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- Actress
- Soundtrack
Dana Michelle Plato was born in Maywood, California, on Saturday, November 7, 1964. Her first excursion into the film world occurred when she was 11 in the television film Beyond the Bermuda Triangle (1975). Dana never made an impact on the TV screen until she landed the role of Kimberly Drummond in the TV hit sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978) from 1978-1986. After the series ended, Dana had difficulty finding more acting work. Sometimes she would act in a made-for-TV movie or a low- budget silver-screen film. She was married for Lanny Lambert for seven years and they had a son. She was arrested in 1991 for robbing a Las Vegas video store and placed on probation; the next year she was arrested again, this time for forging a Valium prescription. She had just finished an interview with Howard Stern in the spring of 1999 when she and her fiancé, Robert Menchaca, were headed back to California. She hoped the interview would revive her stalled career. They stopped at his parents' house in Moore, Oklahoma for a Mother's-Day-weekend visit; on Saturday, May 8, 1999, Dana died of what appeared to be an accidental overdose of the painkiller "Loritab". On May 21, a coroner's inquest ruled her death a suicide because of the large amount of drugs in her body and her history of past suicide attempts. Dana Plato was 34 years old.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Marguerite Churchill was born on 26 December 1910 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. She was an actress, known for The Big Trail (1930), Riders of the Purple Sage (1931) and The Walking Dead (1936). She was married to George O'Brien. She died on 9 January 2000 in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, USA.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
George was the son of the San Francisco Chief of Police who became a college athlete. He was the Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the Pacific Fleet during World War I. In the early 1920s, George wound up in Hollywood where he worked as a stuntman and part time actor. In 1924, Director John Ford picked virtually unknown George to star in his first picture, The Iron Horse (1924). Over the next two years, he would appear in four more Ford films and would co-star with Janet Gaynor in The Blue Eagle (1926) and Sunrise (1927). "Sunrise," a winner of two Academy Awards, was the story of a simple farmer who lets another woman talk him into murdering his wife. George remained popular until sound came along. By that time, his popularity was sliding, but he did make the transition to sound. With his rugged looks and physical size, he was soon a Western Cowboy Star. He was in some of the best stories ever written, Riders of the Purple Sage (1931), and in some of the worst. But he was consistently in the Top Ten money-making Western Stars. He would appear in a few films outside the horse set, such as Ever Since Eve (1934), but those roles would be few. By the end of the 1930s, George was still a popular 'B' movie Cowboy Star, but he would not take the parts as seriously as he did a decade before. During World War II, he hung up his spurs, and he re-enlisted in the Navy where he fought in the Pacific and was decorated many times. After the war, when he would not find work in acting, John Ford, his old Director, would give him work with the cavalry in three of his films.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Born July 8, 1961, Toby Keith Covel was the second child of Joan and Hubert Keith ("H. K.") Covel. He was born in Clinton, Oklahoma, and grew up with his brother Tracy and sister Tonnie in Moore, Oklahoma. After graduating from Moore High School, he didn't go on to college, but went to work in the Oklahoma oil fields with his father. He later met and married Tricia Lucas, whose child, Shelley Reeve, he adopted. He later had two children with Tricia -- daughter Krystal (born 1985, married in 2011) and son Stelen (born in 1997).
When Krystal was born, the Oklahoma oil industry had collapsed; leaving Toby, Tricia, and their two daughters in financial troubles. Touring with his band, the Easy Money Band, he got them all out of debt. After signing a deal at Mercury Records, his debut album "Toby Keith", which contained his first chart topper, "Should've Been a Cowboy", finally established him as a professional singer-songwriter. He then left Mercury for a period of three years. Coming back in 1997, he released his final studio album for Mercury, "Dream Walkin".
A year after his first Greatest Hits compilation came out from Mercury, he and producer James Stroud, left the label. He then signed a deal with DreamWorks Records, headed by his producer. Since releasing his fifth album, "How Do You Like Me Now?!", and its title track (written by Toby and Chuck Cannon); the then-DreamWorks, now-Showdog Tunes-signed singer and BMI-affiliated songwriter saw success like never before.
