Gene Tunney (1897 - 1978)

Gene Tunney Gene Tunney, byname of James Joseph Tunney, also called The Fighting Marine   (born May 25, 1898, New York, New York, U.S.—died November 7, 1978, Greenwich, Connecticut), American boxer who defeated Jack Dempsey in 1926 to become the world heavyweight boxing champion.Tunney began boxing while working as a clerk for the Ocean Steamship Company in New York City […]

Carlos Monzón (1942 - 1995)

Carlos Monzón Argentina’s Carlos Monzon was one, if not the, greatest middleweight boxing champions in fistic history. Born in poverty, he was discovered in the famed Luna Park Gym by trainer Amilicar Brussa, who molded the “skinniest” 6 feet 2 incher in the world into a lethal fighting machine. Monzon developed a plodding style of […]

Sonny Liston (1932 - 1970)

Sonny Liston Sonny Liston was born in 1932 to an immense family of 25 brothers and sisters. In his youth he was arrested for Armed Robbery and learned how to box in prison. He was paroled in 1952 and had a short amateur career winning the St. Louis, Midwest, National, and International Golden Gloves titles. […]

Alexis Argüello (1952 - 2009)

Alexis Argüello found dead July 1, 2009, Managua), Nicaraguan professional boxer who was world featherweight, junior lightweight, and lightweight champion between 1974 and 1982. Arguello, who became a professional fighter in 1968, fought only in his homeland until 1974, when he went to Panama to seek the World Boxing Association’s featherweight title. Arguello lost this match in […]

Henry Armstrong (1912 - 1988)

Henry Armstrong Born Henry Jackson, Jr., on December 12, 1912, in Columbus, Mississippi, Armstrong was the eleventh of the family’s 15 children. His father, Henry Jackson, Sr., was a sharecropper and a butcher. His mother, America Jackson was an Iroquois Indian. When Armstrong was four years old, his father moved the family to St. Louis, […]

Willie Pep (1922 - 2006)

Willie Pep American professional boxer, world featherweight (126 pounds) champion during the 1940s. Pep specialized in finesse rather than slugging prowess and competed successfully in the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s. His rivalry with American Sandy Saddler is considered one of the greatest of 20th-century American pugilism. Pep began his professional boxing career in 1940. He […]

Jack Dempsey (1895 - 1983)

Jack Dempsey Heavyweight Champion of the World from 1919 to 1926. The legendary Dempsey was born in Manassa, Colorado, one of 11 children. At 16 he left home and traveled on freight trains and fought to earn money. Then Dempsey met manager Jack ‘Doc’ Kearns and started knocking out legitimate contenders like Fireman Jim Flynn, […]

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 […]

Don Drysdale (1936 - 1993)

Don Drysdale During Drysdale’s 14-year baseball career, the fierce 6-foot-6 right-hander, nicknamed “Big D,” compiled a 209-166 record with a career earned-run average of 2.95. He pitched in five World Series and eight Major League All-Star games. Drysdale’s broadcasting partners, Vin Scully and Ross Porter, were told of Drysdale’s death shortly before Saturday night’s game […]

Dennis Cole (1940 - 2009)

Dennis Cole A performer of mainly television, he is best known for his role as ‘Detective Jim Briggs’ in the police drama “Felony Squad” (1966 to 1969). With his athletic build, the Detroit native was able to find work as a model and later as a Hollywood stuntman, which led to bit acting parts. His […]

David Nelson (1936 - 2011)

David Nelson David Nelson, the elder son of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson and the last surviving member of the family that became an American institution in the 1950s and ’60s as the stars of the classic TV sitcom “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” died Tuesday. He was 74. Nelson died at his Century City […]

Claire Whitney (1890 - 1969)

Claire Whitney Claire Whitney was born in New York City on May 6, 1890. Her acting career first started out on the stage, but as time wore on, it was evident that films were taking the place of plays, at least for a while. Her first film was The Star of India (1913) when she […]

Buster Keaton (1895 - 1966)

Buster Keaton Legendary motion picture comic actor, writer, producer, and director of the 1910s thru 1960s. Born on October 4, 1895, in Piqua, Kansas, as Joseph Francis Keaton. The oldest son of Joseph and Myra Keaton, who were stage comedians. Buster joined his family’s act at a very young age. It soon developed into a […]

Divya Bharti (1974 - 1993)

Divya Bharti was born on 25 February 1974, in Mumbai, India, as the child of Om Prakash Bharti, an insurance officer, and his second wife, Meeta Bharti. She had a younger brother named Kunal and two half siblings who were the result of her father’s first marriage. She spoke Hindi, English and Marathi fluently. In […]

Burt Mustin (1884 - 1977)

Burt Mustin Life literally began at 60 for American actor Burt Mustin, who didn’t enter show business until that age and didn’t make his film debut until Detective Story (1951), at which time he was 68. After a decade of uncredited movie roles as hillbilly patriarchs and Town’s Oldest Citizens, Mustin began getting name recognition […]

