Death Anniversary Thread

[John "요한" Sulu 421]

One year ago from yesterday, Treat Williams died due to a motorcycle accident.

 

Photo Credit: Philipp Wüst per Creative Commons license

[Drewsky1211 4,759]

Henry Mancini died on this day 30 years ago, aged 70.

- Mancini's first instrument was the piccolo, and he would go on to learn the piano. When he was 12, he would write a composition for then-rising big band leader Benny Goodman.

- After serving in World War II, Mancini would become a pianist for the reformed Glenn Miller Orchestra (minus Glenn Miller), but soon left to become a film composer. Among the movies he made music for included Creature from the Black Lagoon, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Great Race, and most famously The Pink Panther:

- Mancini was also known for composing the Peter Gunn theme song:

- Mancini would have a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 with "Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet", which he adapted from Italian composer Nino Rota. It topped the chart for two weeks.

- In his later years, Mancini had a cameo in an episode of Frasier as the one-off character Al, and would also compose two of the songs of Disney's 1986 film The Great Mouse Detective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UQg4zb9dsA (embed didn't work but whatever)

- Mancini died after battling pancreatic cancer, and was working on the music of the Broadway musical Victor/Victoria at the time.

[Drewsky1211 4,759]

James K. Polk died on this day 175 years ago, aged 53.

- Polk attended the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and his roommate was also a politician- William Dunn Moseley, who later became the first American governor of Florida during the former's presidency.

- Polk was elected to the Tennessee Senate in 1823, and would be elected to the US House of Representatives a mere two years later. He was a huge fan of Andrew Jackson (particularly thanks to his war hero status in the War of 1812), and would become one of the biggest critics of the John Quincy Adams administration; Polk advocated for the abolition of the Electoral College (due to Adams' "corrupt bargain" with Henry Clay) and would agree with Jackson's anti-National Bank stance.

- Polk was elected Speaker of the House in 1835, continuing to advocate for Jacksonianism into the Van Buren presidency. He would then be elected governor of Tennessee in 1839, losing re-election in 1841 by a mere 3,000 votes.

- During the 1844 election, former president Martin Van Buren was seen as the frontrunner for the Democrats' nomination, and Polk would try to convince electors to make him Van Buren's running mate. However, slavery expansion advocates in the south detested Van Buren's abolitionist views, and determined Polk would make for a good compromise. Polk would be nominated on the ninth ballot at the Democratic National Convention, and the Polk-Dallas ticket would win 170-105 in the Electoral College.

- Polk's presidency was largely about expansion of the United States, as the country went to war with Mexico in 1846. The US won the war, and would gain a very large amount of land from Mexico (that included California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado, Wyoming and Oklahoma). Polk would also gain part of the UK's Oregon territory south of the 49th parallel (others wanted "54'40 or fight"). Due to the amount of land gained in such a short amount of time, Polk is often considered one of the most underrated US presidents by historians.

- Polk declined to seek reelection, and died just three months after leaving office due to cholera- the shortest post-presidency of any US president who didn't die in office.

[Drewsky1211 4,759]

Wernher von Braun died on this day 47 years ago, aged 65.

- Von Braun became fascinated by rockets as a teenager- specifically the construction of rocket-powered cars, and he would make his own by strapping fireworks to a toy vehicle. He launched this small car in a crowded sidewalk, causing him to be detained for a short period.

- After receiving his doctorate in physics in 1934, Von Braun would join the Nazi Party in 1937 in order to further his rocketeer career. He developed the V2 rocket- the world's first guided ballistic missile, and first object to reach space. It has been reported by Holocaust survivors that Von Braun worked at the Mittlebau-Dora concentration camp in order to receive slave labor for the construction of V2s (Von Braun probably saw it as making an expensive device built with free work).

- Von Braun would avoid prosecution after World War II thanks to Operation Paperclip, jokingly calling himself a "prisoner of peace". He would develop rocket weapons for the US Army, most notably the nuclear Redstone missile.

- In 1958, Von Braun would be transferred to the newly-established NASA, and became its first director in 1960 (holding the position until 1970). Von Braun notably designed the Saturn V rocket that would eventually send astronauts to the Moon during the Apollo missions:

- Von Braun would be diagnosed with kidney cancer in 1973, and would later be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer- the latter did him in.

- In 1965, Tom Lehrer would release a song satirizing Von Braun's career:

A rumor quickly spread that Von Braun sued Lehrer for libel, but he never did.

[John "요한" Sulu 421]

On this day 1 year ago, American military analyst and researcher Daniel Ellsburg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers, passed away at the age of 92.

