 – 1970 divorce) and Dennis Berry (1972 – 1979 separated, her death).

The Final Footprint – Seberg was interred in the Cimetière du Montparnasse, Paris. Montparnasse Cemetery is the eternal home of many of France’s intellectual and artistic elite as well as publishers and others who promoted the works of authors and artists. There are also monuments to police and firefighters killed in the line of duty in the city of Paris. There are also many graves of foreigners who have made France their home. The cemetery is divided by Rue Émile Richard. The small section is usually referred to as the small cemetery (petit cimetière) and the large section as the big cemetery (grand cimetière). Other notable Final Footprints at Montparnasse include; Charles Baudelaire, Simone de Beauvoir, Samuel Beckett, Emmanuel Chabrier, Alfred Dreyfus, Marguerite Duras, Henri Fantin-Latour, César Franck, André Lhote, Guy de Maupassant, Adah Isaacs Menken, Man Ray, Camille Saint-Saëns, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Susan Sontag.

#RIP #OTD in 1981 dancer, actress (On the Town, White Christmas) Vera-Ellen died at the Los Angeles County General Hospital of ovarian cancer aged 60. Glen Haven Memorial Park, Sylmar, California

On this day in 2003 actor Charles Bronson died of pneumonia at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 81. Born Charles Dennis Buchinski 3 November 1921 in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania. My favorite Bronson movies inlcude: John Sturges’ The Magnificent Seven (1960) with Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn and Eli Wallach and filmscore by Elmer Bernstein; The Dirty Dozen (1967) with Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Telly Savalas, and Jim Brown; Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) with Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda and Jason Robards; as Wild Bill Hickok in The White Buffalo (1977) with Kim Novak, Jack Warden, Slim Pickens and Will Sampson; as Albert Johnson in Death Hunt (1981) with Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson and Carl Weathers. Bronson was married three times; Harriet Tendler (1949-1967 divorce), actress Jill Ireland (1968-1990 her death) and Kim Weeks (1998-2003 his death).

The Final Footprint – Bronson is buried in Brownsville Cemetery in West Windsor, Vermont. His grave is marked with a full ledger engraved granite marker. It is engraved with the term of endearment, Cherished Husband and Father and with the following popular bereavement poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye:

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am not here. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond’s glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the autumns’ gentle rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s rush,

I am the swift uplifting rush,

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry.

I am not here, I did not die

On this day in 2006 actor (Gilda, The Big Heat, Blackboard Jungle, 3:10 to Yuma, Superman) Glenn Ford died in his Beverly Hills home at the age of 90. He often portrayed ordinary men in unusual circumstances. Ford was most prominent during Hollywood’s Golden Age as one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, who had a career that lasted more than 50 years. Although he played in many genres of movies, some of his most significant roles were in the film noirs Gilda (1946) and The Big Heat (1953), and the high school angst film Blackboard Jungle (1955). However, it was for comedies or westerns which he received acting laurels, including three Golden Globe Nominations for Best Actor in a Comedy movie, winning for Pocketful of Miracles (1961). He also played a supporting role as Clark Kent’s adoptive father, Jonathan Kent, in Superman (1978). Five of his films have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant: Gilda (1946), The Big Heat (1953), Blackboard Jungle (1955), 3:10 to Yuma (1957) and Superman (1978).

Ford’s first wife was actress and dancer Eleanor Powell (1943–1959), with whom he had his only child, actor Peter Ford (born 1945). The couple appeared together on screen once in a short film produced in the 1950s titled Have Faith in Our Children. When they married, Powell was more famous than Ford. Ford and Powell would divorce in 1959.

Ford did not remain on good terms with his ex-wives. He was a notorious womanizer who had affairs with many of his leading ladies, including Rita Hayworth, Maria Schell, Geraldine Brooks, Stella Stevens, Gloria Grahame, Gene Tierney, Eva Gabor, and Barbara Stanwyck. He had a one-night stand with Marilyn Monroe in 1962 and a fling with Joan Crawford in the early 1940s.

