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- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Audie Murphy became a national hero during World War II as the most decorated combat soldier of the war. Among his 33 awards was the Medal of Honor, the highest award for bravery that a soldier can receive. In addition, he was also decorated for bravery by the governments of France and Belgium, and was credited with killing over 240 German soldiers and wounding and capturing many more.
Audie Leon Murphy was born in Kingston, Hunt County, Texas, to Josie Bell (Killian) and Emmett Berry Murphy, poor sharecroppers of Irish descent. After the death of his mother and the outbreak of WWII, Murphy enlisted in the army on his 17th birthday in June 1942 after being turned down by the Navy and the Marines. His eldest sister had provided a false affidavit that he was a year older (18) than his actual age.
After undergoing basic military training, he was sent first to North Africa. However, the Allies drove the German army from Tunisia, their last foothold in North Africa, before Murphy's unit could be sent into battle. His first engagement with Axis forces came when his unit was sent to Europe. First landing on the island of Sicily, next mainland Italy, and finally France, he fought in seven major campaigns over three years and rose from the rank of private to a battlefield commission as a second lieutenant.
Part of Murphy's appeal to many people was that he did't fit the "image" most had of a war hero. He was a slight, almost fragile-looking, shy and soft-spoken young man, whose boyish appearance often shocked people when they learned, for example, that during one battle he leaped on top of a burning tank--which was loaded with fuel and ammunition and could have exploded at any second--and used its machine gun to hold off waves of attacking German troops, killing dozens of them and saving his own unit from certain destruction and the entire line from being overrun.
In September 1945, Murphy was released from active duty, promoted to 1st Lieutenant, and assigned to inactive status. His story caught the interest of superstar James Cagney, who invited Murphy to Hollywood.
Cagney Productions paid for acting and dancing lessons but was reluctantly forced to admit that Murphy -- at least at that point in his career -- didn't have what it took to become a movie star. For the next several years he struggled to make it as an actor, but jobs were few --specifically just two bit parts in Beyond Glory (1948) and Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven (1948). He finally got a lead role in Bad Boy (1949), and starred in the trouble-plagued production of MGM's The Red Badge of Courage (1951), directed by John Huston. While this film is now considered a minor classic, the politics behind the production sparked an irreparable fissure within the ranks of the studio's upper management.
Murphy proved adequate as an actor, but the film, with virtually no female presence (or appeal), bombed badly at the box office. Murphy, however, had already signed with Universal-International Pictures, which was putting him in a string of modestly budgeted Westerns, a genre that suited his easygoing image and Texas drawl. He starred in the film version of his autobiography, To Hell and Back (1955), which was a huge hit, setting a box-office record for Universal that wasn't broken for 20 years until it was finally surpassed by Jaws (1975)). One of his better pictures was Night Passage (1957), a Western in which he played the kid brother of James Stewart. He worked with Huston again on The Unforgiven (1960).
Meanwhile, the studio system that Murphy grew into as an actor crumbled. Universal's new owners, MCA, dumped its "International" tag in 1962 and turned the studio's focus toward the more lucrative television industry. For theatrical productions, it dropped its roster of contract players and hired actors on a per-picture basis only. That cheap Westerns on the big screen were becoming a thing of the past bode no good for Murphy, either. The Texican (1966), his lone attempt at a new, European form of inexpensive horse opera, to become known as "the Spaghetti Western", was unsuccessful. His star was falling fast.
In addition to his acting career -- he made a total of 44 films -- Murphy was a rancher and businessman. He bred and raised thoroughbred horses and owned several ranches in Texas, Arizona and California. He was also a songwriter, and penned hits for such singers as Dean Martin, Eddy Arnold, Charley Pride, and many others.
During his postwar life, he suffered from what is now called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) but was then called "combat fatigue", and was known to have a hair-trigger temper. He woke up screaming at night and slept with a loaded M1911 .45 semi-automatic pistol nearby. He was acquitted of attempted murder charges brought about by injuries he inflicted on a man in a bar fight. Director Don Siegel said in an interview that Murphy often carried a pistol on the set of The Gun Runners (1958) and many of the cast and crew were afraid of him.
He had a short-lived and turbulent marriage to Wanda Hendrix, and in the 1960s his increasing bouts of insomnia and depression resulted in his becoming addicted to a particularly powerful sleeping pill called Placidyl, an addiction he eventually broke. He ran into a streak of bad financial luck and was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1968. Admirably, he campaigned vigorously for the government to spend more time and money on taking care of returning Vietnam War veterans, as he knew, more than most, what kinds of problems they were going to have.
