#RIP #OTD in 1970 burlesque entertainer, stripper and vedette, actress, author, playwright, her 1957 memoir was adapted into the 1959 stage musical Gypsy, Gypsy Rose Lee died of lung cancer in Los Angeles, aged 59. Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California
On this day in 1984, jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer Count Basie died of pancreatic cancer in Hollywood, Florida at the age of 79. Born William James Basie on August 21, 1904 in Red Bank, New Jersey. His mother taught him to play the piano and he started performing in his teens. Dropping out of school, he learned to operate lights for vaudeville and to improvise accompaniment for silent films at a local movie theater in his home town of Red Bank, New Jersey. By age 16, he increasingly played jazz piano at parties, resorts and other venues. In 1924, he went to Harlem, where his performing career expanded; he toured with groups to the major jazz cities of Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City.
In 1935, Basie formed his own jazz orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. He led the group for almost 50 years, creating innovations like the use of two “split” tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band, using arrangers to broaden their sound, and others.
On 21 July 1930, Basie married Vivian Lee Winn, in Kansas City, Missouri. They were divorced sometime before 1935. Some time in or before 1935, the now single Basie returned to New York City, renting a house at 111 West 138th Street, Manhattan, as evidenced by the 1940 census. He married Catherine Morgan on 13 July 1940 in the King County courthouse in Seattle, Washington. In 1942, they moved to Queens. The Basies bought a whites-only home in the new neighborhood of Addisleigh Park in 1946 on Adelaide Road and 175th Street, St. Albans, Queens.
On April 11, 1983, Catherine Basie died of a heart attack at the couple’s home in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. She was 67 years old.
The Final Footprint
Basie and Catherine are entombed in Pinelawn Memorial Park, East Farmingdale, New York.
On this day in 1989, legendary comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, multiple Emmy winner, Lucille Ball died Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from an aortic aneurysm at the age of 77. Born Lucille Désirée Ball on 6 August 1911 in Jamestown, New York. Perhaps best known as the star of the sitcom I Love Lucy, co-starring her then husband Desi Arnaz as Ricky Ricardo and Vivian Vance and William Frawley as Ethel and Fred Mertz, the Ricardo’s landlords and friends. Ball met and eloped with Cuban bandleader Arnaz in 1940. Ball and Arnaz founded Desilu Productions and Desilu Studios which was home to I Love Lucy and other hit television shows including; Star Trek, The Andy Griffith Show, Mission: Impossible, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Lucy Show, My Three Sons, Family Affair, The Untouchables, I Spy, Mannix, Gomer Pyle, USMC, and That Girl. On 17 July 1951, almost 40 years old, Ball gave birth to their first child, Lucie Désirée Arnaz. A year and a half later, Ball gave birth to their second child, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV, known as Desi Arnaz, Jr. Ball and Arnaz divorced on 4 May 1960. Her second marriage was to Gary Morton (1961-1989 her death).
The Final Footprint – Ball was cremated and her cremated remains were initially interred in Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. In 2002, her children had her cremated remains moved to the Ball family plot at Lake View Cemetery in Jamestown, New York where Ball’s mother, father, brother, and grandparents are buried. Her grave and her parent’s is marked by a large black granite upright marker with the inscription; “You’ve Come Home”.
#RIP #OTD in 2011 singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1975 songs “Poetry Man” and “Harpo’s Blues” and her credited guest vocals backing Paul Simon on “Gone at Last”, Phoebe Snow died from complications of a stroke in Edison, New Jersey, aged 60. Cremation
On this day in 2013, United States Marine Corp veteran, musician and singer, Thumper Jones, No Show Jones, The Possum, George Jones died, aged 81, from hypoxic respiratory failure in Nashville. Born George Glenn Jones on September 12, 1931 in Saratoga, Texas. He achieved fame for his long list of hit records, including perhaps his best known song “He Stopped Loving Her Today”, as well as his distinctive voice and phrasing. Waylon Jennings expressed his opinion on Jones in his song “It’s Alright”: “If we all could sound like we wanted to, we’d all sound like George Jones.” In 1959, Jones recorded “White Lightning,” written by J. P. Richardson, which launched his career as a singer. During his career, Jones had more than 150 hits, both as a solo artist and in duets with other artists.He married his first wife, Dorothy Bonvillion, in 1950, and was divorced in 1951. He married Shirley Ann Corley in 1954. His second marriage ended in divorce in 1968; he married fellow country music singer Tammy Wynette a year later. After his divorce from Wynette in 1975, Jones married his fourth wife, Nancy Sepulvado, in 1983 and became sober for good in 1999.
The Final Footprint
Former first lady Laura Bush was among those eulogizing Jones at his funeral on May 2, 2013. Other speakers were Tennessee governor Bill Haslam, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, news personality Bob Schieffer, and country singers Barbara Mandrell and Kenny Chesney. Alan Jackson, Kid Rock, Ronnie Milsap, Randy Travis, Vince Gill, Patty Loveless, Travis Tritt, the Oak Ridge Boys, Charlie Daniels, Wynonna and Brad Paisley provided musical tributes. Jackson sang “He Stopped Loving Her Today”. The service was broadcast live on CMT, GAC, RFD-TV, The Nashville Network and FamilyNet as well as Nashville stations. SiriusXM and WSM 650AM, home of the Grand Ole Opry, broadcast the event on the radio. The family requested that contributions be made to the Grand Ole Opry Trust Fund or to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Jones was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Nashville. Other notable final footprints at Woodlawn include; Eddy Arnold, Little Jimmy Dickens, George Jones, Johnny Paycheck, Webb Pierce, Jerry Reed, Marty Robbins, Dan Seals, Red Sovine, Porter Wagoner, and Tammy Wynette.
#RIP #OTD in 2017, film director (Melvin and Howard, The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married), producer and screenwriter Jonathan Demme died at his home in Manhattan from complications from esophageal cancer and heart disease, age 73.
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