RIP The Final Impression | Have you planned yours yet?

On this day 10 April death of Algernon Charles Swinburne – Kahlil Gibran – Auguste Lumière – La Belle Otero – Evelyn Waugh – Nino Rota – Sam Kinison – Little Eva

Posted on 29 ApramWed, 10 Apr 2024 00:57:00 -05002024-04-10T00:57:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1909, English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic Algernon Charles Swinburne died at The Pines, 11 Putney Hill, Putney, London at the age of 72. Born at 7 Chester Street, Grosvenor Place, London, on 5 April 1837. He devised the poetic form called the roundel, a variation of the French Rondeau form. In addition, he wrote several novels, and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in every year from 1903 to 1907 and again in 1909. Author H. P. Lovecraft considered that Swinburne was “the only real poet in either England or America after the death of Mr. Edgar Allan Poe.”

The Final Footprint – Swinburne was buried at St. Boniface Church, Bonchurch on the Isle of Wight.

#RIP #OTD in 1931 writer, poet (The Prophet), visual artist, philosopher, Kahlil Gibran died at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Manhattan from cirrhosis of the liver, aged 48. The Gibran Museum in Bsharri, Lebanon

#RIP #OTD in 1954, along with brother Louis, manufacturer of photography equipment & the Cinématographe motion picture system, filmmaker, Auguste Lumière died in Lyon, France, aged 91. Family tomb, New Guillotière Cemetery, Lyon

On this day in 1965, dancer, actress and courtesan Carolina “La Belle” Otero died in her apartment at the Hotel Novelty in Nice, France. Born Agustina Otero Iglesias on 4 November 1868 in Valga, Pontevedra, Galicia (Spain). She reportedly married an Italian nobleman, Count Guglielmo 1882, but found a sponsor in 1888 who moved with her to Marseille in order to promote her dancing career in France. She soon left him and created the character of La Belle Otero and became the star of Les Folies Bèrgere productions in Paris. Soon she was one of the most sought after women in Europe, serving as a courtesan to wealthy and powerful men. Apparently her lovers included; Prince Albert I of Monaco, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Kings of Serbia, and Kings of Spain as well as Russian Grand Dukes Peter and Nicholas, the Duke of Westminster and writer Gabriele D’Annunzio. Allegedly, duels were fought over her and some of her lovers committed suicide after the affairs ended. It was once said that her extraordinarily dark black eyes were so captivating that they were “of such intensity that it was impossible not to be detained before them.” Otero said, “Women have one mission in life: to be beautiful. When one gets old, one must learn how to break mirrors.”

The Final Footprint – Otero is interred in Cimetiére du Château in Nice. Gaston Leroux is interred there as well.

#RIP #OTD in 1966 writer (Decline and Fall, A Handful of Dust, Brideshead Revisited, Sword of Honour) Evelyn Waugh died of heart failure at his home in Combe Florey, Somerset, England, aged 62. The Anglican churchyard of the Church of St Peter & St Paul, Combe Florey.

On this day in 1979, Italian composer, pianist, conductor and academic Nino Rota died from a coronary thrombosis at the age of 67 in Rome. Born Giovanni Rota Rinaldi on 3 December 1911 in Milan, Italy. Perhaps best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti and Franco Zeffirelli. He will forever be remembered for his film scores for the first two films of Francis Ford Coppola‘s Godfather trilogy, receiving the Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Godfather Part II (1974).

The Final Footprint – Rota shares a simple gravesite with his mother Ernesta, his brother Luigi, and his cousins Maria and Titina. The gravesite is at Cimitero Verano in Rome. The entrance near the gravesite is Portonaccio. There is a marble grave marker which lists the names of those interred. Special thanks to Nina Rota, Mr. Rota’s daughter, for her assistance. For more on Nino Rota visit his website – http://www.ninorota.com/.

Sam Kinison
with Rodney Dangerfield

On this day in 1992, comedian and actor Sam Kinison died at the age of 38 after his white 1989 Pontiac Trans Am was struck head-on on U.S. Route 95, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Interstate 40 and around 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Needles, California, by a pickup truck driven by someone who had been drinking alcohol. The pickup truck crossed the center line of the roadway and went into Kinison’s lane.

Born Samuel Burl Kinison on December 8, 1953 in Yakima, Washington. He was known for his intense, harsh and politically incorrect humor. A former Pentecostal preacher, he performed stand-up routines that were most often characterized by an intense style, similar to charismatic preachers, and punctuated by his trademark scream.

Kinison was married to Patricia Adkins (1975–1980) and Terry Marze (1981–1989). He began a relationship with dancer Malika Souiri toward the end of his marriage with Marze. On April 4, 1992, six days before his death, Kinison married Souiri at the Candlelight Chapel in Las Vegas. They honeymooned in Hawaii for five days before returning home to Los Angeles on April 10 to prepare for a show that night at the Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada.

Kinison was found lying between the seats of his car at the scene of the collision. His brother and the others told him to lie down and he did with his best friend, Carl LaBove, who had been in the following van, holding his head in his hands. Initially, Kinison appeared to have suffered no serious injuries, but within minutes he suddenly said to no one in particular, “I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.” LaBove later said, “it was as if he was having a conversation, talking to someone else, some unseen person.” Then there was a pause as if Kinison was listening to the other person speak. Then he asked “But why?” and after another pause LaBove heard him clearly say: “Okay, okay, okay.’ LaBove said, “The last ‘okay’ was so soft and at peace … Whatever voice was talking to him gave him the right answer and he just relaxed with it. He said it so sweet, like he was talking to someone he loved.” Kinison then lost consciousness. Efforts to resuscitate him failed. Kinison died at the scene from internal injuries. An autopsy found that he had suffered numerous traumatic injuries, including a dislocated neck, a torn aorta, and torn blood vessels in his abdominal cavity, which caused his death within minutes of the collision. Malika Souiri was rendered unconscious by the collision, but survived the accident with a mild concussion.

The Final Footprint

Kinison is interred with family members at the Memorial Park Cemetery in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His grave marker includes the unattributed quote: “In another time and place he would have been called prophet.”

On this day in 2003, singer (“The Loco-Motion”) Little Eva died from cervical cancer in Kinston, North Carolina, at the age of 59. Born Eva Narcissus Boyd on June 29, 1943 in Belhaven, North Carolina. At the age of fifteen she moved to the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, New York. As a teenager, she worked as a maid and earned extra money as a babysitter for songwriters Carole King and Gerry Goffin. Boyd’s other single recordings were “Keep Your Hands Off My Baby,” “Let’s Turkey Trot,” and a remake of the Bing Crosby standard “Swinging on a Star,” recorded with Big Dee Irwin (though Boyd was not credited on the label). Boyd also recorded the song “Makin’ With the Magilla” for an episode of the 1964 Hanna-Barbera cartoon series The Magilla Gorilla Show.

In 1963, American Bandstand signed her with Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars national U.S. tour and she was set to perform for the tour’s 15th show scheduled for the night of November 22, 1963 at the Memorial Auditorium in Dallas, Texas when suddenly the Friday evening event was cancelled moments after U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while touring Dallas in an open car caravan.

She continued to tour and record throughout the sixties, but her commercial potential plummeted after 1964. She retired from the music industry in 1971. She never owned the rights to her recordings. Although the prevailing rumor in the 1970s was that she had received only $50 for “The Loco-Motion,” it seems $50 was actually her weekly salary at the time she made her records (an increase of $15 from what Goffin and King had been paying her as nanny). Penniless, she returned with her three young children to North Carolina, where they lived in obscurity.

Interviewed in 1988 after the success of the Kylie Minogue recording of “The Loco-Motion”, Boyd stated that she did not like the new version; however, its then-current popularity allowed her to make a comeback in show business.

She returned to live performing with other artists of her era on the cabaret and oldies circuits. She also occasionally recorded new songs.

The only existing footage of Little Eva performing “Loco-Motion” is a small clip from the ABC 1960s live show Shindig! wherein she sang a short version of the clip along with the famous dance steps. She also sang “Let’s Turkey Trot” and the Exciters’ song “I Want You to Be My Boy” in the same episode. This TV show was one of her final performances until 1988, when she began performing in concerts with Bobby Vee and other singers. In a 1991 Richard Nader concert, she performed “Loco-Motion” and “Keep Your Hands Off My Baby”. The concert was partially documented on videotape.

The Final Footprint

She is interred in Black Bottom Cemetery in Belhaven. Her gravesite was sparsely marked until July 2008, when a report by WRAL-TV of Raleigh, North Carolina highlighted deteriorating conditions at the cemetery and efforts by the city of Belhaven to have it restored. A simple white cross had marked the site until a new gravestone was unveiled in November of that year. Her new grey gravestone has the image of a steam locomotive prominently engraved on the front and the epitaph reads: “Singing with the Angels”.

Have you planned yours yet?

Follow TFF on twitter @RIPTFF

Posted in Artistic Footprints, Day in History, Literary Footprints, Musical Footprints | Tagged Auguste Lumière, black bottom cemetery, Buried, Cemetery, charles algernon swinburne, christina rossetti, churchyard of all saints, Cimetiere du Chateau, cimitero verano, Gibran Museum, Ground Burial, History, Kahlil Gibran, La Belle Otero, Les Folies Bergere, little eva, New Guillotière Cemetery, nino rota, riptff, roundel, sam kininson, st boniface church, tff, the final footprint, The Godfather | Leave a comment

On this day 9 April death of Dante Gabriel Rossetti – Frank Lloyd Wright – Phil Ochs – Brook Benton – Richard Condon – Willie Stargell – Sidney Lumet

Posted on 29 ApramTue, 09 Apr 2024 00:29:00 -05002024-04-09T00:29:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1882, English poet, illustrator, painter and translator Dante Gabriel Rossetti died on Easter Sunday at the country house of a friend in Birchington-on-Sea, England, of Brights Disease at the age of 53. Born Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti on 12 May 1828 in London. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement, most notably William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones. His work also influenced the European Symbolists and was a major precursor of the Aesthetic movement.

Rossetti’s art was characterised by its sensuality and its medieval revivalism. His early poetry was influenced by John Keats. His later poetry was characterised by the complex interlinking of thought and feeling, especially in his sonnet sequence The House of Life. Poetry and image are closely entwined in Rossetti’s work; he frequently wrote sonnets to accompany his pictures, spanning from The Girlhood of Mary Virgin (1849) and Astarte Syriaca (1877), while also creating art to illustrate poems such as Goblin Market by the celebrated poet Christina Rossetti, his sister. Rossetti’s personal life was closely linked to his work, especially his relationships with his models and muses Elizabeth Siddal, Fanny Cornforth, and Jane Morris. Rossetti married Siddal on Wednesday 23 May 1860 at St Clement’s Church in the seaside town of Hastings. She died of a laudanum overdose on 11 February 1862, and Rossetti buried many of his poems with her. Later, his friends persuaded him to exhume the poetry, which he published in 1870. They were sensual and erotic, and caused a scandal.

The Final Footprint – Rossetti is interred in the churchyard of All Saints in Birchington-on-Sea, under a tombstone designed by fellow artist, Ford Madox Brown.

Gallery

Ecce Ancilla Domini (1850), Tate Britain, London
The Tune of the Seven Towers (1857), watercolour, Tate Britain
Found (1865–1869, unfinished), Delaware Art Museum
The Blessed Damozel (model: Alexa Wilding)
Lady Lilith (1867), Metropolitan Museum of Art (model: Fanny Cornforth)
Lady Lilith (1868), Delaware Art Museum (Fanny Cornforth, overpainted at Kelsmcott 1872–73 with the face of Alexa Wilding)
Beata Beatrix (1864–1870), Tate Britain (model: Elizabeth Siddal)
Pia de’ Tolomei (1868–1880), Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence (model: Jane Morris)
Proserpine (1874) (model: Jane Morris)
A Vision of Fiammetta (1878), one of Rossetti’s last paintings, now in the collection of Andrew Lloyd Webber (model: Marie Spartali Stillman)

La Belle Dame sans Merci (1848), pen and sepia with some pencil
Drawing of Elizabeth Siddal reading (1854)
Hamlet and Ophelia (1858), pen and ink drawing
Drawing of Annie Miller (1860)
Drawing of Fanny Cornforth, graphite on paper (1869)
The Roseleaf (Portrait of Jane Morris) (1870), graphite on wove paper

King Arthur and the Weeping Queens, one of two illustrations by Rossetti for Edward Moxon’s illustrated edition of Tennyson’s Poems (1857)
Golden Head by Golden Head, illustration for Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862)

Sir Tristram and la Belle Ysoude drink the potion, stained glass panel by Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., design by Rossetti (1862–63)

Death of a Wombat (1869)
William Morris reading to Jane Morris while she takes the waters at Bad Ems (1869)
Mrs. Morris and the Wombat (1869)

Frank Lloyd Wright
in 1954

On this day in 1959, architect and interior designer Frank Lloyd Wright died in Phoenix, Arizona at the age of 91. Born Frank Lincoln Wright on June 8, 1867 in Richland Center, Wisconsin. Wright designed more than 1,000 structures, 532 of which were completed. Wright believed in designing structures that were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture. This philosophy was best exemplified by Fallingwater (1935), which is in my opinion, the best all-time work of American architecture”. His creative period spanned more than 70 years.

