RIP #OTD in 1859 actress, poet (Élégies et romances) and novelist, a founder of French Romantic poetry, Marceline Desbordes-Valmore died in Paris aged 73. Montmartre Cemetery, Paris
On this day in 1920, Montana cattle rancher, Montana’s Cattle King, Conrad Kohrs died at his ranch near Dear Lodge, Montana. Born Carsten Conrad Kohrs on 5 August 1835 in Holstein, a province that was ethnically and culturally German and part of the German Confederation but ruled at the time in personal union by Denmark. The home ranch near Deer Lodge, Montana, was held by the family until 1972, when his grandson sold it to the National Park Service. It is now the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site.
The Final Footprint – Hillcrest Cemetery, Deer Lodge, Montana.
On this day in 1966, film and stage actor, 4x Academy Award nominee, Montgomery Clift died at his home in New York City from a heart attack at the age of 45. Born Edward Montgomery Clift on 17 October 1920 in Omaha, Nebraska. His New York Times obituary said he was known for his portrayal of “moody, sensitive young men”. Perhaps best remembered for his roles in Red River (1948), The Heiress (1949), A Place in the Sun (1951), Alfred Hitchcock’s I Confess (1953), From Here to Eternity (1953), The Young Lions (1958), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), and The Misfits (1961). Clift was one of the original method actors in Hollywood and one of the first actors to be invited to study in the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg and Elia Kazan. He received four Oscar nominations during his career: three for Best Actor and one for Best Supporting Actor.
Elizabeth Taylor was a significant figure in his life. He met her when she was supposed to be his date at the premiere for The Heiress. They appeared together in A Place in the Sun, where, in their romantic scenes, they received acclaim for their naturalness and their appearance. Clift and Taylor appeared together again in Raintree County and Suddenly, Last Summer. Clift and Taylor remained good friends until his death. Clift never married.
My favorite Clift roles include: Robert E. Lee Prewitt in From Here to Eternity (1953), Perce Howland in John Huston‘s The Misfits (1961), and Matt Garth in Howard Hawk‘s Red River (1948).
The Final Footprint – Following a 15-minute ceremony at St. James Church attended by 150 guests including Lauren Bacall, Frank Sinatra and Nancy Walker, Clift was buried in the Quaker Cemetery, Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Elizabeth Taylor, who was in Paris, sent flowers, as did Roddy McDowall, Myrna Loy, and Lew Wasserman.
#RIP #OTD in 1982 actor (Blackboard Jungle; King Creole; God’s Little Acre; Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry;The Bad News Bears; Twilight Zone: The Movie), father of Jennifer Jason Leigh, Vic Morrow died; helicopter crashed on him while filming Twilight Zone in Indian Dunes, California aged 53. in Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California
On this day in 2001, author of short stories and novels about the South, photographer, Pulitzer Prize recipient, Eudora Welty died at her home in Jackson, Mississippi at the age of 92. Born Eudora Alice Welty on 13 April 1909 in Jackson. One of my favorite writers. Every year on her birthday I read some of her short stories. Her work attracted the attention of author Katherine Anne Porter, who became a mentor to Welty and wrote the foreword to Welty’s first short story collection, A Curtain of Green (1941). I highly recommend The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty (1982) and her novels; The Robber Bridegroom (novella) (1942), Delta Wedding (1946), The Ponder Heart (1954), Losing Battles (1970) and The Optimist’s Daughter (1972). Welty never married.
The Final Footprint – Welty is interred in Greenwood Cemetery in Jackson. Her grave is marked by an individual upright granite marker. Her epitaph reads; FOR HER LIFE, ANY LIFE, SHE HAD TO BELIEVE WAS NOTHING BUT THE CONTINUITY OF IT’S LOVE. THE OPTIMIST’S DAUGHTER. Her house in Jackson is a National Historic Landmark and open to the public as a museum.
On this day in 2011, singer and songwriter, Amy Winehouse died at her home in Camden, London at the age of 27, thus becoming a member of the Forever 27 Club, which includes, bluesman Robert Johnson, Rolling Stone Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, and Jim Morrison. A coroner’s inquest reached a verdict of death by misadventure from alcohol poisoning. Born Amy Jade Winehouse on 14 September 1983 in Southgate, London. Known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul (sometimes labelled as blue-eyed soul and neo soul), rhythm and blues, and jazz. Winehouse’s debut album, Frank (2003), was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her follow-up album, Back to Black (2006), led to five 2008 Grammy Awards, tying the then record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night, and made her the first British woman to win five Grammys, including three of the General Field “Big Four” Grammy Awards: Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
Winehouse won three Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors: in 2004, Best Contemporary Song for “Stronger Than Me”; in 2007, Best Contemporary Song again, this time for “Rehab”; and in 2008, Best Song Musically and Lyrically for “Love Is a Losing Game.” She also won the 2007 Brit Award for Best British Female Artist, having been nominated for Best British Album, with Back to Black.
The Final Footprint – Family and friends attended Winehouse’s funeral on 26 July 2011 at Edgwarebury Lane Cemetery in north London. Her mother and father, Janis and Mitch Winehouse, close friend Kelly Osbourne, producer Mark Ronson and her boyfriend Reg Traviss were among those in attendance at the private service led by Rabbi Frank Hellner. Her father delivered the eulogy, saying “Goodnight, my angel, sleep tight. Mummy and Daddy love you ever so much.” Carole King’s “So Far Away” closed the service. She was later cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. On 16 September 2012, Winehouse’s cremated remains were interred alongside her grandmother’s, Cynthia Levy at Edgwarebury Lane Cemetery in Edgware, London Borough of Barnet. Other notable cremations at GGC include; Kingsley Amis, Neville Chamberlain, T. S. Eliot, Sigmund Freud, Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, Vivien Leigh, Keith Moon, Peter Sellers, Bram Stoker, and H. G. Wells.
#RIP #OTD in 2012 astronaut, physicist, first American woman to fly in space, Sally Ride died from pancreatic cancer at her home in La Jolla, California aged 61. Cremated remains interred next to those of her father at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica CA
#RIP #OTD in 2022 film director (Five Easy Pieces, The King of Marvin Gardens, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Mountains of the Moon), writer and producer Bob Rafelson died from lung cancer at his home in Aspen, Colorado at the age of 89
Have you planned yours yet?
Follow TFF on twitter @RIPTFF