George William, Elector of Brandenburg (1595 - 1640)

Born in Cölln on the Spree, George William was the son of John Sigismund, Margrave of Brandenburg and Anna of Prussia. His maternal grandfather was Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia.  In 1616 George William married Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate. Their only son Frederick William later became known as the “Great Elector”. Of his two […]

William Crookes (1832 - 1919)

Crookes made a career of being a meteorologist and lecturer at multiple places. Crookes worked in chemistry and physics. His experiments were notable for the originality of their design. He executed them skillfully. His interests, ranging over pure and applied science, economic and practical problems, and psychiatric research, made him a well-known personality. He received […]

Felix Adler (1851 - 1933)

Felix Adler was born in Alzey, Grand Duchy of Hesse, Germany, the son of a rabbi, Samuel Adler, a leading figure in European Reform Judaism. The family immigrated to the United States from Germany when Felix was six years old so that his father could accept the appointment as head rabbi at Temple Emanu-El in […]

Bonnie Lee Bakley (1956 - 2001)

Bonnie Lee Bakley Born in Morristown, New Jersey to Edward and Marjorie Bakley. She was raised by and lived with her grandmother. Bonny dropped out of high school and decided to go to New York City to pursue a career in modeling and acting at the Barbizon School of Modeling. She was unsuccessful, however, in […]

Bette Davis (1908 - 1989)

Bette Davis At age ten her parents divorced and she was raised by her mother after a move to New York City. She began her career on Broadway. Bette Davis appeared in over 100 films receiving two Oscars, 10 nominations and three Emmy awards. A few of her major motion pictures: “Dangerous (Oscar winner) Jezebel […]

Art Linkletter (1912 - 2010)

Art Linkletter He hosted two of the longest-running programs in broadcast history and was a presence in American media for more than six decades. “Art Linkletter’s House Party,” a variety show, debuted on radio in 1944 and was seen on CBS television from 1952 to 1969, and “People Are Funny”, which he helmed on radio […]

Ann Harding (1902 - 1981)

Ann Harding Ann Harding, who was known for her stage and screen portrayals of beautiful, aristocratic women in the 1920’s and 30’s, died Tuesday at her home in Sherman Oaks, Calif., after a long illness. She was 79 years old. Miss Harding made her Broadway debut in 1921 in ”Like a King.” In his review […]

Freddie Prinze (1954 - 1977)

Freddie Prinze Freddie Prinze was born Frederick Karl Pruetzel in New York City, New York, to a Puerto Rican mother, Aurea Elena Ruiz, and a German immigrant father, Edward Karl Pruetzel. Freddie grew up in the Washington Heights section of New York City. As a chubby child, he was often bullied, but was quite creative […]

Ritchie Valens (1941 - 1959)

Ritchie Valens Born Richard Steven Valenzuela in a largely Hispanic community north of Los Angeles known as the San Fernando Valley, his father was a devotee of flamenco music and blues and instilled his love of music to Ritchie. At the age of eleven he started playing guitar and took it with him everywhere. During […]

Otis Redding (1941 - 1967)

Otis Redding One of the most popular and critically acclaimed soul vocalist, songwriter and musician representatives of the R&B style known as Southern soul. He is generally regarded as the single most influential male soul artist of the 1960s. He was one of the first artists to broaden his appeal to white audiences with a […]

Sam Cooke (1931 - 1964)

Sam Cooke Singer, Gospel, Blues, Soul and Pop, Songwriter. Sam Cooke is considered the father of soul music and was immensely popular in both the black and white communities. This intelligent performer was not only the overseer and manager of the business side of his own career but founded his own record label and publishing […]

Philip Carey (1925 - 2009)

Carey was born in Hackensack, New Jersey. Carey served in the United States Marine Corps and was wounded as part of the ship’s detachment of the USS Franklin during World War II and served again in the Korean War.  One of his earliest roles was at Lt. (jg) Bob Perry in John Wayne’s Operation Pacific. […]

Macdonald Carey (1913 - 1994)

Born in Sioux City, Iowa, Carey graduated from the University of Iowa in Iowa City with a bachelor’s degree in 1935, after attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison for a year where he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi. He first made his career starring in various B-movies of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He […]

Frances Reid (1914 - 2010)

Born in Wichita Falls, Texas, to banker Charles William and Anna May (Priest) Reid,[6] Reid grew up in Berkeley, California. Her acting career started in 1938 with a bit part in the movie Man-Proof.  Reid’s Broadway debut was as Juliette Lecourtois in Where There’s a Will There’s a Way at the John Golden Theatre in […]

William Bast (1931 - 2015)

Bast was born in Wauwatosa, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, the son of Gilbert Bast and Bernice Fleischmann. He began his early education in Milwaukee, transferring to Kenosha when his family moved there. Moving back to Milwaukee, he subsequently graduated from Wauwatosa High school, then enrolled at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. When his family moved to Los […]