That success can be measured with at least five more studio albums since "How Do You Like Me Now?", more #1 singles, Academy of Country Music Awards (including two "Entertainer of the Year" awards) and other kinds of awards, and another Greatest Hits compilation (including songs from albums "How Do You Like Me Now?", "Pull My Chain", and "Unleashed", and a cover of "Mockingbird" with his daughter Krystal, who released her debut album in December 2011). He opened his own record label, the aforementioned Showdog Tunes.
Tragically, Toby Keith died after a battle with cancer at age 62 on February 5, 2024 in his beloved native Oklahoma.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Jeff MacKay was born on 20 October 1948 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Magnum, P.I. (1980), All the President's Men (1976) and JAG (1995). He died on 22 August 2008 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
As they say, like father, like son. Cowboy hero Tim Holt avidly followed in the boots of his famous character-actor dad, the granite-jawed Jack Holt (b. Charles John Holt), who appeared in hundreds of silents and talkies (many of them westerns) over the years. The two actually appeared together as father and son in the western The Arizona Ranger (1948), and Jack was glimpsed (as a hobo in the Mexican flophouse that Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, and Tim were staying in) in the classic The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). Also a part of the acting Holt clan was the beautiful "prairie flower" Jennifer Holt (nee Elizabeth Marshall Holt), Tim's younger sister, who appeared in scores of 1940s oaters. The three, however, never performed together in a single film.
Tim was born Charles John Holt, Jr. in Beverly Hills on February 5, 1918, to Jack and his wife, Margaret Woods, at a time when Jack was just making a dent in silent films. Nicknamed "Tim", he was raised on his father's ranch in Fresno, where he performed outside chores and learned to ride a horse. Tim, in fact, made his debut at age 10 in one of his father's westerns, The Vanishing Pioneer (1928), based on a Zane Grey story. He played Jack's character as a young boy.
The boyishly rugged, athletically inclined Tim attended military school in his teens, excelling in polo. While studying at college, he married his college sweetheart, Virginia Ashcroft, in 1938. At this point he decided to try to put together an acting career. Virginia herself made a very brief foray into acting.
Tim apprenticed at various stock companies before he eased his way back into films with an unbilled part in History Is Made at Night (1937). He then earned strong notices in the classic Barbara Stanwyck tearjerker Stella Dallas (1937) and as Olivia de Havilland's brother in Gold Is Where You Find It (1938). His horseback riding capabilities and fast-drawing technique quickly kicked in with The Law West of Tombstone (1938), and he joined a superb cast in John Ford's classic western Stagecoach (1939) as a by-the-book cavalry lieutenant.
Hardly confined to westerns at this early stage, Tim showed impressive acting abilities in comedy (Fifth Avenue Girl (1939)), adventures (Swiss Family Robinson (1940)), and high drama (Back Street (1941)), all for RKO Pictures. He reached an early peak when Orson Welles cast him against type as the cruel, malicious son George in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), a role Welles initially contemplated playing himself. By the mid '40s, however, Tim had settled into the western genre. He starred in a series of dusty RKO features partnered with comic Cliff Edwards by his side and also appeared solo elsewhere.
World War II interrupted his thriving career. He was a decorated hero (Distinguished Flying Cross, Victory Medal, and Presidential Unit Citation among his awards) while serving in the Air Corps and was discharged with the rank of second lieutenant. Wounded over Tokyo on the last day of the war, he was also given the Purple Heart. He made an auspicious return to films in the role of Virgil Earp in Ford's My Darling Clementine (1946) and then continued in a somewhat lesser vein with "B"-level oaters. He came to the forefront one more time, co-starring with gold prospecting rivals Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston in John Huston's masterpiece The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), arguably the high point of Tim's entire film career, which rightfully earned him the best notices he ever received.