On May 18, 1971, Murphy was aboard a private plane on his way to a business meeting when it ran into thick fog over Craig County, Virginia, near Roanoke, and crashed into the side of a mountain, killing all six aboard. He was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery. According to cemetery records, the only gravesite visited by more people than that of Murphy is that of assassinated President John F. Kennedy.- Actor
- Director
- Music Department
Christopher Gable was born on 13 March 1940 in London, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for The Boy Friend (1971), The Devil's Crown (1978) and Doctor Who (1963). He was married to Carole Needham. He died on 23 October 1998 in Near Halifax, Yorkshire, England, UK.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
A former stage director, Basil Dearden entered films as an assistant to director Basil Dean (he changed his name from Dear to avoid being confused with Dean). Dearden worked his way up the ladder and directed (with Will Hay) his first film in 1941; two years later he directed his first film on his own. He eventually became associated with writer/producer Michael Relph, and together the two made films on themes not often tackled in British films, such as homosexuality and race relations. In the '60s Dearden embarked on a new phase of his career by directing large-scale action pictures, the best of which was Khartoum (1966), which was a critical and financial success. Not long after completing The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970), Dearden was killed in an automobile accident.- Production Designer
- Art Department
John Coleman was born in 1946. He was a production designer, known for The Mrs Bradley Mysteries (1998), Murder City (2004) and The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (2001). He died on 1 June 2005 in Port Gaverne near Port Isaac, Cornwall, England, UK.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
World-famous, widely popular American humorist of the vaudeville stage and of silent and sound films, Will Rogers graduated from military school, but his first real job was in the livestock business in Argentina, of all places. He transported pack animals across the South Atlantic from Buenos Aires to South Africa for use in the Boer War (1899-1902). He stayed in Johannesburg for a short while, appearing there in Wild West shows where he drew upon his expertise with horse and lasso. Returning to America, he brought his talents to vaudeville and by 1917 was a Ziegfeld Follies star. Over the years he gradually blended into his act his unique style of topical, iconoclastic humor, in which he speared the efforts of the powerful to trample the rights of the common man, while twirling his lariat and perhaps chewing on a blade of straw. Although appearing in many silents, he reached his motion-picture zenith with the arrival of sound. Now mass audiences could hear his rural twang as he delivered his homespun philosophy on behalf of Everyman. The appeal and weight of his words carried such weight with the average citizen that he was even nominated for governor of Oklahoma (which he declined).- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Born of a Spanish father and French mother in Whitechapel. Although most often called upon to play the villain (due to his dark good looks and sinister beard), he also had a career as a voice actor on BBC Radio appearing on such programs as the "Morning Story". He was a notable 'The Master' in many series of Doctor Who (1963).- Director
- Writer
- Actress
Larisa Shepitko was born on 6 January 1938 in Bakhmut, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine]. She was a director and writer, known for The Ascent (1977), Heat (1963) and You and Me (1971). She was married to Elem Klimov. She died on 2 July 1979 in near Redkino, Kalinin Oblast, Russian SFSR, USSR.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Ben Lyon was your average boyish, easy-going, highly appealing film personality of the Depression-era 1930s. Although he never rose above second-tier stardom, he would enjoy enduring success both in the United States and in the UK.
Born Ben Lyon, Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia, the future singer/actor was the son of Alvine Valentine (Wiseberg) and Benjamin Bethel "Ben" Lyon, a pianist-turned-businessman, and the youngest of four. His maternal grandparents were German Jewish immigrants. Raised in Baltimore, he started performing in amateur productions as a teen before earning marquee value on Broadway opposite such stars as Jeanne Eagels.
Hollywood took notice of the baby-faced charmer and soon Ben was ingratiating filmgoers opposite silent film's most honored leading ladies. He appeared with Pola Negri in Lily of the Dust (1924), Gloria Swanson in Wages of Virtue (1924), Barbara La Marr in The White Moth (1924), Mary Astor in The Pace That Thrills (1925) and Claudette Colbert, in her only silent feature, in For the Love of Mike (1927). He advanced easily into talkies and was particularly noteworthy as the dashing hero in Howard Hughes' Hell's Angels (1930), in which Ben actually piloted his own plane (Ben had trained as a pilot during WWI) and filmed some of the airborne scenes for Hughes himself. That same year was also a banner year for him in his personal life after marrying Paramount Pictures film star Bebe Daniels, with whom he had appeared in Alias French Gertie (1930).
