March 2, 1938 – June 20, 1997
Lawrence Payton spent 43 years as part of one of the most successful R&B acts of the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s. That act was the Four Tops and Payton was often cited as the musical backbone of the group. He was responsible for many of the Tops’ most memorable harmonies and arrangements.
March 12, 1923 – May 3, 2007
Walter “Wally” Schirra was a naval test pilot and one of the Mercury 7 astronauts. Schirra served aboard the USS Alaska during World War II and became a pilot for the Navy in 1948. He flew 90 missions during the Korean war and began test piloting aircraft in the years that followed. In 1959, Schirra was selected for Project Mercury and the first American manned-spaceflight program. He flew the Mercury-Atlas 8 mission onboard the Sigma 7 space capsule. MA-8 orbited the earth six times and allowed Schirra to manually pilot the capsule successfully.
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May 8, 1901 – September 4, 1979
“If they don’t put Turkey Stearnes in the Hall of Fame, they shouldn’t put anybody in!” – James “Cool Papa” Bell
Norman Stearnes was a Hall of Fame baseball player who played the entirety of his 19-year career in the Negro Leagues. Nicknamed “Turkey” from the unconventional way he ran, he was a 5x All-Star and 2x league batting champion. He was predominantly a utility outfielder – playing mostly in left field – but was praised for his versatility and speed at other positions as well.
February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014
Widely considered one of the greatest performers in Broadway history, Elaine Stritch spent more than six decades on stages all around the world. She appeared in early classics like Pal Joey and William Inge’s Bus Stop, but found a major breakthrough in 1961 with her groundbreaking performance in Sail Away by Noël Coward. In 1970, she appeared in the original production of Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece Company, in which she originated the now-classic “The Ladies Who Lunch” which would become one of her signature songs. She was nominated for 5 Tony Awards throughout her career, winning once.
Celebrity Graveland 