Death Anniversary Thread

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Unlikely pearly gates mates, Mollie Sugden  (86)                                                                             & Karl Malden (97)

both died on this day 13 years ago. Mollie has a thread named in her honour, while Karl was 2009's 4th DL hit, headlined "Deceased of San Francisco".

[The Ashes Urn 1,355]

American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball Ray Scarborough died on this day 40 years ago, aged 64.

 

[Hell 1,334]

American actor Marlon Brando died on this day 18 years ago, aged 80.

 

 

American singer, songwriter, and record producer Luther Vandross died on this day 17 years ago, aged 54.

 

 

American actor Walter Matthau died on this day 22 years ago, aged 79.

 

 

American writer of children’s books best known for young adult literature Walter Dean Myers died on this day 8 years ago, aged 76.

 

 

British humanitarian who helped to rescue children who were at risk of oppression by Nazi Germany Nicholas Winton died on this day 7 years ago, aged 106.

 

 

American radio and television broadcaster, announcer and programmer Hugh Downs died on this day 2 years ago, aged 99.

 

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,337]

 

On this day in 1348  Joan of England,  daughter of King Edward lll (she was born in the Tower of London)died as a result of the black death plague. 

King Edward lll is regarded  as one of the more successful  English monarchs  , restoring royal authority  during his 50 years on the throne after the disastrous unorthodox reign of his father King Edward ll. 

But on a personal note life wasn't always so good with the death of his teenage daughter Joan during the plague .

Joan had been promised or betrothed in marriage to Peter of Castile,  son of King Alfonso Xl of Castile and his wife Maria of Portugal.

With her parents  blessing  Joan, also known as Joanna,  was travelling to Europe to see hee future husband  protected by a huge group of armed forces- probably at that time the most protected woman in Europe!

It was on this ill fated journey in Europe that Joan became infected with the black death and died after  what is thought to have been a very brief but intense illness in her case.

  When she left England to travel  nobody in England was aware of the plague that was just beginning to spread through  Europe and eventually England too.

Joan seems to have been one of the earliest prominent casualties of the black death.

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,337]

 

On this day in 1999 former Conservative Home Secretary  under Margaret Thatcher  and defacto  Deputy Prime Minister from 1979-1988 - Willie Whitelaw died aged 81.

 

He also served  as employment secretary,  Leader of the House of Commons and Northern Ireland Secretary  during Margaret Thatchers  premiership.

 

Margaret  Thatcher found him to be reliable and indispensable  and once said about him - Everybody  needs a Willie!

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,337]

 

 On this day in 2018 musician Alan Longmuir , a founding member of Scottish pop band The Bay City  Rollers died  in Scotland aged 70 after  recently contracting an illness  on holiday in Mexico  and arguably being wrongly cleared by doctors to fly back home. 

[Drewsky1211 4,732]

Frankish noble Robert the Strong died on this day 1156 years ago, aged 36.

 

The son of the Count of Worms, Robert began rising to power in 858 when he joined a rebellion following the betrothment of Prince Louis the Stammerer to the daughter of Erispoe of Brittany. Seeing as this would diminish their powers, Erispoe's cousin Salomon colluded in his assassination, and Robert joined him in his rebellion. Peace was made in 861 with King Charles the Bald appointing him as the Count of Anjou.

 

Robert then began defending Francia and Brittany from Viking raids- in 862, he killed the crew of 12 Viking ships arriving in Brittany. King Salomon made peace with them in 863, and in 866, led his army into Francia. In Brissarthe, the Vikings refuged in a church- Robert attacked them as they fled, but was ambushed and killed by more Vikings. His actions against the Vikings earned him the nickname "Second Maccabeus" (after Judas Maccabeus, the Jewish leader who rebelled against the Seleucid empire, earning Judea's autonomy).

 

Robert was the father of two kings of France: Odo, elected in 888, and Robert I, who seized the throne in 922, and was the grandfather of the first Capetian king, Hugh Capet (making Robert his great-grandfather).

[Hell 1,334]

American actor and military pilot James Stewart died on this day 25 years ago, aged 89.

 

 

Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel died on this day 6 years ago, aged 87.

 

 

American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist Ernest Hemingway died on this day 61 years ago, aged 61.

 

 

American filmmaker Michael Cimino died on this day 6 years ago, aged 77.

