Hey, welcome back, M.D. You are right, buddy. That guitarist is great. Both selections are familiar to me.
Here are the lyrics to the first one, folks
this can't be love,
Because I feel so well
No sobs, no sorrows, no sighs
This can't be love, I get no dizzy spells
My head is not in the sky
My heart does not stand still
Hear it beat, this too sweet
To be love
This can't be love,
Because I feel so well
And yet I love to think I'll survive
Of course, honu, we know what basketball team used the second one as a whistling theme, right?
What I really liked about Sweet Georgia Brown is the jazz chords that they began with and then moved into the bouncy bit. Really cool, and thanks.
edgar, I do NOT like "I Am a Walrus" either, but we all enjoyed Tennessee Ernie and the Everly Bros. Didn't know The Brother Four, however, but glad one of those four got to marry Lonnie Anderson. Thanks, Texas.
I had no idea that Tennessee Ernie Ford died as a result of alcoholism, y'all.
Time for me to say goodnight, and I love this version of my goodnight song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_N7rXDQLSU
and as always, my friends,
From Letty with love
When I listen to I Am the Walrus, I slip into an Edward Lear/Lewis Carroll state of mind.
Bruce Bennett
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born Harold Herman Brix
May 19, 1906(1906-05-19)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Died February 24, 2007 (aged 100)
Bruce Bennett (May 19, 1906 - February 24, 2007) was an American actor and Olympic silver medalist shot putter. During the 1930s, he went by his real name of Herman Brix (having dropped the first name "Harold").
Early life and Olympics
Born as Harold Herman Brix in Tacoma, Washington, his first career was as an athlete. At University of Washington, where he majored in economics, he played football in the 1926 Rose Bowl. Two years later he won the silver medal for shot-putting in the 1928 Olympic Games, and held the indoor and outdoor records for shot-putting.[1]
Olympic medal record
Men's athletics
Silver 1928 Amsterdam Shot put
Early film career and Tarzan
In 1931, MGM, adapting author Edgar Rice Burroughs's popular Tarzan adventures for the sound-movie screen, selected Herman Brix to play the title character. Unfortunately, Brix was injured filming the 1931 football movie Touchdown, which also prevented his entry into the 1932 Olympics. Swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller replaced Brix and became a major star.
After Ashton Dearholt convinced Burroughs to allow him to form Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises, Inc. and make a Tarzan serial film, Dearholt cast Brix in the lead. Pressbook copy has it that Burroughs made the choice himself, but in fact, in his biography, Brix confirmed that Burroughs never even saw him until after the contract was signed, and then only briefly. The film was begun on location in Guatemala, under rugged conditions (jungle diseases and cash shortages were frequent). Brix did his own perilous stunts, including a harrowing fall to rocky cliffs below. The Washington Post quoted Gabe Essoe's passage from his book Tarzan of the Movies: "Brix's portrayal was the only time between the silents and the 1960s that Tarzan was accurately depicted in films. He was mannered, cultured, soft-spoken, a well-educated English lord who spoke several languages, and didn't grunt."[2]
Due to financial mismanagement, Dearholt had to complete filming of much of the serial back in Hollywood, and Brix, although his travel and daily living expenses in Guatemala were covered throughout the shoot, never received his contracted salary, along with the rest of the cast. The finished film, The New Adventures of Tarzan, was released in 1935 by Burroughs-Tarzan, and offered to theaters as a 12-chapter serial or a seven-reel feature. A second feature was culled from the footage in 1938: Tarzan and the Green Goddess.
Name change and movie career
Brix continued to work in serials and action features for low-budget studios until 1939. Finding himself still typecast as Tarzan in the minds of major producers, Brix changed his name to "Bruce Bennett" and became a member of Columbia Pictures' stock company. During the next few years he would be seen playing minor roles in many Columbia films, from expensive dramas to B mysteries to Three Stooges short subjects (How High Is Up? being a memorable appearance). His screen career was interrupted by World War II, when he entered the service.