As both of their movie careers started to decline, the talented twosome decided to work up a husband-and-wife music hall and vaudeville act. They took their show to England and became a hit at the London Palladium. At one point he served in the U.S. Army Air Force and rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel in charge of Special Services for the U.S. Air Corps in England. Soldiers, sailors and airmen (from 1939) listened to Ben and Bebe weekly on the air waves with their popular, long-running BBC broadcast "Hi, Gang!" The couple remained in England throughout WWII performing on stage and doing their valid part to entertain and honor the troops.
After a brief postwar stay in Hollywood in 1946, where Ben had taken an executive position with Fox, the couple returned to England and headlined another popular 1950s radio show, "Life with the Lyons," which spawned two family-styled films that included children Barbara Lyon and Richard Lyon. In the early 1960s Bebe suffered multiple strokes and left the limelight, passing away in 1971. Ben remarried (to former actress Marian Nixon) and settled in the US, where he died in 1979 of a heart attack while on vacation.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Slapstick comedian known for his charming, white-painted face and clownish smile, mugged his way to being a very highly paid and popular actor. His career was marred by personal problems, and his fortune was lost to high spending. By the time he died, he'd already been hospitalized for a nervous breakdown and was penniless. He was 39 years old.- Stunts
- Actor
Scott Helvenston was born in 1965 in Ocala, Florida and raised in Leesburg, Florida. In 1982, he received special permission to join the U.S. Navy and, at 17, he became the youngest Navy SEAL in U.S. history. After graduating BUD/S, he deployed with SEAL Team Four, served for 2 years, and later moved to San Diego, California, where he deployed with SEAL Team One. Since his early years, Scott always excelled at physical fitness and athletics. As a result, he applied and became an instructor at BUD/S, leading PT (Physical Training) every morning for 4 years. With a fond memory for his airborne training, Scott later became an AFF (Accelerated Freefall) Instructor for 4 years until he was medically discharged from the Navy in 1994 for back, wrist, and ankle injuries due to a partially collapsed canopy malfunction.
With high aspirations, Scott recovered, resumed his fitness regimen, and became an actor and stuntman in Hollywood. His many credits include "Face-Off" and "G.I. Jane." Scott was the man who got Demi Moore into that incredible physical shape for the film.
In 1997, Scott founded Amphibian Athletics, a Navy SEAL Training and fitness company with the goal of teaching people the skills to excel in outdoor activities, and life, in general. His Navy SEAL Training Camps became quite popular and frequently were spotlighted on television and in the newspaper. Due to the success of the training camps, Scott drew from his PT background and designed a video workout series, allowing greater access to his fitness education. With 11 videos to his credit, Scott became quite well known in the fitness world.
In 2003, after the United States led a coalition to remove Saddam Hussein from power, Paul Bremer was named the head of the Provisional Coalition Authority. With a demand for experienced operators in Iraq, Scott was asked to join the security team tasked with protecting Ambassador Bremer. After heading back East to sharpen all his combat skills, Scott deployed to Iraq. Then, on March 31, 2004, the news returned to the States that Scott was one of four American contactors who were ambushed, brutally murdered, and set aflame in Fallujah, Iraq, while an angry Iraqi mob cheered on live TV. Scott left behind two young children.
In a short amount of time, Scott Helvenston accomplished many goals that we can all admire. In addition to his success as a Navy SEAL, he was a two-time, gold medal-winner in the pentathlon, and to this day, Scott remains the only human contestant on the popular TV program "Man against the Beast" to win, racing against three different chimpanzees on an obstacle course. Scott also represented the Navy SEAL Teams on the television program "Combat Missions." He always seemed to be the last man standing.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Blanca Estela Pavón was born on 21 February 1926 in Minatitlan, Veracruz, Mexico. She was an actress, known for Cuando lloran los valientes (1947), Ustedes, los ricos (1948) and ¡Vuelven los García! (1947). She died on 26 September 1949 in near Popocatépetl, Puebla, Mexico.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Wolfgang Staudte was born on 9 October 1906 in Saarbrücken, Germany. He was a director and actor, known for Ciske de Rat (1955), Rotation (1949) and Murderers Among Us (1946). He was married to Angelika Hoffmann, Rita Heidelbach, Ingmar Zeisberg and Renate Praetorius. He died on 19 January 1984 in Zigrski Vrh near Sevnica, Slovenia, Yugoslavia.- Aribert Mog was born on 3 August 1904 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor, known for Der Etappenhase (1937), Fährmann Maria (1936) and Der Sprung ins Nichts (1932). He died on 2 October 1941 in near Nova Trojanova, Soviet Union [now Russia].
