Alfonzo Giordano

Alfonzo J. Giordano Jr. (February 7, 1937 - November 21, 2013) was a senior ranking officer in the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD), having achieved the rank of Inspector before his retirement in 1982. In 1986, he was convicted of accepting $57,000 in bribes. Giordano admitted receiving more than $45,000 in bribes in 1979, and more than $12,000 in early 1980 when he was commander of Philadelphia's East Division. The payoffs were from various operators of illegal lotteries and from sports betting operations that thrived in the blue collar neighborhoods.
Giordano is notable as being the "right hand man" of Frank Rizzo. He maintained a position of a high-ranking officer in the department throughout Rizzo's tenure as police commissioner and mayor. He was a member of the police force during the summer of 1964 when race riots devoured much of the city.


Chauncy Maples

Chauncy Maples (1852–95) was a British clergyman and Anglican missionary who became Bishop of Likoma, on Likoma Island, in East Africa.
Born in 1852, Maples had sailed for Zanzibar in 1876 where he set up clinics and schools for released slaves. Ten years later he founded the Anglican Mission on Likoma Island. In 1895 Maples received recognition when he was consecrated as Bishop of Likoma (his immediate predecessor was called Bishop of Nyasaland).
A man of the cloth, while on the way to take up his duties, his steel boat the "Sherriff" (named after the late captain Sherriff of the "Charles Janson") capsized during a storm on the lake and Maples and a layman missionary Joseph Williams drowned. All eighteen African men and boys swam safely ashore but Maples was pulled down because of the weight of his cassock.
In recognition of his role in East Africa, in 1901 the ship SS "Chauncy Maples", the first steamship on Lake Nyasa (now Lake Malawi), was named after him. The ship continues to serve as a floating hospital to this day.


Cornfed Pig


Arch Deal

Arch Deal (October 5, 1931 – March 13, 2020) was an American newscaster with WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida. He was also the father of Tampa musician Karen Deal.
An avid skydiver, Deal had made more than 5,000 jumps by 2002. In 1975, his chute malfunctioned and he hit the ground at 120 mph. The injuries he suffered were a broken pelvis, broken neck and cracked ribs. In three months time he had returned to work at his WFLA-Ch. 8 job. He later worked at radio station WRBQ-FM 104.7 as a sky traffic reporter. He left there in 1992.
Personal life.
In 1991, he became a father again, fathering a daughter. In 2010, his 57-year-old daughter Karen died, after she choked on food and was in a coma for a month.
Deal died on March 13, 2020, also after choking on food. He is survived by daughters, Diane and Michelle Deal and his son Doug Deal.


Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights

Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects the right to life. The article contains a limited exception for the cases of lawful executions and sets out strictly controlled circumstances in which the deprivation of life may be justified. The exemption for the case of lawful executions has been subsequently further restricted by Protocols 6 (restriction of the death penalty to war time) and 13 (abolition of the death penalty), for those parties who are also parties to those protocols. The European Court of Human Rights has commented that "Article 2 ranks as one of the most fundamental provisions in the Convention". The obligations on a State under Article 2 consist of three principal aspects: the duty to refrain from unlawful deprivation of life; the duty to investigate suspicious deaths; and in certain circumstances, a positive obligation to take steps to prevent avoidable losses of life.
Deprivation of life.
The first, and most obvious obligation under article 2 is for the state, through its agents, to refrain from itself causing the deprivation of life, that is to say that domestic law must regulate the permissible use of lethal force by agents of the state. The court first considered the obligations imposed by Article 2 in the case of "McCann and Others v United Kingdom" brought by the relatives of three individuals shot by members of the SAS in Gibraltar.
This case imposes two obligations to the State:
If the state has not followed these obligations then it will be found to be an unlawful killing.
Further reading of cases on the matter include: "Kelly and Others v UK"; "Osman v UK"; "McKerr v UK"; "Jordan v UK"; "Shanaghan v UK"; and "R(Amin) v SOS Home Dept" itself.
Positive duty to protect life in certain circumstances.
Article 2 has been interpreted to include the positive obligation of the state to ensure preventive measures are taken to protect citizens. The leading case on the matter is "Osman v UK" which overruled the UK court's decision in "Hill v West Yorkshire" as to the fact that public bodies could not be held to be negligent. Some cases establish further obligations for states; for instance, LCB v UK establishes a positive obligation for states to take "appropriate steps to safeguard the lives of those within their jurisdiction." Likewise, Makaratzis v Greece pushes these obligations further, so that the state must have mechanisms to deter offenses against people. This was initially applied to the use of firearms; although the court recognized the defensive benefits in gun ownership, it found a much larger threat in unchecked gun use.
Duty to investigate suspicious deaths.
The investigation must be effective, independent and prompt. The duty to investigate is even stronger where the death has occurred whilst a person was detained by the state. The leading authority on this is "Salman v Turkey" (2000). The judgement states that:
Use of force and exceptions in paragraph 2.
This constitutes the negative obligation of the state under the convention. The states must under article 3 refrain from any random deprivation of life. This article however offers states a few exceptions to that rule. This constitutes a license to use force and is not to be construed as a license to kill.
The exceptions are well defined and are subject to a very narrow interpretation by the Court. The states may use only necessary amounts of force:
There are three conditions set by the court:
Key rulings in this matter are "McCann and Others v United Kingdom", "Makaratzis v Greece", and "Nachova and others v Bulgaria".
Beginning of life.
In 1980, the Court ruled out the foetal right to sue the mother carrying the foetus. In "Paton" v. "United Kingdom", it was decided that the life of the foetus is "intimately connected with, and cannot be regarded in isolation from, the life of the pregnant woman". ("Paton v United Kingdom" (1981) 3 EHHR 408 at para 19)
The key ruling was "Vo v France" where the court ruled that due to lack of consensus over the matter in the member states, the court allows a margin of appreciation (usually reserved only for the derogable rights) to each state to determine whether a foetus falls under the protection of article 2.
The court, as it usually does in such unsettled matters, refrained from clarifying the issue further.
End of life.
Ocalan v Turkey
Case law.
Preventive measures to protect life.
Authorities knew or ought to have known of the risks and should have taken measures, which they did not thus breaching Article 3.
The LBC obligation applies more commonly to criminal cases.
In Osman v UK 1998 – THE OSMAN OBLIGATION: there is a certain well defined circumstance of a positive obligation on the authorities to take preventive operational measures to protect an individual whose life is at risk from the criminal acts of another individual’ provided the follow requirements are satisfied;
The osman criteria in action;
The OSMAN obligation also applies to persons in detention
Torkel Opsahl suggests in his book 'European System', that there is no positive duty to force someone to live, but rather to provide the essentials for it, food and water, no more.
Health care and social services
Cyprus v Turkey 2001 – An obligation for health care exists to an undefined degree, at least it is a breach to deny it when offering it to general population.
Article 1 obligation to secure convention Rights and Article 3 obligation as set out in LCB to take 'appropriate steps' to protect life thus combine to create a general duty to investigate unnatural deaths for the purposes of creating accountability and deterring the breach of Article to right to life.
The Obligation to investigate is a general obligation for deaths, such as McCann v UK killings by government agents, Private killings such as Menson v UK and deaths caused by known persons such as Togcu v Turkey, Kyay Turkey, Yasa v Turkey, etc.
These investigations need not be criminal investigations depending on the circumstances. For example, the case of Powell v UK showed that disciplinary investigations of professional may be sufficient.
McCann v UK inquest held also satisfied the investigation requirement provided it is fair and impartial.
Nachova v Bulgaria shows that the state has a positive obligation to investigate death upon becoming aware of it, as opposed to receiving a complaint by family members.
Yasa v Turkey shows that a State of emergency DOES NOT excuse the obligation to investigate deaths.
Hugh Jordan v UK - The investigation can vary so long as it meets the strict requirements of effectiveness.
Effectiveness thus creates certain criteria to be followed:
Abortion cases.
Article 3 does not recognize an absolute right to life, in abortion cases there is a wide margin of appreciation because of the lack of consensus in Europe.
Taking life by force of arms.
The taking of life by state agents is strictly prohibited except for exceptional circumstances, whilst private killings require investigation and legal and administrative protection.
Makaratzis v Greece - Car chase by police, lead to them shooting wildly at the car. No death resulted but there was found to be liability as the nature of the incident could have been lethal, thus the inadequacy of planning and conduct of the officers constituted a breach.
Killings by state agents are notoriously difficult to prove in many situations. In cases where a person is taken into custody, and dies, it is for the state to show how he died as was the case in Salman v Turkey. Demiray v Turkey - The explanation must be satisfactory.
Akkoc v Turkey - Killing by suspected state agent. State refused to support investigation and provide evidence, thus the court turned the burden of proof on the state to justify with holding information.
Estimarov v Russia - Reasons must be provided for the killing of the suspect.
The Burden of Proof issue is a difficult one which is somewhat mitigated by the fact that the court finds breaches in failures to investigate. Thus is a death occurs the state is obligated to investigate it which it is unlikely to do where one of its agents is responsible, thus there is a breach. The investigation must also be effective as in Jordan v UK. In other words, the state is caught between a rock and hard place.
In cases where persons have been detained by security forces and have subsequently disappeared the court has stated that two criteria must be satisfied:
If these requirements are met, the burden of proof turns to the state to explain what has happened to the person.
The main problem here is that there is often no record of arrest, and further no way of obtaining circumstantial evidence. Kurt v Turkey - the son of the applicant was arrested by security forces. The state claimed the person had instead left with rebel fighters. The court had little evidence to show where the son had been taken and what happened to him. he had been missing for 4 and a half years. the court refused to recognize that the arrest by the security forces was in its context life-threatening and thus refused to shift the burden onto the state.
Permitted Killings Cases.
Capital Punishment is effectively non existent in the signatory states. All states aside from Russia are signatories to Protocol 6 which bans death penalties in peace time. Further many states are signatories to Protocol 13 which bans it out right. Russia, although not being a signatory to either protocol has an effective moratorium on the death penalty.
The main issue here then is extradition to countries where the person life is at risk.
Death from Permitted Use of force.
Micheal O'Boyle says that the situation regarding shootings must be judged with the facts of the situation at the time and not ex post facto. this has also been a criticism of Dissenting judges in McCann v UK, who stated that the courts should be wary of the benefits of hind sight in their finding of a breach of article 3 on the case.
The use of deadly force must be lawful at a national level. C v Belgium, Kelly v UK, Stewart v UK and MUST meet the requirements of Lawfulness as set out in Article 5 and the case of Bozano v France thus meeting the rule of law requirement as expected in a democratic society so as to allow the citizens to conduct their lives accordingly as stated in Sunday times v UK.
Defence of oneself or of another.
Firstly, shootings in defence of property is not allowed. The signatory states did not incorporate the 4th derogation of shooting to stop access to certain facilities which was suggested at the time or writing the treaty.
McCann v UK - soldiers did not breach article 3, they responded to a threat at the time and their response was lawful. the Breach was by the authorities in planning. firstly, they did not stop the suspects at the border which they should have. secondly, they used extremely lethal SAS soldiers who had been trained to kill and informed that the suspects had remote detonators, thus relying on false intelligence which they did not question.
Andronicou and Constantinou v Cyprus- police commando's raided flat in which man was holding fiancée hostage. NO Breach as the soldiers firing and thus killing both persons was in self-defence and defence of the fiancée. there was also no procedural preach of planning as in McCann because the authorities in the circumstances acted proportionally in self-defence of the fiancée who was in real and immediate danger.
Gul v Turkey - the raid on a flat suspected to have PKK militants was grossly disproportionate in its use of force.
Isayeva v Russia- rebels entered a town of 20,000. the Russian security forces responded with artillery and aircraft fire. they made available information to the population regarding a safe passage out of the town. the court found this inadequate whilst also finding the use of such lethal force on a crowded place to be disproportionate especially in peacetime. the breach was as a result of the planners to have regard for civilian lives.
Isayeva, Yosupova and Bazayeva v Russia- Air force plane reported receiving small arms fire from a convoy, and subsequently got authorization to attack. The air-to-ground missile attack killed scores of people, including the applicants' children. Subsequent investigations showed no presence of fighters in the convoy. The court rejected the state's argument of self-defence, as the use of such firepower was grossly disproportionate.
Nachova v Bulgaria- it is grossly disproportionate to use lethal force to effect an arrest, as the force cannot be considered absolutely necessary, especially when the person was not posing any threat, simply running away from Military Police who wanted to arrest him for dereliction of duty. Further, the court ruled in Kelly v UK that to shoot a person when seeking to arrest them defeats the purpose of the mission, which is to bring them before a court. It also rules out any future arrest and the fact that the victim will not get a chance to defend himself in law.
Riots and insurrections.
Stewart v UK - 150 people throwing missiles at a patrol of soldiers amounted to a riot. Although the court has not laid down clear criteria as to what constitutes a riot.
thus the force used firing plastic bullets killing a 13-year-old boy was proportionate.
Gulec v Turkey - a crowd of several thousand throwing missiles at security forces and damaging property was also deemed to be a riot. There was however a breach here as the McCann obligations still apply regarding proportionality. So the security forces had fired shots at the ground near the rioters to scare them off. Ricochet bullets had thus killed applicants son. The Breach was found in that the authorities had no provided any riot equipment to the security forces even though a state of emergency was declared thus it was expectant that violence would occur. The operation had not been planned so as to minimize risk to the civilians.
X v Belgium - Police officer shot an innocent bystander in the course of a riot. He had no authorisation to use the weapon thus his actions were not lawful, therefore clear breach.