Wright was the pioneer of what came to be called the Prairie School movement of architecture and he also developed the concept of the Usonian home in Broadacre City, his unique vision for urban planning in the United States. In addition to his houses, Wright designed original and innovative offices, churches, schools, skyscrapers, hotels, museums and other structures. He often designed interior elements for these buildings as well, including furniture and stained glass. Wright wrote 20 books and many articles and was a popular lecturer in the United States and in Europe. Wright was recognized in 1991 by the American Institute of Architects as “the greatest American architect of all time”.

Wright’s home in Oak Park, Illinois

On June 1, 1889, Wright married his first wife, Catherine Lee “Kitty” Tobin (1871–1959). The two had met around a year earlier.

The Walter Gale House (1893) is Queen Anne in style yet features window bands and a cantilevered porch roof which hint at Wright’s developing aesthetics

William H. Winslow House (1893) in River Forest, Illinois

Nathan G. Moore House (1895), Oak Park, Illinois

Wright’s studio (1898) viewed from Chicago Avenue

Arthur Heurtley House (1902), Oak Park, IL

Darwin D. Martin House (1904), Buffalo, New York

Hillside Home School, 1902, Taliesin, Spring Green, Wisconsin

in 1926

Aerial photo of Taliesin, Spring Green, Wisconsin

Wright developed a reputation in Oak Park as a man-about-town. His family had grown to six children, but Wright was not parental and he relied on his wife Catherine to care for them. In 1903, Wright designed a house for Edwin Cheney, a neighbor in Oak Park, and immediately took a liking to Cheney’s wife, Mamah. Mamah Cheney was a modern woman with interests outside the home. She was an early feminist and Wright viewed her as his intellectual equal. The two fell in love, and they became the talk of the town, as they often could be seen taking rides in Wright’s automobile through Oak Park. Wright’s wife, Kitty, sure that this attachment would fade as others had, refused to grant him a divorce. Mamah had to live in Europe for two years in order to obtain a divorce from Edwin on the grounds of desertion.

In 1909, even before the Robie House was completed, Wright and Mamah Cheney met up in Europe, leaving their spouses and children behind.

Wright published a portfolio of his work with Berlin publisher Ernst Wasmuth. The resulting two volumes, titled Studies and Executed Buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright, were published in 1911 in two editions, creating the first major exposure of Wright’s work in Europe. The work contained more than 100 lithographs of Wright’s designs and was commonly known as the Wasmuth Portfolio.

Wright remained in Europe for almost a year and set up home first in Florence, Italy — where he lived with his eldest son Lloyd — and later in Fiesole, Italy, where he lived with Mamah. During this time, Edwin Cheney granted Mamah a divorce, though Kitty still refused to grant one to her husband. After Wright returned to the United States in October 1910, he persuaded his mother to buy land for him in Spring Green, Wisconsin. The land, bought on April 10, 1911, was adjacent to land held by his mother’s family, the Lloyd-Joneses. Wright began to build himself a new home, which he called Taliesin. The recurring theme of Taliesin also came from his mother’s side: Taliesin in Welsh mythology was a poet, magician, and priest. The family motto, “Y Gwir yn Erbyn y Byd” (“The Truth Against the World”), was taken from the Welsh poet Iolo Morganwg, who also had a son named Taliesin. The motto is still used today as the cry of the druids and chief bard of the Eisteddfod in Wales.

On August 15, 1914, while Wright was working in Chicago, Julian Carlton, a male servant from Barbados who had been hired several months earlier, set fire to the living quarters of Taliesin and murdered seven people with an axe as the fire burned. The dead included Mamah; her two children, John and Martha Cheney; a gardener (David Lindblom); a draftsman (Emil Brodelle); a workman (Thomas Brunker); and another workman’s son (Ernest Weston). Two people survived the mayhem, one of whom, William Weston, helped to put out the fire that almost completely consumed the residential wing of the house. Carlton swallowed hydrochloric acid immediately following the attack in an attempt to kill himself. He was nearly lynched on the spot, but was taken to the Dodgeville jail. Carlton died from starvation seven weeks after the attack, despite medical attention.

In 1922, Kitty Wright finally granted Wright a divorce. Under the terms of the divorce, Wright was required to wait one year before he could marry his then-mistress, Maude “Miriam” Noel. Wright wed Miriam in November 1923, but her addiction to morphine led to the failure of the marriage in less than one year. In 1924, after the separation but while still married, Wright met Olga (Olgivanna) Lazovich Hinzenburg at a Petrograd Ballet performance in Chicago. They moved in together at Taliesin in 1925, and soon Olgivanna was pregnant with their daughter, Iovanna, born on December 2, 1925.

On April 20, 1925, another fire destroyed the bungalow at Taliesin. Crossed wires from a newly installed telephone system were deemed to be responsible for the blaze, which destroyed a collection of Japanese prints that Wright estimated to be worth $250,000 to $500,000. Wright rebuilt the living quarters, naming the home “Taliesin III”.

In 1926, Olga’s ex-husband, Vlademar Hinzenburg, sought custody of his daughter, Svetlana. In October 1926, Wright and Olgivanna were accused of violating the Mann Act and arrested in Tonka Bay, Minnesota. The charges were later dropped.

Wright and Miriam Noel’s divorce was finalized in 1927, and once again, Wright was required to wait for one year before remarrying. Wright and Olgivanna married in 1928.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City (1959)

Fallingwater, Mill Run, Pennsylvania (1937)

Taliesin West, Wright’s winter home and studio complex in Scottsdale, Arizona, was a laboratory for Wright from 1937 to his death in 1959. Now the home of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and archives, it continues today as the site of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.

Wright’s Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma

An open office area in Wright’s Johnson Wax headquarters complex, Racine,Wisconsin, (1939)

Charles Weltzheimer Residence(1948) in Oberlin, Ohio Main article: Usonia

Wright-designed window in Robie House, Chicago (1906)

The Final Footprint

On April 4, 1959, Wright was hospitalized for abdominal pains and was operated on April 6. He seemed to be recovering but he died quietly on April 9. Olgivanna’s dying wish had been that Wright, she, and her daughter by her first marriage all be cremated and interred together in a memorial garden being built at Taliesin West. According to his own wishes, Wright’s body had lain in the Lloyd-Jones cemetery, next to the Unity Chapel, near Taliesin in Wisconsin. Although Olgivanna had taken no legal steps to move Wright’s remains and against the wishes of other family members as well as the Wisconsin legislature, in 1985 Wright’s remains were removed from his grave by members of the Taliesin Fellowship, cremated and sent to Scottsdale where they were later interred in the memorial garden. The original grave site in Wisconsin, now empty, is still marked with Wright’s name.

Imperial Hotel, Tokyo (1923)

The Robie House on the University of Chicago campus

Frank W. Thomas House (1901), 210 Forest Avenue, Oak Park, IL

Taliesin West Panorama from the “prow” looking at the “ship”

Gammage Auditorium viewed from one of the pedestrian ramps

#RIP #OTD in 1976 singer/songwriter (“I Ain’t Marching Anymore”, “Love Me, I’m a Liberal”, “Outside of a Small Circle of Friends”, “There but for Fortune”) Phil Ochs died by hanging in his sister’s home in Far Rockaway, New York, age 35. Cremated remains scattered in Scotland

#RIP #OTD in 1988 singer (“Rainy Night in Georgia”), songwriter (“It’s Just a Matter of Time”, “Endlessly”) Brook Benton died from complications of spinal meningitis in Queens, aged 56. Unity Family Life Center Cemetery, Lugoff, South Carolina

#RIP #OTD in 1996 novelist (The Manchurian Candidate, Winter Kills, Prizzi’s Honor) Richard Condon died in Dallas, Texas aged 81. Cremation

On this day in 2001, Pittsburgh Pirate, 7-time all-star, 2-time World Series Champion, baseball Hall of Famer, Pops, Willie Stargell died of complications related to a stroke in Wilmington, North Carolina at the age of 61. Born Wilver Dornel Stargell on 6 March 1940 in Earlsboro, Oklahoma. Known for his towering home runs. Only four home runs have ever been hit out of Dodger Stadium; two were by Stargell. Dodger starting pitcher Don Sutton said of Stargell, “I never saw anything like it. He doesn’t just hit pitchers, he takes away their dignity.” The Pirates won the World Series with Stargell in 1971 and 1979, both times defeating the Baltimore Orioles. The Pirates ’79 team adopted the Sister Sledge hit song “We Are Family” as the team anthem. Stargell earned the NLCS and World Series MVP awards and was named the co-MVP of the 1979 season (along with St. Louis’ Keith Hernandez). Stargell is the only player to have won all three trophies in a single year. I remember the ’79 World Series well. That Pirates team is one of my favorite teams and Stargell is one of my favorite players. The Pirates retired his number 8 in 1982.

The Final Footprint – Stargell is entombed in a garden mausoleum in Oleander Memorial Gardens in Wilmington. The Willie Stargell statue, a 12-foot bronze statue, at PNC Park in Pittsburgh was unveiled in April 2001.

#RIP #OTD in 2011 film director (12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, The Verdict, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead), screenwriter Sidney Lumet died in his residence in Manhattan from lymphoma, aged 86. Beth David Cemetery, Elmont, New York

Have you planned yours yet?

Follow TFF on twitter @RIPTFF

Posted in Artistic Footprints, Athletic Footprints, Day in History, Literary Footprints | Tagged Bronze Statue, brook benton, Cemetery, Crypts, dante gabriel rossetti, Entomb, frank lloyd wright, garden mausoleum, History, Oleander Memorial Gardens, Phil ochs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Private Mausoleum, Richard condon, riptff, Sidney lumet, tff, the final footprint, unity family life center cemetery, Willie Stargell | Leave a comment

On this day 8 April death of Gaetano Donizetti – Pablo Picasso – Ryan White – Marian Anderson – Ben Johnson – Annette Funicello – Sara Montiel – Margaret Thatcher

Posted on 29 ApramMon, 08 Apr 2024 00:48:00 -05002024-04-08T00:48:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1848, composer Gaetano Donizetti died in the house of a noble family, the Scotti, in Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy at the age of 49. Born Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti in Bergamo’s Borgo Canale quarter located just outside the city walls on 29 November 1797. Altogether Donizetti wrote about 70 operas. An offer in 1822 from Domenico Barbaja, the impresario of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, which followed the composer’s ninth opera, led to his move to that city and the composition of 28 operas which were given their premieres at that house or in one of the city’s smaller houses including the Teatro Nuovo or the Teatro del Fondo. This continued until the production of Caterina Cornaro in January 1844. In all, Naples presented 51 of Donizetti’s operas. During this period, success came primarily with the comic operas, the serious ones failing to attract significant audiences. However, the situation changed with the appearance in 1830 of the serious opera, Anna Bolena which was the first to make a major impact on the Italian and international opera scene. After 1830, his best-known works included comedies such as L’elisir d’amore (1832) and Don Pasquale (1843) and historical dramas such as Lucia di Lammermoor (the first to be written by librettist Salvadore Cammarano) in 1835, as well as Roberto Devereux in 1837. Up to that point, all of his operas had been written to Italian librettos. After moving to Paris in 1838, Donizetti set his operas to French texts; these include La favorite and La fille du régiment and were first performed in that city from 1840 onward. It appears that much of the attraction of moving to Paris was not just for larger fees and prestige, but his chafing against the censorial limitations which existed in Italy, thus giving him a much greater freedom to choose subject matter. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of bel canto opera during the first fifty years of the Nineteenth Century. Donizetti married Virginia Vasselli.

The Final Footprint – Donizetti was entombed in the cemetery of Valtesse but in the late 19th century his body was transferred to Bergamo’s Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. His tomb is located to the left of the entrance, past the sepulchre of Cardinal Guglielmo Longhi, on the rear wall near the tomb of his master Simone Mayr (1852).

