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Jean Harlow
actress, Kansas City
Jean Harlow (1911-1937) reigned as Hollywood's original platinum blonde sex symbol in the years before her death from kidney failure at age 26. With this crisply written, well-documented biography, Stenn ( Clara Bow: Runnin' Wild ) seeks to reveal the woman behind the screen goddess and to resolve the controversies surrounding both her death and that of her second husband, studio executive Paul Bern. Stenn's psychological portrait of Harlow focuses on her domineering mother and on the actress's unfulfilled desire for a stable family life. His account of Bern's 1932 death by gunshot wound is convincing: he agrees with the official verdict of suicide, while giving credence to reports of Bern's sexual dysfunction and bigamy. Stenn's narrative of Harlow's own death is level-headed; while he explores the impact of her alcoholism on her life, he refrains from speculating on the cause of her drinking. This skillful biography leaves one wishing only that Stenn had discussed more fully Harlow's place in film and cultural history. Photos. Jean Harlow Books
Jean Harlow Movies |
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Edwin Hubble
astronomer, Marshfield
Son of an overbearing Missouri insurance agent, astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) revolutionized our conception of the universe. Working at Mount Wilson Observatory in California, he proved by the early 1930s that galaxies beyond the Milky Way are rapidly moving away from us. His observational evidence led Albert Einstein to endorse the model of an expanding universe. Catapulted to fame, Hubble, a dashing, formidable figure, hobnobbed with Anita Loos, William Randolph Hearst, Charlie Chaplin and Aldous Huxley. In an exciting biography of a scientific giant who was a very fallible human being, Christianson portrays Hubble as an egotistical, hot-tempered striver who feuded bitterly with colleagues, an antinuclear activist who advocated world government and a prevaricator who claimed to practice law and to have boxed prizefighters to win over his future wife. Biographer of Isaac Newton and Loren Eiseley, Christianson provides close-ups of well-known scientists and astronomers such as Einstein, Harlow Shapley, Percival Lowell and Vesto Slipher. Photos. Edwin Hubble Books |
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John Huston film
director, Nevada, Mo.
John Marcellus
Huston (August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He was known for directing the films The Maltese Falcon (1941), Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), Key Largo (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The African Queen (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952) The Misfits (1960), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), and Annie (1982). He was the son of actor Walter Huston and the father of actress Anjelica Huston
and actor Danny Huston.
Huston was born in Nevada, Missouri, a son of Canadian-born actor, Walter Huston and his wife Rhea Gore, a sports reporter. Huston was of Scots-Irish descent on his father's side and English and Welsh on his mother's. He was raised by his maternal grandparents, John Marcellus and Adelia (Richardson) Gore. John Huston Books
John Huston Films |
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Jesse James (1847 -
1882) Famous outlaw killed by one of his own gang; born in Kearney. Probably no American outlaw has attracted more attention--much of it flattering--than Jesse James. This revisionist biography by T.J. Stiles delves into the exciting life James led--"a tale of ambushes, gun battles, and daring raids, of narrow escapes, betrayals, and revenge." Yet it also places James within a specific political context, showing why it was possible for this murderous bandit to emerge as a folk hero among Southern sympathizers following the Civil War (in which he fought as a teenager). James is often grouped with famous frontier criminals like Billy the Kidd and Butch Cassidy, but he's best understood as a Southerner who forged partisan alliances in postwar Missouri and promoted himself as a latter-day Robin Hood. Stiles describes James as "a foul-mouthed killer who hated as fiercely as anyone on the planet" and places his life in the context of "the struggle for--or rather, against--black freedom." Jesse James Books |
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Jack S. Kilby
inventor, Jefferson CityEd Millis tells my father's story in a way that only an old friend can. This book makes a unique contribution by placing the invention of the 'chip' in the context of a personal portrait of a unique man and the influence of his times. Thanks, Ed, for writing with your characteristic skill, heart and touches of irreverence --Janet S. Kilby
The story of Jack Kilby and the invention of the microchip has been told many times, and is told again here from a new perspective. This book also tells the story of Jack's other life---his youth, his education, his family, and hobbies, and his service in World War II---as well as the turning points: what part did a Kansas blizzard play in Jack's life? Was his life saved by a cat nap? How did not taking a vacation lead to a Nobel Prize? The answers are within. Jack S. Kilby Books |
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James Langston Hughes
poet, Joplin
This biography traces Hughes' life and artistic development, from his early years of isolation, which fostered his fierce independence, to his prolific life as a poet, playwright, lyricist, and journalist. Hughes' inspiring story is told through 21 engaging chapters, each providing a fascinating vignette of the artistic, personal, and political associations that shaped his life. Recounted are the pivotal developments in his literary career, with all its struggles and rewards, as well as his travel adventures to Africa, Europe, and Asia, and his political commitments to fight fascism as well as racism. James Langston Hughes Books |
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Rush Limbaugh
(born January 12,
1951 - ) Radio and
television talk show host;
born in Cape Girardeau.
an American radio host and conservative political commentator. Limbaugh rose to prominence during the 1990s as host of a nationally-syndicated talk-radio show,
The Rush Limbaugh Show.
