Death Anniversary Thread

[The Ashes Urn 1,358]

American model turned actress Constance Dowling died on this day 55 years ago, aged 49.

 

[John "요한" Sulu 420]

On this day 2 years ago, American football coach and athletic director Vince Dooley passed away at the age of 90.

 

Photo Credit: Georgia National Guard per Creative Commons license

[Drewsky1211 4,756]

Leon Czolgosz died on this day 123 years ago, aged 28.

- Czolgosz was the son of Polish immigrants to the US. He worked in a glass factory as a teen, and would later find work at a steel mill.

- The millworkers, (obviously) including Czolgosz, would go on strike during the Panic of 1893, and he would turn to socialist clubs, believing their values aligned best with workers' interests. He would become more secluded and radicalized over the coming years. Under the pseudonym Fred Nieman, Czolgosz would befriend notable anarchists such as Emma Goldman and Abraham Isaak, but they would soon believe him to be a federal agent tasked to spy on them due to his elusive nature and his many questions about 'secret societies'.

- Czolgosz became inspired by the assassination of Umberto I of Italy, and would head to Buffalo, New York, where president William McKinley was going to attend the Pan-American Exposition. on September 6, 1901, McKinley was greeting visitors at the fair's concert hall (he was known for his kindness), and Czolgosz shot him in the abdomen when he reached the front of the line:

He was quickly subdued by bystanders, while McKinley simply told them to go easy on him. While his shot was not lethal, McKinley died from the resulting infection six days later.

- Czolgosz' trial was quick, and his public defender tried to prove he was insane- the jury was unconvinced due to how uncooperative and remorseless he was for his crime, and was found guilty of first-degree murder. He would be executed by the electric chair a month later, and prison officials would dissolve his corpse with sulfuric acid to prevent his grave from becoming a shrine to anarchists.

[The Ashes Urn 1,358]

British-American novelist and playwright Frances Hodgson Burnett died on this day 100 years ago, aged 74.

 

 

 

[Drewsky1211 4,756]

Robert Goulet died on this day 17 years ago, aged 73.

- Goulet would compete on a musical competition show in 1952 called Pick the Stars and made it to the show's semifinals, and he would appear in shows that included Showcase and the Canadian version of Howdy Doody.

- In plays, Goulet acted in productions of South Pacific and Carousel before being cast as King Arthur in Alan Jay Lerner's Camelot. He would earn a Tony Award in 1968 for his role of Jacques Bonnard in The Happy Time.

- Goulet would have a prolific acting career offstage as well. In live-action, he appeared in Beetlejuice, Scrooged, and several episodes of Mr. Belvedere, while in animation, he voiced Jaune Tom in Gay Purr-ee (opposite Judy Garland), guest-starred in an episode of The Simpsons, and provided Wheezy's singing voice at the end of Toy Story 2:

- Goulet died after a month-long battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, while awaiting a lung transplant.

[The Ashes Urn 1,358]

American dancer and actress Peggy Ryan died on this day 20 years ago, aged 80.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,756]

Peter Stumpp died on this day 435 years ago, aged 59.

(a personal favorite Halloween history story of mine)

 

- 'Stumpp' may have actually just been a nickname due to the fact that his left hand had been cut off. He was also known under the alias 'Abel Griswold'.

- During a trial, Stumpp claimed to have been given the ability to transform into a voracious wolf after being given a magical belt from the Devil in 1542. He would start off by eating livestock such as goats and sheep (sometime around 1564 according to him), before targeting children and pregnant women to allegedly cannibalize- among the victims was stated to have been his own son. In all likelihood, Stumpp was believed to have been an actual serial killer who murdered 14 people.

- Stumpp was also accused of having an incestuous relationship with his daughter Sybil, and the two were sentenced to death together. Stumpp's execution was known for its goriness- he was tied to a wheel before being partially flayed by hot iron pincers, followed by his arms and legs being broken, and finally being beheaded (as seen in the depiction above), and his corpse would then be burnt. His head, however, was put on display atop a pole with the figure of a wolf on it to ward off other people who locals believed were werewolves.

[The Ashes Urn 1,358]

Indian politician and stateswoman Indira Gandhi died on this day 40 years ago, aged 66.

