The Salem Witch Memorial

Last summer, this blogger visited Salem, Massachusetts, a city with a dubious history dating back to 1692.  That year, a wave of "witch hysteria," started by two bratty schoolgirls, overtook the community, which ultimately sent 20 innocent people to their deaths for witchcraft.

In the years since, Salem has often sought to atone for its actions by remembering those whom it condemned.  One result is the Salem Witch Memorial, a serene park in the heart of the tourist district.  Designed by architect Jim Cutler and artist Maggie Smith, the memorial first opened to the public in 1992.

The park contains twenty individual stones like the one shown above, each one in tribute to the 13 women and 7 men who were put to death.  These include Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Bridget Bishop, Elizabeth Howe, George Burroughs, George Jacobs, Giles Corey, John Proctor, John Willard, Margaret Scott, Martha Carrier, Martha Corey, Mary Easty, Mary Parker, Rebecca Nurse, Samuel Wardwell, Sarah Good, Sarah Wildes, Susannah Martin and Wilmot Redd.

While Hollywood would tell you that these twenty were burned at the stake, the majority of them were actually hanged, the exception being Giles Corey, who was pressed to death in a pit of boulders.  It took him three days to die.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• If you want to learn more about the Salem Witch trials, take a voyage to Amazon.  It's all in books.
  
  
• The two schoolgirls who started it all were Betty Parris (8) and Abigail Williams (11).  The two exhibited strange fits, which they attributed to being under the spell of a witch.
  
  
• Every November, an organization called Voices Against Injustice presents the Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice to an individual or organization who works to end discrimination.  The awards began in 1992 and the first recipient was actor GregAlan Williams, co-star of the underrated sit-com Baywatch Nights.  He was honored for helping to save a motorist who was being beaten during the Los Angeles riots that year.
  
  
• Hollywood has produced several adaptations of the trials, including 1996's The Crucible, an adaptation of Arthur Miller's celebrated stage production, which starred Winona Ryder and Daniel Day-Lewis.  Check out the trailer on YouTube.
  
  
• Salem is also home to a number of other attractions, many of them cheesy, that celebrate the town's history.  This blogger highly recommends the Salem Witch Museum, the Witch Dungeon Museum, and Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery, among others.  Salem is also home to a statue, donated by TV Land, that honors the famed television sit-com Bewitched.
  
  
  

Happy Halloween!

Bela Lugosi

 

"Every actor's greatest ambition is to create his own, definite and original role, a character with which he will always be identified.  In my case, that role was Dracula."

Bela Lugosi was born Bela Ferenc Dezso Blasko in Hungary on October 20, 1882.  He was the youngest of four children to father Istvan, a baker turned banker, and mother Paula de Vojnic.  When Bela was just 12 years old, he gave up school to help support his family, but he had already set his sights on a career on stage.

By the time he was 20, Lugosi had already carved out a name for himself, having appeared in more than 170 stage productions.  With the onset of World War I however, he'd emigrate first to Germany, then later to New Orleans, eventually becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen.  

Lugosi first played Count Dracula in a 1927 Broadway adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel.  He followed the play out to the West Coast, where he caught the eye of Universal Studios, who cast him in the role he'd be most famously known for.  Dracula, directed by Tod Browning, was released in 1931, cementing Lugosi's role as a horror screen legend.  Despite a slew of horror films that followed, Lugosi only played Dracula in one subsequent film - 1948's Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

Bela Lugosi died of a heart attack on August 16th, 1956.  He was 73 years old.  In a funeral service conducted at Los Angeles's Holy Cross Cemetery (oh the irony), Lugosi was laid to rest wearing a replica of his famous Dracula costume.

Happy Halloween!

Trivia

• If you want to learn more about Bela Lugosi, take a voyage to Amazon.  Its all in books.
  
  
• At the time of his passing, Lugosi was working with Director Ed Wood on the film that would come to be known as Plan 9 From Outer Space.  Wood subsequently served as a pallbearer at Lugosi's funeral.
  
  
• As noted above, Lugosi was buried in a replica of his famous Dracula cape.  In 2019, his son, Bela George Lugosi, donated the original to the museum for the Academy of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.  A swatch of this cape is also on display at the Ripley's Believe it or Not Odditorium in Ocean City, Maryland.
  