On this day in 1973, painter, draughtsman, and sculptor, Pablo Picasso died at his home in Mougins, France at the age of 91. Born on 25 October 1881 in the city of Málaga in the Andalusian region of Spain and baptized Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso. A prolific artist, he is perhaps best known as a pioneer, along with Georges Braque, of the avant-garde art movement Cubism which revolutionized European painting and sculpture. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907)

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon

and Guernica (1937), a portrayal of the German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. His revolutionary artistic accomplishments in a variety of styles that he helped develop and worked in brought him universal renown making him one of the best-known figures in 20th century art. By 1905 Picasso became a favorite of the American art collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein and through her he met Henri Matisse, who would become a lifelong friend and rival. Picasso married twice; Olga Khokhlova (1918-1955 her death) and Jacqueline Roque (1961-1973 his death). Throughout his life Picasso maintained a number of mistresses and muses in addition to his wife or primary partner, including; Fernande Olivier who appears in many of his Rose period paintings; Marcelle Humbert, whom he called Eva Gouel and to whom he included declarations of his love in many of his Cubist works; Marie-Thérèse Walter, the model for his Le Rêve (The Dream) (1932); Dora Maar, the model for Dora Maar au Chat (1941) and Weeping Woman; Françoise Gilot; Geneviève Laporte. Picasso said; “Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.”

The Final Footprint – Picasso is interred at the Chateau of Vauvenargues near Aix-en-Provence, a property he had acquired in 1958 and occupied with Jacqueline. His grave is decorated with his own sculpture “Woman with the Vase” (1933), which was shown during the World exhibition of 1937 in Paris.

On this day in 1990, national poster child for HIV/AIDS Ryan White died at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, at the age of 18. Born Ryan Wayne White on December 6, 1971 in Kokomo, Indiana. As a hemophiliac, he became infected with HIV from a contaminated factor VIII blood treatment and, when diagnosed in December 1984, was given six months to live. Doctors said he posed no risk to other students, as AIDS is not an airborne disease and spreads solely through body fluids, but AIDS was poorly understood by the general public at the time. When White tried to return to school, many parents and teachers in Howard County rallied against his attendance due to concerns of the disease spreading through bodily fluid transfer. A lengthy administrative appeal process ensued, and news of the conflict turned Ryan into a popular celebrity and advocate for AIDS research and public education. Surprising his doctors, Ryan White lived five years longer than predicted. He died one month before his high school graduation.

Before Ryan White, AIDS was a disease stigmatized as an illness impacting the gay community, because it was first diagnosed among gay men. That perception shifted as Ryan and other prominent straight HIV-infected people such as Magic Johnson, Arthur Ashe and the Ray brothers appeared in the media to advocate for more AIDS research and public education to address the epidemic. The U.S. Congress passed a major piece of AIDS legislation, the Ryan White CARE Act, shortly after White’s death. The Act has been reauthorized twice; Ryan White Programs are the largest provider of services for people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States.

The Final Footprint

“We owe it to Ryan to make sure that the fear and ignorance that chased him from his home and his school will be eliminated. We owe it to Ryan to open our hearts and our minds to those with AIDS. We owe it to Ryan to be compassionate, caring and tolerant toward those with AIDS, their families and friends. It’s the disease that’s frightening, not the people who have it.”

—Former US President Ronald Reagan, April 11, 1990

On March 29, 1990, White entered Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis with a respiratory tract infection. As his condition deteriorated, he was sedated and placed on a ventilator. He was visited by Elton John and the hospital was deluged with calls from well-wishers.

Over 1,500 people attended Ryan’s funeral on April 11, a standing-room only event held at the Second Presbyterian Church on Meridian Street in Indianapolis. White’s pallbearers included Elton John, football star Howie Long and Phil Donahue. Elton John performed “Skyline Pigeon” at the funeral. The funeral was also attended by Michael Jackson and Barbara Bush. On the day of the funeral, Ronald Reagan wrote a tribute to Ryan that appeared in The Washington Post. Reagan’s statement about AIDS and White’s funeral were seen as indicators of how greatly White had helped change perceptions of AIDS.

Ryan White is buried in Cicero, Indiana close to the former home of his mother. In the year following his death, his grave was vandalized on four occasions. As time passed, White’s grave became a shrine for his admirers.

#RIP #OTD 1993 contralto, first African-American singer to perform at the Metropolitan Opera, civil rights activist, Marian Anderson died in Portland, Oregon, of congestive heart failure, aged 96. Eden Cemetery, in Collingdale, Pennsylvania

#RIP #OTD in 1996 actor (Shane, The Undefeated, Chisum, The Last Picture Show, Junior Bonner, The Evening Star), Team Roping World Champion cowboy Ben Johnson died; heart attack; Leisure World in Mesa, Arizona, aged 77. Pawhuska City Cemetery, Oklahoma

#RIP #OTD in 2013 actress (Mickey Mouse Club, Beach Party films) and singer Annette Funicello died at Mercy Southwest Hospital in Bakersfield, California from complications attributed to multiple sclerosis, age 70. Cremation

#RIP #OTD in 2013 actress (Don Quixote, Locura de amor, Cárcel de mujeres, Furia roja, Vera Cruz, Serenade, Run of the Arrow, El último cuplé, La Violetera), singer Sara Montiel died at her home in Madrid from congestive heart failure, aged 85. Sacramental de San Justo, Madrid

#RIP #OTD in 2013 first female British prime minister and the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century, the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher died after suffering a stroke at her suite in the Ritz Hotel, London, aged 87. Cremated remains at the Royal Hospital Chelsea

Have you planned yours yet?

Follow TFF on twitter @RIPTFF

Posted in Artistic Footprints, Day in History, Extravagant Footprints | Tagged annette funicello, Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, bel canto opera, ben johnson, Buried, Chateau of Vauvenargues, Cubism, gaetano Donizetti, Georges Braque, Gertrude Stein, Ground Burial, Guernica, History, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Margaret thatcher, marian anderson, opera, Pablo Picasso, riptff, ryan white, tff, the final footprint | Leave a comment

On this day 7 April death of Jesus Christ of Nazareth – El Greco – Suzanne Valadon – Theda Bara – John Prine

Posted on 29 ApramSun, 07 Apr 2024 00:03:00 -05002024-04-07T00:03:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day, possibly, in AD 30/33, Jewish leader and religious leader, Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus was crucified in Calvary at the age of 33/36. Born c. 4 BC in Judea, Roman Empire. He is the central figure of Christianity, and in my opinion is one of the most influential people in history. Most Christians believe he is the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited Messiah (Christ) prophesied in the Old Testament.

Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically, although the quest for the historical Jesus has produced little agreement on the historical reliability of the Gospels and on how closely the Jesus portrayed in the Bible reflects the historical Jesus. Jesus was a Galilean Jew who was baptized by John the Baptist and began his own ministry. He preached orally and was often referred to as “rabbi”. Jesus debated with fellow Jews on how to best follow God, engaged in healings, taught in parables and gathered followers. He was arrested and tried by the Jewish authorities, turned over to the Roman government, and crucified on the order of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect. After his death, his followers believed he rose from the dead, and the community they formed eventually became the early Church.

The birth of Jesus is celebrated annually on December 25th (or various dates in January by some eastern churches) as Christmas. His crucifixion is honored on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter. The widely used calendar era “AD”, from the Latin anno Domini (“in the year of the Lord”), and the equivalent alternative “CE”, are based on the approximate birthdate of Jesus.

Christian doctrines include the beliefs that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of a virgin named Mary, performed miracles, founded the Christian Church, died by crucifixion as a sacrifice to achieve atonement for sin, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven, from where he will return. Most Christians believe Jesus enables people to be reconciled to God. The Nicene Creed asserts that Jesus will judge the living and the dead either before or after their bodily resurrection, an event tied to the Second Coming of Jesus in Christian eschatology. The great majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, the second of three persons of the Trinity. A minority of Christian denominations reject Trinitarianism, wholly or partly, as non-scriptural.

Jesus also figures in non-Christian religions and new religious movements. In Islam, Jesus (commonly transliterated as Isa) is considered one of God’s important prophets and the Messiah. Muslims believe Jesus was a bringer of scripture and was born of a virgin, but was not the son of God. The Quran states that Jesus never claimed divinity. Most Muslims do not believe that he was crucified, but that he was physically raised into Heaven by God. In contrast, Judaism rejects the belief that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, arguing that he did not fulfill Messianic prophecies, and was neither divine nor resurrected.

The Final Footprint

Pietro Perugino’s depiction of the Crucifixion as Stabat Mater, 1482

Jesus’ crucifixion is described in all four canonical gospels. After the trials, Jesus is led to Calvary carrying his cross; the route traditionally thought to have been taken is known as the Via Dolorosa. The three Synoptic Gospels indicate that Simon of Cyrene assists him, having been compelled by the Romans to do so. In Luke 23:27–28 Jesus tells the women in the multitude of people following him not to weep for him but for themselves and their children. At Calvary, Jesus is offered a sponge soaked in a concoction usually offered as a painkiller. According to Matthew and Mark, he refuses it.

Tomb of Jesus, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, venerated by some Christians as the place where Jesus was buried.

The soldiers then crucify Jesus and cast lots for his clothes. Above Jesus’ head on the cross is Pilate’s inscription, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Soldiers and passersby mock him about it. Two convicted thieves are crucified along with Jesus. In Matthew and Mark, both thieves mock Jesus. In Luke, one of them rebukes Jesus, while the other defends him. Jesus tells the latter: “today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). In John, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the beloved disciple were at the crucifixion. Jesus tells the beloved disciple to take care of his mother (John 19:26–27).

The Roman soldiers break the two thieves’ legs (a procedure designed to hasten death in a crucifixion), but they do not break those of Jesus, as he is already dead (John 19:33). In John 19:34, one soldier pierces Jesus’ side with a lance, and blood and water flow out. In the Synoptics, when Jesus dies, the heavy curtain at the Temple is torn. In Matthew 27:51–54, an earthquake breaks open tombs. In Matthew and Mark, terrified by the events, a Roman centurion states that Jesus was the Son of God.

On the same day, Joseph of Arimathea, with Pilate’s permission and with Nicodemus’ help, removes Jesus’ body from the cross, wraps him in a clean cloth, and buries him in his new rock-hewn tomb. In Matthew 27:62–66, on the following day the chief Jewish priests ask Pilate for the tomb to be secured, and with Pilate’s permission the priests place seals on the large stone covering the entrance.

On this day in 1614, painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance El Greco died in Toledo, Spain at the age of 72. Born Doménikos Theotokópoulos in October 1541 in either the village of Fodele or Candia (the Venetian name of Chandax, present day Heraklion) on Crete. El Greco was a nickname, a reference to his Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος, Doménikos Theotokópoulos, often adding the word Κρής Krēs, Cretan.

He trained and became a master before traveling at age 26 to Venice, as other Greek artists had done. In 1570 he moved to Rome, where he opened a workshop and executed a series of works. During his stay in Italy, El Greco enriched his style with elements of Mannerism and of the Venetian Renaissance taken from a number of great artists of the time, notably Tintoretto. In 1577, he moved to Toledo, Spain, where he lived and worked until his death. In Toledo, El Greco received several major commissions and produced his best-known paintings.

El Greco’s dramatic and expressionistic style was met with puzzlement by his contemporaries but found appreciation in the 20th century. El Greco is regarded as a precursor of both Expressionism and Cubism, while his personality and works were a source of inspiration for poets and writers such as Rainer Maria Rilke and Nikos Kazantzakis. El Greco has been characterized by modern scholars as an artist so individual that he belongs to no conventional school. He is best known for tortuously elongated figures and often fantastic or phantasmagorical pigmentation, marrying Byzantine traditions with those of Western painting.

The Dormition of the Virgin (before 1567, tempera and gold on panel, 61.4 × 45 cm, Holy Cathedral of the Dormition of the Virgin, Hermoupolis, Syros) was probably created near the end of the artist’s Cretan period.

Byzantine chapel at Fodele, Crete, in Greece, where El Greco was born

The Adoration of the Magi (1565–1567, 56 × 62 cm, Benaki Museum, Athens). The icon, signed by El Greco (“Χείρ Δομήνιχου”, Created by the hand of Doménicos), was painted in Candia on part of an old chest.

Adoration of the Magi, 1568, Museo Soumaya, Mexico City

Portrait of Giorgio Giulio Clovio, the earliest surviving portrait from El Greco (c. 1570, oil on canvas, 58 × 86 cm, Museo di Capodimonte, Naples). In the portrait of Clovio, friend and supporter in Rome of the young Cretan artist, the first evidence of El Greco’s gifts as a portraitist are apparent.

The Assumption of the Virgin(1577–1579, oil on canvas, 401 × 228 cm, Art Institute of Chicago) was one of the nine paintings El Greco completed for the church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo in Toledo, his first commission in Spain.

The Burial of the Count of Orgaz(1586–1588, oil on canvas, 480 × 360 cm, Santo Tomé, Toledo), illustrates a popular local legend. An exceptionally large painting, it is clearly divided into two zones: the heavenly above and the terrestrial below, brought together compositionally.

The Disrobing of Christ (El Espolio) (1577–1579, oil on canvas, 285 × 173 cm, Sacristy of the Cathedral, Toledo). El Greco’s altarpieces are renowned for their dynamic compositions and startling innovations.

