RIP The Final Impression

On this day 8 August death of Mourning Dove – Shirley Jackson – Louise Brooks – Fay Wray – Barbara Bel Geddes – Patricia Neal – Karen Black – Glen Campbell – Olivia Newton-John – Sixto Rodriguez

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

On this day in 1936, Native American author, Mourning Dove died at the state hospital in Medical Lake, Washington at the approximate age of 48. Perhaps best known for her novel Cogewea the Half-Blood: A Depiction of the Great Montana Cattle Range (1927). Born Hum-isha-ma “in the Moon of Leaves” (April) 1888 in a canoe on the Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry, Idaho , her name was later changed to Christal Quintasket.

Cogewea was one of the first novels to be written by a Native American woman and to feature a female protagonist. It explores the lives of Cogewea, a mixed-blood heroine whose ranching skills, riding prowess, and bravery are noted and greatly respected by the primarily mixed-racecowboys on the ranch on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The eponymous main character hires a greenhorn easterner, Alfred Densmore, who has designs on Cogewea’s land, which she had received as head of household in an allotment under the Dawes Act.

Coyote Stories (1933) is a collection of what Mourning Dove called Native American folklore.

Quintasket married Hector McLeod, a member of the Flathead people. While married to McLeod she attended Calgary College in Alberta where she studied business and composition. When McLeod proved to be an abusive husband; they separated. In 1919, she married again, to Fred Galler of the Wenatchi.

The Final Footprint – She is interred in Omak Memorial Cemetery in Omak, Washington.

On this day in 1965, writer, novelist, Shirley Jackson died of heart failure in her sleep at her home in North Bennington, Vermont at the age of 48. Born Shirley Hardie Jackson on 14 December 1916 in San Francisco. Perhaps best known for the short story “The Lottery” (1948), which suggests a secret, sinister underside to bucolic small-town America. She is also well known for the 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House.

The Final Footprint – Jackson was cremated.

#RIP #OTD in 1985 actress (Beggars of Life, Pandora’s Box, Diary of a Lost Girl, Miss Europe), dancer, Jazz Age and flapper icon, Louise Brooks died of a heart attack in her apartment in Rochester, New York, aged 78. Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Rochester

On this day in 2004, actress Fay Wray died in her Manhattan apartment at the age of 96. Born Vina Fay Wray on 15 September 1907 on a ranch near Cardston, Alberta, Canada. Perhaps best remembered for her role as Ann Darrow in the film King Kong (1933). Wray married three times; John Monk Saunders (1928-1939 divorce), Robert Riskin (1942-1955 his death) and Sanford Rothenberg (1971-1991 his death).

The Final Footprint – Wray is interred in Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood. Her grave is marked by an individual engraved flat granite marker near a memorial bench. The marker is engraved with her name and her birth and death years. Two days after her death, the lights of the Empire State Building were extinguished for 15 minutes in her memory. For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Wray was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6349 Hollywood Blvd. She received a star posthumously on Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto on June 5, 2005. A park near Lee’s Creek on Main Street in Cardston was named “Fay Wray Park” in her honor. The sign at the edge of the park on Main Street has a silhouette of King Kong on it. A large oil portrait of Wray by Alberta artist Neil Boyle is on display in the Empress Theatre in Fort Macleod, Alberta. Other notable Final Footprints at Hollywood Forever include; Mel Blanc, Lana Clarkson, Iron Eyes Cody, Chris Cornell, Cecil B. DeMille, Victor Fleming, Judy Garland, Joan Hackett, John Huston, Hattie McDaniel’s cenotaph, Jayne Mansfield’s cenotaph, Tyrone Power, Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Virginia Rappe, Nelson Riddle, Mickey Rooney, Ann Sheridan, Bugsy Siegel, Rudolph Valentino, and Anton Yelchin.

#RIP #OTD in 2005 stage and screen actress (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, I Remember Mama, Vertigo, Dallas), artist, children’s author, Barbara Bel Geddes died of lung cancer at her estate in Northeast Harbor, Maine, aged 82. Cremated remains scattered into the harbor bordering her home

#RIP #OTD in 2010 stage and screen actress (The Day the Earth Stood Still, A Face in the Crowd, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Hud) Patricia Neal died at her home in Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, from lung cancer, aged 84. Abbey of Regina Laudis Cemetery, Bethlehem Conn.

On this day in 2013 actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter Karen Black died from ampullary cancer in Los Angeles at the age of 74. Born Karen Blanche Ziegler on July 1, 1939 in Park Ridge, Illinois. Black studied acting in New York City and performed on Broadway before making her major film debut in Francis Ford Coppola’s You’re a Big Boy Now (1966).

She followed this with roles in Easy Rider (1969), Five Easy Pieces (1970), and The Great Gatsby (1974), for the latter two of which she won Golden Globe awards for Best Supporting Actress; her performance in Five Easy Pieces also garnered her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In 1975, she appeared in Dan Curtis’s cult horror films Trilogy of Terror and Burnt Offerings; Robert Altman’s Nashville, and The Day of the Locust, which earned her a third Golden Globe nomination. Other roles include Airport 1975 (1974), Alfred Hitchcock‘s Family Plot (1976), Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982), and Tobe Hooper’s Invaders from Mars (1986).

In the 1990s, Black starred in a variety of arthouse and horror films, as well as writing her own screenplays before appearing in Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses (2003), which cemented her status as a cult horror icon.

Black continued to star in low-profile films throughout the early 2000s, as well as working as a playwright. Black’s career spanned over 50 years, and includes nearly 200 film credits.

Black married four times:

Charles Black, married in 1960
Robert Burton, an actor (who appeared alongside Black in Trilogy of Terror), married on April 18, 1973 and separated in October 1974
L. M. Kit Carson, an actor/screenwriter, married on July 4, 1975 and separated in 1980.
Stephen Eckelberry, from September 27, 1987.

The Final Footprint

Black is interred in Eternal Hills Memorial Park in Oceanside, California.

On this day in 2017 singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actor Glen Camplbell died from Alzheimer’s complications in Nashville at the age of 81. Born Glen Travis Campbell on April 22, 1936 in Billstown, Arkansas. Perhaps best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting a music and comedy variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour from January 1969 through June 1972. He released over 70 albums in a career that spanned five decades, accumulating over 45 million record sales worldwide, including 12 gold albums, four platinum albums, and one double-platinum album.

Campbell began his professional career as a studio musician in Los Angeles, spending several years playing with the group of instrumentalists later known as “the Wrecking Crew”. After becoming a solo artist, he placed a total of 80 different songs on either the Billboard Country Chart, Billboard Hot 100, or Adult Contemporary Chart, of which 29 made the top 10 and of which nine reached number one on at least one of those charts. Among Campbell’s hits are “Universal Soldier”, his first hit from 1965, along with “Gentle on My Mind” (1967), “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” (1967), “Wichita Lineman” (1968), “Dreams of the Everyday Housewife” (1968), “Galveston” (1969), “Rhinestone Cowboy” (1975) and “Southern Nights” (1977).

In 1967 Campbell won four Grammys in the country and pop categories. For “Gentle on My Mind”, he received two awards in country and western; “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” did the same in pop. Three of his early hits later won Grammy Hall of Fame Awards (2000, 2004, 2008), while Campbell himself won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. He owned trophies for Male Vocalist of the Year from both the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM), and took the CMA’s top award as 1968 Entertainer of the Year. Campbell played a supporting role in the film True Grit (1969), which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer. He also sang the title song, which was nominated for an Academy Award.

Campbell was married four times. Campbell was first married from 1955–1959 to Diane Kirk. After divorcing Kirk, Campbell married Billie Jean Nunley, an Albuquerque beautician. Billie Campbell filed for divorce in 1975, and their divorce was final in 1976. He married singer Mac Davis’s second wife, Sarah Barg, in September 1976.

After his divorce from Barg, Campbell began a relationship with fellow country artist Tanya Tucker. The couple recorded a number of songs together, including the single “Dream Lover”.

Campbell married Kimberly “Kim” Woollen in 1982. The couple met on a blind date in 1981 when Woollen was a Radio City Music Hall “Rockette”.

The Final Footprint

Campbell was buried in the Campbell family cemetery at Billstown, Arkansas.

#RIP #OTD in 2022 singer (“If You Love Me (Let Me Know)”, “Please Mr. Please”, “Have You Never Been Mellow”), actress (Grease) Olivia Newton-John died; breast cancer at her home in the Santa Ynez Valley of California, aged 73. Cremated remains scattered in Byron Bay, Australia/her Santa Ynez ranch

#RIP #OTD in 2023 musician, singer, songwriter, subject of the documentary film Searching for Sugar Man, Sixto Rodriguez died in Detroit from stroke complications aged 81. Holy Cross Cemetery, Detroit

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Posted in Day in History, Film Footprints, Literary Footprints | Tagged Abbey of Regina Laudis Cemetery, Barbara Bel Geddes, Buried, Cemetery, cogewea the halfblood, cremated remains, Cremation, empire state building, fay wray, Glen Campbell, Ground Burial, History, hollywood forever cemetery, Holy Cross Cemetery, Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, karen black, king kong, Louise Brooks, mourning dove, Olivia Newton-John, omak memorial cemetery, patricia neal, riptff, shirley jackson, Sixto Rodriguez, tff, the final footprint, the haunting of hill house, the lottery | Leave a comment

On this day 7 August death of Rabindranath Tagore – Oliver Hardy – Joi Lansing – Rosario Castellanos – Grayson Hall – Roger E. Mosley – William Friedkin

Posted on 29 AugamFri, 07 Aug 2026 00:36:00 -05002026-08-07T00:36:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1941, Bengali poet, novelist, musician, painter and playwright, Nobel Prize recipient, The Shakespeare of India, The Bard of Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore died in an upstairs room of the Jorasanko mansion in which he was raised in Calcutta, at the age of 80. Born on 7 May 1861. He wrote one of my favorite poems, Unending Love, which Gregory Peck read on camera after Audrey Hepburn’s death.

Unending Love

I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times…

In life after life, in age after age, forever.

My spellbound heart has made and remade the necklace of songs,

That you take as a gift, wear round your neck in your many forms,

In life after life, in age after age, forever.

Whenever I hear old chronicles of love, it’s age old pain,

It’s ancient tale of being apart or together.

