The MGM Lion

 

Since 1917, MGM movies have begun with a lion's roar, provided by a studio mascot named Leo.  Over the years, a series of lions have all portrayed Leo, including an Irish cat named Slats, who is today buried on a simple farm in New Jersey.

Slats was born at the Dublin Zoo in Ireland, on March 20, 1919.  Shortly thereafter, he was bought by famed New Jersey animal trainer Volney Phifer, who provided a variety of animals for the Broadway stage.  He took the cat to Hollywood, where in 1924, Slats became the official face of MGM, first appearing in that years' feature He Who Gets Slapped.  Slats would continue in the role, appearing in all MGM features through 1928.

In 1934, Phifer bought a farm in Gillette, New Jersey.  Slats would pass just two years later and Phifer buried him on the property.  For years, a simple granite marker adorned the grave, which has today been replaced by a tribute to Slats.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• Slats is buried on private property.  If you go, please be respectful.
  
  
• Unlike those lions who would follow, Slats did not roar, rather, he simply looked back and forth.  This is perhaps due to the fact that films would not include sound until 1927.
  
  
• Since 2021, Leo has appeared via computer animation in all MGM films.  Although this new version is based on a Leo, it is not clear as to which cat is represented.
  
  
• On an unknown date in the mid-1990s, WABC-TV in New York did a story on Leo's grave and Phifer's connection to New Jersey.  Check out the grainy video on YouTube.
  
  
• Phifer died in December 1974 at the age of 76.  This blogger has been unable to locate his final resting place, if there is one.

Stephanie Zimbalist

 

"I have a personal connection with my Savior...I feel very beholden to Him...I feel He's there for me in my darkest moments."

No, you didn't miss a headline.  Stephanie Zimbalist is still very much alive, but why should that stop her from having a grave, or for this blog to cover it?

She was born Loranda Stephanie Zimbalist in New York City on October 8, 1956.  She is the daughter of actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., star of the 1960's television series 77 Sunset Strip, and the granddaughter of Efrem Sr., a renowned concert violinist and symphony conductor.  By age 11, she was already following in her father's footsteps, appearing in a 1969 stage production of Gypsy.

After graduating from an all-girls prep school in Virginia, she enrolled in the renowned Juilliard School in New York City.  While still studying drama, she began her acting career on the small screen, with roles in a variety of made-for-TV movies, including The Gathering (1978) with Ed Asner and The Awakening (1980) with Charlton Heston. One of her first guest roles on a television series was a two-part episode of The Love Boat in 1978. 

In 1982, she was cast in the role for which she is most famously known, that of Detective Laura Holt on the NBC series Remington Steele.  The show ran for five seasons and made household names of her and future James Bond star, Pierce Brosnan.  When the series ended, she continued acting, racking up several film and stage credits.  Her most recent role was in the 2023 black comedy Lucky Louie.

In 2014, Efrem Jr. passed away.  He was buried at Town Hill Cemetery in New Hartford, Connecticut.  It is home to the Zimbalist Family plot, where several generations, including Efrem Sr., have all been laid to rest.  Although she is still very much alive, Stephanie's grave is prepared for inevitable arrival.

Here's to many more years. Stephanie.

Trivia

• This blog post will inevitably be updated, but hopefully not for many years to come.
  
  
• If you want to learn more about Stephanie, visit her website, at www.stephaniezimbalist.net.
  
  
• A woman of faith, Stephanie's headstone bears the Bible verse Ephesians 4:6, which says "One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."  She also discussed her faith with the YouTube series Credo in Hollywood.
  
  
• Stephanie was originally cast to play Officer Anne Lewis in one of this blogger's favorite movies, RoboCop, but was unable to appear due to her filming commitment to Remington Steele.  The part ultimately went to actress Nancy Allen.
  
  
• Stephanie's co-star Pierce Brosnan later famously took on the role of James Bond, making him the second 007 she would appear with on television, the first one being Timothy Dalton in the 1978 mini-series Centennial.
  
  
• In recent years, Stephanie has narrated a number of audiobooks, including A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux.  For a complete listing of her work, please visit audible.com.

The Human Frisbee

 

Ed Headrick is not a household name.  Odds are, you've never heard of him.  But his contributions to the world of recreational sports cannot be overlooked, nor can his seemingly unusual and some would say bizarre, final request. 

