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- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Agnes was born of Anglo-Irish ancestry near Boston, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister (her mother was a mezzo-soprano) who encouraged her to perform in church pageants. Aged three, she sang 'The Lord is my Shepherd' on a public stage and seven years later joined the St. Louis Municipal Opera as a dancer and singer for four years. In keeping with her father's dictum of finishing her education first (then being permitted to do whatever she wished with her career), Agnes attended Muskingum College (Ohio), and, subsequently, the University of Wisconsin. She graduated with an M.A. in English and public speaking and later added a doctorate in literature from Bradley University to her resume. When her family moved to Reedsburg, Wisconsin, where her father had a pastorate, Agnes taught public school English and drama for five years. In between, she went to Paris to study pantomime with Marcel Marceau.
In 1928, she began training at the American Academy for Dramatic Arts and graduated with honors the following year. In order to supplement her income , Agnes had turned to radio early on. She had her first job in 1923 as a singer for a St. Louis radio station. Her love for that medium remained with her all her life. From the 1930s to the 50s, she appeared on numerous serials, dramas and children's programs. She was Min Gump in "The Gumps" (1934), the 'dragon lady' in "Terry and the Pirates" (1937), Margot Lane of classic comic strip fame in "The Shadow", Mrs.Danvers in "Rebecca" and the bed-ridden woman about to meet her end in "Sorry, Wrong Number". Acting on the airwaves was so important to her that she would insist on its continuation as a precondition of a later contract with MGM. Significantly, through her radio work on "The Shadow"and "March of Time" in 1937, she met and befriended fellow actor Orson Welles. Welles soon invited her to join him and Joseph Cotten as charter members of his Mercury Theatre on the Air. Agnes was involved in the famous "War of the Worlds" broadcast of 1938 which attracted nationwide attention and resulted in a lucrative $100,000 per picture deal with RKO in Hollywood. The Mercury players (the other principals were Ray Collins, Everett Sloane, Paul Stewart and George Coulouris) packed up and went west.
An ebullient and versatile character actress, Agnes was impossible to typecast: she could play years older than her age, appear as heroine or villainess, tragedienne or comedienne. In her first film, the iconic Citizen Kane (1941), she played the titular character's mother. She received her greatest critical acclaim for her emotive second screen performance as Aunt Fanny Minafer in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). In addition to being voted the year's best female performer by the New York Film Critics she was also nominated for an Academy Award. Through the years, Agnes would be nominated three more times: for her touching portrayal of the jaded but sympathetic Baroness Conti in Mrs. Parkington (1944); for her role as the title character's Aunt Aggie in Johnny Belinda (1948) and for playing Velma, the hard-boiled, suspicious housekeeper of Bette Davis in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), co-starring her old friend Joseph Cotten. Other notable film appearances included Jane Eyre (1943), with Orson Welles, The Woman in White (1948) as Countess Fusco), The Lost Moment (1947) (as a 105-year old woman) and Dark Passage (1947), a classic film noir in which she had third billing behind Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall as the treacherous , malevolent Madge Rapf. She had a rare starring role in the campy horror flick The Bat (1959), giving (according to the New York Times of December 17) 'a good, snappy performance'.
On Broadway, she appeared in such acclaimed plays as "All the King's Men" and "Candlelight". She enjoyed success with "Don Juan in Hell", touring nationally: the first time (1951-2) with Charles Laughton and Cedric Hardwicke, the second time (though receiving fewer critical plaudits) with Ricardo Montalban and Paul Henreid in 1973. She also starred with Joseph Cotten in "Prescription Murder" (1962). While not a great critical success, this was much liked by audiences and it introduced a famous detective named Lieutenant Columbo. From 1954, she also toured the U.S. and Europe with her own a one-woman show entitled "The Fabulous Redhead". Agnes performed numerous times on television before landing the role of Endora on Bewitched (1964). One particularly interesting part came her way through the director Douglas Heyes who remembered her from "Sorry, Wrong Number". He cast her in the starring - and indeed, only role in The Invaders (1961). As the lonely old woman confronted by tiny alien invaders in her remote farmhouse, Agnes never utters a single word and cleverly acts her scenes as a pantomime of unspoken terror.
Of course, the genial Agnes Moorehead has been immortalized as Elizabeth Montgomery's flamboyant witch-mother, Endora, although that was not a role the actress wished to be remembered for (in spite of several Emmy Award nominations). Indeed, she had thought this whole witchcraft theme to be rather far-fetched and was somewhat taken aback by the show's huge popularity. Agnes had a special clause inserted in her contract which limited her appearances to eight out of twelve episodes which gave her the opportunity to also work on other projects. Commenting on the acting profession in one of her many interviews (New York Times, May 1, 1974), she found the key to success in being " sincere in your work " and to "just go right on whether audiences or critics are taking your scalp off or not".- Music Artist
- Composer
- Actor
Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Mattie Shaw, a jazz singer and social worker, and John L. Nelson, a lyricist and pianist. His father's stage name was "Prince Rogers". His parents were both from African-American families from Louisiana. They separated during his youth, which lead him to move back and forth. Prince had a troubled relationship with his step-father which lead him to run away from home. Prince was adopted by a family called the Andersons. Prince soon after became friends with the Anderson's son, Andre Anderson (Cymone) together along with Charles Smith they joined a band called Grand Central. The band later renamed themselves Champagne and were a fairly successful live band, however soon diminished.
