"Thunder Pass" Actress Dorothy Patrick 1987 Westwood Village Cemetery

Dorothy Patrick (June 3, 1921 – May 31, 1987) was a Canadian-American film actress and a John Robert Powers model.

Early life

Dorothy Patrick was born Dorothea Davis on June 3, 1921, in St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada of Scot-English heritage from a family of farmers, ranchers and Canadian National Railway workers. Thanks to a talented uncle who was a uniform manufacturer and tailor to W.W.I Canadian Army officers, she early on became sensitive to fashion and taste. Having poise and beauty older than her years, as a teen Dorothy was a professional photographic model for young ladies' fashions in Creed's, Hudson's Bay and Sears department store catalogs, popular in Canada.

After growing up in Winnipeg, in 1938 at age 17, she and her "backstage" mother, Eva, emigrated to the United States. Settling in New York City at tony Tudor City in Manhattan, Patrick became a fashion model with the famous John Robert Powers Agency. She was seen on the runways of the City's haute couture salons and as the wholesome face on popular fashion and entertainment magazines of the day.

Career

During her early career she was billed under her birth name, Dorothea Davis, until she married a New York Rangers hockey star, Lynn Patrick, and became Dorothy Patrick. Though she had one son in the marriage, the aspiring actress remained career-bound, not ready to co-star as a housefrau.

While appearing at dinner-club showcases in Jersey City, New Jersey, Patrick won Samuel Goldwyn's talent-search contest, MGM's coveted "Gateway to Hollywood." With a movie contract in hand, she moved to Hollywood with her mother and young son to live in Culver City, California and work at nearby MGM studios. The "Star System" cultivated in the era saw Dorothy training at the studio's repertory workshop along with stars like Judy Garland as one of the students. Dorothy first appeared as a Goldwyn Girl in Up in Arms starring Danny Kaye (1944). Her most noted MGM appearance was opposite Robert Walker in the Jerome Kern musical showcase and Technicolor dazzler, Till the Clouds Roll By (1946).

As a "Queen of the Bs," she continued to appear in films produced in the 1940s and 1950s, including High Wall (1947) with Robert Taylor; New Orleans (1947) with Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday; The Mighty McGurk (1947) with Wallace Beery; Follow Me Quietly (1949) with William Lundigan, and the Fritz Lang-directed noir classic, House by the River (1950). Apart from her film career, during the 1940s, she played several roles on Lux Radio Theatre.

In the early days of television, she made guest appearances on the locally produced TV game show, Mike Stokey's Pantomime Quiz. The Korean War-era saw her at celebrity appearances for USO and she was Miss Naval Air Force Recruiting 1951. At Columbia Pictures, Patrick co-starred with Preston Foster and Wayne Morris in an oil wild-catting yarn, The Big Gusher (1951), and in a modern-day western, Outlaw Stallion (1954), opposite Billy Gray with Phil Carey.

Dorothy co-starred or was supporting actress in a series of Republic programmers. The studio was best known releasing Saturday matinee serials, westerns, mysteries and crime dramas. Republic films she made include 711 Ocean Drive (1950) with Edmond O'Brien, Joanne Dru and Otto Kruger (caps with a slam-bang gun-chase scene at Hoover [Boulder] Dam); the "true life" crime drama Lonely Heart Bandits (1950) with John Eldredge; the genre western Thunder Pass (1954) with Dane Clark, John Carradine and Andy Devine, and a "Gringos go south-of-the-border" comedy, Belle of Old Mexico (1950).

