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- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 in East Tupelo, Mississippi, to Gladys Presley (née Gladys Love Smith) and Vernon Presley (Vernon Elvis Presley). He had a twin brother who was stillborn. In 1948, Elvis and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee where he attended Humes High School. In 1953, he attended the senior prom with the current girl he was courting, Regis Wilson. After graduating from high school in Memphis, Elvis took odd jobs working as a movie theater usher and a truck driver for Crown Electric Company. He began singing locally as "The Hillbilly Cat", then signed with a local recording company, and then with RCA in 1955.
Elvis did much to establish early rock and roll music. He began his career as a performer of rockabilly, an up-tempo fusion of country music and rhythm and blues, with a strong backbeat. His novel versions of existing songs, mixing 'black' and 'white' sounds, made him popular - and controversial - as did his uninhibited stage and television performances. He recorded songs in the rock and roll genre, with tracks like "Jailhouse Rock" and "Hound Dog" later embodying the style. Presley had a versatile voice and had unusually wide success encompassing other genres, including gospel, blues, ballads and pop music. Teenage girls became hysterical over his blatantly sexual gyrations, particularly the one that got him nicknamed "Elvis the Pelvis" (television cameras were not permitted to film below his waist).
In 1956, following his six television appearances on The Dorsey Brothers' "Stage Show", Elvis was cast in his first acting role, in a supporting part in Love Me Tender (1956), the first of 33 movies he starred in.
In 1958, Elvis was drafted into the military, and relocated to Bad Nauheim, Germany. There he met 14-year old army damsel Priscilla Ann Wagner (Priscilla Presley), whom he would eventually marry after an eight-year courtship, and by whom he had his only child, Lisa Marie Presley. Elvis' military service and the "British Invasion" of the 1960s reduced his concerts, though not his movie/recording income.
Through the 1960s, Elvis settled in Hollywood, where he starred in the majority of his thirty-three movies, mainly musicals, acting alongside some of the most well known actors in Hollywood. Critics panned most of his films, but they did very well at the box office, earning upwards of $150 million total. His last fiction film, Change of Habit (1969), deals with several social issues; romance within the clergy, an autistic child, almost unheard of in 1969, rape, and mob violence. It has recently received critical acclaim.
Elvis made a comeback in the 1970s with live concert appearances starting in early 1970 in Las Vegas with over 57 sold-out shows. He toured throughout the United States, appearing on-stage in over 500 live appearances, many of them sold out shows. His marriage ended in divorce, and the stress of constantly traveling as well as his increasing weight gain and dependence upon stimulants and depressants took their toll.
Elvis Presley died at age 42 on August 16, 1977 at his mansion in Graceland, near Memphis, shocking his fans worldwide. At the time of his death, he had sold more than 600 million singles and albums. Since his death, Graceland has become a shrine for millions of followers worldwide. Elvis impersonators and purported sightings have become stock subjects for humorists. To date, Elvis Presley is the only performer to have been inducted into three separate music 'Halls of Fame'. Throughout his career, he set records for concert attendance, television ratings and recordings sales, and remains one of the best-selling and most influential artists in the history of popular music.- Actor
- Director
John Saxon appeared in nearly 200 roles in the movies and on television in a more-than half-century-long career that has stretched over seven decades since he made his big screen debut in 1954 in uncredited small roles in It Should Happen to You (1954) and George Cukor's A Star Is Born (1954). Born Carmine Orrico on August 5, 1936 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Italian-American parents, Antonio Orrico and Anna (née Protettore), he studied acting with Stella Adler after graduating from New Utrecht High School.
He was discovered by talent agent Henry Willson, the man most famous for creating and representing Rock Hudson (as well as a stable of "beefcake" male stars and starlets), who signed him up after he saw Saxon's picture on the cover of a magazine. Willson brought the 16-year-old to Southern California, changed his name to John Saxon, and launched his career. Saxon made his television debut on Richard Boone's series Medic (1954) in 1955 and got his first substantial (and credited) role in Running Wild (1955), playing a juvenile delinquent. In the Esther Williams vehicle The Unguarded Moment (1956) (one of her rare dramatic roles), the film's marketing campaign spotlighted him, trumpeting the movie as "Co-starring the exciting new personality John Saxon.".
By 1958, he seemed to have established himself as a supporting player in A-List pictures, being featured in Blake Edwards's comedy This Happy Feeling (1958) headlined by Debbie Reynolds and Vincente Minnelli's The Reluctant Debutante (1958) with Rex Harrison and Sandra Dee. In the next five years, he worked steadily, including supporting roles in John Huston's The Unforgiven (1960), the James Stewart comedy Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) and Otto Preminger's The Cardinal (1963) while having first billing in the B-movies Cry Tough (1959) and War Hunt (1962). Fluent in Italian, he made his first pictures in Italy in the period, Agostino (1962) and Mario Bava's The Evil Eye (1963). Despite his good work with major directors, he failed to succeed as a star.
By 1965, he was appearing in the likes of Blood Beast from Outer Space (1965), albeit, top-billed. A more emblematic picture was Sidney J. Furie's The Appaloosa (1966), in which he appeared in Mexican bandito drag as the man who steals the horse of Marlon Brando, another Stella Adler student. Saxon would reprise the role, of sorts, in John Sturges Joe Kidd (1972) in support of superstar Clint Eastwood. In those less politically correct times, many an Italian-American with a dark complexion would be relied on to play Mexicans, Native Americans and other "exotic" types like Mongols. Saxon played everything from an Indian chief on Bonanza (1959) to Marco Polo on The Time Tunnel (1966).
From 1969 to 1972 season, he was a star of the television series The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (1969), playing the brilliant surgeon Theodore Stuart. When the series ended, he took one of his most famous roles when Bruce Lee demurred over casting Rod Taylor as he was too tall. A black belt in karate, Saxon appeared as Roper in Enter the Dragon (1973). He continued to play a wide variety of roles on television and in motion pictures, with key roles in 1974's classic slasher Black Christmas (1974), 1984's groundbreaking A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and the 1990s self-referential horror films New Nightmare (1994) and From Dusk Till Dawn (1996).
John Saxon died of pneumonia on July 25, 2020, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He was 83.- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Mandisa was born on 2 October 1976 in Sacramento, California, USA. She was a composer, known for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016), Unplanned (2019) and War Room (2015). She died on 18 April 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Born Verna Charlene Stavely. Holt, a former "Miss Maryland," enjoyed a rewarding modeling career prior to her screen work in both films and television that began when caught director Howard Hawks's attention when he saw her in a lipstick commercial. After her debut appearance in the Sandra Dee-Bobby Darin comedy, If a Man Answers (1962), Holt went on to appear in such films as Days of Wine and Roses (1962), Man's Favorite Sport? (1964), Red Line 7000 (1965), Zigzag (1970), and the TV movie Wonder Woman (1974). Her television series appearances included guest roles on Hawaiian Eye (1962), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1963), Perry Mason (1965), It Takes A Thief (1968), and CHiPs (1980). Following the filming of El Dorado in 1966, Holt married millionaire real estate developer William A. Tishman in 1966. The couple enjoyed traveling and collecting antiques and artwork for their lavish home in Trousdale Estates in West Los Angeles until their 1972 divorce. Her last screen appearance before retiring was in Melvin and Howard (1980).
