Who2 Editorial Blog

The Last of the Anti-Hitler Heroes

2008-05-06T02:05:00.000-07:00

Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager has died in Germany at age 90. He was the last survivor of the July 1944 plot that came within a whisker of assassinating Adolf Hitler.

Among his co-conspirators was Claus von Stauffenberg, the German military hero. Von Boeselager got the explosives, and von Stauffenberg planted the briefcase bomb during a strategy meeting at Hitler's "Wolf's Lair" headquarters. At the last moment an aide moved the briefcase and Hitler was shielded from the bomb's blast by a heavy oak conference table.

Von Stauffenberg and dozens of co-conspirators were rounded up and executed over the next few days, but none of them identified von Boeselager and he survived, unsuspected.

It's quite a story. Tom Cruise is playing von Stauffenberg in the film Valkyrie, which is due out later this year. As it happens, von Stauffenberg was one of Who2's earliest profiles, because he's a member of the early loop Celebs Missing Fingers.

Deutsche Welle and The Daily Telegraph both have useful articles on von Boeselager's life.

Wes Anderson, Almost 40

2008-04-30T21:35:00.000-07:00

Filmmaker Wes Anderson -- the quirky director of Rushmore and The Darjeeling Limited -- enters the last year of his 30s today. He's 39.

Thank You, Diane Rosenschein!

2008-04-30T19:06:00.001-07:00

Diane, you are truly a goddess of proofreading. Never stop sharing!

Those checks should clear customs any day now.

Barbaro's Fifth

2008-04-29T07:21:00.000-07:00

Late, great racehorse Barbaro was born five years ago today.

Barbaro won the 2006 Kentucky Derby, but two weeks later he shattered his leg while running in the Preakness Stakes, the second race in the Triple Crown. Despite state-of-the-art treatment, he died in January of 2007 of laminitis. That' the same crazy horse-hoof illness that got Secretariat.

His jockey, Edgar Prado, has just published a memoir, My Guy Barbaro.

Nebraska Rebel

2008-04-29T07:07:00.000-07:00

Interesting story in The New York Times today about Ernie Chambers, the senior senator in Nebraska's legislature. He's being forced out by term limits after nearly 40 years in the legislature.

As The Times puts it:

Liked or not, Mr. Chambers, a black, divorced, agnostic former barber from Omaha with posters of Malcolm X and Frederick Douglass decorating his office, managed to rise to an ultimate level of power in a mostly rural, white conservative state on little more than sheer determination to do so.

Here's the full story.

Happy Semiquincentennial, James Monroe!

2008-04-28T05:49:00.001-07:00

It's the semiquincentennial of President James Monroe, born on 28 April in 1758.

Monroe is remembered for a lot of things (including, endlessly, the Monroe Doctrine). But at Who2 HQ we tend to think of him as the first non-Founding Father president.

The previous four presidents -- George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison -- all were significant leaders, in thought and deed, in the American Revolution. Monroe was only 18 when the Declaration of Independence was signed, so it's not exactly his fault. It's true that he rose fast -- he was the youngest member of the Congress of the Confederation, which voted to ratify the Treaty of Paris and make a victorious peace with the British -- but in general, his contributions came later.

However, Monroe did fight in the Continental Army, was wounded at the Battle of Trenton, and spent the winter of 1777 with Washington at Valley Forge. (Aside: 200 years later, a different James Monroe won the Congressional Medal of Honor by diving on a grenade in Vietnam.) And as president from 1817-25, Monroe was yet another Virginian in the top office.

Monroe also continued a tradition started by Jefferson and Adams: Dying on the Fourth of July. The tradition was short-lived; he was the last president to die on that day. Calvin Coolidge is the only president born on July 4th, in 1872.

Finally, about that word "semiquincentennial": It sounds a little bogus, but it's the real deal. A centennial is 100 years, so a quincentennial is 500 years -- and the "semi" is added to make half 500, or 250 years.

And it's vastly preferable to the alternative, bicenquinquagenary.

Edward R. Murrow +100

2008-04-25T14:10:00.001-07:00

Happy 100th birthday, Edward R. Murrow.

You stud.

Snipes and Taxes

2008-04-25T05:18:00.000-07:00

Yikes! Actor Wesley Snipes given three years in prison for not paying his taxes.

Wallis Simpson, Inspirational Thinker?

2008-04-25T04:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we were chatting about Wallis Simpson, the somewhat slippery woman for whom King Edward VIII gave up his crown.

Today we discover that the Institute of Leader Arts has declared her an icon of modern self-actualization.

Her plan was simple. Get to England. Meet the prince. Get him to fall in love with her. Divorce her husband. Marry the prince. Clearly she was committed to her 'impossible dream' from the start...

