Jared Sparks (1789 - 1866)

Writer, Editor, Educator, Unitarian Minister. After graduating from Harvard, Sparks worked as teacher and editor before becoming minister of the First Independent Church in Baltimore in 1819. While serving as minister, he continued writing and editing, including founding the Unitarian Miscellany and Christian Monitor in 1821. From 1821 until 1823 he served as Chaplain for […]

Jaromil Jireš (1935 - 2001)

Jaromil Jireš (10 December 1935 – 24 October 2001) was a director associated with the Czechoslovak New Wave movement. During the 1960s, Jireš was often in conflict with censors, limiting his output. His 1963 film The Cry was entered into the 1964 Cannes Film Festival. It is often described as the first film of the Czechoslovak […]

Jason Bernard (1938 - 1996)

Actor. He started his career by playing Seldon in the blaxploitation classic film “Thomasina and Bushrod” (1974). Other film roles followed with “Friday Foster” (1975), “Car Wash”(1976), “Paint It Black” (1986), and “While You Were Sleeping” (1995).  Some of his most remembered TV roles include Preston Wade in the daytime drama “Days of Our Lives” […]

Jason Evers (1922 - 2005)

Actor. A native of New York, New York, and a veteran of World War II, Evers’ real name was Herb Evers. Evers is best remembered for his role as ‘James “Jim” Sonnett’ in the television series, “The Guns of Will Sonnett” from 1967 to 1969, which also starred Dack Rambo and Walter Brennan, and for […]

Jason Getsy (1975 - 2009)

Jason Getsy Getsy was hired for US$5,000 to kill Charles Serafino, as well as any and all potential witnesses to the crime, in an argument over a lawn care business. On July 7, 1995, Getsy killed Charles Serafino’s mother, 66-year-old Ann Serafino, in Hubbard, Ohio, and shot Charles seven times, including once in the face […]

Jason Massey (1973 - 2001)

Jason Massey In July 1993, James King was awakened early one morning by the sound of a car pulling up to his house, honking its horn twice, and driving away. A little later, when the car came by again, King looked out his window and observed a tan car turn off its headlights and park […]

Jason Miller (1939 - 2001)

Miller was born John Anthony Miller in Queens, New York to Mary Claire (née Collins), a teacher, and John A. Miller, an electrician. His ancestry included Irish Catholic “with some admixture of German.” His family moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1941, where Miller was educated at St. Patrick’s High School and the Jesuit-run University of Scranton. […]

Jason Moran (1967 - 2003)

Jason Moran was the son of Lewis Moran and Judy Moran. Mark Moran was his half-brother. Moran attended Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School. He met his future wife, Trisha Kane, at 15 years of age. She is the daughter of Les Kane, a Melbourne painter and docker and reputed criminal who was murdered in his […]

Jason Raize (1975 - 2004)

Born in Oneonta, New York, Raize grew up in the Catskills in upstate New York and started acting as a teenager, when his stepmother enrolled him in a summer Shakespeare workshop. In high school, after moving with his father to Oneonta, Raize performed in high school plays and with Oneonta’s Orpheus Theatre. He moved to […]

Jason Robards (1922 - 2000)

Robards was born in Chicago, the son of Hope Maxine (née Glanville) Robards and Jason Robards, Sr., an actor who regularly appeared on the stage and in such early films as The Gamblers (1929). Robards was of German, English, Welsh, Irish, and Swedish descent. The family moved to New York City, when Jason Jr. was still […]

Javier Solís (1931 - 1966)

Javier Solís, born Gabriel Siria Levario, was the first of three children of Francisco Siria Mora, a baker/butcher, and Juana Levario Plata, a trader. Juana had a stall at a public market and as her spouse had allegedly abandoned her, she had little time save for work. After a time, she decided to leave her […]

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889 - 1964)

Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was the first Prime Minister of India and a central figure in Indian politics for much of the 20th century. He emerged as the paramount leader of the Indian independence movement under the tutelage of Mahatma Gandhi and ruled India from its establishment as an independent […]

Jay Adams (1961 - 2014)

Jay Adams was born in a part of Santa Monica, California known to locals as “Dogtown”. He grew up with his mother and his stepfather, Kent Sherwood. He began skating and surfing at the age of four. Sherwood worked at Dave Sweet’s Surf Shop under Pacific Ocean Park, where Adams was introduced to skateboarding by […]

Jay Adler (1896 - 1978)

Actor. He appeared in 21 television series/shows and 45 motion pictures, including “Scandal Sheet,” “The Bad and The Beautiful,” “Love Me or Leave Me,” “The Brothers Karamazov,” “The Story on Page One,” and “The Family Jewels”. He was the son of actor Jacob Adler and actress Sarah Adler, and the brother of actor Luther Adler […]

Jay Belasco (1888 - 1949)

