Biography Channel

Soap Opera Actor Clint Ritchie Dead at 70

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:37:00 +0000

Actor Clint Ritchie, who played newspaper editor Clint Buchanan on One Life to Live for two decades, has died in Roseville, Calif., ABC said. He was 70. It is reported that he died last Saturday, following a brief illness. He had been living on a horse ranch in Grass Valley. Ritchie played small roles in the 1960s and '70s on TV shows such as The Wild, Wild West, Batman and Thunder, and had bit parts in movies before becoming a fixture on One Life to Live, starting in 1979. He retired from the show in December 1998, but made appearances on the daytime drama in 1999, 2003 and 2004.

Folk Singer Martyn Dead at Age 60

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 04:25:00 +0000

Scottish singer John Martyn, known as much for his folk sound as his hard-drinking image, has died at the age of 60, singer Phil Collins said.

Collins, who had worked alongside Martyn during his musical career and had known him since the 1970s, remembered him as a great friend, The Scotsman said Friday. His albums were representative of what was taking place in his life at the time.

After first appearing in the music scene in the 1960s, Martyn created such albums as 1973's Solid Air and 1977's One World.

The Times of London said Martyn's substance abuse caused the singer numerous health problems and even resulted in him losing a leg to septicaemia.

Barack Obama: Man of History

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:27:00 +0000

Millions of American and world citizens witnessed history Tuesday when Barack Obama became the 44th -- and the first black -- president of the United States.

Obama didn't lose sight of the import of the moment, repeating themes he voiced during his presidential bid and honoring the struggles of previous generations that enabled him to become the United States' commander in chief.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord, Obama told the in-person and broadcast audiences, proclaiming later, The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

His day began with a 45-second car ride from Blair House to St. John's Episcopal Church, where Obama and his wife Michelle met running mate Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, for the traditional inauguration day service.

Meanwhile, the National Mall filled with people as an estimated 1 million to 2 million people were expected to witness Obama's swearing in. Fashion statements were scrapped for ear muffs, woolen caps, gloves and heavy coats as temperatures were in the 20s, but brisk conditions made it feel more like 10 degrees.

The world is watching today, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, said. We gather to etch another line in the solid stone of history.

While Obama took the oath of office after noon, he already was president because of a constitutional provision directing that the president-elect becomes president at noon, Jan. 20.

Obama, 47, gave his full name -- Barack Hussein Obama -- when repeating the oath administered by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who muffed his lines by misplacing the word faithfully.

Both he and Obama recovered, with Roberts being the first to recognize him as Mr. President.

As Obama basked in adulation, George and Laura Bush bade farewell to city they called home for eight sometimes-rocky years.

At an Andrews Air Force Base hangar, Bush told about 2,000 aides, supporters and their families he was thankful, grateful and... joyful for the opportunity to be president, adding that his administration led with conviction.

The energy in what should have been the power lunch of all power lunches with congressional leaders, former presidents and vice presidents, and Cabinet nominees was dampened when Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., suffered a seizure doctors later said was brought on by fatigue. Kennedy, D-Mass., who has been battling brain cancer, was removed from the Capitol by stretcher and hospitalized overnight.

In remarks after he and Biden received gifts and a commemorative photograph, Obama said, I would be lying to you if I did not say that right now a part of me is with him (Kennedy).

Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., the oldest member of the Senate, reportedly was so distressed, he was removed from the luncheon in a wheelchair.

By the time the Obamas and first daughters Malia and Sasha reached the reviewing stand for the inaugural parade, night began to fall on the nation's capital. The Obamas and the Bidens kept with the tradition of walking part of the parade route, with cheers erupting from the sardine-packed crowd lining the route when the Obamas emerged from their fortified vehicle.

With a look both to the present and the future, Obama ended his inaugural address by saying, Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Source

Actor Ricardo Montalban Dead at 88

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:40:00 +0000

Ricardo Montalban, a Mexican actor best known for his work on the iconic TV series Fantasy Island, died Wednesday, said a Los Angeles city official. Montalban's death at the age of 88 was announced by City Council President Eric Garcetti, an official of the city where the actor lived and worked for more than six decades. No cause of death was immediately disclosed.

In addition to his starring role on Fantasy Island, Montalban's other professional accomplishments included winning an Emmy Award for his performance in the TV miniseries How the West Was Won and earning a Tony Award nod for his work in the Broadway musical, Jamaica. He was honored with the Screen Actors Guild's lifetime achievement Award in 1994, as well.

Montalban also memorably co-starred in the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, lent his distinctive voice to a character in the animated series Kim Possible and appeared in episodes of Bonanza, Star Trek and Murder, She Wrote.

In his younger years, he shared the screen with Esther Williams in movies like Fiesta, On an Island with You and Neptune's Daughter.

Eartha Kitt Dies at 81

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 01:57:00 +0000

Eartha Kitt, the U.S. singer-actress who learned to pick cotton before the age of 8, died in New York with her daughter at her side, her publicist said. She was 81.

She was being treated for colon cancer, publicist Patty Freedman told CNN Thursday.

Kitt said she got her unusual first name because she was born on a small farm in South Carolina during an abundant harvest.

I was named Eartha to thank the earth for that fine crop, the tawny singer-actress said during an interview with UPI in 1981.

The singer was born Jan. 16, 1928, the daughter of John and Anna Kitt, and she was in the fields picking cotton before she was 8 years old.

She and her mother moved to New York after her father died, but her mother died shortly thereafter and Kitt was placed in custody of an aunt.

Honesty became almost a mania with the young woman and her outspoken manner often startled people around her. It even followed her into the White House in later years when, as a guest at the White House, she angrily told the first lady at that time, Lady Bird Johnson, that American youth was in rebellion because of the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

Kitt was one of more than 50 guests invited to the White House to discuss the president's proposals to combat crime in the streets.

Kitt became a member of the Dunham dancers and toured the world for almost five years before she struck out on her own as a nightclub chanteuse in Paris, where she wore slit-to-the-hip gowns and sang with a purr in her voice.

Kitt appeared in a number of films including New Faces (1953), St. Louis Blues (1957), Anna Lucasta (1958) and The Saint of Devil's Island (1961).

Kitt told her life story in a book, Thursday's Child, published in 1956.

She married William O. McDonald in 1960. They separated in 1963 and later divorced. They had one child, a girl, Kitt.

Source

Model Sahar Daftary Killed in Fall

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 01:37:00 +0000

Model and former Face of Asia winner Sahar Daftary, 24, fell to her death from the 12th floor of an apartment building in England, police say. Witnesses have said there was no shouting or ranting -- just a single scream. It is being looked at as either suicide or a horrible accident, a police source told The Daily Mail. She died during the weekend after falling 150 feet at the building where she had gone to pick up her belongings from an apartment she shared with her ex-boyfriend, a property developer who hasn't been named to the media, the newspaper reported. The model's former beau reportedly was arrested and interviewed by police, then released on bail. She met (the boyfriend) in Manchester and they were very happy. Then she won the Face of Asia competition and got several big contracts. She seemed to have the world at her feet. But she discovered that he was married and became very unhappy. The stress changed her and she had stopped eating properly. When she came up on Saturday she was very distracted and preoccupied with collecting her things from the apartment, but he didn't want to see her.

