"House of Usher" Actor & Producer Mark Damon 1933-2024 Memorial Video

Mark Damon (born Alan Harris; April 22, 1933 – May 12, 2024) was an American film producer and actor. He won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor for his performance in Roger Corman's House of Usher, before moving to Italy and becoming a notable Spaghetti Western star and member of the 1960s 'Dolce Vita' set of actors and actresses in Rome.

Born in Chicago, Damon moved to Los Angeles at a young age where he attended Fairfax High School. As a senior in high school, he was scouted as an actor by Groucho Marx, but chose to attend dental school at UCLA. He soon switched to the Anderson School of Management, eventually graduating with an MBA and a BA in English. Damon also began taking theater classes, and decided that he wanted a career as an actor.

In 1956, Damon started his career in Hollywood, signing a contract with 20th Century Fox. In 1960, Damon won a Golden Globe Award as a "Star of Tomorrow" for his performance in the film House of Usher. He would relocate to Rome, Italy afterwards, to star in spaghetti westerns.

Damon eventually gave up acting in the mid-1970s to become a film producer. He first entered the world of independent sales and production in the 1970s while living and working in Italy where he saw a huge market of independent international distributors eager for top American movies.

During the early 1970s, he became a film producer, and would become one of Hollywood's most prolific producers. He founded the production companies Producers Sales Organization, Vision International, MDP Worldwide, and Foresight Unlimited.

Mark Damon lived with his wife, actress Margaret Markov (née Margaret Mary Markov) in Beverly Hills, California. They had two children. He died in Los Angeles on May 12, 2024, at the age of 91. He is interred at Mount Sinai in the Hollywood Hills. 

-- Wikipedia

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

"King of the B's" Filmmaker Roger Corman 1926-2024 Memorial Video

Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema," "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood," and "The King of Cult," he was known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film

Among the countless features directed by Corman, a great deal were low-budget films that later attracted a cult following, such as The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), The Intruder (1962), and X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes (1963); House of Usher (1960) became the first of eight films directed by Corman that were adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe.

In 1964, Corman became the youngest filmmaker to have a retrospective at the Cinémathèque française, as well as in the British Film Institute and the Museum of Modern Art. He was the co-founder of New World Pictures, the founder of New Concorde and was a longtime member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2009, he was awarded an Academy Honorary Award "for his rich engendering of films and filmmakers."

Corman was also famous for handling the U.S. distribution of many films by noted foreign directors, including Federico Fellini (Italy), Ingmar Bergman (Sweden), François Truffaut (France) and Akira Kurosawa (Japan). He mentored and gave a start to many young film directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante, John Sayles, and James Cameron, and was highly influential in the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He also helped to launch the careers of actors like Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd, and William Shatner.

Corman occasionally acted in films by directors who started with him, including The Godfather Part II (1974), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Philadelphia (1993), Apollo 13 (1995), and The Manchurian Candidate (2004). A documentary about Corman's life and career titled Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel, directed by Alex Stapleton, premiered at the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals in 2011. The film's TV rights were picked up by A&E IndieFilms after a well-received screening at Sundance.

Roger Corman was married to Julie Halloran from 1970 until his death. They had four children. Corman died at his home in Santa Monica, California, on May 9, 2024, at age 98.

"Three's Company" Actress Suzanne Somers 1946-2023 Memorial Video

Suzanne Marie Somers (née Mahoney; October 16, 1946 – October 15, 2023) was an American actress, author, and businesswoman in the health and wellness industry. She played the television roles of Chrissy Snow on Three's Company (1977–1981), Sheriff Hildy Graner in She's the Sheriff, and Carol Foster Lambert on Step by Step (1991–1998).

Suzanne Somers wrote more than 25 books, including two autobiographies, four diet books, and a book of poetry. She was also well known for advertising the ThighMaster, an exercise device.

Suzanne Somers died at her home in Palm Springs, California, on October 15, 2023, one day before her 77th birthday. Her breast cancer had returned earlier in the year. Her funeral was held three days later, with her interment at Desert Memorial Park.