Ford dated Christiane Schmidtmer, Linda Christian and Vikki Dougan during the mid-1960s, and he also had relationships with Judy Garland, Connie Stevens, Suzanne Pleshette, Rhonda Fleming, Roberta Collins, Susie Lund, Terry Moore, Angie Dickinson, Debbie Reynolds, Jill St. John, Brigitte Bardot, and Loretta Young. He subsequently married actress Kathryn Hays (1966–1969); marriages to Cynthia Hayward (1977–1984), and Jeanne Baus (1993–1994) would later follow. All four marriages would end in divorce. He also had a long-term relationship with actress Hope Lange in the early 1960s. According to his son Peter Ford’s book Glenn Ford: A Life (2011), Ford had affairs with 146 actresses, all of which were documented in his personal diaries, including a 40-year, on-and off-again affair with Hayworth that began during the filming of Gilda in 1945. Their affair resumed during the making of their 1948 film The Loves of Carmen; Ford impregnated Hayworth, and she later traveled to France to get an abortion.

In 1960, Ford would move next door to Hayworth in Beverly Hills, and they continued their relationship for many years until the early 1980s.

Ford’s affair with stripper and cult actress Liz Renay was chronicled by her in the 1991 book My First 2,000 Men. She ranked Ford as one of her top five best lovers.

The Final Footprint– Entombed in Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica, California. Other notable Final Footprints at Woodlawn include; Barbara Billingsley, Harvey Korman, Doug McClure, Bess Myerson, Sally Ride, and Irene Ryan.

On this day in 2013, poet, playwright Seamus Heaney died in the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin, aged 74. Born Seamus Justin Heaney on 13 April 1939 in the townland of Tamniaran between Castledawson and Toomebridge, Northern Ireland. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Perhaps best known for his work Death of a Naturalist (1966), his first major published volume. Robert Lowell described him as “the most important Irish poet since Yeats”.

His family moved to Bellaghy when he was a boy. He became a lecturer at St. Joseph’s College in Belfast in the early 1960s, after attending Queen’s University and began to publish poetry. He lived in Sandymount, Dublin, from 1976 until his death. He lived part-time in the United States from 1981 to 2006.

Heaney was a professor at Harvard from 1981 to 1997, and its Poet in Residence from 1988 to 2006. From 1989 to 1994, he was also the Professor of Poetry at Oxford. In 1996, was made a Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and in 1998 was bestowed the title Saoi of the Aosdána. Other awards that he received include the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize (1968), the E. M. Forster Award (1975), the PEN Translation Prize (1985), the Golden Wreath of Poetry (2001), the T. S. Eliot Prize (2006) and two Whitbread Prizes (1996 and 1999). In 2011, he was awarded the Griffin Poetry Prize and in 2012, a Lifetime Recognition Award from the Griffin Trust. His literary papers are held by the National Library of Ireland.

The Final Footprint

His son Michael revealed at the funeral mass that his father texted his final words, “Noli timere” (Latin: “Do not be afraid”), to his wife, Marie, minutes before he died.

His funeral was broadcast live the following day on RTÉ television and radio and was streamed internationally at RTÉ’s website. RTÉ Radio 1 Extra transmitted a continuous broadcast, from 8 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. on the day of the funeral, of his Collected Poems album, recorded by Heaney in 2009. His poetry collections sold out rapidly in Irish bookshops immediately following his death.

He is buried at the Cemetery of St Mary’s Church, Bellaghy, Northern Ireland, in the same graveyard as his parents, young brother, and other family members. The headstone bears the epitaph “Walk on air against your better judgement”, from one of his poems, “The Gravel Walks”.

On this day in 2015 film director, writer, producer, actor, Master of Horror Wes Craven died of brain cancer at his Los Angeles home at the age of 76. Born Wesley Earl Craven on August 2, 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio. Perhaps best known for his pioneering work in the genre of horror films, particularly slasher films, where he mixed horror cliches with humor and satire. His impact on the genre was considered prolific and influential.