1950s Pinup Model Bettie Page Dies in LA at 85

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:38:00 +0000

Bettie Page, the 1950s secretary-turned-model whose controversial photographs in skimpy attire or none at all helped set the stage for the 1960s sexual revolution, died Thursday. She was 85.

Page was placed on life support last week after suffering a heart attack in Los Angeles and never regained consciousness, said her agent, Mark Roesler. He said he and Page's family agreed to remove life support. Before the heart attack, Page had been hospitalized for three weeks with pneumonia.

"She captured the imagination of a generation of men and women with her free spirit and unabashed sensuality," Roesler said. "She is the embodiment of beauty."

Page, who was also known as Betty, attracted national attention with magazine photographs of her sensuous figure in bikinis and see-through lingerie that were quickly tacked up on walls in military barracks, garages and elsewhere, where they remained for years.

Her photos included a centerfold in the January 1955 issue of then-fledgling Playboy magazine, as well as controversial sadomasochistic poses.

"I think that she was a remarkable lady, an iconic figure in pop culture who influenced sexuality, taste in fashion, someone who had a tremendous impact on our society," Playboy founder Hugh Hefner told The Associated Press on Thursday. "She was a very dear person."

Page mysteriously disappeared from the public eye for decades, during which time she battled mental illness and became a born-again Christian.

After resurfacing in the 1990s, she occasionally granted interviews but refused to allow her picture to be taken.

"I don't want to be photographed in my old age," she told an interviewer in 1998. "I feel the same way with old movie stars. ... It makes me sad. We want to remember them when they were young."

The 21st century indeed had people remembering her just as she was. She became the subject of songs, biographies, Web sites, comic books, movies and documentaries. A new generation of fans bought thousands of copies of her photos, and some feminists hailed her as a pioneer of women's liberation.

Gretchen Mol portrayed her in 2005's "The Notorious Bettie Page" and Paige Richards had the role in 2004's "Bettie Page: Dark Angel." Page herself took part in the 1998 documentary "Betty Page: Pinup Queen."

Hefner said he last saw Page when he held a screening of "The Notorious Bettie Page" at the Playboy Mansion. He said she objected to the fact that the film referred to her as "notorious," but "we explained to her that it referred to the troubled times she had and was a good way to sell a movie."

Page's career began one day in October 1950 when she took a respite from her job as a secretary in a New York office for a walk along the beach at Coney Island. An amateur photographer named Jerry Tibbs admired the 27-year-old's firm, curvy body and asked her to pose.

Looking back on the career that followed, she told Playboy in 1998: "I never thought it was shameful. I felt normal. It's just that it was much better than pounding a typewriter eight hours a day, which gets monotonous."

Nudity didn't bother her, she said, explaining: "God approves of nudity. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, they were naked as jaybirds."

In 1951, Page fell under the influence of a photographer and his sister who specialized in S&M. They cut her hair into the dark bangs that became her signature and posed her in spiked heels and little else. She was photographed with a whip in her hand, and in one session she was spread-eagled between two trees, her feet dangling.

"I thought my arms and legs would come out of their sockets," she said later.

Moralists denounced the photos as perversion, and Sen. Estes Kefauver of Tennessee, Page's home state, launched a congressional investigation.

Page quickly retreated from public view, later saying she was hounded by federal agents who waved her nude photos in her face. She also said she believed that, at age 34, her days as "the girl with the perfect figure" were nearly over.

She moved to Florida in 1957 and married a much younger man, as an early marriage to her high school sweetheart had ended in divorce.

Her second marriage also failed, as did a third, and she suffered a nervous breakdown.

In 1959, she was lying on a sea wall in Key West when she saw a church with a white neon cross on top. She walked inside and became a born-again Christian.

After attending Bible school, she wanted to serve as a missionary but was turned down because she had been divorced. Instead, she worked full-time for evangelist Billy Graham's ministry.

A move to Southern California in 1979 brought more troubles.

She was arrested after an altercation with her landlady, and doctors who examined her determined she had acute schizophrenia. She spent 20 months in a state mental hospital in San Bernardino.

A fight with another landlord resulted in her arrest, but she was found not guilty because of insanity. She was placed under state supervision for eight years.

"She had a very turbulent life," Todd Mueller, a family friend and autograph seller, told The Associated Press on Thursday. "She had a temper to her."

Mueller said he first met Page after tracking her down in the 1990s and persuaded her to do an autograph signing event.

He said she was a hit and sold about 3,000 autographs, usually for $200 to $300 each.

"Eleanor Roosevelt, we got $40 to $50. ... Bettie Page outsells them all," he told The AP last week.

Born April 22, 1923, in Nashville, Tenn., Page said she grew up in a family so poor "we were lucky to get an orange in our Christmas stockings."

The family included three boys and three girls, and Page said her father molested all of the girls.

After the Pages moved to Houston, her father decided to return to Tennessee and stole a police car for the trip. He was sent to prison, and for a time Betty lived in an orphanage.

In her teens she acted in high school plays, going on to study drama in New York and win a screen test from 20th Century Fox before her modeling career took off.

Source

Odetta Holmes Dies at 77; Folk Singer Championed Black History, Civil Rights

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:13:00 +0000

Odetta, the classically trained folk, blues and gospel singer who used her powerfully rich and dusky voice to champion African American music and civil rights issues for more than half a century starting in the folk revival of the 1950s, has died. She was 77.

She was admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City for a checkup in mid-November but went into kidney failure. She died there Tuesday of heart disease, her manager, Doug Yeager, told the Associated Press.

With a repertoire that included 19th century slave songs and spirituals as well as the topical ballads of such 20th century folk icons as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, Odetta became one of the most beloved figures in folk music.

She was said to have influenced the emergence of artists as varied as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin and Tracy Chapman.

"The first thing that turned me on to folk singing was Odetta," Dylan once said. "From Odetta, I went to Harry Belafonte, the Kingston Trio, little by little uncovering more as I went along."

Her affinity for traditional African American folk songs was a hallmark of her long career, along with a voice that could easily sweep from dark, husky low notes to delicate yet goose bump-inducing high register tones.

"The first time I heard Odetta sing," Seeger once said, "she sang Leadbelly's 'Take This Hammer' and I went and told her how I wish Leadbelly was still alive so he could have heard her."

She was born Odetta Holmes in Birmingham, Ala., on Dec. 31, 1930. Her father died when she was young and she moved to Los Angeles at age 6 with her mother, sister and stepfather. She took the surname of her stepfather Zadock Felious, but throughout her career she used just her given name.

And although Los Angeles wasn't as overtly racist as the Deep South, she suffered some of the same indignities that came with being black.