As I stare on and on into the past, in the end you emerge,

Clad in the light of a pole-star, piercing the darkness of time.

You become an image of what is remembered forever.

You and I have floated here on the stream that brings from the fount.

At the heart of time, love of one for another.

We have played along side millions of lovers,

Shared in the same shy sweetness of meeting, the distressful tears of farewell,

Old love but in shapes that renew and renew forever.

Today it is heaped at your feet, it has found its end in you

The love of all man’s days both past and forever:

Universal joy, universal sorrow, universal life.

The memories of all loves merging with this one love of ours –

And the songs of every poet past and forever.

~Rabindranath Tagore

From Selected Poems, Translated by William Radice

The Final Footprint – Tagore was cremated and his cremains were scattered in the Ganges River.

#RIP #OTD in 1957 comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy double act, Oliver Hardy died from cerebral thrombosis at age 65. Cremated remains at the Masonic Garden of Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood

#RIP #OTD in 1972 pin-up model, actress (Touch of Evil, Marriage on the Rocks, The Beverly Hillbillies), nightclub singer Joi Lansing died from breast cancer at St. John’s Hospital, Santa Monica, California, aged 49. Pierce Brothers Santa Paula Cemetery, Santa Paula CA

On this day in 1974, poet and author Rosario Castellanos died from an electrical accident in Tel Aviv, at the age of 49. Born Rosario Castellanos Figueroa on 25 May 1925 in Mexico City. In my opinion, she was one of Mexico’s most important literary voices in the last century. Throughout her life, she wrote about issues of cultural and gender oppression, and her work has influenced Mexican feminist theory and cultural studies. Though she died young, she opened the door of Mexican literature to women, and left a legacy that still resonates today.

She joined a group of Mexican and Central American intellectuals, read extensively, and began to write. She studied philosophy and literature at UNAM (the National Autonomous University of Mexico), where she would later teach, and joined the National Indigenous Institute, writing scripts for puppet shows that were staged in impoverished regions to promote literacy. She also wrote a weekly column for the newspaper Excélsior.

She married Ricardo Guerra Tejada, a professor of philosophy, in 1958. However, she and Guerra divorced after thirteen years of marriage, Guerra having been unfaithful to Castellanos. Her own personal life was marked by her difficult marriage and continuous depression, but she dedicated a large part of her work and energy to defending women’s rights, for which she is remembered as a symbol of Latin American feminism.

The Final Footprint

Rotonda de las Personas Ilustres, Panteón Civil de Dolores, located on Constituyentes Avenue in the Miguel Hidalgo borough of Mexico City.

#RIP #OTD in 1985 television, film and stage actress (Dark Shadows, The Night of the Iguana) Grayson Hall died from lung cancer at New York Hospital in Manhattan at the age of 62. Saint John the Evangelist Church Cemetery, Barrytown, New York

#RIP #OTD in 2022 actor (Magnum, P. I.; McQ; Semi-Tough; Unlawful Entry), director, writer, Roger E. Mosley died of injuries from a car crash, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at the age of 83. Cremated remains scattered at sea.

#RIP #OTD in 2023 film, television, opera director, producer, screenwriter (The French Connection, The Exorcist, The Boys in the Band, Bug, To Live and Die in L.A.) William Friedkin died; heart failure and pneumonia at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles aged 87. Cremation

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Posted in Day in History, Literary Footprints | Tagged Audrey Hepburn, cremains, Cremation, ganges river, Grayson Hall, Gregory Peck, History, Joi Lansing, Oliver Hardy, Pierce Brothers Santa Paula Cemetery, rabindranath tagore, riptff, Roger E. Mosley, rosario castellanos, Saint John the Evangelist Church Cemetery, tff, the final footprint, Unending Love, Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery, William Friedkin | 1 Comment

On this day 6 August deaths of Diego Velázquez – Memphis Minnie – Rick James – John Hughes – Marvin Hamlisch – Pete Fountain – Anya Krugovoy Silver

Posted on 29 AugamThu, 06 Aug 2026 00:33:00 -05002026-08-06T00:33:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1660, artist Diego Velázquez died in Madrid at the age of 61. Baptized Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez on June 6, 1599 in Seville. He was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV, and in my opinion, one of the most important painters of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period. In addition to numerous renditions of scenes of historical and cultural significance, he painted portraits of the Spanish royal family, other notable European figures, and commoners, culminating in the production of his masterpiece Las Meninas (1656).

From the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Velázquez’s artwork was a model for the realist and impressionist painters.

Vieja friendo huevos (1618, English: Old Woman Frying Eggs). National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh

El Triunfo de Baco or Los Borrachos 1629 (English: The Triumph of Bacchus/The Drunks)

Portrait of the Infanta Maria Theresa, Philip IV’s daughter with Elisabeth of France

La rendición de Breda (1634–1635, English: The Surrender of Breda)

Lady from court, c. 1635

Portrait of Pablo de Valladolid, 1635, a court fool of Philip IV

Portrait of Juan de Pareja(c. 1650)

Las Meninas (1656)

Detail of Las Meninas (Velázquez’s self-portrait)

Portrait of the eight-year-old Infanta Margarita Teresa in a Blue Dress(1659)

The Final Footprint

He was entombed in the Fuensalida vault of the church of San Juan Bautista, and within eight days his wife Juana was buried beside him. Unfortunately, this church was destroyed by the French in 1811, so his place of interment is now unknown.

#RIP #OTD in 1973 blues guitarist, vocalist, songwriter (“When the Levee Breaks”, “Me and My Chauffeur Blues”, “Bumble Bee”, ‘’Nothing in Rambling”, Memphis Minnie (Lizzie Douglas) died in the Jell Nursing Home, Memphis, aged 76. New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery, in Walls, DeSoto County, Mississippi

On this day in 2004, singer, songwriter, musician and record producer, Rick James died at the age of 56 in his Los Angeles home at the Oakwood apartment complex on Barham Boulevard from pulmonary failure and cardiac failure. Born James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. on 19 February 1948 in Buffalo, New York. Perhaps best known for being a major popularizer of funk music in the late 1970s and early 1980s thanks to million-selling hits such as “You and I” (1978), “Give It to Me Baby” (1981) and “Super Freak” (1981), the latter song crossing him over to pop audiences and selling over three million copies. It later contributed to the success of rapper MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” (1990), for which James sued him, in order to be credited. James won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song with Hammer for the song, his only Grammy win.

The Final Footprint – James is interred in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo.

On this day in 2009, film director, producer and screenwriter, John Hughes died at the age of 59 of a heart attack while walking in Manhattan where he was visiting his family. Born John Wilden Hughes, Jr. on 18 February 1950 in Lansing, Michigan. He directed or scripted some of the most successful films of the 1980s and 1990s, including National Lampoon’s Vacation, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Weird Science, The Breakfast Club, Some Kind of Wonderful, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck, Home Alone, and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

The Final Footprint – Hughes is interred in Lake Forest Cemetery in Lake Forest, Illinois.

On this day in 2012, composer, conductor, an EGOT (those who have been awarded an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony), Pulitzer Prize recipient, Marvin Hamlisch died in Los Angeles, California at age 68, following a short illness, primarily due to respiratory arrest caused by a combination of anoxic brain encephalopathy and hypertension. Born Marvin Frederick Hamlisch on 2 June 1944 in Manhattan. Hamlisch married Terre Blair (1989 – 2012 his death. His prior relationship with lyricist Carole Bayer Sager inspired the musical They’re Playing Our Song.

The Final Footprint – Hamlisch is interred in Mount Zion Cemetery, Maspeth, Queens, New York. At 8:00 p.m. EDT on August 8, the marquee lights of the 40 Broadway theaters were dimmed for one minute in tribute to Hamlisch, a posthumous honor traditionally accorded to those considered to have made significant contributions to the theater arts. Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin and Liza Minnelli took turns singing songs by Hamlisch during a memorial service for the composer on 18 September 2012. At the 2013 Academy Awards, Streisand sang “The Way We Were” in Hamlisch’s memory.

On this day in 2016, jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain died from heart failure in New Orleans at the age of 86. Born Pierre Dewey LaFontaine, Jr. on July 3, 1930 in New Orleans. He played in traditional and contemporary genres of jazz, such as Dixieland, pop jazz, honky-tonk jazz, as well as pop, and Creole music.

at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, 2006

Fountain married Beverly Lang on October 27, 1951; they remained married for sixty-five years until his death.

The Final Footprint

Fountain is interred in Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans. Other notable final footprints at Metairie include; Jim Garrison, Al Hirt, Louis Prima, and Stan Rice.

#RIP #OTD in 2018 poet (The Ninety-Third Name of God, I Watched You Disappear, From Nothing, Second Bloom, Saint Agnostica) Anya Krugovoy Silver died from breast cancer in Macon, Georgia at the age of 49

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Posted in Day in History, Extravagant Footprints, Film Footprints, Literary Footprints, Musical Footprints | Tagged Anya Krugovoy Silver, Buried, diego velazquez, dramatist, forest lawn cemetery, History, Inscription, john hughes, lake forest cemetery, Marvin Hamlisch, mc hammer, Memphis Minnie, mount zion cemetery, New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery, Pete fountain, playwright, poet, rick james, riptff, super freak, tff, the final footprint, u cant touch this, William shakespeare | Leave a comment

On this day 5 August deaths of Carmen Miranda – Richard Burton – Alec Guinness – Toni Morrison

Posted on 29 AugamWed, 05 Aug 2026 00:57:00 -05002026-08-05T00:57:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1955, The Brazilian Bombshell, samba singer, dancer, actress Carmen Miranda died from a heart attack at her home in Beverly Hills. She was 46. Born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha on 9 February 1909 in in Várzea da Ovelha e Aliviada, a village in the northern Portuguese municipality of Marco de Canaveses. Perhaps best known for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in her American films. As a young woman, she designed hats in a boutique before making her first recordings with composer Josué de Barros in 1929. Miranda’s 1930 recording of “Taí (Pra Você Gostar de Mim)”, written by Joubert de Carvalho, catapulted her to stardom in Brazil as the foremost interpreter of samba.

During the 1930s Miranda performed on Brazilian radio and appeared in five Brazilian chanchadas, films celebrating Brazilian music, dance, and the country’s carnival culture. Hello, Hello Brazil! and Hello, Hello, Carnival! embodied the spirit of these early Miranda films. The 1939 musical Banana da Terra (directed by Ruy Costa) gave the world her “Baiana” image, inspired by African-Brazilians from the northeastern state of Bahia.

