Tampa Red (1904 - 1981)

Tampa Red was born Hudson Woodbridge in Smithville, Georgia. His parents died when he was a child, and he moved to Tampa, Florida, where he was raised by his aunt and grandmother and adopted their surname, Whittaker. He emulated his older brother, Eddie, who played the guitar, and he was especially inspired by an old […]

Ida Cox (1888 - 1967)

In 1929, Ida Cox and Crump formed their own tent show revue, aptly named Raisin’ Cain (after the biblical story of Cain and Abel and the resulting colloquialism). Cox performed as the title act, and Crump served as both accompanist and manager. Through the end of the 1920s and into the early 1930s, Raisin’ Cain […]

Ma Rainey (1886 - 1939)

Pridgett claimed to have been born on April 26, 1886 (beginning with the 1910 census, taken April 25, 1910), in Columbus, Georgia. However, the 1900 census indicates she was born in September 1882 in Alabama, and researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc suggest that her birthplace was in Russell County, Alabama. She was the second […]

Mike Berniker (1935 - 2008)

Michael Berniker (June 30, 1935 – July 25, 2008) was an American record producer who was recognized with nine Grammy Awards over the course of his career for his work on albums with such performers as Perry Como, Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme, Johnny Mathis and Barbra Streisand, as well as Broadway theatre cast recordings, […]

Bill Finegan (1917 - 2008)

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Bill Finegan grew up in a household full of piano players. While growing up in Rumson, New Jersey, he taught orchestration to schoolmate Nelson Riddle, and he studied piano with Elizabeth Connelly, piano and musicianship with flautist/alto saxophonist Rudolph John Winthrop (1883–1959), himself a student of Engelbert Humperdinck. He spent time […]

Roland Hanna (1932 - 2002)

Roland Pembroke Hanna (February 10, 1932 in Detroit, Michigan – November 13, 2002 in Hackensack, New Jersey) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and teacher. Hanna studied classical piano from the age of 11, but was strongly interested in jazz, having been introduced to it by his friend, pianist Tommy Flanagan. This interest increased after his […]

Larry Elgart (1922 - 2017)

Larry Elgart was born in 1922 in New London, Connecticut, four years younger than his brother, Les. Their mother was a concert pianist; their father played piano as well, though not professionally. Both brothers began playing in jazz ensembles in their teens, and while young Larry played with jazz musicians such as Charlie Spivak, Woody […]

Shelley Berman (1925 - 2017)

Shelley Berman began as a straight actor, receiving his training at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, honing his acting skills in stock companies in and around Chicago and New York City. In the mid-1950s, he became a member of Chicago’s Compass Players, which later evolved into The Second City. While performing improvised sketches with Compass, Berman […]

Gerard Philipe (1922 - 1959)

Born Gérard Philip in Cannes, France, he was of one quarter Czech ancestry from his maternal grandmother and three quarters French ancestry. As a teenager Philipe took acting lessons before going to Paris to study at the Conservatoire of Dramatic Art. When he was 19 years old, he made his stage debut at a theater […]

Michele Morgan (1920 - 2016)

Michele Morgan left home at the age of 15 for Paris determined to become an actress. She took acting lessons from René Simon while serving as an extra in several films to pay for her drama classes. It was then that she took the stage name “Michèle Morgan”. She argued that she did not have […]

Francis Blanche (1921 - 1974)

In the 1940s and 1950s, Francis Blanche was part of Robert Dhéry’s theatrical company Les Branquignols, with whom he played in the film Ah! Les belles bacchantes, starring Robert Dhéry, Colette Brosset (Dhéry’s then-wife), and Louis de Funès; directed by Jean Loubignac in 1954. Blanche teamed up with Pierre Dac to form a comic duo best […]

Colin Welland (1934 - 2015)

As an actor, Colin Welland appeared as PC David Graham in the BBC Television series Z-Cars from 1962 to 1978. He was a sympathetic schoolteacher in a BAFTA-winning performance in the film Kes (1969), and a detective in the Richard Burton film Villain (1971). He appeared as a villain in one 1975 episode of The […]

Louis Pergaud (1882 - 1915)

Louis Pergaud accepted his first teaching position in Durnes. After a year, he was called to complete a year of military service with the 35th infantry regiment stationed in Belfort. In the fall of 1903, Pergaud returned to his post in Durne. In 1905 Pergaud transferred with his wife to Landresse, a village that would eventually […]

Yves Robert (1920 - 2002)

Yves Robert (19 June 1920 – 10 May 2002) was a French actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. Robert was born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire. In his teens, he went to Paris to pursue a career in acting, starting with unpaid parts on stage in the city’s various theatre workshops. From ages 12–20 he set type as a […]

Mireille Darc (1938 - 2017)

Mireille Darc (French: [miʁɛj daʁk]; 15 May 1938 – 28 August 2017) was a French model and actress. She was Alain Delon’s longtime co-star and companion. She appeared as a lead character in Jean-Luc Godard’s 1967 film Week End. Darc is a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur and Commandeur of the Ordre national du Mérite. Born Mireille […]

Mike Hegan (1942 - 2013)

