The American Teenager: Natalie Wood

“Rebel Without a Cause” defined both popular and youth culture upon its release in 1955, giving voice to the American teenager of the 1950’s. Even though Wood has starred in 20 films before turning 16, she is desperate to transition to adult roles. She sees the part of Judy as her ticket into adulthood. Complicating matters is that every actress from Debbie Reynolds to Jayne Mansfield is being considered for the role. Wood's mother pushes her into "dating" the 44-year-old "Rebel" director, Nicholas Ray - her mother waits in the car during Wood and Ray's romps at the Chateau Marmont. Sleeping with the director doesn't even work! It's not until a drunken car crash on Laurel Canyon with Dennis Hopper that Ray to cast considers Wood for the role. Ray visits Wood at the hospital, where the doctor calls Wood a "goddamn juvenile delinquent." Wood yells: "Did you hear what he called me, Nick? He called me a goddamn juvenile delinquent! Now do I get the part?" Wood deserves the credit for transforming Ray’s vision of Wood’s character Judy from a trashy teen to a confused, hurt kid like Wood herself.

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Deathiversary: The Gene Krupa Story

Gene Krupa is a famous jazz drummer, bandleader, actor, and composer. Krupa is known for his energetic style and showmanship. His drum solo on "Sing, Sing, Sing" elevated the role of the drummer as a frequently used solo voice in the band. He is also known for defining the standard drum kit used today. Sal Mineo stars as Krupa in the 1959 biopic "The Gene Krupa Story." Krupa himself plays the drums on the soundtrack for the film, and for the sequences in which Mineo, as Gene, plays the drums. In 1943, Krupa is arrested for possession of two marijuana cigarettes. He is charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and is given a 90-day jail. He serves 84 days of the sentence. In the early 1970s, Krupa's house in Yonkers, New York, is damaged by fire, but he continues to live in the parts of the house that were habitable. On October 16, 1973, Krupa dies in Yonkers at the age 64 from heart failure, though he also had leukemia and emphysema. In 1978, Krupa becomes the first drummer inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame. Sal Mineo dies in 1976 when he is stabbed to death in the alley behind his apartment building near the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, CA. Mineo is stabbed just once, but the knife blade strikes his heart, leading to immediate and fatal internal bleeding. Before the New Beverly closed for remodeling, my husband and I got a chance to watch "The Gene Krupa Story" on the big screen. It was less than a week after I had finished my first zine: Dead in Hollywood: Sal Mineo (Issue 1). The manager was nice enough to let me leave a stack of my zines in the lobby next to postcards of Sal.

Seeing Stars

"There's the Hollywood sign; there's Griffith Observatory; there's the great, amazing Los Angeles Basin. It's 465 square miles of insanity and the best food on the planet." -Robert Crais 

James Dean on the set of “Rebel Without a Cause” at the Griffith Observatory.

James Dean on the set of “Rebel Without a Cause” at the Griffith Observatory.

Deathiversary: Orson Welles (Oct 10, 1985)

On the evening of October 9, 1985, Orson Welles recorded his final interview on syndicated TV program The Merv Griffin Show, appearing with biographer Barbara Leaming. "Both Welles and Leaming talked of Welles's life, and the segment was a nostalgic interlude," wrote biographer Frank Brady. Welles returned to his house in Hollywood and worked into the early hours typing stage directions for the project he and Gary Graver were planning to shoot at UCLA the following day. Welles died sometime on the morning of October 10, following a heart attack. He was found by his chauffeur at around 10 a.m.

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Deathiversary: Christopher Reeves (October 10, 2004)

On May 27, 1995, Reeve was left quadriplegic after being thrown from a horse during an equestrian competition in Culpeper, Virginia. He used a wheelchair and needed a portable ventilator to breathe for the rest of his life. 

For the first few days after the accident, Reeve suffered from delirium, woke up sporadically and would mouth words to Dana such as "Get the gun" and "They're after us." After five days, he regained full consciousness, and his doctor explained to him that he had destroyed his first and second cervical vertebrae, which meant that his skull and spine were not connected. His lungs were filling with fluid and were suctioned by entry through the throat; this was said to be the most painful part of Reeve's recovery.

After considering his situation, believing that not only would he never walk again, but that he might never move a body part again, Reeve considered suicide. He mouthed to Dana, "Maybe we should let me go." She tearfully replied, "I am only going to say this once: I will support whatever you want to do because this is your life, and your decision. But I want you to know that I'll be with you for the long haul, no matter what. You're still you. And I love you." Reeve never considered euthanasia as an option again.

