Jerry Jeff Walker (1942 - 2020)

Jerry Jeff Walker Jerry Jeff Walker was born Ronald Clyde Crosby in Oneonta, New York on March 16, 1942. His parents were avid square dancers, and his maternal grandparents were both active amateur musicians. Crosby was 12 years old when he got his first guitar, and in high school he played in a band called […]

Jerry Lewis (1926 - 2017)

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis the brash slapstick comic who became a pop culture sensation in his partnership with Dean Martin and then transformed himself into an auteur filmmaker of such comedic classics as “The Nutty Professor” and “The Bellboy,” has died in Las Vegas at his home. He was 91. For most of his career, Lewis […]

Jerry Nelson (1934 - 2012)

On Sesame Street, Nelson’s longest-running character was Count von Count, the counting vampire who took delight in counting anything he could. Nelson did the voice and puppetry for the Count from 1972 until 2012, and continued to provide the Count’s voice until his death. His other Muppet roles on that program were The Amazing Mumford, […]

Jerry Paris (1925 - 1986)

Actor, Director and Producer. In the early part of his career he appeared in such films as “The Wild One,” “Marty” and “The Caine Mutiny” before landing roles on television programs “The Untouchables,” “Michael Shayne” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show”. It was on the Dick Van Dyke Show where he became a director and […]

Jerry Parr (1930 - 2015)

Jerry Parr received his B.A. in English and Philosophy from Vanderbilt University in 1962. In 1987, he received his M.S. in pastoral counseling from Loyola University in Maryland. Parr was also an ordained minister. In 1987, he received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from Eureka College. Jerry Parr’s interest in joining the Secret Service originated […]

Jerry Quarry (1945 - 1999)

Jerry Quarry Quarry was a durable and smart counter-puncher/action fighter, often noted for his surprising agility in the ring. He had fast hands, an excellent left hook, and punched well with both hands. He also had a remarkable chin, although his major flaw was a tendency to cut easily and the bad luck to box […]

Jerry Reed (1937 - 2008)

Jerry Reed Musician, Songwriter, Actor. Born Jerry Reed Hubbard, he caught the eye of Chet Atkins and was signed by RCA records after a failed attempt with Capitol Records, a stint in the United States Army and another failed attempt with Columbia Records. His time with RCA under Chet Atkins nurtured his session playing skills, […]

Jerry Stiller (1927 - 2020)

Jerry Stiller As the short, straight man counterpart of the stellar husband-and-wife comedy team “Stiller & Meara,” Jerry Stiller and wife Anne Meara were on top of the comedy game in the 1960s, a steady and hilarious presence on television variety, notably The Ed Sullivan Show (1948), on which they appeared 36 times. Decades later, […]

Jerry Van Dyke (1931 - 2018)

Jerry Van Dyke He had that same genuine likability factor, owned that same trademark lantern jaw and was just as appealing and gifted as his older brother, Dick Van Dyke, but, for decades, Jerry Van Dyke bore the brunt of his brother’s overwhelming shadow. Six years younger than brother Dick, the comic actor was born […]

Jerry Wald (1911 - 1962)

Born Jerome Irving Wald to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, he had a brother and sons who were active in show business. He began writing a radio column for the New York Evening Graphic, while studying at New York University. This led to him producing several Rambling ‘Round Radio Row featurettes for Vitaphone, […]

Jerry Wear (1968 - 2010)

Jerry Test

Jerry Weintraub (1937 - 2015)

Jerry Weintraub Weintraub’s career as a promoter took a giant step in 1970 when after a lengthy courtship he persuaded Elvis Presley’s manager, Col. Tom Parker, to let him promote Presley concerts. It was at a time when Presley was beginning to do live shows after years of concentrating on movies. The relationship began with […]

Jerry Wolman (1927 - 2013)

Wolman was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the son of a grocer. He worked in the family business into his high school years, when his father had a stroke. Not graduating, Wolman joined the Merchant Marines, returned home, and moved to Washington, D.C. In the 1950s, he began his own construction […]

Jersey Joe Walcott (1914 - 1994)

Jersey Joe Walcott Jersey Joe Walcott, the son of poor immigrants from Barbados who was to slug his way out of poverty and into the record books as the oldest fighter to win the heavyweight championship of the world, died Friday at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden, N.J., where he lived. He […]

Jerzy Andrzejewski (1909 - 1983)

Author. He was born and died in Warsaw (Poland). He is best known for his works “Ashes and Diamonds”, “And Darkness Covered the Earth (The Inquisitors)”, “The Gates of Paradise”, “He Cometh Leaping Upon The Mountains”, “Inescapable Ways”, “Mode of the Heart’, “No Man”, “Night” and “All But Gone”.  (bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni)

Jess Willard (1881 - 1968)

Jess Willard On April 5, 1915, in Havana, Cuba, a Kansas farmer named Jess Willard became heavyweight champion of the world by defeating Jack Johnson. Willard, born in Pottawatomie County, began his professional career in 1911 at Sapulpa, Oklahoma, where he lost on a foul. Six weeks later he won over the same fighter at […]

