Jim Bailey (1938 - 2015)

American Entertainer. Born James William Bailey, in his teens he studied opera at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music, and was cast on the television program ‘The Children’s Hour’ for almost a year, where he performed by acting, singing and dancing. During the mid-1960s, he performed in New York, mostly in summer stock and began honing […]

Jim Bunning (1931 - 2017)

James Paul David Bunning (October 23, 1931 – May 26, 2017) was an American professional baseball pitcher and later a politician who represented constituents from Kentucky in both chambers of the United States Congress. He is the sole Major League Baseball athlete to have been elected to both the United States Senate and the National […]

Jim Colosimo (1877 - 1920)

Organized Crime Figure. Colosimo was ten years old when he left Italy with his family destined for Chicago. As a teenager he began supplementing his income with thievery, including pickpocketing, and by the time he was 18 he began engaging prostitutes to work for him. Early in his career he took up the Italian practice […]

Jim Corey (1889 - 1950)

Actor. Born Arthur Harrison Corey in Buffalo, New York, he appeared in over 325 films between 1914 to 1948. Performing primarily in western features, his credits include “The Master Key” (1914), “The Bronco Kid” (1920), “The Saddle King” (1921), “The Oregon Trial” (1923), “The Bar C Mystery” (1926), “The Shepherd of the Hills” (1941) and […]

Jim Critchfield (1923 - 1998)

Writer for motion pictures and television. (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Jim Croce (1943 - 1973)

Jim Croce  James Joseph “Jim” Croce (/ˈkroʊtʃi/; January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and 11 singles. His singles “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” and “Time in a Bottle” were both number one hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Early life […]

Jim Davis (1909 - 1981)

Actor.  He was born Marlin Davis to Lucien Davis, an undertaker, and Ethyl Offutt. Before seeking an acting career, he attended Baptist-affiliated William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, where he played end on the football team. He came to Hollywood as a salesman for a Kansas oil drilling firm. After a meeting with a casting […]

Jim Demarest (1926 - 2007)

Actor and Entertainer.  Born James Hugh Smith in Bedford Park, Illinois, he guest starred in episodes of “Hawaii Five-O” and “Magnum P.I.”.  He also made a cameo appearance in the 1968 Steve McQueen movie, “Bullitt”.   Jim is probably best remembered as Mr. Checkers on the popular Hawaiian children’s show, “Checkers & Pogo”.  The series […]

Jim Eanes (1923 - 1995)

Jim Eanes Homer Robert Eanes Jnr., 6 December 1923, Mountain Valley, Henry County, Virginia, USA, d. 21 November 1995, Martinsville, Virginia, USA. His early musical interest came from his father, a talented banjo player, who ran a local band. When only six months old, he suffered severe burns to his left hand that left the […]

Jim Ed Brown (1934 - 2015)

Jim Ed Brown Jim Ed Brown, a longtime Grand Ole Opry member who had solo and group hits and was a prominent figure on country music television shows, died Thursday. He was 81. Brown died of cancer at Williamson Medical Center in Franklin, Tennessee, according to a news release from Webster Public Relations. He will […]

Jim Fixx (1932 - 1984)

Born in New York City, Fixx was a graduate of Trinity School in New York and Oberlin College in Ohio. His father, Calvin Fixx, was an editor at Time who worked with Whittaker Chambers.  Fixx was a member of the high-IQ club, Mensa, and published three collections of puzzles: Games for the Super-Intelligent, More Games […]

Jim Foglesong (1922 - 2013)

Foglesong was born in Lundale, West Virginia. As a teenager, he sang on a local radio show and in quartets and trios into his young adult years. He began his career in the music industry at Columbia Records’ label in 1951, transferring 78 RPM records into LP formats. Over the next 20 years, he worked for RCA-Victor until moving to Nashville in 1970 to head the A&R division at Dot […]

Jim Fregosi (1942 - 2014)

A right-handed batter, Fregosi is one of many notable alumni of Junípero Serra High School of San Mateo, California, and was signed by the Boston Red Sox in 1960. The same year he was selected by the Angels in the 1960 MLB Expansion Draft, and made his debut in September 1961. After hitting .291 as […]

Jim Glaser (1937 - 2019)

Jim Glaser Jim Glaser, who began his career as a member of the award-winning trio Tompall & the Glaser Brothers, died at his home on Saturday (April 6). He was 81. Born James William Glaser in Spalding, Nebraska, in 1937, Jim began playing guitar at age four and began performing at local shows with his […]

Jim Hager (1941 - 2008)

Jim Hager Musician, Entertainer. He, along with his twin brother Jon Hager, is best remembered as a regular cast performer on the television series “Hee Haw” that ran from 1969 until 1986, in which they were known for their rapid delivery of cornball one-liners. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he and his brother were adopted by […]

Jim Hall (1930 - 2013)

Born in Buffalo, New York, before moving to Cleveland, Ohio, Hall was from a musical family, his mother played the piano, his grandfather violin, and his uncle guitar. He began playing the guitar at age ten when his mother gave him an instrument as a Christmas present. As a teenager in Cleveland, he performed professionally, […]

