On November 28th 2007, St. Louis Cardinals manager, Tony La Russa pleaded guilty to DUI charges and Jupiter Police Department in Florida released the following arrest video.
On August 22, 2007, he passed Bucky Harris to become the third-highest manager of all-time in total games managed in baseball history in his 4,409th game; behind only John McGraw and Connie Mack.
American comedian Groucho Marx was born on this day, 2nd October, 1890.
Marx developed a routine as a wise-cracking hustler with a distinctive chicken-walking lope and an exaggerated greasepaint moustache and eyebrows, improvising insults to stuffy dowagers (often played by Margaret Dumont) and anyone else who stood in his way. He and his brothers starred in a series of extraordinarily popular stage shows and movies, often ad libbing.
"Groucho Marx was the best comedian this country ever produced. [...] He is simply unique in the same way that Picasso or Stravinsky are." —Woody Allen
"Lydia the Tattooed Lady", which became one of Groucho Marx's signature tunes, was written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg, and first appeared in the movie At the Circus (1939).
The Dick Cavett Show September 5, 1969
Groucho Marx in You Bet Your Life
Groucho Marx as Captain Spalding with Bill Cosby 1973
Jimi Hendrix, born 1942 James Marshall Hendrix in Seattle, Wash., died on this day, September 18th 1970, following a barbituate and alcohol overdose.
Hendrix, in his short musical career, was known for an innovative and extremely influential guitar style that involved the explosive, yet often sensitively nuanced, use of feedback, distortion, and other electronically manipulated sound effects. His recordings include the albums Are You Experienced? (1967), Axis: Bold as Love (1967), and Electric Ladyland (1968). He toured with his bands The Experience (1967-69) and Band of Gypsys (1969-70) and appeared at both the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock.
Oliver Stone, American filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer was born on this day, 15th September, 1946 in New York City.
Stone enlisted in the army in 1967 and saw combat in Vietnam, winning a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, before studying filmmaking with Martin Scorsese at New York Univ. (B.F.A., 1971).
He adapted the screenplay for Midnight Express (1978 Academy Award) and authored other scripts before directing his first Hollywood film, The Hand (1981). Stone won critical plaudits for Salvador (1986), but it was not until he wrote and directed the grimly realistic Vietnam War drama Platoon (1986 Academy Award, best director) that he catapulted to popular success.
In his exploration of various uniquely American themes, Stone has become a controversial figure, frequently criticized for mingling fact and fiction in some films (e.g., JFK, 1991) and for portraying extreme violence in others (e.g., Natural Born Killers, 1994). His many other movies include Wall Street (1987), Born on the Fourth of July (1989; Academy Award, best director), The Doors (1991), Nixon (1995), and World Trade Center (2006).
Charlie Rose interviews Oliver Stone (after release of "Nixon" in 1995)
Grace, Princess of Monaco née Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12 1929 – September 14 1982) was an Academy Award-winning American film and stage actress who, upon marriage to Rainier III, Prince of Monaco in 1956, became Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, but was generally known as Princess Grace of Monaco. Princess Grace maintained dual American and Monegasque citizenship after her marriage. The principality's current Sovereign Prince, Albert II is the son of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace. The American Film Institute ranked Kelly No. 13 amongst the Greatest Female Stars of All Time.
On this day, September 13, 1982, while driving with her daughter Stephanie to Monaco from their country home, Princess Grace, then 52, suffered a stroke, causing her car to plunge down the mountainside. Princess Grace died the next day without regaining consciousness.
Princess Grace is interred in Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Monaco; Prince Rainier was buried alongside her following his death in 2005. Nearly 100 million people worldwide watched her funeral.
Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16 1971 – September 13 1996), also known by his stage names: 2Pac, Makaveli, or simply Pac, was an American artist renowned for his rap music, movie roles, poetry, and his social activism. He is recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best selling hip-hop artist, with over seventy-five million albums sold worldwide including over fifty million in the United States alone. Most of Shakur's songs are about growing up around violence and hardship in ghettos, racism, problems in society, and sometimes qualms with other fellow rappers. Shakur's work is known for advocating political, economic, social, and racial equality as well as his raw descriptions of violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and conflicts with the law. Many fans, critics, and industry insiders rank him as the greatest rapper ever.
On this day, 16th August, 1977, Elvis Aaron Presley, "The King" died at his Memphis home, Graceland.
Elvis was born to Vernon and Gladys Presley in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935. His twin brother, Jessie Garon, was stillborn, leaving Elvis to grow up as an only child. He and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1948, and Elvis graduated from Humes High School there in 1953.
Elvis’ musical influences were the pop and country music of the time, the gospel music he heard in church and at the all-night gospel sings he frequently attended, and the black R&B he absorbed on historic Beale Street as a Memphis teenager. In 1954, he began his singing career with the legendary Sun Records label in Memphis. In late 1955, his recording contract was sold to RCA Victor. By 1956, he was an international sensation. With a sound and style that uniquely combined his diverse musical influences and blurred and challenged the social and racial barriers of the time, he ushered in a whole new era of American music and popular culture.
He starred in 33 successful films, made history with his television appearances and specials, and knew great acclaim through his many, often record-breaking, live concert performances on tour and in Las Vegas. Globally, he has sold over one billion records, more than any other artist. His American sales have earned him gold, platinum or multi-platinum awards for 150 different albums and singles, far more than any other artist. Among his many awards and accolades were 14 Grammy nominations (3 wins) from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, which he received at age 36, and his being named One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970 by the United States Jaycees. Without any of the special privileges his celebrity status might have afforded him, he honorably served his country in the U.S. Army.
His talent, good looks, sensuality, charisma, and good humor endeared him to millions, as did the humility and human kindness he demonstrated throughout his life. Known the world over by his first name, he is regarded as one of the most important figures of twentieth century popular culture.
Lenny Bruce died of a narcotics overdose on this day, August 3rd, 1966.
Born Leonard Alfred Schneider, in Long Island, N.Y., Bruce possessed a cynical, surreal, and intensely comic view of the world. He brutally satirized such sensitive areas of American life as sex, religion, and race relations. His comedy left no group unscathed, and his routines were replete with four-letter words.
Consequently, Bruce was at various times arrested and forbidden to perform; in 1964 he was convicted of obscenity charges stemming from a New York City performance. He was also arrested for narcotics violations.
After his death Bruce became a cult figure, considered by many to be a martyr to the cause of free speech. He was posthumously pardoned of his obscenity conviction by the governor of New York in 2003.
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American martial artist, philosopher, instructor, and actor widely regarded as one of the most influential martial artists of the twentieth century.
On this day, July 20, 1973, Lee was in Hong Kong, due to have dinner with former James Bond star George Lazenby, with whom he intended to make a film. According to Lee's wife Linda, Lee met producer Raymond Chow at 2 p.m. at home to discuss the making of the movie Game of Death. They worked until 4 p.m. and then drove together to the home of Lee's colleague Betty Ting Pei, a Taiwanese actress who was to have a leading role in the film. The three went over the script at her home, and then Chow left to attend a dinner meeting.
A short time later, Lee complained of a headache, and Ting Pei gave him an analgesic. At around 7:30 p.m., he laid down for a nap. After Lee did not turn up for dinner, Chow came to the apartment but could not wake Lee up. A doctor was summoned, who spent ten minutes attempting to revive him before sending him by ambulance to Queen Elizabeth Hospital. However, Lee was dead by the time he reached the hospital. There was no visible external injury; however, his brain had swollen considerably, from 1,400 to 1,575 grams (a 13% increase). Lee was thirty-two years old. On October 15, 2005, Chow stated in an interview that Lee was allergic to Equagesic. When the doctors announced Bruce Lee's death officially, it was coined as "Death by Misadventure."