El Greco made Toledo his home. Surviving contracts mention him as the tenant from 1585 onwards of a complex consisting of three apartments and twenty-four rooms which belonged to the Marquis de Villena. It was in these apartments, which also served as his workshop, that he passed the rest of his life, painting and studying. He lived in considerable style, sometimes employing musicians to play whilst he dined. It is not confirmed whether he lived with his Spanish female companion, Jerónima de Las Cuevas, whom he probably never married. She was the mother of his only son, Jorge Manuel, born in 1578, who also became a painter, assisted his father, and continued to repeat his compositions for many years after he inherited the studio.

The Final Footprint

During the course of the execution of a commission for the Hospital de Tavera, El Greco fell seriously ill, and a month later, he died. A few days earlier, on 31 March, he had directed that his son should have the power to make his will. Two Greeks, friends of the painter, witnessed this last will and testament (El Greco never lost touch with his Greek origins). He was thought to be entombed in the Church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo but the exact location remains unknown.

Gallery

View of Toledo (c. 1596–1600, oil on canvas, 47.75 × 42.75 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) is one of the two surviving landscapes of Toledo painted by El Greco.

The Holy Trinity (1577–1579, 300 × 178 cm, oil on canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain) was part of a group of works created for the church “Santo Domingo el Antiguo”.

The Opening of the Fifth Seal (1608–1614, oil, 225 × 193 cm., New York, Metropolitan Museum)

Portrait of Jorge Manuel Theotocopoulos (1600–1605, oil on canvas, 81 × 56 cm, Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes, Seville)

The Modena Triptych (1568, tempera on panel, 37 × 23.8 cm(central), 24 × 18 cm (side panels), Galleria Estense, Modena) is a small-scale composition attributed to El Greco.

On this day in 1938, French painter and artists’ model, Suzanne Valadon died of a stroke at age 72 in Paris. Born Marie-Clémentine Valadon on 23 September 1865 at Bessines-sur-Gartempe, Haute-Vienne, France. In 1894, Valadon became the first woman painter admitted to the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. She was also the mother of painter Maurice Utrillo. The subjects of her drawings and paintings included mostly female nudes, female portraits, still lifes, and landscapes. She never attended the academy and was never confined within a tradition. Valadon debuted as a model in 1880 in Montmartre at age 15. She modeled for over 10 years for many different artists including the following: Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes, Théophile Steinlen, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

The Final Footprint – Valadon is buried in the Cimetière de Saint-Ouen in Paris. Saint-Ouen is located just north of Montmartre at Saint-Ouen, near Paris, France. The cemetery consists of two parts. The first, located on Rue Adrien Lesesne opened in 1860 and the second at 2 Avenue Michelet was opened on 1 September 1872.

Gallery

Dance at Bougival, by Renoir; the female dancer is Valadon.

Casting of the Net, 1914

- Self-Portrait, 1883

- My Son at 7 Years Old

- Self-Portrait, 1893

- Nude, 1895

- Portrait of Erik Satie, 1893

- The Bath, 1908

- Nudes, 1919

- Flowers on a Round Table, 1920

- Portrait of Maurice Utrillo

- Portrait of the Painter Maurice Utrillo, 1921

- Still Life with Tulips and Fruit Bowl, 1924

- Bouquet of Flowers, 1928

- Still Life with Basket of Apples Vase of Flowers, 1928

Young Girl in Front of a Window, 1930

Portraits of Valadon

- The Hangover (Suzanne Valadon), by Toulouse-Lautrec.

- Profile portrait of Suzanne Valadon, by Renoir.

Portrait of Suzanne Valadon, by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

OTD in 1955 silent film and stage actress (The She-Devil, The Unchastened Woman, Madame Mystery) The Vamp, Theda Bara died at California Lutheran Hospital in Los Angeles from stomach cancer, aged 69. Great Mausoleum, Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California

#RIP #OTD singer-songwriter John Prine died of complications caused by COVID- 19 in Nashville, age 73. As expressed in his song “Paradise”, half of his cremated remains were spread in Kentucky’s Green River, the other half were buried next to his parents in Oakridge-Glen Oak Cemetery
Hillside, Illinois

Have you planned yours yet?

Follow TFF on twitter @RIPTFF

Posted in Artistic Footprints, Day in History, Religious Footprints | Tagged Buried, Cemetery, el greco, forest lawn glendale, Ground Burial, History, jesus christ, John prine, Marker, riptff, suzanne valadon, tff, the final footprint, theda bara | Leave a comment

On this day 6 April death of Raphael – Igor Stravinsky – Isaac Asimov – Greer Garson – Tammy Wynette – Wilma Mankiller – Mickey Rooney – Merle Haggard – Don Rickles

Posted on 29 ApramSat, 06 Apr 2024 00:03:00 -05002024-04-06T00:03:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

Self portrait

On this day in 1520, painter and architect of the High Renaissance, Raphael died in Rome, perhaps on his 37th birthday. Born Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino either on 28 March or 6 April 1483 in the small Central Italian city of Urbino in the Marche region. Raphael is celebrated for the perfection and grace of his paintings and drawings. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Raphael never married, but in 1514 became engaged to Maria Bibbiena, Cardinal Medici Bibbiena’s niece. He is said to have had many affairs, but a permanent fixture in his life in Rome was “La Fornarina”, Margherita Luti, the daughter of a baker (fornaro) named Francesco Luti from Siena who lived at Via del Governo Vecchio.

The Final Footprint – Raphael is entombed in a marble sarcophagus in the Pantheon in Rome. The inscription is an elegiac distich written by Pietro Bembo,: “Ille hic est Raffael, timuit quo sospite vinci, rerum magna parens et moriente mori.” Meaning: “Here lies Raphael, by whom the mother of all things (Nature) feared to be overcome while he was living, and while he was dying, herself to die.” The Pantheon was commissioned by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and was rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in about 126 AD. It has been in continuous use throughout its history, and since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a Roman Catholic church dedicated to “St. Mary and the Martyrs” but informally known as “Santa Maria Rotonda.”

Gallery

The Ansidei Altarpiece, ca. 1505, beginning to move on from Perugino

The Madonna of the Meadow, ca. 1506, using Leonardo’s pyramidal composition for subjects of the Holy Family.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria, 1507, borrows from the pose of Leonardo’s Leda
Deposition of Christ, 1507, drawing from Roman sarcophagi.

On this day in 1971, composer, pianist and conductor Igor Stravinsky died in his 5th Avenue apartment in Manhattan from heart failure at the age of 88. Born Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky on 17 June [O.S. 5 June] 1882 in Oranienbaum, Russia. In my opinion, one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century.

Stravinsky’s compositional career was notable for its stylistic diversity. He first achieved international fame with three ballets commissioned by the impresario Serge Diaghilev and first performed in Paris by Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes: The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911), and The Rite of Spring (1913). The latter transformed the way in which subsequent composers thought about rhythmic structure and was largely responsible for Stravinsky’s enduring reputation as a musical revolutionary who pushed the boundaries of musical design. His “Russian phase”, which continued with works such as Renard, L’Histoire du soldat and Les Noces, was followed in the 1920s by a period in which he turned to neoclassicism. The works from this period tended to make use of traditional musical forms (concerto grosso, fugue and symphony) and drew from earlier styles, especially those of the 18th century.

The Final Footprint

A funeral service was held on 9 April at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel. As per his wishes, he was buried in the Russian corner of the cemetery island of San Michele in northern Italy, several yards from the tomb of Diaghilev. Another notable final footprint at San Michele is Ezra Pound.

#RIP #OTD in 1992 writer (Foundation series, Galactic Empire series, Robot series, “Nightfall”), professor of biochemistry at Boston University, Isaac Asimov died in Manhattan of heart and kidney failure, aged 72. Cremated remains scattered

#RIP #OTD in 1996 actress (Mrs. Miniver) Greer Garson died from heart failure in a penthouse suite at the Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, aged 91. Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery in Dallas

On this day in 1998, singer and songwriter, Country music icon, Tammy Wynette died from a heart attack at her home in Nashville at the age of 55. Born Virginia Wynette Pugh near Iuka, Mississippi on 5 May 1942. One of country music’s best-known artists, Wynette was called the “First Lady of Country Music”. Her best-known song was, “Stand by Your Man”. Many of her hits dealt with classic themes of loneliness, divorce, and the difficulties of man-woman relationships. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Wynette charted 23 No. 1 songs. Wynette married five times; Euple Byrd (married April 1960– divorced 1966); Don Chapel, born Lloyd Franklin Amburgey (m. 1967 – annulled 1968); George Jones (m. February 16, 1969 – d. March 21, 1975); Michael Tomlin (m. July 18, 1976 – a. September 1976) 44 days; and singer/songwriter George Richey (m. July 6, 1978 – her death April 6, 1998), Wynette’s marriage to country music singer George Jones resulted in a sequence of albums and singles that hit the charts throughout the 1970s and early eighties.

The Final Footprint – A public memorial service was held at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium on 9 April 1998. A private grave-side service had been held earlier with a crypt entombment at Nashville’s Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery. 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, and Porter Wagoner.

#RIP #OTD in 2010 Native American (Cherokee Nation) activist, community developer, the first woman elected as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, Wilma Mankiller died from pancreatic cancer at her home in rural Adair County, Oklahoma, aged 64. Echota Cemetery, Stilwell OK

On this day in 2014, United States Army veteran, actor, vaudevillian, comedian, producer and radio personality Mickey Rooney died in Los Angeles at the age of 93. Born Joseph Yule Jr. on September 23, 1920 in Brooklyn. In a career spanning nine decades and continuing until shortly before his death, he appeared in more than 300 films and was one of the last surviving stars of the silent film era.

Rooney performed the role of Andy Hardy in a series of 15 films in the 1930s and 1940s that epitomized American family values. A versatile performer, he became a celebrated character actor later in his career.

Rooney first performed in vaudeville as a child and made his film debut at the age of six. At 14 he played Puck in the play and later the 1935 film adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In 1938, he co-starred in Boys Town. At 19 he was the first teenager to be nominated for an Oscar for his leading role in Babes in Arms, and he was awarded a special Academy Juvenile Awardin 1939. At the peak of his career between the ages of 15 and 25, he made 43 films, which made him one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s most consistently successful actors and a favorite of MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer.

Drafted into the Army during World War II, he served nearly two years entertaining over two million troops on stage and radio and was awarded a Bronze Star for performing in combat zones. Returning from the war in 1945, Rooney’s popularity was renewed with well-received supporting roles in films such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), and The Black Stallion (1979). In the early 1980s, he returned to Broadway in Sugar Babies. Rooney made hundreds of appearances on TV, including dramas, variety programs, and talk shows, and won an Emmy in 1982 plus a Golden Globe for his role in Bill (1981).

Rooney was married eight times, with six of the marriages ending in divorce. In 1942, he married his first wife, actress Ava Gardner, who at that time was still an obscure teenage starlet. They divorced the following year. While stationed in the military in Alabama in 1944, Rooney met and married Betty Jane Phillips, who later became a singer under the name B.J. Baker. This marriage ended in divorce after he returned from Europe at the end of World War II. His marriage to actress Martha Vickers in 1949 ended in divorce in 1951. He married actress Elaine Mahnken in 1952 and they divorced in 1958. In 1958, Rooney married Barbara Ann Thomason, but she was murdered by her secret lover in 1966. He then married Barbara’s best friend, Marge Lane. That marriage lasted 100 days. He was married to Carolyn Hockett from 1969 to 1975. In 1978, Rooney married his eighth and final wife, Jan Chamberlin. Their marriage lasted until his death, a total of 34 years (longer than his seven previous unions combined), although they separated in 2012.

The Final Footprint

A group of family members and friends, including Mickey Rourke, held a memorial service on April 18. A private funeral, organized by another set of family members, was held at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where he was ultimately entombed, on April 19. Other notable Final Footprints at Hollywood Forever include voice actor Mel Blanc (yes, his epitaph is “That’s All Folks!”), Chris Cornell, Cecil B. DeMille, Victor Fleming, Joan Hackett, John Huston, Judy Garland, Jayne Mansfield’s cenotaph, Hattie McDaniel‘s cenotaph, Bugsy Siegel, Rudolph Valentino, Fay Wray, and Anton Yelchin.

Merle Haggard
in 1971

On this day in 2016, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler, the Hag, Merle Haggard died at his ranch near Palo Cedro, California from pneumonia at the age of 79. Born Merle Ronald Haggard on April 6, 1937 in Oildale, California. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band the Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the twang of Fender Telecaster and the unique mix with the traditional country steel guitar sound, new vocal harmony styles in which the words are minimal, and a rough edge not heard on the more polished Nashville sound recordings of the same era.

Between the 1960s and the 1980s, he had 38 number-one hits on the US country charts, several of which also made the Billboard all-genre singles chart. Haggard continued to release successful albums into the 2000s.