Limbaugh was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. His family has a long history in Republican politics, including several members who were judges. When Limbaugh was 16 years old he began working at a local radio station. After attending Southeast Missouri State University for a year he dropped out of college. In the early 1970s, Limbaugh moved to Pennsylvania to work as a radio disc jockey, using the alias Jeff Christie at KQV in Pittsburgh. In 1984, Limbaugh began working as a talk show host in Sacramento, California. His program featured no guests, relying exclusively on his emblem of conservative political analysis. In 1988, Limbaugh moved to New York City and began national broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show on WABC radio. His three-hour program made Limbaugh well-known. He became a bestselling author with his books The Way Things Ought To Be
(1992) and See, I Told You So
(1993).
All Rush Limbaugh Books
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William Lear (1902 -
1978) One of the outstanding
pioneers of aviation; lived in
Wichita.
In 1960, Lear moved to Switzerland and founded the Swiss American Aviation Company. In 1962 he sold Lear Incorporated to the Siegler Corporation after having failed to persuade its board to go into the aircraft manufacturing business. That company thereafter was known as Lear Siegler. Bill Lear next moved to Wichita, Kansas to manufacture the Lear Jet. On October 7, 1963, Lear Jet started test flights on the Learjet 23, the first mass produced business jet.
On April 10, 1967, all of Bill Lear's assets – he held approximately 60% of the company (US$27,000,000) – were acquired by the Gates Rubber Company of Denver, Colorado, United States. However, Lear remained on the board until April 2, 1969. Later, in 1969, the company was merged with Gates Aviation and the company name was changed to Gates Learjet Corporation.
In 1987, the Gates Learjet was acquired by Integrated Acquisition and the next year the name was changed to Learjet Corporation. By January 1989 all production had been moved from the Tucson facility back to Wichita. The next year, 1990, Bombardier Aerospace purchased the Learjet Corporation. The aircraft were then marketed as the "Bombardier Learjet Family". William Lear Books |
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Bernarr MacFadden
physical culturist, Mill
Springs
Born Bernard Adolphus McFadden in Mill Spring, Missouri, Bernarr Macfadden changed his first and last names to give them a greater appearance of strength. He thought "Bernarr" sounded like the roar of a lion, and that "Macfadden" was a more masculine spelling of his name.
Macfadden founded Physical
Culture magazine in 1899, and
was editor up to the August 1912
issue. He eventually grew a
publishing empire, including
True Detective, True Story, True
Romances, Dream World, Ghost
Stories, the once-familiar movie
magazine Photoplay, and a trashy
tabloid newspaper, The New York
Graphic. He was a celebrity who
was an acquaintance of Shirley
Temple, Clark Gable, Franklin D.
Roosevelt, Will Rogers, and
Rudolph Valentino. At the peak
of his career, he owned several
hotels and a major building in
New York Bernarr MacFadden Books
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Mary Margaret McBride
TV hostess, Paris
In the 1940s and 1950s, McBride was a prominent voice on radio, interviewing major public figures, but was mocked for her close emotional ties with her eight million listeners, all at a time when women's career prospects were very limited. Drawing on archives that include McBride's radio interviews, as well as letters from former listeners, Ware begins with a description of McBride's radio show when it was at its height. Ware then backs up to tell how a woman from a small town in Missouri came to such an exalted career in radio that her tenth anniversary was celebrated in Madison Square Garden, where she was greeted by Eleanor Roosevelt, a favorite guest and longtime friend. The event was dedicated to recruiting women volunteers for the armed forces. At McBride's fifteenth anniversary celebration, she raised eyebrows when she publicly embraced Walter White, head of the NAACP. The third part of the book explores McBride's career after World War II until her death in 1976. An epilogue examines how McBride's show compares to contemporary talk shows. Vanessa Bush Mary Margaret McBride Books |
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Robert D. Maurer
inventor, St. Louis
an American industrial physicist noted for his leadership in the invention of optical fiber.
Maurer was either born in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, or by other accounts, Richmond Heights, Missouri. In 1943 he enlisted in the United States Army Reserve and began studies at the University of Arkansas. He was quickly called up for active service, and studied preengineering for about one year at the Huntsville, Texas, state college. In 1944 he shipped overseas with the 99th infantry division for combat in France and Belgium along the German border. He was wounded by a landmine, spending more than 20 months in the hospital before receiving a disability discharge with Purple Heart. Robert D. Maurer Books
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Geraldine Page
actress, Geraldine Sue Page (November 22, 1924 June 13, 1987) was an Academy Award-winning, a two time Emmy Award-winning and a several time Tony Award-nominated American actress.
