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David Merrick DEAD April 26, 2000

April 26th, 2013 | Posted by Kristing in Celebrity | Tributes - (0 Comments)

Born: November 27, 1911

Died: April 26, 2000

High of His Life: I’m not sure there was a high point because most of his life was completely amazing. He’s known as the best Broadway producer of all time. With more than 80 shows on Broadway over the course of his life the guy was a living legend…well until 12 years ago. 80 shows and 11 Tony Awards.

Low of His Life: He never got to see the revival of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess…which is probably the best thing to hit Broadway since he passed away.

Who Sees Him As a Hero: Broadway actors, producers, fans, and high school drama clubs across the world.

Lucille Ball DEAD April 26, 1989

April 26th, 2013 | Posted by KristenM in Celebrity - (0 Comments)

Born: August 6, 1911

Dead: April 26, 1989

High of Her Life: Lucille Ball has been regarded as one of the best female comedians ever and just a damn good comedian in general. I Love Lucy was one of the most popular television shows at the time and it’s still a smash hit even today with plenty of marathons and reruns on TV Land. Who can’t quote at least half a dozen episodes? Vitameatavegamin is practically an accepted word in the dictionary. Ball was also the first woman in television to be the head of a production company. Not only was she married to a sexy Cuban man, the show holds the record for longest recorded studio audience laugh in the episode “Lucy Does the Tango.” You just don’t get quality comedy like that any more.

Low of Her Life: In 1936 Ball made the mistake of registering as a Communist. Well, it wasn’t really a mistake because she was fairly outspoken about it. Not all Americans were thrilled though. Ball also had several miscarriages throughout her marriage to Desi Arnaz. In 1960 America’s favorite comedic couple filed for divorce. There was nothing funny about that.

Who Sees Her as a Hero: Female comedians, red heads, our parents, and Cubans.

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Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes DEAD April 25, 2002

April 25th, 2013 | Posted by KristenM in Gone Too Soon - (0 Comments)

Born: May 27, 1971

Died: April 25, 2002

High of Her Life: Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was in one of the hottest R&B groups of the 90s. TLC had huge success with their album CrazySexyCool and they were one of the biggest female groups of all time. We all came to love and anticipate Left Eye’s raps thrown in the middle of every song. I’m sure we all know the rap part of “Waterfalls” by heart. Although tensions were high by the time of their third album, TLC was still a household name, along with Lopes’ signature condom eye-patch to promote safe sex.

Low of Her Life: Anyone who has seen TLC: Behind the Music knows the group was bankrupt after CrazySexyCool, despite it selling over 15 million copies. The group had a rough split and the other two mainly blamed Lopes. Ouch. Her solo career did okay but it didn’t meet the same success as TLC. She died after losing control of the car and ended up being the only one to die from the accident. Now that sucks big time.

Who Sees Her as a Hero: Female rappers, proponents of safe sex, anybody with a lazy eye

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Abraham Lincoln DEAD on April 15, 1865

April 15th, 2013 | Posted by ajaxadmin in Gone Too Soon - (0 Comments)

Abraham LincolnBorn: February 12, 1809

Died: April 15, 1865

High of His Life: As the 16th President of the united States, he successfully kept the Union together and led it to victory in the country’s greatest crisis, the American Civil War, from 1861 – 1865.  During the Civil War in 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation which was instrumental in destroying slavery.  His efforts also helped Congress pass the 13th Amendment which outlawed slavery in the United States for all time.  Despite many political factions in his own cabinet he was able to get them working together to ensure that the United States stayed whole.  One of the best decisions he ever made was to place General Ulysses S. Grant at the head of all the Union armies; this decision gave him the commander with the ability to beat Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

Low of His Life: Being the first President to be assassinated when he was shot on April 14 by Confederate sympathizer/spy, John Wilkes Booth.  He would later die in Ford’s Theater at 7:22 AM on April 15, 1865.  The Union defeats of the First & Second Bull Runs, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville brought Lincoln many sleepless nights during the war.

Who Sees Him As a Hero: Many historians consistently rank him as one of the greatest U.S. presidents, if not the greatest president.  Personally, I think he’s the greatest U.S. president of all time.

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Joseph Merrick DEAD April 11th, 1890

April 11th, 2013 | Posted by MattC in Celebrity | Tributes - (0 Comments)

Born: August 5th, 1862

Died: April 11th, 1890

High of His Life: His life wasn’t exactly rainbows and sunshine but he did have a few joyful moments. He made a friend in Treves and Lady Luisa Knightley and he claimed one of the happiest days of his life was visiting Lady Knightley in Northamptonshire. He had the opportunity to travel and became somewhat of an odd novel celebrity to the wealthy. Also, there was a play about him that became an Oscar winning movie… but that came after his life.

Low of his Life: Well, he was the elephant man so he had his share of being included in freak shows, being a guinea pig for science exhibitions, and medical classes. That sucks pretty bad. He was born deformed, his mother died soon after and his father and step mother disowned him as a child. Not to mention that the growth on his forehead was so big that he had to sleep sitting up. His friend Frederick Treves, a doctor, believed that he suffered from asphyxia trying to sleep lying down and died as a result. Basically everything about his life was depressing.

Who Sees Him As A Hero: Medical researchers and anybody obsessed with political correctness.

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Barry Goldwater DEAD May 29th, 1998

March 29th, 2013 | Posted by OrenS in Celebrity - (0 Comments)

XlebrityBorn: January 2nd, 1909

Died: May 29th, 1998

Low of His Life: Goldwater lost the 1964 election by one the greatest landslides in American electoral history. He won only 6 states and his huge loss hurt Republicans at every level of office. This huge loss allowed democrats to push through a highly progressive agenda which Republicans have been fighting to repeal ever since. Recently they have had a lot of success, at least at a state level.