- Ferdinand Marian was born on 14 August 1902 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was an actor, known for Jud Süß (1940), Ohm Krüger (1941) and Madame Bovary (1937). He was married to Maria Byk and Irene Saager. He died on 7 August 1946 in near Dürneck, Freising, Bavaria, Germany.
- Nakotah LaRance was born on 23 August 1989 in Barrow, Alaska, USA (now Utqiagvik, Alaska, USA). He was an actor, known for Into the West (2005), Expiration Date (2006) and Longmire (2012). He died on 12 July 2020 in near Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, New Mexico, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Kyû Sakamoto was born on 10 November 1941 in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. He was an actor, known for The Double (2013), Charlie's Angels (2000) and Inherent Vice (2014). He was married to Yukiko Kashiwagi. He died on 12 August 1985 in near Tokyo, Japan.- Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the second vice president of the United States under John Adams and the first United States secretary of state under George Washington. The principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was a proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights, motivating American colonists to break from the Kingdom of Great Britain and form a new nation. He produced formative documents and decisions at state, national, and international levels.
- Actor
- Writer
Dusan Janicijevic was born on 27 April 1932 in Gornje Grgure near Blace, Serbia, Yugoslavia. He was an actor and writer, known for Stojan Mutikasa (1954), Coriolanus (2011) and The Yellow One (1964). He was married to Jasna. He died on 5 July 2011 in Gornje Grgure near Blace, Serbia.- Alison Parker was loved by everyone who knew her. Born in Annapolis, MD, Alison grew up in Collinsville, Virginia and graduated from Martinsville High School in 2009. Her many accomplishments included Piedmont District Swimmer of the Year award and multiple academic awards. As a student at the Piedmont Governors School for Math, Science and Technology, she was a member of the award winning robotics team. Alison was a gymnast, a beautiful dancer, and a badass whitewater kayaker.
At James Madison University School of Media Arts and Design she was a news editor at the Breeze, a member of Alpha Phi Sorority, and was a tutor of freshmen calculus students. Before she even had her diploma in hand in 2012, she got got a job offer and joined the news team at WCTI12 in North Carolina as the Jacksonville bureau chief, covering Camp Lejeune and the surrounding area, where she relished the tough schedule and hard news.
Alison was recruited to return to WDBJ7 in Roanoke as the Mornin' Reporter in 2014, and she greeted viewers each weekday morning with a smile and her bubbly personality, hoping to make their day a little brighter. She loved her job and had such a bright future ahead in the field of journalism, but still found time to support her community.
Alison posthumously won two Emmys and two Edward R. Murrow awards for her outstanding work in journalism. As Steve Capus, CBS Evening News producer said at her memorial, "She was going to be with us one day".
But most of all, Alison lived life to the fullest in her short time on earth. - Wilbert Awdry was born on 15 June 1911 in Romsey, Hampshire, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Thomas' Friendship Tales (2017), Thomas & Friends ERTL Adventures: The Rise of Spamcan (2023) and Thomas & Friends ERTL Adventures: Railway Clone Invasion (2022). He was married to Margaret Awdry. He died on 21 March 1997 in Rodborough, Near Stroud, England, UK.
- Ann-Marie Kyrath was born on 18 January 2006 in Elmshorn, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. She died on 25 January 2023 in Train RE70 Kiel -> Hamburg, near Brokstedt, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
- Grace McHugh was born in 1898 in Golden, Colorado, USA. She was an actress, known for Across the Border (1914). She died on 1 July 1914 in near Canon City, Colorado, USA.
- Danny Preuß was born on 8 September 2003 in Brokstedt, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. He died on 25 January 2023 in Train RE70 Kiel -> Hamburg, near Brokstedt, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
- David Bloom was born on 22 May 1963 in Edina, Minnesota, USA. He was married to Melanie Beal. He died on 6 April 2003 in near Baghdad, Iraq.
