Birth Locations – Page 112 – The Exasperated Historian

273) Elizabeth Taylor

273: Elizabeth Taylor

Five Time Academy Award Nominated Actress

Born: 27 February 1932, Hampstead, London, United Kingdom

Died: 23 March 2011, Los Angeles, California, United States of America

Elizabeth is remembered for film roles in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and the epic Cleopatra.

Her first film role was at the age of ten, but she became a break out star at the age of twelve after appearing in National Velvet.

Elizabeth dated Howard Hughes and ended up married eight times (never to Hughes but twice to fellow actor Richard Burton).

Elizabeth was embroiled in a scandal with Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds in the nineteen-fifties—Debbie and Elizabeth had been friends until Elizabeth stole Eddie before dumping him five years later for Richard Burton.

Besides her volume of acting work Elizabeth was also an advocate for helping find a cure and end to AIDS—her foundation continues to work on in her honor.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by Gail Collins

Bad Days in History by Michael Farquhar

The Creation of Anne Boleyn: A New Look at England's Most Notorious Queen by Susan Bordo

In Praise of Difficult Women by Karen Karbo

The Rough Guide to Film Musicals by David Parkinson

The Royal Wardrobe: Peek Into the Wardrobes of History's Most Fashionable Royals by Rosie Harte

Where Are They Buried? How Did They Die? by Tod Benoit

Sources:

https://www.biography.com/actor/elizabeth-taylor

https://elizabethtaylor.com/biography

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/67312270/elizabeth-taylor

272) Loretta Lynn

272: Loretta Lynn

Country Music Legend

Born: 14 April 1932, Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, United States of America

Died: 4 October 2022, Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, United States of America

Loretta is remembered for songs like Coal Miner’s Daughter, Don’t Come Home a-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind), and You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man).

Loretta was born to a hard-working coal-mining family and was one of eight children.

Loretta married at the age of thirteen (or fifteen, sources differ), one month after meeting her future husband, Doolittle, a twenty-one year old army veteran (they would go on to have six children—four of whom were born by the time she was eighteen).

In February of 1960, Loretta was given a record deal and sent to Los Angeles to record her first four songs. Her record eventually made its way to number fourteen on the country music charts. She made her first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry on 17 September 1960.

Her songs are known for focusing on working class women’s issues like birth control, repeat childbirth, and husbands and mistresses.

In 2013, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barrack Obama.

Loretta was the first solo female country artist invited to perform at the White House (under the Nixon Administration). She had been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since joining in 1962.

As of 2019, Loretta had recorded sixty albums. A biographical film was made about her in 1980 titled Coal Miner’s Daughter (starring Sissy Spacek who won the Academy Award for her part).

Loretta was the most awarded female country music artist of all time. She has sold more than forty-five million albums worldwide.

She released her final album, "Still Woman Enough" in 2021.

According to the New York Times, Loretta's, "Survivors include a younger sister, the country singer Crystal Gayle; her daughters Patsy Lynn Russell, Peggy Lynn, Clara (Cissie) Marie Lynn; and her son Ernest; as well as 17 grandchildren; four step-grandchildren; and a number of great-grandchildren. Another daughter, Betty Sue Lynn, and another son, Jack, died before her."

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://countrymusichalloffame.org/artist/loretta-lynn/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretta_Lynn

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/04/arts/music/loretta-lynn-dead.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/244138592/loretta-lynn

271) June Carter Cash

271) June Carter Cash

Singer, Songwriter, Producer, Author, Actress

Born: 23 June 1929, Maces Spring, Virginia, United States of America

Died: 15 May 2003, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America

Original Name: Valerie June Carter

June started her career as a part of the famous Carter Family (alongside her mom and sisters) before making it solo. She was noted for her expertise in playing various instruments, including the autoharp, and for her comedy routines.

She married Johnny Cash in 1968 and was a mother to two children (one from Johnny and one from her previous husband).

June was also Hank Williams Jr’s godmother.

She co-wrote Johnny Cash’s hit song Ring of Fire along with many other songs; leading to her winning several Grammy Awards.

June appeared in numerous television shows and movies and wrote several books.

Her daughter Rosie was found dead a few months after June—it is suspected Rosie died from carbon monoxide poisoning on her tour bus.