Prince at the age of eighteen started working on high-quality demo tracks with Chris Moon. With these demo tracks Prince eventually ended up signing a recording contract with Warner Brothers Records and was the youngest producer associated with the label. Prince made his debut on the record label with his 1978 album, For You. It wasn't a strong successful album, however it was fair for a beginning artist and ranked 163 on the U.S. Pop Charts. Prince's next releases would tend to do much better on the charts with his singles, "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" and I Wanna Be Your Lover in 1979. This would start to introduce Prince as a person who presented sexually explicit material into the music industry. However Prince didn't begin to attract mainstream artists until he release his single, 1999. This single began to be noticed by M.T.V. viewers and this would make him a part of the main-stream music media. Prince released two more singles called Little Red Corvette and Delirious. The album featured Prince's new band, The Revolution. In 1984 Prince would release what would be seen as an admired and profound masterpiece the feature film/sound-track album, Purple Rain in 1984. Prince's father contributed to this album, by cowriting the chord sequence for a couple of his songs. Prince continued to give cowriting credit to his father on several other albums, as his famous chord sequence would be used in several of Prince's singles and albums.
A lot of Prince's songs did not agree with listeners and one of his songs, Darling Nikki prompted a group of people to start a censorship organization called, Parents Music Resource Center (P.M.R.C.) as the track implemented grinding ludicrous acts such as masturbating, which stunned listeners. Prince however continued to release various other singles with the same platform his memorable releases being, Around The World In A Day, Parade, Love Sexy, and Batman.
Prince released a sequel to Purple Rain in 1990 called Graffiti Bridge, a soundtrack album accompanied this movie entitled, Graffiti Bridge. The film did terrible in box-office and was nominated for several Razzie awards. Many people saw the sound-track album, as the high point of the film.
In 1991, Prince assembled a new band called, The New Power Generation with this band he would release singles such as Diamond And Pearls, Cream, and Gett Off. Prince eventually changed his stage name from Prince to a symbol, which lead people to call him, "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince". Prince soon took back his old stage name.
In the 1990s, Prince continued to release singles such as Came, The Gold Experience, Chaos And Disorder, and Emancipation. With the rise of the new millennium, Prince released material such as a religious album called The Rainbow Children,One Nite Alone,The Chocolate Invasion,The Slaughter House, and had a collaboration with Stevie Wonder on Stevie's single called, What The Fuss in 2005.
Prince died on April 21, 2016 in Chanhassen, Minnesota, at his Paisley Park recording studio complex. He was 57.
Prince will be remembered as a musician and artist who inspired millions through his music, and set an inspirational platform which others still abide by.- Kathryn Adams was born on 15 July 1920 in New Ulm, Minnesota, USA. She was an actress, known for Blonde for a Day (1946), Saboteur (1942) and Fifth Avenue Girl (1939). She was married to Fred Owen Doty and Hugh Beaumont. She died on 14 October 2016 in Mankato, Minnesota, USA.
- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Tiny Tim, the ukulele-playing singer of 1920s ditties who was a true icon of the 1960s, was born Herbert Khaury on April 12, 1932, in New York City. The son of a Lebanese father and Jewish mother, the young Khaury grew up in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. A high school dropout, his interest in the popular music of the 1890s through the 1930s manifested itself early, and his dream was to become a singer. He learned to play guitar and ukulele and began performing professionally as "Larry Love" in the early 1950s, making his debut at a lesbian cabaret in Greenwich Village called Page 3, where he became a regular. Though his parents tried to discourage him, Khaury continued to publicly perform the early mass culture American music that he so loved and collected on 78 records, at small clubs, parties and talent shows under a variety of names.
Khaury had established himself as a cult performer in the Greenwich Village music scene by the early 1960s, singing under the name that he would become famous for, that of the crippled lad in Charles Dickens' novel "A Christmas Carol" (allegedly the stage name was suggested by a manager who used to work with midgets; Khaury himself stood an inch over six feet, but the name helped to reinforce his bizarre persona). After appearing in You Are What You Eat (1968), he made an appearance on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967), the smash hit series that was as much a part of the 1960s as Tim would come to be. He was an instant sensation and his career was made. His weird appearance and act (he evinced the polite manners of a bygone era, which stood out in stark contrast to the "Let it All Hang Out!" ethos of the time) touched a nerve and he became a cultural specimen that elucidated the zeitgeist of that era.
Tiny Tim appeared several more times on "Laugh-In" but became better known through his frequent guest spots on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962), where audiences were bemused by his eccentric personality. He signed with Frank Sinatra's record label Reprise and issued his debut album, "God Bless Tiny Tim," in 1968, featuring what became his signature song, a falsetto cover of "Tip-Toe Through the Tulips." "Tulips" became a hit, reaching the Top 20, and "God Bless Tiny Tim" sold over 200,000 copies. He followed it up before the year was out with the ingeniously entitled "Tiny Tim's Second Album."