[Drewsky1211 4,759]

Boleslaw I of Poland died on this day 999 years ago, aged 58.

- Boleslaw was the son of Duke Mieszko I, and was named after his maternal grandfather, Boleslaus I of Bohemia (infamous for killing his brother "Good King" Wenceslas).

- Boleslaw would become the duke of Poland upon his father's death in 992. In order to prevent claimants from taking the throne, he forcefully exiled his stepmother and half-brothers from the country. In 995, he would lead a campaign against the Obotrites or Veleti. Throughout his reign, he would also send his armies to intervene in succession crises, notably in Germany and Kyiv.

- Boleslaw became the first king of Poland on Christmas Eve in 1024, having received approval from Pope John XIX to elevate Poland from a duchy to a kingdom. Some historians believe this was due to John seeking an ally in case of a potential threat to the Papal States due to Byzantine campaigns in Sicily.

- Boleslaw would die just six months after his coronation, and was succeeded as king by his son Mieszko II (who decided to consider his grandfather a king). His posthumous epithets include "the Brave" and "the Great".

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Emperor Leo III died on this day 1283 years ago, aged 56.

- Leo's birth name was 'Konon', and he was born in what is now southern Turkey- hence his epithet, "the Isaurian" (Isauria was what the geographic area was called at the time). He lived within the borders of the Umayyad Caliphate, and was therefore fluent in Arabic.

- Leo would conspire against Emperor Theodosius III during his time as a military governor, and would lead a siege on Constantinople in 717. Leo would successfully oust Theodosius (who lived until 754), but immediately had to deal with another siege led by the Umayyads, which was repelled following the death of their caliph Sulayman (who was not killed in battle).

- Leo's reign was known for his civil reforms, which included inviting Slavic people to settle in the empire and help build up his army, freeing the empire's serfs, and introducing the Ecloga legal code. However, he was also against religious freedom, forcing Byzantine Jews to be baptized, and would plan to lead a siege on Ravenna after Pope Gregory II threatened to excommunicate iconoclasts (Leo's stance may have been due to having grown up in a predominantly Muslim area- the religion is known for the iconoclasm of its prophets).

- Leo died after 24 years as emperor, and would be succeeded by his son Constantine V. He was the first emperor of the Isaurian dynasty, which lasted until 802.

[Drewsky1211 4,759]

Ed Wynn died on this day 58 years ago, aged 79.

- Wynn's real name was Isaiah Leopold. He decided to take his middle name Edwin as a stage name, believing his family would see his comedy career as worthless.

- Wynn would become a popular comedian during the 1910s, known for his hammy performances, humorous costumes, and goofy acting voice. He would move from vaudeville to radio in the 1930s, and would star in an early, experimental TV broadcast made by NBC in 1936.

- Wynn's actual TV career most notably had him host a self-titled variety show from 1949 to 1950, as well as appearing in an episode of The Twilight Zone.

- Movies Wynn starred in included The Great Man, The Diary of Anne Frank, and The Greatest Story Ever Told- but his most memorable role was voicing the Mad Hatter in Disney's Alice in Wonderland:

Wynn was also offered the role of the titular Wizard of Oz (in the legendary 1939 adaptation), but he declined and the role went to Frank Morgan.

- Wynn would die of esophageal cancer. His epitaph reads "Dear God, thanks."

[Drewsky1211 4,759]

King William IV died on this day 187 years ago, aged 71.

- William was the third child and son of King George III, and as such was not expected to take the throne.

William would enlist in the Royal Navy, and would earn the nickname "The Sailor King" due to this. He would provide morale to British troops in the American Revolutionary War in 1781 by staying in New York, and George Washington would approve of a conspiracy to kidnap him to end the war in exchange for independence. The British got word of this, and William was assigned bodyguards. William would retire from service in 1790, and was made an honorary admiral in 1798; he was later appointed Lord High Admiral in 1827.

- Between his naval service and ascent to the throne, William would often espouse pro-slavery views speaking to Parliament, believing that freemen's lives were more squalid than that of enslaved people.

- William became king in 1830 at the age of 64; he was the oldest British monarch at ascension until Charles III became king in 2022 aged 73. He was known for overseeing the Reform Crisis of 1831, and his xenophobic attitudes towards French people (to the point where he replaced royal French chefs with English ones).

