Remembering The Passed

Remembering Mary Tyler Moore

Mary Tyler Moore was one of the greatest television comediennes in history, and a role model for millions of women as well. She starred in two legendary sitcoms: The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966) and Mary Tyler Moore 91970-1977). The characters she created, Laura Petrie and Mary Richards, are among the most iconic in television history. In addition she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Ordinary People (1980), and she won two Tony Awards. She was an important character in television history and in American culture in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Remembering Roberta Peters, Miguel Ferrer, Dick Gautier, Joey Powers

Roberta Peters was one of the leading coloratura sopranos of the last half of the 20th Century. She was on the roster of the New York City Metropolitan Opera for 35 years, the longest tenure of any soprano in Met history. She was an engaging performer and with her beauty and wit became a familiar face on television and helped bring opera to mainstream America. Miguel Ferrer was the television actor, who is best known for his portrayal of Owen Granger on the television series NCIS Los Angeles (2009- ). Dick Gautier was the Broadway and television actor who played Hymie the Robot on the sitcom Get Smart (1965-1970). Joey Powers was a one-hit wonder with the song “Meet Me At Midnight, Mary” in 1964.

Remembering Eugene Cernan, Tommy Allsup, Ringling Bros. Barnum And Bailey Circus

Eugene Cernan was the commander of Apollo 17, and in 1972 he became the last man to walk on the moon. His flight was the culmination of the Space Race, which began with the Soviet launch of Sputnik in 1957. Tommy Allsup was a rockabilly guitarist who had a brief career as a backup for Buddy Holly. He was scheduled to be o the ill-fated plane that crashed in February 1959, but he gave his seat up when he lost a coin flip with Ritchie Valens. Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus was known to millions of Americans for 146 years but is closing as a result of high costs and declining attendance.

Remembering William Peter Blatty And The Exorcist, The Pioneer Cabin Tree, Buddy Greco, Claire Hollingworth

William Peter Blatty was the author of the acclaimed 1971 horror novel The Exorcist, which was made into the classic blockbuster 1973 film of the same name. Blatty won an Academy Award for his screenplay for the movie. When he was a struggling young writer, he earned the money to continue writing after winning $5000 as a contestant on “You Bet Your Life” with Groucho Marx in 1961. The Pioneer Cabin Tree of Calaveras County was a sequoia, perhaps 2000 years old that became one of California’s most popular tourist attractions when a tunnel was carved in the middle. Buddy Greco was a jazz pianist for Benny Goodman who became a singer frequently associated with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack. Claire Hollingworth was a British journalist for over 70 years who broke possibly the biggest scoop of the 20th Century – the Nazi invasion of Poland that started World War II.

Remembering Nat Hentoff, Don Ciccone, Peter Sarstedt

Nat Hentoff was the lecturer, writer, and speaker who had tow areas of expertise - the First Amendment and jazz. When discussing free speech, he was always controversial but never failed to exhibit sound reasoning and advance a compelling argument. On the subject of jazz, he had no peer, having written a column for Village Voice for fifty years. Don Ciccone was the leader of the short-lived 1960’s rock group The Critters. The song he wrote and sang, “Mr. Dieingly Sad” (1966), is considered a rock classic. Peter Sarstedt was the English folk-rock singer who topped the international charts in 1969 with his song “Where Do You Go To, My Lovely?”

Remembering Sister Frances Carr and the Shakers, William Christopher, Edwin Goldwasser, Milt Schmidt

Sister Frances Carr was one of the last three members of the Shaker community. She lived in the Shaker village of Sabbathday Lake, Maine. The Shaker community has been active in America since the middle of the 18th Century, but since it practices celibacy, it must recruit its members from converts and adopted children. William Christopher was the well-known character actor who played Father Francis Mulcahy in the long-running television series MASH (1972-1983), and its spin-off, After MASH (1983-1985). Edwin Goldwasser was the physicist who revolutionized the teaching of physics in the United States, and was the cofounder of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory located west of Chicago. Milt Schmidt was a legendary member of the Kraut Line, the trio of Boston Bruins who led them to two Stanley Cup Championships (1939, 1941). He is also credited with discovering the young Bobby Orr, the greatest Boston hockey player ever.

Remembering Benny Holt and 16” Softball, Craig Sager, E.R. Braithwaite, Bernard Fox, Jim Lowe

Benny Holt was a legendary 16” softball player in Chicago, who specialized in tape measure home runs. Craig Sager was the well-known sportscaster for TBS and TNT. He specialized in NBA broadcasts and especially loud suits. E. R. Braithwaite was the author born in the West Indies, and moved to Britain and later to the United States. He is best known as the author of the 1959 novel To Sir With Love. The book was an international best-seller about the experiences of an East End schoolteacher. It was adapted into a popular 1967 movie starring Sidney Poitier. Bernard Fox was the British actor known for his appearance in both the British and American films about the Titanic. He was also Dr. Bombay in the popular 1960’s television series Bewitched. Jim Lowe was the New York disc jockey who made a distinctive hit record in 1956, “Green Door”.

Remembering Tyrus Wong and Bambi, Vera Rubin, LaVell Edwards, George Irving, Robert Hulseman

Tyrus Wong was the Chinese-American artist who went to work for Disney Studios in the 1930’s and did much of the artwork for the Disney classic Bambi (1942). He based his work on the naturalism of Chinese art to create an impressionistic background for the movie. Vera Rubin was one of the country’s first female astronomers and she is responsible for the theory of dark matter, an unseen but powerful force in the universe. LaVell Edwards was the long-time football coach at Brigham Young University. In his career spanning five decades he won a National Championship in 1984 and finished among the top tens in coaching victories. George Irving was a New York theater actor who lent his distinctive voice to animated narration, most notable in the Underdog cartoons of the mid-1960’s.

Remembering Debbie Reynolds

Debbie Reynolds was one of the great movie stars and most talented all-around performers of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Her iconic roles included the female lead in Singing In The Rain, opposite Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor, which she did when she was only nineteen. She also recorded the best selling record “Tammy” in 1957 as part of her role in the first Tammy movie. She was also nominated for an Academy Award for the title role in The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964). She made headlines around the world as the real-life jilted wife in the love triangle between her, her husband Eddie Fisher, and the “other woman, Elizabeth Taylor. Her daughter with Eddie Fisher, Carrie Fisher, went on to become a starring actress in her own right and, in an eerie coincidence, predeceased her mother by one day.

Remembering Carrie Fisher, George Michael, Richard Adams, Louis Harris

Carrie Fisher was best known for playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars serial, but her career encompassed much more than that. Besides that role and several others including one opposite John Belushi in The Blues Brothers (1980), she was am author and a witty raconteur. Much of her material came from her experiences as the daughter of actress Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie Fisher. George Michael was the British pop singer, originally part of the duo Wham!, who then went on his own and became one of the top-selling artists of the 1980’s. Richard Adams was the British author who wrote “Watership Down”, the 1972 international best-seller about a group of rabbits. Louis Harris was one of America’s top pollsters, and he also helped John Kennedy in his presidential campaign of 1960.