Elvis Didn't Die Alone: Ten August 16 Deaths Quiz

Answer: Boston Red Sox

Boston's owner, Harry Frazee, who was trying to finance a Broadway show ("No, No Nanette") could no longer satisfy the Babe's salary demands, and so he sold him to N.Y. When Babe joined the Red Sox in 1914, he was a pitcher who would go on to compile a W-L record of 94-46, and twice was a 20 game winner. As a pitcher he set a record for consecutive scoreless World Series innings in 1918, of 29 2/3 innings, a record that would last for 43 years, until it was broken by N.Y.'s Whitey Ford in 1961.
In his first year with The Yanks, (1920) he hit 54 HRs, batted .376 and had 137 RBIs. In 1927 he became the first player to hit 60 HRs in a season, while hitting .356 and driving in 164 runs. He was the American League's "Most Valuable Player" in 1923. He was a seven time World Series champion and retired as a member of the Boston Braves in 1935. The Yankees retired his famous number "3" in 1948. He is a member of "Major League Baseball's All-Time Team" and in 1998, "The Sporting News" voted him number one on its list of Baseball's Greatest 100 Players.

I think the Elvis tune that best describes Babe is "A Big Hunk 'O Love" (1959).

Intersting fact: In 1930, when a reporter asked him to justify his making a salary of $100,000 when President Hoover only made $75,000, The Bambino simply replied: "I had a better year than Hoover" :-)

Answer: U.S.S. Missouri

Halsey earned his nickname of "Bull" because of his aggressive style of leadership. His slogan was "hit hard, hit fast, hit often". In December 1941, he was the commander of the U.S.S. Enterprise and was on his way back to Pearl Harbor, due to arrive on December 6. His return was delayed by a storm and he didn't return until December 8, one day after the infamous Japanese sneak attack on a date that shall live in infamy. He earned many medals and commendations in his career, including the Navy Cross. He left active sevice with the rank of Fleet Admiral in March 1947. He died in 1959 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

When I think of his witnessing the ceremonies on "The Missouri" the Elvis song that comes to mind is "Surrender" (1961).

Interesting fact: When he earned his Naval Aviation Wings in 1935, he became the oldest man, 52, in the history of the U.S. Navy to do so.

Answer: Jean Simmons

He made over 30 Hollywood movies, including "Salome" (1953) with Rita Hayworth, "Bhowani Junction" (1956) with Ava Gardner, and played opposite "The Duke" himself, John Wayne in "North to Alaska" (1960). He became an American citizen in 1956. In the '60's he played in a handful of German flicks, before returning to the U.S. to play in the TV western series, "The Virginian", in its ninth and final year (1971). In 1972 he starred in a TV movie version of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" as Arthur Conan Doyle's famous British sleuth, Sherlock Holmes. He died in 1993 at the age of 80.

The thrice married Granger makes me think of Elvis' "Fools Fall in Love" (1966).

Interesting fact: Upon his arrival on the Hollywood movie scene he had to change his actual birth name, since it was the same as a well known American acting star, James Stewart.

Answer: struck by a drunk driver

Sorry, I couldn't resist "scarlet fever". In addition to winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1937), GWTW also won The National Book Award for Best Distinguished Novel (1936). It is set around the fictional cotton plantation of "Tara", during the American Civil War. Mitchell attended Smith College in MA for one year, before returning home upon the death of her mother in 1919. She actually began writing her great novel in 1926, while recuperating from an accident, and after several re-writes, it was finally published. It was later made into a movie of the same name, which won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture (1939).

The story of Rhett, Scarlett and Tara makes me think of Elvis' "Cottonfields" (1970).

Interesting fact: A 127 page novella that Mitchell wrote when she was 15, "Lost Laysen", was published posthumously in 1959.

Answer: Uganda

When he seized power in 1971, he was declared to be the third president of Uganda. After terrorizing his own people for years, he attempted to annex a province in Tanzania, but failed. This led to his being driven from power in 1979. The defeated madman escaped via Libya, to Saudi Arabia, where he died of kidney failure in 2003.

The Elvis song that Idi Amin easily brings to mind is, "You're the Devil in Disquise" (1963).

Interesting fact: While exact numbers are hard to come by, he is reported to have had five wives and somewhere between 30-45 little Amins.

