famous/infamous relatives, straw-grasping welcome!

Ok, check this link out on a relative of mine
http://www.gloriajeanchildstar.com/

WOW this is an old thread  lol

 

My cousin played the female lead, opposite Kurt Russel, in Disney's 1969, " The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes."

LoL Henry... My Great great grandfather (dad's mom's side) was a Judge in Goldfield,NV in the 40s His brothers & cousins were all Bootlegers in Santa Barbara,Calif at the time
 Now if I really break out the amily history.... my 13 or 14th great grandfather was a fierce Indian fighter who died a horrible death at the hands of the Indians... slit his belly & tied is intestines to a tree & made him walk around it until he died.
My G.f. is a retired Border Patrol Agent  & related to General Robert E. Lee

I had a great-great-something-or-another named Thomas Jefferson Wells, who supposedly was a officer/deputy of Judge Parkers court in Arkansas.  He later became a Texas Ranger and died down on the Red River somewhere around 1897.  He had a brother that was moving from Missouri down to South East Texas with a herd of mules and horses and was stopped in Arkansas.  Since he had raised them, he didn't have a bill of sale, and was hanged as a horse thief.

Back in the twenties or thirties, one relative was in the garden with his wife tending it, and then for apparently no reason, buried an axe in her head.  He then drank muriatic(?) acid and died.

Got law enforcement and axe murderers in my family.

Henry

Let's see...

Before my Mom divorced her 2nd/3rd husband (she maried him twice)  I was a sixth cousin, or something similarly ridiculous to Michael Gross of Family Ties and Tremors fame.

Likewise, his family was somehow family friends with Greg Boyington.

Man, the influence I could wield.

IIRC the movie was Hellfighters. Good movie.
So, most of the houses north of me were built by your grandfather? WOW!!

My only claim to fame is being related to General John Burleson. He was instrumental in the settling of Texas. His wifes bible is in the museum at the Alamo. His two sons were part of the party that captured General Santa Ana (there's a picture of Santa Ana after his capture that shows him tied up and being guarded by two men, those two men are Johns sons). One of his grandsons was Post Master General of the US in the early part of the 1900s, about 1909 or there abouts. The city of Burleson, Tx is named after John. I have also got an ancestor who served with an artillery brigade from Georgia during the civil war. My grandfather was best friends with several famous people and I have gotten to meet several of them. The two that really stick out were Red Adair and Oral Roberts. For those of you who don't know who Red Adair is, he's the man who puts out oil well fires and was immortalized in a John Wayne movie that the name of eludes me at the moment.When my grandfather passed away in 1982, his funeral was attended by three former mayors of Sacramento Ca., One former president of the US (Gerald Ford). There were nearly 1500 people at his funeral. My grandfathers claim to fame? Besides being a Pentecostal Holiness Church preacher, and building the first PHC churches in California, was his being an architect and contactor. Most of the houses in Sacramento and the surrounding area (it was estimated in 1983 at 45%) were built by him and his company, A.M. Harris and Son.

On my mother's side, I'm related to John Adams & John Quincy Adams My father's side, well, there is a Naval Aviator LCDR Chuck Schoonover who was killed 16 JAN 66 in  RA-5C 149312 [of RVAH-9] In my eyes he was/is a hero
My grandmother had dated Pappy Boyington the infamous Back sheep hisself... does this count???

I met, and a friend of mine dated, Pamela Anderson when she was 16.

I've also met Diana Krall, and I had dinner with John Wayne AND Glenn Ford at the same time!

Hey styrene, ask your father-in-law if he remembers Ensign Stanley Caplan.  As senior officer on board, he took command of the Aylwin during the Pearl Harbor attack.  He passed away a few years ago.

I was a police lieutenant when one of my subordinates arrested Hedy Lamarr for shoplifting.  She was kind enough to give me an autograph while being booked.  She died shortly after. 

In 1966 I appeared in a little theater production of Stalag 17.  One of the prisoners was played by Charles Napier.

 

Last, and probably least, a cousin of Caril Ann Fugate worked on my patrol platoon.

Now that is grasping at straws!

My wife's grandfather Harry VanDeNorth, which we have pictures of with Tucker of the Famous Tucker automobile, and was featured in the Movie TUCKER was a mechanic for Tucker in the beginning of the production of the car. We have the photos of the unveiling of it and he is standing in front of the car with Tucker and a few of the others who where trying to get the car going for the debut of the car. (this scene is also in the movie. TUCKER...A MAN AND HIS DREAM.....STARRING JEFF BRIDGES.

That's all I have

I'm related to Daniel Boone on my father's side of the family. Boone was a famous frontiersman who was largely responsible for the exploration and settlement of Kentucky.

One of my close friends from High School is related to John Finley, one of Boone's long-time companions.

-Mark

I've got a cousin that is a state Representive in [W?] Virginia, his dad [an uncle] was one too. also direct decendent of Danial B. Tompkins ,vice prez to Madison {I think}. so being that I have all these politicians in the family, I guess it puts us over on the "blacksheep" side

also have a friend of the family who at Pearl Harbor on 12/7/41
aboard the USS Curtis.