- Ion Antonescu was born in Pitesti, Romania, on June 15, 1882, to a middle-class family. He was sent to French military academies for his education, and upon returning home enlisted in the Romanian army, being commissioned as a lieutenant in 1907. He made a name for himself in that year when his unit was sent to Galati to put down a peasant revolt. His superior officers were impressed by the swiftness with which he helped to suppress the rebels and the ruthless manner in which he did it. They sent him to the Romanian military academy, from which he graduated in 1911. Two years later he led his unit in the Second Balkan War against Bulgaria, and his performance resulted in his being awarded Romania's highest military honors. When World War I broke out the next year, Romania declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary, and Antonescu was appointed Chief of Staff of the army. As the war progressed, he was appointed Chief of Operations of the army general staff. After the Axis Powers were defeated, Romania was rewarded for its participation by being given territory from the defeated Austro-Hungarian Empire that resulted in the country more than doubling in size. It also resulted in many foreign and ethnic nationalities being absorbed into the country, especially Jews, leading to an increase in Romanian nationalism and a major increase in anti-Semitism. Antonescu was appointed military attaché in Paris and then in London. Meanwhile, economic and political conditions in Romania gave rise to an ultranationalist, violently anti-Semitic paramilitary organization called the Iron Guard, which engaged in pitched street battles with its opponents and embarked on a spree of political assassinations. The Iron Guard was supported and financed in large part by Nazi Germany, and its leader, Corneliu Codreanu, was elected to Parliament.
In 1934 Antonescu was appointed Chief of the General Staff. By 1937 the Iron Guard organization had 66 seats in Parliament and a national membership of 34,000 (it did have opposition in the country, mainly among Communists, who fought bitter battles in both Parliament and on the streets against the organization. Among the Communist street fighters was future dictator Nicolae Ceausescu). The Iron Guard had become so powerful that King Carol II was eventually forced to cede power to a group of far-right-wing, anti-Semitic nationalists allied with the organization who immediately passed laws barring Jews from government employment and forbidding them from buying property. Antonescu was appointed Minister of Defense in that government. However, in 1938 the government, alarmed at the growing power of the Iron Guard, arrested its leader, Codreanu, and other officials of the organization. On April 19 during what was characterized as an "attempted escape", Codreanu and 13 Iron Guard leaders were shot and killed by police.
When World War II broke out, Romania tried to remain neutral, but after its Prime Minister was assassinated by members of the Iron Guard, the government was forced to make a deal with German leader Adolf Hitler, which resulted in the loss of much of the territory Romania won after World War I. This caused a fierce backlash against King Carol, and in the face of riots, strikes and a rebellion launched by the Iron Guard, he suspended the constitution and appointed Antonescu as Prime Minister. Antonescu immediately demanded that King Carol abdicate, which he did. Then Antonescu, with support from Nazi Germany, the Iron Guard and a group of senior Romanian army officers, named himself as head of the government and Iron Guard leader Horia Sima as deputy prime minister. On October 7, 1940, Antonescu declared that Romania was entering World War II on the side of Nazi Germany. He allowed German forces to occupy the country and passed strict anti-Semitic laws. Under Antonescu's leadership Romania supplied Nazi Germany with food, fuel (from its huge Ploesti oil fields and refineries) and more than a million troops. He also unleashed the Iron Guard to "pacify" the country, resulting in the assassination of many supporters and associates of the former King Carol and the carrying out of mass killings and massacres of Jews. However, the Iron Guard's brutal tactics and the scale of their killings were too much even for the Nazis, and before long German troops began rounding up and disarming Iron Guard fighters. In 1941 the remaining Iron Guard forces staged a rebellion against Antonescu, and in a rampage that lasted several days murdered hundreds of Jews. The rebellion was finally put down by Romanian and German troops and the Guard was disbanded. At that time Antonescu adopted the title of "Marshal of Romania" and assumed dictatorial powers. In that capacity he introduced even more stringent anti-Semitic measures.
When Hitler invaded Russia in June of 1941, Antonescu committed almost one million Romanian soldiers to the invading army. As a reward, Hitler gave back Romania much of the territory it had lost at the beginning of the war. However, many of these territories had large Jewish populations, and Antonescu began to set up detention camps and ghettos to hold the 40,000 Jews he ordered expelled from the towns and cities in the "new" territories. On June 25 German and Romanian troops massacred at least 1000 Jews in the city of Iasi, and within the next several days a series of killings and massacres resulted in the deaths of an estimated 10,000 more Jews. Antonescu had instructed his soldiers to be "merciless" in their expulsion of Jews from the territories, saying, "I am not disturbed if the world should consider us barbarians. You can use machine-guns if it is necessary . . . I assume all the responsibility and claim that the law [preventing such massacres] does not exist."
Approximately 300,000 Jews were ultimately removed from the provinces of Bukovina and Bessarabia, and more than 150,000 of that number were killed outright by German and Romanian troops and Ukrainian and Romanian civilians and paramilitaries. Antonescu ordered the survivors removed to an area of the Ukraine known as the "Transnistria". Of that number, only about 50,000 would survive until the end of the war.