Pindale Min

Pindale Min (, ; 23 March 1608 – 3 June 1661) was king of the Toungoo dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1648 to 1661. Prince of Pindale ascended to the Burmese throne after his father King Thalun died in 1648. Pindale's ineffectual reign was the beginning of the gradual decline of Toungoo dynasty over the next century.
The Yongli Emperor of Southern Ming established himself at Kunming in Yunnan and extracting tribute from Chiang Hung. The Burmese armies under his brother Pye the King of Prome were sent north to claim Chiang Hung but failed. Then there were omens and rumors that there would be two kings in Burma. Yongli was eventually driven out of Yunnan and fled to Bhamo, requesting Burmese alliance. Pindale granted the residence to the Ming Emperor at Sagaing along with his officials.
The Qing, however, promptly amassed the troops into Burma to capture the last Ming prince. The Kingdom of Ava was largely plundered and Ava was laid siege. The siege was unsuccessful, however, due to the defense provided by the "Bayingyi" – the Portuguese gunners. The Qing invasions had burnt the Burmese farms in Ava and resulted in famine and Pindale lost his popularity. His brother Pye then staged a coup and took the throne, drowning Pindale, his chief queen, son and grandson in a river.


Lynne C. Quiggle

Lynne Cline Quiggle (22 May 1906 – July 1958) was a rear admiral of the United States Navy. He saw service in World War II and in the Cold War before he was lost at sea in 1958.
Early life.
Quiggle was born in Grand Island, Nebraska, on 22 May 1906, the son of H. G. Quiggle and Frances Quiggle "nee" Kalous. He attended Kearney High School in Kearney, Nebraska.
Naval career.
Early career.
After graduating from high school, Quiggle enlisted in the U.S. Navy on 12 September 1924 and received an honorable discharge on 17 June 1926. In June 1926, he accepted an appointment to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He graduated from the academy on 5 June 1930 and was commissioned as an ensign that day.
Quiggle′s first tour after graduation was aboard the battleship based at San Pedro, California, which conducted training operations while he was on board. In September 1931 he transferred to the battleship in the United States Pacific Fleet, which took part in Fleet Problems during his tour. He detached from "New York" in April 1934 and was assigned to the new heavy cruiser , which then was fitting out at the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington, and he joined "Astoria" upon her commissioning on 28 April 1934. He was aboard "Astoria" for a lengthy shakedown cruise she made in the Pacific Ocean during the summer of 1934 in which she visited the Hawaiian Islands; American Samoa; Fiji; Sydney, Australia; and Nouméa on New Caledonia. Thereafter she was based at San Pedro as a unit of Cruiser Division Seven and took part in a Fleet Problem each year. In April 1936, he transferred from "Astoria" to the target-towing ship , which operated from San Diego, California, towing targets for surface ships, submarines. and aircraft.
Detaching from "Lamberton", Quiggle took a course in general ordnance engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School, then located at Annapolis, Maryland, between June 1937 and May 1939, then continued instruction until September 1939 at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. He then assisted in the fitting out of the destroyer at the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in San Pedro. He became her executive officer upon her recommissioning on 28 October 1939. During his tour, "Aaron Ward" served as flagship of Destroyer Division Five in the Pacific Fleet until December 1939, when she was transferred to the United States Atlantic Fleet. Based at Key West, Florida, "Aaron Ward" operated as part of the Neutrality Patrol in the Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies until September 1940, when she was decommissioned and transferred to the United Kingdom for service in the Royal Navy under the terms of the destroyers-for-bases deal. Quiggle detached from "Aaron Ward" upon her transfer and reported for duty aboard the heavy cruiser . With Quiggle aboard, "Chester" steamed from the U.S. West Coast to the United States East Coast, where she underwent an overhaul, becoming one of the first six ships to acquire the CXAM radar, and conducted exercises until January 1941; she then steamed to her new home port at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, arriving there in February 1941 and from which she conducted exercises in the Hawaiian Islands, made a voyage to the U.S. West Coast, and escorted United States Army transports to Manila in the Philippines. Upon completion of the Philippines voyage in November 1941, Quiggle transferred from "Chester" to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in the United States Department of the Navy in Washington, D.C.
World War II.
The United States entered World War II on 7 December 1941. In February 1942, Quiggle became aide to the Chief of Naval Operations, first Admiral Harold R. Stark and from 2 March 1942 Admiral Ernest J. King. He left this position in April 1942 and in May 1942 took command of the destroyer , which performed convoy escort and antisubmarine warfare operations in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea under his command. He left "Overton" in December 1942 and reported for duty aboard the new battleship , then fitting out at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia. He became her gunnery officer upon her commissioning on 22 February 1943. During his tour aboard her, "Iowa" transported President Franklin D. Roosevelt to and from the Teheran Conference in Tehran, Iran in November–December 1943, then steamed to the Pacific, where she supported U.S. Navy air strikes against Kwajalein and Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands during the Marshall Islands campaign in January–February 1943, against Truk in the Caroline Islands during Operation Hailstone on 17–18 February 1944, and against Tinian in the Mariana Islands. He received the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" for his tour aboard "Iowa", the citation for the award stating:
For meritorious service as Gunnery Officer of the USS "Iowa" from February 1943 to March 1944...By his ability to organize and train the personnel of his department, [he] was in large measure responsible for bringing the gunnery crew of this newly commissioned battleship to a high state of efficiency with excellent results during her first encounter with the enemy...
From May 1944 to June 1945, Quiggle performed duties at the Bureau of Ordnance in the U.S. Department of the Navy. For his tour there, he received a letter of commendation for from the chief of the bureau for his "great determination to the tremendous task of planning the production of the weapons of war..." He then returned to "Iowa" as her executive officer. The war ended on 15 August 1945.
Postwar and Cold War.
On 1 March 1946 Quiggle received a promotion to the temporary rank of captain, and that month he detached from "Iowa" and became a member of the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief, United States Pacific Fleet. During his tour there, he received a promotion to the permanent rank of captain on 1 January 1948, with the permanent rank dating to 1 March 1946. In September 1948, he became the commander of Destroyer Division 152, and in April 1949 he took command of Destroyer Division 32. In November 1949 he began a tour as Head of the Atlantic, European, and Middle East Section of the Strategic Plans Division in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.
Quiggle returned to sea in February 1953 when he became commanding officer of , the flagship of Commander, Amphibious Ready Group Two, United States Atlantic Fleet. In October 1953 he began a tour with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as executive officer of the Plans and Operations Division on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces Southern Europe. He left that position in December 1955, and in February 1956 he took command of Transport Amphibious Squadron Eight, with the attack transport as his flagship. President Dwight Eisenhower approved his promotion to rear admiral on 17 July 1956. In August 1956 he assumed duty as Resident Member, United Nations Command, Military Armistice Commission. He was assigned to the Joint Staff, Commander-in-Chief, Far East, in March 1957 and in July 1957 he became Deputy Chief of Staff, Joint Staff, Commander, United States Forces Japan. On 1 August 1957, his promotion to rear admiral went into effect.
Personal life.
Quiggle was married to the former Anne Griffith of Washington, D.C. They had one son.
Death.
In July 1958, Quiggle was aboard the ocean liner with his wife Anne on his way from Tokyo to California to take up duties as the commander of Amphibious Group 1 at San Diego when Anne Quiggle reported him missing from the ship. Press reporting disagrees on whether he disappeared early on the morning of 22 July or 23 July, but sources agree that his disappearance occurred when "President Cleveland" was in the North Pacific Ocean about off California during a voyage from Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, to San Francisco, California. "President Cleveland"′s captain reported Quiggle′s disappearance to authorities when the ship docked in San Francisco on 24 July 1958 and told the press that Quiggle had disappeared during calm weather, could not have fallen overboard, and therefore must have committed suicide by jumping overboard, adding that Quiggle had kissed his wife on the morning he disappeared and told her, "You are better off as a widow." Passengers aboard the liner told the press that Quiggle had acted peculiarly during the voyage and also conveyed the story of Quiggle′s statement to his wife. U.S. Navy personnel from the 12th Naval District immediately launched an investigation into Quiggle′s disappearance and Anne Quiggle reportedly denied that her husband had told her she would be better off as a widow before he vanished. He was presumed lost at sea, and no trace of him ever was found. Quiggle was the second of only two U.S. Navy admirals ever lost at sea.