A Collage Of Images over Bruce Lee's life
This is an unedited 25 minute interview with Bruce Lee on the Pierre Berton Show. Recorded on 9th December 1971 in Hong Kong, Bruce Lee is seen being himself, speaking candidly and informally about his life, his martial art beliefs and philosophy. Through the programme Bruce's supreme confidence, charisma and focus provide a tremendous insight into the young Bruce Lee - the man behind the legend.
Bruce Lee - The "Lost" Interview
Famously, Bruce Lee appeared in the 1964 Long Beach International Karate Championships and performed repetitions of two-finger pushups (using the thumb and the index finger) with feet at approximately a shoulder-width apart. In the same Long Beach event he also performed the "One inch punch".
Michael Gerard Tyson, (Mike Tyson) was born on this day, June 30th, 1966. He is a former American World Heavyweight boxing Champion. Tyson, the youngest man to have won a heavyweight title belt, was rated in 1999 by Ring magazine as the fourteenth greatest heavyweight of all time.
At the height of his fame and career in the late 80s and throughout the 90s, Tyson was one of the most recognized sports personalities in the world. Apart from his many sporting accomplishments, his numerous outrageous and controversial behavior both in the boxing ring and in his private life has kept him constantly in the public eye.
Mike Tyson's Greatest Brain Explosions
Mike Tyson's Funniest Moments
Produced in 1988, before Tyson turned himself into a joke, it highlights Tyson during the brief period the great sporstman he was shone through.
Mike Tyson Greatest Hits HBO Channel 1988
10 years and 2 days ago today, during a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield on June 28, 1997, Mike Tyson bit off a portion of Holyfield's ear. (twice)
The fight was billed as "Holyfield-Tyson II, The Sound And The Fury". The fight began with Holyfield dominating the smaller Tyson but doing no real damage. Tyson seemed slow in the first two rounds and lost both.
In addition, Holyfield was headbutting Tyson above his right eye, and by the beginning of the third round had swelled the eye to grotesque proportions. Tyson complained to Mills Lane about the butting (which was also a problem in their first fight, which Holyfield won by TKO in the 11th round), but Lane ruled the butts unintentional.
At one point in the third round, Tyson and Holyfield were clenched, with Tyson holding Holyfield's arms at his sides. Then, out of nowhere, Tyson sought out Holyfield's right ear and bit it hard, causing Holyfield to yelp in pain and jump away. Tyson had actually bit part of the ear off, and spat it across the ring shortly thereafter.
Referee Mills Lane called time and examined Holyfield. Meanwhile, Tyson went to his corner and waited. After seeing the damage Tyson had caused, he went to ringside and told Nevada state athletic commissioner Bruce Ratner that he was going to disqualify Tyson immediately. However, Lane stopped himself and checked with ringside doctor Flip Homansky, who assured him that Holyfield could continue the fight. With that bit of information, Lane deducted two points from Tyson for the bite, and ordered the fight to continue.
After a few more seconds, Tyson sought out Holyfield's left ear and bit it, though not with as much force as the other ear. Lane immediately disqualified Tyson, who went ballistic in the ring, fighting off anyone who tried to control him. He even went as far as to shove Holyfield from behind, touching off a melee that the police had to be called in to control.
As a result of this and other behavior, Tyson was banned from boxing for one year and fined $3 million for biting Evander Holyfield on both ears. It also shocked the 16,000 people at ringside and the millions watching. Tyson's excuse was that Holyfield was headbutting and Tyson was retaliating. One of Tyson's former trainers, Teddy Atlas had actually predicted before the fight that Tyson would deliberately get himself disqualified.
Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933—29 June 1967) was an American actress and Playboy centerfold.
She was killed in a car accident on this day, 29th of June, 1967.
