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1-50 of 128
- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Born on June 9, 1931 in Chicago, Joan Marshall attended St. Clement's School. Looking far more mature than her age would indicate, when she was just 14 years old she auditioned for, and was hired, as a showgirl at Chicago's Chez Paree, one of the country's foremost nightclubs in the 1940s and 1950s. Two years later, she was appearing in Las Vegas productions. Vegas was where she met her first husband and her son, Steven, was born. Her daughter Shari was born three years later. Moving to Beverly Hills, she starred on the television series Bold Venture (1959) (1959-60 season). She made around 10 feature films, liking only a few of them. In 1961, she starred in Homicidal (1961) (billed as "Jean Arless"), playing two roles, one male and one female. This small film has developed a cult-like following.
She was signed by CBS and appeared often on such television shows as The Jack Benny Program (1950) and The Red Skelton Hour (1951). She had a gift for comedy, which often was overlooked because of her beauty. Possessing a flair for writing, in the 1970s, she collaborated with her old school friend, the award-winning writer Dirk Wayne Summers, co-scripting sitcoms.
She married film director Hal Ashby and, over the first six months of their marriage, and at his insistence, she related personal experiences of her life. Ashby (and Robert Towne) turned these details of her life into the romantic comedy film Shampoo (1975). She was reportedly displeased her husband had used such personal details in creating this film.
Her real-life wedding (to Ashby) can be seen in the opening scenes behind the credits in Ashby's romantic comedy film The Landlord (1970). Ashby died in 1988 and, two years later, Joan married business executive Mel Bartfield. Although there were many rumors that Joan was secretly wed to Richard Chamberlain, this was not the case. She and Chamberlain were -- and remained -- very close friends. After visiting Jamaica, West Indies, she fell in love with the island nation, where she had a home, and where she died of lung cancer on June 28, 1992, at the age of 61. Her ashes were spread under her favorite tree on the property.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
When Kansas-born Patrice Wymore was only six years of age, she began touring with her family in tent shows and in vaudeville, her mother being a pianist and singer on the circuit. In contrast, her father was a trucking line exec. Trained in voice, the lovely, fair-haired teenager gambled on a try in New York and it paid off. Performing in "Up in Central Park" in 1947, she made her Broadway debut a year later in the musical "Hold It!" and won the Theatre World Award for "promising actress." Following her Broadway role in another musical, "All for Love" in 1949, the wide set-eyed beauty was handed a starlet contract by Warner Bros. and headed west to seek her fame and fortune. She found a little bit of both.
Patrice made her debut in a singing role in the nostalgic Doris Day/Gordon MacRae tunefest Tea for Two (1950). Fate took a hand when she was cast opposite the much older Errol Flynn in Rocky Mountain (1950), one of the aging actor's lesser-known efforts. Patrice became the final Mrs. Errol Flynn in October of 1950 after a hasty marriage in Monaco. Daughter Arnella, who later would become a model in Europe, was born in 1953. The couple moved to Jamaica and also traveled by yacht overseas. By the time of his marriage, Flynn was already in a severe decline both physically and mentally and the marriage was a difficult one. After typically playing the "other woman" in several other Warner efforts, including I'll See You in My Dreams (1951), She's Working Her Way Through College (1952), The Big Trees (1952), She's Back on Broadway (1953), and in the British-made King's Rhapsody (1955).
Patrice felt compelled to retire in order to tend to her ailing husband and the raising of their daughter. His drug/alcohol addictions, however, became too overwhelming, and she eventually was forced to separate from Flynn. They never divorced by the time he died at age 50 in October of 1959, although he was living with someone else. Patrice never remarried.
Following Flynn's passing, Wymore attempted a comeback and began performing in a nightclub act in Vegas and in stock musicals such as "Carnival," Guys and Dolls," "Irma La Douce," and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." On camera she was cast in the short-lived soap opera Never Too Young (1965) and appeared secondarily in the films Ocean's Eleven (1960) and Chamber of Horrors (1966).
