Post a true but little known fact about someone famous, living or dead -- Part 7

[red dog 1]

Link to Part 6:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10181104887


Author Harlan Ellison frequently ran away from home, taking an array of odd jobs,
including, by age 18,

- tuna fisherman off the coast of Galveston
- itinerant crop-picker down in New Orleans
- hired gun for a wealthy neurotic
- nitroglycerine truck driver in North Carolina
- short-order cook
- cab driver
- lithographer
- book salesman
- floorwalker in a department store
- door-to-door brush salesman

[Raven123]

1. John Lennon was Best Man at Peter Boyle's wedding

[red dog 1]

3. Interesting!

Whenever I think about Peter Boyle, I can't help but think about his role as "the monster" in
"Young Frankenstein"....He was hilarious in that role.

[no_hypocrisy]

97. Think about it . . . . . John Lennon was Best Man at the wedding of the actor

who played Joe.

[dameatball]

2. Percy Spencer invented the microwave oven, never graduated from grammar school.

While working for Raytheon he noticed some peculiarities resulting from radar waves. He and his co-workers did some experiments and eventually the microwave was born. The first one was somewhere around six feet tall.

[red dog 1]

4. He was an amazing guy!

At age 18, he joined the U.S. Navy, and while with the Navy, he made himself an expert on radio technology.
"I just got hold of a lot of textbooks and taught myself while I was standing watch at night."
He also subsequently taught himself trigonometry, calculus, chemistry, physics and metallurgy, among other subjects.

[First Speaker]

5. I still have one of the brushes Harlan sold my mother...

...and it constantly torments me by proclaiming it to be a God. Maybe it is; I just know that it isn't carnivorous anymore. I don't *think*.

[COLGATE4]

6. I wouldn't turn my back on it though, just sayin'...

[Floyd R. Turbo]

7. Hunter S. Thompson was nearly beaten to death by a group of Hells Angels in 1964.

He tried to stop one of the members from kicking the shit out of that member’s wife and dog. The Angels philosophy of “one in, all in” resulted in Hunter being gang stomped.

[Yupster]

8. On page 20 of Confederate General James Longstreet's memoirs, he

not surprisingly thanks some of his notable subordinates who helped him run his Corps. More surprising is the name of his aide-de-camp who he praised........ Lieutenant Peyton Manning.

[red dog 1]

9. Art Bell died of an accidental drug overdose,

according to the Clark County, Nevada coroner.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and hypertension also contributed to his death.

[red dog 1]

10. Kevin Fitzgerald DVM, star of Animal Planet's series "Emergency Vets" & "E-Vet Interns," worked

security for a wide variety of musical acts, including Elvis Presley, The Who, Bob Marley, Willie Nelson, George Clinton and The Rolling Stones.

On an episode of "Emergency Vets," Fitzgerald noted that he knew it was time to get serious about pursuing a careen in veterinary medicine when Keith Richards asked him point-blank if he wanted to "still be a bouncer at 50."

Fitzgerald also does stand-up comedy.

[red dog 1]

11. John McCain attended about 20 schools

The McCain family followed his father, who was a naval officer, to various naval postings in the United States and the Pacific.

[red dog 1]

12. John McCain's mother is still alive - she's 106.

[Aristus]

13. Van Gogh's mental illnesses may have been, in part, due to lead poisoning.

Van Gogh was known to have tasted his paints while producing a canvas (lead tastes sweet). This was shown in the film Vincent & Theo.

[red dog 1]

14. Sarah Silverman became a vegetarian at age 10

One of her first movie roles was playing Brenda, a friend of Mary's in the hilarious Farrelly Brothers film "There's Something About Mary"

[red dog 1]

15. In the 1960s, while the Beatles were still touring, they ended an Asia tour in the Philippines,

"when an inadvertent snub of the dictatorial first family provoked a nationwide turn against the foursome.
Their entire police detail was suddenly withdrawn, and the Beatles were left to defend themselves against a hoard of angry nationalists who manhandled them all the way to the airport.
Only after being stripped of concert proceeds were they permitted to leave the country."
(From Rolling Stone Magazine)

[skylucy]

77. I remember reading about this in the local newspaper. There was also a photo showing the Beatles

leaving (I think they were at the airport). They looked terrified. I believe this was during the Marcos regime.

[no_hypocrisy]

98. At 06:22 of the interview, George gives the "two-digit salute" to Ferdinand Marcos.

[red dog 1]

16. Comedian Jim Gaffigan played varsity football at both Georgetown and Purdue

[red dog 1]

17. Woody Guthrie wrote more than 1,000 songs

between 1936 and 1954.

[trixie2]

18. Rosa Parks used to shop, like a normal person, at Harbortown Market on Jefferson in Detroit

I saw her every Friday and would give a little bow to her. She was so tiny and I am only 5'1" myself. I was in awe of her.

