On this day 23 April death of Shakespeare – William Wordsworth – Rupert Brooke – Harold Arlen – Otto Preminger – Paulette Goddard – Cesar Chavez – Howard Cossell – P. L. Travers

On this day in 1616, poet and playwright, William Shakespeare died in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England at the age of 52.  Born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564.  His actual birthdate remains unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April, St George’s Day, which if right, would have him dying on the day he was born.  In my opinion, Shakespeare is the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist.  Few records of Shakespeare’s private life survive, which has fueled considerable speculation about his life including whether the works attributed to him were written by others.  Shakespeare was respected in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the 19th century.  The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare’s genius, and the Victorians worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called “bardolatry.”  Shakespeare was married to Anne Hathaway (1582-1616 his death).  I am a big, literally and figuratively, fan of the man.  His collected works would clearly make my list of a dozen favorite books.  My favorite plays are his tragedies;  Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth.  I often quote him in my writing and speech.  A few of the best;

And of course, the “To be, or not to be” solilioquy from Hamlet.

The Final Footprint – Shakespeare was entombed in the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon.  Reportedly, Shakespeare’s body is buried 20 feet deep to prevent its theft.  Above the grave a stone slab displays his epitaph:  GOOD FREND FOR IESUS SAKE FORBEARE, TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOASED HEARE.  BLESTE BE Y^E MAN Y^T SPARES THES STONES, AND CVRST BE HE Y^T MOVES MY BONES.  Perhaps a warning to those who might want to have him moved to Westminster Abbey or exhumed for examination?  Sometime before 1623, a funerary monument was erected in his memory on the north wall, with a half-effigy of him in the act of writing.  The plaque compares him to Nestor, Socrates, and Virgil.  Shakespeare has been commemorated in many statues and memorials around the world, including funeral monuments in Southwark Cathedral and Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey.

On this day in 1850, Romantic poet, William Wordsworth died by aggravating a case of pleurisy at the age of 80 in Cumberland.  Born on 7 April 1770 in Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, Cumberland, part of the scenic region in northwest England, the Lake District.  With his friend, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Wordsworth helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads.  Wordsworth’s magnum opus is generally considered to be The Prelude, a semiautobiographical poem of his early years which he revised and expanded a number of times.  It was posthumously titled and published, prior to which it was generally known as “the poem to Coleridge”.  Wordsworth was Britain’s Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850.

The Final Footprint – Wordsworth was buried at St. Oswald’s church in the village of Grasmere, in the Lake District, Cumbria, England.  It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Windermere, the archdeaconry of Westmorland and Furness, and the diocese of Carlisle.  The church has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building.  It is notable for its associations with Wordsworth and his family, and for its annual ceremony of rushbearing.

#RIP #OTD in 1915 poet known for his war sonnets (“The Soldier”), Rupert Brooke died of septicaemia following a mosquito bite whilst aboard a French hospital ship moored off the island of Skyros in the Aegean Sea, aged 27. An olive grove in Skyros

#RIP #OTD in 1986 composer (“Over the Rainbow”, “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive”, “Come Rain or Come Shine”, “One for My Baby”) Harold Arlen died of cancer at his Manhattan apartment, aged 81. Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York

On this day in 1986, theatre and film director Otto Preminger died in his home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in 1986, aged 80, from lung cancer while suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Born Otto Ludwig Preminger 5 December 1905 in Wischnitz, Bukovina, Austro-Hungarian Empire (present-day Vyzhnytsia, Ukraine.

He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gained attention for film noir mysteries such as Laura (1944) and Fallen Angel (1945), while in the 1950s and 1960s, he directed a number of high-profile adaptations of popular novels and stage works. Several of these later films pushed the boundaries of censorship by dealing with themes which were then taboo in Hollywood, such as drug addiction (The Man with the Golden Arm, 1955), rape (Anatomy of a Murder, 1959) and homosexuality (Advise & Consent, 1962). With Exodus (1960) Preminger struck a first major blow against the Hollywood blacklist by acknowledging banned screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. The film is an adaptation of the Leon Uris bestseller about the founding of the state of Israel. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. He also had a few acting roles.

Preminger wed his first wife Marion Mill on 3 August 1932. Having become estranged from Mill, Preminger was living like a bachelor, when he met the burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee and began an open relationship with her.

Lee had already attempted to break into movie roles, but she was not taken seriously as anything more than a stripper. She appeared in B pictures in less-than-minor roles.