Tiny Tim's wave crested in 1969, in terms of cultural recognition and popularity. In August he released his third LP, an album of children's songs called "For All My Little Friends," while on December 17 of that year he married "Miss Vicki," his 17-year-old girlfriend (Vicki Budinger) on "The Tonight Show." The wedding drew the largest rating ever recorded for an evening talk show, enjoying an incredible 85% share of the audience watching TV at that time. The couple mostly lived apart (as Tim did with his two later wives), and while the union produced a daughter, inevitably named Tulip, he and Miss Vicki divorced after eight years of marriage.
Tiny Tim performed around the country in 1970, enjoying some highly lucrative gigs in Las Vegas, but his business associates fleeced him. A one-trick pony, his popularity began to wane in the early 1970s and the lucrative bookings and TV appearances became a thing of the past. A trouper, Tiny Tim kept performing, eventually traveling the country playing community centers, high school theaters and other less-than-prestigious venues as part of Roy Radin's Vaudeville Revue with the likes of The Five Harmonica Rascals. He continued to record throughout the 1970s and 1980s for small labels, but he never again achieved any real success.
After the Roy Radin Revue, Tim kept on performing. He even joined a circus for its 36-week schedule. In the late 1980s he moved to Des Moines, Iowa, and managed a small comeback of sorts in the mid-'90s, when he appeared on Howard Stern's radio show. However, his comeback suffered a setback after he had a heart attack performing at a ukulele festival in September of 1996. After getting out of the hospital, Tiny Tim the trouper resumed his concert schedule. The schedule proved too taxing, and on November 30 he suffered another heart attack while performing "Tip-Toe Through the Tulips" in Minneapolis, and died an hour later. He was 64 years old.- Actor
- Producer
- Music Department
Darius Campbell was born on 19 August 1980 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He was an actor and producer, known for Imperium (2016), Tomorrow (2018) and Pop Idol (2001). He was married to Natasha Henstridge. He died on 11 August 2022 in Rochester, Minnesota, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Eugene 'Porky' Lee was born on 25 October 1933 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Awful Tooth (1938), Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937) and Canned Fishing (1938). He died on 16 October 2005 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.- Allen Joseph was born on 29 May 1919 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He was an actor, known for Eraserhead (1977), Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979) and Marathon Man (1976). He died on 30 November 2012 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
- Frank Taylor Webb was born in Wilmette, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago immediately north of Evanston. He attended high school in Scottsdale, Arizona, and following graduation moved to California where he attended Los Angeles City College. During this time Frank began to pursue acting roles and in 1967 he appeared in the Los Angeles/Hollywood production of "The Fantasticks" at the Hollywood Center Theatre. Shortly thereafter he began appearing in a number of memorable guest-starring roles in such series such as Bonanza (1959), The Virginian (1962), Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969), Mission: Impossible (1966), The High Chaparral (1967) and Hawaii Five-O (1968). He also demonstrated his versatile acting abilities in occasional movie roles, such as Disney's The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969) alongside Kurt Russell and in the crime thriller The Todd Killings (1971).
Frank was married to Lynn Wilson in 1972 and by 1974 they had left Hollywood and moved to Slayton, Minnesota, where Frank worked as a minister and school bus driver. On December 20, 1974, he was riding as a passenger in a car that was involved in a multi-vehicle collision at the intersection of Highways 30 and 71 in Amboy Township, Cottonwood County, and died as a result of the injuries he sustained. He was only 26 years old. Frank's funeral was held on December 26, 1974, and he was buried in Slayton Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, mother (Ruth Braun Webb), a brother (John) and a sister (Judy). - Actor
- Soundtrack
One of the great Hispanic wrestlers, Eddie Guerrero grew up part of the famous wrestling family: The Guerreros. His father Gory Guerrero became a star in the U.S., an icon in Texas and a legend in Mexico. Eddie's brothers, Hector, Amadno and Chavo, Sr. also became wrestlers. Both Hector and Amando gain success, but only in the Indie federations, and not much success as their father or other two brothers had gained in the majors. Eddie's nephew, Chavo Guerro, Jr., son of Chavo, Sr., also became a wrestler (Chavo, Jr. was only three years younger than his uncle). Eddie was also uncle of Enrique Llanes and cousin of Javier Llanes, who are popular wrestlers in Mexico.
Eddie had wrestling since the 1989. He really made his name in the now-defunct ECW (Extreme championship Wrestling) by winning the ECW Ecxtreme Championship Wrerstling) TV Title against Dean Simon (aka Dean Malenko). Eddie also made his name later that year in now-defunct WCW (World Championship Wrestling) to win the Cruiserweight Championship by defeating Chris Jericho. Also while in the company, he formed Latino World Order (A playoff to Hulk Hogan's (Hollywood Hogan at the time)stable, New World Order).
The stable included popular Latino wrestler Rey Mysterio, Jr. (Oscar Gutierrez), La Parka (Adolfo Tapia Ibarra), Psychosis (Dionicio Castellanos) and Juventud Guerrera (Eduardo Annibal Gonzalez Hernandez).