Haggard’s last recording, a song called “Kern River Blues,” described his departure from Bakersfield in the late 1970s and his displeasure with politicians. The song was recorded February 9, 2016, and features his son Ben on guitar.

depicted on a publicity portrait for Tally Records (1961, age 24)

publicity portrait for Capitol Records (1975, age 38)

performing in June 2009 (age 72)

Haggard was married five times, first to Leona Hobbs from 1956-64. Shortly after divorcing Hobbs, in 1965, he married singer Bonnie Owens. Haggard and Owens divorced in 1978, but remained close friends as Owens continued as his backing vocalist until her death in 2006. In 1978, Haggard married Leona Williams. In 1983, they divorced. In 1985 Haggard married Debbie Parret; they divorced in 1991.

The Final Footprint

Haggard was buried in a private funeral at his ranch on April 9, 2016; longtime friend Marty Stuart officiated. Haggard hoped the world would remember him as “the greatest jazz guitar player in the world that loved to play country.”

at the White House for the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors

Don Rickles
in 1973

On this day in 2017, U. S. Navy veteran, comedian and actor, Mr. Warmth, Don Rickles died at his home in Beverly Hills from kidney failure at the age of 90. Born Donald Jay Rickles on May 8, 1926 in Queens, New York. He became well known as an insult comic. His prominent film roles included Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) with Clark Gable, Kelly’s Heroes (1970) with Clint Eastwood, and Martin Scorsese’s Casino (1995).

Rickles also earned the nickname “The Merchant of Venom” for his poking fun at people of all ethnicities and walks of life. When he was introduced to an audience or on a television talk show, Spanish matador music, “La Virgen de la Macarena”, would usually be played, subtly foreshadowing someone was about to be metaphorically gored. Rickles said, “I always pictured myself facing the audience as the matador.”

with Lorne Greene on The Don Rickles Show in 1968

with Louise Sorel in The Don Rickles Show

on stage at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City on January 12, 2008

On March 14, 1965, Rickles married Barbara Sklar of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He admitted having a very difficult time romantically in his 20s and 30s, finally meeting Sklar through his agent when he was 38 years old and falling for her when she failed to get his sense of humor.

The Final Footprint

He was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles. Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries is the largest Jewish cemetery organization in California.

Have you planned yours yet?

Follow TFF on twitter @RIPTFF

Posted in Artistic Footprints, Day in History, Extravagant Footprints, Film Footprints, Musical Footprints | Tagged Crypts, don rickles, echota cemetery, Entomb, Greer Garson, hollywood forever cemetery, igor stravinsky, Isaac asimov, merle haggard, Mickey Rooney, Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery, Pantheon, Private Mausoleum, Raphael, riptff, san michele, Sparkman Hillcrest Cemetery, tammy wynette, tff, the final footprint, wilma mankiller, woodlawn memorial park | Leave a comment

On this day 5 April death of Howard Hughes – Kurt Cobain – Allen Ginsberg – Layne Staley – Gene Pitney – Charlton Heston – Peter Matthiessen – Honor Blackman

Posted on 29 ApramFri, 05 Apr 2024 00:48:00 -05002024-04-05T00:48:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1976, aviator, engineer, industrialist, film producer, director, philanthropist, and once one of the wealthiest people in the world, Howard Hughes died from kidney failure aboard an airplane bound for Houston, at the age of 70. Born Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. probably on 24 September 1905 in Humble, Texas. His father patented the two-cone roller bit, which allowed rotary drilling for petroleum in previously inaccessible places and founded the Hughes Tool Company. Hughes took full control of the business when he was 19 following his father’s death. His most notable films inlcude the flying film Hell’s Angels (1930), Scarface (1932), and The Outlaw (1943), which featured Jane Russell. Hughes dated many famous women, including Bette Davis, Ava Gardner, Olivia de Havilland, Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Jean Peters, Terry Moore and Gene Tierney. He reportedly proposed to Joan Fontaine several times. In 1932 Hughes founded Hughes Aircraft Company, which became a major American aerospace and defense contractor, as a division of Hughes Tool Company. Hughes was one of the most influential aviators in history; he set multiple world air-speed records, built the Hughes H-1 Racer and H-4 “Hercules” (better known to history as the “Spruce Goose”) aircraft, and acquired and expanded Trans World Airlines which would later on merge with American Airlines. In 1953, Hughes founded the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) in Chevy Chase, Maryland, formed with the express goal of basic biomedical research, including trying to understand, in Hughes’ words, the “genesis of life itself.” Hughes gave all his stock in the Hughes Aircraft Company to the institute, which would sell the company to General Motors in 1985 for $5 billion. HHMI is one of the wealthiest medical research foundations in the world. In 1966, Hughes moved into the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. He wound up purchasing other hotels/casinos such as the Castaways, New Frontier, The Landmark Hotel and Casino, the Sands and the Silver Slipper. Hughes was married two or three times; Ella Rice (1925-1929 divorce), Terry Moore (1949-1976 his death) (alleged), and Jean Peters (1957-1971 divorce).

The Final Footprint – Hughes is interred in the Hughes private estate with his parents in Glenwood Cemetery in Houston. One of my offices in Houston overlooked Glenwood. Hughes has been portayed in film by Tommy Lee Jones in The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977) and by Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator (2004). The latter was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, winning five. Other notable Final Footprints at Glenwood include; Maria Franklin Prentiss Langham Gable, Oveta Culp Hobby, William P. Hobby, Glenn McCarthy, and Gene Tierney.

On this day in 1994, musician, singer, and songwriter Kurt Cobain died from a self inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Seattle at the age of 27. Born Kurt Donald Cobain on 20 February 1967, at Grays Harbor Hospital in Aberdeen, Washington. Cobain was the lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the grunge band Nirvana. Cobain formed Nirvana with Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1985 and established it as part of the Seattle music scene, having its debut album Bleach released on the independent record label Sub Pop in 1989. After signing with major label DGC Records, the band found breakthrough success with “Smells Like Teen Spirit” from its second album Nevermind (1991). Following the success of Nevermind, Nirvana was labeled “the flagship band” of Generation X, and Cobain hailed as “the spokesman of a generation”. Cobain, however, was often uncomfortable and frustrated, believing his message and artistic vision to have been misinterpreted by the public, with his personal issues often subject to media attention. During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with heroin addiction, illness and depression. Cobain married fellow musician Courtney Love. With Cobain’s death at 27 he became a member of the 27 Club; a group of famous musicians who died when they were 27 years old. The group includes; bluesman Robert Johnson, Rolling Stone Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Amy Winehouse.

The Final Footprint – A public vigil was held for Cobain on 10 April 1994, at a park at Seattle Center. A prerecorded message by Love was played at the memorial. Love read portions of Cobain’s suicide note to the crowd, crying and chastising Cobain. Near the end of the vigil, Love arrived at the park and distributed some of Cobain’s clothing to those who still remained. A final ceremony was arranged for Cobain, by his mother, on 31 May 1999. As a Buddhist monk chanted, daughter Frances Bean scattered Cobain’s ashes into McLane Creek in Olympia, the city where he “had found his true artistic muse.” Together with Nirvana band mates Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, Cobain was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, which was the first year in which the band was eligible.

Allen Ginsberg
in 1979

On this day in 1997 poet, philosopher and writer Allen Ginsberg died from liver cancer via complications of hepatitis in East Village, New York City at the age of 70. Born Irwin Allen Ginsberg on June 3, 1926 in Newark, New Jersey. He was one of the leading figures of both the Beat Generation during the 1950s and the counterculture that soon followed. He opposed militarism, economic materialism and sexual repression and was known as embodying various aspects of this counterculture, such as his views on drugs, hostility to bureaucracy and openness to Eastern religions.

Perhaps best known for his poem “Howl”, in which he denounced what he saw as the destructive forces of capitalism and conformity in the United States. In 1956, “Howl” was seized by San Francisco police and US Customs. In 1957, it attracted widespread publicity when it became the subject of an obscenity trial, as it described heterosexual and homosexual sex at a time when sodomy laws made homosexual acts a crime in every U.S. state. Judge Clayton W. Horn ruled that “Howl” was not obscene, adding, “Would there be any freedom of press or speech if one must reduce his vocabulary to vapid innocuous euphemisms?”

Ginsberg was a practicing Buddhist. He lived modestly, buying his clothing in second-hand stores and residing in downscale apartments in New York’s East Village. Ginsberg took part in decades of non-violent political protest against everything from the Vietnam War to the War on Drugs.

His collection The Fall of America shared the annual U.S. National Book Award for Poetry in 1974. Ginsberg was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1995 for his book Cosmopolitan Greetings: Poems 1986–1992.

Ginsberg with his partner, poet Peter Orlovsky. Photo taken in 1978

Portrait with Bob Dylan, taken in 1975

Allen Ginsberg’s greeting A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada at San Francisco International Airport. January 17, 1967

The Mantra-Rock Dance promotional poster featuring Allen Ginsberg along with leading rock bands.

In 1979

Ginsberg continued to write through his final illness, with his last poem, “Things I’ll Not Do (Nostalgias)”, written on March 30.

The Final Footprint

He died with family and friends in his East Village loft in New York City, succumbing to liver cancer via complications of hepatitis. He was 70 years old.

One third of Ginsberg’s ashes were buried in his family plot in Gomel Chesed Cemetery in Newark, NJ. He was survived by Orlovsky.

When Orlovsky died, as per Ginsberg’s wishes, another third of his ashes were buried alongside Orlovsky at Shambhala Mountain Center in Colorado. The remaining third of the ashes are buried at Jewel Heart, Gelek Rimpoche’s sangha, in India.

On this day in 2002, lead singer and co-songwriter of the rock band Alice in Chains, Layne Staley died from an accidental overdose of a speedball in his home in Seattle, at the age of 34. Born Layne Rutherford Staley on August 22, 1967 in Kirkland, Washington. Alice in Chains rose to international fame in the early 1990s during Seattle’s grunge movement, and became known for Staley’s distinct vocal style, as well as the harmonized vocals between him and guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell. Staley was also a member of the supergroups Mad Season and Class of ’99.

The Final Footprint

An informal memorial was held for Staley on the night of April 20, 2002 at the Seattle Center, which was attended by at least 100 fans and friends, including Alice in Chains bandmates Cantrell, Starr, Inez, Kinney and Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell. Staley’s body was cremated and a private memorial service was held for him on April 28, 2002 on Bainbridge Island in Washington’s Puget Sound. It was attended by Staley’s family and friends, along with his Alice in Chains bandmates, Cornell, as well as other music personalities. Cornell, joined by Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson, sang a rendition of The Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses” at the funeral. They also performed The Lovemongers’ song “Sand”.

#RIP #OTD in 2006 singer (“Town Without Pity”, “(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance”, “Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa”, “I’m Gonna Be Strong”, “It Hurts to Be in Love”, “Something’s Gotten Hold of My Heart”), songwriter (“Hello Mary Lou”), musician Gene Pitney died in his hotel room following a concert in Cardiff, Wales, aged 66. Center Cemetery, Somers, Connecticut

Charlton Heston
1981

On this day in 2008, U.S. Army Air Forces veteran, actor and activist Charlton Heston died from Alzheimer’s complications at his home in Beverly Hills at the age of 84. Born John Charles Carter or Charlton John Carter on October 4, 1923 in Wilmette, Illinois.

As a Hollywood star, he appeared in 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film, The Ten Commandments (1956), for which he received his first nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. He also starred in Touch of Evil (1958) with Orson Welles, Ben-Hur (1959), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid (1961), and Planet of the Apes (1968). He also starred in the films The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), Secret of the Incas (1954), The Big Country (1958) and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).

A supporter of Democratic politicians and civil rights in the 1960s, Heston later became a Republican, founding a conservative political action committee and supporting Ronald Reagan. Heston’s most famous role in politics came as the five-term president of the National Rifle Association, from 1998 to 2003.

Heston as Antony in Julius Caesar (1950)

Heston in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

as Moses in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1956)

In Touch of Evil (1958)

In Ben-Hur (1959)

Drawing of Heston after he won an Oscar for Ben-Hur in 1959. Artist: Nicholas Volpe.

at a congressional hearing in 1961

with James Baldwin, Marlon Brando, and Harry Belafonte at the Civil Rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom 1963: Sidney Poitier is in the background.

at the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, DC with Sidney Poitier (left) and Harry Belafonte

at the March on Washington in 1963

by Jerry Avenaim in 2001

The Final Footprint

Heston died with Lydia, his wife of 64 years, by his side. Early tributes came in from leading figures; President George W. Bush called Heston “a man of character and integrity, with a big heart … He served his country during World War II, marched in the civil rights movement, led a labor union and vigorously defended Americans’ Second Amendment rights.” Former First Lady Nancy Reagan said that she was “heartbroken” over Heston’s death and released a statement, reading, “I will never forget Chuck as a hero on the big screen in the roles he played, but more importantly I considered him a hero in life for the many times that he stepped up to support Ronnie in whatever he was doing.”

