MORE MEMORIES OR NOT

Today the 14^th June is a day for remembering, or not, as the case may be.

  

Stowe

It is the birthday in 1811 of Harriet Beecher Stowe, American Novelist and abolitionist, who wrote a racist novel with a view to abolish slavery. She meant well, but that’s the problem, most abolitionists in the 1860’s were racist nonetheless.

Alzheimer

It is also the birthday in 1864 of Aloysius “Alois” Alzheimer, the German psychiatrist and neuropathologist and colleague of Emil Kraepelin. Alzheimer is credited with identifying the first published case of "presenile dementia", which Kraepelin would later identify as Alzheimer’s disease.

Charlton Heston and Ronald Reagan .
Both of them would later develop Alzheimer's disease.

Lest we forget there are two other actors who share the same birthday of 14^th June 1919; both born in the United States of Jewish immigrant parents from Ukraine/ Russia, Sam Wanamaker and Gene Barry.

Samuel Wanamaker (14^th June 1919 – 18^th December 1993 was an American film director and actor and is credited as the person most responsible for the modern recreation of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London. Wanamaker was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants from Nikolayev.

In 1943, Wanamaker was part of the cast of the play Counterattack at the National Theatre, Washington D.C. During the play he became enamoured of the ideals of Communism and joined the American Communist Party. He attended Drake University prior to serving in the U.S. Army between 1943 and 1946 during the Second World War. In 1947 he returned to civilian life and, before relocating to Hollywood, quit the Communist Party.

In 1951, Wanamaker made a speech welcoming the return of two of the Hollywood Ten. In 1952, at the height of the McCarthy “Red Scare” period, despite his distinguished service in the Army during World War II, Wanamaker learned that he had become blacklisted while he was filming Mr. Denning Drives North in the UK. Wanamaker consequently decided not to return to the United States. Instead, he re-established his career in England, as actor on stage and screen, director and producer.

The BBC documentary Who Do You Think You Are? broadcast on 24 February 2009, which featured Wanamaker's daughter Zoë, revealed that the FBI had kept a substantial investigation file for him, including incriminating witness statements. His activities were also reportedly monitored by MI5.

Gene Barry (14^th June 1919 – 9 December 2009) was an American stage, screen, and television actor. Barry is best remembered for his leading roles in the films The Atomic City (1952) and The War of The Worlds (1953) and for his portrayal of the title character in the TV series Bat Masterson, among many roles.

Barry was born Eugene Klass in New York City, the son of Eva (née Conn) and Martin Klass; all of his grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia. Barry exhibited early artistic skills with singing and playing violin as a child and later spent two years at the Chatham Square School of Music on a scholarship awarded for his vocal ability. When Barry was 25, he married Betty Claire Kalb (February 12, 1923 – January 31, 2003) on October 22, 1944. At the time of their marriage, Kalb was an actress known by the stage name, Julie Carson. Their marriage produced three children; two biological sons and an adopted daughter.

Here is a film directed by another blacklisted refugee Joseph Losey, in which he gave a job to Sam Wanamaker.

And one of Gene Barry's films.