When Eddie came to the WWE, he was a heel, and immediately gained fame when he was part of the Radicalz, with Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko and long time friend of fifteen years, Chris Benoit. In recent years, he and and his nephew Chavo, Jr. began a tag team called Los Guerreros and won the WWE Tag Team titles on Smackdown! against Team Angle (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin). After this stint, Eddie Guerrero went on to win the WWE Championhip (His first and only time) at No Way Out in 2004 against Brock Lesnar. He lost the title to John "Bradshaw" Layfield four months later at the Great American Bash in a Texas Bull Rope Match.
Recently, wrestling fans and the people of the WWE mourn of the lost of Eddie when he was found by his nephew, Chavo Jr. (who back then known as Kerwin White) on a Sunday morning in November, 2005. The result of his death was most likely been caused by his problems in the past: Drugs and alcohol.- Actor
- Music Department
- Composer
Scott Weiland was born on 27 October 1967 in Santa Cruz, California, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Tank Girl (1995), Battleship (2012) and Hulk (2003). He was married to Jamie Wachtel, Mary Forsberg and Janina Castenada. He died on 3 December 2015 in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Bruce Hyde (BA Northwestern University 1963; MS University of North Texas 1984; PhD University of Southern California 1990) divided his SCSU teaching duties between the Department of Theatre, Film Studies and Dance, where he taught Acting, and the Department of Communication Studies, teaching Interpersonal and Small Group Communication. After completing his undergraduate degree, he spent a number of years as a professional actor, including appearances on Broadway and network television.
After retiring from professional acting, Hyde, who continued to be a member of Actors' Equity, appeared regularly on stage in the Twin Cities and St. Cloud, Minnesota, areas. and served as Artistic Director for Theatre L'Homme Dieu, SCSU's summer theater in Alexandria, Minnesota until his death from throat cancer on October 13, 2015.- Actor
- Additional Crew
For over 30 years Lev Mailer has been a veteran actor, director, coach, and teacher in Hollywood in both film and television on and off camera beginning with the original Star Trek series. During that period he worked on stage productions both in Los Angeles and New York as an actor and director. He has been associated with producers and directors: Clint Eastwood, Robert Wise, Sydney Pollack, Alex Rose, James Goldstone, Tom Schulman, Bill Shatner, and Leonard Nimoy, as well as numerous casting directors and agents. As National Chair of the Screen Actors Guild Conservatory, he has participated in seminars with many other producers, directors, casting directors, and agents. He was on the faculty of the American Film Institute, as well as 5 other leading Los Angeles area colleges. Of his private teaching, the definitive "Film Actor's Complete Career Guide," listed Lev among the best "in the teaching of acting techniques for beginning, intermediate, and professional actors." He was honored to be on the same list as his own teacher, Sanford Meisner.- Actor
- Director
- Additional Crew
Charles Irving was born on 30 July 1912 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Perry Mason (1957), Ben Casey (1961) and A Face in the Crowd (1957). He was married to Hollis Irving. He died on 15 February 1981 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Dennis Banks was born on 12 April 1937 in Leech Lake Indian Reservation, Minnesota, USA. He was an actor, known for The Last of the Mohicans (1992), War Party (1988) and Desert Haiku (2014). He died on 29 October 2017 in Rochester, Minnesota, USA.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Eleanor Mondale was born on 19 January 1960 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She was an actress, known for Drop Dead Fred (1991), Ground Control (1998) and 240-Robert (1979). She was married to Chan Poling, Gregory Scott Malban and Keith Van Horne. She died on 17 September 2011 in Prior Lake, Minnesota, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Barbara Bryne was born on 1 April 1929 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Amadeus (1984), American Playhouse (1980) and The Bostonians (1984). She was married to Denny Spence. She died on 2 May 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.- Additional Crew
- Writer
After graduating from college, Vince Flynn went to work for Kraft General Foods, where he was an account and sales marketing specialist. Although he enjoyed his job, something was missing. Flynn wanted a challenge, and in 1990 he left Kraft to accept an aviation candidate slot with the United States Marine Corps. One week before leaving for Officers Candidate School, he was medically disqualified from the Marine Aviation Program. The news was not well received, and Flynn struggled for almost two years to obtain a medical waiver. Finally, in the face of severe military cutbacks, Flynn gave up on the Marine Corps and went back to the nine-to-five routine he left several years earlier.
During this two-year struggle with the Marine Corps that Flynn discovered his true passion. Growing up a dyslexic child in a large family, he had long been terrified of the written word. Determined to overcome his problem, Flynn forced himself into a daily writing and reading regimen. Flynn soon had an idea for a book, which would become his first best-seller, "Term Limits". Pocket Books seized the opportunity to work with this truly talented storyteller. Pocket Books published "Term Limits" in hardcover 1998. Reviewers instantly hailed Flynn's non-stop action and storytelling as outpacing genre leaders David Baldacci and Tom Clancy. Readers agreed, and when the mass market paperback of "Term Limits" was released in 1999, it spent several weeks on the New York Times' Bestseller List. Pocket Books followed this initial success with Flynn's 1999 hardcover, "Transfer of Power", which also garnered wonderful reviews, and when it was released a few months later in mass market paperback, it too spent several weeks on The New York Times bestseller list. In the fall of 2000, "The Third Option" was published and instantly landed on The New York Times bestseller list as well, solidifying Flynn's reputation as a master of the political thriller.