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
James Albert Varney, Jr. was born in Lexington, Kentucky, to Nancy Louise (Howard) and James Albert Varney, Sr. He became interested in theater as a teenager, winning state titles in drama competitions while a student at Lafayette High School in Lexington, Kentucky. At age 15 he played Ebeneezer Scrooge in a local children's theater production of "A Christmas Carol", and by 17 was performing professionally in nightclubs and coffee houses. He chose Nashville rather than New York or Los Angeles as a place to pursue his acting career and, with advertising executive John R. Cherry III, turned "Ernest P. Worrell" into a cash cow, making commercials for clients ranging from soft drinks to food stores and, eventually, Disney. Even though Ernest's catchphrase "KnowhutImean?" became a national craze almost immediately, Jim worked in TV and film for more than a decade before his famous alter-ego hit the big screen in Ernest Goes to Camp (1987).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Handsome, boyish-looking Ben Cooper graduated from child roles to playing juvenile leads in second features, often for Poverty Row studio Republic. As a nine year old, he made his stage debut in Bretaigne Windust's Broadway production of Life With Father, remaining in the cast for the entire run of the play. Between 1946 and 1952, Ben enjoyed a lengthy spell on the airwaves, lending his voice to many a famous radio soap of the day (by some accounts he acted in more than 3000 radio shows). A graduate of New York's Columbia University, he was featured on screen for the first time in a bit part in 1950. Three years later, he played Jesse James in a cameo in Woman They Almost Lynched (1953). His career made little headway until he was cast as brash would-be gunslinger Turkey Ralston in the noirish cult western Johnny Guitar (1954).
Ben's forte was the western. He had his own horse by the age of twelve, became an adept rider and diligently rehearsed the stunts he saw on the screen. He also perfected a fast draw, practicing "for 90 minutes each day over four years". During most of the early '50s, he went about playing assorted hombres on both sides of the law in B-westerns. He never quite managed to set the prairie on fire. A mere handful of starring turns confined him to staid leading men in run-of-the-mill oaters (Duel at Apache Wells (1957)) or routine melodramas (A Strange Adventure (1956)). Arguably, his most effective performance in a motion picture was in The Rose Tattoo (1955) (as the good-natured sailor in love with Marisa Pavan). Unable to find the one role which would have made him a household name, Ben eventually pursued a solid, if unremarkable, career as a television guest star with a predilection for westerns (Laramie (1959), Bonanza (1959), Gunsmoke (1955) ) and crime dramas (Perry Mason (1957), Mannix (1967)). His work in the former earned him a Golden Boot Award in 2005.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
Tall, blond haired country & western singer / songwriter from Atlanta Georgia, who usually appears in films portraying good humored Southern type characters. Reed was already writing and singing music in high school, and was signed by Capitol Records to a three-year contract in 1955. However, in 1958, he signed over to NRC Records, and appeared alongside Ray Stevens and Joe South, plus he met his future wife, singer Priscilla Mitchell.
Reed is well known by music fans for his C & W hits including "She Got The Goldmine (I Got The Shaft)", "Lord, Mr. Ford", "When You're Hot, You're Hot" and "East Bound and Down". After striking up a friendship with Burt Reynolds, Reed was cast in small roles in W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975), and Gator (1976). He had a natural on-screen charm, and Reynolds picked him to play trucker "Cledus Snow" in the hugely popular Smokey and the Bandit (1977), plus he returned to the role in Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983).
More recently, Reed has been seen in Bat*21 (1988) and The Waterboy (1998).- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Actor
Johnny Cash was born February 26, 1932, in Kingsland, Arkansas, to Carrie Cash (Rivers) and Raymond Cash. He made his first single, "Hey Porter", for Sun Records in 1955. In 1958 he moved to Columbia Records. He had long periods of drug abuse during the 1960s, but later that decade he successfully fought his addiction with the help of singer June Carter Cash, whom he married in 1968. In 1971 he appeared in the western A Gunfight (1971) with 'Kirk Douglas (I)'. Cash made only a few films, but quite a few appearances on television, both in series and made-for-TV films, and was especially effective as a rural Southern sheriff in the 1930s determined to bring to justice a wealthy landowner who committed murder because he believed he was above the law in Murder in Coweta County (1983), a drama based on a true story. In 1975 Cash wrote his autobiography, "Man In Black", which is now out of print. In the late 1980s he moved from Columbia Records to Mercury, then in the next decade moved again to American Recordings. Amongst his biggest hit records were "I Walk the Line", "Ring of Fire" and "A Boy Named Sue". After several years of ill health, he died of complications from diabetes on 12 September 2003, only a few months after the death of his beloved wife.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
Isaac Hayes, the second-born child of Eula and Isaac Hayes Sr., was raised by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Willie Wade Sr. The child of a poor family, he grew up picking cotton in Covington, Tennessee. He dropped out of high school, but later his former high-school teachers to get his diploma, which he earned when he was 21. Otis Redding, Johnnie Taylor, The Bar-Kays, and Booker T. Jones (later of Booker T. & the M.G.s fame) were some of the "Memphis Sound" musical luminaries Hayes worked with during his early years as a budding musician and vocalist. He was a multi-talented composer, singer, and arranger who played the piano, vibraphone, and saxophone equally well. In 1971 he won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for a Motion Picture for the "Theme from Shaft" (1970) and was nominated for Best Original Dramatic Score for Shaft (1971).- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Robert Gene "Red" West was a close friend of Elvis Presley and a member of Presley's inner circle, known as "The Memphis Mafia". He first met Elvis in high school, where he was a year behind him. West played football for the Memphis Tigers high school football team, boxed in the Golden Gloves and played football for the Jones County Junior College Bobcats playing center.
West lived with his mother, Lois West, in the Hurt Housing project in Memphis. West became Elvis's personal driver in driving Elvis and band members Scotty Moore, Bill Black and later D.J. Fontana to different Southern cities for live appearances from 1955 to 1956. West served in the US Marine Corps from 1956 to late 1958 and was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, which allowed him to stay in contact with Elvis. On August 14, 1958, West's estranged father, Newton Thomas West, died, the same day as Elvis' mother, Gladys Presley.
After Elvis' discharge from the US Army in 1960, West was employed as one of the star's bodyguards. Over the years, Elvis bought West a number of vehicles as he became a world-famous celebrity. West also became a movie stuntman and appeared in 16 of Elvis' films in the 1960s, usually playing extras or bit and supporting parts. West married one of Elvis' secretaries, Pat West, on July 1, 1961. West became a songwriter for songs that Elvis, Pat Boone, Ricky Nelson and Johnny Rivers recorded, including the classic tune "Separate Ways" for Elvis, which won a BMI Award. In addition to the Elvis movies, West appeared in three Robert Conrad TV series The Wild Wild West (1965), Black Sheep Squadron (1976) and The Duke (1979). During the 1970s West, his cousin Del 'Sonny' West, and Dave Hebler served as Elvis' bodyguards, in charge of his daily transportation and keeping weirdo or potentially dangerous fans away from him. On July 13, 1976, Vernon Presley, Elvis' father, fired all three bodyguards, criticizing what he believed to be their heavy-handed tactics. The three later collaborated on a book about their lives as Elvis' bodyguards, which was published just two weeks before Elvis' death in 1977.
