Death Anniversary Thread

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On this day exactly 50 years ago in 1972, one of Hollywoods  most influential gossip columnists Louella Parsons died aged 91.

 

She was regarded as the  undisputed Queen of Hollywood gossip  until the arrival of the colourful and flamboyant Hedda Hopper  who she feuded with for years. 

In her earlier career she earned the regard of press baron William Randolph Hearst  for championing his mistress  actress  Marion Davies career , urging the public to give her films  a go and he retained her employer when he bought the  newspaper she worked for. 

Parsons regarded herself as the  arbiter of social and moral standards in Hollywood-leading many actors to fear her words more than the  views of film critics. 

One of her biggest scoops was breaking the news of the impending divorce of Hollywood couple Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. Foolishly Pickford regarded  Parsons as a friend of sorts  and confided in Parsons about the impending split  assuming that Parsons would not use the information in her column. 

Louellas husband was a urologist and a Hollywood physician  and it is suspected that she got some of her  exclusive gossip  scoops from confidential inside information he shared with her.

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Eugene McCarthy died on this day 17 years ago, aged 89.

McCarthy was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1948, and the Senate in 1958. McCarthy came to national attention in 1967 by declaring his campaign for president, running against incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson on a platform opposing the Vietnam War. After LBJ withdrew following a strong McCarthy run-up (42% to Johnson's 50%) in the New Hampshire primary, Robert Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey entered the race- after RFK was assassinated, Hubert became McCarthy's primary opponent. Despite winning the most primaries, most states did not hold one (believing Johnson to be the frontrunner), and Humphrey was nominated at the Democratic National Convention.

 

McCarthy would leave the Senate in 1971, and from there became a perennial candidate. He ran again in 1972, dropping out during the primaries, and again in 1976 as an independent candidate. In 1988, he was nominated by the Consumer and Minnesota Progressive Parties. 1992 was his final attempt at running for president.

 

McCarthy died from Parkinson's disease- he had the misfortune of dying the same day as Richard Pryor, who overshadowed him.

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Its 10 years since the death of British fashion designer and entrepreneur Tommy Roberts died aged 70.

He was at the forefront of 1960s styling, centred around Soho and Carnaby Street, serving the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Roger Daltrey and David Bowie from his store Kleptomania.

He later established Mr. Freedom, on Kings Road, Chelsea,  selling pop-art influenced stock, to customers including Twiggy, Malcolm McLaren & Vivienne Westwood.

 

Bankrupt following the 19174 recession, he went into the antique business, but returned to retail with Practical Styling,  a furniture and housewares venture, at London's Centrepoint. specialising in kitsch, and later an art dealers, Tom-Tom. Also in the 1970s, he moved into music management, managing pop acts Arthur Brown, and Kilburn & The High Roads.

 

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American poet, writer and critic Mark Van Doren died on this day 50 years ago, aged 78.

 

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On this day two years ago the one and only Barbara Windsor,  british actress and showbusiness legend,  died aged 83.

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Alma Mahler Gropius Werfel died on this day 58 years ago, aged 85.

Hailing from Vienna in modern-day Austria, Alma was the daughter of noted painter Emil Schindler. As a teenager, she would practice piano, and made 27 songs (some of them are lost media).

 

Alma is much more known for having relationships with many of the musical and artistic minds of her day. Her first fling was with the painter Gustav Klimt, although their love quickly fizzled. Next was the composer Alexander von Zemlinsky, which was also a short-lived romance.

 

Her first husband was composer Gustav Mahler, whom she had an affair while she was dating Zemlinsky. The two were married in 1902, and Alma's only child to outlive her, Anna Mahler, was born in 1904. Their marriage, however, soon soured, as Mahler either discouraged or forbade Alma from composing- while he was making his magnum opus, Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth). Alma began an affair with architect Walter Gropius in 1910; during this time Gustav sought out marriage counseling from Sigmund Freud. Mahler would die of a heart infection the following year.

 

Alma would have an affair with the painter Oskar Kokoschka following Mahler's death, and would soon go back to Gropius- the two married in 1915. Walter would be drafted to fight in World War I, and was rarely home- Alma pursued another affair with the author Franz Werfel, and the two divorced in 1920. 

 

Alma and Franz lived together before tying the knot in 1929. In 1938, the two of them fled Germany as it was unsafe for them (both Jewish), escaping to France, and then New York in 1940 after the invasion. Franz would soon see major success in the US by writing The Song of Bernadette in 1941, which was adapted into a movie two years later. The two moved to L.A., where Franz died of a heart attack in 1945. Alma did not pursue any more romantic partners.