Patrice eventually retired again in the late 1960s and returned to Jamaica with her daughter to the mansion Flynn built and bequeathed to her along with a cattle ranch and 2,000-acre coconut plantation. She also went into business operating a boutique and wicker furniture manufacturing plant. Patrice also continued to be active in her late husband's estate and attends tributes and dedications to him.
Tragedy struck when her daughter Arnella, who gave Patrice a grandson (actor Luke Flynn), died of a drug overdose in 1998. Patrice herself died of pulmonary complications on March 22, 2014.- Writer
- Actor
- Music Department
Noel Coward virtually invented the concept of Englishness for the 20th century. An astounding polymath - dramatist, actor, writer, composer, lyricist, painter, and wit -- he was defined by his Englishness as much as he defined it. He was indeed the first Brit pop star, the first ambassador of "cool Britannia." Even before his 1924 drugs-and-sex scandal of The Vortex, his fans were hanging out of their scarves over the theater balcony, imitating their idol's dress and repeating each "Noelism" with glee. Born in suburban Teddington on 16 December 1899, Coward was on stage by the age of six, and writing his first drama ten years later. A visit to New York in 1921 infused him with the pace of Broadway shows, and he injected its speed into staid British drama and music to create a high-octane rush for the jazz-mad, dance-crazy 1920s. Coward's style was imitated everywhere, as otherwise quite normal Englishmen donned dressing gowns, stuck cigarettes in long holders and called each other "dahling"; his revues propagated the message, with songs sentimental ("A Room With A View," "I'll See You Again") and satirical ("Mad Dogs and Englishmen," "Don't Put Your Daughter On the Stage, Mrs. Worthington"). His between-the-wars celebrity reached a peak in 1930 with "Private Lives," by which time he had become the highest earning author in the western world. With the onset of World War II he redefined the spirit of the country in films such as This Happy Breed (1944), In Which We Serve (1942), Blithe Spirit (1945) and, perhaps most memorably, Brief Encounter (1945). In the postwar period, Coward, the aging Bright Young Thing, seemed outmoded by the Angry Young Men, but, like any modern pop star, he reinvented himself, this time as a hip cabaret singer: "Las Vegas, Flipping, Shouts "More!" as Noel Coward Wows 'Em in Cafe Turn" enthused Variety. By the 1960s, his reappraisal was complete -- "Dad's Renaissance", called it -- and his "Hay Fever" was the first work by a living author to be produced at the National Theatre. He was knighted -- at last -- in 1970, and died in his beloved Jamaica on 26 March 1973. Since his death, his reputation has grown. There is never a point at which his plays are not being performed, or his songs being sung. A playwright, director, actor, songwriter, filmmaker, novelist, wit . . . was there nothing this man couldn't do? Born into a musical family he was soon treading the boards in various music hall shows where he met a young girl called Gertrude Lawrence, a friendship and working partnership that lasted until her death. His early writings were mainly short songs and sketches for the revue shows popular in the 1920s, but even his early works often contained touches of the genius to come ("Parisian Pierrot" 1923). He went on to write and star (with Gertie) in his own revues, but the whiff of scandal was never far away, such as that from the drug addict portrayed in "The Vortex." Despite his obvious homosexual lifestyle he was taken to the hearts of the people and soon grew into one of the most popular writer/performers of his time.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Paul Eckstein has been writing, producing and acting for over 40 years. He grew up in Brooklyn then graduated from Brown University with degrees in International Relations and Creative Writing. He went on to immerse himself in New York City Theatre where he was a founding member of the Naked Angels Theatre Co., acted on Broadway, Shakespeare in the Park and Minneapolis' Guthrie Theatre. He spent a decade cutting his chops originating, collaborating, writing, directing, and developing dozens of plays, films and TV shows. Paul completed production of season two of the acclaimed hit Godfather of Harlem (2019) which he co-created, starring Forest Whitaker and Giancarlo Esposito on EPIX. Prior to that, Paul lead the writer's room on the first year of the Netflix hit drama Narcos (2015). Paul also wrote and produced the Disney/ABC biblical epic Of Kings and Prophets (2016) on location in South Africa. His other writing credits include: Street Time (2002) (Showtime), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001) (NBC), The Dead Zone (2002) (USA). As a movie producer, Paul co-produced the MGM/UA film Hoodlum (1997) starring Laurence Fishburne and Andy Garcia. These are some of a long list of projects Paul has worked on over the years that emphasize history, high stakes, excellence in execution with a focus on stories and culture from people of color.- Stunts
- Actor
- Writer
Sandy Alexander was born on 8 August 1942. He was an actor and writer, known for 12 Monkeys (1995), I.Q. (1994) and 9½ Weeks (1986). He died on 17 August 2007 in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, USA.- John Marriott was born on 30 January 1893 in Boley, Indian Territory, USA [now Oklahoma, USA]. He was an actor, known for The Little Foxes (1941), Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and Omnibus (1952). He was married to Beatrice Smalls. He died on 5 April 1977 in Jamaica, New York, USA.