"We lived within walking distance of Marshall High School," Odetta told The Times some years ago, "but they didn't let colored people go there, so we had to get on the bus and go to Belmont High School."

She attended Los Angeles City College after high school and earned a degree in music.

Trained as a classical vocalist as a child, she won a spot with a group called the Madrigal Singers in junior high school. She also realized early that despite her classical training, her options in that area were going to be limited because of the racism at the time.

By 19, Odetta had turned her attention to other forms of music and landed a part in a production of "Finian's Rainbow" as a chorus member. When the musical went on the road to San Francisco, she went with it.

The trip marked an important crossroads in her emergence as a folk singer.

She met an old friend from school who had settled in the city's North Beach neighborhood, and during a visit Odetta was exposed to a late-night session of folk songs.

"That night I heard hours and hours of songs that really touched where I live," she told The Times. "I borrowed a guitar and learned three chords, and started to sing at parties."

The traditional prison songs that she learned in her early days hit home the hardest and helped her come to terms with what she called the deep-seated hate and fury in her.

"As I did those songs, I could work on my hate and fury without being antisocial," she recalled. "Through those songs, I learned things about the history of black people in this country that the historians in school had not been willing to tell us about or had lied about."

Odetta left the theater company in 1950 and took a job at a folk club in San Francisco. She soon began to tour and recorded her first album, "The Tin Angel," in 1954. She soon caught the attention of such folk-music icons as Guthrie, Seeger and Ramblin' Jack Elliott. She was a fixture on the folk music scene by the time the genre's commercial boom came in the late 1950s and early '60s.

She played at the Newport Folk Festival, the showcase event for folk music, four times between 1959 and 1965. She also had a recording contract with Vanguard Records, which at the height of the folk music craze was the genre's leading label.

Over the years, Odetta branched into acting, with dramatic and singing roles in film and television including "Cinerama Holiday," "Sanctuary" and "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman."

But traditional folk music remained her forte.

"The folk repertoire is our inheritance. Don't have to like it, but we need to hear it," she said. "I love getting to schools and telling kids there's something else out there. It's from their forebears, and its an alternative to what they hear on the radio. As long as I am performing, I will be pointing out that heritage that is ours."

In 1999, she was awarded a National Medal of Arts by President Clinton. In 2004, she was a Kennedy Center honoree. A year later, the Library of Congress honored her with its Living Legend Award.

Information on survivors and funeral services was not immediately available.

Source

Tony Melendez A Life Example

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:30:00 +0000

I was touched by an inspirational video. It is about an amazing armless guy named Tony Melendez. He is a Nicaraguan guitar player, singer and Christian rock songwriter who was born without arms. His mother took Thalidomide while pregnant, which caused his disability. Melendez has learned to play the guitar with his feet.

Here is an inspirational video of Tony Melendez:

Hendrix Drummer Mitch Mitchell Dead at 61

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 01:49:00 +0000

Officials say Mitch Mitchell, the drummer for the iconic Jimi Hendrix Experience, was found dead in his Portland, Ore., hotel room Wednesday. The (Portland) Oregonian said Mitchell, 61, was in town performing with a Hendrix tribute band and was found dead at around 3 a.m. at the Benson Hotel. The Multnomah County Medical Examiner's office said the cause of death was unknown pending further examination later Wednesday. The British-born Mitchell played for the Jimi Hendrix Experience in the late 1960s and did session work in the years following the guitar legend's death in 1970.

Famed Ballerina Hightower Dead At 88

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:29:00 +0000

Ballerina Rosella Hightower, known for her varied and versatile repertoire, has died in Cannes, France, at the age of 88, the Los Angeles Times said.

The U.S. newspaper noted Sunday the native American dancer, who was born in Oklahoma, gained worldwide fame after performing with notable ballet dancers as Eric Bruhn and Andre Eglevsky.

After becoming one of the world's elite dancers, Hightower worked with Marquis George de Cuevas ballet company, the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas.

She parlayed her fame with the noted company to create her own dance school after Cuevas' death in 1961.

Sylvia Fawlofski, a former pupil of Hightower's, told the Times the U.S. dancer was a strict, yet fun, teacher who had a unique eye for talent.

Once in a blue moon, she would appear and give us a fun class with high kicks, jazzy arrangements and spirited footwork. At the end she would tell us: 'Now you are ready to go dance on Broadway,' Fawlofski said.

The Times said survivors of the twice-married Hightower, who died Monday after suffering a series of strokes, include her daughter, dancer Dominique Monet Robier.

Source

'Jurassic Park' Author Dies Unexpectedly

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 02:24:00 +0000

Michael Crichton, best known as the author of Jurassic Park and the creator of NBC's ER, has died. He was 66. In a statement, his family calls his death unexpected, but said he had been privately battling cancer.

"While the world knew him as a great storyteller that challenged our preconceived notions about the world around us -- and entertained us all while doing so -- his wife Sherri, daughter Taylor, family and friends knew Michael Crichton as a devoted husband, loving father and generous friend who inspired each of us to strive to see the wonders of our world through new eyes," his family tells ET. "He did this with a wry sense of humor that those who were privileged to know him personally will never forget."

Crichton's books have sold more than 150 million copies worldwide. His most recent novel, Next, about genetics and law, was published in December 2006.

He has won an Emmy, a Peabody and a Writer's Guild of America Award for ER.

Comedian Rudy Ray Moore Dead At 81

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 01:41:00 +0000

Comedian Rudy Ray Moore has died at the age of 81 in Akron, Ohio, of apparent complications due to diabetes, his record label said. He is survived by his daughter, Yvette; sister, Geraldine; brother, Gerald, and his 98-year-old mother, Lucille. Rudy was an entertainer's entertainer and a self-made man that fans of all generations embraced, Donald H. Randell, Moore's producer, said in a statement. In the 1960s and '70s, he broke new ground and paved the way for comedians that followed like Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and Lisa Lampanelli. Rudy's cult comedy continues to break through into today's mainstream. Excerpts of Moore's comic recordings have been sampled by the likes of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eazy-E, Eric B. and Rakim, Ice-T, Big Daddy Kane, 2 Live Crew, ODB, Busta Rhymes, and dozens of other platinum-selling rap artists, Warrior Records said in a news release. Moore also produced and starred in seven films during Hollywood's Blaxploitation era of the 1970s, including Human Tornado, Monkey Hustle, Petey Wheatstraw, Disco Godfather, Penitentiary, Rude, and most notably, Dolemite.

Source

Former Royal Ballet Star Nerina Dead At 80

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 02:13:00 +0000

Nadia Nerina, who once earned fame as a dancer in the Royal Ballet, has died in France at the age of 80, the London dance troupe has confirmed.

The Royal Ballet said Nerina, whose technical skills and charming presence earned her principal ballerina honors in the dance company, died of unspecified causes last Monday in the French commune of Beaulieu-sur-Mer after a prolonged illness, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The pinnacle of Nerina's fame came in 1960 when the South African-born dancer performed with Leningrad's Kirov Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, the newspaper said.

