They Went That-A-Way Part III Quiz

Answer: a heart attack (the big one)

Foxx died after suffering a massive heart attack while on the set of his new television series, "The Royal Family". The heart attack occurred while Foxx was rehearsing a scene with his co-star, and TV wife, Della Reese. A trademark of the character that Foxx played on "Sanford and Son" upon receiving unpleasant or disturbing news, was to grab his chest (faking a heart attack) gaze skyward, and talk to his departed wife proclaiming, "Elizabeth, this is the big one, I'm coming to join you, honey". When Foxx really did experience "the big one", Reese, along with the other actors and crew on the set believed that Foxx was just kidding around, and doing his Fred Sanford routine, and didn't immediately seek medical help for him.

Answer: plane crash due to in-flight fire

The two men were among the 110 fatalities when ValuJet Flight 529 crashed into the Florida Everglades. Less than 10 minutes after takeoff from Miami International Airport, the pilot radioed the Miami Air Traffic Control Center to "declare an emergency" and report that there was smoke in the cockpit and cabin of the aircraft. Shouts of, "fire, fire, fire" were heard on the planes cockpit recorder.

While returning to Miami International Airport, Flight 592 disappeared from the radar screens. It crashed on the Brown Farm Wildlife Management area of the Everglades, a few miles West of Miami.

There were no survivors. The pilot, Captain Candalyn "Candi" Kubeck became the first female captain to die while on duty. The crash occurred one day after her 35th birthday.

Answer: homicide

Angell and his wife Lynn, were both victims of homicide. The couple were passengers on American Airline Flight #11, a wide body 747-200 aircraft, from Boston's Logan International Airport to Los Angeles, California. Shortly after take-off, their plane was hijacked by terrorist affiliated with al Qaeda, and deliberately flown into the North tower of the World Trade Center, in New York City, New York, on September 11, 2001.Angell was the writer and producer on several top rated television series, including "Cheers", "Frasier", and "Winds".

Answer: Herve Villechaize

Villechaise, who was best remembered for his role as Tattoo of the 1978 television series, "Fantasy Island", died on September 4, 1993, after he shot himself in the back yard of his North Hollywood, California home. Villechaize was said at the time to be in ill health, depressed, and battling alcoholism.

Selena, the queen of Tejano music, was shot and killed in Corpus Christi, Texas on March 31, 1995, by Yolanda Saldivar, her friend, and president of her fan club. Music legend and former Beatles member John Lennon was shot and killed on December 8, 1980. outside of his New York City apartment by Mark David Chapman, a crazed fan of Lennon.

Television actress Rebecca Schaeffer, who co-stared with Pam Dawber in the 1986, television series, "My Sister Sam", was shot and killed outside of her Hollywood, California apartment, by Robert John Bardo, a paranoid, schizophrenic stalker. Bardo was able to obtain the address and other information about Schaeffer through California Department of Motor Vehicle records. Schaeffer's murder led to the change of procedures that protect the private lives of celebrities. Her murder also led changes in California law that reclassified stalking as a felony offense.

Answer: crushed and drowned

John Jacob Astor drowned during the maiden cruise of the "unsinkable" British passenger liner, "RMS Titanic", after it struck an iceberg, and sank. The condition of Astor's body, after being recovered, suggested that he had been crushed (most likely by one of the ships falling smoke stack) before drowning in the near freezing waters.
Astor was the wealthiest man aboard the ill fated "Titanic" during its first (any only) voyage. Astor traveled with his pregnant wife, Madeleine, and a small company of servants, his wife's maid and nurse, and his pet Airedale dog.
Following the collision, Astor helped his wife into a lifeboat. He asked if he could join his wife in the lifeboat, mentioning her delicate condition, but the ships officer in charge told him that all of the women and children had to be boarded.

Answer: AIDS

Blake died as result of complications from AIDS. Blake suffered liver failure, brought on by viral hepatitis, which was AIDS related. Blake contracted the AIDS virus from her last (of four) husband, Mark Spaeth, who was a real estate developer and city council member in Austin, Texas. Spaeth was reportedly involved in bi-sexual relations. Amanda Blake portrayed the fiery, yet compassionate red headed saloon owner, "Miss Kitty" Russell, on "Gunsmoke" for the first 19 of 20 seasons.

In 1968, Blake was inducted into the "Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum" in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Answer: gunshot wound

Hamilton died in a "gentleman's duel" with U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr.
At dawn on July 11th the duel took place, and Hamilton was shot and mortally wounded by Burr, near Weehawken, New Jersey, along the west bank of the Hudson River. Hamilton died from his wound the following day after being transported to New York, where he received final visits from relatives and friends. Ironically, Hamilton's eldest son, Philip, had been killed three years earlier in a duel at the very same location.

Answer: blood poisoning after an animal bite

Alexander I, died on August 25, 1920, at the age of 27, in Athens, Greece, of
sepsis, after being bitten three weeks earlier, by a pet monkey in the Royal Garden. Alexander I ruled Greece from 1917 until 1920.

Answer: first criminal in the U.S. executed by lethal injection

Charles Brooks was a convicted murderer and on December 7, 1982, was the first person executed by lethal injection in the United States. Brooks was injected with the lethal dose of drugs at 12:09 am, and was pronounced dead at 12:16 am. The execution took place in the death chamber at the Huntsville Unit of the state prison in Huntsville, Texas.

On December 14, 1976, Brooks went to a car lot in Texas, and requested a test drive. A mechanic, David Gregory accompanied Brooks on the test drive. After picking up another man, Woody Lourdes, the mechanic was forced into the trunk of the car, and driven to a motel. At the motel, the mechanic was bound to a chair and gagged. He was then shot once in the head. Lourdes was convicted, and received a 40 year prison sentence. Brooks received the death penalty.
As is the custom, death row inmates are granted their request for their final meal. His last meal consisted of a T-Bone steak, french fries, catsup, worchestershire sauce, biscuits, peach cobbler, ice tea, and ice cream,.

Answer: hit in the head by a pitched baseball

Cleveland Indian shortstop Ray Chapman became the only major league baseball player to have been killed in a game when he was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by New York Yankee hurler Carl Mays. The incident occurred during the fifth inning of a game played at the Polo Grounds in New York.

At the time, it was common practice for pitchers to dirty up a new baseball as soon as it was thrown into a game. Pitchers would smear new baseballs with dirt, licorice, and tobacco juice. The balls were deliberately scuffed, sandpapered, scraped, cut, or even spiked.
The result was a misshaped, earth-colored ball that traveled through the air erratically, softened in the later innings, and was very hard to see as it sailed over the plate.

Accounts of the incident indicate that Chapman never saw the pitched ball coming. The sound of the baseball crashing Chapman's skull was so loud that Mays thought it hit his bat, fielded the ball, and threw it to first base.
Chapman died 12 hours later in a New York City hospital. His death lead MLB to establish a rule requiring umpires to replace the baseball whenever it became dirty. Chapman's death was also one of the examples used to emphasize the need for wearing batting helmets. The rules requiring helmets was not adapted for until some 30 years later.