- Lois Kelly-Miller was born on 15 October 1917 in Crossroads, Saint Andrew, Jamaica. She was an actress, known for Meet Joe Black (1998). She died on 8 April 2020 in Kingston, Jamaica.
- Writer
- Music Department
- Additional Crew
Broadway impresario Billy Rose was born William Samuel Rosenberg on September 9, 1899, in The Bronx, New York. Known as "The Little Napoleon of Showmanship," the diminutive Rose made his name and his legend as a producer, writer, lyricist, composer, director and theatre owner/operator, as well as the husband of "Funny Girl" Fanny Brice.
Young Billy Rosenberg grew up in the immigrant neighborhoods of Manhattan's Lower East Side. He attended New York City's High School of Commerce, and after graduating, he was trained in shorthand by John Robert Gregg. The 16-year-old Rose won a high-speed dictation contest and went to work in Washington, DC, as the shorthand reporter for the War Industries Board in 1917. As a stenographer, he served the great financier Bernard Baruch, who was the head of the Board, during World War I.
Rose first made a name for himself as a lyricist, mostly in collaboration with other songwriters, writing the lyrics to such famous songs as "Me and My Shadow" and "It's Only a Paper Moon" (the latter co-written with E.Y. Harburg). His first hit, a collaboration with Con Conrad, was 1923's "Barney Google," inspired by the comic strip character. Other hits included the novelty song "Does the Spearmint Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?" and "That Old Gang of Mine."
Rose's biographer Earl Conrad wrote that Rose likely didn't write many of the songs he was credited with, other than adding an idea or a phrase or two, but publishers wanted to credit him as the lyricist to boost sales, and his collaborators didn't mind as Rose was successful at plugging "his" songs. Ira Gershwin claimed that Rose, who shares equal credit for "their" song "Cheerful Little Earful," added only a minor change to a single line. Other Rose "co-writers" claimed that Rose insisted upon being credited as an author when he came up with a clever title for their song. Rose's collaborators gave in to his demands because he was a brilliant negotiator who was able to wrest the best terms from music publishers, thus boosting their royalties even when Rose's share was subtracted. Rose would become famous, and infamous, for his hardball business tactics when he became a producer.
Rose had earned respect as a lyricist, and he was undoubtedly unmatched when it came to thinking up great titles for Tin Pan Alley songs. Rose was a great "titles" man who thought up "I Found a Million Dollar Baby (In a Five and Ten-Cent Store)," for Harry Warren and Mort Dixon. They knew that the title alone would ensure the song's success and did not begrudge him authorship credit.
In 1931 Rose was one of the three founders, along with George M. Meyer and Edgar Leslie, of the Songwriters Protective Association (SPA), now known as The Songwriters Guild of America. Created to advance, promote and benefit the songwriting profession, the SPA issued the first Standard Uniform Popular Songwriters Contract in 1932. The SPA was resisted bitterly by music publishers, but the solidarity of the songwriters eventually won its acceptance. Even those songwriters who didn't join the Guild benefited from the SPA's existence because its contracts raised the level of individual publisher's boilerplate contracts. Rose served as the president of the SPA for three years.