Simpson's strategy may have been deceitful and without moral principles, but without a doubt, it was an amazing demonstration of the power of the principles of strategy in an entirely non-business and non-war situation.

Wow.

Guy Trundle Mania

2008-04-24T05:57:00.001-07:00

Guy Trundle, Guy Trundle, Guy Trundle!

Seductive king-buster Wallis Simpson died 22 years ago today. The anniversary is just a convenient excuse to shout "Guy Trundle" -- the most deliciously seedy name in the history of romantic scandals.

Trundle was a car salesman (another deft touch) who was the "third man" in Simpson's love life. He was "having it off" with Simpson while she was still married to her husband, Ernest Simpson, and while she was also busy making time with the future King Edward VIII.

Trundle, meanwhile, was also having it off with tennis siren Eileen Bennett, "the Anna Kournikova of her day" according to The Times. Trundle was married, too, though it looks like not much attention was paid to such things in England's roaring '30s.

Trundle died in 1958. His name came to light only in 2003, after the government released old documents from the police, who were keeping a suspicious eye on Simpson.

Notes The Guardian: "The 36-year-old Trundle, the report said, was a charming adventurer, good looking, 'well bred' and an excellent dancer. 'Trundle is a motor engineer and a salesman and is said to be employed by the Ford Motor Company... He is said to boast that every woman falls for him.'"

Guy Trundle! Somebody make a movie about this guy.

We Missed It: Ivan Dixon

2008-04-23T07:08:00.000-07:00

Actor Ivan Dixon died last month, says the LA Times. We missed the story until just now.

Dixon played "Kinch" on the series Hogan's Heroes. But he had a fascinating (if less-heralded) career after that.

On the trivia front: That Times obit says he also was the stunt double for Sidney Poitier in The Defiant Ones.

Shakespeare is Probably 444!

2008-04-23T04:24:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday (probably) to William Shakespeare!

The balding (probably), deer-poaching (possibly) poet who wrote (probably) 37 (probably) magnificent plays including Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, was born this week in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

Clinton Wins Pennsylvania

2008-04-22T18:56:00.001-07:00

Hillary Rodham Clinton has won the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. With 99% of precincts reporting, she leads Barack Obama 55%-45%.

See the final numbers at PennLive.

Pennsylvania Primary Results

2008-04-22T04:53:00.000-07:00

Pennsylvania's day to vote has arrived. Here are a few places to look for results and breaking news:

The combined political news page of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News

Primary coverage from The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (and the paper's
Early Returns blog)

PennLive Politics from the Harrisburg Patriot-News

The Keystone Politics blog

(Note to newspaper websites everywhere: How about a few less reader polls, colorful icons, links, email forms and interactive features, and a few more easy-to-find news stories right up front? When the independent blog is the simplest place to find hard news like candidate campaign schedules, something's not quite right.)

John Muir and 'Stickeen'

2008-04-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

Naturalist and adventurer John Muir was born 170 years ago today, in 1838.

Muir was an early explorer of California (on foot, incidentally) and was the force behind the creation of Yosemite National Park. He's also the guy on the California quarter. (As an aside, see our own cranky take on quarters and heroes.)

But all this is just an excuse to point out that in 1909 Muir wrote one of the best canine adventure tales this side of Jack London. He titled it Stickeen: The Story of a Dog.

In a brisk 7900 words, Muir tells of a perilous day on an Alaskan glacier with only a plucky mutt, Stickeen, for a companion. It's a true story, too.

Stickeen is best read by turning pages in front of a fire with hot chocolate, but the e-version is the next best thing.

Peachfuzz Guitar Heroes

2008-04-19T11:48:00.000-07:00

New profile: The Jonas Brothers, a trio of musical brothers aged 16, 18 and 20.

If you haven't heard of them yet, you will: They're on the Disney Channel's 'A' list now. Opening for Miley Cyrus on tour last fall helped push their album Jonas Brothers to platinum status, and they have a made-for-Disney Channel movie in the High School Musical mode, titled Camp Rock, due out in June.

Cute aside: Fans call their little brother Frankie, who is not in the band, the Bonus Jonas.

Mr. Irrelevant

2008-04-18T11:05:00.001-07:00

Is it OK to borrow that name from the NFL?

Sean Preston has been tapped by President Bush to be head of Housing and Urban Development... for the next eight months.

30 Million Hours for Jack

2008-04-18T06:03:00.000-07:00

British parents spend 30 million hours a year "agonising" over baby names, according to a new survey.

The current hot names? Grace, Ruby, Jack and Thomas.

New Site: Interview Listings

2008-04-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

"...This is a quality which most great actors have, it's a strange sort of personal unique style that goes into everything they do -- like when Albert Finney sits down in a chair and drinks a bottle of beer, and, well, it's just great and you think 'God, I wish I could drink a bottle of beer like that.'"