Richard Martin became his second sidekick in another popular string of RKO westerns, with Tim repeatedly making the "top ten" ranks of money-making cowboy stars. Appearing almost exclusively for RKO from 1939 on, Tim eventually became disillusioned with the quality of his pictures and decided to abandon films after appearing in RKO's Desert Passage (1952) while still a popular draw. Divorced from his second wife, Alice Harrison, he retired for the most part to his Oklahoma ranch with his third wife, Berdee Stephens, and their three children. He later became a manager for a radio station in Oklahoma City. In 1957 he came out of retirement to head up the cast in the subpar sci-fi horror film The Monster That Challenged the World (1957) and then quickly returned to obscurity.
Little was heard from Tim over the years save a co-starring role in a low-budget hillbilly moonshine extravaganza for exploitation king Herschell Gordon Lewis called This Stuff'll Kill Ya! (1971). He was diagnosed with bone cancer in August of 1972 and passed away rather quickly on February 15, 1973, shortly after his 54th birthday. Buried in Oklahoma, he was posthumously inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame in 1991 and was a recipient of the "Golden Boot" award in 1992.- Additional Crew
- Actor
- Stunts
Larry Sellers was a Native American actor and stuntman of Osage and Cherokee descent and an adopted member of the Lakota nation. Sellers became known for his regular role as Cloud Dancing in the popular CBS hit series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993). He also worked in the capacity of technical advisor on the show, notably on linguistic aspects. Other roles saw Sellers portraying a Comanche in Lightning Jack (1994), a Cheyenne Sheriff in Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) and a Native American casino owner in an episode of The Sopranos (1999).
At the age of 28, Sellers had a vision which prompted him to study the traditional Sun Dance of the Plains Indians and implement its reintroduction to the Osage people. A ceremony of great religious significance, this ritual was designed as supplication to the Great Spirit in order to ensure the tribe's overall welfare. Traditionally, it also bestowed greater merit to individuals who underwent the physically harder aspects, which included four days of prayer and dancing while deprived of food and water. Sellers was said to have turned down an offer to appear in Kevin Costner's epic Dances with Wolves (1990) because he was not given the four days required to complete the Sun Dance ceremony.
Larry Sellers presided over a non-profit organization for the preservation of the Osage language, and, from 2004, operated the Missionary Society for the Preservation of Traditional Values which aims to uphold and/or revive spiritual values and heritage. He latterly resided in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, a town named after a prominent 28th century chief and seat of the Osage tribal government. He passed away on December 9, 2021, at the age of 72.- Actor
- Director
Clint Kimbrough was born on 8 March 1933 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Young Nurses (1973), Bloody Mama (1970) and Studio One (1948). He was married to Frances Doel. He died on 9 April 1996 in Ada, Oklahoma, USA.- Actor
- Director
Valentin de Vargas was born on 26 April 1935 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. He was an actor and director, known for To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Touch of Evil (1958) and Hatari! (1962). He was married to M. Diana Pace, Nome Jones and Arlene McQuade. He died on 10 June 2013 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Music Department
Roy Clark was born on 15 April 1933 in Meherrin, Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for Hee Haw (1969), Uphill All the Way (1986) and The Kallikaks (1977). He was married to Barbara Joyce Rupard. He died on 15 November 2018 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Cute, bubbly, and adorable actress Carol Speed achieved a considerable amount of cult cinema popularity with her often lively and delightful contributions to a handful of enjoyably down'n'dirty 1970s blaxploitation features.
She was born Carolyn Stewart on March 14, 1945, in Bakersfield, California. She holds the distinction of being the first black homecoming queen in Santa Clara County and was one of the first black people to receive a scholarship for the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. Carol got her start in show business as a back-up singer for Bobbie Gentry at Harrah's club in Reno, Nevada. She made her film debut as a hooker in The New Centurions (1972). Speed's most memorable movie roles include sassy prison inmate Mickie in Jack Hill's hilarious babes-behind-bars parody The Big Bird Cage (1972), pimp Max Julien's loyal prostitute girlfriend Lulu in the terrific The Mack (1973), sarcastic rock groupie Janyce in Bummer (1973), club owner Rockne Tarkington's sweet gal pal Leslie in the fun Black Samson (1974) and deaf-mute Sarah in Al Adamson's Dynamite Brothers (1974).