West continued his acting and songwriting careers, the former until 2015, two years before his death.- Fred Thompson was born on 19 August 1942 in Sheffield, Alabama, USA. He was an actor, known for The Hunt for Red October (1990), No Way Out (1987) and Baby's Day Out (1994). He was married to Jeri Kehn Thompson and Sarah Elizabeth Lindsey. He died on 1 November 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
George Lindsey quickly became an icon on television in the 1960's playing the part of 'Goober Pyle" on the The Andy Griffith Show (1960). He replaced Jim Nabors who portrayed "Gomer Pyle" who ran the "fillin station" on "The Andy Griffith Show." As Jim Nabors was tapped for his own show Gomer Pyle: USMC (1964), cousin "Goober" was introduced to become the new mechanic and running the "fillin station" on "The Andy Griffith Show." He fit in perfectly with his country wit, impersonations of Cary Grant, "Judy, Judy, Judy," and playing the a dim-witted bulb often to the consternation of Sheriff Andy Taylor. He always wore his stocking type cap which always looked worn and dirty. Lindsay played this role also in Mayberry R.F.D. (1968) and continued playing basically the same and other characters on Hee Haw (1969) for many years. Although he did not perform in a myriad of shows, he was always recognizable as Goober and did not have a shortage of work. Between "The Andy Griffith show" and "Hee Haw," this provided him with almost 25 years worth of work a busy schedule for anyone. George frequented other country and western TV shows and movies including Gunsmoke (1955), Cannonball Run II (1984), Take This Job and Shove It (1981), and others. But he also found work on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962), The Rifleman (1958), The Twilight Zone (1959), and many others. George provided much comedic relief to millions of viewers for over a generation and will never be forgotten by those who enjoyed him.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
Glen Campbell was born on 22 April 1936 in Billstown, Arkansas, USA. He was a music artist and actor, known for True Grit (1969), Shindig! (1964) and Dark Phoenix (2019). He was married to Kim Campbell, Sarah Jan Barg, Billie Jean Nunley and Diane Marie Kirk. He died on 8 August 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Gene Evans was born in Holbrook, Arizona, on July 11, 1922, and was raised in Colton, California. He served in the Army during World War II as a combat engineer, and was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for bravery in action. He began his acting career there, performing in a theatrical troupe of GIs in Europe. After the war, he went to Hollywood, where he made his film debut in 1947's Under Colorado Skies (1947). The rugged, red-headed character actor was a familiar face in such westerns as Cattle Queen of Montana (1954), The War Wagon (1967), Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) and Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973). He also starred in the war films The Steel Helmet (1951) and Fixed Bayonets! (1951) and co-starred with future first lady Nancy Reagan (before she became Nancy Reagan) in Donovan's Brain (1953). His other major films include Park Row (1952), The Giant Behemoth (1959), Operation Petticoat (1959) and Walking Tall (1973). He became well known in the 1950s on television, playing the father in My Friend Flicka (1955). He remained active in films and television through the 1980s. Evans subsequently retired to a farm near Jackson, Tennessee. He was a popular guest at the Memphis Film Festival for the past decade.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
American character actor in many Westerns, Sheb Wooley was also a figure in country-western music. Born and raised in Oklahoma, he spent his youth as a cowhand. His musical ability led to radio and subsequently film work. He played minor supporting roles for a dozen years starting in 1950, including one of the Frank Miller gang in High Noon (1952). In 1958 he had a giant hit record with his own song "The Purple People Eater" (years later there was a movie made based on the song, Purple People Eater (1988)) and he followed it with a string of similar humorous country ditties, often recorded under the name Ben Colder. For a number of years he had a regular role as scout Pete Nolan on the hit TV series Rawhide (1959). He worked infrequently as an actor after that, concentrating on the music business.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Lester was brought up on his grandfather's farm, shucking corn, fishing, hunting, and picking cotton. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, majoring in Chemistry. He taught science and biology at a school in Purcell, Oklahoma, before moving to California. He divided his time between Southern California and Laurel, Mississippi. He spoke to youth groups and at religious gatherings about his faith, and shared the stage three times with Billy Graham. Lester died in 2020, aged 81. He was survived by his wife, his brother, two great-nieces, one great-great niece, and one great-great-nephew.- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Naomi Judd was born on 11 January 1946 in Ashland, Kentucky, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for Someone Like You (2001), An Evergreen Christmas (2014) and Route 65 Nashville. She was married to Larry Strickland and Michael Charles Ciminella. She died on 30 April 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actress
- Music Department
- Producer
June Carter Cash was born on 23 June 1929 in Maces Springs, Scott County, Virginia, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for The Johnny Cash Show (1969), The Apostle (1997) and Man of Steel (2013). She was married to Johnny Cash, Edwin Lee (Rip) Nix and Carl Smith. She died on 15 May 2003 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Composer
Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 - December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as operatic, earning him the nicknames "The Caruso of Rock" and "The Big O." Many of Orbison's songs conveyed vulnerability at a time when most male rock-and-roll performers chose to project masculinity. He performed while standing motionless and wearing black clothes to match his dyed black hair and dark sunglasses, which he wore to counter his shyness and stage fright.- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Mac Davis was born on 21 January 1942 in Lubbock, Texas, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for North Dallas Forty (1979), Next (2007) and Passengers (2016). He was married to Lise Gerard, Sarah Jane Barg and Fran Cook. He died on 29 September 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Actor
Richard Wayne Penniman, better known as Little Richard, the self-proclaimed "Architect of Rock 'n' Roll", traveled in his early days with the legendary vaudeville star Spencer "Snake" Anthony. One of Richard's early bands had the young, then unknown singer James Brown (the Godfather of Soul), a fourteen-year-old keyboardist named Billy Preston, and the famous and legendary rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix. His first recording session took place at WGST in Atlanta, Georgia, USA; he was backed by a local band led by Billy Wright. This session produced a local hit called "Every Hour" which enjoyed heavy airplay on Atlanta's WERD radio station which was the first completely Black-owned radio station in the United States. Little Richard was backed up by his idol Billy Wright, once referred to him as the most fantastic entertainer he had ever seen. Indeed, it was Wright who used a brand of makeup called Pancake 31.
