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Billy Carter
Billy Carter (1937 - 1988)
Born in Plains, Georgia, Carter attended Emory University in Atlanta but did not complete a degree. He served four years in the United States Marine Corps, then returned to Plains to work with his brother in the family business of growing peanuts. In 1955, he married Sybil Spires (born 1938), also of Plains. They were […]
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Billy Conn
Billy Conn (1917 - 1993)
Billy Conn The Conn-Louis fight in 1941 became a part of boxing lore. Conn, who had a reputation for brashness, was leading Louis by a wide margin when he made the mistake that was to haunt him for the rest of his life. He tried to slug it out with the champion. Louis knocked him […]
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Billy Halop
Billy Halop (1920 - 1976)
Billy Halop came from a theatrical family; his mother was a dancer and his sister, Florence Halop, was an actress who worked on radio and in television. In 1933, he was given the lead, Bobby Benson, in the popular new radio show “The H-Bar-O Rangers,” an early credit of Don Knotts as well. From 1934 to […]
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Billy Joe Royal
Billy Joe Royal (1942 - 2015)
Billy Joe Royal Billy Joe Royal, who scored the 1965 Top Ten single “Down in the Boondocks” and also made frequent appearances on the country chart in the Eighties, died suddenly Tuesday morning at his Marietta, North Carolina home, according to the Tennessean. He was 73 years old. Born April 3, 1942, in Valdosta, Georgia, Royal […]
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Billy McCrary
Billy McCrary (1946 - 1979)
Billy McCrary Born in Hendersonville, North Carolina, he along with his brother Benny, were identical twins. At 743 and 723 pounds and having 84 inch waists, the brothers were discovered by Life Magazine. They entered show business as carnival performers and appeared in Las Vegas, Nevada, where they were in a act playing trumpets and […]
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Billy Walker
Billy Walker (1929 - 2006)
Billy Walker American country music singer and guitarist best known for his 1962 hit, “(I’d Like to Be In) Charlie’s Shoes“. Nicknamed The Tall Texan, Walker had more than 30 charted records during a nearly 60-year career; and was a longtime member of the Grand Ole Opry. After a brief attempt at rock ‘n’ roll, […]
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Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder (1906 - 2002)
Billy Wilder From the late 1930s to the early 1960s, Billy Wilder dominated Hollywood’s Golden Age. With over fifty films and six Academy Awards to his credit, he is one of Hollywood’s all-time greatest directors, producers and screenwriters. His films range from stark melodrama, like DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944), THE LOST WEEKEND (1945) and SUNSET BOULEVARD […]
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Bing Russell
Bing Russell (1926 - 2003)
Russell was born Neil Oliver Russell in Brattleboro, Vermont, the son of Ruth Stewart (née Vogel) and Warren Oliver Russell. He always wanted to become an actor and studied drama at Brattleboro High School. As a boy, he was dubbed an unofficial mascot of the New York Yankees, becoming good friends with the likes of […]
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Black Bart
Black Bart (2023 - 1888)
Charles Bowles was born in Norfolk, England to John and Maria Bowles (sometimes spelled Bolles). He was the third of ten children, having six brothers and three sisters. When Charles was two years old, his parents emigrated to Jefferson County, New York, where his father purchased a farm, four miles north of Plessis Village in […]
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Blaise Alexander
Blaise Alexander (1976 - 2001)
Alexander was born on March 26, 1976 in Montoursville, Pennsylvania. He began his stock car career at age 12 in the World Karting Association and was the champion of the East Series in 1992. From that point, Alexander moved onto the Micro-Sprint racing series at tracks in different states including Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York, […]
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Blanche Bates
Blanche Bates (1873 - 1941)
Actress. She created the title role in David Belasco’s play “The Girl of the Golden West” (1905). She was also known for roles with the companies of Augustin Daly and Charles Frohman. She created the title role in John Long’s one-act play “Madame Butterfly” (1900). She starred in “Under Two Flags” (1901), and “The Darling […]
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Blaze Starr
Blaze Starr (1932 - 2015)
Starr was born on April 10, 1932 in rural Wayne County, West Virginia, along Twelvepole Creek, (also spelled Twelve Pole Creek) the second eldest of 11 siblings born to Lora (née Evans) and Goodlow Fleming). Reared in the Newground Hollow (also spelled New Ground Hollow) area of Wilsondale, West Virginia, she left home at either age […]
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Blossom Rock
Blossom Rock (1895 - 1978)
Edith Marie Blossom MacDonald (August 21, 1895 – January 14, 1978), also known or credited as Blossom Rock, Blossom MacDonald or Marie Blake, was an American actress of stage, film and television. Her younger sister was screen actress and singer Jeanette MacDonald. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Daniel and Anne MacDonald in 1895. As […]
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Bob Akin
Bob Akin (1936 - 2002)
Bob Akin was born March 6, 1936, in North Tarrytown, N.Y., and was raised in Sleepy Hollow Manor. He was educated at Hackley School in Tarrytown and later served on its board for 30 years and as president from 1980 to 1990. At Columbia University, he earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering and a master’s […]
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Bob Anderson
Bob Anderson (1922 - 2012)
Anderson was educated at The Royal Hospital School, in Raleigh House. It was here that he began to fence.[citation needed] Anderson joined the Royal Marines and won several combined services titles in the sport of fencing. He served in the Mediterranean during World War II. As a competitive fencer, he represented Great Britain at the […]
