On this day in 1625, King of Scots James VI and King of England as James I, died at Theobalds House, England at the age of 58. Born on 19 June 1566 at Edinburgh Castle. As the eldest son and heir apparent of the monarchy he automatically became Duke of Rothesay and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland. James was baptised “Charles James” on 17 December 1566 in a Catholic ceremony held at Stirling Castle. He became King of Scotland when he was just thirteen months old on 24 July 1567, succeeding his mother Mary, Queen of Scots, who had been compelled to abdicate in his favour. In 1603, he succeeded the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland, Elizabeth I, who died without issue. He then ruled England, Scotland, and Ireland for 22 years, often using the title King of Great Britain. Under James, the “Golden Age” of Elizabethan literature and drama continued, with writers such as William Shakespeare, John Donne, Ben Jonson, and Sir Francis Bacon contributing to a flourishing literary culture. Sir Anthony Weldon claimed that James had been termed “the wisest fool in Christendom”, an epithet associated with his character ever since. James was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Both Mary and Darnley were great-grandchildren of Henry VII of England through Margaret Tudor, the older sister of Henry VIII. James was the first cousin twice removed Elizabeth I. Mary’s rule over Scotland was insecure, for both she and her husband, being Roman Catholics, faced a rebellion by Protestant noblemen. James married the fourteen-year-old Anne of Denmark, younger daughter of the Protestant King of Denmark Frederick II. The couple were married formally at the Bishop’s Palace in Oslo on 23 November 1589 and, after stays at Elsinore and Copenhagen, returned to Scotland in May 1590. The stability of James’s government in Scotland and in the early part of his English reign, as well as his relatively enlightened views on religion and war, have earned him a positive evaluation from many recent historians.
The Final Footprint – James was entombed in Westminster Abbey. Bishop John Williams of Lincoln preached the sermon, observing, “King Solomon died in Peace, when he had lived about sixty years … and so you know did King James”. “As he lived in peace,” remarked the Earl of Kellie, “so did he die in peace, and I pray God our king [Charles I] may follow him”. Other notable Final Footprints at Westminster include; Robert Browning, Lord Byron, Geoffrey Chaucer, Oliver Cromwell, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, John Dryden, Edward The Confessor, Elizabeth I, George II, George Friederic Handel, Stephen Hawking, Samuel Johnson, Ben Jonson, Charles II, Edward III, Edward VI, Henry III, Henry V, Henry VII, Richard II, Rudyard Kipling, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Milton, Isaac Newton, Laurence Olivier, Henry Purcell, Mary I, Mary II, Mary Queen of Scots, Thomas Shadwell, Edmund Spenser, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Dylan Thomas, and William III.
#RIP #OTD in 1997 adventurer, travel writer and photographer, as well as a sportswoman, Ella Maillart died in Chandolin, Switzerland aged 94. Cremated remains scattered over Calvary of Chandolin (photo with Annemarie Schwarzenbach)
On this day in 2002, actor, comedian, musician and composer Dudley Moore died from pneumonia caused by progressive supranuclear palsy in Plainfield, New Jersey at the age of 66. Born Dudley Stuart John Moore on 19 April 1935 in Charing Cross, London.
Moore first came to prominence in the UK as one of the four writer-performers in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe from 1960, and with one member of that team, Peter Cook, collaborated on the television series Not Only… But Also. The double act worked on other projects until the mid-1970s, by which time Moore had settled in Los Angeles to concentrate on his film acting.
His solo career as a comedy film actor was heightened by the success of hit Hollywood films, particularly Foul Play (1978), 10 (1979) and Arthur (1981). For Arthur, Moore was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won a Golden Globe Award. He received a second Golden Globe for his performance in Micki & Maude (1984).
Moore was married and divorced four times: to actresses Suzy Kendall, Tuesday Weld, Brogan Lane, and Nicole Rothschild.
Moore dated Susan Anton in the early 1980s, with a lot of talk being made of their height difference: Moore at 5 feet 2 1⁄2 inches (1.588 m) and Anton at 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m).
The Final Footprint
Moore died the same day as Milton Berle and Billy Wilder. His friend Rena Fruchter was holding his hand when he died, and she reported his final words were, “I can hear the music all around me”. Moore was interred at Hillside Cemetery in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. Fruchter later wrote a memoir of their relationship (Dudley Moore, Ebury Press, 2004).
Also on this day in 2002, comedian and actor Milton Berle died from colon cancer in Los Angeles at the age of 93. Born Mendel Berlinger on July 12, 1908 in New York City. Berle’s career as an entertainer spanned over 80 years, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and television. As the host of NBC’s Texaco Star Theater (1948–55), he was the first major American television star and was known to millions of viewers as “Uncle Miltie” and “Mr. Television” during TV’s golden age.