Little Richard admitted to copying Wright's penchant for heavy makeup and wild stage theatrics. With a public persona and personal life marked by sexual ambiguity, he would make his mark with later hits such as the suggestive "Tutti Frutti" and "Good Golly Miss Molly". Unbeknownst to many fans, Richard overcame a debilitating drug habit and eventually became an ordained minister. Beginning in the 1980s, he saw a resurgence in his popularity as he acquired small acting roles where he impressed fans, old and new, with his unique comedic timing. As versatile and ageless as ever, Little Richard continues to delight fans the world over with his extraordinary stage presence and flamboyant antics. Now inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the American Songwriters Hall of Fame, he remains one of the most popular entertainers in the world.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Lari White was born on 13 May 1965 in Dunedin, Florida, USA. She was an actress, known for Cast Away (2000), No Regrets (2004) and Country Strong (2010). She was married to Chuck Cannon. She died on 23 January 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Composer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Music Department
Kyle Jacobs was born on 26 June 1973 in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA. He was a composer, known for Lee Brice: I Drive Your Truck (2012), Nashville (2012) and CMT Hot 20 Countdown (2001). He was married to Kellie Pickler. He died on 17 February 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Tex Ritter was born on 12 January 1905 in Murvaul, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Song of the Gringo (1936), High Noon (1952) and Varsity Blues (1999). He was married to Dorothy Fay. He died on 2 January 1974 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Writer
Loretta Lynn was born on 14 April 1932 in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, USA. She was a music artist and actress, known for The New Mutants (2020), High Crimes (2002) and Logan Lucky (2017). She was married to Oliver Lynn. She died on 4 October 2022 in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Comedian, author and composer, educated at Emerson College. He served in the US Infantry during World War II. Later, he was part of the team Dana and Wood on television and in supper clubs. As a single, he appeared on television with Martha Raye and Imogene Coca and was a writer for Steve Allen, and he also appeared in night clubs and on records. Joining ASCAP in 1958, his popular-song compositions include "My Name Jose Jimenez", "All About Love" and "Big Bells and Bongo Drummers".- Actor
- Producer
Joe Lara was born in San Diego, California. He was cast to play "Tarzan" in "Tarzan: The Epic Adventures" in the early 1990s. He worked in many countries, including South Africa, Bulgaria, and Russia. He co starred in many film to video projects that were filmed in Bulgaria, Russia, and Africa. He was the longtime partner and fiancé of actress Natasha Pavlovich. They had a child together.- Charles Watts was born on 30 October 1912 in Clarksville, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for An Affair to Remember (1957), Giant (1956) and Lover Come Back (1961). He died on 13 December 1966 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
- Macon McCalman was born on 30 December 1932 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) and Deliverance (1972). He died on 29 November 2005 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
- Sherry Ann Mathis began her career on the local stage in Memphis, Tennessee. She went to New York in 1971 and soon made her Broadway debut in Harold Prince's "A Little Night Music". She subsequently appeared as "Liza Sentell" on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow (1951) for seven years. She appeared with Burt Reynolds in W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975), and made several television appearances before retiring from acting and returning to her native Memphis due to poor health.
- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Actor
Exceptionally talented singer/songwriter John Prine enjoyed a 40 plus year career that encompassed such diverse music genres as folk, rock, country, and rockabilly. With his wry sense of humor, sharp, incisive songwriting, and endearingly offbeat perspective, John distinguished himself as a true original with a well-deserved loyal cult following.
Prine was born on October 10, 1946 in Maywood, Illinois, the son of Verna Valentine (Hamm) and William Mason Prine, a tool-and-die maker. He was taught by his brother how to play guitar at age fourteen. John worked as a postman for five years and did a two-year stint in the Army prior to beginning his musical career as part of the folk music scene in Chicago. Prine garnered a lot of accolades from critics for his outstanding self-titled 1971 debut album. The follow-up albums, "Diamonds in the Rough" and "Sweet Revenge", were likewise well-received by critics but, alas, none of these albums were big commercial successes.
In the mid '70s, John began to vary his basic melodic folk/country sound: The 1975 album, "Common Sense", leaned more towards tough rock and the 1979 album, "Pink Cadillac", was a straight-up raucous rockabilly outing. He continued to record albums throughout the 80s. His terrific 1991 album, "The Missing Years", won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. His songs have been covered by such artists as The Everly Brothers ("Paradise"), Bette Midler ("Hello in There"), Joan Baez ("Hello in There") and Laura Cantrell ("Sam Stone"). John has sizable co-starring roles in the movies, Falling from Grace (1992) and Daddy and Them (2001). Among the films that feature Prine's songs on the soundtrack are Into the Wild (2007), Grass (1999), Fire Down Below (1997), UFOria (1984) and The Pride of Jesse Hallam (1981). In 1998, John was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the neck, underwent surgery and radiation treatment and, subsequently, made a full recovery in 1999. Prine was the recipient of the Artist of the Year Award at the Americana Music Awards on September 9, 2005. Subsequently, he released critically acclaimed album "Standard Songs for Average People."
In 2005 Fair & Square was his 15th studio album, released on Oh Boy Records. It was released on a standard CD, an Extended Play (EP) CD with four bonus tracks, and a vinyl version with the same four bonus tracks.At the 48th Grammy Awards, Fair & Square won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. In late 2014 Prine was again diagnosed with a cancer, received surgery and treatment and was back out touring on the road in 2015. He died in 2020, of COVID-19.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Writer
Tammy once said: "I spent 15 minutes writing ["Stand by Your Man"], and a lifetime defending it". She was born Virginia Wynette Pugh on May 5, 1942, on her grandfather's cotton farm in Itawamba County, Mississippi. Tammy picked cotton as a child, and as a young woman worked as a waitress, a doctor's receptionist, a barmaid and a shoe factory worker. Shortly before graduating high school, Tammy married high school sweetheart Euple Byrd, an itinerant construction worker who was unemployed more often than not. They were finally forced to live in an abandoned, 60-year-old, 3-room log cabin on a Mississippi farm with no indoor plumbing, no stove and only a wood-burning fireplace for cooking and heat. "Not even the poorest sharecropper would have paid to live there," Tammy noted, but it was rent-free. They had 3 daughters, Gwendolyn ("Gwen"), Jacquelyn ("Jackie"), and Tina. The marriage ended in divorce. Tammy still dreamed of becoming a singer. Then, after a short marriage to singer Don Chapel which ended in annulment, Tammy headed to Nashville to pursue a career as a singer in earnest. As a teenager, her fantasy had been to appear on stage with her singing idol, George Jones. In 1968, she married George Jones, creating a union that captured the imaginations of country music fans everywhere. For the next 7 years they lived, sang, wrote, recorded and performed in a romantic, stormy, much-publicized relationship. They had one daughter, Tamala Georgette, born in 1970. Many of Tammy's hits dealt with classic themes of loneliness, divorce and the difficulties of relationships, especially her signature song "Stand by Your Man," which she co-wrote with her producer Billy Sherrill. The beautiful, deeply-moving lyrics of the song go: "Stand by your man / And show the world you love him / Keep giving' all the love you can / Stand by your man". This song has sometimes been misinterpreted, by misinformed people, as meaning a woman should tolerate anything, even abuse, from her man. What it really is, is an affirmation of the vows to love and honor a spouse. Tammy defended the song, in her own words, as "an expression of triumph over adversity". Her recording of "Stand by Your Man" was the biggest selling single in the history of country music. Tammy's releases have made the #1 position in the charts 35 times. Tammy received awards far too numerous to list here, some highlights were being named Country Music Association "Female Vocalist of the Year" for 3 years straight, 1968-1970; (she would be inducted into CMA Hall of Fame in 1998). After her divorce in 1975, Tammy was briefly married to Nashville real estate executive Michael Tomlin. Finally, with singer-songwriter George Richey, she achieved a long-lasting marriage; they were married for 20 years, from 1978 until her death in 1998. "I've had a wonderful life", she said in a 1991 Associated Press interview. "I absolutely feel I've been blessed tremendously. I can't complain at all". In all, she had 5 daughters and one son. Tammy passed away in her sleep on Monday, April 6, 1998, in her beloved Nashville; she was 55. Tammy will be missed greatly by her fans all around the world.- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Jeff Buckley was born on 17 November 1966 in Anaheim, California, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Vanilla Sky (2001), Tell No One (2006) and Jeff Buckley: Everybody Here Wants You (2002). He died on 29 May 1997 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Music Department
Patsy Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932 in Winchester, Virginia. Her brush with show business came at age four when she won a prize in an amateur tap dancing contest. By the time she entered grade school, her family was fully aware of her musical talent. On her eighth birthday, her mother presented her with a piano, on which Patsy learned more music patterns. On Sundays, she sang with the local church choir, and at age 14, was singing regularly on local radio station WINC (she got the job by walking fearlessly into the station and asking for an audition). When Patsy was 15, her parents divorced, reportedly due to her father's heavy drinking. Without her father around to pay the bills, Patsy helped her mother earn money by singing in local clubs in the evenings, and by day, was working at the local drug store, which led to her dropping out of high school a year later. In 1948, Patsy maneuvered herself backstage when 'Wally Fowler' brought his music show to her hometown. Patsy impressed Fowler with her singing, and he gave her the opportunity to audition to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. However, to her disappointment, the Opry reps said that she would not be ready for big-time country radio.
