Death Anniversary Thread

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12th president of the United States Zachary Taylor died on this day 172 years ago, aged 65.

 

 

American actor whose career spanned more than 60 years Rip Torn died on this day 3 years ago, aged 88.

 

 

American business magnate, billionaire, politician and philanthropist Ross Perot died on this day 3 years ago, aged 89.

 

 

American character actor and centenarian whose career spanned 72 years Charles Lane died on this day 15 years ago, aged 102.

 

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American stage and silent film actor Douglas MacLean died on this day 55 years ago, aged 77.

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On this day in 2003  british author Winston Graham,  the  creative mind  behind the Poldark series of novels set in Cornwall,  died aged 95.

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Mel Blanc, one of the most famous voice actors of all time, died on this day 33 years ago, aged 81.

Blanc began his career by voice acting on radio shows, which included The Jack Benny Show. Blanc joined Schlesinger Productions in 1936, and the following year, replaced Joe Dougherty as the voice of Porky Pig due to their stutter- Blanc would retain Dougherty's stutter as part of Porky's character. Blanc would also voice Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, who would soon become the mascots of the company.

 

During World War II, Blanc would provide the voice of the character Private Snafu, in a series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros. made exclusively for the Army to help illiterate soldiers, with Snafu embodying everything a soldier should not do.

 

Blanc's exclusive Warner Bros. contract expired in 1960, and he began to lend his voice to other companies' cartoons (while still working for WB). This included Hanna-Barbera's The Flintstones as Fred's neighbor Barney and his pet dinosaur Dino, and The Jetsons as George's boss Mr. Spacely. Blanc also turned to commercial work, becoming the first voice of Froot Loops mascot Toucan Sam.

 

Blanc was still active in his final decade, voicing the title character of Heathcliff beginning in 1980, and reprising his roles as Bugs Bunny in Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Mr. Spacely in Jetsons: The Movie (released posthumously).

 

Blanc died in 1989, with his last words being "I love you Noel"- directed to his son in Yosemite Sam's voice. Engraved on Blanc's tombstone is the quote his first major character is best known for:

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On this day in 1997  Welsh  footballer  Ivor Allchurch died in Swansea aged 67.

During his career in football he played for  Swansea  Town for two stints,  Newcastle United,  Cardiff City and for Wales his national  football team for an impressive 16 years from 1950-1966.

There is a lifesize statue of Allchurch outside Swansea towns (now Swansea City) Liberty Stadium. 

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English footballer and manager who played as a defender Jack Charlton died on this day 2 years ago, aged 85.

 

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American record producer, civil rights activist and music critic John H. Hammond died on this day 35 years ago, aged 76.

 

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 On this day in 2005  british actress  Gretchen Franklin  died aged 94.

Best known  for playing eccentric gossip  Ethel Skinner in BBC soap EastEnders  Gretchen had a long career in acting  on stage and screen prior to the widespread fame EastEnders brought. 

Her big career break came  during the second World War when she was cast in a successful series of revue shows  at the New Ambassadors theatre  alon Hermione  Gingold. 

Appearances on the big screen  included   Before I wake(1955) with Maxwell Reed and Jean Kent,  Twisted  Nerve (1968) with Hywel Bennett and Hayley Mills  and The Night Visitor (1971) with Max Von Sydow and Liv Ullmann. 

She originally played  Ethel for 12 years from 1985-1997 before her character was sent to live in a care home offscreen.  An exit she felt very disappointed and angry about feeling that if Ethel had to leave she deserved a big exit storyline. Alas this was remedied 3 years later  in the year 2000 when a dying  Ethel returned for a critically acclaimed heart wrenching but controversial euthanasia storyline. 

 

One off appearances in a number of british television shows over the years such as the elderly girlfriend  of Hyacinths Daddy in sitcom Keeping up appearances in 1990,  a troubled mother Miss Janes  in an episode of the TV adaptation of Enid Blytons The Famous five and  and the Witch Cordelia in the first episode of Black Adder in 1983.

 

Married only once to writer John Caswell Garth who died of cancer  aged 50. They had no children. 

Gretchen was announced to be presenting her friend June Brown a lifetime achievement award  at the British Soap awards in 2005,  however she became too ill to attend and EastEnders original cast member Anna Wing presented the award  to June instead. 

Just a few months later Gretchen died.

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Lady Bird Johnson died on this day 15 years ago, aged 94.

Her name wasn't really Lady Bird- it was actually Claudia. She got her nickname from her family's maid, who called her as "pretty as a ladybird". Lady Bird married Lyndon Johnson in 1934- it should be noted that her two kids also shared the initials "LBJ"- Lynda Bird Johnson and Luci Baines Johnson. While Lyndon was climbing the political ladder, Lady Bird bought a radio station, and eventually expanded to television- Lady Bird became the first millionaire wife of a president before they became president, and would stay involved with her holdings company until the 1990s.