Actor/Film Director. Born Reginald James Belasco. Cousin of David Belasco. Best remembered as ‘Billy Cupps’ in “The Prince Of The Silence,” as ‘Herbert Austin’ in “Life’s a Funny Proposition,” and as ‘Billy Hill’ in “The Palace of Darkened Windows.” (bio by: MC)

Jay Bennett (1912 - 2009)

Author. A mystery writer, he was a two-time recipient of The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Juvenile Fiction with his novels “The Long Black Coat” (1974) and “The Dangling Witness” (1975). Born in New York City, he began his career as a scriptwriter in radio gradually moving to television, where he contributed to the […]

Jay Burton (1916 - 1993)

Writer, Actor. Born in New York City, he began his career as a playwriter on Broadway before relocating to California in the late 1950s. He was most noted for being a program writer for many television series such as “The Perry Como Show”, “The Hollywood Palace”, “When Things Were Rotten”, “The Steve Allen Comedy Hour” […]

Jay D. Scott (1952 - 2001)

Jay D. Scott (August 21, 1952 – June 14, 2001) was executed by the U.S. state of Ohio for the 1983 murder of a delicatessen owner in Cleveland. He was the second man put to death by Ohio since it reinstated the death penalty in 1981.  On May 6, 1983, Vinnie M. Price, owner and […]

Jay Dratler (1911 - 1968)

Jay Dratler (September 14, 1910- September 25, 1968) was an American screenwriter and novelist. Born in New York City, his mother was from Austria. After attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the late 1920s, he studied at the Sorbonne in France and the University of Vienna, becoming fluent in French and […]

Jay Eaton (1899 - 1970)

Jay Eaton was an American character actor whose career spanned both the silent and sound film eras. Born on March 17, 1899 in Union, New Jersey, Eaton entered the film industry with a featured role in the 1920 silent film, Her First Elopement. Over the next 32 years, according to some sources, he would appear […]

Jay Garner (1929 - 2011)

Actor. Born James H. Garner, Jr., he was raised in Chattanooga and educated at the University of Tennessee. Upon graduation, he moved to Atlanta and launched his career in the entertainment industry, initially in radio, before acting with a local repertory company in a production of “Red, White and Maddox”. Garner marked his introduction to […]

Jay Gould (1836 - 1892)

Businessman. He was born into poverty on May 27, 1836 in Roxbury, New York.  Too frail for farming, Gould’s early career in land surveying and commodity speculation got him interested in railroad stocks, which were the high-growth glamour issues of the day. In 1859 he moved to New York City, where he became a broker […]

Jay Hungerford Smith (1855 - 1970)

Businessman. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1877 as a pharmaceutical chemist and became a drugstore operator. He founded the J. Hungerford Smith Company, manufacturers and suppliers of fruit syrups for soda fountains, after discovering an interest in, and talent for, the development of superior syrups while working with drugstore fountains. The company […]

Jay Jackson Sarno (1921 - 1984)

Casino Builder, Mogul, High Roller. He was the builder of Caesars Palace and the Circus Circus casinos on the famed Las Vegas Strip. Considered by many as the city’s first visionary of modern day Las Vegas, he created what would become the template for the rise and dominance of the mega themed hotel resorts and […]

Jay Marshall (1919 - 2005)

Jay Marshall his interest in magic started when he was six. As a youngster, he saw performances by Thurston and Houdini. In later years, he admitted to dozing off in the midst of Houdini’s show. After only a year at college, he went on to be a professional entertainer instead, initially working out of Boston. […]

Jay Norwood Darling (1876 - 1962)

Political cartoonist. Experts estimate that J. N. “Ding” Darling drew 15,000 editorial cartoons chronicling the history, trends, thoughts, and politics of the United States for the first half of the twentieth century. He worked for the Sioux City Journal from 1900-1906, and subsequently worked for the Des Moines Register until his retirement 1949, and at […]

Jay Presson Allen (1922 - 2006)

Author. She is best remembered for her screenplays “Marnie” (1964), “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” (1964), “Cabaret” (1972), “Travels with my Aunt” (1972), and “Funny Lady” (1975) and also she created the TV series “Family”. She earned two Oscar nominations for the Best Screenplay. She was married to producer Lewis M. Allen. (bio by: […]

Jay Stewart (1918 - 1989)

Jay Stewart was perhaps best known for his work on Let’s Make a Deal and in the 1980s on Sale of the Century. Let’s Make a Deal host Monty Hall called Stewart “the best second banana you ever found in your life” and said that “it was a very, very good feeling between us.” On […]

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 […]

Jay Velie (1892 - 1982)

Jay Velie was born in Denver, Colorado, on 16 May 1892. He became an actor and singer, first appearing on stage in 1912. His career on Broadway lasted for over fifty 50 years. Often he appeared with his sister, Janet. Velie’s first Broadway lead was in Little Jesse James (1923–24). Little Jessie James was written by […]