Patsy returned to Winchester and continued to sing in local clubs. She met and married Gerald Cline in 1952. That same year, she was featured in Bill Peer's Melody Playboys of Brunswick, Maryland. Peer got Patsy her first recording contract with Four Star Records in 1954. In late 1955, Patsy became a regular on the radio show "Town and Country Jamboree", a country-western program that broadcast in Washington, D.C. In 1957, Patsy finally got her big break when she appeared as a contestant on the television variety show Talent Scouts (1948), hosted by Arthur Godfrey. For her first television appearance, she selected a torch song she sang a year earlier, "Walkin' After Midnight". She won first place and became a regular on the show for the next two weeks. "Walkin' After Midnight" was released as a single and put Patsy on the top ten charts of country and pop music. However, her determined drive and ambition put a large strain her marriage and kept her away from her husband; as a result, Patsy and Gerald divorced soon after her television debut. In the late 1950s, Patsy put a hold on her career and married a second time, to Charlie Dick, and together they had two children. However, when she returned to singing, the long hours that kept her away put another strain on the marriage.
In 1960, Patsy was finally invited to join the Grand Old Opry and the following year she scored with her second single, "I Fall to Pieces". Producer Owen Bradley took advantage of Patsy's rich voice and backed her with lush string arrangements rather than the twangy sound of steel guitar, which was typical for country-western singers at the time. Anxious to be true to her roots, Patsy often expressed a desire to yodel and growl on her records, but she understood that this smoother sound was giving her career a major boost and used it during the next two years of album recordings. In March 1963, Patsy traveled from Nashville to Kansas City, where on March 5, 1963, she appeared at a benefit concert for the family of disc jockey Jack McCall, who had been killed in a traffic accident earlier that year. Immediately after her performance, she boarded a small plane back to Nashville along with country-western performers Cowboy Copas, Harold Hawkshaw Hawkins and pilot Randy Hughes. Approximately 85 miles west of Nashville, the plane ran into turbulence and crashed. There were no survivors. Shortly before her death, Patsy recorded the single "Sweet Dreams", which became #5 on the country charts after her untimely death at age 30 (her best-known song, "Crazy", was written by future country-western legend Willie Nelson). Ten years after her death, Patsy Cline was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the first female soloist chosen for the honor.- Music Department
- Actor
- Producer
Leon Russell was born on 2 April 1942 in Lawton, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993), The Kids Are All Right (2010) and Ghost Rider (2007). He was married to Janet Lee Constantine and Mary McCreary. He died on 13 November 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Sarah Colley studied dramatics in Belmont College in Nashville, intending to be a serious actress, but while touring with an Atlanta company, she created the Minnie Pearl character that became her life's work. Her first Grand Old Opry appearance was on the radio show in 1940, followed by 27 years of touring. She was diagnosed with cancer in 1985, and recovered after a double mastectomy. A mild stroke in June 1991 forced her to give up performing.- Actor
- Writer
Keith Walker was born on 29 June 1935 in Highland Springs, Virginia, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Goonies (1985), Free Willy (1993) and The Fall Guy (1981). He was married to Peggy Walton-Walker. He died on 30 December 1996 in Franklin, Tennessee, USA.- Music Artist
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He is known for many styles of music - pure honky-tonk, rockabilly, gospel, straight-ahead pop, blues and Hawaiian. But fans remember Marty Robbins best for his cowboy songs. Songs like "Big Iron", "Running Gun", "The Hanging Tree" and of course "El Paso" established Robbins as the master of the style of country music.
He and twin sister Mamie were born near Glendale, Ariz. As a child, Robbins (born Martin David Robinson) was fascinated with El Paso, Texas since childhood - both the name and the city itself. Marty's parents divorced when he was 12 and his mother moved the family to Phoenix. Robbins joined the Navy in 1943, where he learned to play guitar and began singing and songwriting during the three-year stint. After his discharge, he returned to Phoenix and held down a series of jobs. Eventually, he began singing in nightclubs, filling in one night as guitarist for a friend's band. Quite often, he performed under the pseudonym Jack Robinson (because his mother objected to his performing in nightclubs and he didn't want her to find out).
By 1950, he was performing regularly on Mesa, Ariz., station KTYL, and starred in the local TV series "Western Caravan" on KPHO in Phoenix. One night, country singer Little Jimmy Dickens appeared on the show and was so impressed with Robbins that he urged his record label, Columbia Records, to sign the young star. Robbins' first song, "Love Me or Leave Me Alone", was recorded in 1951. Although the song failed to chart on any of Billboard magazine's country singles chart (the magazine had separate sales, radio airplay and jukebox to monitor the performance of country songs at the time), Robbins was on his way to country stardom; one of the follow-up singles, "I'll Go On Alone", went No. 1 in early 1953. Robbins became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in February 1953.
A steady string of hits followed, ranging in styles from rockabilly ("That's All Right" and "Singing the Blues"), teenage love songs ("A White Sport Coat (and a Pink Carnation)") and of course, cowboy songs. He had already appeared in several B-westerns and had scored a country hit with "The Hanging Tree" (the title track to the movie starring Gary Cooper) when, in 1959, he began writing and recording songs for his legendary album "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs"). The all-time classic from the album of songs was "El Paso", the story of a gunfighter who dies after being shot at the end of the song. The song went No. 1 on Billboard magazine's country singles chart in December 1959, where it spent seven weeks; it also became his only No. 1 Hot 100 hit and became the first country song to win a Grammy. At just over 4:40, radio programmers were reluctant to play such a long song (most songs were half as long), but demand won out, and it soon became one of country music's all-time most popular songs on fan surveys. His 1976 No. 1 hit, "El Paso City", revisited the gunfighter's legend.