Billy Rose married Fanny Brice, the legendary comedienne and singer from Ziegfeld's Follies, in 1929. He produced his first show, the musical revue "Sweet and Low," in 1930. The revue, which opened at Chanin's 46th Street Theatre on November 17, 1930, featured music by Rose and performances by Brice, George Jessel and Arthur Treacher, running for a total of 184 performances. His next two Broadway shows, the 1931 musical revue "Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt" (a reworking of "Sweet and Low"), which was produced, directed, and written by Rose and featured Brice and Ted Healy, closed after only 79 performances at the 44th Street Theatre. He next produced Ben Hecht's drama "The Great Magoo" at the Selwyn Theatre in 1932, and it flopped, lasting but 11 performances. Rose wouldn't produce another Broadway show until 1941, when Clifford Odets's "Clash by Night," starring Tallulah Bankhead and Lee J. Cobb and directed by Lee Strasberg, lasted only 49 performances.
Rose reinvented himself as a showman in 1934. For the second year of the Chicago World's Fair, known officially as "A Century of Progress International Exposition," Rose constructed a huge dinner theatre, Casa Manana, that featured a huge revolving stage on which ecdysiast Sally Rand performed. Rand, whom he had purloined from the "Streets of Paris" concession run by rival impresario Mike Todd, did her "bubble dance" on the revolving stage. The "bubble dance," in which the petite Sally appeared with a large balloon that was as tall as she was, was the enticing sequel to her fabled "fan dance" that had made her a hot number and led to her arrest the year before. This second year of bare-bottomed ballyhoo by Rand helped consolidated her fame as well as make Billy Rose successful again. The great Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. himself had been a promoter at the famous Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893, where he presented the strongman Sandow.
Rose went back to Broadway as a producer. He produced the extravaganza "Jumbo" at New York's Hippodrome Theatre, which stretched a full city block, at a cost of $350,000 (approximately $5.8 million in 2005 dollars), the highest budget for a Broadway show at that time. The show combined a Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical with circus acts, including aerial stunts, high-wire acts and wild animals. Headlined by the great comic Jimmy Durante, and Paul Whiteman, then known as "The King of Jazz," the show garnered good reviews. Despite playing for 233 performances to full houses, "Jumbo" failed to become profitable due to its exorbitant cost. It did, however, make Billy Rose famous.
He produced "Sally Rand's Nude Ranch" at the 1936 Fort Worth Centennial as part of his Casa Manana show at the fairgrounds. The "Ranch" consisted of 18 girls clad in cowboy boots, a cowboy hat, a green bandanna and a short skirt. These wild gals of the naked west were "branded" (rubberstamped) with a large SR on their rumps. Rand was paid $1,000 a week (apprxomimately $13,500 in 2005 dollars) as the headliner of the act.
In 1937 Rose introduced The Aquacade at Cleveland's Great Lakes Exposition. A floating amphitheater, the Aquacade featured water ballet and hundreds of swimmers, including former Olympic swimming champ Johnny Weissmuller, more famous as the cinema's "Tarzan," and Olympian Eleanor Holm. At the height of the Great Depression, a group of New York City businessmen decided to create an international exposition for the Big Town, and the New York World's Fair was realized in 1939. Rose had returned to New with his "Billy Rose's Aquacade," which was the hit of the World's Fair. The Aquacade remained the hit attraction of the World's Fair the following year, despite his nemesis Mike Todd's attempt to box him in with his neighboring attraction, Gay New Orleans. The water show was billed as "a brilliant 'girl' show of spectacular size and content" (years later, a bankrupt Todd would try his own variation of the Aquacade at Jones Beach).
