On this day in 1969, United States Navy veteran, actor Jeffrey Hunter died from a cerebral hemorrhage in Los Angeles at the age of 42. Born Henry Herman McKinnies, Jr. on 25 November 1926 in New Orleans. Hunter was cast as Martin Pawley in perhaps my all-time favorite movie, The Searchers (1956). The movie was directed by John Ford and starred John Wayne as Ethan Edwards and also featured; Vera Miles as Laurie Jorgensen, Ward Bond as Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnson Clayton, Natalie Wood as Debbie Edwards (older), and Ken Curtis as Charlie McCorry. The appeal of this movie spans generations; my oldest son is a fan. Hunter is also revered among Star Trek fans, myself included. He accepted the lead role of Captain Christopher Pike in “The Cage”, the first pilot episode of Star Trek. Hunter declined to film a second Star Trek pilot requested by NBC in 1965. Hunter was married three times; Barbara Rush (1950-1955 divorce), Joan Bartlett (1957-1967 divorce) and Emily McLaughlin (1969-1969 his death).
The Final Footprint – Hunter is interred in Glen Haven Memorial Park in Sylmar, California. His grave is marked by an individual flat bronze marker. His wife Emily, who played nurse Jessie Brewer on the soap opera General Hospital, was interred next to him following her death in 1991.
| Gregg Allman | |
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 performing in 1975 |
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On this day in 2017, singer, songwriter, musician, Gregg Allman died from liver cancer in Richmond Hill, Georgia at the age of 69. Born Gregory LeNoir Allman on December 8, 1947 in Nashville. Along with his brother Duane he founded the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Brothers Band fused it with rock music, jazz, and country at times. He wrote several of the band’s biggest songs, including “Whipping Post”, “Melissa”, and “Midnight Rider”. Allman also had a successful solo career, releasing seven studio albums. He was born and spent much of his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee, before relocating to Daytona Beach, Florida.
The Allman Brothers Band reached mainstream success with their 1971 live album At Fillmore East. Shortly thereafter, Duane was killed in a motorcycle crash. The band continued, with Brothers and Sisters (1973). Allman began a solo career with Laid Back the same year. He had a late career hit with the song “I’m No Angel” in 1987, and his seventh solo album, Low Country Blues (2011), saw the highest chart positions of his career. Throughout his life, Allman struggled with alcohol and substance abuse, which formed the basis of his memoir My Cross to Bear (2012). His final album, Southern Blood, was released posthumously on September 8, 2017.
Allman with then-wife Cher in 1975.
Allman was married seven times. He married Shelley Kay Jefts in 1971 and divorced the following year. He married Janice Blair in 1973 and divorced in 1974; she is pictured on the sleeve of Laid Back. His most well-known relationship was with Cher, whom he married in 1975. After their 1978 divorce, he wed Julie Bindas the following year, and divorced in 1981. He married Galliano in 1989, and they divorced in 1994. His longest marriage was to Stacey Fountain, from 2001 to 2008—”seven out-of-sight years,” he remarked. In My Cross to Bear, he writes that “Every woman I’ve ever had a relationship with has loved me for who they thought I was.” At the time of its writing, he noted that he only spoke to two out of his then-six wives, including Cher. In 2012, he announced his engagement to Shannon Williams, who was 40 years his junior. They were quietly married in February 2017.
The Final Footprint
His funeral took place at Snow’s Memorial Chapel in Macon on June 3, and was attended by once-estranged bandmate Dickey Betts, his ex-wife Cher, and former President Carter, among others. According to Rolling Stone, the mourners dressed casually in jeans per Allman’s request, and “hundreds of fans, many wearing Allman Brothers shirts and listening to the band’s music, lined the route along the funeral procession.” He was buried at Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, beside his brother Duane, and fellow band member Berry Oakley.
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