Carol gave an especially inspired and impressive performance as a minister's innocent wife who becomes possessed by the malevolent spirit of an evil demon in William Girdler's immensely entertaining horror flick Abby (1974). She had a recurring part on the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives (1965) in the summer of 1970. Moreover, she made a guest appearance on an episode of Sanford and Son (1972), appeared in several TV commercials, and pops up in the made-for-TV films The Girls of Huntington House (1973), Love Hate Love (1971), Tenafly (1973), Getting Away from It All (1972), and The Psychiatrist (1970).
Outside of acting, Carol was also a successful writer (she's the author of the books "Inside Black Hollywood" and "The Georgette Harvey Story"), singer and songwriter (she sang her own compositions "I Can Make It" in "The Girls of Huntington House" and "My Soul Is A Witness" in "Abby"). After taking a regrettably lengthy hiatus from acting following Disco Godfather (1979) (she was slated to do a small role in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown (1997), but backed out at the last minute), Speed made a welcome comeback with a supporting part in the independent thriller Village Vengeance (2006).
Carol Speed died at age 76 on January 14, 2022 in Muskogee, Oklahoma.- Mister Ed was born in El Monte, California, and his real name was Bamboo Harvester. He was a palomino show horse that had his own show. On the Mr. Ed show, he played a talking horse that only spoke to his owner Wilber. Bamboo Harvester actually had a stunt double who stepped in often. He died in 1968 in Snodgrass Farm, Talequah, Oklahoma, USA.
- Danny Mummert was born on 20 February 1934 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Blondie's Big Moment (1947) and Footlight Glamour (1943). He was married to Linda Louise Earl Moreno, Mae Louise Horwitz Helms, Helene L Harnett and Joan H. Hummel. He died on 10 August 1974 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
John Barbata was born on 1 April 1945 in Passaic, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for The Boat That Rocked (2009), The Wood (1999) and Hunky Dory (2011). He was married to Angela Evans. He died on 8 May 2024 in Ada, Oklahoma, USA.- Tyler Lambert was born on 2 July 1984 in California, USA. He died on 6 May 2010 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
With his slicked back hair and thin moustache Erik Rhodes arrived in Hollywood to recreate his stage role of Rudolfo Tonetti (which he had performed first on Broadway and then in London, 1932-1933) for the filming of The Gay Divorcee (1934), starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Contrary to his screen image, Erik was born in Oklahoma and graduated from the University of Oklahoma where he won a scholarship to study acting in New York. He made his theatrical debut, delivering eight lines, in the 1928 play 'A Most Immoral Lady', under his birth name Ernest (sometimes spelled Earnest) Sharpe. Because of his good baritone voice, he was next cast in two musicals. An expert mimicker of accents and dialects, he came to specialise in films as the perennial hyperactive continental charmer. In his second notable screen outing, Top Hat (1935), he played flamboyant dressmaker Alberto Beddini, famously declaring to Ginger Rogers "All my life I have promised my dresses I'd take them to Italy...and you must be in them". There were other good parts, particularly in the comedy A Night at the Ritz (1935) as would-be master chef Leopold Jaynos. Andre Sennwald's review in The New York Times (May 16,1935) commented on Erik's performance "as the psychopath with a yearning for culinary immortality, he gives 'A Night at the Ritz' its air of polite lunacy and helps to wring laughter out of a featherweight enterprise".