 

[John "요한" Sulu 420]

On this day 1 year ago, Russian-born Swiss Olympic gold medal-winning figure skater Oleg Protopopov passed away at the age of 91.

[Drewsky1211 4,756]

Alexander III of Russia died on this day 130 years ago, aged 49.

- Alexander was the son of tsar Alexander II, and became tsar himself upon his father's assassination in 1881.

- Alexander would deliberately work to undo the liberal policies his father introduced, believing them to have allowed the group that assassinated him to form. He would send 'land captains' to supervise and administrate peasant towns, though they were also assigned to provide relief to these communities when needed.

- A devout Eastern Orthodox Christian, Alexander was blatantly antisemitic, notably passing the May Laws of 1882 that barred Jews from certain jobs and places to live, and openly encouraged pogroms against them, which led to many emigrating to the United States during his reign. This belief was so entrenched that Alexander blamed them for his royal train derailing in an 1888 accident (when he had demanded the train to go as fast as possible).

- Alexander was known for forging an alliance with France via an 1891 treaty- this would become the Triple Entente when the UK joined in 1907.

- Alexander also commissioned the first ever Faberge egg as a gift for his wife Dagmar of Denmark (AKA Maria Feodorovna) in 1885, which soon became a yearly tradition among the Russian royal family.

- Alexander died from nephritis, believed to have been triggered by the blunt force trauma from his train crash six years prior. He was succeeded by his son Nicholas II (the final tsar of Russia).

[The Ashes Urn 1,358]

American actor Noah Beery Jr. died on this day 30 years ago, aged 81.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,756]

Theo van Gogh died on this day 20 years ago, aged 47.

- Van Gogh was a great-grandnephew of Vincent van Gogh, being the great-grandson of his brother- also named Theo van Gogh.

- Van Gogh's first film was 1981's Luger. His 1994 film 1-900 would be selected as the Netherlands' entry for the Oscars' Best Foreign Language Film that year, but was ultimately not nominated. He did, however, win three Golden Calf awards (the Netherlands' equivalent of the Oscars) in 1996 for Blind Date.

- Following 9/11, Van Gogh would become a major critic of Islam, particularly its treatment of women. In 2004, he would make the short film Submission- praised by some for showing the issue of religious violence towards women, but also criticized for bashing the religion in and of itself as well.

- Just a little over two months after Submission was released, Van Gogh was murdered by a lone Muslim fundamentalist- who was sentenced to life in prison without parole the following year. His murder led to rioting over the following months. In 2007, a sculpture serving as a monument to the freedom of speech was built near the site where he was killed:

[Bobytomi 124]

1 year has passed since Salvatore Nardi died at the age of 111

[The Ashes Urn 1,358]

American jazz drummer Slick Jones died on this day 55 years ago, aged 62.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,756]

Emperor Constantius II died on this day 1663 years ago, aged 44.

- Constantius was the son of Constantine the Great, who named him as a co-emperor when he was 7 years old. His full name was 'Flavius Julius Constantianus'.

- Constantius became the sole emperor of eastern Rome when his father died in 337, and would immediately wage war against Persia to get them to retreat from Roman territory in Mesopotamia. In 350, he would head back west to wage war against the usurping emperor Magnentius, with the ensuing civil war lasting for three years until Magnentius killed himself after being defeated in battle.

- Constantius would further his father's Christian principles across the empire, declaring that those who participated in sacrifices to pagan gods were to receive the death penalty. As Roman polytheism was still the majority religion, many local government officials would not carry out his decree. He was also an antisemite, banning Jewish men from interfaith marriages with Christian women. It is believed his prejudice arose due to private Jewish businesses directly competing with nationalized businesses.

- Constantius died after a 24-year reign, and was succeeded as emperor by his brother-in-law (and cousin) Julian.

[The Ashes Urn 1,358]

French visual artist Henri Matisse died on this day 70 years ago, aged 84.

 

[The Ashes Urn 1,358]

American actress Merie Earle died on this day 40 years ago, aged 95.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,756]

Paul Eddington died on this day 29 years ago, aged 68.