In 1939, Broadway producer Lee Shubert offered Miranda an eight-week contract to perform in The Streets of Paris after seeing her at Cassino da Urca in Rio de Janeiro. The following year she made her first Hollywood film, Down Argentine Way with Don Ameche and Betty Grable, and her exotic clothing and Lusophone accent became her trademark. That year, she was voted the third-most-popular personality in the United States, and she and her group, Bando da Lua, were invited to sing and dance for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1943, Miranda starred in Busby Berkeley’s The Gang’s All Here, which was noted for its musical numbers with the fruit hats that became her trademark. By 1945, she was the highest-paid woman in the United States^.

Miranda made 14 Hollywood films between 1940 and 1953. Miranda came to resent the stereotypical “Brazilian Bombshell” image she had cultivated, and attempted to free herself of it. She focused on nightclub appearances and became a fixture on television variety shows. Despite being stereotyped, Miranda’s performances popularized Brazilian music and increased public awareness of Latin culture. In 1941 she was the first Latin American star to be invited to leave her hand and footprints in the courtyard of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, and was the first South American honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Miranda is considered the precursor of Brazil’s 1960s Tropicalismo cultural movement.

her husband, David Sebastian

Desiring creative freedom, Miranda decided to produce her own film in 1947 and played opposite Groucho Marx in Copacabana. The film’s budget was divided into about ten investors’ shares. A Texan investor who owned one of the shares sent his brother, David Sebastian (23 November 1907 – 11 September 1990), to keep an eye on Miranda and his interests on the set. Sebastian befriended her, and they began dating.

Miranda and Sebastian married on 17 March 1947 at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, with Patrick J. Concannon officiating. In 1948 Miranda became pregnant, but miscarried after a show. Although the marriage was brief, Miranda (who was Catholic) did not want a divorce. Her sister, Aurora, said in the documentary Bananas is My Business: “He married her for selfish reasons; she got very sick after she married and lived with a lot of depression”. The couple announced their separation in September 1949, but reconciled several months later.

Miranda was discreet, and little is known about her private life. Before she left for the US, she had relationships with Mario Cunha, Carlos da Rocha Faria (son of a traditional family in Rio de Janeiro) and Aloísio de Oliveira, a member of the Bando da Lua. In the US, Miranda maintained relationships with John Payne, Arturo de Córdova, Dana Andrews, Harold Young, John Wayne, Donald Buka and Carlos Niemeyer.

The Final Footprint

In accordance with her wishes, Miranda’s body was flown back to Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian government declared a period of national mourning. About 60,000 people attended her memorial service at the Rio town hall, and more than half a million Brazilians escorted her funeral cortège to the cemetery.

Miranda is buried in São João Batista Cemetery in Rio de Janeiro. In 1956 her belongings were donated by her husband and family to the Carmen Miranda Museum, which opened in Rio on 5 August 1976. For her contributions to the entertainment industry, Miranda has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at the south side of the 6262 block of Hollywood Boulevard. In 1995 she was the subject of the documentary Carmen Miranda: Bananas is My Business.

On this day in 1984, actor, 7x Academy Award nominee, Richard Burton died at age 58 from a brain haemorrhage at his home in Céligny, Switzerland. Born Richard Walter Jenkins in the village of Pontrhydyfen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales on 10 November 1925. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was at one time the highest-paid actor in Hollywood. Burton remains closely associated in the public consciousness with his second wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor. The couple’s turbulent relationship was rarely out of the news. Burton was married five times; Welsh actress/producer Sybil Williams (1949 – 1963 divorce), Taylor twice, consecutively from 15 March 1964 to 26 June 1974 and from 10 October 1975 to 29 July 1976, Susan Hunt (1976 – 1982 divorce) and Sally Hay (1983 – 1984 his death). Burton reportedly once said about himself, “I rather like my reputation, actually, that of a spoiled genius from the Welsh gutter, a drunk, a womanizer; it’s rather an attractive image.”

The Final Footprint – Burton is interred in Vieux Cemetery, Celigny, Switzerland, in a red suit, a tribute to his Welsh roots, and with a copy of Dylan Thomas’ poems. He and Taylor had discussed being buried together. His widow Sally purchased the plot next to Burton’s to ensure she would be buried next to him.

On this day in 2000 Royal Naval Reserve veteran, actor Alec Guinness died from liver cancer, at Midhurst in West Sussex at the age of 86. Born Alec Guinness de Cuffe on 2 April 1914 in Maida Vale, London. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including The Ladykillers and Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played nine different characters. He is also known for his six collaborations with David Lean: Herbert Pocket in Great Expectations (1946), Fagin in Oliver Twist (1948), Col. Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor), Prince Faisal in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), General Yevgraf Zhivago in Doctor Zhivago(1965), and Professor Godbole in A Passage to India (1984). He is also known for his portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi in George Lucas’s original Star Wars trilogy, receiving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Drawing by Nicholas Volpe after Guinness won an Oscar in 1957 for his role in The Bridge on the River Kwai

Guinness married the artist, playwright, and actress Merula Sylvia Salaman (1914–2000) in 1938. The family lived at Steep Marsh in Hampshire.

The Final Footprint

The graves of Alec and Merula in Petersfield Cemetery, Petersfield, Hampshire

On this day in 2019, novelist, essayist, book editor, and college professor Toni Morrison died at Montefiore Medical Center in The Bronx from complications of pneumonia at the age of 88. Born Chloe Ardelia Wofford on February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed Song of Solomon (1977) brought her national attention and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 1988, Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved (1987). She gained worldwide recognition when she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.

Morrison graduated from Howard University in 1953 with a B.A. in English. In 1955, she earned a master’s in American Literature from Cornell University. In 1957 she returned to Howard University, was married, and had two children before divorcing in 1964. In the late 1960s, she became the first black female editor in fiction at Random House in New York City.

In 1996, the National Endowment for the Humanities selected her for the Jefferson Lecture, the U.S. federal government’s highest honor for achievement in the humanities. Also that year, she was honored with the National Book Foundation’s Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. On May 29, 2012, President Barack Obama presented Morrison with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2016, she received the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction.

The Final Footprint

A memorial tribute was held for Morrison on November 21, 2019, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. At this gathering she was eulogized by, among others, Oprah Winfrey, Angela Davis, Michael Ondaatje, David Remnick, Fran Lebowitz, and Edwidge Danticat. The jazz saxophonist David Murray performed a musical tribute.

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Posted in American Icon, Day in History, Film Footprints, Literary Footprints | Tagged alec guinness, carmen miranda, Cemetery, Crypts, Elizabeth Taylor, History, Richard Burton, riptff, São João Batista Cemetery, tff, the final footprint, toni morrison, vieux cemetery, Westwood Memorial Park | Leave a comment

On this day 4 August deaths of Hans Christian Andersen – Marilyn Monroe – Little Milton – Lee Hazlewood

Posted on 29 AugamTue, 04 Aug 2026 00:54:00 -05002026-08-04T00:54:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1875, author and poet Hans Christian Andersen died in a house called Rolighed (calmness), near Copenhagen, the home of his close friend Moritz Melchior, at the age of 70. Born on 2 April 1805 in Odense, Denmark. Perhaps best known for his children’s stories including; “The Princess and the Pea” (1835), “Thumbelina” (1835), “The Little Mermaid” (1836), “The Emperor’s New Clothes” (1837), “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” (1838), “The Nightingale” (1844), “The Snow Queen” (1844), “The Ugly Duckling” (1844) and “The Little Match Girl” (1848). Andersen was apparently frustrated in love and may have channeled his romantic grief into his stories. At one point he wrote in his diary: “Almighty God, thee only have I; thou steerest my fate, I must give myself up to thee! Give me a livelihood! Give me a bride! My blood wants love, as my heart does!” His unrequited loves included a girl named Riborg Voigt from his youth, Sophie Ørsted, Louise Collin and the opera soprano Jenny Lind, the inspiration for his story “The Nightingale”. Andersen never married. I have read many of his stories to my children. Thank you HCA.

The Final Footprint – Andersen is interred in Assistens Cemetery in Copenhagen. His grave is marked by a large upright individual stone monument. Inscribed at the the top of the monument is the word DIGTEREN (poet). At the bottom is inscribed the last lines of Andersen’s poem “Oldingen” (The Old Man);

The soul which God in his image created,

Is incorruptible, can not be lost.

Our life on earth is the seed of eternity,

Our body dies, but the soul can not die!

His stories have inspired many films, plays and ballets. In the Copenhagen harbor there is a statue of The Little Mermaid, placed in honor of Andersen. April 2, Andersen’s birthday, is celebrated as International Children’s Book Day. In the United States, statues of Andersen may be found in Central Park, New York, and in Solvang, California. The city of Bratislava, Slovakia features a statue of Andersen in memory of his visit in 1841. The city of Funabashi, Japan has a children’s theme park named after Andersen. A theme park based on Andersen’s tales and life opened in Shanghai at the end of 2006.

On this day in 1962, actress, singer and model, American Icon, Marilyn Monroe died at her Brentwood, Los Angeles home at the age of 36. She apparently died from acute barbiturate poisoning. Theories abound about how the drugs got in her system. Born Norma Jeane Mortenson on 1 June 1926 in Los Angeles. She was baptized and raised as Norma Jeane Baker. Remembered and loved for her ubeauty, charm and personality. My favorite Monore film roles include: as Lorelei Lee in Howard Hawks‘ Gentleman Prefer Blondes (1953) with Jane Russell and Charles Coburn; as Evelyn Keyes in Billy Wilder’s The Seven Year Itch (1955); as Sugar Kane in Wilder’s Some Like It Hot (1959) with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon; as Roslyn Tabor in John Huston’s The Misfits (1961) with Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift and Eli Wallach. The Misfits would prove to be the final film for both Monroe and Gable. Her picture appeared on the cover of the first issue of Playboy magazine in December 1953. Monroe married three times; James Dougherty (1942-1946 divorce), Joe DiMaggio (1954-1954 divorce) and Arthur Miller (1956-1961 divorce). She may have had affairs with Marlon Brando, Tony Curtis, JFK and RFK. More questions than answers surround Monroe. Was her death accidental, suicide or homicide? Was JFK the last person she talked to? Was she in love with him? Was RFK the last person she saw?

