Remembering MAD Magazine, Arte Johnson, Sid Ramin

For 67 years MAD magazine featured satire of every facet of American life. Its writers, artists, and cartoonists deftly skewered everything from politicians to movies to consumerism. Arte Johnson was the madcap comedian on NBC’s Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In (1968-1973). He specialized in dialects and his trademark was his sign-off at the end of every show as a German soldier. Sid Ramin was a composer, arranger and orchestrator who worked on the Broadway productions of West Side Story and Gypsy. He also wrote familiar themes for television and commercials.

Remembering Dave Bartholomew, George Rosenkrantz, Judith Krantz, Jim Pike

Dave Bartholomew was the New Orleans trumpet player who teamed up with Fats Domino to help create the New Orleans sound. He was an influential musician, songwriter and producer. George Rosenkrantz was one of the scientists who helped create the birth control pill, which changed society in many ways. Judith Krantz was the novelist who specialized in sex-and shopping novels. She sold tens of millions of books, some of which were adapted as television mini-series. Jim Pike was the leader of the 1960’s/70’s soft rock group The Lettermen.

Remembering Gabriele Grunewald, Franco Zeffirelli, Sylvia Miles, Martin Feldstein, Pat Bowlen

Gabriele Grunewald was the American middle-distance runner who competed at the highest levels of track while simultaneously battling metastatic cancer. Her story is one of tenacity and bravery in the face of long odds. Franco Zeffirelli was the Italian film director best known for his 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet, which won two Academy Awards. Sylvia Miles was the versatile New York actress who played opposite Jon Voight in Midnight Cowboy (1969) and Robert Mitchum in Farewell, My Lovely (1975). Martin Feldstein was the Harvard economist, who was advisor to two presidents and mentor to many of the country’s leading economists. Pat Bowlen was the owner of the Denver Broncos and turned them into one of the NFL’s most successful franchises.

Remembering Gloria Vanderbilt, Alan Brinkley, Charles Reich

Gloria Vanderbilt was the heiress to the Vanderbilt fortune who built a fortune in her own right with her best-selling line of women’s jeans. As a young girl she was involved in a bitter custody dispute that made national headlines in the 1930’s. She was also the mother of CNN anchorman Anderson Cooper. Alan Brinkley was one of America’s foremost political historians. He was also the son of the famous NBC anchorman David Brinkley. Charles Reich was the Yale Law professor turned hippie who authored The Greening of America in 1970. It went on to become a best seller and sold over two million copies.

Remembering Robert Earle and College Bowl, Dr. John

Robert Earle was the host of the acclaimed 1960’s television program GE College Bowl (1959-1970). The show was a weekly competition between two college teams, four players on each team who had to answer difficult rapid-fire questions. The most memorable contest was in March 1966 when a group of women from all-female Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia upset the champions from then all-male Princeton on a question answered in the last second. Dr. John was the New Orleans piano player with a gravelly voice, who combined many New Orleans influences to create a unique sound. He was a multiple Grammy winner and had a top ten single in 1973 with “Right Place, Wrong Time.”

Remembering Bart Starr, Niki Lauda

Bart Starr was the quarterback and leader of the legendary Green Bay Packer teams of the 1960’s. His teams won five NFL Championships and the first two Super Bowls, of which he was the MVP. He was also known for his charitable activities in Green Bay and his sense of sportsmanship on and off the field. Niki Lauda was the Austrian Formula One driver, who won the F-1 Drivers championship three times. In 1976, he was burned horribly in the German Grand Prix but survived and went on to win the Formula One again and become an aviation entrepreneur as well.

Remembering James McCord, Bill Buckner, Leah Chase, Leon Redbone

James McCord was the CIA agent, turned Nixon operative who was one of the masterminds behind the Watergate Hotel break-in, which ultimately brought down the Nixon presidency. Bill Buckner was the good hitting outfielder for a number of teams including the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. Injuries forced him to move to first base and his name will live in baseball infamy for an error he made in Game 6 of the 1986 playing for the Red Sox against the New York Mets. Leah Chase was the legendary cook and proprietor, along with her husband, at the famous New Orleans restaurant Dookie Chase’s. She supervised operations at Dookie Chase’s for over 70 years.

Remembering Tim Conway, Peggy Lipton, Jim Fowler, Alvin Sargent

Tim Conway was one of television’s funniest sketch comedians. He made his name as Ensign Parker, the costar to Ernest Borgnine in McHale’s Navy (1962-1966). Then he went on to join Carol Burnett and her comedy troupe in the Carol Burnette Show (1967-1978). His pairing with Harvey Korman on the show was one of the most successful comedy duos in television history. Peggy Lipton was the attractive blonde costar of the ABC detective series Mod Squad (1968-1973). She was also married to music producer Quincy Jones for fifteen years. Jim Fowler was the cohost, along with Marlin Perkins, and eventually the host of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom (1963-1988). Alvin Sargent was the screenwriter who won two Academy Awards, one in 1978 for Julia and the other in 1981 for Ordinary People.

Remembering I.M. Pei, Herman Wouk

I.M. Pei was one of the great architects of the 20th Century. He is best known for his pyramid entrance to The Louvre, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library at Harvard, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. He was also a proponent of better understanding between his native China and his adopted homeland the United States. Herman Wouk was the author who wrote a number of popular books including The Caine Mutiny (1951), The Winds of War (1971), and War and Remembrance (1978). His books were often made into popular films and television shows.

Remembering Murray Gell-Mann

Murray Gell-Mann was awarded the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the subatomic particle, the quark. Gell-Mann was a prodigy who became one of the founding fathers of particle physics. Employing complex mathematics, he proposed a set of rules based on the symmetries in the fundamental forces of nature. Later in life, his interests branched out in to other areas including biodiversity and concepts of simplicity and complexity. His career intersected with many of the great 20th Century physicists including Hans Bethe, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Richard Feynman.