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1-10 of 10
- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Actor
A tragic fate may have given this visionary a heightened sensitivity, perception, awareness, even expansion to his obvious musical gifts that he may have never touched upon had he not suffered from his physical affliction. Whatever it was, Ray Charles revolutionized American music and was catapulted to legendary status by the time he died in Beverly Hills at age 73.
Born on September 23, 1930, to Aretha and Baily Robinson, an impoverished Albany, Georgia, family that moved to Greenville, Florida while he was still an infant. It was not a cause for joy and celebration. His father soon abandoned the family and his baby brother, George Robinson, drowned in a freak washtub accident. Ray himself developed glaucoma at the age of five and within two years had lost his sight completely. A singer in a Baptist choir, he developed a love and feel for rhythms and studied music at the State School for Deaf and Blind Children, showing which brought out his talent and ear for playing various instruments, including the piano and clarinet.
An orphan by his early teens, Ray joined a country band at age 16 called The Florida Playboys. He moved to Seattle in 1948 where he and Southern guitarist Gossady McGee formed the McSon Trio. With an emphasis on easy-styled jazz, Ray also played in bebop sessions on the sly. He departed from the McSon Trio and signed with Los Angeles-based Swing Time Records, becoming the pianist for rhythm and blues great Lowell Fulson and his band. Atlantic Records eventually picked him up. Along the road he would add composer, writer and arranger to his formidable list of talents.
Ray's first R&B hit was "Confession Blues" in Los Angeles in 1949. In 1951, he had his first solo chart buster with "Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand". His amazing versatility and raw, soulful delivery quickly caught on with audiences and helped put Atlantic Records on the map. Hits like "Mess Around", "Things I Used to Do", "A Fool for You", "I've Got a Woman", "Drown in My Own Tears", and especially "What'd I Say" in 1959, pushed gospel and R&B to a wider crossover audience. He made a move into the country music arena--unheard of for a black singer--in the 1960s, doing soulful spins on Hank Williams and Eddy Arnold tunes. In 1960, he left Atlantic and signed with ABC-Paramount. Under ABC-Paramount, hits poured out during this peak time with "I Can't Stop Loving You", "Hit the Road Jack", "Busted" and his beloved signature song "Georgia On My Mind".
His landmark 1962 album "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music" brought a new swinging style to country music. From there, he traveled a mainstream route--from interpreting songs from The Beatles ("Eleanor Rigby") to appearing in "Diet Pepsi" ads ("You Got the Right One, Baby, Uh-huh!"). He also showed up sporadically in films, playing himself in the movie Ballad in Blue (1965) and guest-starring in The Blues Brothers (1980) with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. A television musical variety favorite with his trademark dark sunglasses and dry humor, he worked alongside such musical legends as Ella Fitzgerald and Barbra Streisand on their very special evenings of song.
It is hard to believe that with everything he accomplished, Ray also had to deal with a longstanding heroin problem. In the mid-1960s, he was arrested for possession of heroin and marijuana and revealed that he had been addicted for nearly two decades. By 1965, he had completely recovered. The man who lived life on the edge was divorced twice and had 12 children both in and outside his marriages.
At the time of his death from liver disease on June 10, 2004, he was working on a recording project of duets with such performers as Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Elton John and Norah Jones. This collaboration entitled "Genius Loves Company" led to an incisive win at the Grammy Awards--eight posthumous trophies including "Album of the Year" and "Record of the Year".
A few months after his death, the critically-acclaimed feature film biography Ray (2004) was released starring Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx.- Joyce Bryant was born on 11 April 1916 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Terry and the Pirates (1940), The Iron Claw (1941) and Mr. Ace (1946). She died on 10 June 2004 in Newport Beach, California, USA.
- Kôtarô Tomita was born on 30 January 1927 in Kumamoto, Kyushu, Japan. He was an actor, known for Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964), Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) and Ultra Q (1965). He died on 10 June 2004 in Tokyo, Japan.
- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Odette Laure, an actress and cabaret singer, had been born Odette Roussillon on February 28, 1917, to the owners of the Café des Arts in Belleville. At the age of 4, she already climbed up on the tables of the establishment to sing Damia and Mistinguett's songs, while at school, her fantasy and her fun were a hit. Accustomed to be the star of school revues, she participated in radio contests: on one of these occasions, Saint-Granier, the host of Le Poste Parisien, noticed her and advised her a career as a fancy singer. In spite of her natural disposition, her father refused to allow her to enter the Conservatory. To please her parents, she became a hairdresser and beautician and got married. But her husband turned out to be unfaithful, which led her to divorce him. After the Second World War, now free of all parental and marital influence, she decided to pursue her lifelong passion. Knocking on the door of Suzy Solidor's cabaret proved a right move since she soon became, and for a long time, one of its stars. Exuberant, full of energy, with a cheeky acidulous voice, the show-woman invariably made audiences burst with laughter. In 1954, her greatest commercial success "Ca tourne pas rond dans ma petite tête" written by Francis Blanche, earned her into the bargain the Charles Cros Prize. After such recognition, The singer started appearing on bigger scenes (The Olympia and Bobino music-halls). She also worked for the radio and the French television (Jean Nohain's « C'est arrivé à 36 chandelles »). during the same period she became an actress, playing in more than 50 films and television shows between 1949 and 2001. Her film debut was a bit part opposite Jean Gabin in Carné's 1949 « La Marie du port ». All this buzzing activity came to an abrupt halt - and for a period of a dozen years. Odette Laure's status as a successful singer was indeed swept away by the yé yé wave. In 1961, disoriented, she decided to make an intellectual and metaphysical retreat to Japan. Back in France, things picked up again thanks to Jean-Laurent Cochet. Not only did he invite her to assist him in the new drama class he had just opened (which would train future stars such as Depardieu, Huppert, Giraudeau, or Lucchini) but he also sponsored her theatrical debut in « Boudu sauvé des eaux ». Many plays followed, as well as the operetta « Véronique », after André Messager (1977) and television (TV movies, series and a noted participation in Michel Drucker's TV show « Télé Gabriel » where her volubility once again proved irresistible). Without forgetting the cinema, where she always made'em laugh, especially in "Le Viager" by Pierre Tchernia (1971), "Les nanas" (1984) and "La Dilettante" by Pascal Thomas (1999). Of all the roles of the second half of her career one stands out in particular, that of Jane Birkin's mother (and widow of ... Dirk Bogarde) in Tavernier's moving" Daddy Nostalgie " (1990). She was even nominated for the César Award for Best Supporting Actress for it. Having to live with a heart condition, the multi-talented performer was forced to slow down on her activities. She died in her sleep in Paris on June 10, 2004 of a heart attack.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Ludmila Lopato was born on 5 August 1914 in Harbin, Heilongjiang. She was an actress, known for Innocents in Paris (1953), Alyse and Chloe (1970) and Bains de minuit (1987). She died on 10 June 2004 in Cannes, France.- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Composer, songwriter, author, arranger and pianist, educated at the University of Pennsylvania (Bachelor of Arts degree) and Rutgers University (Master of Arts degree). He has written, conducted, arranged and been pianist for several record companies, and also ran his own publishing firm. Joining ASCAP in 1957, his popular-song compositions include "Blue Jean Rhapsody", "Isle of Romance", "Bashful Debutante", "Eclipse", "Mirage in the Night", "The Workshop" and "Tina's Theme".- Fred Hassett was born on 14 April 1921 in Erie, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Nincompoop (1988). He died on 10 June 2004 in Mountain View, California, USA.
- Writer
- Actor
- Script and Continuity Department
Konrad Schwalbe was born in 1927 in Germany. He was a writer and actor, known for Verwirrung der Liebe (1959), Julia lebt (1963) and Der Frühling braucht Zeit (1965). He died on 10 June 2004 in Germany.- Anto Gardas was born on 21 May 1938 in Agici near Derventa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia. Anto was a writer, known for The Ghost in the Swamp (2006). Anto died on 10 June 2004 in Osijek, Croatia.
- Antoine Argoud was born on 26 June 1914 in Darney, Vosges, France. He died on 10 June 2004 in Vittel, Vosges, France.