Great topic and some very funny repostes. The white sheep seem to outnumber the black.My claim to fame is that my ancestor was Claude Duval (English despite the name) the infamous Highwayman and contemporary of Dick Turpin. He was hanged for his crimes but was always a gentleman. Demanding a kiss from his lady victims.Hundreds of titled women attended his execution,in tears.
As for me I survived the last half of the twentieth century and hope to see the first half of this one.

That's because he wasn't in a REAL King Tiger

The shark, I can't do anything about

on my mothers side i am related to susan b anthony and benidict arnold, who as you all know is a very famous revolutionary war hero/traitor. contrary to popular belief was not a traitor at all but a double agent for us. yahoo.

"If its not plastic it aint worth building"

And get blown up by Kojak?

Eric, didn't he get eaten by a shark?

My cousin (from my dad's side) is the late actor Robert Shaw.

Yes James, whole new worlds can unfold before our very eyes when the topic drifts!

You had to ask !!!
Now I have to go back to page one.

(Still I kind'a like it when these topics drift.)

QUOTE: Originally posted by J-Hulk Tim, In Japanese, of course. The TV wouldn't understand if I screamed at it in English! James, yes, this is all quite interesting! Now...what was the topic of this thread again??

QUOTE: Originally posted by Pixilater My father flew a B-24 on the raid of the Ploesti oil fields in Romania, Operation Tidal Wave. He may not have been famous, but everyone who went on that mission is deserving of mention.

My grandfather was a tail gunner on the same mission to Ploesti. Brought up the rear on "Southern Comfort" 44th bomb group, 509th bomb sqdn. Was shot down one week later over Fogia, Italy. Later escaped prison camp at Sulmona, Italy with most of his crew, two died in the crash, and reached the allied lines in October43.

Cool, I'll start shopping local bookstores for it. Thanks Jerry. Maybe I'll go through Amazon, might just save a lot of driving. I do like persuing bookstores though.


madda

Madda,

The text that we used is called "Japan: Tradition and Transformation". It is by Edwin O. Reischauer and Albert M. Craig. Published by the Houghton - Mifflin Company, the date on my copy is 1989 but I believe that there is a newer edition out. Hope that this is a good one for you.

Jerry

Tim,
In Japanese, of course. The TV wouldn't understand if I screamed at it in English!

James, yes, this is all quite interesting!

Now...what was the topic of this thread again??

Thanks J-HULK.
This is getting good.

QUOTE: Originally posted by J-Hulk Hi, folks! Interesting points, Upnorth! I remember exactly what you're talking about as far as the portrayals of the Soviets during those years.

I too was a "product" of the cold war. I joined the Navy right out of High school in 1980 and spent most of the '80's "sparring" with the Eastern Bloc countrys. We were basicly taught to "hate" them as the "enemy" (sorry Alexsander).

Then when my destroyer was inport at Naples, Italy in the winter of 89-90. A russian ship moored to the same dock we were. I think she was a cruise ship but my memory is fuzzy on that. One day I was passing the Quarterdeck Deck when one of the watchstanders told me about a russian sailor at the bottom of the gangway that wanted to buy a ship's embroyered ballcap.
I decided why not and went down and talked to him. Very nice guy, spoke passable but limited English. I sold him a fairly new cap (about $15) for a 10 ruble bill. I knew that it was worthless outside of russia, and not very much. But those guys didn't make very much either. We shook hands and both left with smiles on our faces. Yea I got the "short" end of the deal, but I like to think that I did my own little part to give an old advisary a better idea of who we really are. They weren't the "bad guys" we had been taught to believe.


J-Hulk, I just can't stop myself from asking this so here it goes. When you are screaming the answers back at the TV are you screaming in Japanese or English (as if they could hear you anyways). It just fasinates me so much, your living over there so long and being so fluent in Japanese. Me I'm lucky I can speak proper English. Let alone learn a 2nd language.
Also have you gotten to the point that when you talk to yourself is it in Japanese.

Hi, folks!

Interesting points, Upnorth! I remember exactly what you're talking about as far as the portrayals of the Soviets during those years.

Kugai, there is quite a bit of debate over here as well over the circumstances that led to the Pearl Harbor attack, including the very points you brought up.

In my opinion, the lack of knowledge displayed in the pop quizzes of high school kids in the street that I mentioned is not the result of Japanese pride or the American post-war occupation, but simply kids being kids, nore concerned with modern pop culture than their own cultural history. Of course this is a broad, sweeping generalization of young people, but it is the image of modern youth as depicted in Japan's own media. A national crisis, they say.

On the other hand, I have seen high school debate shows and quiz shows here featuring extremely bright youngsters who are very interested in their country's past as well as its future.

So, I'd wager the modern problem is the same as that around the world: kids just wanna have fun!