Elizabeth Hartman

Mary Elizabeth Hartman (December 23, 1943 – June 10, 1987) was an American actress of the stage and screen. She is best known for her debut performance in the 1965 film "A Patch of Blue", playing a blind girl named Selina D'Arcy, opposite Sidney Poitier, a role for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. The next year, she appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's "You're a Big Boy Now" as Barbara Darling, for which she was nominated for a second Golden Globe Award. Hartman also starred opposite Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page in Don Siegel's "The Beguiled", and the 1973 film "Walking Tall". On stage, Hartman was best known for her interpretations of Laura Wingfield in "The Glass Menagerie", for which she won Ohio's "Actress of the Year" award, and Emily Webb in the 1969 Broadway production of "Our Town". Hartman retired from acting in 1982 after voicing the character of Mrs. Brisby in Don Bluth's first animated feature, "The Secret of NIMH" (1982).
Early life.
Mary Elizabeth Hartman was born December 23, 1943, in Youngstown, Ohio, the daughter of Claire (née Mullaly; 1918–1997) and B.C. Hartman (1914–1964). She had a sister, Janet, and a brother, William. She was a standout dramatic student at Boardman High School, where she graduated in 1961. She won a statewide award for best actress in a high school production for her performance as Laura in "The Glass Menagerie". She performed in several productions at the Youngstown Playhouse during her youth, including "A Clearing in the Woods" by Arthur Laurents and "Our Town". She attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where she met her future husband, Gill Dennis, and spent her summers acting with the Kenley Players.
Hartman also performed at the Cleveland Playhouse in several productions, including "The Madwoman of Chaillot" and "Bus Stop". She was encouraged to move to New York City and begin auditioning for plays there. In 1964, Hartman was signed to play the ingénue lead in the comedy "Everybody Out, the Castle is Sinking", which was not a success, however her performance was again positively received, and film producers took notice.
Career.
In 1964, Hartman was screen-tested by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Brothers. In the early autumn of 1964, she was offered a leading role in "A Patch of Blue", opposite Sidney Poitier and Shelley Winters. The role won widespread critical acclaim for Hartman, a fact proudly noted by the news media in her hometown. During this time, her father, who worked in construction, died. The role also won an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for Hartman. At the time of her nomination in 1966, Elizabeth Hartman (who was 22 years old) was the youngest nominee ever in the Best Actress category. That same year, she received an achievement award from the National Association of Theater Owners. Hartman also won a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year for her performance. In 1966, she starred as Laura opposite Mercedes McCambridge as Amanda in a production of "The Glass Menagerie" in Pittsburgh.
In January 1967, columnist Dorothy Manners reported that Hartman had been cast in the role of Neely O'Hara in the movie version of "Valley of the Dolls", beating out some more famous Hollywood actresses. She was said to have won over director Mark Robson, who had been enthralled with her performance in "You're a Big Boy Now". However, the following month, it was announced that Oscar-winner Patty Duke had signed on to play Neely, albeit against her agent's advice.
Between the mid-1960s and early 1970s, Hartman appeared in three well-received films, two of which starred Broadway and Hollywood legend Geraldine Page, "The Group" (1966), "You're a Big Boy Now" (1966), and "The Beguiled" (1971). Portraying Pauline Mullins, the wife of former Sheriff Buford Pusser, she starred in the cult classic and major box office hit "Walking Tall" (1973). In 1975, Hartman starred in the premiere of Tom Rickman's play "Balaam", a play about political intrigue in Washington, D.C. The production was mounted in Old Town Pasadena, California, by the Pasadena Repertory Theatre located in The Hotel Carver. It was directed by Hartman's husband, Gill Dennis. In 1981, she starred in a touring production of "Morning's at Seven", but left the tour due to declining mental health. Her last on-screen performance was in 1981's horror-spoof, "Full Moon High", where she appeared as Miss Montgomery. In 1982 she appeared in the critically acclaimed animated film "The Secret of NIMH", wherein she voiced mouse heroine Mrs. Brisby. She was highly praised for her performance as Mrs. Brisby; however, this proved to be her last Hollywood film role.
Later years and death.
Throughout much of her life, Hartman suffered from depression. In 1978, she was treated at The Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1984, she divorced her husband, screenwriter Gill Dennis, after a five-year separation. In the last few years of her life, she gave up acting altogether and worked at a museum in Pittsburgh while receiving treatment for her condition at an outpatient clinic. In 1981, she returned to theater, portraying Myrtle Brown in a regional stage production of "Morning's at Seven". Her sister and caretaker, Janet, told the "Los Angeles Times":
On June 10, 1987, Hartman committed suicide by jumping from the window of her fifth floor apartment. Earlier that morning, she had reportedly called her psychiatrist saying that she felt despondent. Hartman was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in her hometown.


Harry Devlin (fictional detective)

Harry Devlin is a fictional detective created by the British crime writer Martin Edwards. He has appeared in eight novels and eight short stories, and was described by Marcel Berlins in ‘The Guardian’ as ‘a charming but down-at-heel Liverpool solicitor with bruised emotions, a nice line in self-deprecation, and a penchant for Mersey low life.’ The series has received consistently good reviews.
In "All the Lonely People", the book which introduced Harry Devlin, his estranged wife Liz is murdered, and he is the prime suspect. Harry needs to clear his name and find who killed the woman he loved. The book was nominated for the John Creasey Memorial Dagger for the best first crime novel of 1991 (the winner being Walter Mosley).
The first seven novels appeared between 1991 and 1999. Harry Devlin returned in 2008 in Waterloo Sunset, a novel which reflects the changes in his life and in his native Liverpool during the intervening years.


L (Death Note)

