On this day in 1842, writer Stendhal died in Paris at the age of 59. Born Marie-Henri Beyle on 23 January 1783 in Grenoble. Perhaps best known for the novels Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black, 1830) and La Chartreuse de Parme (The Charterhouse of Parma, 1839), he is highly regarded for the acute analysis of his characters’ psychology and considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism.
Stendhal was a dandy and wit about town in Paris, as well as an obsessive womaniser. His genuine empathy towards women is evident in his books; Simone de Beauvoir spoke highly of him in The Second Sex. One of his early works is On Love, a rational analysis of romantic passion that was based on his unrequited love for Mathilde, Countess Dembowska, whom he met while living at Milan. This fusion of, and tension between, clear-headed analysis and romantic feeling is typical of Stendhal’s great novels; he could be considered a Romantic realist.
The Final Footprint
He is interred in the Cimetière de Montmartre. Other notable final footprints at Montmartre include; Hector Berlioz, Dalida, Edgar Degas, Léo Delibes, Alexandre Dumas, fils, Marie Duplessis, Theophile Gautier, Gustave Moreau, Henri Murger, Jacques Offenbach, Francis Picabia, François Truffaut, Horace Vernet, and Alfred de Vigny.
#RIP #OTD in 1910 photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist, balloonist,Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, known by the pseudonym Nadar, died in Paris, aged 89. Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris
#RIP #OTD in 1964 actor (M, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Arsenic and Old Lace, Tales of Terror), Peter Lorre died from a stroke in Los Angeles aged 59. Cremated remains inurned at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
#RIP #OTD in 1994 film actress (La Strada, Le notti di Cabiria) Giulietta Masina died from cancer in Rome, aged 73. Entomed with her husband Federico Fellini at Rimini cemetery marked by a monument by sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro. “La Strada” by Nino Rota was played per her wishes
On this day in 2006, singer and songwriter Cindy Walker died at the Parkview Regional Hospital in Mexia, Texas at the age of 87. Born July 20, 1918 in Mart, Texas. As a songwriter Walker was responsible for a large number of popular and enduring songs recorded by many different artists.
She adopted a craftsman-like approach to her songwriting, often tailoring particular songs to specific recording artists. She had Top 10 hits spread over five decades.
Walker was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1997 and inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame in March 2011.
The Final Footprint
She died nine days after Willie Nelson’s tribute album was released. She was buried in the Mexia City Cemetery. Her family had a custom-designed sculpture created for her gravestone to honor the songwriter and her work. The memorial sculpture is a large pink-granite guitar (in her signature color).
On this day in 2011, multiple Academy Award nominated actress and two-time winner, social activist, champion of AIDS awareness, Liz, Elizabeth Taylor, died from congestive heart failure in Los Angeles at the age of 79. Born Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor on 27 February 1932 in Hampstead Garden Suburb, London. My all-time favorite movie in which she appeared was George Steven‘s epic Giant (1956) based on the Edna Ferber novel and starring Rock Hudson and James Dean. My other favorites include; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) based on the Tennesse Williams play and co-starring Paul Newman; Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) based on the Williams play and co-starring Katharine Hepburn and Montgomery Clift; Cleopatra (1963) co-starring Richard Burton; Relections in a Golden Eye (1967) based on the novel by Carson McCullers and co-starring Marlon Brando. In 1959, Taylor converted from Christian Science to Judaism. Taylor was married eight times to seven men; Conrad Hilton, Jr. (1950-1951 divorce), Michael Wilding (1952-1957 divorce), Mike Todd (1957-1958 his death), Eddie Fisher (1959-1964 divorce), Richard Burton (1964-1974 divorce, 1975-1976 divorce), John Warner (1976-1982 divorce) and Larry Fortensky (1991-1996 divorce). Taylor married Fortensky at Michal Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. Taylor attended Jackson’s private funeral. Long Live Liz!
The Final Footprint – Taylor was entombed in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, the day after her death in accordance with Jewish custom. The Great Mausoleum was fashioned after Campo Santo in Genoa, Italy and contains many of the most highly sought after final resting spaces within Forest Lawn Glendale. Within the Great Mausoleum is the Court of Honor where individuals are inducted as “Immortals” by Forest Lawn’s Council of Regents and the structure is protected by guards and is not accessible by the public. Time Magazine described it as the “New World’s Westminster Abbey”. Other notable Final Footprints at Forest Lawn Glendale include; L. Frank Baum, Humphrey Bogart, Lon Chaney, Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole, Sam Cooke, Dorothy Dandridge, Walt, Disney, Don Drysdale, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Michael Jackson, Louis L’Amour, Lash LaRue, Carole Lombard, Ida Lupino, Tom Mix, Merle Oberon, Red Skelton, Casey Stengel, Jimmy Stewart, Spencer Tracy, and Bobby Womack.
#OTD #RIP in 2021 actor (Ship of Fools, King Rat, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), comedian and musician (banjo), George Segal died of complications from bypass surgery in Santa Rosa, California, at age 87. Cremation
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