Bennett appeared in many top-notch films in the 1940s and early 1950s including Sahara (1943), Mildred Pierce (1945) (as Joan Crawford's husband), Nora Prentiss (1947), Dark Passage (1947), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) opposite Humphrey Bogart, Mystery Street (1950) and Sudden Fear (1952).
The Washington Post noted, "He moved into grittier roles in the late 1940s and early 1950s, playing a detective in William Castle's Undertow and a forensic scientist who helps solve a crime in John Sturges's Mystery Street. He was sympathetic as an aging baseball player in Angels in the Outfield (1951).[3]
Later life
From the mid-1950s on, Bennett mainly appeared in lesser films, such as The Alligator People (1959), and on television in guest starring roles. He was a very successful businessman during the 1960s outside of acting.
A lifelong avid parasailer and skydiver, he last went skydiving (from an altitude of 10,000 feet), over Lake Tahoe, at 96 years of age. [4]
Bennett reached his 100th birthday on May 19, 2006, and died less than a year later in February 2007 of complications from a broken hip.[5]
NB: Standard works of reference such as Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies and Katz's Encyclopedia of Film give his date of birth as 1909 (or May 19, 1909) but the Internet Movie Database (link below) has 1906, and this date is confirmed by the 1920 and 1930 U.S. Census records.
Nancy Kwan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born May 19, 1939 (1939-05-19) (age 69)
Hong Kong
Years active 1960-1995
Spouse(s) Norbert Meisel
Official website
Nancy Kwan (born May 19, 1939) (traditional Chinese: 關家蒨; pinyin: Guān Jiāqiàn; Cantonese: Kwan Ka Shin) is an American actress, who played a pivotal role in the acceptance of actors of Asian descent in major Hollywood film roles. Widely praised for her beauty, Kwan was considered a major sex symbol in the 1960s.
Biography
Nancy Kwan was born in Hong Kong to a Chinese father, architect Kwan Wing Hong, and Scottish mother, model Marquita Scott. Her parents divorced when she was two years old.
During the Japanese invasion in December 1941, Kwan's father, who worked for British intelligence, fled the city on foot along with Nancy and her brother, Ka Keung, and hid out in western China. The family returned to Hong Kong at the end of World War II. Kwan later studied at the Royal Ballet School in England, performing in Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty at Covent Garden. She completed her studies with a certificate to teach ballet.
While she was in England, producer Ray Stark discovered her. At the time, Asian film characters, particularly those in major film roles, were often played by white actors and actresses, using makeup to simulate Asian facial features. However, at the age of 18, Kwan received the starring role of a beautiful and free-spirited Hong Kong prostitute who captivates artist Robert Lomax (William Holden) in the film adaptation of The World of Suzie Wong (1960). She followed it up the next year with the hit musical film Flower Drum Song (1961) and became one of Hollywood's most visible Eurasian actresses. She became a style icon for the signature Vidal Sassoon bob cut she wore in the 1963 film, "The Wild Affair." The asymmetrical hairstyle became a '60s staple and variations of the cut are still being modeled today. She spent the 1960s starring in several films, such as The Wrecking Crew and appearing on such television series as Hawaii Five-O. During this time, she commuted between the United States and Europe.
Kwan married Austrian ski instructor Peter Pock and gave birth to a son, Bernhard Pock (Bernie), who died at age 33 in 1996 of AIDS. Kwan returned to her native Hong Kong in 1972 to be with her critically ill father. After his death, she married director-producer Norbert Meisel and returned to the United States.
Since returning to the USA in 1979, she has made guest appearances and had co-starring roles on numerous television productions, such as Kung Fu, The A-Team and ER. She has also appeared on television commercials even into the 1990s. Today she is politically active as the spokeswoman for the Asian American Voters Coalition.