Jim Henson (1936 - 1990)

Henson was born in Greenville, Mississippi, the younger of two boys. His parents were Betty Marcella (née Brown) and Paul Ransom Henson, an agronomist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was raised as a Christian Scientist and spent his early childhood in Leland, Mississippi, before moving with his family to Hyattsville, Maryland, near Washington, D.C., in the late 1940s. He later remembered […]

Jim Hutton (1934 - 1979)

Jim Hutton was born in Binghamton, New York, the son of Helen and Thomas R. Hutton, an editor and managing editor of the Binghamton Press. Hutton’s parents divorced while he was an infant, and he never knew his father. Hutton was expelled from five high schools due to behavior problems but had excellent grades and […]

Jim Jeffords (1934 - 2014)

Jim Jeffords won a seat in the Vermont State Senate in 1966. He followed that success in 1968 with a victory in the race for attorney general of Vermont. He was a Presidential Elector for Vermont in 1972, and voted for reelection of the Nixon-Agnew ticket. Jeffords sought the Republican Party nomination for Governor in 1972, […]

Jim Jeffries (1875 - 1953)

Jim Jeffries James J. Jeffries was the heavyweight champion of the world from 1899 to 1905 but he is best known to history for coming out of retirement to take on Jack Johnson, the first African American heavyweight champion in history, in what was called “The Fight of the Century”. That fight ensured Jeffries’ place […]

Jim Lange (1932 - 2014)

Lange began his radio broadcasting career in the Twin Cities after winning an audition as a teenager. He graduated from St. Thomas Academy high school, going on to the University of Minnesota on a scholarship from the Evans Scholars Foundation. After graduating from the University of Minnesota and serving in the Marines, Lange moved to […]

Jim Marshall (1923 - 2012)

Businessman. In early childhood he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, this forced him to spend countless hours and years in the hospital. Due to his diagnoses he was unfit to serve during WWII. At this time he became a drummer and singer, due to the shortage of available musicians. He worked as an electrical engineer during […]

Jim Morrison (1943 - 1971)

Jim Morrison Born on December 8, 1943, in Melbourne, Florida, Jim Morrison was an American rock singer and songwriter. He studied film at UCLA, where he met the members of what would become the Doors. Known for his drinking and drug use and outrageous stage behavior, in 1971 Morrison left the Doors to write poetry […]

Jim Nabors (1930 - 2017)

Jim Nabors Jim Nabors, whose name is synonymous with the genial bumpkin Gomer Pyle, whom he played on TV, has died. He was 87.His husband, Stan Cadwallader, told the AP that Nabors died on Thursday at their home in Hawaii.He brought the words “golly” and “shazam” into the vernacular as the naive, well-intentioned Pyle, a regular […]

Jim Northrup (1943 - 2016)

Jim Northrup (April 28, 1943 – August 1, 2016) was an Anishinaabe (Native American) newspaper columnist, poet, performer, and political commentator from the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation in Minnesota. His Anishinaabe name was “Chibenashi” (from Chi-bineshiinh “Big little-bird”). Jim Northrup’s regular column, the Fond du Lac Follies, was syndicated through several Native American papers, such […]

Jim O Toole (1937 - 1970)

Jim O Toole  Jim O’Toole was born on January 10, 1937 on the South Side of Chicago.  He was one of five children and his father, a Chicago police officer, taught him boxing.  But Jim O’Toole  preferred baseball, which he learned on neighborhood sandlots growing up.  He had a tryout with his hometown Chicago White Sox […]

Jim Reeves (1923 - 1964)

Jim Reeves Reeves was born in Galloway, Texas, a small rural community near Carthage. Winning an athletic scholarship to the University of Texas, he enrolled to study speech and drama, but quit after only six weeks to work in the shipyards in Houston. Soon he resumed baseball, playing in the semi-professional leagues before contracting with the St. Louis Cardinals “farm” team […]

Jim Simpson (1927 - 2016)

Jim Simpson was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in nearby Chevy Chase, Md. He began his broadcasting career with a short-lived radio show, “Hunting and Fishing With Jimmy Simspon,” when he was 15. He attended George Washington University in Washington and served in the Coast Guard and Navy Reserve. After several jobs in […]

Jim Thompson (1906 - 1977)

James Myers Thompson (September 27, 1906 – April 7, 1977) was an American author and screenwriter, known for his hardboiled crime fiction. Jim Thompson wrote more than thirty novels, the majority of which were original paperback publications by houses, from the late-1940s through mid-1950s. Despite some positive critical notice—notably by Anthony Boucher in The New York […]

Jim Younger (1848 - 1902)

James Hardin Younger (January 15, 1848 – October 19, 1902) was a notable American outlaw and member of the James–Younger Gang. He was the brother of Cole, John and Bob Younger. Born in Missouri on January 15, 1848. He was the ninth of fourteen children born to Henry Washington Younger and Bersheba Leighton Fristoe. Jim Younger […]