- William died after a 7-year reign, and as he had no legitimate children, the crown passed on to his niece Queen Victoria. He did, however, have 10 bastard children with the actress Dorothea Jordan (had they been recognized, the crown would've gone to his son George FitzClarence). Among his descendants is former PM David Cameron:

[Drewsky1211 4,759]

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna died on this day 148 years ago, aged 82.

- Santa Anna would serve in the Mexican Army during its war of independence from Spain, quickly rising through the ranks and becoming a general.

- Santa Anna would first be elected president of the United Mexican States in 1833, serving for four nonconsecutive terms over the next year and a half. He would serve another four terms during Mexico's Mexican Republic era between 1839 and 1844, and another three as an official president of Mexico (March-April 1847, May-September 1847, and 1853-1855).

- Santa Anna is best known for his role during the Texas Revolution and Spanish-American war, as Mexico's leading general. His forces were the ones that besieged the Alamo and perpetrated the Goliad Massacre in 1836, and was known for his battles against future US president Zachary Taylor as the latter advanced towards Mexico City to force surrender.

- Santa Anna's final presidency ended following the Gadsden Purchase (where the US bought the modern borders of Arizona and New Mexico for a better railroad route), where the government received less money than expected. He would end up exiling to the United States (settling in New York City), where he would find jobs selling chicle (a type of natural gum) to build carriage wheels (he is credited with introducing chewing gum to the US), and would also earn money by entering roosters into cockfights. He was allowed to return to Mexico in 1874, dying two years later.

- Santa Anna was known for his prosthetic leg, which was taken from him following his capture in the Battle of Cerro Gordo. It was taken to the United States, where it remains in the Illinois State Military Museum:

An episode of King of the Hill revolved around Hank's father Cotton stealing the leg as it was planned to return to Mexico, and a PSA advocating for its return was put into the end credits: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6m3t7t

 

[Drewsky1211 4,759]

Judy Garland died on this day 55 years ago, aged 47.

- Garland's real name was Frances Gumm, and she would perform in vaudeville with her older sisters Suzy and Virginia. She would take her stage name when people laughed at their last name- both association with chewing gum, and typos introducing them as "The Glum Sisters".

- Garland would join MGM in 1935 after a talent agent watched her perform, and she would soon find herself being paired with Mickey Rooney in several movies, and the two of them quickly became teen idols. By far her most famous role during this time (and her entire career) was Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz:

Garland was also famous for starring in 1944's Meet Me in St. Louis, where she introduced "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" to the world:

- After performing on stage in the late '40s and early '50s, Garland would make a cinematic comeback in the 1954 version of A Star is Born, and was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress that year.

- In her later years- the 1960s- she would star in her own self-titled television show, the 1967 movie Valley of the Dolls, and would even delve into voice acting by voicing the character of Mewsette in the 1962 film Gay Purr-ee.

- Garland died from a secobarbital overdose, believed to have been treatment for her cirrhosis. Among the attendees at her funeral were her Wizard of Oz co-stars Ray Bolger and Jack Haley.

- Garland's daughter is a nepo baby- none other than Liza Minnelli.

[John "요한" Sulu 421]

On this day 16 years ago, American actor and comedian George Carlin passed away at the age of 71.

[Drewsky1211 4,759]

Peter Falk has Alzheimer's disease died on this day 13 years ago, aged 83.

- Peter Falk suffered from Alzheimer's disease retinal cancer in his early age, and had to have his right eye removed and replaced with a glass eye.

- Falk's first acting performance was a summer camp production of The Pirates of Penzance, which would graduate into community theatre in the 1950s. His first major film role was in the 1960 movie, which earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the next year's Oscars. Other notable movie appearances during this time included Robin and the 7 Hoods and The Great Race.

- Falk is best known for his role as the title character of Columbo, which ran from 1971 to 1978 (and intermittent revivals from 1989 to 2003). He would earn four Emmys for the role. Falk would use his own personal clothing, rather than a set wardrobe, when creating Columbo's uniform.

-  Falk would see a film career revival in the 1980s, starring in roles within movies such as The Princess Bride and The Great Muppet Caper, and would also cameo in the Ghostbusters music video:

Among his final roles before his death were a trio of Christmas TV movies, and a role in DreamWorks' 2004 film Shark Tale.

- Peter Falk was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in late 2008 (and saying Peter Falk has Alzheimer's disease became an inside joke on this forum when someone put the diagnosis in his thread, and multiple posts reiterated the point), and died two and a half years later.

[John "요한" Sulu 421]

On this day 1 year ago, American lyricist Sheldon Harnick, who wrote the lyrics to Broadway's "Fiorello!" and "Fiddler on the Roof", passed away at the age of 99.