In the world of Hollywood actress-survivors, Dorothy was a "trouper" in her career. Besides film and television, for several summer seasons Dorothy was also seen on stage at the La Jolla Playhouse. One summer she co-starred opposite Howard Duff in Anniversary Waltz; another season playing "Mrs. Miniver." There were also decorative walk-ons in noted film productions like The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and Singin' in the Rain (1952). Her last movies were in 1955 as Dorothy Davis Patrick at 20th Century Fox: Violent Saturday (1955) as the wife of Victor Mature and The View from Pompey's Head (1955) with Richard Egan and Dana Wynter. That same year, Dorothy took a hiatus from Hollywood to raise her two adolescent sons back East in Short Hills, a New Jersey suburb of New York City. There she was also able to keep abreast of the Broadway scene as well as the local "off-Broadway" venue, the Papermill Playhouse in Short Hills.

Returning to Hollywood in 1961 and up for a few parts on television, she found her creative niche appearing with the Leontovich Theatre in West Hollywood for several seasons while a real estate agent in Beverly Hills. A working, lifelong SAG (Screen Actors Guild) actress, Dorothy appeared in more than 35 motion picture films and television productions.

Personal life

Her first husband was Lynn Patrick (February 3, 1912 – January 26, 1980) who became one of the most prominent and successful figures in American Ice hockey. Her son from this marriage was Lester Lee Patrick (1940–1996). Lester had a half-sister and three half-brothers. One of the brothers, Craig Patrick was noted assistant coach 1980 U.S Olympic Hockey team and former General Manager of the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins respectively.

A few years into her film career, Dorothy married her second husband, noted Beverly Hills dentist-to-the-stars, Sterling Trevling "Doc" Bowen. Dr. Bowen's first son from his first marriage was the noted avant-garde artist Michael Bowen (d. 2009). Dorothy's marriage to Dr. Bowen had one son, Sterling Terrence "Terry" Bowen (b. 1944) a resident of Sacramento, California.

Death

Dorothy Patrick died in 1987 of a heart attack, three days before her 66th birthday. She is interred at Westwood Village Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. She is survived by one son, four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Selected filmography

Belle of Old Mexico (1950) 
Torch Song (1953) 
Tangier Incident (1953)

References

1. Profile, glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com

"Phantom Lady" Actress Ella Raines 1988 Glen Haven Cemetery

Ella Wallace Raines (born Ella Wallace Raubes, August 6, 1920 – May 30, 1988) was an American film and television actress.

Life and career

Born Ella Wallace Raubes near Snoqualmie Falls, Washington, Ella Raines studied drama at the University of Washington and was appearing in a play there when she was seen by Howard Hawks. She became the first actor signed to the new production company he had formed with the actor Charles Boyer, "B-H Productions," and made her film debut in Corvette K-225 in 1943. Immediately following her role in that film, she was cast in the all female war film Cry 'Havoc,' made the same year. 

In 1944, she appeared soon after D-Day as a most classy pin-up in the GI magazine, Yank. 

She starred in a series of big films including the film noir Phantom Lady, the comedy Hail the Conquering Hero, and the John Wayne western Tall in the Saddle. 

Soon, she began appearing in B-films including 1945's The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry with Geraldine Fitzgerald and George Sanders and the 1947 thriller The Web. With the exception of Brute Force, in which Raines appeared with Burt Lancaster, none of her later films were nearly as successful as her previous movies and her career began to decline.

Raines appeared on the cover of Life magazine twice, once in 1944 for her work in Phantom Lady and once in 1947 for Brute Force.

In 1954 and 1955 she starred in the television series Janet Dean, Registered Nurse. She also appeared in such television series as Robert Montgomery Presents, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents, Lights Out, Pulitzer Prize Playhouse and The Christophers.

She retired from acting in 1957, but made one further screen appearance with a guest role in the series Matt Houston in 1984.

Raines has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to motion pictures at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard, and for television at 6600 Hollywood Boulevard.

Personal life

On August 11, 1942, a few days after her graduation from the University of Washington, Raines married her high school sweetheart, United States Army Air Forces Major Kenneth William Trout. The couple divorced in December 1945. Raines was married, secondly, in 1947 to fighter pilot icon who eventually became promoted to United States Air Force Brigadier General Robin Olds; the couple had two children. They separated in 1975 and divorced in 1976.

