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  • Trivia of Audie Murphy (20 June 1924 - 28 May 1971).

    As a child, Murphy was a loner with mood swings and an explosive temper. His father drifted in and out of the family's life and eventually deserted them. Murphy dropped out of school in fifth grade and got a job picking cotton for a dollar a day to help support his family; he also became skilled with a rifle, hunting small game to help feed them.

    He was accepted by the U.S. Army on 30 June 1942. He became The Most Decorated Combat Soldier in American history, earning every commendation the army could bestow by the time he was 20, including the Medal of Honor. He was also awarded France's and Belgium's highest decorations.

    When actor and producer James Cagney saw the 16 July 1945 issue of Life magazine depicting Murphy as the "most decorated soldier", he brought him to Hollywood. Cagney and his brother William signed him as a contract player for their production company and gave him training in acting, voice and dance.

    A non-smoker who rarely drank alcohol, he turned down large offers of money to advertise cigarettes and spirits.

    Audie Murphy originally declined the opportunity to portray himself in the movie To Hell And Back (1955) , not wanting people to think he was attempting to cash in on his role as a war hero. Murphy initially suggested his actor friend Tony Curtis to play him. They had worked together on three westerns--Sierra (1950), Kansas Raiders (1950) and The Cimarron Kid (1952).

    Murphy cast as Burt Lancaster's son and Audrey Hepburn's brother in The Unforgiven (1960). During the filming Audie Murphy and a friend decided to go duck hunting on a nearby lake. The boat capsized and Murphy nearly drowned, but was saved by Inge Morath, the female photographer who had been taking pictures nearby. She stripped to her underwear, reached Murphy, who was in the last stages of exhaustion, and hauled him ashore by her bra strap while the hunt continued uninterrupted over them.

    On 28 May 1971, Murphy was killed when the private plane in which he was a passenger crashed into the side of a mountain 14 nautical miles northwest of Roanoke, Virginia, in conditions of rain, clouds, fog and zero visibility. The pilot and four other passengers were also killed. Murphy's gravesite is in Section 46, headstone number 46-366-11, located across Memorial Drive from the Amphitheater. A special flagstone walkway was later constructed to accommodate the large number of people who visit to pay their respects. It is the cemetery's second most-visited gravesite, after that of President John F. Kennedy…


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  • Humor, cat.


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  •  

    On December 16, 1983, The Who Officially Break-Up!

    Writer Sterling Whitaker for www.ultimateclassicrock.com has the story!      The Who were undoubtedly one of the most innovative and important hard rock bands of all time. Ranging from psychedelic pop-rock material like "I Can See for Miles" and "Pinball Wizard" all the way through epic arena-rock classics like "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Who Are You," they virtually single-handedly perfected both the concept album and the rock opera.

    The Who on December 1983.

    But the latter part of the '70s was unkind to the group, which experienced a series of misfortunes leading into the early part of the '80s. On Dec. 16, 1983, guitarist Pete Townshend announced that he was leaving the Who, effectively ending the band.

    Townshend had gone through a particularly rough patch over the previous few years, beginning with the death of drummer Keith Moon in September 1978. On Dec. 3, 1979, the Who were struck by another unforeseen tragedy when 11 fans were trampled and killed at a Who gig in Cincinnati.

    The guitarist's personal life was also unraveling. His marriage had come apart due to the stress of the Who's touring schedule, and his longstanding drinking habit had increased and grown to include cocaine and heroin, which he grew seriously addicted to. Townshend moved to California to clean up, and the group rebounded with two more albums, 1981's Face Dances and It's Hard in 1982.

    But the Who's new sound alienated some fans, and the struggle to find relevance in the changing music scene of the '80s led Townshend to steer the band into a Farewell Tour, which they undertook in 1982. He intended to turn the band into a studio outfit, but after spending part of 1983 trying to write material for a contractually obligated album, the frustrated guitarist declared that he could no longer generate music appropriate for the Who. On Dec. 16 he announced his decision to leave the band at a press conference, bringing the Who to an end.

    Townshend went on to work as an acquisition’s editor at Faber & Faber, as well as releasing a long string of solo albums and projects. The Who reunited for Live Aid in 1985 and then a full-fledged reunion tour in 1989. The group has subsequently toured together in many different permutations. They even released a pair of studio albums, Endless Wire in 2006 and Who in 2019, with Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey still using the group name (bassist John Entwistle died in 2002). The pair continued to appear on stage as the Who, decades after their Farewell Tour… (Sterling Whitaker).


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