In 2001, Flynn saw his fourth novel published, "Separation of Power", which also landed on the bestsellers lists, reaching as high as #7 on the New York Times list. His fifth novel, Executive Power, was also a New York Times bestseller. "Memorial Day", published by Atria Books in May 2004, was his sixth novel and was put under security review by the Department of Energy due to classified material, which dealt with nuclear security and was mentioned in internal memos by the FBI and Secret Service. "Consent To Kill", reached #3 on the New York Times list, an all time-high for Flynn. He spent some time in Hollywood consulting on scripts and plot lines for 24 (2001).
Recalling that making the career change was very scary, he remembered deciding between following the path that was the most uncomfortable -- continuing with what looked to be a promising career as a commercial real estate leasing agent -- or taking a big risk and start a new career as a writer.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Contrary to popular belief, Bobby Vee was not one of the flood of Italian-American rockers to come out of the New York-New Jersey-Philadelphia area in the '50s and '60s. He was born Robert Velline in Fargo, ND, and, although he started playing music when he was just a young teenager, it was country music, not rock. However, he, his brother and some friends eventually formed a rock band, "The Shadows", and began to attract some attention in the Fargo area. His big "break" came when rock legends Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper and Buddy Holly died in a plane crash in 1959 en route to a concert in Minnesota. The concert's promoters decided to put on the show anyway, and asked for help from local talent. Bobby, who knew the words to all of the songs that were to be played, found himself on stage and, at 15 years old, began his career as a rock star. He and his group had a local hit with "Susie Baby", which came to the attention of executives at Liberty Records in Hollywood, and he and The Shadows were signed to the label. The next few records they cut went basically nowhere, however, and Liberty was all set to cancel their contract when a DJ in Pittsburgh played the "B" side to one of their records, a remake of an old ballad by The Clovers called "Devil or Angel". It became a hit in Pittsburgh and then spread throughout the Northeast, eventually hitting #6 on the national pop charts. Liberty then signed Vee to a five-year contract. He had a string of hits for the label, such as "Take Good Care of My Baby", "Rubber Ball", "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" and "Come Back When You Grow Up, Girl".- Mattie Shaw was born on 11 November 1933 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She was an actress, known for First Steps (1985). She was married to Hayward Baker and John L. Nelson. She died on 15 February 2002 in Edina, Minnesota, USA.
- Michael Ooms was an actor, best known for The Mighty Ducks (1992) and D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994) but dedicated his entire life to performing on screen and on stage, including in productions of Macbeth, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet. He is survived by his loving wife Donna Stallings, and countless loving friends, family, and the Twin Cities theater community.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jane Harker was born on 1 August 1922 in Evanston, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for The Unfaithful (1947), That Way with Women (1947) and Love and Learn (1947). She was married to Samuel Lefcourt Lanier (born: Lefkovits). She died on 21 July 2000 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.- Director
- Visual Effects
- Additional Crew
David Crowley was born in Owatonna, Minnesota in 1985. After a 5-year stint in the Army infantry, he attended school for a degree in DV production. After many years exploring all aspect of film, including music, sound design, costuming, visual effects, editing, marketing, producing, and directing, he settled on writing as his forté. He is most known for writing the dystopian epic Gray State.- John Keston was born on 5 December 1924 in England, UK. He was an actor, known for Department S (1969), Man of Violence (1970) and Universal Soldier (1971). He died on 13 February 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
- Bert May was born on 5 October 1924 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for California Suite (1978), At Long Last Love (1975) and Funny Lady (1975). He died on 2 April 2020 in West St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.
- Malik Sealy was born on 1 February 1970 in The Bronx, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Eddie (1996), Diagnosis Murder (1993) and The Sentinel (1996). He was married to Lisa Sealy. He died on 20 May 2000 in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
John Bottoms was born on 14 September 1939 in Dayton, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for 'Doc' (1971), He Knows You're Alone (1980) and The Long Riders (1980). He was married to Bonnie Anne Zimering, Deborah Rush, Susan Kay Rich and Ahlene Lou Mercer. He died on 22 November 2015 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.- Scott Doebler was born on 26 April 1960 in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Ordinary People (1980) and The Tragedy of King Lear (1982). He died on 14 July 2013 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
- Bobby Blanski was born on 9 July 1984 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, USA. He was an actor, known for 30 Rock (2006), Reno 911! (2003) and White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch (2022). He died on 27 November 2023 in Alexandria, Minnesota, USA.