The Final Footprint – Monroe is entombed in Westwood Memorial Park (a Dignity Memorial property) in Los Angeles. Notice how her marble crypt front is discolored compared to the surrounding crypts. This is caused by the many people who visit her crypt and touch the marble. Also note the lipstick kisses. DiMaggio had a half-dozen red roses delivered three times a week to her crypt for 20 years. A memorial bench is located near her crypt dedicated to her In Loving Memory. Other notable final footprints at Westwood include; Ray Bradbury, Sammy Cahn, Truman Capote, James Coburn, Rodney Dangerfield, Janet Leigh, Farrah Fawcett, Hugh Hefner, Brian Keith, Don Knotts, Burt Lancaster, Peter Lawford, Peggy Lee, Jack Lemmon, Karl Malden, Dean Martin, Walter Mathau, Carroll O’Connor, Roy Orbison, George C. Scott, Dorothy Stratten, Natalie Wood, and Frank Zappa.

#RIP #OTD in 2005 blues singer (We’re Gonna Make It; Baby, I Love You; Who’s Cheating Who?; Grits Ain’t Groceries), guitarist, Little Milton died from a stroke in Memphis aged 70. Palm Memorial Park, Las Vegas

#RIP #OTD in 2007 songwriter (“These Boots are Made for Walkin'”, “Summer Wine”, “Houston”, “Somethin’ Stupid”, “This Town”) singer, record produce Lee Hazlewood died of renal cancer in Henderson, Nevada aged 78. Cremation

Have you planned yours yet?

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Posted in Day in History, Extravagant Footprints, Film Footprints, Literary Footprints | Tagged assistens cemetery, author, Buried, Cemetery, Cremation, Ground Burial, hans christian andersen, History, Inscription, jenny lind, Lee Hazlewood, Little milton, Marilyn Monroe, Monument, palm memorial park cemetery, pierce brothers westwood village, poet, riptff, tff, the emperors new clothes, the final footprint, The Little Mermaid, the nightingale, the princess and the pea, unrequited love, Westwood Memorial Park, writer | Leave a comment

On this day 3 August deaths of Joseph Conrad – Colette – Flannery O’Connor – Lenny Bruce – Carolyn Jones – Beryl Markham – Ida Lupino – Henri Cartier-Bresson – Mark Margolis – Loni Anderson

Posted on 29 AugamMon, 03 Aug 2026 00:12:00 -05002026-08-03T00:12:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1924 novelist Joseph Conrad died of a heart attack in Bishopsbourne, England at the age of 66. Born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski on 3 December 1857 in Berdichev (Polish: Berdyczów), Kiev Governorate (now Berdychiv, Ukraine). In my opionion, one of the great novelists in English. His stories and novels feature predominantly nautical or seaboard settings and depict trials of the human spirit that plumb the depths of the human soul. I like that some of his works have a strain of romanticism. Perhaps his best known works are Lord Jim (1899-1900) and Heart of Darkness (1902). Conrad married Jessie George (1896-1924 his death).

The Final Footprint – Conrad is interred in Canterbury City Cemetery in Canterbury, Kent, England. Jessie was interred next to him after her death on 3 December 1936. Their graves are marked with a large upright companion granite marker with the epitaph by the English poet Edmund Spenser; SLEEP AFTER TOYLE, PORT AFTER STORMIE SEAS, EASE AFTER WARRE, DEATH AFTER LIFE, DOES GREATLY PLEASE. SPENSER

Several films have been adapted from or inspired by Conrad’s works. My favorite is Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Heart of Darkness, Apocalypse Now (1979) with Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz, Martin Sheen as Captain Willard, Robert Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore and Dennis Hopper as an American photojournalist.

On this day in 1954, French novelist and performer, Colette died in Paris at the age of 81. Born Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette on 28 January 1873 in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye, Yonne, in the Burgundy Region of France. Perhpaps best known for her novel Gigi, upon which Lerner and Loewe based the stage and film musical comedies of the same title. Colette is directly credited with the discovery of a young, nascent Audrey Hepburn, who she chose on sight to play the eponymous Broadway lead in Gigi. She was the first woman given a state funeral in France, although she was refused Roman Catholic rites because of her divorces.

The Final Footprint – Colette is interred in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Other notable Final Footprints at Père Lachaise include; Guillaume Apollinaire, Georges Bizet, Honoré de Balzac, Jean-Dominique Bauby, Maria Callas, Frédéric Chopin, Auguste Comte, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, 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 1964, writer and important voice in American literature, Flannery O’Connor died at the age of 39, of complications from lupus, at Baldwin County Hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia. Born Mary Flannery O’Connor on 25 March 1925 in Savannah, Georgia. Her two novels were Wise Blood (1952) and The Violent Bear It Away (1960). She also published two books of short stories: A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1955) and Everything That Rises Must Converge (published posthumously in 1965). She was a Southern writer who often wrote in a Southern Gothic style and relied heavily on regional settings and grotesque characters. O’Connor’s writing also reflected her own Roman Catholic faith, and frequently examined questions of morality and ethics. One of my very favorite writers. Each year on her birthday I read one of her short stories.

The Final Footprint – O’Connor was interred in Milledgeville, at Memory Hill Cemetery.

#RIP #OTD 1966 stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, renowned for his 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial, Lenny Bruce died at his Hollywood Hills home from a morphine overdose, aged 40. Eden Memorial Park Cemetery in Mission Hills, California

#RIP #OTD in 1983 actress (The Bachelor Party, Morticia Addams in the The Addams Family, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, King Creole) Carolyn Jones died from colon cancer at her home in West Hollywood, aged 53. Cremated remains Melrose Abbey Memorial Park & Mortuary in Anaheim

#RIP #OTD in 1986, aviator, racehorse trainer, author (West with the Night), first person to fly solo, non-stop across the Atlantic from Britain to North America, Beryl Markham died in Nairobi aged 86. Cremated remains scattered over the Nairobi racetrack

#RIP #OTD in 1995 actress (They Drive by Night, High Sierra, The Sea Wolf, The Hard Way, Road House, While the City Sleeps, Junior Bonner), singer, director (The Hitch-Hiker, Not Wanted, Outrage, The Bigamist), Ida Lupino died from colon cancer in Los Angeles, aged 77. Cremation

#RIP #OTD in 2004 artist, humanist photographer, master of candid photography, pioneer of street photography, Henri Cartier-Bresson died in Céreste, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France, aged 95. Cimetière de Montjustin, France

RIP #OTD in 2023, actor (Scarface, Requiem for a Dream, Hector Salamanca in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul), Mark Margolis died at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan following a short illness at age 83. cremated

RIP #OTD in 2025, actress (Jennifer Marlowe on the CBS sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd), ex-wife of Burt Reynolds, Loni Anderson died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of metastatic uterine leiomyosarcoma at the age of 79. She was cremated and inurned at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

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Posted in Day in History, Literary Footprints | Tagged apocalypse now, Audrey Hepburn, Beryl Markham, Buried, canterbury city cemetery, Carolyn Jones, Cemetery, Cimetière de Montjustin, colette, cremated remains, Cremation, Dennis Hopper, Eden memorial park, edmund spenser, epitaph, flannery oconnor, francis ford coppola, Gigi, granite marker, Ground Burial, heart of darkness, Henri Cartier-Bresson, History, hollywood forever cemetery, Ida Lupino, Inscription, joseph conrad, Lenny Bruce, lerner and loewe, Loni Anderson, lord jim, Mark Margolis, marlon brando, Melrose Abbey, memory hill cemetery, pere lachaise, riptff, tff, the final footprint | Leave a comment

On this day 2 August deaths of Wild Bill Hickok – Louise-Victorine Ackermann – Enrico Caruso – Pietro Mascagni – Wallace Stevens – Thurman Munson – Raymond Carver – Norman Maclean – Willie Morris – Vin Scully

Posted on 29 AugamSun, 02 Aug 2026 00:12:00 -05002026-08-02T00:12:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1876, gambler, gunfighter, scout and lawman Wild Bill Hickok died, after being shot in the head by John “Broken Nose Jack” McCall at Nuttal & Mann’s Saloon No. 10 in Deadwood, South Dakota, at the age of 39. Born James Butler Hickok on 27 May 1837 in Troy Grove, Illinois. It is difficult to separate the truth from the fiction about Hickok. His exploits, whether real or exaggerated or fabricated, were reported in popular dime novels of the era. He apparently met and associated with several famous or infamous characters including Buffalo Bill Cody, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, John Wesley Hardin and Calamity Jane. Hickok married Agnes Thatcher Lake (1876-1876 his death).

The Final Footprint – Hickok was initially interred in the Ingelside Cemetery, Deadwood’s original graveyard. On the third anniversary of his interment, Hickok’s friend Charlie “Colorado Charlie” Utter paid to move Hickok to the Mount Moriah Cemetery on Mount Moriah. His grave was initially marked by a wooden marker with the inscription; “Wild Bill, J. B. Hickock killed by the assassin Jack McCall in Deadwood, Black Hills, August 2d, 1876. Pard, we will meet again in the happy hunting ground to part no more. Good bye, Colorado Charlie, C. H. Utter.” His grave is now marked by a bronze upright monument with his bust on top. The inscription reads; DIED aug 2 1876 BY PISTOL SHOT AGED 39 years CUSTER WAS LONELY WITHOUT HIM. McCall was tried and aquitted and then tried and convicted for the murder and subsequently hung. Hickok was playing poker at the time of his death and the hand he was holding, a pair of aces and a pair of eights, all black, has become known as “the dead man’s hand”. Hickok has been portayed in numerous books and films. My favorite include; in Thomas Berger’s novels Little Big Man (1964) and The Return of Little Big Man (1999); as played by Gary Cooper in the film The Plainsman (1936) with Jean Arthur as Calamity Jane; as played by Howard Keel in the film Calamity Jane (1953) with Doris Day as Calamity Jane; as played by Charles Bronson in the film The White Buffalo (1977); as played by Sam Elliott in the telvision movie Buffalo Girls (1995) based on the Larry McMurtry novel of the same name with Anjelica Huston as Calamity Jane; as played by Jeff Bridges in the film Wild Bill (1995) with Ellen Barkin as Calamity Jane and John Hurt as Charley Prince, Diane Lane as Susannah Moore, Keith Carradine as Buffalo Bill Cody, David Arquette as Jack McCall, Christina Applegate as Lurline Newcomb, Bruce Dern as Will Plummer.