Circa 1994 ish

[red dog 1]

19. Inspired by the music of Lonnie Donegan, George Harrison formed a skiffle group called

The Rebels with his brother Peter, and a friend, Arthur Kelly.

[red dog 1]

20. Following an attack in his home by a crazed assailant with a kitchen knife in 1999,

George Harrison was hospitalized with more than 40 puncture wounds, and part of his punctured lung was removed.

[Stuart G]

21. Lucille Ball of "I Love Lucy" fame made the original decision to finance the show "Star Trek" in

1964..She was the decision maker at Desilu Studios....

Unfortunately that series didn't start making money till the early 70s..by then, the studio had been sold to Paramount Studios. Her hunch was totally correct, but there was not enough time to get the investment back.Lucy sold the studio in 1967 for 17 million, in todays money about 150 million. It was sold to Paramount Pictures.
...Fortunately Lucy lived to see that her decision was totally correct and it made hundreds of millions for the owners, Paramount Pictures..Lucy died in 1989.
...Also, by the time the decision was made in 1964, Lucy and Desi had obtained a divorce, and Lucy was the head of the studio. It was her decision to make, and for all of us she made the correct choice.

[red dog 1]

22. Interesting!

I always liked her.

[red dog 1]

23. Mama Cass Elliot and The Who's Keith Moon both died in the same room, at the same age, 32

It was one of two bedrooms in a London flat owned by singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson

Mama Cass died there of heart failure in July, 1974 at the age of 32.

On September 7, 1978, The Who's drummer, Keith Moon died there from an overdose of Clomethiazole, a prescribed anti-alcohol drug...Moon was also 32.

Nilsson, distraught over another friend's death in his flat, and having little need for the property, sold it to Moon's bandmate, Pete Townshend, and consolidated his life in Los Angeles.

[red dog 1]

24. John Ritter was Tex Ritter's son

[TexasBushwhacker]

49. John died in the same hospital he was born in

Providence St Joseph Medical Center. His 4 children are actors.

[red dog 1]

25. Al Gore has a net worth of over $300 million

[sdfernando]

26. Russian composer Sergei

Prokofiev died at the age of 61 on 5 March 1953, the same day as Joseph Stalin.

[red dog 1]

27. Mort Sahl is still alive

He's 91, walks with a cane, and lives in Mill Valley, CA.
One night a week he does a podcast.

[red dog 1]

28. Tom Waits lives in Sonoma County, CA.

[red dog 1]

29. Tommy Lee Jones played offensive guard on Harvard's undefeated 1968 varsity football team

His roommate at Harvard was Al Gore.

[underpants]

51. Have you ever seen "Harvard beats Yale 29-29"?

Great documentary with an incredible amount of connections

[red dog 1]

52. I'll see if I can borrow a copy from the library

[It's going on my "wish list"]

Thanks!

[underpants]

64. Found it YouTube. 84 minutes.

[red dog 1]

30. Harlan Ellison had gargoyles mounted around the outside of his house

[edbermac]

31. Barbra Streisand and chess master Bobby Fischer attended the same high school.

She admitted having a crush on him.

[edbermac]

32. Buzz Aldrin was the first man to urinate on the lunar surface.

Not actually ON the surface, but inside his suit.

And his mother's maiden name was Moon.

[red dog 1]

34. Interesting!

Thanks

[red dog 1]

38. Donald J. Trump was the first man to pay a Russian hooker to urinate on a hotel bed in Moscow

[Dave Starsky]

33. At 21, Bill Pullman completely lost his sense of smell.

After falling onstage and suffering a brain hemorrhage.

[red dog 1]

35. Neil Young's band, "Promise of the Real" features Lukas & Micah Nelson, Willie Nelson's sons

[red dog 1]

36. The Neil Young song "Old Man" was inspired by the guy who drove him around the ranch Neil Young

bought in Woodside, CA.

It was a huge place, with a lake, a barn, a large farmhouse, and lots of acreage.
There was an older couple who were live-in caretakers, and after Neil bought the place, the old guy drove him around the place in a Jeep or something.
At one point, the old guy looked at Neil and asked him how he was able to afford such an expensive place, him being so young and all.
This was back in the 1960s.
He wrote "Old Man" about that guy.

[red dog 1]

37. Jim Byrnes, who played "Lifeguard" on the TV show "Wiseguy" is a serious blues musician

The Canadian actor has released 10 solo blues albums and has won the Juno Award three times
(The Juno Award is the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy Award)

[red dog 1]

39. Neil Young's new band, "The Promise of the Real" includes Willie Nelson's son, Lukas Nelson

[red dog 1]

40. Neal Cassady lived briefly with The Grateful Dead

[red dog 1]

41. Bryan Adams has 15 Grammy Award nominations

In 1992, he won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television.