 

Her obituary was published two days after her death- after reading it, Tom Lehrer wrote a waltz about her life:

 

 

In 2010, her affair with Gropius was adapted as a film called Mahler on the Couch, with the actress Barbara Romaner portraying her. In recent years, Alma's books about Gustav, once the central research material for people writing about him, has since grown to be unreliable due to contradictions between her accounts and other sources- this has come to be known as the "Alma Problem".

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American actor and film producer Brad Dexter died on this day 20 years ago, aged 85.

 

 

 

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On this day 5 years ago in 2017 british television presenter  Keith Chegwin died aged 60.

 

On this day exactly one year ago in 2021, american author  Anne Rice, known for her gothic fiction including The Vampire Chronicles,  died aged 80.

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John le Carre died on this day 2 years ago, aged 89.

Le Carre was born David Cornwell, and during the Cold War, he served in MI5 and MI6, spying on suspected communists. While employed in 1962, Cornwell began to novels based on his experience, taking his pseudonym due to the fact that he was forbidden to publish in his own name. One of his first works, A Murder of Quality, introduced his most well-known character, George Smiley.

 

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was published in 1974 and is considered one of le Carre's best novels, featuring Smiley tasked to find a Soviet mole in MI6. This was a work of social commentary, partly based on the defection of Kim Philby- alluded to as Gerald, said mole. It was adapted as a miniseries in 1979 starring Alec Guinness as Smiley, and as a movie in 2011 with Gary Oldman playing the role.

 

Le Carre continued writing spy novels (continuing to include occasional topical satire) up until his death.

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American singer, songwriter, bandleader and actor Pinky Tomlin died on this day 35 years ago, aged 80.

 

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On this day yesterday  (12th December) in 2007, Ike Turner, american musician, songwriter,  record producer,  bandleader and scout for new talent, died from a drugs overdose aged 76.

Regarded as a great innovator  of rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s with his then wife Tina Turner  as the leader of Ike and Tina Turner revue. 

Blighted by years of  cocaine addiction and consequent legal troubles combined with Tina Turner going public about the domestic violence she suffered at the  hands of her ex- his career suffered badly in the 1980s and 1990s. 

Jailed for 18 months for drug offences,  after his release in 1991 he remained drugs free  until a relapse in 2004 and dying of a drugs overdose in 2007.

During his final decade he did experience some career success by going back to his blues roots and winning awards for two of these albums..

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Lew Grade died on this day 24 years ago, aged 91.

Grade was born as Lev Winogradsky in what is now Ukraine. His family fled when he was 5 years old, and settled in London, changing their names. Grade was originally a professional dancer, being declared the Charleston Champion of the World at a contest at the Royal Albert Hall in 1926.

 

He then became a talent agent, and in 1954, founded ITC Entertainment. Among the shows over his career that he funded included The Adventures of Robin Hood, Crossroads, and Thunderbirds (the latter after acquiring AP Films).

 

In the 1970s, Grade would finance Jim Henson, helping bring The Muppet Show to TV- Grade would also be the executive producer of the first two Muppet films, and also helped produce The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.

 

Grade would also produce several Razzie-nominated films in the early '80s, such as Raise the Titanic, Saturn 3, and The Legend of the Lone Ranger. Because of these financial and critical failures, Grade was dismissed from his company. Norman Lear got him to lead the London division of Embassy Pictures until it was bought and absorbed by the De Laurentiis Film Group in 1986.

 

Grade died less than two weeks before his 92nd birthday (Christmas), and made two appearances on the DeathList in 1989 and 1998.

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American businessman, film producer, government official, writer and philantropist Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney died on this day 30 years ago, aged 93.

 

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On this day 6 years ago in 2016 Canadian  actor, songwriter and gameshow host Alan Thicke died aged 69.

 

 

 

On this day 32 years ago in 1990, US tennis player  Alice Marble died from pernicious anaemia  aged 77.

During her tennis career she won 18 grand slam championships between 1936 and 1940 and was ranked the world number one in 1939.

 

 

 

Briefly during her retirement  she worked on the editorial advisory board at DC comics and was credited as an associate editor on Wonder Woman. 

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George Washington died on this day 223 years ago, aged 67.

You may have heard some misconceptions about Washington.

1) The "I cannot tell a lie" cherry tree incident- that was a story made up by Mason Weems in his biography of Washington to inspire the youths of the nation's moral compasses.

2) His teeth were made of wood- Washington began losing his teeth to tooth decay when he was 24 years old, and by the time he became president in 1789, he had one real tooth left. His dentures were actually made of ivory, brass, gold, and... teeth that he bought from his slaves.

 

Anyway, here's how he died:

Washington went out for a ride in the snow, and the next day, complained of a sore throat. His chest became congested that night, and the next morning, had difficulty breathing. From there, Washington's doctors arrived, and began bloodletting, which was of no benefit- five pints of blood were drained from his body (about half of all blood in an adult). Washington died around 10:30 that evening- it was the last day of the week within the last month of the year of the last year of the 1700s. Modern scholars believe that he simply had viral epiglottitis, and that the bloodletting exacerbated his condition (Washington would've lived with modern-day medicine).