 

Photo Credit: Rarmin per Creative Commons license

[Drewsky1211 4,759]

Grover Cleveland died on this day 116 years ago, aged 71.

- Cleveland went by his middle name; his first name was Stephen. He was a distant cousin of Moses Cleaveland, the founder and namesake of the city of Cleveland, Ohio.

- Cleveland would bail out of serving in the Civil War by paying $150 to a substitute, as he himself was becoming a successful lawyer. Cleveland would later be elected the Sheriff of Erie County in New York, and would also serve as executioner, hanging two murderers.

- Cleveland was elected the mayor of Buffalo in 1881, and then governor of New York the following year. His tenure was focused on taking down political corruption and making sure he was not spending frivolously while in office.

- Cleveland was elected president in 1884 with an electoral vote of 219-182, winning his home state of New York's 36 electoral votes by only 1200 votes. He was the first Democrat elected president since the end of the Civil War. Cleveland would lose the 1888 election likely due to poor campaign management, but would defeat the new incumbent Benjamin Harrison in 1892 partially due to a split among Republican voters. Cleveland remains the only US president to be elected to nonconsecutive terms (this may possibly change come November).

- Cleveland's second term was marred by the Panic of 1893 economic depression, many major labor strikes, and a secret mouth cancer surgery that he had on a boat (to hide his diagnosis from the public, who didn't believe it until 1919). Cleveland would also admit Utah to the Union as the 45th state in 1896.

- Cleveland would marry his friend's daughter Frances during his first term in 1886 (27 years his junior- and he waited for her to become an adult before marrying her), and they would have five children together; his daughter Esther was the mother of the trolley problem inventor Philippa Foot. He would also have a bastard son before marriage (named Oscar), which led to opponents creating the chant "Ma, ma, where's my pa? Gone to the White House, ha ha ha!"

- Cleveland would die of a heart attack after a period of ill health.

[Drewsky1211 4,759]

Michael Jackson died on this day 15 years ago, aged 50.

- When he was 6, Jackson's father Joe made him join his brothers in the family band he created (The Jackson Brothers, which soon became The Jackson 5). Joe was abusive towards Michael, often beating him with a belt when he made a mistake, and telling him his nose was "fat". This may have led to both Jackson's excessive plastic surgeries (due to the verbal abuse) and Peter Pan syndrome (due to not having a normal childhood).

- In the late '70s and early '80s, Jackson would have some interesting guest appearances, such as contributing a song to the audio book for ET, and having a short cameo in the 1978 special A Special Sesame Street Christmas:

- At the height of his career in the late 1980s, Jackson had his own theatrical film with 1988's Moonwalker (virtually a collection of music videos for his songs), and when Weird Al requested to parody "Bad", Jackson let him use the same stage the music video was filmed on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2mU6USTBRE

- Outside of his regular music career in the '90s, Jackson would voice Leon Kompowsky in the Simpsons episode "Stark Raving Dad" (credited as John Jay Smith), and would compose music for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (but went uncredited due to child sexual abuse allegations). He would later audition for the role of Jar Jar Binks in The Phantom Menace, and his 2003 60 Minutes interview led to this viral moment:

- Jackson died from a propofol overdose (he called the drug "milk"), and when the news broke... it literally broke the internet; Twitter, Wikipedia, and AOL Instant Messenger crashed, and Google searches severely lagged.

[YoungWillz 21,067]

Fred Feast, best known for playing Fred Gee in Coronation Street, became a Rover never to Return 25 years ago today, aged 69.

 

[John "요한" Sulu 421]

On this day 1 year ago, American Nobel Prize-winning solid-state physicist John Goodenough passed away at the age of 100.

 

Photo Credit: US Embassy Sweden per Creative Commons license

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Denis Thatcher died on this day 21 years ago, aged 88.

- Thatcher served in the Italian campaign in WWII, and would become a business executive afterwards. He sold his preservatives company to Castrol in 1965, and would soon become a member of its board of directors.

- In 1951, Thatcher married Margaret Roberts, who took his surname. As Margaret became famous due to her career in politics, Denis often felt stressed due to juggling his business operations with his newfound fame when Margaret became PM in 1979. Thatcher was known for his anti-death penalty stance, advising his wife on financial matters, and refusing to be interviewed by the media. Thatcher was made a baron in 1991 following his wife's resignation as PM the previous year.

- In 1992, Thatcher would be diagnosed with prostate cancer, which went into remission. He had heart surgery in January of 2003, was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in June, and died two weeks after the diagnosis (spending the final two days of his life in a coma).