André the Giant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ring name(s) André Roussimoff
Butcher Roussimoff
Giant Roussimoff
Monster Roussimoff
Eiffel Tower
Monster Eiffel Tower
Jean Ferré
Géant Ferré
André the Giant
Giant Machine
Billed height 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m)
Billed weight 450 lb (200 kg) to 520 lb (240 kg)[1]
Born May 19, 1946(1946-05-19)
Coulommiers, France
Died January 27, 1993 (aged 46)
Paris, France
Billed from Grenoble, France
Trained by Frank Valois
Édouard Carpentier
Debut 1973
Retired 1992
André "The Giant" Roussimoff (May 19, 1946 - January 27, 1993), best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. "The Official Site of André the Giant" claims he was 7' 4"[2]. His great size was a result of a condition known as acromegaly, and led to him being dubbed "The Eighth Wonder of the World."[3][4]
In the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Rousimoff was WWF Champion. In 1993 he was the first inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame. Rousimoff was one of the most famous professional wrestlers of the 1970s and 1980s, and was involved in a legendary match with Hulk Hogan in 1987 at WrestleMania III.
Birth and childhood
Andre René Roussimoff was born in Coulommiers, France, to Boris and Marianne Roussimoff, who were of Bulgarian and Polish descent, respectively. He was the third of five children. Roussimoff was a good student but left school after 8th grade because he did not feel that it was important to have a high school education to live and work on a farm that was not his own. As an adolescent, he worked on the farm, completed an apprenticeship in woodworking, then worked in a factory that manufactured engines for hay baling machines, but none of these jobs brought him any satisfaction. Roussimoff was drafted into France's peacetime army, but was rejected during his physical because there were no shoes big enough to fit him.[citation needed].
Career
Roussimoff was discovered by Lord Alfred Hayes, a wrestling promoter, and left home as a teenager to become a wrestler in Paris. He worked as a mover during the day, to pay his expenses, and trained in the ring at night. However, it was difficult to find wrestlers who were willing to train with him because of his size and strength. In 1964, Édouard Carpentier, a well-known French wrestler, agreed to train with him. Roussimoff was billed as "Géant Ferré", the name of a legendary French lumberjack, and quickly made a name for himself. For the next few years, he wrestled in arenas and carnivals in Europe and Africa. By the time he was 21, he was a European wrestling star.[citation needed]
In 1969, Édouard Carpentier offered to bring Roussimoff to North America, but he had already signed to wrestle in Japan, where he was billed as "Monster Roussimoff". While he was in Japan, a doctor there diagnosed him with acromegaly, but Roussimoff refused to accept either the diagnosis of or treatment for this condition.[citation needed]
After performing in Japan, Roussimoff followed Carpentier to Montreal, Canada, where he was an immediate success. However, promoters eventually ran out of plausible opponents to fight him and, as his novelty wore off, gate receipts dwindled. Desperate, Carpentier reached out to Vincent J. McMahon and his son, Vince McMahon, Jr. for help. They suggested that Roussimoff have a schedule that purely involved travel, so he would not wear out his welcome in any one area. They also suggested that he be billed as "André the Giant" for his North American audiences.[citation needed] Roussimoff also competed throughout various territories.
Professional Wrestling Career (1973-1992)
Face run (1973-1987)
On March 26, 1973, André made his WWF debut as a "face," short for babyface or "good guy", defeating Buddy Wolfe in New York's Madison Square Garden.