 

 

American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer Betty Grable died on this day 49 years ago, aged 56.

 

[Summer in Transylvania 2,173]

12 hours ago, Gooseberry Crumble said:

Probably at that time the most protected woman in Europe!

 

It was on this ill fated journey in Europe that Joan became infected with the black death and died after  what is thought to have been a very brief but intense illness in her case.

 

 

[The Ashes Urn 1,355]

American composer Earle Brown died on this day 20 years ago, aged 75.

 

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,337]

 

On this day in 2010 Liverpool born author  Beryl Bainbridge  died aged 77.

 

Beryl was born in the  Allerton area of Liverpool  but moved to and was  raised in the posher quiet  Merseyside  suburb of Formby. 

She had shown a deep interest and flair  for the  creative writing of  fiction from the age of 10. In some instances too much so  some of her teachers  thought!! She was expelled from the private Merchant  Taylors school for Girls  in Crosby after she was caught with a 'dirty rhyme' in her pocket at school as a teenager.  A bit too sexually  explicit. 

 

In her writing career Beryls main genre was psychological  fiction and her writing could be quite macabre and mainly focused on the working class. Observations about society and people carefully illustrated through quite an eccentric  colourful lens at times. 

She won the prestigious literature award  the Whitbread Prize twice  , Every man for himself (1996) a fictional imagining of how passengers and crew behaved and reacted as the Titanic was sinking  and  Injury time (1977). Her novels were also shortlisted numerous  booker  prizes. 

  Other novels include  An awfully big adventure (1989) , The bottle factory outing (1974) and  The Dressmaker  (1973).

 

In 1961 and in an unhappy  marriage  Beryl  tried to commit suicide by putting her head in a gas  oven.  Divorce  followed soon afterwards  leaving Beryl as a single mother of two  children.  She  later had  a third child  with scottish writer  Alan Sharp.  The relationship  didn't last but as a fellow writer Beryl found  her relationship and time with Alan assisted her creativity and gave additional impetus  with her writing. 

 

Aside from writing  Beryl  appeared in one episode of Coronation in 1961 as an anti nuclear protester .

 

 

 

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@Gooseberry Crumble Big fan of Beryl Bainbridge's writing, a good mix of social commentary and very dark humour. 

 

Also worth a watch is the BBC documentary Beryl's Last Year, in which Bainbridge depresses her family with plans for her imminent death as she is convinced she will die at the age of 71 like her parents and grandparents before her. 

 

I wont say spoil if she was accurate in her belief, only to note this documentary came out in 2007....

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,337]

1 hour ago, msc said:

@Gooseberry Crumble Big fan of Beryl Bainbridge's writing, a good mix of social commentary and very dark humour. 

 

Also worth a watch is the BBC documentary Beryl's Last Year, in which Bainbridge depresses her family with plans for her imminent death as she is convinced she will die at the age of 71 like her parents and grandparents before her. 

 

I wont say spoil if she was accurate in her belief, only to note this documentary came out in 2007....

I really   need  to read some of Beryls  novels. Both my mother and my aunt  have spoken highly of her books.  Is there a particular  one you'd recommend as a first dive in to the world of Beryl Bainbridge?

[msc 18,438]

13 minutes ago, Gooseberry Crumble said:

I really   need  to read some of Beryls  novels. Both my mother and my aunt  have spoken highly of her books.  Is there a particular  one you'd recommend as a first dive in to the world of Beryl Bainbridge?

 

The Bottle Factory Outing is the one people note is the best intro to Beryl's work, though I heartily recommend the grim family outing in Another Part of the Wood. Doomed through the inability to actually speak to each other. It's marked lowly on Goodreads, probably because, like Abigail's Party (a similar play), those people hit too close to comfort. 

[Toast 16,132]

I've just realised I haven't read any of her novels either.  I tend to confuse her with Muriel Spark.

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,337]

 

 

On this day 14 years ago in 2008 british actor Clive Hornby died aged  63. He is best known for playing the role of Jack Sugden  in ITV soap Emmerdale  for nearly three decades. 

[Drewsky1211 4,732]

Jim Morrison joined the 27 Club on this day 51 years ago.