That's director Stanley Kubrick, being interviewed by Terry Southern in 1962.

The interview comes courtesy of a new website, Interview Listings, which is lining up links to interviews with famous people. (Thanks to site owner MaxBro for tipping us off.)

Interview Listings also turned us on to this rather touching column in which Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer Barbara Cloud reminisces about interviewing Charlton Heston. It's not an interview, per se, but still. And it includes Heston saying politely of Sophia Loren, "She's a double helping of woman."

So Long, Kublai Khan Paw Paw Chow Chow Chow

2008-04-17T08:38:00.001-07:00

Martha Stewart's dog has passed away.

Stewart has photos on her blog.

Bill Holden +90

2008-04-17T04:32:00.000-07:00

Actor William Holden would be 90 years old today. He was born in 1918, along with Nelson Mandela and former First Lady Betty Ford (both of whom survive; Holden died in 1981).

Holden is a bit on the forgotten side now, considering what a big star he was in his day. Were he in his prime now he'd be getting roles that go to Tommy Lee Jones or Robert Downey Jr.. (It's easy to see Holden in the Jones role from No Country for Old Men, or to imagine a 1950 Robert Downey taking Holden's part in Sunset Boulevard.)

Holden had leading-man power but seemed to thrive in key supporting roles and as part of ensemble casts. His career had tentpole moments most actors would kill for: the creepy Sunset Boulevard (1950), Stalag 17 (1953, his Oscar-winning role as a POW), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, blowing up Alec Guinness's bridge), the bloody landmark The Wild Bunch (1969, photo right), and then the prophetic Network (1976, another fantastic ensemble cast, with Peter Finch beating out Holden for the best actor Oscar).

Holden was still in casually fine form in his last film, SOB (1981), a screwball black comedy about the movie business. It's a Reagan-era bookend to Sunset Boulevard, another film about people clinging desperately to their place in Hollywood. (Holden, incidentally, was the best man at Ronald Reagan's 1952 wedding. Here's a nifty photo.)

Holden never had to cling to stardom in real life -- maybe because he was never quite the city's biggest star.

Holden is also featured in our loop Autopsy by Noguchi, thanks to the unfortunate circumstances of his death. (He died after a drunken fall in his apartment.) His death started the downfall of "coroner to the stars" Thomas Noguchi, who upset Holden's friends by making the sad details of his death public.

More about Holden in our profile.

Albright's 'Memo to the President Elect'

2008-04-15T16:35:00.000-07:00

"While UN ambassador, I wrote memos to President Clinton when I thought that the normal decision-making process needed a jolt. The papers were retuned with Clinton's comments scribbled on the side of the pages; at times, I felt as if I were back in school when I looked to see what the president had to say. Often, I didn't learn much because Clinton's writing is so tricky to decipher. At least he didn't correct misspellings, as Jimmy Carter meticulously did."

From Memo to the President Elect, a lively new book from former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Among her other observations: "America has had limited success when declaring war against nouns -- such as terror, poverty, drugs, disease, or inflation. If we are serious about defeating Al Qaeda, we must be more precise."

More at Powell's Books.

Thomas Richard Haden Church McMillen Quesada?

2008-04-15T06:57:00.000-07:00

What is the real name of actor Thomas Haden Church?

Frankly, we aren't sure.

We had just updated Church's profile to include his role in the new movie Smart People when it occurred to us to double-check the alphabetization of his last name. We have him under 'C' for Church, but we had the sudden thought that it could be 'H' for Haden Church instead.

A quick online review showed sites like About.com and FilmStew calling him "Haden Church." But most newspapers (and the Smart People official site) give his last name as Church.

The Texas State Library and the Library of Congress both index him under 'C', which seals the deal for us.

But. As we looked over various websites, we kept running into the same curious phrase: "Church, the third of six children, was born Thomas McMillen in El Paso, Texas." Thomas McMillen?

Turns out all these sites got their info from Wikipedia's entry on Church. The entry also says, "Church was raised under his stepfather's surname, 'Quesada,' and later changed his surname to 'Haden Church' (both names are in his family tree)."

Wikipedia lists one source for this information: a 1992 article in The Austin American-Statesman. So we paid the $5.95 to the paper's archives and called up the article, by Associated Press reporter Jerry Buck, which ran on 23 August 1992. (Page 45, if you're keeping track.)

And indeed, it includes the following grafs:

Church was born in California, but grew up in various parts of Texas as his family moved. His birth name was McMillen, but he took his stepfather's name of Quesada. He changed it to Thomas Haden Church "because nobody could spell Quesada or pronounce it." He says Haden and Church are in the family tree.