- Stuart Knowlton was born on 30 April 1931 in Petoskey, Emmet County, Michigan, United States. He died on 31 October 2006 in Oak Park Heights, Washington County, Minnesota, United States.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Brian Pillman makes the list of a long line of tragic deaths in wrestling. He had endured 36 throat operations as a child. Pillman played football in the NFL for the Cincinnati Bengals in 1984 and in the CFL for the Calgary Stampeders. It was in Calgary where he met Owen Hart (who also died at a relatively early age) and started his wrestling career for Stampede Wrestling. Pillman's major titles include the Tag Team Championship, the US Tag Team Championship, and the Light Heavyweight Championship. Pillman also suffered a terrible broken leg that deeply hurt his career. He died at the age of 35 while still being an active wrestler in the World Wrestling Federation.- Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Scott Nimerfro was born on 12 July 1961 in Richfield, Minnesota, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for X-Men (2000), Pushing Daisies (2007) and Hannibal (2013). He died on 17 April 2016 in Woodbury, Minnesota, USA.- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
John L. Nelson was born on 29 June 1916 in Cotton Valley, Louisiana, USA. John L. was a composer, known for Purple Rain (1984), Batman (1989) and Under the Cherry Moon (1986). John L. was married to Mattie Shaw. John L. died on 25 August 2001 in Chanhassen, Minnesota, USA.- Dorothy Lewis was born on 7 July 1914 in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. She was an actress, known for Ice-Capades (1941). She died on 3 May 2002 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Tom Lawrence was born on 31 July 1937 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for WarGames (1983), Jackie Brown (1997) and Say Anything (1989). He died on 18 April 2020 in Leonard, Minnesota, USA.- George Floyd was born on 14 October 1973 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA. He died on 25 May 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
- Additional Crew
Born in St. Paul, Brooks played hockey at the University of Minnesota, where he later coached from 1972-79, winning three national titles. Brooks was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990. Brooks never had his own moment as a player. He was the last one cut from the 1960 U.S. gold-medal team, and he played in the 1964 and 1968 Olympics without winning a medal. Last season, Brooks was the director of player development for the Penguins. He rejected a multimillion-dollar offer to coach the Rangers last summer, saying didn't want to be away from his wife and family in Minnesota.
Brooks coached the New York Rangers (1981-85), where he reached the 100-victory mark faster than any other coach in franchise history. He coached the Minnesota North Stars (1987-88), the New Jersey Devils (1992-93) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (1999-00). He also led the French Olympic team at the 1998 Nagano Games.- Newman was best known for playing Gertrude, sidekick/girlfriend/City Dump telephone operator to J.P. Patches - played by Chris Wedes - on the long-running television program on KIRO TV. However, Gertrude was only one of many characters that the talented and versatile Newman played on the show. Others included the villainous Boris S. Wart - the Second Meanest Man in the World (moo-ho-haha!); Ketchikan the Animal Man, proprietor of the Bongo Congo Kennels; oneeyed gentle yet odd creature Ggoorrrsstt the Friendly Frpl; clumsy handyman Leroy Frump; the mysterious Zenobia; the Swami of Pastrami; Sturdley the Bookworm; and, come December each year, a sometime bumbling Santa Claus.
Bob joined the program in 1960, and essentially created a role for himself when, working in a technical job off camera, he called out to J.P. in a falsetto voice while J.P. was pretending to speak with an unseen and unheard telephone operator named Gertrude. Soon, Newman was dressing up like a life-sized Raggedy Anne - complete with house dresses borrowed from his mother, a mop wig and heavy make-up - to appear on-camera as Gertrude.
For a few not-so-long-ago decades, Gertrude and J.P. were like rock stars in the Pacific Northwest, and their popularity during the Golden Age of local television can't be overstated.
The two were among the most recognizable and most universally beloved characters on TV in the region throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and their chemistry together as live performers is unmistakable, even on some of the earliest video clips that survive. But, once the program went off the air in 1981, their fame continued to grow, through VHS tapes, appearances on public television and numerous live performances at private parties and special programs at venues such as the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI). From 2000 to 2004, Bob and Chris hosted the "Northwest TV Holiday Reunion" at the museum, along with other figures from local children's TV, including KING's Stan Boreson and KTNT/KSTW's Brakeman Bill McLain.
After 26 years at KIRO TV, Bob later worked part-time for many years at KCTS Public Television, applying makeup to station personalities as well as guests on talk shows and other programs that were filmed in-studio. Prior to working in television, Bob was also a radio broadcaster in the early years of KUOW FM at the University of Washington, where he studied communications in the 1950s.
For his more than half century of work in broadcasting, Bob was inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Northwest Chapter's Golden Circle in 2014. It meant a lot to Bob to be recognized by his fellow broadcasters.
In 2008, a life-sized bronze statue of Gertrude and J.P. was dedicated in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood. Excess funds raised for the statue were donated to Seattle Children's Hospital. Chris Wedes passed away in 2012.
Bob Newman was the youngest son of Lee and Ruth Newman, and grew up on Mercer Island. He had two older brothers, Russell William Newman and Steven Newman. Bob was just four years old when his brother Steven drowned in Lake Washington after falling off the family dock. Throughout Bob's life, he made a point of seeing to it that children in his family and social circles learned to swim, and he always insisted on lifejackets and other water safety measures for kids on boats or near bodies of water.
Following graduation from Garfield High School in Seattle, Bob joined the US Marine Corps and served as a frogman in Korea. Bob loved being a Marine, and in later years, he often said he wished he'd remained in the Corps longer. It was a true passion for him, and an organization where, his nieces and nephews say, he was able to carve his own distinct identity from that of his father and brother, who were both attorneys.
In the 1990s, Bob was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The disease slowed him down a bit and forced him to walk using a cane or crutches. But Bob remained a positive force, driving a bright yellow Corvette and still getting out and about to make appearances with Chris Wedes or to dine at the Nickerson Street Saloon where he was a regular for many years, and where he made a lot of friends. During many of those active years, Bob lived aboard his boat the Zaba Zaba, which was moored nearby at Canal Marina. For the past decade or so, Bob resided in a series of assisted living centers as his multiple sclerosis progressed and his mobility decreased.