Death

Ella Raines died from throat cancer in Sherman Oaks, California in 1988, aged 67. She is buried next to her father Ernest at Glen Haven Cemetery in Sylmar, California.

"America's Sweetheart" Actress Mary Pickford 1979 Forest Lawn Glendale Cemetery

Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American motion picture actress, writer, director and producer. She was co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Known in her prime as "America's Sweetheart" and the "girl with the curls," Pickford was one of the Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood and a significant figure in the development of film acting. Pickford was one of the earliest stars to be billed under her name (film stars up until that time were usually unbilled), and was one of the most popular actresses of the 1910s and '20s, earning the nickname "Queen of the Movies."

Pickford was awarded the second ever Academy Award for Best Actress for her first sound film role in Coquette (1929) and also received an honorary Academy Award in 1976. In consideration of her contributions to American cinema, the American Film Institute ranked Pickford as 24th in its 1999 list of greatest female stars of classic Hollywood Cinema.

Death

On May 29, 1979, Pickford died at a Santa Monica, California hospital of complications from a cerebral hemorrhage she had suffered the week before. She was interred in the Garden of Memory of the Forest Lawn Memorial Park cemetery in Glendale, California. Buried alongside her in the Pickford private family plot are her mother Charlotte, her siblings Lottie and Jack Pickford, and the family of Elizabeth Watson, Charlotte's sister, who had helped raise Pickford in Toronto.

Filmmaker Simon Monjack 2010 Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills Cemetery

Simon Mark Monjack (March 9, 1970 – May 23, 2010) was a British screenwriter, film director, film producer and make-up artist. He was the husband of American actress Brittany Murphy.[1][2]

Early life

Simon was born in Hillingdon, Middlesex, to a Jewish family.[3] He grew up in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire.[4] He attended Juniper Hill School, Flackwell Heath, then Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe.[4] When he was 15, his father, William (1949–1986), died[4] of a brain tumour[5] in Oxfordshire.[6] His mother Linda (née Hall), a hypnotherapist,[7] lives in Bourne End.[8]

Career

Monjack directed, produced, and wrote the B-movie Two Days, Nine Lives in 2000.[9] He received story credit for the 2006 biographical film Factory Girl about Warhol actress/model Edie Sedgwick.[10] Director George Hickenlooper contended that "Monjack had nothing to do with Factory Girl" and that "he filed a frivolous lawsuit against us [...] making bogus claims that we had stolen his script. He held us literally hostage and we were forced to settle with him as he held our production over a barrel." Monjack denied these claims.[11] In 2007, E! News reported that Monjack was slated to direct a film adaptation of D. M. Thomas's novel about Sigmund Freud, The White Hotel, with Brittany Murphy cast in a leading role.[12]

Personal life

Marriages

Monjack married Simone Bienne in Las Vegas in November 2001;[13][14] they separated five months later,[14] and were divorced in 2006.[13] That year,[4] he met actress Brittany Murphy (although he claimed to have met her when she was a teenager and stayed in touch[15]). In April[16] 2007, they married in a private Jewish ceremony at their Los Angeles home.[1] The couple did not announce their engagement beforehand and rarely made public appearances together before their marriage.[12] On December 20, 2009, Murphy died after collapsing in their bathroom.[2] The cause was later revealed to be pneumonia, with secondary factors of iron-deficiency anemia and multiple prescription drug intoxication. [17]

Legal issues

In 2005, warrants were issued for Monjack's arrest in Virginia on charges of credit card fraud, but the charges were later dropped.[13]

In 2006, Coutts Bank successfully sued Monjack, who had been evicted from four homes, for $470,000.[13]

In February 2007, Monjack was arrested and spent nine days in jail, facing deportation, because his visa to the United States had expired.[13]