, known mononymously as L, is a fictional character in the manga series "Death Note", created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. He is an enigmatic, mysterious and highly-esteemed international consulting detective, whose true identity and background is kept a secret, communicating with law enforcement agencies only through his equally inexplicable handler/assistant, Watari, who serves as his official liaison with the authorities. Though his past is shrouded in mystery, he has gained a reputation as arguably the world's greatest detective/criminal profiler.
Throughout the series, he observes and spies on the activities of the series' protagonist, Light Yagami, a high school genius. L attempts to expose Light as the infamous serial killer "Kira", who is responsible for massacring high-profile criminals worldwide through apparently supernatural means. As the series progresses, the psychological mind-game of cat and mouse between L and Light intensifies, and each becomes bent on uncovering the other's true identity through a series of intricate ploys and schemes. He serves as an ideological and visual foil to Light.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi in Japanese, and by Alessandro Juliani in English. He is portrayed by Kenichi Matsuyama in the live-action film series, by Kento Yamazaki in the TV drama, and by Lakeith Stanfield in the American film.
Creation and conception.
Tsugumi Ohba, the writer of the series, created L as a young adult, since he believed the story would not hold much interest if L were significantly older than his opponent, Light. For L's name, he wanted to use a single letter with a lot of significance; he considered "I" and "J", but eventually he chose "L" after careful consideration. Ohba left most of L's character design to Takeshi Obata, artist of the series. Obata asked Ohba if L could be "unattractive". Afterwards Ohba included ideas in his thumbnails, including L's manner of sitting, "he's English", and "he's listless". Ohba added details regarding L's mannerisms and his interests in sweets. Ohba credits Obata for the character designs. Obata commented that L's thumbnails by Ohba had no bags under his eyes, and that he had a "plain face with no expression" which was very useful. Obata drew L as an "attractive young man" until chapter 11, when the character appeared in person. After chapter 11, Obata and Ohba agreed to contrast his appearance with Light's.
During the development of the early manga chapters, Obata feared L would appear "so suspicious that Light would know instantly it was L if they ever met". When Obata's editor told him that he wanted L to have a face "looking cool based on the angle", Obata added black bags under L's eyes. Obata cited "Devilman"'s Akira Fudou when stating that he believed that black bags were appealing. In addition, Obata thought of a "dead eyes" concept, which involved L having "all-black eyes" and "mostly no eyebrows". Obata believes that black eyes usually makes a character goofier, but the bags "sharpen the character's gaze". Obata believes that the design evokes "a feeling of mystery" and that the reader cannot determine L's true thoughts. Obata also said that the bags under L's eyes were useful for inspiring speculation about his lifestyle and background. The outfit Obata designed for L was a "simple" white, long-sleeved shirt and jeans, to convey that L does not put thought into choosing his clothing. In "Death Note 13: How to Read", Ohba presented an initial rough draft of L and said that, with a "cool expression" and without the bags under his eyes, L looked like a different person.
Obata stated that the peculiar traits exhibited by L are best revealed "gradually". Obata added that if he drew L eating "mountains of sweets" before revealing his face, he would not have "much credibility as a super detective" and people would ask if he was "crazy".
Both Ohba and Obata chose L as their favorite character from the series, with the former noting him as the "strongest" character in the series besides Light, and the latter due to "appearance, personality, everything". Obata said that he could never have created a character like L and that he enjoyed drawing him. Obata added that because of this, L was not "real" to him and that he liked that aspect of the character.
L's fighting style has been described as similar to capoeira. However, Obata has denied considering this when drawing L's fights, saying that he was thinking of the most effective way to kick someone whilst handcuffed. He added that if the style resembles capoeira, then this "adds another element to it" and "that makes me happy". When designing color illustrations, Obata assigned specific colors to the main characters to help "get the atmosphere right"; gold was assigned to L.
Film adaptations.
Matsuyama had trouble portraying L and worried about his performance. He reasoned that L rarely interacted with others, and so portrayed him as if he did not "quite understand other people on an emotional level". Describing himself as "not very flexible physically", Matsuyama had trouble emulating L's postures. He also ate sweets like those that L would eat, and considered the details of L's signature gestures. Matsuyama said that he and Tatsuya Fujiwara, the actor portraying Light, became "so immersed" in their character portrayals that they did not speak to one another while on the set; when filming ceased they conversed and "went out for a drink or two". Hideo Nakata, the director of "", told "The Daily Yomiuri" that he wanted to exhibit L's "human side" that was not exhibited in the "Death Note" series.
Appearances.
In "Death Note".
L, who also uses the aliases , , , and , the latter two for which he has developed reputations as the second- and third-best detectives in the world, is a very discreet and secretive individual and only communicates with the authorities through his assistant/representative Watari. He never shows his face to the world, instead representing himself with a capital L in blackletter font. His real name, L Lawliet, is only revealed in the guidebook "Death Note 13: How to Read".
Whilst presented as an enigmatic, nameless, highly-intelligent, cunning and globally-esteemed international consulting detective, L is revealed to actually be a tall, disheveled and gaunt youth in his 20s with a pale complexion and visible dark circles around his eyes. He is a socially-inept, awkward and somewhat misanthropic recluse. He has many notable quirks and eccentricities, such as holding things with his index finger and thumb, crouching instead of sitting, mostly walking around barefoot, and having an unnatural affinity for sweets, cakes, candies, dairy foods and confectionery foods. He is seen exclusively eating these foods but this diet has no apparent effect on his health and physiology. Even with these eccentricities, he is a highly-skilled, intellectually-astute and brilliant criminologist/crime investigator. He may come off as cold and cynical and often utilizes questionable methods and mostly takes up solving cases out of boredom rather than a sense of duty. However, he does have a strict moral code, is aware of his own flaws and shortcomings and is unwilling to cross morally repugnant standards, unlike Kira.
L has spent most of his life dedicating himself to solving crime cases, and hunting down and apprehending notorious criminals and felons around the world. It is implied that he suffers from loneliness, internal torment and low self-esteem, even calling himself "a monster" at one point. He also possesses an unusually high intellect and uncanny skills in strategy, deduction, observation, reasoning and profiling, which have given him a high reputation amongst law enforcement agencies worldwide. At the start of the series, L carries out his own investigation of a series of mysterious serial-killings across the globe, all of which are carried out by an apparent supernatural serial-killer known as "Kira", which is the Japanese transliteration of the English word "killer". After deducing that the serial-killings are all connected and perpetrated by a single mastermind and are sourced from Japan, L allies himself with the Japanese police force and assists them in investigating the murders. Although he strongly suspects the series' protagonist, Light Yagami, a high school genius and the son of detective superintendent Soichiro Yagami, one of the primary members of the Kira investigation allied with L, to be Kira's alter-ego, he is unable to prove his theory, due to lack of evidence, but nonetheless remains suspicious of Light and carefully observes him.
The majority of the series' initial focus is on L and Light's complex, cerebral and intricate psychological mind-game of cat and mouse, as both use their wits and intellect in an attempt to outdo the other and expose them. Though L comes very close to exposing Light as Kira, he is eventually killed by Rem before he can do so, but before his death his suspicion is confirmed that Light is Kira. Although L's death regresses the Kira investigation's progress, he had prepared a contingency plan to ensure that someone would continue the work of hunting down and apprehending Kira, by selecting two gifted child orphans to be his potential successors, one of whom eventually succeeds in exposing Light as Kira. Although his true identity and birth name is obscured in mystery throughout the series, L utilizes a number of aliases to maintain his anonymity, such as "Hideki Ryuga" or "Ryuzaki", the latter of which he uses as his primary pseudonym throughout the Kira investigation. Ohba said that L is the most intelligent character in the entire "Death Note" series because "the plot requires it." He added that he personally views L as "slightly evil."
In film.
L is portrayed by Kenichi Matsuyama in the live-action films that adapt the "Death Note" manga, with his portrayal and characterization of the character receiving wide praise for being earnestly faithful to his original manga counterpart. Unlike the manga, in the second film, his "death", caused by Rem writing his name in her Death Note, does not take effect, as L had written his own name in Misa's Death Note earlier.
In the 2008 movie "", which takes place in the 23 days that L has left before he dies, L decides to solve one last case, stopping a bio-terrorist organization led by "K" from spreading a deadly virus around the world. Along the way he meets a girl named Maki, FBI agent Suruga, and a boy whom he names Near. In the course of the film, L grew to have a close relationship with Near and Maki, and while he treats Maki like a younger sister, the girl seemingly became attracted to him. A day before his death, L made Near his successor and entrusted him to be taken care at the same orphanage where he grew up in.
In "", Kenichi Matsuyama reprises his role as L. He makes a cameo appearance with child Ryuzaki, who inherits his DNA, giving him a lollipop and telling him to not use the Death Note as Ryuzaki promises not to. He is also seen in a CG video that Ryuzaki created.
Lakeith Stanfield portrays L in the live-action American film adaptation. In this adaptation, he is shown as an enigmatic, skillful and highly esteemed international consulting detective. He is calm and calculating, yet socially inept and eccentric. He communicates with the authorities only through his handler/assistant, "Watari", and is affiliated with a number of law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, CIA and Interpol. He has earned a reputation for solving numerous cold cases, and takes up the task of apprehending the world-famous serial killer known as "Kira", who is responsible for massacring numerous high-profile criminals around the world through apparently supernatural means. This version of the character retains much of his manga counterpart's traits and characteristics, such as his preference to crouch rather than sit, his fondness for sweets, his socially-awkward, quirky and eccentric personality, and his tendency to hold things with his index finger and thumb. His past also originates from a secluded orphanage, though his real name is given as "Lebensborn Atubia".
After deducing Kira's location in Seattle by purposely seeding the names of obscure criminals to "Kira", he assists police detective James Turner, the local head of the "Kira" investigation in Seattle. As the investigation progresses, L deduces that "Kira" needs a name and face to kill his victims and eventually suspects Light Turner, James' teenaged son, is connected to the murders. L obsessively tries to expose him and assigns a group of FBI agents to shadow him, along with other potential "Kira" suspects. As the film progresses, he demonstrates a darker, more aggressive, unstable and morally ambiguous side of his personality, which is intensified by the eventual deaths of the FBI agents (which is attributed to Kira) and Watari's sudden disappearance.
L becomes emotionally unstable and attempts to attack Light in his home when he refuses to confess that he is "Kira". L begins his own manhunt for Light when Watari is seemingly murdered by "Kira", and James issues an arrest warrant for L, whom he sees as increasingly unstable. Light hoodwinks the authorities by manipulating a number of criminals to continue carrying out his activities through the Death Note, while inducing himself into a medical coma. This seemingly proves Light's innocence, and L is taken off the case. After deducing Light's girlfriend Mia Sutton's connection with the serial-murders, L finds a hidden page of the Death Note within her home and contemplates writing Light's name in it. Elsewhere, Light is visited by Ryuk, the Death Note's original owner, who comments on how interesting he finds humans.
L's background and past is briefly explored in this adaptation. His childhood originates from a secluded and currently abandoned orphanage named the St. Martin's Orphanage. There, he was subjected to a series of tests and experiments as part of a clandestine government project to raise intellectually-gifted orphans into skilled black ops agents. As a result, his mental psyche was severely affected, which explains his unusual quirks and his unstable, irrational behavior in the film's second half. After his training and the institute's subsequent shutdown, L gained a reputation as an expert international detective with the help of Watari, who kept his mental stability in check and acted as a handler.
In other media.
In the light novel "", L recruits FBI agent Naomi Misora to investigate a series of murders. While the story includes several phone discussions with him from Misora's perspective, he only appears in person at the end of the novel, when he goes by the name "Ryuzaki" - an alias he appropriates from the novel's serial murderer, Beyond Birthday, who masquerades as L under the alias "Rue Ryuzaki". The light novel also says that L won the aliases Eraldo Coil and Deneuve in a "detective war" with the real Coil and Deneuve.
In , L is portrayed by Teppei Koike in the Japanese version and Kim Junsu in the Korean version. In the demo recording, he was portrayed by Jarrod Spector
In the live-action TV drama, L is portrayed by Kento Yamazaki. The miniseries version has a few differences with other versions. His main outfit in the ministries is a white shirt and white trousers. While capturing Higuchi, Light saves L's life from Higuchi's gunshot. Later, while L tells Light that Light had written L's name in a false Death Note and that L will tell others that Light is Kira, Mikami kills L. Then Near takes L's place and follows the videos left by L. L's funeral is shown at the end of the series.
Reception.
Publications from manga and anime have commended L's character. Tom S. Pepirium of IGN describes L as "the coolest, most well developed character in anime today". Pepirium said that the "excellent translation" is responsible for L being a "success" in the English-language dub of "Death Note". Anime News Network's Theron Martin found that the mental duels between L and Light are appealing to viewers of the series due to how each attempts to discover the identity of the other while at the same time wanting to hide their own. The "Hyper" staff and Mania Entertainment's Julie Rosato agreed with Martin, with the latter commenting that L's and Light's rivalry as one of the best parts from the series to the point of being something "unique" in a manga. Although PopCultureShock writer Carlos Alexandre also praised their rivalry, he still found L to be "too smart" noting that "some careful listening and application of critical thinking will make apparent the holes in L’s supposedly superhuman logic, holes that simply, given L’s character, should not be there". While reviewing the manga's third volume, Rosato concludes the article by saying that L "wins this volume; he really drove it forward" due to how close he gets to Light in such little time, which makes Light lose his temper after meeting him despite how calm he normally is. Pepirium adds that Alessandro Juliani, L's voice actor, portrays his slurping and gulping sweets as "somehow non-irritating". Theron Martin has also repeatedly praised Juliani's work, noting that he "captures the eccentric brilliance of L". IGN ranked him as the 12th greatest anime character in 2009, saying that "Every good lead character needs a challenge, and L provided the opposition that the "Death Note" series required to captivate fans." and ranked him as the 19th greatest anime character in 2014. Manga artist Katsura Hoshino, a former assistant of Takeshi Obata, has said that she likes the way the L is often drawn as he gives the appeal of a chill character.
In January 2007, Oricon made a poll in which they asked Japanese fans from manga and anime which characters from any series they would most like to see in spinoff series. The overall winner from the poll was L, who also ranked first in the women's poll and second in the men's poll. In the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation Awards (SPJA) from 2008 Alessandro Juliani was the winner in the category "Best Voice Actor (English)" for his work as L. Kappei Yamaguchi was the winner in the category "Best Voice Actor (Japanese)" from the 2009 SPJA Industry Awards for his work as L. L also won in the category "Best Male Character". In the NEO Awards 2007 from "Neo", L won in the category "Best Manga Character".