 

Once LBJ became vice president, Lady Bird would often act as a substitute for Jackie Kennedy at events when she wasn't available. Following the JFK assassination, Lyndon was sworn in, and Lady Bird became First Lady. Her primary goal was the beautification of the country, which included planting plenty of trees, and the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, cleaning up the nation's interstate.

 

Lady Bird remained active following Lyndon leaving office in 1969 (and his death in 1973). She became involved in feminist events such as the 1977 National Women's Conference, and was a speaker with fellow First Ladies Pat Nixon, Betty Ford, and Rosalynn Carter in 1988 discussing the impact that the US Constitution had on women, and promote awareness of sex-based inequality.

 

Lady Bird's health began to fail following a stroke in 1993, and her eyesight went soon after. A second stroke in 2002 left her wheelchair-bound and unable to speak coherently anymore. A weeklong hospitalization for bronchitis in 2005 was likely the cause of the DeathList committee selecting her to be on the list in 2006, and again in 2007, when she died. At the time of her death, Lady Bird was the second-longest-lived First Lady after Bess Truman (Rosalynn Carter and Nancy Reagan have since surpassed her age, but Bess Truman retains the record to this day).

 

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American industrialist, businessman, lawyer and diplomat Owen D. Young died on this day 60 years ago, aged 87.

 

 

 

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Twenty-One years since the enfant terrible of Dutch rock music, Herman Brood, killed himself by jumping from the roof of the Amsterdam Hilton, aged 54, supposedly driven to it by the frustration of not kicking his drug addiction.

He was also a successful artist in later life, with a style described as graffiti-inspired pop art.

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On this day  33 years ago in 1989 ,  Laurence Olivier, one of the most legendary British  actors of stage and screen of the 20th century - died aged 82.

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Japanese businessman, video game programmer, video game designer, and producer Satoru Iwata died on this day 7 years ago, aged 55.

 

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On this day  9 years ago in 2013  , British journalist ,presenter and broadcaster  Alan Whicker  died aged 91.

He joined the BBC in 1957 as their  international reporter  on the Tonight  programme.  Alan is best known for presenting  BBC documentary series Whickers World for over 35 years from 1958 to 1994. His programme featured social interest stories from all around the world with a real eclectic  mix of topics from the building and opening of  Disney world in Florida to interviewing celebrities from Liza Minnelli to  Paraguayan  dictator  Alfredo  Stroessner. 

A hit in the ratings and critically  winning several BAFTA awards..

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Jean Picard died on this day 340 years ago, aged 61.

Picard was a Jesuit priest who was the first person to measure the size of the Earth to near-accuracy. From 1669 to 1670, Picard used arc measurements to calculate that one degree of latitude was equivalent to 110.46 kilometers, resulting in the Earth's radius to be 6328.9 km- it is 6371 km in actuality.

 

Picard was also an astronomer, and he visited Tycho Brahe's observatory to corroborate his proof. Picard kept in touch with other great scientists of his day, such as Isaac Newton, Christiaan Huygens, and Giovanni Cassini- the latter of which he considered his main competitor in the field.

 

And before you ask, no, Jean-Luc Picard is not named after him- but a crater on the Moon is.

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American revolutionary, statesman and Founding Father of the United States Alexander Hamilton died on this day 218 years ago, aged 47/49

 

 

American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the U.S. representative for Louisiana’s 7th congressional district from 1965 to 1972 and as the 50th governor of Louisiana for for four terms, twice as many elected terms as any other Louisiana chief executive Edwin Edwards died on this day a year ago, aged 93.

 

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Forty years since actor Kenneth More died, aged 67. Initially diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, it is now believed he suffered from and died of Multiple system atrophy. 

 

After a succession of minor roles, his first starring role was in the comedy Geneviève, with other memorable performances following, notably Doctor in the House, for which he won a BAFTA, the Doiuglas Bader biopic Reach for the Sky, which was the most popular film of 1956 and A Night to Remember, the story of the Titanic disaster.

 

 

Such was his popularity, he was the subject of This is Your Life in 1959. He was made a CBE in 1970, and was a success playing Father Brown in the 1974 TV adaptation of G.K. Chesterton's stories.

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American founder of the New York Knickerbockers Baseball Club Alexander Cartwright died on this day 120 years ago, aged 72.

 

 

 

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Judy Dyble, English singer-songwriter died 2 years ago today.

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On this day 55 years ago in 1967  one of Britains top professional  cyclists  at the time  Tom Simpson of County Durham died aged 29 during the Tour de France  cycling race.