[red dog 1]

42. Both Frank Gorshin & Davy Jiones were on the same Ed Sullivan Show The Beatles were on.

[red dog 1]

43. John Lennon and Harry Nilsson were once thrown out of The Troubadour in L.A. for their

drunken and loud heckling of the Smothers Brothers during their act.

[red dog 1]

44. Young J.D. Salinger wanted more than anything to sell a short story to The New Yorker

and in late 1941, he finally did so; but it wasn't published because of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.

[Boomerproud]

45. John Punch, the first documented African slave

Has a very famous 11th great-grandson-Barack Obama.

[red dog 1]

46. Ginger Baker has been married four times and has fathered three children

Posted on his driveway is a sign saying: "Beware of Mr Baker"
which is also the title of a 2012 documentary about him.

[red dog 1]

47. In the car crash that killed him, Eddie Cochran threw himself over his fiance to shield her,

and was thrown out of the car when the door flew open.

The speeding taxi blew a tire, the driver lost control, and the vehicle crashed into a lamppost in Chippenham, Wiltshire, U.K.

Cochran was 21.

[red dog 1]

48. General Tom Thumb was a dwarf who achieved great fame under circus pioneer P.T. Barnum

His real name was Charles Sherwood Stratton (Jan. 4, 1838 - July 15, 1883)

He was born to parents of medium height and was a relatively large baby, weighing
9 pounds, 8 ounces at birth.

He developed and grew normally for the first six months of his life, then he suddenly stopped growing.

As an adult, he was barely 3 feet tall (3 ft, 3 inches)

[red dog 1]

50. "Jefferson Airplane Takes Off" was the title of Jefferson Airplane's first album

The only band members from this album who are still alive are:
- Jorma Kaukonen (lead guitar - vocals)
- Skip Spence (drums)
- Jack Casady (Bass - rhythm guitar)

(Grace Slick wasn't on the first album)

[Cousin Dupree]

53. Billy Bob Thornton is afraid of antique furniture

[avebury]

54. Margaret Chase Smith was not the author

of her famous Declaration of Conscience speech. It was another male Senator. I can't remember the guy's name now but he approached her and pleaded to her to deliver the speech. He knew that she could get a better response to the speech then he could. He told ber that if she would give the speech she could have all the credit. Her personal assistant is a long time friend of my family.

She invited herself along on Jamie's family trip to Norway. Jackie said ok but everybody was responsible for his/het luggage.

Her Senate library is attached to her home in Maine. My Mom, Dad and I took Senator Smith to lunch one Sunday and she opened up the library and have us a private tour. It was an interesting day.

[qazplm135]

55. Ted Cruz

As a lizard person in a human suit, he wasn't actually born in Canada but on Zeta Reticuli.

[red dog 1]

57. His boss in the Senate is also a lizard person...part lizard, part turtle.

[McConnell wasn't born, he was hatched]

[osmium]

76. Ha!

Love the Alien Ref.

[Thomas Hurt]

56. something I did not know until earlier this week about Bradley Cooper....

he sings...

[Botany]

58. Ted Williams was John Glen's wing man in Korea.

n/t

[red dog 1]

59. Really?

Last edited Sat Oct 6, 2018, 04:30 PM - Edit history (1)

That's wild!

[red dog 1]

62. Ted Williams also served in World War 2 as a Naval Aviator

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

75. Marine Aviator

[red dog 1]

81. Well, not exactly.

"Williams was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps as a Naval Aviator on May 2, 1944."

I don't think that there were any actual "U.S. Marine Aviators" until later on in the war.
By the end of WW2, the Marines had five "air wings"

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

83. That's 'cause techincally the Corps belongs to the Navy

but Marines will ALWAYS point out the difference

[red dog 1]

85. I updated my reply

Semper Fi

[Raven123]

84. He also had 20/10 visual acuity

Nice to have if or an aviator or checking the spin of a rapidly approaching baseball

[red dog 1]

60. Colin Kaepernick is the only player in NCAA Division 1 history to amass 10,000 passing yards

and 4,000 rushing yards in a career.

A 4.0 GPA student at John H. Pitman High School in Turlock, CA, Kaepernick played football, basketball and baseball and was nominated for All-State selection in all three sports in his senior year.

He is currently a free agent, because, apparently, no NFL team has the balls to hire him after his National Anthem protest.

[red dog 1]

61. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Bob Weir founded and played with several bands,

including:

- Kingfish
- The Bob Weir Band
- Bobby and the Midnites
- Scaring the Children
- RatDog
- Furthur

[red dog 1]

63. Joe DiMaggio was a bomber pilot in WW2 and in the Korean War

(Where was Ronald Reagan?)