One True Thing

One True Thing is a 1998 American drama film directed by Carl Franklin. It tells the story of a woman in her 20s who is forced to put her life on hold in order to care for her mother, who is dying of cancer. The script was adapted by Karen Croner from the novel by Anna Quindlen, with the story being based on Quindlen's own struggle with the death of her mother, Prudence Pantano Quindlen, from ovarian cancer in 1972.
The film stars Meryl Streep, Renée Zellweger, William Hurt and Tom Everett Scott. Bette Midler sings the lead song, "My One True Friend," over the end credits. The track was first released on Midler's 1998 album "Bathhouse Betty". The film was shot in Morristown, NJ and Maplewood, NJ, as well as at the campus of Princeton University.
Plot.
Ellen Gulden has a high-pressure job writing for "New York" magazine. Ellen is visiting her family home for her father's surprise birthday party. It becomes obvious that she deeply admires her father, George, a once-celebrated novelist and literature professor at Princeton University, but has barely restrained disdain for her mother, Kate, and the domestic life she lives and has always viewed her as a ditzy Stepford Wife. When it is discovered that Kate has cancer, George pressures Ellen to come home and take care of her mother. Ellen is taken aback by this request, knowing it could jeopardize her career and love interest, but finally agrees, caving in to her father's appeals and inducements.
As Ellen helps her mother with domestic chores while her father goes about his usual business without helping much, Ellen begins to reassess her views of her parents. She realizes she always brushed her mother aside and idealized her father, despite his self-centered focus on his career and - she discovers - a longtime habit of having flings with his female students.
Ellen attempts to find a place for herself in her parents' life, while struggling to continue writing on a freelance basis and maintain her relationship with her boyfriend in New York. Over time, Ellen grows closer to her mother and learns more about her parents' marriage—including realizing that Kate has known about George's affairs all along. Ellen also learns that her father's philandering days have become lonely nights of drinking at a local bar to numb the pain of never again achieving success with, nor even being able to complete, further novels. George admits to Ellen that the reason he loved Kate was that she was full of light shining through everything, and he couldn't bear the thought of her light slipping away.
As her mother is dying, Ellen tells her she loves her, and Kate says she knew it and always had.
After Kate's death, the autopsy reveals that Kate actually died of a morphine overdose, and a District Attorney questions Ellen about her mother's death. Scenes from this interview are interspersed throughout the movie and point to Ellen being suspected of having assisted her mother's suicide. In the closing scene, by Kate's grave, Ellen has returned from a new job she found in New York with the "Village Voice". She is planting daffodils when she sees her father approaching, their first encounter since the funeral. George tells Ellen she was very brave to do what she did, and she looks puzzled until she realizes George thinks she had given her mother the fatal overdose. Ellen replies that she had thought the accomplice was the father. They both realize Kate must have killed herself.
George speaks to Ellen of how much he loved Kate, considering her his muse, his "one true thing." Ellen is explaining to her father how to plant the daffodil bulbs and he is helping, foreshadowing, it seems, their reconciliation based on mutual long overdue appreciation of Kate.
Reception.
Critical response.
"One True Thing" received mostly favorable reviews from critics, with Streep being the subject of acclaim for bringing warmth and a natural energy instead of appearing cold and technical. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 89% based on reviews from 61 critics. The similar site Metacritic grades it 63 out of 100 based on reviews from 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A" on scale of A to F.
Todd McCarthy of "Variety" called it "sensitively written, fluidly directed and expertly acted." Roger Ebert, reviewing the film for the "Chicago Sun-Times", commended it for rising above the level of a soap through pure craftsmanship, and awarded the film three stars out of four.
Mick LaSalle in the "San Francisco Chronicle" declared, "After "One True Thing", critics who persist in the fiction that Streep is a cold and technical actress will need to get their heads examined. She is so instinctive and natural - so thoroughly in the moment and operating on flights of inspiration - that she's able to give us a woman who's at once wildly idiosyncratic and utterly believable." "Los Angeles Times" film critic Kenneth Turan noted, "[Streep's role] is one of the least self-consciously dramatic and surface showy of her career, but Streep adds a level of honesty and reality that makes [her performance] one of her most moving." Among the few negative reviews, "Salon.com"'s Andrew O'Hehir complained that the movie "really has no plot," and found director Carl Franklin unable to properly connect with his cast.
Accolades.
Streep was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film, but lost out to Gwyneth Paltrow for her role in "Shakespeare in Love".


Johnny Paycheck

Johnny Paycheck (born Donald Eugene Lytle; May 31, 1938 – February 19, 2003) was an American country music singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and Grand Ole Opry member notable for recording the David Allan Coe song "Take This Job and Shove It". He achieved his greatest success in the 1970s as a force in country music's "outlaw movement" popularized by artists Hank Williams Jr., Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver, and Merle Haggard. In the 1980s, his music career slowed due to drug, alcohol and legal problems. He served a prison sentence in the early 1990s and his declining health effectively ended his career in early 2000. In 1980, Paycheck appeared on the PBS music program "Austin City Limits" (season 5).
Early career.
Johnny Paycheck was born Donald Eugene Lytle on May 31, 1938, in Greenfield, Ohio. By age 9, Lytle was already playing in talent contests. His big break came in the early 1960s when he convinced country music legend George Jones to hire him. Paycheck provided harmony vocals as well as bass and steel guitar for Jones. He later co-wrote Jones's hit song "Once You've Had the Best."
Paycheck was a tenor harmony singer with numerous hard country performers in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including Ray Price. Paycheck, along with Willie Nelson, worked in Price's band the Cherokee Cowboys. He is featured as a tenor singer on recordings by Faron Young, Roger Miller, and Skeets McDonald. In 1960, he reached Top 35 status in "Cashbox" magazine's country charts as Donny Young with the tune "Miracle Of Love". From the early to mid 1960s, he also enjoyed some success as a songwriter for others, with his biggest songwriting hit being "Apartment No. 9", which served as Tammy Wynette's first chart hit in December 1966.
In 1964, he changed his name legally to Johnny Paycheck, taking the name from Johnny Paychek, a top-ranked boxer from Chicago (and not directly as a humorous alternative to Johnny Cash, as is commonly believed) who once fought Joe Louis for the heavyweight title. He first charted under his new name with "A-11" in 1965. His best-selling single from this period was "She's All I Got", which reached No. 2 on the U.S. country singles charts in 1971 and made it onto the Billboard Hot 100. His "Mr. Lovemaker" also reached No. 2 on the U.S. country singles chart in 1973. But with the popularity of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings in the mid 1970s, Paycheck changed his image to that of outlaw, with which he was to have his largest financial success.
It was his producer Billy Sherrill who helped revive his career by significantly changing his sound and image. Sherrill was best known for carefully choreographing his records and infusing them with considerable pop feel. The Paycheck records were clearly based on Sherrill's take on the bands backing Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson on records.
A member of the Grand Ole Opry, Paycheck is best remembered for his 1977 hit single, "Take This Job and Shove It", written by David Allan Coe. The song sold over two million copies and inspired a motion picture of the same name. "Colorado Kool-Aid", "Me and the IRS", "Friend, Lover, Wife", "Slide Off of Your Satin Sheets", and "I'm the Only Hell (Mama Ever Raised)" were other hits for Paycheck during this period. He received an Academy of Country Music Career Achievement award in 1977.
Later life.
In 1981, Paycheck was arrested for statutory rape of a 12 year old girl in Wyoming, and appeared on an episode of the television show "The Dukes of Hazzard" as himself. The scene had him playing "Take This Job and Shove It" and arguing with Boss Hogg when the sheriff tried to give him a citation over the content of the song. In 1982, he pled down to a misdemeanor and fine over the sexual assault charge of the minor child.
In December 1985, Paycheck was convicted and sentenced to seven years in jail for shooting a man at the North High Lounge in Hillsboro, Ohio; he fired a .22 pistol and the bullet grazed the man's head. Paycheck claimed the act was self-defense. After several years spent fighting the sentence, he began serving his sentence in 1989, spending 22 months in prison before being pardoned by Ohio Governor Richard Celeste.
The most successful of his later singles, released during his appeal, was "Old Violin", which reached # 21 on the country chart in 1986. His last album to chart was "Modern Times" in 1987. He continued to release albums, the last of which, "Remembering", appeared in 2002. In 1990, he filed for bankruptcy after tax problems with the IRS. Although Paycheck was addicted to drugs and alcohol during his career, he later was said to have "put his life in order" after his prison stay. He continued to perform and tour until the late 1990s. Shortly before his retirement, in 1997, he was inducted into the "Grand Ole Opry"; in a rare exception to protocol, Opry general manager Bob Whittaker personally invited Paycheck to join instead of having another member do the invitation.
Illness and death.
After 2000, his health would only allow for short appearances. Contracting emphysema and asthma after a lengthy illness, Paycheck died at Nashville's Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2003, aged 64.
He was buried in Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Nashville, in a plot donated by George Jones.
He is survived by his wife Sharon Rae Paycheck and son Jonathan Paycheck. He had two brothers, Jeff and Bud Lytle, who are both deceased.
Little Darlin' Records.
With his producer, Aubrey Mayhew, Paycheck co-owned his record company, Little Darlin' Records. Paycheck's Little Darlin' recordings featured the pedal steel guitar work of Lloyd Green. By the end of the 1960s, Little Darlin' Records folded. Mayhew and Paycheck soon set up shop under the name Certron Records, the newly formed recording company owned by Certron (a manufacturer of audio and video tape). The label was able to sign Bobby Helms, Ronnie Dove, Clint Eastwood, Pozo-Seco Singers (as Pozo Seco), and Paycheck. The label was a failure and closed by 1972. In the late 1990s, after taking them for granted for years, country music historians began to recognize the distinctive and sharp-edged sound of the Little Darlin' recordings as unique in their time, Paycheck's in particular.
Legacy.
A tribute album, "Touch My Heart: a Tribute to Johnny Paycheck", was released in 2004 on the Sugar Hill Label. Produced by Robbie Fulks, the album features George Jones, Marshall Crenshaw, Hank Williams III, Al Anderson, Dallas Wayne, Neko Case, Gail Davies and Fulks himself covering some of Paycheck's best-known songs.
In his song "Grand Ole Opry (Ain't So Grand Anymore)", Hank Williams III praises Paycheck (along with Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Hank Williams Jr.) as a "real rebel" the Grand Ole Opry only reluctantly inducted.
His song "It Won't Be Long (And I'll Be Hating You)" appears in the open-world action-adventure video game "Grand Theft Auto V".
His song "(Pardon Me) I've Got Someone to Kill" is covered on the album "All the Way" by Diamanda Galás.