Heston’s funeral was held a week later on April 12, 2008, in a ceremony which was attended by Nancy Reagan and Hollywood stars such as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Olivia de Havilland, Keith Carradine, Pat Boone, Tom Selleck, Oliver Stone (who had cast Heston in his 1999 movie Any Given Sunday), Rob Reiner, and Christian Bale.

The funeral was held at Episcopal Parish of St. Matthew’s Church in Pacific Palisades, the church where Heston had regularly worshipped and attended Sunday services since the early 1980s. He was cremated and his cremains are inured in Saint Matthew’s Episcopal Church Columbarium, Pacific Palisades, California, U.S.

#RIP #OTD in 2014 author (The Snow Leopard, Shadow Country, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse) naturalist, zen teacher, CIA agent, co-founder of The Paris Review, Peter Matthiessen died from leukemia at his home in Sagaponack, New York, aged 86

Have you planned yours yet?

Follow TFF on twitter @RIPTPFF

Posted in Day in History, Extravagant Footprints | Tagged allen ginsberg, Buried, Cemetery, Center cemetery, Charlton Heston, Estates, Gene pitney, Glenwood Cemetery, Ground Burial, History, Howard Hughes, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Hughes Aircraft, Hughes Tool, Kurt Cobain, layne staley, Nirvana, peter Matthiessen, Private Estates, riptff, tff, The Aviator, the final footprint | Leave a comment

On this day 4 April death of Martin Luther King, Jr. – Gloria Swanson – Roger Ebert

Posted on 29 ApramThu, 04 Apr 2024 00:39:00 -05002024-04-04T00:39:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1968, clergyman, activist, prominent leader and iconic figure in the African American civil rights movement, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on the balcony of room 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee at the age of 39. Born on 15 January 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His father’s name was Michael King, but he changed his name to Martin Luther King after Martin Luther (10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546), the admired German priest and professor of theology who initiated the Protestant Reformation. King believed in and urged the use of nonviolent methods in the advancement of civil rights. One of the greatest orators in American history. His “I Have a Dream” speech concludes with; “Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” In 1948, he graduated from Morehouse with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology, and enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1951. King married Coretta Scott, on 18 June 1953, on the lawn of her parents’ house in her hometown of Heiberger, Alabama. In the close of his last speech given in Memphis before the assassiantion, King said; “And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

The Final Footprint – King is entombed at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta. His crypt has the inscription; “Free at last, Free at last, Thank God Almighty I’m Free at last.” Coretta was entombed next to him upon her death in 2006. Her crypt has the inscription; “And now abide Faith, Hope, Love, These Three; but the greatest of these is Love.” 1 Cor. 13:13. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday in 1

On this day in 1983, actress and producer Gloria Swanson died in New York City in New York Hospital from a heart ailment, aged 84.. Born Gloria May Josephine Swanson on March 27, 1899 in Chicago. Swanson was the silent screen’s most successful and highest paid star. Noted for her extravagance, Swanson earned $8 million from 1918 to 1929 and spent nearly all of it. Swanson starred in dozens of silent films, often under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille. In 1928, she was nominated for the first Academy Award ever given for Best Actress. Swanson was among the early women to produce her own movies, making The Love of Sunya (1927) and Sadie Thompson (1928). In 1929, Swanson transitioned into sounds films with her performance in The Trespasser. Personal problems and changing tastes saw her popularity wane during the 1930s and she ventured into theater and television.
In 1950, after an absence from the screen for several years, Swanson achieved widespread critical acclaim and recognition for her role as Norma Desmond, a reclusive silent film star, in the critically acclaimed 1950 film Sunset Boulevard. The film earned her a Golden Globe Award and a nomination for an Academy Award. In 1989, the film was among the first group of films to be chosen by the Library of Congress for preservation as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
For more than half a century, Swanson denied having an affair with Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., the father of future-President John F. Kennedy. Swanson later broke her silence, and wrote about the affair in her best-selling 1980 autobiography Swanson on Swanson.

Throughout her life and her many marriages, Swanson was known as Miss Swanson. Her first husband was the actor Wallace Beery, whom she married on her 17th birthday on March 27, 1916. In her autobiography Swanson on Swanson, Swanson wrote that Beery raped her on their wedding night. They still worked together at Sennett, but they separated in June 1917, and the divorce was finalized in 1918.

She married Herbert K. Somborn (1919–1925), at that time president of Equity Pictures Corporation and later the owner of the Brown Derby restaurant, in 1919. Their divorce, finalized in January 1925, was sensational and led to Swanson having a “morals clause” added to her studio contract. Somborn accused her of adultery with 13 men, including Cecil B. DeMille and Rudolph Valentino.

Swanson’s third husband was the French aristocrat Henri, Marquis de la Falaise de la Coudraye, whom she married on January 28, 1925 after the Somborn divorce was finalized. Though Henri was a Marquis and the grandson of Richard and Martha Lucy Hennessy from the famous Hennessy Cognac family, he was not rich and had to work for a living. He originally was hired to be her assistant and interpreter in France while she was filming Madame Sans-Gêne (1925). Swanson was the first movie star to marry European nobility, and the marriage became a global sensation. Later, Henri became a film executive representing Pathé (USA) in France through Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., who was running the studio. Many now assume he was given the position, which kept him in France for 10 months a year, to simply keep him out of the way during her affair with Kennedy. This marriage ended in divorce in 1930.

Kennedy became her business partner and their relationship was an open secret in Hollywood. He took over all of her personal and business affairs and was supposed to make her millions. Kennedy left her after the disastrous Queen Kelly, and her finances were in worse shape than when he came into her life. Two books have been written about the affair.

After the marriage to Henri and her affair with Kennedy were over, Swanson married Michael Farmer (1902–1975) in August 1931. Swanson and Farmer divorced in 1934 after she became involved with married British actor Herbert Marshall. The media reported widely on her affair with Marshall. After almost three years with the actor, Swanson left him once she realized he would never divorce his wife, Edna Best, for her. In an early manuscript of her autobiography written in her own hand decades later, Swanson recalled “I was never so convincingly and thoroughly loved as I was by Herbert Marshall.”

In 1945, Swanson married George William Davey. The Swanson-Davey divorce was finalized in 1946. For the next 30 years, Swanson remained unmarried and able to pursue her own interests.

Swanson’s final marriage occurred in 1976 and lasted until her death. Her sixth husband and widower, writer William Dufty (1916–2002), was the co-author of Billie Holiday’s autobiography Lady Sings the Blues, the author of Sugar Blues, a 1975 best-selling health book still in print, and the author of the English version of Georges Ohsawa’s You Are All Sanpaku. Dufty was a book ghost-writer and newspaperman, working for many years at the New York Post, where he was assistant to the editor from 1951 to 1960. He first met Swanson in 1965 and by 1967 the two were living together as a couple. Swanson shared her husband’s deep enthusiasm for macrobiotic diets, and they traveled widely together to speak about sugar and food. They promoted his book Sugar Blues together in 1975 and wrote a syndicated column together. It was through Sugar Blues that Dufty and Swanson first got to know John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Swanson testified on Lennon’s behalf at his immigration hearing in New York, which led to him becoming a permanent resident. Dufty ghost-wrote Swanson’s best-selling 1980 autobiography, Swanson on Swanson. They were prominent socialites, having many homes and living in many places, including New York City, Rome, Portugal, and Palm Springs, California. After Swanson’s death, Dufty returned to his former home in Birmingham, Michigan. He died of cancer in 2002.

The Final Footprint

She was cremated and her cremated remains interred at the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest on Fifth Avenue in New York City, attended by only a small circle of family. The church was the same one where the funeral of Chester A. Arthur took place.

And on this day in 2013, film critic, historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author Roger Ebert died from cancer in Chicago at the age of 70. Born Roger Joseph Ebert on June 18, 1942 in Urbana, Illinois. He was a film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

Ebert and Chicago Tribune critic Gene Siskel helped popularize nationally televised film reviewing when they co-hosted the PBS show Sneak Previews, followed by several variously named At the Movies programs. The two verbally sparred and traded humorous barbs while discussing films. They created and trademarked the phrase “Two Thumbs Up”, used when both hosts gave the same film a positive review. After Siskel died in 1999, Ebert continued hosting the show with various co-hosts and then, starting in 2000, with Richard Roeper.

Ebert lived with cancer of the thyroid and salivary glands beginning in 2002. In 2006, he required treatment necessitating the removal of his lower jaw, leaving him disfigured and costing him the ability to speak or eat normally. His ability to write remained unimpaired and he continued to publish frequently both online and in print until his death on April 4, 2013.

The Final Footprint

On April 7, 2013, a private vigil with an open casket was held at the chapel of Graceland Cemetery on Chicago’s north side. Hundreds attended the funeral Mass held at Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral on April 8, 2013, where Ebert was celebrated as a film critic, newspaperman, advocate for social justice, and husband. Father Michael Pfleger concluded the service with, “the balconies of heaven are filled with angels singing Thumbs Up.” Ebert was cremated.

Posted in American Icon, Day in History, Extravagant Footprints | Tagged 1 Cor. 13:13, civil rights movement, Cremation, Crypts, Entomb, Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, gloria swanson, I Have a Dream, Martin Luther King Jr., Private Estates, Private Mausoleum, riptff, roger ebert, tff, the final footprint | Leave a comment

On this day 3 April death of Jesse James – Johannes Brahms – Warren Oates – Sarah Vaughan – Graham Greene – Joe Medicine Crow

Posted on 29 ApramWed, 03 Apr 2024 00:48:00 -05002024-04-03T00:48:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1882, outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, member of the James-Younger Gang, legendary figure of the Wild West, hero to some and murderer to others, younger brother of Frank James, Jesse James died in his home in St. Joseph, Missouri at the age of 34 when he was shot in the back of the head by Robert Ford. Born Jesse Woodson James in Clay County, Missouri, near the site of present day Kearney, on 5 September 1847. Jesse and Frank were Confederate guerrillas during the Civil War. Apparently at one time or another one or both of them rode with William Quantrill and Bloody Bill Anderson. They were accused of participating in atrocities committed against Union soldiers. After the war, as members of one gang or another, they robbed banks, stagecoaches, and trains. Despite popular portrayals of James as a kind of Robin Hood, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, there is no evidence that he and his gang used their robbery gains for anyone but themselves. The James brothers were most active with their gang from about 1866 until 1876, when their attempted robbery of a bank in Northfield, Minnesota, resulted in the capture of Cole, Jim and Bob Younger. Frank and Jesse continued in crime for several years, recruiting new members, but were under increasing pressure from law enforcement. Jesse married is first cousin Zerelda Amanda Mimms.

The Final Footprint – The death of Jesse became a national sensation. The Fords made no attempt to hide their role. Robert Ford wired the governor to claim a reward. Crowds pressed into the little house in St. Joseph to see the dead outlaw. The Ford brothers surrendered to the authorities but were evidently dismayed to find that they were charged with first degree murder. In the course of a single day, the Ford brothers were indicted, pleaded guilty, were sentenced to death by hanging and two hours later were granted a full pardon by Governor Thomas T. Crittenden. The governor’s quick pardon suggested he knew the brothers intended to kill James. The implication that the governor conspired to kill a private citizen startled the public and added to James’ notoriety. After receiving a small portion of the reward, the Fords fled Missouri. Later the Ford brothers starred in a touring stage show in which they reenacted the shooting. Suffering from tuberculosis (then incurable) and a morphine addiction, Charley Ford committed suicide on 6 May 1884, in Richmond, Missouri. Bob Ford operated a tent saloon in Creede, Colorado. On 8 June 1892, a man named Edward O’Kelley went to Creede, loaded a double barrel shotgun, entered Ford’s saloon and said “Hello, Bob” before shooting Ford in the throat, killing him instantly. O’Kelley was sentenced to life in prison. O’Kelley’s sentence was subsequently commuted because of a 7,000 signature petition in favor of his release. He was pardoned on 3 October 1902. Jesse was initially interred at the James Family Farm just outside Kearney. James’ mother Zerelda Samuel wrote the following epitaph for him: In Loving Memory of my Beloved Son, Murdered by a Traitor and Coward Whose Name is not Worthy to Appear Here. Eighteen months after Jesse’s wife’s death in November 1900, Jesse’s body was moved from the James Family Farm to rest next to hers at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Kearney. Debate continues over whether to place Jesse in the context of regional insurgencies of ex-Confederates following the American Civil War or as a manifestation of frontier lawlessness or alleged economic justice. Cultural depictions of Frank and Jesse and the Youngers proliferate in literature, movies and music. In Willa Cather‘s My Antonia, the narrator reads a book entitled ‘Life of Jesse James’ – probably a dime novel. In Charles Portis‘s 1968 novel, True Grit, the U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn describes fighting with Cole Younger and Frank James for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Long after his adventure with Mattie Ross, Cogburn ends his days in a traveling road show with the aged Cole Younger and Frank James. During his travel to the “Wilde West,” Oscar Wilde visited Kearney. Learning that Jesse had been assassinated by his own gang member, “…an event that sent the town into mourning and scrambling to buy Jesse’s artifacts,” “romantic appeal of the social outcast” in his mind, Wilde wrote in one of his letters to home that: “Americans are certainly great hero-worshippers, and always take [their] heroes from the criminal classes.” Frank and Jesse make an appearance in Wildwood Boys (2000) by James Carlos Blake.