Death

In January 2010, Monjack's mother, Linda Monjack, told People that her son was "unwell, and the doctors are carrying out tests. On whether he has a heart problem, it is not really for me to say, you must ask him, but yes, there have been health problems in the past. I believe it's common knowledge, and it's been in the press that he had a slight heart attack a week before Brittany's death."[18]

Monjack was found dead on May 23, 2010 in his house in Hollywood, according to the Los Angeles County coroner's office. Law enforcement sources say the Los Angeles Fire Department was called there for a medical emergency after Murphy's mother, Sharon, found Monjack unconscious in the master bedroom around 9:20 pm, and then called 911. Paramedics arrived; Monjack was pronounced dead at 9:45 pm after suffering a fatal heart attack.[19]

The coroner's report found the cause of Monjack's death to be acute pneumonia and severe anemia, similar to the causes attributed to his wife's death five months earlier in the same house.[20] He was buried next to Murphy at Forest Lawn cemetery in the Hollywood Hills.[14][21]

References

1. Fleeman, Mike (8 May 2007). "Brittany Murphy Marries Writer-Director". People. 
2. "Actress Brittany Murphy dead at 32". CNN. 20 December 2009. 
3. "England and Wales, Birth Index: 1916–2005". 
4. Simon Monjack, Buckinghamshire husband of tragic Hollywood star Brittany Murphy found dead 
5. Simon Monjack: The short life and lonely death of a showbiz widower
6. Deaths England and Wales 1984–2006 
7. Brittany Murphy's Mother-In-Law: Simon Monjack Has Lost The Love Of His Life 
8. Has Mr Brittany Murphy got something to hide? 
9. Thomson, Michael (22 March 2001). "Two Days, Nine Lives (2001)". BBC. 
10. "Who Is Brittany Murphy's Husband?". Us Weekly. 22 December 2009. 
11. "Director: Brittany Murphy was warned about husband Simon Monjack but did not listen" New York Daily News. 27 December 2009. 
12. Serpe, Gina (8 May 2007). "Brittany Murphy Made a Missus". E!. 
13. MacIntosh, Jeane (22 December 2009). "Debts and Arrests in Husband's Dark Past". New York Post. 
14. Tragic actress Brittany Murphy's husband Simon Monjack found dead 
15. Transcript of CNN Larry King Live interview with Sharon Murphy and Simon Monjack 
16. Brittany Murphy and Simon Monjack: A history of their romance 
17. Brittany Murphy's death ruled an accident 
18. "Brittany Murphy's Husband Found Dead". people.com. 24 May 2010. 
19. Shoard, Catherine (24 May 2010). "Simon Monjack, husband of Brittany Murphy, dies of heart attack". London: The Guardian. 
20. "Coroner finds Simon Monjack's death was similar to Brittany Murphy's". CNN. 21 July 2010. 
21. Johnson, Chris (28 May 2010). "Simon Monjack laid to rest next to wife Brittany Murphy in the Hollywood Hills.". London: Daily Mail.

Herbalife Founder Mark Reynolds Hughes 2000 Westwood Village Cemetery

Mark Reynolds Hughes (January 1, 1956 – May 21, 2000) was an American businessman who was the founder, chairman and CEO of Herbalife International Ltd, a legal network marketing business.[1][2][3] Hughes was born in California in 1956. Although he had only a ninth-grade education, he made a fortune through Herbalife and helped others do so as well. He was married four times, and died of mixing alcohol and sleeping pills and other medication in his Malibu mansion at 44 years old.[4]

Early life

Mark R. Hughes was born in 1956 in Los Angeles County, California to father Stuard Hartman (not "Stuart", per birth certificate) and mother Jo Ann Hughes (d. April 27, 1975). His parents divorced in 1970 and his mother retained custody of Mark. On April 27, 1975, when he was 19 years old, Hughes' mother was found dead in her apartment.[4] According to the autopsy report, several empty vials of prescription drugs were found beside her bed, and her doctor told the coroner she "was known to over ingest her prescription drugs."[4] Toxicological tests showed potentially lethal levels of the painkiller Darvon in her system.[5] At the time, Mark, a troubled 19-year-old with several drug busts, was staying at a drug institute called CEDU in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Career

In February 1980, aged 24, Hughes founded Los Angeles-based Herbalife International. It has since become one of the world's largest distributors of herbal products through multi-level marketing, with sales of about $3.5 billion in 2007 and 2.1 million Independent Distributors. Now in 91 countries and achieving record retail sales of $7.5 billion in 2013 according to company statements.