In May 1946, Mill asked for a divorce, after meeting a wealthy (and married) Swedish financier, Axel Wenner-Gren. The Premingers’ divorce ended smoothly and speedily. Mill did not seek alimony, only personal belongings. Axel’s wife, however, was unwilling to grant a divorce. Mill returned to Otto and resumed appearances as his wife, and nothing more. Preminger had begun dating Natalie Draper, a niece of Marion Davies’.

While filming Carmen Jones (1954), Preminger began an affair with the film’s star, Dorothy Dandridge, which lasted four years. During that period he advised her on career matters, including an offer made to Dandridge for the featured role of Tuptim in The King and I (1956). Preminger advised her to turn it down, as he believed it unworthy of her. She later regretted taking his advice.

The Final Footprint

He was cremated and his ashes are in a niche in the Azalea Room of the Velma B. Woolworth Memorial Chapel at Woodlawn Cemetery, The Bronx, New York. Other notable final footprints at Woodlawn include; Irving Berlin, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Fiorello La Guardia, Rowland Macy, Bat Masterson, Herman Melville, J. C. Penney, and Joseph Pulitzer.

Paulette Goddard
Studio publicity portrait from the 1940s

On this day in 1990, actress Paulette Goddard died from heart failure and emphysema in Ronco sopra Ascona, Ticino, Switzerland, at the age of 79. Born Marion Levy on June 3, 1910 in Whitestone Landing, Queens, New York. A child fashion model and a performer in several Broadway productions as a Ziegfeld Girl; she became a major star of Paramount Pictures in the 1940s. Perhaps her best known films were her first major role, as Charlie Chaplin’s leading lady in Modern Times, and Chaplin’s subsequent film The Great Dictator. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in So Proudly We Hail! (1943).

Studio publicity portrait for Modern Times (1936), in which Goddard had her first substantial film role. 

publicity shot for A Stranger Came Home (1954)

After her marriage to Erich Maria Remarque, Goddard largely retired from acting and moved to Ronco sopra Ascona, Switzerland. Upon Remarque’s death, Goddard inherited much of his money and several important properties across Europe, including a wealth of contemporary art, which augmented her own long-standing collection. During this period, her talent at accumulating wealth became a byword among the old Hollywood élite. During the 1980s, she became a fairly well known (and highly visible) socialite in New York City, appearing covered with jewels at many high-profile cultural functions with several well-known men, including Andy Warhol, with whom she sustained a friendship for many years until his death in 1987.

With Phillip Reed in 1957

Goddard married the much older lumber tycoon Edgar James on June 28, 1927, when she was 17 years old; the couple moved to North Carolina. They separated two years later and divorced in 1932.

In 1932, Goddard began a relationship with Charlie Chaplin. She later moved into his home in Beverly Hills. They were reportedly married in secret in Canton, China, in June 1936. Aside from referring to Goddard as “my wife” at the October 1940 premiere of The Great Dictator, neither Goddard nor Chaplin publicly commented on their marital status. On June 4, 1942, Goddard was granted a Mexican divorce from Chaplin.

In May 1944, she married Burgess Meredith at David O. Selznick‘s home in Beverly Hills. They divorced in June 1949.

In 1958, Goddard married author Erich Maria Remarque. They remained married until Remarque’s death in 1970. After her marriage to Remarque, Goddard largely retired from acting and moved to Ronco sopra Ascona, Switzerland. Upon Remarque’s death, Goddard inherited much of his money and several important properties across Europe, including a wealth of contemporary art, which augmented her own long-standing collection. During this period, her talent at accumulating wealth became a byword among the old Hollywood élite. During the 1980s, she became a fairly well known (and highly visible) socialite in New York City, appearing covered with jewels at many high-profile cultural functions with several well-known men, including Andy Warhol, with whom she sustained a friendship for many years until his death in 1987.

With Chaplin in The Great Dictator

The Final Footprint

She is buried in Ronco Village Cemetery, next to Remarque and her mother.

#RIP #OTD in 1993 labor leader and civil rights activist, César Chavez died in San Luis, Arizona aged 66. Cesar E. Chavez National Monument, Keene, California

#RIP #OTD in 1995 lawyer, sports journalist, broadcaster, author, Howard Cosell died at the Hospital for Joint Diseases in Manhattan of a cardiac embolism at the age of 77. Westhampton Cemetery, Westhampton, New York.

#RIP #OTD in 1996 author (the Mary Poppins series), P. L. Travers died in London at the age of 96. St Mary the Virgin’s Church, Twickenham, London

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