  
• Lugosi was a noted stamp collector, who would himself later adorn two U.S. stamps.
  
  
• Similarly, there are two flowers named after the actor - the Bela Lugosi daylily and the Dracula-Bela Lugosi orchid.

Victor Buono - King Tut

 

"Being on Batman allowed me to do something we actors are taught never to do: overact."

Victor Charles Buono was born in San Diego, California on February 3, 1938.  He was named after his father, a former police officer and bail bondsmen who himself went to prison for murder and armed robbery (see Trivia below).

As a teenager, Buono began appearing on local television and radio stations in America's Finest City before joining the Globe Theater Players.  This further enhanced his appreciation for Shakespeare, appearing in such adaptations as A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Buono was discovered by a Warner Brothers talent scout in 1959, who invited the heavyset actor to Hollywood for a screen test.  This led to early television roles on such series as 77 Sunset Strip and The Untouchables.  In 1962, he made his feature film debut in the Bette Davis and Joan Crawford classic, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane.  The role would win Buono an Academy Award nomination.

In 1966, Buono was cast in the role for which he is most famously associated, that of King Tut on the Adam West Batman TV series.  Tut was an original villain created for the series, who was later reimagined and rebranded for DC Comics.  Buono proved so popular in the role that producer William Dozier later cast him as the lead villain in his TV pilot Dick Tracy, which unfortunately never sold (see Trivia below).

Victor Buono died of a heart attack on New Years Day, 1982.  He was only 43 years old.  He was entombed with his mother Myrtle, who died in 1979.  They are laid to rest at Greenwood Memorial Park in San Diego.  Victor's name does not appear on the crypt.

Location: Lily Lake Crypt 1, Tier A

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• Although given a life sentence for murder, Buono Sr. was released after only seven years (it is California, after all).  He'd ultimately return to prison however, on a new charge of bird smuggling (yes, really).  While in the joint, he continued serving as his son's business manager (you can't make this stuff up).  
  
  
• As mentioned above, William Dozier's Dick Tracy pilot failed to sell the series to a network, but you can watch it for free on YouTube.  Special bonus: Eve Plumb!
  
  
• In 1972, Buono released a book of salty poetry called It Could Be Verse.  Pick up a copy here.
  
  
• Buono was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, back when late-night TV was actually funny.  Here's one such appearance from 1975.
  
  
• Buono also released a series of self-deprecating comedy albums, including 1971's Heavy.  You can hear it in its entirety on YouTube or pick up a copy on Amazon.
  
  
• Exactly twelve years after Buono's death, fellow Batman villain Cesar Romero, aka The Joker, died on January 1, 1994.

Motorcycle Legend Randy Renfrow

 

Randy Renfrow is not exactly a household name.  He was born in Boonville, Missouri on April 9, 1956, and by the time he passed a mere 46 years later, he'd be enshrined in the American Motorcycle Association's (AMA) Hall of Fame.

Renfrow wound up on this blogger's radar when I discovered that he was laid to rest in Virginia just a short distance from my home.  As of this posting, I can find no connection to the Old Dominion, so his burial here remains a mystery to me.

He began his professional road racing career in 1981.  A few quick stats - altogether, he won a total of 17 AMA Nationals, including the 250 Grand Prix (1983), the Formula One (1986), and the Pro Twins Series (1989).  In 1998, he was named AMA's Sportsman of the Year.

In late March 2002, Renfrow was participating in another race at the Daytona International Speedway when he crashed.  He broke nine ribs, as well as his right knee, ankle, and foot.  Upon release from the hospital, he continued to recuperate at his parent's home in Pickerington, Ohio.  Five months later on August 9th, while still on crutches, Renfrow tragically fell down a flight of stairs, suffering multiple head injuries from which he'd ultimately pass away.

He was laid to rest at Stafford Memorial Park in Stafford, Virginia.

Note the remains of a Dunlop tire sticker, lower right.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• Renfrow died in Pickerington, Ohio, the same city where the AMA Hall of Fame opened twelve years earlier.  Coincidence?
  
  
• AMA's Hall of Fame produced a five-minute tribute video to Renfrow.  Check it out on YouTube.
  
  
• Ironically, there is a retired NASCAR driver also named Randy Renfrow, who won an impressive 237 races throughout his career.