In his adaptation of the traditional song “Jesse James”, Woody Guthrie magnified James’s hero status. “Jesse James” was later covered by the Anglo-Irish band The Pogues on their 1985 album Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash, and by Bruce Springsteen on his 2006 tribute to Pete Seeger, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. A somewhat different song titled “Jesse James”, referring to Jesse’s “wife to mourn for his life; three children, they were brave,” and calling Robert Ford “the dirty little coward who shot Mr. Howard,” was also the first track recorded by the “Stewart Years” version of the Kingston Trio at their initial recording session in 1961 (and included on that year’s release Close-Up). Echoing the Confederate hero aspect, Hank Williams, Jr.‘s 1983 Southern anthem “Whole Lot Of Hank” has the lyrics “Frank and Jesse James knowed how to rob them trains, they always took it from the rich and gave it to the poor, they might have had a bad name but they sure had a heart of gold.” Rock band James Gang was named after Jesse James’s gang. Their final album, released in 1976, was titled Jesse Come Home. Warren Zevon’s 1976 self-titled album Warren Zevon includes the song “Frank and Jesse James”. The album contains another reference to Jesse in the song “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” with the lyric “Well, I met a girl in West Hollywood, I ain’t naming names. She really worked me over good, she was just like Jesse James.” Linda Ronstadt covered the song a year later with slightly altered lyrics. In her album Heart of Stone (1989), Cher included a song titled “Just Like Jesse James”, written by Desmond Child and Diane Warren. This single, which was released in 1990, achieved high positions in the charts and sold 1,500,000 copies worldwide. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band‘s album Uncle Charlie and His Dog Teddy features the song “Jesse James”, ostensibly recorded on a wire recorder. In 1980 a concept album titled The Legend of Jesse James was released. It was written by Paul Kennerley and starred Levon Helm (The Band) as Jesse, Johnny Cash as Frank, Emmylou Harris as Zee James, Charlie Daniels as Cole Younger, and Albert Lee as Jim Younger. There are also appearances by Rodney Crowell, Jody Payne, and Rosanne Cash. In 1999 a double CD was released containing The Legend Of Jesse James and White Mansions, another concept album by Kennerley about life in the Confederate States of America between 1861-1865. In 2012 Clay Walker released “Jesse James” as the fourth single from his 2010 studio album She Won’t Be Lonely Long.

There have been numerous portrayals of Jesse in film, including two wherein Jesse James, Jr. depicts his father. A partial list includes: Jesse James(1939) played by Tyrone Power with Henry Fonda as Frank James and John Carradine as Bob Ford; Jesse James at Bay (1941) played by Roy Rogers; Kansas Raiders (1950) played by Audie Murphy; A Time for Dying (1969) again played by Murphy; The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972) played by Robert Duvall; The Long Riders (1980) played by James Keach with Stacy Keach as Frank James, David Carradine as Cole Younger, Keith Carradine as Jim Younger, Robert Carradine as Bob Younger, Dennis Quaid as Ed Miller, Randy Quaid as Clell Miller, Christopher Guest as Charley Ford, and Nicholas Guest as Robert Ford; The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James (1986) played by Kris Kristofferson with Cash as Frank James and Willie Nelson as Gen. Jo Shelby; Frank and Jesse (1994) played by Rob Lowe; Purgatory (1999) played by J.D. Souther; American Outlaws (2001) played by Colin Farrell; The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) played by Brad Pitt, with Casey Affleck as Bob Ford.

On this day in 1897, composer, pianist, and conductor of the Romantic period, Johannes Brahms died from liver cancer in Vienna, aged 63. Born on 7 May 1833 in Hamburg. Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria. His reputation and status as a composer are such that he is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the “Three Bs” of classical music.

Brahms composed for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano, organ, and voice and chorus. A virtuoso pianist, he premiered many of his own works. He worked with some of the leading performers of his time, including the pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim (the three were close friends). Many of his works have become staples of the modern concert repertoire. An uncompromising perfectionist, Brahms destroyed some of his works and left others unpublished.

Brahms has been considered, by his contemporaries and by later writers, as both a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is firmly rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Classical masters. The diligent, highly constructed nature of Brahms’s works was a starting point and an inspiration for a generation of composers. Embedded within his meticulous structures, however, are deeply romantic motifs.

The Final Footprint

Brahms is buried in the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, under a monument designed by Victor Horta with sculpture by Ilse von Twardowski. Other notable Final Footprints at Zentralfriedhof include; Ludwig van Beethoven, Antonio Salieri, Franz Schubert, Johann Strauss I, and Johann Strauss II. In addition, a cenotaph was erected there in honour of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

#RIP #OTD in 1982 actor (The Wild Bunch (1969) and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, In the Heat of the Night, Two Lane Blacktop, The Hired Hand, 92 in the Shade, Stripes) Warren Oates died from a heart attack at his Los Angeles home, aged 53. Cremated remains scattered at his Montana ranch

On this day in 1990, jazz singer, Grammy winner, Sailor, Sassy, The Divine One, Sarah Vaughan died at her home in California at the age of 66 from lung cancer. Born Sarah Lois Vaughan on 27 March 1924 in Newark, New Jersey. She had a contralto vocal range and her voice is one my favorites in music. Her singing ability was envied by many including Frank Sinatra who reportedly said that “Sassy is so good now that when I listen to her I want to cut my wrists with a dull razor.” Vaughan was married three times: George Treadwell (1946–1958 divorce), Clyde Atkins (1958–1961 divorce) and Waymon Reed (1978–1981 divorce).

The Final Footprint – Vaughan’s funeral was held at the new location of Mount Zion Baptist Church, 208 Broadway in Newark, New Jersey, with the same congregation she grew up in. Following the ceremony, a horse-drawn carriage transported her body to its final resting place in Glendale Cemetery, Bloomfield in New Jersey. Her grave is marked by an individual upright marker with the inscription “THE DIVINE ONE” and the term of endearment “BELOVED DAUGHTER AND MOTHER.”

On this day in 1991, novelist Graham Greene died of leukemia, at the age of 86. Born Henry Graham Greene on 2 October 1904 in Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, England. In my opinion, one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a reputation early on as a major writer, both of serious Catholic novels, and of thrillers (or “entertainments” as he termed them). He was shortlisted, in 1966 and 1967, for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Through 67 years of writings, which included over 25 novels, he explored the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world, often through a Catholic perspective.

Although Greene objected to being described as a Roman Catholic novelist, rather than as a novelist who happened to be Catholic, Catholic religious themes are at the root of much of his writing, especially the four major Catholic novels: Brighton Rock, The Power and the Glory, The Heart of the Matter, and The End of the Affair; which have been named “the gold standard” of the Catholic novel. Several works, such as The Confidential Agent, The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana, The Human Factor, and his screenplay for The Third Man, also show Greene’s interest in the workings and intrigues of international politics and espionage.

Greene was born into a large, influential family that included the owners of the Greene King Brewery. He boarded at Berkhamsted School in Hertfordshire, where his father taught and became headmaster. Unhappy at the school, he attempted suicide several times. He attended Balliol College, Oxford, to study history, where, while an undergraduate, he published his first work in 1925—a poorly received volume of poetry, Babbling April. After graduating, Greene worked first as a private tutor and then as a journalist—first on the Nottingham Journal and then as a sub-editor on The Times. He converted to Catholicism in 1926 after meeting his future wife, Vivien Dayrell-Browning. Later in life he took to calling himself a “Catholic agnostic”. He published his first novel, The Man Within, in 1929; its favourable reception enabled him to work full-time as a novelist. He supplemented his novelist’s income with freelance journalism, and book and film reviews. His 1937 film review of Wee Willie Winkie (for the British journal Night and Day), commented on the sexuality of the nine-year-old star, Shirley Temple. This provoked Twentieth Century Fox to sue, prompting Greene to live in Mexico until after the trial was over. While in Mexico, Greene developed the ideas for The Power and the Glory. Greene originally divided his fiction into two genres (which he described as “entertainments” and “novels”): thrillers—often with notable philosophic edges—such as The Ministry of Fear; and literary works—on which he thought his literary reputation would rest—such as The Power and the Glory.

Greene had a history of depression, which had an effect on his writing and personal life. In a letter to his wife, Vivien, he told her that he had “a character profoundly antagonistic to ordinary domestic life,” and that “unfortunately, the disease is also one’s material.” William Golding praised Greene as “the ultimate chronicler of twentieth-century man’s consciousness and anxiety.”

Beginning in 1946, Greene had an affair with Catherine Walston, the wife of Harry Walston, a wealthy farmer and future life peer. That relationship is generally thought to have informed the writing of The End of the Affair, published in 1951, when the affair came to an end. Greene left his family in 1947, but in accordance with Catholic teaching, Vivien refused to grant him a divorce, and they remained married until Greene’s death in 1991.

Greene also had several other affairs and sexual encounters during their marriage, and in later years Vivien remarked, “With hindsight, he was a person who should never have married.” He remained estranged from his wife and children, and remarked in his later years, “I think my books are my children.”

The Final Footprint

He is interred in Corseaux cemetery in Corseaux, Switzerland.

#RIP #OTD in 2016 Native American, US Army veteran, writer, historian, last war chief of the Crow Tribe, Joe Medicine Crow died in Billings, Montana aged 102. Apsaalooke Veterans Cemetery, Crow Agency, Montana

Have you planned yours yet?

Follow TFF on twitter @RIPTFF

Posted in Day in History, Infamous Footprints, Musical Footprints | Tagged bloody bill anderson, Buried, Cemetery, cole younger, corseaux cemetery, frank james, Glendale Cemetery, graham greene, Ground Burial, History, Inscription, jesse james, Joe medicine crow, johannes brahms, Mount Olivet Cemetery, riptff, Sarah Vaughan, term of endearment, tff, the final footprint, Warren oates, william quantril, Zentralfriedhof | Leave a comment

On this day 2 April death of C. S. Forester – Buddy Rich – Harvey Penick – Elizabeth Catlett – Susan Anspach

Posted on 29 ApramTue, 02 Apr 2024 00:09:00 -05002024-04-02T00:09:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

#RIP #OTD in 1966 novelist (Horatio Hornblower series, The African Queen, The Good Shepherd), C. S. Forester died in Fullerton, California aged 66. Loma Vista Memorial Park, Fullerton

On this day in 1987, United States Marine Corp veteran, jazz drummer and bandleader Buddy Rich died of complications from a brain tumor in Los Angeles at the age of 69. Born Bernard Rich on September 30, 1917 in Brooklyn. In my opinion, he is one of the most influential drummers of all time and was known for his virtuoso technique, power, and speed. Among others he performed with Louie Armstrong, Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, Frank Sinatra and led a big band.

Rich was married to Marie Allison, a dancer and showgirl on April 24, 1953, until his death in 1987.

The Final Footprint

Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. Sinatra delivered a eulogy at Rich’s funeral. Other notable final footprints at Westwood include; Ray Bradbury, Sammy Cahn, Truman Capote, James Coburn, Tim Conway, 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, George C. Scott, Dorothy Stratten, Joe Weider, Billy Wilder, Carl Wilson, Natalie Wood, and Frank Zappa.

On this day in 1995, golf professional, coach, writer, Harvey Penick died in Austin, Texas at the age of 90. Born on 23 October 1904 in Austin. Penick was the golf coach at the University of Texas from 1931 to 1963, coaching the Longhorns to 21 Southwest Conference championships in 33 years, including 20 out of 23 seasons from 1932 to 1954 (1932–38; 1940–47; 1949–52; 1954). He coached the following members of the World Golf Hall of Fame: Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw, Mickey Wright, Betsy Rawls, and Kathy Whitworth. In 1992, he co-authored (with Bud Shrake) Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book. The book became the highest selling golf book ever published. In my opinion, Penick was perhaps the most gifted instructor of the mental game who ever lived. He said; “once you address the ball, hitting it to the desired target must be the only thing in your life. Allow no negative thoughts, and focus on your goal.“Penick and Shrake collaborated on four more golf books, the final three published after Penick’s 1995 death. During his final illness, he gave lessons from his deathbed to Crenshaw. Penick was married to Helen Holmes (1928-1995 his death).