Rose, who had divorced Fanny Brice in 1938, married Eleanor Holm in 1939. Their marriage would last 15 years before it broke up in spectacular fashion worthy of the Rose reputation.
Rose took the Aquacade to San Francisco for that city's world's fair in 1940. He also opened Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe nightclub in New York that year, which was the sensation of the city with its vaudeville-style entertainment, including a chorus line of 250-pound women. Rose's nightclub, which helped launch the career of its choreographer Gene Kelly, was featured in a 1945 movie.
Rose was famous for his huge ego. When he applied for the position with the government as the head of military entertainment during World War II, he wrote in a letter to the commanding general that the job should be his, not just because he knew everyone and had done everything in show business, but because he had also "paid over a million dollars in taxes last year!" Rose was passed over for the position.
In 1943, Rose produced Oscar Hammerstein II's "Carmen Jones," an operetta with an all-African American cast based on Georges Bizet's 19th-century opera "Carmen." With a World War IIcontemporary narrative told from an African-American viewpoint, it was a huge hit. The NY Telegraph called it "far and away the best show in New York," while The NY Times said it was "beautifully done . . . just call it wonderful." The show played for 502 performances.
Billy Rose made the cover of the June 2, 1947, edition of "Time" magazine, which featured a painting of Rose amidst a circle of women's well-turned-out gams. The cover story, entitled "Sweet Corn at Glen Island," was about Rose's new nightclub, the refurbished Glen Island Casino, which opened with saxophonist Tex Beneke heading Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. In 1944 Billy Rose bought the old Ziegfeld Theatre at 54th St. and 6th Ave., which had been a movie house for the previous 11 years, and turned it back into a legitimate theater. It remained a theater for 11 more years, until NBC acquired it and turned it into a TV studio. Before being turned back into a grindhouse, albeit of the TV variety, Rose's Ziegfeld Theatre presented many top entertainments, including "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," the Laurence Olivier-Vivien Leigh twin-bill "Casear and Cleopatra"/"Antony and Cleopatra," "Porgy and Bess" and "Kismet." Rose lived in an apartment above the Ziegfeld, where he reportedly carried on numerous affairs. When his ex-lover Joyce Mathews, the ex-wife of Milton Berle, slit her wrists in his bathroom, it became a major scandal fanned by the New York tabloids. The notoriety led to messy divorce from his second wife Eleanor Holm, which the press called "The War of the Roses" (after his divorce from Holm, Rose wed Matthews in 1956; the marriage ended in divorce three years later, although they briefly remarried. Rose subsequently married Doris Warner Vidor in 1964, but she filed for divorce after just six months on the grounds of "extreme mental cruelty").
In 1947 Rose began writing a syndicated newspaper column, "Pitching Horseshoes," that featured illustrated stories recounted by Rose. One of the illustrators was future Oscar-winning actor Martin Landau, who was then a staff cartoonist on the NY Daily News. The column eventually appeared in over 200 newspapers, and excerpts were used by Rose in his autobiography "Wine, Women and Words," which was illustrated by Salvador Dalí.
In its June 12, 1950, edition, "Time" Magazine ran a piece entitled "Billy Rose Gives A Party" in which it noted the similarity between a Rose story in his "Pitching Horseshoes" column and a short story written by Evelyn Waugh. Both featured downcast and absent-minded women who died broken-hearted after they staged a party, but no one came, as they had forgotten to send out the invitations. When queried for his reaction, '"Time" reported that "Rose, who had never read the Waugh story [said]: 'It's one of those stinking, unbelievable coincidences.'"
In 1950 Rose hosted The Billy Rose Show (1950) on the ABC television network, a 30-minute dramatic series that debuted on October 3. The show, which was directed by Broadway legend Jed Harris, featured adaptations of stories that had appeared in "Pitching Horseshoes." Two of the shows were entitled "The Night Billy Rose Shoulda Stood in Bed" and "The Night They Made a Bum out of Helen Hayes." Among the actors appearing on the show were the Broadway actors Alfred Drake, Leo G. Carroll and Burgess Meredith. The show was canceled on March 27, 1951.