On 22 October partisans bombed Romanian army headquarters in Odessa. In retaliation, Antonescu ordered that for every Romanian or German officer who died, 200 civilians were to be executed. For every Romanian or German enlisted man killed, 100 civilians would be shot. On October 23 the city was burned by Romanian and German forces and approximately 25,000 of the city's Jews were murdered. It's estimated that of Romanian's pre-war Jewish population of more than 750,000, about 425,000 died in concentration camps or were killed by German and Romanian forces.
Meanwhile, the war on the Eastern front was not going well for the Germans and their Romanian allies. Germany had suffered a staggering defeat at Stalingrad when its forces surrendered, and of the almost one million Romanian soldiers involved in the Russian campaign, 400,000 or more were killed. By the end of 1943 the Russians had recaptured much of the Ukraine and moved on Germany and Romania. In August of 1944 their forces entered Romania, and on August 23 the figurehead King Michael, supported by army officers and civilian paramilitaries, seized control of the government and arrested Antonescu. A few days later the Red Army entered Bucharest and Romania signed a peace treaty with the Soviet Union. Antonescu was handed over to Soviet forces and taken to the Soviet Union for "interrogation", then returned to Romania to be tried as a war criminal, the trial occurring in May of 1946. On the 17th of that month he was found guilty of treason and war crimes and sentenced to death, and on June 1, 1946, he was executed by a firing squad at a military prison outside Bucharest. - Director
- Producer
Paul Tucker was born on 17 November 1950 in England, UK. He was a director and producer, known for The Twilight Zone (1985), Lighthouse (1991) and War of the Worlds (1988). He died on 25 May 1991 in near Seattle, Washington, USA.- Wiley Hardeman Post (1898-1935) was interested in aviation from his boyhood days in Texas, and became a parachute jumper with an aerial-exhibition team. After an oil-field accident in which he lost an eye, he purchased an airplane and learned to fly it in 1927. He than became a 'barnstormer." After becoming a pilot for an Oklahoma oil man, Wiley Post flew the monoplane "Winnie Mae" to victory in the Cross-Country Derby of the 1930 National Air Races. In 1931, he and Harold Getty made a record-setting flight around the world in the "Winnie Mae." He then made the first around-the-world solo flight in 1933 in the "Winnie Mae," specially equipped with a new automatic-pilot and a radio direction finder, in 7 days, 18 hours and forty-nine and one-half minutes. Prior to that, in the early 1930s, he became intensely interested is the possibilities of long-distance, high speed flight in the stratosphere. Later he conceived and helped to design, make, and test the first fully pressurized flying suit and helmet. In 1934, wearing this outfit, he reached altitudes of 50,000 feet in the supercharged "Winnie Mae" and there discovered the jet streams. Later, he made four attempts to set a new transcontinental speed record by using his pressurized suit-and-helmet and the specially-modified "Winnie Mae" to fly in the jet streams of the stratosphere. Tragically, he and Will Rogers were killed during a vacation flight in 1935, near Point Barrow, Alaska. He was posthumously inducted into the Aviation National Hall of Fame, in Dayton, Ohio, on December 17, 1969 at the Sheraton-Dayton Hotel. The award was presented by Will Rogers Jr. and his widow, Winnie Post, of Ralls, Texas, accepted the award. A presentation film was narrated by Lowell Thomas, and his Hall of Fame portrait was done by Milton Caniff, creator of the "Terry and the Pirates" and "Steve Canyon" comic strips. (The aircraft "Winnie Mae" was named for the daughter of the Oklahoma oil man who owned the ship, and was not named after his wife, whom he met in Sweetwater, Texas while barnstorming.)
His Hall of Fame plaque reads: To Wiley Hardeman Post, for outstanding contributions to aviation by his flights around the world that demonstrated the practicality of new flight-related equipment, and for conceiving and proving the feasibility of the fully pressurized flying suit, this award is most solemnly and respectfully dedicated." His 'flying-suit' is on display at the Smithsonian. - Hannes Stelzer was born on 20 June 1910 in Graz, Styria, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was an actor, known for Eine kleine Nachtmusik (1939), Der Spieler (1938) and Venus vor Gericht (1941). He was married to Maria Bard. He died on 27 December 1944 in near Komárom, Hungary.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Dolly Rathebe was born on 2 April 1928 in Randfontein, South Africa. She was an actress, known for The Magic Garden (1951), Cry, the Beloved Country (1995) and African Jim (1949). She died on 16 September 2004 in near Pretoria, South Africa.- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Igor Aleynikov was born on 15 March 1962 in Grozny, Chechen-Ingush ASSR, RSFSR, USSR [now Chechen Republic, Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for Ameriga (2000), Akvariumnye ryby etogo mira (1990) and Verhnyaya tochka (1982). He died on 23 March 1994 in near Kemerovo, Russia.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Tose Proeski was born on 25 January 1981 in Prilep, Macedonia, Yugoslavia. He was an actor, known for Forbidden Love (2004), Kako ubiv svetec (2004) and Tose: The Hardest Thing (2009). He died on 16 October 2007 in near Nova Gradiska, Croatia.- Roy Halladay was born on 14 May 1977 in Denver, Colorado, USA. He was married to Brandy Gates. He died on 7 November 2017 in Gulf of Mexico near Holiday, Florida, USA.