James Michael “Mike” Hegan (July 21, 1942 – December 25, 2013) was an American Major League Baseball first baseman/outfielder, and later broadcaster. He was the son of longtime Cleveland Indians catcher Jim Hegan. A graduate of Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Hegan began his major league career with the New York Yankees in 1964, also […]

Jay Thomas (1948 - 2017)

Jay Thomas made his annual Christmastime appearance with David Letterman for the first time in December 1998. Letterman and one of his other guests that evening, then-New York Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde, took turns tossing footballs at the Christmas tree across the stage, atop which sat a large meatball. As the two tried to knock […]

Tobe Hooper (1943 - 2017)

William Tobe Hooper (January 25, 1943 – August 26, 2017) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work in the horror film genre; his most recognized films include The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Poltergeist. Stuart Heritage of The Guardian described The Texas Chain Saw Massacre as “one of the most […]

Fred Ebb (1928 - 2004)

Music publisher Tommy Valando introduced Fred Ebb to Kander in 1962. After a few songs such as “My Coloring Book,” Kander and Ebb wrote a stage musical, Golden Gate, that was never produced. However, the quality of the score convinced producer Harold Prince to hire them for their first professional production, the George Abbott-directed musical […]

Jerry Bock (1928 - 2010)

Born in New Haven, Connecticut and raised in Flushing, Queens, New York, Jerry Bock studied the piano as a child. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he wrote the musical Big As Life, which toured the state and enjoyed a run in Chicago. After graduation, he spent three summers at the Tamiment Playhouse in […]

Jerome Weidman (1913 - 1998)

Jerome Weidman (April 4, 1913, New York City – October 6, 1998, New York City) was an American playwright and novelist. He collaborated with George Abbott on the book for the musical Fiorello! with music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. All received the 1960 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work. Jerome Weidman […]

Peter Gennaro (1919 - 2000)

Peter Gennaro was born in Metairie, Louisiana. He made his Broadway debut in the ensemble of Make Mine Manhattan in 1948. He followed this with Kiss Me, Kate (1948) and Guys and Dolls (1950). He first drew notice from theatergoers as a member of the trio that danced the Bob Fosse number “Steam Heat” in […]

Peter Stone (1930 - 2003)

When Peter Stone was 15, his parents took him to see Mexican Hayride starring Bobby Clark at the Hazard’s Pavilion. Stone saw Clark throw his hat on a hat tree 100 feet away, and, at that moment, knew he wanted to work in theatre. He graduated from University High School in Los Angeles, attended Bard […]

Thomas Meehan (1929 - 2017)

Thomas Meehan moved to New York at age 24, and worked at The New Yorker’s “Talk of the Town”. In 1972, Meehan was asked to work on a musical based on the comic strip Little Orphan Annie. At first, Meehan was skeptical to accept the offer, but eventually accepted the offer after reading the strip. […]

John Abercrombie (1944 - 2017)

John Abercrombie graduated from Berklee in 1967 and briefly attended North Texas State University before moving to New York in 1969. He quickly became one of the “most in-demand session players,” recording with Gil Evans in 1974, Gato Barbieri in 1971, and Barry Miles in 1972 among others. In 1969, he joined Dreams, one of […]

Freddie Hubbard (1938 - 2008)

In December 1960, Freddie Hubbard was invited to play on Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz after Coleman had heard him performing with Don Cherry. Then in May 1961, Hubbard played on Olé Coltrane, John Coltrane’s final recording session for Atlantic Records. Together with Eric Dolphy, Hubbard was the only sideman who appeared on both Olé and Africa/Brass, […]

Bill Justis (1926 - 1982)

William Everett “Bill” Justis, Jr. (October 14, 1926 – July 15, 1982) was an American pioneer rock and roll musician, composer, and musical arranger, best known for his 1957 Grammy Hall of Fame song, “Raunchy.” As a songwriter, he was also often credited as Bill Everette. Bill Justis was born in Birmingham, Alabama but grew up […]

Billy Lee Riley (1933 - 2009)

Born in Pocahontas, Arkansas, the son of a sharecropper, Billy Lee Riley learned to play guitar from black farm workers. After four years in the Army, Riley first recorded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1955 before being lured to Sun Studios by Sam Phillips. He recorded “Trouble Bound” for Jack Clement and Slim Wallace. Sam Phillips […]

Sonny Burgess (1929 - 2017)

Sonny Burgess was born on a farm near Newport, Arkansas to Albert and Esta Burgess. He graduated from Newport High School in 1948. In the early 1950s, Burgess played boogie woogie music in dance halls and bars around Newport. Burgess, Kern Kennedy, Johnny Ray Hubbard, and Gerald Jackson formed a boogie-woogie band they called the Rocky […]

Lionel Conacher (1900 - 1954)

Lionel Pretoria Conacher, MP (/ˈkɒnəkər/; May 24, 1900 – May 26, 1954), nicknamed “The Big Train”, was a Canadian athlete and politician. Voted the country’s top athlete of the first half of the 20th century, he won championships in numerous sports. His first passion was football; he was a member of the 1921 Grey Cup […]