Berle and Ruth Cosgrove Berle, 1979.
After twice marrying and divorcing showgirl Joyce Mathews, Berle married publicist Ruth Cosgrove in 1953; she died in 1989. In 1989, Berle stated that his mother was behind the breakup of his marriages to Mathews. He also said that she managed to damage his previous relationships: “My mother never resented me going out with a girl, but if I had more than three dates with one girl, Mama found some way to break it up.” He married a fourth time in 1992 to Lorna Adams, a fashion designer 30 years his junior.
Berle’s autobiography contains many tales of his sexual exploits. He claimed relationships with numerous famous women, including actresses Marilyn Monroe and Betty Hutton, and columnist Dorothy Kilgallen.
The Final Footprint
Berle died the same day as Billy Wilder and Dudley Moore. Berle reportedly left arrangements to be buried with his wife, Ruth, at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Burbank, but his body was cremated and his cremains inurned at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City. Other notable Final Footprints at Hillside Memorial include; Jack Benny, Neil Bogart, Cyd Charisse, Percy Faith, Lorne Greene, Moe Howard, Al Jolson, Michael Landon, Leonard Nimoy, Suzanne Pleshette, Dinah Shore, Lupita Tovar, and Shelley Winters.
Studio publicity photo of Wilder and Gloria Swanson.
Also on this day in 2002, filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and artist Billy Wilder died from pneumonia at his home in Beverly Hills at the age of 95. Born Samuel Wilder on June 22, 1906 in Sucha Beskidzka, Galicia, Austria-Hungary. His career spanned more than five decades. In my opinion, he is one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood’s golden age. With The Apartment, Wilder became the first person to win Academy Awards as producer, director, and screenwriter for the same film.
Wilder became a screenwriter in the late 1920s while living in Berlin. After the rise of the Nazi Party, he left for Paris, where he made his directorial debut. He moved to Hollywood in 1933, and in 1939 he had a hit when he co-wrote the screenplay for the romantic comedy Ninotchka, starring Greta Garbo. Wilder established his directorial reputation with an adaption of James M. Cain’s Double Indemnity (1944), a film noir. Wilder co-wrote the screenplay with crime novelist Raymond Chandler. Wilder earned the Best Director and Best Screenplay Academy Awards for the adaptation of a Charles R. Jackson story The Lost Weekend(1945), about alcoholism. In 1950, Wilder co-wrote and directed the critically acclaimed Sunset Boulevard, as well as Stalag 17 in 1953.
From the mid-1950s on, Wilder made mostly comedies. Among the classics Wilder created in this period are the farces The Seven Year Itch (1955) and Some Like It Hot (1959), and satires such as The Apartment (1960). He directed fourteen different actors in Oscar-nominated performances. Wilder was recognized with the American Film Institute (AFI) Life Achievement Award in 1986. In 1988, Wilder was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. In 1993, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.
Wilder married Judith Coppicus on December 22, 1936. They divorced in 1946. Wilder met Audrey Young at Paramount Pictures on the set of The Lost Weekend in 1945, and she became his second wife on June 30, 1949.
The Final Footprint
He was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery (a Dignity® Memorial property) in Westwood, Los Angeles near Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Wilder died the same day as two comedy legends: Milton Berle and Dudley Moore. The next day, French newspaper Le Monde titled its first-page obituary, “Billy Wilder dies. Nobody’s perfect.” – quoting the final gag line in Some Like It Hot. Other notable final footprints at Westwood include; Ray Bradbury, Sammy Cahn, Truman Capote, James Coburn, Rodney Dangerfield, Farrah Fawcett, Eva Gabor, Hugh Hefner, Florence Henderson, Brian Keith, Gene Kelly, Don Knotts, Burt Lancaster, Peter Lawford, Peggy Lee, Janet Leigh, Jack Lemmon, Sondra Locke, Robert Loggia, Karl Malden, Dean Martin, Walter Mathau, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Montgomery, Carroll O’Connor, Roy Orbison, Bettie Page, Buddy Rich, George C. Scott, Dorothy Stratten, Joe Weider, Carl Wilson, Natalie Wood, and Frank Zappa.
.jpg)
#RIP #OTD in 2011 actor (Rope, Strangers on a Train) Farley Granger died of natural causes in his Manhattan apartment at age 85. Cremation
#RIP #OTD in 2012 poet, essayist and feminist Adrienne Rich died at the age of 82 in her Santa Cruz, California home from rheumatoid arthritis complications. Cremation
Have you planned yours yet?
Follow TFF on twitter @RIPTFF