The Final Footprint – Penick is interred in Austin Memorial Park Cemetery in Austin. His grave is marked by a individual upright granite marker with the term of endearment; BELOVED FRIEND AND TEACHER. Helen was interred next to him upon her passing in 2006 at the age of 101. The day after serving as a pallbearer at Penick’s funeral, Crenshaw began play in the 1995 Masters Tournament. With the memory and spirit of his longtime friend and mentor to guide him, he became the second oldest Masters champion, winning his second Masters at the age of 43. Upon sinking his final putt on the 18th green, Crenshaw doubled over with his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands, crying. One of my all-time favorite sporting moments. I watch the Masters on television every year and I was riveted to every moment of that tournament in 1995. In the post-tournament interview, Crenshaw said: “I had a 15th club in my bag.” Other notable final footprints at Austin Memorial Park include; James Michener, Frank Hamer, Bibb Falk, and Noble Doss.

#RIP #OTD in 2012 sculptor and graphic artist known for her depictions of the Black-American experience in the 20th century, which often focused on the female experience, Elizabeth Catlett died in her sleep at her studio home in Cuernavaca on April 2, 2012, aged 96. Cremation

#RIP #OTD in 2018 stage, film (Five Easy Pieces, Play It Again, Sam, Blume in Love, Montenegro, Blue Monkey, Blood Red) and television actress Susan Anspach died from heart failure, aged 75, in her Los Angeles home. Cremation

Have you planned yours yet?

Follow TFF on twitter @RIPTFF

Posted in Athletic Footprints, Day in History, Longhorn Footprints, Musical Footprints | Tagged Augusta National, Ben Crenshaw, Bud Shrake, buddy rich, Buried, c s forester, Cemetery, Elizabeth catlett, golf, Ground Burial, Harvey Penick, History, Little Red Book, loma vista memorial park, riptff, susan anspach, term of endearment, tff, the final footprint, The Masters, University of Texas at Austin, Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery | Leave a comment

Day in History 1 April – Scott Joplin – Helena Rubinstein – Max Ernst – Marvin Gaye – Martha Graham – Carrie Snodgress

Posted on 29 ApramMon, 01 Apr 2024 00:57:00 -05002024-04-01T00:57:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1917, composer and pianist, The King of Ragtime, Scott Joplin died from tertiary syphilis and a resulting descent into insanity, in Manhattan State Hospital, a mental institution at the age of 49. During his brief career, he wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first pieces, the Maple Leaf Rag, became ragtime’s first and most influential hit, and has been recognized as the archetypal rag. Joplin was born into a musical family of laborers in Northeast Texas. He grew up in Texarkana, where he formed a vocal quartet, and taught mandolin and guitar. Joplin began publishing music in 1895, and publication of his Maple Leaf Rag in 1899 brought him fame. The score to his first opera, A Guest of Honor, was confiscated in 1903 with his belongings, owing to his non-payment of bills, and is considered lost. He continued to compose and publish music, and in 1907 moved to New York City, seeking to find a producer for a new opera. Joplin never married.

The Final Footprint – Joplin was buried in a pauper’s grave that remained unmarked for 57 years. His grave at Saint Michaels Cemetery in East Elmhurst, New York, was finally given a marker in 1974. Joplin’s death is widely considered to mark the end of ragtime as a mainstream music format, and in the next several years it evolved with other styles into jazz, and eventually big band swing. His music was rediscovered and returned to popularity in the early 1970s with the release of a million-selling album of Joplin’s rags recorded by Joshua Rifkin, followed by the Academy Award–winning movie The Sting, which featured several of his compositions, such as The Entertainer. The opera Treemonisha was finally produced in full to wide acclaim in 1972. In 1976, Joplin was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize.

#RIP #OTD in 1965 businesswoman, art collector, philanthropist, cosmetics entrepreneur, founder of Helena Rubinstein Inc., Helena Rubinstein died in New York City aged 94. Mount Olivet Cemetery in Queens

Max Ernst
1920, Punching Ball ou l’Immortalité de Buonarroti, photomontage, gouache, ink on photograph (self-portrait)

On this day in 1976 painter, sculptor, poet Max Ernst died at the age of 84 in Paris. Born in Brühl, German Empire on 2 April 1891. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism.

Ubu Imperator, (1923), Musee National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France

In 1918 he married art history student Luise Straus, whom he had met in 1914. Ernst’s marriage to Luise was short-lived. In 1921 he met Paul Éluard, who became a close lifelong friend. Éluard bought two of Ernst’s paintings (Celebes and Oedipus Rex) and selected six collages to illustrate his poetry collection Répétitions. A year later the two collaborated on Les malheurs des immortels, and then with André Breton, whom Ernst met in 1921, on the magazine Littérature. In 1922, unable to secure the necessary papers, Ernst entered France illegally and settled into a ménage à trois with Éluard and his wife Gala in Paris suburb Saint-Brice, leaving behind his wife and son.

In 1924 Éluard left, first for Monaco, and then for Saigon, Vietnam. He soon asked his wife and Ernst to join him. After a brief time together in Saigon, the trio decided that Gala would remain with Paul. The Éluards returned to Eaubonne in early September, while Ernst followed them some months later. He returned to Paris in late 1924 and established a studio at 22, rue Tourlaque.

maxernstthe-kiss-1927 In 1927 Ernst married Marie-Berthe Aurenche, and it is thought his relationship with her may have inspired the erotic subject matter of The Kiss and other works of that year. Ernst appeared in the 1930 film L’Âge d’Or, directed by self-identifying Surrealist Luis Buñuel. In 1938, the American heiress and artistic patron Peggy Guggenheim acquired a number of Ernst’s works, which she displayed in her new gallery in London. Ernst and Guggenheim later were married (1942–1946).

L’Ange du Foyer, (1937)

Peggy Guggenheim, c.1930, Paris, photograph Rogi André (Rozsa Klein). In the background, Notre Dame de Paris, and on the right, Joan Miró, Dutch Interior II (1928).

In September 1939, the outbreak of World War II caused Ernst to be interned as an “undesirable foreigner” in Camp des Milles, near Aix-en-Provence. At the time, he was living with his lover and fellow surrealist painter, Leonora Carrington who, not knowing whether he would return, saw no option but to sell their house to repay their debts and leave for Spain. Thanks to the intercession of Éluard and other friends, he was released a few weeks later. Soon after the German occupation of France, he was arrested again, this time by the Gestapo, but managed to escape and flee to America with the help of Guggenheim and friends. Ernst and Guggenheim arrived in the United States in 1941 and were married at the end of the year.

His marriage to Guggenheim did not last and in Beverly Hills, California in October 1946, in a double ceremony with Man Ray and Juliet P. Browner, he married Dorothea Tanning.

Untitled, 12/11/03, 2:53 PM, 16C, 3450x4776 (600+0), 100%, AIA repro tone, 1/50 s, R58.9, G46.8, B59.3

Ernst and Tanning

The couple made their home in Sedona, Arizona from 1946 to 1953, where the high desert landscapes inspired them and recalled Ernst’s earlier imagery. Despite the fact that Sedona was remote and populated by fewer than 400 ranchers, orchard workers, merchants and small Native American communities, their presence helped begin what would become an American artists colony. Among the monumental red rocks, Ernst built a small cottage by hand on Brewer Road and he and Tanning hosted intellectuals and European artists such as Henri Cartier-Bresson. Sedona proved an inspiration for the artists and for Ernst, who compiled his book Beyond Painting and completed his sculptural masterpiece Capricorn while living there. From the 1950s he lived mainly in France.

The Final Footprint

Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Other notable Final Footprints at Père Lachaise include; Guillaume Apollinaire, Honoré de Balzac, Jean-Dominique Bauby, Georges Bizet, Maria Callas, Chopin, Colette, Auguste Comte, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Molière, Jim Morrison, Édith Piaf, Camille Pissarro, Marcel Proust, Sully Prudhomme, Gioachino Rossini, Georges-Pierre Seurat, Simone Signoret, Gertrude Stein, Dorothea Tanning, Alice B. Toklas, Oscar Wilde, and Richard Wright.

Etna

Grave-digger

at your post for thirty years

like Jesus Christ

you seldom grant yourself…

fully content with a little exercise

exercise makes you strong

I like you

first couplet of his poem ‘Etna’, in: ‘Literature’, Paris, October 15, 1923; as quoted in Max Ernst sculpture, Museo d’arte contemporanea, Edizioni Charta, Milano, 1969, p. 15

What is a dream? You ask too much of me: it is a woman cutting down a tree. What are forests for? For making the matches one gives children to play with. Is the fire in the forest, then? The fire is in the forest. What do plants feed on? On mystery. What day is it today? Shit..

A painter may know what he doesn’t want. But woe be to him if he desires to know what he wants. A painter is lost if he finds himself. Max Ernst considers his sole virtue to be that he has managed not to find himself.
- In Beyond Painting, Max Ernst, 1948, p.14; as quoted in Max Ernst: a Retrospective, ed. Werner Spies & Sabine Rewald, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2005, p. 6

Woman’s nakedness is wiser than the teachings of the philosophers. [the title of his essay]
- In: Max Ernst, Gonthier-Seghers, Paris, 1959; as quoted in Max Ernst sculpture, Museo d’arte contemporanea. Edizioni Charta, Milano, 1996, p. 37

A painter may know what he does not want.

But woe betide him if he wants to know

what he does want! A painter is lost if he finds himself.

The fact that he has succeeded in not finding

himself is regarded by Max Ernst as his only

‘achievement’.

Max Ernst in ‘Max Ernst’, exhibition catalogue, Galerie Stangl, Munich, 1967, U.S., pp.6-7, as quoted in Edward Quinn, Max Ernst. 1984, Poligrafa, Barcelona. p. 12

‘Ecritures’ (1970)

‘Écritures’ pp. 221, 223., as quoted in Max Ernst, Edward Quinn, Poligrafa, Barcelona, 1984,

Eternity

Hide yourself

eternity

beloved eternity

p.290

The painter

The painter allows you not to know

what a face is

Escaped from the museum of man,

he has chosen to e mortal!

Mortal like

the kiss of the Mona Lisa

p. 352

Laymanship

Don’t confuse

the fairy’s kiss

with

the priest’s spanking

p. 360

Sanctuary

All windows fall silent The earth closes its eyes

p. 366

On this day in 1984, singer-songwriter and musician, The Prince of Motown, The Prince of Soul, Grammy winner, Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his father during an argument at his parent’s home in Los Angeles the day before his 45th birthday. Born Marvin Pentz Gaye, Jr. on 2 April 1939 at Freedman’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. One of the giants of music. Where does one start a list of favorite Gaye songs; “Can I get a Witness”, “What’s Going On”, “Let’s Get it On”, “Sexual Healing”, to name just a few. Gaye was married twice; Anna Gordy, Berry Gordy’s sister (1964-1977) and Janis Hunter (1977-1981 divorce).

The Final Footprint – Gaye was cremated and his cremains were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

#RIP #OTD in 1991 modern dancer and choreographer, the Picasso of Dance, Martha Graham died in New York City from pneumonia, aged 96. Cremated remains scattered over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northern New Mexico

#RIP #OTD in 2004 actress (Diary of a Mad Housewife, Pale Rider), Neil Young muse, Carrie Snodgress died of heart failure while waiting for a liver transplant in Los Angeles, aged 58. Forest Lawn Memorial Park Glendale, California

Have you planned yours yet?

Follow TFF on twitter @RIPTFF

Posted in Day in History, Musical Footprints | Tagged carrie snodgress, cremains, Cremation, Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Helena Rubinstein, maple leaf rag, Martha graham, Marvin Gaye, max ernst, ragtime, riptff, saint michaels cemetery, scattering, scott joplin, tff, the entertainer, the final footprint, the sting | Leave a comment

Subscribe by email

Enter your email address:
Delivered by FeedBurner
Subscribe By RSS

Subscribe in a reader
Ads by Google
November 2024

M T W T F S S

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30

« Oct
Categories
- American Icon (27)
- Artistic Footprints (47)
- Athletic Footprints (40)
- Cemeteries (5)
- Cowboy Footprints (38)
- Day in History (336)
- Extravagant Footprints (160)
- Fictional Footprints (4)
- Film Footprints (137)
- Infamous Footprints (17)
- Literary Footprints (165)
- Longhorn Footprints (8)
- Mausoleums (2)
- Military Footprints (30)
- Musical Footprints (173)
- Political Footprints (42)
- Religious Footprints (11)
- Royal Footprints (23)
- Special Events (1)
- Uncategorized (1)
Connect with us
Networked

Follow this blog

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

Gallery

Gallery

Portraits of Valadon

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

The Final Footprint

‘Ecritures’ (1970)

Archives

Meta

Subscribe by email

Subscribe By RSS

Ads by Google

Categories

Connect with us

Networked