In 1954 at the Royale Theatre, Rose produced an adaptation of 'Andre Gide''s novel "The Immoralist," starring Geraldine Page and Louis Jordan. The play, which ran for 96 performances, featured James Dean's last performance on Broadway. Dean won a 1954 Theatre World Award portraying the lusty Arab boy Bachir, who seduces the repressed homosexual Michel, played by Jourdan, with an electrifying "scissors dance." In 1959 the National Theatre was renamed the Billy Rose Theatre (it still exists as the Nederlander Theatre) and opened under Rose's management with a revival of George Bernard Shaw's "Heartbreak House" starring Maurice Evans, who had broken Edwin Booth's record as Hamlet in a production produced by Mike Todd.
One of Rose's last major contributions to the theater was providing his theater for the staging of the latest play by Edward Albee, who had shocked the establishment with the vulgarity of his "Zoo Story." His new play, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", opened at the Billy Rose Theater on October 13, 1962, and closed on May 16, 1964, after a total of 664 performances. The production, which cost $42,000 to mount (approximately $260,000 in 2005 dollars), won five Tony Awards for Best Play, Best Producer, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress. It was the sensation of the theatrical season, if not of the decade of the 1960s. In addition to providing the theater, Rose also was one of the angels for the play.
Rose once again took over operation of the Ziegfeld Theatre when NBC gave up the lease. The last two shows to appear in Billy Rose's lifetime, at the Ziegfeld, where "An Evening with Maurice Chevalier" and a Danny Kaye revue, both in 1963. The Ziegfeld Theatre subsequently was razed to make room for a skyscraper.
Billy Rose donated his collection of sculptures to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. To house the collection, Isamu Noguchi designed the Billy Rose Sculpture Garden from 1960-65, in which the sculptures were placed in courtyards with sparse vegetation, stone-paved terraces, and intimate spaces.
Billy Rose died of lobar pneumonia on February 10, 1966, at his vacation home in Montego Bay, Jamaica. He was 66 years old.
The collection of performance materials at The New York Public Library was named after Rose. The Billy Rose Theatre Collection is one of the greatest theatrical archives in the world, covering the performance arts in all their diversity. The Collection's holdings cover virtually every type of performance art, including drama, musical theatre, film, television, radio, the circus, magic, vaudeville, and puppetry.- Actor
- Producer
Herman Meckler was born on 15 December 1894 in Flushing, New York, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Hair (1979), Ragtime (1981) and Amadeus (1984). He died on 3 December 1985 in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York, USA.- Amelie Barleon was born on 1 April 1878 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for The Producers (1967), The Scar (1919) and Jane Eyre (1910). She died on 17 June 1969 in Jamaica, New York, USA.
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Perry Henzell was born on 7 March 1936 in Port Maria, St. Mary, Jamaica. He was a director and writer, known for The Harder They Come (1972), No Place Like Home (2006) and Camera Three (1955). He was married to Sally Densham. He died on 30 November 2006 in Treasure Beach, Saint Elizabeth, Jamaica.- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Peter Tosh was born on 19 October 1944 in Grange Hill, Jamaica. He was an actor and composer, known for Savages (2012), Pineapple Express (2008) and Lords of Dogtown (2005). He died on 11 September 1987 in Kingston, Jamaica.- The late Ellen O' Mara was born and raised in Manhattan. In 1966 she won a contest to be the "Red Cross Girl", for a year. After a run of appearing on posters, and dressing in nurse's outfits she auditioned for parts in films, she won the part of her best-known role, Alice Blake, in Up the Down Staircase (1967). On September 29, 2004, her life was taken after a long battle with Pancreatic cancer, she died at Margaret Tietz Center.
- Carlton Grant Jr. was an actor, known for Shottas (2002). He died on 23 August 2008 in Kingston, Jamaica.