High of His Life: In the late 1960’s Goldwater was slowly brought back into the fold of the Republican Party and it was all uphill from there. By the mid 1970’s he was on the party’s leading voices. The 1980s saw the rise or the religious right in the Republican Party. Goldwater’s libertarian principals on gay rights and other issues put him at odds with some new Republicans though the Libertarian wings of the party loved him. Although he lost the 1964 election many of the ideas he ran on become Republican staples and he shaped the modern Republican Party. George Will said “Barry Goldwater won in 1964 – it just took 16 years to count the votes!”.

Who Views Him as a Hero: Republicans, Libertarians and Arizonians.

William Tecumseh Sherman DEAD February 14, 1891

February 14th, 2013 | Posted by ajaxadmin in Celebrity | Tributes - (0 Comments)

General ShermanBorn: February 8, 1820

Died: February 14. 1891

High of His Life: General Sherman received the surrender of all remaining Confederate forces commanded by Joseph E. Johnston (the largest surrender outside of Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House) on April 26, 1865.  On the second day of the Grand Review of the Armies on May 24, 1865, he led the Army of Tennessee and the Army of Georgia into Washington, D.C. to be seen and cheered at by the admiring crowds.  During the war he conducted his famous – infamous, to some – March to the Sea, which saw Sherman’s troops living off the land and destroying any and everything that could be used by the Confederate war effort.  This culminated in the capture of Savannah, Georgia on December 21, 1864.  His capture of Atlanta, Georgia previously on September 2, 1864 helped ensure Lincoln’s re-election in the following November.  He is considered by many historians to be the first “modern general.”

Low of His Life: Prior to his successes in the Western Theater, Sherman was one of the only generals to distinguish himself in the First Battle of Bull Run in July 21, 1861 but this was marred by his discontent – at the time – of how the war was going.  He went through a nervous breakdown and even thought about committing suicide.  Some people even called him “insane.”

Who Sees Him As a Hero: Military historians and strategists, Heinz Guderian, Erwin Rommel (a.k.a. The Desert Fox), George S. Patton.

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Anna Nicole Smith DEAD February 8, 2007

February 8th, 2013 | Posted by christinem in Celebrity | Gone Too Soon | Tributes - (0 Comments)

Born: November 28th, 1967

Died: February 8, 2007

High of Her Life: She was 1993 Playboy of the Year. That’s about it. She was a definite hottie back in the day and had a lot of guys who oggled over her.  She  smartly married some old billionaire and waited for him to die. Too bad she couldn’t make it any more obvious. I  guess that’s a high.  She also, you know, got high. But I don’t know if that counts.

Low of Her Life: How long can I make this list? Let’s see, she dropped out of high school and got married,  then divorced, then married some old dude for his money and that’s just gross in itself. Then she went on to get crazy drugged up and gave Courtney Love a run for her money as most batshit insane blonde in the public eye. She also had some really creepy obsession with looking like and embodying Marilyn Monroe, who wasn’t the best role model in the first place. And just like her idol, she died of an overdose (as her son did prior). Fail.

Who Sees Her As a Hero:  Gold diggers, Hugh Hefner

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Brittany Murphy DEAD December 20, 2009

December 20th, 2012 | Posted by KristenM in Celebrity | Gone Too Soon - (0 Comments)

Born: November 10, 1977

Died: December 20, 2009

High of Her Life: Although not regarded as one of the best actresses of her time, breaking into Hollywood and becoming somewhat of a household name is good enough. Her first major role was the clueless Kool-Aid dyed redhead in Clueless and despite her bitchy attitude towards Cher (“You’re a virgin who can’t drive”), we loved her anyway. But it wasn’t until 4 years later that most people started to take notice when she played a bulimic, sexually abused girl in Girl, Interrupted. The role must have gotten to her because she quickly moved on to mediocre, at best, rom-coms. But we’ll never forget that she liked getting banged by daddy.

Low of Her Life: Brittany Murphy had so much potential after Girl, Interrupted but I don’t know many who took her seriously afterward. She was a B actress at best. Another low? She dated Ashton Kutcher. I don’t think that’s something to brag about. In the early 2000s it was rumored she had a cocaine addiction after losing noticeable weight. She died of pneumonia and acute anemia, a pretty lame way for a 32-year-old to die.

Who Sees Her as a Hero: Aspiring mediocre actresses, pneumonia viral cells, possibly Eminem

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Thomas Edison DEAD October 18, 1931

October 18th, 2012 | Posted by KristenM in Celebrity | Tributes - (0 Comments)

Born: February 11, 1847

Died: October 18, 1931

High of His Life: Years ago when someone labeled themselves as an inventor, they truly were. While today someone may have that one cool invention, inventors of the past knew what the heck they were doing and Thomas Edison was no exception. The man had 1,093 patents and we can thank him for some of the milestone inventions of the 19th century, including the phonograph, the motion picture, stock ticker, battery for an electric car, and of course the light bulb.  To say his life was a success is an understatement. Imagine a life without light!

Low of His Life: It’s hard to find a low for a man of such ingenuity. But it seems like any smart man, he was also a jerk. He gypped Nikola Tesla out of $50,000 and refused to give him a raise. After Edison’s death, Tesla noted in the New York Times that Edison had no hobby, cared for no amusement, and apparently smelled bad. Sick burn! I guess you really can’t have it all.

Who Sees Him as a Hero: Inventors, GE,  and interrogation specialists

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