During her career, Nerina had a noted rivalry with fellow Royal Ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev.

That rivalry between the dance partners culminated in a noted Swan Lake performance by Nerina in which she completed 32 continuous whip-like turns known as fouettees. That act, which came shortly after a similarly impressive dance maneuver by Nureyev, caused the Russian to storm off the stage.

The Times said Nerina is survived by her husband, Charles Gordon.

Soap Star Irene Dailey Dead At 88

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:16:00 +0000

Soap opera star Irene Dailey has died of colon cancer at the age of 88 in Santa Rosa, Calif., her friend Arleen Lorrance said. Lorrance told the New York Times Dailey died Sept. 24.

The Daytime Emmy Award-winning actress portrayed Liz Matthews on Another World from 1974 to 1986 and then again from 1988 to 1994. The New York native also played the role of Nettie Cleary in Frank D. Gilroy's 1964 stage drama The Subject Was Roses, and made appearances on TV's The Edge of Night, Ben Casey, Dr. Kildare, The Twilight Zone and The Defenders. Her film credits include No Way to Treat a Lady, Five Easy Pieces and The Amityville Horror.

Pink Floyd Musician Wright Dead at 65

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 02:26:00 +0000

Pink Floyd founding member and keyboardist Rick Wright has died of cancer at the age of 65, his family said Monday.

The family of Richard Wright, founder member of Pink Floyd, announce with great sadness that Richard died today after a short struggle with cancer, Wright's spokesman told Rolling Stone magazine. The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this difficult time.

Wright was one of the rock band's original members, along with Syd Barrett, Roger Waters and Nick Mason.

The London-born musician played with the group until a falling out with Waters after The Wall in 1979. Wright later rejoined the band when David Gilmour took over after Waters departed in the early 1980s.

Wright also played with the band when it reunited in 2005 for the Live 8 concert in London and had recently performed with David Gilmour on his solo tour, Rolling Stone said.

NME.com noted he worked on all but one of the band's 14 studio releases, including The Dark Side Of The Moon in 1973.

He was such a lovely, gentle, genuine man and will be missed terribly by so many who loved him, the BBC said Gilmour wrote on his Web site. And that's a lot of people. Did he not get the loudest, longest round of applause at the end of every show in 2006?

Wright is survived by his wife Millie and three children, NME.com said.

Man Behind 'Jaws' Character Dead at 82

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 01:35:00 +0000

New York fisherman Frank Mundus, reputed to be the inspiration for a key character in the novel Jaws, has died at the age of 82, a business owner says.

Dick Gosman said he remembered operating Gosman's Dock in Montauk, N.Y., when the popularity of Jaws drew tourists to the town in hopes of meeting the alleged inspiration for the book's character Captain Quint, the New York Post reported Sunday.

I remember tourists running down to the boat ... when he'd come in with a shark, Gosman said of Mundus, who died Wednesday, five days after suffering a heart attack in Hawaii. It was a show every day.

While Jaws author Peter Benchley never officially credited Mundus with being the inspiration for the grizzled fisherman in his novel, Mundus repeatedly took credit. He mentioned on his Web site how he always saw part of himself in the character made famous by the 1974 novel and 1975 movie, the Post said.

He (Quint) knew how to handle the people the same way I did. He also used similar shark-fishing techniques based on my methods, wrote Mundus, who leaves no reported survivors.

Performer Jerry Reed Dead at 71

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 02:02:00 +0000

Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937-August 31, 2008), known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, country guitarist, session musician, songwriter, and actor who appeared in over a dozen films. As a singer, he may be best known for Amos Moses, and When You're Hot, You're Hot, for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1972 and East Bound and Down, the theme song to the film Smokey and the Bandit in which he portrayed the Snowman, Cledus Snow.

Reed was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the second child of Robert and Cynthia Hubbard. Reed's grandparents lived in Rockmart, Ga. and he would visit them from there from time to time. He was quoted as saying as a small child, while running around strumming his guitar, "I am gonna be a star. I'm gonna go to Nashville and be a star." Reed's parents separated four months after his birth, and he and his sister spent seven years in foster homes or orphanages. Reed was reunited with his mother and stepfather in 1944. Music and impromptu performances helped ease the stressful times the new family was under.

By high school, (O'Keefe High School, Atlanta, Georgia) Reed was already writing and singing music, having picked up the guitar as a child. At age 18, he was signed by publisher and record producer Bill Lowery to cut his first record, "If the Good Lord's Willing and the Creeks Don't Rise." At Capitol Records, he recorded both country and rockabilly singles to little notice, until label mate Gene Vincent covered his "Crazy Legs" in 1958. By 1958, Lowery signed Reed to his National Recording Corporation, and he recorded for NRC as both artist and as a member of the staff band, which included other NRC artists Joe South and Ray Stevens.

Reed married Priscilla "Prissy" Mitchell in 1959. They have two daughters, Charlotte Elaine "Lottie" Reed Stewart, and Seidina Ann Reed Hinesley, born April 2, 1960.

Reed died at the age of 71 in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 31, 2008, of complications from emphysema. The Associated Press wire service and CNN, however, reported the date of his death as September 1.

Source

Bernie Mac Biography (1958-2008)

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:17:00 +0000

In The News:
Actor and comedian Bernie Mac died August 9, 2008, in a Chicago area hospital due to pneumonia, his publicist, Danica Smith, said in a statement from Los Angeles. He was 50.

Mac suffered from sarcoidosis, a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes inflammation in tissue (most often the lungs), but had said the condition went into remission in 2005. The pneumonia was unrelated to the disease, the publicist said.

More than 6,000 people attended a memorial service for Mac on August 16 at the House of Hope Church on Chicago's South Side.

Biography:
Born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on October 5, 1957, in Chicago, Illinois. Growing up in a large family on Chicago's South Side, his grandfather was the deacon of a Baptist church.

Mac performed his first standup routine at the age of eight, impersonating his grandparents at the dinner table for the church congregation.

After losing his mother to cancer (his brother, father and grandmother died not long after), Mac realized the healing power of laughter. He began telling jokes for spare change in the Chicago subway. While working various odd jobs, he eventually established his own weekly variety show at Chicago's Regal Theatre and joined the comedy club circuit in 1977.

Mac's acting career started with a role as a club doorman in the comedy Mo' Money (1992) and also appeared as Pastor Clever in Friday (1995). Mac's frequent appearances on HBO's Def Comedy Jamin the early 1990s also helped put him on the map.

Mac's edgy comedy seemed an unlikely fit for television, but after frequent appearances on the series Moesha and gaining wide acclaim for his starring role in Spike Lee's The Original Kings of Comedy in 2000, Mac was primed to create a sitcom on his own terms.

Based on family experiences that shocked audiences into laughter in Kings, The Bernie Mac Show enjoyed a strong debut on Fox in 2001. The series ran through 2006 and starred Mac as a reluctant dad to three adopted kids. The show nabbed both Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.