-- Wikipedia

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

"Caesar Salad" Inventor & Restaurateur Cesare Cardini 1956 Inglewood Park Cemetery

Cesare Cardini (also known as Caesar Cardini, February 24, 1896 – November 3, 1956) was an Italian restaurateur, chef, and hotel owner who, along with his brother Alex Cardini (November 23, 1899 – December 22, 1974), is credited with creating the Caesar salad[1] at his restaurant, Caesar's.

Biography

Caesar Cardini was born as Cesare Cardini in Baveno, a commune on the shore of Lago Maggiore, and had seven siblings: Bonifacio, Annibale, Nereo, Alessandro, Carlotta, Gaudenzio and Maria. While the sisters, Bonifacio, and Annibale stayed in Italy, the other three brothers emigrated to America; Nereo opened a small hotel near the casino in Santa Cruz, California;[2] Alessandro and Gaudenzio eventually were in the restaurant business in Mexico City. Alessandro, who was called Alex in the US, is reported to have been Caesar's partner in Tijuana, Mexico. Cesare sailed as a steerage passenger on board the RMS Olympic which arrived at the Port of New York on May 1, 1913. After inspection at Ellis Island, he boarded a train bound for Montreal.

ALEX and CAESAR

He eventually returned to Italy but, after having worked in European gastronomy, Caesar went again to the United States in 1919.[3] With partner William Brown, he ran Brown's Restaurant in Sacramento,[4] then he moved to San Diego. At that time he established the first of several restaurants in Tijuana, where he could avoid the restrictions of prohibition. He married musician Camille D. Stump on August 27, 1924 in Santa Ana, California. The couple had one daughter, Rosa Maria Cardini (1928–2003).[5]

Cardini is credited with having created "Caesar's salad,"[6] which became fashionable among Hollywood and other celebrities, especially after he had moved his restaurant a few blocks to the hotel, which was built around 1929 (nowadays called Hotel Caesar's).

After the repeal of the Volstead Act and the Mexican government's ban on gambling, business from tourism to Tijuana drastically fell off.[7] Cardini quit his Mexican businesses in 1936[8] and moved back to San Diego to establish the Caesar Cardini Cafe.[9] For several years, he operated Tavern Hacienda in San Diego, the Beacon Inn in Cardiff-by-the-Sea and his own Caesar Cardini Villa in Chula Vista.

The family moved to Los Angeles about 1938[1] and Cardini focused on the production and marketing of his salad dressing which he trademarked in 1948. 

Cesare Cardini died in Good Samaritan Hospital on November 3, 1956 in Los Angeles following a stroke at his home at 8738 Bonner Drive. 

Cesare Cardini was buried in Inglewood Park Cemetery.[10][11] His daughter took control of Caesar Cardini Foods Inc.[12] Later, the Cardini's brand was sold, and is now owned by the T. Marzetti specialty salad dressing company. It is still popular and offers more than a dozen varieties of the original recipe.[13]

Legacy

In Tijuana, Caesar's Restaurant and Bar on Avenida Revolución,[14] now under Baja Med celebrity chef Javier Plascencia, serves the "original Caesar's salad."[15]

References

1. "Cesar Cardini, Creator of Salad, Dies at 60." Los Angeles Times. November 5, 1956. Since 1935 he had lived in Los Angeles and was active in the marketing of the salad dressing he concocted. Accessed 2007-07-21.

2. "Nereo F. Cardini goes to Tijuana." Santa Cruz Sentinel (Santa Cruz, California) 22 Sep 1935, pg 8.

3. Washington, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1961

4. Advertisement, Sacramento Union, December 13, 1919, pg 2.

5. "Rosa Cardini". The Daily Telegraph. September 21, 2003. Rosa Cardini, who has died in California aged 75, turned the salad dressing created by her father, Caesar, into a staple of modern dining and a million-dollar business.

6. According to his daughter, when interviewed in mid-1970s and in 1987, this was on July 4, 1924, but there may be quite some doubt regarding verifiable data. Cardini was as much a smart businessman as a great showmaster, and why should his only daughter and heiress have diminished his fame? On controversies, see Caesar salad

7. San Diego Union, July 22, 1935; July 23, 1935; June 19, 1936. La Prensa, July 27, 1935.

8. San Diego Union, July 1, 1936. Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1936.

9. "Cafe Operator Remodels Downtown Corner." San Diego Evening Tribune, September 16, 1936. Grand opening display ad, San Diego Union, September 18, 1936. See also "Caesar Cardini Cafe." Classic San Diego: tasty bites from the history of San Diego. Web.