One of the leading sex symbols of the 1950s, like Marilyn Monroe, Mansfield starred in several popular Hollywood films that emphasized her platinum-blonde hair, dramatic hourglass figure, and cleavage-revealing costumes. She was a recipient of a Golden Globe Award and a Theatre World Award for two early screen and stage performances.
The Death of Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Rooney at 1961 Golden Globe Awards
Jayne Mansfield and Sam Brody in Ireland 4 Months Before Their Death
Errol Flynn was born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia on 20th June 1902. He moved to England to gain acting experience, joined the Northampton Repertory Company, and after a part in a film was offered a Hollywood contract. His first US film, Captain Blood (1935), established him as a hero of historical adventure films, and his good looks and athleticism confirmed him as the greatest Hollywood swashbuckler, in such films as The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and The Sea Hawk (1940). During the 1940s his off-screen reputation for drinking, drug-taking, and womanizing became legendary, and eventually affected his career, which was briefly revived by his acclaimed performance as a drunken wastrel in The Sun Also Rises (1957). His autobiography was called My Wicked, Wicked Ways (1959).
Still Photographic Collage of Errol Flynn
"Just Like Errol Flynn" (music by Dogs D'amour)
Errol Flynn in "The Charge of the Light Brigade"
In January 1959, Fidel Castro led his Cuban revolutionaries into Havana. It's a huge story, and the Canadian TV show Front Page Challenge has found an unlikely mystery guest: Errol Flynn, a Hollywood actor in the twilight of his career.
Famed for playing dashing swashbucklers, Flynn put on a reporter's hat while in Cuba for the revolution. Despite rumours he fought alongside the rebels, Flynn tells the panel he "didn't pick up anything more dangerous than a ballpoint pen."
On 8th June, 1907 Florenz Ziegfeld produced the first Ziegfeld Follies revue on Broadway in New York City and the combination of seminudity, pageantry, and comedy proved successful until the 1930s when the Great Depression ended the show. Ziegfeld required that every woman in the Follies have a 36-inch bust, a 26-inch waist, and 38-inch hips. Some famous Ziegfeld girls include Eve Arden, Nora Bayes, Fanny Brice, Billie Burke, Paulette Goddard, Anna Held, Marilyn Miller, Ann Pennington, and Barbara Stanwyck.
Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic of 1920
Ziegfeld Beauties - Photos by Alfred Cheney Johnston
The Ziegfeld Showgirls - Photos by Alfred Cheney Johnston
Alfred Cheney Johnston's Ballerinas - Ziegfeld
Jazz Age Beauties - Alfred Cheney Johnston's Ziegfeld Photos
The Search For Beauty with Florenz Ziegfeld on Brunettes
"Hey Feller!" - Showboat (1929)
Very rare footage of the original Broadway production of Showboat at the Ziegfeld Theatre, which played from 27 December, 1927 to 4 May, 1929. This segment (along with the "Queenie's Ballyhoo" clip) was filmed for a special prologue to the 1929 Universal film version of the musical - one of three film adaptations of the show.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was officially released in both mono and stereo on June 1, 1967, although it was rush released in the UK on May 26. It was actually played on the radio in Britain on the BBC show Where It's At, the week before on May 20, except for A Day In The Life, which had been banned by the BBC the day earlier, on the grounds that it could encourage a permissive attitude towards drugs.
Perhaps the icon of macho movie stars, and a living legend, Clint Eastwood has become a standard in international cinema. Born on this day in 1930 in San Francisco, the son of a steel worker, Eastwood was a college dropout from Los Angeles College, prior to getting his start in acting.