Mac's film career also took off. In 2001, he joined an all-star cast in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven, playing a smooth con-artist who assisted co-stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt in high-profile heists.

In 2001, he also co-starred with Chris Rock in Head of State, then replaced Bill Murray's Bosley in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) and shared billing with John Ritter in director Billy Bob Thornton's Bad Santa (2003).

In 2004, he took on his first starring role as an aging baseball hero in Mr. 3000 and then starred again in the race relations comedy Guess Who? (2005). Mac also reunited with the cast for the sequels Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007).

Before his death, Mac completed work on the film Soul Men with Isaac Hayes, who, coincidentally, died the same weekend as Mac. It is scheduled for release in November 2008.

Besides his work in film and television Mac also authored two books, 2001's I Ain't Scared of You: Bernie Mac on How Life Is and his 2003 memoir, Maybe You Never Cry Again. The latter described Mac's impoverished childhood, strict upbringing and his mother's belief in him.

In 1977 at age 19, Mac married his high school sweetheart, Rhonda, whom he credits with much of his success, particularly as the young couple struggled through the early years of Mac's fledgling career. They had a daughter, Je'Niece, and a granddaughter.

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Co-founder of Dallas Opera dies at 92 in Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:16:00 +0000

The co-founder of the Dallas Opera has died at a hospital in Viterbo, Italy. Nicola Rescigno was 92.

Jonathan Pell, the Dallas Opera director of artistic administration, says he received a phone call Monday afternoon from Rescigno's nephew, who had been informed of his uncle's death by the hospital.

Pell says Rescigno had been in the hospital to have surgery for a broken leg. He says Rescigno "went to sleep and didn't wake up."

Rescigno and the late Lawrence V. Kelly founded the Dallas Opera in 1957. Pell says the pair attracted well-known performers such as Maria Callas.

He says plans to honor Rescigno by the Dallas Opera will be announced later.

Biography

Nicola Rescigno was an Italian-American conductor, particularly associated with the Italian opera repertory.

Born in a musical family, he studied with Pizzetti, Giannini and Polacco. He made his debut in 1943, conducting La traviata, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He then toured the USA with the San Carlo Opera Company and served as music director for the Connecticut Opera and Havana Opera.

In 1953, he co-founded the Chicago Lyric Opera, where he was music director from 1954 to 1956, and conducted the American debut of Maria Callas there. In 1957, he co-founded the Dallas Opera where he served as artistic director and principal conductor from 1957 to 1990. While at the Dallas Opera, he conducted the U.S. debuts of such singers as Montserrat Caballé, Plácido Domingo, Dame Joan Sutherland, Teresa Berganza, Magda Olivero, Jon Vickers, and stage director Franco Zeffirelli. He presented there the American premieres of Handel's Alcina and Vivaldi's Orlando furioso. He also conducted the world premieres of Virgil Thomson's Fantasy in Homage to an Earlier England (1966) and Dominick Argento's The Aspern Papers (1988).

He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1978, conducting Don Pasquale (with Beverly Sills, in John Dexter's production), followed by L'elisir d'amore (1980), L'italiana in Algeri (with Marilyn Horne and Rockwell Blake, 1981), and La traviata (1981-82). Rescigno also conducted at the San Francisco Opera. He conducted at most of the major opera houses of Italy, and made guest appearances at Glyndebourne, London, Paris, Vienna, Zurich, Buenos Aires, etc.

He was closely associated with Callas, having been one of her favourite conductors, and recorded several albums of operatic arias with her for EMI, from 1958 to 1969. He also recorded an album of Verdi arias with Robert Weede (in 1953), excerpts from Francesca da Rimini (with Mario del Monaco and Olivero, 1969), and complete sets of Tosca (with Mirella Freni, 1978) and Lucia di Lammermoor (with Edita Gruberova, 1983). Also available, on DVD, are a 1959 concert from Hamburg with Callas, and a 1981 performance of L'elisir d'amore from the Met, with Judith Blegen and Luciano Pavarotti.

He was the uncle of the conductor Joseph Rescigno.

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Estelle Getty of 'Golden Girls' Dies At 84

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:07:00 +0000

FILE** In this Dec. 25, 1985 file photo, four veteran actresses, from left, Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, Bea Arthur and Betty White, from the television series 'The ' Golden Girls' are shown during a break in taping in Hollywood. Actress Estelle Getty has died at the age of 84. Her son, Carl Gettleman, says she died early Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at home in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, file)

Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing a role of a lifetime in 1985 as the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on TV's The Golden Girls, has died. She was 84.

Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at her Hollywood Boulevard home, said her son, Carl Gettleman of Santa Monica.

"Estelle always wanted to be an actress, and she achieved that goal beyond her dreams," former Golden Girls co-star Rue McClanahan told The Associated Press. "Don't feel sad about her passing. She will always be with us in her crowning achievement, Sophia."

"The Golden Girls," featuring four female retirees sharing a house in Miami, grew out of NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff's belief that television was ignoring its older viewers.

Three of its stars had already appeared in previous series: Bea Arthur in Maude, Betty White in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and McClanahan in Mama's Family. The last character to be cast was Sophia Petrillo, the feisty 80-something mother of Arthur's character.

"Our mother-daughter relationship was one of the greatest comic duos ever, and I will miss her," Arthur said in a statement.

When she auditioned, Getty was appearing on stage in Hollywood as the carping Jewish mother in Harvey Fierstein's play Torch Song Trilogy. In her early 60s, she flunked her Golden Girls test twice because it was believed she didn't look old enough to play 80.

"I could understand that," she told an interviewer a year after the show debuted. "I walk fast, I move fast, I talk fast."

She came prepared for the third audition, however, wearing dowdy clothes and telling an NBC makeup artist, "To you this is just a job. To me it's my entire career down the toilet unless you make me look 80." The artist did, Getty got the job and won two Emmys.

"The only comfort at this moment is that although Estelle has moved on, Sophia will always be with us," White said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

The Golden Girls culminated a long struggle for success during which Getty worked low-paying office jobs to help support her family while she tried to make it as a stage actress.

"I knew I could be seduced by success in another field, so I'd say, 'Don't promote me, please,'" she recalled.

She also appeared in small parts in a handful of films and TV movies during that time, including Tootsie, Deadly Force and Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story.

After her success in The Golden Girls, other roles came her way. She played Cher's mother in Mask, Sylvester Stallone's in Stop or My Mom Will Shoot and Barry Manilow's in the TV film Copacabana. Other credits included Mannequin and Stuart Little (as the voice of Grandma Estelle).

The Golden Girls, which ran from 1985 to 1992, was an immediate hit, and Sophia, who began as a minor character, soon evolved into a major one.

Audiences particularly loved the verbal zingers Getty would hurl at the other three. When McClanahan's libidinous character Blanche once complained that her life was an open book, Sophia shot back, "Your life's an open blouse."

