We remember former first lady Barbara Bush’s life today as well as the lives of other notable people who died this day in history.
We remember former first lady Barbara Bush’s life today as well as the lives of other notable people who died this day in history.
2018: Barbara Bush, former first lady of the United States, wife of George H.W. Bush and father of George and Jeb Bush, dies at 92.
One of the world’s most recognizable women in the 1980s and ’90s, Barbara Bush presented a grandmotherly image that hid an iron will and strong determination to help her family succeed. And succeed they did — all the way to the top, more than once.
2018: Carl Kasell, newscaster best known as the host of NPR’s “Wait, Wait…..Don’t Tell Me!”, dies at 84.
2016: Doris Roberts, U.S. actress known best for playing Marie Barone on the sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond,” is born in St. Louis, Missouri.
2015: Cardinal Francis George, U.S. cardinal who was the archbishop of Chicago from 1997 to 2014, dies at 78.
2014: Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez, Colombian novelist known for celebrated works including “One Hundred Years of Solitude” and “Love in the Time of Cholera,” dies at 87.
When he accepted the Nobel Prize in 1982, Garcia Marquez described Latin America as a “source of insatiable creativity, full of sorrow and beauty, of which this roving and nostalgic Colombian is but one cipher more, singled out by fortune. Poets and beggars, musicians and prophets, warriors and scoundrels, all creatures of that unbridled reality, we have had to ask but little of imagination, for our crucial problem has been a lack of conventional means to render our lives believable.” Read more
2011: Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor known best for the movies “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” and “The Gumball Rally,” dies at 70.
Sarrazin was remembered by his brother Pierre for his “wicked sense of wit,” but fans might recall his “soulful eyes.” Major stardom proved elusive. Sarrazin suffered a professional setback in 1969 when he had to give up the role of Joe Buck in “Midnight Cowboy.” The actor was on his way to Texas for a costume fitting when he found out his studio wouldn’t release him from his contract, his brother said. He had to turn down a part that eventually went to Jon Voight. Read more
2008: Danny Federici, U.S. organist and accordion player who was a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, dies at 58.
It was Federici, along with original E Street Band drummer Vini Lopez, who first invited Springsteen to join their band. By 1969, the self-effacing Federici – often introduced in concert by Springsteen as “Phantom Dan” – was playing with the Boss in a band called Child. Over the years, Federici joined his friend in acclaimed shore bands Steel Mill, Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom, and the Bruce Springsteen Band. Federici became a stalwart in the E Street Band as Springsteen rocketed from the boardwalk to international stardom. Springsteen split from the E Streeters in the late ’80s, but they reunited for a hugely successful tour in 1999. Read more
2007: Kitty Carlisle, U.S. actress and singer who is remembered best as a panelist on the TV game show “To Tell the Truth,” dies at 96.
Carlisle was a multitalented entertainer – she was a singer and actress who worked everywhere from Broadway to the silver screen to the Metropolitan Opera. But she’s remembered best, and perhaps loved the most, for her appearances on some of the American public’s favorite TV game shows of the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. Read more
2006: Scott Brazil, U.S. television director who won an Emmy and a Golden Globe and directed episodes of “The Shield” and “Hill Street Blues,” dies at 50.
2003: Earl King, U.S. blues guitarist who wrote the song “Come On” that Jimi Hendrix covered, dies at 69.
2003: Robert Atkins, U.S. medical doctor and cardiologist who created the Atkins Diet, dies at 72.
1998: Linda McCartney, U.S. photographer and musician who was the first wife of Paul McCartney, dies of breast cancer at 56.
In 1969, the unthinkable happened. It was an event that devastated young women in England, America … all over the world. What was it that broke their hearts and dashed their dreams? Paul McCartney, the last remaining bachelor Beatle, got married. His bride, the former Linda Eastman, won McCartney’s heart while she was working as a celebrity photographer. Read more
1992: Hank Penny, U.S. banjo player who played western swing and had three hits on the Billboard country charts, dies at 73.
1990: Ralph Abernathy, U.S. civil rights leader and a close associate of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, dies at 64.
King’s and Abernathy’s tireless leadership brought the struggle for civil rights to Albany, Birmingham, Mississippi, Washington, Selma, St. Augustine, Chicago, and Memphis as they helped spearhead marches, sit-ins, and other nonviolent actions aimed at winning equal rights for African-Americans. Abernathy was with King when he delivered the famous “I Have a Dream” speech during the Aug. 28, 1963, March on Washington that helped gain passage of the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Voting Rights Act (1965). Read more
1988: Eva Novak, U.S. film actress who was popular in the silent era, dies at 90.
1987: Dick Shawn, U.S. actor and comedian known best for playing Sylvester Marcus in Stanley Kramer‘s “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” and John Ritter‘s dad on “Three’s Company,” dies of a heart attack in the middle of a stand-up performance at 63.
1983: Felix Pappalardi, U.S. music producer and bassist who produced the band Cream and was a co-founder of and bassist for the band Mountain, dies at 43 after he is shot by his wife.
1977: Marjorie Gateson, U.S. actress known best for the movies “Goin’ to Town” with Mae West and “The Milky Way” with Harold Lloyd, dies at 86.
1967: Red Allen, U.S. jazz trumpeter who played at times with King Oliver, Fats Waller, Benny Goodman, and Billie Holiday, dies at 61.
1960: Eddie Cochran, U.S. rockabilly musician who had hit songs with “Summertime Blues” and “C’mon Everybody,” dies in an auto accident at 21.
Though Cochran died heartbreakingly young, his influence on rock ‘n’ roll proved as huge as any lifelong rocker’s. One of his songs brought the Beatles together. Guitarists who were heavily influenced by his style include Pete Townshend, Marc Bolan, and Brian Setzer. And dozens of superstars have covered his songs, from The Who to Bruce Springsteen to the White Stripes and beyond. His life was short, but he was a giant of rock ‘n’ roll. Read more
1790: Benjamin Franklin, U.S. inventor, author, and statesman who was considered one of the founding fathers of America, dies at 84.