On this day in 1980 artist Tamara de Łempicka died in Cuernavaca, Mexico at the age of 81. Born Tamara Rozalia Gurwik-Górska on 16 May 1898 in Warsaw, Poland. She spent her working life in France and the United States. Perhaps best known for her polished Art Deco portraits of aristocrats and the wealthy, and for her highly stylized paintings of nudes.
Lempicka briefly moved to Saint Petersburg where she married a prominent Polish lawyer, then travelled to Paris. She studied painting with Maurice Denis and André Lhote. Her style was a blend of late, refined cubism and the neoclassical style, particularly inspired by the work of Jean-Dominique Ingres. She was an active participant in the artistic and social life of Paris between the Wars. In 1928 she became the mistress of Baron Raoul Kuffner, a wealthy art collector from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the death of his wife in 1933, the Baron married Lempicka in 1934, and thereafter she became known in the press as “The Baroness with a Brush”.
Following the outbreak of World War II in 1939, she and her husband moved to the United States and she painted celebrity portraits, as well as still lifes and, in the 1960s, some abstract paintings. Her work was out of fashion after World War II, but made a comeback in the late 1960s, with the rediscovery of Art Deco. She moved to Mexico in 1974.
Famous for her libido, Lempicka was bisexual. Her affairs with both men and women were conducted in ways that were considered scandalous at the time. She often used formal and narrative elements in her portraits, and her nude studies included themes of desire and seduction. In the 1920s, she became closely associated with lesbian and bisexual women in writing and artistic circles, among them Violet Trefusis, Vita Sackville-West, and Colette. She also became involved with Suzy Solidor, a nightclub singer at the Boîte de Nuit, whose portrait she later painted.
The Final Footprint
At her request, her cremated remains were scattered over the Popocatépetl volcano.
#RIP #OTD in 2008 film director, screenwriter (The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain), playwright Anthony Minghella died of a haemorrhage following neck cancer surgery in Charing Cross Hospital, Hammersmith, London, aged 54. Cremation
On this day in 2009, actress Natasha Richardson died at the age of 45 at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan from an epidural hematoma, after hitting her head in a skiing accident at the Mont Tremblant Resort in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada. Born Natasha Jane Richardson on 11 May 1963 in Marylebone, London. Richardson was a member of the Redgrave family, being the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director/producer Tony Richardson, and the granddaughter of Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson.
Early in her career, she portrayed Mary Shelley in Ken Russell’s Gothic (1986) and Patty Hearst in the eponymous 1988 film directed by Paul Schrader, and later received critical acclaim and a Theatre World Award for her Broadway debut in the 1993 revival of Anna Christie.
She won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical, and the Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance as Sally Bowles in the 1998 Broadway revival of Cabaret.
Other notable films included The Handmaid’s Tale (1990), Nell (1994), The Parent Trap (1998), and Maid in Manhattan (2002).
Richardson’s first marriage was to filmmaker Robert Fox, whom she had met in 1985, during the making of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull. They were married from 1990 to 1992. She married actor Liam Neeson in the summer of 1994, at the home they shared near Millbrook, New York.
The Final Footprint
Richardson’s family issued a statement the day of her death: “Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha. They are profoundly grateful for the support, love, and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.”
On 19 March 2009, theatre lights were dimmed on Broadway in New York City and in London’s West End as a mark of respect for Richardson. The following day, a private wake was held at the American Irish Historical Society in Manhattan. On March 22, 2009, a private funeral was held at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church near Millbrook, New York, close to the family’s upstate home, and Richardson was interred near her maternal grandmother Rachel Kempson in the churchyard. Richardson’s aunt, Lynn Redgrave, was buried in the same churchyard on May 8, 2010, near Richardson and Kempson.
On this day in 2010, U. S. Navy and Marine
Corp veteran, Texas Longhorn, actor and wine maker, Fess Parker, died at his home in Santa Ynez, California at the age of 85. Born Fess Elisha Parker, Jr. on 16 August 1924 in Fort Worth, Texas. Parker graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in history in 1950. Perhaps best known for his portrayals of Davy Crockett in the Walt Disney 1955 – 1956 television mini-series and as television’s Daniel Boone from 1964 – 1970. Parker founded and operated the Fess Parker Family Winery and Vineyards in Los Olivos, California. The wine labels have a logo of a golden coonskin cap and the winery sells coonskin caps. Parker was married once to Marcella Belle Rinehart (1960 – 2010 his death).
The Final Footprint – Parker is interred with is parents in Santa Barbara Cemetery in Santa Barbara, California. His grave is marked by and individual bronze marker with a coonskin emblem and the term of endearment; IN LOVING MEMORY. Other notable Final Footprints at Santa Barbara include; Laurence Harvey, Suzy Parker (no relation) and Kenneth Rexroth.
On this day in 2017, musician, singer, songwriter, rock and roll pioneer, Chuck Berry died at his home in St. Charles County, Missouri at the age of 90. Born Charles Edward Anderson Berry on October 18, 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri. With songs such as “Maybellene” (1955), “Roll Over Beethoven” (1956), “Rock and Roll Music” (1957) and “Johnny B. Goode” (1958), Berry refined and developed rhythm and blues into major elements that made rock and roll distinctive. Writing lyrics that focused on teen life and consumerism, and developing a music style that included guitar solos and showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent rock music.
By early 1953, influenced by the guitar riffs and showmanship techniques of the blues musician T-Bone Walker, Berry began performing with the Johnnie Johnson Trio. His break came when he traveled to Chicago in May 1955 and met Muddy Waters, who suggested he contact Leonard Chess, of Chess Records. With Chess, he recorded “Maybellene”—Berry’s adaptation of the country song “Ida Red”, which sold over a million copies, reaching number one on Billboard magazine’s rhythm and blues chart.
On October 28, 1948, Berry married Themetta “Toddy” Suggs.
Berry in a 1958 publicity photo
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Berry and his sister Lucy Ann (1965)
Berry as guest host of The Midnight Special in 1973
Berry performing at the 1997 Long Beach Blues Festival
Berry in 2008
The Final Footprint
Berry’s funeral was held on April 9, 2017, at The Pageant, in Berry’s hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. He was remembered in rock ‘n’ roll style with a public viewing by family, friends, and fans in The Pageant, a music club where he often performed, with his beloved cherry-red guitar bolted to the inside lid of the coffin and with flower arrangements that included one sent by the Rolling Stones in the shape of a guitar. Afterwards a private service was held in the club celebrating Berry’s life and musical career, with the Berry family inviting 300 members of the public into the service. Gene Simmons of KISS gave an impromptu, unadvertised eulogy at the service. The night before, many St. Louis area bars held a mass toast at 10 pm in Berry’s honor. Berry is entombed in a private mausoleum at Bellerive Heritage Gardens, Creve Coeur, St. Louis County, Missouri.
Berry in 1972
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