He was billed early in his career at a height of 6 ft 10 in (2.08m) and 7 ft (2.13m); this was enlarged in the early 1970s to 7 ft 4 in (2.24m) and sometimes 7 ft 5 in (2.26 m) with a weight that ranged from 309 lb (140 kg) to 565 lb (256 kg). His actual height is contested, and there has been much speculation and debate over the issue. Jim Duggan and Bobby Heenan maintain that his kayfabe height was correct. Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer claims André was measured at 6 ft 9 ¾ in 1974 by a French athletic commission at age 28, Meltzer also estimated André at 6 ft 11 ½ in (2.12 m) when comparing him to fellow Conan the Destroyer star Wilt Chamberlain in 1984. However, Mike Mooneyham, another wrestling journalist, maintained in his obituary of André in 1994 that André was 7 ft 2 in when he began wrestling. Chuck Wepner's manager said André made the 6 ft 5 ½ in Wepner look like a baby, dwarfed beside André. Nevertheless, the sight of him alone was enough to draw huge crowds during a time when there were only a handful of wrestlers over 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m); his condition, which included symptoms such as enlarged hands and feet and exaggerated facial features (acromegaly), likely aided the visual perception of him appearing larger than he actually was. André also had an abnormally large wrist, at 13", which is indicative of overall bone structure.[5]
He branched out into acting in the 1970s and 1980s, playing a Sasquatch ("Bigfoot") on the 1970s television series The Six Million Dollar Man and the character Fezzik in The Princess Bride. By the time the chairman of the (renamed) World Wrestling Federation, Vincent K. McMahon, began to expand his promotion to the national level in the early 1980s, André wrestled exclusively for WWF in the USA, while still holding international engagements.
He was offered a professional American football contract with the Washington Redskins after a tryout in 1974 and seriously considered it, but turned it down, reasoning that he could make far more money wrestling.[citation needed]
Before being signed to WWF, André had wrestled in Japan. It was here that a doctor diagnosed Roussimoff with his condition and told him that those with the same problem were generally lucky to reach 40 years of age.[citation needed]
André was one of WWF's most beloved "babyfaces" throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, the legend that for 15 years had never lost by pinfall or submission in a WWF ring before being pinned by Hulk Hogan on March 29, 1987 at WrestleMania III. However André actually had lost cleanly in matches outside of the parameters of WWF; a pinfall loss in Mexico to El Canek in 1984 and in Japan a submission loss to Antonio Inoki in 1986, as well as a controversial no-contest finish against Akira Maeda, who used heel shoot-style tactics, breaking kayfabe to nullify André's considerable size advantage. He also went sixty-minute time limit draws with the two other major world champions of the day, Harley Race and Nick Bockwinkel.
André had memorable clashes all over the world with a variety of tough, rugged opponents. Among his chief rivals in the ring: The Sheik (who gained a deathmatch win over the Frenchman in 1974 with the help of his fireball), Abdullah the Butcher, Stan Hansen, Ernie Ladd, and a young Hulk Hogan, who first met André in 1978 during his rookie years in the deep South. Hogan and André would go on to have one of the great WWF feuds of 1980, peaking in front of 36,295 fans at the Showdown at Shea event on August 9, 1980 in Flushing, New York's Shea Stadium.
One of André's most bitter feuds pitted him against the Mongolian terror Killer Khan, who was managed by Fred Blassie. According to the storyline, Khan had broken André's ankle during a match in Rochester, New York by leaping off the top rope and crashing down upon it with his knee-drop. After a stay at Beth-Israel Hospital in Boston, André returned with payback on his mind. On November 14, 1981 at the Philadelphia Spectrum, André exacted revenge by destroying Killer Khan in what was billed as a "Mongolian Stretcher Match", in which the loser must be taken to the dressing room on a stretcher. In reality, André had snapped his ankle getting out of bed one morning. The injury and subsequent rehabilitation was worked into the existing André/Khan storyline.
Another memorable André feud involved a man who considered himself to be "the true giant" of wrestling; Big John Studd. Throughout the early to mid-1980s, André and Studd fought all over the world, battling to try and determine who the real giant of wrestling was. In December 1984, Studd took the feud to a new level, when he and partner Ken Patera knocked out André during a televised tag team match and proceeded to cut off André's famous long locks (Big Show, Kurt Angle, Mark Jindrak, and Luther Reigns would duplicate the angle nearly 20 years later). André had the last laugh at the first WrestleMania on March 31, 1985 at Madison Square Garden. André conquered Studd in a $15,000 Body-slam Challenge. After slamming Studd, he attempted to give the $15,000 prize to the fans, before having the bag stolen from him by his future manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.