Page was born in Kirksville, Missouri. She attended the Goodman Theatre Dramatic School in Chicago and studied acting with Uta Hagen in New York. She began appearing in stock at the age of seventeen.
Page gave celebrated performances in films as well as her work on Broadway. Her film debut was in Out of the Night (1947). Her role in Hondo, opposite John Wayne, garnered her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In all, despite her relatively small filmography,
Page received eight Academy Award nominations. She finally won the Oscar in 1986 for a performance in The Trip to Bountiful, which was based on a play by Horton Foote. When she won (F. Murray Abraham, upon opening the envelope, exclaimed "I consider this woman the greatest actress in the English language"), she received a standing ovation from the audience. She was surprised by her win (she openly talked about being a seven-time Oscar loser), and took a while to get to the stage to accept the award because she had taken off her shoes while sitting in the audience. She had not expected to win, and her feet were sore.
Geraldine Page
Geraldine Page Movies
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James Cash Penney
(1875 - 1971) Founder of the
J.C. Penney Company; born in
Hamilton
Former corporate speechwriter Hare presents an unvarnished look at the J.C. Penney Company, a truly American saga that parallels U.S. business history itself. Hare looks at the company from its beginning in 1902 as a dry goods store, through its rise into a successful chain of full-service department stores rivaled only by Sears, Roebuck, to its fall into bankruptcy in the 1990s due to corporate bungling. But his narrative is based on individual portraits of the men who first developed—and who, he says, later betrayed—the company's "revolutionary concept": "letting stores be driven by clever individuals whose long hours of work would include a 'solicitous interest' in the well-being of the store's surrounding community." Hare crafts excellent portraits ranging from founder J.C. Penney, a "gutsy risk taker," to the company's prebankruptcy leader, Jim Oesterreicher, "a man clearly in over his head as CEO." James Cash Penney Books
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Marlin Perkins TV
host, zoo director, Carthage
Marlin Perkins was born on March 28, 1905 in Carthage, Missouri, and attended public school there through eighth grade. In the fall of 1919, he entered Wentworth Military Academy. There Perkins demonstrated his fascination with snakes by keeping blue racer snakes in his room. One afternoon, while exercising them on a lawn back of the barracks, he was spotted by a faculty officer and got in trouble for handling them.
Perkins briefly attended the University of Missouri, but quit school to become a laborer at the Saint Louis Zoological Park. It was the start of a brilliant zoological career. He rose through the ranks, becoming the reptile curator in 1928. After being hired as a curator of the Buffalo Zoological Park in Buffalo, New York, Perkins was eventually promoted to director in 1938. He then served as director at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, Illinois, from 1944 until 1962, when he returned to the St. Louis Zoo, this time as director. During his time at the Lincoln Park Zoo, Perkins joined Sir Edmund Hillary as the zoologist for Hillary's 1960 Himalayan expedition to search for the legendary Yeti
Marlin Perkins Books
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John J. Pershing
army leader, pershing
rifles, Linn County
General John J. Pershing may not be as honored as American military heroes Washington, Lee, Grant, and MacArthur, but he outranked them all: He's the only man ever to hold the rank of six-star general. And he certainly earned each one, with a career spanning from the final frontier wars of the 18th century to his leadership in the Spanish-American War in 1898 to his pursuit of Mexican bandit Pancho Villa in 1916. Pershing is best remembered, of course, for commanding the American Expeditionary Force in the First World War, which helped bring the conflict to a successful conclusion for the Allies. Gene Smith is a skilled biographer with an eye for detail and a knack with anecdotes. His Pershing--often misunderstood as a cold and brutal character--comes alive on the pages of Until the Last Trumpet Sounds. John J. Pershing Books
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Vincent Price
actor, Saint Louis
A legendary screen villain and host of PBS's Mystery, (1911- 1993) was also a gourmet chef, a bestselling author, an enthusiastic art expert and collector and a general all-around good guy, according to this vivid biography. Written by his daughter Victoria, who writes for television, the book takes us from Price's early acting career, where one of his first jobs was as Helen Hayes's leading man on Broadway, to his days, starting in 1938, under a Hollywood contract, beginning with supporting film roles (Laura; Song of Bernadette). By the 1950s, he had patented his suavely villainous screen persona in The Fly, House of Wax and The Ten Commandments. By the time Victoria was born to Price and his second wife, Mary, in 1962, he was enjoying his greatest success in film, his low-budget but highly profitable collaborations with Roger Corman (The Pit & the Pendulum, Masque of Red Death). Victoria Price explores her father's life as if unraveling a mystery, never ignoring his failings Vincent Price Books
Vincent Price Movies |
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