On this day in 1519, daughter of Pope Alexander VI, Lady of Pesaro and Gradara, Duchess of Bisceglie and Princess of Salerno, Duchess of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, Lucrezia Borgia died in Ferrara, Italy at the age of 39 from complications after giving birth to her eighth child, having had a lifelong history of complicated pregnancies and miscarriages. Born in Subiaco, near Rome on 18 April 1480. Her mother was Vannozza dei Cattanei, one of the mistresses of Lucrezia’s father, Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI). Her brothers included Cesare Borgia, Giovanni Borgia, and Gioffre Borgia. Lucrezia’s family later came to epitomize the ruthless Machiavellian politics and sexual corruption characteristic of the Renaissance Papacy. Lucrezia was cast as a femme fatale, a role she has been portrayed as in many artworks, novels, films and an opera. Very little is known of Lucrezia, and the extent of her complicity in the political machinations of her father and brothers is unclear. They certainly arranged several marriages for her to important or powerful men in order to advance their own political ambitions. Lucrezia was married to Giovanni Sforza (Lord of Pesaro), Alfonso of Aragon (Duke of Bisceglie), and Alfonso I d’Este (Duke of Ferrara). Tradition has it that Alfonso of Aragon was an illegitimate son of the King of Naples and that Lucrezia’s brother Cesare may have had him murdered after his political value waned.
The Final Footprint – Lucrezia was entombed in the convent of Corpus Domini. On 15 October 1816, the Romantic poet Lord Byron visited the Ambrosian Library of Milan. He was delighted by the letters between Borgia and her one-time lover, poet Pietro Bembo (“The prettiest love letters in the world”) and claimed to have managed to steal a lock of her hair (“the prettiest and fairest imaginable”) held on display. Victor Hugo’s 1833 stage play Lucrèce Borgia, loosely based on the stories of Lucrezia, was transformed into a libretto by Felice Romani for Donizetti’s opera, Lucrezia Borgia (1834), first performed at La Scala, Milan, 26 December 1834.
#RIP #OTD in 1909 novelist, short story writer (The Country of the Pointed Firs), poet, Sarah Orne Jewett died in her South Berwick, Maine from a stroke aged 59. Portland Street Cemetery, South Berwick, Maine
#RIP #OTD in 1933 soprano, called “The Black Patti” in reference to Italian opera singer Adelina Patti, Sissieretta
Jones died from cancer at the Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island aged 64-65. Grace Church Cemetery, Providence
#OTD #RIP in 1935 French-born Argentine singer, songwriter, composer and actor, the most prominent figure in the history of tango, «El Zorzal”, “The King of Tango” Carlos Gardel died in an airplane crash in Medellín, Columbia, aged 44. La Chacarita Cemetery in Buenos Aires
On this day in 1987 comedian, actor and musician Jackie Gleason died at his home in Lauderhill, Florida at the age of 71. Born Herbert Walton Gleason, Jr. on 26 February 1916 in either Bushwick or Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Perhaps best known for his role on television as Ralph Kramden in The Honeymooners and for The Jackie Gleason Show (1952-1970). His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The Hustler (1961) starring Paul Newman, and as Buford T. Justice in the Smokey and the Bandit movie series. Gleason married three times; Genevieve Halford (1936-1970 divorce), Beverly McKittrick (1970-1975 divorce) and Marilyn Taylor (1975-1987 his death). His trademark phrases were “And away we go!” and “How sweet it is!”. In my opinion, The Honymooners is, without question, the “Bang, Zoom” funniest show that ever aired on television. And I will stand on Jerry Seinfeld’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that. I remember watching The Jackie Gleason Show as a kid. Gleason was hilarious in Smokey and the Bandit.
The Final Footprint – Gleason is entombed in a private mausoleum in Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery in Miami, Florida. Engraved at the base of the mausoleum is his epitaph; “AND AWAY WE GO”. A life-size statue of Gleason, in full uniform as bus driver Ralph Kramden, stands outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City. Another statue stands at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame in North Hollywood, California, showing Gleason in his famous “And away we go!” pose. Local signs on the Brooklyn Bridge, which indicate to drivers that they are entering Brooklyn, have the Gleason phrase “How Sweet It Is!” as part of the sign.
On this day in 2014, actor, graduate of the University of Texas, Eli Wallach died of natural causes at the age of 98 in Manhattan. Born Eli Herschel Wallach on 7 December 1915 in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Wallach’s career spanned more than six decades, beginning in the late 1940s. On stage, he often co-starred with his wife, Anne Jackson, becoming one of the best-known acting couples in the American theater. Wallach initially studied method acting under Sanford Meisner, and later became a founding member of the Actors Studio, where he studied under Lee Strasberg. His versatility gave him the ability to play a wide variety of different roles throughout his career, primarily as a supporting actor.
For his debut screen performance in Baby Doll, he won a BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer and a Golden Globe Award nomination. Among his other most famous roles are; Calvera in The Magnificent Seven (1960), Guido in The Misfits (1961), and Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), Don Altobello in The Godfather Part III, Cotton Weinberger in The Two Jakes (both 1990), and Arthur Abbott in The Holiday (2006). One of America’s most prolific screen actors, Wallach remained active well into his nineties, with roles as recently as 2010 in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and The Ghost Writer.
Wallach received BAFTA Awards, Tony Awards and Emmy Awards for his work, and received an Academy Honorary Award at the second annual Governors Awards, presented on November 13, 2010. Wallach and Jackson were married from 1948 until his death.
The Final Footprint – Wallach was cremated.
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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.
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.
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.
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).
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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.
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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.
On this day in 1974, poet and author Rosario Castellanos died 
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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)..jpg)
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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.
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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 2019, 
The Final Footprint – O’Connor was interred in Milledgeville, at Memory Hill Cemetery.
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.
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.
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.
