July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was a highly-regarded American stage and screen actor. Born in 1922, Robards’ father was a silent-era Hollywood actor who struggled during the transition to “talkies” and, though Jason initially resented Hollywood’s treatment of his father, sometimes the acting gene just prevails. Following a harrowing Naval service in World War II, Robards launched his own acting career in New York in the late 1940s. Continue reading
December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017
Groundbreaking actress and producer, Mary Tyler Moore, changed the game. Though, she was already enjoying some working success in her young career, she blasted into the national eye when Carl Reiner cast her opposite Dick Van Dyke in 1961’s The Dick Van Dyke Show. Moore’s Laura Petrie not only provided a brilliant comedic compliment to Van Dyke’s energetic Rob, but also re-imagined the role of the “housewife” as something more than just dinner and slippers. Moore would win her first Emmy for her work on the show, and she wasn’t about to slow down.
November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998
Alan Shepard was an American Naval test pilot and astronaut. He was a member of the vaunted Mercury 7 – the first group of astronauts in the U.S. His most notable achievement was as the “first American in space.” His often-delayed May 1961 mission was somewhat eclipsed by the fact that the Soviet Union successfully sent one of their cosmonauts into space just three weeks earlier. Still, Shepard’s accomplishment was met with ticker tape parades and hero status. Continue reading
Celebrity Graveland 