On this day in 1890, French poet Louise-Victorine Ackermann died in Nice at the age of 76. Born Louise-Victorine Choquet on 30 November 1813 in Nice. The work on which Madame Ackermann’s real reputation rests is Poésies, premières poésies, poésies philosophiques (1874) a volume of sombre and powerful verse, expressing her revolt against human suffering.

On this day in 1921, Italian tenor Enrico Caruso died at the Vesuvio Hotel in Naples a few minutes after 9:00 am at the age of 48. His death was attributed to peritonitis arising from a burst subrenal abscess. Born in Naples in the Via San Giovannello agli Ottocalli 7 on 25 February 1873. Caruso sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles from the Italian and French repertoires that ranged from the lyric to the dramatic. Caruso also made approximately 290 commercially released recordings from 1902 to 1920. All of these recordings, which span most of his stage career, are available today on CDs and as digital downloads. Caruso’s 1904 recording of “Vesti la giubba” from Leoncavallo’s opera Pagliacci was the first sound recording to sell a million copies. Prior to World War One, Caruso had been romantically tied to an Italian soprano, Ada Giachetti, who was a few years older than he was. Though already married, Giachetti bore Caruso four sons during their liaison, which lasted from 1897 to 1908. Ada had left her husband, manufacturer Gino Botti, and an existing son to live with Caruso. Towards the end of the war, Caruso met and wooed a 25-year-old socialite, Dorothy Park Benjamin. She was the daughter of a wealthy New York patent lawyer. In spite of the disapproval of Dorothy’s father, the couple wed on August 20, 1918. They had a daughter. Dorothy lived until 1955 and wrote two books about Caruso, whom she had called “Rico”. Published in 1928 and 1945, her books include many of Caruso’s letters to his “Doro”.

The Final Footprint – The King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III, opened the Royal Basilica of the Church of San Francesco di Paola for Caruso’s funeral, which was attended by thousands of people. His embalmed body was preserved in a glass sarcophagus at Del Pianto Cemetery in Naples for mourners to view. His body was redressed each year with a new suit. In 1929, Dorothy Caruso had his remains sealed permanently in an ornate stone tomb. The famous Ajello Candle makers created a memorial candle for the opera singer towering over 18 feet tall and 8 feet in circumference and weighing one ton at the Church of Our Lady of Pompeii, made to last for 1800 years burning one day each year on the anniversary of Caruso’s birth.

On this day in 1945, Italian composer most noted for his operas, Pietro Mascagni died in his apartment at the Hotel Plaza di Roma in Rome at the age of 82. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music. His other operas L’amico Fritz and Iris have remained in the repertoire in Europe since their respective premieres. Mascagni reportedly said that at one point, Iris was performed in Italy more often than Cavalleria. Mascagni wrote fifteen operas, an operetta, several orchestral and vocal works, as well as songs and piano music. He enjoyed immense success during his lifetime, both as a composer and conductor of his own and other people’s music. He created a variety of styles in his operas: a Sicilian passion and warmth of Cavalleria, the exotic flavor of Iris, the idylls of L’amico Fritz and Lodoletta, the Gallic chiaroscuro of Isabeau, the steely, Veristic power of Il piccolo Marat, the over-ripe post-romanticism of the lush Parisina, which demonstrate a versatility.

The Final Footprint – Mascagni’s final resting place is at Cimitero Della Misercordia in Livorno, Italy. The 1980 Martin Scorsese film Raging Bull prominently features the following music: the Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana, the Barcarolle from Silvano, and the Intermezzo from Guglielmo Ratcliff (known as Il sogno di Ratcliff). The 1990 Francis Ford Coppola film The Godfather Part III used a production of Cavalleria rusticana at the Teatro Massimo to set its climax, with Michael Corleone’s son Anthony as Turiddu. The movie ends with the Intermezzo playing.

#RIP #OTD in 1955 modernist poet (“The Auroras of Autumn”, “Anecdote of the Jar”, “Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock”, “The Emperor of Ice-Cream”, “The Idea of Order at Key West”, “Sunday Morning”, “The Snow Man”) Wallace Stevens died from stomach cancer in Hartford, Connecticut aged 75. Hartford’s Cedar Hill Cemetery

On this day in 1979, baseball player, catcher, New York Yankee, 2x World Series Champion, AL MVP, 7x All-Star, #15 retired, team captain, Thurman Munson died in a plane crash at the Akron-Canton Regional Airport in Ohio at the age of 32. Born Thurman Lee Munson on 7 June 1947 in Akron, Ohio. He played his entire 11-year career for the Yankees (1969–1979). Munson is the only Yankee ever to win both the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards. Considered the “heart and soul” of the Yankees, Munson became the first team captain since Lou Gehrig. He led the Yankees to three consecutive World Series, winning two of them.

The Final Footprint – The day after his death, before the start of the Yankees’ four-game set with the Baltimore Orioles in the Bronx, the team paid tribute to their deceased captain in a pre-game ceremony in which the starters stood at their defensive positions, save for the catcher’s box, which remained empty. Following a prayer by Cardinal Terence Cooke, a moment of silence and “America The Beautiful” by Robert Merrill, the fans (announced attendance 51,151) burst into an eight minute standing ovation. Jerry Narron, the man who would replace Munson behind the plate that night, remained in the dugout and did not enter the field until stadium announcer Bob Sheppard said, “And now it is time to play ball. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen for your co-operation.” On August 6, the entire Yankee team attended Munson’s funeral in Canton, Ohio. Teammates Lou Piniella and Bobby Murcer, who were Munson’s best friends, gave eulogies. That night (before a national viewing audience on ABC’s Monday Night Baseball) the Yankees beat the Orioles 5–4 in New York, with Murcer driving in all five runs with a three-run home run in the seventh inning and a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth. Munson is interred in Sunset Hills Burial Park in Canton, Ohio. Yankee owner George Steinbrenner retired Munson’s number 15 immediately upon his catcher’s death. On 20 September 1980, a plaque dedicated to Munson’s memory was placed in Monument Park. The plaque bears excerpts from an inscription composed by Steinbrenner and flashed on the stadium scoreboard the day after his death:

Our captain and leader has not left us, today, tomorrow, this year, next … Our endeavors will reflect our love and admiration for him.

Other notable Yankees whose final footprints include memorialization in Monument Park; Mel Allen, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Billy Martin, Babe Ruth, Bob Sheppard, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Phil Rizzuto, George Steinbrenner, and Casey Stengel.

#RIP #OTD in 1988 short story writer (What We Talk About When We Talk About Love), poet (Gravy), Raymond Carver died in Port Angeles, Washington, from lung cancer at the age of 50. Ocean View Cemetery, Port Angeles, Washington

#RIP #OTD in 1990 University of Chicago professor, writer (A River Runs Through It and Other Stories, Young Men and Fire), Norman Maclean died in Chicago, at the age of 87. cremated remains scattered over the mountains of Montana

On this day in 1999 University of Texas in Austin graduate, writer and editor Willie Morris died from a heart attack in Jackson, Mississippi at the age of 64. Born William Weaks Morris on November 29, 1934 in Jackson, Mississippi. Perhaps best known for his lyrical prose style and reflections on the American South, particularly the Mississippi Delta and Yazoo City. In 1967 he became the youngest editor of Harper’s Magazine. He wrote several works of fiction and non-fiction, including his seminal book North Toward Home, as well as My Dog Skip.

The Final Footprint

Willie Morris is buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Yazoo City, close to the “grave” of the fictitious Witch of Yazoo, a character from one of Morris’ books, Good Old Boy: A Delta Boyhood.

#RIP #OTD in 2022 sportscaster, play-by-play announcer for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers Vin Scully died at his home in Hidden Hills, California, at the age of 94. Cremation

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Posted in Cowboy Footprints, Day in History, Literary Footprints, Musical Footprints | Tagged A River Runs Through It, aces and eights, ajello candle, anthony corleone, bob sheppard, bobby murcer, bronze bust, Buffalo Bill Cody, Buried, calamity jane, cavalleria rusticana, cedar hill cemetery, Cemetery, dead mans hand, deadwood, del pianto cemetery, enrico caruso, francis ford coppola, george armstrong custer, george steinbrenner, History, Inscription, jeff bridges, john wesley hardin, Lou Gehrig, louise victorine ackermann, martin scorsese, michael corleone, Monument, Monument Park, mount moriah cemetery, New York Yankees, Norman Maclean, nuttal and manns saloon, Ocean view cemetery, pietro mascagni, raging bull, Raymond Carver, riptff, robert merrill, Royal Basilica of the Church of San Francesco di Paola, sunset hills burial park, tff, the final footprint, the godfather part III, thurman munson, Vin Scully, Wallace Stevens, Wild Bill Hickok, willie morris, yankee stadium | 1 Comment

On this day 1 August deaths of Mark Antony – Calamity Jane – Theodore Roethke – University of Texas Tower Shooting – Frances Farmer – Strother Martin – Paddy Chayefsky – Naomi Sims – Cilla Black – Wilford Brimley

Posted on 29 AugamSat, 01 Aug 2026 00:30:00 -05002026-08-01T00:30:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 30 BC, Roman politician and general, Cleopatra‘s lover, Mark Antony died at the age of 53 from a self inflicted stab wound in the arms of Cleopatra at her monument in Eqypt. Born Marcus Antonius most likely on 14 January 83 BC in Rome. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother’s cousin Julius Caesar. After Caesar’s assassination, Antony formed an official political alliance with Octavian (the future Augustus) and Lepidus, known to historians today as the Second Triumvirate. The triumvirate broke up in 33 BC. Disagreement between Octavian and Antony erupted into civil war, the Final War of the Roman Republic, in 31 BC. Antony was defeated by Octavian at the naval Battle of Actium, and in a brief land battle at Alexandria. He and Cleopatra committed suicide shortly thereafter. His career and defeat are significant in Rome’s transformation from Republic to Empire.