In the mid-1980s, Hughes was sued by the Food and Drug Administration, the California attorney general's office, and the state Department of Health, over what they said were false health claims about Herbalife products and the various schemes used to market them. Health agencies accused the company of violating labeling standards and using improper sales practices.[4]

Regulators contended that the company was making medicinal claims. Medicines are regulated by the F.D.A., while nutritional supplements are not. Some health experts doubted the efficacy of Herbalife products, saying that in some instances they relied too heavily on laxatives and caffeine.[4]

In March 1985, the California attorney general and the state Department of Health Services charged him and Herbalife with making "untrue or misleading" product claims—primarily involving the caffeine content of some Herbalife products—and operating an "endless chain marketing scheme."[4]

Prompted by complaints alleging that Herbalife product users had suffered illness and death, a U.S. Senate subcommittee called Hughes before a hearing in May. Referring to a panel of nutrition experts who had criticized Herbalife in testimony the previous day, he asked the senators, "If they're such experts in weight loss, why were they so fat?"[4]

During the hearing, Hughes acknowledged that his own formal education stopped at the 9th grade. When asked during the hearing how he could be qualified to challenge leading medical experts, Hughes responded: "I defy anybody to be able to produce results as this company has."[6]

Hughes reached settlements with the regulatory agencies in 1986. To settle his problems with the state, Hughes agreed to pay $850,000. At the time, the California attorney general, John Van De Kamp, was quoted in The Wall Street Journal as saying it was the largest settlement ever attained from a health products company.[5]

In 1994, Mark and Suzan Hughes started the Herbalife Family Foundation, a charity dedicated to helping children. The Herbalife Family Foundation and its sister organization, the International Herbalife Family Foundation, have donated more than $5 million to children's causes worldwide. Created in 1994 by Herbalife Founder Mark Hughes, Herbalife Family Foundation (HFF) creates partnerships with charities to help meet the nutritional needs of children at risk. At the same time, HFF is there to provide funds to organizations assisting victims of natural disasters. HFF is a global non-profit organization working in communities around the world. In 2007 the Herbalife Family Foundation established the HFF Humanitarian Award to recognize Herbalife Independent Distributors who exemplify the foundation’s mission and, through their outstanding involvement and dedication, have made a significant contribution to changing lives though community service. The honoree is announced at the Herbalife Honors event.

Hughes often stated that his mother died of an accidental overdose of prescription diet pills when he was 18, which he claimed was the impetus for the founding of Herbalife. This is disputed by Hughes' father and the coroner's report.

Death

On the night of Saturday, May 20, 2000, Hughes celebrated the 87th birthday of his maternal grandmother, Hazel (known as Mimi). It was a private gathering, with a few family members joining him at his mansion in Malibu for the evening. Out of the public limelight, Hughes drank white wine, smoked a cigar and played his drum set.

Hughes was trying to buy up all outstanding shares of Herbalife and take the company private once more. The stress and long hours had taken a toll on his health; he was recovering from a recurrence of pneumonia. The treatment involved corticosteroids, which made sleeping difficult. His physician prescribed the drug doxepin, a tricyclic antidepressant, for the insomnia.