Erik Rhodes made films at RKO until 1937, more often than not as excitable Europeans (Henri Saffron in Woman Chases Man (1937), Frank Rochet in Old Man Rhythm (1935), Tony Bandini in Criminal Lawyer (1937) and, not forgetting, Spaghetti Nadzio in Music for Madame (1937)). By the end of the decade, his screen career had run its course. After his wartime service with U.S. Air Force Intelligence, he went back to Broadway for a lengthy spell in 'Can Can' as a Parisian bon vivant.- Camera and Electrical Department
Born in Moline, Illinois, Brooke Phillips worked as a sex worker at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch Brothel in Carson City, Nevada. She was featured in the HBO series Cathouse: The Series under the name Brooke Taylor.
Dennis Hof, owner of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, described Phillips as "a popular, outgoing, charismatic girl" Hof said he hired Phillips in 2007 after she said she was a big fan of the series and wanted to work at the ranch and be on the show.- Emily Smith was born on 13 August 1943 in Sullivan, Indiana, USA. She died on 4 January 2013 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
- Producer
- Production Manager
- Actor
Gray Frederickson was born on 21 July 1937 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. He was a producer and production manager, known for The Godfather Part II (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979) and UHF (1989). He was married to Karen. He died on 20 November 2022 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA.- Dennis Letts was born on 5 September 1934 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Cast Away (2000), Secondhand Lions (2003) and Passenger 57 (1992). He was married to Billie Letts. He died on 22 February 2008 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
- Robert Gray was born on 10 February 1945 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Innerspace (1987), The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) and Hamburger: The Motion Picture (1986). He died on 31 October 2013 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
- Music Department
Tom Tripplehorn was born on 2 February 1944 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. Tom was married to Suzanne Ferguson. Tom died on 15 March 2019 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.- Clem Harvey was born in 1919 in the USA. He was an actor, known for Ocean's Eleven (1960), One-Eyed Jacks (1961) and State Fair (1962). He was married to Lenice Adele Kittleson. He died in 1988 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Additional Crew
His mother talked him into watching The Wizard of Oz (1939) on his family's television when he was six years old. Samaras became fond of the tornado scene. After that scene ended, he had no interest in everything else from that musical film, not even the Wicked Witch. Samaras attended Lasley Elementary and O'Connell Junior High in Lakewood. His graduation was at Alameda International High School in 1976. In his twenties, he began to chase tornadoes for the science and humanity's safety every spring all over the United States until his tragic death.- Jacqueline McEntire was born on 6 November 1926 in Reynolds, Oklahoma, USA. She was an actress, known for Reba (2001). She was married to Clark McEntire . She died on 14 March 2020 in Stringtown, Oklahoma, USA.
- Stunts
- Actress
Stephanie Epper was born on 9 December 1943 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for The Blues Brothers (1980), Beverly Hills Cop (1984) and Total Recall (1990). She died on 7 September 2013 in Sperry, Oklahoma, USA.- William Post Jr. was born on 19 February 1901 in Montclair, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942), The Black Camel (1931) and Mr. and Mrs. North (1942). He was married to Joan Castle and Doris Muriel (Broiles) Post. He died on 26 September 1989 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA.
- Sharon Marshall was born on 6 September 1969 in Wayne County, Michigan, USA. She died on 30 April 1990 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA.
- Bill Vint was born on 22 November 1942 in Wichita, Kansas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Other Side of the Mountain (1975), The Baltimore Bullet (1980) and Felony (1994). He died on 29 November 2021 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Music Department
Merle Travis was born on 29 November 1917 in Rosewood, Kentucky, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Thank You for Smoking (2005), Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) and From Here to Eternity (1953). He was married to Mary E. Johnson Edwards and Judy Hayden. He died on 20 October 1983 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, USA.- Travis Maldonado was born on 22 March 1994 in Alameda County, California, USA. He was married to Joe Exotic. He died on 6 October 2017 in Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, Wynnewood, Oklahoma, USA.
- Karen Silkwood, a nuclear plant laborer and union activist who died while investigating safety violations made by her employer, is viewed as a martyr by anti-nuclear activists; her story was made into the drama film Silkwood (1983).
