Ok folks, here comes the quiz – see if you can figure out what these legends have in common. I picked just a few out of MANY, that I thought would be household names and you would go “ahha, of course I remember him/her for…! “Hopefully these people will put a smile or two on your face. Here we go:
Louise Bethune (1856-1930). She was the first American woman to have made her living as an architect.
Eugene Speicher (1883-1962). An award winning portrait, landscape and figurative painter. In the 1920’s, he became known as one of the best portrait artist in America. He became the Director of American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1945, and was an associate of National Academy of Design.
Jack Yellen (1892-1991). A Polish-American lyricist and screenwriter. He is best remembered for his collaboration with composer Milton Ager. He wrote the lyrics to more than 200 popular songs of the early 20th century. Two of his most recognized songs, still popular in the 21st century, are “Happy Days Are Here Again” and “Ain’t She Sweet”. He was introduced to the Songwriters Hall of Fame 1972.
Fran Striker (1903-1962). A writer for radio and comics, best known for creating The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet. The characters Lucas Striker and Amy Striker in the 1981 film The Legend of the Lone Ranger were named in honor of Fran Striker.
Harold Arlen (1905-1988). A composer of popular music. Having written over 400 songs, Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the Great American Songbook. His 1938 song “Over the Rainbow” was voted the twentieth century’s No. 1 song by the Recording Industry Association of America. Arlen and Ted Koehler’s (lyrist) partnership resulted in a number of hit songs including the familiar standards “Let’s Fall in Love” and “Stormy Water“. With lyricist E.Y “Yip” Harburg, he composed songs for The Wizard of Oz. The most famous of these songs is the “Over the Rainbow”, for which they won two Academy Awards. They also wrote “Down with Love” a song later featured in the 2003 film Down with Love. In the 1940s he teamed up with lyricist Johnny Mercer and continued to write hit songs like “Blues in the Night“, “That Old Black Magic”, “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive” and “One for My Baby(and One More for the Road”).
Amanda Blake (1929-1989). An actress best known for the role of a red-haired Saloon proprietress “Miss Kitty Russell” on the longest-running television drama, CBS’s Gunsmoke series 1955-1975.
Grover Washington Jr (1943-1999), was a jazz-funk/soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with John Klemmer, George Benson, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chuck Manigone, Herb Alpert and Spyro Gyra, he is considered by many to be one of the founding fathers of the smooth jazz genre. Some of the genre’s most memorable hits including “Mr. Magic”, “Black Frost” and “The Best is Yet to Come”. In addition he performed with other artists including Bill Withers on “Just the Two of Us” and Phyllis Hyman on “A Sacred Kind of Love”. He is also remembered for his take on a Dave Brubeck classic, called “Take Five” and for his hit “Soulful Strut”.
Michael Bennett (1943-1987). A musical theater director, writer, choreographer and dancer. He won seven Tony Awards for his choreography and direction of Broadway shows and was nominated an additional eleven. Bennett choreographed and sometimes directed some of the best-known Broadway shows from the late 1960’s to the early 1980’s including Promises, Promises, Follies, Company, A Chorus Line and Dreamgirl.
Tim Russert (1950-2008). Television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC’s Meet the Press. He was a Senior Vice President at NBC News, Washington bureau chief and hosted the eponymous CNBC/MSNBC weekend interview program. He was a frequent correspondent and guest at NBC’s The Today Show and Hardball. Time Magazine included Russert in its list of the 100 most influential people in the world 2008.
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