Steady Ed, as he was known, was born on June 28, 1924.  As a member of the greatest generation, he enlisted in the army and served his country during World War 2.  After he was discharged, he returned to his native California, hoping to begin a career at Wham-O.  Although the toy manufacturer was not currently hiring, Ed was not to be deterred, and he offered to work for free in order to prove his worth.  Amazingly, Wham-O agreed to the offer.

His first assignment was to find a new use for the company's excess supply of Hula Hoops, as the craze had run its course in American pop culture.  It would become a theme throughout his career, as he was constantly improving older toys that were no longer marketable.

One such product was Wham-O's flying saucer, first invented by Walter Frederick Morrison in 1948.  Ed turned it into the modern-day Frisbee and began a marketing campaign like no other.  To him it was now more than just a mere toy, but rather its own recreational sport.

To that end, Ed left Wham-O in 1975, intent on furthering this idea.  The following year, he co-founded the Disc Golf Association with his son Ken and introduced a new sport, Frisbee Golf, to the world. The two would design and patent a series of courses and related equipment for their new sport.  

In 2002, Ed was competing in the Professional Disc Gold Association's 2002 Amateur World Championships in Miami when he suffered a series of strokes.  Although he was able to return to his home near Santa Cruz, California, he would pass away just a few days later on August 12th.  He was 78 years old.

Now here's where it gets crazy.  Before his death, Ed told his family that he wished to be memorialized with the product that he had made his life's work.  He was cremated, and his ashes were incorporated into a limited number of Frisbees.  One such Frisbee found its way to the Ripley's Believe it or Not! Odditorium in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• Ed's final transformation was documented by the Ripley's Believe it or Not! TV series as hosted by Dean Cain.  You can watch the fascinating segment in its entirety on YouTube.
  
  
• Ten years after his passing, Ed was featured in the flying disc documentary The Human String.  Check out the trailer on IMDb.
  
  
• The proceeds from those discs that were sold were used to establish the Steady Ed Memorial Disc Golf Museum in Columbia County, Georgia.
  
  
• The Ripley's display case description misspells Ed's last name as "Hendricks."

Robin Leach

 

"Champagne wishes and caviar dreams."

Robin Douglas Leach was born in London, England on August 29, 1941.  As a young man, he attended the Harrow County School for Boys, where he first became interested in journalism, serving as editor of the school newspaper.  By the time he was 15, he was already a news reporter for the local paper.

When he was 18, Leach went to work for the Daily Mail, the same British tabloid that shows up on your Facebook page every day.  He was the youngest "Page One" reporter on staff, a record he still holds to this day.  Four years later, he emigrated to the United States (legally), where he went to work for such publications as the New York Daily News, the Ladies Home Journal and People.  He later became Show Business Editor for that classic American tabloid The Star.  

In the 1970s, he began appearing on television, as a regular contributor on AM Los Angeles, hosted by Regis Philbin and Sarah Purcell.  From there, he went national, reporting for both CNN and Entertainment Tonight. 

In 1984, he began hosting the show for which he is most famously associated, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.  It ran in syndication for the next twelve years, making Leach a household name.  When the show was canceled in 1995, he'd stay in the public spotlight, appearing as himself on such programs as Boy Meets World, The Surreal Life, and Celebrity Wife Swap, wherein his wife Judith went to live with Eric Roberts, whose wife Eliza visited Leach at his home in Las Vegas.

In 2017, Leach suffered a stroke while on vacation in Cabo San Lucas.  He'd never fully recover, eventually ending up in hospice care, where he suffered a second stroke in 2018.  By now the clock was ticking, and he ultimately passed on August 24th.  He was just 76 years old.

Robin Leach was laid to rest at Palm Memorial Park in Las Vegas.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• In 1994, Leach co-authored a celebrity cookbook with the ridiculous title The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Cookbook: Recipes and Entertaining Secrets From the Most Extraordinary People in the World.  Pick up a copy from Amazon.
  
  
• In 1988, the producers of the ABC sit-com Sledge Hammer! asked Leach to introduce their first season finale, where he bluntly told the audience it was a ratings grab, which ultimately worked.  Check it out on YouTube.
  
  
• In 1993, Leach hosted an unauthorized documentary of the material girl herself entitled Madonna Exposed.  Before the program aired, he gave Madonna a cell phone number, inviting her to call in at any point to refute the show's claims, which she did not.  You can watch the film in its entirety on YouTube.
  
