Kevin Barry

Kevin Barry

(1902 – 1920)

Kevin Barry was the First Irish Republican to be executed by the British since the Easter uprising of 1916 in Ireland. His execution caused outrage in Irish opinion and brought the tension to a fever pitch. His execution also precipitated a dramatic increase in violence as the Irish War for Independence entered its most bloody phase. His refusal to talk(despite torture) made him one of the most celebrated Irish Republicans. He is also known as one of the “Forgotten Ten”, a group of Irish republicans executed by the British in 1920-21.

He was only 18 years old.

He was originally buried in a plot at Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, but all ten are now in Glasnevin Prison. They were given a state funeral in 2001.

Trivia:

There is a bar called “Kevin Barry’s” named after him in Savannah GA.

Gloria Stuart

Gloria Stuart

(1910 -2010)

Gloria Stewart( she changed it to Stuart) was an American actress and artist. Most people remember her now as the iconic “Old Rose” in  the movie  “Titanic”, but she had been acting since about 1932. Kate Winslet is a stunner of course, but I think Gloria could have held her own with any beauty in her heyday. She was in about 79 movies and television shows, and was a star in her own right, not too long after the real Titanic sank(about 20 years or so!)

Read about her life and you will see someone who lived a rich, rewarding existence. She was cremated, so no grave to visit, but Obscurely Famous none the less!

Trivia:

At 87, she was the oldest person ever nominated for an Academy Award(for “Titanic” of course)

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

(1926 – 1962)

Norma Jean Baker was an American actress, singer, and model. She is so Iconic, I could go on for days about her so let’s just say this: She was so beautiful, it takes your breath away(take a look at pictures of her without makeup or just relaxing) and yet had a tragic quality of a person just trying to survive like the rest of us. Not saying she didn’t have to be tough to make it in the industry she was in, but it had obviously consumed her when she died at age 36.

She is buried in Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.

Trivia:

One of the biggest movie stars of all time, she was never even nominated for an Academy Award…….

She was the very first Playmate for Playboy Magazine.

Wyatt Earp

Wyatt Earp

(1848 – 1929)

Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American legend. Much of the story is steeped in shadows, and a lot not true. There was a gunfight on 10/26/1881, 3 men were killed, Virgil, Morgan, and Doc Holiday were all wounded in varying degrees. The whole fight lasted about 30 seconds. So many stories have been created about him that the truth is hard to find, and it is a lot grayer than any movie you have seen about him. Still, fascination for his life just seems to get stronger (for me too!).

There is a great book about him called “Wyatt Earp- The Man Behind the Legend” by Casey Tefertiller, to me the definitive book on Wyatt and his brothers if you want to get closer to the truth.

He is buried at the Hills of Eternity Memorial Park, Colma, California.

Trivia:

He worked as a constable, city policeman, county sheriff, teamster, buffalo hunter, bouncer, saloon keeper, gambler, brothel owner, pimp, and miner. He definitely skirted both sides of the law.

Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla

( 1856 – 1943 )

Nikola was a Serbian American inventor and futurist that is best known for his contributions to the design of Alternating Current (AC). He was visionary and a lot of his research  achievements were so complex, We still can’t figure out today. Here is an example: In 1898 he Demonstrated a radio controlled boat that he tried to sell to the military a a radio controlled torpedo, and they showed no interest at all, imagine that. So far ahead of his time, and since the all powerful Thomas Edison wasn’t exactly his best friend, his works are largely forgotten today. There has however, been a recent renewed(and much belated) interest in his research.

Read about all of the things he was into, it’s like science fiction…..

His ashes are on permanent display in Belgrade, Serbia, at the Tesla Museum, along with his death Mask.

Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin

Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin

( 1805 – 1871 )

A French Magician, he is widely considered the father of modern style conjuring. So good was he as an entertainer that Napoleon III used him to prove French magic was powerful and quell a rebellion in French Algeria.

His real name was Jean Eugene Robert, and when he married Josephe Cecilia Houdin, he got a special dispensation from the French Government to use HER last name. Hmmmmm……Oh well, He was great magician, one of, if not the, most famous of his time.

He is buried in Blois, Department de Loir-et-Cher

Centre, France

Trivia-

A Magician named Eric Weiss from Hungary was so impressed with Houdin that he changed his name…… to Harry Houdini…..Even so, later, Houdini , disillusioned with Houdin, wrote a book called “The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin” because he believed that Houdin took credit for other performer’s innovations.

Doc Holliday

Dr. John “Doc” Holliday

( 1851 – 1887 )

A Gambler, gunfighter, and a dentist, he skirted both sides of the law throughout his life. One of the most famous characters of the American west, no doubt. Doc is mostly remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp, and the shootout at the O K Coral. The myths are many about his life, but he is believed by many to have killed between three and seven men, and participated in nine shootouts. I put a pic of “Big Nose” Kate up just because ( she died in Prescott, Arizona in 1940 and is buried in the Arizona Pioneer Home Cemetery in Prescott, AZ.).

Holliday is buried in Linwood Cemetery in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

His original marker had the date wrong, and the records for exactly where he is buried in the cemetery are lost, but these are pics of the current marker there.

Salvatore Guliano

Salvatore Giuliano

( 1922 – 1950 )

“Turiddu” was his nickname, and he was a Sicilian bandit and folk figure. His life has a lot of mystery because of all of the misinformation, but it is still an awesome story. If you have ever read “The Godfather” novel, you’ll know what a masterpiece it is. Somehow, Mario Puzo wove the story of Salvatore Giuliano into the part where Michael Corleone hides in Sicily. It is as good a read, if not better, than the original Godfather novel.(My opinion anyway!). He is a legend in Sicily, a tragic story of idealism and desperation, even more interesting because he was betrayed and killed(Officially by Law enforcement, widely believed to have been killed by his best friend and cousin Gaspare Pisciotta, pictured with him) when he was only 27.

He is buried in the Comune di Montelepre Cimitero Comunale

Montelepre, Sicily

Phil Lynott

Phil Lynott

( 1949 – 1986 )

Founding member of the band “Thin Lizzy”, Phil Lynott was born in England, but raised in Ireland, and considered himself to be Irish. If you aren’t familiar with their music, I’ll bet you remember the song “The Boys are Back in Town”, it’s a standard of seventies rock, but there was a lot more to the band than that one song. He was a great songwriter and charismatic performer, but he also wrote poetry, having two books published of his work before he died. Like a lot of Rock stars, he fell victim to the party life, and his last years were clouded with Alcohol and heroin.

He died in Dublin, Ireland and was buried in St. Fintan’s Cemetery.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley

( 1792 – 1822 )

One of the major English Romantic Poets, and is considered one of the finest lyric poets in the English language, and  talk about a free thinker…….. One of his first published works was “The Necessity of Atheism” (and this was 200 years ago!), and it got him expelled from school at 18. He believed in free love, as in living together and all that, again, in an era when you could get in trouble for blasphemy and sedition. Evidently he was way ahead of his time.

His works are too many to list, but try these, if you want to read some of his genius:

Queen Maab

When Soft Voices Die

Prometheus Unbound

Ozymandias

Adonais

His body is buried in Campo Cestio , Rome.

John Keats and Edward Trelawny are buried there too……. Keats being another, along with Byron, of the great Romantic Poets of the Era. Trelawny was an adventurer and friend, whose lived his life as if he stepped out of their poems.

Trivia:

His Heart is buried close to his wife in St. Peter Churchyard, Bournemouth, Dorset, England, and she was Mary Shelley, the Author of “Frankenstein”.