Death Anniversary Thread

[Drewsky1211 4,287]

Buddy Hackett died on this day 21 years ago, aged 78.

- Hackett's real name was Leonard Hacker. During his teenage years, he would perform stand-up comedy under the name "Butch Hacker", taking his stage name following WWII.

- Hackett's first film was a 1950 short about bowling techniques, where he would comedically perform deliberately errant bowls. The producer for the Three Stooges offered for him to join them after seeing it, but Hackett declined as he wanted to develop his solo career.

- Hackett would have successes on TV starring as the titular character in the 1956 sitcom Stanley, and would soon appear in films such as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and The Music Man:

- Hackett would take a break from acting in the 1970s to pursue poetry, culminating in the book The Naked Mind of Buddy Hackett. He would see a comeback in the late '80s by starring in Scrooged as Ebenezer Scrooge, and voicing Scuttle in Disney's The Little Mermaid:

- Hackett had longtime heart disease and refused surgery, and his death was hastened by diabetes and a stroke he suffered shortly before he died.

[Drewsky1211 4,287]

Forrest Mars Sr. died on this day 25 years ago, aged 95.

- Mars was the son of Franklin Mars, the founder of Mars Inc. He would join his father at the company, and wished to expand the company internationally, unlike his father.

- Mars would supervise the development of Snickers and 3 Musketeers, before franchising the company to the UK. Mars himself would then proceed to create the Mars Bar and Maltesers there:

In 1941, Mars would create M&M's- specifically the milk chocolate flavor:

- After the death of his father, Mars would found another food business (the generically-named Food Products Manufacturing), where he would make pet food and created the Uncle Ben's brand of rice. He would merge this company into Mars Inc. in 1964.

- Mars would retire from Mars Inc. in 1973, giving control to his children. He would found another candy company in 1980, Ethel M Chocolates, which would be bought out by his kids in 1988.

[Drewsky1211 4,287]

Henry the Fowler died on this day 1088 years ago, aged 59.

- Henry was the son of Otto, the duke of Saxony, and would succeed his father as duke after his death in 912.

- In 919, Henry would be elected king of East Francia, having been handpicked by his predecessor Conrad I before he died. Henry was the first non-Frank to take the throne (a Saxon), and reportedly got his epithet because he was reportedly fixing his bird traps when messengers arrived to inform him of his election as king.

- Henry was known for his military exploits during his reign, going to war with West Francia, Hungary, multiple Slavic tribes, and Denmark. He was nearly killed in battle with Hungarian troops in the Battle of Puchen in the first year of his rule, but had driven them away from Germany by 933.

- Henry was the founder of the Ottonian dynasty of German monarchs, named after his son and successor Otto I.

[John "요한" Sulu 390]

On this day 20 years ago, Marlon Brando, who played Vito Corleone in "The Godfather" trilogy passed away at the age of 80.

[Drewsky1211 4,287]

Theodor Herzl died on this day 120 years ago, aged 44.

- Herzl's ancestors Germanized their last name from "Loebl"- both surnames mean 'little heart'. Theodor himself was a nationalist who highly regarded German culture, especially the works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

- Herzl would move to Austria in 1878, working as a lawyer and journalist. He would join a pan-German nationalist group, but left soon after due to members' antisemitism.

- After covering the Dreyfus affair (in which a French Jewish captain was falsely accused and convicted of being a German spy), and following the election of noted antisemite Karl Lueger as mayor of his home city of Vienna in 1895, Herzl became convinced that Jewish people must flee Europe and create their own nation where they could practice their religion without being persecuted. This culminated in his most famous work, 1896's Der Judenstaat, in which he stated the proposed state should be established in the Jewish ancestral homeland in Palestine (then a part of the Ottoman Empire); Herzl also accused anti-Zionists (particularly those who wanted to assimilate into Europe or the US) of being self-loathing Jews.