He is best known for creating A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Scream (1996), featuring the characters of Freddy Krueger, Nancy Thompson, Ghostface, and Sidney Prescott. His other films include The Last House on the Left (1972), The Hills Have Eyes (1977), Swamp Thing (1982), The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988), The People Under the Stairs (1991), Vampire in Brooklyn (1995), Music of the Heart (1999), and Red Eye (2005).

Craven’s first marriage was to Bonnie Broecker. The marriage ended in 1970. In 1982, Craven married a woman who became known professionally as actress Mimi Craven. The two later divorced, with Wes Craven stating in interviews that the marriage dissolved after he discovered it “was no longer anything but a sham”. In 2004, Craven married Iya Labunka; she frequently worked as a producer on Craven’s films.

Craven was a birder; in 2010, he joined Audubon California’s Board of Directors. His favorite films included Night of the Living Dead (1968), The Virgin Spring (1960) and Red River (1948).

The Final Footprint

Lambert’s Cove Cemetery, West Tisbury, Dukes County, Massachusetts.

#RIP #OTD in 2019 actress (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, Freebie and the Bean, Chapter Two) Valerie Harper died from lung cancer in Los Angeles aged 80. Hollywood Forever Cemetery

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Posted in Day in History, Film Footprints | Tagged abraham zapruder, brownsville cemetery, Cemetery, charles bronson, Cimetiere du Montparnasse, emanu-el cemetery, Glen Haven Memorial Park, glenn ford, Ground Burial, History, hollywood forever cemetery, jean seberg, JFK, jfk assassination, John F Kennedy, Lambert's Cove Cemetery, Monument, riptff, seamus heaney, tff, the final footprint, Valerie Harper, Vera-ellen, wes craven, woodlawn memorial cemetery, zapruder film | Leave a comment

On this day 29 August death of Jean Hagen – Lee Marvin – Ingrid Bergman – Richard Jewell – Gene Wilder – Ed Asner

Posted on 29 AugamSat, 29 Aug 2026 00:42:00 -05002026-08-29T00:42:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

#RIP #OTD in 1977 actress (The Asphalt Jungle, Lina Lamont in Singin’ in the Rain) Jean Hagen died of esophageal cancer at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, Los Angeles aged 54. Cremated remains scattered, rose garden of Chapel of the Pines Crematory, Los Angeles

On this day in 1987, United States Marine Corp veteran, actor, Academy Award winner, Lee Marvin died of a heart attack in Tucson, Arizona at the age of 63. Born on 19 February 1924 in New York City. My favorite Marvin film roles include: as Liberty Valance in John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) with John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Vera Miles; as Kid Shelleen and Tim Strawn in Cat Ballou (1965) with Jane Fonda; as Bill Denny in Ship of Fools (1965) based on the novel of the same name by Katherine Anne Porter and featuring Vivien Leigh; as Henry ‘Rico’ Fardan in The Professionals (1966) with Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Jack Palance; as Major John Reisman in The Dirty Dozen (1967) with Ernest Borgnine, Donald Sutherland, Jim Brown, Charles Bronson and Telly Savalas; as Ben Rumson in Paint Your Wagon (1969) based on the stage musical by Lerner and Loewe and featuring Clint Eastwood; as Sgt. Edgar Millen in Death Hunt (1981) with Bronson, Angie Dickinson and Carl Weathers. Marvin married two times; Betty Ebeling (1951-1967 divorce) and Pamela Feeley (1970-1987 his death).

The Final Footprint – Marvin is interred in Arlington National Cemetery. His grave is marked by an upright VA marble marker. Other notable Final Footprints at Arlington include; the Space Shuttle Columbia, the Space Shuttle Challenger, Medgar Evers, JFK, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, RFK, Edward Kennedy, Audie Murphy, and Malcolm Kilduff, Jr.