Answer: bebop jazz

In 1942 at the age of 18, he filled in for a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra at New York's Paramount Theater. He studied at the Manhattan School of Music, and after taking time off to start his magnificent career, he finally graduated in in 1952. That same year, he and bass player Charles Mingus started their own label, Debut Records. Max also played with The Boston Symphony Orchestra, wrote for gospel choruses and beat the skins for hoofers at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He was married to the actress and jazz singer Abbey Lincoln from 1962-1970.

This one's easy, Elvis "Drums of the Islands" (1965) for this great musican.

Interesting fact: When Max was called to play in the heavenly choir in 2007 his funeral was attended by close to 2,000 mourners and music lovers.

Answer: Frankenstein's monster

He declined the role because he felt he would be unable to utilize one of his strongest assets, his chillingly accented voice. Had he accepted it, the world may never have gotten to know British truck driver William Pratt, later known as Boris Karloff, who took on the equally iconic role of the monster created by Mary Shelley. Lugosi acted in numerous Shakespearean plays in Europe, and appeared in a dozen silent films, under the name of Arisztid Olt in Germany.

Lugosi and Karloff were the "Abbott and Costello of horror films", and of the over 75 Hollywood movies Bela made, seven were with Boris. In 1939 he appeared with Greta Garbo in "Ninotchka". He died during production of "Plan 9 from Outer Space" (1959) and director Ed Wood filmed the rest of Lugosi's shots using a double, whose face was never seen. The double was a chiropractor who was treating Wood's wife. (Talk about a low buget movie)! A drug ravaged Lugosi succumbed to a heart attack.

I believe Lugosi's/Dracula's favorite Elvis tune, would almost certainly have to be, "I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine" (1954).

Interesting fact: Upon his death he was buried in a cape he wore in "Dracula".

Answer: Russell

Ms. Blake was an occasional guest on the TV game show "Hollywood Squares", and made over a dozen movies. One was "A Star is Born" (1954), which featured Judy Garland and won six Academy Awards. After she left show biz, she devoted much of her time trying to insure humane treatment of animals, and was instrumental in the founding of "PAWS" (the Performing Animals Welfare Society). A longtime heavy smoker, she died of a heart attack in 1989.

After learning of the passing of the beloved Miss Kitty, Marshall Dillon, Doc Adams, Chester and maybe even Elvis himself, likely thought, "Help Me Make it Through the Night" (1971).

Interesting fact: How's this for good company? In 1968, Amanda Blake became only the third person to be inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. Only Tom Mix (1958) and Gary "Coop" Cooper (1966) preceeded her. You go girl!

Answer: Juan Marichal

"The Dominican Dandy" done 'da deed. In fact he done 'da deed three times before the benches emptied and a 15 minute brawl ensued. Bad blood between the two rivals started over 50 years earlier when they both played in N.Y. In this game, on August 22, 1965 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Marichal who was batting, thought Roseboro's throws back to pitcher Sandy Koufax were thrown too close to his face. After a few heated words, Marichal conked Rosie and left him bleeding with cuts that would require 14 stitches.
Roseboro who sued Marichal for $110,000 also tried a little acting, appearing in the film "Experiment in Terror" (1962) and in the TV movie "Dragnet" (1967).

As Rosie saw Marichal about to attack him, Elvis', "Don't be Cruel" (1956) probably flashed through his mind.

Interesting fact: The two combatants eventually became close friends. In fact, after the great Marichal had been denied entry into the Hall of Fame four times, Rosie asked the voting baseball writers not to hold that incident against him. He asked that they just judge him on his outstanding pitching record. He was voted in on his fifth try, and thanked Roseboro for his help.

Answer: Germany

The Bunsen burner, which he and his assistant Peter Desaga developed, was a great improvement over existing burners in use at the time, and is still used in thousands of laboratories around the world. He was aided in his discovery of the two elements by Gustav Kirchhoff, and the Bunsen-Kirchhoff Award for outstanding achievement in the field of analytical spectroscopy is named for them and has been awarded since 1990. Bunsen is a past winner of The Copley Medal (1860), which is awarded for science research, and has been awarded since 1731 by the Royal Society of London. He studied minerology and geology upon his retirement in 1889, and passed away in Heidleberg, Germany in 1899 at the age of 88.

For the inventor of the Bunsen burner, Elvis' "Burning Love" (1972) is the obvious choice.

Interesting fact: He was a highly respected teacher as well as a scientist, and because of his humble ways, never sought the spotlight. So much so, that in his entire career, he never filed a single patent.