On the night of November 13, 1974, Karen Silkwood, a technician at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron River nuclear facility in Crescent, Oklahoma, was driving her white Honda to Oklahoma City. There she was to deliver a manila folder full of alleged health and safety violations at the plant to a friend, Drew Stephens, a reporter from The New York Times and national union representative. However, seven miles out of Crescent, her car went off the road, skidded for a hundred yards, hit a guardrail, and plunged off the embankment. Silkwood was killed in the crash, and the manila folder was not found at the scene when Stephens arrived a few hours later. Nor has this come to light since. Although Kerr-McGee was a prominent Oklahoma employer whose integrity had never been challenged, as a part of the nuclear power industry it had many adversaries. The controversy ignited by Silkwood's death regarding the regulation of the nuclear industry was intense, with critics finally finding an example around which to focus their argument. The legacy of the Silkwood case continues to this day in the on-going debate over the safety of nuclear technology.
Silkwood seemed an unlikely candidate to have had such a dramatic impact on American society. One biographer commented that "most of her life was distinguished by how ordinary it was, as ordinary as her death was extraordinary." Born in Longview, Texas, Silkwood grew up in Nederland, in the heart of the Texas oil and gas fields. The oldest of three daughters of Bill and Merle Silkwood, she led a normal life. In high school, she played on the volleyball team and flute in the band, and was an "A" student and a member of the National Honor Society. She excelled in chemistry and, upon graduation, went to Lamar College in Beaumont to become a medical technician.
After her first year of college, Silkwood eloped with Bill Meadows. They moved around Texas, where Meadows worked in the oil industry and Silkwood took care of their three children. After years of financial struggle (they finally declared bankruptcy), Silkwood left him in 1972 when she discovered Meadows was having an affair with her friend. Giving Bill custody of the children, she moved to Oklahoma City. There she found a job at Kerr-McGee's Cimarron River plant in Crescent, thirty miles north of Oklahoma City, soon joined the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union, and walked the picket line during their largely unsuccessful nine-week strike in 1972.
The Cimarron facility manufactured fuel rods that were used in nuclear fission reactors. Contained within these fuel rods were particles of plutonium, an element created from uranium atoms, and the most toxic substance then known. Even pollen-sized grains of plutonium can cause cancer, as had been shown in animal experiments, but the workers at the plant were not alerted to any danger. Nonetheless, Silkwood became increasingly concerned about health and safety violations that went uncorrected by management, and as 1974 drew on, got involved with the bargaining committee for the union. The Cimarron plant was experiencing sixty percent employee turnover a year, was using second-hand equipment, and was behind on production.
Desperate to avoid another strike, which was looming, Kerr-McGee organized a union de-certification vote that, though ultimately failing, galvanized the union into bringing the safety violations to the attention of federal officials. Silkwood and two other local union officials went to Washington, D.C., to confer with national union leaders and the Atomic Energy Commission. Chief among their allegations were the lack of training given employees, failure to minimize contamination, and poor monitoring, including the finding of uranium dust in the lunchroom. At this meeting, Silkwood secretly agreed to obtain before and after photomicrographs of faulty fuel rods showing where they were being ground down to disguise faults.
After this meeting, Silkwood began carrying around notebooks to document a variety of safety violations at the plant. Her assertion was that people were being contaminated by plutonium all the time, and indeed there were at least 17 acknowledged incidents of exposure involving 77 employees in the recent past. Silkwood's concern was obsessive. As her friend Stephens remarked: "She just lived it, couldn't let it go and relax, particularly in the last month she was alive." On November 4 and 5, 1974, for two consecutive days, Silkwood was contaminated by radioactivity, detected by plant electronic monitors when leaving work. By November 7, her urine showed very high levels of radioactivity. When tested, her apartment also showed high levels, especially in the refrigerator. At this time, Silkwood was convinced she was going to die of plutonium poisoning. She and her roommate and Stephens were sent to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to be more thoroughly tested. The exposure level was deemed not serious.