Like most superstars, Clint Eastwood's success can be attributed to equal parts good fortune, tenacity, and talent. Eastwood may have been too young to fight in World War II, but he managed to miss out on action in Korea too. On leave as a G.I., his plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean and steely-eyed Clint swam three miles to shore. He later was made boot camp swimming instructor and missed out on action in Korea (confined to base). Encouraged to try acting by two of his Army buddies, David Janssen and Martin Milner, he landed a contract at Universal Studios in 1954, earning 75 USD a week playing bit parts in B-grade movies like Revenge of the Creature (1955) and Tarantula (1955). He was dropped when some studio execs decided his Adam's apple was too big. The determined Eastwood swallowed his pride and, over the next few years, he dug swimming pools between playing bit parts in movies and on TV. While visiting a friend at CBS, Eastwood was spotted by a network exec who cast him as cattle driver Rowdy Yates in the long-running western series "Rawhide" (1959). That, in turn, led to spaghetti stardom in a string of Sergio Leone westerns, beginning with Per un pugno di dollari (1964) ("A Fistful of Dollars").
The fifth of seven sons, he was born Leslie Townes Hope in Eltham, England on May 29, 1903. His English father, William Henry Hope, was a stonemason -- his Welsh mother, Avis Townes Hope, an aspiring concert singer.
In 1907, Leslie's father brought the family to Cleveland, Ohio. In 1920, by virtue of his father's naturalization, 'Bob' -- the name by which the world would later know him -- and his brothers became US citizens. (Bob Jokes, "I left England at the age of four when I found out I couldn't be king.")
American performer Al Jolson is most famous for his role in the 1927 film The Jazz Singer, which was the first major motion picture to successfully employ synchronized sound. Jolson also toured in vaudeville shows, where he performed minstrel-style singing in blackface makeup.
On 23rd May 1994, funeral services were held at Arlington National Cemetery for former first lady Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.
The inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961 brought to the White House and to the heart of the nation a beautiful young wife and the first young children of a President in half a century.
She was born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, daughter of John Vernon Bouvier III and his wife, Janet Lee. Her early years were divided between New York City and East Hampton, Long Island, where she learned to ride almost as soon as she could walk. She was educated at the best of private schools; she wrote poems and stories, drew illustrations for them, and studied ballet. Her mother, who had obtained a divorce, married Hugh D. Auchincloss in 1942 and brought her two girls to "Merrywood," his home near Washington, D.C., with summers spent at his estate in Newport, Rhode Island. Jacqueline was dubbed "the Debutante of the Year" for the 1947-1948 season, but her social success did not keep her from continuing her education. As a Vassar student she traveled extensively, and she spent her junior year in France before graduating from George Washington University. These experiences left her with a great empathy for people of foreign countries, especially the French.
In Washington she took a job as "inquiring photographer" for a local newspaper. Her path soon crossed that of Senator Kennedy, who had the reputation of being the most eligible bachelor in the capital. Their romance progressed slowly and privately, but their wedding at Newport in 1953 attracted nationwide publicity. With marriage "Jackie" had to adapt herself to the new role of wife to one of the country's most energetic political figures. Her own public appearances were highly successful, but limited in number. After the sadness of a miscarriage and the stillbirth of a daughter, Caroline Bouvier was born in 1957; John Jr. was born between the election of 1960 and Inauguration Day. Patrick Bouvier, born prematurely on August 7, 1963, died two days later.
To the role of First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy brought beauty, intelligence, and cultivated taste. Her interest in the arts, publicized by press and television, inspired an attention to culture never before evident at a national level. She devoted much time and study to making the White House a museum of American history and decorative arts as well as a family residence of elegance and charm. But she defined her major role as "to take care of the President" and added that "if you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much."
Mrs. Kennedy's gallant courage during the tragedy of her husband's assassination won her the admiration of the world. Thereafter it seemed the public would never allow her the privacy she desired for herself and her children. She moved to New York City; and in 1968 she married the wealthy Greek businessman, Aristotle Onassis, 23 years her senior, who died in March 1975. From 1978 until her death in 1994, Mrs. Onassis worked in New York City as an editor for Doubleday. At her funeral her son described three of her attributes: "love of words, the bonds of home and family, and her spirit of adventure."