- Eddington's first major role was performing many characters in The Adventures of Robin Hood between 1956 and 1959, appearing in 64 of its 143 episodes. He also had guest roles in The Avengers, Z-Cars, and Danger Man.

- In 1975, Eddington was cast as Jerry Leadbetter in The Good Life, considered to be his breakout role. In 1980 he would achieve further fame as the main character Jim Hacker in Yes, Minister, with the character becoming a fictional PM in the 1986 sequel series Yes, Prime Minister:

- Eddington was diagnosed with Mycosis fungoides- a rare kind of very-slowly progressive lymphoma- when he was 28. His battle was publicized in 1994, which led to him opening up more about it (this was often erroneously stated to have been skin cancer):

Eddington's death was overshadowed by the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin the very same day.

[Drewsky1211 4,756]

Johnny Horton died on this day 64 years ago, aged 35.

- Born in California, Horton would go to Alaska in the 1940s to look for gold there. He would begin to write songs, and would return back to his home state to perform on local radio shows. He would soon get his own show, titled The Singing Fisherman.

- After several appearances on Louisiana Hayride, Horton would get signed to Mercury Records- and would marry the widow of Hank Williams around this time.

- After parting ways with his band (originally called The Singing Fisherman and the Rowley Trio before being renamed to Johnny Horton and the Roadrunners), Horton would have his first major single in 1956 with "Honky-Tonk Man". In 1959, his song "The Battle of New Orleans" peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100 and made him a national celebrity:

Horton would earn a Grammy for this song, and in 1960 he would have two more top-ten singles, "Sink the Bismarck" (no. 3) and "North to Alaska" (no. 4).

- Horton's career came to an abrupt end when he died in a car crash. Among the people at his funeral who delivered eulogies was Johnny Cash (a personal friend of his).

[The Ashes Urn 1,358]

Russian-American pianist Vladimir Horowitz died on this day 35 years ago, aged 86.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,756]

Clive Dunn died on this day 12 years ago, aged 92.

- Dunn's actual first name was Robert, and he adopted 'Clive' as a stage name in his 20s. He was a cousin of actress (and DeathList alumnus) Gretchen Franklin.

- Dunn's main acting schtick was that he would portray characters much older than he actually was- and when he was given the role of Lance Corporal Jones in Dad's Army, he was younger than some of his castmates (i.e. John Le Mesurier and Arthur Lowe). His catchphrase of "Don't panic, don't panic" would make its way into the British vernacular zeitgeist.

- In 1971, Dunn released the novelty song "Grandad", which topped the UK Singles chart:

This would lead to him getting a show of the same name, which ran from 1979 to 1984- this song also served as its theme.

- In 1987, Dunn made history by debuting atop the first DeathList, and would go on to make 16 appearances between then and 2012- a record until surpassed by Kirk Douglas' 17th appearance in 2019. He's also been immortalized by this emoji you'll see when you post something someone else recently said in the same thread that you failed to spot- 

[The Ashes Urn 1,358]

American West Coast jazz pianist and accordionist Pete Jolly died on this day 20 years ago, aged 72.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,756]

Leonard Cohen died on this day 8 years ago, aged 82.

- Cohen would start off as a poet and novelist, to little success. He would turn to songwriting for income, moving to the US from his native Canada in 1967 and having his first hit writing Judy Collins' "Suzanne".

- Cohen was soon signed to Columbia Records as a folk singer, and he would become much more well-known after several of his songs were featured in the 1971 film McCabe & Mrs. Miller. It was not until 1984 that Cohen made his signature, most famous song- "Hallelujah":

Initially having limited airplay, a 1991 cover by John Cale would make it a more famous song, with almost 200 other artists covering it since- ranging from Rufus Wainwright to Alexandra Burke to Jeff Buckley.

- During the '90s and 2000s, Cohen's songs continued to get exposure from being used in film, notably in Pump Up the Volume, Natural Born Killers, and (especially) Shrek.

- Cohen died from a fall at home; he also had leukemia at the time of his death.

[The Ashes Urn 1,358]

American actor George Mathews died on this day 40 years ago, aged 73.

 

[John "요한" Sulu 420]

On this day 1 year ago, American astronaut Frank Borman passed away at the age of 95.