Bob had a terrific sense of humor. He was a master of self-deprecation and displayed comedic levels of exaggerated self-confidence - and he was also a thoughtful listener and talented storyteller, too. Decades ago, Bob gave himself the intentionally over-the-top "Fabulous Bob" Newman nickname - which he had tattooed on his forearm - and he often responded to compliments from friends or fans with a quick and off-handed "When you're great, you're great!"
Survivors include his sons Paul Newman and John Newman, and grandson Andrew, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his brother Russ Newman in 2010. Bob was cremated, and his remains will be interred in a private ceremony at Mount Tahoma National Cemetery. - Writer
- Producer
Dennis Shryack was born on 25 August 1936 in Duluth, Minnesota, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Pale Rider (1985), Turner & Hooch (1989) and The Car (1977). He was married to Kathy. He died on 14 September 2016 in Duluth, Minnesota, USA.- Clifford D. Simak was born on 3 August 1904 in Millville, Wisconsin, USA. He was a writer, known for The Outer Limits (1963), Way Station and Out of This World (1962). He was married to Agnes Kuchenberg. He died on 24 April 1988 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
- Walter Mondale is an American politician, diplomat and lawyer who served as the 42nd vice president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A United States senator from Minnesota (1964-1976), he was the Democratic Party's nominee in the United States presidential election of 1984, but lost to Ronald Reagan in an Electoral College landslide. Reagan won 49 states while Mondale carried his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia. He became the oldest-living former U.S. vice president after the death of George Bush in 2018.
- Abigail Van Buren was born on 4 July 1918 in Sioux City, Iowa, USA. She was a producer, known for Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory (2014), The Steve Allen Plymouth Show (1956) and Sammy and Company (1975). She was married to Morton Phillips. She died on 16 January 2013 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
- Alyssa Funke was born on 28 March 1995 in Stillwater, Minnesota, USA. She died on 16 April 2014 in May Township, Minnesota, USA.
- Charles Nolte was born on 3 November 1923 in Duluth, Minnesota, USA. He was an actor, known for Schlitz Playhouse (1951), Ford Star Jubilee (1955) and Tales of Tomorrow (1951). He died on 14 January 2010 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
- Producer
- Director
- Actor
An amateur and professional wrestling legend, Verne Gagne's career covers the entire period of wrestling from the "real" to "fake" to "entertainment" eras. Gagne won two NCAA wrestling championships while at the University of Minnesota, and was a member of the 1948 Olympic Wrestling team for the United States. He soon turned pro and became champion of the new American Wrestling Association (AWA). He was a nine-time heavyweight champion in the AWA, winning his first title in 1960, and retiring as champion in 1981. In between he also was a four-time AWA Tag-Team champion with various partners. One of the most beloved "scientific" i.e. "good guy" wrestlers in the AWA, Gagne had some legendary feuds with some of the greats in the sport including The Crusher, Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon (both of whom he later teamed with to win the tag-team belts), "Wicked" Nick Bockwinkel, Gene Kiniski, Mr. M, and Doctor X. Gagne was never flamboyent, but he didn't really need to be as he let his wrestling do the talking. After his career, he took over the promotion of the AWA, staying in that capacity until the league folded in 1990.- Paul Wellstone was born on 21 July 1944 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He was married to Sheila Wellstone. He died on 25 October 2002 in Eveleth, Minnesota, USA.
- Hubert Humphrey was an American politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Minnesota from 1949 to 1964 and 1971 to 1978. He was the Democratic Party's nominee in the 1968 presidential election, losing to Republican nominee Richard Nixon.
- Michael Thevis was born in 1932 in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he was raised by his Greek Orthodox grandparents. They had emigrated from Greece and brought up young Michael strictly and in the ways of the church, keeping him in from play to teach him the value of work.
In 1949 Michael left home and moved to Atlanta, where he enrolled at Georgia Tech and began to take engineering courses. He couldn't afford to stay in school, though, and dropped out in 1950 to run a newsstand. By 1960 little had changed. He was married with three children, but his newsstand job was barely covering the cost of living. The Thevis family was forced out of their apartment one month when he could no longer afford to pay the rent, which had recently been raised to $57.
Thevis' entry into criminal enterprises began one day while going over the books for his newsstand. He discovered that, while Playboy only accounted for 10% of his sales, it was almost solely responsible for his turning a profit. He went underground, and while overtly selling only tame nudie publications, he worked with gangster and pornographer Kenneth "Kenny the Jap" Hanna to make contacts with customers whose interests were far more suspect. Soon Thevis was using the newsstand to deal in black market pornography including hardcore bondage, rape, bestiality and, eventually, child porn. Business boomed.
In the last half of 1967s Hanna introduced Thevis to a fellow gangster, Roger Dean Underhill, a low-ranking associate of the Gambino organized-crime family. Together Underhill and Thevis would move the small underground porn stand to the next level. Underhill recalled machines he'd seen at fairs and in supermarkets that played cartoons to keep children occupied. Using this concept, Underhill and Thevis developed some of the first sexually oriented peep booths in America. They set up manufacturing companies and began to distribute the peep booths to locations all over America, from New York to Pasadena, California, to locations ranging from airport bars to the sex shops on 42nd Street in New York City's Times Square. By the end of the 1970s the phrases "loop" and "peep booth" would be synonymous with sleazy porn.