The Final Footprint – The site of Antony and Cleopatra’s mausoleum is uncertain, though the Egyptian Antiquities Service believes it is in or near the temple of Taposiris Magna, southwest of Alexandria. Artistic portrayals in which the character of Mark Antony plays a central role include:

William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra, and the films made from these two plays (played by Marlon Brando and Charlton Heston, respectively).
The 1963 film Cleopatra (played by Richard Burton)
The HBO/BBC TV series Rome (played by James Purefoy)
The 1999 film Cleopatra (played by Billy Zane)

On this day in 1903, frontierswoman and scout Calamity Jane died in the Calloway Hotel in Terry, South Dakota at the age of 51. Born Martha Jane Cannary on 1 May 1852 in Princeton, Missouri. Perhaps best know for being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok. She evidently claimed to have been married to Hickok. In 1893, Calamity Jane started to appear in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show as a horse rider and a trick shooter. She married Texan Clinton Burke. Did she love Hickok? Did Hickok have no use for her?

The Final Footprint – Calamity Jane is interred next to Hickok in Mount Moriah Cemetery on Mount Moriah in Deadwood, South Dakota. Her grave is marked by an upright granite urn monument. In addition, a memorial plaque was installed with her name on the wall above Hickok’s grave. Calamity Jane has been a popular character in books and films. My favorites include: in Larry McMurty’s novel Buffalo Girls (1990); she appears in Thomas Berger’s novel Little Big Man (1964); as played by Jean Arthur in the film The Plainsman (1936) with Gary Cooper as Hickok; as played by Jane Russell in the film The Paleface (1948); as played by Doris Day in the film Calamity Jane (1953) with Howard Keel as Hickok; as played by Anjelica Huston in the television film Buffalo Girls (1995) based on McMurtry’s novel and featuring Sam Elliott as Hickok; as played by Ellen Barkin in the film Wild Bill (1995) with Jeff Bridges as Hickok and John Hurt as Charley Prince, Diane Lane as Susannah Moore, Keith Carradine as Buffalo Bill Cody, David Arquette as Jack McCall, Christina Applegate as Lurline Newcomb, Bruce Dern as Will Plummer.

Theodore Roethke

On this day in 1963 poet Theodore Roethke died from a heart attack in his friend S. Rasnics’ swimming pool in Bainbridge Island, Washington at the age of 55. Born Theodore Huebner Roethke on May 25, 1908 in Saginaw, Michigan. In my opinion, Roethke is one of the most accomplished and influential poets of his generation.

Roethke’s work is characterized by its introspection, rhythm and natural imagery. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1954 for his book The Waking, and he won the annual National Book Award for Poetry twice, in 1959 for Words for the Wind and posthumously in 1965 for The Far Field.

In the November 1968 edition of The Atlantic Monthly, former U.S. Poet Laureate and author James Dickey wrote Roethke was “in my opinion the greatest poet this country has yet produced.”

In 1953, Roethke married Beatrice O’Connell, a former student. Like many other American poets of his generation, Roethke was a heavy drinker and susceptible to bouts of mental illness. He did not initially inform O’Connell of his repeated episodes of mania and depression, yet she remained dedicated to him and his work. She ensured the posthumous publication of his final volume of poetry, The Far Field, as well as a book of his collected children’s verse, Dirty Dinky and Other Creatures, in 1973.

The Final Footprint

Roethke is interred in Oakwo0d Cemetery in Saginaw. The pool Roethke died in was later filled in and is now a zen rock garden, which can be viewed by the public at the Bloedel Reserve, a 150-acre (60 hectare) former private estate. There is no sign to indicate that the rock garden was the site of Roethke’s death.

There is a sign that commemorates his boyhood home and burial in Saginaw, Michigan. The historical marker notes in part:

Theodore Roethke (1908–1963) wrote of his poetry: The greenhouse “is my symbol for the whole of life, a womb, a heaven-on-earth.” Roethke drew inspiration from his childhood experiences of working in his family’s Saginaw floral company. Beginning in 1941 with Open House, the distinguished poet and teacher published extensively, receiving a Pulitzer Prize for poetry and two National Book Awards among an array of honors. In 1959 Pennsylvania University awarded him the Bollingen Prize. Roethke taught at Michigan State College, (present-day Michigan State University) and at colleges in Pennsylvania and Vermont, before joining the faculty of the University of Washington at Seattle in 1947. Roethke died in Washington in 1963. His remains are interred in Saginaw’s Oakwood Cemetery.

The Friends of Theodore Roethke Foundation maintains his birthplace at 1805 Gratiot in Saginaw as a museum. Roethke Auditorium (Kane Hall 130) at the University of Washington is named in his honor.

#RIP #OTD in 1966, 17 people died during the University of Texas at Austin tower shooting. Memorial plaque, Tower Garden on campus

On this day in 1970, stage and screen actress, Frances Farmer died at the age of 56 from esophageal cancer. Born Frances Elena Farmer on 19 September 1913 in Seattle. Perhaps best known for sensationalized and fictional accounts of her life, and her involuntary commitment to a mental hospital.

Farmer began acting in stage productions while a student at the University of Washington. After graduating, she began performing in stock theater before signing a film contract with Paramount Pictures on her twenty-second birthday in September 1935. She made her film debut in the B film Too Many Parents (1936), followed by another B picture, Border Flight, before being given the lead role opposite Bing Crosby in the musical western, Rhythm on the Range (1936). Unhappy with the opportunities given to her by the studio, Farmer returned to stock theater in 1937 before being cast in the original Broadway production of Clifford Odets’s Golden Boy, staged by New York City’s Group Theatre. She followed this with two Broadway productions directed by Elia Kazan in 1939, but a battle with depression and binge drinking caused her to drop out of a subsequent Ernest Hemingway stage adaptation.
Farmer returned to Los Angeles, earning supporting roles in the comedy World Premiere (1941) and the film noir Among the Living (1941). Farmer portrayed Calamity Jane (see above) in the film Badlands of Dakota (1941). In 1942, publicity of her reportedly erratic behavior began to surface, and after several arrests and committals to psychiatric institutions, Farmer was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. At the request of her family, particularly her mother, she was relocated to an institution in her home state of Washington, where she remained a patient until 1950. Farmer attempted an acting comeback, mainly appearing as a television host in Indianapolis on her own series, Frances Farmer Presents. Her final film role was in the 1958 drama The Party Crashers, after which she spent the majority of the 1960s occasionally performing in local theater productions staged by Purdue University.

The Final Footprint – She is interred at Oaklawn Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Fishers, Indiana. Farmer has been the subject of three films, three books, and numerous songs and magazine articles. She was portayed in the film Frances (1982) by Jessica Lange. The Nirvana song “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle”, written by fellow Washington native Kurt Cobain, appears on the band’s 1993 In Utero album. She has been the subject of various works, including two feature films and several books, many of which focus heavily on her time spent institutionalized, during which she claimed to have been subject to various systemic abuses. Her posthumously released, ghost written autobiography, Will There Really Be a Morning? (1972), details these claims but has been exposed as largely a fictional work written by a friend of Farmer’s to clear debts. A 1978 biography of her life, Shadowland, alleged that Farmer underwent a transorbital lobotomy during her institutionalization but the author has since stated in court that he made this, and several other major aspects of the book, up himself. A 1982 biographical film based on this book erroneously depicted these events as true, resulting in renewed interest in her life and career. Farmer was portrayed by Jessica Lange.

On this day in 1980, actor Strother Martin died of a heart attack at the age of 61. Born Strother Martin, Jr. on 26 March 1919 in Kokomo, Indiana. Perhaps best known as the Captain in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, with Paul Newman, in which he uttered the line, “What we’ve got here is…failure to communicate.” Martin’s distinctive, reedy voice and menacing demeanor made him ideal for villainous roles in many of the best-known westerns of the 1950s and 1960s, including The Horse Soldiers (1959) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), both directed by John Ford. His lunatic turn in the latter film as Lee Marvin’s character’s insanely sadistic henchman, gleefully giggling in anticipation of each horrendous atrocity, remains a particularly memorable performance. Martin also excelled in comedy, playing an incompetent “Indian agent” in the Wayne film, McClintock (1963). By the late 1960s, Martin was almost as well-known a figure as many top-billed stars. Martin appeared in all three of the classic Westerns released in 1969: Sam Peckinpah‘s The Wild Bunch (as Coffer, a bloodthirsty bounty hunter); George Roy Hill‘s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (as Percy Garris, the “colorful” Bolivian mine boss who hires the two title characters); and Henry Hathaway‘s True Grit (as Colonel Stonehill, a horse dealer). He appeared six times each with both Wayne and Newman.

The Final Footprint – His widow, Helen Meisels-Martin, died in 1997, and her ashes were inurned with Martin’s in Court of Remembrance, Columbarium of Radiant Dawn, at Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn, in North Hollywood, California. Other notable final footprints at Hollywood Hills include; Gene Autry, Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, David Carradine, Scatman Crothers, Bette Davis, Sandra Dee, Ronnie James Dio, Michael Clarke Duncan, Carrie Fisher, Bobby Fuller, Andy Gibb, Michael Hutchence, Jill Ireland, Al Jarreau, Buster Keaton, Lemmy Kilmister, Jack LaLanne, Nicolette Larson, Liberace, Jayne Meadows, Ricky Nelson, Bill Paxton, Brock Peters, Freddie Prinze, Lou Rawls, Debbie Reynolds, Telly Savalas, Lee Van Cleef, and Paul Walker.