On this day in 1982, Academy, Emmy and Tony Award winning actress, Ingrid Bergman died on her 67th birthday in London, from breast cancer. Born on 29 August 1915 in Stockholm, Sweden. Bergman starred in a variety of European and American films. She won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and the Tony Award for Best Actress. Perhaps best remembered for her roles as Ilsa Lund in Casablanca (1942), a World War II drama co-starring Humphrey Bogart, and as Alicia Huberman in Notorious (1946), an Alfred Hitchcock thriller co-starring Cary Grant. Before becoming a star in American films, she had been a leading actress in Swedish films. A few of her other starring roles, included For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), Gaslight (1944), The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945), Hitchcock’s Spellbound (1945), and Under Capricorn (1949), and the independent production, Joan of Arc (1948). In 1950, after a decade of stardom in American films, she starred in the Italian film Stromboli, which led to a love affair with director Roberto Rossellini while they were both already married. The affair and then marriage with Rossellini created a scandal that forced her to remain in Europe until 1956, when she made a successful Hollywood return in Anastasia, for which she won her second Academy Award. She and Rossellini are the parents of actress Isabella Rossellini. Bergman married three times; Petter Aron Lindström (1937 – 1950 divorce), Rossellini (1950 – 1957 divorce), and Lars Schmidt (1958 – 1975 divorce).

The Final Footprint – Her body was cremated at Kensal Green Cemetery, London and her ashes taken to Sweden. Most of them were scattered in the sea around the islet of Dannholmen off the fishing village of Fjällbacka in Bohuslän, on the west coast of Sweden, where she spent most summers from 1958 to her death in 1982. The rest were placed next to her parents’ ashes in Norra begravningsplatsen (Northern Cemetery), Stockholm, Sweden. Another notable cremation at Kensal Green was that of Freddie Mercury. Another notable final footprint at Norra begravninsplatsen is that of Alfred Nobel.

#RIP #OTD in 2007 security guard and law enforcement officer who alerted police during the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Richard Jewell died from a heart attack at his home in Woodbury, Georgia aged 44. Memorial in Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta

On this day in 2016 actor, screenwriter, director, producer, singer-songwriter, and author Gene Wilder died from Alzheimer’s complications in Stamford, Connecticut at the age of 83. Born Jerome Silberman on June 11, 1933 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Wilder began his career on stage, and made his screen debut in an episode of the TV series The Play of the Week in 1961. Although his first film role was portraying a hostage in the 1967 motion picture Bonnie and Clyde, Wilder’s first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1967 film The Producers for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This was the first in a series of collaborations with writer/director Mel Brooks, including 1974’s Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, which Wilder co-wrote, garnering the pair an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Wilder is known for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and for his four films with Richard Pryor: Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy(1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), and Another You (1991). Wilder directed and wrote several of his own films, including The Woman in Red (1984).

His third wife was Saturday Night Live cast member and actress Gilda Radner, with whom he starred in three films, the last two of which he also directed. Her 1989 death from ovarian cancer led to his active involvement in promoting cancer awareness and treatment, helping found the Gilda Radner Ovarian Cancer Detection Center in Los Angeles and co-founding Gilda’s Club.

After his last contribution to acting in 2003 – a guest role on Will & Grace for which he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor – Wilder turned his attention to writing. He produced a memoir in 2005, Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art; a collection of stories, What Is This Thing Called Love? (2010); and the novels My French Whore (2007), The Woman Who Wouldn’t (2008) and Something to Remember You By (2013).

Wilder with Radner, 1986

Wilder met his first wife, Mary Mercier, while studying at the HB Studio in New York. Although the couple had not been together long, they married on July 22, 1960. They spent long periods of time apart, eventually divorcing in 1965. A few months later, Wilder began dating Mary Joan Schutz, a friend of his sister. They married on October 27, 1967. Schutz and Wilder separated after seven years of marriage. After the divorce, he briefly dated his other Frankenstein co-star, Teri Garr.