"I always told her she should be a standup comic. She was so funny in person," McClanahan recalled. "She would always say, 'Why couldn't we make these characters Jewish? Why am I Sicilian?'"

Getty had gained a knack for one-liners in her late teens when she did standup comedy at a Catskills hotel. Female comedians were rare in those days, however, and she bombed.

Undeterred, she continued to pursue a career in entertainment, and while her parents were encouraging, her father also insisted that she learn office skills so she would have something to fall back on.

Born Estelle Scher to Polish immigrants in New York, Getty fell in love with theater when she saw a vaudeville show at age 4.

She married New York businessman Arthur Gettleman (the source of her stage name) in 1947, and they had two sons, Carl and Barry. The marriage prevailed despite her long absences on the road and in The Golden Girls.

Getty was evasive about her height, acknowledging only that she was "under 5 feet and under 100 pounds."

McClanahan said her nickname for Getty was Slats.

"Because she was so short, itty-bitty," she said.

In addition to her son Carl, Getty is survived by son Barry Gettleman, of Miami; a brother, David Scher of London; and a sister, Rosilyn Howard of Las Vegas.

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Olive Riley, 'World's Oldest Blogger,' Dies At 108

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:06:00 +0000

Olive Riley (October 20, 1899 – July 12, 2008) was an Australian woman, believed to have been the world's oldest blogger. She began her blog The Life of Riley in February 2007 at the age of 107 and made her final post on June 26, 2008 from a nursing home in Woy Woy, New South Wales, complaining of a cough about two weeks before she died at the age of 108. She had posted over 70 entries, as well as several video posts on YouTube.

Olive Riley died at the age of 108, according to the Associated Press. Her final days were spent at a nursing facility in Woy Woy, New South Wales, Australia where she continued to chronicle her life growing up in the Outback, raising kids, and working as a bartender and farm cook on a her blog, The Life of Riley. Upon news of her death, her blog received a flurry of hits and experienced technical difficulties. You may view her temporary blog - http://worldsoldestblogger.blogspot.com/

Here's an excerpt of one of her final posts:

Hello again to all my friends.

You 21st century people live a different life than the one I lived as a youngster in the early 1900s. Take Washing Day, for instance. These days you just toss your dirty clothes into a washing machine, press a few switches, and it's done.

I remember scratching around to find a few pieces of wood to fire the copper for Mum. Sometimes I'd find a broken wooden fruit box that I'd split with a tommyhawk. Sometimes I'd gather some twigs and dead branches, and use them for firewood.

When the water in the copper began to boil, Mum would add a cupful of soap chips, and throw in a cube of Reckitt's Blue wrapped in a muslin bag to whiten the clothes. Then she put in all the dirty clothes, first rubbing out the stains with a bar of Sunlight soap. She used a corrugated washing board for that.

It's nice to see an older generation take hold of technology to share their own stories. Plus, Olive Riley showed everyone that you're never to old to blog! May she rest in peace.

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Actress Dody Goodman Dead At 92

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:07:00 +0000

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Biography:

Dody Goodman is more than an actress. She is a comedienne, a dancer, a producer and a writer! Born in Columbus, Ohio, the red-haired Dody began dance lessons at the tender age of eight, and headed to New York City after graduating High School. She was soon dancing for ballet companies for the reputable Radio City Music Hall and the Metropolitan Opera. These experiences naturally led to opportunies to dance in Broadway productions, which Dody did. She danced in four hit musicals: High Button Shoes, Call Me Madam, Miss Liberty, and A Wonderful Town.

Dody Goodman admits that she's not really sure when the transition from ballerina to comedienne began. Always a backstage clown, one of the first to take notice of Dody's antics was Wonderful Town director, George Abbot, who was so delighted with Dody's performance as Violet, had an extra scene written for her. It was during the touring production of this mucical that Imogene Coca persuaded Dody to put her dancing shoes aside and concentrate on her natural comedic talents. So it began, Dody started with small parts on television variety shows, remember the "resident zany" on Jack Parr's, Tonight? Around this time Dody also entered the nightclub circuit and enjoyed some off Broadway Revues such as Julie Monk's Four Below and the Shoestring Revue Of 1957.

Dody Goodman says that she was influenced most by Lucille Ball, Gracie Allen, and Spring Byington but developed her own unique brand of comedic style which has entertained audiences far and wide in all genre's of performing. Broadway shows like, Grease, My Daughter, Your Son, Period Of Adjustment, Rainy Day In Newark, and the revival of The Front Page. National Tours include Nunsence; for two years Dody entertained audiences with her characterization of Sister Mary Regina.

Television credits include appearances on the Dinah Show, NBC's Bandstand, The Merv Griffin Show, Girl Talk, Liars Club, The Stan Kahn Show, and Search For Tomorrow, as well as sit-com shows in which Dody guest starred, including, Punky Brewster, Different Strokes, The Mary Tyler Show and Mary Hartman where Dody performed with the ensemble cast for three full seasons. Motion Picture credits include Grease, Grease II,Cool As Ice, Frozen Assets, and Samantha. Dody Goodman is enjoying the resurgence of the successful film production, Grease which is celebrating it's 20th anniversary and is currently being shown on wide screens nation wide.

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In The Headlines:

Stage, film and television actress Dody Goodman has died at the Actors Fund Home in New Jersey, a representative for the fund has confirmed.

Playbill.com said Goodman was believed to have been 92 when she died Sunday (22nd June 2008).

Her stage credits as Dolores Goodman included performances in the Broadway musicals Viva O'Brien, Something for the Boys, One Touch of Venus, Laffing Room Only and Miss Liberty.

She later went by the name Dody Goodman and starred in Broadway shows like Call Me Madam, Wonderful Town, My Darlin' Aida, as well as the Off Broadway productions of Shoestring Revue and Parade, Playbill.com said.

Goodman was a regular player on The Tonight Show when Jack Paar was host and earned an Emmy Award nomination in 1957 for Best Continued Performance in a Series by a Comedienne.

Although her gift for upstaging Paar reportedly led to her departure from the series, Playbill.com said she frequently appeared on the shows like Toast of the Town, The Phil Silvers Show and The Merv Griffin Show in the 1960s and 1970s.

She also had supporting roles in the TV shows Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and Diff'rent Strokes, as well as in the movie musical Grease.

Goodman also appeared in numerous productions of the musical Nunsense and its sequels, the theater industry trade magazine said.

George Carlin Biography (1937-2008)

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:12:00 +0000

In The Headlines:

Comedian, actor and writer George Carlin died Sunday (June 22, 2008) of heart failure, according to spokesman Jeff Abraham. He was 71.

Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, went into St. John's Health Center on Sunday afternoon, complaining of chest pain, and died at 5:55 p.m. PT.

He performed as recently as the previous weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.

Carlin suffered his first heart attack in 1978. In the years after he suffered a second heart attack in 1982 while watching a game at Dodger Stadium, he underwent two open heart surgeries. Still, he suffered a third attack in 1991.