Earlier on the race it was noticed by concerned observers that he seemed very tired and not quite himself. 

He eventually fell of his bike and was clearly pushing himself beyond his limits that day.  People tried to persuade him to accept to give up the race that day because he was pushing himself too far  but he stubbornly would not listen and continued with the race. 

He collapsed shortly later whilst cycling and desperate  attempts to resuscitate him failed.

His death was ruled by a coroner to have been caused by heart failure brougham on by exhaustion- but it was noticed that high quantities of amphetamine  found in his blood and the hot temperatures on the day were factors relevant to his death.

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Pope John III died on this day 1448 years ago, aged 54.

Born with the name Catelinus, John was elected to the papacy in 561 after the death of Pope Pelagius I. Four years into his papacy, Byzantine emperor Justinian the Great died. His successor, Justin II, stopped paying tributes to the empire's neighbors, causing a war to break out between the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires.

 

Rome, and therefore John, were left vulnerable to attacks as Justin focused on fighting the Sassanids- beginning in 568, the Lombards began to invade Italy, and besieged Rome several times (they failed to capture it). John went to Naples to retrieve the general Narses for help- Narses was disliked due to over-taxation, and his hatred shed onto John for bringing him back. This hatred was so immense that John now had to perform his papal duties just outside the city limits.

 

John died after a thirteen-year reign and was succeeded by Pope Benedict I.

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Its 42 years since the death of Sir Seretse Khama, first president of Botswana.

 

Born into the Bamangwato royal family of what was then the British Protectorate of Bechuanaland; he ascended to the Bamangwato throne at the age of 4, with his uncle, Tshekedi, as regent/guardian. He was educated in South Africa before relocating to the UK to study at Oxford University, before joining the Inner Temple to study for the bar. He met Ruth Williams, an English woman, and they subsequently married in 1948. The interracial marriage caused outrage in neighbouring South Africa which had recently established apartheid. South Africa put pressure on the British government to declare Khama unfit to rule; not wishing to jeopardise relations (and the economic ramifications), the British exiled Khama from Bechauanaland in 1951. Eventually, the Khamas were allowed to return as private citizens; entering local politics he became a tribal councillor, receiving an OBE in 1961 for his services.

 

In 1961 he founded the Bechuanaland Democratic Party, becoming Prime Minister in 1965; independence from Britain was achieved in 1966, with Khama serving as President until his death from Pancreatic cancer, aged 59.

 

His story is told in the film A United Kingdom, with David Oyelowo as Seretse Khama and Rosamund Pike as Ruth Williams.

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American screenwriter, writer of books and playwright Michael Blankfort died on this day 40 years ago, aged 74.

 

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American poet who lived most of his life in Amherst, Massachusetts Robert Francis died on this day 35 years ago, aged 85.

 

 

American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010 George Steinbrenner died on this day 12 years ago, aged 80.

 

 

American actor and comedian Red Buttons died on this day 16 years ago, aged 87.

 

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On this day in 2005 Dame Cicely Saunders , an English  nurse and then doctor who is credited with being the founder of the modern hospice movement,  died from cancer aged 87.

Cicely  trained as a nurse during World War two  at the Nightingale school of nursing  at St Thomas's hospital. 

In 1948 she fell in love  with a polish jew who was one of her patients.  He was dying of cancer.  In his will he bequeathed her £500- roughly £19,000 in todays money  to be "a window in your home". This whole experience was the genesis of her ideas and passionate desire  to open a hospice  which resulted in St Christophers Hospice in Sydenham London  being the first concrete tangible progress in this mission.

 

     After his death she went on to train to be a social worker and whilst holidaying with some christians  she was converted from Judaism to Christianity . Working part time at St Lukes Home for the dying poor in Bayswater  London was instrumental in Cicely then deciding to study to be a physician. A year later she began working at a Catholic hospice in Hackney  where she would stay for seven  years researching pain control. 

Yet again she met a Polish patient who she fell in love with.  A combination of his death in 1960 followed shortly afterwards in 1961 by the death of her father and a close friend led to a period of very intense grieving that confirmed her belief and determination to set up her own hospice for cancer patients to meet unmet need .

In 1967 she opened the world's first purpose built hospice and combined clinical research along with her Christian philosophy  of palliative  care that everyone matters  and a holistic approach and thus the modern hospice movement was born.

 

She was much lauded for er work and achievements  . However one arguable blot on her copybook  was her spoken reluctance to admit aids patients  to St Christophers  hospice, bemoaning the extra delicate burdens it caused in an already sensitive environment  for other people receiving  hospice  care. Indicating that even though it was irrational there would be dying patients who were considering hospice care but reluctant to take it as they were fearful  of having aids patients around them.