#RIP #OTD in 1981 playwright, screenwriter (Marty, Paint Your Wagon, The Hospital, Network), novelist Paddy Chayefsky died from cancer in New York City, aged 58. Sharon Gardens Division of Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York

RIP #OTD in 2009, model, businesswoman, author, one of the first African-American supermodels, the first African-American model to appear on the covers of Ladies’ Home Journaland Life, Naomi Sims died of breast cancer, aged 61, in Newark, New Jersey. Her final footprint has been kept cprivate by her estate and surviving family

#RIP #OTD in 2015 singer (“Anyone Who Had a Heart”, “You’re My World”), English television presenter Cilla Black died at her holiday home in Estepona, Spain from a stroke following a fall, aged 72. Allerton Cemetery in Allerton, Liverpool, England

#RIP #OTD in 2020, US Marine Corps Veteran, actor (The China Syndrome, The Electric Horseman, Absence of Malice, The Thing, Tender Mercies, The Natural, Cocoon, The Firm) Wilford Brimley died in St. George, Utah, age 85. Cremation

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Posted in Cowboy Footprints, Day in History, Film Footprints, Military Footprints | Tagged Allerton Cemetery, anjelica huston, Buffalo Bill Cody, buffalo bills wild west show, buffalo girls, Buried, calamity jane, Cemetery, Cilla Black, cleopatra, cool hand luke, Cremation, deadwood, ellen barkin, failure to communicate, Forest Lawn Memorial Park Hollywood Hills, frances farmer, Ground Burial, History, jeff bridges, John Wayne, julius caesar, Kensico Cemetery, Kurt Cobain, Larry McMurtry, mark antony, marlon brando, martha jane cannary, Monument, mount moriah cemetery, Naomi sims, oaklawn memorial gardens, octavian, Paddy Chayefsky, Paul Newman, roman, Rome, shakespeare, strother martin, taposiris magna, Theodore Roethke, what weve got here, wild bill, Wild Bill Hickok, Wilford Brimley | 1 Comment

On this day 31 July deaths of Franz Liszt – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – Jim Reeves – Gore Vidal – Michael Ansara – Jeanne Moreau – Bill Russell – Flaco Jimenez

Posted on 29 JulamFri, 31 Jul 2026 00:57:00 -05002026-07-31T00:57:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1886, composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, music teacher, arranger, and organist of the Romantic era Franz Liszt died Bayreuth, Germany, on 31 July 1886, at the age of 74, officially as a result of pneumonia. Born on 22 October 1811 in . In my opinion, he is one of the greatest pianists of all time. He was also a writer, philanthropist, Hungarian nationalist, and Franciscan tertiary.

Liszt gained renown in Europe during the early nineteenth century for his skill as a pianist. He was a friend, musical promoter and benefactor to many composers of his time, including Frédéric Chopin, Charles-Valentin Alkan, Richard Wagner, Hector Berlioz, Robert Schumann, Camille Saint-Saëns, Edvard Grieg, Ole Bull, Joachim Raff, Mikhail Glinka, and Alexander Borodin^.

A prolific composer, Liszt was one of the most prominent representatives of the New German School (German: Neudeutsche Schule). He left behind a body of work which influenced his forward-looking contemporaries and anticipated 20th-century ideas and trends. Among Liszt’s musical contributions were the symphonic poem, developing thematic transformation as part of his experiments in musical form, and radical innovations in harmony.

Liszt said; “I carry a deep sadness of the heart which must now and then break out in sound.”

The Final footprint

He was buried on 3 August 1886, in Alter Friedhof, the municipal cemetery of Bayreuth evidently, against his wishes.

On this day in 1944 French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry disappeared on a reconnaissance flight over the Mediterranean off the coast of Marseille at the age of 44. Born Antoine Jean-Baptiste Marie Roger de Saint Exupéry on 29 June 1900 in Lyon, France. Perhaps best remembered for his novella The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince). He was a successful commercial pilot before World War II. He joined the Armée de l’Air (French Air Force) on the outbreak of war, flying reconnaissance missions until the armistice with Germany. Saint-Exupéry was married to Consuelo Suncín Sandoval Zeceña (1931-1944 his death).

The Final Footprint – An unidentifiable body wearing French colors was found several days after his disappearance east of the Frioul archipelago south of Marseille and buried in Carqueiranne, France. His memorial was established at Les Invalides in Paris. Les Invalides, or L’Hôtel national des Invalides (The National Residence of the Invalids), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building’s original purpose. The buildings house the Musée de l’Armée, the military museum of the Army of France, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, and the Musée d’Histoire Contemporaine, as well as the burial site for some of France’s war heroes, notably Napoleon. A quote from The Little Prince is inscribed on the sculpture erected to honour James Dean in Cholame, California —”What is essential is invisible to the eye.”

On this day in 1964, singer-songwriter, Gentleman Jim, Jim Reeves died at the age of 40 in the crash of a private plane northeast of Brentwood, Tennessee approximately at the junction of Baxter Lane and Franklin Pike Circle, just east of Interstate 65, and southwest of Nashville International Airport. Born James Travis Reeves on 20 August 1923 in Galloway, Texas. With records charting from the 1950’s to the 1980’s, Reeves became well known as a practitioner of the Nashville sound (a mixture of older country-style music with elements of popular music). He is a member of both the Country Music and Texas Country Music Halls of Fame.

The Final Footprint – Thousands of people traveled to pay their last respects at his funeral two days later. The coffin, draped in flowers from fans, was driven through the streets of Nashville and then to Reeves’ final resting place near Carthage, Texas at what is now the Jim Reeves Memorial Park.

On this day in 2012, writer known for his essays, novels, screenplays, and Broadway plays, Gore Vidal died at his home in Hollywood Hills, California of complications from pneumonia at the age of 86. Born Eugene Louis Vidal in West Point, New York. As a well-known public intellectual, he was known for his patrician manner and witty aphorisms. Vidal was a lifelong Democrat; he ran for political office twice and was a longtime political commentator. As well known for his essays as his novels, Vidal wrote for The Nation, New Statesman, the New York Review of Books and Esquire. He was also known for his well-publicized spats with such figures as Norman Mailer, William F. Buckley, Jr., and Truman Capote. His most widely regarded social novel was Myra Breckinridge; his best known historical novels included Julian, Burr, and Lincoln. His third novel, The City and the Pillar (1948), outraged conservative critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality. Vidal always rejected the terms of “homosexual” and “heterosexual” as inherently false, claiming that the vast majority of individuals had the potential to be pansexual. His screenwriting credits included the epic historical drama Ben-Hur (1959), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. At the time of his death, he was the last of a generation of American writers who had served during World War II, including J. D. Salinger, Kurt Vonnegut, Mailer, and Joseph Heller. Perhaps best remembered for his caustic wit, he has been described as the 20th century’s answer to Oscar Wilde. Vidal had affairs with both men and women. The novelist Anaïs Nin claimed an involvement with Vidal in her memoir The Diary of Anaïs Nin but Vidal denied it in his memoir Palimpsest. Vidal also discussed having dalliances with people such as actress Diana Lynn, and alluded to the possibility that he may have a daughter. He was briefly engaged to Joanne Woodward, before she married Paul Newman; after eloping, the couple shared a house with Vidal in Los Angeles for a short time. In 1950, he met his long-term partner Howard Austen. Vidal once reported that the secret to his lengthy relationship with Austen was that they did not have sex with each other: “It’s easy to sustain a relationship when sex plays no part and impossible, I have observed, when it does.” He also said; “Love is not my bag. I was debagged at 25. So I turned to sex and art; perfectly acceptable substitutes.”

The Final Footprint – Vidal was interred next to Austen in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Other notable final footprints at Rock Creek include; Tim Russert and Upton Sinclair.

#RIP #OTD in 2013 actor (Cochise in Broken Arrow series, Kane in Buck Rogers series, Commander Kang in Star Trek: The Original Series) Michael Ansara died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease at his home in Calabasas CA, aged 91. Forest Lawn Memorial Park Hollywood Hills

Jeanne Moreau

On this day in 2017, actrss, singer, screenwriter, and director Jeanne Moreau died in Paris at the age of 89. Born 23 January 1928 in Paris. She won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for Seven Days… Seven Nights (1960), the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress for Viva Maria! (1965), and the César Award for Best Actress for The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea (1992). She was also the recipient of several lifetime awards, including a BAFTA Fellowship in 1996.

Moreau made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française. She began playing small roles in films in 1949, with impressive performances in the Fernandel vehicle Meurtres? (Three Sinners, 1950) and alongside Jean Gabin as a showgirl/gangster’s moll in the film Touchez pas au grisbi (1954). She achieved prominence as the star of Elevator to the Gallows (1958), directed by Louis Malle, and Jules et Jim (1962), directed by François Truffaut. Most prolific during the 1960s, Moreau continued to appear in films into her 80s.

She formerly was married to Jean-Louis Richard (1949–1964) and then to American film director William Friedkin (1977–1979). Director Tony Richardson left his wife Vanessa Redgrave for her in 1967 but they never married. She also had affairs with directors Louis Malle and François Truffaut, fashion designer Pierre Cardin, jazz trumpeter Miles Davis and Theodoros Roubanis, the Greek actor/playboy.

The Final Footprint

Cimetière de Montmartre in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. Officially known as the Cimitière du Nord, it is the third largest necropolis in Paris, after the Père Lachaise cemetery and the Montparnasse cemetery. Other notable final footprints at Montmartre include; Hector Berlioz, Dalida, Edgar Degas, Alexandre Dumas fils, Marie Duplessis, Théophile Gautier, Gustave Moreau, Henri Murger, Jacques Offenbach, François Truffaut, and Alfred de Vigny.

#RIP #OTD in 2022 professional basketball, center for the Boston Celtics, 11x NBA Champion Bill Russell died at his Mercer Island, Washington, home at the age of 88. Lake View Cemetery, Seattle, Washington

RIP #OTD in 2025, singer-songwriter, accordionist, member of the Texas Tornados ((Hey Baby) Que Pasó?) and Los Super Seven, the Father of Conjunto Music, Flaco Jimenez died following a long illness in San Antonio, aged 86. His family held a private funeral service and chose to keep his final footprint confidential

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Posted in Day in History, Literary Footprints, Military Footprints, Musical Footprints | Tagged anais nin, Antoine de Saint Exupéry, Bill Russell, Flaco Jimenez, forest lawn hollywood hills, franz liszt, gore vidal, James Dean, jeanne moreau, jim reeves, jim reeves memorial park, joanne woodward, Lake View Cemetery, Les Invalides, memorial, Michael Ansara, norman mailer, Oscar Wilde, Paul Newman, riptff, rock creek cemetery, tff, the final footprint, The Little Prince, truman capote, William F Buckley Jr, World War II | 2 Comments

On this day 30 July – USS Indianapolis (CA-35) deaths of Jimmy Hoffa – Lane Frost – Claudette Colbert – Sam Phillips – Ingmar Bergman – Lynn Anderson – Nichelle Nichols

Posted on 29 JulamThu, 30 Jul 2026 00:36:00 -05002026-07-30T00:36:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1945, shortly after delivering critical parts for the first atomic bomb to be used in combat to the United States air base at Tinian in the North Marianas Islands in the Pacific, the U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58 and sank in 12 minutes. Of 1,196 crewmen aboard, approximately 300 went down with the ship. The remaining crew faced exposure, dehydration and shark attacks as they waited for assistance while floating with few lifeboats and almost no food or water. The Navy learned of the sinking when survivors were spotted four days later by the crew of a PV-1 Ventura on routine patrol. Only 316 sailors survived. It was the greatest single loss of life at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy. Indianapolis earned 10 battle stars for World War II service.