In early October 2004, he was being treated for an infected pressure ulcer that was causing sepsis, a complication he had experienced many times before. On October 4th, he spoke at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago on behalf of the Institute's work. This was to be his last reported public appearance. On October 9, Reeve felt well and attended his son Will's hockey game. That night, he went into cardiac arrest after receiving an antibiotic for the infection. He fell into a coma and was taken to Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, New York. Eighteen hours later, on October 10, 2004, Reeve died at age 52. His doctor, John McDonald, believed an adverse reaction to the antibiotic caused Reeve's death.

His widow, Dana Reeve, headed the Christopher Reeve Foundation after his death. Although a non-smoker, she was diagnosed with lung cancer on 9 August 2005 and died at age 44 on 6 March 2006.

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Ladies and Gentlemen... the Late Yul Brynner (October 10, 1985)

Actor Yul Brynner, dying from lung cancer, told a television audience that what he really wanted to do was to film a commercial that said, "Now that I'm gone, I tell you: Don't smoke, whatever you do, just don't smoke."

Brynner was very much alive when he made this statement in January 1985, on "Good Morning America" on ABC News. But after he died, in October of that year, he got his wish. The resulting public service announcement remains one of the most memorable antismoking statements ever made.

When his lung cancer was diagnosed in June 1983, Brynner, then 63, was one of the world's most recognizable actors. With his distinctive bald head, he had appeared in 4,625 performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "King and I," winning a Tony in 1952 for playing the haughty, strutting king of Siam. In 1956, he won an Oscar for the film.

Brynner's stamina was all the more remarkable given his history of smoking. He started at age 12 and had smoked as many as five packs a day before quitting in the late 1960's.

Defying his doctors' orders, Brynner continued to perform across the country after the cancer was diagnosed, despite extreme fatigue from radiation treatments and chemotherapy. On June 30, 1985, he finally retired from the stage, giving one final performance in "The King and I" on Broadway.

Brynner never made the commercial he proposed. But shortly after his death, officials at the American Cancer Society had an idea: What about using the footage from "Good Morning America" to make a public service announcement? Brynner's widow, Kathy, gave her permission. What had made her husband become so passionately opposed to smoking, she recently recalled, was his realization that cigarettes could even cause cancer 15 years after someone had stopped.

The announcement, completed in 1985 and first aired in early 1986, could not have begun more boldly. It opened with an image of Brynner's tombstone, with the inscription "Yul Brynner, 1920-1985." An announcer intoned, "Ladies and gentlemen, the late Yul Brynner."

Next, Brynner appeared on the "Good Morning America" video clip. His antismoking advice was followed by another statement he had made on the program: "If I could take back that smoking, we wouldn't be talking about any cancer. I'm convinced of that." With that, the 30-second spot ended.

The announcement, made for the cancer society by the New York agency McCaffrey & McCall, deliberately toyed with viewers' minds, giving the appearance that the actor was, indeed, speaking from beyond the grave.

Although this was obviously not the case, the announcement still retained its intensity among the public. Kathy Brynner recalls being approached by strangers, who told her that what her husband had done was "unbelievable" and "courageous." (NYT, “An Unforgettable Final Act, a King Got Revenge on His Killers”)

Deathiversary: Billy Daniels (October 7, 1988)

Billy Daniels is an American singer who was most notable for his hit recording of "That Old Black Magic" and his pioneering performances on early 1950s television. He died at the age of 73 in Los Angeles, and was buried at the El Camino Memorial Park in Sorrento Valley, San Diego, California. He was one of the first African-American entertainers to cross over into the mainstream and his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame lies alongside that of Jerry Lewis.

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Deathiversary: Bette Davis, We Love You (October 6, 1989)

Bette Davis collapsed during the American Cinema Awards in 1989, and later discovered that her cancer had returned. She recovered sufficiently to travel to Spain, where she was honored at the Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival, but during her visit, her health rapidly deteriorated. Too weak to make the long journey back to the U.S., she traveled to France, where she died on October 6, 1989, at 11:20 pm, at the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Davis was 81 years old.

She was entombed in Forest Lawn—Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, alongside her mother Ruthie and sister Bobby, with her name in larger type size. On her tombstone is written: "She did it the hard way", an epitaph that she mentioned in her memoir Mother Goddam. 

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