On November 13, Silkwood attended a local union meeting then got into her car to drive to Oklahoma City to deliver the manila folder of evidence, the results of her seven-week vigil, to New York Times reporter David Burnham. Ten minutes later, her car went off the road and Silkwood died. The state patrol ruled it an accident, saying "it's pretty clear she fell asleep at the wheel. She never woke up." While blood tests showed a small amount of alcohol and methaqualone (a prescription sedative) in her system, it is doubtful the amount was sufficient to induce sleep in ten minutes. A subsequent investigation by a private detective concluded that she had likely been forced off the road by another car; a dent in the rear bumper showed metal and rubber fragments, as if another car had rammed her from behind. The manila folder was not recovered from the site of the crash, though other personal effects were.
A subsequent Justice Department investigation also ruled this an accident. However, Congressional hearings, along with a lawsuit on behalf of Silkwood's children, have revealed an intriguing and bizarre story to discredit critics, involving the FBI, newspaper reporters, and the nuclear industry, a story largely left untold. It is possible Silkwood's phone had been tapped and that she had been under surveillance for a while. Union official Jack Tice has said that Silkwood had been alarmed before her death: "She was starting to think someone was out to get her."
The truth of what happened the night of November 13, 1974, may never be known. What is clear is that the death of Silkwood has become a rallying point for anti-nuclear activists and put the nuclear industry on the defensive. The Atomic Energy Commission confirmed three violations at the Cimarron plant, which eventually shut down. And a major questioning of the nuclear industry has occurred as a result of the revelations that have come to light. In a suit filed by Bill Silkwood on behalf of his grandchildren, a jury in May 1979, awarded the Silkwood estate over ten million dollars in punitive damages and cleared Silkwood of the allegation that she had stolen plutonium from the plant. It also found that Kerr-McGee had been negligent and that someone had planted plutonium in her apartment. Though an appeals court overturned the decision, the Supreme Court eventually agreed with the lower court, reinstating the victory for the Silkwood family and saying that punitive damages could be awarded in cases involving the nuclear industry, effectively allowing state and jury regulation.
Though many mysteries remain surrounding the death of Silkwood, the public has gained much awareness about nuclear issues and has pressured the industry to become more responsible to health and safety concerns. As former Congresswoman Bella Abzug has commented, the issues stemming from the Silkwood case are "a matter of concern both in regard to public safety and the rights of individuals."
Silkwood's story was unveiled to a much greater audience in the 1983 drama film directed by Mike Nichols. Meryl Streep starred as Karen Silkwood with Kurt Russell and Cher in supporting roles. Silkwood (1983) garnered numerous Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for acting, directing, and screenplay writing. Cher won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. - Mary Appleseth was born on 17 December 1956 in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota, USA. She was an actress, known for Planet of Dinosaurs (1977) and Slumber Party '57 (1976). She was married to Manny Louis Miller. She died on 4 July 1998 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Georgia Lee was born on 1 August 1925 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for Good News (1947), Wiretapper (1955) and Big Bad Mama (1974). She was married to Ralph Lee. She died on 13 February 2006 in Garvin, Oklahoma, USA.- Carter Mullally Jr. was born on 1 April 1924 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for The Twilight Zone (1959), Dallas (1978) and How to Marry a Millionaire (1957). He was married to Martha Jane Palmer. He died on 25 July 1992 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA.
- Billie Letts was born on 30 May 1938 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. Billie was a writer, known for Where the Heart Is (2000) and Veritas, Prince of Truth (2006). Billie was married to Dennis Letts. Billie died on 2 August 2014 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
- Dedra London was born on 22 October 1975 in the USA. She was an actress, known for In Broad Daylight (1991). She died on 9 September 1992 in Oklahoma, USA.