The Final Footprint– The USS Indianapolis National Memorial was dedicated on 2 August 1995. It is located on the Canal Walk in Indianapolis. The heavy cruiser is recreated in limestone and granite and sits adjacent to the downtown canal. The crewmembers’ names are listed on the monument, with special notations for those who lost their lives. References to the Indianapolis sinking and aftermath have been adapted to film, stage, television, and popular culture. The incident itself was the subject of 1991 made-for-television movie Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, with Stacey Keach portraying Captain Charles Butler McVay III. My favorite fictional reference to the event occurs in the Steven Spielberg film Jaws (1975) in a monologue by actor Robert Shaw, whose character Sam Quint is depicted as a survivor of the Indianapolis sinking.

On this day in 1975, labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa disappeared in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. And on this day in 1982, he was declared dead in absentia. Born James Riddle Hoffa on 14 February 1913 in Brazil, Indiana. Hoffa was involved with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters from 1932 to 1975, first as an organizer, then as the president from 1958 to 1971. He had ties to organized crime, and he went to jail in 1967 on a 13-year sentence for jury tampering, attempted bribery, and fraud. He did not resign his Teamsters presidency, though, until he made a deal with President Nixon in 1971. Nixon commuted his sentence, in exchange for Hoffa’s agreement to stay away from union activities until 1980. Not surprisingly, the Teamsters Union supported Nixon in his 1972 re-election campaign. Hoffa was not happy with the arrangement, but he had lost the support of the Teamsters and the Mafia, and Nixon’s restrictions were probably due to a request by senior union officials. Hoffa told friends he was going to meet with two Mafia leaders at the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Township. When he didn’t return by late that evening, his wife called the police, who found his car in the parking lot, but no sign of Hoffa.

The Final Footprint – His final resting place could be in the foundation of Giants Stadium or in the foundation of the Renaissance Center in Detroit.

On this day in 1989, professional bull rider and Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) member, Lane Frost died in the arena at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo as a result of injuries sustained riding the bull Takin’ Care of Business, at the age of 25. Born Lane Clyde Frost on 12 October 1963 in La Junta, Colorado. He was the 1987 World Champion of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and a 1990 ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee. He was the only rider to score qualified rides from the 1987 World Champion and 1990 ProRodeo Hall of Fame bull Red Rock.

The Final Footprint – Frost is buried next to his hero and mentor Warren Granger “Freckles” Brown at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Hugo, Oklahoma. After Lane’s death, Cody Lambert, one of his traveling partners, and a founder of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), created the protective vest that all professional cowboys now must wear when riding bulls. In 1994, the biopic movie based on Frost’s life, 8 Seconds, was released. Luke Perry portrayed Frost in the movie. Lane’s best friend Tuff Hedeman was played by Stephen Baldwin. Lane’s memory has been honored in many ways. The medical team for the PBR league is named after Frost, as is the Lane Frost/Brent Thurman Award, given for the highest scoring ride at the PBR World Finals. The Lane Frost Health and Rehabilitation Center in Hugo, Oklahoma is dedicated to his memory. Garth Brooks paid tribute to Frost in his music video for the hit single “The Dance”, as did Randy Schmutz in the song “A Smile Like That.” Also, Texas country music artist Aaron Watson recorded the song “July in Cheyenne” as a tribute to Frost. In addition, the song “Red Rock” by The Smokin’ Armadillos is about Lane, and he is also mentioned at the end of Korn’s “Hold On” music video. Frost was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado in August 1990 and the PBR Ring of Honor in 1999, as well as the Cheyenne Frontier Days Hall of Fame, the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, and the Oklahoma Sports Museum.

#RIP #OTD in 1996 (It Happened One Night, Cleopatra, The Palm Beach Story) Claudette Colbert died in Speightstown, Barbados, aged 92. Cremated remains Godings Bay Church Cemetery, Speightstown

On this day in 2003, businessman, record executive, record producer, DJ, label owner, and talent scout throughout the 1940s and 1950s, founder of Sun Studios and Sun Records in Memphis, Sam Phillips died in Memphis at the age of 80. Born Samuel Cornelius Phillips on 5 January 1923 in Florence, Alabama. Through Sun, Phillips discovered such recording talent as Howlin’ Wolf, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. The height of his success culminated in his launching of Elvis’ career in 1954.

The Final Footprint – Phillips is entombed in the mausoleum Garden of Trees in Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis. Another notable final footprints at Memorial Park include; Bobby Blue Bland, Isaac Hayes, Charlie Rich, and Bob Welch.

#RIP #OTD 2007 film director (The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Persona, Cries and Whispers, Scenes from a Marriage, Autumn Sonata), screenwriter, producer, playwright Ingmar Bergman died in his sleep at his home on the island of Fårö, Sweden, aged 89. Fårö Church

On this day in 2015 singer Lynn Anderson died at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville from a heart attack at the age of 67. Born Lynn Rene Anderson on September 26, 1947 in . Perhaps best known for a string of hits from the late 1960s to the 1980s, most notably “Rose Garden” (1970 written by Joe South). Anderson’s crossover appeal and regular exposure on national television helped her become one of country music’s first female superstars in the early 1970s; taking the genre to venues around the world that previously had not been receptive. In 1970, she became the first female country star to appear on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Anderson was among the most highly awarded female country recording artists of her era.

Anderson charted 12 No. 1, 18 Top 10, and more than 50 Top 40 hit singles. In addition to being named “Top Female Vocalist” by the Academy of Country Music (ACM) twice and “Female Vocalist of the Year” by the Country Music Association (CMA), she also won a Grammy Award (earning seven nominations), People’s Choice Award and an American Music Award (AMA). Record World, one of three major industry trade magazines at the time (Billboard and Cashbox the other two), named Lynn Anderson ‘Artist of the Decade’ for 1970-80. Additionally, Anderson was the first female country artist to win the American Music Award (1974), as well as the first to headline and sellout Madison Square Garden that same year. She continued to record and remained a popular concert draw until her death, regularly headlining major casino showrooms, performing arts centers, and theaters.

Anderson was married to Grammy Award-winning songwriter Glenn Sutton from 1968 to 1977. In 1978, she married Louisiana oil tycoon Harold “Spook” Stream III. At the time of her death she had been in a relationship for 26 years with songwriter and producer Mentor Williams.

The Final Footprint

She is entombed at Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Nashville near her mother and father. In 2018, Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery, often referred to as “Cemetery of Country Stars,” created “The Lynn Anderson Rose Garden,” consisting of 200 Lynn Anderson Hybrid Rose Bushes (named for the singer by the National Rose Society of America), as a place of reflection and meditation, in honor of Anderson’s signature song. Other notable final footprints at Woodlawn include; Eddy Arnold, Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, Red Foley, Dobie Gray, George Jones, Johnny Paycheck, Webb Pierce, Marty Robbins, Jerry Reed, Dan Seals, Red Sovine, Porter Wagoner, and Tammy Wynette.

#RIP #OTD in 2022 actress, singer, dancer, Uhura in Star Trek, Nichelle Nichols died of heart failure in Silver City, New Mexico, at the age of 89. Cremated remains launched into space

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Posted in Cowboy Footprints, Day in History, Infamous Footprints, Military Footprints, Musical Footprints | Tagged atomic bomb, battle stars, captain charles butler mcvay III, carl perkins, Claudette Colbert, cremated remains, Cremation, elvis, garth brooks, Godings Bay Church Cemetery, heavy cruiser, howlin wolf, Ingmar Bergman, jaws, jerry lee lewis, jimmy hoffa, Johnny Cash, lane frost, luke perry, Mafia, memorial, memorial park cemetery, Mount Olivet Cemetery, national memorial, nichelle nichols, prca, quint, riptff, robert shaw, sam phillips, stephen baldwin, steven spielberg, teamsters union, tff, the final footprint, torpedoed, tuff hedeman, uss indianapolis, uss indianapolis national memorial, World War II | Leave a comment

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On this day 8 August death of Mourning Dove – Shirley Jackson – Louise Brooks – Fay Wray – Barbara Bel Geddes – Patricia Neal – Karen Black – Glen Campbell – Olivia Newton-John – Sixto Rodriguez

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

On this day 7 August death of Rabindranath Tagore – Oliver Hardy – Joi Lansing – Rosario Castellanos – Grayson Hall – Roger E. Mosley – William Friedkin

The Final Footprint

On this day 6 August deaths of Diego Velázquez – Memphis Minnie – Rick James – John Hughes – Marvin Hamlisch – Pete Fountain – Anya Krugovoy Silver

On this day 5 August deaths of Carmen Miranda – Richard Burton – Alec Guinness – Toni Morrison

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

On this day 4 August deaths of Hans Christian Andersen – Marilyn Monroe – Little Milton – Lee Hazlewood

On this day 3 August deaths of Joseph Conrad – Colette – Flannery O’Connor – Lenny Bruce – Carolyn Jones – Beryl Markham – Ida Lupino – Henri Cartier-Bresson – Mark Margolis – Loni Anderson

On this day 2 August deaths of Wild Bill Hickok – Louise-Victorine Ackermann – Enrico Caruso – Pietro Mascagni – Wallace Stevens – Thurman Munson – Raymond Carver – Norman Maclean – Willie Morris – Vin Scully

On this day 1 August deaths of Mark Antony – Calamity Jane – Theodore Roethke – University of Texas Tower Shooting – Frances Farmer – Strother Martin – Paddy Chayefsky – Naomi Sims – Cilla Black – Wilford Brimley

On this day 31 July deaths of Franz Liszt – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – Jim Reeves – Gore Vidal – Michael Ansara – Jeanne Moreau – Bill Russell – Flaco Jimenez

The Final footprint

The Final Footprint

On this day 30 July – USS Indianapolis (CA-35) deaths of Jimmy Hoffa – Lane Frost – Claudette Colbert – Sam Phillips – Ingmar Bergman – Lynn Anderson – Nichelle Nichols

The Final Footprint

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