The following year, at WrestleMania 2 (April 7, 1986), André continued to display his dominance by winning a twenty-man battle royal that featured top NFL stars and wrestlers. André last eliminated Bret Hart to win the contest.
Afterwards, André continued his feud with Studd and King Kong Bundy. André was suspended after a no-show; he returned under a mask as "The Giant Machine" part of a team with "Big Machine" (Robert Windham) and "Super Machine" (Bill Eadie). (The Machines gimmick was copied from New Japan Pro Wrestling character "Super Strong Machine", played by Japanese wrestler Junji Hirata.)[6] Soon afterwards, Giant Machine disappeared, and André was reinstated, to the approval of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.
Heel run (1987-1990) and later years
Feud with Hulk Hogan
André's image was turned to that of a villainous heel in 1987 so that he could face Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship in the main event of WrestleMania III. In early 1987, Hogan was presented a trophy for being the WWF World Heavyweight Champion for three years. André came out to congratulate him. Shortly afterwards, André was presented a slightly smaller trophy for being "undefeated in WWF for fifteen years." In actuality, André had suffered a handful of countout and disqualification losses in WWF but had never been pinned or forced to submit in a WWF ring. Hogan came out to congratulate André and ended up being the focal point of the interview. A visibly annoyed André walked out in the midst of Hogan's speech. Then, on an edition of "Piper's Pit", Hogan was confronted by Heenan. Heenan announced that his new protege was André. André then challenged Hogan to a title match at WrestleMania III, ripping the t-shirt and crucifix from Hogan.
It was at WrestleMania III that the public first really saw the pain that André was going through. By this stage he weighed in at about 560 pounds, and the stress of that immense weight on his bones and joints resulted in constant pain. After recent back surgery, he was also wearing a brace underneath his wrestling singlet. Hogan won the match after dropping André with a body slam, followed by Hogan's running leg drop finisher. (Years later, Hogan stated that André was so heavy, he felt more like 700 pounds, and that he actually tore his lateral muscle slamming him.) Another famous tall-tale about the match is that "no one knew" if André would lose the match. While mostly false, WWE owner Vince McMahon has stated in the past that he believed if Hogan had either purposely or accidentally disrespected André that night, there was no way André would have allowed Hogan to win the match, no matter what had been agreed to. Aside from that possibility, André had agreed to lose the match some time before, mostly for health reasons, though he almost pinned Hogan (albeit unintentionally) in the early goings of the match.
The Hogan-André face off at WrestleMania III was likely the most highly anticipated professional wrestling matchup in history - the apex of wrestling's most recent golden era. The event, held at the Pontiac Silverdome, had millions watching on pay-per-view and established great permanent value in the WrestleMania franchise. A reported 93,173 fans turned out as the WWF sold many standing room only tickets and added seats in the alleys to exceed the Silverdome's capacity of 80,331[citation needed]. Hogan defeated André in what some consider a passing of the torch from André, wrestling's biggest star of the 70s, to Hogan, wrestling's biggest star of the 80s.
The feud between André and Hogan simmered during the summer of 1987, even as Roussimoff's health declined. The feud would begin heating up again when each wrestler was named the captain of rival teams at the inaugral Survivor Series event. Hogan was counted out, and André would go on to be the sole survivor of the match (pinning Bam Bam Bigelow).
In the meantime, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase failed to persuade Hogan to sell him the WWF World Championship. After failing to defeat Hogan in a subsequent series of matches, DiBiase turned to André to win it for him. Acting as his hired gun, André won the WWF title from Hogan on February 5, 1988 in a match where it was later revealed appointed referee Dave Hebner was "detained backstage", and a replacement who DiBiase paid to get plastic surgery to look like Dave (in reality, his twin brother Earl Hebner), made a three count on Hogan while his shoulders were off the mat. After winning, André "sold" the title to DiBiase, which transaction was declared invalid by then- WWF President Jack Tunney and the title was vacated. This was shown on WWF's NBC program The Main Event (usually seen Saturdays as Saturday Night's Main Event). André famously mistakenly called the WWF Championship the "WWF Tag Team Championship."
