Entertainment History
On March 22, 1952, Grand Ole Opry star Uncle Dave Macon died in
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, at the age of 81. In 1956, Carl Perkins was
injured in a car accident near Wilmington, Delaware. He was on his way
to New York to perform on the "Ed Sullivan Show," but was forced to
spend several months in the hospital. By the time he recovered, Elvis
Presley had covered Perkins' hit, "Blue Suede Shoes," and Perkins'
career was never the same. In 1958, Elizabeth Taylor's husband,
producer Mike Todd, died in a plane crash in New Mexico. Also in 1958,
an eight-year-old Hank Williams Junior made his stage debut in
Swainsboro, Georgia. In 1963, The Beatles' debut album, "Please Please
Me," was released in the United Kingdom by Parlophone. In 1969,
newlyweds John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their first "Bed-In for Peace"
in Amsterdam. In 1986, singer Mark Dinning died of a heart attack at
the age of 52. He's probably best known for the 1959 hit "Teen Angel.
In 1990, Gloria Estefan underwent surgery in New York, two days after
her back was broken in a bus accident. In 1994, singer-bassist-producer
Dan Hartman died of a brain tumor in Westport, Connecticut. He was 43.
In 1996, former Turtles drummer Don Murray died in Santa Monica,
California, of complications from an undisclosed surgery. He was 50. In
1997, Marilyn Manson fell onstage during a performance in Honolulu and
cut an artery in his hand. He was forced to stop the show. In 1999, the
body of actor David Strickland of the TV show "Suddenly Susan" was
found hanging in a Las Vegas hotel room. He was 28. In 2016, rapper
Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest died of complications from diabetes.
He was 45. Today's Birthdays: Composer Stephen Sondheim is 87. Actor
William Shatner is 86. Actor M. Emmet Walsh is 82. Singer Jeremy Clyde
of Chad and Jeremy is 76. Singer-guitarist George Benson is 74. News
anchor Wolf Blitzer is 69. Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is 69. Actress
Fanny Ardant is 68. Sportscaster Bob Costas is 65. Country singer James
House is 62. Actress Lena Olin is 62. Singer-actress Stephanie Mills is
60. Actor Matthew Modine is 58. Comedian Keegan-Michael Key of Key and
Peele is 46. Actor Will Yun Lee ("Hawaii Five-0") is 46. Actor
Guillermo Diaz ("Scandal") is 42. Actress Anne Dudek ("Mad Men") is 42.
Actress Kellie Williams ("Family Matters") is 41. Actress Reese
Witherspoon is 41. Drummer John Otto of Limp Bizkit is 40. Actress
Tiffany Dupont ("Murder in the First") is 36. Rapper Mims is 36.
Actress Constance Wu ("Fresh Off The Boat") is 35. Guitarist Lincoln
Parish of Cage The Elephant is 27.