During the 1960s and 1970s, his career continued, with a second Grammy coming in 1970 with his No. 1 ode to his wife, Marizona, "My Woman, My Woman, My Wife." He also dabbled in television ("Marty Robbins' Spotlight") and stock car racing. He left Columbia Records in 1972 to begin a three-year stint at Decca (later MCA) Records; though he had some success there, he returned to Columbia in late 1975.
During his 31-year recording career, Robbins had 94 songs make Billboard's country charts, with 16 going to No. 1; 31 of his songs also placed on the Hot 100. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982, just two months before suffering his third heart attack (he had also suffered heart attacks in 1969 and 1981). He underwent a quadruple bypass at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tenn., but died Dec. 8, 1982. His only posthumous country hit came in 1983, when he scored a No. 10 hit with "Honkytonk Man", the title track to Clint Eastwood's film. While cowboy and western songs were his trademark, it was Robbins' style, grace and dignity, plus his on-stage ability to communicate with his audience and understated sense of humor that made him one of country music's most beloved performers.- Music Artist
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George Jones was born on 12 September 1931 in Saratoga, Texas, USA. He was a music artist and actor, known for Ad Astra (2019), Only the Brave (2017) and Crazy Heart (2009). He was married to Nancy Sepulveda, Tammy Wynette, Shirley Ann Corley and Dorothy Bonvillion. He died on 26 April 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- One of the most unlikely TV stars in history, Alvin Samples, Jr., was a carpenter by vocation and avid fisherman and teller of tall tales by avocation. A recording of Junior's tall tales, originally made for a radio program, was heard by Chet Atkins, who, in turn, introduced him to country music comedian Archie Campbell. The album the two men made, "Bull Session at Bull's Gap" on RCA, was a direct stepping stone to both men's being signed to the "Hee Haw" television show, where they remained regulars for years. A mammoth bear of a man, whose weight came close to 400 pounds, Samples was still a regular on the program when he died of a heart attack at age 57.
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Charles Bryant Pierce was an independent filmmaker from Arkansas whose movies have become cult classics. Films that he wrote, directed and/or produced were not only made in Arkansas with local actors but also drew their inspiration from Arkansas themes. He is believed to be the source of one of the most famous lines in American film history from the 1983 film 'Sudden Impact': "Go ahead, make my day."
Charles B. Pierce was born in Hammond, IN, on June 16, 1938, the son of Mack McKenny Pierce and Mayven Bryant Pierce. When he was a few months old the family moved to Hampton, Calhoun County, in the south-central part of Arkansas. Living in Hampton, Pierce grew up next door to Harry Thomason, who later became successful as a producer and director of such projects as TV's "Designing Women" (1986).
According to Pierce's family, one of his chores growing up was mowing the lawn. His father came home one day at lunchtime and asked if the boy planned to mow the yard anytime soon, adding, "When I come home tonight and the yard has not been mowed, you're gonna make my day." Later in life, Pierce would use the admonition to great advantage.
In the mid-1960s, Pierce was working as an art director at KTAL-TV in Shreveport, LA, and later became a weatherman and hosted a children's cartoon program at the small independent-owned TV station. Returning to Arkansas, he started an advertising business on State Line Avenue in Texarkana, Miller County, in addition to playing a character called Mayor Chuckles on a local television show.
In 1971, there were local headlines about a Sasquatch-like creature sighted in the wetlands vicinity around the nearby town of Fouke in Miller County. The "Fouke Monster" was reportedly seen in the Boggy Creek area and was suspected of attacking dogs and livestock as well as a local family. In mid 1972, while still working in advertising, Pierce created a semi-documentary film originally titled "Tracking the Fouke Monster"--later renamed 'The Legend of Boggy Creek.' Pierce shot the movie with a 16mm camera he assembled himself at home. Much of the movie was filmed in Fouke and Texarkana with local residents and students as actors and/or crew. Estimates place the cost of making the film at about $165,000. Becoming popular as a drive-in horror feature around the country, it became one of the top ten highest-grossing movies of the year, earning over $20 million.
Earning several hundred thousand dollars in residuals from the film, Pierce used his new found wealth to write and direct several other films, which included the crime comedy-drama Bootleggers (1974), the westerns Winterhawk (1975) and The Winds of Autumn (1976), the true-life horror flick The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976), the western Grayeagle (1977), the viking adventure The Norseman (1978), another true-life thriller The Evictors (1979), the western Sacred Ground (1983), a sequel to "Boggy Creek" titled Boggy Creek II (1985), the violent western Hawken's Breed (1987), the family drama Renfroe's Christmas (1997) and Chasing the Wind (1998). His earlier films in particular were shot in Arkansas and/or featured Arkansas themes and local residents in their production.
After moving to California in the early 1980s to further his career, he became friends with actor/director Clint Eastwood while living in Carmel, where Eastwood was elected mayor in 1986. After sharing a story treatment that Eastwood liked, Pierce became a writer for the fourth in the Dirty Harry series, Sudden Impact (1983), which Eastwood directed. Its most famous line, "Go ahead, make my day," has been ranked in the top ten of the American Film Institute's top movie quotes of all time.
Returning to his own independent;y produced films, Pierce was the star, writer, director and co-producer of The Barbaric Beast of Boggy Creek, Part II, (1985), a sequel to "Boggy Creek" that was eventually re-titled Boggy Creek II: And the Legend Continues (1985). The movie also contains footage of a University of Arkansas (UA) Razorback football game in Fayetteville, Washington County), complete with hog-hatted fans.
Pierce acquired the nickname "Sparkplug" due to his energy; he was always thinking about his next project while completing another. Pierce was married to Florence Lyons, a Tennessee native, for ten years and they had three children, one of whom was Charles Pierce Jr. They eventually divorced. Pierce's second wife was Cindy Butler; they also later divorced. While filming "Hawken's Breed" in 1987 with Peter Fonda (I) in the area around Dover, TN, Pierce met his third wife Beth Pulley; they married the following year.
Along with starring and directing Boggy Creek II, Pierce acted in several of his films, in small roles; these included "Bootleggers," "The Winds of Autumn," and "The Town that Dreaded Sundown." Pierce directed a number of noted character actors, such as Slim Pickens (I), Jack Elam, Kathleen Freeman (I), Woody Strode and L.Q. Jones, along with lead actors including Jaclyn Smith (I), Dawn Wells (I), Andrew Prine, Lee Majors (I), Cornel Wilde, Mel Ferrer (I), Vic Morrow, Michael Parks (I) and Academy Award winner Ben Johnson (I).
Suffering from poor health later in life, Charles B. Pierce died on March 5, 2010, at the Signature Care nursing home in Dover, TN, at age 71, where he had been living for the past seven years. He is buried at Stewart Memorial Gardens near his home in Dover. Two years before his death, the frail-looking Pierce attended and was spotlighted by the Little Rock Film Festival in 2008 with a retrospective, received the Arkansas Arts Council's Judges Special Recognition award in 2009, honored annually by the Little Rock Film Festival through the Charles B. Pierce Award for Best Film Made in Arkansas. He was inducted into the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame in 2010.- Gail Stone-Stanton was born on 19 November 1954 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. She was an actress, known for Making the Grade (1984). She died on 21 November 1996 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
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- Soundtrack
Shonka Dukureh was born on 3 September 1977 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. She was an actress, known for Elvis (2022) and Doja Cat: Vegas (2022). She died on 21 July 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- John Pickard was born on 25 June 1913 in Lascassas, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for True Grit (1969), The Twilight Zone (1959) and The Time Tunnel (1966). He was married to Anne Bernard McLaurine. He died on 4 August 1993 in Rutherford County, Tennessee, USA.