On May 21, 2000, authorities said that Mark Hughes died of an accidental overdose after mixing alcohol with a "toxic level" of antidepressants. Scott Carrier, of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, said final autopsy results found that Hughes, 44, had ingested a toxic combination of alcohol and Doxepin, an antidepressant he was taking to help him sleep.[5] His blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.21, more than 2 1/2 times the legal limit for driving.[7]

Before his marriage to LaPier, Hughes was married to Suzan Hughes for 10 years. Suzan is the mother to their only son, Alexander.

Following Mark Hughes' death, his attorney, Conrad Klein, assumed control of all Hughes' ventures including Herbalife, The Herbalife Family Foundation and The Mark Hughes Trust.

In 2006, The Los Angeles Superior Court suggested the potential removal of the Custodian of The Mark Hughes Trust, Jack Reynolds, for the possibility that he may have ceded control of $40,000,000 to Conrad Klein.[8] His son Alex will inherit most of the $400 million estate (as of 2006) when he turns 35.

Mark Reynolds Hughes is buried at Westwood Village Cemetery. 

References

1. La Roche, Julia (12 March 2014). "FTC OPENS INVESTIGATION INTO HERBALIFE — SHARES PLUNGE". Business Insider. 
2. McCrum, Dan (12 March 2014). "Herbalife hit by US ‘pyramid scheme’ probe". Financial Times. 
3. Vardi, Nathan (12 March 2014). "FTC Launches Herbalife Inquiry, Shares Fall". Forbes. 
4. [1] 
5. [2] 
6. [3] 
7. Autopsy on Herbalife founder finds death caused by accidental overdose 
8. Judge Fires Custodian of Herbalife Heir's $40 Million.

Cowboy Stuntman Montie Montana 1998 Oakwood Cemetery

Montie Montana (born Owen Harlen Mickel; June 21, 1910 – May 20, 1998),[1] was a rodeo trick rider, actor, stuntman and cowboy inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1994.

He was born in Wolf Point, Montana. He was a perennial participant in the Tournament of Roses Parade until his death in Los Angeles in 1998.[2] TV viewers know him from more than 60 appearances, waving to the crowd from his silver saddle. He can be seen as a contestant on the May 7, 1959 TV broadcast of You Bet Your Life, along with his horse Rex.[3]

Montana would go to elementary schools and perform with Rex. He was at Camellia Avenue Elementary School in North Hollywood, CA in 1959, and he would talk about the rubber horseshoes Rex would be fitted with so Rex would not slip on the asphalt playground while Montie was riding Rex. He performed rope tricks on and off of Rex, and would pass out photos of him and Rex to the students at the end of his show.

In 1996, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.[4] He was buried at the Oakwood Memorial Park in Chatsworth, California.[5]

Filmography

Arizona Bushwhackers (1968) 
The Young Rounders (1966) 
Hud (1963) (uncredited) 
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) (uncredited)

References

1. "Inductees". ProRodeo Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2007-01-03. 
2. Tribune Staff. "125 Montana Newsmakers: Montie Montana". Great Falls Tribune. 
3. "Montie Montana, dead at 87". Variety. 1998-05-26. 
4. Palm Springs Walk of Stars by date dedicated 5. Montie Montana at Find a Grave

"Lost Horizon" Actor Ronald Coleman 1958 Santa Barbara Cemetery

Ronald Charles Colman (February 9, 1891 – May 19, 1958) was an English actor, popular during the 1930s and 1940s.[1] He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for A Double Life (1947) and received nominations for Random Harvest (1942) and Bulldog Drummond/Condemned (1929, nominated for his work in both). Colman starred in several classic films, including A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Lost Horizon (1937) and The Prisoner of Zenda (1937).

Beau Geste (1926)

A Tale of Two Cities (1935)

Lost Horizon (1937)

A Prisoner of Zenda (1937)

Death

Ronald Colman died on 19 May 1958, aged 67, from acute emphysema in Santa Barbara, California, and was interred in the Santa Barbara Cemetery. He had a daughter, Juliet Benita Colman (born 1944), by his second wife Benita Hume.