 

Morrison and fellow UCLA graduate Ray Manzarek formed The Doors in 1965, and their band entered the spotlight in 1967 with their song "Light My Fire":

 

"Touch Me" and "Love Her Madly" were other hits from the band. Morrison died of an accidental heroin overdose in Paris.

[Lord Fellatio Nelson 6,218]

8 hours ago, Drewsky1211 said:

Jim Morrison joined the 27 Club on this day 51 years ago.

 

Morrison and fellow UCLA graduate Ray Manzarek formed The Doors in 1965, and their band entered the spotlight in 1967 with their song "Light My Fire":

 

"Touch Me" and "Love Her Madly" were other hits from the band. Morrison died of an accidental heroin overdose in Paris.

...allegedly...

[The Ashes Urn 1,355]

American film actress Viola Dana died on this day 35 years ago, aged 90.

 

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,337]

 

 

On this day in 1916 Hetty Green , an American businesswoman and financier  nicknamed 'the witch of Wall Street ' died aged 81.

She was a notorious  miser and was even recorded  in the Guinness Book of World records as the worlds greatest miser. 

During the 'gilded age' Hetty was the richest woman in America. Her cheapskate attitude was legendary,  she reportedly wore the same black dress and undergarments  day in day out until the clothes wore out. She didn't put on heat or hot water and  lived largely on a diet of cheap pies. 

To call her frugal is a vast understatement.

 

  Her son ended up having his leg amputated allegedly  because she wasted vital time delaying starting treatment while she tried to obtain treatment  at a free clinic. 

Her fortune was made in real estate , railroads  and mines. 

Some say she was harshly judged  because  she was one of the very few big female  investors at the time in the old boys network. 

[Harvester Of Souls 40]

14 hours ago, Drewsky1211 said:

Jim Morrison joined the 27 Club on this day 51 years ago.

 

Same day, two years earlier, Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones also joined 27 Club.

 

 

Morrison published the poem 'Ode to L.A. While Thinking of Brian Jones, Deceased' in remembrance, shortly afterwards. Both died in similar circumstances although Jones' liver and bath tub were much larger than Morrison's.

 

 

[Hell 1,334]

American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television Andy Griffith died on this day 10 years ago, aged 86.

 

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,337]

 

On this day nine years ago in 2013  Irish singer, actress and television personality  Bernie Nolan died of cancer aged 52.

[Drewsky1211 4,732]

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on this day 196 years ago, aged 83 and 90 respectively.

 

George Washington announced that he would not seek a third term in 1796, and the Federalist Party viewed Adams as heir to the presidency. Meanwhile, the Democratic-Republican Party backed Jefferson. Adams won the election with a very narrow margin of 71-68 electoral votes. According to electoral procedure at the time, the runner-up in the election would become vice president to the winner.

 

Their differing policies, as expected, led to a falling out between the Declaration of Independence co-writers. Jefferson challenged Adams to the presidency again in 1800, Jefferson beat Adams in a rematch election 73-65 electoral votes. Aaron Burr received the same amount of electoral votes as Jefferson, and with the help of Alexander Hamilton, Jefferson beat out Burr for the presidency as well, and Burr became his vice president (the 12th Amendment, passed in 1804, allowed candidates to select their running mate).

 

After returning to Massachusetts, Adams sent a congratulatory letter to Jefferson, who did not respond. John's wife Abigail managed to contact Jefferson in 1804, sending a letter of condolences following his daughter Polly's death, but this devolved into political arguing, and Jefferson did the 19th-century equivalent of ghosting by choosing not to reply anymore.

 

Once Jefferson left office in 1809, their mutual friend Benjamin Rush (a fellow Declaration signer) attempted to get the two to become friends again. This occurred when Jefferson responded to Adams' 1812 New Years letter in a positive mood. The two would send letters to each other until their deaths.

 

Jefferson's health began to fail in 1825, and he was bedridden by June of 1826. At 12:50 PM EST on July 4, Jefferson died.

Five and a half hours later, Adams died, with his last words being "Thomas Jefferson survives"- unaware that he had perished earlier that day. Adams would be the only president to become a nonagenarian until Herbert Hoover turned 90 in 1964.

 

The two of them died on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

[Death Impends 7,963]

22 minutes ago, Drewsky1211 said:

 

Five and a half hours later, Adams died, with his last words being "Thomas Jefferson survives"- unaware that he had perished earlier that day.

 

Why does that sound so familiar?