- David Akeman, the country musician known as "Stringbean," was a legend at the Grand Ole Opry and one of the stars of television's Hee Haw (1969). Along with his long-time partner and Hee Haw (1969) co-star Grandpa Jones, he was one of the premier traditional-style banjo players in country music. Though Stringbean primarily performed as either a sideman or as part of a comedy duet, he began recording his own records in the 1960s and had achieved superstar status by the time the decade of the '60s closed.
Born on June 17, 1915, to a farm family in Annville in Kentucky's Jackson County, it was natural for Akeman to become a musical prodigy as his family loved and lived music. His father was a banjoist who played at local dances, but more importantly, Annville was full of talented musicians possessed of considerable skill, all of whom, including his father, helped the young David him master the instrument. When he was seven years old, David Akeman reputedly crafted his first banjo out of a shoe box strung with thread. Five years later, he bartered a pair of chickens for a real banjo, with which he began playing gigs at local dances, earning himself a reputation as a virtuoso on the instrument, which was an adaptation of a gourd-based string instrument introduced to America in pre-colonial times by African slaves. The banjo, as adapted and played by white folk, became one of the central instruments of country music before the 20th century.
During the Depression, when money was scarce and jobs were hard to come by, Akeman joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, where he was engaged in road-building and tree-planting. As a musician, he was discovered by country singer-guitarist Asa Martin, who was the judge at a talent contest Akeman had entered. Martin awarded the contest to Akeman, who thereupon joined Martin's band. It was Martin who gave Akeman his moniker, when during one performance, he forgot the banjoist's name and introduced him as "String Beans," a reference to his lanky, 6'5" physique. The name stuck.
Akeman went from a sideman who only played banjo to a leading performer, doubling as a singer and engaging in comic repartee. His comedic shtick became popular and he began dividing his time between musicianship and comedy. He also played some semi-pro baseball player in sandlots throughout the South, which he toured with various bands throughout 1930s. Akeman also was broadcast over the radio. "Stringbeans" and his future partner Grandpa Jones were two of the relatively few banjo players in mainstream country music during the '30s, as the instrument by that time had virtually disappeared from the repertoire.
It was Stringbean's association with country legend Bill Monroe that made his reputation. Monroe, who fielded his own semi-pro baseball team, discovered Stringbean on the playing field, and the banjo player became a member of Monroe's band in 1943. Stringbean stayed with the band for two years as Monroe's first banjo player, playing in the traditional claw-hammer style, as well as engaging in two-finger picking. It was with Bill Monroe who he first appeared on records. In this period, Akeman had additional gigs, teaming up with Willie Egbert Westbrook as "String Beans and Cousin Wilbur," a comedy duo that worked on the same bills with Monroe's band. He also played on one recording session as a Blue Grass Boy, laying down eight tracks in February 1945.
Stringbeans left Monroe's band in the fall and was replaced by another legendary banjo player, the great Earl Scruggs, who had a radically different technique than the old-style favored by Akeman and Grandpa Jones. Stringbean, who married Estelle Stanfill in 1945, first began working with Grandpa Jones, another comic-banjo player, in 1946. He later teamed up with Lew Childre to create a comedy-musical duo act in the late 1940s, and they became regulars at the Grand Old Opry. At the Opry, Akeman became a protégé of Uncle Dave Macon, a fellow banjo-player/comic who was well-loved by Opry audiences. After Macon's death in 1952, Stringbean as he now was known, became one of the Opry's biggest stars.
By the early 1960s, Earl Scruggs had become the most influential and popular banjo player in country music, and it was at this time that Stringbean first decided to record on his own, signing with the Starday label. There was still an audience for his traditional style of banjo playing and his admixture of comedy and song, best exemplified by the title of his first album: "Old Time Pickin' and Grinnin' with Stringbean," which was released in 1961. The album featured folk songs, particularly humorous ditties about animals, and jokes and tall tales. He would release a total of seven albums all together from the early 60s through 1972, and had country hits with "Chewing Gum" and "I Wonder Where Wanda Went."
In 1969, Stringbean and Grandpa Jones became part of the original cast of the country-flavored TV show _"Hee Haw" (1979)_ which made him famous outside of the country music niche. Just like at the Grand Old Opry, Stringbean became one of the most beloved of the show's stars.
Dave Akeman lived an extremely modest, simple life. Remembering the hard times of the Depression, Stringbean and his wife lived in a tiny cabin near Ridgetop, Tennessee, approximately 20 miles outside of Nashville, near his friend Grandpa Jones. Their only luxury was a Cadillac.
Stringbean did not trust banks due to the multiple bank failures of the Hoover years, and he kept thousands of dollars on his person, which he was known to flash around. It was rumored in nearby Nashville that Stringbean had a fortune in cash stashed at his house. It was these rumors that led two cousins, John and Marvin Brown, on the night of November 10, 1973, to break into the Akemans' cabin.
Returning from a performance at the Grand Old Opry, the burglars shot Stringbean dead after he entered his house, then ran down and killed Estelle. By immediately murdering Stringbean, they had no chance to question him on the whereabouts of any hidden monies, which they were unable to find. They managed to steal some firearms and a chainsaw, all at the cost of two lives. Stringbean and Estelle's neighbor Grandpa Jones discovered his slain friends the next morning, a Sunday.
The murders of the beloved Stringbean and his wife shocked the Nashville music community. Some of the less ethical members of the press tried to implicate Grandpa Jones in the slayings, intimating that he had been having an affair with Estelle. The charges were preposterous and hurtful towards Jones, who had lost his dear friends, but they helped sell papers.
Police work finally led to the capture of John and Marvin Brown. During the trial, Grandpa Jones identified one of the firearms the cousins had stolen from the Akeman cabin as one he had given Stringbean as a gift. The cousins, it was revealed, had ransacked the cabin and ambushed Stringbean and Estelle when they returned home. They were convicted of the double homicide and burglary and sentenced to life-in prison. (Ironically, a decomposed wad of about $20,000 in cash was discovered behind a brick in the cabin's chimney nearly a quarter century later, in 1996.)
