Word: eightyish
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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DIED. Corinne Griffith, eightyish, star of silent movies (Black Oxen, 1924) and early talkies (Lilies of the Field, 1930); in Santa Monica, Calif. Griffith retired in 1932 to make a fortune in Beverly Hills real estate and to campaign for the repeal of the federal income tax, denying-in print and in divorce court-that she was the same Griffith who once graced the silent screen. "It tends to date one," she sniffed...
DIED. Guiomar Novaës, eightyish, eminent Brazilian pianist; of a heart attack; in Sao Paulo. Born the 17th of 19 children, Novaës began playing the piano at age four, and ten years later left her native country to study in Paris on a Brazilian government grant. Upon her American debut in 1915, she was hailed as "the Paderewska of the Pampas," and for the next five decades sustained that accolade through her recordings and international concerts. An intuitive musician and a supreme keyboard colorist, the tiny (5 ft.) virtuoso was renowned for her warm, effortless performances...
DIED. Jomo Kenyatta, eightyish, President of Kenya, who led his country to independence; in Mombasa (see WORLD...
DIED. Joe Venuti, eightyish, peerless jazz violinist whose daring experiments in swing were matched only by his outrageous practical jokes; in Seattle. Trained in the classics, Venuti played second violin in the Philadelphia Orchestra but longed to improvise. He played with Dance Band Leaders Jean Goldkette and Paul Whiteman, teamed up with Guitarist Eddie Lang to make hundreds of vintage jazz recordings and then formed his own band. An energetic performer who worked high jinks with his bow to play four strings at once, Venuti enjoyed a renaissance in the past decade and was still performing in jazz spots last...
Died. "Prince" Mike Romanoff, eightyish, Hollywood's reigning restaurateur-raconteur for more than two decades; of a heart attack; in Los Angeles. That no one knew Romanoff's precise age is a fitting footnote to the life of a legendary impostor who at various times passed himself off as Rasputin's assassin, the son of Victorian Prime Minister William Gladstone and a cousin of Czar Nicholas II. Actually, there is evidence that he was born Harry F. Gerguson, the son of Russian immigrants. After trying his hand at farming, peddling papers and bumming, the flamboyant phony with...