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

79. I think that information might be wrong.

Joe played baseball in the service. Here's some info- https://dirkdeklein.net/2018/02/17/joe-dimaggio-in-wwii/

[red dog 1]

82. Thanks for that correction

I don't know where I got that from.
I may have gotten him confused with Ted Williams, who did serve in both WW2 and Korea.

[red dog 1]

65. During WW2, George McGovern was a bomber pilot and flew a B-24 "Liberator"

It was called the "Dakota Queen" ..named after his wife, Eleanor

[red dog 1]

66. Richard Nixon's choice for Secretary of the Interior was Alaska governor Walter J. Hickel

Opposition to his nomination was led by influential columnists Drew Pearson and Jack Anderson.
The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times also opposed his nomination.
In the Senate, his confirmation was opposed by Senators Walter Mondale and George McGovern, among others.
It was thought that he would be pro oil and an anti-environmentalist.

However, as Interior Secretary, Hickel proved to be a strong environmentalist who supported regulations that put liabilities on oil companies operating off-shore oil rigs as well as demanding environmental safeguards on Alaska's growing oil industry.

[red dog 1]

67. Warren Zevon's father, William Zevon, worked as a bookie for L.A. mobster Mickey Cohen

He worked for years in Cohen's organization, in which he was known as "Stumpy" Zevon.

[red dog 1]

68. In high school, Bob Dylan had a girl friend named Echo

[red dog 1]

69. Taylor Swift is one of the best selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million

albums.

[red dog 1]

70. Jefferson Airplane were headliners of the three most famous rock festivals of the 1960s..

- Monterey Pop (1967)
- Woodstock (1969)
- Altamont (along with The Rolling Stones) 1969

[red dog 1]

71. Steve McQueen's father was a stunt pilot

[red dog 1]

72. David Carradine tried to hang himself when he was only 5-years-old

His father, actor John Carradine, saved him.

[Mazeltov Cocktail]

99. Well, that wasn't the last time he tried. . .

How weird, I got nothing. . .

[red dog 1]

100. He died in Bangkok, Thailand of "accidental asphyxiation" while shooting a film titled "Stretch"

[red dog 1]

73. J.D. Salinger published his final original work in 1965 and gave his last interview in 1980.

Yet he lived until 2010..(He was 91)

[red dog 1]

74. Muddy Waters' real name was McKinley Morganfield

In the early 1950s, his band included Jimmy Rogers on guitar and Little Walter Jacobs on harmonica

[rpannier]

78. Harry Reid is a Dead Head

He has a signed poster of the Grateful Dead hanging in his bathroom
He and his wife also do meditation every day

[Buzz cook]

80. Harlan Ellison ran away with the circus nt

.

[red dog 1]

87. HARLAN ELLISON: "I never found a circus..But I found the ragbag carny those in the circuit

called a 'gilly''
"It was a pure grifter's carny"
He was hired as a 'gopher" (go for coffee, go for this, go for that etc,)

Harlan was 13 when he ran away that time.
He wrote about it in great short story called "Gopher in the Gilly"

When the whole show got busted by the cops one time, the owner bailed out everyone except Harlan and the "GeeK" (a drunk who wallowed in his own feces for a bottle of cheap wine),.

Harlan refused to tell the police his real name, so he was stuck in the jail cell with the "geek" for 3 days, while the poor drunk went through the "DTs"
Harlan never forgot that smell, and he never drank liquor...ever!

(They finally figured out who he was after seeing a "missing kid" poster)

[Raven123]

86. Jimmy Stewart remained in the reserves after WW2

He was achieved the rank of brigadier general

[red dog 1]

88. What a great actor!

I now remember that he did become a brigadier general....I'd forgotten about that.

[red dog 1]

89. Jerry Garcia often got into fights while in high school

This was when he attended Balboa High School in San Francisco.

[red dog 1]

90. Robin Williams film debut was "Can I Do It..'Til I Need Glasses?"

[Brother Buzz]

91. Director, Robert Altman's 14 year-old son made more money writing the lyrics to

"Suicide Is Painless" than he made directing M*A*S*H.

Robert Altman only made $70,000 for directing the movie; his son earned more than $1 million.

[red dog 1]

92. Actor, comedian, and Tonight Show writer Pat McCormick appeared in more that 20 movies

[red dog 1]

93. The Ed Sullivan Show was originally named :Toast of the Town"

[red dog 1]

94. During WWll, Joseph Heller (Catch 22) flew 60 combat missions as a B-25 bombardier

[red dog 1]

95. William Randolph Hearst was once a U.S. Congressman

He was elected to Congress in 1902 and 1904.

[red dog 1]

96. Lou Reed's first recording was when he was 16 in a band called "The Jades"