"I dropped out of high school about 1977 and worked in the oil fields in Louisiana as a roughneck," he says. He returned to get his high school diploma, then attended North Texas State. During that time he lived in Dallas, because it was easier to find work, and commuted to school in Denton.

Well! That seems clear, right down to a direct quote from Church about Quesada. But it's just about the only reference we can find online to those names. (The New York Times, a bit cryptically, lists "Alternate names: Thomas Richard Quesada, Thomas McMillen.")

Buck's article is also one of the few to identify California as his place of birth. Most everyone else says Texas. (Wikipedia continues to list El Paso, apparently taking Buck's word for the alternate names but not for the alternate birthplace.)

In fact, as we prowled the American-Statesman archives we found conflicting versions of the story. On December 4th of 1992, the paper ran an article about Church's TV success under the headline Texas Native Flying High on 'Wings'. That story (by Diane Holloway, page B4) includes this excerpt:

Church has two brothers in Dallas, two sisters in Austin and another sister in Houston. His father lives in Harlingen, and his mother, who is still married to his father, lives in Denton where she is attending graduate school at Church's alma mater, the University of North Texas.

Born in Harlingen, Church, now 30, grew up in El Paso and Laredo. He had a lucrative career in advertising in Dallas, doing voice-overs for commercials, when he decided to try his hand at acting. At the suggestion of an agent, he moved to Los Angeles in 1988 and landed guest shots on Cheers and China Beach before winning his plum assignment on Wings.

But! The same writer, Diane Holloway, wrote an article in April of 1991 that has a still different take:

Born in a small town in Northern California, Church nonetheless considers himself a native Texan because he moved to the Lone Star State when he was a tadpole of 2. His father was in the military, and the Church family, which includes six children, lived in Fort Worth, El Paso, Laredo and Harlingen. Most of the family still lives in Harlingen; one sister, Nancy Moreno, lives in Austin.

On the other other hand, a December 1995 profile of Church by Jason Cohen in Texas Monthly magazine had this to say:

Church was born in El Paso, one of six children. His father, an officer in the Army who later worked for the Texas Department of Health, moved the family to Fort Worth and then to Laredo before settling in Harlingen by the time Tom was of high school age.

So there are lots of angles. The birthplace in particular has several possibilities, while the only detailed mention of the alternate names (and the stepfather) seems to come from the 1992 Jerry Buck story.

It's entirely possible that Church is simply telling different things to different people depending on his mood. (Those actors!) Or perhaps he'd rather not discuss the father-stepfather part of the story.

We're swayed by the stories of his California birth, in part because if Church really was born in Texas, then California is not something he would have been likely to make up. The opposite is more likely -- that as an almost-native Texan, he would claim the shorthand of a native birth or just let people assume it. We also know from experience that it's easy for biographers to confuse phrases like "home town" or "hails from" with an actual place of birth.

That's far from conclusive. But for the moment, we're changing our own record of his place of birth to read "California (?)". And that's about all we've got so far.

The good news is, thanks to the miracle of the Internet, we're reaching out to several sources for clarification. Diane Holloway is still writing for the American-Statesman. And Jerry Buck is now a novelist with his own offical site. ("...He covered virtually every star, show, writer, director, and producer -- as well as their feuds, scandals, and achievements.")

We're writing them both, and also the Texas Film Commission (a long shot) and his agent at Creative Artists Agency (another long shot), to see if we can gain more insights. We'll keep you posted.

The Pope's Itinerary

2008-04-15T05:19:00.000-07:00

Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Washington, D.C. today for a six visit. The Pope will celebrate masses in both Nationals Stadium and Yankee Stadium during his trip.

The Chicago Sun Times has a brief itinerary. ("Thursday: Mass at Nationals Park. Meets with Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Jews.")

The Pontiff will miss the Bavarian spread the White House is laying on for Wednesday night. However, he has announced his Popemobile routes.

Benedict will be only the second pope to visit the White House. John Paul II was the first, in 1979.

Sign o' the times: the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is blogging Benedict.

Gapper: Rembrandt

2008-04-14T18:15:00.000-07:00

Who2 has 3124 profiles (at last count), but we don't quite have everyone in the world. Yet.

And every so often we discover a "gapper" -- somebody you'd think should have been among the top 3124 personalities in world history, but who somehow fell through the gaps until just now.

Our newest gapper: Rembrandt van Rijn. You know him as plain ol' Rembrandt, of course, and he's a certifiable hero of painting and one of the original Dutch Masters. Probably he should have come before John Banner of Hogan's Heroes, or Chingy or Cynthia Nixon, but, well... life is messy sometimes. Rembrandt knew that better than most.

The good news is, editor Paul Hehn jumped on the job last week, and we now are proud to introduce our new Rembrandt profile. Enjoy!