At WrestleMania IV, André and Hulk Hogan fought to a double disqualification in a WWF title tournament match (with the idea in the storyline saying that André was again working on DiBiase's behalf in giving DiBiase a clearer path in the tournament). Afterwards, André and Hogan's feud died down after a brutal steel cage match held at WrestleFest on July 31, 1988 in Milwaukee. He and DiBiase also wrestled Hogan and Randy "Macho Man" Savage in the main event of SummerSlam 1988; the DiBiase-André team lost, despite having an apparently favorable referee in Jesse "the Body" Ventura.
Other feuds
During the summer and fall of 1988, André also became involved in a heated feud with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, and began wrestling Savage for the title.[citation needed]
André's next major feud was against Jake "The Snake" Roberts. In this storyline, it was said André was deathly afraid of snakes, something Roberts exposed on Saturday Night's Main Event when he threw his snake, Damien, on the frightened André; as a result, André suffered a (kayfabe) mild heart attack and vowed revenge. During the next few weeks, Roberts frequently walked to ringside during André's matches, causing him to run from the ring in fright (since he knew what was inside the bag). Throughout their feud (which culminated at WrestleMania V), Roberts constantly used Damien to gain a psychological edge over the much larger and stronger André.
During the late summer and fall of 1989, André engaged in a brief feud with then-Intercontinental champion The Ultimate Warrior, wherein the younger Warrior regularly squashed the aging André. Earlier in 1989, André and the returning Big John Studd reprised their feud, this time with Studd as a face and André as the heel.
André won the World Tag Team Championship with his partner Haku (known collectively as The Colossal Connection) from Demolition on December 13, 1989. Managed by Bobby Heenan, they lost their titles at WrestleMania VI back to Demolition on April 1, 1990. After the match a furious Heenan slapped André, and he responded by knocking Heenan out, much to the delight of the fans. André went into the match as a heel, and left as a face.
Post WrestleMania VI
André continued to make appearances in the WWF throughout 1990 and 1991. His last major appearance was at the 1991 SummerSlam event, where he seconded The Bushwackers in their match against The Natural Disasters.
After that he went back to Japan, this time for All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he briefly teamed with owner Giant Baba. André continued to compete in tag team matches, primarily in Japan and Mexico, until the end of 1992.[citation needed]
Outside wrestling
The disease that granted him his immense size also began to take its toll on his body. By the late 1980s, André was in constant, near-crippling pain, and his heart struggled to pump blood throughout his massive body. When he was not in front of a camera, he was usually in a wheelchair.[citation needed]
André starred in several movies towards the end of his career, most notably as Fezzik in 1987's The Princess Bride, which was André's favourite role.[7] He had an uncredited appearance in the 1984 film Conan the Destroyer as Dagoth, the resurrected horned giant god, who is killed by Conan, the character portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. In his final film, he appeared in something of a cameo role as a circus giant in the comedy Trading Mom, which was not released until the year after his death.[citation needed]
World Championship Wrestling (1992)
His last U.S. television appearance was in a brief interview on WCW's "Clash of the Champions 20" special that aired on TBS on September 2, 1992.
Personal life
Roussimoff had one daughter who was born in 1979. WWE referee Tim White mentioned in Roussimoff's A&E Biography episode that she lives somewhere in the Seattle area.
In the A&E documentary, Arnold Skaaland mentions how André wished he could see a Broadway play. Arnold offered to buy tickets, but André then passed up the opportunity, citing how he was too big for the seats and that people behind him would not be able to see. This was cited as a principal reason for why André frequented taverns more than anywhere else.
In the A&E Biography episode, Arnold Skaaland tells the story of when André was in a bar one night, four men came up to him and began harassing him about his size. At first, André attempted to avoid confrontation, but eventually he proceeded to chase the hecklers until they locked themselves in their car. André then grabbed the car and tilted it over to its side with the four people trapped inside. André was never arrested for the incident, presumably since local police officers had a hard time believing four inebriated men's story about an angry giant having overturned their car.