- Thatcher appeared on the DeathList twice, in 1994 and 2003. He was the fifth death (of the then-record 14) that year, followed later that day by Strom Thurmond.

[Drewsky1211 4,759]

Tove Jansson died on this day 23 years ago, aged 86.

- Jansson was part of an artistic family; her father Viktor was a sculptor, her mother Signe was an illustrator, and her brother Lars was a cartoonist.

- Jansson would write her first children's book in 1928, called Sara and Pelle and Neptune's Children. It was not published for another 5 years.

- During World War II, Jansson would serve as a political cartoonist for Garm magazine. She would lampoon both Hitler and Stalin:

- In 1945, Jansson wrote the first book in the series that catapulted her to fame- The Moomins and the Great Flood. The donkey-like trolls in the book became a cultural phenomenon in Jansson's native Finland and beyond, having been adapted into TV shows, movies, and two theme parks (one in Finland and one in Japan). The last book Jansson wrote in the series was 1993's Songs from Moominvalley:

- Jansson would also illustrate Swedish translations of The Hobbit and Alice in Wonderland, and had a career painting murals in places such as schools and hospitals.

[John "요한" Sulu 421]

On this day 1 year ago, Spanish actress and singer Carmen Sevilla, who starred in the films "Vengeance" and "King of Kings", passed away at the age of 92.

[Drewsky1211 4,759]

Archduke Franz Ferdinand died on this day 110 years ago, aged 50.

- The nephew of Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I, Franz Ferdinand became heir to the throne following his father Archduke Karl Ludwig's death in 1896. Franz Ferdinand also became the heir to the ancient House of Este in 1875 after the death of his cousin Duke Francis V of Modena.

- Franz Ferdinand had a penchant for trophy hunting, and would travel around the world to kill exotic animals. He killed a total of 272,511 animals, and had 100,000 stuffed or mounted trophies within his castle.

- Franz Ferdinand married Sophie Chotek in 1900; his family (the infamously inbred Habsburgs) had a rule that they had to marry a member of a ruling or formerly-ruling European dynasty, and as such, he had to renounce his descendants' claims to the throne.

- While visiting Sarajevo in 1914, Franz Ferdinand's car was targeted by Black Hand, a Yugoslav nationalist group. One member threw a grenade, but it exploded under the car behind his. Franz Ferdinand decided to truncate his scheduled speech to visit the injured at the local hospital, but his motorcade took a wrong turn. On that street was Black Hand member Gavrilo Princip (who was waiting outside a sandwich shop), and when he saw the car being put into reverse gear, he walked up and shot Franz Ferdinand and Sophie at point-blank range:

Franz Ferdinand remained conscious for some time, begging his wife not to die for their childrens' sake, but both of them succumbed to their injuries within minutes. Austria-Hungary would blame Serbia for the assassination, which sparked the July Crisis that devolved into what soon became World War I (at the time, "The Great War").

- 90 years after Franz Ferdinand's death, a Scottish band took his name and made this aptly-named song (which has nothing to do with the assassination):

 

[time 8,624]

It's five years since the death of architect Jim Roberts, at the age of 97. Born in Birmingham, he was awarded three contracts to aid in the redvelopment of the city in the late 1950s, which included the (potentially soon to be demolished) Ringway Centre, and the landmark circular building The Rotunda. Other notable buildings include the Radio City building (St. John's Beacon) in Liverpool. and the Belfry Hotel and Golf Centre (Home of the Ryder Cup).

James A. Roberts, with the under-contruction Rotunda in the background.

(Picture borrowed from architectsjournal.co.uk)

[Drewsky1211 4,759]

William Hickey died on this day 27 years ago, aged 69.

- Hickey got his start in the entertainment industry as a child actor, and made his Broadway debut in the 1951 production of Saint Joan. He would move on to become an acting teacher in New York, and among his students was Barbra Streisand.

- It would not be until the 1980s that Hickey's film career really took off, with his role as Corrado Prizzi in the 1985 movie Prizzi's Honor earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. From there, he would appear in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation as Uncle Lewis:

Among his most well-remembered roles was from another Christmas movie- that being him voicing Dr. Finkelstein in The Nightmare Before Christmas:

- Hickey died from a combination of bronchitis and emphysema during the production of (the ironically-titled) Better than Ever. One film he was in that was posthumously released was called Knocking on Death's Door. 

[John "요한" Sulu 421]

On this day 4 years ago, Carl Reiner passed away at the age of 98.