- Herzl would manage to gain an audience with high-ranking Ottoman officials, which was declined by sultan Abdul Hamid II on the basis that the mayor of Jerusalem feared large immigration would spark Arab nationalist movements within the empire.

- Herzl died at such a young age due to atherosclerosis. He is considered the founder of modern Zionism, and remains a very controversial figure due to the Israel-Palestine conflict that continues to this day (you all know what's happened since last October).

[John "요한" Sulu 390]

3 years ago from yesterday, American jazz pianist, composer, conductor, and bandleader Elliot Lawrence passed away at the age of 96.

[John "요한" Sulu 390]

2 years ago from yesterday, English stage and motion picture director Peter Brook, who directed "Marat/Sade", passed away at the age of 97.

[Drewsky1211 4,287]

Marie Curie died on this day 90 years ago, aged 66.

- Curie's maiden name was Sklodowska, and she would move from Poland to Paris in her 20s, following in the steps of her sister Bronislawa.

- Curie would initially study magnetism in steel, before meeting Pierre Curie and developing feelings due to their mutual love for science. The two married in 1895, and had two daughters- Irene and Eve (Irene was a Nobel laureate, and Eve lived to be 102).

- Curie would research the radioactive properties of pitchblende, and after isolating the uranium from it in 1898, would discover two elements- polonium and radium:

Both Marie and Pierre (who had assisted her in her isolation efforts) would be awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics; Marie would be awarded a second Nobel Prize (in Chemistry) in 1911.

- Pierre was killed after being hit by and falling under a horse-drawn carriage in 1906, and the University of Paris would give his seat in their physics department to Marie. During World War I, Marie would serve as a nurse, operating X-ray ambulances near the front lines.

- Curie often surrounded herself with radium- which ended up leading to her demise; it is believed that she acquired aplastic anemia due to longtime radiation exposure, which damaged her bone marrow.

[Drewsky1211 4,287]

Walter Gropius died on this day 55 years ago, aged 86.

- Gropius' family was already known for their architecture- his great-uncle Martin designed the Museum of Decorative Arts in Berlin.

- Gropius would begin work as an architect in 1908, notably designing the Fagus shoe factory in 1911, and the pavilion for the 1914 Werkbund Exhibition.

- Gropius served as a sergeant during World War I, getting wounded on the western front. He would receive two Iron Crosses for his service.

- In 1919, Gropius would found the Bauhaus art school, known for facilitating an art and architecture style of the same name:

Gropius would leave the Bauhaus in 1928 after leading for 9 years.

- Gropius would leave Germany in 1934 due to the fact the Nazis despised his modernist art style, before moving to the US three years later. He would live in Massachusetts for the last 32 years of his life, designing a house for him and his family:

- Gropius' first wife was Alma Schindler- the ex-wife of Gustav Mahler and later the wife of Franz Werfel; Alma would have affairs with Werfel due to the fact he was off fighting in World War I. Gropius was the only one of Alma's husbands to outlive her.

[John "요한" Sulu 390]

On this day 3 years ago, American motion picture director Richard Donner, who directed the films Superman and Lethal Weapon passed away at the age of 91.

 

Photo Credit: Alan Light per Creative Commons license

[Drewsky1211 4,287]

Van McCoy died on this day 45 years ago, aged 39.

- McCoy played the piano as a child, and would begin writing songs when he was 12. He and his older brother Norman would form a band with two of their friends, called "The Starlighters".

- McCoy's first single was 1961's "Hey Mr. DJ", and he would be signed on to Scepter Records as a songwriter. Among the singers and bands he wrote songs for included Jackie Wilson, the Shirelles, and Gladys Knight.

- In 1975, McCoy would release the album Disco Baby, not expecting much to come from it- and was shocked when his single "The Hustle" ended up peaking atop the Billboard Hot 100 and earned him a Grammy Award:

- In 1978, McCoy would sing the theme for the movie Sextette (Mae West's final film), and would have a cameo appearance in it.

- McCoy's early death was due to a heart attack.