  
• Palm Memorial Park is also the final resting place of comedian Redd Foxx, previously profiled by this blog.

George Steinbrenner - The Boss

 

"Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing.  Breathing first, winning next."

George Michael Steinbrenner III was born in Rocky River, Ohio on July 4, 1930.  He was the oldest of three children to Irish immigrant parents and was of the first generation to be born in America.

After graduating from military school in 1948, Steinbrenner went on Williams College in Massachusetts, where, like his father before him, he was an accomplished track and field star who later joined the football team.  He was also gifted academically, playing the piano and serving as sports editor of the college newspaper.  After earning his bachelor's degree, he enlisted in the United States Air Force and was commissioned a second lieutenant, stationed in Columbus, Ohio.  Upon his discharge in 1954, he earned his master's degree in physical education.

His education behind him, Steinbrenner took over his family's shipping business in 1957, eventually becoming Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.  By the time he stepped down in 1972, the company was pulling in $100 million in annual sales.

With a renewed interest in sports, Steinbrenner and a group of fellow investors bought the New York Yankees in 1973 from former owner CBS.  He was known for his hands-on ownership style, which earned him the nickname "The Boss."  During his tenure, turnover was high as he was often replacing his management team.  Behind his back, he was also known as "Manager George," a derisive nickname given to him by former manager Dallas Green. 

By 2007, Steinbrenner had relocated to Florida as his health was in decline.  He officially retired that year, handing control of the team over to his sons Hal and Hank.  Steinbrenner eventually died of a heart attack on July 13, 2010, the morning of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.  He was 80 years old. 

George Steinbrenner was entombed in a palatial family mausoleum at Trinity Memorial Gardens in Trinity, Florida.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• If you want to learn more about George Steinbrenner, take a voyage to Amazon.  It's all in books.
  
  
• From 1973 to his death in 2010, Steinbrenner was the longest-serving owner in club history.  Under his ownership, the Yankees won seven World Series and eleven American League pennants.
  
  
• Steinbrenner was the second in a Yankee death trifecta that week.  He was preceded in death by longtime P.A. announcer Bob Sheppard and was followed by former manager Ralph Houk.
  
  
• Steinbrenner became something of a pop culture icon, even hosting a 1990 episode of Saturday Night Live.  Really.  He later became a running joke on the hit sit-com Seinfeld, as portrayed by series creator Larry David.

Cokie Roberts

 

Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs, aka Cokie Roberts, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on December 27, 1943.  As you might have guessed from the name, she was born to a Catholic family.  Her parents were career politicians, Lindy and Hale Boggs, both of whom represented Louisiana in the U.S. House of Representatives (see Trivia below).

Cokie began her high school education at the Academy of the Sacred Heart, an all-girls Roman Catholic school in New Orleans.  She'd follow her family to Washinton, DC, where she'd eventually complete her diploma.  She then attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where she earned a bachelor's degree in political science in 1964.

After graduation, Cokie went to work at WRC-TV in Washington, DC, where she hosted a weekly public affairs program called Meeting of the Minds.  The gig was short lived however, as she'd spend the next few years following her husband Steve, a fellow journalist, from place to place.  His career took them to New York, Los Angeles, and Athens, Greece.  It was there that Cokie first went to work as a stringer for CBS News.

In 1978, Cokie joined National Public Radio.  She'd spent the next ten years as a Congressional Correspondent, making frequent appearances on PBS's MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour.  Then in 1988, she joined ABC as a Political Correspondent for ABC's World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.  She would make frequent appearances on the network's Sunday morning public affairs program This Week with David Brinkley.  Upon Brinkley's retirement in 1997, she became a permanent co-host of the program, which was redubbed This Week with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts.  They were both replaced in 2002 however, when the show was given to Clinton ally George Stephanopoulos.

In 2002, Cokie was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer.  Although she was successfully treated for it at the time, it would eventually take her life on September 17, 2019.  She was 75 years old.

Cokie Roberts was laid to rest in Washington, DC's Congressional Cemetery, next to both of her parents.  A memorial bench honoring both Roberts and her mother was placed nearby.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• Cokie authored enough books to start her own library.  After her passing, husband Steve wrote the definitive biography, Cokie: A Live Well Lived.  Check out the selection at Amazon.
  
