Ron Zappe (1943 - 2010)

Entrepreneur. A native of Texas, he was running an oilfield service company when he went bankrupt in the oil bust of the early 1980s. In 1985, he decided to start a new venture as founder and president of Zapp’s Gourmet Potato Chip Company in Gramercy, Louisiana. His product line,  which included “Zapp’s Tiger Tators”, “Natural […]

Rona Anderson (1926 - 2013)

Actress. A pretty brunette, she is remembered for her long career on the British stage and screen. Raised in the city of her birth, she received her theatrical training at the Glover Turner-Robertson School of Drama, made her 1945 professional bow at Lerwick’s Garrison Theatre in “Peg o’My Heart”, then from 1945 thru 1949 refined […]

Ronald Allen (1930 - 1991)

Ronald John Allen (16 December 1930 – 18 June 1991) was an English character actor who achieved the status of a soap opera star.  Allen was born in Reading, Berkshire. He studied at Leighton Park School in Reading and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, worked in repertory theatre, had […]

Ronald Charles Colman (1891 - 1958)

Ronald Charles Colman (1891-1958), actor, was born in Richmond, Surrey, on 9th February, 1891, the second son and fourth child in the family of two sons and three daughters of Charles Colman, a silk merchant, and his wife, Marjory Read Fraser. He was educated at a boarding-school in Littlehampton, Sussex, but had to leave abruptly […]

Ronald Colman (1891 - 1958)

He was born in Richmond, Surrey, England, as Ronald Charles Colman, the second son and fourth child of Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser. His siblings included Eric, Edith and Marjorie. He was educated at boarding school in Littlehampton, where he discovered that he enjoyed acting, despite his shyness. He intended to study […]

Ronald Dworkin (1931 - 2013)

Ronald Dworkin was born in 1931 in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, the son of Madeline (Talamo) and David Dworkin. He studied at Harvard University and at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar and a student of Sir Rupert Cross. After he completed his final year’s exams at Oxford, the examiners were […]

Ronald Erwin McNair (1950 - 1986)

US Astronaut. Born in Lake City, South Carolina, he was a Doctor of Physics when selected as astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978. After he completed a one year training and evaluation period, he was placed for assignment as mission specialist astronaut on Space Shuttle flight crews. He flew as mission specialist on STS […]

Ronald Evans (1933 - 1990)

Ronald Evans was one of the 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. He served as a member of the astronaut support crews for the Apollo 7 and Apollo 11 flights, and as backup Command Module Pilot for Apollo 14. Evans’ first and only space flight was as Command Module Pilot of Apollo 17, the […]

Ronald Fisher (1890 - 1962)

Ronald Fisher gained a scholarship to study Mathematics at the University of Cambridge in 1909, gaining a First in Astronomy in 1912. In 1915 he published a paper The evolution of sexual preference on sexual selection and mate choice. He published The Correlation Between Relatives on the Supposition of Mendelian Inheritance in 1918, in which […]

Ronald Fraser (1930 - 1997)

Actor. Born in Ashton Under Lyne, near Manchester, the son of a Scottish builder and decorator. During his military service, he served as aide-de-camp to the Governor of Cyprus. After his discharge, he won a scholarship to RADA, but left after only eighteen months. Instead, he became the dresser to Sir Donald Wolfit (as did […]

Ronald H. Coase (1910 - 2013)

Nobel Prize-Winning Economist, Author. His revolutionary theory of the significance of transaction costs and property rights for the institutional structure and functioning of the economy earned him the Noble Prize in Economic Sciences in 1991. Born outside of London, both of his parents worked in a telegrapher’s office, he was academically-sound and earned a scholarship […]

Ronald Howard (1918 - 1996)

Howard was born in South Norwood, London, the son of Ruth Evelyn (Martin) and film actor Leslie Howard. He attended Tonbridge School. After graduating from Jesus College, Cambridge, Ronald Howard became a newspaper reporter for a while but decided to become an actor. His first film role was an uncredited bit part in Pimpernel Smith (1941), […]

Ronald John Howell (1935 - 1992)

Professional Hockey Player. A native of Hamilton, Ontario, and the brother of Hockey Hall of Famer Harry Howell, he played for teams in the AHL, EHL, NHL, OHA, and the OHASR Hockey Leagues. At 6’00”, and 185lbs, Howell played for the Guelph Biltmores from 1954 to 1955, New York Rangers from 1954 to 1956, Kitchener-Waterloo […]

Ronald Lyle Goldman (1968 - 1994)

Murder Victim. He and a casual friend, Nicole Brown Simpson, were found murdered at her Brentwood condominium, just outside her front door. Ronald Goldman, a waiter at a nearby restaurant, was returning eyeglasses that she had accidentally left there at dinner that night. He is considered an accidental victim of the murder, either arriving just […]

Ronald Neame (1911 - 2010)

Ronald Neame’s parents were the photographer Elwin Neame and the actress Ivy Close. He studied at University College School and Hurstpierpoint College. His father died in 1923, and Neame took a job with the Anglo-Persian Oil Company as an office boy. Later, through his mother’s contacts in the British film industry, Neame started at Elstree […]