Richard Ragan

Richard Ragan (born June 10, 1964) is a senior staff member for the United Nations. As the Director of Operations, he opened the Liberia Office and managed operations as part of the UN Secretary General's Ebola Emergency Response Mission (UNMEER), and was the UNWFP Emergency Co-ordinator for the 2015 Nepal earthquake response. He's spent time in the private sector as the Senior Director with Vulcan, Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen's company. Also with the UN World Food Programme he has served as the (WFP) Representative to Bangladesh, Tanzania, Nepal, North Korea, Zambia, and worked on emergencies in East Timor, Kosovo and China. He also re-opened WFP's office in Libya after it was evacuated in 2014. Ragan appears regularly in both international and national media, and is listed in the book, "Mississippians", which features famous people from the state of Mississippi.
Biography.
Early career.
Ragan served as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in the Sierra Madre Mountains of the Philippines. Working as an agriculture extensionist, he lived with Ilongots in Quirino Province. The Ilongots are considered the Philippines’ last ritual head-hunters and were the subjects of Dr. Michelle Rosaldo's book, "Knowledge and Passion: Ilongot Notions of Self and Social Life". Living among the semi-nomadic Ilongots, Ragan worked on agriculture and land reform issues. Following his Peace Corps experience, Ragan worked for the US House of Representatives Veterans Affairs Committee and as a Defense and Foreign Policy Aide for Congressman Les Aspin from Wisconsin.
Clinton administration.
Ragan held a number of jobs in the Clinton Administration; as an official in the Secretary of Defense's office, as a Director on the National Security Council, and as a Deputy Assistant Administrator in the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Serving in The Pentagon, he led the team that designed the Humanitarian Daily Ration (HDR), a culturally appropriate, air-droppable, ready-to-eat ration that was first used in airdrops over Bosnia and is often provided by the US military in humanitarian crisis. In 1996, as the Director of Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs on President Clinton's national security team, he was the first White House official to visit North Korea. As the Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Bureau of Humanitarian Response (BHR), he was in charge of the Government's food and humanitarian aid programs.
United Nations.
Ragan first joined the UN in 1998 as the WFP Deputy Representative to China. During that time, he managed WFP's response to the 1998 Yangtze River floods while also serving in Kosovo and East Timor, during the period both countries faced conflict.
In 2001, Ragan joined the UN full-time serving as WFP's Representative to Zambia. During the Southern African drought of 2002-2003, he faced the difficult challenge of turning back thousands of tons of genetically modified food aid in the face of 3.5 million starving people. Ragan then took over WFP's operation in North Korea (2003). His wife and young daughter accompanied him and are the only American family to have ever been allowed to officially reside in the country. During that time Ragan ran one of the largest operations in WFP's history, feeding 6.5 million people out of a population of 22 million. He also served as the acting Humanitarian Coordinator (HC), and was the last HC to serve in North Korea. The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs was asked to leave North Korea in 2005. In Nepal, during his four-year tenure, Ragan expanded WFP's annual program from US$25 million to US$125 million to address the “silent food crises” that gripped the country. In 2014, Ragan served as the Head of Operations in Liberia for UNMEER and helped manage the UN's response in that country at the height of West Africa's Ebola crisis. Having managed large-scale operations, one of his key professional interests is to bring innovation in large organizations.
Personal.
Ragan is married to Marcela Sandoval, also a former Clinton Administration official, and Le Cordon Bleu trained chef, who has worked at Kinkead's in Washington DC and The Courtyard Restaurant in Beijing China, among other places. They have three children. His Uncle Lattie Michael founded the fast food chain Backyard Burgers.
Ragan graduated from SIT in Brattleboro, Vermont with an MA in International Development, and from Ole Miss with a BS in Business. With a personal interest in exploration, he provided sponsorship and support to the historic 2008 all Nepali female expedition to Mount Everest. The team, considered the most successful female expedition on the mountain, put all 10 members on the summit. He has also climbed with Russell Brice, and snowboarded with Craig Calonica on some of the world's highest peaks. In 2008, he narrowly escaped an avalanche on Annapurna South. He is an avid surfer regularly riding surf breaks in the Indian Ocean, off Africa's East Coast.
He writes a monthly newspaper column in "The Cleveland Current" about the humorous side of living abroad with his family. Ragan collaborated with photographer and Kathmandu based art dealer James Giambrone to produce a photography book "The Life of Food in Nepal" which features images and stories about the life, the land, and the ritual of Nepal's food. Collaborating with Kiran Joshi of Incessant Rain they produced Nepal's first 3-D animation short. Ragan served on the Board for the Center for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) for over a decade. Working again with Giambrone, he produced the documentary "Holding up the Sky" which tells the personal stories of 10 women climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
Cameo.
Ragan appeared in the Bangladesh's first film on surfing, titled "Dare To Surf" (original title No Dorai).
In the movie, he is an enthusiast traveler who discovers the sport on Cox's Bazar beach and asks the protagonist to teach him the technique.
Beside showing the beauties of Bangladesh, the movie denounces the condition of girls and women in the country.


USS Ericsson (TB-2)

The first USS "Ericsson" (Torpedo Boat # 2/TB-2) was the second torpedo boat built for the United States Navy. The first, had been built seven years earlier.
"Ericsson" was launched on 12 May 1894 by Iowa Iron Works, Dubuque, Iowa; sponsored by Miss Carrie Kiene; and commissioned on 18 February 1897, Lieutenant N. R. Usher in command. It was named for John Ericsson, designer of the USS "Monitor".
Service history.
Pre-Spanish–American War.
On 18 May 1897, "Ericsson" arrived at Newport, Rhode Island, her home port. Through the summer months, she cruised New England waters for trials and training, instructing regular and reserve officers in torpedo tactics. She left Newport on 18 September for a cruise to Annapolis, Norfolk, Wilmington, Charleston, Savannah, and several ports in Florida, arriving at Key West on the last day of the year. This was to be her base for operations in the Caribbean during the next seven months.
Spanish–American War.
As war with Spain approached, "Ericsson" patrolled the Florida Keys, intensified her training operations, and carried messages for the increasing number of the fleet present in the area. She continued this duty after the opening of the war, then on 22 April 1898 began a blockade patrol between Havana and Key West. She joined the fleet at Santiago, Cuba 20 June, and during the Battle of Santiago de Cuba on 3 July, was in the thick of the fight, firing on the Spanish fleet. As the defeated Spanish ships blazed and threatened to explode, "Ericsson" played a leading part in the rescue efforts through which men of the U.S. Navy that day showed their courage, skill, and determination as clearly as they had in the fighting. She laid herself alongside the Spanish cruiser , ignoring the fact that the Spanish ship's ammunition was already exploding, and that flames were firing the loaded guns. Over 100 Spanish officers and men were thus saved, and more were taken off the flagship "Maria Teresa" and "Oquendo", as "Ericsson" towed small craft from her squadron's larger ships to the burning hulks.
Post-war fate.
"Ericsson" patrolled off Cuba through mid-August 1898, and on 23 August arrived at New York, where she was decommissioned on 21 September and laid up. In December 1900, she was returned to commission, still in reserve, then sailed for Norfolk, Virginia, where on 6 March 1901 she was assigned to the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla. In October 1908, she moved to Charleston Navy Yard, where she was decommissioned on 5 April 1912 and later sunk in ordnance tests.