One of Thevis' first tastes of competition came from Nat Bailen, owner and founder of Urban Industries, which manufactured peep booths. In the early 1960s Bailen had invented peep booths to show children's cartoons on. He publicly spoke out against Thevis for turning his creation into a smut machine. In April of 1970 Urban Industries was burnt to the ground; fire investigators ruled it an arson.
Another major crime linking Thevis to the world of organized crime came in November of 1970, when Kenny Hanna turned up murdered. Investigating the case, the FBI turned up Thevis' name. What began as a routine check into what the FBI believed was one more murdered gangster ended with the realization that they had stumbled onto the man who'd become responsible for distributing 40% of the United States' pornography, legal and illegal. In addition to his black-market and peep-show enterprises, he also owned nearly 500 adult bookstores and X-rated movie theaters across the country. The government estimated his annual income at $100 million.
Word reached Thevis that he was under investigation. Aware that gangsters Al Capone and Dutch Schultz were brought down by federal investigations into their finances, Thevis began to branch out into legitimate enterprises, not only to account for his illegal income, but to launder some of it and make even more cash in the process. His peep booths were manufactured by one of his legitimate fronts, Cinematics. He owned General Recording Corp., a music distributor, and began to produce movies. He fronted the cash for Blood of the Dragon (1971), and anonymously put up money for one of Oliver Stone's earliest films, Seizure (1974).
In 1973, Roger Dean Underhill was present when James Mayes, an employee of Cinematics, came to Thevis asking for a raise. Thevis was incensed, and shot Mayes to death. Shortly thereafter, Underhill was arrested during a routine traffic stop when the alert officer found a small cache of stolen guns in Underhill's car. Underhill was booked on charges of possession of stolen weapons and transporting stolen property across state lines; conviction meant a long stretch in federal prison. Sensing a potential breakthrough in their investigation of Thevis, the FBI got involved, offering Underhill leniency in exchange for his help in bringing down Thevis. Underhill was getting no assistance from the mob; he was too low-ranking to be seen as anything more than a liability, so he agreed to turn states' evidence. Over the next three years he helped the FBI in building charges against Thevis, and revealed in a sworn affidavit that Thevis had given him the order to set the fire that burned down Urban Industries. He further revealed that he was acting as backup when Thevis murdered Kenny Hanna, and that he was present during the murder of James Mayes. The FBI also learned about crimes they had never linked Thevis to, including the bombing of one of Thevis' competitors in Fayeteville, Kentucky, and his extortion of a small-time pornographer in Houston. Meanwhile, Thevis continued to get richer, funding another movie, Poor Pretty Eddie (1975), and extending the reaches of his porn empire into Florida.
The beginning of the end for Thevis came in 1976, when he was convicted of conspiracy to commit arson, and distribution of obscene materials; Underhill personally testified against his former partner. Thevis was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison and ordered to pay $650,000 to Nat Bailen, the employees of Urban Industries, and Urban Industries' insurance companies. In prison Thevis received word that his wife had divorced him and that the IRS had teamed up with the FBI to investigate him for financial fraud. The icing on the cake came when Thevis was indicted in Florida on various charges under the RICO statutes, thanks largely in part to Roger Dean Underhill.
Thevis escaped from prison in 1978 and was immediately placed on the FBI's top ten most wanted list. Word got to the FBI that Thevis had contacted old associates in the mob and arranged for a contract to be put on Underhill's life as revenge his betrayal. Underhill became one of the most sought-after gangsters in America, as word spread to every wiseguy and gunman that an "open contract" had been placed on him--in other words, no specific hitman was tasked with the job; whoever could prove they killed Underhill would receive a substantial reward.
No one ever got to collect, though, because Thevis personally tracked down Underhill himself. Underhill was entertaining a friend, street tough Isaac Galanti, in October of 1978 when Thevis showed up at the front door and killed both men with a shotgun.
Thevis was apprehended shortly after the murders and taken for holding to a maximum security facility in Connecticut. Awaiting his RICO trial in Florida, he tried to establish a "prison rep" by bragging to other prisoners about his various murders, including Underhill and Galanti. His cellmate contacted authorities. In 1980, Michael Thevis, the "Scarface of Porn," who had once made $100 million a year and owned nearly half of the hardcore porn industry, was convicted of the murders of Isaac Galanti and Roger Dean Underhill. He was sentenced to 28 years to life, and became eligible for parole in 1998. - Mike Dodge was born on 18 July 1937 in Hudson, Wisconsin, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988), The Film Crew: The Giant of Marathon (2007) and The Film Crew: Hollywood After Dark (2007). He died on 29 October 2015 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
- Katie Poirier was born on 28 February 1980 in Duluth, Minnesota, USA. She died on 26 May 1999 in Moose Lake, Minnesota, USA.
- Paul Campbell was born on 27 February 1923 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He was an actor, known for Sport of Kings (1947), The Three Musketeers (1956) and Last Days of Boot Hill (1947). He died on 17 March 1999 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.