Ronald Ray Howard (1973 - 2005)

Born in Houston, Texas, Howard dropped out of school in the 8th grade. By age 15, he was stealing cars and dealing drugs.(American Justice). He started, but never finished training in electrician, building maintenance, computer data entry, and heavy diesel mechanics. He was married with three daughters and one son.  Howard’s prior criminal convictions were […]

Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004)

Ronald Reagan 40th United States President, Actor. Considered by many historians and political scientists as the one individual who most helped end the Cold War between the Western world and the Soviet Union and its allies (although this event occurred ten months after he left office). Born in the small town of Tampico, Illinois, he […]

Ronald William Hughes (1935 - 1971)

Attorney who represented Leslie Van Houten during the Manson murder trials. He refused to go along with Manson’s ploy to have his three “girls” take all of the blame for the murders. He mysteriously disappeared in the last weekend of November, 1970, just days after the defense rested its case. His badly decomposed body was […]

Ronald Winans (1956 - 1956)

Ronald Winans The multi-award winning musical dynasty, The Winans Family said good bye to Ronald Winans, the second eldest of the ten siblings, on the morning of June 17th. Winans endured a massive heart-attack in 1997, but because of much prayer he experienced a miraculous recovery after the doctors had given him up for dead. […]

Ronnie “Fast Eddie” Allen (1938 - 2013)

Born in Danville, Illinois, Ronnie Allen was there only a week, when his family had to move. His father was part-owner of a carnival, and the entire family, who worked at the carnival, moved every week to a new town.  When Ronnie was 11 years old, his father was killed in a motor vehicle accident, […]

Ronnie Barker (1929 - 2005)

Actor, Comedian. Famous for being one of the ‘The Two Ronnies’ with fellow comedian Ronnie Corbett for over 30 years. He also appeared in several television comedies including the BBC’s ‘Open All Hours’ and ‘Porridge’. He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for services to entertainment and in 2004 […]

Ronnie Biggs (1929 - 2013)

Biggs was born in Stockwell, Lambeth, London, on 8 August 1929. As a child during the Second World War, he was evacuated to Flitwick, Bedfordshire, and then Cornwall.  In 1947, at age 18, Biggs joined the RAF but was dishonorably discharged on charges of desertion two years later after breaking into a local chemist shop. […]

Ronnie Burns (1935 - 2007)

Ronnie Burns was born in Evanston, Illinois, Ronnie Burns was five weeks old when he was adopted in Chicago September 27, 1935, by George Burns and Gracie Allen. His older sister, Sandra Jean, had been adopted the year before and was then 13 months old. According to George Burns, Ronnie had been the most sickly […]

Ronnie Corbett (1930 - 2016)

Ronnie Corbett Ronnie Corbett, one of Britain’s most popular entertainers, who was a regular television fixture for more than 50 years, has died aged 85. Corbett first came to fame on The Frost Report in the 1960s but was best known as one half of The Two Ronnies with his comedy partner, Ronnie Barker, who […]

Ronnie Montrose (1947 - 2012)

Ronnie Montrose It wasn’t prostate cancer that killed guitar legend Ronnie Montrose. He beat that gremlin into the dirt, as he did so many obstacles to his career and musical expression. But Montrose, who was immensely proud of being a “survivor,” simply couldn’t vanquish the clinical depression that plagued him since he was a toddler. […]

Ronnie Peterson (1944 - 1978)

Bengt Ronnie Peterson (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈrɔni ˈpɛtɛˈʂon]; 14 February 1944 – 11 September 1978) was a Swedish racing driver. Known by the nickname ‘SuperSwede’, he was a two-time runner-up in the FIA Formula One World Drivers’ Championship. Ronnie Peterson began his motor racing career in kart racing, traditionally the discipline where the majority of race […]

Roone Arledge (1931 - 2002)

Arledge was born the son of a North Carolina lawyer, mother Gertrude, from Polk County NC, who moved to New York City in search of opportunity. Arledge attended Wellington C. Mepham High School on Long Island where he wrestled and played baseball. Upon graduation, he decided that sportswriting was what he wanted to do in […]

Roone Pinckney Arledge (1931 - 2002)

Television Producer. He was a mainstay at ABC, first innovating and guiding the sports division to heights it had never before achieved, then later taking over and reparing the slumping news division. He was responsible for innovations in sports such as the slow motion instant replay, and also created Monday Night Football. Mr. Arledge had […]

Roppa Furukawa (1903 - 1961)

Comedy actor. (bio by: Warrick L. Barrett)

Rory Calhoun (1922 - 1999)

Rory Calhoun worked at a number of odd jobs. In 1943, while riding horseback in the Hollywood Hills, he met actor Alan Ladd, whose wife, Sue Carol was an agent. She landed Calhoun a one-line role in a Laurel and Hardy comedy, The Bullfighters, credited under the name Frank McCown. Shortly afterwards, the Ladds hosted […]