The 2005 film Walk the Line, starring Reese Witherspoon as June and Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny recounts the relationship between Johnny and June. I’ve included the trailer to in this article.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Where Are They Buried? How Did They Die? by Tod Benoit

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/June-Carter-Cash

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7446405/june-cash

270) Shirley Temple Black

270: Shirley Temple Black

Actress, Singer, Dancer, and Diplomat

Born: 23 April 1928, Santa Monica, California, United States of America

Died: 10 February 2014, Woodside, California, United States of America

She is most remembered for being an iconic Hollywood child star in movies like Bright Eyes, Fort Apache, and Captain January, but surprisingly retired from Hollywood at the age of twenty-two in 1961. Shirley won her first Academy Award (an Honorary One) at the age of six and made over $3 million before hitting puberty, but once she became a teenager the Hollywood roles started to dry up, leading to her early retirement.

Before leaving Hollywood, she had the chance to make history, when filming The Little Colonel. Shirley became the first white actress to affectionately hold hands with an African American Man, Bill Robinson (they would make a total of four movies together).

Shirley went on to be a Republican fundraiser before becoming the United States Ambassador to both Ghana and Czechoslovakia and also served as the Chief of Protocol of the United States for President Gerald Ford.

She married for the first time at the age of seventeen, however that marriage only lasted four years, with Shirley divorcing her husband after he fell to alcoholism from failing to cope with her celebrity. Soon after Shirley remarried and became Mrs. Black, staying with her second husband until his death in 2005.

Shirley was also one of the first celebrities to be public about her battle with breast cancer.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by Gail Collins

The Rough Guide to Film Musicals by David Parkinson

Sources:

http://www.shirleytemple.com/biography.html

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Shirley-Temple

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/arts/shirley-temple-black-screen-star-dies-at-85.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/124923538/shirley-temple

269) Maya Angelou

269: Maya Angelou

Poet, Memoirist, Actress

Born: 4 April 1928, Saint Louis, Missouri, United States of America

Died: 28 May 2014, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States of America

Original Name: Marguerite Annie Johnson

Before her eighth birthday she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend—and the man was actually murdered soon afterward—the whole experience leaving her practically mute for a few years.

Maya lived in both Egypt and Ghana for a time.

After returning to the US she became one of the first African American women to have a screenplay she wrote turned into a Hollywood movie.

Maya appeared in multiple television, film, and theatre roles including the tv miniseries Roots.

Maya received a Tony nomination for a play that only ran on Broadway for one night.

She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Where Are They Buried? How Did They Die? by Tod Benoit

The Book of Awesome Women: Boundary Breakers, Freedom Fighters, Sheroes, and Female Firsts by Becca Anderson

Whose Who in American History: Leaders, Visionaries, and Icons who Shaped Our Nation by John M Thompson, William R Gray, and KM Kostyal

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Maya-Angelou

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/130492881/maya-angelou

268) Marilyn Monroe

268: Marilyn Monroe

Some Like it Hot

Born: 1 June 1926, Los Angeles, California, United States of America

Died: 4 August 1962, Brentwood, California, United States of America

Original Name: Norma Jeane Mortenson

Golden Globe winning actress whose films grossed more than $200 million during her lifetime; proving she was more than the ditzy girl she played on screen. At the time of her death, her personal library boasted over 400 books, and friends and coworkers attested to the brains hidden behind the beauty.

Before she was an actress, she worked in a factory during World War II before becoming a pin up model. During her honeymoon with Joe DiMaggio, she performed for the troops stationed in Korea during the war. Over 10,000 people came out to see her.

During her lifetime she worked with various causes including raising money for the March of Dimes, St. Jude’s, and was even a Civil Rights Advocate.

Marilyn was married three times and suffered multiple miscarriages during her lifetime.

She died of a drug overdose and it has never been determined if it was accidental, suicide, or more suspiciously murder on the part of John F Kennedy and his brother Robert Kennedy.

Joe DiMaggio, her second husband, had red roses delivered to her tomb every week for the rest of his life.