Funeral arrangements and memorial services are pending, according to publicist Jeff Abraham.

Biography:

George Denis Patrick Carlin was born May 12, 1937, in the Bronx, New York. Carlin and his younger brother, Pat, were primarily raised by their mother in Manhattan's Morningside Heights section. Mary Carlin, a devout Irish Catholic, worked as a secretary to support her children. She had left Carlin's father Patrick, a national advertising manager for the New York Sun, when he was an infant.

Carlin attended parochial school and much of his negative religious sentiment stems from his experience as a Roman Catholic altar boy. Carlin completed two years of high school before dropping out in the ninth grade.

In 1954, at age 17, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force as a radar technician and was stationed at Shreveport, Louisiana. Over the next three years, Carlin earned his high school equivalency and moonlighted as a disc jockey at a local radio station. He also received three court-martials and numerous disciplinary punishments, according to his official Web site. After a general discharge in 1957, he took radio jobs in Boston and Fort Worth, Texas.

In 1959, Carlin teamed up with Texas newscaster, Jack Burns. The pair collaborated on a morning radio show in Fort Worth before relocating to Hollywood, where they attracted the attention of the legendary Lenny Bruce. Bruce helped Burns and Carlin secure appearances on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar (Carlin would make a total of 130 appearances on The Tonight Show).

Burns and Carlin eventually split up, and over the next few years Carlin continued to make numerous appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, as well as 29 appearances on The Merv Griffin Show.

In the early 1960s, Carlin got his start as a stand-up comic by performing on the Las Vegas circuit and entertaining TV audiences. Carlin enjoyed moderate success until the mid-70s when he re-invented his image and adopted a less conventional, somewhat vulgar comedy routine. Carlin's scripted monologues began to represent his disillusioned attitude toward the world in which explored the highly sensitive issues of Vietnam, politics, religion, American culture, drugs, the demise of humanity and the right to free speech.

In July of 1972, Carlin was arrested for violating obscenity laws in Milwaukee after his infamous routine Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.

When a radio station played a recording of Carlin's Seven Words routine, it sparked a legal case over obscenity regulations. In 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the government's right to penalize stations that broadcast such material on public airwaves during hours (6 a.m. and 10 p.m.) when young people may typically tune in.

As a self-professed atheist and avid cocaine user, his adversaries deemed him anti-religious and disrespectful of society. However, the comedian's new material brought him success from the younger counterculture. Carlin illustrated his anti-establishment views by being the first host of the risque TV show Saturday Night Live on October 11, 1975.

In 1977, Carlin starred in his first of HBO comedy specials, On Location: George Carlin at USC. In all, he did 14 such specials, including 2008's It's Bad For Ya!

In 1990, Carlin compiled a multi-CD set that highlighted his work from the 70s, titled George Carlin: The Little David Years (1971-77) (1990). The collection included the albums: FM & AM, Class Clown, Occupation: Foole, Toledo Window Box, An Evening With Wally Londo Featuring Slaszo, and On the Road. Carlin received two Grammy Awards for FM & AM (1990) and Jammin' in New York (1992), for which he won a Grammy. You Are All Diseased (1999) is abundant with his trademark satire and profanity about American family life.

Carlin published Brain Droppings in 1997. The book included his comedic take on life, society and politics. It spent 18 weeks on the New York Times' best-seller list. Two years later, syndicated columnist Mike Barnicle was suspended from the Boston Globe, after he had plagiarized passages from Carlin's book. To Carlin's benefit, the widely publicized controversy led to an increase in book sales.

Throughout his career, Carlin took on a number of comedic roles in films such as 1987's Outrageous Fortune and as Rufus, an emissary from the future, in 1990's Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. He took a more dramatic turn in The Prince of Tides (1991). He also was featured in Kevin Smith's film Dogma (1999), in which he played Cardinal Glick, a fame-seeking religious figure. In 2006, he provided the voice of Fillmore, a hippie Volkswagen bus, in the animated Cars.

Carlin was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1987.

In the 1990s, Carlin enjoyed success with series television. Starting in 1991, he provided the voice of the train conductor on PBS' kid-friendly Shining Time Station for two years and narrated Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends through 1998. He also starred as a cab driver in The George Carlin Show from 1993 to 1995.

In addition to his acting, writing and recording, Carlin continued to perform about 150 dates a year on the road. In 2004, he placed second behind Richard Pryor on Comedy Central's list of Top 100 Comics of All Time. On June 17, 2008, just five days before his death, it was announced that he was being awarded the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. It will be presented Nov. 10 in Washington and broadcast on PBS.

Carlin first wife, producer Brenda Hosbrook, died on May 11, 1997 of complications from liver cancer. Their 35-year marriage produced a daughter, Kelly. He is survived by his second wife of ten years, Sally Wade.

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Bob Marley Biography (1945 - 1981)

noreply@blogger.com (Putty) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:20:00 +0000

Singer, musician, songwriter. Born on February 6, 1945, in Jamaica. Bob Marley helped introduce reggae music to the world and remains one of its most beloved artists to this day. The son of a black teenage mother and much older, later absent white father, he spent his early years in the rural village known as Nine Miles in the parish of St. Ann.

One of his childhood friends in St. Ann was Neville "Bunny" O'Riley Livingston. Attending the same school, the two shared a love of music. Bunny inspired Bob to learn to play the guitar. Later Livingston's father and Marley's mother became involved, and they all lived together for a time in Kingston, according to Christopher John Farley's Before the Legend: The Rise of Bob Marley.
Arriving in Kingston in the late 1950s, Marley lived in Trench Town, one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. He struggled in poverty, but he found inspiration in the music around him. Trench Town had a number of successful local performers and was considered the Motown of Jamaica. Sounds from the United States also drifted in over the radio and through jukeboxes. Marley liked such artists as Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, and the Drifters.

Marley and Livingston devoted much of their time to music. Under the guidance of Joe Higgs, Marley worked on improving his singing abilities. He met another student of Higgs, Peter McIntosh (later Peter Tosh) who would play an important role in Marley's career.

A local record producer, Leslie Kong, liked Marley's vocals and had him record a few singles, the first of which was "Judge Not" released in 1962. While he did not fare well as a solo artist, Marley found some success joining forces with his friends. In 1963, Marley, Livingston, and McIntosh formed the Wailing Wailers. Their first single, "Simmer Down," went to the top of the Jamaican charts in January 1964. By this time, the group also included Junior Braithwaite, Beverly Kelso, and Cherry Smith.

The group became quite popular in Jamaica, but they had difficulty making it financially. Braithewaite, Kelso, and Smith left the group. The remaining members drifted a part for a time. Marley went to the United States where his mother was now living. However, before he left, he married Rita Anderson on February 10, 1966.

After eight months, Marley returned to Jamaica. He reunited with Livingston and McIntosh to form the Wailers. Around this time, Marley was exploring his spiritual side and developing a growing interest in the Rastafarian movement. Both religious and political, the Rastafarian movement started in Jamaica in 1930s and drew its beliefs from many sources, including Jamaican-born black nationalist Marcus Garvey, the Old Testament, and their African heritage and culture.