Amerokte


Crime in the Soviet Union

According to Western experts, robberies, homicide and other violent crimes in the Soviet Union were less prevalent than in the United States because the Soviet Union had a larger police force and had a low occurrence of drug abuse. Corruption in the form of bribery was common, primarily due to the paucity of goods and services on the open market.
Ideology.
Soviet criminology was significantly influenced by the works of Stalinist prosecutor Andrey Vyshinsky who introduced a number of measures into the penal code and investigatory practice that were unusual in other legal systems. Law was to be perceived not as means of determining individual guilt but dialectically and as part of broader class struggle. Based on that premise, people could be convicted even with absence of actual crime but if they merely belonged to a vaguely defined bourgeois class or if their conviction would be broadly beneficial for the revolutionary movement.
Apart from this judicial practice, the penal code of USSR contained a number of very specific crimes generally classified as "counter-revolutionary", such as contacts with foreigners or any other kind of opposition or criticism of the communist party. Article 70 listed "anti-Soviet propaganda". Article 83 - "illegally leaving USSR". Article 190-1 punished dissemination, "in verbal form", of "knowingly false" statements, defaming USSR or its social structure.
Speculation, defined as any form of private trade with intent to make profit, was also a crime per article 154 of the Penal Code of USSR. Article 162 made a crime engaging in "banned" crafts or forms of employment.
A basic premise of Marxism is that crime is a socio-economic phenomenon: Some Marxist theorists contended that the most immediate reasons for crime in the Soviet Union were mental retardation, poor upbringing, and capitalist influence. This led to novel inventions in the field of psychiatry ("delusion of reformism", sluggish schizophrenia) used as an instrument of repression against critics.
Punishment.
In 1989 the Soviet Union had few prisons. About 99% of convicted criminals served their sentences in labor camps, supervised by the Main Directorate for Corrective Labor Camps which was under the MVD. The camps had four regimes of ascending severity. In the strict-regime camps, inmates worked at the most difficult jobs, usually outdoors, and received meager rations. Jobs were less demanding and rations better in the camps with milder regimes. The system of corrective labor was regarded by Soviet authorities successful in that the rate of recidivism was quite low. Prisons and labor camps, in the views of former inmates and Western observers, however, were notorious for their harsh conditions, arbitrary and sadistic treatment of prisoners, and flagrant human rights abuses. In 1989 new legislation, which emphasized rehabilitation rather than punishment, was being drafted to "humanize" the special system. Nevertheless, in 1989 conditions for many prisoners had changed little.
Relocation of petty criminals outside of large cities was also quite common practice of crime management.
Death Penalty.
The death penalty, carried out by shooting, was applied in the Soviet Union only in cases of treason, espionage, terrorism, sabotage, certain types of murder, and large-scale theft of state property by officials. Otherwise, the maximum punishment for a first offender was fifteen years. Parole was permitted in some cases after completion of half of the sentence, and periodic amnesties sometimes also resulted in early release.
Collapse of the Soviet Union.
Near and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, crime statistics moved sharply and uniformly upward. From 1991 to 1992, the number of officially reported crimes and the overall crime rate each showed a 27 percent increase; the crime rate nearly doubled between 1985 and 1992. By the early 1990s, theft, burglary, and other acts against property accounted for about two-thirds of all crime in Russia. Of particular concern to citizens, however, was the rapid growth of violent crime, including gruesome homicides.
Large parts of the Penal Code concerning crimes such as private trade (art. 154), criticism of the communist party and other political crimes (art. 58) were revoked in 1993.


Antonio Rivera

José Antonio Rivera (December 5, 1963 in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico– April 4, 2005) was a Puerto Rican boxer. He was much better known as El Gallo Rivera or Tonito Rivera, and was a prominent boxer during the decade of the 1980s.
Professional career.
José Antonio Rivera began his professional boxing career on February 26, 1981, after a long and successful amateur boxing career, knocking out Humberto Maldonado in the first round at Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico. He posted two more wins in a row, one by knockout, then lost for the first time as a professional, beaten by Herminio Adorno by a decision in five rounds on May 22. Rivera avenged that loss with a first-round knockout of Adorno on July 9, in Trujillo Alto.
Rivera won five of his next six bouts before fighting abroad for the first time, losing by a ten-round decision to Enrique Sanchez by a ten-round decision at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on October 15, 1982. About one year and a half later, Sanchez lost to Alberto Davila for the WBC world Bantamweight title.
On February 12, 1983, Rivera fought for his first championship, the regional, Puerto Rican Super Bantamweight title. He conquered the belt by beating Orlando Perez by a twelve-round decision in Canovanas.
Rivera won his next four fights, including a seventh-round knockout victory over Manuel Santos as part of the Wilfredo Gómez-Eladio Santana fight's undercard at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum on December 14 of that year, and his Madison Square Garden debut, a win over Vincent Christian by a fifth-round knockout on July 26, 1984, at the Garden's Felt Forum Arena.
In his next fight, Rivera defended his Puerto Rican Super Bantamweight title against fellow Puerto Rican Juan Veloz, on September 1 in Carolina. The bout was a long-awaited fight by Puerto Rican fight fans and press alike; ahead on points after ten rounds, Rivera lost the fight by a knockout in round eleven.
On February 2, 1985, Rivera re-established himself as a top ranked boxer when he knocked out Alberto Mercado in seven rounds as part of one of Victor Callejas' title defense undercards. At stake in that bout was a spot among the IBF's top ten challengers. This time, it was Rivera who staged a comeback, being behind on the judges' scorecards before defeating Mercado.
On July 12, he met Tony Miller in Australia, and the two boxers fought to a ten-round draw (tie). On October 5, he beat fringe contender Irving Mitchell in San Juan by a knockout in five rounds to win the WBC continental Americas Featherweight title and position himself as the number one challenger among Featherweights with the IBF.
Rivera next faced a relatively long layoff, while negotiations over contracts for his world title challenge were finalized. Rivera finally got his first shot at becoming world champion on August 30, 1986, in Osan, South Korea, when he faced the IBF world Featherweight champion, Ki-Young Chung. Rivera became world champion by knocking Chung out in ten rounds.
Rivera next faced another long layoff. When his first defense could be finally held. Rivera lost his title when he was knocked out in four rounds by Calvin Grove, on January 23, 1988 in Gamaches, France. Sixteen months passed between the moment that Rivera won the world championship and his first title defense.
"Tonito" Rivera won his next three bouts before receiving a shot at becoming world champion again. On December 9, 1989, he dropped Kamel Bou Ali, but lost the fight by an eighth-round knockout, in Teramo, Italy. That bout was contested for the WBO's vacant world Jr. Lightweight title.
Rivera, much like Marvin Hagler before him, fell in love with Italy. He lived there for the rest of his life, returning to Puerto Rico multiple times for fights. He lost his next fight after the bout with Bou Ali, but rebounded with four straight wins, including a third-round knockout over future world champion Giovanni Parisi on November 10, 1990 in Monsano.
On September 14, 1991, Rivera challenged Dingaan Thobela for the WBO world Lightweight title, losing a twelve-round decision to Thobela in Johannesburg, South Africa. After winning four more bouts and drawing one, Rivera received another world title shot, this time in a rematch with Parisi, by then the WBO world Lightweight champion, in Rome on September 24, 1993. Rivera was outpointed by Parisi over twelve rounds.
Rivera then embarked on another winning streak, which included a second-round knockout over Argentine hopeful Fabian Tejada on March 6, 1995, in Inglewood, California. That same year, on December 15, he returned to the Madison Square Garden to defeat Gerard Gray by a ninth-round knockout.
Rivera would get another world title chance after that bout: on April 13, 1996, he lost to Artur Grigorian by a knockout in round twelve at Hamburg, Germany, for the WBO's world Lightweight title.
Rivera won one, lost three and drew one of his next five fights. One of those bouts was a first-round knockout loss to fringe contender Shannan Taylor of Australia. He also lost to Diosbelys Hurtado, but, on October 25, 1997, he did draw over ten rounds with former WBO world Jr. Welterweight champion, fellow Puerto Rican Sammy Fuentes.
Soon after defeating Johnny Valentin by a first-round knockout on September 30, 2002 in Hatillo, Puerto Rico, as part of a tournament named the "world television Hispanic tournament", Rivera was diagnosed with an undisclosed disease, having to retire from boxing for good.
Death.
After a long battle with his disease, he died on April 4, 2005 of an asthma attack. After death, Rivera made Puerto Rican sports history, becoming the first athlete to have his mortal remains exposed at the Puerto Rican Sports Pavilion. The second athlete to have his mortal remains exposed there was Félix Javier Pérez, a basketball player who was murdered later that year while trying to defend a neighbor from robbers.
Antonio Rivera had a professional boxing record of 36 wins, 13 losses and 3 draws, with 32 wins by knockout.


Jack M. Campbell

John "Jack" Moren Campbell (September 10, 1916 – June 14, 1999) was an American politician who served as the 21st governor of New Mexico from January 1, 1963 until January 1, 1967.
Early life and education.
Campbell was born in Hutchinson, Reno County, Kansas, and educated at Washburn University, where he received an undergraduate degree in 1938 and an LL.B degree in 1940.
Career.
During World War II, Campbell served in the United States Marine Corps. After the war, he established a legal practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico, while working as an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In 1955, Campbell began his career in politics when he was elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives, where he served until 1962, after having spent the last two years as Speaker.
In 1962, he was the Democratic nominee for governor and defeated incumbent Edwin L. Mechem 130,933 to 116,184. Two years later, in 1964, he became the first New Mexico governor in 12 years to win re-election.
In office, Campbell supported programs to aid the mentally ill, and appointed the first state science adviser. In 1963 he called for an overhaul in the New Mexico Constitution and convinced the legislature to create a Constitutional Revision Commission, which eventually led to the 1969 New Mexico Constitutional Convention.
After leaving office, he served on the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.
Death.
Campbell died in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1999.


USS Stockton (TB-32)

The first Stockton was launched on 27 December 1899 by William R. Trigg Company, Richmond, Va.; sponsored by Miss Katherine Stockton; and commissioned on 14 March 1901, Lt. Archibald H. Davis in command.
"Stockton" remained at Norfolk Navy Yard until 14 November 1901 when she sailed for Port Royal, S.C. Decommissioned on 16 November, she remained there into the following year. Recommissioned on 7 June 1902, "Stockton" steamed, via New London, Conn., to Newport, R.I. On 25 August, the torpedo boat was ordered to the Caribbean. Arriving at Key West, Fla., on 3 October 1902, "Stockton" subsequently cruised off Hispaniola and Puerto Rico before returning to Key West on 14 January 1903. She reached Norfolk a fortnight later and was decommissioned there on 16 February.
"Stockton" was recommissioned on 11 June 1906 and assigned to the 3d Torpedo Flotilla the following day. She remained on the United States east coast into 1909, attached to the 3d Torpedo Flotilla. Transferred to the 1st Torpedo Division on 9 September 1909, she participated in the Hudson–Fulton Celebration during October 1909.
"Stockton" was placed in reserve on 9 November 1909 and, but for occasional cruises as far north as New York City, remained at Charleston Navy Yard into 1913. Decommissioned at Charleston Navy Yard on 14 November 1913, "Stockton" was struck from the Navy list on 15 November. On 25 May 1914, the torpedo boat was ordered prepared for use as a target and was sunk by battleships and destroyers of the Atlantic Fleet during September 1916.