10. "Caesar Cardini Funeral." Los Angeles Times. November 7, 1956. 

11. See details and a picture of his gravestone at Findagrave

12. "At the age of 10, Rosa helped to bottle her father's famous recipe, which the family sold from their station wagon at Los Angeles' Farmers Market after moving from San Diego." (From a 1987 interview with Rosa Cardini)

13. See Cardini's Salad Dressings Product Info [1] product details.

14. Tijuana tourism board: Restaurant Caesar's Palace Archived 2007-09-19 at the Wayback Machine, 8131 Revolucion Ave. [...]

15. http://www.caesarstijuana.com

Philanthopist Carrie Estelle Doheny 1958 Calvary Cemetery

From the Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation 

"Supporting Los Angeles-based Good Works Since 1949"

Carrie Estelle Doheny (August 2, 1875 - October 30, 1958) was a woman of strong faith, intellectual curiosity and deep compassion for the underserved in her community. From humble origin, her marriage to Edward L. Doheny allowed her the resources to emerge as a significant philanthropist in Los Angeles and a renowned collector of books. She lived her life with an eye towards heaven, always trying to contribute to His Kingdom on earth.

Carrie Estelle Betzold was born in Philadelphia on August 2, 1875. At fifteen, she and her German immigrant parents moved to Los Angeles. A decade later, Carrie Estelle was working as a telephone operator when she met forty-four year old Edward Laurence Doheny, a self-made businessman. After a brief courtship, the two were married and Carrie Estelle took over as the primary caretaker of Ned, her new stepson.

Mrs. Doheny was a devout Catholic and had a special affinity for the Vincentians and Daughters of Charity, orders of religious men and women formed around the charism of St. Vincent de Paul. During their thirty-five year union, the Dohenys would fund the construction of a Church and hospital in the name of this Saint.

During the later years of the Dohenys’ marriage, Reverend William G. Ward, a Vincentian priest, was assigned as their chaplain. He remained one of Mrs. Doheny’s chief advisors throughout the rest of her life. He was instrumental in the formation and design of the Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation and many other charitable pursuits of Mrs. Doheny.

After Mr. Doheny died in 1935, Carrie Estelle began to dispose of some of the properties and other time-consuming holdings, but she did not decrease the scope of her charitable work. In early 1939, Carrie Estelle was elevated to the rank of Papal Countess by Pope Pius XII.

On her 60th birthday, Mrs. Doheny became partially blind while kneeling at mass. Later she learned that glaucoma had destroyed her sight. After the studying the disease, she created what would become the Doheny Eye Institute.

In her later years, Carrie Estelle made provisions for the future of several of her charitable endeavors, including St. Vincent’s Church and the Vincentian Fathers House of Studies. On June 17, 1949, she created the Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation. She wanted the Foundation to be continuous, to further provide for the charities close to her heart after she was gone. Carrie Estelle Doheny died on October 30, 1958. 

Edward L. Doheny

Edward was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on August 10, 1856, the son of Irish immigrants. Edward left home quite young to prospect for gold and silver. Together with his partner Charles Canfield he located oil in Los Angeles and brought in the first commercially successful oil well in Mexico. Carrie Estelle never bore any children; Edward had a seven-year-old son from his first marriage named Ned.

The successes of the oil business and the satisfaction in their charitable work were tempered by a congressional investigation of the leasing of naval oil reserves in 1922. The trials, which began in 1923, lasted through 1930 with Mr. Doheny’s acquittal. They led a quiet life until Edward died September 8, 1935.

Mrs. Doheny, the Collector

Carrie Estelle Doheny was a renowned collector of books with a particular interest in Bibles, most notably the Guttenberg Bible which she owned for decades. In 1983, 25 years after her death, her gift to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles became unrestricted and was liquidated. During the two years of auctions in New York, London and Paris, her collection at the Edward Laurence Doheny Memorial Library ultimately realized upwards of $34 million.

Carrie Estelle Betzold Doheny and Edward Laurence Doheny are interred at Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.