- Actress
- Writer
Erica Watson was born on 26 February 1973 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Precious (2009), Top Five (2014) and Chi-Raq (2015). She died on 27 February 2021 in Montego Bay, Jamaica.- Cinque Attucks was born on 3 May 1944 in the USA. He was an actor, known for The Black Godfather (1974), Toma (1973) and Adam-12 (1968). He died on 7 July 2014 in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Composer
- Sound Department
Lee 'Scratch' Perry was born on 20 March 1936 in St. Mary, Jamaica. He was an actor and composer, known for Fool's Gold (2008), The Beach (2000) and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). He was married to Mireille Campbell and Pauline "Isha" Morrison. He died on 29 August 2021 in Lucea, Jamaica.- Reggie Carter was born in 1936 in Panama. He was an actor, known for Dr. No (1962), The Lunatic (1991) and Sankofa (1993). He was married to Barbara Lewars and Sheila Hill. He died on 2 September 1995 in Red Hills, St. Andrew's Parish, Jamaica.
- Composer
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Byron Lee was born on 27 June 1935 in Manchester Parish, Jamaica, British West Indies [now Jamaica]. He was a composer and actor, known for Dr. No (1962), The Mosquito Coast (1986) and My Father the Hero (1994). He died on 4 November 2008 in Kingston, Jamaica.- Actor
- Composer
- Producer
Bunny Wailer was born on 10 April 1947 in Kingston, Jamaica. He was an actor and composer, known for Spring Breakdown (2009), Marley (2012) and Dance Central 3 (2012). He died on 2 March 2021 in Kingston, Jamaica.- Terry Runte was born on 7 October 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was a writer, known for Super Mario Bros. (1993), Mystery Date (1991) and The Thief and the Cobbler (1993). He died on 17 October 1994 in Jamaica.
- Eddie Waitkus is the baseball player who inspired the novel "The Natural" by Bernard Malamud, which was made into the movie The Natural (1984), starring Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs. Waitkus was a top defensive first baseman and left-handed line-drive hitter. He was one of the toughest men in the league to strike-out. He spent 11 years wearing a major league uniform. Although his numbers were not Hall of Fame numbers he did have a lifetime batting average of .285.
He was shot by Ruth Ann Steinhagen on June 14, 1949. Waitkus was taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital with a bullet in his chest. The bullet had punctured his lung and lodged next to his spine and was near his heart. He was given two transfusions, but surgeons were afraid to remove the bullet because of its location. As it turned out, Waitkus had to have four operations before he was able to go to Clearwater, Florida for rehabilitation. Upon his return to baseball in 1950, Waitkus worked hard as the Phillies' leadoff hitter, helping them win the National League pennant. He hit 284 and scored 102 runs while playing in 154 games. According to family and friends of Eddie Waitkus, he was never the same after the shooting. It cost him an All-Star spot, and he had missed another season. His outgoing and friendly nature was gone. It was replaced with a man who was withdrawn and just generally suspicious of people. He went through some tough times after baseball, including going into treatment for alcoholism. In the end he was working at Ted Williams' baseball camp in the summer and basically collected unemployment during the winter. He entered a Boston Veterans Administration Hospital in the summer of 1972, and it was there that he died of cancer on September 15, 1972, eleven days after his 53rd birthday. - Writer
- Art Department
- Actor
Jonathan Routh was born on 24 November 1927 in Gosport, Hampshire, England, UK. He was a writer and actor, known for Casino Royale (1967), Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life (1964) and International Cabaret (1964). He was married to Shelagh Routh and Nandi Heckroth. He died on 4 June 2008 in Jamaica.- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Coxsone Dodd was born on 26 January 1932 in Kingston, Jamaica. He is known for Attack the Block (2011), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) and The Matrix (1999). He died on 4 May 2004 in Kingston, Jamaica.- Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Norma Koch was born on 27 March 1898. She was a costume designer, known for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), Marty (1955) and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964). She was married to Robert Martin. She died on 29 July 1979 in Jamaica, New York, USA.