Wilder met Radner on August 13, 1981, while filming Sidney Poitier’s Hanky Panky. Radner was married to guitarist G. E. Smith at the time, but Wilder and she became inseparable friends. When the filming of Hanky Panky ended, Wilder found himself missing Radner, so he called her. The relationship grew, and Radner eventually divorced Smith in 1982. She moved in with Wilder, and the couple married on September 14, 1984, in the south of France. The couple wanted to have children, but Radner suffered miscarriages, and doctors could not determine the problem. After experiencing severe fatigue and suffering from pain in her upper legs on the set of Haunted Honeymoon, Radner sought medical treatment. Following a number of false diagnoses, she was found to have ovarian cancer in October 1986. Over the next year and a half, Radner battled the disease, receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments. The disease finally went into remission, giving the couple a respite, during which time Wilder filmed See No Evil, Hear No Evil. By May 1989, the cancer returned and had metastasized. Radner died on May 20, 1989. Wilder later stated, “I always thought she’d pull through.”

While preparing for his role as a deaf man in See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Wilder met Karen Webb (née Boyer), who was a clinical supervisor for the New York League for the Hard of Hearing. Webb coached him in lip reading. Following Radner’s death, Wilder and Webb reconnected, and on September 8, 1991, they married.

The Final Footprint

According to his family, Wilder died while listening to one of his favorite songs, a rendition of “Over the Rainbow” sung by Ella Fitzgerald. After his death, he was cremated and his cremated remains were scattered in the backyard of his home in Stamford.

#RIP #OTD in 2021, actor (The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Rich Man, Poor Man; Roots; El Dorado; They Call Me Mister Tibbs!; Fort Apache; The Bronx; JFK; Too Big to Fail) Ed Asner died at his home in Tarzana, aged 91. Sheffield Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri

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Posted in Day in History, Film Footprints, Military Footprints | Tagged Academy Award, actor, Arlington National Cemetery, Buried, Cemetery, Chapel of the Pines Crematory, cremated remains, Cremation, Ed Asner, gene wilder, Ground Burial, History, ingrid bergman, isabella rossellini, Jean Hagen, kensal green cemetery, marble marker, marine corp, Marker, Norra begravningsplatsen, Richard Jewell, riptff, roberto rossellini, Sheffield cemetery, tff, the final footprint, united states marine corp, va marker | Leave a comment

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On this day 7 September death of John Greenleaf Whittier – Karen Blixen – Keith Moon – James Clavell – Terence Young – Bibi Besch – Warren Zevon – Mac Miller

On this day 6 September death of Sully Prudhomme – Margaret Sanger – Christy Brown – Ernest Tubb – Akira Kurosawa – Luciano Pavarotti – Burt Reynolds – Jean-Paul Belmondo – Michael K. Williams – Will Jennings – Rick Davies

The Final Footprint

On this Day 5 September death of Auguste Comte – Crazy Horse – Gert Fröbe – Mother Teresa – Sérgio Mendes

The Final Footprint

On this day 4 September death of Edvard Grieg – Charles Péguy – Georges Simenon – Irene Dunne – Dottie West – Joan Rivers – Gary Wright – Giorgio Armani

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

On this Day 3 September death of Oliver Cromwell – E. E. Cummings – Vince Lombardi – Alan Wilson – Frank Capra – Pauline Kael – Michael Clarke Duncan – Judy Carne – John Ashbery – Walter Becker – Carol Lynley

The Final Footprint

On this day 2 September death of Henri Rousseau – Bella Rosenfeld – J. R. R. Tolkien

The Final Footprint

Gallery

On this Day 1 September death of Giuseppe Giacosa – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor – Toto – Ethel Waters – Nellie Connally – Jerry Reed – Hal David – Jimmy Buffett – Graham Greene

The Final Footprint

On this Day 31 August death of Charles Baudelaire – Marina Tsvetaeva – Georges Braque – Rocky Marciano – John Ford – Sally Rand – Princess Diana – Lionel Hampton – Tom Seaver

On this day 30 August death of Abraham Zapruder – Jean Seberg – Vera-Ellen – Charles Bronson – Glenn Ford – Seamus Heaney – Wes Craven – Valerie Harper

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

On this day 29 August death of Jean Hagen – Lee Marvin – Ingrid Bergman – Richard Jewell – Gene Wilder – Ed Asner

The Final Footprint

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