André was arrested by the Linn County, Iowa sheriff in August 1989 and charged with assault after the 540-pound wrestler allegedly roughed up a local TV cameraman. The Smoking Gun
As a child, was referred to by his parents as Dédé and showed no signs of being the size that he would end up being.
Actor Cary Elwes explains in his video diary of The Princess Bride that Samuel Beckett was a neighbor of the Roussimoff family while living in France. The Nobel Laureate would sometimes drive André to school.
Screenwriter and author William Goldman once said that André loved going out for dinner, but regardless of who extended the invitation, he would always pay for the meal. One time, when one of his friends slipped away to give his credit card to the maître d', the friend felt himself being lifted off the ground, carried back to the table, and deposited back in his chair "like a little boy". Concluding, Goldman added that the friend in question was Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Andre: Heart of the Giant is a movie about André's life and struggles in and out of the wrestling ring. Actors will play real life wrestlers, managers, promoters, and legends.[8]
Death
André died in his sleep on January 27, 1993, in a Paris hotel room[citation needed]. He was in Paris to attend the funeral for his father[citation needed]. It was later concluded that he died of congestive heart failure, a by-product of the growth hormone-secreting pituitary tumor he had much of his life and chose not to have treated[citation needed].
André's body was cremated in accordance with his wishes and his ashes scattered at his ranch in Ellerbe, North Carolina[citation needed]. According to his A&E Biography, André's wish to be cremated was almost not carried out, since a crematorium in France could not be found that could handle his large frame.[citation needed]
Phone keeps ringing
The following is supposedly a true story. To be included, besides being true, the story is most likely strange, weird, surprising, or funny.
Phone Won't Stop Ringing?
Here's What You Do
Leola Starling of Ribrock, Tenn., had a serious telephone problem. But unlike most people she did something about it.
The brand-new $10 million Ribrock Plaza Motel opened nearby and had acquired almost the same telephone number as Leola.
From the moment the motel opened, Leola was besieged by calls not for her. Since she had the same phone number for years, she felt that she had a case to persuade the motel management to change its number.
Naturally, the management refused claiming that it could not change its stationery.
The phone company was not helpful, either. A number was a number, and just because a customer was getting someone else's calls 24 hours a day didn't make it responsible. After her pleas fell on deaf ears, Leola decided to take matters into her own hands.
At 9 o'clock the phone rang. Someone from Memphis was calling the motel and asked for a room for the following Tuesday. Leoloa said, "No problem. How many nights?"
A few hours later Dallas checked in. A secretary wanted a suite with two bedrooms for a week. Emboldened, Leola said the Presidential Suite on the 10th floor was available for $600 a night. The secretary said that she would take it and asked if the hotel wanted a deposit. "No, that won't be necessary," Leola said. "We trust you."
The next day was a busy one for Leola. In the morning, she booked an electric appliance manufacturers' convention for Memorial Day weekend, a college prom and a reunion of the 82nd Airborne veterans from World War II.
She turned on her answering machine during lunchtime so that she could watch her favorite soap opera, but her biggest challenge came in the afternoon when a mother called to book the ballroom for her daughter's wedding in June.
Leola assured the woman that it would be no problem and asked if she would be providing the flowers or did she want the hotel to take care of it. The mother said that she would prefer the hotel to handle the floral arrangements. Then the question of valet parking came up. Once again Leola was helpful. "There's no charge for valet parking, but we always recommend that the client tips the drivers."
Within a few months, the Ribrock Plaza Motel was a disaster area.
People kept showing up for weddings, bar mitzvahs, and Sweet Sixteen parties and were all told there were no such events.
Leola had her final revenge when she read in the local paper that the motel might go bankrupt. Her phone rang, and an executive from Marriott said, "We're prepared to offer you $200,000 for the motel."
Leola replied. "We'll take it, but only if you change the telephone number."