Jesse Edward Curry (1913 - 1980)

Kennedy Assassination Figure, Police Officer. A native of Dallas, Texas, Curry was the Chief of the Dallas Police Department at the the time of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Born in 1913, Curry was educated at the Dallas Technical High School, and later worked for the Vitalic Battery Company. […]

Jesse Evans (1918 - 1970)

Actress. Born in Mountain Ash, South Wales, She played 2 roles on “Coronation Street.” Mrs Cooke in 1967, and she returned in 1974 as shop keeper Megan Hopkins, the Welsh dragon with a vile tongue, for nine months. Her movie career started in 1954 with The Happiness of Three Women, Aunt Celia, Doctor In Distress, […]

Jesse Lasky (1880 - 1958)

Born in San Francisco, California, Jesse Lasky worked at a variety of jobs but began his entertainment career as a vaudeville performer that led to the motion picture business. In 1911 Lasky was the producer of two Broadway musicals, Hello, Paris and A La Broadway. Presumably this is how Cecil B. DeMille knew him before […]

Jesse Lee Hall (1849 - 1911)

Western Lawman. Born Jesse Lee Hall in Lexington, North Carolina, he moved to Texas in 1869 and became a City Marshal of Sherman. In August 1876, he became the second in command of Leander McNelly’s Special Forces, Texas Rangers. Serving in the Goliad region, he broke up a gang of vigilantes and became the acting […]

Jesse Mercer (1769 - 1841)

Religious Leader, Educator. He was the founder of Mercer University which was originaly located in Penfield, Georgia, later to be relocated in Macon, Georgia.  He started the “Christain Index” (formerly the “Christina Star”), and served as clerk of the Georgia Baptist Associaton from 1795 until 1816. In 1813 his hymnal, “The Cluster of Spiritual Songs” […]

Jesse Straus (1872 - 1936)

Jesse Straus was born Manhattan. He graduated from Harvard College in 1893. He and his brothers Percy and Herbert, both also Harvard graduates, donated funds that built Straus Hall in Harvard Yard. After college Jesse Straus was made to gain outside business experience before joining the family business. He worked as a clerk at the Manufacturers […]

Jesse Stuart (1906 - 1984)

Jesse Stuart was born near Riverton, Greenup County, Kentucky, to Mitchell and Martha (Hilton) Stuart on August 8, 1907. Stuart served in the US Navy during World War II but did not see combat as his mission in his life. In 1939, Stuart married Naomi Deane Norris, a school teacher. They settled in W Hollow […]

Jesse Tafero (1946 - 1990)

On the morning of February 20, 1976, Black and Irwin approached a car parked at a rest stop for a routine check. Tafero, his partner Sonia “Sunny” Jacobs, her two children (ages 9 years and 10 months), and Walter Rhodes were found asleep inside. Tafero had previously been in prison and was on probation. Black […]

Jesse White (1917 - 1997)

White was born as Jonah Marcus Weidenfeld in Buffalo, New York, and was reared in Akron, Ohio. He was called “Jesse” as a nickname. He made his first amateur appearance in local stage productions at the age of fifteen. Though aspiring to be an actor, he worked at many different jobs during the 1930s, including […]

Jessica Alice Tandy (1909 - 1994)

Actress. She is best remembered for receiving the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in “Driving Miss Daisy’ (1989), for which she also won a Golden Globe and British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards. She was born in Hackney, London, England, the youngest of three children, where her father was a […]

Jessica Dragonette (1970 - 1980)

Singer, Entertainer. Born in Calcutta, India, educated at Georgian Court Lakewood, New Jersey, she was invited to New York for singing lessons under the renowned teacher Estelle Liebling. Soon as a soprano, she thrilled audiences performing in operas and in Broadway shows. Merging into radio in the late 1920s, she was signed to NBC performing […]

Jessica Lunsford (1995 - 2005)

Couey stated in an audio/videotaped confession that he had abducted, raped, and murdered Jessica Lunsford. A judge ruled on June 30, 2006 that Couey’s confession was inadmissible in court because when it was recorded police had not granted Couey’s requests for a lawyer, thereby rendering the confession invalid and unreliable under the Fifth and Sixth […]

Jessica Pepper (1912 - 2003)

Actress. Arthur was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1913. A stage actress, she appeared in the plays, “Roberta” and “Red, Hot And Blue” with the likes of bert Lahr, Bob Hope, and Fanny Brice. Later she appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies, George White’s Scandals, and several ‘fashion featurettes’ with actor Van Johnson. In the 1930s […]

Jessica Tandy (1909 - 1994)

The youngest of three siblings, Tandy was born in Geldeston Road in Hackney, London. Her mother, Jessie Helen (née Horspool), was the head of a school for mentally handicapped children, and her father, Harry Tandy, was a travelling salesman for a rope manufacturer. Her father died when Tandy was 12, and her mother subsequently taught […]