David "Stringbean" Akeman and his wife Estelle were buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. The Stringbean Memorial Bluegrass Festival is held annually in Jackson County, Kentucky. The festival raises funds for Stringbean Memorial, Inc., a non-profit corporation that organizes, plans and hosts traditional music and heritage festivals in Jackson County to honor the memory of Stringbean and to preserve and promote traditional bluegrass and mountain music as well as support musical education and opportunities for area youth. - Actor
- Music Department
- Composer
Duane Eddy was born on 26 April 1938 in Corning, New York, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Natural Born Killers (1994), Forrest Gump (1994) and Broken Arrow (1996). He was married to Diane Mary 'Deed' Abbate, Maureen A Power, Jessi Colter and Carol Fowler. He died on 30 April 2024 in Franklin, Tennessee, USA.- Writer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the son of Alberta Christine (Williams), a schoolteacher, and Martin Luther King Sr. a pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. For Martin the civil rights movement began one summer in 1935 when he was six years old. Two of his friends did not show up to play ball with him and Martin decided to go looking for them. When he went to one of the boys' house, their mother met him at the front door and told him in a rude tone that her son would not be coming out to play with him that day or any other day because they were white and he was black. Years later, Martin admitted that those cruel words altered the direction of his life. As a teenager, Martin went through school with great distinction. He skipped ninth and 12th grades, and excelled on the violin and as as a public speaker. One evening after taking top prize in a debate tournament, he and his teacher were riding home on the bus discussing the event when the driver ordered them to give up their seats for two white passengers who had just boarded. Martin was infuriated as he recalled, "I intended to stay right in my seat and protest," but his teacher convinced him to obey the law and they stood for the remainder of the 90-mile trip. "That night will never leave my memory as long as I live. It was the angriest I had ever been in my life. Never before, or afterward, can I remember myself being so angry," he later recalled.
Martin entered Morehouse College, his father's alma mater, when he was 15 with the intention of becoming a doctor or lawyer. After graduating from Morehouse at the age of 19, he decided to enter Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. This private nondenominational college had only 100 students at the time, and Martin was one of six black students. This was the first time that he had lived in a community that was mostly white. He won the highest class ranking and a $1,200 fellowship for graduate school. In 1951 he entered Boston University School of Theology to to pursue his Ph.D. While at Crozer Martin had attended a lecture by Howard University President Mordecai Johnson, who spoke about Mohandas K. Gandhi, India's spiritual leader whose nonviolent protests helped to free his country from British rule, and that gave Martin the basis for positive change. It was here that he met and married his wife Coretta Scott King, who was a soprano studying at the New England Conservatory of Music. In 1954 Martin accepted a call to the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, to be its pastor. Despite Coretta's warning that it would not be safe for them in Alabama, the poorest and most racist state in the US, Martin insisted that they move there. Many local black ministers attended Martin's first sermon at the church, among them the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, who congratulated him on his speech. The two became fast friends and often discussed life in general and the challenges of desegregation in particular. Then an incident changed Martin's life forever.
On the cold winter night of December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old black seamstress who worked in a downtown Montgomery department store, boarded a bus for home and sat in the back with the other black passengers. A few stops later, she was ordered to give up her seat to a white passenger who just boarded. She repeatedly refused, prompting the driver to call the police, who arrested her. In response to Mrs. Parks' courage, the town's black leaders formed the Montgomery Improvement Association and elected Martin as its leader. The first goal of the MIA was to boycott the city's bus system until public transportation laws were changed. The strike was long, bitter and violent, but eventually the city's white merchants began to complain that their businesses were suffering because of the strike, and the city responded by filing charges against Martin. While in court to appeal the charges, he learned that the U.S. Supreme Court had affirmed the decision by the Alabama Supreme Court that the local laws requiring segregation on buses were unconstitutional. The first civil rights battle was won, but for Martin it was the first of many more difficult ones. On November 29, 1959, he offered his resignation to the members of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, as several months earlier he had been elected leader of a new organization called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He moved his family to Atlanta and began to establish a regional network of nonviolent organizations.
In April 1961 he coordinated the SCLC and other civil-rights organizations to take two busloads of white and black passengers through the South on a "freedom ride" for publicity reasons. In Virgina and North and South Carolina there were no incidents, but in Anniston, Alabama, the ride became a rolling horror when one bus was burned and its passengers beaten by an angry racist white mob. In Birmingham, angry mobs--with some policemen joining them--greeted the bus with more violence, which was broken up when state police intervened and stopped the chaos. The violence shook Martin and he decided to abandon the freedom rides before someone was killed, but the riders insisted they complete the ride to Montgomery, where they where greeted with more violence. In January 1963 Martin arrived in Birmingham with Ralph Abernathy to organize a freedom march aimed to end segregation. Despite an injunction issued by city authorities against the gathering, the protesters marched and were attacked by the police. Three months later another march was planned with the intent to "turn the other cheek" in response to the violence by the city's police force. As the marchers reached downtown Birmgingham, the police attacked the crowd with high-pressure fire hoses and attack dogs. This time, however, the incident was witnessed across the entire country, as many network TV crews were there and broadcasting live footage of unarmed marchers being blasted to the ground by high-pressure hoses and others being bitten and mauled by snarling attack dogs, and it sparked a national outrage.
The next day, more marchers repeated the walk and more policemen attacked with fire hoses and police dogs, leading to a total of 1,200 arrests. On the third day, Martin organized another march to the city jail. This time, when the marchers approached the police, none of them moved and some even let the marchers through to continue their march. The nonviolent strategy had worked--the strikes and boycotts were cutting deeply into the city merchants' revenues, and they called for negotiations and agreed with local black leaders to integrate lunch counters, fitting rooms, restrooms and drinking fountains within 90 days. Martin was then called for a rally in Washington, DC, near the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. Nearly 200,000 people stood in the intense heat listening to the speeches by the members and supporters of the NACCP. By the time Martin was called as the day's final speaker, the crowd was hot and tired. As he approached the podium, with his papers containing his prepared speech, he suddenly put them aside and decided to speak from the heart. He spoke of freedoms for blacks achieved and not yet achieved. He then spoke the words that echo throughout the world to this day: "I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.' I have that dream." By mid-October 1964 Martin had given 350 civil rights speeches and traveled 275,000 miles across the country and worked for 20 hours a day.
While in an Atlanta hospital after collapsing from exhaustion, his wife brought in his room a telegram notifying him that he had won the Nobel Peace Prize. On April 1, 1968, Martin traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to meet with two of his advisers, James Bevel and Jesse Jackson, to discuss organizing a march to Washington in support of a strike by Memphis' city's sanitation workers. In the late afternoon of April 4, he stepped out onto the balcony of the Lorraine Motel where he was staying to speak with Andrew Young. As he saw Jackson and waved to him for a moment, a gunshot rang through the air and Martin Luther King Jr. was hit in the neck and fell dead from a sniper's bullet. He was dead, but the struggle that he started to continue to bring peace and end the racial conflict in the USA continues to this day.- Tracey Davis was born on 5 July 1961 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for We Are Many: A Dreadnought Dominion film (2020), The More Things Change - A Dreadnought Dominion Film (2021) and Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me (2017). She was married to Guy Garner and Jim Cotta. She died on 2 November 2020 in Franklin, Tennessee, USA.
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J. Karen Thomas was born in 1965 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. She was an actress, known for Itty Bitty Titty Committee (2007), The Tempest (2001) and Nashville (2012). She died on 26 March 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Camera and Electrical Department
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Tim grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of Dorothy and George Bolton Bess. He married third-grade school teacher Leshia Ann Batson on December 8, 1984 and they continued to make their home in Nashville. They had one son, George William Bess. He worked as a grip, electrician on Nashville Beat (1989), The Exorcist III (1990), Leatherheads (2008) and on the production crew of the TV series Nashville (2015). When Nashville ended its six season run in January 2018, the closing credits acknowledged his death. Tim died on November 7, 2017 at a Nashville hospital. He was cremated and his ashes were given to his wife.