- Casting Department
- Actress
- Additional Crew
Sara Mostajabi was born on 19 February 1985. She was an actress, known for Altitude (2017), Breakfast for Dinner (2011) and Robot Chicken (2001). She died on 6 April 2022 in Tuttle, Oklahoma, USA.- Foster Hood was born on 12 March 1923 in Pink, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Cry Wilderness (1987), Love Is a Funny Thing (1969) and Pistols 'n' Petticoats (1966). He died on 24 March 2008 in Pink, Oklahoma, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Nick DeMauro was born on 29 December 1943 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Hard to Kill (1990), Vampire in Brooklyn (1995) and NYPD Blue (1993). He was married to Donna Blair. He died on 7 February 2024 in Claremore, Oklahoma, USA.- Writer
- Additional Crew
Prize-winning novelist (1978 Ernest Hemingway Award, 1997 Edgar Allan Poe Award) as well as professor of English, first at Pomona College, in California, and later at the University of Tulsa. In 1985 he published "Two of a Kind: The Hillside Stranglers", upon which was based the 1989 TV miniseries starring BG: Richard Crenna.- Writer
- Additional Crew
Thomas O. Murton was born on 15 March 1928 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a writer, known for Brubaker (1980). He was married to Margaret E. Conway. He died on 10 October 1990 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Trixie Firschke was born on 14 June 1920 in Budapest, Hungary. She was an actress, known for Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940), My Gal Loves Music (1944) and The Steve Allen Show (1950). She was married to William Albert Escoe. She died on 22 September 2001 in Oklahoma, USA.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Danny Williams was born on 21 April 1927 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for The Adventures of 3-D Danny (1953), Foreman Scotty Show (1956) and Hocus Pocus (1950). He was married to Maureen Townsend and Marilyn Maher. He died on 18 February 2013 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA.- Rocky Frisco was born on 26 July 1937 in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for The Cabin (2001), The Hounds (2012) and Melvin: A Midwestern Tale (1998). He died on 26 May 2015 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
- Warren Spahn was born on 23 April 1921 in Buffalo, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for 1958 World Series (1958), 1948 World Series (1948) and 1957 World Series (1957). He was married to Lorene Southard. He died on 24 November 2003 in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, USA.
- Production Designer
- Art Department
- Art Director
William F. Matthews was born on 7 May 1942 in Marietta, Ohio, USA. He was a production designer and art director, known for Innerspace (1987), Hollywood Homicide (2003) and Bulletproof (1996). He was married to Diana Folsom. He died on 30 December 2023 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.- Jay Cronley was born on 9 November 1943 in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. He was a writer, known for Let It Ride (1989), Quick Change (1990) and Funny Farm (1988). He was married to Connie. He died on 26 February 2017 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Writer, director, and producer Cliff Roquemore was born on September 28, 1948 in Detroit, Michigan. After studying theatre at Wayne State University, Roquemore began his career writing and directing stage plays at such Motown venues as Concept East, Detroit Repertory Theatre, and the Vest Pocket Theatre. Cliff was involved in more than 200 regional or Off-Broadway stage productions which include "Selma," "Eubie," "Shaka Zulu," and "Invasion of Addis Ababa." Moreover, Roquemore wrote and/or directed three blaxploitation comedies starring Rudy Ray Moore. In addition, Cliff also wrote the award-winning musical "The Gospel Truth," created the musicals "Showgirls" and "Color Me Dorothy - The Dorothy Dandridge Story" in collaboration with Motown songwriter William Stevenson, directed a one-woman show for Eartha Kitt at Nick Stewart's Ebony Showcase Theater in Los Angeles, California in 1990, and, in 1999, wrote and produced the Off-Broadway comedy "Lotto: Experience the Dream," which ran for one and a half years at Union Square Theatre in New York City. He died of cancer at age 53 on February 5, 2002 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At the time of his death Roquemore was survived by his wife Jennifer, two sons, two daughters, his mother, five sisters, two brothers, and five grandchildren.- Amber Hilberling was born on 1 October 1991 in Missouri, USA. She was married to Josh Blaine Hilberling. She died on 24 October 2016 in Mabel Bassett Correctional Center, McLoud, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, USA.