- Hilde Ziegler was born on 20 June 1939 in Lörrach, Baden [now Baden-Württemberg], Germany. She was an actress, known for Jack O'Lanterns (1997), Die Schweizermacher (1978) and Messidor (1979). She was married to Adolph Spalinger. She died on 9 February 1999 in near Leymen, France.
- Was a Royal Air Force (RAF) Wing Commander in World War II. He formed the elite 617 Squadron (The Dam Busters) and led the squadron on its most famous mission, the attack on the Moehne and Eder Dams.
Won the Victoria Cross for his performance on the dams raid. He also earned two Distinguished Service Orders and two Distinguished Flying Crosses. - Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Jürgen Feindt was born on 14 January 1930 in Halberstadt, Germany. He was an actor, known for An den Wassern zu Babylon (1969), Der Tod läuft hinterher (1967) and Wir wollen niemals auseinandergehen (1960). He was married to Eva Feindt and Josefine Kerr. He died on 9 September 1978 in near Schopfheim, West Germany.- William G. Knight was born on 12 July 1942 in Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Wall Street (1987) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989). He died on 21 November 1998 in near Edgewater, Maryland, USA.
- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
The Viennese Nightingale: Though Miss Elfie Mayerhofer was always completely Viennese in spirit and culture, she was born in Marburg, Yugoslavia on March 15, 1917 and educated there as a child. She began her studies of music in Slovenia and then went for further studies in Zürich under Prof. Fred Husler and in Vienna. In 1935 at the Berlin High School of Music under Prof. Lula Mysz-Gmeiner she was a student along with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Peter Anders, who later on married the daughter of Prof. Mysz-Gmeiner. Mayerhofer's first professional engangement was with the theater of youth in Münich and Berlin. She then worked with the State Opera og Münich. Her clear coloratura soprano voice was so unusual it earned her the nickname "The Viennese Nightingale". Her film debut came in 1938 in the German made western "Woman of Golden Hill" (Femmes pour Golden Hill). The following year she had a role next to Elfriede Datzig in the Austrian film "Hotel Sacher" where she sang a Yugoslavian gypsy folk song. After World War II Mayerhofer performed for Allied troops in Austria and Germany. For her film "Viennese Melodies" she was singled out for honor at the film festival in Locarno, Swotzerland. she returned to doing concerts and opera performances. Herbert von Karajan engaged her for the 1949 Salzburg Music Festival in Austria, where she did the role of Cherubino in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" (in Italian language), alongside Maria Cebotari. In 1949 she opened in Paris, with the Operetta "La Reine des Valses", playing opposite the Belgium Tenor, Henri Legay. In France she recorded the songs; 1. "Stille Nacht" 2. "Mariä Wiegerlied" and others, for Decca-Records. She followed with other performed in non singing roles for the stage. Mayerhofer did two 10" LP's for London Records which were released in France, USA and Great Britain in 1949 and 1951 (But none in her home country), and a third 10" LP for Columbia Records in West Germany in the late 50's, entitled "The Flower of Hawaii" (Die Blume von Hawaii). Her last Austrian film was "Vanished Melodies" (Verlorene Melodien) with Peter Alexander and Evelyn Künneke. In 1974 she travelled overseas performing operas, operettas and concerts in USA, Canada and Mexico. she also made several television appearances in Austria and Germany around that time. During her film career, she made nineteen films in Europe, most of them with Viennese settings. Mayerhofer continued to give live performances in Austria almost up until her death on December 28, 1992 in Vienna.- Stephen 'Cajun' Del Bagno was born on 30 April 1983 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Captain Marvel (2019). He died on 4 April 2018 in Nellis Air Force Base, near Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
- Educated at Clifton and Magdalen College, Oxford, novelist Geoffrey Household spent four years as a merchant banker in Romania. Bored, he left for Spain to sell bananas, and then arrived in the US in time for the Depression. After writing children's plays for US radio, he returned to the UK, but shortly afterward was traveling again, selling printer's inks in Europe and South America. Meanwhile, encouraged by "Atlantic Monthly" he started to write professionally. His first novel, "The Third Hour", appeared in 1937, followed by a collection of short stories. One of his most successful novels was 1937's "Rogue Male", but he was unable to profit from its success as he had already been posted to Romania as an intelligence officer by the time it appeared. He was later transferred to the Middle East and remained there until 1945, after which he had almost to start again as a writer.
- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Jerry Haislmaier was a director and producer, known for The Gift of the Magi (1980), The Magic Shop (1980) and Idea Power (1985). Jerry died on 14 June 1989 in Near North Side, Chicago, Illinois, USA.- Tiffany Hoyveld was an actress, known for Satyricon (1969) and Ace High (1968). She died on 14 December 1971 in Lago di Martignano near Rome.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Vanco Petrusevski was born on 19 April 1951 in Skopje, Macedonia, Yugoslavia. He was an actor and writer, known for Happy New Year (1986), Kliment Ohridski (1986) and Trst via Skopje (1987). He died on 25 August 2018 in Oresani near Skopje, Macedonia.- Terry Lloyd was born on 21 November 1952 in Derby, Derbyshire, England, UK. He was married to Lynn. He died on 22 March 2003 in Near Basra, Iraq.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Danny Sembello was born on 15 January 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a composer, known for Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Bad Boys (1995) and 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). He died on 15 August 2015 in Schuylkill River near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.- Actor
- Producer
Evdokimov began his career as a comedian by imitating famous people saying famous phrases. He began as a young boy after watching the movie "Kavkazskaya plennitsa, ili Novye priklyucheniya Shurika" and memorizing phrases said by Yuriy Nikulin. As the movie was plaing throughout the region one village at a time, young Yevdokimov was traveling by bycicle through those villages so he could see the movie every day and memorize phrases. When he became older, the first time Evdokimov got to perform on TV, he was imitating the song sung by Nikulin in the film. When Nikulin found out about that, he was honored that he became so famous that people even try to imitate him.- Additional Crew
- Actor
Wilbur Shaw was born on 31 October 1902 in Shelbyville, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for The Crowd Roars (1932), 1928 Indianapolis 500 (1928) and 1927 Indianapolis 500 (1927). He was married to Cathleen "Boots" Stearns and Beatrice Patrick. He died on 30 October 1954 in near Decatur, Indiana, USA.- Actor
- Producer
Chuck Morrell was born on 10 March 1937 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for McCloud (1970), Grotesque (1988) and Banacek (1972). He died on 10 February 2005 in near Los Angeles, California, USA.- Adam Ward was born on 10 May 1988 in Salem, Virginia, USA. He died on 26 August 2015 in Smith Mountain Lake, near Moneta, Virginia, USA.
- Animation Department
- Director
- Additional Crew
Motion picture animator best known for his contributions to the Popeye the Sailor cartoons of the 1930s. Born in New York City, Bowsky joined the Fleischer Studios in the late 1920s and quickly became one of its star artists, winning promotion to animator at age 23. His drawing skills and instinctive feel for jazz rhythms made him an asset on such early Betty Boop cartoons as the classic "Minnie the Moocher" (1932). He became a supervising animator in 1933. Although Dave Fleischer was the credited director of all the studio's output, he left the "staging" of the films to men like Bowsky, who headed their own creative teams. Bowsky's work was quite stylish in its fluid movement and well-chosen compositions. From 1933 to 1941 he was animation director for over 30 Popeye cartoons, including the Technicolor two-reelers "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor" (Academy Award nomination, 1936) and "Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves" (1937), and collaborated in that capacity on the Fleischers' feature-length films "Gulliver's Travels" (1939) and "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" (aka "Hoppity Goes to Town", 1941). His last work was on the "Superman" series (1941 to 1942), the first time that comic strip superhero was brought to the screen. When Paramount Pictures reorganized the Fleischer company as Famous Studios in 1942, Bowsky left for World War II service in the US Army. He was commissioned a Lieutenant in the 94th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 14th Armored Division, and saw action in the Normandy Invasion. On November 27, 1944, Bowsky and four men in his platoon were killed in a nighttime firefight with German forces east of Paris, France. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart. Bowsky is buried at the Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial in Saint-Avold, France.- István Bubik was born on 19 May 1958 in Budapest, Hungary. He was an actor, known for Stay Lucky (1989), A férfi aki virágot hord a szájában (1989) and Sunshine (1999). He was married to Tünde, Rémi. He died on 28 November 2004 in near Cegléd, Hungary.