Libby Holman

Elizabeth Lloyd "Libby" Holman (née Holzman; May 23, 1904 – June 18, 1971) was an American socialite, actress, singer, and activist.
Early life.
Elizabeth Lloyd Holzman was born May 23, 1904 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the daughter of a lawyer and stockbroker Alfred Holzman and his wife Rachel Florence Workum Holzman. Her family was Jewish, but she was not raised religiously. Their other children were daughter Marion H. Holzman and son Alfred Paul Holzman.
In 1904, the wealthy family grew destitute after Holman's uncle Ross Holzman embezzled nearly $1 million of their stock brokerage business. Alfred changed the family name from Holzman to Holman around World War I due to anti-German sentiment. Libby graduated from Hughes High School on June 11, 1920, at the age of 16. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati on June 16, 1923, with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Holman later subtracted two years from her age, insisting she was born in 1906, the year she gave the Social Security Administration as the year of her birth.
Theatrical career.
In the summer of 1924, Holman left for New York City, where she first lived at the Studio Club. Her first theater job in New York was in the road company of "The Fool". Channing Pollock, the writer of "The Fool", recognized Holman's talents immediately and advised her to pursue a theatrical career. She followed Pollock's advice and soon became a star. Producer Leonard Sillman relates, in his autobiography "Here Lies Leonard Sillman: Straightened Out at Last", that he "liked the name Libby much better than her legal one and under my gentle prodding, 24 hours a day, she changed it.” An early stage colleague who became a longtime close friend was future film star Clifton Webb, then a dancer. He gave her the nickname, "The Statue of Libby".
Her Broadway debut was in the play "The Sapphire Ring" in 1925 at the Selwyn Theatre, which closed after 13 performances. She was billed as Elizabeth Holman. Her big break came while she was appearing with Clifton Webb and Fred Allen in the 1929 Broadway revue "The Little Show," in which she first sang the blues number "Moanin' Low" by Ralph Rainger, which earned her a dozen curtain calls on opening night, drew raves from the critics and became her signature song. Also in that show, she sang the Kay Swift and Paul James song, "Can't We Be Friends?". She became known as the “premier torcher singer” of Broadway.
The following year, Holman introduced the Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz standard "Something to Remember You By" in the show "Three's a Crowd", which also starred Allen and Webb. Other Broadway appearances included "The Garrick Gaieties" (1925), "Merry-Go-Round" (1927), "Rainbow" (1928), "Ned Wayburn's Gambols" (1929), "Revenge with Music" (1934), "You Never Know" (1938, score by Cole Porter), during which production she had a strong rivalry with the Mexican actress Lupe Vélez; and her self-produced one-woman revue "Blues, Ballads and Sin-Songs" (1954).
One of Holman's signature looks was the strapless dress, which she has been credited with having invented, or at least being one of its first high-profile wearers.
Personal life.
In the industry, press, and among friends, Holman was known for her bold personality. She was the frequent subject of contemporary gossip columns., and became known in the press as "the dark purple menace." Memories of friends, acquaintances, and colleagues detail the stage manner and individuality she was known for. For example, friend and colleague Howard Dietz, who described her as "the swarthy, sloe-eyed houri," recalled:
Additionally, Leonard Sillman remembered of her:
Libby Holman had a variety of relationships with both men and women during her lifetime, including Jeanne Eagels, Tallulah Bankhead, Josephine Baker, and, later in her life, writer Jane Bowles. Although friends observed her to be a "ball breaker" with men, she was tender and intimate in her same-sex relationships. Her most prominent relationship was with DuPont heiress Louisa d'Andelot Carpenter. The couple's relationship would last until Holman's death in 1971; during Libby's Broadway career in the early 20s, they would go out to parties and jaunts in Harlem dressed identically in men's suits in bowler hats, joined by other lesbian and bisexual contemporaries such as Tallulah Bankhead, Beatrice Lillie, Joan Crawford, and Marilyn Miller. Carpenter was to play a significant part throughout Holman's lifetime. They raised their children and lived together and were openly accepted by their theater companions. She scandalized some by dating much younger men, such as American actor Montgomery Clift, whom she mentored.
Holman took an interest in one fan, Zachary Smith Reynolds, a hobbyist aviator and heir to the R.J. Reynolds tobacco company. He was known to friends and family as just "Smith." They met in Baltimore, Maryland in April 1930 after he saw her perform in "The Little Show". He asked his friend Dwight Deere Wiman, the producer of the show, to introduce him to her. He pursued her around the world in his plane, and became known as "Smitty, the traveling bear" in Holman's friend group, referencing his pet-like devotion to following her around the world. Although Holman's friends didn't like Reynolds, finding him moody and difficult to talk to, they tolerated his presence, as he paid for the entourage's visits to New York speakeasies and nightclubs. The couple argued often and would occasionally descend into fights in front of Holman's circle of friends. Reynolds threatened suicide to Holman on multiple occasions; In a letter to her, written while on an aviation journey, he once wrote: "Darling Angel. I would gladly come home if you were not going on with the show. I'll gladly give up this trip or anything I have to devote all my time to you, if you would do the same for me. If I get to the point where I simply cannot stand it without you for another minute, well, there's the old Mauser with a few cartridges in it. I guess I've had my inning. It's time another team went to bat."
Despite the tempestuous nature of their relationship, Holman and Reynolds married on November 29, 1931, in the parlor of the Justice of Peace's house in Monroe, Michigan. Reynolds wanted Holman to abandon her acting career. She took a one-year leave of absence to stay at the Reynolds family estate in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Death of Zachary Smith Reynolds.
On the night of July 5, 1932 at Reynolda, Reynolds and Holman threw a 21st birthday party for Smith's childhood friend Charles Gideon Hill Jr. After the party attendants had left, with only Reynolds's best friend and secretary Albert "Ab" Bailey Walker, and Holman's friend actress Blanche Yurka remaining in the house, Reynolds died of a gunshot wound to the head in the morning of July 6. As many witnesses had been drunk, statements about the event were conflicting and muddled. Holman said she was unable to remember much of the night or the following day; the numerous testimonies given by Walker in the inquest contradicted each other. Authorities ruled the shooting a suicide, but a coroner's inquiry ruled it murder.
The death was front page news, and the local sheriff leaked details to the press, inciting more speculation. Carpenter paid Holman's $25,000 bail at the Rockingham County Courthouse in Wentworth, North Carolina. Holman wore a heavy veil and dark dress, and bystanders and reporters thought she was black or of mixed race—a common misconception because of her olive skin tone. Holman left for Cincinnati to seek the help of her father, who was a lawyer. Fearing further scandal, the Reynolds family contacted the local authorities and had the charges dropped. On January 10, 1933, Holman gave birth to Christopher Smith "Topper" Reynolds.
Journalist Milt Machlin investigated the death of Reynolds and argued that he committed suicide. In his account Holman was a victim of the anti-Semitism of local authorities. The district attorney involved with the case later told Machlin that she was innocent, and he thought that if the case had gone to trial there might have been violence similar to the Leo Frank case.
The 1933 film "Sing, Sinner, Sing" was loosely based on the allegations surrounding Reynolds' death, as were the films "Reckless" and "Written on the Wind".
Later years.
In March 1939, Holman married Ralph (pronounced "Rafe") Holmes, a film and stage actor. She had dated his older brother Phillips Holmes. In 1940, both brothers, who were half-Canadian, joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. Phillips Holmes was killed in a collision of two military aircraft on August 12, 1942. When Ralph Holmes returned home in August 1945, the marriage soured and they separated. On November 15, 1945, Ralph Holmes was found dead in his Manhattan apartment from a barbiturate overdose at age 29.
During World War II, she tried to organize shows for servicemen with her friend, African-American musician Josh White, but they were turned down on the grounds that "we don't book mixed company."
Holman adopted two sons, Timmy (born October 18, 1945), and Tony (born May 19, 1947). Her biological son Christopher ("Topper") died on August 7, 1950 after falling while mountain climbing. She had given him permission to go mountain climbing with a friend on Mount Whitney, the highest peak in California, but was unaware that the boys were ill-prepared for the adventure. Both died. Those close to Holman claim she never forgave herself.
After the death of her son Christopher, Holman (who had some money from her marriage to Reynolds) created the Christopher Reynolds Foundation to support equality, international disarmament, and the resolution of environmental problems. Over time the foundation narrowed its scope to more specific causes, such as relations between Cuba and the U.S. She contributed to the defense of Benjamin Spock, the pediatrician and writer arrested for taking part in antiwar demonstrations.
In the 1950s, Holman worked with her accompanist, Gerald Cook, on researching and rearranging what they called earth music. It was primarily blues and spirituals that were linked to the African American community. She was involved in the Civil rights movement and became a close friend and associate of Martin Luther King Jr. Through her foundation she provided funds for King's trip to India with his wife Coretta Scott King to meet followers of Mahatma Gandhi, whom he referred to as "the guiding light of our technique of nonviolent social change".
On December 27, 1960, she married artist and fellow activist Louis Schanker. She continued to perform and make records.
Death and legacy.
Holman reportedly suffered from depression because of: the deaths of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the presidential election loss by Eugene McCarthy, the deaths of young men in the Vietnam War, the death of her son, and the illness of her friend Jane Bowles. Friends said she lost her vitality after the death of Montgomery Clift in 1966. The deaths of multiple people close to her, combined with the Vietnam War and the turbulent political situation took a toll on her mental health.
On June 18, 1971, Holman was found nearly dead in the front seat of her Rolls Royce. She was taken to the hospital where she died hours later. Her death was ruled a suicide due to carbon monoxide poisoning. In view of her bouts with depression and reported past suicide attempts, none of Holman's friends or relatives was surprised by her death. She was cremated and her ashes scattered at Treetops.
In 2001, a successful effort was made by citizens to save Treetops, her Connecticut estate, from development. It straddles the border of Stamford and Greenwich. As a result, the pristine grounds were preserved. Treetops is part of the Mianus River State Park, overseen by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. Treetops is south of the Mianus River Park. The mansion is privately owned. In 2006, Louis Schanker's art studio on a hill overlooking the property became the home of the Treetops Chamber Music Society.