Her famous white dress she wore in the Seven Year Itch sold for $5.6 Million—making it the most expensive film costume piece ever sold at auction, and the gold shimmering dress she wore when serenading President Kennedy sold for $1.2 million, making it the most expensive personal dress ever sold at auction.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Ask Not: The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed by Maureen Callahan

Backwards and In Heels by Alicia Malone

Killing the Mob: The Fight Against Organized Crime in America by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

Sex With Presidents: The Ins and Outs of Love and Lust in the White House by Eleanor Herman

The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes by Michael Newton

The Encyclopedia of Ugly Fashion: A Hilarious Introspective of History’s Best Worst Fashion Trends by Karolina Żebrowska

The Hollywood Book of Death by James Robert Parish

The Rough Guide to Film Musicals by David Parkinson

Time Magazine's 100 Women of the Year (Marilyn appears in the 1954 article, "Marilyn Monroe”)

Where Are They Buried? How Did They Die? by Tod Benoit

Sources:

https://www.biography.com/actor/marilyn-monroe

https://marilynmonroe.com/about/see-all/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/725/marilyn-monroe

267) Betty White

267: Betty White

The Longest Working Woman in Television at the Time of Her Death

Born: 17 January 1922, Oak Park, Illinois, United States of America

Died: 31 December 2021, California, United States of America

Betty was a comedian and actress whose career spanned over seventy years.

Betty is most remembered for her work on the Mary Taylor Moore Show and the Golden Girls.

During World War II she served on the home front by driving trucks to deliver supplies and did performances for the troops before they shipped out.

Betty was a beloved icon of everyone on the internet and was popularly remembered for being older than sliced bread.

Betty was also the oldest person to ever host Saturday Night Live (hosting in 2010 at the age of eighty-eight). In 2014, she also became the oldest person to ever be nominated for an Emmy. As of 2019 she’s been nominated twenty-one times and won five of them.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0924508/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

https://mentalfloss.com/article/61054/15-things-you-didnt-know-about-betty-white

https://www.tmz.com/2021/12/31/betty-white-dead-dies-golden-girls/

https://d23.com/about-legends/remembering-disney-legend-betty-white/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/235442317/betty-white

266) Eva Gabor

266: Eva Gabor

Actress and One of the Three Gabor Sisters (Madga and Zsa Zsa Being the Other Two)

Born: 11 February 1919, Budapest, Hungary

Died: 4 July 1995, Los Angeles, United States of America

Eva is remembered for her role in Green Acres as well as her voice acting work in Disney’s The Aristocats and The Rescuers.

She and her two sisters were all famous in their own right, but some claim Eva was the most talented of the three.

They emigrated to the United States from Hungary just before the outbreak of World War II.

Eva started her career as an ice skater before getting the acting bug.

She had five husbands throughout her life.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001247/bio

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1337/eva-gabor

265) Zsa Zsa Gabor

265: Zsa Zsa Gabor

Actress and One of the Three Gabor Sisters (Which Included Magda and Eva)

Born: 6 February 1917, Budapest, Hungary

Died: 18 December 2016, Los Angeles, California, United States of America

Original Name: Sári Gábor

Zsa Zsa is also remembered for having nine husbands and never quite making it into Hollywood the way her sister Eva did.

She did have a leading role in Moulin Rouge (1952) and starred in several other films throughout the years.

Zsa Zsa made headlines in 1989 after slapping a police officer for giving her a ticket for an expired car registration tag and she was ordered to spend three days in jail, do community service, and pay a fine.

Zsa Zsa was sued for slander and defamation multiple times and was a frequent tabloid gossip target over her many years in Hollywood.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001248/bio

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/174144146/zsa_zsa-gabor

264) Magda Gabor

264: Magda Gabor

Actress and Oldest of the Three Gabor Sisters (Zsa Zsa and Eva Being the Other Two)

Born: 11 June 1915, Budapest, Hungary

Died: 6 June 1997, Palm Springs, California, United States of America

Original Name: Magdolna Gábor

Magda is more remembered for being a socialite than her acting abilities.

She was married six times (one of which was to her sister Zsa Zsa’s ex-husband).

Magda was supposedly able to speak a dozen languages.

During World War II, she drove a Red Cross Truck and participated in the resistance movement in her native Hungary to help the Jewish people.

She spent the last eighteen years of her life severely disabled after a debilitating stroke, yet she continued to care for her mother till the end—dying two months to the day after her mother passed away.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0300136/bio

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3220/magda-gabor