For a time in the late 1960s, Marley worked with pop singer Johnny Nash. Nash scored a hit with Marley's song, "Stir It Up," around the world. The Wailers also worked with producer Lee Perry during this era and some of their successful songs together included "Trench Town Rock," "Soul Rebel," and "Four Hundred Years."

The Wailers added two new members in 1970—Aston "Family Man" Barrett on bass and his brother Carlton "Carlie" Barrett on drums. The next year, Marley spent time with Johnny Nash in Sweden to work on a movie soundtrack.

The Wailers got their big break in 1972 when they landed a contract with Island Records, which was started by Chris Blackwell. For the first time, the group hit the studios to record a full album. The result was the critically acclaimed Catch a Fire. To support the record, the Wailers toured Britain and the United States in 1973. They performed as an opening act for Bruce Springsteen and for Sly & the Family Stone. That same year, the Wailers released their next album, Burnin, which featured the song "I Shot the Sheriff." Rock legend Eric Clapton released a cover of the song in 1974, which became a number one hit in the United States.

Before the release of their next album, 1975's Natty Dread, two of the three original Wailers left the group. McIntosh and Livingston decided to pursue solo careers as Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer respectively. The new album reflected some of the political tensions in Jamaica between the People's National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). Violence sometimes erupted because of these conflicts. "Rebel Music (3 O'clock Road Block)" was inspired by Marley's own experience of being stopped by the army late one night before the 1972 national elections. Furthermore, the song "Revolution" was interpreted by some as Marley's endorsement for the PNP.

For their next tour, the remaining group was enhanced by the addition of I-Threes, a group of female vocalists was comprised of Marley's wife Rita, Marcia Griffiths, and Judy Mowatt. Now called Bob Marley & the Wailers, the group toured extensively and helped increase reggae's popularity abroad. In Britain, they scored their first top 40 hit with "No Woman No Cry" in 1975.

Already a much-admired star in his native Jamaica, Marley was on his way to becoming an international music icon. He made the U.S. music charts with the album Rastaman Vibration in 1976. One track stands out as an expression of his devotion to his faith and his interest in political change. The lyrics of "War" were taken from a speech by Haile Selassie, the twentieth-century Ethiopian emperor who is seen as a type of a spiritual leader in the Rastafarian movement. A battle cry for freedom from oppression, the song discusses a new Africa, one without the racial hierarchy enforced by colonial rule.

Back in Jamaica, Marley continued to be seen as a supporter of the People's National Party. And his influence in his native land was seen as a threat to the PNP's rivals. This may have led to the assassination attempt on Marley in 1976. A group of gunmen attacked Marley and the Wailers while they were rehearsing on the night of December 3, 1976, two days before a planned concert in Kingston’s National Heroes Park. One bullet struck Marley in the sternum and the bicep and his wife Rita was hit in the head by another bullet. Fortunately, the Marleys were not severely injured, but manager Don Taylor was not as lucky. He was shot five times and underwent surgery to save his life. Despite the attack, Marley still played at the show after much deliberation. The motivation behind the attack was never uncovered, and Marley fled the country the day after the concert.

Living in London, Marley went to work on Exodus (1977). The title track draws an analogy between the biblical story of Moses and the Israelites leaving exile and his own situation. The song also discusses returning to Africa. The concept of Africans and descendents of Africans repatriating their homeland can be linked to the work of Marcus Garvey. Released as a single, "Exodus" was a hit in Britain as were "Waiting in Vain" and "Jammin." The entire album stayed on the charts there for more than a year and is considered to be one of the best albums ever made.

During 1977, Marley had a health scare. He sought treatment in July on a toe he had injured earlier that year. Discovering that there were cancerous cells on his toe, Marley underwent surgery to remove them in Miami, Florida.

At the same time as making Exodus, Marley and the Wailers recorded the songs that were released on another album, Kaya (1978). With love as its theme, the recording featured two hits "Satisfy My Soul" and "Is This Love." That same year, Marley returned to Jamaica to play the One Love Peace Concert and got Prime Minister Michael Manley of the PNP and opposition leader Edward Seaga of the JLP to shake hands on stage.

Also in 1978, Marley made his first trip to Africa and visited Kenya and Ethiopia. Ethiopia was especially important to him as the place is viewed as the spiritual homeland of Rastafarians. Perhaps inspired by his travels, his next album Survival (1979) was seen as a call for greater unity on the African continent and the end of oppression there. Bob Marley & The Wailers even played in official independence ceremony for the new nation of Zimbabwe in 1980.

A huge international success, Uprising (1980) featured "Could You Be Loved" and "Redemption Song." The pared down folk-sounding "Redemption Song" was an illustration of Marley's talents as a songwriter, crafting poetic lyrics with social and political importance. The line "emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; none but ourselves can free our minds" is just one example of his artistry.

On tour to support the album, Bob Marley & The Wailers traveled throughout Europe, playing to large crowds. The group also planned a series of concerts in the United States, but the tour soon fell apart. In New York City, they played two concerts at Madison Square Garden before Marley became ill. It was discovered that the earlier cancer discovered in his toe had spread throughout his body.

Traveling to Europe, Marley underwent unconventional treatment in Germany. He was able to fight off the cancer for months. But as it became clear that he did not have much longer to live, Marley tried to return to his beloved Jamaica one last time. He was not able to finish the journey, dying in Miami, Florida, on May 11, 1981.

Shortly before his death, Marley had received the Order of Merit from the Jamaican government. He had also been awarded the Medal of Peace from the United Nations in 1980. Adored by the people of Jamaica, Marley was given a hero’s sendoff. More than 30,000 people paid their respects to him while his body was lying in state at the National Arena. As a part of his memorial service, his wife Rita, Marcia Griffiths, and Judy Mowatt sang and the Wailers played.

During his lifetime, Marley served as a world ambassador for reggae music. He sold more than 20 million records, making him the first international superstar to emerge from the so-called Third World. In 1994, Marley was inducted into the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame.

Marley's music still remains popular, more than 25 years after his passing. And his musical legacy is being continued by his widow and some of his children. Rita continues to perform with the I-Threes, the Wailers, and the Marley children. Bob Marley fathered at least nine children (reports vary). Sons David "Ziggy" and Stephen and daughters Cedella and Sharon (Rita's daughter from a previous relationship who was adopted by Bob) played for years as Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers and later as the Melody Makers. Ziggy and Stephen have also had solo successes. Sons Damian "Gong Jr.," Ky-Mani, and Julian are also talented recording artists. Some of the other Marley children are involved in related family businesses, such as the Tuff Gong record label, which Marley started in the mid-1960s.

Marley's commitment to fighting oppression is also being carried on by an organization established in his memory. Created by Rita and the Marley family, the Bob Marley Foundation helps people and organizations in the developing world.

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