Following his death, shockingly enough, King George III- his main adversary in the American Revolution- ordered Royal Navy battleships to lower their flags to half-mast, and one London newspaper wrote "the whole range of history does not present to our view a character upon which we can dwell with such entire and unmixed admiration".

 

Washington declared his slaves to be freed in his will, although this did not occur until New Year's Day in 1801.

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Solicitor, Rugby International and Soldier Robert Blair Mayne died on this day 67 years ago aged 40. 

 

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Its 10 years since the death of BBC newsreader and host of Channel 4's Treasure Hunt, Kenneth Kendall died aged 88. He'd suffered a stroke some weeks before.

He joined the BBC in 1948 as a radio newsreader, transferring to TV in 1954, though bulletins were voiceovers at the time. He appeared on TV the following year becoming the first BBC newsreader to do so. He was employed on a freelance basis and also worked as an actor for a repertory company, which no doubt helped when a newsreader-type ewas required for drama, leading to appearances in Doctor Who and on the big screen in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

 

Following his retirement from newsreading, he joined Channel 4 to become the host/presenter of Treasure Hunt from 1982 to 1989.

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American actor, comedian, vaudevillian and singer Stubby Kaye died on this day 25 years ago, aged 79.

 

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On this day 2 years ago in 2020 retired french footballer and manager  Gerard  Houllier died aged 73. He famously was managed of Liverpool at one point. 

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Harold Camping died on this day 9 years ago, aged 92.

Camping was an evangelist who began broadcasting his sermons on radio beginning in 1958. Camping also made a book in 1970 that attempted to pinpoint dates on certain biblical events. For example, he put the creation of the world at 11013 BC, and Noah's flood at 4990 BC.

 

However, Camping would become infamous for his attempts at predicting the date of the rapture. His first prediction was September 6, 1994, and then moved the goalposts to a few weeks later. His second prediction, made in 2005, gained a lot more traction- May 21, 2011. This was in part due to one of his followers purchasing advertising space on a billboard, and eventually, these numbered to be over 5,000 worldwide.

While many church leaders rejected Camping's claim (citing Matthew 24:36), his believers went as far as quitting their jobs and selling their homes. The day passed as usual, but Camping maintained his belief that the world would be ending five months from then- and October came to pass as well. Camping retired five days before the supposed apocalypse, most likely due to a stroke he suffered in June. In 2012 (the year of another popular doomsday theory), Camping admitted he was wrong, with many publications labeling him a false prophet, and some former believers considered him to be nothing more than a cult leader.

 

By the time of his death, Family Radio (his radio station) had to sell several of its stations due to a major loss of revenue due to the amount they spent advertising Camping's prediction. Incidentally, they stopped re-broadcasting Camping's sermons in 2018.

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British-American actor Charles Laughton died on this day 60 years ago, aged 63.

 

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Oscar winning British American actress  Joan Fontaine died on this day 9 years ago in 2013 aged 96.

She was the younger sister of Olivia De Havilland. 

 

 

 

 

On this day 56 years ago in 1966 , the one and only legendary Walt Disney died aged 65.

The entrepreneur, animator and film producer has a huge back catalogue of iconic animated films and or  characters  as a testament to a legacy that has endured and stood the test of time .

Bambi,  Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, The Lion King,  Thumbelina,  Dumbo the elephant, Snow White,  etc

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Harland Sanders died on this day 42 years ago, aged 90.

Sanders became a Kentucky Colonel in 1935- he did indeed serve in the army, but never achieved that rank.

 

During the Great Depression, Sanders opened a gas station, where he would serve travelers food such as steaks, ham, biscuits, and fried chicken. He soon built a restaurant nearby called the Sanders Cafe, which was destroyed in a fire in 1939. The cafe would be rebuilt with a new motel next to it.

 

In 1952, Sanders franchised his secret recipe, which managed to find a niche in the fast food industry (then dominated by burger joints). Within a decade, Kentucky Fried Chicken was the largest fast food business in the United States. Sanders was unable to manage its over 600 restaurants, and so he sold the company- he was in his early 70s, and did not have an heir to the recipe.

 

Sanders would remain the face of the company after selling it- and remains so long after his death... which includes some weird things.

(Yes, KFC actually made these. This post is a reminder that Colonel Sanders was a real person and not just a corporate mascot.)

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21 years since the tragic death of the Skids and Big Country frontman Stuart Adamson

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English design engineer, inventor and builder in the automotive industry Colin Chapman died on this day 40 years ago, aged 54.