  
• The nickname "Cokie" was first started by her younger brother, Tommy, who, as a child, could not pronounce Corinne.  The nickname stuck, and she eventually adopted it as her professional moniker.
  
  
• The phrase that emblazes Cokie's headstone, "put on the jewels and take up the tools," comes from a commencement speech she delivered to the graduates of Wellesley College, her alma mater, in 1994.
  
  
• Cokie won a several awards throughout her career, including the Edward R. Murrow Award, the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism, and an Emmy Award for the documentary Who is Ross Perot.
  
  
• As mentioned above, Hale Boggs represented Louisiana in the U.S. House of Representatives.  He served for more than thirty years, eventually becoming House Majority Leader during the Nixon Administration.  In October 1972, Boggs and his team were flying from Anchorage to Juneau when their plane disappeared.  Today, more than fifty years later, no trace of the plane has ever been found.  The story of their disappearance has been chronicled in a number of documentaries, including the History Channel's Missing in Alaska: Vanished in a Vortex.

Otto Warmbier

 

"I beg of you and the North Korean government of the DPRK for your forgiveness.  Please, I've made the worst mistake of my life!"

Otto Frederick Warmbier was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on December 12, 1994.  He was the oldest of three children to Cynthia and Fred Warmbier, the latter of whom worked as a metal finisher in Cincinnati.

Otto was a popular student at Wyoming High School, where he graduated as salutatorian in 2013.  He enrolled at the University of Virginia where he pursued a double major in commerce and economics. 

In late 2015, Warmbier enrolled in a study abroad program, intent on spending a year in Hong Kong.  Before heading to Asia's World City, however, he decided to visit North Korea.  He contacted Young Pioneer Tours, a Chinese-based travel firm with the slogan "destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from."  It would prove to be prophetic.

On December 29, Warmbier's tour group arrived in Beijing.  They would celebrate New Year's Eve in Kim II Sung Square before returning to their hotel, where Warmbier noticed a propaganda poster on display.  It read "let's arm ourselves strongly with Kim Jong II's patriotism."  Having had a few drinks, Warmbier attempted to take the poster, but he was ultimately unsuccessful.  He was arrested the following day at the airport, moments before flying home.

Warmbier was detained for six weeks, before giving a prepared statement that many felt was coerced.  He took responsibility for attempting to steal the poster, claiming he had done so at the behest of his Ohio church and the University of Virginia, claims that Time Magazine would brand as "fanciful and implausible."  For his actions, Warmbier was sentenced to fifteen years of hard labor.

Back in America, Warmbier's parents were not only being stonewalled by the North Korean government, but by their own as well.  According to Fred, the two were repeatedly asked by members of the Obama Administration, including then-Secretary of State John Kerry, to "maintain a low profile" on their son's situation.  The Warmbiers would not comply.  In fact, years later, the two would become actively involved in Republican presidential campaigns.

In June 2017, more than a year after his imprisonment, North Korea announced that it was releasing Warmbier, albeit in a vegetative state.  He was flown to Cincinnati, where he ultimately died on June 19th.  He was 22 years old.  A postmortem examination suggested his death was the result of a blood clot, pneumonia, sepsis, or kidney failure.

More than 2,500 people attended Warmbier's funeral, including Ohio Senator Rob Portman.  It was conducted at his alma mater, Wyoming High School.  He was then laid to rest in Oak Hill Cemetery in Glendale, Ohio, just outside of Cincinnati.  Though hard to read in this photo, the inscription reads "Son - Brother - Friend."

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• A number of books on the case have been published since Warmbier's death, in varying degrees of taste.  Check out the selection at Amazon.
  
  
• As a college student of the Jewish faith, Warmbier was a member of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.
  
  
• After Warmbier's death, North Korean officials continued to claim that they had treated him humanely, adding that their country was the biggest victim in the case.  A spokesman for the Korean Central News Agency told ABC News "although we had no reason at all to show mercy to such a criminal of the enemy state, we provided him with medical treatments and care with all sincerity on humanitarian basis until his return to the U.S., considering that his health got worse."
  
  
• In 2018, Warmbier's parents successfully sued the North Korean government, which was ordered to pay the family $501 million in damages.  However, there is no mechanism in place to enforce the ruling.  
  
  
• After his death, Warmbier's parents established a college scholarship in his name.  In 2022, they awarded it Seohyun Lee, a North Korean defector.