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Bob Baker
Bob Baker (1910 - 1975)
Actor. He appeared in motion pictures in the 1930s and 1940s primarily in “Singing Cowboy” western movie roles, most notably in the films “The Singing Outlaw” (1937), “The Last Stand” (1938) and “The Phantom Stage” (1939). After making 25 movies, he soured on Hollywood, and believed hos career as mistreated by studio executives. he retired […]
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Bob Casale
Bob Casale (1952 - 2014)
Casale was originally trained as a medical radiation technologist, but was recruited by his brother Gerald Casale to join his band. After a few line-up changes, Bob Casale would be part of the most popular five-piece incarnation, which included the Casale brothers: Jerry and Bob (“Bob 2”), and the Mothersbaugh brothers: Mark and Bob (“Bob […]
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Bob Crane
Bob Crane (1928 - 1978)
Bob Crane In June 1978, Crane was living in the Winfield Place Apartments in Scottsdale, Arizona while appearing in Beginner’s Luck at the Windmill Dinner Theatre. On the afternoon of June 29 Crane’s co-star Victoria Ann Berry found his body in his apartment after he failed to show up for a lunch meeting. Crane had […]
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Bob Fitzsimmons
Bob Fitzsimmons (1863 - 1917)
Bob Fitzsimmons Bob Fitzsimmons was born in England and as a youth he worked as a blacksmith and developed great strength. He then moved to New Zealand and then Australia and started boxing. He then moved to the United States and progressed through the Middleweight ranks defeating the likes of Dick Ellis, Dave Conway and […]
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Bob Hastings
Bob Hastings (1925 - 2014)
Bob Hastings Robert “Bob” Francis Hastings (April 18, 1925 – June 30, 2014) was an American radio, film, and television character actor. He also provided voices for animated cartoons. He was best known for his portrayal of annoying suck-up Lt. Elroy Carpenter, on McHale’s Navy. Early life and career Hastings was born in Brooklyn, New […]
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Bob Hope
Bob Hope (1903 - 2003)
Bob Hope Hope was born in Eltham, London, the fifth of seven sons. His English father, William Henry Hope, was a stonemason from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, and his Welsh mother, Avis Townes, was a light opera singer from Barry who later worked as a cleaner. They married in April 1891 and lived at 12 Greenwood Street, […]
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Bob Hoskins
Bob Hoskins (1942 - 2014)
Hoskins was born in Bury St Edmunds, West Suffolk on 26 October 1942 to Robert Hoskins, a bookkeeper and lorry driver, and Elsie (Hopkins) Hoskins, a cook and nursery school teacher. His grandmother was a Romani. From the age of 2 weeks old, he was brought up in Finsbury Park, London. Hoskins left school at […]
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Bob Keeshan
Bob Keeshan (1927 - 2004)
Keeshan was born in Lynbrook, New York. After an early graduation from Forest Hills High School in Queens, New York in 1945, during World War II, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, but was still in the United States when Japan surrendered. He attended Fordham University on the GI Bill and few […]
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Bob Kurland
Bob Kurland (1924 - 2013)
Kurland was born in St. Louis, Missouri to Albert and Adele Kurland. He graduated from Jennings High School in Jennings, Missouri, where he participated in basketball and track. Kurland, a Missouri native, considered attending the University of Missouri. But when Oklahoma A&M played a game at Saint Louis University, A&M coach Henry Iba invited Kurland […]
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Bob Luman
Bob Luman (1937 - 1978)
Bob Luman Luman was born in Blackjack, Texas, but raised in Nacogdoches, Texas. His early interest in music was influenced by his father, an amateur fiddle, guitar and harmonica player. Bob Luman received his first guitar when he was thirteen years of age. Luman attended high school in Kilgore, where the family had moved after […]
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Bob Marley
Bob Marley (1945 - 1981)
Reggae Musician. He is best remembered for bringing mainstream cultural acceptance of reggae music outside of Jamaica. His music was especially popular in Africa due much to its smooth combination of Jamaican and African musical sources. Born in Saint Ann, Jamaica, as Robert Nesta Marley, his father was a British Army Officer, Norval St. Clair […]
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Bob Rhoads
Bob Rhoads (1879 - 1967)
Bob Rhoads In the midst of the 1908 pennant race, Sporting Life declared that “Robert S. Rhoades of Cleveland is one of the most dependable of modern pitchers. … His habits are good, his conduct exemplary, and in all ways is he a credit to his club and profession.”1 Embodied in this passage are two […]
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Bob Ross
Bob Ross (1942 - 1995)
Bob Ross was raised in Orlando, Florida. Ross had a half brother Jim, whom he mentioned in passing on his show. While working as a carpenter with his father, Ross lost his left index finger. It did not affect the way he held his palette while painting. Ross enlisted in the United States Air Force at age 17. The […]
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Bob Sweikert
Bob Sweikert (1926 - 1956)
Bob Sweikert grew up in pre-war Los Angeles. His mother had married his stepfather, an electrician for the state of California, when Bob was an infant. Bob was raised through his early teen years with his older stepbrother, Ed, who enlisted in the US Navy, and then soon died in 1942, at the onset of […]
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Bob Welch
Bob Welch (1945 - 2012)
Bob Welch was a key member of the pop group Fleetwood Mac in the early 1970s before scoring several minor hits as a solo performer, died June 7 at his home in Nashville. He was 65. According to police, he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He left a suicide note. Mr. Welch was a […]